Best Semester Ever!

Studying abroad in Amsterdam was one of the best decisions I have ever made. IES Abroad provided all participants with an extensive orientation program that lasted a few days, and by the end, we all felt exceptionally prepared for anything that happened to us in the city. Our program staff were always willing to answer our questions and provide us with any recommendations for fun cultural activities taking place. Our housing was located remarkably close to the center of the city, and IES was able to help us get discounts on renting bikes for all of us to get around. Biking became a huge part of my life and was one of the most memorable parts of living in Amsterdam. At first biking seemed like it would be a very daunting activity in such a busy city, but the biking infrastructure is incredibly safe for even the most novice of bike riders. Almost everyone on our program grew super comfortable biking through the city, however, even if you didn't want to bike IES provided us with reloadable public transport cards to get around as well. Our program group grew very close and my roommate and I are still very good friends (I'm going to visit her soon!). Alongside taking classes at the IES center, we had the option to take classes at the University of Amsterdam, which was located only 10 minutes away from our housing. My UvA classes were wonderfully insightful, and helped me to explore some new academic areas of interest. IES also organized program-wide field trips and excursions that really helped get us out into the culture of the Netherlands. We went on biking trips to see the tulips and windmills, we went on a weekend trip to Rotterdam to see some cool modern architecture, and we also visited the Delft where we made our own Delft Blue tiles. Now that I'm back home, I miss Amsterdam every single day. I'm so glad that IES was able to give me this opportunity.