NHTV in Breda by bike :)

I have never been to the Netherlands before and Western Europe generally seemed interesting to me when I was checking my exchange programme options. I have to admit that the main motive when choosing the university was the destination, even though everybody says you shouldn’t do that. The exact destination – that is, Breda – was, if I remember correctly, one of the two options in the Netherlands. I believe I choose this one based on some recommendations of fellow students and a bit of online research.

Studying, ...

NHTV in Breda is known to be one of the best schools for tourism and hospitality studies in Europe at least, and they are proud of it. It is an international school, which means a lot of classes are in English anyway and a lot of your schoolmates are not Dutch. I was surprised by the size of the building in which I had my classes; my home university is rather tiny compared to it. Also, their classes are organised differently – there are 10-15 students in one class and maybe 5 classes in a year. I’m not sure on that last one, but it makes for a really personal approach during lessons and workshops. For bigger courses, the classes are combined. The lecturers speak English but majority has a very distinctive Dutch accent – you’ll know it when you hear it.

... people and life, ...

I did not know a lot about the Netherlands or its people before my arrival. Therefore, I did not have any strong perceptions or stereotypes about them. Sure, we all know about Red light district in Amsterdam and somewhat “different” drug policy, but that’s about it. Because of this, my first impressions were very first indeed and the “firstest” of them was the language. I can safely say I spent my first month marvelling at the way they speak and all the sound they produce. I still do. With this minor cultural/language shock came all the other problems (including using public transport and grocery shopping). Luckily, the Dutch all know at least some basic English – I haven’t met a person who would not understand me at all.

Now here are some observations about the way of life. You will probably hear, at one point or another, of “Dutch directness”. How you deal with it has a lot to do with where you come from. It may seem nothing special to you or you may find it rude. Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I do believe that they use it as an excuse when they really are rude. I’ve met – and a lot of my friends would agree with me here – two kinds of Dutch people: the extremely friendly, willing to help with anything and everything (while being direct, by the way) and extremely rude, who take it as a personal offence if you happen to ask them a question (or, you know, just be a customer in a grocery store). So I guess in comes down to the personality in the end.

Another cultural thing are bikes, obviously. Everyone – and I mean it – here owns a bike and uses it. The entire city transport network is made for bikes; you can take in on a bus or train, most of the roads have bike paths and bikers are an important subject in traffic. It takes a little time to get used to all the “unwritten” traffic rules, but once you got them, you are good to go. On a bike, of course.

... free time, ...

How much time you have depends on how many courses you take. The timetable can get very busy and sometimes, you have to have a working weekend to keep up with all the projects. But when you have some free time, here is what you can do: travel. The bigger cities are not that far from Breda, Amsterdam being just an hour and a half away by train. Breda is also just an hour away from Belgium border and this is something I think you should take advantage of. Belgian rail is cheaper than Dutch, but more on transport later.

Breda itself is a nice city, but is not exactly a tourist destination. This means you can do all the Breda monuments and places in a day or two. Good thing is, it’s all biking distance. As far as afternoon activities are concerned, well. There is a movie theatre where you can go and ignore the Dutch subtitles for two hours. There is a bowling centre quite close to the university as well. There are a lot of fitness centres all around and most of them have discount for students – a lot of discount. I would recommend Bress sport centre. Or you can go shopping – the city centre is full of shops for all budgets.

... food and drinks, ...

Very important. Dutch food exists, but is mostly a mixture of all the worldly cuisines. If you ask your schoolmates, they will be happy to explain what is worth trying and what you should stay away from – there are some shady dishes as well. Be sure to ask them to write it down for you; pronunciation can be a bit tricky. What I absolutely fell in love with are “stroopwafels” – a type of waffle cookie stuffed with caramel syrup. Fresh made waffle is absolute heaven.

If you are interested in food in general, you must visit Marker hall in Rotterdam (basically a giant indoor food market) or Breda market. It’s every Tuesday and Friday in the main square in the city centre. The Friday one is bigger, but both work. They usually have a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and it can get surprisingly cheap in spring and summer months, when everything is in season. Be sure to pick up white asparagus in spring and cherries and strawberries in summer.

The Dutch have a similar meal culture to English. They have a sandwich for lunch and then a big dinner. It goes as far as you can’t order a pizza before 4 in the afternoon because that’s just not a lunch thing for them. Most of the cafés open between 10 and 11 in the morning and serve various sandwiches and toasties until the afternoon. Around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, the restaurants open and the cafés switch their menus to bigger meals. Also, people eat out a lot. During lunch and dinnertime, the cafés and restaurants are full, especially when the weather gets warmer.

There are unfortunately no student meals and discounts but you can eat for from 7€ on for lunch and 10€ on for dinner basically anywhere. Note: the drinks excluded. It can get a lot if you are used to eating out a lot so my advice would be to save it for special occasions and learn how to cook.

In the evening, the cafés and even some restaurants turn into night clubs. There are a lot of them and people go out every day of the week. It gets really crowded at around 11 in the evening and most clubs are open to around 4 in the morning. You mostly need your ID card to get in and you have to be over 21 years old. Drinking out is generally expansive, but there are always some deals or special offers, so you can have fun anyway. I would recommend visiting Shots bar – it’s really small, but really fun. You go there for the show they make of preparing the drinks (the sparkling, burning, decorating etc.).

... accommodation, ...

I lived in an apartment I got via university, who asked me if I would like some help with accommodation. There is a company called WonenBreburg and it offers apartments primarily to exchange students. You can only rent room in an apartment for six months. There are 3 sizes of rooms available and the prices go from cca. 350€/month to 450€/month, based on the room you choose. You have to pay 4 month’s rate in advance, before you even move in, so be sure to have some savings. All the apartments are in a living complex called Epelenberg, so you have all your exchange friends really close. The university and the grocery store are close too, and it’s a nice neighbourhood in general. If you don’t want to rent the room this way, there are some Facebook pages and other options, but a lot of apartments are not equipped – there is no furniture in them and you have to get your own.

...transport ...

Public transport in the Netherlands is very good but very expansive. There are some ways to get by cheaper, though. There is a thing called OV-chip card, on which you put money and then pay with it for every type of public transport with some discount. You can also get a personalised one (with your picture on it) and travel for free during weekends. But it takes a long time to get it and I’m not sure it’s available for exchange students. Ask.

Train is the thing if you want to travel. Intercity is the fastest one and there are usually no differences in prices for different types of trains (there is a supplement required in some relations, though). Be sure to sit on the blue sits; the red ones are first class and are more expansive. And you really do need to buy a ticket. There have been occasions when nobody checked my ticket on the train, but these were more of an exception. If you do get caught without a ticket, the fines are really high, so it’s not worth it.

I haven’t used buses much; in Breda, it’s better to bike. Never mind the weather. The Dutch do it, so can you – in rain, snow, hail, wind or sun. But be sure to park your bike at the bike stands when you go somewhere. If you don’t, your bike can be taken away by the municipality. Then you have to go pick it up and pay 25€ fine. Ask me how I know.

... and general costs.
 I have already mentioned cost here and there. The standard in the Netherlands is higher than in Slovenia, so everything seemed expansive to me. The biggest differences were in food costs – especially the ones from the grocery stores, when you don’t realise that everything is more expansive until you see how much you really spent at the end of the month. Going out for drinks can be expansive too. The various beers (beer is a big thing here and it’s really good) can cost from 4€ to 9€.

There is a possibility of getting a job here, of course. It is slightly complicated for exchange students, because most are here for 6 months and would therefore work for only 4 to 5 months. Additionally, there are a lot of Dutch students seeking jobs and Dutch students speak Dutch, which is a big advantage. But you can always try.

Bottom line, my scholarship did not cover my expanses, it didn’t even cover my rent. Honestly, if I had had no savings, I wouldn’t have gone on an exchange.

There is something else I would like to mention: for some reason, you cannot pay with Visa here. You can get money from the cash machine with it and – if you are lucky – buy train tickets. I think it is best to go and get a Dutch bank account. The ING Bank offers student accounts for free and it’s something that will make your life easier. In the end of the exchange period, you just go there and say you would like to close the account and they will transfer all the money left on it to your home bank account.

All in all, this exchange has been a wonderful experience. Of course there were some bad things (read: the weather), but there were many more good ones. I would recommend it to everyone and I would recommend the Netherlands, Breda and NHTV. That’s it from me. :)