This semester, I embarked on a new adventure across the Atlantic, almost 5,000 km from King’s. 

I’m Mira, a third-year political science student at King’s and Dalhousie. For the past two months, I’ve been on exchange at Leiden University in the Netherlands, studying at their campus in The Hague. Here’s a look inside my exchange experience, starting with everything that led up to it. 

When I was looking at possible schools for exchange, my decision came down to three factors: language, location and timing. 

I knew going in that I’ve never been good at picking up languages — hard as I try — so I needed to pick a place where I could get by with a rough understanding of the language. Also, because I wanted to travel, I tried to pick a country well connected to the rest of Europe and somewhat centrally located. 

Timing was the most helpful factor in cutting down my options. 

Each school I looked at had slightly different start and end dates, some of which worked better with the Dal academic year than others. While I would’ve loved to study in Germany, its semester begins in March and ends in October, which would have made a single-semester exchange pretty much impossible. 

My search for appropriate timing led me to the Netherlands. Choosing a school within the country was easy: I picked the one with some form of student housing. Finding an apartment in Canada was hard enough, and I was not prepared to navigate another country’s rental market. 

Strangely, academics were not a top priority when I was choosing a school, but I lucked out. Leiden University has a strong political science department, with a separate campus in The Hague mainly dedicated to the faculty. 

Being in a larger program has its pros and cons. On the bright side, the larger faculty means more professors bring new perspectives to each class. However, a larger program means larger classes. Going from last semester, when my largest political science class had 37 students, to sitting in lecture halls of over 200, has been quite the jump.

It’s definitely a less personalized experience, with less discussion-based learning. I’ve loved the small upper-year seminars I’ve taken at Dal and the tight-knit tutorials from FYP. Still, I’m glad I have the chance to experience a new variety of classes and teaching styles. 

Exchange isn’t just about learning in the traditional sense, though. Living abroad is all about embracing new ideas and perspectives from the world around you. 

It’s a cliché, but one thing that absolutely stands out about living in the Netherlands is getting to experience the biking culture. In Canadian cities, I’m not a cyclist. It’s just too scary. I’m not confident that drivers are always checking their blindspots for cyclists, and the bike lanes tend to drop off in some of the busiest areas. 

While it took a few weeks for me to learn and adjust, biking is less intimidating in The Hague. Since everybody is cycling, there are fewer cars on the road, and drivers on the road yield to cyclists and drive safely around them. It’s more sustainable and makes for a good time when I’m out late with friends. 

There are other fun parts of Dutch life, too. Beers at 3 p.m., stroopwafels and the outdoor markets are all things I will miss when I’m back in Canada. 

As much as I feel settled in the Netherlands, especially because the gloomy, rainy climate reminds me of Halifax, I’ve never been more homesick for King’s. 

One thing about going on exchange is that it feels like starting university all over again. Going to orientation as a third-year student, having to make awkward small talk about where I’m from and trying to make friends feels a lot like stepping backward. I knew being away from all of my best friends would be challenging, but it continues to be something I struggle with. However, I wouldn’t change my decision to come here. 

When I found out I’d be the only one in my friend group going to the Netherlands, I almost considered not going on exchange at all. But my adventures so far have made me so glad I didn’t pass up the opportunity just because I was scared. 

Exchange has been the perfect opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone. I’ve met people from around the world and visited three new countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain), and I still have three more months to go. 

Plus, I can now say, “Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands” (I speak a little Dutch).