A contribution by Martin Michel, member of the sparka neo-Luvanist kot-à-project centered on journalism, of which La Libre Etudiant is a partner.
Flanders sometimes appears to us as a distant “country”, however, from Louvain-la-Neuve to Louvain, there are only thirty kilometers, that is to say probably less than between the two universities and the home of many of their respective students. However, what do we know about student life in the region next door?
Where are you in a room?
A sign that student and student share more than etymology and an identical university education system, the word kot is heard on both sides of the border to designate this often shared, somewhat spartan, and untidy accommodation where always hangs out somewhere a bottle of beer, whether it was bought at Spar on rue Charlemagne or at Colruyt on Lombardenstraat. From one Louvain to another, the weeks are quite similar in the end: same type of teaching, same type of extracurricular, cultural, sporting or night-time activities. Leuven even has its own 24h, which takes place on the same date, with concerts and stands of all kinds! But it is a foot race where teams from different circles compete. However, certain aspects do not fail to surprise those who cross the border without knowing what they will discover.
These Belgian students did their Erasmus in Flanders: “It was a great experience”
Everyone on their bicycle
If we are hardly surprised to see many bikes, we will be more on the other hand to see them stamped KU Leuven. Indeed, the university has its own bicycle rental system for those who do not have one on site. There are also various places where the student, rarely equipped with equipment, can have what needs to be repaired. Nevertheless, the Flemings suffer as much as the Walloons from thefts. Goodbye to the state-of-the-art racing bike for Sunday strolls along the canals, you will only find in Leuven old three-speed bikes from another age, just to discourage thieves. Exit also the cliché of the Germanic order, at least for circulation. In this crowded city by day, where cars, pedestrians and cyclists intersect in a gentle anarchy, you will see many signs prohibiting the parking of bicycles.
student wrestling
Associative life is quite developed in Flanders, but with some differences. If Louvain has faculty circles and regional ones too, there are on the other hand many more. The Flemings love their particularities and each study, each city, so to speak, has its own student folk groups. Baptism within these organizations is also much more frequent than on the French-speaking side, but it does not necessarily include difficult and long trials, which obviously makes it more popular.
Moreover, in addition to this type of circles that we also know, Louvain has a slew of circles on themes such as singing, art, politics (each party having its own chapel), the most surprising being still the Wieslandia circle, dedicated at whist, a national card game if ever there was one. Where the creation of student groups around a theme has developed strongly in Louvain-la-Neuve within the framework of kots-à-projet, undoubtedly pushed after the split of the university by the spirit of May 68 and the rejection of traditions, this process took place in Louvain rather within the already well-established form of folk circles. However, the university is gradually trying to encourage the creation of kots-à-projet through subsidies.
Why join a KAP when you are a student?
Finally, despite these differences, the concerns sometimes remain strangely similar. Thus we see in a recent issue of Veto, a student magazine, rubbing shoulders with articles on the increase in the price of beer in fakbars (faculty bars) or on folk songs arousing controversy.