Amsterdam: Bikes, Canals, Cafes. Past Review
By Emily F (Political Science and Government., Wellesley College) for
IES Abroad: Amsterdam - Social Sciences & Humanities
YES! It was great. There of course were difficult aspect to it, but overall I really enjoyed it and would do it again.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I was expecting the academics to be a lot easier than they were, which wasn't a bad thing. I appreciated that I learned things from my classes. I've heard a lot of horror stories about people going abroad and just having awful academic experiences, but the lecturers I had contact with were interesting, engaged, and helpful. It wasn't as challenging as my home university, but for an abroad experience it was quite good. The grading system is different and the class time is distributed differently, but none of these things were difficult to adjust to. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I was really impressed with the program administration in the host country. They were organized, on top of things, and incredibly helpful with any questions I had. Compared to my experience with SIT administration in Morocco this was fabulous. I really appreciate all of their hard work and help! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
You need to buy some items to settle-in but that is quite easy. I enjoyed the apartment style housing, but it doesn't really facilitate meeting people outside the IES program. It would be nice to try to mix up the housing a little bit. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
There are a lot of cool markets, free events, festivals and just really interesting things to do in Amsterdam. I recommend that you do research and check them out. It's such a cool city that deserves a lot of time exploring. It's so much more than pot/prostitution/tourists. Get outside of those areas and see the rest of the city. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Europe is expensive. Preparing meals for yourself, budgeting, etc. can help control some of these expenses, but I recommend that you go in with a set amount of how much you are willing to spend. Especially take into account how much you want to travel, etc. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I took a half-semester Dutch course. It was my first exposure to Dutch, so it helped me with getting a hold of basic phrases. However, most people in the Netherlands can speak English so it wasn't necessary to take. It was helpful though. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Introduction to sharia or "Islamic Law and Morality" |
| Course Department: | LW 311 |
| Instructor: | M. Blessing |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The course was challenging. It offered exposure to material that can be difficult to grasp and understand at times. The class wasn't as organized as well as I thought it could have been, but the lecturer does an ok job of tying things together, but sometimes it's a little after the fact. The book used for the class was also more difficult to understand than some other texts I've been exposed to. The teacher was more often than not prepared and he encouraged discussion of the topic in both a historical perspective as well as within the context of current events. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Dutch Identity: Images of Dutch Society through Time |
| Course Department: | CU 151 |
| Instructor: | D. de Hoog |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | It was somewhat challenging, the material wasn't difficult, but the lecturer did demand that students think critically and work hard. It did make use of museums, and the general history of Amsterdam. The lecturer was definitely well-prepared, but he did take a long time to get back to students about work. I participated about the same in class as I do at my home institution, which is frequently |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Not that I'm aware of. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
IES Exploring Dutch Society & Culture |
| Course Department: | RE 395 |
| Instructor: | L. Lips |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | It was an interesting course because each student got to pursue their own research. It was a really good opportunity to experience a specific aspect of Dutch culture in depth and learning a lot about that aspect. I also learned a lot from the other people in my group. Overall it was a really good class. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
