Wageningen – House? Or Home?

The Excitement

The universe was very kind to me because I was blessed with 13 dutch and 1 greek housemate. Haarweg is one of the most interesting housing facilities in Wageningen. I say interesting because there are three main divisions of room here. Two sharing, six sharing and fourteen sharing houses with shared facilities. When I first moved into Haarweg which was the first house I got and accepted, I was curious about my living arrangement.It was my first time living outside home. I wondered if it would be as dramatic as they show in movies.

Boring Yet Essential

In the beginning of August, my room got confirmed because there is a long waiting list for rooms. Since I am an International student, I was placed higher in the preference to get room as I had subscribed to Idealis (student accommodation organization) in the beginning of January along with my application. Based on how close you are to the ranking, you will be offered the room and you have a choice of saying yes or no. In a week’s time, you can pay the first month’s rent. Then you can set up a debit system after you have a dutch bank account (How to open a Dutch Bank account).

Le Familia

Aside the boring details, my Haarweg experience is very beautiful and emotional. I was nervous to meet all my housemates.Most of them were still in their summer holiday. I met Max and Berna and Hilde who made sure they had their everyday conversations to make me feel better. A little something about everyone who makes up 103 from what I know of them. Max is someone who would know how to fix almost everything!The first evening, we watched Mean Girls! I thought to myself this would be fun. Later, one of my closest friends made her entry. Eline. She is my biggest support system whether it was me bursting into tears in the middle of the night or making impromptu coffee plans. She is always there.

Berna on the other hand is someone who I see everyday and she is also one of the strongest girls I know! My go to party Lister and someone who would always make me feel welcome would be Anna. Lisette on the other hand is a crazy traveler, fellow coffee consumer and one of the kindest people I know. Few months later, two of my old housemates arrived to live again with us. Lotte and Wouter. Lotte is the embodiment of kindness. Wouter and I connect on an intellectual level for our sense of humour:P. Last, but not the least our beautiful Rabbit, Nibbit is a beautiful blob of sunshine.

Home is where H103 is

All I am trying to say is somehow H103 is home because of its people. With cleaning schedules, crying over how warm it is outside, it feels home.

My experience at Haarweg has been remarkable.

It is so ironic how much I have heard Dutch people are rude, direct not so expressive. And then there are my housemates. They are kind, sweet, funny, understanding and extremely patient. Change is always difficult.

But when you have some beautiful people who take you into their lives, teach you things, feed you, care about you, change can be beautiful. 

I love that Idealis (now: room.nl) has created such a student housing system that is so international. Coexisting is one my biggest takeaways as I finish my first year of Masters in two weeks. 

I can’t thank them enough for simply accepting me for who I am. 🙂 I am what I am because of them.With a bit of emotional turmoil, it so good for my mental health. They will always be willing to listen to me and help me out in anyway possible.

A few of them have left the house to achieve bigger things. It does break my heart to not be able to live with those ones. But, I am so proud of all their milestones and them of mine. 

 With some beautiful memories, I wonder who will be my new housemates to come!