BeforeLeaving
When I started the application process for my exchange I had a lot of trouble deciding where to go and America was first on the list. I changed my mind about a million times before reading a previous students exchange report (you can read it here http://www.waikato.ac.nz/students/home‐and‐
away/2010/03/maastricht‐exchange.shtml) and deciding on Maastricht. She talked of cobbled streets, bike rides to Belgium and ease of travel, it sounded like a dream and my mind was made up. One of the best things I did before going was meeting Shannon. She was also going to Maastricht and we decided to travel together. We had only spent about an hour together before boarding the plane but we would barely leave each other’s side for the next 5ish months. I think we were both taken aback by how beautiful Amsterdam was when we arrived. We spent a couple of days there taking in the sights before making our way to Maastricht. Luckily I had downloaded 9292 it’s the Netherlands rail app and is extremely helpful when you have to change trains 3 times and all your ticket says is Amsterdam – Maastricht. Inthebeginning
We got to Maastricht in the late afternoon, it was pretty much dark already, and we were not happy. Travelling with our giant bags, our jet lag, the shitty weather, not being able to understand what food we were buying and the fact that our accommodation was not what we were expecting (and the guesthouse welcome pack consisted of a map of Maastricht from 2009). Luckily we met up with some people already living there who invited us up for dinner, talked us through all the stuff we needed to know and made us feel a lot better. Shannon and I stayed in the same room the first few nights because let’s be honest it’s a bit scary to begin with. But once you get through that first week it really is like a dream. I studied at UCM, it’s a really cool old building right but the wall which is perfect for lunches when the weather is good. My courses were much easier than I was expecting, I was in third year had taken mostly second year courses thinking they would be harder than ours but they weren’t. Problem based learning is really cool with the right group of people and not so great with the wrong. I study biology and my favourite course there was Immunology, but I really think your experience with PBL depends on what you study and the group that you get. That being said if you do all your readings you’re pretty much guaranteed to pass. Maastricht
Maastricht is actually beautiful, the best thing to do when you arrive is explore. Find the old church which has been converted to a book store, try to get a look inside the big church on the roundabout, have a picnic and watch the sunset up at the Fort, venture to the other side of the river, take a 10min bike ride to Belgium or a 30km bike ride to Germany. If you go in our A semester (which I re commend you do) you will also get to experience Carnival AKA you get a week of Uni so that everyone can dress up in elaborate costumes and drink in the streets. The city is decorated, the shops board up their windows and the bars bring their bar to the street, there really is nothing else like it. Maastricht is also a pretty safe place. We would have no problem biking to get food or to a party in the dark and I never felt unsafe. Travel
While on my exchange I went to a few different cities in the Netherlands (Rotterdaam, Den Haag, Utrecht, Kinderdyk, Eindhoven and the Keukenhof of course) it can be a bit overwhelming with the whole of Europe on your doorstep but I think it’s cool to see a bit of the country you live in and the Netherlands has a lot to offer. In the weekends we did trips to Brugge in Belgium which is only 3 hours away, 7 euro on the train and so beautiful, Barcelona in Spain, I spent my birthday in Paris (and at Disneyland!!), met up with a friend in London and went with her to Dublin, took a day trip to Luxembourg and spent ANZAC day in Gallipoli. After Uni finished my Boyfriend met me in Amst erdam and we did a trip which went Amsterdam‐Paris‐Zurich‐Rome‐
Venice‐Salzburg‐Prague‐Berlin‐Maastricht. We got Eurail passes from New Zealand they’re quite pricey but actually the cheaper than booking all the trains individually and a lot more flexible. He left from Amsterdam and I set of for London ending my trip at Glastonbury music festival. Travel is unbelievably easy if you go to Maastricht you will probably get the opportunity to travel more than anywhere else. TopTips
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When choosing accommodation keep these things in mind. The main guesthouse, Brouwersweg, used to be a hospital and some of it still is/still has a mean hospital feel about it (especially the shared rooms). It is cheaper though so if you do go for it go for the C building (it seemed to be the place to be). Volksplein is smaller and closer to Aldi and Uni, you only share kitchen and bathrooms with 3 or 4 other people but it’s a bit more expensive. Also you need to sign up and pay a deposit ASAP Shannon had all sorts of problems because she 
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reserved without paying and they gave her room away. You can also try ringing them to get through. Get your bank account sorted. Having a dutch bank account is so handy and can be used anywhere in Europe (even if they don’t use euro). Its the cheapest way to go because there’s only one conversion fee and then ATM’s are free. Just go to the student services and they’ll give you everything you need. Also make sure you close it before you leave because trying to do it from here is a headache Get the working holiday Visa. You don’t need to get your photo taken by an approved person and all that stuff anymore you just get the exchange person at Uni to ring and make an appointment for you and you go to Eindhoven. Its only an hour away and its pretty cool so make a day of it. Never pay full price for a train ticket within the Netherlands. Hema and Albert Hijn sometimes have Daykaart deals which are cheap tickets for anywhere in the Netherlands and can be used all day (so great for day trips). Buy heaps when they come on sale or there is a facebook group for people looking to buy/sell them in Maastricht When going to Belgium use the b‐europe website. Student tickets are only 7.50 from Maastricht to pretty much anywhere in Belgium. Ryan air is the cheapest flights ever. My round trip Maastricht‐London‐Dublin‐ Brussels Charleroi (you can then get the 7.50 train back to Maastricht) only cost around 60 euros. When you’re looking at the same flight heaps clear your cookies and the price will fall. The first day you get there get a bike. It will make your life much easier. There are plenty of facebook pages for buying/selling bikes and don’t pay more than 50 euro because it will probably break anyway. Keep up with ESN and what they’re doing. There trips are the cheapest way to travel around Europe and are pretty flexible if you don’t want to stick with the group. Get in quick though because the tickets do sell out fast. Make sure you go to a CANTUS (dutch beer drinking/singing awesomeness) there is only 3 in the semester and nothing else like it. Get in line for your ticket an hour before they go on sale and go with friends. Aldi is the cheapest supermarket and closest to Volksplein but closed on Sundays. The Coffee is terrible everywhere but the Tea is good! Teazone is the best place to hang out/study when you want a break from the library. Trying to fit my experience into a report was really hard. There are so many stories I could tell you about all the different things I did and learnt on my exchange. It really was the best decision I ever made and I have no doubt that if you will have no regrets if you choose Maastricht. I hope this has been helpful and if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to get in touch!