Life in the Netherlands

[slycedbred]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

They don't like Muslims. No point in lying and denying your heritage, your name will probably be a dead giveaway. I guess your best gesture of friendship would be to just act like a normal person.

Luckily, my name is Adam and that's all I'm going to go by. I don't intend to lie or deny my "heritage", just remain conveniently silent on the topic.

I appreciate your honesty and I expected as much... Just wanted to be sure. I believe things will be fine in my daily reactions and I'll prolly only receive trouble where I'm required to show my passport / ID card... I'm a pretty amiable guy though so even then it will hopefully be just fine.

 

[604guy]

Originally Posted by slycedbred

Not attempting to hijack the thread, but it would be a little redundant to make another post...I'm going to Maastricht next semester (fall) for study abroad... A few questions as to the culture...

I'm assuming it's pretty(or very) liberal. What I do want to know is what sort of underlying prejudices are common to be encountered there? Anti-nonwhite undertones? Anti-arab? Would I be wise to describe myself as spanish/filipino as opposed to arab? What would some of you consider is the best gesture of friendship? Unlike those who went before me, I want to get to know the locals and make some friends... The final, most important question... Should I go there prepared to go shopping, or will prices be far more than America??

I'm going to be getting a free euro rail (i think that's what its called) pass, where would I want to go?

How's the food?

Thanks guys and sorry OP to get off on a tangent....

I spent a few days in Maastricht, beautiful city, your going to have fun! Really nice archetecture. Overall it is very much a student oriented city, so yes it is very liberal, enjoy the coffee shops! Food is decent from what I had.

Everyone gets around by bike, so I would suggust purchasing one and then selling it at the end of the semester, supposedly thats really easy to do.

Partying is pretty fun, goes really late into the mornings. As for shopping there are a lot of good shops, I would definitly save some money as it is much better then in most American cities, IMO.

I think you will have a great time there.

 

[pabloj]

Thanks again for the feedback guys!
Can you tell me something about cost of housing/rents in Amsterdam or Eindhoven?