I’ve been in Maastricht for about two months! Maastricht is a cute, quaint city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The city is very close to the Belgium border and not too far from Germany as well. Maastricht is the perfect place for me because when I was looking for a study abroad location, I was looking for a place in central Europe in a city that was on the smaller side. I have been exploring the city and there are some hidden gems that I love.

My favorite place is called Dominicanen, which used to be a church that has been renovated into a modern book store (see picture below).  I love to sit in there and drink a nice cup of tea and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere.

Another place in Maastricht that I love is the St. Pieterberg’s caves. Cutting and hacking out blocks from the ancient layer of soft limestone created these man-made caves. The caves were used as a refuge during wartime.

My guilty pleasures while being in Maastricht are the waffles. It’s hard to be so close to Belgium and not love the waffles. If you are ever in Maastricht or Belgium, you can’t leave without trying one!

One of the greatest Maastricht traditions that I experienced was Carnival. Carnival is the celebration before Lent. Every person in Maastricht was dressed up in crazy costumes and there were parades throughout the streets. The whole city came together to celebrate!

Samantha with other Washington University students Alyssa Tarrant, Natasha Bhuyan, and Sumeeta Salvador celebrating at Carnival.

Although I love Maastricht, there have been some things that have definitely been an adjustment to living in a new country. The hardest adjustment is the language barrier. I have never been exposed to Dutch before. Although most people will speak to me in English after I have made it clear that I don’t speak Dutch, it is strange to not be able to understand what people are talking about around me. As well, it’s tricky to go grocery shopping because all of the signs in the store and the food labels are in Dutch. The first time I went grocery shopping, I definitely had my phone out and used a translator to make sure I was buying chicken!

I’ve also had to make adjustments in my classes at Maastricht University. Taking classes in another country is bound to be a change. The classes at Maastricht University use a Problem Based Learning style (PBL), which means we have smaller classes, called tutorials, where the students essentially teach each other with the help of a tutor.  I think it is great to be exposed to a different learning style, but it was an adjustment at first. It will definitely get easier as the semester goes on to learn on my own and help my peers learn.

I am definitely taking advantage of the central location of the Netherlands in Europe. So far I have visited Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Bruges, Belgium; Dublin and Galway, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Paris, France; and Aachen and Vaals, Germany. I can’t wait to keep visiting new places and learning about new cultures. Thank you to Olin for providing me with this amazing opportunity to become Dutch for the semester and to explore Europe.

Samantha Hindes is an Olin Business School Junior studying Economics and Strategy and Mathematics.