Let’s go Dutch

From an international standpoint, this helps with the easy availability of international food, music and entertainment in the English language. The Dutch themselves are more than enthusiastic to socialize and engage in English.

Given such a scenario, an international student at TU Delft would be, like many of us were, thrilled to live and study in the Netherlands. It appears to be a perfect environment to assimilate into a culture that is blended internationally while retaining traditional roots.

However, reality doesn’t live up to those expectations. It starts with the language – since English is so widely spoken, international students don’t learn Dutch. It isn’t a requirement for living or working here. In the end, after a lot of socializing and chats and studying, do we really know the Dutch people, culture and society the way we could have? Relatively, one would wager that an international student in Germany or Spain would be far greater involved and included in the local societies and activities, i.e. more ‘localized’. This is also true of the US or a UK university, but there the situation is helped with prevalence of English.

While a lot of international students in the US or UK even get involved with local political and current affairs, in the Netherlands, international students are insulated – how many of us knew that the Dutch national elections were held on Sep 12, 2012?

While international students need to take an interest, there’s a reciprocity required from Dutch folks. Living in a highly individualistic setup, they remain largely away from international gatherings – from dinner events and house parties to festive celebrations – almost to the extent that the TU Delft social calendar runs along parallel lines – one Dutch, and the other ‘internationals’. A factor here could be housing allocation, where most of the international students live away from the city centre, and away from all the Dutch social activities. It may not be intended, but this adds-on to further this gap and prevents an opportunity for developing deeper relationships between locals and internationals.

Of course, this is only one aspect of the situation and there are more questions and criterions at play here. There is a large responsibility, and initiative, required from the international students as well – to meet them more than halfway. Say, how about a dinner invite 8 weeks prior for a non-spicy (read: bland!) meal of potatoes and bread?

Dutch humor, now that we love.



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