The social-side of Delft

Inbetween the academic adventures of Delft, outlined in the previous post, there had been an increased social activity in our lives post-Florida. After the fieldtrip we had developed a much tighter bond as a course (hey, when you are sharing insect-repellent spray and killing each other’s cockroaches, you tend to develop a special bond), a fact that we looked to make the most of. Immediately upon our return to Holland, the European Football Championships were kicking-off, which saw the European contingent to support their respective nations. By the end, we had grown tired of Patricia’s Spain’s dominance and took great comfort in the “efforts” of the Irish faction (1, 2 and 3). All alongside Kate’s pride in her very own Poland hosting the whole event! But, when the time came we all fell behind Ryanne’s Dutch team and it was with disappointment that we witnessed their premature exit.

Surrogate Netherland fans, watching them play on a canal boat - does it get more Dutch?

And the football-fever was only increased when the annual UNESCO-IHE football tournament came around. After a brief gauging of opinion, abilities and, most importance, numbers, it was decided that aHydroinformatics team – compromising of our own FRM players and our coursemates from IHE’s

'HydroWINformatics' - a team that did us proud.
(Only missing our star centre-back Duc)

Hydroinformatics course. Thus, the 'HydroWINformatics' team was born. Compromising of 14 ‘able’ players, we entered the tournament with low expectations, the goal to just have some fun. With some players playing competitively for the first time, we most definitely had some fun and thanks to a tight defence that only leaked a single goal in four games, we managed to come second in our league, only losing out on goal difference! A tremendous time was had by all and we were all very proud of the efforts put in. The gauntlet has been lay down for next year’s FRM participants – reach the final or face eternal shame!

'Spike by DHI' - captained & trained by Katya

Continuing the theme of FRM sports, when the UNESCO-IHE beach volleyball tournament came around it seemed only fitting to enter a FRM team. With a few players, again, learning to play the sport for the  first time during the tournament, the focus was, again, just to have some fun, but, again, we ended up doing quite well. In the end, we finished in third place overall, a position to be proud of (take note next year's FRM group...). This time our chosen team name (‘Spike by DHI’ – a pun on ‘spiking’ in volleyball and our often used software package ‘MIKE by DHI’. Get it?) did not receive a positive reception, met mostly by confusion and indifference. Regardless, we had a fantastic time, impressively supported by our classmates.

In addition to sporting fun, we were also lucky enough to witness one of the themed UNESCO-IHE social nights, this time taking us on a cultural tour of Asia! FRM was represented solely by Shristi, performing a traditional Nepali dance as if she was a professional dancer, not an engineer!  Followed by a night of Asian and world dancing at the disco, fuelled by Asian cuisine and Dutch beer, a rip-roaring time was had by all. 

A celebration of Asia at UNESCO-IHE!

And, less formally, in the fine weather that occasionally visited Delft, we held a number of barbecues, bike rides and made the most of the ever-dwindling time that we had together in the city. It was these moments that really gave us the best opportunity to explore the city of Delft and to finally say goodbye before a month of holidays in August and, then, the beginning of Chapter III: Barcelona.