Beginning: Off to Nether-Nether-Land(s)

Although it took slightly more than pixie dust and a wonderful thought, the decision to go on a dialogue this summer was an easy one. It’s my last summer as a Northeastern student and I knew that I wanted to make it count! Squeezing in one last experience abroad as well as going on my first DOC was the perfect way to do that. I chose to apply for the Sustainable Urban Transportation dialogue to the city of Delft in the Netherlands, to immerse myself in a new culture and finish my sustainability concentration in my environmental studies major. There’s the added bonus of having the chance to bike all around the Netherlands-an amazing way to see the country.

As one of the only non-civil engineers on this trip I’m expecting to learn a lot about transportation infrastructure and the civil engineer perspective. This will be a big change to what I’ve been focusing at my classes back in Boston so I’m really looking forward to the challenge. Having previously studied abroad, I’m looking forward to the appreciation for local culture that I know comes from living in a different country. The Netherlands is an exciting place to study abroad and though I’ve only been here a day I can tell I’m going to love it (google stroopwaffle and you’ll know why). I’m also expecting to gain a new perspective on how I use public and private transportation. The program is focused on bike infrastructure in the Netherlands, and every student gets a bike. What better way to learn the infrastructure than to use it? We’ll be biking to class everyday, to other towns on field trips, pretty much everywhere! I’m not a biker back in Boston so this is a huge change for me and I’m excited to see how it goes.

Because DOC’s are so short, it really helps to have some specific goals to make sure you’re taking advantage of the time you have. I came up with the following 3:

1. Learn basic Dutch and go one day without speaking English.
2. Take a lot of real pictures; document this experience on something other than an iphone.
3. Bike from Delft to Amsterdam (almost 70km!).

I chose these goals because they are ones I’m going to have to actively work on, not things like “learn about sustainable urban transportation” or “explore the city” that will happen whether I make them goals or not. I’m going to work on my Dutch by using the app Duolingo and practicing as much as possible. I recently got a new camera that’s very portable-something that will make taking pictures often a lot easier. I plan on taking it with me wherever I go and trying to take at least 5 pictures a day. Biking from Delft to Amsterdam is going to be about a three and a half hour bike ride. Luckily it’s mostly flat and pretty easy to navigate. I’m just going to need to build up my biking muscles! This will in some degree happen naturally but I plan on going on longer bike excursions in addition to the planned trips to build up my stamina.

Before embarking on the trip I was slightly apprehensive about going on a dialogue outside of my major. Thankfully the pre-departure meetings and being here a day have reassured me that this program will be a great fit for me. I realized that it’s not about what major people but the common desire to learn what the program is offering. I was also a little worried about the language barrier; I’m not familiar with Dutch and the last country I studied abroad in spoke English. However, I’ve decided to embrace the challenge! It’s an opportunity to learn something new.

Out of everything to gain from this dialogue, I think the thing I’m most excited about is meeting new people. We are getting the opportunity to meet and talk with so many local experts, and I have never had the chance to take any classes taught by the Northeastern professors so this will also be my first time learning from them. The fellow students on the trip are all excited and ready to embrace this experience and I look forward to the many good memories to be made with all of them.

Until next time, doei!