


LEVI & ANDREI

READING TIME: 3 MINUTES

PROPOSITION
Also lost your heart during your studies and still together with your UG love? Would you both like to be interviewed for this column? Tips are welcome at redactieB5@rug.nl.
Bobby Pranger – Medical Sciences
Men moat net alles sizze wat men wit, mar wol alles witte wat men seit. Friese wijsheid
(One should not say everything one knows, but want to know everything one said)
In a relationship since: 20 May 2022
&
LEVI BERNÁTH (25)
from Slovakia, came to Groningen in 2019 to do a Bachelor’s in Psychology, completed his Master’s in Utrecht, and is now looking for a placement; served in the previous academic year as President of Ganymedes, the LGBTQ+ student association; job on the side as kitchen help in a Korean restaurant in Groningen
ANDREI DUMITRIU (23)
from Romania, came to Groningen in 2019 for a
Bachelor’s degree in Computing Science, now working
on his Master’s degree; served last year as a board member of Ganymedes, LGBTQ+ student association; job on the
side as a programmer at Belsimpel
‘During my first two years in Groningen, I did not dare to join Ganymedes. I was open about my homosexuality, but afraid that I was not gay enough, and that the community would not accept me. For example, I am not a feminine man with make-up and stuff. I enrolled in 2021, and immediately became a confidential advisor. That dovetailed nicely with my psychology studies. But although I was doing committee work, I was still not joining in the activities.
I finally took the plunge and signed up for the annual trip abroad to Paris in May 2022.
We left by train from Groningen Central Station at 4 a.m. or thereabouts. Everyone knew each other. Andrei was there too. I sat down next to him in the Thalys and we talked about superhero films. At the hotel, I turned out to share a room with none other than Andrei’s ex-boyfriend.
I thought Andrei was handsome. Brown eyes, beautiful hair. On the second night, I dragged him onto the dance floor in a gay club. I said to myself: I must have this guy!
On the way back, we held hands in the train.
In Groningen, the May funfair was just starting. There I won a stuffed toy from a claw game for Andrei. On 20 May, we officially started dating.
Andrei is passionate about what he does. He is creative, imaginative, and compassionate. He helps me with my self-image issues. I struggle with anxiety, for example about my appearance. I used to be bullied about my weight. Andrei also encourages me not to give up, now that I am looking for a placement. I am looking for an English-speaking placement and those are not easy to come by in clinical psychology.
He has a whole collection of Funko Pops. Super cute. I now also collect them. Together, we have some 60 or so. We play a lot of video games, and we organize board game nights with friends. On these evenings, I cook typical Hungarian dishes for everyone. I am from Slovakia, but I belong to a Hungarian minority there.
We wear identical bracelets. We got them from my parents. They have been very supportive.’
‘When we went to Paris with our association, Ganymedes, the train to Amsterdam had some technical problems. We had to get off in Hoogeveen and wait for another one. In the new train, I ended up sitting opposite Levi. I had never seen him before. I took no notice of him; it was early, and I was still half asleep. In the Thalys, I sat next to him and we got talking. After that, we stayed close to each other. I found him attractive, but I wasn’t sure whether I wanted something more. When he asked me to dance in a club in Paris, I knew I was special to him. That was when I became more interested in him.
He is my second boyfriend; I only started dating boys in the Netherlands. At my secondary school in Bucharest, I dated girls, which I often found complicated in terms of communication. With boys, you can be very direct.
My coming-out was not nice. I was in a relationship with a boy for the first time, and I was planning to tell my parents face-to-face that I am bi. But I was so excited that I told them during a video call. I thought they would be happy for me, but they were shocked. It was very painful. None of us slept well that night. It remains a sore point. My mother says that she cannot understand it.
Levi used to love Lego. He stopped because he didn’t have anyone to share his hobby with. On his birthday, I gave him a Lego Star Wars set. Now we build Lego together.
We tease each other, we play games; we are basically still two little kids. Sometimes I get a bit tired of Levi’s indecisiveness. When we eat out, he asks me: Andrei, what should I choose, dish a or dish b? When we first moved in together, he wanted me to decide whether to put the waste bin under the sink on the left, and the bin for empty bottles on the right, or the other way around. I truly did not care one way or the other. In the end, there was only one option because of the drainpipe. Fortunately, we can laugh about these things.’
TEXT: ELLIS ELLENBROEK




READING TIME: 3 MINUTES
LEVI & ANDREI

PROPOSITION
Bobby Pranger – Medical Sciences
Men moat net alles sizze wat men wit, mar wol alles witte wat men seit. Friese wijsheid
(One should not say everything one knows, but want to know everything one said)
Also lost your heart during your studies and still together with your UG love? Would you both like to be interviewed for this column? Tips are welcome at redactieB5@rug.nl.

In a relationship since: 20 May 2022
&
LEVI BERNÁTH:
‘During my first two years in Groningen, I did not dare to join Ganymedes. I was open about my homosexuality, but afraid that I was not gay enough, and that the community would not accept me. For example, I am not a feminine man with make-up and stuff. I enrolled in 2021, and immediately became a confidential advisor. That dovetailed nicely with my psychology studies. But although I was doing committee work, I was still not joining in the activities.
I finally took the plunge and signed up for the annual trip abroad to Paris in May 2022.
We left by train from Groningen Central Station at 4 a.m. or thereabouts. Everyone knew each other. Andrei was there too. I sat down next to him in the Thalys and we talked about superhero films. At the hotel, I turned out to share a room with none other than Andrei’s ex-boyfriend.
I thought Andrei was handsome. Brown eyes, beautiful hair. On the second night, I dragged him onto the dance floor in a gay club. I said to myself: I must have this guy!
On the way back, we held hands in the train.
In Groningen, the May funfair was just starting. There I won a stuffed toy from a claw game for Andrei. On 20 May, we officially started dating.
Andrei is passionate about what he does. He is creative, imaginative, and compassionate. He helps me with my self-image issues. I struggle with anxiety, for example about my appearance. I used to be bullied about my weight. Andrei also encourages me not to give up, now that I am looking for a placement. I am looking for an English-speaking placement and those are not easy to come by in clinical psychology.
He has a whole collection of Funko Pops. Super cute. I now also collect them. Together, we have some 60 or so. We play a lot of video games, and we organize board game nights with friends. On these evenings, I cook typical Hungarian dishes for everyone. I am from Slovakia, but I belong to a Hungarian minority there.
We wear identical bracelets. We got them from my parents. They have been very supportive.’
ANDREI DUMITRIU:
‘When we went to Paris with our association, Ganymedes, the train to Amsterdam had some technical problems. We had to get off in Hoogeveen and wait for another one. In the new train, I ended up sitting opposite Levi. I had never seen him before. I took no notice of him; it was early, and I was still half asleep. In the Thalys, I sat next to him and we got talking. After that, we stayed close to each other. I found him attractive, but I wasn’t sure whether I wanted something more. When he asked me to dance in a club in Paris, I knew I was special to him. That was when I became more interested in him.
He is my second boyfriend; I only started dating boys in the Netherlands. At my secondary school in Bucharest, I dated girls, which I often found complicated in terms of communication. With boys, you can be very direct.
My coming-out was not nice. I was in a relationship with a boy for the first time, and I was planning to tell my parents face-to-face that I am bi. But I was so excited that I told them during a video call. I thought they would be happy for me, but they were shocked. It was very painful. None of us slept well that night. It remains a sore point. My mother says that she cannot understand it.
Levi used to love Lego. He stopped because he didn’t have anyone to share his hobby with. On his birthday, I gave him a Lego Star Wars set. Now we build Lego together.
We tease each other, we play games; we are basically still two little kids. Sometimes I get a bit tired of Levi’s indecisiveness. When we eat out, he asks me: Andrei, what should I choose, dish a or dish b? When we first moved in together, he wanted me to decide whether to put the waste bin under the sink on the left, and the bin for empty bottles on the right, or the other way around. I truly did not care one way or the other. In the end, there was only one option because of the drainpipe. Fortunately, we can laugh about these things.’
LEVI BERNÁTH (25)
from Slovakia, came to Groningen in 2019 to do a Bachelor’s in Psychology, completed his Master’s in Utrecht, and is now looking for a placement; served in the previous academic year as President of Ganymedes, the LGBTQ+ student association; job on the side as kitchen help in a Korean restaurant
in Groningen
ANDREI DUMITRIU (23)
from Romania, came to Groningen in 2019 for a Bachelor’s degree in Computing Science, now working
on his Master’s degree; served last year as a board member of Ganymedes, LGBTQ+ student association; job on the
side as a programmer at Belsimpel
TEXT: ELLIS ELLENBROEK