- Student
- 17/12/2018
Vonderkehuis: “On the toilet you can enjoy the high spirits in the café”
Every month Cursor visits a student house. Who lives there, what do they do there, what traditions do they have, and what do they talk about? We write down whatever we hear, and put on film whatever we see. This time we are visiting the Vonderkehuis, directly above Vonderke café on the square known as Lodewijk Napoleonplein.
They've got some great stories over at the Vonderkehuis and even something new, but no house rules or customs. Although, having said that, the dessert is almost always bolletjesvla (custard with crunchy bits). Unless Bram Hoedemakers gets to decide, because he prefers pear-flavored ice cream.
Sweater
Something the nine residents of the Vonderkehuis do have, however, is a house sweater. The logo, showing the building against the skyline, was made by a former occupant with design aspirations. Why the sweater is green, no one present this evening knows. They wear the sweater on house excursions, “only yesterday to a cabaret show put on by SSRE dispuut Latent Talent, in which Bram and Femke were taking part,” and city trips. Last year they were in Liege and in 2019 they'll be going to Rotterdam.
Read more below the video.
On the ground floor of the building there's a café. There's no talk of noise nuisance. Not from downstairs directed at the students, nor from upstairs about café visitors. “Only when you're sitting on the toilet can you hear the music from downstairs, and then you can enjoy their high spirits,” says Bram.
Landing
The nine residents like to eat together. The table gracing the landing/kitchen/lounge/dining room/living room only just fits into the space measuring two by six meters. Jan Biert (Master's student of Innovation Management) has painted a Risk map on it. Not that the game is played very often. Femke Bosman, who is studying Biomedical Engineering, has only seen it happen a couple of times.
Tonight they are eating shawarma-in-a-roll. Those who are here for dinner but not cooking use the Chwazi app to decide who has to do the washing up. You place your finger on the smartphone and it chooses the unlucky soul. This time it is Lisa Mattijsen. She is doing a pre-Master's at Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences.
There is little association life in the Vonderkeshuis. Three people are members of SSRE, one's at Thêta, and that's it. They haven't joined any student sports associations; they prefer to go to Basic Fit. “It is closer, less busy and the three of us can share one subscription,” say Jan, Valentijn and Jonathan.
Best Stunt
Oh yes, the new thing. This year the only genuine Vonderke Awards will be held for the very first time. There are no fewer than twelve categories and everyone is in with a chance of winning something. Jona (Jonathan-red), for example, has been nominated for The Best Duo, The Best-Dressed Resident, and The Best Drunken Stunt.
When Cursor asks whether the students have any unfulfilled wishes for the house, they talk tentatively about a new kitchen. This one is clearly dilapidated. But half a minute later they want a lift, and right after that a beer pipeline from the café is a must-have. But actually everyone is really quite satisfied.
Discussion