Getting DIS'ed

This past Saturday I went to an event known as The Day of International Students (DIS) in The Hague. It was hosted by NUFFIC who so gratiously decided to not fund me going into my program for this year and this year alone, they'll have financial aid there next year.

I was a little reluctant to go to this event because I wanted to sleep in and it was a grey, slightly drizzly day and I had to bike to the center of town just to catch a bus to get there. I also wasn't sure how many of the friends I've made were going to be traveling to it as well. I bundled myself up and even added on some rain gear just in case, and biked my way hastily to the center. I managed to make it to the bus on time, which I was happy about. I was not too thrilled about the temperature that my body was now running at though. Despite the cold of the Netherlands, I was a little sweaty. This was only the beginning of my funk growth...

A few minutes later our bus (a double decker) drove off to the Hague, while I sat on the top deck trying to cool down. Once to the Hague, there was the option to go to Madurodam, which I've been to once, or the coast, which I've also been to but has more room to explore. So I decided on the coast, most of the other people in the program opted for Madurodam. About noon the bus came back around to pick up both groups and we ventured off to the World Forum where DIS was to be held. As we approached the forum, we quickly began to realize where it was by the sea of humanity heading towards it. People from all over the world were massed into waves of coats and jackets all cresting to the World Forum. Once I got off the bus, I realized some more of my friends had actually made the trip which instantly brightened my spirits. Inside the fourm, we claimed some of our freebies: t-shirt, sack, sack lunch. We enjoyed fun worldly conversation around our table and then headed towards the main auditorium for the start of the program. On the way we we began to hear the loud sound of snare drums behind us. The hallway then became a miniature Carnival complete with enthusiastic percussion and, to the delight of the men, dancers dressed in Carnival attire. Inside the auditorium we were given a speech by the Mayor of The Hague, The Secretary of State for the Netherlands, the head of NUFFIC and a comedian, just to lighten the mood. After that we were allowed to go to a series of small workshops ranging from resume building and who you are to painting clogs and zumba dancing. We went to the resume building and zumba dancing workshops. I engaged in the zumba dancing, which is African to Latin American to Islander styles rolled into one. Thus continued my funk...

After dancing, I cooled down and then we went to the auditorium again for a speech on networking. The speaker was good and it was all normal until he decided to have us see if we could network the entire auditorium. This sounds fine and dandy, except there is over 2000 people at this little summit. For us to exchange numbers and email was going to be quite challenging. He opted to go with the more tangible method of throwing a ball of yarn to one person in the audience. Then that person threw it to another student, connecting the three of them. Then suddenly yarn was flying throughout the auditorium. Sneakily, helpers with sacks of yarn had been placed throughout the auditorium. We all began throwing yarn, catching yarn and getting beaned by yarn. Once the knitting subsided we realized we had just made a huge mess... but connected the whole auditorium. It was an amazing sight, like looking at the internet in real life. In order to get out of being so in touch with everyone we lifted the string over our heads and threw it to the stage and into a big yarny pile. Once free of our woolen bonds, we headed downstairs for dinner, drinks and dancing. It was a great way to end the celebration even if it did make me a little more sweaty. And the funk goes on...

At the end of the night we hopped back on the bus and arrived back at the center of Rotterdam. I then grabbed my bike and pedaled home. I arrived at the house, took off some of my layers and realized I smelt awful and it was time for a shower. Then the funk was no more...

The End