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| The ground is lava in Brussels |
For those
of you who just started following this blog but don’t know me I am Tom. This
semester I am doing my exchange semester as the second part of my international
year from Waterford Institute of Technology. So therefore, I am attending
Fontys International Business School Venlo. Since my last blog a lot has
happened, this includes, settling into university, multiple trips and embracing
the exchange programme. All in all living life in the moment.
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| Upside down in Vilnius |
University
what can I say, so organised and accommodating. The modules I am studying are
all business related, they cover logistics, economics, marketing, statistics
and business knowledge. We are also learning Dutch to adopt a bit of the
culture. All the course content is new
and challenging. We are constantly been pushed out of our comfort zone with
presentations and group work. One of our classes is structured so that we begin
the class with a topic, we have to research that topic in groups and present
the findings at the end of the class. The only subject we have had a major
issue with was statistics. We tried our best to understand it but we failed to
keep up with the rest of the class as we had not completed the basics which
were taught last semester. I was so confused one day the answer was on the
board and I didn’t know if it was another question or the answer. We sat down
with the lecturer to air our concerns and he came up with a solution. This
solution was for us to go back to the start, self-teach ourselves and meet the
lecture once a week for progress report and help us with questions we might
have. The university has created a very friendly learning environment where students’
problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
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| The Windmills of Zaanse Schans |
Of
course, while time is primarily occupied with college, I do occasionally get
out from my vigorous study to have a social life. Since my last blog I have
travelled to three different countries, Lithuania, Belgium and Germany, as well
as travelling to multiple towns in the Netherlands. Each place I went I tried
different foods and drinks and experienced some of the culture from the area. I
had not traveled to any of these countries before so it was a really great
experience. The Netherlands was continued to surprise me. The most ambitious
trip I went on was three cities, Utrecht, Den Hague and Amsterdam, the beach
and to many trains to count all in the space of sixteen hours. That was my
first time in Amsterdam and I was very much looking forward to seeing why
Ireland has made it the number one holiday destination. After travelling to
other parts of the country Amsterdam was only ok. It was like going into Temple
Bar for a cheap drink (non-existent). I have since been to Amsterdam once more
by day this time but still wasn’t impressed.
I will however be going back for Kings Weekend at the end of April. I
have been to see the traditional windmills in a town up north of Amsterdam
also. It has been a crazy month of travel but it is easily achievable and I
haven’t missed one day of college yet.
As
you can imagine with all the college work and travel my time is pretty well
gone. However, I do find the odd night for a social drink or two. One of the
biggest weeks in Venlo is the week coming up to lent. It is called Carnival and
the circus most certainly rolled into Venlo. To describe this time, it is like
St. Patricks day on repeat for a week. Everyone has to dress up, you are not
allowed into the city centre without costume. It was a great experience but the
number of plastic cups produced was crazy. Each night walking through the city
it felt like you were trapped in a ball pit, but instead of balls you were
drowning in plastic cups. There have been many other social gatherings, most of
which have been organised by other exchange students allowing us to experience their
different culture. We hosted a small gathering for St Patricks Day and even had
Tatyo crisps as a snack.
Overall,
I have no negative points about my life in Venlo. I am learning, travelling and
experiencing all the different cultures people have to offer….
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| Carnival Weekend |
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