When German student Tim applied for the Tio exchange programme in August, his fellow students teasingly wished him good luck with all the rain in the Netherlands. But during Tim's first steps along Amsterdam's canals, the sun was shining. From that moment, he knew this would be a semester to remember.
Tim is a third-year International Business student at the BSP Business & Law School in Hamburg, Germany. Part of his studies is an exchange programme of at least one semester abroad. Tim could choose from cities like São Paulo, Sydney and Hong Kong, but chose Amsterdam. "I had never been there before, it was close to Hamburg and it seemed like a vibrant city," Tim reflects. "So I thought: why not?"
Agreements
"Besides, the Erasmus+ programme pays tuition fees and other mandatory costs when you stay within the borders of Europe," Tim continues. "I hesitated about Budapest for a while, but Amsterdam was more attractive to me. The city is also very similar to Hamburg in structure and culture, I think. Both cities are densely populated, close to the sea and full of friendly people. That made me feel right at home in Amsterdam."
Connection
Tim felt at home not only in the city, but also at Tio. "The campus and classes are small in size," Tim explains. "Tio often organises fun events for international students as well, allowing classmates to become friends. My introduction consisted of two really cool days, during which we got to know Amsterdam through a scavenger hunt and took a boat trip along the canals. On the boat, I tasted bitterballen for the first time, a typical Dutch snack. What did I think of them? Disgusting! I quickly washed the taste away with a sip of Heineken!"
Learning and developing
Tim studied International Commercial Business during the exchange programme, with subjects such as e-commerce, search marketing and business landscape. "Many of the subjects seemed similar to those I already took in Hamburg," Tim recalls. "I didn't mind that at all, because it refreshed all my knowledge. In the process, I also gained a whole bunch of new insights. For example, how to track a website's visitor flows and page views via Google Analytics. And how consumer behaviour and market trends affect your business. The approachability of the Tio programme makes it a suitable study for any business student."
Help with renting
Tim soon found a room in Amsterdam West. "I first tried to find a student room through Tio, but unfortunately they were all already booked. Even though that didn't work out, Tio did help me. I was given a handy checklist that listed reliable rental sites, tips and advice. So I knew exactly where I could safely rent a room, how to go about it and what to look out for. In the end, I found one for the whole semester, through Dutch housing website Kamernet."
Highly recommended
Tim recommends this exchange at Tio to every student: "Here I made friends for life and discovered new sides of myself. But one tip: skip that Dutch cuisine, for good food you really should be in Germany ;-)."