My experience? Let's go back to last year.
I properly started looking for a place to stay around March 2018, when I got accepted at the university, which provides you with multiple leaflets full of links and ways to look for accommodation. Wow so nice of them! Well, the problem is that the housing situation in Amsterdam is absolutely crazy, nuts, bananas, insane.
Just to give you an idea, the rent for a room in the city center is around 1000 euros, and most of the times it's not even big enough to fit a double bed. Prices go down a bit in other neighborhoods, but it is still a lot compared to many other big cities in Europe.
In Amsterdam there are so many students, and it is ridiculous that universities are not offering more campuses and dorms to provide some help to the thousands of new young and inexperienced people coming here every year, desperately looking for a shelter that does't cost them to sell their own organs. Actually every months, because there are also all the exchange, master and internship students.
This said, I have to admit that I did receive some help from HvA at the beginning. After having emailed a bunch of staff people of my new uni about housing options and waiting lists and so on, finally in July I got an offer. The Bijlmer Towers, a formal prison never used for lack of prisoners in the country. Honestly I was a bit uncertain, I couldn't find any pictures of the place and even on google maps the location didn't show up. But the school guaranteed for it to be the perfect place for upcoming students who hadn't find a place yet, and it was also very cheap for the standards. Moreover, it was first come first serve policy, so I just applied for it right away, because I knew that I wasn't going to find any other place since I wasn't there yet to go see them.
Who is renting a room or a house wants to meet the new tenant in person before signing everything (obviously), that's why is also more difficult for first year students who are moving in just before school starts at the end of August. It wasn't like I could just take a plane every week to go to viewings in the Netherlands.
It was with enormous excitement that I went with my mum to pick up the keys on the 22nd of August. She helped me moving, and was waaay less shocked than I was when we saw the actual place.
My first thought was: "My gosh Emma breathe it is going to be fine you just have to stay here for 5 months you can do it you are lucky you got this room please keep breathing inhale exhale and repeat". What can I say, the accommodation wasn't really accommodating.
Leaving the fact that the building in general was just so sad and grey and prison-like, my room wasn't any better. A 8 squared meters room with a small bad, a desk,a lamp and a chair, worst of all a window with bars that you couldn't open. I kid you not. The positive thing was that at least I had a small private "en-suite" bathroom (toilet and sink), counterbalanced by the sharing of showers and kitchen with the other 11 floor mates.
What can I say, it was a weird experience, glad it's over. I'm not going to tell about the mold I sometimes found in kitchen pans or the lovely smell coming from the trash that no one ever bothered throwing away.
While I was there I kept searching another place through Facebook groups and websites. The prison contract was going to end in January, but I didn't even want to stay there that long.
During November and the first week of December I went to almost 15 viewings of different places, but there was always something that didn't work out: too young, don't speak any Dutch, too far from uni, too many people interested, too expensive...the list goes on and on.
In the end a friend of mine offered me a room at an affordable price, and even if it was a bit far from the city center I was ready to sign the contract. I didn't want to go back home in Italy at Christmas without having found anything, I knew my parents would pressure and stress me about it all day long, and I also didn't want to come back here in the prison place again in January.
Three days before signing that contract tho, I found an interesting ad on Kamernet, a website I've signed up weeks before but didn't have any luck with it. The post stated a big room was available from mid December in a fully renovated and furnished little house, the price was also in my budget, so I replied immediately!
That same day I went to see it; it wasn't finished yet but the location and project looked very good, the day after I was signing the rent contract and two weeks later I was moving in with all my stuff.
I now live with three other girls, one from Italy, one from Greece and one from Germany; housemates stories in another post.
It took me more than 5 months, but I found a little spot in this big city, my base camp. From here operations are directed, calls are made, meals are prepared, naps are taken. Does it feel like home? Not yet. Will it ever? Who knows.
Wanna know how to pack all of your belongings to move in less than two hours?
Contact me.
Quote of the post:
"One life. Just one. Why aren't we running like we are on fire towards our wildest dreams?"
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