Interview with the President of ESN Rotterdam

Shopping: Albert Heijn, open markets and Beijenkorf

Rookworst and stamppot

When I first moved to Rotterdam, I had to ask around for at least 5 days before someone could properly tell what were the names of the grocery stores in Rotterdam. Turns out I lived right behind an Albert Heijn, the supposedly high-quality grocery store of Holland. As my diet for 5 days constituted of stale bread and water, I was quite delighted to find out that Dutch people also ate normal food. Well, food that could pass for normal, that is. I also discovered that Albert Heijn was a dangerous place, filled with prepubescent teenagers filling shelves with strange products such as the rookworst (smoked sausage with overpowering taste, usually eaten with mashed potatoes), satésaus (peanut paste, eaten with fries) and different tastes of vla (some sort of heavy custard, eaten alone).

Albert Heijn store

Then again, I was also greeted with delicacies such as the stroopwaffels (thin waffles with heavy syrup inside), roombotterkoekjes (small cubes of what seems to be only butter and flour) and bitterballen (a fried snack with beef, flour and butter inside, in the shape of a small ball), even though some people seem to disagree about it being a delicacy. It seems the Dutch are quite good with pastries. Other names for groceries stores you might stumble upon are: Coop, C1000, Plus, Hema, etc. Small parenthesis about Hema: while not really a grocery store, they pretty much sell anything you can buy, making it the best store to find something you don’t need, but absolutely have to own.

You’ve been warned.

Stroopwaffels

Another great place to go shopping for food and other items is the open market of Blaak. Usually starting early in the morning and lasting until late in the afternoon, the open market is a great place to buy produce and other fresh items for much cheaper. Buying directly from the producers also helps to maintaing the local economy while making sure to eat products that are much fresher than anything bought in the supermarket. The market is also a great place to find miscellaneous items such as phone cases, books, DVDs, etc. The market makes for a great bowl of air as well, and spending a little bit of time in the city, enjoying the company of friends or roommate to do your shopping with.

Market on Blaak

If you feel like shopping for clothes, candy, chocolate or other non-essential goodie, you can always drop by the Beijenkorf, the huge shopping mall situated in the centre of Rotterdam. Standing high with multiple floors, the mall is the best place to find things that are completely useless but definitely need to own. You can find radios in the shape of fruits, phones in the shape of burgers and other funny things. The mall is also a great to shop for clothes, but the high prices might discourage some. If your price range is a little bit lower, as any student’s budget is tight, you can always go to Hema, which is located not so far from the Beijenkorf. One of the entrance of the Hema is situated in the Koopgoot, an underground street filled with stores, eateries and other shops. Be careful though, lying down in the middle of the Koopgoot might anger some security guards (cf. video).

Rotterdam Inside Out: The Netherlands Architecture Institute

Have you ever wondered what to do on a rainy day in Rotterdam? The answer will probably be ''Yes!''. Some of the most popular suggestions are going to the cinema with some friends, inviting some companions at home to have fun with them, or just staying at your bed and having a 'movie marathon'. How about visiting a museum?

There is no doubt that there are numerous interesting museums in Rotterdam.  Definitely, one of the most impressive ones is the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI). If you are eager to find it, you can easily notice it because of its unique architecture, of course!

            The NAI  attracts the attention of people of all ages for a variety of reasons. The NAI not only introduces a considerable number of outstanding exhibitions from all over the world but also allows the visitors to access significant architecture collections and archives. Furthermore, both professionals and students can gain a lot of  information about modern architecture, diverse techniques and important studies as well as participate in many heated discussions on that topic at the museum. Thus, they can gain in-depth understanding of the significance of human space shaping and innovative interior and urban design.

            Certainly, many people believe that the architecture museum in Rotterdam puts an emphasis on the specifics of the Dutch building styles and design only. But they are absolutely wrong! Although the permanent exhibition called ''Living in the Lowlands''  presents impressive photographs and models of the domestic style in the Netherlands, the NAI highlights many international architecture developments. Therefore,  some architects, designers and architectural displays from distant countries such as China are introduced in the museum. Hence, the visitors can get acquainted with both Dutch and foreign urban design, make a comparison and critically appreciate the differences between them.  So, international students and tourists and local visitors as well can have a good time in the NAI.

            For those who are interested in the Dutch approach to architecture and urban planning, the exhibition called ''Dutchville. Feel the City''  will be definitely extremely captivating. Undoubtedly, it can be characterized as 'bizarre' because it provokes contradictory feelings such as love and hate among the audience. The Dutchville manages to do that by presenting both the most alluring and the most foreboding parts and aspects of the city. Furthermore, the traditional Dutch town is presented as a combination of historical sites, industrial properties and modern buildings. Thus, everybody can find out which architectural style appeals him/her most. You will be suprised how immense influence the city and its urban design have on your emotions, feelings, and moods.

            However, if you are a Dutch resident who believes that there is nothing attractive about the architecture and spatial planning in the Netherlands or an international student that is eager to gain some knowledge about the architecture from around the world, you can visit the Daringdesign exhibition that displays the ideas of 8 prominent designers from the Netherlands as well as China. After gaining some insights into their projects, visitors can have a better understanding not only of those 8 designers' views on the design world but also of the 'architectural' differences and similarities between the Netherlands and China.

            Undoubtedly, one of the most crucial facts to mention about the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam is that it contains one of the world's most extensive architecture collections, numerous photographs, models and more than 35, 000 books and publications about architecture, latest news in that field and some other related disciplines. In fact, they are all accessible to the visitors who can look and read them in the NAI library and use them as both source and inspiration for a future research and delving into topics such as architecture, urban design, and spatial planning.

                                                             - Violeta P. 

            

Surviving Rotterdam: Getting around the city - OV and biking

Rotterdam, birthplace of Desiderius Erasmus and city of the Erasmus University, place of the lost bikes. So you've just decided to move to Rotterdam either for exchange or for a longer study period? The thing is, you don't know anything about the city and you need some advice and information on how to survive this dangerous place. Well you've come to the right place, as after reading this article, you'll know all you need about how to properly function in the city.

As a modern country, The Netherlands have adopted a unified system to pay for public transport all over the country, from metros to trains, bikes and buses. This system, called the OV-Chipcard, uses RFID technology to pay for the transportation without disposable paper tickets. However, a newcomer might be slightly confused about how the system works. To begin with, there is four different types of OV-Chicpcards: the disposable chipcard, the anonymous chipcard, the personal chipcard and the student chipcard. The first one, the disposable chipcard, can be bought at the ticket machine for various prices depending on the type of transport and amount of time the ticket will stay valid. While this ticket is useful for tourists and friends or family coming to visit, it isn’t the most affordable option in the long run.

This is why the second one option, the anonymous chipcard, is the one that I use. Indeed, it provides all the benefits of a chipcard without having to give any personal information. Those cards can be bought for 7.5€ at any ticket machine, or at the RET (Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram) desks. However, these cards have to be recharged manually at ticket machines when the credit runs out. To give you an idea of how much transports cost, a trip from the centre to university is about 1.5€, which makes it easy to spend much money on public transport (and why many people use bikes).

The third option is the personal OV-Chipcard, which can be ordered online or bought at one of the RET stores. Those cards display a photo, name and surname. They are more useful than the anonymous ones as they can be scheduled to automatically recharge once the credit on the card runs out. Furthermore, if the card is lost, a number can be called in order to prevent other people from using it for themselves.

The last type of chipcard is somehow similar to the personal chipcard: the student OV-Chipcard. This type of card grants Dutch students with unlimited free travel throughout The Netherlands either during the week or the week-end. And when they don’t travel for free, they still have a 40% discount on the tickets, which they can use for friends without a student chipcard to also get a discount. The issue with those free travel cards is that they are only available for students with a Dutch nationality, meaning international students cannot obtain it right away. However, there is a way for international students to obtain a student chipcard. Indeed, if a student starts to work legally and keeps the job for at least three months, the Dutch governments will reward them a student OV-Chipcard (as well as STUFI, a sort of funding to help students with their education).

For students (like me) who are too unfortunate to manage to get a real job, there is always the cheaper option for transportation in the city: the sacred bike. Biking comes naturally in Holland. The infrastructure is largely developed in all cities and even the countryside. Bike paths are sometimes wider than the roads and make biking easier and safer for everyone. Being from Brussels, I can assure you that biking there that city can be fatally dangerous, unlike Rotterdam. On top of providing a cheap alternative to expensive public transports, bikes are also a great to stay in shape and burn some calories from that last Kapsalon you ate.

There are some basic to observe however, when using a bike in Rotterdam. To start with, the biking path can be treacherous and cause you some bruises. Indeed, there is often a difference between your speed and the morbidly obese old lady in front you, struggling to stay on the bike. In that situation, trying to get in front of her seems to be the logical solution, but might prove harder than you think. Most of the time, said old lady will oscillate on the large bike path, going randomly left or right and making it impossible for you to anticipate when to accelerate and pass the lady. Moreover, there is probably someone biking in the opposite direction that will almost crash into you as your are 30 centimetres close to passing in front of the slow lady-biker.

Some other dangers that are worth mentioning when biking: beware of the tram tracks, as getting your wheel stuck in it while carrying 20 kilos of groceries on your shoulder might result in a few bruises and spilled red wine on the road, making people think your cracked your head on the floor, while the minced meat you bought makes it look like your brains are spilling out. Another danger comes in the form of cars, trams and buses that don’t seem to pay attention the traffic lights and might just run you over for the fun of it. Who doesn’t like some biker mash after all? Biking at night can also be somehow imprudent, as you will usually have a high level of alcohol in your blood. Then, the compulsory bike lamps should help you to not get run over, and show you the way to your bed, if you can still remember where you live.

Finally, there is the tradition of sharing the back of your bike to some friend in despair that needs to go somewhere even though he or she doesn’t have bike. This exercise makes the whole biking experience a difficult fight of balancing your friend and yourself, to avoid the unavoidable violent crash on the floor. I can speak from experience that crashing on the pavement while intoxicated and carrying a passenger is very painful and might destroy your friendship with said passenger.

- Arthur P.