Praying for sunshine on the NSR terrace

This morning’s downpour is forgotten now that the sun’s shining. “The result of a prayer, of course,” says Gido Noordhuis, the president of NSR, with a wink. There’s a good atmosphere on the terrace: everyone is chatting or sitting on a bench enjoying the sun. Noordhuis is very pleased with this first day of Eureka week and with the other members: “Everyone helped build the terrace this morning.”

Here on the terrace, Eureka week is enjoying a quiet start. Now and then a beer is served, but there aren’t many people at the bar. “You can see that everyone is beginning the week calmly, because they’ve still got the rest of the week to go,” says Noordhuis. As the first group of diners arrives at NSR and the building starts to fill up, he walks past the kitchen. There’s a vegetarian pasta on the menu. ‘’Meatless Monday, I think all the associations do that.”

At the back, there’s a kiosk where first-years can enrol. Anyone over the age of 17 who agrees with the association’s Christian principles can become a member. Outside, there’s a group of students speaking English. One comes from India, another from Germany, someone else from Austria. “We don’t know if we can join, because we don’t speak Dutch.” Noordhuis: “We don’t actually have an English-language fraternity or anything in our association, but international students can join a non-student part of the umbrella organisation: ‘Netwerk’.”

A first this year for NSR: the ‘Pop-up Prayer Room’. Later in the evening, they want to drive by all the associations. “We’ve talked to the other associations and they thought it was a good idea. If necessary, for example if someone’s had too much to drink or gets ill, we’ll be happy to help,” says Noordhuis. “You can also pray with us, say thanks for something or just have a chat.”

The first day is coming to an end. Quite a lot of people have already enrolled. Noordhuis isn’t worried about the number of enrolments: “We don’t need to become too big, so we may cap our members at 80. That’s enough for us.” He emphasises that on open evenings, everyone is welcome for a drink, members and non-members. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the week and the new academic year.”