PhDs Rhyme for Sinterklaas

Around 85 international PhDs and employees of TU Delft enter the café at the Sport Centre. It is Tuesday evening, the day before Sinterklaas is celebrated in every Dutch household. PromooD, the representative body of PhDs from TU Delft, and Young Delft, the network for young employees, have seized this opportunity to organize a ‘Sinterklaasfeest’. They promise an evening full of fun and experiences of the Dutch Sinterklaas traditions.

Rudy Negenborn, chairman of Young Delft, opens the evening officially by giving a short introduction about who Sinterklaas is and what he does. Meanwhile a real Sinterklaas and ‘black Piet’ enter the café to distribute traditional sweet treats.

Negenborn also explains that every event organized by Young Delft must be in line with Young Delft’s compass: N of Networking, E of Exploration, S of Skills and the W of We. This Sinterklaasfeest fits well into the compass. It is all about introducing PromooD and Young Delft, providing an opportunity to get to know other colleagues and to learn new skills, specifically the skill of writing traditional Sinterklaas poems.

The evening continues with a rhyming workshop by Bauke Steenhuisen. Apart from his job as an assistant professor at the research group Policy, Organization, Law & Gaming, he is also a poet. “Saying you’re a poet is like saying you’re coming out of the closet,” Steenhuisen says.

He goes on to explain that Sinterklaas rhyming is part of the Dutch culture. Not many of the international PhDs and employees present are acquainted with writing poems. Steenhuisen seems like Sinterklaas himself when explaining the group the ins and outs of Sinterklaas rhyming. He has everyone’s full attention when he tells them the informal rules of Sinterklaas rhyming: tease, rhyme, moralize and fake.

Then it’s time to start writing poems. After a short speed dating session to get to know each other better, everyone starts rhyming. Hamid Ghafarian from Iran, enjoys writing the poem. He especially likes that he can tease his friend. “I would like to do this every year.

Afterwards, volunteers read out loud the poem their friend has written about them. Most poems include all informal rules Steenhuisen has taught them earlier, specially the elements of teasing and moralizing .

The evening ends with traditional Dutch pea soup and pizza. It seems like the mission of introducing PhDs and employees to Sinterklaas traditions is accomplished. But amidst all enthusiastic rhyming, Minh Nguyen still thinks it’s a silly tradition to embarrass friends with poems.