The Dutchies

me with some Dutch friends :))

Well, the Dutch people: besides that they are tall, blond, got blue eyes (most of them at least), they are the most fun people I have ever met. They are direct, open to everything, social, easy-going, not afraid of new things and new people. If you are a foreigner and they see that you are lost or something, they are going to offer their help at once.

Futhermore, they hardly worry. I love this feature about them. I do love hanging out with my Dutch friends, they are really fun and know how to party and 'just let it go'. If you ever come to live in Holland, you have to learn to live with this directness, because they will ask a lot about you (part of the getting-to-know-you process) and will switch to English at once if they see that you have troubles with the language. Or if you speak in Dutch, they won't care if you make a mistake, they will treat you and talk to you just like if you were a Dutch yourself. It probably comes from that they are full of foreigners and are used to hearing and listening to accents, poor Dutch knowledge, so don't be afraid to use what you know in Dutch! They will help you! So that's why I think that if you decide to live abroad, the Netherlands would be a great first choice because their people are nice, kind, welcoming and will make you feel just like at home.

HOLIDAY

Nationale Nederland -
during the day

YEEES, it's finally time to have some rest from school. At my school the vacation starts officially on the 1st of July and lasts til the 31st of August. Obviosly, it is 2 months, must be enough time to 'repair' yourself both menthally and physically. And what to do in Holland? Especially if the weather is so unpredictable! Really, it is July and I'm still wearing my jacket.... ridiculous. But at least I don't sweat my ass off, so to speak.... Well, it is a great weather to make trips to other cities. I'm not gonna do that coz I travel a lot during the year, as well.

City hall

Pathé, theather

City hall

Nationale Nederland - at night

Rotterdam has become my favourite Dutch city. It is totally different from what you're used to in the Netherlands. Because it was destroyed during the 2nd WW, and it had to be rebuilt, it is pretty modern. New cool buildings and streets, hardly any canals can be found anymore. The city is LIVING. It is full of foreigners, I kinda feel tall there (that IS strange, coz I'm like 172 cm tall, that's smaller than an average Dutch) but you can find ANY nationalities in Rotterdam. So even more people speak English there (if it's even possible because almost everyone speaks English in Holland) but if you wanna get a job, it will be easier there. It is also said that Rotterdam is the most international city of Holland. I have experienced that...

So here are some pics about the city and I hope you get an idea what I mean by 'different' from other cities in the Netherlands. Enjoy


P.S: sorry for that the pictures look so idiotic but this stupid blog just does not want to put them where I want them to be!!

Studiefinanciering//Student loan

If you want to study in the Netherlands, I think, it is pretty handy to know about this opportunity. You can also find info about it on this website: http://www.ib-groep.nl/particulieren/default.asp

You are allowed to get this loan, if you are Dutch, or an Eu -member (I am sorry, I'm not sure if non-eu students can get it)
A dutch student gets it because he's dutch, but an EU-student has to do the following things to be able to get it:
1. you have to follow a full-time study at a dutch university.
2. He has to be working at a dutch company, and have a contract with them at least for 3 months already, when you apply to studiefinanciering.
3. On the contract there has to be 32 hours per month working hours. and you also have to work at least this much and keep working as long as you want to get this loan.
4. there are two parts of this loan: the basisbeurs, meaning basic loan, which is around 240 euros/ month. This is what everyone gets. In addition, you can apply for an aanvullende beurs, meaning something like additional loan, which can be max 260 euros/month and it gets calculated by the salary of your parents. If your parents earn well, then probably you are gonna get less. If they don't, you might get the max. amount.
5. In addition to these, you have  right for an OV-chipkaart, which is a travelling card with which you can travel for free during the week OR at the weekends, depending on which one you choose.
6. So you get this loan for max 5 years, and if you get your degree within 10 years, you do not have to pay it back.

All above these, you can get a "real" loan, as wel but you DO have to pay this back, no matter if you have your degree. Only the basisbeurs and the aanvullende beurs can be a kind of gift in case if you have your degree.

If something is not clear, just let me know your e-mail and I answer all questions or just check out the link above.

Travelling to the Netherlands

Well, I am going to write this from a European distance.

By Plane:
There are flights frequently leaving to and from Amsterdam Airport (Schipol) or to Eindhoven. Schipol is the main airport of Holland - there are usually nationall aircrafts flying here. The Dutch aircraft is KLM and for a reasonable price. As for the luggage, it can weigh up to 23 kg.
Usually the charter flights fly to Eindhoven such us Wizzair or Ryanair. And of course most country's own aircrafts have planes flying to Holland.
The journey can take from 1 hour up to 3 but then you come from really far. the average travel time is 2 hours to Holland from Europe.

By Bus:
It is an ever cheaper way, though it takes much longer but you are allowed to take much more stuff with you than on the plane. Busses usually stop at the bigger European cities.

By car:
if you don't travel alone then it is the cheapest way if you don't mind driving a lot :D Austria can be reached withing 10 hours, Hungary 15 hours. But it also depends on the weather and the traffic of course but a huge adventage is that you can take as much stuff as much fits in the car.

Qeen's Day

Well, this is a national day when the Dutch do know how to celebrate. Held on the 30th of April, the birthday of the Queen. Though it's funny because her birthday is not on this day officially. All in all, this day is all about celebrating. It usually starts early in the morning and lasts until the next day. There are a lot of venues all over the country where there are stages set, so live music, and everyone is just drinking, dancing, freaking out :D and everything is Orange!!! Btw, maybe you all know it already, but just a bit of history lesson why the orange is the colour of the Dutch. It is all because of William of Orange :))

But so here is a video of where I have been to this year (I am somewhere there in the crowd, who can find me, wins something :D)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98xk73mAjt0&feature=related

Exams

Haha, today I had my first exam of this modul, managerial skills - well guys, I must say it was pretty easy if you attended all classes, the only problem was that the questions were pretty subjective to answer. I had my own opinion which leadership style I would use e.g. but it's either right or not.... We'll see.

But as for the exams, they are pretty easy if you study a bit for them. It's not like in Hungary at all. I dont go all crazy during the exam periods. You just have to attend all classes and maybe, read the book and done. Btw, we have a lot of multiple-choice questions and some open questions. So if you are a lucky kind, then you are gonna make it anyway. If you can talk, then you can write stuff to the open questions and there you pass the exam. I find it pretty funny since I studied in Hungary, I hear my friends how they are feeling while studying, it's not normal either. Though here you dont get the chance to cheat at all. We sit alone at one desk, no place where you could hide your book or papers.
In addition, we have the exams this week and next week we are gonna have the week off!! Cant wait :D

Shopping

Groceries
In the Netherlands you can find a lot of grocery stores. The cheapest ones: Lidl, Aldi, C1000, Poiesz. In the first two you wont usually find well-known brands - but it is still cheap. In the last 2 ones, you can find everything and home.brands as well. I personally do my shopping in Lidl or/and Poiesz.
The more expensive ones are Albert Heijn, Super de Boer. Of course if you do your shopping there, you can still find some nice discounts or the home-brands are also cheaper there (like everywhere).
These are all supermarkets, in Holland I have not seen any hypermarkets (like Tesco or Interspar), though I once saw a Spar in a village :D

Clothing:
Well, I dont do a lot of clothe shopping but my experience was that the cheapest ones are Bristol and Bentex. I once got a pair of jeans in Bentex for 4.50 euro. But it was because there was a discount:  2 halen, 1 betalen, meaning getting 2 for the price of 1. So me and my friend got two jeans and since both cost 9 euros, we got the 2nd one for free.
There is also H&M, C&A, America Today, etc. I dont usually go there so I dont know the rest actually XD
V&D is a 3 or 4 store building - you can buy there clothes, electronical stuff, there is also a restaurant/café kind place, junkstore -  every floor has its own thing.

Drugstores

In the Dutch drugstores you will find shampoos, medicines, pills, shower gels, deos - so everything what you would usually expect from a drugstore. My favourite one is Op is op, because it is really cheap and you can get well-known brands there. A pretty great place is HEMA. Thats also a drugstore but you can also get there some clothes (mostly underwears) and there is usually a small cafeteria.

Junkstores
My favourite ones: Action, Xenos, Blokker, Euroland.  You can find there EVERYTHING for a very low price. If you need blanket, or excercise books or whatever, just go there.

Of course there are a lot more stores in Leeuwarden, but these are the ones where I usually go to.

Oh, and maybe as an electronical store, I would mention MediaMarkt. Everyone knows it, no explanation needed, I guess.