Day of the International Student a rocking party
04 Apr 2011
The more than two thousand visitors who converged on The Hague on Saturday 7 November for the Day of the International Student (DIS) had the World Forum rocking down to its foundations.
The irresistible sounds of DJ Piaggio and the famous Hague band Tour de Funk had everyone on their feet and dancing the night away – a fitting close to a festive day that began with morning excursions to various famous spots in The Hague such as the parliament, Peace Palace and miniature city of Madurodam.
Something special
Anyone could see that there was something special going on in the World Forum that day. Tram lines running between the city’s stations and the events complex were fuller than usual for much of the day, carrying the flood of international students who had travelled from throughout the Netherlands especially for this event.
The majority of the more than two thousand attendees made their own travel arrangements, but there were also some higher education institutions that hired special buses to take students to The Hague. In all, DIS organizers counted 13 buses from all corners of the country.
For many students, getting to the World Forum was a journey of several hours and made in the pouring rain, with typical Dutch autumn weather that truly ‘pulled out all the stops’. But most of the international students simply took it in stride, saying it was all just a part of the Dutch experience.
Paint your clogs
The afternoon was filled with a wide-ranging programme of activities at the World Forum itself. Those interested in learning more about Dutch society could join a workshop taught by Flemish professor and expert on all things Dutch Ludo Beheydt, who observes life in this country with a kind but not uncritical neighbourly eye. Parliamentarian Han ten Broeke, who represents the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led a discussion on major bottlenecks facing Dutch politics today: the welfare state, immigration, multiculturality, attitudes about Europe etc. And he was not shy about sharing his own viewpoints, giving rise to frequent exchanges with his audience that, according to the meeting’s Nuffic host Han van der Horst, was not unlike what happens at any true Dutch birthday party when someone starts talking politics.
There were plenty of other workshops besides, covering themes like applying for jobs, entrepreneurship and how to present yourself. But in the end it was the lure of fun that won the day, with the most popular workshops including one on painting your own pair of quintessentially Dutch clogs, traditional Dutch games and Zumba, the latest rage in fitness.
Making connections
Beyond all this, the Day of the International Student was of course also a major day for making connections. The organizers had set the scene by putting up tables with signs to form meeting points where students from the same countries could find each other.
However, that is not to say that the DIS was about splitting up into groups by country – quite the reverse: north encountered south, east encountered west. After all, there are more things that bind students all around the globe than that separate them.
And when the evening came that thing was funk. Pure funk.
