most ideal europe exchange location! ❤️

initially when i selected partner universities for my exchange programme i wasn’t even considering the country itself or any other factors… i just wanted any europe university that had the modules i wanted and it just happened to land me at tilburg university in the netherlands! now i realise the importance of doing your research prior to choosing your partner university because these were all factors that would have helped me decide on a country and university to go to!

✈️ airports

- not just how many but to also consider the accessibility of airports! the netherlands has 3 airports (maastricht, eindhoven and amsterdam schiphol) and they are all quite accessible. sorry i mean most because maastricht is super inaccessible

- eindhoven is the closest to me! eindhoven station being a 30 min train ride away and the airport a 30 min bus ride away~ it’s super accessible considering how big the country itself is already

- security is also really fast at the airport

🎓 school

- of course the most important factor, i chose tilburg university also because they don’t take attendance at all! i even lucked out with two modules that have recorded lectures…

- the dutch students themselves don’t come to class so… although i do have to say the exams are really quite challenging since it’s exam season now and you do have to study really hard!

- not all universities in netherlands have no attendance! maastricht university is super strict on attendance~

🚴 cycling culture

- i’m super bad at cycling but i found out that most students and even residents cycle to get around tilburg because it’s much more cost efficient than taking the public transport so i figured i’d be saving a lot on public transport

- now i can even say i’m quite a proficient cyclist lmaooo i can cycle one handed! (i used to cycle into pillars and can’t let go of the handlebars)

- also they have really solid architecture for bikes! there’s a free storage place near the station where you can leave your bikes for free for 24 hours~ there are also bicycle paths everywhere which makes cycling very organised!

- also there are many bicycle rental shops and they even offer insurance and subscription services because they’re so common

🚞 train station

- there’s a train station about a 5 minutes walk away from my hostel so it makes it super easy for me to get onto any train to go anywhere in netherlands

- train services start quite early and end quite late so it’s quite safe for me to come back even at 11pm and take the train out at 6am!

🛒 groceries

- initially i always felt that grocery shopping here was quite expensive but it turns out that i just wasn’t searching for the right deals! each supermarket chain has changing sales weekly and if you hunt for those sales you can definitely save on groceries~

- yogurt and yogurt drinks go on sale super often and they are already quite affordable in the first place! salmon and meat also go on sale at varying stores time to time

- we also visit the farmers market every saturday to get fresh and cheap groceries (fruits and vegetables are INSANELY cheap here)

- there are also 2 asian marts here which give you practically everything that you need~

👷 safety

- jk please do not leave your keys in your bicycles because bicycle theft is quite common here (haven’t seen it happen yet thankfully) but netherlands is really quite the singapore of europe ❤️ people may not be COMPLETELY friendly but they definitely aren’t dangerous! i still see people leave their laptops at the library to go for lunch breaks and i thought that wouldn’t be possible in europe hahahaha

- also i’ve never felt unsafe travelling around at night especially in tilburg! a pretty calm and quiet neighbourhood

- ive heard people in the hostel go club and then cycle back at night drunk and they make it back in one piece lol. someone even walked back without their bike because they were too drunk and walked back the next day to get their bike………

🌿 scenery

- cities like amsterdam, utrecht, leiden and groningen are really pretty and they feature windmills, canals and lovely nature landscapes that i’m sure any fan of nature would enjoy im not a super big fan of nature but it’s really quite healing and peaceful to visit these lovely little towns

- if you enjoy a more city-like and lively place there’s also rotterdam and maastricht that you could easily visit on a day trip!

🎯 central

- the netherlands is also pretty central on the europe map and the airports offer flights to anywhere in europe! flight tickets are quite reasonable as long as you buy them early and catch tickets at a good time~

there’s so many more other reasons but these are really the ones that i could think of for now! pick netherlands as your host country for sep and you definitely won’t regret it