Universiteit van Amsterdam (UVA)

Living in Amsterdam is an experience itself. Wandering around the city is enough to enjoy it. Anyway, I strongly recommend to buy a bike and use it to go around. But take care of thieves! You should also buy a couple of good lockers to prevent your bike from being stolen when parked. The tram is also a good mean of transport. It goes everywhere and it is not expensive (as far as I remember). Obviously, there are some visits you are supposed to do: Dam Square, the heart of the city with the Royal Palace in one side; the famous Red Light District, which is more a touristic atraction than a neighbourhood of prostitution; a Coffe Shop, where joints are available in a menu (as in a restaurant)... A boat trip trough the canals is really worth it and nightlife is everywhere in the center of the city. Beyond nightlife, I must say that Amsterdam is a very cultural place. Its museums are excellent (Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Riks...) and it has also big and relaxing green areas to practice sports or just walking. Most of the people speak English and they are friendly to help visitors. There are plenty of Indonesian restaurants because Indonesia was a former dutch colony. You can try some of them but the food is very spicy. And don't miss the traditional pancake!

Get yourself a BIG lock for the bike Don't arrive too late in Amsterdam in order to find yourself accomodation It is no bad idea to gete yourself the museumscard and the train kortingskaart when you stay in the Netherlands for a year: it is worth it.

My advice would be to try to plan for the unexpected, but since unexpected things are bound to happen, try to relax and make the most of your stay in the city without stressing out over changes.

In four months I changed house three times, but my dutch friends told me this is quite normal in A'dam. Anyway, I really liked my last two houses. Both of them were student houses, in the centre. They were quite expensive, but rooms were big and cleaning charges were included. But what I liked the best was definitely the experience of sharing a flat with students from all over the world. I really learned a lot from that.

i got lucky to be in a drom divided in appartements of four people, which is nicer to live in than just a room-or a shared room- with the facilities at the end of the hall. I have a living room, so I can juts hang around there, or have some private time in my personal room. It is a good solution for me. The main problem was the relations with my roomates which were not always easy. I thought it could have been cheaper but housing in Amsterdam is one tricky issue. Overall, I am pretty satisfied, I could have found much worse.

Before I came to the Netherlands the University did NOT arrange anything for me. It is VERY HARD to find a place by yourself here (the Dutch wait for rooms for even 2 years on waiting lists)!!! But I was VERY LUCKU - I won the right to rent my room at a room lottery organized by the UvA. And some other people got their places arranged by the coordinators - so in the end it was not THAT bad - but I had been very worried that I wouldn't find anything!