The Voice - News - Column
Little Belgium (3)
PARTYING ON THE EXPENSE OF THE GOVERNMENT
Who dares, who cares?
As became obvious, the Belgians are very familiar with what we call the BWM-phenomenon: Belgian Weekend Migration; the weekly exodus and crowded trains home each and every Friday night. As we already concluded, this is a typically national happening, created by the Belgians themselves. For some reason they seem to overlook this other phenomenon especially created for them: Erasmus.
Little Belgium (2)
No doubt that the colourful international student life has played a major part in your life up until now during your stay in Leuven. But what about the Belgians? Do you know any of them? Or are you still watching them in amazement? Well, then you are not alone, as the mystery of the Belgian student is not easy to resolve.
Little Belgium (1)
Just newly arrived in Leuven you may have noticed already that during the weekends your new playground for the coming year is practically deserted. On Friday, after college all Belgian students collectively pack their suitcases and gather at the station to take the train back to their hometowns. On Sunday evening the opposite scene takes place: en masse they all come back, dragging rattling suitcases stuffed with the latest fruits of mommies culinary discoveries crammed in überfunctional but unsightly Tupperware boxes.
Drunk @ The City (6)
JUNE 2009
That’s it; the last day I’ve waken up early in the morning to go to my last lecture. Last notes, last day listening to the professor. Before the lecture ends, he has to make a short note about the exam: ‘The exam will consist of two questions out of the total course of 900 pages. After a written preparation you’ll explain the questions to me in person.’ Suddenly I feel less comfortable with the idea that it’s the last day of lecture... How long do I have until the exam? I haven’t read one page of my reader.
I’m starting to feel sick. I have to ‘relax’ after the shocking news and I decide to calm down by going out. Coming to the Oude Markt and seeing how crowded the place is makes me realise why I’ve chosen Leuven to be my Erasmus city: nothing beats a Stella and the students on a Thursday night! Hopping from one bar to another, the feeling of excitement is the one that could get my mind off of things. No more lectures; just me and my friends! Crawling home after 6 AM, taking a long nap in my warm, cosy bed...
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! My alarmclock shouts me out of bed. What a headache! I shouldn’t have drunk that much... Oh, well, it happens all the time. However, I know that something is different from the last time I got that drunk and woke up... No! I still have two weeks to study for that bloody exam! Ok, lets go to the library and begin.
Trying to get my ass over there, my head is still bouncing. My first pass in the library, crowded, hardly any place free to sit and people being so concentrated!? Ok, I’ll do my best. Page 1: Introduction. Ok, ’I’m even unable to manage with this. Yes, this is how it feels to study in Leuven: hang-overs and the need to succeed. Two weeks pass by in study. You notice your appearences are becoming less attractive. From the beautiful shiny eyes, smooth skin and silky hair it turns into dark eyes, a strange twitch in your left eyelid, greasy skin and a gain of weight of 5 kilogrammes.
D-day... I have to be at my best. The two questions look pretty hard and there’s no precise description of what you have to tell. I do my best and try to answer them as good as I can. The professor calls me to his desk and asks me to tell about my questions. I say five sentences and then he interrupts me by asking something totally different. I smile at him and try so damn hard to get the right answer... I just don’t know it! Ok, the examin is over; I can go. Wondering if I have given the right answers, the best thing I can do is just wait. Till the day of the results, I try to relax. I go and take some drinks with my friends, which I have to miss after I leave. Then the moment of thruth, the results are available. I get the paper with the results in my hands. And yes! I have passed the exam! So glad I made it, I’m telling all my friends and we decide to meet to have the biggest Leuven party ever! Going to drink and enjoy myself like never before, finally everything is over! Then I come to realise: all over? I have to leave back home. All my friends are gone. Perhaps I will see some of them later, perhaps never. But one thing is certain: the time spent in Leuven is one of the best times ever! Leuven, you’re not only going to be my Erasmus, you’ll always have a special place in my heart!
