Foto: Privéarchief

A few hours a week at university

According to Karly, the university environment is in any case not a good place to make friends if you only have class a few hours a week. ‘The Dutch friends that I do have, I know because I work at Heineken. I worked there fulltime during my premasters.’ During her masters, Karly was International Student Ambassador at the UvA. She helped international students get to know their way at the university. ‘We advised to learn Dutch, at least a little, to show that you make the effort. I’ve noticed it’s also an icebreaker if you ask Dutch people how to pronounce something in Dutch.’

Karly doesn’t think the university is responsible for this problem. They just have to provide good education, she says. ‘As an international student, you really just have to keep trying. Making all the effort and taking all the time is completely worth it. Once you’ve crossed that thick line and you are friends with a Dutch person, it’s very cool. So if you’re interested, do it!’

Work environment

Ed thinks the problem is the university. ‘The UvA is much more of a work environment. People show up at lectures and go home again to do their own stuff. In England it’s like a whole experience that you go through together, at least on my course. I studied in Southampton. You live on campus, and there is one area of the city where everything is together and where all events are student-focused. In Amsterdam there are way more places to go.’

The bad visibility of student associations in the Netherlands is a problem, says Nena Grob, Integration Coordinator at the International Student Network (ISN). ‘When you look at sport clubs, those are completely Dutch and it’s hard to get in as an international student. We are actually in some sort of a transitional phase. There is a process of restructuring going on in which more and more student organizations are starting to communicate in English as well.’