As I have adjusted to the Dutch lifestyle many things come to mind when thinking about what future study-abroad students should know!
I was in shock when I entered grocery stores and saw the average cost of produce. Veggies and proteins are super cheap which makes meal prepping easier. I budget $40 a week on groceries but usually hit under that mark. The average cost of getting meals from restaurants differs from 5 to 23 euros. Tipping is not a custom thing to do and even if it is a nice restaurant the max is 2 or 3 euros. I’ve mainly been meal prepping but do a family dinner with my friends once a week, where we try a new type of cuisine. The diversity in food here makes it interesting each week! So far we have done Medditerarian, Ethiopian, Israeli, Italian, and Indian. Coffee in the mornings can add up so I bought a French press to make my own! This also gives me a space/time in the morning for some peace before class.
A big aspect of my budget is the nightlife. It is typical to go out roughly 3 days a week (techno night is Tuesday). Buying drinks at bars/clubs can add up. It is typically $11 for a cocktail so sticking with a glass of wine or beer and shots is the way to go. My friend group and I hit local bars to pregame before heading to clubs around 12-1 o’clock. I have found that the nightlife environment is much safer than in the States. Cat calling is not a regular thing and men seem to be very respectful. The majority of clubs are for the lgtbq+ community but everyone is welcome.
I have midterms next week and my exam is 100% of my VU class so the pressure is on! Most of the VU and UVA classes are graded that way so failing is a very regular occurrence for the locals. It has been very important to keep up with readings and make sure I understand what happened after every lecture. It has also been very common to investigate more for reading homework to fully grasp the homework. For each class, I would receive about 3, 40 page homework assignments weekly. The load was very doable and I did not feel stressed. It is important to note I am only taking 3 classes currently but once P2 rolls around I will be taking 4 so it will be interesting to see how much the workload increases.
The weather has gotten a lot colder these past 2 weeks. On average it is in the 50 degrees now. When I wake up at 7:30 for my 9 a.m. class the sun does not greet me anymore, it is still night out. I am currently on the lookout for gloves and hats and have switched from running outdoors to the treadmill.
Thrifting is a huge part of Amsterdam culture and I go weekly! There are a ton of outside markets and vintage stores all over the city. There are also a lot of clearance stores for any home products you need.
