TOP Week in Tilburg! Tilburg University, the Netherlands

TOP Week in Tilburg!

The day I arrived in Tilburg I was met by i*ESN students who collected me from the train station, introduced me to my first stroopwafel (certainly won’t be the last), and dropped me off at Verbs. Verbs is student accommodation for international students and is a must. You will live with 17 other people from all over the world and spend countless hours in the kitchen sharing meals and spinning yarns. On my floor alone students are from Hungary, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Taiwan, Colombia, Ireland and Brazil. If that isn’t international, I don’t know what is!

Being a student city, Tilburg came alive during TOP week and I can confirm the infamous TOP week certainly did live up to its expectations. On the first day of TOP week you are put into a group of approximately 15 students and have two mentors, who show you the ropes. The week is filled with organised parties, festivals, a pool party, a pub-crawl and a few too many beers… I particularly enjoyed the decathlon sports day – different sport and student associations’ hosted weird and whacky games for the afternoon – and of course the famed cantus – a huge warehouse with long rows of tables, singing along to pop songs (trying to sing to Dutch songs) and chugging your beer after each song.

I*ESN is an exceptionally well-organised student organisation that ensures you wont have a boring moment while in Tilburg. Each Tuesday i*ESN organises activities and a party at Carpe Noctem (the first one is ‘Welcome to Holland’ so make sure you pack some outrageous orange clothes). Looking up at the social calendar for the semester here is a short list of what is to come… intro camp, pub-crawls, cooking classes, karaoke, sports days and organised trips to Amsterdam, Oktoberfest, Morrocco and Prague.

Life in Tilburg is student heaven. The city centre has cozy pubs, fun nightlife and is in central Europe… what more could you want! One of the best things about living in Tilburg is riding your bike quite literally everywhere. One afternoon our group decided it might be nice to ride to Belgium for dinner (and some waffles)! I still can’t believe there were bike paths that took us all the way there! I have also joined the tennis and basketball clubs, which is a great way to meet Dutch and other international students. Although I’m not going to lie, it can be challenging in a competitive game of basketball when your teammates attempt to communicate in Dutch!

It is only early days, but I have had an incredible month and made friends from all over the world. I couldn’t recommend Tilburg more highly!

Lucinda Cornwell
12006122
Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Laws
Tilburg University
the Netherlands