{"id":88450,"date":"2018-07-17T16:53:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T14:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=88450"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:02","slug":"opening-eugames-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/07\/17\/opening-eugames-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"‘That was definitely a grandiose ceremony’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cPortugal is a very warm country. Let it welcome you.\u201d
\nIt was with these words that the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, kicked off the opening ceremony of the European Universities Games (EUG) here in the ancient city of Coimbra.<\/p>\n

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That El Presidente<\/em> was on hand, symbolises just how prestigious these games have become since the second edition was hosted in Rotterdam<\/a>\u00a0four years ago. Currently, the number of athletes participating has basically doubled, with nearly 5,000 athletes from 294 universities taking part in this edition.<\/p>\n

Of the 180 athletes that have come on behalf of Dutch universities, a couple dozen of those are representing the Erasmus University. There\u2019s a quartet of Skadi<\/a><\/u> rowers, a men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis team from RTSV Passing Shot<\/a><\/u>, and the footballers from RSV Antibarbari<\/a><\/u>, who are set to arrive in Coimbra later this week.<\/p>\n

The games were already two days underway when the opening ceremony began, but it was moments before the ceremony commenced that the delegations from the Netherlands mingled amongst each other for the first time. Together they formed an island of Dutchmen within a sea of internationals in what would typically be a lonely, sun-baked Portuguese plaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beautiful thing about this is, if it weren\u2019t for the games, I would never have come to this city,\u201d said Sjors van der Velden, one of RTSV\u2019s tennis players.<\/p>\n

National Comradery<\/h2>
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Naturally, all the Dutchies were clad in orange, all of them staring with a mixture of amusement and irritation at the French, who were summoning the most of their renowned arrogance to celebrate France\u2019s victorious World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n

The color orange and a general distaste for the hours of Allez Les Blues\u00a0<\/em>chants, however, were about the only thing that truly united the Dutch delegations. To the trained eye, one can easily spot the divide between, let\u2019s say, the Amsterdammers and the Rotterdammers. At a certain moment, the ladies from Amsterdam joined the festive atmosphere by singing their own out-of-tune rendition of the Andre Hazes Jr. song Leef (Live)<\/a><\/u>. <\/em>The Rotterdam tennis players, who looked as if they\u2019d just smelled sewage, responded with a little tune called Helemaal niets in Amsterdam<\/em>, which translates roughly to \u201cthere\u2019s absolutely nothing in Amsterdam.\u201d So much for national comradery.<\/p>\n

The Ceremony<\/h2>

If there\u2019s one thing the Erasmus delegation realised on Sunday, it\u2019s that they should be pleased with the simplicity of the University\u2019s name. During the opening ceremony, which took place in the charming courtyard of the University of Coimbra, the name of each and every university was announced over the intercom. Some of RTSV member Mick Rooth\u2019s favourites included the Belarusian Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus<\/a>\u00a0as well as Szkola Gl\u00f3wna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cBrilliant,\u201d laughed Rooth.<\/p>\n

After the 294 participating universities had been announced, everyone from the rector of the university and the mayor of the city to a Portuguese judo champion and the President of Portugal came up to the podium to speak. Some of the speeches were even in Portuguese to the confusion of many, and all of them were long-winded lectures featuring phrases like \u201cplay with honor\u201d and \u201cachieve excellence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps they should rename the school; The Coimbra University of Clich\u00e9s,\u201d joked Ziyed Badreddine.<\/p>\n

Worth it<\/h2>
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Although the evening dragged in diplomatic fashion, the spectacle that ensued made all that waiting worth it. Just before the athletes could fall asleep, an extravagant and most certainly impressive lights show was projected onto the walls of the university, which is one of the oldest in the world. The show traced through Portugal\u2019s history and gave attention to each sport taking place at the games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was definitely a more grandiose ceremony than the one in Rotterdam four years ago,\u201d said Yvette Vlaar, who is participating in her third edition EUG. \u201cI really wonder how long it took to make that show.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week the tennis teams and the rowers from Rotterdam will come into action in Coimbra. To track their results, take a look here<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n\n\t

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