One thing I didn't like about Rotterdam was that there were barely any public library with public wifi. The common space at King Kong hostel had very loud music, their wifi wasn't good, and I didn't want to hurt my neck by working on my bed for hours, so I tried to find a public library. In NYC or Seattle or Boston, it's very easy to find multiple libraries of the city where I could just go in, find a nice spot to work, use good wifi, and wander around their large collection of books. In Rotterdam, however, I could see only one library on the map, and four people I asked told me that same library only. I was about to go to that library when I suddenly thought of checking on the internet about their wifi — and thankfully I did that, because I got to know that you had to pay the annual membership fee to use their wifi. I couldn't believe it, because how could the city's only public library didn't have… public wifi?? But that's how it was here.

I didn't want to go to a cafe, mainly because I liked taking breaks in between my work sessions to walk away and stretch — they helped my health and productivity — which would be hard to do in a cafe. I also don't want to buy coffee or desserts just to have a seat, and cafes may also have distracting music. However, I needed wifi, so I was about to choose a cafe from an internet list that Maeesha sent me when I scrolled past “Erasmus University Library”. Erasmus? I knew this name from yesterday's tour. I searched on the map, and it's totally outside of downtown Rotterdam, which was why I didn't see it when investigating the map earlier. However, the good thing about Rotterdam, as expected for the Netherlands, was its expansive network of public transportation (though expensive) that could take me to the University Library in just half an hour. I still didn't think that I could go there, because if the city's sole public library requires annual membership to access their wifi, what would a university's private library be like? They probably would require you to be their student to use their wifi, and they might not even let non-students pass their library gate! However, when I checked on their website, I saw something that made me feel so powerful: eduroam. Their wifi was EDUROAM!! I am Mount Holyoke's student, and I have eduroam! The moment eduroam automatically connected to my phone when I walked into the University Library, I felt amazingly touched. I wasn't an outsider or a traveller anymore — I was a college student recognized and welcomed world wide, hahaha!

I had thought that I would spend Thursday going on a day trip to a nearby city. In my original spring break plan, there was this line I wrote: “When in the Netherlands, I can take inter-city trains super easily to get from the canals of Utretch to the canals of Amsterdam, from the high-tech buildings of Eindhoven to the little countryside houses of Giethoorn (also known as “Venice of the North”)...”. However, the strong winds plus rain and that quest for public wifi had led me on a totally different path: instead of experiencing the canals and the countryside, I experienced what it'd like to be a student in a prestigious Dutch university.

Roaming around the campus when the sun came out again in the afternoon.

Studying at night in their library. Feeling familiar and happy :)! P/s: I felt lucky that it was safe enough, and that I felt brave enough, that I could be out here and go back to my hostel this late at night (9pm).

Working on my Data Science ReforesTree project on an unreserved desk in their library.

Their library was so systematic: you have to reserve seats, and their gate alarm went off when I accidentally brought a normal book out of a floor it was supposed to be read in!

Their campus was so environmentally friendly — I saw so many sustainability initiatives when I walked around, not just on flyers and screens but also by the students setting up physical booths to promote some products/solutions!

Polak building. In my eyes, this is the most beautiful academic building I have ever seen.

Lunch: poke “bowl” in their Food Plaza. It's a pity that they don't have common dining halls like US colleges.

Dinner: the hummus wrap I'd been eyeing since I went to Spar Netherlands the first time the previous day 😂. It was so much more affordable than restaurants' food but no less delicious! And the portion was just right for me haha!

Even in the last morning in Rotterdam, I went back to the University. I liked it there a lot. I went back to work on my laptop but also to read some books. It had been a bit hard to get myself into the focus zone for an abstract project like ReforesTree, but once I got passed that first step, I got into the flow, and the next few hours were very productive. The study breaks I took were so enjoyable: I ran up and down the beautiful staircases of Ponlak! I went grab lunch at that same poke bowl place again (the food was good and less expensive than other places, but mainly because the staff were so nice to me yesterday, but unfortunately I didn't meet that staff again). I read a book I found in Polak while having lunch, and after lunch I read two more books! I had to drag myself to leave the university to reach Utrecht in time. Below was a note I quickly jotted down at EUR (Erasmus Uni of Rotterdam) in that last morning:

“EUR students: lunch boxes, big study spaces still packed with students, very presentable students, a lot of handsome european guys and presentable girls, friendly and cheerful people, smiles and waves and laughters; being asked where is the food plaza as if i was a student here; less people who look like me, though still diverse”