Practical Tips - First days in the Netherlands

Having a chance to live in Europe is the best thing in my life. I had mixed feeling 6 months ago when the departure day was approaching. I was nervous about literally everything, like how to survive there, did I pack enough clothes, do I need to buy more Indonesian spices, what should I do if I feel home sick. So guys, If you are about to fly away to study abroad, I know exactly how is your feeling right now. 

At that time I did not know all the clues, so I guess it will be useful if I write about all the things you need to prepare on the first days living in the Netherlands, particularly for international student like me. 

• Before departure day

The first tip I can give you before departing is - you have to check the weather in the Netherlands. When you are coming in winter time, make sure you wear warm enough clothes and proper shoes. Also, make sure that you contact related person who will help you settle down or pick you up at the airport like a family or a friend. Indeed, you have to tell your landlord or housing agent about your arrival, how to get the keys and everything. 

Importantly, you need to make sure that your life insurance in the Netherlands has been activated. You must know that it is mandatory and please be aware sometimes it takes longer for insurance company to inform you about the activation. You have to be proactive to get their confirmation or I can say do it aggressively!  Some of my friends just realised their insurance was not activated yet even after months living here. It may give you difficulties if you fall ill or need to go to a doctor for any reason. I just don't want you guys to experience the same thing.

If you hate yellow lights I suggest that you bring your own white lamps from your home country. As an Indonesian, I feel more comfortable to study under white lamps and people say it is so difficult to find white lamps here. 

Bring enough euros. I suggest you to bring enough cash (Euros) to buy things like train ticket, sim card and whatnot when you arrive in the Netherlands. 

• Arrive in Schipol - Amsterdam

After touching down the Schipol Airport you may need to immediately connect with your friends, family, or even your landlord/agent. So you need to get your sim card for your dutch number. There are several sim card provider booths you can easily find in Schipol Airport, like Lebara, T-mobile, Vodafone and what not. I bought Lebara for 30 Euros, I do not really remember what is included on it but all I know I have 1GB and my own number. So you guys better to find information by yourself which provider suits your needs. Internet data package here is so expensive for me so I would like to remind you to make use of your data wisely and don't worry because the Netherlands has wifi everywhere (bus, train, train station, campus, around government institution, around touristy place). Isn't it amazing?! That's why I love Holland :3 

Also, if you are about to go to your apartment for instance in Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht, or even Groningen, Wageningen (up north part of Holland) or any where else, the cheapest and easiest transportation is by train. So I suggest that you buy a temporary OV-Chipkaart (blue card) at the large ticket window near to Burger King in Schipol. I am sure that you are gonna commute a lot so it is very important to have an OV-Chipkaart since it can be used not only for train but also for bus, tram and metro. Later after you have a bank account you will be able to subscribe for your personal OV-Chipkaart (yellow card with your own photo on it) with some benefits (we'll talk about it later). 

But again, if you are rich, you can take a cab outside the airport. However, taking train might give you different experience especially if you rarely use train in your home country like me. 

Commuting in Holland is so convenient. The facilities are really good and on time. Even when they're not on time, they will inform you through apps or monitor around the station or stops. I believe you need to download the most important apps as foreigner. It's called "9292". This apps will tell you which train/bus/tram/metro you should take, which platform, the schedules, the travel time and the prices. If you are quite observant, the schedule screen at the station is in Dutch. So trust me you need that apps. (oh God this apps should have paid me for doing this.. ppfft)

• First days in the Netherlands

Bike - You may have noticed that number of bikes are bigger than car especially if you do not live in Amsterdam. Yup, Dutch love to bike everywhere. Even number of bike is bigger than its population. (My program coordinator said that and based on the articles I read somewhere). I suppose have a bike is really good idea for student like me, I can stay in shape and save some transportation budget. If you agree with me, I suggest that you buy bike, second hand bike is fine if you do not have much budget. I bought a second hand bike (kids bike because I am so petite) from my senior who already graduated for 80 Euros including its lock and lamps. It works so well until now. You can easily find second hand bike in facebook group like : Leiden Housing, Amsterdam Housing, Utrecht Housing. I think every city has it own facebook group for sale-purchase second hand things. As an alternative, you can go to Budget Bike in your city or other similar bike stores. You may need to bargain a little bit to get a good deal. 

Bank Account - Cashless regime is really on in the Netherlands. You basically can buy everything with pinnen (pinnen: I believe it means debit card) or via online. You need to make your bank account immediately. I know some of banks require you to have a BSN (Citizen Service Number) whereas you can have it after you made appointment to Gementee (Municipality office) in your city. However, in my experience I don't need those. In my case, ING Bank was quite lenient, I went to one of branches in Leiden and asked them to open an account for me. All I need to show them are (i) Letter of Acceptance from University; (ii) Taxpayer Identification Number (or for Indonesian you called it NPWP); and (iii) my passport. 

However, some Universities may also ask you to open bank account in certain bank like ABN Amro or else. So you may need to make an appointment with Gementee first before opening the bank account. 

Appointment with Gementee (Getting BSN and Residence Permit) - To be able to register yourself in the Netherlands you need to have a fixed address and it should be registrable. Better ask your landlord or agent about it before signing the renting agreement. You can make your appointment through website of municipality where you live. Please click this link for better information and do not forget to bring all required documents and be on time! Dutch hate late comers. 

Personalised OV-Chipkaart (Yellow Card) - As I mentioned before that you may want to have personalised OV-Chipkaart. This card offers you several benefits like 40% discount or weekend free. Since I love to travel a lot on weekend, I subscribed a weekend free package and paid 32 Euros per month. You can get this after opening bank account because the fee will be deducted automatically from your bank account. Have a look at this website for subscribing. Your card will be sent to your place and it takes 7 days approximately. So be patient :) 

Explore the neighbourhood - After you have everything you need do not forget to explore the neighbourhood. I used to go to difference supermarkets to know which one is cheaper ("women"), walk around to see if any Chinese store or restaurant is nearby ("asian") and go to park in front of my University to check hot guys. :p If you have some free time before your first class in college, spend wisely! 

I hope those advices help you to settle down in the Netherlands. Last thing I need to say is :

Enjoy the Netherlands guys!  

Yours,

Brimanti