{"id":80513,"date":"2017-09-19T13:50:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T11:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=80513"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:51","slug":"euc-students-start-academic-year-on-cruise-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/09\/19\/euc-students-start-academic-year-on-cruise-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"EUC students start academic year on cruise boat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cruiseship on the Boompjeskade<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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The view from Holly's cabin<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

A tiny cabin on a ship is a long way from a brand-new studio in the centre of town. For the latest batch of students enrolled in Erasmus University College (EUC), the academic year started slightly differently than expected. Although these unusual quarters also have their advantages: \u201cYou do get to know each other really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Holly King (19, Zimbabwe) pulls the curtains open, fellow student Daphne Cornelisse (20, the Netherlands) has to swallow a few times. Holly\u2019s windows don\u2019t just let in sunshine; her cabin also has a splendid view of Noordereiland. In Daphne\u2019s cabin, on the lowest deck of the ship, you don\u2019t look out over the water and Erasmus Bridge. You get a section of quay wall. And Daphne only has direct sunlight during tide: the rest of the time the rays are blocked by the nearby quay. \u201cBut I\u2019m not complaining, because living on the boat is quite nice. We have a lot of fun, and at least you have a room of your own with a shower and a toilet. Except you know what you\u2019re missing out on, which is a bit of a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full price<\/h3>
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Daphne in her cabin<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Because what Daphne, Holly and a group of some 200 fellow first-year students have to \u2013 or had to \u2013 miss out on is a room in a converted office building on Stadhuisplein in the city centre. In the \u2018Lucia\u2019 \u2013 as the new housing complex for first-year EUC students has been dubbed \u2013 each resident has his or her own furnished or unfurnished studio with a floor area of nearly 20 m\u00b2, including a kitchen and bathroom.<\/p>\n

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Student Holly's cabin, including her housekeeping<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Great \u2013 except for one small problem: work on the building still needs to be finished. That\u2019s why some 100 students haven\u2019t moved into their studios yet. Two weeks from now, half of this group will be moving to Stadhuisplein, with the rest following in two months\u2019 time. To compensate (the first years pay the full rental price) the first years get coins that can be exchanged for breakfast, lunch and dinner.<\/p>\n

School camp<\/h3>
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The common space, which is used by diligent students during the daytime.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Until then, the students will have to make do with the river cruise boat on Boompjeskade.\u00a0If not for the dozens of (Swap) bikes parked out in front, you\u2019d think the vessel was waiting to load up a group of old-age pensioners for the next boat tour along the river Rhine. The dining room, the upper deck, the carpet \u2013 it\u2019s all very fuddy-duddy. But the students enjoy it for its camp value. \u201cAnd since the cabins are so small, you can\u2019t really hole up in there,\u201d Daphne says with a smile. \u201cWhich makes it easy to make contact with other students, which is very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holly too emphasises the positive effect that this temporary housing arrangement has had on social interactions. \u201cFor me, moving here from Zimbabwe, it has been a soft landing. We eat together every evening in the dining room and you can study there during the day. You get to know a lot of people that way. And the parties on the main deck are lots of fun. It\u2019s like being at school camp.\u201d In fact, those parties were so much fun they\u2019ve had to move the boat. Initially, the boat could be found one quay closer to the city centre, but according to the students, it didn\u2019t take long for the residents of the surrounding flat blocks to start complaining about the noise.<\/p>\n

One wish<\/h3>

\u201cOf course I\u2019d prefer to have a bigger room,\u201d says Holly, who expects to move to \u2018Lucia\u2019 in two weeks\u2019 time. Even walking around her cabin is something of a challenge, since she\u2019d already bought the inventory for her studio before news came in that it wouldn\u2019t be ready on time. \u201cBut the fun we\u2019re having here makes up for a whole lot.\u201d Daphne murmurs her agreement \u2013 although she does have one wish for the last two months on board the boat. Her future studio is on the top floor of \u2018Lucia\u2019 \u2013 meaning that she will be the very last \u2018passenger\u2019 to move out of the boat. \u201cI\u2019m going to ask if I can have Holly\u2019s room when she moves out. Because then I\u2019ll have sunlight all day too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The students have access to a swimming pool, which does and will not contain water.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Living and the EUC<\/h2>