Reflection

There were many firsts on my trip to the Netherlands. It was my first time travelling internationally, first time in Europe, first time in a study abroad program—the list goes on. And there have been a plethora of things that I have learned with these firsts. I think that it goes without saying that I learned a lot through this trip, not only about innovation and libraries, but about who I am as a person and how I want to conduct myself in a country other than my own. Looking back on my time in the Netherlands, I am amazed how short a time a month really is, but at the same time, the sheer amount of experiences—whether it be because of the program or of my own will—that I had is staggering to say the least. I always wanted my first trip abroad to be memorable, and this trip was everything I hoped for and more.

Arriving in the Netherlands after not sleeping for for the last 20 hours was not ideal to say the least, but bearable. This was my first time experiencing a time difference this large. My first impressions of the Netherlands were solely based on the airport, train, and metro ambience—which is to say very good because it everything was clean. As I rode the train, looking out towards the city, getting small snapshots of the skyline, it did not look too different from the United States. Many people told me that Europe is this magical place that is so far removed from the United States that it is shocking. However, I think that is only partially true. The most glaring difference I feel is how quiet city centers are in the Netherlands, especially before 10 AM and after 6 PM. Even during the normal operating hours of businesses, there just did not seem to be much in the way of noise pollution, partly due to the fact that not many cars could easily drive into such areas and partly because there never seemed to be hordes of people on the streets, at least, not on the same level as a place like Manhattan. As well as the lack of noise pollution, I found the decorum of the general population of the Netherlands to be much less aggressive than where I am from. I do not think I heard a single car horn during my stay, and the people in general seemed more friendly and just in less of a hurry than everyone is in the United States. Overall though, my time in the Netherlands felt akin to my first few weeks in Seattle. Coming from New England, it took some time adjusting to the ethos of the Pacific Northwest. There was a shift in mindset—the same happened when staying in the Netherlands. However, I do not think that there is this radical difference between the two countries that you can quantifiably say is magical or better, only different. 

All of this is not to say that I did not find aspects of the Netherlands—and Europe in general—that I liked or enjoyed, my time in the Netherlands was enjoyable and it informed me about myself and how I wanted to act as a tourist and as a person. I do not think that it is unfair to say that the Netherlands is pretty homogenous in terms of ethnicity, and this homogeneity made me self-aware that I was a tourist and it made other tourists quite obvious too. There is this stereotype of the “Asian tourist”. Generally, these are mainly Chinese people from wealthy backgrounds that travel with family/friends that have an aura that screams tourist—a different aura than what American tourists give off. These Asian tourists are dressed very ostentatiously and generally have little care for the culture and social norms of the particular country they are in, at least that is how I interpret the stereotype. I have found this generalization to be true for the most part. The vast majority of Asian tourists I see in the United States and saw in Europe, fit this description to a tee. They are usually viewed in a negative way, and to be honest, I find myself judging these people too. This stereotype has definitely made me more aware about how I conduct myself in a foreign country and for me, it is hard to say how bad this stereotype is. It has never discouraged me to not go somewhere for fear that I would be labelled as a tourist, but I can see how it might make someone else nervous about travelling abroad. It is difficult to say how long this generalization will continue to be relevant, I think as long as China continues to get richer, the amount of these tourists will increase. Whether that is a good or bad thing, I do not know. 

I like to pride myself on at least trying to understand the culture that I will be entering for an extended period of time because it will create a more positive experience for everyone. I am more prepared for travelling abroad by doing so and while I am abroad, the people who live in the country may not immediately think that I am a tourist, which would be nice. However, I think the most important part of travelling abroad is learning about a culture other than my own. This broadens my own point of view and allows for a kind of introspection on my own values and culture that cannot be done in the comfort of my own home. During my time in the Netherlands, I found how early many of the shops would close would frustrate me while also feeling a sense of admiration and slight jealousy because the options for late night food was limited and the expectation that workers should have a home life is so foreign to the United States. There seems to be this general “we over me” mentality in the Netherlands that I find so fascinating because it is so different from America and the ramifications of that are so far reaching. Over the course of the trip, some of the guest speakers for the study abroad have mentioned that the people of the Netherlands generally stay away from disagreeing with the majority and frown upon dissenting opinions. On the other hand, in the United States, I feel that sometimes, some of us live to argue and to be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. These two positions seem entirely opposite, and I think that my experiences in the Netherlands have made it clear to me that neither of these positions are particularly better. Cooperation at the level of the Netherlands is just not possible in the United States because there are so many different people it would be hard to create such a homogenous ideation of thought, but dissent and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. I think that the Netherlands has taught me that cooperation is just as important as opposing ideas that I do not agree with. While it seems quite obvious that cooperation to a point is a good thing, I have found that many people do not even agree on the same baseline of facts—especially in politics. Finding common ground nowadays is so important because we have to realize that all of us are not so different from one another.

I wish that I had more time in the Netherlands, two weeks in Amsterdam and two weeks in Delft was not long enough to experience everything that I wanted—especially when the last few days were mired in food poisoning. I wanted to go to the Mauritshuis in the Hague for the extra day I had after the program, but that Saturday was the worst of my food poisoning. However, I am grateful to have went to all the other art museums I was able to go to. Visual art has become quite a personal topic for me over these last few years and many of the pieces that I adored only on the computer screen, I got to see in person which was exciting for me. My love for art truly began in high school when I took an art history class with a teacher who was so enraptured with what she was teaching, it rubbed off on me and stayed. Being able to see the pieces that were in my textbook for the class was surreal because of such a large difference in size and detail. Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn at the Rijksmuseum was the most striking for me just because of how massive the canvas is. I stood in front of that piece for a good ten minutes studying every little detail of the piece as best I could. It was an amazing experience because I never thought that I would be able to see so many pieces I have been wanting to see for years in such a short amount of time. I have found that the more art I see, the better I understand why art is so interesting to me. From Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers to Rothko’s No. 3, I believe that the entire point of art and the advancement of art movements is to distill emotion into its most potent and elemental form—that is—trying to get at what it means to be human. Whether my notion is correct or not, I do not really care, it is true for me and that is what matters.

Going abroad, especially to the Netherlands, was a great experience for me because it has widened my view of the world. Every experience I have builds upon who I am as a person, whether it be a poor or good experience. Every bit counts. My time in the Netherlands was not perfect by any means but I do not regret a second of my time there because it helped me decide the type of tourist I want to be in the future, and I got to see a lot of my favorite art pieces of all time. I would love to go back and do everything that I did not have time to do. After studying abroad, I am more empowered to go abroad again, there is this huge world that I am missing out on. Engaging with the world and people different from me is the way to create impactful experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.