1970s music played in the background while dutch and international residents of De Sterren, a student housing complex in Utrecht, talked, drew and made friendship bracelets with the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air.

On Saturday, September 12, Pleun Audenaerdt, a Dutch student living in De Sterren, organized a free, bring-your-own-mug coffee gathering for the second time this year.

For Pleun, serving coffee is a way of bringing people together. Aside from studying Design for Change and Innovation at HKU, she works as a barista and recently got her own coffee machine:

“I created a little coffee area in my living room and whenever a housemate walks by, I make coffee for them. Then I thought, I really want to organize a cozy coffee pop-up where people can just relax, have some offline time, play games or draw and, of course, connect.”

An illustration of the baristas drawn by one of the attendees at the pop-up

At first, she planned to hold the gathering at home, on the stairs, and serve coffee from her window. This is where the name “Sterway to Coffee” comes from. She decided to host it in the complex’s main square, where there was more space and she could involve the neighbours. With the help of her friends on the student housing committee, she secured a budget for the first pop-up and after a few stressful nights of creating handmade menus and conversation cards, intended to help residents get talking, Pleun’s creative vision came to life.

“Because it was such a successful day and we had the best reactions, I really wanted to organise it again. This time I had less stress about it all, because I knew what to expect,” says Pleun.

When “Sterway to Coffee” returned on September 12, Spanish exchange student Sara Djelti was among those who attended.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go, because it was mostly going to be Dutch people and I had heard the stereotype that they are quiet and serious,” she says.

Going with her housemate encouraged her to join, and she ended up getting to know some Dutch residents.

“I went to the table where they were making friendship bracelets. There were two other people at the table. One of them was a Dutch girl, and we just started talking.”

She spent about two hours at the gathering and came back glad she overcame her hesitation.

Sara’s experience touches on a wider question for students studying abroad: how easy is it to meet local students? In ResearchNed’s survey, 87% of international-student respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with opportunities to meet other international students, compared with 42% for opportunities to meet Dutch students.

The main square of De Sterren on a random Friday afternoon

Pleun also suggests that some Dutch residents may already be content with their existing friendships and busy routines, leaving them less inclined to get to know international neighbours.

For Sara, the gathering offered a chance to get to know Dutch neighbours. Her hesitation gave way to a conversation at the friendship-bracelet table: a small example of the contact Pleun had hoped to encourage.

“Sterway to Coffee” gathering on September 12, 2026

* “Sterway” combines “stairway” with “Ster” from De Sterren, linking the original idea of gathering on the stairs to the housing complex’s name.