• Report 1: Groningen, by Judith Zielske and Nina Weber
• Report 2: Leuven, by Samira Sassi
• Report 3: Leiden, by Cornelia Leune

As students of Dutch studies, a year abroad in the Netherlands was a natural choice for us and Groningen seemed particularly favourable as a partner university. The application documents were quite extensive, but on the whole the application was uncomplicated. Groningen was not unknown to us as a city and, above all, not unappealing. However, after a year there, our positive attitude towards the city is rather clouded. To make things better for you, here are a few tips from us:

Tip 1:

Look for accommodation on your own and don't take up the offer from the Housing Office if your aim is to improve your Dutch and get to know one or two Dutch people. The housing market in Groningen is quite congested, so start your search early and expect higher rental costs than here in Oldenburg. You can search for shared flats via www.kamerhuren.net, www.kamernet.nl or www.studentenkamers.nl. Sometimes there are also offers to swap flats.

Really take this to heart, otherwise you might end up like us:

Our first shock was the price list from the Housing Office, which was sent to us a few weeks before the start of our studies: within 10 days we had to transfer the deposit of €300 and thus buy a pig in a poke, and that for at least 5 months according to the gagging contract. At least our wish to be accommodated in the same hall of residence was honoured, but that was the only positive aspect. The negatives clearly outweighed the positives: rent of €290 for 12 m² of prison-style furnished rooms, a shower and toilet in the corridor and a kitchen for 52 people in a totally run-down hall of residence, power cuts, broken washing machines and fridges, leaking gas from the cooker, cold or no water from the shower, windows that don't open... the list goes on and on, including ants and entire colonies of fruit flies in the kitchen and common room.

Anyone who previously had a fairly casual relationship with cleanliness will be addicted to the cleaning mania after four months at the latest. You have to prove this madness every one or two weeks during "kitchen duty", as many international students have not yet learnt to clean up their own mess. Every evening, four to five more or less motivated people are forced to clean up the kitchen, even if this is no longer possible. There is no telephone either, but at least the internet connection works quite well from time to time.

There's no question of life here; the RUG campus doesn't exactly invite you to linger in a cosy atmosphere. When the sun is shining, you can sit outside on the stone floor for an hour and sip a cheap coffee. But if you're hungry, you'll have to go home: there's neither a canteen nor can you buy affordable snacks (except Belgian fries) in the city centre. However, if it rains, it's pretty uncomfortable in the university and you're not allowed to smoke either. And it rained a lot.

As promised, the seminars are actually not as overcrowded as the mass degree programmes in Oldenburg (German and English studies). However, the rather small degree programmes here also mean a small range of seminars. We were advised to only take seminars from the first two years of study, but for us these were mostly repetitive. In order to pass a seminar, we had to take either a written exam or an oral examination, and an additional seminar paper was required for recognition in Oldenburg, which was not necessarily read by our Dutch lecturers. As it turned out, the Magister and Bachelor's/Master's degree programmes are not really compatible. Bachelor students will certainly have an easier time here.

Tip 2:

It is certainly helpful to clarify the CP requirements in advance both in Germany and in the Netherlands.

Tip 3:

We were really pleasantly surprised by the range of sports on offer at the RUG: for an annual fee of €50, you can do really great things like climbing, squash and sailing (www.aclosport.nl)

We never really warmed up to the international students from our hall of residence (despite kitchen duty and Dutch evenings organised by us). Maybe it was because we didn't come here to party every night for a year, maybe it was because we were among the few people who were actually interested in the country, culture and people, or maybe it was simply because we weren't Wings members (Wings is the Dutch organisation for international students) and refused to see our numerous flatmates as our new best friends straight away.

Unfortunately, the mentoring programme also failed for us, as our mentors returned from holiday just when we had already arranged everything important.

It wasn't easy to get to know Dutch people at university or through the university's sports programme either. It didn't go beyond introductory conversations and a few casual contacts.

Tip 4:

Perhaps you should try to be more proactive: look for a tandem partner or become a member of a student association that each subject has.

And if you don't have anything to do:

Tip 5:

As a student of the Faculty of Letters (Faculty of Arts), you can borrow DVDs from the library for free.

Life (not just the rent) is a bit more expensive in Groningen. So it's probably not surprising that when we received our BAföG grant, tears spontaneously welled up in our eyes: a mere €3.35 or €9 per month in foreign student allowance, while the rent had almost doubled. Our plans to travel around the Netherlands at the weekends had thus come to nothing and we were also unable to attend cultural events such as cinema, theatre and concerts as often as we would have liked.

Food is also more expensive here, especially fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, meat and cheese (yes, that too!). Flowers are cheap, but taste a bit bland in the long runJ.

We did have fun, but the experience fell far short of our expectations. We weren't able to continue our studies as smoothly as we would have liked or improve our language skills. The fact that we didn't feel comfortable due to the living situation was also reflected in other areas.

We hope that we have not written this report in vain and that you will take our tips into consideration.

From February to July 2006, I spent an exchange semester at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in the Flemish part of Belgium. As a centuries-old student city (founded in 1425), Leuven is charmingly interwoven with the university. The entire cityscape is characterised by the university, which is not only reflected in the fact that you can find historic university buildings throughout the city that are still in use today. Leuven's population is also characterised by the university: of the more than 90,000 inhabitants of Leuven and the surrounding municipalities, around 30,000 are students (including over 3,000 international students) and 11,000 are schoolchildren. Leuven has been the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant since 1995 and is only 30 kilometres from Brussels.

I chose Leuven for several reasons. Firstly, it is an excellent university with a good reputation, and secondly, I wanted to improve my Dutch language skills. As a student of Dutch studies, I had no problems attending the regular courses and was therefore able to take courses for my first main subject, history, in Dutch. There was also a wide range of courses in English. My coordinator helped me as much as possible with the selection of courses and was always ready to listen to any problems I had.

If you are coming to Leuven as an exchange student, you should always find out about accommodation options well in advance. The university offers an online service that lists available rooms(cwisdb.kuleuven.be/pls/kamers/hvzoek.hvstart). Housing options and rental prices vary: from a room in a hall of residence, to the typical Flemish "kot" (shared house, own room, shared kitchen and bathroom), to a studio from around €230 upwards. It is advisable to compare the offers and in any case to view them on site. A little tip: the university offers standard tenancy agreements. It is advisable to use these(www.kuleuven.ac.be/accommodation/private/contract.htm).

As there is a big "run" on rooms, especially at the beginning of the academic year, it is advisable to start your search early. For the first few days, it is therefore advisable to book a room in the youth hostel, for example, in order to compare the offers in peace (early booking is recommended here: www.leuven.be).

I personally had a very centrally located "kot" in a house where 19 other Flemish students were staying. My room was fully furnished and had a fridge. The kitchen and 2 showers were for shared use, each corridor (4 rooms) had a toilet available. At the weekends I usually had the house to myself, as it is typical in Flanders for students to go home to their parents at the weekend.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is not only the oldest university in the "Lage Landen", but also has a good reputation. I found both professors and fellow students to be very committed. As I speak Dutch, I had a wide selection of courses to choose from. However, according to the "old system", I attended the licentiate subjects (comparable to our Master's degree). But in Leuven, too, the Bachelor's/Master's system now applies.

The academic year is divided into two semesters. A further distinction is made between the lecture period and the "blokperiode" (lecture-free period for studying), at the end of which examinations must be taken. Most examinations at the end of the semester are oral examinations. However, you do not find out the results immediately!

As the university is spread out over the whole city, you can reach the city centre very quickly and therefore have a large selection of cafés and restaurants. Special feature: Each School has its own "FakBar" where you can get drinks and a small snack at a reasonable price. There are also several student canteens in Leuven, called Alma, where you can get cheap meals. They are comparable to our German canteen, but slightly more expensive. In addition, the student clubs (in my case Babylon for languages and literature and Historia for history) organise lots of cultural events, excursions and parties. I would particularly like to emphasise the Pangaea. It is a meeting place for international students. As a member (membership costs €4 per year), you can always get free coffee and tea in the café with your membership mug. Other drinks are also very cheap there.

Leuven is extremely central. You can reach the coast within 2 hours by train, which is a "long journey" by Belgian standards. I got to know Belgium as a country that invites you to go on excursions. With the so-called Go-pass ticket (45€, as of July 2006) you have 10 one-way journeys throughout Belgium. You should definitely not miss out on the beautiful cities of Flanders and Wallonia. At the weekend there are further opportunities to save money - I would like to refer you to the Belgian railway website: www.b-rail.be/main/N/.

But Leuven itself also offers a range of leisure activities. For students, for example, the sports centre is available free of charge and offers a range of activities. If you want to relax, the Botanical Garden (the oldest in Belgium), the city park where most students hang out at lunchtime or the park around Arenberg Castle are ideal.

In the city itself, there are always free open-air events that are very popular. Anyone interested in art and culture will definitely get their money's worth in Leuven. There is a wide range of dance and theatre events as well as concerts (Jazz on Sunday in the Stuk - a must!!!!). Cinema fans will not be disappointed either.

Leuven's nightlife offers a variety of cafés and bars where you can also dance. Most of them are located on the Oude Markt. While most students go out on Thursdays, the city mainly belongs to international students and tourists at the weekend, as the Flemish students usually spend the weekend with their families, as already mentioned.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is there to support international students. This starts with the orientation week, where newcomers are given all the information they need and are introduced to all kinds of institutions that they can turn to with questions and problems. Of course, you also come into contact with other international students. I can only recommend attending the orientation week to everyone. The coordinators and especially the aforementioned Pangaea are also there to help you throughout the semester!

I can only recommend a semester abroad at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to every student. It was a wonderful time for me! I made a lot of friends there and can well imagine moving to Belgium in the not too distant future. This small country has much more to offer than comics, Jacques Brel and French fries... The strength of the country and its people lies in the lack of Belgian stereotypes.

After my studies in Oldenburg, I lived in Leiden for a year. With a Huygens scholarship, I was able to work on my dissertation at the university there.

For some time now, it has also been possible to go to Leiden during your studies as part of the Erasmus programme. From my experience, I can only recommend Leiden!

The university in Leiden - the oldest in the Netherlands - is rich in tradition and well equipped. With around 17,500 students, it is slightly larger than the university in Oldenburg. Nevertheless, you quickly find your way around. Subjects such as Dutch studies are relatively small and you can count on good support.

Leiden itself is a cosy, old student city. The four major cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht are not far away - it's only half an hour by train to Amsterdam, for example. The North Sea beach can also be reached within 30 minutes by bike or bus.

A few more tips:

Rents in Leiden, as in all Dutch university cities, are unfortunately somewhat higher than in Germany; you should expect to pay between 250 and 300 euros per month. The university's International Office arranges rooms in halls of residence for international students. However, a few words of warning: not only can it take a long time to receive an offer (or a cancellation) from the International Office, but these rooms are also relatively expensive. What's more, these halls of residence are only intended for international students - you won't get to know any Dutch people there and Dutch is not spoken.

I would therefore definitely recommend trying to find a room to rent temporarily. In Leiden, the Stichting RooFS (Rooms for Foreign Students; www.stichtingroofs.nl) arranges rooms for Dutch students who are going abroad. You can also search the internet (e.g. at www.kamertje.nl or www.kamernet.nl).

The social life of students in Leiden seems to be more organised in many respects than here in Germany. There are numerous "Verenigingen" with fixed structures, regular meetings, etc. From the outside, this may seem unfamiliar and daunting at first. Nevertheless, the best way to participate in Dutch student life and get in contact with Dutch people is to become a member yourself: It's worth it!

The smaller "verenigingen", such as the "studentenvereniging voor internationale betrekkingen"(www.sibleiden.nl), are particularly useful. But the university sports programme(www.sport.leidenuniv.nl) and the courses and groups organised by the university's LAK theatre(www.laktheater.nl) also offer many opportunities.

I will be happy to answer any further questions!

Cornelia Leune