The third day of INKOM has been partly reserved for a new event, Dutch Dimensions, where international students will get to know the Netherlands, in word and custom. On offer are brief language lessons, spijkerpoepen (manoeuvring a nail into a bottle, hands free), milking a ‘fake cow’, and trying ranja and stroopwafels – “all typically Dutch,” Jeroen Custers, INKOM project leader, told Observant. For Dutch participants, there will be small lectures on Mestreechs by Stichting Veldeke Maastricht, while carnival society the ‘Tempeleers’ will immerse interested participants in the world of carnival.
According to the organisation, this edition will also feature “the largest karaoke night in the low countries”, the INKOM sing-a-long at the MECC. Custers said it’s not a ‘real’ karaoke, as in ‘small groups get on stage and sing along’, but “the whole room takes part”. The cantus, a typical student party which revolves around beer and (Dutch) music, was dropped last year and won’t be back in August. Although the opening act will be a local singer, Maastricht’s own John Tana. The opening on the Markt and ‘Live at the Museum’ on Tuesday will explicitly also be open to “welcoming neighbours, fellow citizens of Maastricht”.
For the first time this year, participants will be able to choose whether they want to walk with a ‘group plus mentor’. Last year, Master’s students were offered that choice and it was well received, Custers told Observant earlier. All first years fill in a digital decision tree, in which they select their preferences – do they like sports, parties, culture? Based on those preferences, they then choose their mentor. This ‘match policy’ does work on a first-come-first-served basis. The number of mentors is limited, said Custers, about two hundred at the moment. “We want no more than 20 students per group”. For many older international students (who could be a mentor), 18 August is very early, he explained. Many are not yet back in the Netherlands. The academic year doesn’t officially start until September.