Welcome to your exchange year in the Netherlands

You are currently preparing for a year as a Rotary Exchange Student. This will be the most challenging year of your life so far. However, if you speak to former Exchange Students, you will also learn that this can be the most interesting, and possibly the best year of your life. So go ahead and get prepared, because we are ready to help you have an enjoyable and unforgettable year in the Netherlands.

Most of you have never been away from your homes, family or friends for such a long time before. A temporary feeling of homesickness will be inevitable. However, your host Rotary club and your host families are looking forward to sharing their lives with you. They will open their homes to you and treat you as one of their own children. You will truly become a part of their family.

In the Netherlands you will hear a foreign language and you will learn to speak that language every day. You will find yourself in another climate, and you will talk daily about the weather, just like all real Dutch people do! You will eat what the Dutch eat and you'll miss the food that you have enjoyed at home. However, you will come to enjoy Dutch delicacies such as "stroopwafels", "boerenkool met worst en spekjes" and our "vla." Bicycling will become second nature for you, as normal as walking or riding in a car. Most importantly, you will be introduced to a different lifestyle and you will have to adapt to that new way of life.

As a Rotary Exchange Student, you must be prepared to open yourself to new ideas and experiences. You will live through challenges that you never imagined were possible, and you will be introduced to many new opinions about the world. At times these ideas conflict with what you've always believed, and even more surprising, at times you'll find yourself adopting new beliefs and ideas! Through your year abroad you will change immensely as a person. You will learn what is important to you in life, you will learn more about people, and you will learn to see the world from another perspective.

You will share all your experiences with other exchange students and find the strength to surpass moments of homesickness. You will overcome the fear and frustration of learning the Dutch language and customs. You will feel the reward of mastering the Dutch language and the joy of becoming a real member of your community, and not just a guest that passes by.

After going through this cycle of positive and negative experiences, new feelings and ideas, (which is typical to exchange students), you will find it difficult to leave and say goodbye to your Dutch friends, locals and "exchangees". Luckily, you will keep contact and someday meet old friends again. These and many more experiences will make your stay in the Netherlands a personal treasure box; something valuable for your whole life. They will broaden your view on human society and they will shape you into the world citizen you deserve to be.

General Information for your Exchange Year in The Netherlands

To apply for the exchange program to The Netherlands you have to be between 16 and 18 years of age at the beginning of your exchange year.

For general information about the Netherlands go to: http://home.wanadoo.nl/roconnor/

In the seventeenth century the Dutch laid the basis of their present-day wealth with the first multinational trading company. With their ships they visited the Far East and the West, Scandinavia as well as Africa and South America. As worldwide traders they developed a kind of tolerance for foreigners and their way of life. With the money earned through trade they purchased paintings and compositions and they built the large canal houses that still stand in Amsterdam and other cities. They began fighting the water that dominated the land, and many lakes were pumped dry so that fertile soil could be established for agriculture such as cattle farms. To maintain the water level, an extensive system of collaborative boards and working groups were, and still are, needed. Collaboration and respect for other ideas and culture are still basic to life in the Netherlands. This fundamental approach underlies society and its laws.

Language

We expect you to start learning Dutch immediately after you have been informed that you will spend your exchange year with us in the Netherlands. This is so that you have a basic knowledge of the language when you arrive. Speaking the language is a necessary means for your integration. Though many people in the Netherlands speak a foreign language, they will expect you to speak Dutch. After arrival we will organize an orientation course and rehearse your language skills. Later your Host Parents will help to improve your abilities, however it remains up to you to learn basic Dutch. Here are some WebPages that will help you to find material to learn our language.

http://www.eurotalk.co.uk/ for CD-ROMs with help in yourlanguage

http://www.learndutch.org/ online with pronounciation

http://www.taalthuis.com/

http://www.tgdlc.org/Dutch/Dutch.html

Try hard to master the programs on the Eurotalk CD’s. You can practise speaking and learn the meaning of most used words and sentences. You will attend school, and be placed in a grade with peers around your own age.

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Day to day

In the invitation to come to the Netherlands you will find your host club. Look at the map on http://regio.pagina.nl/ to locate the city where you are going to live. Your school expects you to fully participate, and skipping classes or being absent without approval will be treated as an offence against the rules.Social life at school as well as sport and extra-curricular activities at school are very limited. There are many clubs where you can do Sports or Cultural activities in the afternoon or evening within your city in the Netherlands. The costs are usually discussed between the host club and your parents. Use every opportunity to participate, never say no or show reluctance to an invitation.

Be open to all new experiences. Public transport is expensive. For distances up to about 10 miles you will use a bicycle. If your school is far away from your house, you will find a group of schoolmates to cycle with. This is a relatively safe country with many cycling paths, but it is, especially in the west, very crowded with people. That makes it necessary to stick very strongly to the traffic rules.

You will have to bring a watch and a personal diary for keeping track of appointments. Dutch people expect that you show up at an appointment precisely at the expected time. They do not work with "rubber time" and the term "fashionably late" does NOT exist. If, by exception, you can not make an appointment at the agreed time, it is expected that you make a phone call to explain that you are late or cannot come.

Dutch people are also very direct in talking about feelings and behaviour, stating what they think in a blunt manner. To a foreigner living in the Netherlands, this bluntness can be surprising and seems very rude at first. You are also expected to have your own ideas and opinions, and to participate actively in daily life. You must be able to speak for yourself. The best way to prevent misunderstandings or to relieve difficulties arising from misunderstandings is to talk. Never go to bed with hard feelings!

Speaking about bed: In the first months you will get physically tired from hearing a strange language around you for the whole day, so it is only natural that you may take a nap now and then. However, your host family may consider this as a sign of being not interested. Try be flexible and use the nights for recovering from hard day work.

Dinner is the time that the Dutch family gathers around the table, not only to eat, but also to discuss the daily events. Your family expects you to be in time for meals and join in the conversation. Your host families as well as your host clubs will differ from those of other exchange students. Don’t compare your club or family with those of other exchangees. There is no better or worse only differences.

Upon arrival in a new house, you will have to sit with your host parents and thoroughly discuss the rules of the house (See Sample Questions). In general, sport fields, disco’s, bars and houses are the places where young people meet in the weekends. Dutch people are generally tolerant, however you may meet students who behave in a way your host parents do not approve of. It is important to respect your host parents’ opinions, since they often know more about people in the community than you do. A comprehensive list with practical details for preparation is available in suggestions for exchange students

There are 4 basic rules in Rotary called the Four D’s:

1. NO Drinking.

2. NO Drugs.

3. NO Driving.

4. NO Dating.

Drunkenness is not acceptable, and the use of drugs will lead to an immediate early return to your home country. Driving a motored vehicle is not covered by your insurance and therefore strictly forbidden, as well as serious dating: This means that you will have to abstain from deep romantic affairs and also from casual sexual affairs.

A not to miss, very humorous book is "The Undutchables", C. White and L. Boucke, (ISBN1888580) which offers insight and humour into some very cultural aspects of Dutch life. (some of our students say that you should read this after you have been in The Netherlands otherwise you wouldn’t dare to come!). Papers on cultures by Dennis White can be found under publications.

Visa

Coming to the Netherlands requires that you have a passport, valid until six month after you’ve left The Netherlands. The procedure to obtain an entrance permit is complex and may change from year to year. Important for you to know is that we, the Youth Exchange Committee in The Netherlands, are the only one who can ask for your entrance permit and get it within the time span between your invitation to come and your departure. In your invitation you will find instructions about the documents which we need from you to apply for your entrance permit, Exempt from this regulation are the citizens of the following countries: European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America. Citizens of these countries do not need an entrance permit.

Insurance for Inbound Students in The Netherlands

In accordance with the Rotary exchange rules all students have to have a Health Insurance. The Visa Regulations requires that all Inbound students coming to The Netherlands have to be insured with a Dutch Insurance Company. The insurance is pre-arranged before your arrival. You will be insured from the moment you leave your home country until your return. Bring about € 500 to the Orientation Course. You will receive the policy there. Please do not transfer money from your home country and do not bring checks other than traveller checks to avoid additional Bank costs which you would have to pay later.

Below is an overview of the insurance policy.

ELVIA Hereby we confirm that (firstname, surname, born) from (country) has effected a Travel Insurance with ELVIA Reisverzekering Maatschappij, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This insurance is also valid during wintersports and diving.

Policy nr.: xxxxxxxx

Commencing date: date of departure from home country until date of arrival in home country with a maximum of 12 months

Worldwide coverage.

This insurance includes coverage for:

· Medical expenses in case of illness or accident during the insured period;

· doctor's fees;

· hospitalization and operation;

· treatment and medical prescriptions;

· transport to nearest hospital or doctor in case of serious illness or accident;

· Repatriation to home country in case of serious illness or accident of the insured person(s);

· Saving and rescue costs in case of assumed accident of the insured person(s);

· Transportation costs to home country in case of death of the insured person(s);

· Travel costs to home country in case of life threatening illness or accident of relatives (only first and second degree);

· Legal assistance (not valid during work and does not apply to vehicles/trailers);

· Liability;

· Luggage.

Insured amounts­ :

·	Medical expenses - no limit (excess € 70,-- per insured period)

(dental expenses up to € 230,-- as a result of an accident or in case of urgent treatment)

·	Repatriation / Transportation / Travelcosts - no limit­

·	Saving and rescue costs up to € 45.500,--

·	Liability up to € 500.000,--­

·	Luggage up to € 1.815,--­

In case of serious illness, hospitalization, serious accident or death immediately contact: + 31 - 20- 592- 92- 92.

ELVIA ASSISTANCE Netherlands, Internet: www.elvia.nl