Áhugasamir geta lesið eftirfarandi grein sem birtist í háskólablaðinu í Den Bosch nú á dögunum
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Off abroad with kids and au pair in tow
In iceland it's nothing out of the ordinary. Students with children. At Avans University, however, Heida, Egill and Rakel are more of an exception. For them, though, their children do not present any barrier at all to studying International Business and Languages for a semester in Den Bosch.
The neighbours are the same age as the Icelanders, but they do not have any children. That surprised the three students who arrived in the Netherlands in August. "At the Efteling themepark we only saw parents between thirty and forty years old. In Iceland, it is completely normal to have children when you are around the age of twenty. It doesn't matter if you are studying or working at the time", explains Egill Ragnar Sigardsson (26). His girlfriend Heida Jôhannsdôttir (28) has just got their 18-month-old daughter, Kristjana, out of bed. Her brother Aron (5) is playing on the playstation in the television room with Aron (5), the son of Rakel Breidfjörd Palsdôttir (28). "It's all quiet at the moment, but they often squabble. That's because they are spending too much time together", says Rakel. The students are looking for a crèche so that their children can meet other children. This is proving difficult, however, as no crèche wants to take them because they don't speak Dutsch.
The three students are renting a four-storey house close to the centre of Den Bosch. Internet cables run through to the neighbour's house via a ventilation hole in the wall. "You can't get Internet access just for a couple of months, but the neighbours have been very helpful", says Rakel. They have a marvellous view of Prins Hendrik park from the living room, but now and again the view is spoilt by dogs leaving their messages on the grass and men urinating "al fresco". They find this rather disgusting. In Iceland, dog-owners clear up after their dogs and you very rarely come across men who urinate in public. They are also having to get used to people blowing their noses when in the company of others. "That's funny. At home, only old men do that", says Heida.
It seems quite an undertaking, to study when you have children and then to move abroad as well. But the Icelanders did not let this put them off. They wanted a change, a different environment and to meet new people. They also have an au pair, Anna Björk Haraldsdôttir (19), who takes the children to the playground in the park every morning.
The students from Iceland have aldready had their first taste if the Netherlands. Within two weeks of arriving they had two bicycles stolen. They have since bought new ones. They know now that they must chain up their bikes with a couple of sturdy locks. In the friendly and sparsely populated country of Iceland they are not used to having to keep a close eye on their belongings. You don't need to lock up bikes and you can usually leave laptops unattended in a classroom.
On the other hand, education is extremely expensive. Students pay almost € 3,000 for a semester, with expenses for books and the crèche on top of that. They borrow money for their studies from a special institute, on which they pay two per cent interest. They start paying the money back two years after they graduate. For this reason, many young people work first and only start studying when they have some savings behind them. Just like au pair Anna. She doesn't know yet what she wants to study and so she has decided to work for a while first. "I want to know for sure that I am making the right choice, until then I'll save up", she says.
(Punt, 12. október 2006)
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