Erasmus Adventures - My first month in the Netherlands

It is tough to grasp that an entire month has passed since I have been in the Netherlands. And what a roller coaster it has been so far. From encountering a totally different reality to ours to having to deal with the housing crisis first-hand, meeting some fantastic people, discovering the Dutch way of life, and so much more, it hardly seems that time has passed at all.

So much stuff happened that I could almost write a whole book from this month alone (knowing my writing habits, it would be really easy to derail and make that a reality), so I will try to add some structure and limit myself in writing, to showcase the most essential points overall.

And with that, let’s start:

🏠 What happened to our house?

This is the most exciting thing that happened in the entire month. We managed to get rid of the old wasteland we had to call home! This was probably the best thing that could have happened during our entire stay here, and it was the biggest strike of luck I have ever encountered.

Daniela, my girlfriend (I hope that I mentioned that she is also staying with me here), found the lovely lady via another landlord who had nothing available for us. As we lost hope of finding anything, we received a message from her saying it was readily available and we could move in whenever.

Immediately, we went cycling there, me having a half-busted knee from a minor injury and everything, and we took the offer as soon as possible. The room is the stuff of dreams. It is a bed and breakfast, so it is different from the typical student room, but it has everything we could have ever wished for. It’s an entire space just for ourselves, and we have a fully functioning kitchen there!

When we found this room, it became clear to me just how exploited students are and the housing crisis the country faces. Seeing such a lovely space for not much more than what we were paying for the old house and the difference in living conditions was a really eye-opening experience. Most landlords here barely give students a livable space and charge exorbitant amounts with no guarantees of whatever, while this is proof that it is perfectly plausible to have much better living conditions at the same price. But I guess the margins aren’t as big 🤷‍♂.

This is why I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity stumble at our feet and intend to make the best possible use of it and take it as a sign that perseverance brings excellent results in the end. Also, it taught me that Daniela is really good at arranging houses. Overall, I feel like this happening unlocked a massive drive in us to go after the life we want to achieve and to never settle.

Well, this was a rant and a half. Let us move on to more lighthearted subjects now.

😮 The Culture Shocks we faced (and some fun facts about Dutch people)

There are a lot of things you take for granted in your home country. You don’t question what you do because you have always done it that way, and you are sure that there is no better way to do whatever it may be. Then you move to another country and find out that people have really, really different ways of life.

Sure, not all of it is for the best, but some things are, at the very least, curious and, to us Portuguese, quite unusual. Here is a list of what we’ve encountered so far:

• Dutch people usually have dinner way earlier than we have. And when I say earlier, it is generally around mid-afternoon early. Most dinners I’ve had around here organized by Dutch people started at 18 or 18:30 at the latest.
• Their lunch is composed of cold meals only. You barely see anyone from the Netherlands having a proper lunch meal. Theirs consist mainly of cheese, peanut butter, or both, on loaves of bread. Yep, not even fresh bread. It is also common to go into supermarkets’ bakery and pastry section and call that lunch. I have seen many people go to the supermarket here on campus, buy 3 “frikandelbroodjes” and call it lunch. Below is a picture for you to know what I’m talking about.

• A typical breakfast some people have here (as you can see, most of the shocks I had are food and meal-related) is called hagelslag. I could describe it, but I think this video explains it best.
• Work here is taken seriously, but so is playtime. They start working early and do it non-stop, even during lunchtime (they commonly have lunch at their desk). However, as soon as the clocks strike 17:00, you can see everyone end their day and immediately pack their things and leave. This is one I can really agree with. There is a really good separation of concerns here.
• This one is a cliche, but bikes are everywhere, and you plan your whole life with them in mind. You really need to visit and see it for yourself. Every train station has at least 2 floors of parking space for bikes alone. And also, you start to go everywhere by bike, which is super healthy for you.
• Speaking of health, everyone travels by bike, even older people! More than once, I have been surpassed by 70-something-year-old ladies doing their daily commute, which left me absolutely shocked. I really admire this and believe it should be more commonplace in Portugal as well.
• There are no blinds in windows! They have curtains, sure, but no rigid, physical blinds outside the window. This means that a bit of sun always enters during the morning, which is a bit annoying.
• The stairs here are really steep! And super short as well. Considering that the average Dutch person is around 1.80m tall, seeing such short stairs is a bit baffling.
• Oh yeah, and a lot of people really are super tall, super blonde, and super pale. The stereotypes are true to an extent (as all stereotypes are, I guess).

🌅 Our Routine Here

We indeed managed to fall into a routine, which is great. Leaving Portugal, at least for me, released me from many of the commitments and burdens I had and allowed me to participate in some activities I wished I had the time for but could never find.

First and foremost, we are dedicating a substantial amount of time to our health, which I love. Every day, I manage to either go to the gym, play football with friends, or even do both (if I’m not exhausted by then).

Coupling this with all the cycling we do here, it is easy to see that our lifestyle here is much healthier than back home.

Also, we have been giving a lot more priority to sleep. Sure, we still have those late nights with friends where we only sleep about 4 hours. But most days, we get some solid 8 hours and wake up with the sunlight, which is really beneficial and helps us get on with the day much better. Also, I feel like my energy is a lot more constant throughout the day.

Finally, we have tried to eat more nutritious food and better meals overall. This started by force since meat and the traditional products we were used to eating were super expensive (especially chicken), but vegan items are really affordable.

This meant that we got to experiment with a ton of new meals, always focusing on making them healthy, wholesome, and, above all, nutritious. Sure, we occasionally have a few Stroopwafels (the best thing this country has to offer), some pizza with friends, or Waffles with Nutella (something we discovered that is absolutely delicious), but overall our meal quality has skyrocketed.

Our days usually start “early”, at around 7, and we either hit the gym or go to the morning classes (by bike, of course). We have classes and usually stay at the campus studying through the afternoon. We bring lunch from home (yeah, we’re even meal prepping and everything, biggest flex ever) and even some snacks. When the day is finished, we either go home to relax or have something planned with our friends.

Also, recently, I started dabbling with something I wanted to try since 5th grade: playing the piano. I’m still terrible, but it has brought me a lot of joy, and since Daniela has a ton of music knowledge, I feel like I’m progressing quickly.

When we get home, we make dinner (with leftovers for the next lunch), clean everything up, and then do something together. Right now, we’re trying to complete a puzzle! By around 23, we are asleep.

This lifestyle may seem boring (where are the parties and everything?), but it has unlocked many possibilities for us, and not all days look like this. It is the routine of dreams, in my opinion.

🏛 What the Uni has to offer

I could write a whole post about what the Uni offers, but I’ll try to keep it short.

First of all, it’s, in fact, a University and not a Faculty, so it is absolutely massive. It has around 196 hectares, and every building seems to be the size of the entire FEUP.

Second, it’s full of green spaces, which I love, and there is a lot of forest all around, so it is a really pleasant space. The buildings are also super modern, each with its own specific architectural style and features, but they all feel super lovely to study at. There is top-notch equipment everywhere, and everything is clean and up-to-date. It really makes a difference, and FEUP could learn a few things from this.

They have absolutely everything you could ever need, both for work and play. Every building has a “canteen” (in quotes because most of them don’t have warm meals, but still delicious food), a service desk for help, and much more. There is a supermarket on campus, a Subway, a Starbucks, a hairdresser, a laundromat, and many more that I am probably forgetting.

There is also a building just for culture, with theatres and a music room, fully equipped with not 1, not 2, but 3 piano rooms (and more for other instruments).

And the best part of all is the sports facilities. They have a field for just about everything.

• Football? More than you can count
• Volleyball? Indoors and Beach ones
• Basketball? Easy
• Hockey? Yep
• Lacrosse? I don’t think this even exists in Portugal, but they have it here
• Baseball? You bet
• Swimming? They have 2, indoors and outdoors

And much more. It is really impressive what they manage to have here. I have a lot of envy in that aspect and wish that Porto had something similar (or at least FEUP)

Finally, the campus also has residences, which means that you don’t need to leave the campus at all if you don’t want to. Sadly, they can only accommodate 2,000 of the more than 10,000 students they have.

Yeah, all this is inside one campus. It is a really impressive feat, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this community. If I had known this sooner, I might even have done my complete Masters here 👀.

🔭 So, what’s next?

This is just a sample of what this country and this University have to offer. It has nothing to do with where I came from; frankly, I love every second I spend here.

However, the world is not just this city, and I intend to see the rest of it. We already feel settled here, so now it’s time to expand and explore what the rest of the Netherlands has to offer.

We have visited some places already (blog post coming soon), and many more are planned. Stay tuned for that. Bye! 👋