Driving home for Christmas?
With the Christmas holidays near, most students are busy finalizing assignments, completing midterm exams, or just arranging the final bits. Soon organizers will be much emptier without all the uni-stuff. What are the plans of these students for the upcoming break?
Jessica Antonio (left, from Indonesia) & Alexandra Denage (right, from Madagascar) first-year IBA students
Jessica: “I have class until this Friday, and then holiday for three weeks! I have planned a small road trip for this Christmas holiday around Italy starting 27th of December. I will take a culinary tour, tasting different dishes from the cuisine: pizzas, pastas, and of course: the gelato! In the meantime, I will visit Milan, Florence and Rome. I will also spend the New Year’s evening there, for which I have no specific plans yet, as I will leave that to spontaneity.
For the Christmas evening, I will definitely have a dinner in Rotterdam with friends. Also I plan to visit the Christmas market in Cologne, Germany, and travel around the Netherlands to visit different Christmas markets here. I won’t be going home this holiday as Indonesia is quite far. Perhaps I will visit my family next summer.”
Alexandra: “I’m going back home to Madagascar December the 20th. My flight departs from Paris that date, so I will have some time for shopping before going home.
Once I arrive in Madagascar, I will spend two holiday days in Cape Town, South-Africa first. New Year’s evening I will celebrate in the North of Madagascar, because my father is from that region. From here we will take a boat to a little island, just Northwest of Madagascar. The island is called ‘Nosy Be’, this means big island in Malagasy language.”
William Li (24), second year IBEB student (from China)
“I’m staying in the Netherlands during Christmas holidays, although I haven’t seen my family from China in 3 years. But I set a goal: in 2015, when I will have finished my studies here, I am going back for sure.
During the holidays I will work a lot. I work at a diamond shop at Museumplein in Amsterdam. The shop is from the same owner as the Diamond museum. The shop is called Coster Diamonds, I will work mostly during weekends. Also, I’m trying to become a tour guide for Chinese tourists visiting Holland. I might work 2 or 3 extra days guiding tourists during coming holidays.
I have not many plans for Christmas yet. There is a Christmas drink for my work, but I am not sure whether I will go, as I will have my last exam right after. For New Year’s evening I will have friends from Utrecht University coming over. We will go to Amsterdam collectively to see the fireworks.”
Erudini Smits (21), second-year IBEB student (from Sri Lanka)
“I will have to work a lot during the Christmas holidays! I work in a take-away restaurant for Indian, Chinese, and Surinam food. I’m half Sri Lankan and half Dutch, the latter one you can probably see from my last name.
I am not going home to Sri Lanka for the Christmas holidays: it’s too expensive for two weeks. Even though I will have to work some days during the holidays, the 24th and 25th of December are definitely off! Also because the 24th is my sister’s birthday, so party time! She lives in Deventer now. The 31st of December my sister and I are going to celebrate New Year’s evening with her rugby team.”
