Read below Lucy’s experience of her term abroad at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Part one of two!

I ventured to the vibrant and modern Dutch city of Rotterdam from April- June. I studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam, where I enrolled on three modules: Intercultural Communications, Digital Marketing and History of Dutch Culture; all three were theory-based subjects which I found fulfilling. At Goldsmiths, I study Journalism which is practice-dominated so, during my time abroad I was able to work on my academic skills from a new international perspective. I recommend looking at how the modules are assessed and make sure you are interested.  

Depot building in Rotterdam from Museumpark

I enjoyed the quality of life in Rotterdam, everyone cycled everywhere. I rented a bike for the duration of my trip, which had a multitude of benefits from saving money on public transport to keeping me fit. If you are wondering, Rotterdam is super safe to cycle in. Plus, cycling around made me feel super Dutch as it is a huge part of their culture! I used the app SwapFiets (not sponsored) to rent my bike – they dropped it off at my house, fix any damages that might occur (free of charge), and you pay monthly.

Rotterdam has many interesting places to visit from a diverse art scene, many local markets, parks, bars and restaurants. It is so well connected by train to neighbouring towns and cities, which I took advantage of plus I even travelled Paris for the weekend

As expected, when moving abroad, you are sort of thrown off from your regular routine, so I felt it was important to create a new one whilst I was here. I had a lot of free time, as at home I have jobs and uni, but in Rotterdam I only had the latter. I enjoyed this as I felt more relaxed here because I had less to worry about, but on the other hand I wanted to make sure I filled up my free time. To do this, I decided to make every Wednesday (my day off) a day by myself to explore new things. Each week I spent this day entirely by myself, whether I went to a gallery, cinema, lunch place, new city, I wanted to try new things and experience them by myself. This allowed me to become a lot more independent. Plus, I discovered some of my favourite places.

Another way I established a routine was by going swimming every week at my local swimming baths, Van Mannenbad. It also had an outside pool which was refreshing on a warm day. Going for a weekly swim is something I picked up in Rotterdam and will continue back in London. Another thing I did was enroll in a Dutch language class (you did have to pay but it was through the uni so it was significantly cheaper, and it was a good way to make friends). But apart from the three things I just mentioned, my daily routine was pretty random, I’m not sure if it’s the best advice but I tend to live my life day by day and as it comes, a too rigid routine is not my thing, so I would recommended just trying new things, get outside a lot and make the most of being abroad, even a walk in a new direction from your house is super interesting when you are in a new country!