Charlotte (Sem 1, 2025)

My Exchange at Utrecht University

My exchange at Utrecht University was one of the best experiences of my life. It gave me lifelong friends from all across the world, travel experiences across Europe, the opportunity to grow and challenge myself, and a lifetime of memories.

When I first arrived in Utrecht, there was a mix of nerves and excitement. I had no idea what to expect. There was no reason to be nervous, though, because I quickly fell in love with the city, the culture, and it wasn’t long before I found my people. Utrecht is a gorgeous city with canals, historic buildings, bike lanes and the iconic Dom Tower. Despite being the 4th largest city in the Netherlands, there was a calmness to it that I loved. Parks and canals intersperse the buildings, and seeing the city come alive during spring was one of my favourite things. Another of my favourite things was biking, the best transport method in the city, with everything around a 20-minute bike ride away from my accommodation. I stayed in student accommodation organised by SSH. My flat was located in Science Park, which is where a lot of exchange students lived. This meant I was surrounded by a community of exchange students which was so much fun as we all had a similar mindset, of just getting out there and doing everything we could, for the semester. My flat was with 3 other girls and was great, but to get the accommodation with SSH I had to be on top of it as it gets booked out almost immediately after opening.

Regarding Utrecht University, I found the classes to be both similar and different to those we have at UoA. There was less face-to-face contact time, but more readings, so it was an adjustment working out how to manage my time, as well as around any travel I wanted to do. I also found that discussions were more student-led. Orientation at UU consisted of Welcome Week, run by the university, where we were in groups with local mentors who showed us around and answered any questions we had, as well as Introduction Week, run by ESN (Erasmus Student Network). Both of these allowed us to meet other exchange students and see the city through various events and activities. Additionally, my faculty (Humanities) hosted an orientation and drinks afterwards to help us get settled in.

During my time on exchange, I had so many opportunities to travel both within and outside of the Netherlands. I got to visit a number of bucket list places around Europe and discover others that I’d never even considered. But additionally, some of my day trips around the Netherlands were my favourite experiences. Aside from travel, I got to get involved in different activities within Utrecht. One of these was giving Korfball, a Dutch sport that can be thought of as similar to Netball and Basketball, a go. This was such a fun side quest, and I only regret not contacting the club sooner to ask to join a training, so I definitely recommend it if there is something you want to try, just ask because they are generally very open and inviting to everyone.

While going on exchange is never easy, having to adjust to a new culture and language is always tough, I honestly had the best time, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have done it. It is a lot of work beforehand to get to the stage of going but as soon as you are there it is all worth it and I would recommend everyone interested in the idea of doing an exchange to just go for it!

Q&A

What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?

A highlight of the academic experience for me in Utrecht was getting to take classes that were so different from the ones offered at UoA. I found there was a wider range of options for me, especially for my European Studies requirement. Additionally, taking a paper about Europe in Europe meant that I was exposed to so many perspectives I would have never considered otherwise. The style of teaching was also quite different as we had a lot less class time but this meant that I could manage the time to work best for me.

Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?

Biking! No matter how overwhelming it is at the start, you have to embrace the biking culture of the Netherlands and get stuck in because it was truly one of my favourite parts of the exchange. For the duration of my time in Utrecht, I got a bike subscription with Swapfiets, which is the company most exchange students use. It was great because if I had any issues with the bike I could take it in and they would fix it on the spot or give me a new one free of charge and when my bike got stolen (basically a right of passage in the Netherlands) I was able to get a new one immediately (I did have to pay a fee which was €60 since I had locked the bike and had the key). Biking is definitely one of the things I miss most since leaving Utrecht.

What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?

1. Embrace biking early! I know I’ve said it heaps but it is such a vital part of the Dutch experience and although overwhelming at first you quickly get into it and can’t imagine living without it. Bonus: rent a bike with Swapfiets. (If you don’t know how to bike please learn)
   
2. Explore the Netherlands! Being located in Europe it is so easy to want to explore other countries and you can do so easily but the Netherlands also has so much to offer. Being in Utrecht you are in the middle of the country and with the incredibly well connected (although not cheap) train network most cities are less than 2 hours away. Also get to a Dutch island if you can.
   
3. Put yourself out there and say yes to as much as you can! Exchange is what you make of it so get involved. Join organisations like ESN which is the student network for exchange students which offers so many cool experiences and trips throughout the semester that you can get involved in.

How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?

I had saved around $20,000 for my exchange with the intention of doing a lot of travel while away. Additionally, I received one of the 360 semester scholarships and got the StudyLink living costs payments while on exchange. This was plenty for me, and I had a significant amount remaining when I returned home. I found that sharing costs on household necessities with my flatmates helped me a lot at the beginning when we had to buy all our kitchen equipment, and then planning meals out before grocery shopping so I was not wasting money on ingredients I wouldn’t use. How much you need on exchange largely comes down to how much travelling you want to do throughout and outside of your host country. It also helps if you plan early and can book in advance to take advantage of deals.

What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?

To be more open when meeting new people, because you never know who will become an important person in your life. This is something I watched myself grow to do more over the exchange, and it resulted in some incredible friendships. 

It is possible to get out there and do stuff throughout the semester alongside your studies. Because there was so much you could do on exchange, I was forced to get better at managing my workload and when everything had to be done by. As such, I have now seen that it is possible and am trying to implement it now that I am back in Auckland.

We have quite a sheltered view of the world from here in New Zealand. Making friends from across the world opened my eyes to how little we know about the state of the rest of the world and how we need to make an effort to educate ourselves more. 

Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?

I really took advantage of being located in Europe during my exchange. Before the start of the semester, I got a Eurail pass and did two Contikis. Both of these I highly recommend and together it meant that I got to visit the UK, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Prague. Throughout the semester, I spent a lot of time visiting different Dutch cities as the size of the country and incredible public transport infrastructure made it easy to do day trips. In total I visited 20 different Dutch towns/cities. My favourites included Amersfoort, Zanse Schans, Groningen and the Dutch island Ameland. During the semester breaks and after exams I was also able to do some more international travel and visited Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany and Luxembourg. In the final few weeks before returning to New Zealand I visited friends in their hometowns in Austria and Hungary as well as getting back to Paris and Zurich and visiting Slovenia. In total I travelled to 18 different countries and 20 Dutch cities during the 7 months I was away.

Is there any advice you could share about accommodation options at your host university and/or in the local area?

I lived in SSH housing, which was located on one of the campuses but was not provided by the university. I really liked my flat, which was over 3 floors, and I shared it with 3 other girls. We had everything we needed, and the kitchen/living room was large enough that we could have friends over. The rooms were also really big. Housing is really hard to come by in the Netherlands so I was lucky I was able to grab something through SSH. The application process was on a basis of first come first served so you have to take close notice of the dates that everything opens and make sure you are prepared. Since you could view the room options before they opened, I was prepared with a list of options that I was going for, and tabs open for a couple of them. As soon as it opened, I refreshed the page and booked. The pages take a long time to load since everyone is doing the same thing, but don’t refresh again, as I know someone who did and then lost the place. Within 5 minutes, everything was gone, so make sure you are onto it.