Drops of Jupiter

As my favorite month freezes its autumn colors to give way to a bitter winter, it is time to reflect on the adventures that November gifted (and boy was it generous!). Quick shoutout to BeReal for helping me remember everything that I did each day; technology is such a time warp! At the beginning of the month, I took my finals in a giant basketball gymnasium and said a joyful “sayonara!” to the first two courses of my exchange. Utrecht University is on the proper quarter system (as opposed to UCSD’s “trimesters”), meaning that every eight weeks I have to adjust to a new set of classes. To add to the change, the professors switch every month! Needless to say, the European education system has been significantly different than American academics, but I will save this topic for another blog (there is a lot of tea).

Exams week wasn’t all gloomy, though, because in the middle of it I had my 21st birthday! November 9th greeted me with the greatest gift I could wish for in the Netherlands: sunshine! Three of my roommates and I took the train to Amsterdam, which seemed much more magical than when I saw it in September with Emma. The streets were adorned with Christmas lights, and a light drizzle fostered a perfect ambiance for the day. The girls and I stumbled upon a gorgeous bar/restaurant with funky wallpaper and tasteful flowers hanging from the ceiling. I ordered a fancy cocktail that I guzzled too quickly, forgetting that this “slurpie” had more than just sugar in it. If you told ten-year-old Katia that she would be celebrating her 21st in Europe, wearing pink overalls, and drinking a hot pink cocktail, she would be over the moon. A giant bouquet of pink roses arrived for me in the morning, and I joked that it was from my “Dutch boyfriend” (a girl can dream!). After hours of exploring Amsterdam, window shopping, and chowing on Tony’s chocolate, I FaceTimed my friends in California and called it a day. To be honest, I was apprehensive having to celebrate my birthday away from home, especially because many of my friends here were out traveling during their “reflection week” from uni. I was humbly surprised at how special everyone made me feel, and truthfully it could not have been a better day. I will remember it forever.

November was such a Barbie-inspired month (very fitting for a girly girl like me) and I think if it could be represented as a pastry it would be a roze koek: a sweet Dutch pink cake. My trip to Prague, Czech Republic, is the main reason why I say this. Prague felt like I was stepping into a real-life dollhouse, with its pastel buildings, intricate architecture, and horse-drawn carriages parading down the streets. I went on the trip with an international student group called ESN, and there were 800 students from the Netherlands alone. I explored the city with people I hadn’t seen since Welcome Week and a few others I met in the hostel. I’m sure I sounded very American when I exclaimed “this is unreal!” about 20 times per day. My favorite part of the trip was hiking up to the castle sipping on rich hot chocolate and seeing the view for the first time. The densely packed city was filled with color, not only from the buildings but the fall leaves and the bright blue river. The cobblestone streets and vineyards made me question whether I was in Italy. The sweetest part of the adventure, though, was meeting so many new people who understood how it felt to be an international student-we laughed so hard! The twelve hour bus ride back was nerve-racking, as we got stopped by the German border police at 2am. Thankfully we made it back to Utrecht safely, but we were sleep deprived nonetheless.

Another major event was Thanksgiving, which I celebrated with a group of other California girls from UCEAP at one of their AirBnb’s (the housing crisis in Utrecht is too real). We all cooked a dish, and one of the girls even ordered a turkey from the expat store! I brought cooked green beans, and there was all of the American classics: mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, champagne, and a fruit crumble with ice-cream. I was impressed with how well everyone cooked, and by the end of the night we were all SO full.

As I say goodbye to my birthday month, I realize that it wouldn’t be authentic to only share the highlights (of which there were many!). Studying abroad often gets glamorized, but it is such a personal journey that is more challenging than just catching the next flight to another country. It has been literally freezing in Utrecht this month, and seeing the blue sky is so rare that I feel like I am on a different “grey” planet. Walking into class and only hearing Dutch can be isolating, and sometimes I feel subhuman not being able to communicate freely with anyone I’d like. One of my professors even asked whether he can continue the course in Dutch, and I had to shyly raise my hand (even though the syllabus promised that the instruction language was English). The camaraderie I have found with other international students cannot be understated, though, especially with my roommates. Not many people understand what it is like to experience culture shock and only be able to hear from your family during a select time of the day; complaining and laughing about it together is incredibly bonding. My roommate, Louise, went back home to France for a week, and when she came home we all were so giddy! I am 100% confident that by the end of the year we will all be as close as family. I am looking forward to seeing Christmas illuminate little Utrecht, and you best believe I am blasting Mariah Carrey Christmas music!

See you in the New Year,

Katia