Kick-In: speedy start for 200 foreign students

 
As newcomers to the Netherlands, it wasn’t hard to feel the welcome reception of 20 Erasmus Student Network (ESN) mentors, who stood waiting at the arrival hall at Skiphol airport to receive foreign students over the weekend. With laptops and luggage in tow, they boarded trains to discover the eastern region of the Netherlands.
 
The annual International Kick-In event marked a day of orientation and introduction to the university, its surroundings and taking time out for plenty of fun with a game or two of koekhap. Two hundred international students spent the day taking care of practical matters from registering for visas and health checks to a crash course in Dutch culture and language.
 

 
Throughout the day, new students ducked out of the rain to comb through the rows of bicycles in a large tent on the Vrijhof lawn. A Hengelo-based company, Nijhuis Taxi and Rijwielen, had transferred hundreds of used bicycles from their store, ranging in price from €75 - €150, along with bicycle lights and sturdy locks for students to purchase.
 
 For one French Master’s student, Florence Iherault, 22, from the University of Compiegne, the choice was simple: a white Gazelle model with ‘tour de france’ on the bicycle’s frame. ‘This one is definitely for me,’ she confirmed. ‘I have a little experience riding a bicycle in Paris which can be really dangerous at times.’ Like many of the international students, this was her first experience to leave the comforts of her home country. During her six-month study program in civil engineering, Florence hopes to sharpen and refine her English skills, meet new friends and enjoy the lush ‘green campus.’
 

Florence Iherault
 
Inside the Bastille building just outside the ESN office, Micah Heldeweg, last year’s external affairs coordinator, gave a humorous talk about Dutch culture.  Micah kept the tone light and explained what you don’t find in the handbooks on Dutch culture: “The Dutch are famous for wooden clogs,’ he began, ‘but you won’t see anyone wearing them out on the streets.’ He rattled off more Dutch realities: ‘The Dutch eat a cold breakfast and lunch. And on average, it’s estimated that each resident owns 2.6 bicycles in the Netherlands. That means, expect to find many more bicycles than people.’
 

 
Afterwards, Lauren Gossen, a local police officer, talked about the basics of bicycle safety by illustrating in his power point presentation typical traffic situations in Enschede and how to avoid getting into an accident. Arguably the most sensible tip: ‘Many of the traffic situations will change from day-to-day with the ongoing construction on the Hengelostraat and students should pay close attention.’ He also suggested for students to take out insurance on the contents of their student room in the event of a fire and install a smoke detector.
 
One cheerful ESN mentor, Majid Bahrepour from Iran who studies Computer Science, spent the whole day touring students around and summed up the relaxed mood: ‘We make registration and formalities cool! It’s not formal at all. My group D2 is the best, trust me. If you say the alphabet then first you have A, B and C, which is just the first three letters, sort of like counting. And then the music really starts with my group: D2, or the “coolest” group of the day!’
 
Foreign students can drop in the International office in the Bastille building to get a print copy edition of the latest International Student Handbook.
 
Robbin Engels