CAMPUS LIFE
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Life in Meppel
Follow Aimée and Karina for a day in their life as ITE students
Meppel? Where's that?
Meppel is a quaint historical town in the North of the Netherlands. The town is filled with beautiful canals connecting historical buildings and community squares. It is not your typical university city, but it's student population is rapidly growing.
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Meppel has several large churches, and has the highest density of pubs per square meter in the North of the Netherlands. NHL Stenden events are often held at Lord Nelson and Murphy's pub in Meppel, such as the Halloween Party and the Pub Quiz. However, the nightlife doesn't stop there. You can also attend a theater performance, join a dance class, visit a fair or discover Meppel's bars and clubs.
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The town is filled with great restaurants as well as student friendly eating. A town favourite is the pancake boat, which offers you the incredible experience of eating delicious Dutch specialty pancakes right on the water.
The canals give you the best view of Meppel. Being surrounded by water, water sports are often played in the summer.
You will also find several sports clubs as well as a FitLand gym offering several fun and energetic classes in the evenings.
There is so much to discover, you will never find yourself without anything to do.
Community generated guide
It can be difficult to find the right stores when you are settling in in a new city or even country. Lecturers and students have put together a list with the essential information for when you arrive in Meppel. The best restaurants & pubs, practical places where to find school supplies or everyday-life needs such as banks & grocery stores.
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Hit this link to open up the list and life will be easier during the first weeks in Meppel!
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To new students, current students or lecturers: An important place is missing on this list? Your favourite restaurant or the best place for a second-hand bike? Please let us know via the chat button below or via email and we will add it to the list.
Finding a job
Finding a job in Meppel as an international student can be quite difficult, especially when you do not speak Dutch fluently. There are several obstacles that need to be overcome before looking out for a job, such as health insurance, more information about that can be found here.
NHL Stenden offers a limited amount of jobs on campus, such as the Library or the Promo Team.
Some of our international students work at bars such as Lord Nelson and Murphy's pub with Dutch health insurance.
Going to the gym
There are many gyms in Meppel, including CivitaS and EasyActive that cooperate with NHL Stenden. Both offer fun fitness classes and a well-equipped gym area. Alongside the local pool, signing up for the HBO sport pass grants a cheap membership to all three! Click on the logo of each to learn more.
You pay 90€ when you sign up in September and then you are covered for the rest of the academic year! Of course it gets cheaper the later you sign up . If you decide to sign up in December, you only pay 70€. In the end you always pay about 10€ per month.
Follow this link to get to the NHL Stenden HBO sport site where you can sign up easily. There you can find more information about the prices and about each gym. Just hit "Sign up", fill in your details and proceed with the payment (there are clear instructions on the site how to complete your payment on the NHL Stenden Shop). After your payment has gone through, several business days later you can pick up your sports card at the support office at university.
Getting around
The perspective of a first year student
Meppel is a small city in the northeast of the Netherlands. With its total area of 58km² it is easy to reach nearly everything by bicycle.
The city centre offers shops to go shopping for clothes, accessories and books. In addition, there are restaurants, cafes and bars to enjoy a walk through Meppel at day and at night.
As a student, who lives in Meppel or Zwolle, we recommend to bring a bicycle or buy one in Meppel, as fuel is expensive and riding the bike can be faster. There are several bicycle shops in Meppel, but most of the time there are a lot of people who sell used bicycles for a cheap price.
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Meppel’s train station is a 20-minute walk to the university and only five minutes by bicycle, which can be more comfortable as rain is a common feature of the Netherlands and especially the area of Drenthe, where Meppel is located.