After a long summer lull, the UT campus is alive and kicking with a burst of activities held as part of the Introduction program for new Master's students.
The Behavioral Sciences 2004-2005 class has been getting initiated as UTers since August 16 when they were introduced to the faculty, the MSc programs and SMIT (Student Mobility in Twente), followed by a short tour of the faculty. Sports day on August 18 was open to Dutch UT students, Dutch non-UT students as well as international students. It was amusing to see canoe teams rowing furiously past each other around the sunken tower in the Vrijhof pond - the goal was to fish out a Frisbee thrown into the water. Dutch student Ton op den Dries explained that the sport `brassen' is not an officially recognized sport but played for fun.' Before Op den Dries can continue, a group of people ran menacingly towards us and tried to grab a wooden plank which his teammate defended zealously by placing herself on it and hollering back at the intimidators. As the threat receded, Op den Dries continued, `Each team has to have an object of some sentimental value which is then snatched by other teams and then traded for goodies like beer and apple pie!' Megabal, organized by the student organization AEGEE (Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de l'Europe), features a monster-ball being pushed up in the air in opposite directions by two competing teams. Henny Bijleveld from Mechanical Engineering said, `This is a milder version of the sport. The rules have been changed to avoid the number of accidents that used to take place and also to encourage more student participation.'
Suzanne van der Kolk from the International Office explains that this year's Master's introduction activities are part of project drafted in 2003 to create a complete Master's orientation program. Before 2004, Master's introduction programs were offered by particular departments, usually for international students exclusively. This year all Master's programs were asked to set up an official introduction for all incoming students, both Dutch and international. The goal is to prepare students to begin their courses of study in an international format as well as in English. Van der Kolk foresees a university wide Master's orientation program with both general and program-specific components.
Japanese students Masohiko Sugiyama, HRD, and Tomoko Iwasaki, Education Curriculum, participated in the canoe race, basketball and table tennis. They were about to attend a session of extreme gravity to all foreign students covering insurance, residence permit and registration at the UT. Iwasaki has had a good first impression of the Netherlands, but, comparing the mensa with its Japanese counterpart, he complained, `There should be more to choose from in the mensa.' Eugenia Cossa of Mozambique is here on a project on education and will be staying only for two months. She joined Iwasaki in praising the introduction program, especially a lecture by a Russian alumnus on surviving in the Netherlands, as well as useful tips and ideas for getting things done.
As the session on health insurance progressed, some students were aghast to learn that Netherlands is a `do-it-yourself country,' aptly described by Dionysia Loman, International Education Office. One does not rush to the doctor immediately. Iwasaki inquired about the possibilities of getting bike insurance - apparently he has adapted rather quickly to Enschede!
Brazilian Ligia Bohn, Communication Studies, enjoyed the puzzle tour organized by SMIT where the students were divided into teams with both a Dutch and an international leader. The teams were given pictures of certain locations in Enschede and using certain clues they had to find the locations. Peruvian Carola Flores Sarda, Education Curriculum, who is here on a NUFFIC (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education) scholarship, enjoyed the computer workshop where she learned the dynamics of making a web page.
With enthusiam writ large on their faces and just a hint of anxiety, the students looked forward to more activities in the second week which include a presentation by SMIT entitled `Acculturation: The Dutch society', cross-cultural workshop, cross-cultural learning and a SMIT borrel as they gradually get into the groove of being UTers.
