My Stenden Journey of a Thousand Miles - by Wadzanayi Chitambo (part 1)

Enjoying Garuda Indonesia’s in-flight hospitality on the way to Amsterdam

Wadzanayi Chitambo, or Wadzi in short, is currently in her second year of the International Hospitality Management programme at Stenden University Bali. Originally from Zimbabwe, she moved to Bali in 2013 and is keen to explore the overseas opportunities offered by Stenden. This September, she took off to The Netherlands where she will be studying for one year. This article is just the beginning of her exciting journey, her ‘Stenden Journey of a Thousand Miles’. Her story will be illustrated with pictures taken by Andras Szemes, our 2nd year student from Hungary with a passion for photography and traveling. You can expect an update on a regular basis. Enjoy!

It’s just the beginning…

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Stenden campus building - student cafe

Humans were not made to remain stagnant and stay in one place. If that was the case we would have had roots instead of feet and with that being said we should travel and see more and as much of the world as possible. Fortunately enough for us, the Stenden University Bali students, we have been given this lifetime opportunity to travel and study all at the same time. As required by the Dutch government that if one should attain a Dutch degree, they should complete 60 Elective Credits in the Netherlands which represents a full academic year. This rule is what marked my and my fellow peers’ Stenden Journey of a Thousand Miles as I would like to call it.

My very personal airport pick up service by my besties from Stenden Bali. Next stop is Leeuwarden.
It's me in the middle!

It’s funny how quickly time goes by, it feels like just yesterday I was commencing my studies in Bali and now already a year has gone by and here we are doing our second year in the city of Leeuwarden, which is located in the northern part of the Netherlands. It was a breath taking experience moving to Europe for the very first time in my life. What better way to have started my stay here other than being picked up from the airport by my two closest friends and Bali classmates Shantika Yusuf (Indonesian) and Andras Szemes (Hungarian).

Sports day in Leeuwarden sports stadium

Study Start Week ON!

With this in mind I already felt at home and knew that I would enjoy the rest of my year here. More so, my arrival was just a few days before the Study Start Week which was a mandatory introduction programme for all the new students to attend, which also included us, the Stenden Bali students. Although we weren’t knew to Stenden in general (as being 2nd year students) we were still new to the Leeuwarden campus and had to familiarize ourselves with it. Luckily enough we were placed in the same group for the Study Start Week. It was a mind-blowing experience to enter this beautiful and enormous campus as well as seeing several hundreds of students. I found it very hard to believe that these where students who were starting their first year yet alone that these were the ones in the Hotel Management faculty only! I was mesmerised to even begin to imagine what a normal day at school would look and feel like with all the other second year and third year students from all the other faculties such as International Business and Management Studies, Travel and Leisure management and so forth.

Togetherness with Thai, South African, Dutch fellow students

It was great meeting all the students from Stenden’s other campus sites (South Africa, Thailand and Qatar) who were also studying for one year in the Netherlands or joining the Grand Tour for 1 or 2 modules. With the Bali students being the biggest bunch within the group it felt just like being at home and being reunited again at a new destination. Words alone could not explain the joy and excitement that was in the air. In addition the hosts of our group had been students we had met in Bali before as they had done their Grand Tour there in previous modules (Felix and Rutger). Initially we were the biggest group in the Study Start Week with over 20 people and a variety of different nationalities. It was a very multicultural bunch with people from all across the globe (Indonesia, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Germany, Thailand, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, Russia and The Netherlands). It was almost as if everyone was from a different place, which made it interesting to get to know each other and share our stories.

The Study Start Week was packed with so many fun-filled activities that made us bond and come together as a unit. Activities such as the Sports-day, Barbeque, Red Club Party, Introduction games, Lunch, City Tour, Into the Wild festival, Master-classes and many more. Although the Study Start Week came to an end and we are now divided over different classes and modules (not to mention being busy with  assignments and school work), we are all still in touch and occasionally meet up for dinner and all. 

Feeling homesick for Bali – but a yummy nasi goreng with abon 

and tempe goreng allways takes us back…and keep us happy

Talking about food, recently we have discovered an Indonesian supermarket that sells all the typical products such as tempeh, mie, nasi, sapiabon and many other ingredients that are needed in the Indonesian cuisine. This is great as when we are missing Bali we can still get some umami for dinner, a nice homemade nasi goreng with some tempeh or beef rendang and anything else you may be craving on that day. This is really heart-warming for all those cold and gloomy days that we often feel home sick, there is this always a nice and spicy Indonesian dish to turn the frown upside down.

A windy day in Amsterdam

  

Warm summer day by the canal

          It’s already almost a month of being in Leeuwarden and many memories have been made and still so many to come. We have had some entertaining days in the city centre, walking around and shopping, having a coffee and so on. Even making the best of every moment, although the weather is not always the best but we still manage to have fun and keep a smile on our faces.

Andras just purchased something very prescious in the local supermarket

There are also many activities to keep ourselves occupied such as travelling to other cities, countries, gym just across the campus site, sports hall with a wide range of sporting facilities from futsal, basketball, swimming etc. for all the sport lovers out there, cycling or walking in the park or by the canals, cinema’s and many more.

I honestly cannot wait to see what more my Stenden Journey of a Thousand Miles has in store for me and I look forward to it. It really is a blessing at my age to have such a great opportunities and such awesome experiences. Thank you Stenden University Bali for making this possible. It’s just the beginning, tot ziens! (which is Dutch for ‘see you later’).

By Wadzanayi Chitambo 

Photography credit to Andras Szemes (follow him on Instagram for more amazing pictures like these @szemesa)