5 Starter packs: Settling down in Enschede

Enschede, it is. This is my 3rd city to live after Montpellier and Prague in Europe since the end of 2018. I was so kind of sick of moving so I did not look for any single piece of information about Enschede. I took flight from summer break in Indonesia to Prague then decided to take 12-hour direct bus to Enschede from Prague. I was worried that the bus would not be on time and the road will be so quiet. I was wrong, the flix bus unit that I had was perfectly new, clean and on time. They even helped me to look for my baggages when I arrived in Enschede. I was also not expecting that they have the route to Enschede from Prague. I mean, who would choose this kind of route except moving students ? More of them will choose train, I bet. However with train, you have 3 changes in Germany. With tons of baggages to carry on, I do not think this is the best idea. Here in this post I will write some general starter packs for you to have if you want to settle down here in Enschede or simply in other part of the world. By the way, my master is Erasmus Mundus Master Engineering for A Sustainable World (EM3E-4SW). I would also specify my master program soon in the future in a more detailed way. 

Before everything, I would like also to highlight that student union of University of Twente has this service to receive your packages/luggages in the Bastille building. This is truly helpful for nomads like me which has no exact address or no one to receive it before I arrived there. For this, I truly grateful. 

1. All the residence permit related things 

As non-EU citizen, I have to do several things to legalize my stay here. I entered and applied Dutch permit by having Czech visa. Therefore, I do not have to apply from NL embassy in Indonesia but just need to take my biometric in IND office by having a special letter from them stating my V number. All of these steps, fortunately, was arranged by the University of Twente in a very communicative way. They followed you up and really helpful also fast in responding. We were lucky that for us the IND staff came to Vrijhof library so we did not have to go to Zwolle IND desk (1h from Enschede with train). However, i was unfortunate because my biometric data was bad so I have to retake it again in Zwolle. I was kind of mad by this situation but it was out of my control. Other than that, I also need to do TBC screening test and registration to the municipality to get my social security number. All also done in the university. I am really organized and prepared for these kind of document work because I simply hate it, but I have no idea why I always be the unfortunate for stupid mistakes not done by me. Anyway, at least here they are super organized and at least responsible compared to my experiences in preceeding countries. 

2. Bicycle 

I have to admit that it will make your life a lot of easier if you can ride a bike, of course, this is The Netherlands: land of bikes where one person has 1.5 bike statistically. You could either find one in facebook, but people warned me to be more careful about the source they get the bike. So if you use facebook, it is really your choice to trust which seller to pick. In my case, I went to several second hand bike shops in the city center to find mine. I always want the lady bike with basket and pastel color. After going around finally I really found the answer to my prayer, one guy literally sold this exactly imaginative bike to me for 140 eur. The shop name is Doe Het Zelf Fietsenmaker. People said it is quite expensive for second hand one, but my brand is Batavus, which is a good brand. He also gave me free bell and the wooven basket as I wanted. I only needed to pay additional 20 eur for the lock. I was so happy so far with this bike. 

Next, you need to buy the gear to repair your bike. Pump for your tire depends on the size, a box with patches for minor flats and then the inner air chamber if it turns out that it was a big flat. Honestly, I have zero idea on how this thing works but it happened to me once that my front tire is a bit flat so I tried to pump it. They have this air pump in university but I had my friend fixed it for me. It was challenging for someone with no experience with bike. I told my Dutch classmate about this and she laughed so hard. But she explained the anatomy of bike tire clearly after that. 

The nearest supermarket is the one inside my campus, which is 10 minutes cycling. Make sure you have clear front and back lamp to go at the evening. You could not put your bike inside the bus. In the train, you can but you have to pay specific ticket for your bike only. I tried once from central station to Kennispark because I was so tired then I forgot to tap my card on the way home so they charged me a lot. 

3. Nice home 

I was lucky that because of my Erasmus master program, we got kind of priority to have houses inside the campus area if you apply as their deadlines and earlier. I lived in Witbreuksweg student housing which has interesting architecture like pyramids among the forest. When I fristly arrived here at midnight, yes, I was kind of panic because I had my big luggages and so tired of the 12-hour bus trip and there was no sign at all about where my building complex is. So yeah, this place is so nice in terms of nature surrounding and the fast response service under De Veste. But, they should think of putting a sign in the dorm for the first comers. However, the contract of this house is only a year, after that you have to look for other accomodation. I paid 400 eur per month including GE and internet. It is twice as I had in Montellier (with CAF help) and Prague. But actually it is a very normal or even low price in NL. I have shared kitchen with other 10 people. But if I had applied sooner I could have a room with private kitchen in the same price. However, I prefer the shared kitchen because it will be smelly in your room and you need lots of storage and space while you are coking. Besides that, it is nice to chat with your neighbors once in a while. 

4. Transportation card & Bank account 

I already had my french bank account (visa electron) and transferwise card (mastercard) before coming here so I thought there would be no use of having another bank card. But yes, we need it for groceries shopping because most of the convenient stores do not accept cards except the dutch maestrocard. But if you are an erasmus student with a full degree program I am sure at some point you will need this kind of transferwise card to cheaply exchanged the currency from your "master" account. What I like about this card and the dutch bank one is that I can simply tap them and no need to add pin if you do not shop that much. I actually really love this cashless concept. 

For the transportation card, I bought this OV chip kaart in case I am to lazy to bike to city center. You can also buy ticket directly in the bus (card only) but in this case you will pay full fare no matter how short the distance you take. With OV chip kaart you will have this machine to tap it when you enter and go out from the bus according to your distance. This applies also for the train connected by NS. You could also consider buying personalized OV chip kaart where you can travel free in weekdays or weekend. I do not know how much you should pay for this. But for the personal and non-personal like that I have, you need to pay 7.50 for the card itself. 

If you do not travel that much, the option of day ticket is always there either from NS website or other websites with lower price (but only could be used outside rush hours). You can also have group ticket from 4 people in case you want to travel in group to Amsterdam for example. Hopefully I can try this soon. 

5. Campus facilities 

Maybe due to its remote location, University of Twente really provides everything for its students. The sport and art facilities and association are amazing that you would not get bored as what I imagined before. Here, most of the assignments are group projects and this will surely keep you busy. So you will be left with only couple of hours per week to do other things. I joined the orchestra association so far, however I feel like i could not keep up with the song materials which are difficult and heavy. I would try to stick around as i could but really after class I normally feel so tired and I have to revise it again at home to catch up. They also have nice library with cozy interiors surrounded by a pond. The best part is this campus is super green that you really fell in touch with nature especially when you cycle. They have nice canteens and restrooms are everywhere. They really think well before they build this building. I mean, it is not like usual uni that expand as the demand asks, but I feel like everything is super well designed. By purchasing an Union Card (40 eur per year) you can take advantages of these sport and art facilities. Here is a picture of Quidditch association, yes they play it without flying:

Also, they have a very nice interface of your courses, calendars, forum with the teachers and the class with all important news realted to your course and study plan in an interface called Canvas. Honestly, I am in love with this thing. You also submit your assignments here. It is like the combination of a drive, email, calendar in a very well designed way. 

One thing I can highlight from University of Twente is they are really ready for international students. They treat us equally and helpful to every student. They also are super organized in all the steps since we applied. You can see this from their website also. 

At the beginning, I was so afraid that I will get lost in this 3rd semester. But knowing that it is University of Twente, it really sooths my anxiety. Definetely the best place I could ever be in the 3rd semester. They also divide per semester as 2 quartals so you would not have so many workload and exam at the end. The teachers are also responsible and all good teachers that can teach, you know what I mean. 

I will talk about things to see in Enschede probably in the next posts because honestly in this 1st month I did not really travel and explore that much except the farmer's market every Saturday and Tuesday. I hope I will soon let myself explore more between the piles of paper I need to read, write and the examinations coming nearer. Overall, Enschede is an ideal place to be focused at your study with really clean air and nature to make you healtier and hopefully more peaceful.  This is the picture I took in front of our library:

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