Painful hail, freezing snow, blistering winds, drenching rain and beautiful sunshine. These are all examples of the weather in which I have biked to and from school in in the Netherlands. Even though it isn’t always pleasurable it is always memorable. I think I can say through experience that the Netherlands is almost the entire opposite to Australia. From the weather, to the people, every social norm or value, the way students talk to their teachers and vice versa, the freedom and easy going life style, the hundreds of bikes, all the weird but delicious food and so much more. Because everything is so extremely different to what I am used to, every day has been an adventure of exploring new things and new ways of going about daily life.

The first week in orientation was by far the easiest, it brought me close with a large group of other exchange students about to embark the same adventure as myself. Each and every one of us were anxious about our families, the language, the culture and making new friends. Most of all, however, we were all over the moon excited for what was ahead of us. The whole week everyone was full of energy and excitement, learning the language, adapting to the weather and the food and laughing at the differences between the countries we came from.

Once I met my family I felt like I had immediately fit in. They accepted me with arms wide open, my host sister became like a best friend, and my host mother feels like a second mother and my host dad like a second dad. Going back to school hasn’t been easy, especially since I have actually graduated back home already, but the people are all so friendly. The common belief is that Dutch people are all very direct and honest about their opinions, which makes for interesting debate and hilarious conversations during the breaks and lessons. Within the first week I had already fallen of my bike numerous times with tonnes of laughter behind me, little did anyone know that in Australia no one actually knows how to dodge cars and ride through ridiculously small pathways.

The school is totally different, just like all the typical American films you have large hallways and free dress. Although it’s strange not to wear any uniform to school I find it much easier to express my personality in this way because not everyone has the patience to listen to my broken attempt at Dutch. Within two months, however, I have been able to improve my Dutch every day, even at times being able to mock the annoying grammatical difficulties in the language.

Within my first two months I have experienced two host grandma’s birthdays, the birth of a new baby in my host family, many other birthdays, Den Haag two times, Rotterdam two times, Delft and the most typical Dutch party, the Carnival. When my host mother pulled out three massive boxes filled with bright coloured clothing to dress up in I immediately saw how ridiculous we would all look on the streets. Although once we walked outside I realised that every person in my small little town had dressed up as something totally bizarre. The cars driving down the streets with blazing music and dancing teenagers filled the main street of the town as everyone who stood along to watch danced and sang along to all the typical Dutch party songs. Never in my life have I experienced something so totally crazy and amazing, we need this in Australia.

I have just returned from a very typical Dutch spring holiday, skiing for a week in Austria. Sounds crazy to me, but yes I went skiing in a totally different country for a week, and here that is normal (what!?). The mountains were covered in beautiful white snow, and even though it didn’t feel like a holiday at all but more like gymming all day it was an incredible experience and I am missing it already. The Dutch people really do know how it is done, and even though I do miss home at times, I would not trade this experience for anything. I don’t only learn more Dutch history, culture or language every day but I also learn more about myself and how far I am able to push myself to fit in. I can already tell that some of the friends I have made here are going to remain friends for a long time. Overall, the first two months have taught me a lot and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead.