Maastricht is seriously one of the most amazing places I have ever been. The town is small and compact but big enough that there’s always more to explore. The people are super friendly and always willing to lend a hand. The majority of them speak flawless English which is very helpful, me knowing absolutely no Dutch! However, while they all speak English, the writing (signs, menus, etc.) is all in Dutch. It’s still pretty annoying trying to order food or shop at the grocery store when I’m pretty much guessing what I’m buying! Fortunately I’m taking a Dutch class so I’ll get to know some vocabulary quickly.
So for those of you who don’t know, my voyage to Maastricht didn’t exactly go according to plan. My plane to Newark went smoothly, but from there it was a nightmare. We boarded the plane on time but the “CPU” was broken so we had to wait on the plane for 2 hours while they fixed it. Turns out that the computer systems weren’t the problem so we proceeded to wait another 2 hours while they fixed what was actually broken. By this time it wasn’t too late for me to make the bus to Maastricht from Brussels but we were cutting it pretty short! So after the plane was fixed we were all ready to go, but alas, the line to de-ice the plane was another 2 hours! The whole time we were waiting to take off they wouldn’t let us off the plane or feed us, so we were all pretty ticked by then. Fortunately the plane took off so late I was able to sleep for most of the ride so I wasn’t too exhausted when I arrived in Brussels. In Brussels we were supposed to be picked up by our program coordinators but I had missed both busses at this point. So to the train I went! I bought a ticket to Maastricht but apparently it involved a connecting train. Everything in Brussels is in French so I had a hard time figuring out where to go. I was extremely lucky when I ran into a businessman who was going to a meeting in Maastricht so I basically stalked him to figure out which train to take, haha. So I finally make it to Maastricht and I don’t have any idea where I’m going so I ask a taxi driver if he knew where the guest house for the University of Maastricht was and he sounded like he knew so I hopped in and believe it or not, I made it! So that was quite an interesting way to start the trip, but at least I made it! I passed out hard that night and was ready for some Maastricht!
The next couple of days we were introduced to the university and the Center for European Studies (CES) where we will also be taking a class. At Universiteit Maastricht they take a unique approach to teaching the classes. They use a system called problem based learning which is pretty different from the traditional lecture style in the US. Instead of being taught the material, we come to class without prior knowledge of the subject and as a class we address a problem and try to ask questions and figure out what we need to know to get the answer. Then we go home and do research on our own and come back to class and then discuss some more and hopefully end with the correct solution. The teacher, or “tutor”, acts as a coach, and only intervenes if he or she feels we’re going in the wrong direction. I haven’t experienced it yet but it seems interesting in theory and I’m excited to experience it!
So that was pretty much my introduction. On Thursday, 22 January (In honor of Europe, I’ll be putting my dates in that of the European format) we left for our six day study tour, which actually involved very little studying, but check back soon for that post! I hate playing catch-up but hopefully I’ll make it to the present soon!
P.S. I will be posting pictures soon!
town with a lot of history. The building to my right is the old city hall located on the Markt (not a misspelling). Every Wednesday and Friday mornings they set up a market where local vendors come and sell everything from food to clothes! It's really fun to walk around. If you look closely at the picture you can see the tops of the tents set up. 
