Ready for the adventure of a lifetime, but they stayed home

Chi Tran from Hanoi is living proof that jet lag can occur without flying. "One of the main hurdles of having to study at a distance is the time difference," the 18-year-old Vietnamese says. "It took me a few weeks to get used to the new rhythm. Starting at 2 or 3 PM instead of early in the morning. I'm eating dinner alone, because I have classes until late or have to do group assignments. And then the clock was advanced one hour for Daylight Savings Time (DST). I wasn't familiar with that phenomenon and got completely confused." So, not completely 'at home' in time, comparable to a jet lag.

But she is at home in her surroundings, where it's six hours later than in the Netherlands. Chi tells her story from her room of 15 square meters, on the tenth floor, in an apartment she shares with her parents. The Skype connection is flawless, but the conversation is disturbed every now and then by a cacophony of honking and traffic noise. "This is how it is in the capital of Vietnam", says Chi, as she adjusts her camera to share a panoramic view of the metropolis. "It's noisy, but I'm used to it."

After a few months she has found peace in the current situation, supported by the yoga sessions and power naps she can take in the afternoon before study. "The feeling of being part of an international environment is missing. That experience just doesn't come across online and that's really a gap. But there are advantages to this situation. I can get used to my new education in my familiar environment. It gives me a soft introduction, so the step will be less big when I can go to the Netherlands". When will that be? "No idea, you can't predict anything in this day and age. I hope in March."

Online guide

Meanwhile, she doesn't have to travel and has more time to spend on her private life. "The strange thing is that I've seen more of Hanoi in the last few months than in the eighteen years before. The global crisis teaches her to cherish what she has. "I discover beautiful museums, undiscovered places in the city and marvel every day. All these experiences I share with my fellow students during group assignments. I feel like an online guide of Hanoi. Everyone shares their experiences from home, so we get to know each other from a distance anyway."

Chi is part of a class of sixteen students, fourteen of them are participating from abroad. Ivaylo Shopov (19) from Bulgaria comments on her story. "One of our courses is international communication. Ironically, we are now experiencing the aspects first-hand," he says from Rakovsky, a city of 15,000 inhabitants.

So how does communication work? "We have a lot of contact via Microsoft Teams or Skype," says Chi. "One drawback is that not everyone wants to turn on their webcam. That's why communication is sometimes a bit difficult, because you can't tell what someone really means.” Collaborating on an assignment is often done via Google Docs, in which several people can work at the same time.

"Works perfectly," Marilyn Caracas says, a fellow student of Ivaylo and Chi. Although it sometimes leads to curious scenes. "We often talk about 'the haunted document' because someone else is just ahead of you when you want to type something. And that's how you haunt each other. Pretty funny."

Marilyn has been studying in the living room of an apartment in Nice, France, where she has been living with her parents since July. The originally Romanian family emigrated from Ukraine in the middle of the corona crisis. As if studying remotely isn't complicated enough. "The past few months have been quite a rollercoaster," admits the 17-year-old student. "Nice is a beautiful city, but hardly anyone speaks English. And we're just in a new lockdown."

Under such circumstances, how do you focus on a foreign study you've just started? "Oddly enough, it's not that difficult for me. I love studying and now I can fully immerse myself in it, without distractions. What I miss is the atmosphere in a classroom and the energy that hangs in a college. But the buddy sessions, in which you, as a new student, have weekly contact with a third-year student, give me the feeling I am part of Saxion after all.”

Bizarre measures

Ivaylo is a lot less optimistic. And he has many reasons for that. "I love to travel and I want to meet new people. I crave to move to Enschede. A new environment, a different life. I'm very disappointed that it's not possible now".

All the more so because he is fed up with his homeland. "The measures Bulgaria is taking in the fight against corona are downright bizarre. At one point schools were closed, while discotheques were open. There are constant protests all over the country." He participates fully in that. "I recently took a two hundred kilometer train ride to take part in a protest action. I like to express my displeasure about that."

Marina Makoied from Sebastopol (The Crimea) recognizes herself in the image sketched by her fellow Bulgarian student. "The situation in my country is getting worse every day. Few people keep to the corona measures and I hear the sound of sirens more and more frequently.”

The 19-year-old student openly outlines her struggles during the first months in physical seclusion from her new education. "I can say that I have never been mentally challenged as much as I am now. It's quite a challenge to dive into a new study while you're so far away from everything, and with a noisy family around you. Yes, it's an advantage to have more money and free time, but it also gives you more time to worry and reconsider. That creates even more pressure.”

A strict daily routine helps. "I usually study in my own room, but try to be creative and move through the house with my laptop and books. If I don't do that, I get sleepy and even claustrophobic. In addition, I dress nicely, as if I actually have to go to school. That helps me to be productive and focused during the online classes". Chi has another tip: "I try to make my voice heard during lectures as much as possible. That way I keep myself focused and other students get to know me better.

Meditation sessions

The four newcomers are satisfied with Saxion's approach. "The lessons are very interactive, we can provide a lot of input," says Ivaylo. According to the Bulgarian, the teachers are creatively involving foreign students in a practical way. From interactive quizzes to role plays and even meditation sessions; no method is shunned. "We've all been meditating together recently, during a lecture on basic communication. We had to press our heads at certain points.” Laughing: "It made me feel calm." Then without kidding: "I am so far very satisfied with the level of education, which is much higher than I was used to in Bulgaria. That keeps me motivated. Otherwise I would have dropped out after only a few months.”

None of the four new IHRM students considered coming to the Netherlands during the corona crisis. The common opinion is: if you still have to study online, you rather study in a familiar environment. But Ivaylo, Chi, Marina and Marilyn are longing for the moment when they can finally come to the Netherlands, to physically participate in their studies. Mariana: "Because we have a lot of contact with each other online on a daily basis, I have already built up a close relationship with some of my fellow students. In the end it will make it even more exciting to finally meet each other."