{"id":157824,"date":"2023-08-21T14:52:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T12:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=157824"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:54","slug":"eurekaweeks-international-day-its-easier-to-get-into-the-university-than-to-find-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/08\/21\/eurekaweeks-international-day-its-easier-to-get-into-the-university-than-to-find-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurekaweek\u2019s International Day: \u2018It\u2019s easier to get into the university than to find housing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Squeezing through crowded stands and food carts, students from all corners of the globe visit the Eurekaweek’s International Day. The biggest challenge in their first few days in Rotterdam? Housing, money and, of course, bicycles.<\/p>\n

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Elif and Andjelija enjoying a 'something waffle' after waiting in line for ten minutes.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElliot Zepeda<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The fumes of melting caramel travel through the packed hall of the Theil building. Enchanted by the scent, first-year students walk past the student association stands and line up in front of the stroopwafel<\/em> cart. The queue zig-zags through aspiring Mandarin learners, salsa dancers and currently slender rowers.<\/p>\n

Elif (18) and Andjelija (19), soon-to-be Psychology students from Turkey and Serbia, have been anticipating the taste of this \u2018something waffle\u2019 \u2013 \u2018we don\u2019t know the name\u2019, says Elif \u2013 for over ten minutes. As they wait, they concur that adapting to the Netherlands hasn\u2019t been as hard as they imagined \u2013 at least easier than remembering the word stroopwafel<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to talk to people, everyone is so open-minded, there are so many opportunities to go out and meet new friends\u201d, Andjelija explains. However, Elif promptly stops her idyllic description by reminding her how difficult it was for them to find housing. \u201cCatching a house was very hard and stressful. It took us more than two months. Start on time\u201d, Elif recommends.<\/p>\n

Praying for a house<\/h2>

Ariel (18, International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics) agrees. She arrived from Indonesia earlier this month with only one month of rent guaranteed. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a permanent house until a week ago, I signed my contract last week. I could have been homeless by the end of this month.\u201d With this stress factor gone, Ariel can now fill up her time by discovering the different student associations, quickly jumping from the Chinese Student Association to the next available stand to write down her name.<\/p>\n

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Ariel has a place to live, so she's enjoying the different student associations.<\/span><\/p>

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Attracted by the symphony of different Latin American accents emerging from the Erasmus Hispanic Cultural Organization, Psychology student Carla from Mexico inquires about the different Spanish-speaking events planned for the year. After this joyful reconnection with her roots, she is grounded back to reality. She has yet to find a place to live. \u201cThat\u2019s the hardest thing at the moment, I\u2019m looking for accommodation and I can\u2019t find anything. I\u2019m staying at a hostel for now. I\u2019m praying.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Leonor (18, International Business Adiminstration), Charlotte and Carla just met. They sat next to each other at the presentation session in the Aula.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cIt\u2019s easier to get into the university than to find housing\u201d, Eunus (18), Psychology student from Hong Kong, summarises the housing crisis in the country. Eunus found accommodation before his arrival, however, he is currently struggling with arranging his banking in the Netherlands. \u201cYou need to go to the City Hall before opening a bank account so I have had my dad follow me everywhere to just pay because I need his credit card\u201d, he complains as he leaves campus to reunite with his financing father.<\/p>\n

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Eunus on his way to his father.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElliot Zepeda<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

No bikes!<\/h2>

Back in Theil, International Business Administration student Abile is waiting for his fellow Indonesian friends in front of the Chinese Student Association stand. With accommodation assured at his relative\u2019s house, Abile\u2019s main struggle was to decide which bicycle to get to commute to university. \u201cI live an hour away from here so there was no way that I could come all the way on a bike. So I bought a foldable bike I can take on the bus.\u201d After his acquisition, Abile feared that his bike might get stolen, prompting him to buy a bike lock twice the price of his second-hand foldable bike.<\/p>\n

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Abile bought a foldable bike.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElliot Zepeda<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

For IBEB student Charlotte, having bikes folded and stored away would be her ideal version of Rotterdam. \u201cWhen you walk down the street there\u2019s like everything, everywhere, all at once. There\u2019s bikes going super fast and then the motorcycles, the tram, the cars\u2026 you have to look around everywhere.\u201d When confronted about the similar bustling nature of Paris and Hong Kong, her previous cities of residence, she says: \u201cYeah\u2026 but no bikes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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