Going Dutch
Maya Arun - 28 September 2025

Amanda Hardman at The Hague, Netherlands

Open-air museum

Canal in Ultrecht

Dutch countryside
Amanda Hardman had wanted to study abroad for years, but always ended up talking herself out of it. She reasoned that all her friends and family were in Edmonton, and that uprooting her life for a few months was not worth it.
She quickly changed her mind, however, when she received funding through the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences to go to Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Amanda recently completed her bachelor of science in agriculture, and she had the opportunity to study what she was most passionate about — sustainable agriculture systems, in a university ranked Number 1 in the world for agriculture and forestry.
Like many, Amanda was initially very nervous about going to a new country and meeting new people.
“I didn’t think my personality would mesh very well with people. But honestly, I was very pleasantly surprised. People were very friendly and it made my transition a lot easier because I was definitely more nervous than I needed to be.”
Amanda found that she could travel around quite a bit and see more than just the Netherlands. Through the Erasmus Student Network, she journeyed to Germany twice on low-budget trips. She got to experience Oktoberfest for herself and even visited Belgium and France!
Despite all the international travel she indulged in, Amanda’s favourite memories were of the Dutch countryside. She describes it as green and lush — even in the winter. As she rode the train between towns and watched the greenery pass by, it was more obvious than ever that she had made the right decision to study abroad.
Amanda did come across an aspect of Dutch culture that was more amusing than problematic.
“Money is kind of a big thing — if you go to someone's house and eat a banana they will send you an e-transfer request for what they spent on that banana. Luckily, my Dutch friends didn't do that!”
Studying agriculture from a Dutch perspective made her think more about her field of study on a global scale.
“There's a lot of great farming and environmental practices they're doing over there that maybe we could use over here.”
As her surroundings became more familiar and less foreign, Amanda found that she felt different from the person who first landed in the Netherlands. When she decided to get out of her comfort zone and immerse herself in a new culture, she couldn’t have anticipated the ways in which she would change. She had to figure out how to make friends and who she was when she was being mistaken for either Dutch or American.
“Just having to survive on my own was so important for me and I really do appreciate that experience.”