Column: Malone  Why are we treated differently?  First, I’d like
to welcome all the new international students to TU Delft. The
TU is a high-quality academic institution with lots of
opportunities for everyone. Unfortunately, being a buitenlander
(foreigner) can be challenging, because for mystifying reasons
we’re often treated very differently from Dutch students (or
sometimes it’s EU students being treated differently than non-EU
students). Sometimes Dutch bureaucracy is just trying to catch
up with increased numbers of foreign students, but sometimes we
are flat-out taken advantage of. Here are a few examples.
Housing: you’re probably being hosted by Duwo. They will
probably try and exploit you somehow. Don’t let them. For
example, Duwo used to charge students in short-stay housing 10
euro a month for plates. Thanks to hard work by the Delft
International Student Society (Diss), these dish sets are now
being offered for a flat fee at cost, or about €35. I guess Duwo
thought that if they could get away wit