NL First Impressions

Before I start typing out details on my first impressions during my study abroad, I'd like this post to be educational/helpful to anyone going to a different country for the first time! I was a bit lost figuring everything out at first, and I feel like a little more research on my part definitely could've helped.
The first day was pretty hard, I'm not going to lie. Right off the bat, before I even left the airport, I was unable to read my address correctly so that I could call an uber to take me there. One helpful tip: the addresses in the Netherlands (probably also in the rest of Europe as well) are formatted a bit differently than they are in the United States. For example, the address of my apartment was:

Stationsplein 6
3112 HJ Schiedam

I had no clue how to decipher this. If you find yourself in the same predicament, Stationsplein 6 is the street address. 3112 HJ is their "zip code" and Schiedam is the name of the city/town.
P.S. This apartment building is one that mostly houses international students for a good price! It is also right next to Schiedam Centraal, which made it very easy to catch a ride somewhere. It is called "The Campus" in case you are interested in taking a look.

Another problem I ran into is that I had no clue that the outlets would be different. I hope that I don't come off as incredibly stupid for not knowing this, but different outlets are not particularly something I had on my mind when preparing for this trip. So, I had gotten to my apartment pretty late in the afternoon, and most stores in the Netherlands close very early (around 5pm). Now, of course, this depends on what city you live in, but I lived in a smaller town, so most businesses were not open late. I had to rush out so that I'd have a way of charging my phone and laptop.

**Here's one super important piece of advice: They do not have all-inclusive stores like Walmart/Target! You have to go to a separate grocery/electronics/hygiene store. Because I had no clue what stores I should be looking for, it took me about 2 weeks to find my hair products (although I do have curly hair, so I'm a bit pickier about my shampoo/conditioner brands).

Here are some stores you can look for if you decide to visit the Netherlands!

• Kruidvat (hair/body wash/over-the-counter medicine)
• Albert Heijn (groceries)
• Dirk van den Broek (groceries)
• MediaMarkt (electronics)
• HEMA (decor/home/some options for hair/skin needs)
• SPAR (grocery/convenient store-- usually stays open later than other stores)
• ALDI (groceries-- They also have these in the U.S.!)

Now that we've gotten that rough start out of the way, here are a few things I liked about the Netherlands:

The public transportation system is so amazing!! If you've ever taken the bus in Hawaii, you know how frustrating it can be having to use public transportation, but I promise it is a completely different system in the Netherlands. My step dad worked there for a while, so he had already given me a visitor's transit card that I could fill up at any metro/train station. I have heard that it's a bit cheaper if you apply to have a personalized transit card, but I didn't think it was necessary with all the paper work. The public transportation that you can use with your card includes bus, metro, train, and tram. For school, I rode the metro because it was the fastest option. If you're traveling to other cities, you'll most likely be taking the train, which is nice because you will most likely have a view of the beautiful country. For future reference, if you plan on taking the train somewhere, you have to have at least 15 Euros on your transit card before it will let you through the gates. I can't tell you how many trains I almost missed because I was short a few cents. Also, with the public transportation, you will always have some way of getting home (usually bus or train in the later hours) without spending a ton of money on an Uber. It was so easy for me to figure out their public transportation system and travel around to different cities on my own! Another popular option, which I'm sure you know, is biking! (Fun fact: There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands!)

The social/night life is also really great! There is almost always some event going on, especially in Rotterdam. You'll never run out of clubs/bars to go to. I recommend joining Facebook groups/joining a group message with other international students to stay updated on all the fun things to do!

I hope this was helpful to anyone looking at the Netherlands!

Cierra Wall

Netherlands

Erasmus University Rotterdam