Foto | privé-archief Jasper Heinrich

Uncertain times for TU/e students abroad

TU/e has this week strongly advised all 180 of its students currently aboard to return to the Netherlands. We've been in contact with some of them. Jasper Heinrich is staying put in Taiwan for the time being, but is unsure where he will be as the future unfolds. Mark Geelhoed is experiencing minimal difficulty and can attend lectures as usual in Sweden's city of Gothenburg. David Hordijk is leaving Indonesia today and heading for Hong Kong. Tomorrow he plans to travel on to London and then the Netherlands.

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photo Privé-archief Jasper Heinrich

With ever more borders closing in quick succession, TU/e has strongly advised its 180 students staying abroad to come back to the Netherlands. This news is shared by Ivo Jongsma, spokesperson for the Executive Board. On Tuesday 110 students had responded to this advice; 22 of them turned out to be back home already, 29 others decided to come home. Some 60 students have communicated their intention to stay put abroad, because they believe their host country is safer than the Netherlands.

TU/e is offering compensation to students who cannot get the extra costs involved in getting home refunded, from their insurance for example. “For the rest, TU/e is liaising closely with VSNU to get students repatriated,” Jongsma reports. “In consultation with the ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs, VSNU is looking at whether and how students can be brought back.”

The Dutch national government reports that the first step students need to take is to call their travel insurer. Earlier this week, political party D66 put written questions to the ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs. Among other things, the party wants to know how students are getting home and whether they will be compensated for any delays caused to their studies.

Below three students speak about their personal experiences.

“It is very strange to be going through this here, on the other side of world”

Jasper Heinrich is staying in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, where he is studying at the National Taiwan University of Technology (NTUST), a university that is still open. He has decided to stay in Taiwan for the time being. “When I was about to leave the Netherlands to come here, everyone was asking me whether it was a wise move given that coronavirus was spreading so close to Taiwan.

 

Now the situation has changed completely and it seems that the Netherlands is more dangerous than Taiwan, based on the number of people who have tested positive. At the moment, staying put seems the most sensible option. I am following the Dutch and Taiwanese news closely to see how the situation is developing and whether I need to take action. As a Dutch person, it is very strange to be going through this here, on the other side of the world.”

Not long ago he described his experience in our overseas column. Among other things, he wrote about the preventive measures taken by the university: ‘This means things like a body temperature checkpoint at the entrance to the university, having to apply an alcohol-based disinfectant to your hands at the entrance to some of the buildings, and having to wear a mask over your mouth in the canteen’.
 

Quarantine

“All this is still largely the same,” he updates us. “A new, minor measure is that since this week we have to scan a QR code for every lesson we attend, to register which students have attended the class together. If someone who was in your class later develops coronavirus, you have to spend two weeks in quarantine.”

The Taiwanese government this week prohibited all foreigners from entering the country and the Taiwanese people themselves have to spend 14 days in quarantine when they come from abroad. “For me this means there's no way I can make a short trip outside Taiwan in the foreseeable future,” he concludes.

This is a problem because Heinrich is trying to extend his visa and for the time being that's proving a challenge. “I have got a visa for 90 days and the plan was to take a trip to Japan so that on re-entering we'd get a second 90-day visa. “Now that this trip isn't going ahead, it is uncertain how we can sort this out. The government says that we still have to leave the country within 90 days. Several exchange students have this problem and all the universities will be talking to the government to find a solution. I have arranged to keep my student room until the end of June, so at least I've not got any problems on that score.”

 

“I'm taking it one day at a time”

Mark Geelhoed is currently staying in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, where he is doing an exchange semester at the Chalmers School of Architecture. “Here in Sweden the measures are still relatively mild,” he reports on Tuesday March 17th. “The university is (still) open, public transport is running, and as yet clubs and restaurants are staying open. Today the Swedish government announced that schools and universities are advised to teach remotely as much as possible. Fortunately, my department is not paying much attention to this appeal. I'm taking it one day at a time because the measures are being tightened every so many days.”

He understands TU/e's appeal to return to the Netherlands. “It is up to us students to decide individually whether or not we heed this request. I have decided to stay here in Sweden, given that to my mind the situation is better here; lectures are still being held and the measures are not (yet) all that strict.”

“So much uncertainty, a real adventure”

David Hordijk, master's student of Innovation Sciences and pianist and composer, sent this to us shortly before he went to sleep on Wednesday evening in Jakarta, where he has been doing an exchange semester. He has just booked his journey back because it seems logical to him to go home, following the TU/e request to do so. Just making the booking was nerve-wracking enough. First he looked for a direct flight but that was getting increasingly expensive. A cheaper flight he looked at was not an option because he would have needed a visa for the stopover. He did manage to get a flight via Hong Kong. “But from there the Netherlands now won't let you in. Fortunately this flight has a stopover in London, so that should solve that problem.” He's more anxious about the transfer in Hong Kong. “There is so much uncertainty, it is a real adventure.”

Noise

Today (Thursday) he is giving up his room. This is where he made his vlog. Whenever his window was open you could hear a massive amount of noise. Traffic noise, but also the call to prayers from a nearby mosque, repeated five times a day. At the crack of dawn on Friday, David will head to the airport and hopes to be back on Dutch soil 24 hours later.

Reasons driving Hordijk homewards are the risk that his travel insurance will no longer be valid and the medical situation. “Playing a role here in Indonesia is the fact that if you fall ill, there's a strong chance that there won't be enough beds in intensive care.” And this, “To be honest, it gets to the point in all this uncertainty where you simply want to go home.”

This master's student of Innovation Sciences was supposed to have another ten weeks of lectures in Jakarta, albeit online. “I could follow those lectures in the Netherlands, but I'll probably try to arrange another assignment to replace the credits. I'll think about that later. First things first, I want to get home safely.”

 

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