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Expat life in Nijmegen: Dim, Romania

In the series "Expat Life in Nijmegen", expats talk about their lives in the Netherlands' oldest city. How did they end up here? What do they do in daily life here and what do they think of the city and its surroundings? 

Here's the story of Dim from Romania...

"At some point, I had a revelation that I wanted to study psychology – and somehow, I ended up on the Radboud page. I just had a feeling of, oh, I really like it here. I ended up only applying to Nijmegen, and last summer, I moved here for my first study year.

I’m originally from Bucharest, so Nijmegen is a small town by comparison. But when I go out for a night in Nijmegen, I feel like it’s going to be interesting. It’s a small town, but it’s very concentrated with things to do. I like that about the city. You will have an Irish Pub, a vintage store, and a community-run venue on the same street.

One of my favorite places to go to in the city is De Onderbroek. I mainly go there for raves or other music events. It’s at the city center, it’s community-run, and has an anarchist vibe, which I like. People are very fun and very friendly, and the music is diverse with a lot of indie or underground artists.

Other than that, I also like taking a walk down Lange Hezelstraat. The stores are a bit high-end, but it’s a great place to go window shopping. My ideal house is just a grandmother’s house with a lot of clutter and colorful things, so I get pretty inspired. And it’s probably my favorite part of town.

There are so many tiny details that I enjoy discovering about the Netherlands that I think I would have never gotten to know about if I hadn't been immersed in the culture. I think the Dutch sometimes don’t realize the things they do that are Dutch-exclusive.

One of my favorite things, for example, is the baby announcements that people put up in their front yards. They also send cards out after a baby is born, sharing these life events with everyone they know. That’s cute and it’s also old-fashioned. It’s not only a Facebook post, it’s an actual card. I’m really into things like that.

What I did have to get used to when moving here, however, was pressing the stop button on the bus. Because I’m from a much more populated city, the bus just stops at every stop. Because of that, I missed my stop here a couple of times before I realized that you have to let them know that you want to get off."

More expat stories - Life in Nijmegen

Studying & working in Nijmegen

Nijmegen has a lot to offer in terms of studying, working and business. The oldest city in The Netherlands is also one of the largest student cities in the country. The city presents itself as a leading global player in solving social issues and problems. With its significant position in the Health & High Tech sector, Nijmegen belongs to the international top when it comes to improving the quality of life, healthcare and the development of high-quality technology for various social applications.

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