Exchange students, full-time Bachelor’s students, Master’s students and PhD students, they all have one thing in common: they have been thrown in at the deep end of a foreign culture. Most international Bachelor’s students come from Germany, like Julian Koch (23), who reads Religious Studies at the University of Potsdam. On arrival, he faced the challenge of finding somewhere to stay. University accommodation was too expensive, so he spent the first few nights in an hotel. By coincidence, he found digs via Facebook and now shares a house with two Slovakians.

He’s not bothered about not living with Dutch students, but not speaking Dutch can be inconvenient. "It’s never been much of a problem because I’m German. But our landlord speaks hardly any English, making it troublesome to communicate with him, like when we wanted a fridge but never got it."

Oshri Hayke (32), who is doing a double Master’s degree in Philosophy and Law in Jerusalem, also doesn’t speak Dutch or share a flat with Dutch students. He isn’t bothered either and besides, he found digs quickly. "A friend’s Dutch girlfriend pointed out a notice board in the Lipsius building with adverts for rooms." Since then, he has lived in Donkersteeg and has a retired professor of Religious Studies as a landlord. Because he’s learning German, he’s decided not to learn Dutch. "I don’t want to complicate matters."

Mia Grand (28), PhD Biostatistics, from Denmark, discovered that language constraints affected her search for accommodation. She wanted long-term accommodation but didn’t know where to start looking. Renting an apartment almost always required a bank account and registration with the municipal authorities, but she needed an address to arrange that. Mia recalls: "I spent the first week couch-surfing and eventually I found this flat on Witte Singel with the help of my host, but that was after I had been living far from the centre for some time." Now she’s sharing with nine Dutch students and a Scot. "I have a lot of contact with my flatmates, and consequently with other Dutch people and the Dutch language." However, she has heard stories about internationals who have sublets from Dutch students but aren’t completed accepted by their housemates. One illustration of this is Manon Lub (20), a Bachelor’s student of English at Boulogne sur Mer: she speaks Dutch and found digs through Kamernet. She lives in a "Minerva" house, but doesn’t see much of her flatmates. "They’re unaffected and kind, but contact remains superficial." Marlene Wilfing, a Bachelor’s student of Dutch Studies in Vienna, applied for a room in Dutch via Skype: "We have a Facebook page for Dutch Studies, that’s how I knew what to do. I meet Dutch people because of where I live, but otherwise, I usually associate with foreign students.

In general, the international students found the introduction days at the beginning of their stay the most useful and have the most contact with the people they met then. Marlene and Manon spend a lot of time at the International Student Network (ISN), which is run by, and for, international students. Consequently, few Dutch go there apart from those who arrange the introduction days. ISN is attempting to change that, but has not succeeded so far. "A lot needs to change" the chairman told Mare six months ago.

Oshri explains: "ISN is one of the few fraternities that actively contacts international students, but they’re not trying to integrate internationals into the local student population, so they create their own community." He doesn’t go to ISN, but what about Mia? "ISN? Sorry, what’s that?" The options for international students to join the larger fraternities vary widely. As foreign student are only here temporarily, their time here is difficult to combine with the permanent nature of most fraternity memberships. Nevertheless, Minerva and Quintus offer a short introduction programmes, etc. Oshri has never heard of most of the fraternities, and the same applies to Julian. "The fraternities introduced themselves during the introduction days, but I can’t remember much about them. I had no idea of the social structure in Leiden, but when I was looking for accommodation, it was obvious that most landlords don’t want foreigners. And it’s very hard to get into a ‘fraternity house’." Fraternities with an open structure such as SSR or Catena might be more appealing to foreign students. Marlene says: "I’m thinking about joining Catena. The attitude is very open there. I spent two days couch-surfing with a Catenian who took me along to the fraternity." And what about the other fraternities? "They haven’t introduced themselves. Leiden’s social life revolves around the private fraternities, but I knew that before I came." Is that a pity? "No, it’s much better than a city full of tourists like Amsterdam! Leiden students seem interested, but then, I speak Dutch and they don’t expect that." Oshri adds: "If someone is invited to my house, all the other friends are forced to speak English. Besides, people here have their own social lives to be getting on with, especially the Master’s students so you feel quite left out. A true relationship needs time to build, and we’re not usually here for long." Julian says: "Well, it’s just easier to associate with other internationals. I talk to my fellow students, but in the coffee break, people just start chatting in Dutch - it’s hard to chime in." Perhaps the fact that all Dutch speak such good English is not really an advantage for foreigners? Mia exclaims: "I heartily agree, multilingualism just raises more problems!"

"But sometime we manage to integrate very well", says Manon. "Almost the first thing I did was to buy a bike and cycle to the beach to go swimming."