I Spent a Semester Studying Abroad in Amsterdam and you all had no idea

Get pranked

While you were all sitting at home reading my blog, probably thinking I was writing from my cozy hometown, I was in fact in Amsterdam the whole time. Imagine your faces right now. Hilarious.

From February (before you even knew me, how romantic) to around mid-June, I was studying communications in Amsterdam, and it was one of the most experiences of my life.

Okay let’s back up. I knew I wanted to study abroad since long before I even got to university. In fact, for about a week in highschool I considered being an international student in my ancestral lands of Scotland, but decided that was a little too far away. Still, the idea of living and studying somewhere else was always very appealing to me—in a The Secret History kind of way… dark academia required, murder discouraged.

When I transferred to Communications, I got the opportunity to study abroad for a semester out of a list of locations. I chose Amsterdam because it was the most literary out of all my options, and also I love cheese. My application went through, I was accepted into the program, and next thing I knew, I was starting the longest day of my life as I flew halfway across the world.

My first impression of Amsterdam was dark. For one, it was like 9:00 p.m. in winter and thus literally dark, and also, I accidentally spent over $100 CAD on a taxi. Nevertheless, I got into my dorm room okay, had a little tired-cry (we’ve all been there), and then slept for like twelve hours.

When I imagined my study abroad experience, I thought about writing in cozy cafés where I practice Dutch as I order an earl grey tea, wandering through book fairs and admiring the covers, and attending open mic nights in grungy (but in a cute way) basements.

Instead, my first real day looked a lot like panicking over what the hell I thought I was doing, who was I to think that I could do this, where am I, I want to go home, etc. It took a good three days or so before I got settled and ventured out of the safe bubble that formed around my new accommodation and started that abroad experience I had always dreamed of.

So here’s my Dos and Don’ts for visiting Amsterdam:

DO

-          Visit Straat—the street art museum

-          Go in the off-season (May is the best time, it’s warm enough but you’ll miss the crowds of flower season)

-          Sample all the cheeses in the cheese stores

-          Stop to enjoy the street organ

-          Laugh at Dutch words (kokosnoot is my favourite)

-          Visit Muiderslot because castles are sick

-          Take in the Queer scene—from clubs to open mic nights, especially in June!

-          Book in advance for the popular museums (Anne Frank house, Rijksmuseum…)

-          If you are staying for 6-ish months and have a Dutch address, get a museum card (free entry to most museums in the Netherlands)

DON’T

-          Go to Keukenhof—it’s expensive and too busy to enjoy

-          Get any candy-coated Stroopwafels—they are too sweet, get a fruit one instead

-          Visit end of April unless you love crowds and breathing in other people’s air

-          Mention Rotterdam to local Amsterdammers

-          Forget winter clothes if you go January-March, it’s colder than expected!

-          Try to pronounce Dutch words, you won’t be able to

-          Go out on King’s Day alone

-          Make a whole bunch of friends in class only to have to leave them when you go back home

The study abroad experience can only ever end one way—with a whole lot of tearful goodbyes. My class was made up of about 50% international students from Australia, the U.S., UK, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Spain, etc. and over the course of the semester we made an actual bona fide magazine together. It was such a collaborative process that by the end we had all fought and partied and cried together and I became closer to this a group of 25 girls (and 2 guys) from across the world than I ever expected to be.

Studying abroad is amazing in all the ways that people prepare you for, but it can also suck and be hard and scary in ways that no one ever told me. All that being said, the hardest part has been saying goodbye, and I’m so grateful for the privilege to do it.

Next for me is a long-awaited summer spent in my hometown. I’ve missed all the little things, like going to Tims, shopping in grocery stores where I can read the signs, eating PORRIDGE to name a few, as well as all the big important stuff, like hanging with my family, hugging dear Elsie, and making more money than I spend (ideally). For now, I’m happy to turn back into a homebody.

Or am I just saying that to trick you again?