’Our Holland alumni’

Nuffic began hosting this annual event in 2005, as a way of showing its appreciation of the fact that all these international students had decided to continue their studies in the Netherlands.

Sabine Amft, project leader of DIS, says the event is also aimed at trying to connect cultures and allow the students to get in touch with Dutch culture and habits: “All these international students will be our Holland alumni – our goodwill ambassadors in their home countries.”

DIS 2011, hosted at the World Forum in Den Haag, will kick off in the morning with introductory speeches and an introduction to Dutch manners. Amft: “There’s also an information market, called ‘DIS Plaza’, where attendees can learn more about different aspects of studying in the Netherlands, as well as a ‘Meet-&-Greet’ lounge where one can just relax and have a drink, while also trying to get in contact with other students by Twitter or Facebook.”

This will be followed by a large variety of workshops, including a crash-course in Dutch and workshops aimed at improving networking and presentation skills. “International students can even try to ice skate,” Amft says. DIS 2011 will then end with a party featuring live music.

Besides fun and games, Amft says the event gives international students a chance to meet some 2000 other students from more than 100 countries, and “of course the students can then extend their international networks.” Organizing an event for such a wide array of students from so many different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds is a huge and daunting challenge in and of itself. “For me, trying to get as many international students as possible to the World Forum in The Hague is the biggest challenge, as the students are not only coming from all over the Netherlands but also from around the world.”

International higher education is of course also a money-making business for the Netherlands, and such DIS events therefore have a recruitment and promotional function for the business of Dutch higher education.

“The main motto of the Nuffic is ‘Linking Knowledge Worldwide’,” Amft says. “DIS is a way to stimulate the exchange of knowledge and learning from people all over the world. DIS is a way to realize this motto and really experience it in real life.”

DIS’s organizers once again have high hopes for the success of this year’s event. “Our expectations are that, again, some 2000 international students will have one of the best days during their time in the Netherlands,” Amft concludes. “A day they’ll never forget, during which they’ll meet new people and have fun.” 



Day of the International Student will be held on 12 November 2011 in the World Forum, The Hague. For more information and to register go to www.dis2011.nl.

It must be hard, being a guy in Delft. In the ‘real world’, men have the same chances of finding a member of the opposite sex they are attracted to as women do.
Therefore, guys are more likely to approach only the ladies who fit their standard, and start relationships with girls they genuinely like.
In Delft, however, the pickings are slim for most guys, so in order to find a partner, the Delft male either has to be very patient until he finds the right girl, or lower his standards and accept the idea of dating a girl he’s not that into, to keep his hormone levels in check. Some take the latter approach to the extreme, treating girls as lifelines and only letting go of the last once they have a firm grip on the next in line, because they never know when the next opportunity might come along.
This type of behavior is exemplified by the so-called hometown girlfriend syndrome, where a guy coming to Delft would eventually go back to the hometown sweetheart he left behind, after failing to secure himself a girl in the first weeks of university (see previous instilment). Another example is the disappearing boyfriend syndrome, where instead of directly breaking up with a girl, a guy will just fade away slowly in the hopes that the girl will eventually make the call herself, because even though he doesn’t want to be with her, he hasn’t caught on to another lifeline yet. Finally, there’s the I-don’t-know-you-but-let’s-date syndrome, when the guy seems beyond elated the first two months of the relationship, just because he has found a girlfriend. This state of euphoria lasts until he realizes that the girl he is with is actually a human being with personal character traits.
So even though a Delft male may get rejected more often, he knows that if a girl says yes, she is attracted to him. The Delft girl on the other hand, is left to wonder, “is it because he likes me, or because I am a female who looked in his direction?” 
The investigation continues…