On our final day in Enschede, we got to finally see around the main town area. As previously mentioned, the Netherlands used to be mostly water and is currently mostly beneath sea level making it susceptible to flooding. Even a slight elevation needs to be taken into account in a town like Enschede where runoff can trickle down and flood lower areas. To prevent this, infrastructure in the town implements water management control into the scenery. For example, as seen in the picture below, green infrastructure is utilized to catch and absorb water, preventing runoff.  

After our tour, we were free to explore the town. Due to the close proximity to the German border, many people spoke German relative to the rest of the country. This was also reflected in the food that was served in the market we attended along with all the other mix of cultural food. 

Throughout parts of the town tape was being set up due to a big race that was going on throughout the whole day and across the whole country. It’s the largest and longest student relay involving multiple Netherland university students who start running at midnight from one end of the Netherlands all the way to Twente. Even yesterday, many students were camped out on Twente’s lawn in preparation for the race’s finale. The race itself was great to watch—many runners grabbed costumes from their friends to have some fun before crossing the finish line.

Once the runners crossed the finished line, the race ended and the celebration began. A small music festival was held on campus where both Dutch and international music was played. As I learnt from my cultural pre-departure presentation topic, the Netherlands is very big on EDM and I definitely got to experience this first hand. Many of the top DJs in the EDM world are Dutch, so it was interesting to hear a music style different from the pop and rock genres that are popular in the US (although maybe my ears don’t agree—bring ear plugs!).