One thing
England is doing extremely well is its university life. Despite the rising tuition fees (you can triple the Dutch fees by 7 for a ticket
into British uni's - thanks Cameron!), going to university in London is
f a n t a s t i c. Not only is the quality of education much better
than in the Netherlands in my opinion, also the social side of uni life
is so jolly good and far better than how we rock uni back at home.
Unlike Holland, (sport) societies are an integral part in British
university life. The range of sports clubs and societies open to
university students is endless, most uni's have up to 200 different
clubs and societies. Rowing, wine tasting, extreme frisbee, anti-war
society, rugby, ski-fi and fantasy society.. name it and they have it!
Dutch uni's should take a note of that. In the Netherlands we have no
such thing. Throughout my first degree in The Hague I did rowing, but
this was all independent from the university.
Having
played hockey ever since I could walk.. it isn't surprising I did trials
to become a member of the uni's hockey club. What I love the most about
it is that you represent your university in a league. This causes for a
lot of tension between the competing universities in London, and this
is mainly expressed through cruel songs about the opposite universities
(e.g Poly on the Strand aka Kings College)
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| We don't have to argue about the fact that the Dutch will trash the British in hockey whenever the opportunity arises |
All students
are free from 1pm onwards every Wednesday so that they can represent
their university during matches, after a team's victory (or loss) the
whole club celebrates it at 'sports-night' in the uni's union bar. I
will elaborate on these amazing shenanigans during sports night in
future posts. But I could reveal you already that you could say that the
actual sporting aspect of our society sometimes plays a secondary role
to the numerous social engagements the socialsec's arrange for us
hockey-fanatics. Think copious amounts of alcohol, lots of silliness,
weekly fancy dress themes, naked calendar shoots for charitable
purposes, drunken and loutish behaviour, temporary amnesia the morning
after, and lots of fun of course.
If I will ever get a
job at the Ministry of Education in the Netherlands, Dutch university
life will be changed drastically. I can't imagine anything better than
representing your university with a hockey stick in your hand!
Dutchy xx
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| Let the games begin.. |
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