Although he is from not so far away (Neurenberg-Nijmegen is about 5 hours by car), Christoph has already gained some interesting insights about the Dutchies.
The German exchange student, originally from Neurenberg, has been studying in Nijmegen for one semester and he is planning to stay until mid-July this year. At his home university at Bamberg, a small city in the north of Bavaria, he is studying European Economic Studies and at the Radboud University he follows Business Administration courses. Before he came to Nijmegen, he had never heard of the city before, until he received the letter of his university stating that he will study in the Netherlands for one year. A couple of weeks before this moment, Christoph had to make a ranking of ten universities he would want to go to for one year. Although Nijmegen was only ranked seventh on his list of ten universities, Christoph is now very thankful that his university sent him here!
Student life
What makes Nijmegen special, according to Christoph, is that although it is a relatively small town, you can do as many activities as in a big city. Although, it is more quiet here than in his hometown, Christoph really enjoys this and he does not feel like he is missing something. Furthermore, the German exchange student loves Doornroosje and he is really looking forward to the summer festivals in Nijmegen. During his first semester in Nijmegen, he has already met a lot of people and made new friends to party with! Christoph: “It helped a lot that an orientation week was organized at the start of the first semester and also many trips and international parties have been arranged so far.”
But apart from all the partying, Christoph needs to visit our beautiful campus at the Radboud University a couple of times a week to get his ETCS-credits. Luckily, he is very happy with the choice of his courses. Although he was warned in advance about the high level of education, Christoph thinks his courses are really doable and they will become useful for his future profession.
Cultural differences
Although there are not many shocking cultural differences between Germany and Holland, Christoph mentions the open-mindedness of the Dutch as something that is different from the people in his hometown. Except from the students in Bamberg, he describes his hometown as more conservative. During the week, every pub and club has to close at one o'clock. Moreover, the older people in the town are not able to speak English. Even for students from the north of Germany who are studying in Bamberg, they are difficult to understand since the older people speak with a very strong dialect. In contrast, most Dutch people are able to understand a few words in English and, as Christoph experienced, the Dutchies have a friendly and helpful nature.
Vice versa, Holland could also learn from its German neighbours if it comes to car production and playing soccer. Although Christoph doesn’t consider this as being really important. According to him (soccer fans pay attention!) at the next world cup, the Netherlands will win the trophy!
Although Christoph might have some neck problems after his exchange because he always has to look up if he is talking to Dutch people (while he is already 1.80 m!), he concludes that he has had a great experience up until now: “I have to thank Nijmegen and the Erasmus program a lot, not only because I met my girlfriend on this little adventure. So for everybody who is kind of bored, get out of your comfort zone and go abroad. As you see it does not matter how far you go, sometimes 15 kilometers beyond your own border are enough!”
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