5 first impressions on moving to Maastricht

"On campus we party, we study, we cook, we eat, we do almost everything together."

Hi everyone, my name is Linh. I come from Vietnam and I moved to Maastricht almost four months ago. As soon as I set foot in Maastricht, I fell in love with this city, just like love at first sight. Below are my first impressions of moving to Maastricht.

Everybody speaks English very well

One of the reasons I decided to move to Holland for study is that according to statistics, 92% of Dutch people can proficiently converse in English. I was really happy that it lived up to my expectation and I have never encountered any difficulty in communicating with the Dutch.

Maastricht is very international

As Maastricht is close to the Belgian and German borders, there are a lot of Belgian and German people studying and working here. Besides, due to having a very international university, this small city welcomes students from all around the world. It is more interesting to live in a diverse culture where you can represent your own culture and learn from others.

Cycling culture

It came as no surprise that the first thing I had to buy was a bike. Everyone here cycles, no matter the weather and no matter what they are wearing. I remember that during Boostcamp (introduction week) we had to visit some hotels in the city center. I was wrong to think that all teams would be on a bus since we all dressed in TDV. Yes, Dutch people do not care about that, as long as you have a bike,  you will just go!!

Cheap fruit & veggies

On Wednesday and Friday, there is an open market from local farmers in the city center. Every kilo of fruits or veggies costs 1 euro, which is cheaper than those in the supermarket. There also is an event every Friday night where people gather together to cook a vegan three course menu from food waste of the market. This is where I met new people outside of the campus and also got some free veggies for the next week. 

Life on campus

As an international student, I really appreciate that I can live on campus for the first year, in which I can easily meet friends and adapt to the environment here. We party, we study, we cook, we eat, we do almost everything together. If you have any food left but will not eat it any more, knock on your neighbor’s door as he/she may need it. 

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