• What housing is providided? Where can we stay?
• Is it far from the campus? How do we travel?
• Are there any extra costs? 
• What about insurances?
• Are there house rules at the Art Hostel? Household chores? 
• What's up with the garbage?  
• How do we pay for 'stuff'?

What housing is providided? Where can we stay?

The hostel consists of two recently renovated houses in the harbor area of Bruges, just across the street from one another. They are on the edge of the inner city and about 15-20 min by bus or bike from the KHBO Campus in Bruges. N° 2 (Arthostel) has an African themed dining hall/bar on the ground level, n° 11 (Loyd) has a popular harbor café downstairs. There are toilets and showers on each floor, mostly one per room. There is a shopping center right behind n° 2 and in front of n° 11, and there’s a launderette nearby. The beds have mattresses, pillows and duvets on them, but no duvet covers or mattress sheets; you can bring your own, or rent a set through us. Every bedroom has a cupboard and a desk with some chairs. The kitchens have all the pots, dishware and cutlery needed, and fires as well as ovens, microwave ovens.

The prizes include cleaning of the shared rooms, electricity, heating, water and wireless internet. They do not include garbage bags, toilet paper, cleaning of the rooms or meals. They range from 260 to 350 euro, depending on size, number of beds, floor and comfort, fridge and television.

Please apply for a room when registering, and indicate your first choice. In September-October 2009 you will be assigned a room, sent a contract and asked to pay an advance sum of two months’ rent (one month advance, one month as a refundable deposit.

Since the hostel is only rented by the KHBO University College between February to April, we cannot arrange for housing before or after that period. We can however redirect your to seven youth hostels in Bruges (including the Art Hostel), but the level of comfort will be lower and the prices will be much higher.

Is it far from the campus? How do we travel?

The KHBO Campus is easily reached by train, bus, bike and car. It lies just West of the city center, alongside the E40 highway to the coast. Busses provide a connection to the city and train station every 20 min, and in the morning, at noon and in the evening even every 10 min. On foot and by bike, the city is 2 km away alongside a calm path.

The National Airport in Brussels is only one hour by train, Brussels South (Charleroi) a bit further, Schiphol (Amsterdam) is about three hours by train. 

Flanders has a large network of public transport, with trains running almost every route every hour, and bus services that often have a 20 min frequency. A normal single journey card is 1 euro, a 10 single journey’s card is 8 euro (but with a student discount at the campus only 5 euro). If you regularly use busses (for example from and to the campus), we recommend a Buzzy Pazz, which costs 59 euro, but allows 3 months of completely free bus and tramway travelling in Flanders.

The KHBO collaborated with the city of Bruges on a student bike program, with extremely good bicycles rented out for 4 euro per month.

Are there any extra costs?

The use of computers and audiovisual media is free of charge for participating students. The same goes for all student facilities at the KHBO Campus Bruges (sports card, library access, access to the Gaming Archive). There is absolutely no subscription fee. Field trips and stays as the one in the Ardennes forests, are paid for. During trips, it’s best to provide your own sandwiches.

Insurance

To enroll in the International Class, you need to be insured: a health insurance and a third party liability insurance are obliged!

Health Insurance

All residents of the country, Belgian or otherwise, are required by law to be covered by a health insurance policy. It is  in the best interest of international students to have a health insurance! Without insurance coverage, the cost of medical care can quickly spiral out of control. For instance, a single night’s stay in the hospital can cost up to € 400 not including treatment or medicine. A standard health insurance policy will reimburse about 75% of the cost of a doctor’s visit, medicine and hospitalization.

Third-party Liability Insurance

Students enrolled in the International Class are obliged to have third-party insurance. You can either show proof of your insurance translated into English when you arrive in Belgium. Or you chose the third party liability insurance by the Interactum consortium and you pay for it at the start of the International Class (31 January 2011).
Third party insurance is designed to cover you in the event that you are sued for damages by a third party, where they feel that they have suffered a loss as a result of your negligence or carelessness. This insurance policy covers any damages to third parties caused by the student while not on university college property. Your own personal injuries are not covered by this policy; only damage caused to third parties. The policy also covers the costs of legal assistance. In the event that you are successfully sued by a third party your insurance will cover the cost of damages awarded against you and any legal costs that you have incurred as a result of disputing  the claim. In case of insufficient cover a special insurance policy is available via Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende.

Job-Related Accident Insurance

This KHBO insurance policy covers the entire university college community for study-related accidents and illness. Every accident covered by this policy, including accidents abroad, must be reported within 48 hours to the KHBO Insurance Office. They will provide you with insurance claim forms and will take care of the claim’s settlement. 

Are there house rules at the Art Hostel? Household chores?

Some simple house rules:

We need a system for some chores:

• Floor responsibles keep track of the garbage bags and toilet paper. Kitchens, bar, hallways and bathrooms will be cleaned once a week by a professional cleaner service, but only if they are not disgustingly dirty – so a weekly ‘check-up and sweep-up’ would be really good.
• Putting the garbage out, at 6 in the morning: an important job, and you can get really impressive fines by putting it out the wrong day or the night before.
• The bar should be tended, checking the supply and ordering what’s needed, counting the consumption and cleaning everything that’s been used.
• There are three kitchens in total, but for around 30 persons that means it would be easier to do the groceries and cook in groups, rather than alone.

What's up with the garbage? 

Belgium has a strong tradition of separating different kinds of garbage:

paper and cardboard (bound together with a rope in a cardboard box; picked up every fortnight on Monday at 6 am); tin, tetra briks and plastics (in a clear blue garbage bag; no plastic shopping bags, yoghurt or butter pots; put out the same Monday as above); glass bottles and cans (without their tin lids; can be dumped in the glass container just across the bridge); and finally the rest of the waste (in the really expensive brown garbage bags; only non-recyclable goods; not more than 10 kg per bag; put outside on Thursday mornings at 6 am).

How do we pay for 'stuff'?

The main cost will be the housing, which can be paid for by international bank transfer. For daily expenses, the currency is Euro - how much you need depends on you. The larger shops accept visa, but only for larger amounts 

You do not need a Belgian bank account, but it could be handy. We’ve arranged for a good deal for incoming KHBO students with Dexia Bank, at their office in the heart of Bruges, Oude Burg 30 (tel ++ 32 50 34 34 34).