First 50 Days: ‘No fire’

So, assignments submitted, deadlines met, exams finished. And now it’s time for a break! The Verbs feel incredibly quiet and lonely these days as everyone is heading off to their dream destination for the autumn break.

For those of you who don’t know, ‘The Verbs’ is the cool nickname for the student houses on Professor Verbernelaan. Previous generations of international students, wisely came up with this nickname as if they knew that no non Dutch resident would be able to pronounce ‘Verbernelaan’. And I am no exception. For the first couple of weeks, when people asked me where I lived, my answer would be ‘on Professor Verbe-something’. And then I started using ‘The Verbs’. Sounds so much cooler, doesn’t it?

Even though, when you tell people that you live in ‘The Verbs’ you get their look of impression as this the traditional student party place, these days there is ‘no fire’ going on here, despite the remarkable efforts. It is nothing like what we are used to.  And I never thought I would say that, but I kind of miss it.

Having my own apartment as a bachelor student, the idea of sharing a space with 16 other people, was intimidating at first. But it was a challenge! I was lucky enough to have some incredible roommates and in fact living at the Verbs makes you feel like a real student from any aspect! Of course, the fact that I am noise- tolerant also helps.

So I guess there is nothing more to do than pack my bags and follow the fellow Verbs residents. And I’m telling you! I’m not coming back until there is a real ‘fire’!

[Katerina Petropoulou (25) studies Business Communication and Digital Media at Tilburg University and writes the First 50 Days blog for Univers.]