Abroad & Cold

Hello once again,

It's nearing the time of holidays, depending that is the country you are staying in. I'm not just going to assume you are celebrating Christmas, Sinterklaas, Thanksgiving or any other mainstream holiday. That besides the point, one drastic change that is nearing is the fact i now wear three layers of clothing when I go outside.
The weather is changing and the temperature is slowly dropping to zero.  The leaves are no longer green as I am no longer of some color. Last year, around this time, was the first time I snow, FIRST TIME. And yes, I was as excited as I could ever be. The urge to make snow angels, build snowmen and throw snowball at some random bystander was at it's peak.  It was all very exciting, especially when it started to pile up. But then a day passed and a week passed and my excitement had faded. The white beautiful fluffy snow had turn it brown melty gunk and I wasn't as excited to put on many layers of clothes just to pass by the grocery store to buy bread.

Adapting to seasonal changes was definitely a struggle for me. I had only ever lived my life in one season, summer. There was no need for jackets, sweaters, gloves, heaters or any other necessities you would need for winter time. I lived the life of air-conditioning, short pants and flip-flops of 18 years so it's no surprise i had a temperature shock or maybe a seasonal shock.  

Literally on Christmas Days I would be in my bikini, hanging out with friends and family.
 

However being able to experience seasonal changes as many people would agree to, he changing of scenery and seeing the flowers bloom again, is quite beautiful.
you also tend to appreciate good weather in colder places a lot more. Adapting, is what we are made to do, experiencing is overcoming. There are always going to be people who prefer cold or hot, or hot over cold. But if you are sorta stuck in a new situation, where you find it impossible to adapt, making the best out of something is what will get you out alive. Sure, your toes are numb and you skin feels like it's chapping off, but hey, snowboarding might be fun so i'll try it out. 

I learned the ins & outs of how to dress in different seasons (winter especially). And tried my best to embrace the chilling air by comparing it to heat wave days on St.Maarten. Although there were days I would have love to go back on the beach. I enjoyed what I was seeing right in front of me, something new. 

I've been watermarked: Paris video

Hello all, I thought I would share yet another tale from the Paris trip, but decided to do a short collaborated video with a friend of mine. We worked with small clips from our Paris Trip and edited a fun trailer-like video.  Due to the limited MB allowed to be uploaded onto Blogger (only 100 MB?? WHYYY?). I was forced to compress the video using free software with it's watermark plastered over my video, sadly :( :(. However, it is still a fun watch and hope you enjoy it.

As, always please leave comments sharing opinion or stories about any of your personal experiences studying abroad or traveling. Go out see the world, experience and learn!

Foreign NOMs NOMs

Although it is not as interesting as the topics I may have discussed before, I find it just as important especially students who are just beginning their "independent life" or "life away from home". Let's face the facts, when leaving the nest, along with its home cooked meals, it is hard to surviving off of the "pizza and noodles" diet.

Sure, I cooked back home, and yes I enjoyed it partially, but those days when you felt exhausted or you  just weren't in the mood to play chef, those leftovers in the fridge made by a family member or whom ever it may be, tasted and felt pretty good.

In the present scenario, if you didn't make it, you're most likely not going to find it your fridge. I have gotten over the fact that I would have to cook for myself daily, pretty quickly. I genuinely enjoy cooking but for those who don't like it as much, I suggest cooking big portions, not only will you not have to cook every day, due to satisfying leftovers from these big portions, but it would probably be cheaper than cooking smaller meals everyday.

Grocery shopping is my weak point. In other words I'm not a smart bargaining shopper, especially in a new country, where everything is different brands, products, vegetables etc. However i strongly advise trying out local brands instead of imported ones seeing that these are cheaper. It's a great idea to check out local markets that are selling seasoned vegetables & fruits at really good prices. Make weekly grocery plans instead of going daily, it'll be cheaper in the long run.

When it comes to cooking never be afraid to experiment, and recipes and cookbooks will be your best friend in the first couple of months. Lastly, cooking can be something enjoyable, cook together with friends or maybe even cook a dinner for friends.

Any tips, advice, comments, stories or even pictures about some of your experiences studying abroad are highly welcomed!!!

The opportunity to go to Paris

What is the best thing about studying in Europe? Hands down, the opportunity to do in-continental traveling. Yesterday, a group of friends and I, left on a journey, took a 7 hour long bus ride to Paris. Although the traveling itself was incredibly tiring and we were walking around in Paris on 4 hours of sleep, it was an incredible experience. It was the first time I have ever been and I was taken away by Paris liveliness and architecture.

To be able to go on these little trips will still experiencing my giant trip in the Netherlands is for me, one of the many benefits of studying in Europe. You'll be able to cheaply travel in between countries with bus rides, train rides or even charter flights.

On St. Maarten, you could visit other islands, which I didn't do regularly. But this was on a whole other level. Next time I go I would like to go longer than one day because obviously there is no way you can take in a country or a culture in one day.

Taking the step to study abroad is already quite a big one, in regards to traveling, therefore you sort of have the confidence and motivation to take these opportunities to go on this mini-trips and I think it compliments the whole experience well, to not only get to know the country you are residing in, but it's neighbor countries and the region, if you are able to do so of course. Which i highly recommend you do, because, in my case, I won't alway have the time to travel.

Here are some of the many pictures of our Paris trip, we came along many proposals and weddings, giving of the true feeling of Paris, City of love!

Do you eat coconuts?

Quite excited today because in two days I'll be in Paris hopefully standing next to the Eiffel tower, eating a croissant and doing all the other French clichés you can think of. Which, as a student, got me thinking about something we deal with every day, stereotypes, and you can lie to me and say that you haven't really ever believed or used stereotypes, which I do believe that some use them way less than others. But as human beings we can't help but kind of use these stereotypes when faced with something unfamiliar in life, especially other cultures. 

I myself think it's a quite an icebreaker, but that's me being corny and humorless. I, myself heard quite a  lot of Caribbean stereotypes, Antillean stereotypes and all kinds of Island stereotypes in my first year in the Netherlands, and I have never really gotten offended. Mainly because I am aware some people are just not knowledgeable of other cultures and everything they"know" about certain cultures are these stereotypes that are being presented in media or by others.

I was (or am) typically the same when I was faced with other cultures I was not knowledgable about. Best tips I can give about these certain situations is to keep an open mind, be willing to learn about different cultures from personal experiences (such as stories from your classmates etc.), and don't be afraid to ask questions ( but be careful what you touch upon, some questions can be out of line). In regards to hearing about stereotypes about your culture/country I can hopefully advise you to not be easily offended or take it as an opportunity to give them a little teaching.

A picture of "my outfit" for the Introduction party that was held in my first year. The concept was to represent your country in an outfit and boy did i get couple of laughs with mine.

How I Learned to Lose Fear of Uncertainty

Living and Loving Taiwan : How I Learned to Lose Fear of Uncertainty: There are many many lessons that I have learned in Taiwan that I could write pages about but the one lesson I am so happy to come back home ...

If i had to describe my year so far, studying abroad, this little story does it almost too well. The choice to leave home along with its feeling of security and stability and reach out to new experiences, you learn to fear not what you don't understand and that not knowing is but an opportunity to learn.
Check out this insightful post!

And as always, Ask any questions about my experiences or share some of your stories & pictures of your experience studying abroad/ visiting a foreign country :)!!

Big shot, Big Campus!

Here in the Netherlands I attend Erasmus University, which at first seemed completely different than I was use to. Not only were the people and professors I met at campus a new experience but the campus itself, which is really really huge. 10 story buildings all around the campus gave a entirely different feeling of "school", one that i wasn't entirely used to. But that definitely intrigued me. Everything what we students on the island (St. Maarten) knew about what "universities" or "colleges" looked like, came from television or the internet so we sort of knew what to expect but it's a completely different feeling when seeing it in person.

This is a picture i took of a building on campus, it's funny to know that I haven't been in half of the buildings on my campus.

Just to give you a preview of my high school back home i found some pictures online.
(Pictures source: AOB architects: http://www.aobarchitects.com/miltoncollege.htm)

Buildings were nowhere nearly as tall and colors like neon green and blue seemed very appropriate. 

My high school, Milton Peters College, is the biggest school on the island with a rough average of 1000 students. From going to a class of 10 students to a class of 100+ was defiantly the weirdest for me. Making classes seem somewhat impersonal and difficult to even remember all the names of your classmates.

But that's what I love about studying abroad, it is experiencing these different situations and scenes and getting out of your comfort zone. 

Ask or share some of your stories & pictures of your experience studying abroad/ visiting a foreign country :)!!