All in one image, useful for keeping track of your achievents
Going Out
Fall/jump into a canal
Party at all five of the large student fraternities
Go clubbing at HiFi on Tuesday night
Order a beer in Dutch
Sample The Hague’s nightlife
Wake up somewhere without knowing where you are
Visit a real Leiden pub, such as De Pomerans, De Rembrandt, Ons Hoekje or somewhere similar
Look for a club or sub-fraternity that focuses on an outdoor activity – canoeing, hunting, climbing, collecting fossils, whatever – and go away with them for a weekend
Throw out clothes because they will never be the same again after last night
Catch the night train
Miss the last train
Zooien (= slam dancing for frat boys)
At Home
Throw a party at your house
Break into your own house because you have locked yourself out
Snog someone who’s not from Leiden
The moment the sun shines, carry all the sofas outside and drink beer on the pavement with your housemates
Drugs - even if it’s only something from a smart shop
Mop up after a leak
Keep a plant alive
Throw out a pan or barbecue because you’re too lazy to clean it
Discover a new type of fungus on the dirty dishes you forgot to clean; you win extra points if the common variety of fungus that was growing on it is killed off by another kind
“Flip” a housemate (= turn his/her mattress over while he/she’s sleeping on it)
Food and drink
Drink ‘zwevertjes’ at Roebels
Eat hutspot during Leidens Ontzet (Leiden’s Relief) (2 and 3 October)
Eat at one of the restaurants run by Augustinus and/or Quintus
Eat a suspect shawarma pita after two in the morning
Eat a raw herring
Breakfast at Hema
Go on a date at La Bota
Eat a Friese Pof from Ús Bertus, the baker’s
Eat a cheese-fondue roll from Foodtruck De Fransoos
When you run out of cash, desperately throw all your leftovers together and hope it’s edible
Eat a takeaway in Van der Werfpark
Go to an exotic food store, buy stuff you’ve never seen before and try to cook something with it. Using Google for help is allowed.
Bike to the beach and have a barbecue there
Culture
Visit all the museums in Leiden
Go to a jazz concert at De Twee Spieghels
Visit the Leiden International Film Festival
Go to a gig in Gebr. De Nobel
Visit a student play
Go to Werfpop
Read a book for fun – many people forget that reading can be fun after secondary school
Visit the Burcht of Leiden
Find out who Zangeres Zonder Naam, Rubberen Robbie and Barry Badpak are
University
Take at least one course that is not part of your programme (Studium Generale is allowed)
Attend a thesis defence ceremony or inaugural lecture
Recognise the Rector Magnificus
Take a course at LAK
Go to lectures with a hangover
Have a picnic in the botanical gardens (= Hortus – admission is free for students)
Do some cramming in the library of another faculty so you don’t meet anyone you know
Get a mention/your picture in Mare
Go to Leiden University in The Hague
Work all night to finish a paper
Pass an exam without trying
Pass an exam after lots and lots of extremely hard work
Leiden
Stand there, cursing, at the bike storage at Central Station because your bike has been stolen by municipal officials or some other bike thieves
Speak Dutch with a genuine Leiden accent
Let yourself get locked into the Burcht/university building/… and spend the night there
Find at least ten ‘hofjes’ (courtyards); this could be during the annual hofjes concerts, but it’s also fun to discover them without using a map
Celebrate 3 October. Bonus points if it’s pissing down
Go on a safari to see the decorations in the Kooi district at Christmas or during the European/World Cup (football)
Take part in Orientation Week Leiden (OWL)
Row a boat around the canals
Visit the Meelfabriek before the redevelopment starts
Shout ‘Koekeroe’ (and find out what it means)
Take a selfie with a seagull
Grumble about tourists always taking selfies with gulls
Catch a glimpse of the Mayor
See the inside of the Pieterskerk
And Last But Not Least:
Write your name on the walls of the Zweetkamertje – which could be something of a challenge if you don’t actually graduate