Pre-departure:
Your European adventure is going to require a lot of planning and administration – deadlines are important. First and foremost, when choosing your subjects, look to see which campus your classes will take place. Leiden University is divided between Den Haag and Leiden. Majority of students I met had no idea that Leiden was made up of two campuses before arriving here. Where your classes take place will affect where you choose to live. I would recommend living in Leiden, unless your classes are in Den Haag, as Leiden is more student centered. Travelling between Den Haag and Leiden can become a pricey endeavor especially if you are commuting almost every day. If this is the case, I strongly recommend that you consider opening a Dutch bank account as this allows you to obtain a personalized OV chip card that offers a range of benefits including discounts.
Regarding the Dutch bank account, only Rabobank allows you to open an account with their branch prior to your arrival in the Netherlands. However, I do not think it’s a train smash if you wait until you are here to open your bank account. Your Dutch bank account requires a BSN (social security) number as well as your resident permit before it becomes approved. What I found with Rabobank is that they allowed me to use my bank account upon the conditions that they would suspend my account if I did not bring my BSN number and residence permit ASAP. I learnt throughout my pre-arrival moments that phoning is far more effective than emailing. Email response is slow and steady. It may take a while before someone comes back to you. Whenever I phoned I always worried I would be a bother but I found that I always received really friendly and helpful advice. So: do not be afraid to phone and voice your concerns.
Lastly, the housing process is a long and stressful process. Especially because housing is limited. I met an alarming amount of people who had nowhere to stay. Bear in mind that the €350 housing fee does not guarantee you housing. In general I found, including myself, that most people found out where they were staying about two to three weeks before arriving. Having said that, I would suggest that seeking private accommodation may be an additional means to securing housing.
Do not worry too much about ordering your LU card before you arrive. You can do so if you wish but I actually found it easier to take my photo once I arrived at what is known as the Plexus center in Leiden. Thereafter they email you to let you know when it’s available to be picked up.
Experience at Host University:
As an exchange student, I took part in what is known as OWL week. I spent my days during OWL with initially complete strangers, later friends, discussing the important (and not so important things) in life: music, language, slam poetry, and pondering why it rains so much in the Netherlands. During this week I opened a Dutch bank account, obtained my LU card, and learnt how to read the train timetable. More importantly, especially because I was situated in Den Haag, I made a lot of friends in Leiden through OWL. It was a comforting feeling going to class and recognizing people. I met a few people in a similar situation to me where they were studying in Leiden but living in Den Haag. Train rides suddenly became a lot less lonely. A side note: one of the options when partaking in OWL week is to buy what is known as a “Leidse Pas”. I wouldn’t recommend buying this.
Once the rush was over and I had settled into the swing of things, I was able to explore the country at a different pace. I am currently attending three courses: two are with the anthropology department and one is with the political science department. Unlike Stellenbosch, my classes for each subject are once a week and lectures are three hours long. Leiden makes regular use of three programmes: uMail, uSis, and Blackboard. It is important that you frequently log on to each of these as they are updated regularly. Blackboard, similar to SunLearn, is where all class announcements and assignments are uploaded. Similarly, you can think of uSis as the equivalent of Stellenbosch’s MyMaties. USis is where you can check your class roster, enroll yourself in courses as well as exams (you’ll have to enroll yourself again on Blackboard). At Leiden you are pretty much left to your own devices in terms of sorting out your classes, administration issues, and registration concerns. The Dutch tend to place a lot of value on independence in this regard. I quickly realised how spoiled we are at Stellenbosch.
Comparing my academic experience at Leiden to Stellenbosch, I would suggest that Stellenbosch students are more than prepared to take on (and excel) in courses in Leiden. In terms of lecture styles, I find that the Dutch tend to be more informal than what I am used to at Stellenbosch. More emphasis tends to be placed on class participation. You will notice that classes always start 15 minutes late. This is a period of grace for those coming from the other side of campus. And lastly, the library system of Leiden differs from that of Stellenbosch in that you cannot merely take a book out. You need to pre-order it. This is particularly useful for me as someone that lives in Den Haag because I can request that the book be delivered from Leiden campus to Den Haag’s campus thereby saving me a trip to Leiden.
The Leiden campus is beautiful though. It’s surreal to walk next to canals punctuated with baskets of flowers; to witness the poetry in different languages that decorate the walls of Leiden’s inner city; to peer down alleyways littered with lonely bicycles. The townscape is a quiet bustle, filled with mostly students and the occasional cat. It is unlike anything you will find in Stellenbosch, or anywhere else for that matter.