I miss you, stroopwafels.

While it has been almost a month since I’ve been back from my study abroad in Amsterdam, I often find myself reminiscing the fond memories or telling my friends the stories of the people I met. I know, it’s so stereotypical to be the person that goes abroad and says that it “changed their life” and then never stops yapping about their thoughts when they come back. That’s me, and I have no regrets about it, even though I was only there for two weeks.

I’ll start off with the academics, because I suppose that’s my core reason for being in Amsterdam. In my two weeks in this Global Health course, I thought that I wouldn’t learn much. It was only a few hours of lecture a day, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The lectures were engaging, and we had an in-person trip to a Global Health institute with intelligent and knowledgeable global health professionals who wanted to be there for us and answer any questions we had. As a class, we did a global health debate and a portfolio project and presentation, allowing me to be more acquainted about the significance of maternal health, particularly in Pakistan.

A little content warning for what I’ll write next if reading about sex makes you uncomfortable, but I think about the Red Light District, one of Amsterdam’s oldest and most famous neighborhoods. Sex is a very taboo topic, especially among the Indian and Indian American community. Walking through these streets, a beautiful area with colorful lighting and a gorgeous canal through the center and the workers in their respective windows, was a unique experience. I think about how I saw men sneaking photos while looking straight at the signs that warn taking pictures is illegal and incurs a 200-euro fine. Seeing the museums and shops, it’s wild to think about the history of this district and the idea behind it.

The nightlife. Oh god, the nightlife was something. I am 19 years old and underage in the U.S., but every club and bar was 18+ in Amsterdam. I went out four nights and enjoyed talking to people in bars or vibing along to the electrifying music in the techno night clubs. As I left the club at 2:30 a.m. one of the nights, I saw a HUGE line of people trying to get in, which was beyond amazing. I’m exhausted, and y’all are just entering??

I took a day trip to Brussels, Belgium, a super smooth and inexpensive trip through FlixBus. Belgian waffles let me down, but I loved the idea of just bouncing to another country for a day.

I think about the stories and the friends that I made. Eli, another ISA student, and I were both in the Global Health class and hung out a decent bit. He’s from Florida with different goals and views from me, and I loved talking to him, whether about politics or his college stories. He had a contagiously friendly personality, and I loved hitting up different food spots with him. I think about Gregoire, a 20-year old man from France who cussed with the funniest accent and loved asking me about my hometown of Chicago—but would horribly pronounce it regardless of the number of corrections. The closest he got resembled chee-caw-go.

And of course, while my trip started in a crazy way, it was bound to end in a crazier way. We were out as friends until 3 a.m. before my flight at 9 a.m. I had to back to the hostel, pack, get a few hours of sleep, and rush to the airport. For the first time in my life, I was running across the airport and barely caught my flight back. Absolutely crazy, but no other exit could do justice to how my study abroad experience went.

If someone asked me if I’d recommend ISA and studying abroad to someone else, I’d say do it. Do it ten times over and take that leap. It was scary at first, don’t get me wrong, but with my learnings and reflection now, I can’t have imagined for my experience to have gone any other way. Amsterdam, I’m coming back for the stroopwafels. Just you wait.

Joel Setya is a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an ISA Featured Blogger. He is studying with ISA in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.