The festive season with Social Sciences
Staff members and students all spend the festive season in their own way. With elaborate Christmas villages in the living room, or with traditions from other cultures; from precious moments with friends and family nearby (or far away), to a final Christmas together with a loved one. Let yourself be carried away by these personal stories from colleagues and students.
An entire Christmas village in the living room
Saskia Menting-Hermeling (Housing Staff Member)
''Everyone celebrates Christmas in their own way, and that’s wonderful. I wasn’t raised Catholic, but I do love being together, the cosiness, the lights and the delicious food. As soon as Saint Nicholas and his Pieten have left, we get the Christmas decorations down from the attic. Besides decorating the tree, we also build a whole Christmas village. Buildings, trees, figurines: everything is included, but the real gems are the motorbike with sidecar, the small Christmas tree with lights smaller than pinheads, the teepee and the chocolate shop. In total, it takes us (my husband, my daughter and me) roughly two days to build, connect and decorate everything. Rolls of cave paper are used to recreate rock formations, but our daughter’s favourite part is spreading the artificial snow. Moving fair attractions? They don’t make it in, they make everything too crowded. So, we don’t have a nativity scene under the tree, but we do have an entire Christmas village in the living room!''
Love, Christmas, and Ukrainian traditions
Heddy Meijer (Receptionist at the Maria Montessori building)
''For over two and a half years, I have been living together with Iryna, a Ukrainian beauty. She works at Asito and I work as a receptionist in various buildings.
This will be our third Christmas together. The first time – when the relationship was still new – we spent it together, just the two of us. The table was filled with dishes, pans, baskets and whatever else could be found in the kitchen. In line with Ukrainian tradition, twelve courses were served, referencing Jesus’ twelve apostles. Apparently, those apostles didn’t have to do the dishes, otherwise that tradition would have quickly disappeared! Usually, Christmas is celebrated with friends and/or family, just like in the Netherlands. They prefer to have 10 kilos too much food than 100 grams too little for their guests. Whatever leftovers there are can be eaten on Boxing Day and, as is also customary in Ukraine, a third Christmas day.
New Year’s Eve is just like ours: a cosy get-together with the accompanying fireworks around midnight. Although to a lesser extent, as everyone is still resting from the three very full Christmas days. This year, we will be visiting friends. Everyone brings some food; we have a cosy dinner, a pub quiz and then it’s time to party!''
One last Christmas together
Anneleen Olbrechts (Front office employee RCSW)
''In the spring of 2026, I will have to say goodbye to my best friend. She is in the middle of an euthanasia process because of her unbearable suffering caused by cluster headaches. Though the end hangs over me like a dark cloud, we still watch a film together almost every week like we used to and chat about this and that. We plan all the things we still want to do together, including celebrating the festive season.
Christmas naturally means presents. But what do you give someone who will soon no longer need anything? At the time of writing, I’m still looking for ideas... My Christmas wish is for more research to be done on cluster headaches, which is why I am donating to the Beat the Beast foundation, in the hope that scientific research can beat this mental monster. And in the meantime, I am cherishing this final Christmas with my dear, funny, empathetic and wise friend.''
Holidays far from home
Preecha Louweres (Student Behavioural Science)
''This year I won't be spending the holidays in Thailand, but here in the Netherlands. My sister is also studying in the Netherlands, so we will be spending it together. With Christmas music playing in the background, we will be making a delicious festive hot pot. A combination of slices of meat, tofu, eggs, mushrooms and vegetables cooked in an aromatic hot pot broth creating a very warm and filling meal for two. On the side of this delicious meal, we will likely be watching some Christmas classics like Home Alone or Elf. I am missing out on a seafood BBQ back home and all kinds of Christmas decorations. Besides these plans for Christmas, I’ll be looking after my friend’s dog in cosy and quiet Nijmegen, accompanied by some other friends who are also staying in the Netherlands.''
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- Faculty of Social Sciences