I participated in some sports activities at the summer school in Utrecht and joined its cycling and canoeing programme. The Netherlands was known as the country of bikes, so I thought that the cycling event was unmissable. We went through the tranquil woods near the campus and passed through cosy European cottages. Above the meadows, the picturesque hot air balloon adorned the pastel skies, which was dusted into shades of pink and purple as the sun slowly set. After our ride, we were even treated to free drinks at the bar. A week later, the canoeing programme allowed us to see Utrecht from new angles. For instance, I saw the arches of the bridges and the structures beneath while my canoe drifted along the river. The ride was slow enough for me to see every detail: the rusting of nails, the algae on the bricks, and the mysterious markings on places where no human beings ought to be able to reach. The canoeing experience gave me a new perspective that I had no chance to appreciate when I was living my usual quick-paced life.

(Chinese version only)

我所選讀的課程「歐洲文化與身份」所涵蓋的內容非常豐富，我們在課堂上與來自世界各地的同學討論時下的國際議題，包括英國脫歐、難民問題及希臘債務危機等。同時，上課的形式不單單局限在課室之中，大學導師帶領我們參觀多所藝術博物館，學習欣賞中世紀、文藝復興及荷蘭黃金時期的畫作和雕塑，從作品中了解西方歷史文明的進程和發展。這些範疇對於修讀中文的我是甚少涉獵的，令我耳目一新。在兩星期的學習中，我們需要遞交一篇藝術作品的賞析及歐盟成員國對脫歐的看法的小組報告，更要參加期末考試。這次的學習體驗有助我思考，把知識內化成為個人的智慧；我從課程中尤其認識到歐盟的工作和目的，使我更為關心國際間需要攜手解決的問題。

Even though the course I enrolled on was difficult, it was still very enjoyable. This was not only because the topic was something I was genuinely interested in, but also because the course really stimulated my thinking and was very different from the ‘spoon-feeding’ courses common in Hong Kong. The excursions made the course even more interesting. There were days when we visited different art or history museums to further our classroom teachings. There was even a day when we travelled to Rotterdam and Leiden, cities outside of Utrecht, to visit the Medical Museum there. I personally think excursions like these are not only fun but can also further reinforce what I learnt in class. This particularly applied to the European art lessons which focused on different art eras that dominated Europe and how paintings were strongly tied to religion, politics, economy and people’s way of life in those eras. Even long after the course, I often study carefully the paintings and statues I see, trying to think of the context and understand the deeper meaning of the artworks.