Erasmus Experience in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Carlos

Why did you choose to go to Rotterdam, Netherlands?

I chose to come to Rotterdam because of the program I'm studying (Rema in philosophy of economics), which is not offered anywhere else basically.

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How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

I don't have a scholarship.

What is the student lifestyle like in Rotterdam?

In my experience it has been pretty quiet, but I studied one year in Barcelona before so I come from very high standards of student life, let's say. There's plenty of foreign students and the Dutchies are very cool and very open minded too. The Netherlands is great for expats as there's very little or no discrimination at all everywhere you go.

Would you recommend the city and the University of Rotterdam to other students?

I would recommend it, I don't think it's the best city to study, but the EUR is a very good university, the prices are OK and the student life is not bad at all.

What is the food like?

Dutch food really sucks, there's basically no Dutch gastronomy, but there's a lot of international food from everywhere in the world, and in the street market at Blaak you can find fresh fruits at very cheap prices from literally everywhere in the world, it's the advantage of living in the biggest port in Europe.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Rotterdam?

It was very difficult to find a decent and cheap accommodation (350 euro/month). Much more difficult than in other cities I've lived before (Barcelona and Brussels).

How much does it cost to live in Rotterdam?

Just check Numbeo and make yourself a well informed idea.

Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?

There are Dutch courses around there even for free, I would say that it's not so difficult to learn since it is quite similar to English, it doesn't have an overly complicated structure like German. The pronunciation is the hard part though. And there's basically no incentives at all to learn Dutch cause everybody speaks English fairly well, so if you're lazy and you don't want to learn a new language, come to the Netherlands, even the cleaning staff speaks English.

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What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Rotterdam from your city?

Well, I don't really know which is my city. I go to Brussels every week by train or by carpooling. There's also Schiphol airport and Rotterdam airport, so it's easy to get outta here.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Rotterdam?

Witte de withstraat or around the nieuwe Binnenweg.

And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Rotterdam?

Sumosushi is pretty good, I don't really go out to restaurants around here so often. De Machinist is an amazing cafe with live jazz on Sundays, it's a must visit.