Just in, fresh internationals #3, meet Balraj and Nikolay

Just in, fresh internationals, part 3. About 1100 foreign students visited Hanze’s Welcome Day. Who they are? Meet Balraj (India) and Nicolay (Bulgaria).

Balraj Singh, India

‘Next week I will start on the International Business Studies programme. I wanted to explore Europe, meet new people and enjoy the good quality of education here. Europe is a continent I really love and the Netherlands is such a beautiful country. I really want to know more about Dutch culture. One of the things I have to get used to is that one has to arrive exactly on time. In India it’s perfectly alright if you’re a bit late.

‘I’m from a family of entrepreneurs. My father runs a company in dairy farming and transport in Jalandhar, in the Punjab region. So I’m following in his footsteps. Right now I’m m staying with relatives from Nepal who live in Veendam. My family are Sikhs. Hence I’m wearing this turban. Many people mistake me for a Muslim. But the Sikh religion has little to do with Islam. There is no Sikh temple in Groningen, but I have a photo of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on my phone. That gives me great comfort every time I miss the Sikh community.
‘I liked the humour and relaxed atmosphere during the welcoming event. Now I will get my student card and I hope I can find out how I can get a work permit.’

Nikolay Tsakov, Bulgaria

‘I went on a trip to the Netherlands last year and I fell in love with the country. I’m really fond of the relaxed life style people have here. As I see it now, I think I want to stay here forever.
‘So I knew I was going to study Sport Studies in this country. On the internet I checked a number of universities. Hanze came out best because it offers a general first year, so that in the second year I know what job I want in the future.
‘I really liked the great many different sport facilities. My favourite sport is volleyball. I would like to compete in a team in Groningen, but probably not at the highest level. I like to be positive, but I’m also realistic.
‘At home in Botevgrad I checked many websites for housing. This helped me a lot to find the room in the student house where I live now. It’s a student house specially for students of Sports Studies. It’s only for two months but now I have enough time, hopefully, to find something for a longer period of time.’