Organisatie - 22 maart 2012

The Dutch know the meaning of 'weekend'

tekst:: Gastredacteur

Typical Dutch

I have been here in Wageningen for one and a half years now. I must admit, I struggle with the study load and find it hard to keep a balance between my studies and my social life. I feel that my social life had crumbled since coming to study in the Netherlands. Caught up in the daily grind of managing my study load, I have forgotten the meaning of weekend. Whatever Saturday and Sunday are meant to stand for, for me they have become working days like any other.

The Dutch seem to manage this differently. Honestly, I have been wondering at the ability of the students and the staff here at this University to maintain a distinction between weekdays and weekends. I bet if you ever happen to visit the library or the Forum or the Leeuwenborch buildings at the weekend, you will no doubt be met with the sight of non-Dutch students brooding over heaps of papers, or hard at work on their laptops or computers. Yes, it is always Asian or Africans you'll find there. I must salute the Dutch for knowing how to differentiate between the weekdays and the weekends. But however hard I have tried to keep my own weekends free, I remain unsuccessful. Karma Choden, Master's student of Management and Economics specializing in Health and Society, from Bhutan.
Do you have a nice anecdote about your experience of going Dutch? Send it in! Describe an encounter with Dutch culture in detail and comment on it briefly. 300 words max. Send it to resource@wur.nl and earn fifty euro and Dutch candy.