It all starts with passion

Although from my personal experience and from trend researches written blogs are proclaimed as thing from the past, I feel more comfortable putting my thoughts on a “paper” than making 1000 tries to record something and judge myself for not meeting my own standards.

For the past couple of days, months, years I’ve been contemplating on a question that everyone (at least I want to believe that) addressed at least once in their lifetime, such as “What is my passion?”. I’ve been watching an enormous amount of videos on how to find yourself, your hobbies etc. And I still haven’t found the answers.

I know I’m highly ambitious.

I like travelling yet not too extreme (hitch-hiking is a no for me), I like trying new things whether it’s a nice place around the corner that serves freshly made bagels or underground exhibition.

I like learning Korean, while remembering exciting time of my exchange semester in Seoul.

I like thinking about the future and planning possible things I can do in the next two years.

I like imagining how I’d create my own travel videos, while listening to a nice song in the train.

I like educating myself on various topics, which proved to be a useful trait when it comes to conversations with people from different fields.

I love music. From jazz to hip-hop. Especially, if it’s live music – you got me there.

And I also love dancing, even though it’s only limited to my rare trips to the club now.

There are so many areas that I find interesting to discover that I would never be able to limit myself only to one specific topic. Or at least not now.

So, if you are ready to explore with me different places, topics, language learning struggles, professional growth pains and celebrations, and just growing in general, feel free to hit the follow button and join me for an adventure!

SEOUL

Hello everyone!

Step by step I started to explore different parts of Korea in the past few days. One was trip to Seoul’s traditional places and the other one is pretty big not only in Korea but in the rest of the world. But about the second one I’ll tell you in a separate post.

Our trip was organized by Ajou Global Ambassador’s community. They are our university’s student organization that helps to make international students easier adapt to the new culture. They’re professional in what they are doing in every single thing. That’s why university trusts them to organize Introduction days and trips. We had an option to choose from 5 different Seoul trip packages. I chose mine because it had the most appealing spots which I doubt that would visit on my own.

First stop we had was Gyeongbokgung Palace. It used to be a home for kings of Joseon dynasty. I must say it was exactly as I imagined. I’m not into history, but it was interesting place to see a different side of Korea, how it used to be before such an industrial growth they started to have. (You can click on any photo to open it)

Then we moved to Insandong market. For me it was unusual to eat in a place like this. But I enjoyed my Tteokbokki! One of the students with Arabian origin said that it really looked like Arabian market, the only difference is that it was much more quiet there and of course products were Korean.

After having lunch we went to Hanok village. Hanok is the word for traditional Korean houses, where people lived before the industrialization and economic growth. Weather was amazing, so pictures I took all looked amazing. The only strange thing for me was when the group of Asian guys (not Koreans) started to secretly take photos of me. I had to look at the camera to bring their attention to the fact that I know and they should probably ask my permission. On the other hand, I must say even though it felt weird I didn’t get annoyed or scared. (again, click on the pictures you are interested in to see it full size)

The last spot we hit with our group was Hangang river. Here I had such a loneliness attack because of all couples around. But, there are many families as well, who bring a tent and spend their time outside. We also listened to some live music, ate chicken and enjoyed the sunset. Must go place for sure!

KOREA – SONGDO BUSINESS DISTRICT IN INCHEON

I must say I didn’t expect to be that busy these days, but well now I sorted all the things up. Aaaannd… I’m in Korea!

As some of you might know I’m there as part of my studies. So far I didn’t have time to travel to Seoul, but did see the beauty of the new part of Incheon – Songdo.

What I realized is that I adore places like this – barely crowded business areas, with tall futuristic buildings and nature in the city. As you can see, there are even deers and rabbits there!

District is very sustainable and apparently advanced with various technologies. In the evening atmosphere becomes especially romantic and many couples stroll around the Central Park (the name was taken from NY Central Park) surrounded by lights. Very impressive. So if you’re looking for a place where to go with your date I highly recommend Songdo.

EFTELING

Today I’ve decided to change a bit topic and talk about something fun that you can do in the Netherlands. In the end, life is not all about studying, right? 🙂

Efteling, an amusement park near Tilburg, opened in 1952. All the attractions in the park are based on fairy tales and legends. In the Netherlands, it’s the biggest amusement park you can find and last time I checked it was in top 5 biggest attraction parks in Europe. So, definitely worth seeing.

 

It’s super easy to get there by public transport since there’s a special line that goes from Tilburg train station directly to the entrance of Efteling. Tickets online are 34.50€, however it’s not a problem to buy it right at the entrance. In comparison to the Disneyland ,where you pay at least 47 € for one park, it’s cheap.

As soon as you enter the park you can choose how to walk clockwise into a fairy tale forest or in opposite direction to Fata Morgana (1001 night) attraction. I suggest to save the forest for the last, because in the evening it’s pretty romantic since all the lights are getting turned on and you can always take a seat and enjoy quiet forest. During the day there are lots of kids and families so it’s a big harder to see everything.

Almost every year they try to open something new for the visitors. So, if you’ve been there couple of year ago it’s worth coming back again. For me this year was the 4th or the 5th time I was there.

What I like the most about the park that in comparison to the Disneyland you have attraction for all ages. So if you are coming for extreme roller-coasters you can take the Flying Dutchman or Baron 1898, if you want to spend time in a more easy way there’s a Gondoletta and many other things you can do.

Make sure to stay till the evening to see Aquanura show which has opened 4 years ago. It a light and water show accompanied with music. You can watch it on Youtube, but in real life it’s even more spectacular.

Personally, I prefer Efteling more than the Disneyland, because you can have more fun and don’t have to wait hours in the line. Make sure to check it once and tell me how was it!

HOW TO GET INTO DUTCH UNIVERSITIES?

Admission for Dutch universities most of the times opens in January. For some of the Applied Sciences you can start your study in February, therefore admission takes place in the late summer/autumn. Depending from where you are from, here I mean EU or non-EU, deadlines can be different.

First, you probably will be required to register on Studielink.nl. It’s a website for starting your studies. I honestly don’t use it at all, but it helped to track what I need to do with my application. As for the documents, this you need to check on university’s website. However, some of the documents are more or less the same. These are – grade list, diploma, proof of English command (IELTS or TOELF certificate) and some of the universities require motivational letter. The last one is really important, I’d say even more important than grade list, because if you can show that you are really determined to study there they will accept you even with average grades. For some universities instead of motivational letter you need to pass interview. That was in my case. I don’t really remember TOEFL requirements for perspective students, but IELTS should be at least 6.0 in most of the universities. Depending from the program, you may be required to take entrance test, but it’s not so often. I only saw math test for bachelors connected with economics and for engineering.

After all the documents will be sent, all you need to do is to wait around month. Then you’ll see the result. In my opinion, it’s wise to send to a couple of universities in case if you fail to enter to one or another.

But this all is for an independent application. What if you feel like it’s too much? There are always educational fairs and educational agencies that can help to enter to a particular university. However, they take charges for the services and I don’t think it’s really that hard to not be able to do it yourself.

Once again, hope it’s a bit clear. In case it’s not – comment section is below! J

UNIVERSITY OR UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES?

Those, who have searched for education in the Netherlands probably have noticed that some universities have continuous description in their name, which is the mysterious “Applied Sciences”. What’s that and what’s the difference from normal one I’ll try to explain in this post.

Currently in the Netherlands there is a complicated model of education, which is quite hard for foreigners to get a grasp of. In short, they have two models of higher education so called HBO (Hoger beroepsonderwijs) equal to a higher professional education and WO (Universiteiten). I think the last one doesn’t need to be translated. If you’d be a Dutch citizen, your choice of middle schools would play a big role. But since this article’s aim is to help foreign people to choose, I’ll skip this.

In short, HBO is a practical university with a bit lower level than ordinary research university. BUT, do not hurry to draw conclusions based only on that. There are some advantages and disadvantages of both.

UNIVERSITY	UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
In Dutch it is university.	In Dutch it literally means Higher School which can disappoint someone who wants to get the best education possible.
Usually big and old universities. Have long history and traditions.	Quite new educational institutes. Some are mergers between two or more schools.
Harder to get. There’s always a selection and limited number of spots.	Easier to get. Process is simple and requirements are not that high. No limitation.
University like in movies. Lectures in a big auditoriums (sometimes though, like in Groningen University, you have to study at the cinema simply because there is not enough space for all the students).	School like. Campuses are small, with not so many facilities to offer, lecture rooms are small and high school like.
More reading and analyzing.	More projects and group work, and a LOT OF WRITING
Less stress. If you plan wisely you can have free days.	A lot of stress. Personally, two years in my university were the most stressful years of my life. I’ve managed everything but the amount of deadlines and group work kills all the spare time you have even if you plan it.
Less supervision from professors. You can always ask question, but the emphasis is on self-discipline.	More supervision from the teachers. Couple of times before the deadline you need to show your report/project to the teacher for assessment.
4-5 subjects per semester. Usually you study 4-5 subject for 2-3 months and then write exam, next period starts with new subjects.	7+ subjects per semester. And sometimes you need to write exams for all of them.
Day is quite free. Couple of hours of studying and then spare time	Full lecture day. Starting from 8-15. Varies from day though and planning. Sometimes you can have only two lectures, but then next day full 8 hour day.
3 years.	Usually 4 years, however recently I saw an exception in two UoAS where the program was 3 years.
Cases or real life examples are used for education.	Cases, real life examples are used. Companies often collaborate with practical universities asking them to help solve the problem.
Internship/Study abroad is optional and duration is around 2-4 months. However, partner universities and companies are usually better/bigger than in UoAS.	Internship and study abroad options are included in education. Expected duration is longer than in research universities.
More prestigious. Even though there are some arguments about that, in the Netherlands it is considered higher bachelor than bachelor from Applied Sciences.	Less prestigious. It’s good if you finish it, however because of many drop-outs and less strict selection criteria it is perceived as not as high level as university.
Next step is Master’s or work.	Next options are WO (university) if you want to complete all the educational steps or get different experience, Master’s possible to get though takes a bit longer than if you’d have studied in a research university, work.

 

If you don’t plan to stay in the Netherlands after graduation it doesn’t really matter which university you will choose since in English they all sound equal. In Dutch though as I pointed out it can play a big role. At least for me it was, since I’m overambitious. Knowing that I started to study in Higher School kinda felt a bit disappointing. But I don’t regret anything. The thing is, both options are good. It’s just what you personally want from your education. If you prefer more work like and a real experience – then you should go for universities of applied sciences. If you prefer to individually plan your time and learn better from reading not stress then you should choose a university.

No matter what’s the choice it will be different from your home country style and you’ll have to adapt. But it’s worth it. Hope this helped and good luck! J

REASONS TO STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS

I always knew I want to study abroad. Up till grade 12 I always thought that the UK is the best place to go for studies – you have universities with old history, status and great facilities, everything is in English, so what could be better?

But in reality I wouldn’t be able to afford it without getting ridiculously high student loan. So I had to come up with the new idea.After considering all the possibilities in Europe, I found  these pros of choosing the Netherlands.

1. English courses. Unlike many European countries where you need to know country’s official language (Germany, France, Spain etc) in order to study in the universities (there are some exceptions and programs can be found in English but really small amount and with poor program) Netherlands offers variety of English taught courses. Almost every university has couple to offer.
2. Affordability. Usually government sets the tuition fees. For EU citizens it’s 1984 € (for 2016/2017 study year) and for non EU citizens everything depends from the program. Usually it’s around 8000 € or more. Private institutions have their own tuition fees.
3. Practical aspect. Depending from the university type, you can do either more practical or more into research studies. I didn’t want to study from the books. I was looking for interesting projects and experience. If you are also into this, then Universities of Applied Sciences are for you.
4. Country’s location. It’s in the middle of the Europe, soooo… travelling time!
5. Study finance. If you work part time you can ask government to help you with money. But there are some rules, which I will explain in a future post.
6. City. Each city in the Netherlands is interesting on it’s own. You can find modern cities with spectacular architecture (Rotterdam, the Hague) and smaller cities with beautiful nature to relax or student life (Arnhem, Groningen).
7. International atmosphere. In the Netherlands almost everyone speaks English. In these 2 years I’m here I think I haven’t seen any person who doesn’t speak at least simple English. Also, it was estimated that number of international students in the Netherlands is around 90 000. So you won’t be lonely!

I’m sure after living some time in the Netherlands, some could add more things to this list, but these there the main reasons for me to choose to go there. If you have something to add, we can make an ultimate list of the reasons why to study in the Netherlands!