thepsychedtraveller-blog

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My box spring/ bed frame may be wooden pallets but at least it looks cute and feels cozy :) 

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Maastricht Day 3

   Day 3 well, where to begin? Oh right, I'll begin with the morning as days tend to do. I woke up and prepared for the day. I met my friend Charlotte from Germany near the train station and we walked to school together. (Yes, this time I went to the correct campus). It was about a 15 minute walk and the weather was nice so it made for a lovely start to the morning. On our schedule it listed that there would be a welcome from the International Relations Office. I never could have imagined that this event started with eating pie and drinking coffee at 9:00 A.M. We all gathered together, most of our group from yesterday and talked while eating our pie. Following this, we moved in to the lecture theatre for the official start of the welcome. The International Relations Office highlighted a checklist of important things for us to do while educating us more on Maastricht  and the Netherlands. For example there are 12 provinces in the Netherlands which I already knew but I was not aware that Curacao, and St.Maarten also belong to the Netherlands.     The International Student Network gave us a presentation. They explained the different trips that they have to offer throughout the year (which I am on the ball there I already have tickets for the Dutch weekend and Oktoberfest), and they explained their events as well as that we get 15 percent off at RyanAir with our ESN Card as well as a free bag for up to 8 single flights! I guess it is kind of obvious how excited I was about that ha ha.     We then had a break for lunch where we explored as well as purchased some food. There is really nice variety in the student building you can get pizza, pasta, paninis, subs, asian food, smoothies, yogurt, fresh orange juice etc. I tried a chicken panini, it was delicious. At lunch we sat and discussed the cuisine of our different countries: Canada, Australia, Turkey, Singapore and Germany which was super interesting.    Next came the intercultural awareness lecture which was basically a social psychology lecture on the interdependent vs. independent societies and direct vs non-direct communication styles that are exhibited and to try and understand that we may encounter these in the Problem Based Learning groups but to try and be understanding and patient.    We checked out the booths downstairs and then all proceeded to walk from the university. A few of us headed to Action which is a discount store. A very lovely and cost-efficient store kind of like Pipers. I bought a few household items there and found a scratch map for 2 euros (Score!) I then headed to my flat where I finished reading an article for our session at school tomorrow. The weather was beautiful so I decided that it was time for some solo exploring. I went to the other side of the river and looked around in a few of the stores. I went back to Hema where I bought a duvet, duvet cover and a few household essentials. Now my flat is finally starting to feel homey and I’m loving how I am already so settled in this beautiful city. 

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Maastricht Day 2

   I woke up super excited about the day because it was the first day of our introduction week. I made sure to set my alarm early and be ready early so I could make my way to the university on time, if not early. Having seen some of the buildings the day before, I knew exactly where I had to go to get there... or so I thought. Here it was 10:25 when registration was from 10:30-11:00, I messaged my friend because I couldn't quite find the building. Upon sending the location that I was at she said, “Why are you on that side of the river!?” Uh oh, I knew I had done wrong. As it turns out, I was at Maastricht university all wrong but on the complete wrong campus on the other side of the river. I tried to remain calm as I figured out a solution. I would call a taxi. Upon the taxi company answering the phone, my hopes of a solution were crushed when I was notified that the taxi company was booked for hours. I thought on my feet (which luckily I’ve had lots of practice doing over the years), I proceeded to run. I knew I had to be to the other side of the river so I ran across the bridge and to the other side again. When I arrived at the other side, I turned on google maps to help me navigate my way there. I was running with my raincoat on and purse pressed against my side to keep it from swaying. I felt like a complete fool and everyone in the city definitely gave me some pretty weird looks except for one nice man on a bike who cheered me on (anyone who has ever been to the Netherlands knows that “nice man on a bike” is a horrible description as it could very well be just about any man in the country.) Anyway I felt like I was taking a weird route and at one point the sidewalk disappeared and I was running on the grass next to the highway. I later found out that I had typed in the directions for a car... that explains it.     I made it to the university building sweaty and five minutes before the registration closed (I’m really grateful that I run because if not, that 5K would have been a much harder time). I met up with my friends and we made our way in to the lecture hall. It was a bit of a welcome, one of the professors dressed in a suit with a tail, top hat and wooden clogs and told us about all of the Dutch stereotypes. He is very entertaining and everyone including myself hopes that they end up in his class. A local band that had 2 acoustic guitar players, with a classic guitar player and percussion member called “The Koala Bears” performed. They played a song entitled “Beethoven” and “Fluorescent Adolescent”. They were awesome, it was a nice addition to the morning. Following this we had a few speeches from professors and then went sent off to find our tutor groups outside.     I found my tutor group X5 and then we all lined up to receive our sandwich, water and pasta for lunch. In the line I met a super nice girl named Valerie from Singapore, we really hit it off right away. So much so that some how, we got separated from our group. The field was filled with groups and people so it was practically impossible to find them. We decided it was best to head to our next classroom. With the help of the Student Services Desk we navigated the way to our next building where we decided to sit on the grass and eat lunch. A few minutes after we sat down, a group approached the field and we were relieved when we discovered that it was our group. We joined in for icebreaker activities and to ask our group leader any questions that we had (I just really wanted to know where to buy a desk fan to put in my room).     After the break, we headed to the classroom for an introduction to PBL. PBL is the selling point of Maastricht University. The Problem Based Learning system is run on the idea of students teaching students. We sat in the room and introduced ourselves talking about our countries and stereotypes about our countries, it was super cool to hear about so many countries from the delegates in this tiny room. Back to the PBL, the idea is that you go to a lecture and then to a tutorial. In the tutorial you are given a problem and there are seven steps to follow, the first five happen in the first tutorial, the sixth on your own and the seventh at the second tutorial. Basically you all read the problem, clarify any terms that need to be clarified, analyze the problem and what is being asked, share any relevant information that you have, and create learning goals. Then the readings are divided among the group and the job of each member is to bring the article home to read and try to answer the learning goals. Then in the final tutorial, you teach other students about the information that you found and pool the information to answer the problem. This is the system that drew me to this school and it sounds awesome, so I hope it is as awesome in practice as it sounds in theory!    We did a quick tour of the university buildings and then headed to a meet the Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN) Faculty party. We were each given four blue tokens for drinks and four red tokens for food. The party was on the field, it was like a festival essentially. There was an awesome DJ playing music with lights, multiple food trucks around the perimeter and a beer tent. Each drink was 1.5 euro and the food varied, with my four food tokens I bought pasta bolognese for example. People began to dance but the highlight was the awesome professor from earlier that morning. He was trying to get people to dance and when he came over to our group, myself and Susan from Australia (who is super cool) went to dance with him to Missy Elliott. I think that was by far the best memory of day 2. 

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My cool kettle and a picture outside a bakery that has its own mill (Bisschopsmolen) in Maastricht on day 1.

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Maastricht Day 1

   On my official first day in Maastricht, I braved the Dutch grocery stores with Cate (who I had met on the train) and her friend Nathan.  We went to Albert Hejn which is within a two minute walking distance from my flat. Well what an experience. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING was in Dutch. Not only were things in Dutch but the store was massive, there were literally three isles of all different types of milk: it appeared to be almond milk, soy milk, regular milk, cream, milk for your coffee, buttermilk, and every other type of milk in the world (or so it seemed to an anglophone like myself).     We picked out a basket and began fumbling our way through the store, we filled our baskets with food that we had some vague idea of what it was. When we went to pay, we lined up and were so proud of ourselves for having completed our first official dutch shopping trip. However, we were in a debit card only line and we wished to pay in cash. Once we explained the situation, she printed a receipt and we proceeded to the service desk to pay there, apparently it is a common occurrence so that made me feel a little better.     What I really thought was cool about the grocery store is the rechargeable gun that scans your items for the price, when it comes time to pay you just hand in the scanning gun, pay and then you’re on your merry way. How cool is that?? Also, they had a machine that squeezes oranges and you pay for bottles of freshly squeezed orange juice that you fill yourself, I've seen a few of these machines around the city and I think that should be one of my next little adventures.     Following the grocery store, I came home to put away my groceries. Then we headed to Vodaphone to purchase a SIM card. We bought 2 Gb of data and unlimited texting anywhere in the Netherlands for 10 euros a month, so cheap compared to Canada! (So I know have a dutch number so if anyone wants to iMessage me, feel free to message me on facebook for my dutch number!) Then we walked all around the square on the other side of the river. We found this store called ‘Hema’, one of the girls from Australia (Cass), had recommended it. We went in and I headed upstairs picking up dishes, cutlery, and essentials for the apartment. I bought the cutest kettle that I have ever seen so I was pretty impressed with that. Hema to me is a lot like Winners back home, cute home decor and clothes at discounted prices. Such a beautiful store, would recommend.     We then went to the Student Services Centre and to check out the campus building to know where they were for the next day when our introduction week things officially started. The architecture of this whole city is stunning and the university buildings are no less. Just past the campus is a little park. This park is filled with a lot of different types of birds: seagulls, ducks, and some other birds that I had not seen before but they all clustered together despite what kind of bird they were which was interesting. Then in the middle of the park was a caged area filled with all different types of birds and descriptions as to what the birds were (we tried to look smart and like we were reading the information but that was clearly a lie because it was all in dutch ha ha). This little park was so quiet and peaceful, would be a good place to relax during stressful exam time. We proceeded to the Basilica of Our Lady to look inside. Candles could be purchased in memory of a loved one, there was a full room dedicated to this with burning candles all around the perimeter. The church is massive and the beautiful stained glass and architecture is just breathtaking.    Finally we browsed a bit more and made our way to Cafe Local for a glass of wine as we people watched. The wind had picked up and it began to get chilly so the lovely waiter turned on the heaters inside the umbrellas. It was a lovely way to relax before heading back to my flat and calling it a night. Upon my arrival it was time to prepare dinner. I had to figure out how to use my propane stove to cook my stir fry. I managed to light a match and keep it going while turning on the burner and keeping it lit. Only took two tries, I was very impressed with myself. Another little victory on day 1. 

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Maastricht Day 0

The Journey from Newfoundland, Canada to Maastricht, Netherlands:    I left home with a full heart, I felt beyond happy to have such an amazing support system of family, friends and community members. With every comment on Facebook that people left rooting me on, the more excited I became. If I am being honest, I was a little nervous too. After all, this was my first time travelling internationally solo. My parents drove me to the airport, we said our “See you laters,” and off I headed to embark on what I am sure is to be the adventure of a lifetime.     The flight from St. Johns, NL, Canada to Dublin Ireland was 4h30min and was pretty uneventful for the most part. It was a smooth flight and everything ran smoothly. As we began our descent, I began talking to the girl who was sitting across from me. As it turns out, she was well travelled. She gave me the inside scoop and all the details of how to navigate the airport and things that I should know when travelling in general. She then proceeded to talk to me in the customs line explaining my next steps and how my journey would go. She was a blonde angel that I am beyond grateful for, she reassured me that everything would be ok and that I would make it to my destination. To top it all off, we even had the same first name! Thanks Jenna !    Speaking of customs, the line for customs was so long for those of us without an EU passport. I waited an hour and a half in the line and realized that I had a half an hour to finish going through the line, go collect my bags on an unknown carousel and drop my bags off at RyanAir for my next flight (which I only had an idea of where it was from my travel angel, Jenna). I knew I had to do something so I mentioned to the people in front of me that I had another flight to catch and told them about my situation, not only did they allow me to go ahead of them but they cheered me on as I made my way to the front of the line. Thank you kind strangers for being my cheerleaders, without these kind-hearted humans, I would have missed my next flight.     Flights? Oh yeah, I found my way to bag drop with 10 minutes to spare and through security in good time. I found a lovely little breakfast place, ate and proceeded to my gate for my flight from Dublin to Amsterdam. Once I had boarded the plane, I was getting settled in. I hadn’t slept much on the first plane and by this time, I was preparing to sleep for the duration of the flight. We were delayed an hour although I am uncertain as to why. I think it was due to weather in Amsterdam maybe? Not sure as a lot of the announcements were in Dutch.     Well now that we’ve brought up Dutch (and what a beautiful language it is), for those of us who can’t speak it makes a confusing trip on the trains. When I arrived in Amsterdam airport I made my way smoothly through customs and then to the area where the trains are. I bought a ticket from the kiosk from the Amsterdam Schipol Airport to Maastricht, Awesome! However, I had no idea when the train departed, which train lane to be in or if I had any connections everything was in Dutch. I proceeded to the line for train services and the lovely man who worked there printed me off a schedule including times, platforms and train changes. Now I was ready to go, or so I thought. How do you get to station 3? A lady who I asked was going there and showed me the way, which I am grateful for. Downstairs in the train station there were trains coming and going, my train schedule was in Dutch as were the signs. I asked a man who then explained the whole train system to me and broke down step by step what I had to do to make in to Maastricht in one piece. He is a professor and has taught at Maastricht several times, a wonderful man. Turns out he likes to travel and has been many places teaching like New York and London. He waited patiently with me, ensured that I got on the correct train and went on his merry way. Another travelling angel that I was blessed to have met.     Then came the train ride. Imagine me a little 5 foot tall girl who is 120 pounds carrying a 50.0 pound suitcase with a mini suitcase as a carry on and another personal item besides on a train, then up and down stairs on a train... yeah, it wasn't pretty. But I met a fantastic girl named Cate who was in a similar predicament with all of her luggage. Many strangers either offered to help or did help us with our luggage. As it turns out Cate is from Virgina, USA. She endured the journey with me and together we finally found our way to Maastricht. In just the few short moments that I had talked to this sweet girl, I knew that we’d become good friends.    So I’ve made it to Maastricht, the hard part is over now, right? Well, not quite. I had been emailing my wonderful landlord back and forth to set things up. However, when I told him when I was arriving and asking if he would meet me here, I did not receive a response. At the train station I searched for public telephones but could not find any and my phone was useless until I purchased a Dutch SIM card. I continued my journey by taking a taxi to my apartment. When I asked if there were any public phones, he offered the use of his. He called my landlord (which good thing he was a local because I only knew the Canadian extension anyway), and my landlord answered right away. This super friendly taxi driver had made the last bit of my journey so smooth.     My landlord was at my apartment promptly. He helped me with my heavy bag up two sets of narrow stairs to my new room. My room is furnished because I had bought furniture off my landlord who purchased it from the previous Tennant. He showed me all around the apartment, my room is almost like an attic room. I have a little bed on wooden crates, a mini sofa with a red cover, a sink, mini fridge, propane stove, sink and little wardrobe. It is quite a cozy room but a very different vibe than North American living, which is to be expected. My shower in next to my room with a sink, and my toilet is in a room by itself on the second level. It feels different to have the shower and toilet separate, but it is all a part of the experience! I have a washer on the ground floor in a little closet of its own. It is cool that it isn't coin operated like all of the washing machines at my apartment that I live in near my home university. There is not a drying machine, but apparently they aren't really a thing here so I will have to get creative with how I dry my clothes.     By the time I had settled away in my room, I was pretty tired. But it was a whole new city, province, country and continent for me to explore. I put on my shoes and a more suitable outfit and went to meet some exchange friends in the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. We went to the steps near the river and hung out while getting to know each other. It was nice to put faces to some of the people that I had met on social media. If day 0 was this exciting, I can only imagine what the rest of the year has to hold. Stay tuned for new blogs about the adventures of ThePsychedTraveller.