What you van far haalt, is het yummiest. And now the all the yummy comes vanzelf. Afgelopen week you could read in the newspaper The Independent dat British students zich upmaken om naar here te trekken. Reason: binnenraken in an English university is allesbehalve een whistle of a cent. First of all, it is very expensive there. Since 2012 it could cost up to 9000 ponds a year aan inwritecosts. And secondly, as The Rolling Stones al singen: ‘You can’t get always get what you want.’ You have to have very good points to get in to a topuniversity.

Here, behind the dykes, it is cheaper, simpler and you still get a decent bang for your buck, aldus the students in fore mentioned article. Yes, look maar eens naar the rankings. Ok, Oxford en Cambridge are toppiejoppie, but for some Nederlandse studies you get a decent top ten spot. And, if you have a beetje goede punten, sta je zo inwritten. Tegenwoordig, with trains and cheap flights, sta je in a mum in hearty Amsterdam of Leiden.

Of course, the English you here in the collegezaal, is sometimes a beetje rusty. But that is made good by the believe of your docent that his grasp of your mother tongue is troely impeccable. A kniesear who drops over that.

Is toch strange that jullie het hier zo leuk vinden because since this week protesten de Dutchse studenten against all the reforms. The Leiden students doen er not really aan mee, but that is tradition here. Still, a little warning to our oncoming friends is here well on its place.

Because Halbe Zijlstra, our statesecretaris of higher education is after you too. First of all, PVV wants to know what the worteling of foreign students here is. Because otherwise, you are here studying on our costs and then you go away and leaves nothing behind. That is a beetje sin, natuurlijk. Zijlstra is not really going along with the PVV on this one, but you never know with him.

More zorgwekkend for jullie is dat hij aangekondigd heeft dat you have to work more in order to get studiefinanciering. Earlier, if you worked forty hours a month as a foreign student, you got stufi. Now he wants to uphigh that to 56 hours. Like the vereniging van universiteiten al liet weten: ‘Het is de omgekeerde wereld dat buitenlandse studenten meer uren per week moeten werken naast hun studie, om hun basisbeurs te behouden. De VSNU vindt het bizar dat de staatssecretaris die doorgaans vlot studeren bepleit, deze eis stelt. Meer werken naast je studie vertraagt het afstuderen juist.’

Totally van de pot gepulled dus. Dus welcome, if you want to study here. But don’t be surprised if the rules are changed during game. That, unfortunately, is becoming a Dutch tradition two.