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.

You might have heard about the overload of common denominators, such as the inevitable weekend-retour home - the one and only fixed income that keeps the Belgian railway from going bankrupt - and the fact that if not in train every Belgian student rides himself from point A to B on too small rusty iron vehicles they call bicycles, but which lack proper lights and brakes and must have flat tyres. If their bicycle is gone when they come back from class, it can either be thrown in the canal, be ‘borrowed’ by another student or it can just be removed by the police, the collective enemy of every student in Leuven - this aversion is nonetheless limited to the Belgian student population, but even includes the international students as well.

If one of the above-mentioned scenarios takes place, the Belgian students see themselves forced to either walk or take a bus. If they opt for the latter, they might actually get to know some people out of their own environment and even meet international students, as they seem to belong to a totally different species and populate a less prominent part of Leuven –Pangaea - where only occasionally a Belgian student dares to show up.

Next to these commonalities, each and every one of our Belgian counterparts –male or female- tends to have a strong preference for hiding their person in dull cloths that celebrate Belgium’s unofficial national colours: brown, black, dark blue and grey – which at the same time also reflect the most common weather. On top of that, the pretty and handsome Belgian students collectively have a girl- or boyfriend somewhere hidden. If that counterpart is not in Leuven, then he or she must as a rule be left in their hometown, which partly also explains why they all go home so often.

What is more, even while studying the Belgians follow these general patterns. Many of them study hard and go to every class, visit the library every other day, never allowing themselves to take a break. Exhausted they go home every Friday, dragging all their books and a laptop home to continue the workweek. They never finish studying, but in return always graduate cum laude –without really feeling satisfied- or they just simply never come back after such a weekend home. If that is the case, I always wonder what happened to them: did they see the light or did they jump in front of the train instead of stepping into it?

Another category is the total opposite: the party animals that populate the fakbars every night, hardly show up in any class but belong to the ones that make Leuven’s student nights so full of life. If they are lucky they don’t have to pay for this dissolute lifestyle in the third exam period, otherwise they are to be found –but in a more serious mood- in Leuven during summertime as well.

A third category fits those students who engage themselves in all kinds of activities, ranging from LOKO jobs and free academic support to voluntary and social work. Then, last but not least there are the students who just go to class, have drinks with friends, go out when they feel for it and just don’t care so much about it all. I think the great majority fits in the last category, but the other ones make Leuven student life more interesting.

Still, it would even be better if Belgian and international student mix more and learn from each other not only by small columns like this one, but just by coming together, having a chat and many discussions over a beer… Therefore I would say: go for it and make sure that by the time you read the next column, you have met some more of our Belgian friends, as it is truly worth it! |