40 Partners in Crime (Re)Discovering the Dutch Culture!

From the 21th of July to the 5th of August, 24 crazy participants were ready for a new adventure: discovering the “other side” of the Netherlands by joining the Travelling Summer University (TSU) of  Utrecht, Delft & Amsterdam: Discover Your New Partner in Crime. During these two weeks everyone found their partners, worked together on several tasks and got to experience the real Dutch culture.

The adventure started in Utrecht: the city that hosted the start of the Tour the France. The city was discovered firstly by following the Trajectum Lumen: a city tour passing by different light artworks in the city centre.  However, a different side of Utrecht could be experienced through the Underground Tour. In this tour an ex-homeless/addicted person told his life story while showing the places in the city where he lived and slept. The tour was not finished, because there was a possibility to see the ancient city in the DomUnder tour discovering the ancient ruins of the old city of Utrecht. By canoeing through the channels and climbing the Domtower, the city of Utrecht was discovered from all different views.

11846711_958520060875972_6167401971637956545_nBut there was more to discover than just the city. In a Dutch course the participants got an opportunity to improve their Dutch skills and practice their typical Dutch G (Gezellig!). With the help of these language skills the Crazy 88 was easy: 88 crazy challenges in which the participants could show their crazy and criminal side. Asking a stranger to marry them or ordering oysters at McDonalds, nothing was too much for the amazing participants. Also the trade game was a big success: the participants had to trade a tea bag for something of more value. Many people were surprised by the helpfulness to participate in the games stating: “This would be impossible in my country”. More Dutch experiences were given by typical Dutch dishes, a lecture on criminality in the Netherlands by a professor of criminology and typical Dutch games in the park.

After five fun days in Utrecht it was time to go to the next destination: Delft. And what better way to travel through the country than by hitchhiking? Although for many people it was their first experience with this way to travel, everyone arrived safely with nice stories to the university campus of Delft.

Here the participants had to face another Dutch experience: rain in summer. However, this didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the programme in Delft to the fullest. While discovering the beauty of Delft, people began to find their partners in crime and the group became closer and closer. In the days that followed a lot of games and activities took place. From being tied up to a partner, to pretending to be an airplane, everybody was in for anything. With the energy provided from tosties (grilled cheese sandwiches which are eaten a lot by Dutch students) the groups of participants tried their best to win the challenges and be their best at everything.

A trip to the political capital of the Netherlands was also on the programme. The Hague was popular and the rain decided to stop. This motivated some brave people to take this opportunity to swim in the sea when the beach near the Hague (Scheveningen) was visited. Others watched while drinking hot chocolate with their sweaters on. What a difference. After this little trip, the European Night was on the programme. Everybody put a lot of effort in cooking delicious food, teaching the toasting habits and motivating people into tasting their national dishes.  The night became one big party, the morning a little less. But despite the hangover, people worked hard to produce the best smoothie in a real smoothie competition. Strengthened by the power of the tosti some really delicious beauties were produced. The last night a real moonlight cinema was organised which meant being cozy in the sleeping bag while watching a movie in the open air.

After the relaxed times in Delft, everyone hitchhiked to the next and most famous location: Amsterdam. During the days in Amsterdam the participants got to see a different side of Amsterdam than most tourists do. The days in Amsterdam started of with a city tour which, besides the famous sights, showed locations of recent topics like the student revolutions and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT). People were very impressed by the big rainbow flag which was hanging from a church, something that says a lot about the attitude towards LGBT people in the Netherlands. The whole city was full of rainbows for one important reason: the Gay pride. After some introduction and workshops on the topic, a nice sunny afternoon was spend at the Canal Parade, where different organisations showed their support for LGBT people in a boat parade. Although for some people it was kind of out of their comfort zone, it was a great party.

10462927_958519737542671_995115940564157605_nAmsterdam as its seen by its inhabitants was also shown in a tour of a local brewery, a red light district tour and a pub-crawl through the Jordaan, the old part of the city. Between the different pubs, there were several challenges which had to be completed. So once again the teams got ready for selfies with public toilets, sharing of clothes etc. Luckily by this time the group was close enough to not care about this.  Furthermore the weather had decided to be good for a change, so there was also time for chilling at the city beach.

The last night ended perfectly with a boat ride through the channels of Amsterdam. And what do you do when no music is allowed? Exactly,  – you sing yourself! All countries presented a famous song: a perfect way to finish a perfect Summer University.

For the organisers and participants one important goal was achieved: the real Dutch culture was discovered. The last night ended with a lot of smiles and tears: we all found a lot of new partners, but not only in crime.

Written by Diede Oudenampsen, AEGEE-Utrecht