No, it wasn't an idea dreamed up by Anas Abu Daqa and his colleagues on Cosmos’s eighth broad, the Commissioner for External Relations hastens to say. Their predecessors had long harbored plans for a cantus (‘an event that everyone studying in the Lowlands should experience’, declared the announcement). But the practical aspects, especially finding a suitable venue, proved difficult.

Now a venue had been found: De Ballenbak belonging to the Eindhoven Students Corps, with which incidentally Cosmos had already collaborated to host a couple of past activities. Here, on Friday evening some eighty students from all over the world filled the seats at the long tables, to sing and drink together according to the traditional rules of the cantus - led by the presidium, chaired by the senior. “Many internationals had heard of a cantus, but didn't know what it was,” says Daqa (studying at Electrical Engineering). For his part, this student from Saudi Arabia, now in his second year at Eindhoven, made own cantus debut on Friday evening.

Singing, 'Ik moet zuipen'

The song list was slightly adapted to suit the occasion; there were more English-language numbers (such as 'Piano Man', 'We will rock you' and 'I want it that way'). But as ever, the familiar Dutch-language sing-alongs were among the line-up: "After all, it is and will always be a Dutch tradition”. 'Ik moet zuipen' [I need to drink myself under the table, ed.] by PartyFriex Feat. Schorre Chef surprisingly proved to be one of the audience favorites on Friday night.

Read on below the photos.

No cantus would be complete without sanctions for any 'violations' committed by the corona seated at the tables, to be decided by the presidium. These punishments varied on Friday evening from a mackerel in the breast pocket to 'drinking a shoeful'. Or, in the words of the senior, "Ad schoendum".

As it happened, this to-do with punishments gave rise initially to some confusion among the cantus debutants, according to Daqa. But once they understood the rules and principles, as he says, "they soon developed a taste for it". Laughing: "Especially as the evening wore on, the punishments became increasingly creative, and the more experienced participants started throwing beer deliberately at the presidium."

Mugs and mugs of beer

Even though drinking alcohol is a less routine activity for many internationals than it is for some Dutch students, the beer level on Friday evening was as you would expect of a cantus, with ‘mugs and mugs of beer’ and fresh helpings of the amber nectar being served in watering cans. Beforehand, some association members were a little reluctant, Daqa tells us while emphasizing: "We made it clear that if anybody didn't want to drink beer, they could ask for water at any time. But almost everyone simply joined in." 

Whether there will be another International Cantus next year is, says the Cosmos spokesperson, a matter for the next board. "But we would certainly like to see it become an annual tradition."

For an impression of the evening check the photos (click to enlarge) by Niels Dusseldorp below.