Settling In

By Will Fisher, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Believe it or not, moving to a different country can be tricky.

Aside from the immigration concerns, housing issues, university work, and the rest of the practical concerns (all of which warrant their own blog post), just finding yourself can take time in a completely new environment. My experience with this is still ongoing, but after a term of living in Amsterdam, I’ve settled into more of a groove, and feel able to properly assess my time so far.

Firstly, everything is going to take a lot of patience. That’s patience with yourself, patience with your friends, and patience with your goals. After your first couple of weeks, you might be lucky enough to have cemented a full social group, or you might still feel a little lost in your new environment. Most people – me included – will land somewhere in the middle, having met a fair few people and made some friends, but still largely feeling a little aimless. No matter how the start to your exchange goes, try to remember that you still have tonnes of time at your disposal, enough to discover your people and your places on your own terms. If you’re ever concerned that you’ve left something too late, or you’ve missed the boat, I promise that you haven’t.

But this won’t all happen on its own. You’ll almost certainly need to go out of your way to find what you’re looking for, and where you find it might end up surprising you. I wasn’t expecting to get involved with student politics in Amsterdam, having frankly had enough of it back in England, but now I regularly find myself at politically focused events and meetings, and have even had the chance to manage some myself. Keeping an open mind is vital to the exchange experience; you never know when the right opportunity for you is printed on a flyer around campus, or standing at a stall in the rain, or ordering another round at a bar.

It’s not easy keeping your eyes open to everything, particularly with all the other pressures that come with an exchange year, but your time abroad will benefit greatly from the small conversations and opportunities you take up. Even if something doesn’t end up being for you, there’s no harm in giving it a try (it turns out I am not a big fan of sketching), and the potential benefits are enormous.

However, balanced with that is making sure you take time for yourself. If you’re a chronic planner, set time in your schedule for down time – you’re going to need it! For me, that’s involved getting a movie pass for the local Amsterdam cinemas (google “Cineville pass” for anyone interested) and spending a couple of hours once or twice a week checking out the old films they put on. It could be taking time to pursue a hobby, reading, or honestly just scrolling on your phone for a while. Whatever floats your boat. Just make sure you’re paying attention to yourself and your social battery and looking after yourself as you need to.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get involved in plenty so far here, from music events to food drives, and, as always, it’s taken a mix of luck and effort to get there. You’ll find the things and the people that are right for you, even if it can seem impossible at times.