Education

It’s harder to form close friendships here”

More and more foreign students are coming to the TU each year. Currently the TU has 130 MSc students, with 110 more on their way. The 1,050 foreign students following the undergraduate curriculum are too many to be ignored.

In the second instalment of Page 4’s integration series, three foreign students tell their stories of adapting to Dutch student life.

The Dutch language program was easy for David Lloyd, a

fourth-year chemical engineering student who decided to learn Dutch and follow the five-year program. As a Briton, he benefited from the similarities between the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages. In terms of grammar and pronunciation, the course was much more challenging for his Asian classmates. Also, Lloyd’s teacher could communicate with him in his own language.

Although most Dutch people speak English reasonably well, there is a definite language barrier, according to Lloyd. For example, English jokes don’t go down well with the Dutch. Aluswe Mwalwega, a Tanzanian MSc electrical engineering student, adds: ”If I understood Dutch, I would understand Dutch humour, and that would make life more interesting. Not knowing the language and being instructed in English helps make us MSc students feel more foreign.” However, Luisa Attanasio, lured here from Italy for a short-term project at the faculty of electrical engineering, doesn’t find language a problem: ”If your English is good, you can communicate. It’s a pity I couldn’t learn some Dutch though. At least enough to get by in the supermarket.”

Belachelijk

Having had some European experiences can be an advantage, although Attanasio is used to later mealtimes and less drinking. And Mwalwega’s Asian friends had a harder time adjusting than she did, as she had spent some time in the UK before coming here. Still, she does think the Dutch are very forward. ”People are more independent here, not like Africa, where people are more together and dependent on each other.” Attanasio finds the Dutch kind and helpful, but misses the warmth of her fellow Italian countrymen. ”It’s harder to form close friendships here,” she says. Moreover, Dutch behaviour seems contagious, Lloyd has noticed. When he speaks Dutch and hangs out with Dutch friends, he becomes more ‘Dutch’. ”I’m less relaxed, more critical. Everything becomes a lot more belachelijk % ridiculous.”

The time period you spend in The Netherlands seems to influence your chances and will to integrate. The five-year program is less internationally orientated; making it difficult to complete the course without learning Dutch or making Dutch friends. MSc students, on the other hand, tend to stick together, according to Mwalwega. But not at System Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management. ”SEPA students have a lot of contact with the Dutch because they have many classes together,” she says. ”With Mechanical Engineering students the opposite is true.”

Attanasio, commenting on the duration of her stay: ”Some things aren’t even worth it if you’re only here for six months. For instance, trying to get a room through an instemming. If you can’t get it in the first few tries, it’s time to find something yourself.”

Islands

The type of friends one makes at the TU is also due to the structure of the university. ”In Scotland,” Lloyd says, ”there was one pub for all the students. You slept in a dorm with other students, who are usually not following the same course as you.” Contrary to the Delft situation, he knew hardly anyone from his own course. ”Here, student accommodations are spread throughout the city, and the faculties are like little independent islands, with little interaction,” he says.

Although student societies mix students together, Lloyd reckoned they would be too intense for him: ”It has to do also with the age difference. You’re most insecure and in need of friends at eighteen, when you’ve left home for the first time. At twenty-five, you’ve made your life and friends already and don’t feel the need as much.”

Participating fully in the introduction week wouldn’t make much difference, Lloyd believes, because one only meets students from one’s own faculty. However, Mwalwega’s summer introduction for MSc students did help her learn more about Holland. They took trips around the country, learned about Dutch art and culture, and were given a book, entitled ‘Act normal’, which was meant to help them understand Dutch behaviour. ”It wasn’t very useful,” Mwalwega reports, ”but it was a very good read.”

More and more foreign students are coming to the TU each year. Currently the TU has 130 MSc students, with 110 more on their way. The 1,050 foreign students following the undergraduate curriculum are too many to be ignored. In the second instalment of Page 4’s integration series, three foreign students tell their stories of adapting to Dutch student life.

The Dutch language program was easy for David Lloyd, a

fourth-year chemical engineering student who decided to learn Dutch and follow the five-year program. As a Briton, he benefited from the similarities between the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages. In terms of grammar and pronunciation, the course was much more challenging for his Asian classmates. Also, Lloyd’s teacher could communicate with him in his own language.

Although most Dutch people speak English reasonably well, there is a definite language barrier, according to Lloyd. For example, English jokes don’t go down well with the Dutch. Aluswe Mwalwega, a Tanzanian MSc electrical engineering student, adds: ”If I understood Dutch, I would understand Dutch humour, and that would make life more interesting. Not knowing the language and being instructed in English helps make us MSc students feel more foreign.” However, Luisa Attanasio, lured here from Italy for a short-term project at the faculty of electrical engineering, doesn’t find language a problem: ”If your English is good, you can communicate. It’s a pity I couldn’t learn some Dutch though. At least enough to get by in the supermarket.”

Belachelijk

Having had some European experiences can be an advantage, although Attanasio is used to later mealtimes and less drinking. And Mwalwega’s Asian friends had a harder time adjusting than she did, as she had spent some time in the UK before coming here. Still, she does think the Dutch are very forward. ”People are more independent here, not like Africa, where people are more together and dependent on each other.” Attanasio finds the Dutch kind and helpful, but misses the warmth of her fellow Italian countrymen. ”It’s harder to form close friendships here,” she says. Moreover, Dutch behaviour seems contagious, Lloyd has noticed. When he speaks Dutch and hangs out with Dutch friends, he becomes more ‘Dutch’. ”I’m less relaxed, more critical. Everything becomes a lot more belachelijk % ridiculous.”

The time period you spend in The Netherlands seems to influence your chances and will to integrate. The five-year program is less internationally orientated; making it difficult to complete the course without learning Dutch or making Dutch friends. MSc students, on the other hand, tend to stick together, according to Mwalwega. But not at System Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management. ”SEPA students have a lot of contact with the Dutch because they have many classes together,” she says. ”With Mechanical Engineering students the opposite is true.”

Attanasio, commenting on the duration of her stay: ”Some things aren’t even worth it if you’re only here for six months. For instance, trying to get a room through an instemming. If you can’t get it in the first few tries, it’s time to find something yourself.”

Islands

The type of friends one makes at the TU is also due to the structure of the university. ”In Scotland,” Lloyd says, ”there was one pub for all the students. You slept in a dorm with other students, who are usually not following the same course as you.” Contrary to the Delft situation, he knew hardly anyone from his own course. ”Here, student accommodations are spread throughout the city, and the faculties are like little independent islands, with little interaction,” he says.

Although student societies mix students together, Lloyd reckoned they would be too intense for him: ”It has to do also with the age difference. You’re most insecure and in need of friends at eighteen, when you’ve left home for the first time. At twenty-five, you’ve made your life and friends already and don’t feel the need as much.”

Participating fully in the introduction week wouldn’t make much difference, Lloyd believes, because one only meets students from one’s own faculty. However, Mwalwega’s summer introduction for MSc students did help her learn more about Holland. They took trips around the country, learned about Dutch art and culture, and were given a book, entitled ‘Act normal’, which was meant to help them understand Dutch behaviour. ”It wasn’t very useful,” Mwalwega reports, ”but it was a very good read.”

Editor Redactie

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