{"id":87726,"date":"2018-06-08T10:57:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T08:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=87726"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:00","slug":"sporten-op-de-campus-zeer-in-trek-bij-internationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/06\/08\/sporten-op-de-campus-zeer-in-trek-bij-internationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus sports very popular with international students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe very first thing I did on my first day at EUR was buy an Erasmus Sport Pass,\u201d says Moritz Wick (24) from Germany. Moritz, doing a master\u2019s in European Health Economics & Management, is deep in a game of billiards with a Dutch fellow student in the Sportcaf\u00e9. \u201cI love sports \u2013 that\u2019s why it was at the top of my to-do list.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The rugby team<\/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\tFeba Sukmana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Sports are a popular pastime for international students, according to Erasmus Sport director Jon de Ruijter. He notes that the share of Sport Pass owners is far higher among internationals than Dutch students. Which is hardly surprising when you consider that Erasmus Sport has become a kind of home away from home for some international students. \u201cYou can find me here at least five days a week,\u201d says Wick. \u201cOne day I\u2019ll hang around a bit; rack up some balls \u2013 like today. But more often, I\u2019ll have joined in one of the trainings of the basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Escape Room<\/h2>

Not far from the billiards table, a group of eight muscular guys are joshing each other around a football table. They turn out to be members of the rugby team. One of the players is Michele Sepulcri (20) from Hong Kong, who besides studying Economics can be found at the rugby club at least three times a week.<\/p>\n

Sepulcri: \u201cI think our club is slightly different from the other athletics clubs at EUR. It has a very international focus, and even though the club has 80 active members, we\u2019re all very close.\u201d His fellow athletes nod in agreement. How often do they see each other outside of trainings and the pitch? \u201cToo often!\u201d they roar in unison.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, it appears that the rugby team isn\u2019t as unique as Sepulcri assumes. According to Svea Rietdorf (21) from Germany, you can feel the same vibe when you visit Erasmus\u2019s boxing club. \u201cThe club is so multicultural that you can\u2019t separate the natives from the internationals,\u201d says the Psychology student. \u201cEveryone is very friendly and open. That makes it even more fun. And we also enjoy spending time together outside the gym. We recently went to an Escape Room \u2013 that was huge fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

'A big no-go'<\/h2>

Even international students who aren\u2019t member of a particular club agree that getting in touch with fellow students is a lot easier when you\u2019re working out together than in other settings. \u201cWe\u2019re all here because we share the same interest, so that\u2019s a start,\u201d says Sahel Joshi (21) from Canada. \u201cIt makes it easier to break the ice.\u201d Joshi is just back from two hours of basketball with fellow students from the International Business Administration (IBA) programme. \u201cSports cheer you up. It doesn\u2019t actually matter where you\u2019re from when you\u2019re getting in some nice exercise together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although according to fellow IBA freshman Polina Fioletova (20) from Russia, the small cultural differences can lead to interesting experiences. \u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed while exercising, for example, is that the Dutchies take their romantic relationships very seriously. In my country, guys say: \u2018Your boyfriend isn\u2019t a wall \u2013 you can always replace him.\u2019 But when you tell a Dutch guy who\u2019s flirting with you that you\u2019re in a relationship, you immediately become this big no-go for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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