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Published: 12 oktober 2006
What to do on 'lost' Sundays in Tilburg
It is not hard to imagine that Sundays in Tilburg can sometimes be long and boring. Tilburg is not exactly a metropolis bubbling with energy twenty-four hours a day. For international students, miles away from friends and family for long periods of time, Sunday can be a 'lost' day.
By Dennis Nuiten
"Most Dutch students go home on weekends. That's why I always end up spending time with other international students", says Jan Schoeps (21), a first-year International Business student from Germany.  Julie Denters (23), a third-year Business Studies student from Aruba, has lived in Tilburg for more than two years and finds that it is not so easy anymore to fill every Sunday with new, exciting activities and experiences. Denters: "I made some trips to cities like Antwerp and Berlin and now I sometimes go to Eindhoven or Den Bosch on weekends. If the sports centre is open on Sunday we like to play badminton or we go for a walk in the Oude Warande behind Tilburg University." Schoeps and Denters are having brunch at a restaurant at the Tilburg railway station this Sunday, together with other international students. ICONN, the student association for degree-seeking international students, organizes this brunch every other month.
Susanne Undrum (24), a premaster's student in International Economics and Finance from Norway, arrived in Tilburg at the beginning of this semester. "I like to use my Sundays for relaxing, because the rest of the week we have to do so much homework. I like getting up late on Sundays and then spending the day reading a book or watching a movie. I don't come from the biggest place in Norway", laughs Undrum, because her hometown is much smaller than Tilburg. "So I'm used to finding something to do. I'm not easily bored." Undrum realizes that the long-term stay of a degree-seeking student is not a holiday trip. She knows she will have to study hard. Before she came to Tilburg she studied for a few months in Kiel in Germany as an exchange student. "As an exchange student, I could have fun and it didn't matter that much if I didn't pass all my exams. As a degree-seeking student, I have to pass all my exams".
Dorus Ebben (22) of the Erasmus Student Network(ESN) notes: "A lot of exchange students who only stay here for six months want to make the most of their time here. A lot of them go travelling on the weekends." That is exactly what Brenton Szabatura (22), a third-year Business Studies student from Australia, is planning to do during his stay in Tilburg. He arrived on 18 August and has so far visited Brussels, Paris, London, and the Oktoberfest in Munich. Before leaving Tilburg in January, he would also like to visit Turkey, Italy, and Ireland. He has spent only three Sundays in Tilburg so far. "I haven't been that bored. I usually do something with my friends like going to the pub and watching football. I haven't had to do much studying yet. As long as I pass my subjects for my university back home, it's all right."
Students who find themselves bored during the autumn break might consider visiting one of the following places of interest in Tilburg and the surrounding area:
Tilburg has a number of interesting museums. Among the largest are The Dutch Textile museum, Museum De Pont of contemporary art, and The Brabant Museum of Natural History.
Several music centres and bars feature live music every weekend. If you are interested in music you can go to, for example, 013 Poppodium, Muziekpodium Paradox, or De Voortuin.
A lot of natural scenery can be found in the vicinity of Tilburg. These are excellent places for a relaxing stroll  or a bicycle tour on a Sunday afternoon. A well-known area is the Loonse en Drunense Duinen, a national park famous for its sand dunes, near Loon op Zand and the Oisterwijkse Vennen. Other places of natural beauty in the surroundings of Tilburg are the Regte Heide, the Rovertsche Heide and De Brand. In autumn especially these places provide beautiful scenery as the leaves change colour.
Another interesting sight near Tilburg is the Trappist abbey of 'De Koningshoeven'. This is one of only seven abbeys in the world where monks brew official Trappist beer.
More information about these and other places of interest in Tilburg can be obtained from the Tilburg tourist information office.
[Dennis Nuiten]
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univers@uvt.nl
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