The TU Sport Center is the healthy heart of TU campus life, where foreign students and teachers not only indulge in a wide variety of sports but also pray to Allah and learn how to successfully climb the corporate ladder.
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Playing football in football-mad Holland completes the total Dutch experience. In fact, you probably cannot truly understand the Dutch unless you’ve chased a ball around in the freezing wind and rain wearing shorts. Certainly, you’ll come to appreciate the depths of Dutch footballing disappointment: All that wintry suffering, all those missed penalties!
Some fifty teams compete in the Sport Center’s football league. Although Southern Europeans would be forgiven for refusing to play football in weather that Dutchmen cheerily call ‘fresh’ (i.e. bloody cold and miserable to the rest of humanity), on this fresh Monday night % 1º C, wicked west wind, raining % a hearty Spanish team was out on the pitch ‘warming up’.
”I’ve been here two years, I’m getting used to this,” says Daniel Huertas Hernando, his frozen bare legs resembling the Dutch flag: red, white and blue. ”Once your legs are numb from the cold, you don’t feel a thing.”
The Spaniards started playing pick-up games in a local park before joining the Sport Center league, which, they add, was great excuse to design team shirts, delighting in their Spanish cliché look: Shirts as red as a bullfighter’s cape with a big black bull emblazoned across the chest. Having fun is what it’s all about.
”Playing football is a nice way to experience Dutch sporting culture,” says Ramon Escobar Galindo, ”but mainly it’s a good excuse to meet and drink beer.”
Sword
Ours is a violent, Darwinian dog-eat-dog world, where the strong survive and weaklings get sand kicked in their faces. Add to this our enslavement behind computer screens, mouse in hand, our bodies turning soft and misshapen like rotten pears, and you’ve got reason enough to join a martial arts course at the Sport Center.
”Tai Chi and Kung Fu are total body workouts,” says Mrs. Xiali Wang, who teaches beginner and advanced courses. ”My courses get men and women of all ages physically fit quickly.”
In the high-stress West, Eastern martial arts offer a stress-relieving, healing combination of physical and mental exercise. They also teach you how to Kung Fu kick somebody in the gut and then cut their head off with a sword, which, after all, can come in handy now and then. ”Tai Chi is therapeutic and helps cure ailments like mouse arm,” Mrs. Wang says. ”You learn how to use your muscles, meditate, and defend yourself.”
Taqwa
Foreign students and faculty members come to the Sport Center for more than just sports. A group of around fifty Muslims gather every Friday afternoon to pray, temporarily transforming the main sport hall into a mosque.
A long carpet is rolled out facing Mecca. Mahdi, an MSc student, explains the meeting’s significance: ”The Friday communal prayer is compulsory. The social aspect is important because it’s an opportunity to talk to others about your faith.” Aside from praying, the chosen Imam % this week a chemical engineering student named Iskandarsyah % delivers a short speech. ”Today I spoke about taqwa, your conviction, fear of God,” Iskandarsyah says. ”In everything you do in daily life you should have taqwa.”
On most Fridays, when the praying’s done, the Muslims roll up the prayer mats and play soccer. Sport plays an important role in Islam. ”Mohamed said the best Muslims are strong Muslims, and he meant also physically,” says Buyung Agusdinata, lecturer in Aerospace Industrial Engineering and Management. ”We don’t pray for victory, though. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. What matters is how honorably you play the game.”
Butler
There’s a proven link between a healthy body and a healthy mind, but according to Marvin Stone, of Exec Recruit, a US-based executive job agency, there’s another important reason for playing sports: career advancement.
”In business, overweight, weak, or unfit executives are hugely disadvantaged. This is especially true for executives who must meet face-to-face with clients.”
When applying for jobs, Stone advises students to stress their sporting backgrounds, showing they’ve not only excelled in both their field of study and on the playing field. Stone offers a final piece of advice for successful corporate-tree climbing: Whether you’re an athlete or a nerd like Bill Gates, who reportedly is so uncoordinated his butler has to tie his shoes, Stone says, Learn how to play golf! Golf lessons… the TU Sport Center offers them too.
The TU Sport Center is the healthy heart of TU campus life, where foreign students and teachers not only indulge in a wide variety of sports but also pray to Allah and learn how to successfully climb the corporate ladder.
Playing football in football-mad Holland completes the total Dutch experience. In fact, you probably cannot truly understand the Dutch unless you’ve chased a ball around in the freezing wind and rain wearing shorts. Certainly, you’ll come to appreciate the depths of Dutch footballing disappointment: All that wintry suffering, all those missed penalties!
Some fifty teams compete in the Sport Center’s football league. Although Southern Europeans would be forgiven for refusing to play football in weather that Dutchmen cheerily call ‘fresh’ (i.e. bloody cold and miserable to the rest of humanity), on this fresh Monday night % 1º C, wicked west wind, raining % a hearty Spanish team was out on the pitch ‘warming up’.
”I’ve been here two years, I’m getting used to this,” says Daniel Huertas Hernando, his frozen bare legs resembling the Dutch flag: red, white and blue. ”Once your legs are numb from the cold, you don’t feel a thing.”
The Spaniards started playing pick-up games in a local park before joining the Sport Center league, which, they add, was great excuse to design team shirts, delighting in their Spanish cliché look: Shirts as red as a bullfighter’s cape with a big black bull emblazoned across the chest. Having fun is what it’s all about.
”Playing football is a nice way to experience Dutch sporting culture,” says Ramon Escobar Galindo, ”but mainly it’s a good excuse to meet and drink beer.”
Sword
Ours is a violent, Darwinian dog-eat-dog world, where the strong survive and weaklings get sand kicked in their faces. Add to this our enslavement behind computer screens, mouse in hand, our bodies turning soft and misshapen like rotten pears, and you’ve got reason enough to join a martial arts course at the Sport Center.
”Tai Chi and Kung Fu are total body workouts,” says Mrs. Xiali Wang, who teaches beginner and advanced courses. ”My courses get men and women of all ages physically fit quickly.”
In the high-stress West, Eastern martial arts offer a stress-relieving, healing combination of physical and mental exercise. They also teach you how to Kung Fu kick somebody in the gut and then cut their head off with a sword, which, after all, can come in handy now and then. ”Tai Chi is therapeutic and helps cure ailments like mouse arm,” Mrs. Wang says. ”You learn how to use your muscles, meditate, and defend yourself.”
Taqwa
Foreign students and faculty members come to the Sport Center for more than just sports. A group of around fifty Muslims gather every Friday afternoon to pray, temporarily transforming the main sport hall into a mosque.
A long carpet is rolled out facing Mecca. Mahdi, an MSc student, explains the meeting’s significance: ”The Friday communal prayer is compulsory. The social aspect is important because it’s an opportunity to talk to others about your faith.” Aside from praying, the chosen Imam % this week a chemical engineering student named Iskandarsyah % delivers a short speech. ”Today I spoke about taqwa, your conviction, fear of God,” Iskandarsyah says. ”In everything you do in daily life you should have taqwa.”
On most Fridays, when the praying’s done, the Muslims roll up the prayer mats and play soccer. Sport plays an important role in Islam. ”Mohamed said the best Muslims are strong Muslims, and he meant also physically,” says Buyung Agusdinata, lecturer in Aerospace Industrial Engineering and Management. ”We don’t pray for victory, though. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. What matters is how honorably you play the game.”
Butler
There’s a proven link between a healthy body and a healthy mind, but according to Marvin Stone, of Exec Recruit, a US-based executive job agency, there’s another important reason for playing sports: career advancement.
”In business, overweight, weak, or unfit executives are hugely disadvantaged. This is especially true for executives who must meet face-to-face with clients.”
When applying for jobs, Stone advises students to stress their sporting backgrounds, showing they’ve not only excelled in both their field of study and on the playing field. Stone offers a final piece of advice for successful corporate-tree climbing: Whether you’re an athlete or a nerd like Bill Gates, who reportedly is so uncoordinated his butler has to tie his shoes, Stone says, Learn how to play golf! Golf lessons… the TU Sport Center offers them too.
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