The Amazing Groningen

My name is Lưu Nguyễn Nguyệt Minh and I am an alumni of Economic Faculty in the major of Tourism and Hospitality Management at CanTho Universtiy .Today, I take delight in sharing with everyone about my six-months experience as an exchange participant at University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Everyone has their own interests, personalities and choices. I am not of an exception ; I am so proud and grateful to say that I have gone through my four-year-experience in the most desirable way under the deliberate guidance of professors in Economic Faculty and especially, the six-months trip in Groningen under the cooperation of University of Groningen and CanTho University has provided me with many valuable experience and precious memories with novel friendships which will never be gained if I never stretch out of my comfort zone . In two cents , Netherlands is a peaceful country and the country itself has mesmerized me by mostly its people who possess admirable spirits. Regardless of however warm the winter is or however cold the winter is , Netherlands still makes other people fall in love with it because the local people live their life with an open-minded and optimistic attitude by listening to meditation music at the crack of dawn along with riding a bicycle and they also look on the bright side when things go amiss.

Groningen is a city with the largest numbers of bicycles in the world .Yes! If you come to Netherlands and you want to know how students’ lives are like here and you will come across a lot of bicycles and students from different regions of the world. Although there are massive numbers of students there, it doesn’t make me feel overwhelming at all .I can still find a cup of coffee along with a book and enjoy the locals’ daily routines. One of the daily routines that are struck me the most is that all the supermarkets and markets just open from 10 am in the morning and close at 6 pm in the evening except for Thursday when it expands it opening hours to 9 pm in the evening . I wasn’t clear about this thing unitl I asked my local friends and he told me that it was because everyone there wanted to save their time for their family.

During my time studying in Groningen, I was blown away because the programs as well as people’s styles. I have to spend 2 weeks acclimatizing myself with school’s schedule and working style .Unlike Can Tho University , University of Groningen distributes one semester into two phases and that is why when we have to put much effort in order to come to class on time ,participate in group work as well as self-study. A subject will last for 6 weeks and we will have a few weeks off before we start new subjects. At first , it was quite demanding to keep pace with its style but it got used to it , I felt that this arrangement was very logical and it suited the working style of the people there “Wisely work and wildly play”. When I was doing group work with students there , I appreciated their high level of responsibilities when distributing the group work and their listening and acquiring others’ opinions to complete the projects. Therefore, when I am back now, if you ask me what I learnt from six months. will definitely say that “ Independence , Efficiency ,Respect and Quality” are the four major words that best describe the people there.