Just in, fresh internationals #4, meet Matar and Ioana

Just in, fresh internationals, part 4. About 1100 foreign students visited Hanze’s Welcome Day. Who they are? Meet art students Matar (Israel) and Ioana (Romania).

Matar Cohen, Israel

‘I’m here for one semester for the exchange programme in Design at the Academy Minerva. In Tel Aviv I study Visual Communication and Internal Design. Most of all I wanted a period abroad to investigate and explore, and to meet people from other cultures. I’m eager to know more about the world and to learn who I am as a person. I chose the Netherlands because people speak good English.

‘The Netherlands is a beautiful country with all the rivers and everything so green. I came here a week ago. It was hard to find a room. My friend got scammed by people who offered her a room and suddenly vanished after she had paid 700 Euro. But in the end we found an amazing room, so everything is for the best.

‘My future? I may find the answer during my stay here. Maybe I’ll be a graphic designer. I also may stay and live in Europe, because my native country has become so expensive. But do not misunderstand me: I love Israel, I’m really patriotic. I was a soldier in Gaza. Over there I had a responsible job, monitoring the borderline. It’s such a complex situation in Israel, people from other countries often cannot understand what is happening.’

Ioana Dragusin, Romania

‘Of course one can study Fine Arts in Bucharest, but in Romania the focus is on traditional sculpture and painting. I like to experiment with mixed media, textile, animation and other means. So that’s why I chose to come here, Minerva offers a lot of room for experiment. I’m really looking forward to the first workshops in print making, with which the programme starts.

‘I’ve been here for two weeks now. That gave me plenty of time to set everything in order. I already joined an intro camp for first-year Minerva students, which was great! I found accommodation through SSA student housing. It is a room in a student house where I have to share the kitchen and the bathroom.

‘No, I haven’t bought a bicycle yet. I certainly can ride a bike, but I prefer walking. My room is not that far away from Academy Minerva.
‘People are very friendly, I’ve found out. They say hi in the streets. And everything is very clean. But, Bucharest is more urban than Groningen. I still like it better. It’s my home, I belong there.’