Denis' Blog

A place for my stories...

Amsterdam. Hoe is dat gebeurt?

Hey hey…

Hope you’re doing well. Well… This one is a bit in the making but I think you read the title. Whatever it will end up being… I’m writing this one before I think of a title okaay…

Amsterdam, I guess. 😅

How did that happen, you may ask?

About half a year ago a friend of mine inspired me with overseas university studies. At this moment I thought to myself… Well… Let’s try that out as well. What could go wrong? In the worst case, this will be training for future applications.

So… One TOEFL test to demonstrate my English skills and a lot of application paperwork later, it was time to wait. And wait. And wait. Yes’es, No’s other application stages, everything happened. In the end, let’s just say… This was the most interesting thing that stuck. And oh boy, did it stick.

A concrete “yes” for a Master’s program in Software Engineering at the University of Amsterdam. Oh. My. God. This kinda was a super big longshot and actually was the dream program for me. Well… A combination of an interesting curriculum, competent university, high reputation, intriguing physical location of the university, and my general interest in the field of Software Engineering inside Computer Science made it a “perfect” match.

Okay… After this moment I was like… OMG. I got accepted to this super great Master’s program in the Netherlands. And then I was like… Fuck. I got accepted to this Master’s program IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Another country. 600km away. Well…

An image of a search engine query where someone searched 'How to migrate to another country'.

Okay. Now you can imagine my thoughts going absolutely mad with all of the different things I need to do…

So I calmed down. Let it settle a bit. And then collected a list of around three dozen things with the help of my dad 😅, which I need to do. I am not fully done yet. Mainly because of a few different things which I can’t do yet, like claiming my student ID.

But I did most of the things I already could. Let me give you an excerpt.

  • getting certified documents of everything
  • sorting out bank accounts and my phone plans
  • full university registration and other administrative things due to me being a “special case”. 😅
  • insurance plans for all sorts of things
  • what kind of equipment do I need for this endeavor
  • how do I get there and back in the most efficient way without absolutely killing my bank account

And the almighty, the dreaded, the unforgiving…

HOUSING

For those of you who know… You understand. For those of you who don’t. Let me elaborate.

The Netherlands is in a housing crisis right now. Even people with a job and everything have trouble finding a place to live. That’s especially the case in the bigger cities, and very especially around Utrecht and Amsterdam. Great. Not great start conditions.

So you can imagine that students aren’t popular in the housing market, particularly the ones without money or a regular income.

Flat advertisements with around 200-300 responses in a few hours aren’t unusual there. Also, expect to pay 700-800€ for a room… Yes. You heard me correctly

Luckily, I got one of the highly desired student housing places at the university. So that big problem is solved for me… But the aforementioned friend didn’t get so lucky.

The best tip I can give you is to bring a lot of time with you and be persistent. Register to all of the different platforms and send out a lot of messages. Be aware of the scams though… 😅

Someday, something will hopefully stick, and you find something. Maybe.

This is the real filter, my friends.

Okay. So this is solved, and I got nearly everything resolved. What now? I’m going to Amsterdam for about a year I guess. 😂 this is still so weird and surreal to say

This will be great, I think, and a really big opportunity to learn a lot of things, not only Software Engineering related.

So… Let me give a few “predictions” of different things that might happen, and a year later, I will make a retrospective on how they will turn out. This will be fun. And with fun, I mean downright wrong with every manifestation I make right now.

  • Being way more independent in my way of living due to me being alone in a foreign country.
  • Developing better international communication skills.
  • Enjoying the infrastructure of a city like Amsterdam. I think I don’t have to tell you about that one, though. Especially from the view of someone who currently lives in a German village.
  • Catapulting my Software Engineering skills forwards. The curriculum seems to be pretty modern, and since the UvA is a pretty good university. Well, I expect to learn a thing or two and not only development related. Think about writing, English skills, general communication, and so on.
  • Interesting professional opportunities in the future, not only due to the degree but also due to the “international networking”.
  • Getting to know the “real” student life, which I couldn’t do previously in my Bachelor’s degree due to dual studies and Covid.
  • Picking up something quirky or a weird hobby.
  • But also appreciate the German way of life a bit more, especially missing certain things/people. As a result, I also expect to better cope with international quirks and develop a more mindful way of thinking.

Okay. Now we got that one out of the way. Let’s see how my life ends up being with this cool thing happening… I think it will involve in the end a lot of extra stress but also fun, enjoyment, and general “life progress”.

But we will see. Thanks to everyone to followed and helped me on my way to this blog post, whatever comes out of this. Don’t forget to dream a little bit. You never know what comes out of that…

See ya.