They're associated with the coming of Sinterklaas - Saint Nicholas on 6 December in Belgium, or the evening before in the Netherlands. We mentioned the speculaas smell to our Dutch colleagues, who in typical big-brother style asked: "Hebben jullie ook Sinterklaas? - Do you also have Saint Nicholas?" To which we politely replied, yes.

The Sint is having a hard time of it these days - not that he's done much wrong, but rather because of his helper, Zwarte Piet - Black Peter. In Sinterklaas lands the argument rages between the anti-racists and the heritage fundamentalists about whether Zwarte Piet is a symbol of oppression of the third world or a substantial part of the Sinterklaas tradition.

I'll duck the argument because whatever Zwarte Piet is, he's not the fearsome fellow of old. No longer do children tremble at the threat of being carried off in his sack if they're naughty. And Piet's roe - rod - no longer metes out punishment. This is in line with the Sint's official stance in recent years that "Er zijn dit jaar geen stoute kinderen! - This year there are no bad children!"

This is all very well, but perhaps it was better in the old days when the rod was not spared; after all, wie zijn kind liefheeft, spaart de roede niet - spare the rod and spoil the child ("he who loves his child does not spare the rod").

Perhaps this has recently been in the minds of some university professors who are fed up with disruptive students. They are clamping down on laatkomers - latecomers, studenten die babbelen tijdens de les - students who chatter during the lesson, twitteren and surfen, alles doen behalve opletten - twitter and surf, do everything but pay attention. This, some would argue, is the result of Piet's roe not being put to its proper use all those years ago when these students were kiddies preparing their letters for the Sint.

Yet, one thing you can be sure about is that nostalgia belongs firmly in the past. Perhaps the trouble is that many professors are and have always been boring; until fairly recently doodling was all that was available to the bored student. I asked some students the other day to describe their lectures: some were saai - boring, inefficiënt, and ongeschikt voor de moderne, veeleisende student - inappropriate for the modern, demanding student. It's not exclusion that is required but rather innovation.

Perhaps aromatherapy would prove useful: fill the lecture hall with the wafting smell of speculaas and see the beneficial effects.