A student of accounting at the University of Indonesia, Maria Ulfa came to the Netherlands to finish the last year of her studies at the Saxion Hogeschool in Deventer. After finishing her bachelor's in accounting, she decided to pursue a master's degree in business administration with a specialization in management of service organizations at the UT. On being asked how she decided to come to the Netherlands, she says, `I heard from my friends about the Netherlands and they were very satisfied with their stay here.'
As she recalls, the first year was not easy for her. It was exciting at the beginning, but a few months later she became homesick. In her opinion, Dutch people are not that open with new people and take a long time to become friends. She found it difficult to make friends. Now, in her second year, however, she is much more integrated in the Dutch society and has a good social life. She is also following a Dutch language course at the UT and considers it a difficult language to learn.
Comparing the Netherlands with her home country, she comments, `Men and women share equal status in the Netherlands and Dutch people are very individualistic in comparison to Indonesians. Dutch people don't give that much consideration to the family in their decisions, while in Indonesia family plays a very important role.' She is impressed that Dutch people cycle so much. With a smile she says, ´I like it very much and find it healthy and, therefore, I found a student house not too close to the UT campus.'
Apart from her studies, Maria is fond of salsa and likes to listen R&B music. She is also a member of STRESS, the BBT student organisation. As a member of STRESS, she is also active for ESTIEM@Stress commission, a link between STRESS and ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management). In order to socialize with people from her own culture, she joined the Indonesian Student Community of Enschede.
Maria is the only one from her family who is studying abroad. She lived with her parents for 22 years and now by living alone she is learning to be independent and to make her own decisions. She misses Indonesian food very much. She had never cooked before coming to the Netherlands, but now she enjoys doing it.
Regarding her future plans, Maria is sure that she does not want to stay in the Netherlands for the rest of her life, but if an opportunity arises, she would like to work here for a while to explore Dutch corporate culture along with more social aspects of the Netherlands.
Seema Sharma
Favorites:
Hometown: Jakarta, Indonesia
Languages spoken: Indonesian, English
Favorite Music: R&B
Favorite film: Titanic
Favorite TV program: Gilmore Girls
Favorite place in NL: Amsterdam
Dream Destination: New York
Miss most about home: Family, friends and food
Best part about NL: Seeing snow fall for the first time
Worst part about NL: Bureaucracy
