Fresh in the city and on the campus, with probably already a few first impressions and perhaps a bit wary of overly open laughter. The more than two thousand first year students (and their supervisors) did not go easy on comedian Bob McLaren, who had to pull out all the stops for some response from beyond the first rows during his stand-up session at the Flux field.

The born New Zealander recounted, among other things, his experiences with the Netherlands - according to him, the most liberal and free country in the world, where even gay priests can marry their loved ones: "But can’t we better wait until I am sixteen?" He also talked about Dutch people and how they like to show tourists the way to show off their English language skills, learned from Netflix: "You all sound like actors." 

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Also the Dutch soft drug policy and petting zoos were mentioned, as was his admiration for Max Verstappen - one of the few moments when the audience gave a loud and enthusiastic response. The Flux field, "a plein full of hope", McLaren concluded his argument. Full of people who hopefully will show that black, brown and white go together perfectly, just like Muslims, Hindus and Christians: "So we can give the Chinese a kick in the butt".

Making friends

Previously, rector magnificus Frank Baaijens and dean of the Bachelor College Lex Lemmens had also welcomed the newcomers. Baaijens congratulated them on passing their exams and their choice for TU/e, "one of the best TUs in Europe", in Eindhoven - "the city of science and technology". He pointed out to them the importance of making new friends this week, for now and for the future: "I still have good friends from my own introduction time.”

Moreover, Lex Lemmens emphasized a few minutes later, a healthy social life has an important role in your study success. He also pointed out how the Bachelor College encourages cooperation between students, "also between students from different disciplines." Lemmens: “I would say ‘work hard, play hard'. But most important this week: have a lot of fun."