Hong Ji-yeon (’11, Advertising & Public Relations) enjoys her time with friends at Groningen during a feast. Photo provided by Hong Ji-yeon.

Living in Netherlands was a wonderful experience in my entire life.
At that time, I had a lot of difficulties communicating with other people in English, and unfortunately, I still have that problem. However, one thing I want to tell you is that there is no reason to be shy.
In Groningen, there are students from all over the world. The majority of the students are European students, but there are many Chinese students as well.
It was hard for me to find courses for my major, which is Advertising & Public Relations, in Groningen. Therefore I could not get enough scores to fill the required credits needed for exchange students.
Though the school did have courses for Media Studies, international students were not allowed to take them.
As a result, I applied for economics major classes, but it was very hard to study because I have never studied it before.
However, you can experience the local culture of Groningen as there are various cultural classes about Dutch and other European countries. On top of that, those kinds of classes are for international students, so it is very interesting to share experiences with other students who have totally different cultural backgrounds.
Selecting a place to live is very important as well. My place was very far from the university. University buildings are placed in various spots of the city. Depending on your major and classes, the distance it takes to get to the classrooms ranges.
Also, where you live is very important in making friends. It is very hard to build a good and lasting relationship with people with whom you take the same courses if you live far away from them.
Netherlands is a very convenient place to travel around. So if you have enough time and money, you can go to any part of Europe.

* Hong Ji-yeon (’11, Advertising & Public Relations) studied at Groningen University.

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