HAPPY SAINT NICOLAS!!!
December 6th is Saint
Nicolas, which is a very big deal for children in Belgium and the Netherlands and northern France
(they get lots of presents and candy at the houses of various family
members where St Nick has left them surprises!).
In Liège, an extension of this holiday is "La Saint Nicolas des étudiants", i.e. the University students' Saint Nicolas celebrations... and trust me, if anyone knows how to party hard, it's the University of Liège students! Particularly the Med students, the Vets and the Engineers... those three branches have their own brand of crazy fun! ;o)
So, in a few words, what happens in the "Saint Nicolas des étudiants"? Starting a week or so before students don on their pimped out "tabliers" a.k.a. lab coats (the dirtier the coat, the longer they've been doing this! they're never washed!) from their "baptêmes" (now that's a crazy topic for another day, think hazing with lots of beer involved, on a voluntary basis).
