Yay!!!!!!
I have been accepted from Utrecht University as an exchange student from next February!!!
I got this email the day before yesterday, and I have to reply something by tomorrow.
This email says I have to pay 433 Euro for a resident permit. So expensive...
One of my friend kindly told me that there might be a good place to live in Leiden from Feb.
He said, from Leiden to Utrecht, it would take 40 mins by a train.
Where should I live?
Well, I have plenty of time to think about it.
Congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteAs for living space, in Utrecht it is ridiculously difficult to find a student room.
You should try to
1) ask the secretary if she can help you. Ask if you can live on campus.
2) Contact the international office: http://www.uu.nl/en/informationfor/students/contact/internationaloffice/Pages/default.aspx
3) Visit this page: http://www.uu.nl/university/international-students/en/programmes/exchangevisitingstudents/Pages/default.aspx, then click 'Contact information' and find the person in your department who may be able to help you.
Be prepared for this: A room in Utrecht is very, very expensive! If the university cannot help you with a room, you should indeed live outside the city, because it takes most students 2 years before they get a good room.
On the other hand, Leiden is a bit far in my opinion. But perhaps this is because I live in a less crowded area, people in de Randstad are more used to traveling between cities maybe..
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWe have 3 months to enjoy life in HdB together.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind advice as always!:)
I already checked about housing, and it turned out that Utrecht University has some amount of reserved places (for about 700 people?) to live for students staying there less than a year, and I can find those rooms in SSH webpage (http://www.sshxl.nl/shortstay/). Do you know anything about this organization SSH? I already registered for SSH, just in case.
They say that in Utrecht, housing fee would be between 400 to 700 euro/month.
Haimin,
Thank you!!:)
Yeah, I just realized that I have only 3 more months now. Such a short time, isn't it? I should enjoy this 3 months in the house at full power!!!
Hi Shige,
ReplyDeleteno problem, maybe I should have put more emphasis on the congratulations: CONGRATULATIONS! :D Although you might not notice through all the advice I'm giving you, I am really excited about you visiting my country. I really hope that we can hang out together, especially since I myself have only a few months of student life left (I hope to graduate in July). So I need to enjoy student life while I still have it.
As for SSH, I don't know them, but the site says this: "Utrecht University has reserved 635 furnished rooms and apartments from which their international students and staff can choose and make a reservation." Just read the instructions and you'll be fine. I do recommend you to arrange all this without delay. It is very uncommon to arrange anything last-minute in Nederland and sometimes impossible.
Also, we never pay in cash for things like this (Actually, I never pay in cash for anything). There's a clear warning: "If we do not receive your payment within 2 weeks [...] your reservation will be cancelled without further notice." They will definately do this, so make sure that you transfer the money in time.
And remember that in general, Nederland has quite an informal culture when it comes to contacting people or offices. Don't hesitate to e-mail SSH themselves.
Just one thing: 7 to 11 March there is a huge festival that is only celebrated in the South of the Netherlands. It's definately something worth experiencing. There's more stuff of course, but I'm pretty sure it's easier for you to find them than for me to find Japanese things :P
Groetjes,
Diana
If all of this sounds horribly patronizing, I apolagize, that's not my intention.
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteAll of this does NOT sound patronizing at all, don't worry!!! Instead, I really appreciate your advice :)
So please don't apologize me.
I truly look forward to seeing you again in your country!!:D