Guide for the Dutch Student Life in Rotterdam
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Guide for the Dutch student life in Rotterdam Welcome! In this guide, we will give you some more information about living in the Netherlands, from how to use the public transport and housing in Rotterdam to more information about the Erasmus University. We have summed it all up in this content list below. Content list 1. The Netherlands ........................................................................................................................... 3 General information about the country .......................................................................................... 3 Culture ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Public transport and bikes ............................................................................................................... 4 Sightseeing spots throughout the country .................................................................................... 5 How do I get to Rotterdam? ............................................................................................................ 5 2. Rotterdam: your city! .................................................................................................................... 7 History ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) ........................................................................................... 7 Student associations ........................................................................................................................ 8 Culture ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Recommended highlights through the city.................................................................................. 10 Different areas in Rotterdam ......................................................................................................... 11 Nightlife ............................................................................................................................................ 13 Harbour, beach & nature ............................................................................................................... 14 2 1. The Netherlands General information about the country The Netherlands is a small country with 17,4 million people. Most people live in the urban area called the Randstad (the area on the map lined in black). This area contains 4 big cities; the Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam. A big part of the country is below sea level, as a result the Netherlands is known for its dykes. f you are interested in protecting the country from the rising sea level, you can check the ‘Watersnood’ museum in Ouwerkerk in the province ‘Zeeland’ (about a national disaster in 1953, when the dikes broke) or bike over the ‘afsluitdijk’ (a dike between North Holland and Friesland, protecting Utrecht and Flevoland from the sea). Offically, there are two national languages in the Netherlands; Dutch and Frysian. Frysian is spoken in the province Friesland and in part of Groningen. There are several dialects as well which can sometimes be hard to understand. Almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks English. If you are looking for a job while you are in Rotterdam, not speaking Dutch should not be a problem. Culture There is always something to do in the Netherlands, whether you would like to go to festivals, do some sight-seeing, go to stand-up comedy or museums. In the section ‘Rotterdam’ there will be an overview on what you can do in the city itself. There are also some national holidays which can be interesting for you: • For Carnaval, head to any big city in the South (‘below the rivers’). It depends a bit on where you go how they celebrate it – in Breda it’s more focussed on making nice costumes, if you go to Vlissingen you might see people who put a lampshade on their head and call it a hat. • The 27th of April is Kingsday – the day we celebrate the Kings birthday. There are usually festivals / concerts on this day, as well as rummage sales. • The 4th of May is the day the Dutch commemorate the sacrifice of the men and women who died during the second world war and other violent conflicts. On this day, there is a ceremony in Amsterdam and, at 8 o’clock, everyone in the country is silent for two minutes. You can follow the ceremony on national television. 3 • The 5th of May is the day the Dutch celebrate their liberation (Bevrijdingsdag) and the end of the second world war. This day is usually marked by festivals all over the country. In Wageningen, there is a military parade with veterans to celebrate the day, as well as a lot of concerts. If you are looking for festivals, make sure to check these websites: https://festivalfans.nl/agenda/ https://partyflock.nl/ Public transport and bikes In the Netherlands, you use the same card for busses, trains, metros and trams. It is called an ‘OV-chipkaart’ (OV = Openbaar Vervoer, which means public transport). You can request one via this link: https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/purchase-an-ov- chipkaart/apply-for-personal-ov-chipkaart.htm. The card looks like this: In order to request a card, you will need a passport photo (or any other photo showing your face, this will be printed on your card), and IDEAL (the Dutch version of PayPal, unfortunately you will most likely need a Dutch bank account to use this service). When requesting the card, you can opt in for ‘automatic reloading’ - every time the amount of money is not enough to be able to travel, it will automatically take a certain amount from your bank account and upload it to your card. If you do not want to use this service, you can upload money manually to the card at almost each train station and / or supermarket. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A DUTCH BANK ACCOUNT (and don’t want one either), you can go to any NS-machine in a train station (or the service desk in a train station) and buy an anonymous OV-chipcard. You have to upload money to this yourself! Public transport in the Netherlands is very well organised, there are very few delays (but when there are, people will complain about it and there is nothing the Dutch Railway company can do right – prepare for the complaining). It can be quite expensive, there are no student discounts for international students. You have the option to buy a zone ticket, which allows you free travel on a certain track. This can 4 still be quite expensive, so keep your OV-chipcard for longer journeys and use a bike when you can. (When using public transport, you can use the website 9292.nl to plan your journey. They also have an app, and it works for trains, buses and trams). If you want to get a bike, there are several options. You can buy a second-hand bike (there are several Facebook groups where people offer bikes, or you can check the website Marktplaats.nl (the Dutch version of eBay)). You can also choose to rent a bike, there are several companies who offer this service. For about 10 to 15 euros a month (depends a bit on what you are looking for, a simple bike or something more sophisticated) you will have a good functioning bike and, if it needs maintenance (for a flat tire, for example) you can call the company and they will take care of it. For renting a bike, these are some popular companies: • https://swapfiets.nl/ • https://student-bike.nl/ • https://www.studentfiets.nl/verhuur-van-fietsen-fietsverhuur/ The NS (Dutch Railway company) also offers bike rentals, but this will cost you 3.85 euros per 24 hours. These bikes are used when you travel to another city and want to get around on a bike while there. The service is quite expensive to use on a day to day basis. Sightseeing spots throughout the country • Keukenhof • Volendam • Madurodam (Den Haag) • Amsterdam: Red Light District, Anne Frank Museum, etc • Paleis het Loo (in Apeldoorn, used to be a royal palace, nowadays a museum about the monarchy) • Hunnebedden • Scheveningen • Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven) • Groningen • Gelderse kastelen (castles in the province Gelderland) • Westerbork • Wadden islands (Texel is the biggest one, recommended when you need some rest and nature) How do I get to Rotterdam? We recommend you take a train to Rotterdam. The NS (Dutch Railway company) is main provider of trains throughout the whole country. You can take the train from Schiphol airport to Rotterdam Centraal – the central station of Rotterdam for 13.20 euros (you can buy a ticket at the airport). If you choose to travel with the Intercity 5 Direct (ICD) you will have to pay an extra fee of 2.60 euros during peak hours and 1.56 euros in off-peak-hours. The Intercity Direct has extensive place to take suitcases with you. Check everything on the website: https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/special-routes/intercity-direct.html If you are arriving at Rotterdam - the Hague airport or Eindhoven airport, you will first have to catch a bus to the train station before you can get to Rotterdam. You can buy a ticket from the bus driver. Once at the train station, you can buy a ticket to get to Rotterdam. There are several train stations in Rotterdam, so make sure you check which one is the closest to your room. If you are travelling to Rotterdam Centraal, you can take all forms of public transport, which is called the RET (the tram, bus or metro in Rotterdam) to where you