A Southern Belle Going Dutch

Restoring Sanity a Year Later...

2011-10-30T23:27:00.003+01:00

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear hosted by Jon stewart and Stephen Colbert in Washington D.C. I was there in spirit, watching it online. Jon made a great speech at the end, which you can see here.

With the current Occupy Wall Street protests going down, I figured it was worth recalling how the hell we got here. Although these issues have been coming for a long time, I think the catalyst is all the crap that has happened in the past year. I'll highlight news stories and feature Daily Show clips to re-cap the political and economic insanity of the past year. It will be a bit long, but it does put things in perspective.

Ready, set, go!

Nov. 2010: (Clip) A few days after the rally, the Democrats were trounced in mid-term elections. They lost the majority in the House of Representatives, Senate seats, and leadership at the state level as well. The Tea Party also gained a stronger influence at both federal and state levels.

Dec. 2010: (clip) In a lame-duck session of Congress, Republicans refuse to pass any legislation unless the Bush Tax Cuts are extended (keeping taxes for the wealthiest at 36% rather than go up to 39%). Caught in the crossfire was a bill to help 9/11 first-responders with health care issues. It was later passed once the tax cuts were extended.

Jan. 2011: Those elected in November take elected office.

Feb. 2011: (Clips from different shows: one, two, & three). Wisconsin governor Scott Walker cites "our state is broke" as a reason to cut collective bargaining rights for state employees. A huge uproar led to teachers and other state employees protesting. Wisconsin made the most headlines, but other states faced similar initiatives.

Mar. 2011: (Clip) News appeared that General Electric would pay no federal taxes for 2010--actually, it got a $3.2 billion tax benefit. GE also outsourced more jobs, and the Daily Show also showed more connections to add fuel to this insanity.

Apr. 2011: (Clips: Part 1 and Part 2) Congress bickered to the brink of a shutdown of a federal government. Why? Democrats didn't pass budget before mid-term elections, and Republicans hold budget hostage to pass reductions on a plethora of government programs. The last-minute issue was a debate over Planned Parenthood.

April. 2011 (continued): (Clips: Part 1 and Part 2) Deficit reduction plans announced after government shutdown. Parties divided over cutting government programs or raising taxes...as usual.

May 2011: (clip) FCC approves Comcast buying a significant portion of NBC-Universal, which is basically a huge media monopoly. FCC commissioner who helped make this merger happen then stepped down to become a Senior VP for Comcast....

July 2011: (Clips from different shows: one & two) Debt ceiling time! U.S. Treasury approached the debt ceiling, and Republicans refused to raise the ceiling unless deficit reductions were approved. Debate ensued for most of July and into August.

Aug. 2011: (Clips: one, two, and three) Debt ceiling raised, with cuts to spending but no revenue increases. Super-committee will be formed to consider other "options," which is highly unlikely that revenues will occur. Standard & Poors lowers U.S. rating in response.

Later Aug. 2011: (clip: part 1 and part 2) Warren Buffett writes a New York Times op-ed supporting increase in tax rate for the wealthy, but keep it the same for 99% of Americans.

Sept. 2011: (clip) Occupy Wall St. begins, fueled by police-pepper-spray incident early on.

The sad thing is, I omitted a lot of other things, and I didn't even touch the GOP primary stuff. I think another way to view all of this past year is from this final Daily Show clip in mid-July. The time frame is a strangely close, and it was stated two months before the Occupy protests started.

The bottom line? Our bullshit ceiling has surpassed its threshold.

Occupy Groningen!?!

2011-10-29T22:49:00.000+02:00

I was on my way to a zombie pub crawl when I came across the area just behind Grote Markt. You have no idea how happy and excited I was to see this protest going down. Woot. :)

No Soep for you!

2011-10-20T19:15:00.001+02:00

Yes, this post is about soup.

No, I am not insane. I might be scrapping the barrel for stories here, but inspiration comes in three forms: a) I am currently sick; b) I haven't discussed this topic yet in the past 2 years; and c) Groningen is the most exciting place on the planet, so deal.

I've commented some about Dutch cuisine in the past, and generally, I think it is just fine. There are some things I love and fully appreciate (e.g., stammppot, vla, and of course, stroopwaffels), and some other things not so much (e.g., the cheese & bread sandwiches often found in my canteen for lunch). I like more diversity in my food, but I don't mind Dutch cooking, and I do actively seek it out. ;)

One thing that I have noted in my two years here is that I have consumed WAY more soup than I have in my entire life. No joke. And trust me, that is factoring that I come from Charleston, where I love the local she-crab soup. Our canteen serves soup here year-round, every day usually 2 options. It is very common to have soup and sandwiches for lunch, although there are a few other options available (unless you bring your lunch, of course). There are two Dutch soups that I wanted to write about today:

1. Mustard soup: I have to say, mustard soup is very uniquely Dutch (especially in the Groningen region). Until I moved to Groningen, the extent of my mustard usage was on a hamburger or hot dog. But I do love mustard soup (photo above), although of course, it is best when made from scratch and not from a can as the photo illustrates. Especially if you add bacon to it. You cannot neglect the bacon. ;)

2. Snert (Pea Soup): Whenever the canteen serves snert, you can smell it all the way up the fourth floor. It gives us a clear indication that it is a "snert day." I must admit, I avoided snert for a while. Why? The potent odor and the lurid green color do not make it appearing. I also was afraid that if I had the canteen's version, I would hate it forever. Despite my trepidation, snert is quite good, and it is a very hearty, winter soup. Here's a recipe for a U.S. audience who may be interested.

So yes, this post may have been a bit weird, but trust me, soup is a very important element of my Dutch life here. ;)

Blog facelift!

2011-10-20T18:31:00.000+02:00

I finally got around to fixing up the blog template a bit, which hasn't been done in a year or two. It isn't anything too drastic (the general theme is the same), but I made sure YouTube videos now fit in the appropriate blog area. You have no idea how long that has been bugging me, but I finally had time to get around and fix it. Or to clarify, I've been home sick for a couple of days and felt like being productive in some minor way.

Anyways, proper update coming up soon!

Another video!

2011-10-14T15:19:00.002+02:00

I'm working my way up to proper posting again, but I found another Groningen video that is blog-worthy. This song apparently by a Groningen alum about student life...which is a bit different from PhD life (although granted, not a whole hell of a lot). Anyways, for those of you back home who want a decent look at life here (or at least locations around town), check this one out. I pretty much recognized everywhere where this video was shot, even the scene in the Grote Markt during Queen's Day this past April. Although I swear, I don't recall it being that sunny and chipper here, but hey, maybe that's just me. Enjoy! ;)

LipDub Groningen

2011-10-04T16:26:00.000+02:00

Okay, I'm the worst blogger ever right now. But I'm still quite alive, just busy starting my 3rd year here (crazy how time flies!!). I do have some other updates in mind, and I'll try to update more in the near future.

For today, you get a couple of lovely YouTube clips. Apparently lip dubs are becoming more popular here in Groningen. Why? Who knows. I don't think either video is overwhelming spectacular, but it is a bit fun and worth noting. As for the second one, you get a nice view of the Vismarkt in the city center.

Here is the one done by the University of Groningen over the summer, dubbing ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky":

And here is the one that happened in the Vismarkt the other day...although, I guess it isn't technically dubbing, but I suppose that is beside the point. Anyways, they are singing Bruce Sprinsteen's "Fire."

In case there was a doubt that I am a nerd

2011-07-12T14:38:00.005+02:00

For those who don't know me well, I have a confession to make: I am a total Harry Potter nerd. I started reading the books about ten years ago, and I was hooked to it like crack. I've read all the books so many times that I have seriously lost count, and my friends usually come to me for Harry Potter trivia. So yeah, it is a bit unhealthy, but it has been getting better in recent years since the end of the series. ;)

As of this we have come to the end of the movie series. Frankly, I am not a huge fan of the movies as you might think. It is a hard job to condense such a detailed novel into movie form...which is why I seriously think an animated mini-series would be the best bet...but I digress.

To celebrate this milestone, I decided to make a music mix on 8tracks for the plot of the last book. Obviously I couldn't get a song for every reference and plot point, but I did my best to cover the main gist of the book. You can listen to the playlist below, and you can look under the cut to view the track listing & explication. Enjoy!

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Playlist (31 Tracks)

1. Soggy Bottom Boys: "Man of Constant Sorrow" (good intro song leading into the start of the book)
2. Lily Allen: "Fuck You" ("The Dursleys Departing", or rather, what I thought should have been said here)
3. Radiohead: "High and Dry" ("The Seven Potters" chapter, particularly the first verse)
4. Stevie Nicks: "Edge of Seventeen" (Harry's birthday)
5. Everclear: "Brown Eyed Girl" ("The Wedding", as Harry was thinking about Ginny most of the time. A more somber version than the Van Morrison original, hence its inclusion).
6. The Rolling Stones: "Gimme Shelter" ("A Place to Hide" chapter)
7. The New Pornographers: "The Laws Have Changed" (Ministry Take over, fits in with "The Bribe" chapter)
8. Foo Fighters: "All My Life" (Ministry chapters, and getting the horcrux bit)
9. Gin Blossoms: "Hey Jealousy" ("The Goblin's Revenge" and Ron's departure)
10. Oasis: "Hey Now!" ("Godric's Hollow" chapter)
11. Talking Heads: "Psycho Killer" ("Bathilda's Secret" chapter)
12. Natalie Imbruglia: "Left of the Middle" ("The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" chapter)
13. Mumford & Sons: "Little Lion Man" ("The Silver Doe" chapter, Ron's return, and I thought a nice Gryffindor reference here.)
14. Eve 6: "How Much Longer" ("The Tale of the Three Brothers" chapter, departing the Lovegoods' house)
15. The Shins: "Young Pilgrims" ("The Deathly Hallows" chapter, mainly Harry's obsession and thoughts here)
16. Red Hot Chilli Peppers: "Fortune Faded" ("Malfoy Manor" chapter, capture)
17. The Sweet: "Ballroom Blitz" (End of "Malfoy Manor" chapter, a song highly appropriate for Bellatrix, I think...good fight song)
18. Spoon: "The Beast and Dragon Adored" ("Shell Cottage" chapter, a combo of keeping quiet from Bill and the deal with Griphook)
19. Jane's Addictoin: "Been Caught Stealing" ("Gringotts" chapter)
20. Ok Go: "White Knuckles" ("The Final Hiding Place" chapter)
21. Pink Floyd: "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" (A song for Neville & the rest of the DA)
22. Queen: "Princes of the Universe" ("Battle of Hogwarts" song)
23. Phantom Planet: "In Our Darkest Hour" (also in "Battle of Hogwarts:, focusing on the diadem scene)
24. Disturbed: "Prayer" (beginning of "The Prince's Tale", what I view as Voldemort's second message to Harry & Harry's return to the castle)
25. The Police: "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (Major shift here, I know, but also reflects the "escape" into Snape's thoughts--also "The Prince's Tale")
26. Peter Gabriel: "In Your Eyes" (Also "The Prince's Tale" because I couldn't help it. I kinda get the image of Snape acting like John Cusack from Say Anything, but ultimately failing at it).
27. Brand New Immortals: "Ill Conceived" ("The Forest Again" chapter)
28. Smashing Pumpkins: "Tonight, Tonight" ("King's Cross' chapter)
29. AC/DC: "Back in Black" ("A Flaw in the Plan" Pt. 1)
30. Remy Zero: "Prophecy" ("A Flaw in the plan" Pt. 2, a very eerie fit in my opinion)
31. Snow Patrol: "The Finish Line" (The end, sans epilogue)

Okay, I kinda suck at blogging lately

2011-07-12T13:30:00.000+02:00

I have been a complete bum when it comes to updating this blog lately. Don't fret, I haven't abandoned it completely...I have just been distracted by a multitude of things. Here are some highlights of the past few months though:

March: Went to Cork, Ireland for St. Patrick's Day with friends from work.
April: Went to Glasgow & Edinburgh for Easter break on my own.
June: Went to Canada for 2 weeks--Toronto (visiting friends), Quebec City (conference), and St. John's (Visiting another friend).

In addition to these trips, I have been busy with thesis stuff, writing, etc. You get the idea. But I am planning to invest more time and energy into this blog, and if you have any questions or topics about Dutch culture that I haven't covered in the last two years, feel free to post a comment on the wall. If not, I'm sure I can find new topics and such on my own as well. ;D

"I read the news today oh boy..."

2011-05-02T15:25:00.000+02:00

I heard the news a bit late—I am staying home sick today with a nasty cold, and slept away the last several hours without checking the news. I actually saw it on Facebook as a casual reference first, and then I went to check CNN to see if it was true—and indeed Osama bin Laden is dead.

Now, my first emotion was definitely surprise. But as I kept reading, both on CNN and my friends’ wall posts, my feelings became more muddled. Of all the possible scenarios, his death was managed the best way that it could. Part of me thought we should put him on trial, but like the Nuremburg trials, it would have probably appeared more of a charade than actual justice. Killing him outright closes the chapter for good…or does it?

Trial or killing him, he would have become a martyr. Like the hydra, you cut off one head, another three grows back in return. Yes, I think I am relieved that we finally found him and closed this chapter. I do think the operation was careful and precise (by the sounds of it), and the aftermath and burial was respectful of Muslim beliefs. I think this point is important to stress. It shows that we are not them—he was a wanted man who did atrocious acts, but we still treated the dead with respect.

The one thing that leaves my stomach with a pit of dread is the reaction from the American public. Joy? Happiness? No. Relief and closure I can get, but this death is not worth celebration or a renewed patriotic fervor. It has been almost 10 years since 9/11, and while we lost thousands of American civilians that day, we have started wars, lost many thousands of troops, and not to mention thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq in conducting our mission. We have all paid a heavy cost to reach this day, so if you will forgive me, I will not celebrate this death. Our mission is still ongoing, Al-Qaeda will have a new leader, and things will go on. This day is just one page in history, with unpredictable consequences that lie ahead. All we can do now is absorb the news and turn the page.

Say What?!?

2011-04-13T10:21:00.000+02:00

My officemate shared this bit of news with me today, which we both agreed was completely insane. The article is in Dutch, but here's the gist.

There is a marathon in Utrecht in a couple of weeks, and in the past four years, Kenyans have won this marathon. So to keep them out of the race, organizers are differentiating the prize money. If a Kenyan wins the marathon in a couple of weeks, this individual will win 100 Euros. If a Nederlander wins the marathon in a couple of weeks, this individual will win 10,000 Euros. Seriously? That is more than 100 times more money!!!

The article explicitly says that this policy appears to violate discrimination laws (duh), but there might be a loophole in the law. We'll see how this one goes....

I would like to say that this article is completely shocking, but in actuality, it isn't that surprising. Te Netherlands has an uneasy relationship with immigration issues, which is common for many countries including the United States. Granted, these Kenyans are probably not "immigrants" since they probably just come for the race, but still...they aren't Dutch. From my experience so far, the Dutch do have a national pride just as fervent as many in the United States. Does it justify this course of action? Definitely not. Do other Dutch citizens think this new rule is ridiculous? Yes. But my point is that the in-group and out-group conflict via national identity has its undertones in this issue, in which lack of diversity (particularly in the north where I currently reside) does not help.

I think the U.S. has a lot of issues to sort out (just see last post); however, we aren't alone in that regard. While there a lot of things I love about living in Holland, there are still some issues it has to sort out, too.

It's All About the Benjamins...

2011-04-09T00:19:00.004+02:00

I've been planning to write this post for a while, and now seems like a good time as any. I have been so angry today with U.S. politicians (all parties, some more than others) that I feel this post is necessary. I am by no means a journalist--I am very biased in this issue. I am a liberal, and my father works for the federal government. So if you want to comment to counter my lack of objectivity, please feel free to do so. Also, I apologize--this post is going to be a bit longer than normal.

For those of you who are not aware, the U.S. government is about to shutdown tonight as of midnight EST (t-minus 6 hours or so). Why? Well, our founding fathers in their infinite wisdom, were so paranoid after British rule that any funds spent by the U.S. government have to be approved by Congress (see here). As we now live in a more complex world, government services have expanded from military to other public services--such as Planned Parenthood or NPR. There is usually a great deal of political bickering as always, but the job normally gets done so things can continue running as normal.

When a compromise can't be reached among the bickering children, the parents take the money away--aka government shutdown. It hasn't happened since 1995, and part of the reasons leading up this shutdown are from the extremist views of the Tea Party (also see video here). They are anti-socialists to the extreme--they want to reduce government in everything--reduce taxes (especially for corporations) and cut spending, while somehow magically making the deficit go away. It is simple--they will not, and do not compromise. They are extremists, and it is adding fuel to the fire for the pending shutdown.

This recent bull shit in American politics just makes me more frustrated about the bigger question--why is big government a bad thing? Less government didn't work in our history (just check the Articles of Confederation), so why would you expect it to work now? Socialism is always considered a dirty word, and despite popular belief, it is not the same thing as communism (despite what Glenn Beck might say...). After living in Holland, which proudly considers itself among the European socialist countries that Fox News complains about (just see here), I have come to realize that a fair and balanced economic system that supports its people is not necessarily a bad thing.

So first move--raise taxes on the wealthy, who own most of the capital in the U.S. economy to begin with. A rate of 36% or 39% (the debate of the Bush tax cuts that were held hostage in December) still too low, especially when compared to other income tax rates internationally (it is 52% for the top tier in Holland) or even compared to past rates in U.S. history. This money, in turn, can fund programs that are common in the rest of the world--including universal health care (with both private companies and a public option, I believe). One Dutch policy I am aware of is that medical procedures and insurance are government regulated--capped at certain costs to keep it fair. Measures like this one seem crazy, but they could work. Yes, implementation of these programs would be tricky on the scale of the U.S. with huge diversity in cost-of-living. I know the ideological and the pragmatic views on these ideas need to be worked out. However, cutting programs that help the poor, elderly, and disabled in our society while still benefiting the wealthy is not right. It is class warfare to the extreme, almost a caste system of our own making.

We need a huge paradigm shit in U.S. politics, and I seriously hope people get the wake-up call soon.

Dutch April Fools'

2011-04-01T13:18:00.000+02:00

I know, I know, I am a lazy blogger right now. I'll give you some real updates soon. But for the interim, here is a link to a fabulous Dutch April Fools' joke: http://www.bierpad.nl/

Here is the text description in Dutch:

Na het gemak van de Douwe Egberts SENSEO® koffie- en Pickwick SENSEO® theepads introduceert Heineken in samenwerking met Philips de speciaal ontwikkelde Heineken SENSEO® bierpad. Voor koud bier met een heerlijke schuimkop op een moment dat jou uitkomt. Al het genot in één handzaam apparaat. Proost!

For those who don't understand it or don't want to be bothered with Google Translate, it basically presents a new invention. A common coffee maker here (which I think you can find in the states) of a small coffee pod to make a single or double cup of coffee. A pod to machine, make sure you have water in machine, and go--no worry about measuring out coffee or making it too strong or too weak. At least that's the theory, I just use a regular old coffee pot. Anyways, the joke is that they developed a new pod for Heineken.

So yeah...well, I guess a joke is never good when you have to explain it. But I got a chuckle out of it at least. ;)

Ben Folds in Amsterdam!!

2011-03-09T23:35:00.001+01:00

Last week, a few of my friends were talking about going to see Ben Folds in Amsterdam. He is one of my favorite artists, although I know some people prefer the Ben Folds Five stuff in the 1990's more than his current solo stuff. Regardless, I didn't know he was touring over here. Although my friends didn't end up going, I decide to make the trek on a Monday evening after work. I spent more time on the train to and from Amsterdam, but it was definitely worth it--he's always a great live performer.

I also liked the intro act, Kate Miller-Heidke. Admittedly, I didn't really know her stuff prior to the concert, only the song she sang on Ben Folds' Lonely Avenue album. She was great--she has a great voice, and her style is a cross between folk and opera...but it works. Here are two of her songs that were uploaded to YouTube: one hilarious cover, and one hilarious original song about an Ex wanting to be friends on Facebook.

And then of course, the main act was the awesome Ben Folds. He mainly did solo stuff, although he did get to some Ben Folds Five stuff toward the end. I had a good spot not too far from the stage (see photo, which was not zoomed in at all). The venue itself, the Paradiso, is a small converted church, which reminded me a LOT of the Tabernacle in Atlanta (but definitely smaller). There were some priceless moments, including Ben saying "Hello Cleveland!" as a joke, and it turned out there was a group of Americans from Cleveland in the crowd...go figure. He then asked if there was anyone from Truth or Consequence, New Mexico, which was a negative. Also, a hilarious Ke$ha cover (see below), and some requests from the crowd. He also played Effington, which I thought might be a World Cup joke (opening line: "If there is a God, he is laughing at us...and our football team."), but it could have just been part of the line-up.

It was two very enjoyable hours, although I had to make my way away from the stage during the encore (at this point actually) to make sure I made the last train back to Groningen. I was exhausted, but I had a great time.

Here are some YouTube clips from the concert, in varying degrees of quality. Enjoy!

Doc Pomus
Sleazy (Ke$ha cover...here's the original if you're curious....)
Cologne
Fred Jones Pt. 2
Still Fighting It
Songs for the Dumped
Bastard
From Above
You Don't Know Me
Hiroshima

And its a new year!

2011-02-15T23:52:00.001+01:00

Hi all! Sorry for the long delay--I've been Stateside for a while and then things have been busy since I've been back (as usual). But I'll be sure to post some proper updates soon. But to tie you over, I'll leave you with a short story and a video.

In December, traveling to Schiphol airport was not easy. With all the snow and the ice on the ground, the direct train route to the airport was not running from Groningen. I had to go to Amsterdam Central and connect to the airport, which took a lot longer than usual (normally around 2 hours, this time around 3.5 to 4 hours). However, I allotted extra travel time and had no real issues at the airport itself (fortunately), and had enough time to grab lunch on the second floor. This spot gave me a good vantage point to catch this random dance routine that happened right after I finished eating. I swear, it was totally random--and I think it was choreographed by the different airlines (I at least recognize the powder blue outfits of KLM). I thought it was pretty cool, and I hope you enjoy!

"All Different Names for the Same Thing"

2010-12-03T13:48:00.004+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a short Dutch conference in Brussels. Because of the pace of work at the moment, I could only spend a couple of days in the city. But for sure, I made sure to at least soak up as much as I could in that time.

Quite a few people from my lab went to this conference, and we all took a 4-hour road trip from Groningen to Brussels. My colleagues and I met up with a local Ph.D. student who was also attending the conference the next day. He took us around the main touristy areas--Grote Markt, the museum area, Royal Palace, and of course, Manneken Pis. Eventually we parted ways, and our group spent some time at a Belgian bar before and after having dinner at an Irish pub. Overall, a fun day.

After the conference on Friday, most of my group had dinner at De Warande, the Flemish Business Club, which was pretty cool. Afterward, we wandered for a bit and finally made our way to some bars. Our group split up because we were too big, but most of us enjoyed our Belgian beers after a long day. Although I really didn't do a lot, I still managed to stay out late and spent some time with my colleagues at the 24-hour hotel lounge (which had a vending machine of beer, wine, and champagne)...and not making it to bed until 5am. Still, I managed to get up, shower, and go shopping by 9:30am. A lot of the shops had similar to stuff that I can find in Holland, but I made sure to purchase some Belgian chocolates before leaving. :)

The one thing that I struggled with during my stay in Brussels was language interference. People in Brussels typically speak French, but Flemish is still common. Most menus have both of these languages (and it was cool that I could understand most options from both sides of the menu that weren't in English). And of course, being a major city and the capital of the Euroepan Union, English is very common, too. So I had three languages rolling around in my head, even though I am not really fluent in Dutch or French. I wanted to speak French because it was more common, but learning and using Dutch recently and being around my Dutch colleagues, I would usually end up starting in French and end up in Dutch...and then giving up entirely and switching to English. Foretunately, the people were able to keep up despite my annoying habit to switch languages.

An American Thanksgiving in Holland

2010-12-02T11:57:00.002+01:00

Last year, you may recall that I had a low-key Thanksgiving. I mean, I was still living in my container room in the international student house, so my "kitchen" was quite limited. But this year was a bit different.

With the recent arrival of a new American colleague, we decided to introduce Thanksgiving to Holland. He and his wife took care of the main things: turkey breast, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, green beans, and of course, sweet potatoes (with marshmallows on top). I chipped in by making homemade stuffing/dressing from a recipe I found on the Food Network website (classic stuffing, of course). We also had some Dutch food options, like serving cheese and sausage as an appetizer and having mustard soup as a first course. With the exception of the sweet potatoes with marshmallows and the stuffing, most of these dishes are common to both cultures, so it was a nice blend of American and Dutch cuisine.

Around the table, we had three Americans, three Dutch, and a Canadian (who kept proclaiming the real Thanksgiving was really the month before...oh silly Canadians). Of the Dutch, two had never had Thanksgiving before, so the stuffing and sweet potato pie were new to them. Actually, a few months ago, I realized that the Wiki page on stuffing does not make it sound that appetizing, but they did seem to enjoy it.

The sweet potatoes on the other hand...well, kind of freaked them out. Well, not the potatoes specifically, but the marshmallows. I was surprised that they were able to find marshmallows in Holland at all, but they managed to find the big ones at a random store. As for the dish itself, our Canadian did not help by saying, "Well, we don't make them with marshmallows in Canada either." Also, they were surprised that something, which for all purposes is a dessert, is served as a side dish. That is a fair point, I think, but we are all a slave to tradition. :)

So overall, a great Turkey Day (sans American football) and hopefully we'll manage this meal again next year.

Sinterklaas and his "Six to Eight Black Men"

2010-12-01T13:30:00.001+01:00

Last year around this time, I wrote a post that included a chapter by David Sedaris called "Six to Eight Black Men", which discusses the American perspective upon hearing about Sinterklaas for the first time. However, one thing that was not discussed, despite the chapter title, was Zwarte Piet (or the group of 6-8 Zwarte Pieten).

As a re-cap from before, Zwarte Pieten used to be Sinterklaas' slaves in the past, but are now his friends who help him pass out gifts (or pretend to kick you, or stuff you in a sack & take you to Spain...). Anyways, these guys are an integral part of Sinterklaas.

The debate arises is the way they are commonly represented, a line between preserving tradition and perceived racist stereotypes. In the past two holidays, I have missed the arrival of Sinterklaas and the crowds that gather to see him. I do have some new American friends who arrived into town a couple of months ago, and while they did not see Sinterklaas arrive, they did see Dutch people dressed up and walking around in blackface. In recent years, there has been a comment that Zwarte Piet isn't really black, but is black from the chimney suit. Regardless, I doubt many Americans would necessarily feel comfortable with public displays of blackface since the Civil Rights era.

But to end on a humorous note, this issue also came up in the recent Colbert Report, which I have already posted to my facebook. He does incorrectly lump Sinterklaas together with Christmas, but it is still quite humorous.

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2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

Smartphones

2010-11-17T17:11:00.002+01:00

I recently got a new cell phone contract, which tend to be a lot cheaper and better deals than U.S. cell phone contracts. Granted, we have a smaller area of coverage because of the country size, but I am not complaining. Currently, for 17 Euros a month (and next year for 30 Euros a month), I get a decent cell phone plan with internet and texting (which is a verb only Americans use...they say "send an SMS" here). I also was able to get a free phone with only a 25 Euro activation fee. All in all, not a bad deal.

I got a nice Sony Ericson Xperia Mini Pro, which is my first martphone ever. I do like Andriod in general, although the e-mail and internet is harder to read than the iPhone. Still, my love for Google products remains. My GPS was a nice feature during my recent trip to Utrecht, and the apps are pretty cool. It serves my needs rather well.

Anyways, my officemate showed me this e-mail today that continues with the "cute kid" theme from last post. It is a commercial for my phone, but it is absolutely hilarious. The embedding is a little big for this screen, so you may just have to double click it and watch it on YouTube directly. Enjoy!

Edit: Actually, this video isn't of my phone, but a similar model. My phone can't zoom, so I guess it would befuddle a toddler. ;)

Sint Maarten: "Elf November is de dag..."

2010-11-12T23:18:00.007+01:00

Image courtesy of http://www.montag.it/conida/

I am usually good about mentioning the Dutch holidays (well, some of them at least), but I skipped this one last year. So as the holiday was yesterday, I figured there is no time like the present.

As I mentioned last year, Halloween isn't really a big holiday here. I do miss this holiday, from the handing out candy to cute kids....to going to parties and seeing my friends in costume. Still, the Dutch kids still manage to get a sack full of candy in other ways.

The closest thing that the Dutch kids have to our Halloween is St. Martin's Day or the Feast of St. Martin of Tours on November 11. This holiday is not unique to Holland, but is also in Belgium, Austria, and some areas of Germany. Basically, the kids go around to neighborhood houses with paper lanterns or candles, singing songs about St. Martin. As reward, the neighbors give the kids candy. I guess you can call it a different manifestation of creativity--we require kids to come up with elaborate costumes and threaten our neighbors with an ultimatum, while kids here actually have to use their memory and vocal talents.

Here's a few of clips, one clipof kids singing a St. Martin song, another clip of a cute Dutch kid showing you how its done, and a final, longer clip of kids going door to door.

Cute, huh? :)

The Long-Awaited Pot Post...

2010-10-28T23:34:00.001+02:00

As many of you may know, it is legal to purchase and smoke pot in the Netherlands. Sadly, that is one of the main things that people back in the States know about this country, which resulted in many, many, many pot jokes prior to and since my arrival here last year. I find it rather annoying and jaded to joke about at this point, espeically since I have zero desire to enter a koffeeshop. I've never smoked pot, nor do I have a desire to. I have no issue with it, but it just simply is not my thing.

Anyways, for those of you out there who DO want to visit me and partake in the local pot, here is a recent news bit that you should watch:

Do I think this change will really happen? I don't know. Holland--and Amsterdam in particular--makes a ton of money off their koffeshops and the tourism tied to it, so I doubt it will happen anytime soon. I just think this news bit is some current rumbling and ideas tossed about with the new government in power. Still, something to keep your eye on....

Is it just me?

2010-10-28T11:32:00.003+02:00

Or does the new Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, look a little bit like Stephen Colbert? You decide:

Mark Rutte

Stephen Colbert

It wouldn't be the first time a late night host looks like a political leader--just remember Conan and the Finish president, Tarja Halonen:

In an octopus's garden in the shade

2010-10-26T20:33:00.004+02:00

If you didn't stumble across the CNN article, you might have missed the news about the death of Paul the Octopus at the age of 2.5 years.

For those in the U.S. who have already forgotten, Paul the Octopus was the "amazing" creature who correctly predicted every outcome of a German football match during the World Cup, as well as the final outcome of Spain beating Holland in the World Cup final. For the record, the death was of natural causes--two years is the norm for octopuses (or octopi or octopodes...yes, I actually looked that up). Paul is currently in a freezer while they finalize his burial plans...although there is talk of him being cremated and buried in a small shrine. And I wish I was joking.

Honestly, I would put some security detail on that freezer because I am sure there are a number of Dutch fans who would want octopus tapas as revenge. But at least Dutch football fans can be relieved that Paul will not hover over their heads during the European Cup next year...or at least until the next oracle animal comes along....

Geert Wilders Trial

2010-10-26T01:23:00.005+02:00

I've mentioned this guy a few times, and its about time I have a nice post about Geert Wilders. His current court case has been headlines in the Dutch newspapers for a while now, and it has now made an appearance back in the States in The Wall Street Journal.

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who started the Party for Freedom (PVV) four years ago. Starting out as the only representative of this party then, the party now ranked third in the June elections and is part of the new coalition government. That being said, he is usually a figure mocked by many of my colleagues, in which people shake their heads in disgust. Granted, the U.S. still trumps the Netherlands because we had Bush in office for eight years, but that is beside the point...

So why is he so radical?

Well, he has pretty strong views about Islam and immigration, and some of his comments would make Joe Biden appear docile and tame in comparison. If you want to get an idea where he is coming from, you can watch this clip from a BBC show from a few years ago (part 1 and part 2). Because he wasn't getting enough attention in the Dutch government already, he decided to make a movie in 2008 called Fitna. Let's just say that it didn't quite go over well....especially when comparing the Qu'ran to Hitler's Mein Kampf. By the way, to put things in perspective, Fox News loves this guy (just ask Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly).

So from the release of this film, the Dutch courts took legal action against Wilders for essentially using hate speech and promoting discrimination. The trial is summed up in the Wall Street Journal article, and it is still ongoing. Not deterred by the current trial, Geert Wilders is actually working on a sequel to this film. I'm not sure whether or not he deserves to be prosecuted, but I do know that he is certainly not helping matters much. And simply just deporting Muslims or barring immigration from Islamic countries is not going to help. Just see how well anti-immigration and isolationism worked in U.S. History.

Anyways, the running joke among my friends is that with Wilders in the new government, we better be careful to avoid deportation. Highly unlikely, but a scary possibility if Wilders continues to gain in popularity here.

A bad couple of days for chickens and rabbits

2010-10-25T17:36:00.000+02:00

I am surprised members of PETA haven't flown into Schiphol over these recent news stories....

45,000 chickens killed in a fire (Oct. 18)

Some 45,000 chickens have been killed in a fire at a battery chicken shed in Gelderlands. It is not yet clear what caused the fire.

5,000 rabbits die in barn fire (Oct. 21)

Some 5,000 rabbits have died in a fire at a rabbit farm in Brucht, news agency Novum reports. Some 10,000 rabbits survived the fire in a barn measuring 30m by 15m, Novum said.

Crazy, huh? Definitely not a good week for the Dutch animal kingdom. I guess it is something the Party for Animals will bring up during the next election....

What do y'all mean my English sounds funny?

2010-10-14T18:36:00.004+02:00

Oh, the southern accent.

People commonly think that there is one universal "southern accent", but it really a group of similar sounding accents. In the American South, you can easily tell where a person is from just by hearing them talk...either identifying you as a local or "someone who ain't from 'round here." And unfortunately, after listening to George W. Bush talk for 8 years, many of my Dutch friends consider the Texan accent synonymous with the "southern accent". Considering the former president is actually from Connecticut, I would not like the impression of the southern accents to be taken from some damn Yankee. So this post will hopefully clear a few things up for y'all. ;)

Before getting to the nit-picky southern accent point, I will like to emphasize first that there is no one American accent either. Many of my friends can hear the difference between American and British accents, but can't tell the difference between Americans and Canadians, nor the different regions in the States. This clip may help to distinguish some of the American accents. :)

Now back to the main point....

Yes, I am from the southeast United States; however, I do not have a southern accent. Why? I am from Charleston, South Carolina, which does not have a strong southern accent in the city itself. We still use southern slang, and you might be able to catch a slight southern drawl with certain vowels or words, but that's about it (although it is an entirely different story if you go to the islands where you will encounter Gullah). However, once you leave go to Columbia or further up-state, you definitely start hearing a more distinct Southern accent.

Still, this accent is rather different from other areas I have lived, including Georgia and North Carolina. And these accents are even different in other states, such as Alabama (e.g., Forrest Gump), Tennessee, or Louisiana...and the list can go on. To the untrained ear, it may sound very similar, but trust me, there are clear differences that we pick up on. The first Wiki page (also here) gives a nice overview of the different dialects and some things you can listen for when checking out these clips.

The multiple-dialect issue is also true for the Dutch language, although I know I still have trouble discerning the different dialects. However, a colleague of mine is Belgian (Flemish)...so even though his native language is Dutch, some of the Groningen Dutch have a hard time with it (to the point when he talks that they will respond in English). I can sometimes tell the difference when listening to Dutch, but it is not easy. So for those who can't figure out the southern accents in this post, I understand....just as long as you understand that I can't pick up the Dutch differences either. :)

Anarchy in the NL

2010-10-06T00:16:00.004+02:00

Back in February, I wrote about the Dutch Cabinet dissolving because of disagreements among the coalition party members. This cabinet break-up isn't uncommon, and elections had to be held in June to form a new government. The Harry Potter doppelganger, Jan Peter Balkenende, stepped down from Prime Minister when his party (CDA) placed fourth in elections (similar to what Gordon Brown did after the UK elections). However, unlike the UK election-aftermath, which lasted about a week before a coalition government was made, Dutch politicians have been debating over the summer and now into the autumn...which you can read a summary here if you're really curious.

The latest developments appear that there will be a coalition of the VVD, PVV, and CDA--which means that a conservative cabinet will likely be in place. Noteably, the PVV party (Party for Freedom) started as a one-man party of Geert Wilders in 2005 is now the third largest party in the elections. Wilders is a very controversial figure, well-known for his criticism of Islam (summed up in the following statement: "I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam."). So yeah...interesting times ahead, I think.

All in all, I have found Dutch politics to be extremely confusing. However, I do like that people at least are able to choose among different parties and get some sort of representation. Even though the coalition appears to be moving toward a conservative government, I would argue that it is still quite liberal by American standards (well, except for Wilders, who would probably be right at home on Fox News). It has been interesting to watch, for sure.

Budapest

2010-10-05T23:21:00.001+02:00

Okay, last update from my summer vacation...

My final stop after Vienna was Budapest, Hungary. I took a 3-hour train ride from Vienna, although I was quite exhausted due to my late night with acquaintances at the hostel. As usual, upon arrival in Budapest, I got a little lost on route to the hostel. I swear, my navigation is generally good, but I always get disoriented coming out of metros....

In any case, my first day in Budapest was mainly spent wandering around and doing some shopping. I found some really cool earrings, including a pair of small, vinyl records and a pair of green lego blocks. After shopping, I went back to the hostel, which was serving a Hungarian dinner for very cheap. Granted, everything is quite cheap in Budapest (1 Euro = 270 Hungarian forints, and the dinner I had was around 700 forints at the hostel).

The next day, I did a lot of walking, although my feet were already worn out from the rest of the trip. I did one final walking tour, which actually involved the metro because everything is so spread out in Budapest. Most things were on the "Pest" side of the city, while the "Buda" side had the Buda Castle and a lot of residential areas over the Buda hills. It was a nice city, but my tour wasn't that great. Usually when I go on walking tours, the tour guides are usually excited to be showing off their city. However, this one was a bit jaded, I think, and it probably wasn't helped by the fact it was the peak of tourist season in the summer. After I had a nice goulash for lunch, I did some more shopping and sight-seeing on my own for the rest of the evening.

I did get a taste of the night life by attending a few stops on the hostel's "Epic Pub Crawl", but an early flight and exhaustion had me packing it in a little early. I definitely want to go back to get a better sense of the city beyond this short visit. Still, it was a nice end to a long vacation.

Slow Down, You Crazy Child

2010-09-24T00:23:00.006+02:00

After visiting Prague and Brno, I ventured out on my own to Vienna and Budapest for a few more days of vacation. Vienna was a fun city, although the weather was not very cooperative for me--cloudy (or rainy) and a bit cold for late July. Still, I made sure to make the most of it.

One the first full day, I went to two museums: UMOK, which is the museum of modern art, and the Sigmund Freud Museum, which is where he lived and practiced in Vienna. In the evening, I went on a an excellent free walking "tour" with the hostel, met some cool people including another American and a small group of Aussies, and joined them after the tour for some wiener schnitzel. All in all, an exhausting and fun day.

The second day I went to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer palace of the Habsburg family. My main point of reference was the Palace of Versailles. One of the main differences--a positive thing for me--was that Schönbrunn felt more lived in than Versailles. The rooms were still lavish, but reflected people that actually lived there. Also, the interior design in various rooms after the palace showed different time periods and different rulers over the centuries. The gardens were very pretty, too, although my energy level limited my excursion into the gardens...although I did make sure to check out the small labyrinth.

Afterwards, I went to St. Stephen's Cathedral, went shopping for a bit, and checked out the Natural History Museum. I decided to wind things down by going to Cafe Central, a very old (and touristy) cafe. It had a great atmosphere, with a guy playing piano behind me as I had a coffee and torte. It was definitely worth the stop.

That night, I intended to go to bed early since I planned to catch a 10am train the next day to Budapest. However, some of the people I met the night before were going out to a bar, which I thought would be a bit of fun. Next thing I know, I am stumbling back into the hostel at 4am after a rather fun night out. Unexpected ending to my trip, but a nice way to cap off an overall great time in Vienna.

A Year Later, Turn the Page

2010-09-12T02:03:00.000+02:00

So I haven't updated this thing in a month. Seriously, I am getting bad at updating this thing.... Perhaps I should add this to my routine again? :)

I have officially been in Groningen for over a year now, which seems so bizarre to me. Why? Well, it seems just yesterday that I graduated from Wake, started this blog, and was dealing with all the hassle and stress of the big overseas move. Now I am a second-year PhD student starting her fourth year of graduate school...just a bit hard to process.

The main thing I realize is just simply how much I have learned. Not necessarily all the academic stuff, but all the little things that I have documented sporadically in this blog. Figuring out the public transportation systems. Correctly identifying Dutch food in a supermarket. Making transactions without resorting to English (true in most cases, not always successful). Riding a bicycle in all sorts of weathers conditions everyday. The list goes on, and God knows I haven't learned all the important facts to assimilate into Dutch culture. Still, I have definitely reached a suitable comfort zone. Now all I need to do is improve my actual Dutch language skills. :P

One new thing I learned was on Groningen Liberation Day--Jenever is absolutely disgusting. A colleague of mine told me that I should try it since it is a traditional Dutch liquor (especially in the Groningen area). However, it was one of the few times I almost gagged after taking a shot. Seriously, an experience I could have skipped.

Cheers to one year down, and three more to go!

Personality Psychologist Invation of Brno, CZ

2010-08-12T17:42:00.000+02:00

After a fun few days in Prague, we made our way south to Brno. It was a short train ride, roughly 2.5 hours. We had some company of backpackers roughly our age, including a couple of Mexicans and a couple of Canadians. After arriving in Brno, we went on a trek through town to find our hotel. We thought we could easily walk it, however, with my 20 kilo luggage (which was dragging on the ground because the wheels broke off), the steep hills of Brno were not much fun at first. But eventually, we made it one piece.

Brno is quite different from Prague. It is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, but it is rather small by any other comparison. It is less touristy than Prague, and also geographically different (more hilly, getting closer to the mountains in Slovakia). Still, it was a great location for a conference because it was small enough to easily walk around and get around, as well as enough places to eat and shop to keep you entertained outside the conference. There were a lot of pretty churches, a nice castle not far from our hotel (although we only walked around the grounds, and did not venture inside), as well as the monetary where Gregor Mendel did his famous genetics experiments with pea plants (the whole dominant and recessive trait thing).

The conference itself went rather well. It was great to catch up with some American friends and former colleagues. I made some more contacts, and I successfully gave my first conference talk. It was the longest location I stayed at during my trip (five days), and it was rather enjoyable.

The last night was by far the best. An American friend has an undergraduate friend who is currently living in Brno for his graduate work. It was great because he knew where to go in town and he also knows Czech. So after a hearty Czech dinner (rabbit & dumplings for me), we went to a local pub that was pretty cool. You were able to tap your own beer at the table (4 taps in total). But that's not all--the tap kept track of how many liters your table consumed over the evening. But that's not all either--there were screens throughout the bar (including in the bathrooms) that ranked all the tables in the bar in how many liters of beer each table consumed. If you recently filled up, you got a smiley face. If you were starting to slow down the beer consumption, you got a frowny face. As someone who studies motivation and achievement goals, I thought this bar was a highly twisted application of achievement goal research. My American friend thought it would be great to open a similar bar back in the States; however, I thought the hospital would have to be on speed-dial knowing how college students drink back home. Anyways, it was a lot of fun, and a great ending to a fun conference in Brno.

Flying in Style: Prague

2010-08-12T13:21:00.001+02:00

During my two-week vacation (and a bit of work), I went to four cities--Prague, Brno, Vienna, and Budapest. Because I am already behind in my posting, I am only going to write one entry for each city. I know I did about a dozen for my London trip that was only 4 days...but trust me, it does not belittle my experience at all. It is just a time issue. :)

When flying from Amsterdam to Prague via Czech Airlines, I was unable to get my ticket right away because they overbooked the flight. A little stressful at the time, considering my officemate was traveling with me and already had a ticket. However, it all sorted itself out in the end. The guy at the counter said, "Well, we didn't have anymore room in coach, so we upgraded you to business class." So my consumption of Czech beer started on the plane, and pretty much continued on a daily basis for the following week.

Seriously, the Czechs love their beer, and it is really cheap (about a 1,50 Euro for a half liter). After walking around New Town and Old Town areas of Prague the first night, we ended up getting a beer just outside the Old Town square. It was ridiculously hot and humid (for Europe anyways), although things began to cool down a bit the rest of our time there. We went on two walking tours, one with the Sandman's New Europe group (same group from my London trip) and the other sponsored by my hostel. Both were very good tours, the former featuring a ten minute re-cap of Czech history (where I learned what defenestration was...) while the latter featured a night-time stroll of Prague Castle grounds in the rain (but with a pit stop for a beer to go! :D). Also, I will forever remember when the Charles Bridge was constructed--mainly because our hostel tour guide quizzed us constantly to make sure we were paying attention (Answer: 135797531-- 1357, Sept. 7 at 5:31am).

Also, in between the walking tours, we visited the Lennon Wall (in the picture above), which is a place I read about before going to Prague. It was definitely a highlight of the trip, and could easily be missed if you didn't know it was there. ;)

Prague was a gorgeous city, and was a lot of fun for sure. Fabulous architecture, culture, shopping, and so on. It is amazing that when I was born, this city was still under communist rule, but it has bounced back rather well in a mere two decades. We had a great time, but our few days were up shortly as we made our way to Brno for the conference.....

Birthday Time

2010-08-06T16:36:00.004+02:00

How is it August already? As usual, I am a bit behind on writing in this blog, but I’ll make an effort to catch up soon. ;)

Last Friday was my 25^th birthday. I reached the quarter-century mark, but it really does not bother me too much. I would like to think I have lived 25 good years so far, although 20 of them have been in full-time education (if you count kindergarten). Still, I am doing what I enjoy doing, and I am happy where I am and where I am going in my life. Ultimately, I think that is all that really matters.

For my birthday, I decided to rent out the lounge at the local Irish pub, OCeallaigh’s. It cost a bit of money to do so, but it was definitely worth it. Many friends and colleagues turned out for the occasion, and the night proved to be a lot of fun. Actually, because I have a summer birthday, it is quite rare for me to have a birthday party with my friends around. Even though my body was still a bit tired from my action-packed two-week vacation (update later), I was able to stay out late and have a great time on my birthday.

So another year down, and let us hope the next year is as good as the last one has been.

100th Post mark

2010-07-12T16:13:00.001+02:00

Hi all! I just thought I would make a "Yay! 100 posts" update. I started this blog a little over a year ago right before I moved away from Winston-Salem. Since then, I have been trying to update fairly regularly (with a bit of a gap in the past several weeks because of work). Still, it has been fun to update my life abroad, and it is crazy to think it has almost been a year since moving here.

I started using Google Analytics with this blog in September 2009, and with it, I noticed that I have quite a few visitors to this site. Sure, some of them probably came once and never returned. But still the nerd I am, I enjoy looking at the statistics. I have had readers from 23 different countries across 5 different continents. Within the United States, which I knew most of my readers would be located, I have had readers from 21 different states (plus Washington D.C.). So not too shabby for a blog I have been doing for fun. I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it.

I still have some random updates to do, but I also have a vacation/conference coming up. I will be going to Prague on Friday, followed by a visit to Brno for a conference. After the conference, I will be taking a trip to Vienna and then Budapest. So fun times (and hopefully stories) ahead! Also, I will be going to Brussels later this year for another conference, so I am slowly working my way around Europe. Not bad for my first year, huh? :)

Grim Defeat

2010-07-12T16:00:00.000+02:00

As many of you may already know, the Dutch football team lost in the World Cup final (again) last night in overtime. Admittedly, the team did not play as well as usual, and missed several opportunities. In this regard, Spain did play better and earned their victory by being the only one to score.

However, I would still argue that the referee did not help matters much during the match. He was a bit harsh on the Dutch side, going card crazy (although I was surprised de Jong was not red carded for that kung fu kick). Some people may view this as punishment for the Dutch team playing dirty, but I still think Spain was up to similar tactics and were not carded as much. The icing on the cake was the fact that right before Spain scored the goal that ultimately won the match, the Dutch should have been awarded a corner kick.

So you can imagine, emotions were running high among the orange crew, which was why the fans booed the referees at the end of the match. Not the best behavior, sure, but I can understand their genuine frustration as this match adds to the disappointing history of Dutch World Cup performances. I also think that this match was further evidence of why instant reply is really needed in the World Cup.

Well, it has been fun, and as one final tribute to Team Oranje, I present the Dutch National anthem for you guys, with lyrics in both Dutch & English. Enjoy!

No re-match this time...

2010-07-08T00:05:00.003+02:00

Well, so much for a re-match. In a well-played but low scoring match, Germany lost to Spain tonight. One of my new colleagues is from Spain, so he was beyond thrilled (and also entertaining to watch during the match). So Sunday night here, and Sunday afternoon in the States, Holland will take on Spain in the World Cup final.

It is rather cool that neither Spain nor Holland has won the World Cup before. Obviously, my bias is for a Dutch victory, but I think it is rather nice that one of the multiple-winning World Cup teams (e.g., Brazil, Italy, Germany, etc.) did not make it to the finals this year.

And as a lot of my friends posted on Facebook, there is another point for Paul the Octopus tonight. Seriously? Of all the things to be psychic, an octopus?

Holland is in the World Cup Finals!!

2010-07-07T15:44:00.002+02:00

Here is a brief match re-cap for you...

Yesterday at work, most people had trouble focusing. Many of my colleagues went to a local bar, De Toeter,, which was pretty close to my apartment. Although most of us showed up an hour to 45 minutes early, the bar was already packed. Most of us stood on the sidewalk or in the street to watch the match. Fortunately, the bar had some screens near the exits for us to view the match. After plenty of beer and an exciting victory, the party continued well into the night.

Random fun fact for non-Dutch World Cup viewers: After a goal, more times than not, you will hear the chorus of this song (or an older version). I have heard this song too many times to count over the past few weeks...but it is all in good fun. :)

(Edit: Actually, it I remembered another bar played this song instead...so it varies on where you are. Still, the "Via Hollandia" song is very popular).

As this BBC article mentions, it has been a while since Holland has reached the World Cup final. They have never won a World Cup, and lost in the final twice in the 1970s. One of these losses was to West Germany, so there is a strong desire for a Holland-Germany final. Many of my friends here are thrilled since the last time Holland was in a World Cup final was before they were born, so excitement is still in the air. Hell, I still heard vuvuzelas going off this afternoon...

All I can say, is that I am enjoying the party atmosphere, although it has significantly hindered my productivity. Ah well...things like this don't come around every day. :)

Proud to be a Nederlander (World Cup Edition)

2010-07-05T21:47:00.001+02:00

I have been enjoying watching the World Cup here in Holland. I think the closest thing to it in the

U.S.

is watching the Olympics, but even that is not a fair comparison. It would basically be watching one event—and obsessing about the outcome of said event—to get even close to the level of intensity that the World Cup brings here. It is Queen’s Day on steroids, with orange everywhere for weeks on end.

For those of you who decided to zone out of the World Cup coverage once the U.S. lost to Ghana, then you should see these Lego highlights…

As you can see, the Dutch won a huge upset on Friday, beating 5-time World Cup champions, Brazil, 2-1. To say the least, people went nuts here. Vuvuzelas, car horns, bike bells, drunken singing…something a bit like this video. Even then, I think that bit is mild...but you at least get an idea. Dutch pride is at its peak right now.

Tomorrow night here (2:30pm EST) the Netherlands will take on Uruguay, with the winner advancing to the World Cup finals. My Dutch friends are really hoping for a Holland-Germany final (as would I, actually), but we shall see. People are hopeful, but Uruguay has played well in the tournament so far. Exciting time to be here, for sure.

Anyways, let me do my bit to support via this blog. Ahem.

*cheers* HOL-LAND! HOL-LAND! HOL-LAND! :)

(to be continued…)

Proud to NOT be American

2010-07-01T23:44:00.005+02:00

Odd title, but bear with me. This post is for my Canadian homies out there.

So I have a few Canadian friends here, and we usually have a lot in common. Coming from North America, we have a lot of cultural similarities, including language, food, sports, etc. Granted, things got a little heated during the Vancouver Olympics hockey matches, but hey, it is their sport. However, since being here, I found out one sure way to piss off a Canadian—call them an American.

This conversation always starts the same: “No offense with you being American, but I HATE when people ask if I am American…” I always find this statement funny, because it is inherently offensive to my background, but I understand what they mean by it. And frankly, I don’t blame them. All eyes are on the United States, and not always in a good way. Canadians are viewed more positively abroad, so being mistaken for American is almost like an insult. It is often safer for people asking where are you from to ask if you are from Canada first rather than the U.S.

Unfortunately, some people here just view Canadians and Americans as just the same thing—two countries in North America can’t be that different...can they? Not quite true, but I have heard it a couple of times For this and other reasons, my Canadian friends show their Canadian pride in different ways. One always carries a Canadian penny with her as “proof” of being from Canada. Another has a huge duffel bag that says Canada on it in large red letters. Others may just have the flag somewhere (kind of like we South Carolinians embracing our flag).

Anyways, have a happy Canada Day all you awesome Canadians. Enjoy the status of not being American, but still being North American. :)

Queen's Day

2010-06-19T00:03:00.000+02:00

On Queen’s Day, I met up with my officemate to walk around the freemarket. The free market is a Queen’s Day tradition in which anyone can sell stuff in the “market” without any cost or tax. Since the main markets are devoted to concerts and selling beer, they reserve a separate spot for the freemarket. In Groningen, it was situated just outside of Westerhaven, in a nice area by the canal. Basically, if you wanted to get a spot, you had to get up at 6am and bring all your crap to the market area. Walking around, I decided that the best way to describe the experience was as follows:

Y’all, it was a giant yard sale.

Seriously. The vast majority of the stuff was clothes. Then, of course, you had books, DVDs, CDs, some vinyl, and other random shit (including a few bongs). Of course, there were also kids playing instruments of varying levels of proficiency. This one kid was actually playing the intro to “Stairway to Heaven” when I passed. Upon reflection, I decided that forcing your kid to play an instrument was a means of dashing any dreams of becoming a musician early in life so that they stay in school. Unfortunately, those who did not learn this lesson are still playing by the Albert Heijn or Jumbo….

My officemate left to help her roommate sell stuff, so I went on my own around the city center. It was packed, which was no surprise. I wandered around for a while, and then walked through the kid’s area in Westerhaven (which included a small kid area for playing football/soccer). Tired from walking around for a few hours, I decided to go home and enjoy the rest of the day off. Not necessarily an overwhelming exciting Queen’s Day, but still quite enjoyable.

Queen's Night

2010-06-18T23:48:00.001+02:00

Okay, I will leave my commentary to the US-Slovenia match to this bit: Great comeback, glad we didn’t lose, but HORRIBLE call at the end by the referee. Total BS. /rant

However, I will take things back to the evening of April 29 (long, long ago, I know) for my update about Queen’s Night. I wrote this post a while back, but just had it saved on my computer to edit later...which I finally got around to now.

As I said before, Queen’s Night usually involves a lot of alcohol consumption and partying…and it did not disappoint in that regard. I went to the Grote Markt rather early, around 9pm, to meet my friends. The first thing I heard waiting by the Martini Tower was a song called “The Scotsman”…a song I have known for many, many years. To say the least, I was NOT expecting to hear it on a random Dutch holiday. The Celtic-themed music continued, which I still don’t quite understand…but hey, I am not complaining.

I met up with my friends, and we all acquired a small stockpile of beer that we consumed over the course of the evening. We noticed that there were three stages playing music: the main stage in Grote Markt, the “dance music stage” just behind the old city hall, and another random stage (which generally played crappy music that night) in the Vismarkt. We ended up returning to the Grote Maerkt and listened to a band, which I found out later was a Canadian band called The Mahones. They sounded a lot like The Pogues, and I quite enjoyed their show.

As the drinking progressed, it became hard to herd to coordinate our group to move from stage to stage…so we ended up in the middle in the dance area. We had a good time, for sure, until the rain started around 1:30am or so in the morning. At that point, I just decided to go home because I had a long day. I know some others who stayed up all night partying…but I have only done that on rare occasions in undergrad, and can hardly do it now. I guess that means I am getting old.

So my first Queen’s Night was fun, and I will talk about Queen’s Day in my next post….

Everything is better with Legos!

2010-06-16T16:36:00.000+02:00

Brief post, related to the last one. Here are two brief videos that highlight the US-England match and the Netherlands-Denmark match.

US vs. England:

Netherlands vs. Denmark:

Are you ready for some football?

2010-06-14T15:56:00.005+02:00

Hi all! Long time, no post...sorry about that. Work and moving has kept me busy, and I will try to update in due time. I still have a few Queen's Day updates (long overdue, I know), as well as some other random things (moving, Dutch elections, etc.) that have been going on for the past month or so. So I will try to take some time and catch up soon.

But for now, I will discuss the current priority among many in the world: World Cup Football/Soccer

In case you live under a rock (or in the U.S.), the World Cup officially started on Friday. I have watched a few matches, but of course, I could not miss the U.S. vs. England match on Saturday and Netherlands vs. Denmark match this afternoon. First things first, the USA-England match.

On Saturday, I decided to go Pacific, the local Australasian bar to watch the match. I thought there would be a good chance that there would be a lot of English fans and American fans, and I was correct. The bar was packed, and it was a great match to watch, as it ended in a 1-1 tie. Frankly, most American fans agree that we were lucky--to us, a draw against England is the best we probably could of hoped for, not to mention a goal that slipped through the goalie's hands. This goal at least allowed me to hear one U-S-A chant for the evening, with a minor one that followed at the end of the game. Come to find out, the guy that started the one at the end of the game was actually French, who was just happy England didn't win.

Now for the Dutch match...

For the past few weeks, the city (and country) have been gearing up for the World Cup. Shops put up orange in their windows, orange streamers lined the streets, and bars decked out their Dutch flags and orange stuff as well. Seriously, I have seen way more orange now than during Queen's Day. The first game, the Netherlands-Denmark game, was at 1:30 pm today. This timing meant that most people were at work--supposedly. The office was eerily quiet, as many people took off work to go to a local pub, or they decided to shut themselves in their office to watch the game online. I opted for the latter, although I got the spirit of being in the pub because my office window was open, allowing me to hear the cheers and celebration off in the distance (which I still hear a bit even now). The game ended with a Dutch victory 2-0, with a little help by Danish guy's head for one goal.

We'll see how the other games shape up, but it is nice to be wrapped up in the World Cup excitement for a change.

Random Venn Diagram...

2010-04-28T17:13:00.000+02:00

Random picture that is amusing--check it out here.

My response to this questionable intersection is it depends on where I am. In the South, my answer would be deer. In Holland, my answer would be bike lanes. ;)

Koninginnedag is Coming!

2010-04-28T00:50:00.002+02:00

On Friday, April 30, the Dutch celebrate Queen’s Day (or in Dutch, Koninginnedag). For my American audience who is not familiar with this holiday, it is the holiday celebrating the Queen’s birthday. Although technically it is the birthday former Queen Juliana, Queen Beatrix’s mother. Queen Beatrix’s real birthday is January 31.

In the celebration of the House or Orange-Nassau (the name of the Dutch royal family), it is customary to wear orange on Queen’s Day. The extent to which this act is carried out, I was told, varies. A colleague of mine said that he is not going all out this year with coloring his hair orange…which suggests s a preceding event when this hair coloring actually occurred. So rather like the secondary part of St. Patrick’s Day is Irish nationalism via mass amounts of green, the second part of Queen’s Day is Dutch nationalism via mass amounts of orange. Also, like St. Patrick’s Day, the day generally has a lot of alcoholic consumption involved…particularly the night preceding Queen’s Day (surprisingly called Queen’s Night, or Koninginnenacht).

There are some other parts to this holiday, too (like the Free Market), but I'll save it for the later posts. In preparation for Queen’s Day, I decided to post this clip, which I saw months ago (back in the Albert Heijn post). Still, I decided to wait until Queen’s Day was near to share it. Enjoy!

Chinatown in London Town

2010-04-28T00:22:00.002+02:00

I had planned to visit Soho and Chinatown earlier in my trip, but I didn’t quite manage it due to lack of energy and re-scheduling. Still, I still had enough energy from my relaxing tour day to make one last venture on the Tube to Lancaster Square to visit Chinatown.

I initially got a bit disoriented after exiting the Tube (as usual), so it took me a bit to find Chinatown…but after wandering back to my starting point and giving some change to a helpful hobo, I found it. Along the way, and just outside the main Chinatown area was a a large Chinatown Market. It was rather bizarre—it looked like a normal store, but there different vendors in different sectors like a real market. I didn’t actually buy anything, but again, it was fun to window shop.

However, my mission in Chinatown was simple—get good food. And, I certainly succeeded in this mission. I was not sure where to go, really, considering there were so many restaurants packed into such a small area. However, I was certain that no choice would lead me astray. There was one “fast-food” place that was really crowded (indication of good food, to me), but I decided a restaurant atmosphere was what I wanted. So I checked the menu to see if the prices were reasonable, and entered.

I spent around 15 pounds for the meal (duck with ginger and onions served with steamed rice), drink, and spring roll appetizer. But seriously, every pence was worth it…it was probably one of the best meals I have had in quite some time. Although I took minor offense to the waiter giving me a fork not to long after I sat down. But damn it, I made sure to eat with my chopsticks during the meal just to prove the guy wrong.

So my trip to Chinatown was brief, but it was a rather nice conclusion to my London trip. I think I succeeded in packing a lot into my four-day trip to London (really, 3.5 days since I left Amsterdam so late). I mean, I covered the trip a dozen posts! I definitely want to go back, and I look forward to the next occassion that will allow this opportunity to occur.

Glastonbury: Chalice Well and Abbey

2010-04-28T00:15:00.000+02:00

After looking at Stones in the morning, my tour continued to Glastonbury, a remote village (still not accessible by train) and location of many tales of Arthurian legend. Regardless of historical facts or legendary tales, I am glad we went here on our tour.

First, we briefly stopped at Chalice Well. Supposedly, the Holy Grail was buried here at one point, and from that spot a natural spring arose—hence, the name. Along different parts of the spring, you can drink or “bathe” in the water. Supposedly, like the holy grail itself, drinking from the water brings youth. I’m not banking on that, but I still decided to refill my water bottle for the trip home (hey, save some money here). The heavy taste of iron made me realize that people who do drink mass amounts of this water would probably die of iron poising rather than gain any eternal youth…. Still, the gardens surrounding the well were absolutely gorgeous, and it was a nice, quiet spot where one could meditate and reflect.

Afterwards, we went into the town of Glastonbury itself. We had a bit of free time, although sadly, not enough to take the bus up to the Tor, which is the location of what was the island of Avalon. Instead, I grabbed a quick bite to eat with some people on the tour, and then went around the local shops. The feel of the town reminded me a lot of Boone, NC…a remote, hippie town. And the amount of shops selling crystals and incense bordered on the level of ridiculous…but hey, it was fun to window shop.

I rejoined the group at 3pm to enter Glastonbury Abbey, which is the ruins of the monastery that was there. There were also markers for the spots of King Arthur’s grave and tomb, which was cool. Again, regardless of legend, the place was very peaceful, and relaxing just to wander around and bask in the sunshine.

Overall, the tour was worth it. We returned to London around 7pm or so (with a drive-by view of Stonehenge again), which gave me enough time to do one more thing—visit Chinatown.

Easter Sunday at Stonehenge & Avebury

2010-04-22T19:23:00.001+02:00

Sorry for the brief hiatus—work takes precedence to blogging. I will finish my London updates (which should be a couple more posts after this one) and then shift back to reality in Groningen.

Before my trip, I signed up to take a tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury on Easter Sunday. It was a more relaxing day compared to the rest of my time in London, although most of the time was spent commuting to each place more than the actual time at each location. Still, the ride itself was almost worth the cost of the trip. As I left London quite early (around 8am), it was the typical signs of dreary English weather—cloudy with pending rain. However, once we started heading west out of London, the weather did a complete 180-degree change—sunny, with nice puffy clouds.

This bright, sunny weather made me see Stonehenge at its best—to see how the sun cast shadows and fell against the specific stone alignment. I only was allowed to spend 45-minutes there, which was just enough time to go through the audio walking tour, take a ton of pictures, and appreciate the overall beauty and magnificence of it. I think I would have been able to enjoy it more if there were fewer people around, but I was still able to enjoy it for what it was.

As I said before, the ride was worth it—the drive through Salisbury Plain was absolutely gorgeous. We took some winding back roads through the English countryside en route to Avebury, a small village with another larger stone circle (much more up-close and personal than Stonehenge). We did not spend too much time here, but it was a nice stop to include in the tour.

Still, by visiting two different henges in one day, I could not get Eddie Izzard out of my head (see YouTube clip below). Beautiful places, but my mind had to go back to three little piggies being relocated to the projects…(actually, according to my tour guide, there was recent archeological evidence of woodhenge, which almost sent me into a giggle fit).

Afterward, I went to Glastonbury, which will be in discussed in the next post—stay tuned!

Street where the riches of ages are stowed…

2010-04-13T01:06:00.002+02:00

Well, not really.

After my long tour and lunch, I decided to go the Portobello Road Market. I wanted to go earlier in the day, but I decided to wait until after the tour, saving my energy for the long walking tour on blistered feet. One of the people I met at lunch was interested in joining me, so we trotted off together to the Tube and made our way to Notting Hill.

Upon reaching the station, we followed the sign out reading “Portobello Market” with an arrow out to the street. Once above ground, the person accompanying me asked, “Where do we go now?”

My response, “Well, I have specific directions, but one of the website said just to follow the crowd.”

And so we did. The only thing is, since it was late in the day (after 4pm), we were going against the crowd toward the market. Still, the tactic worked, and we found our way to the market pretty easily. Once we found the market, we parted ways, each off to do our own shopping before it closed.

The market was pretty cool, reminding me a lot of my hometown Charleston market (just a lot bigger). My reason for this comparison is that it is a very touristy location now, but it still has a way of retaining its unique charm about the place. You can still find antiques there, but mostly, it is vendors selling all sorts of goods—fast food, jewelry, fruits & vegetables, CDs, scarves, and so on.

Still, the Portobello Road Market beats the Charleston market in one respect: they have street vendors selling crepes....yum. So one nutella crepe and a bunch of shopping later, I managed to enjoy my brief trip to Portobello Road.

Post-Tour Lunch

2010-04-13T00:56:00.001+02:00

After the tour, our tour guide offered to take us to a spot for lunch that was fairly cheap. Considering we walked from roughly 11am to 2pm, most of us were starving. I thought it would be a nice way to grab a quick bite before heading off to Portobello Road.

Lunch took a bit longer than I anticipated, but at the same time, it gave me time to socialize with some interesting people. I already met a couple other Americans on my tour (people who were studying abroad). During lunch, I talked with another American studying architecture in Denmark. We had a nice chat about the foods that we missed and compared our respective experiences living abroad.

We also talked with a family from New Zealand, which included a rather chatty, intelligent 11-year old named Georgia, who was rather curious about life in the state that shared her name. Like most people I meet, they were also rather curious what possessed an American to live abroad. So this question led into a discussion of my studies, and my research topic. After I finished, a highlight of my day was Georgia saying, “That sounds really cool, actually.” Getting a pre-teen to admit anything an adult says is "cool" is a feat, let alone something nerdy like psychological research.

My lunch itself, macaroni and cheese with broccoli, was okay, but the company made the time spent at lunch very worthwhile.

Ten Random Things I Learned on My Tour

2010-04-10T23:22:00.000+02:00

As I alluded to before, my tour around London was pretty awesome, and I learned a good bit. We started at the Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner, walked to Buckingham Palace, walked around St. James’s palace, then to Trafalgar Square, under Admiralty Arch, to horse guards, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and ending at the Houses of Parliament. Extensive tour, although I know there is still so much of London I didn’t see.

Anyways, I decided to list a few things I learned:

The Brits know how to hold a grudge against the French. According to my guide, until recently, trains from Paris to London would arrive in Waterloo, and when the French returned to Paris, they would leave at 6:15pm (or 18:15).
I was informed not to enter Hyde Park on a sunny day because “you will see Brtis tanning in nothing but their speedos, and no one wants to see that.”
There have been some crazy break-ins into Buckingham Palace over the years, including lost Germans, an American exhibitionist, a drunken Irishman (who stumbled into the Queen’s bedroom).
Queen Elizabeth II has a golden Wii, given to her by the company.
Learned the origins of the phrase “stiff drink”…rather disgusting actually. Supposedly, the reference comes from the crew drinking from the brandy used to preserve Horatio Nelson's body when he was returned to England following the Battle of Trafalgar.
Learned how to remove pigeons from Trafalgar Square (falcons and laxatives).
The nose under the Admiralty Arch…bizarre (picture below).
The horse grounds will host beach volleyball in the 2012 Olympics.
Apparently there are some pelicans who eat pigeons in St. James’s Park.
And as always, remember, remember the 5^th of November. I knew about the Gunpowder Plot, but I didn’t know that my tour guide was related to a couple of the plotters…go figure.

Great tour, and I will definitely look up the NewEurope tours when I continue my travels elsewhere.

Yes, I am a bloody American....

2010-04-10T22:50:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday, I decided to take Sandman’s free walking tour of London. It is free, in the sense that you don’t have to pay anything to go on the tour. However, the guides are volunteer their time and work for tips, so it is encouraged to donate money at the end if you think the tour was worth your time (which I did).

I will talk in the next post about the tour itself, but I thought I would briefly go on a tangent inspired by my tour guide, Nick or “Coop”. On his badge, he said that he spoke both English and American, which is rather amusing (although his attempt at an American accent was pretty bad…). And honestly, he does have a point—an American accent does stick out more in England than other countries. At least in the Netherlands, people know I am a native English speaker, but tend to guess where I am from. But since I lack any accent, I am most definitely not from Great Britain.

Part of the time, I was thinking of Eddie Izzard's bit about languages, where he also references Oscar Wilde’s famous quote that the only difference between the U.S. and Britain is language. And like anything amusing, there is a certain degree of truth to it. For those who are curious, here is a list of five things that cue anyone in London that you are an American tourist:

Saying fries (rather than chips)
Saying awesome (a total giveaway)
Excessive use of “like” (sad, but true)
Not saying cheers (especially after a transaction)
Not saying bum/arse (as in my tour guide explaining how he got his nickname “tattooed on me bum”)

I am sure there are plenty of other examples, but these five where the quick ones that came to mind (particularly the first two). Still, at least we do speak English, even if we have our own respective dialects and slang.

I survived the Tower of London!!

2010-04-08T21:40:00.001+02:00

I swear, I was surprised I didn’t see that title on a t-shirt somewhere….

After my stop at the Science Museum, I went to the Tower of London, one of my essential stops on my trip. I spent several hours there, and saw most of the places to go (except the Chapel of St. Peter…, which was closed because of Good Friday). When I arrived, it was raining hard and upturning my umbrella. Nonetheless, I made my way through, determined to make the most of my visit.

One of the cool things about the Tower of London was that the White Tower (the central Tower) was a rather extensive museum of royal armory—from the armor of Kings, to their swords, royal gifts, etc. It was a pretty awesome exhibit. One spot in particular, called the Line of Kings, was rather cool. It showed the armor of the King next toa replica of their horse, with a banner of their name above. Upon seeing William the Conqueror’s spot, I couldn’t help but think, “Hi, Grandpa!” (actually true—I am related to the Plantagenet line).

Similarly, the entrance to the Crown Jewels (extremely long wait, but still cool) had a similar presentation of a millennium of British royalty. Starting with William I all the way to Elizabeth II, there were small wooden thrones lining the walls, with the name of the ruler, their years in power, and their crest. Pretty cool, even if it was merely a décor before the main attraction (kind of like the maze-like lines leading up to amusement park rides). The Crown Jewels were pretty, from massive diamonds to crowns, a line of coronation maces (because it seems like you need a new one for each royal member…). Although, I sadly could not take any pictures because no photography was allowed.

Overall, the Tower was a great place to visit and was well worth the cost of admission. Definitely recommend it to anyone visiting London.

"Mind Your Head" at the Science Museum

2010-04-08T21:29:00.001+02:00

When doing my research for this trip, I found this Wikipedia page that discussed the various museums in and around London. One I saw was the Science Museum, which sounded pretty cool. I was made even more excited by the fact that they advertised a psychology exhibit. Considering I have had to argue with some people before that psychology really is a science, this exhibit made me happy. They also had some mathematics and other cool exhibits around the museum, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Upon entering the museum, I grabbed a map, which told me the exhibit was on the 4^th floor. Once I took the elevator up there, however, I could not find it—there was only the medical history exhibit. After wandering for a bit, I found the psychology section tucked away in a corner—it apparently had been absorbed in the medical exhibit and the museum did not quite update the map or website with that information.

Unfortunately, the exhibit did not quite match my initial enthusiasm. Some of the things they had were cool, such as some early assessment tools used probably before 1930. They also had a section about “telling stories” which I thought was really more anthropology than psychology…but whatever. Then, there was the interactive computer that told us about phrenology and had some more assessment tests, but not anything really new. I was going through the screens with a older couple, and I left the exhibit muttering, “Oh, we do way cooler stuff than that.” On the other hand, they did have this amusing figure-ground picture of Sigmund Freud (PG-13, just to let you know).

On the other hand, the mathematics exhibit was pretty cool, having some inventions of Babbage and various instruments used by mathematicians. But then again, the Brits do have a proud background in mathematics over the centuries, so I can’t really blame them for having a better math exhibit. Also, math has been around longer and is an integral part of many more fields (including psychology), so I can’t really complain too much.

If you have small kids, then the science museum may be cool place to go, but I would not recommend it as an essential stop for someone visiting London. Compared to some of the things I have seen in the Smithsonian and other American museums, it was decent, but not great. You live and learn, I suppose.

A Night at the British Museum

2010-04-08T21:06:00.003+02:00

I made an itinerary of where I wanted to go and when before my trip; however, with the exception of the last day (which was just flying back to Holland), everyday deviated from my original plan. Part of it was unexpected delays, such as my flight leaving roughly 30-45 minutes late. The other part was planning too much for myself. I remembered my trip through France was booked pretty solid all day, so I tried to keep to that kind of plan; however, I also seemed to have temporary amnesia that I ended up with tendinitis in my knee after that trip. So I forced myself to slow down, and ended up skipping only a few things: the British Library, the National Gallery, and shopping in Soho. Ah well, just bump it to next trip.

One of the first things I did Thursday was go to the British Museum. I scheduled it for this night because it was open until 8:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays although not all galleries were open. Unfortunately, I only had the nearest Tube stations and walking directions from the British Library, which wasn’t very helpful. So I got off at Tottenham Court Road and spent a little while getting lost…even though I was sure that I would stumble across it eventually because it would be hard to miss. Sure enough, I eventually found the back entrance. As a result of getting lost, I did not have too much time in the museum itself. Still, I managed to enjoy the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman galleries. Just this little bit of time made me very envious of British schoolchildren who could wander throughout this museum for hours (and for free) on a regular basis. I mean, right when you enter the Egyptian gallery, you see the Rosetta stone, and they had a copy you can get up close and touch located in another Gallery. Beyond the extensive and impressive collection, the actual architecture of the building was pretty awesome to behold…although I did have the tendency to have random quotes from The Mummy Returns pop into my head from time to time.

So British Museum = awesome. I wish I had more time there (a theme of the trip), but I am glad for the little bit of time I was able to spend there.

Hostel Living...

2010-04-08T00:04:00.001+02:00

When I stayed in London, I risked it and tried something for the first time in my life: staying in a hostel.

In the past, I considered it minor insanity to stay in hostels…but I decided to try it out for two reasons. First, I knew I was traveling to London alone. So after wandering around the city by myself, I did not want to be cloistered up in my own hotel room, continuing my isolated trip. A hostel involved sharing and being around other people, which I thought was a desirable thing in this circumstance. Second, there was a drastic cost benefit to staying in a hostel. I was staying in a spot in central London for less than 100 pounds for 4 nights, which was probably saved me 200 pounds that I spent elsewhere during the trip. Overall, the hostel choice seemed pragmatic, and I am glad I did it.

After getting a bit lost trying to find the place, I checked into my hostel, called Travel Joy Hostel. It was located above the bar, King William IV, in Pimico, right across from the Themes. The setup gave me an impression of what the Leaky Cauldron would have been like if it were a hostel with a Thai cuisine menu. After punching in a key code, you ascended a winding staircase and corridors up to the room, which I shared with five other people. The people I did talk to and meet were interesting, all having their unique backgrounds and stories that led them to that place in time. There was a Chinese guy studying in Liverpool; an American working at the hostel as an intern who bed-hopped to various rooms; an American teaching English in Spain who was traveling with a Spaniard who didn’t speak much English. I even met a couple of girls from South Carolina who were staying in the room next door.

Sure, the typical complaints about the hostel were true—snoring roommates, fighting for bathroom/shower space, uncomfortable beds (and a top bunk for me…). It is the risk of the stay. But there were several nice things about this hostel. One, there was an option for a private bathroom and shower (if you took a shower at the right time) rather than just stalls that you would shower in a locker room at the gym. Two, bedding was included. Three, free drinks of Pepsi downstairs for those staying in the hostel. Four, free pool table (although I did have to compete with some kids from 6-8 yrs. to play…and the 6 year-old was shockingly good). Five, access to computers with cheap internet (1 pound = 30 minutes).

Overall, I had a positive experience since the staff was great and there were enough amenities during my stay. Do I think I will stay at a hostel again? Maybe…I did a lot of research before deciding on this one. I hope in the future that I will be traveling with more friends, meaning I can share a hotel room for a low cost that would make staying in a hostel not much of an alternative. But at least I can say that I know what hostel living is like.

"We can be happy underground..."

2010-04-06T20:39:00.002+02:00

I absolutely love the London Underground, or the Tube. It is pretty easy to get around, as far as metro systems are concerned (and I have been on the D.C., Atlanta, Paris, and Amsterdam metros for comparison). I love the fact that the poles inside the Tube correspond to the color of the line on the map (e.g., Piccadilly line is a bright blue, while the District Line is green). Whenever you had to change lines, even if it was a winding path, it was labeled clearly. I never got lost on the metro itself (exiting the metro to the actual streets is a different story). I found a free Tube map application for my Ipod, which made traveling around very easy (and easy for me to zoom in and read the map clearly).

The only annoyance was that the Circle and Jubilee lines were closed for the Easter weekend…which made traffic hectic. Also, the station before Tower Hill was closed, so if you wanted to visit the Tower of London (like many people did), you had to hop off the Tube and take a double-decker bus to and from the Tower. Leaving the Tower at the end of the day, it took at least five double-decker buses for me to finally get on board.

Also, I found it rather random that the majority of the seats on the Tube faced each other—meaning if you sat down and looked straight ahead, you would be starting at someone else. So what are you to do? Stare at the person across from you or tilt your head this way and that way to avoid giving off the vibe as a total creepy weirdo. I tried to do the latter, but it was made doubly difficult on my first ride from Heathrow when someone came on board looking like the Mad Hatter—a young guy in a pinstripe suit, white hair, a top hat with a silvery pattern around the brim…just take my word for it, it was bizarre.

Overall, I liked the Tube…and found it pretty easy and convenient. And of course, I did not forget to “mind the gap”.

I knew this day would come eventually...

2010-04-06T20:16:00.002+02:00

It has finally happened…it only took seven months. Over the Easter weekend, my beloved bicycle was stolen. I went outside this morning to bike on my merry way to the office, and alas, my bike was not here to greet me.

To add injury to insult, I sprained my ankle on the way to the bus stop and was running late for a morning meeting. I also had to walk on said injured ankle to get to the office, which only aggravated the injury a bit more. It should be fine, but just another annoyance for the day.

The question people keep asking me is “How many locks did you have on it?” or “Where was your bike parked?” I find both of these questions amusing because it reminds me a bit of the fundamental attribution error (e.g., If a person trips, people think he/she is clumsy rather than just tripping over a crack in the sidewalk). So for those asking me about the locks, it seems to me that my actions caused the bike theft, while those asking about the location, it seems that the situation caused the bike theft. It is funny how people attribute a random petty crime in different ways. To answer the questions, it was just at my building (a somewhat isolated part of town) and I can’t remember if I locked it once or twice before London—in either case, the thief would have had plenty of time to commit said crime because a lot of people out of town for the holiday weekend.

So I tried to find a replacement bike today, with no luck…so hopefully I can find a new one tomorrow. Oh, the lack of humanity….

I'm Back!

2010-04-05T20:14:00.006+02:00

I am back from my Easter holiday in London! I had a fabulous time, and I will start posting more details about my trip tomorrow. I think this picture captures it all. These statutes/sculptures are in Schiphol airport, Terminal D area. I saw them on my way to and from London, but they pretty much fit my current position.: Worn out with several blisters on my feet. Still, I am glad that I went.

Overall, my impression of London is very positive. I actually thought, I could live here. This thought is quite rare, for sure. Granted, there are good and bad things about any place, London included. But I think the good definitely outweigh the bad in this case.

Do I think I will actually live in London? Unlikely. I definitely want to go back to do the million other things I didn't do (even though I did quite a bit). But who knows? After the last three years, I have given up trying to predict where I will be living after everything is said and done.

More about London in the coming days!

Wait a minute, rabbits don't lay eggs!

2010-03-31T22:42:00.004+02:00

Easter is almost here, so I thought I would have a brief post about random Dutchiness when it comes to Easter traditions before I hop off to London for the weekend.

Part of the reason I am going out of town is that Good Friday and the Monday following Easter are holidays here in the Netherlands. And as with almost any holiday in the Netherlands, everything shuts down. So rather than sit and twiddle my thumbs all weekend, I decided that I would take Holy Thursday off, too, and go to London for the weekend, where I was sure that there were enough heathens and tourist attractions to allow me to have an entertaining weekend.

From what I can tell, Easter traditions are not radically different here. However, one interesting thing I noticed was the chocolate Easter egg candy (pictured above). Regardless of brand, the colored foil represents the chocolate contained within it. So if you grab the light yellowish gold one, you will get white chocolate. The dark organish-red one is dark chocolate, and the blue one is milk chocolate. Obviously, the U.S. candy makers are too competitive to have a standardized system like this one, but I thought it was kind of cool.

Anyways, back to preparing for my London trip, which I will break into multiple posts upon my return. Stay tuned! :)

Spring is (sort of ) here...

2010-03-27T23:15:00.008+01:00

Go out and sit on the lawn

And do nothing

'Cause it's just what you must do

Nobody does it anymore

-Fiona Apple "Waltz (Better than Fine)"

Thursday was a beautiful day outside. The weather was finally warm enough to enjoy the outdoors (except when the occasional breeze caused a bit of a chill). I definitely took a long lunch break and sat on the ground (law wet, picnic tables occupied), basking in the sun after a very long winter. It was quite lovely.

On Friday, things were a bit colder and rainy, but I decided to keep wearing my lighter jacket in protest to the weather getting colder. I had spring-like weather, damn it, and I wasn't going back.

I had to go to Amsterdam on Friday for class...and there were two random things of note:

1. On the way to the train station in the morning, I was biking along mostly empty roads toward the city center to the south of Groningen. On route, I saw four people dressed as the Tellytubbies running toward the Vismarkt. I am not joking. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to take a picture of this event, but my story was confirmed by my friend who saw them in route. I am really curious what brought this on around 7:30am on Friday, but my only conclusion was that the spring weather caused some of the locals to go insane.

2. On the train ride back to Groningen after class, our group was tired and a little giddy/weird from our fatigue (myself included). My officemate was singing random songs at the train station, and a few of us decided to get some Heineken for the train ride home. We couldn't join the others in the bar, so why not?

After having one beer (which was more like 1.5 beers in the tall can), one guy in my group decided that he wanted another one. However, the only way to get more beer while on the train was to actually get off the train and buy it in a shop on the platform. Usually the train only stops for either a couple of minutes at the small stops, and maybe up to 5 minutes at the major stops. He managed this feat in Zwolle, departing and returning with beer in less than 2 minutes. Impressive feat, for sure. But hey, we were able to enjoy more beer on the way back to Groningen. :)

Reason #5, 845, 801 that the U.S. has a bad reputation abraod...

2010-03-22T01:13:00.005+01:00

The Obama administration is looking into retracting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay men, lesbians, or alternative sexual preferences to be "out" in the military. I have thought that this policy was rather stupid for a long time, and I am glad that there is hope for its removal soon.

However, when you have assholes like retired General John Sheehan, it will be amazing if this policy will get retracted.

Here is the news story for you to reference, with an except below:

A US general's assertion that the massacre of Serb Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 was partly due to gay soldiers in the Dutch military has caused a storm of protest in the Netherlands.

Former US army general John Sheehan made the allegations during a senate hearing into plans to allow openly gay men and women to serve in the US armed forces.

The comments are 'scandalous', 'outrageous' and as 'low as you can go', prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende was quoted as saying after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Also, here is the CNN article which pretty much says the same thing.

I can't believe this guy. Implying that homosexuality had ANYTHING to do with your job as a solider is beyond ridiculous. Targeting the Dutch military was a low blow, and completely inaccurate. It is rather clear that this guy's testimony was just a way to justify maintaining stupid, homophobic policies in the military...ugh.

So thank you, crazy retired general...thank you for adding to the reputation of Americans as ignorant, repressed idiots. You, Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, and others will serve as a beacon on the hill for all idiotic Americans who listen to your backwards views.

It's Not Easy Being Green

2010-03-17T21:38:00.002+01:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

As an American of Irish descent, I always try to recognize St. Patrick's Day in some way. Traditionally, my family either prepares (or in recent years, acquires) corned beef and cabbage, which usually has potatoes, carrots, and onion as well. My mom, also likes to serve it with cornbread (which I documented in my holiday food post)...and of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. ;)

Today, I noticed how uncommon St. Patrick's Day is here. Some of my Dutch colleagues were not familiar with the holiday, and I was among the very few who wore green (outwear = green scarf, regular outfit = green polo shirt). Still, a few of my classmates from Dutch class decided to out for a drink after class, so I did at least have a Guinness beer...in a Belgian bar. Ah well, you work with the circumstances, right?

So Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Maybe I'll make a bigger demonstration of Irish pride next year. :)

"London Calling" Mix

2010-03-14T18:16:00.005+01:00

I love to make music mixes, which I have explained in this post. Since I am going to London in a couple of weeks, I thought it was time to make a new mix in preparation for my trip. I mean, the British Invasion (and subsequent invasions) occurred in the U.S. for a reason...although I still do not forgive the U.K. for subjecting us to the Spice Girls. Seriously, I don't care what you "really really want".

Anyways, here is the mix. I used British bands or artists, and I tried to keep it loosely in the theme of my trip. The song link is to YouTube clips of the actual song, and lyric links are also available if you're interested.

London Calling Mix

1. The Clash "London Calling" (shocking, I know...lyrics).

2. Oasis "Hello" (lyrics)

3. Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song" (lyrics)

4. Queen "Now I'm Here" (lyrics)

5. David Bowie "Suffragette City" (lyrics)

6. Blur "Parklife" (lyrics)

7. The Beatles "Penny Lane" (lyrics)

8. The Smiths "Cemetery Gates" (lyrics)

9. David Tomlinson "Portobello Road" (from Bedknobs & Broomsticks, lyrics)

10. Elvis Costello "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" (lyrics)

11. Blackmore's Knight "Catherine Howard's Fate" (lyrics)

12. The Rolling Stones "Ruby Tuesday" (lyrics)

13. The Verve "History" (lyrics)

14. The Cure "Friday, I'm in Love" (lyrics)

15. The Jam "In the City" (lyrics)

16. Elton John "The Bitch is Back" (lyrics)

17. The Who "Magic Bus" (lyrics)

18. The Kinks "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" (featured in one of my favorite movies, High Fidelity, lyrics)

19. Billy Idol "Dancing with Myself" (lyrics)

20. The Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the U.K." (lyrics)

21. Coldplay "Daylight" (lyrics)

22. Pink Floyd "Eclipse" (lyrics)

A Year Later

2010-03-13T21:17:00.008+01:00

A couple of days ago (March 11), marked the one-year anniversary of when I had my interview here in Groningen for my PhD position. A little surreal that it has been a year already since this whirlwind journey started, so I thought I would take a moment to pause and reflect. If you are unfamiliar with my story of how I got here, you can just go to my first post to this blog.

So how do I feel a year later? Comfortable.

This time last year, I was a neurotic mess. Seriously, ask my classmates, friends, or family. The process of applying to graduate schools is a nail-biting experience, and I am not patient when it comes to uncertainty and my career. I planned on using my spring Break to analyze data and work on writing my thesis, but instead, I ended up here for an unanticipated, last-minute interview.

After I was accepted, I ended up waiting roughly two weeks before I made a final decision. After getting past the culture shock, I did enjoy my first visit...but I was unsure if I wanted to take the plunge and commit to this position. I had another option to stay in the States for my PhD, but it did not compete on many levels with my current position. The path was clear, but fear and doubt kept me from committing for two weeks.

Now, I see how much I have learned and grown from my experience from the past six months. I have no doubt about my decision to come here (although fear sometimes emerges when encountering Dutch bicyclists...). I am comfortable in my work, which is presenting new challenges and exciting prospects. I am comfortable with my friends I have made here, many of whom have just as interesting stories of how they ended up here, too. So overall, I am comfortable in my decision to come here.

And although I may not have a spring break like many of my friends in the States, I do have Good Friday and the Monday following Easter off...which is just enough time for me to take a short trip to London for the weekend.

So what else can I say? One year later, life is pretty damn good. :)

Importing Southern Manners Might Be Necessary...

2010-03-04T00:30:00.006+01:00

I realize that I have not been doing a great job on keeping up with Dutch current events in the past few months. Sure, I hear about the big news stories from time to time, but it is not the same as my old habits. In the past, I have had CNN as my homepage to keep up with the news, but lately, I have been lazily ignoring the news. And frankly, I think it is about time I go back to my old ways...and start paying attention to more news--not only to American news but also the Dutch news.

And I was rewarded with this decision by this news article:

Dutch Rail to experiment with spit kits

Wednesday 03 March 2010

Dutch Rail (NS) is to equip some railway workers with special spit kits which they can use to collect dna from travellers who spit at staff.

The kit includes plastic gloves and a cotton swab which can be used to collect the spittle. This will then be sent to the national forensic lab for investigation.

If a match can be found, the perpetrator can then face criminal charges. A spokesman told RTL news that 38% of staff have been spat at.

© DutchNews.nl

Seriously??

I know I have not lived here long and my vision kinda sucks, but I somehow missed that this spitting was a problem. Sure, the 38% might be a reporting bias (either inflated or deflated). Still, the fact that there is a) any percentage at all, and b) actual consideration of a new regulation, shows that it does happen at a semi-frequent basis.

I think this measure is a bit extreme, but still...why would you spit some employee working at the train station? Perhaps we need to start showing this show here in Holland (courtesy of my toddler brother...watch "Nana's visit" for the most relevant one, I think). Maybe? :)

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world...She took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

2010-03-02T23:09:00.010+01:00

Last week, I asked some people around the office if they wanted to do pubquiz at the local Australian bar, Pacific. I went a few months ago, and had a great time...and frankly, it is hard NOT to have a good time as far as beer and random trivia goes. :)

My idea seemed popular among my friends and colleagues, and we ended up forming two different teams for the occasion. Our team was doing very well over the rounds for the night, ranking in second or third for most of the evening...

Until the music round.

Last time, my team and I kicked major ass on the music round (not that I am egotistical American or anything...). We recognized over 75% of the 2-3 second intros of songs, from Elton John to The Verve...but alas, my skills failed me this time. We did not know the majority of the songs, and I even thought the introduction to this Katy Perry song was actually this Gary Glitter song...so you can tell how off I was. A number of the songs were crappy pop or rap songs from the last five years, a time of which I have generally avoided any mainstream charts.

But damn it, I can still recognize the intro to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" in a heartbeat.

In the end, our team was runner-up for the night and won a pitcher of beer...until the other team of our colleagues we supposedly beat realized that their point total was wrong and argued with the judges to correct it. We still got the beer before the point dispute was settled (see picture above)...and all in all, I think a good time was had by all. :)

Bike Seat Political Advertising

2010-03-02T00:30:00.003+01:00

Several months ago, I made a post about my shock and surprise of bike seat advertising (see "The WTF Moment of Monday Morning"). Well, it has happened again...free bike seat advertisement #2:

Funnily enough, I already had a bag as my bike seat (which is the normal thing I do), and the people who decided to spread their message just added theirs on top, putting it over the bag...interesting.

So what is the bike seat cover advertising this time? Well, I checked out the advertised website, and with a little help from Google Translate, I figured out it was from the Socialist Party trying to recruit young people. Thus, it makes sense that they would advertise on bikes at a university building...unfortunately, they pegged an international student who a) doesn't speak much Dutch, and b) can't vote!!

Kudos to the political parties for mobilizing quickly after collapse of the cabinet, but I'm taking a backseat to politics this year after being active in the crazy 2008 election in the U.S. :)

Pannekoeken shiip!!

2010-03-02T00:01:00.000+01:00

I forgot to post this exciting news a couple of weeks ago. After living in Groningen for almost six months, I finally made it to another place I have been meaning to go for a while: the pannekoeken ship.

Yep, you read right--a pancake ship! No, it is not a ship made of pancakes...that would be just weird. It is essentially an-IHOP-like diner on a boat. They had all kinds of pannekoeken, which are more like crepes than the huge, fluffy stack of American pancakes. They are still quite good, but different. Also, instead of getting your bacon (spek) on the side, you have it cooked in your pannekoeken. Of course, since it is like a crepe, you can go for sweet or savory. So you can find some pancakes with cheese, or "Greek" pancakes which was like a Greek salad with feta cheese on a pancake.

So pancake ship = awesome. I will definitely be making a return trip soon. :)

Stephen Colbert: Assistant Sports Psychologist...

2010-02-28T16:10:00.004+01:00

Colbert attempts to take over my field...I am scared.

Part One:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Freud Rage - The Iceman Counseleth

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Skate Expectations

Part Two:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Freud Rage - The Iceman Counseleth - Shani Davis

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Skate Expectations

When You Can't Cry Anymore, Just Laugh

2010-02-25T13:52:00.004+01:00

I'm not sure if the "mourning" period is officially over or not (see last post for full story). Still, it has reached the point of polite joking around the office. My office-mate sent me some photos that were pretty funny....

Here is one of the skater's coach. Seriously, I love blind jokes (as someone who is visually impaired).

Here is another of a GPS screen....

And finally, here is one modeled after a Dutch driver's license test.

...I think you get the idea. You can tell that some people aren't bitter, no?

"Today was gonna be the day...but they'll never throw it back to you"

2010-02-24T23:35:00.009+01:00

As I alluded to in a previous post, the Dutch do love ice skating, and they are proud of their reputation as dominant athletes in speed skating. And this reputation is for good reason. The six medals (half of them gold medals) that the Dutch have won so far have all been in speed skating.

It is why this story was real punch to the gut of Dutch speed skating pride. As a Dutch colleague mentioned today, "It is a national day of mourning in this country." For those too lazy to read the CNN article, here's a quick quote to tell you what happened:

Dutch speed skating star Sven Kramer was left in tears after confused communication with his coach cost him a gold medal at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old was hot favorite to add the 10,000-meter title to his 5,000m victory earlier in the Vancouver Games, and he completed the grueling circuit in what would have been an Olympic record time.
However, his dreams of a double gold crumbled when he was disqualified for an incorrect change of lanes, meaning that the man he was paired with -- Russia's Ivan Skobrev -- won the silver medal and South Korea's Lee Seung-Hoon was promoted to first place.

I feel really bad for the guy, especially since speed skating is a sport that does not get much notice outside the Winter Olympics (well, in the U.S. it doesn't...I know in the Netherlands it is a different story). At least he has already earned one gold medal, but I would definitely be upset at my coach after this error.

Yet, part of me finds the backlash of this event interesting from a research perspective (on both achievement goals and perfectionism)...but I think I should at least respect the "day of mourning" before starting that discussion at my lunch table at work. :)

Tales from a Dutch Class

2010-02-23T21:28:00.012+01:00

Almost every class has a moment of entertainment of some kind. Since I have been rather busy at work for the past couple of weeks, I haven't had a chance to write and share these stories with you. These short anecdotes probably should be separate posts, but I'll just combine it all into one for now. I hope you find them at least mildly entertaining. :)

Class 2: We started learning more conversational Dutch, but continued on the theme of divulging personal information. Part of this conversation included asking if we lived alone or with someone..and by extension, asking our marital status. Part of the lesson included a woman who was married to a Dutch guy...which led to the following....

Teacher: .Ben je genouwd met een Nederlander? (Are you married to a Dutch man/Dutch woman)

Most of Class: Nee.

Swedish girl (smiling and in English): Not yet! Laughter from rest of class.

Class 3: We finally get to the basic phrases of hello, how are you, and goodbye. Like any language, there are many ways to say "how are you" that are idioms (e.g., "What's up?" in English should not be translated literally). Many of these phrases included the word "het", which prompted the following question:

Chinese guy (in a exasperated and dejected voice): So..."het" sometimes means "it", sometimes means "the", and sometimes means nothing at all?

Everyone laughs, equally sharing in his confusion.

Teacher (smiling): Ja.

Also in this class, we covered some of the other hello/goodbye phrases that were not in the book...since we have learned some Dutch just by living here. Most common was "Doei", which you hear like high-pitched bird calls all around you when you're biking home. A guy living in Friesland, which is the neighboring province, mentioned another one that none us had heard of...including the teacher. After saying he lived in Friesland, the following occurred:

Teacher: "Ah, Hij spreckt Fries".

Class starts hissing their dissent, then everyone laughs.

KC (to me): You know, it is funny that most of us have been here for less than six months, yet we already know the Frisian stereotypes.

Class 4: We kept on going along with our conversational Dutch, grammar, alphabet, and so on, but our teacher decided to treat us to a song. Unfortunately, after looking a while, I can't find it online to share with you the horrible kindergarten flashback. Just imagine something like this English song, but longer and in Dutch....and a catchy tune that gets stuck in your head for hours later...you get the idea. I thought it would be nice to sing to our Dutch colleagues so they could be subjected to the same horror we were, but I had no desire to get the song re-stuck in my head again.

So there are some anecdotes from Dutch class...and I am sure there are more to come. No class this week though, but I'll try to post more frequently after class starting next week.

Eh, who needs a cabinet anyway?

2010-02-21T00:46:00.007+01:00

So Dutch politics can be just as screwed up as American politics. I still think American politics are more screwed up in many cases, but this news made it to CNN, so it got some international attention, too.

The bottom line is that while this news is pretty important as far as Dutch politics goes, it sounds a lot worse than what has happened. Even the pithy CNN news link reads "Dutch government falls over Afghan rift" makes it sounds like pandemonium and chaos have taken over Holland. Not quite. I'll admit, my knowledge of Dutch politics is a bit limited, but I will try to explain what happened. So this post will be a bit long, but I hope it will clear things up for my American audience.

Basically, one of the tiers of Dutch government is the cabinet, similar to the executive branch of the U.S. government. You have Queen Beatrix, who helps in the formation of the cabinet, which is a long process that occurs after the general elections. Since the Netherlands has many political parties (and none of which have the majority), members of top three political parties come together in the executive cabinet. The trick is that the cabinet has to agree as a consensus on decisions. Once a decision has been made, they must publicly support the decision.

So imagine Obama trying to work with Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell (senate minority leader), Harry Reid, John McCain, and Al Franken to get most of the business done on a day-to-day basis. Bizarre, situation, but just bear with me. They have to make the major decisions about the government, such as troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, new economic polices, etc. And you have to get them to all agree, regardless of their party or background. Now you can get an idea what happened.

The dissolution of Dutch cabinets is not unheard of, and has actually happened in the last ten years. The first cabinet held by the current Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende (who upon mentioning him to me, almost everyone says he looks like Harry Potter...you decide on that one) only lasted 87 days. Again, if the same structure happened in the U.S., the government would last less than 2 hours, I think.

I am not saying that the events should not be taken lightly--it is big and important news in the Netherlands. But what I mean to say is that I am not living in an anarchy, and there are procedures in place to deal with this situation. So don't worry! :)

Edit (2/22/10): I noticed a couple of links were incorrect, and they are now fixed.

Mijn Moeder: Hartelijk gefeliciteerd!!

2010-02-18T00:01:00.001+01:00

Today is my mom's birthday...and since I can't call her easily to wish her a happy birthday, I am resorting to a blog post. ;)

The Dutch birthday song is a bit different and eh...more vivacious than the American "Happy Birthday" song. However I will not be singing it this year--my Dutch is not that great yet. And also, after the song I had to listen to in my Dutch class tonight, the desire to sing ANYTHING in Dutch right now is "nul" (trust me, I'll explain in another post soon). So in lieu of my vocal talents, I found this clip on YouTube of a group singing it to someone random who I don't know...but hey, it works. It is the thought that counts, right?

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T23:45:00.002+01:00

Here is something I stumbled across on YouTube for your enjoyment. Yes, it is in Dutch, but there are English subtitles. Enjoy!

Ik spreek Nederland!! (well, sort of)

2010-02-09T20:32:00.004+01:00

Last night I started the first of my Dutch classes, which I will be taking until May. It is a two hour class from 6pm to 8pm, so I was already a little tired (and still jet lagged) after a full day in the lab. Still, I was excited to finally get started...or at least start butchering the language more than I already have been doing for the past five or so months.

However, the the sentences I learned are basically good for interrogation purposes in case I get pulled over by the Dutch police or something--what is your name, your last name, where are you from, where do you live, what is your phone number. Not even the usual stuff, like "hello" or "how are you". Nope, just right into divulging all sorts of personal information.

I will give credit for the laugh of the evening to my friend, who I'll start referring to in the blog as KC (Kool Canadian ;D) who is taking the class with me. We had to listen, read aloud, and recite a passage multiple times during class. After going over this passage a few times, KC noticed the phrase: "Ik ben Eva. Mijn naam is Eva Sterjk." This led to the following paraphrased discussion:

KC: So is this just saying "I'm Eva. My name is Eva Sterjk"?

Teacher (who was a substitute for the night): Yes.

KC: Is that normal to say your name twice? It's like going up to someone and saying, "I'm Bond. James Bond"

I start laughing, among others.

Teacher: Eh, no, it is not normal.

So whenever that sentence came up again in the umpteenth time we listened to the CD, KC and I started chuckling in the corner. But hey, it's a start. :)

Back in the ATL…

2010-02-09T20:22:00.004+01:00

After Vegas, I decided to return to Atlanta for a few days to meet up with some family and friends. It was a nice respite for me after the crazy conference schedule (where I drank waaay too much coffee), so I kept rather loose plans for the trip

It was nice to go back to Oglethorpe, although I was quickly reminded how much has changed in the two years since my last visit and the three years since I graduated. More professors I knew during my days left for one reason or another, the couches in the Great Hall were replaced, and the OU Café that I would always get my hot chocolate closed down (on the last part, I actually was "that old alumni" back on campus when someone from IT spotted me, asked if I was lost, and explained "Oh, that cafe closed a long time ago." Yeah, thanks). The freshman that were there when I was a senior are now seniors themselves…so all in all, I was feeling rather old.

I also spoke to some senior psychology majors about grad school life. I did this talk two years ago during my last visit, but it still is a rather odd experience. Especially since I have had a rather bizarre grad school experience so far. I think the most interesting question I received was that someone asked me if I would have changed anything. The regret question is always an odd one for me, and my answer usually, and in this case, is “no”. There were a random sequence of events that led me overseas, and any alteration to my past would have detracted or prevented me from ending up where I am now (kinda like Butterfly Effect, I suppose). So no regrets, just move on ahead, learning from the mistakes I made in the past.

In general, my trip to Atlanta was a good one. It was great to see many people, and I look forward to my next visit.

"You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave…."

2010-02-09T20:04:00.005+01:00

I went to Las Vegas for a conference a little over a week ago. I had no desire to visit Vegas in my life, and frankly, I have no desire to return anytime soon. It is a city built on exploitation as they distract their visitors with flashing lights and fleeting thrills. I mean, they even have slot machines right by the gates in the airport. Everything was ridiculously overpriced. For example, when I got my hair cut (since I didn’t have time before I left), I was charged for every little thing that the hairdresser did. To blow dry my hair would have cost me $25, which is just ridiculous. I said, “Thanks for the offer and the warning, but I’ll just go back upstairs to dry my hair.”

Despite my complaints about the city itself, I did have a good time at SPSP. It was exhausting, as always, but well worth the trip. It was great seeing many of my friends and colleagues from Wake Forest, among others I have met over the years. I did enjoy the restaurants I went to in Vegas (one positive thing) with my friends and new acquaintances. One place I went to included the Golden Nugget called the Chart House, which opened a few months ago. This aquarium was actually part of the restaurant, which was pretty cool.

I had to catch an early flight out of Vegas, so I checked out of my hotel at 5am. After not sleeping much because of the busy conference schedule, I was happy to leave for a few days of vacation in Atlanta. On the way to the front desk from my room, I heard The Eagles “Hotel California” playing in the background. Weaving through the assorted stores, tattoo parlor, and casino, I thought this song was rather poignant and fitted the Vegas atmosphere at that moment. Fortunately, I did check out without much hassle and left Sin City far behind.

UnDutchables

2010-02-06T00:31:00.004+01:00

So apparently my blog isn’t that original. In fact, many of the subjects I have covered so far are also proudly featured in the UnDutchables.

Before moving to Holland (but after I started this blog), I read a review about this book. I decided to wait before I read it, mainly because I wanted to form my own impressions of the Netherlands and not have the book skew my perception. I also thought I would appreciate it more after leaving here for some time.

My dad gave me this book for Christmas, and I have been slowly thumbing through it, laughing at the cartoons and descriptions of even the simplest things, such as washing the dishes. The book has already gone through five editions in the past decade, and I can see why it is so popular.

But it also make me realize that maybe my blog isn’t so original after all. At this rate, I may have to start using random APA citations for areas of my blog that overlap with the book. But hey, at least my humor is free and from a random perspective.

So I may be a slight spin-off of the UnDutchables humor with a David Sedaris inspired style of narrative…but I won’t stop blogging. I’ll just admit that I am a spin-off in this post and move on with the next update.

Laundry Days

2010-02-06T00:27:00.004+01:00

My building where I currently live does not have any laundry facilities on site, so since September, I have been lugging my dirty laundry out in public to the local landromats. Initially, I went to a place that pretty much does your laundry for you for 6 euro per load. Not shabby, but I am used to doing my own laundry and was not too keen on someone else doing it for me.

On my bike route home, I noticed that there was another laundromat that was a little further away, but it was cheaper, self-service, and open during better hours (open till 9pm, even on Sundays!!). So since then, I have been going there to do my laundry.

However, getting my laundry to this location (or even the old one) was a bit of a challenge. The first time (pre-bike), I used my luggage and walked it to the laundry-mat, which was not very fun. The next time I biked to the laundromat with a two loads in garbage bags stuffed in my bike satchels, and another load in my mesh laundry bag over my shoulder. I have since started using a couple of waterproof bags (including a Publix bag and another shopping bag I got here) along with a bookbag, which seems to be the right balance between 2-3 loads. It is rather sad that I have applied a proper trial-and-error process to biking with my laundry.

And then there is the actual stay in the laundromat. Some people put their stuff in the washer and leave, returning to finish their laundry, even though there is no staff present, just video cameras. The washers do lock during the wash cycle, which I guess is some form of security, but I usually opt to stay put and listen to my Ipod when doing laundry. When people come in though, they almost always greet you (which my American background thinks is a bit bizarre), and sometimes engage in chit-chat.

I actually had a lengthy conversation with one guy before I went home in December. During this conversation, I also learned that sometimes, the Dutch and Americans aren’t so different after all. Upon mentioning that I studied psychology, I was asked “Oh, are you trying to analyze me?”—a question that makes any psychology major or grad student cringe, particularly if they are not studying clinical/counseling. So for the record, no, we are not analyzing you, so please do not ask. Anyways, that was the first time that had come up since moving here, which made me internally laugh and cringe and the same time.

So laundry days are not completely dull. Adventures on my bike getting my clothing to and from the location for one, and sometimes, just the random Dutch strangers that I encounter. Still, I hope the next place I live does have a laundry facility to reduce the stress of the former, although I may miss the latter.

For those who actually like the snow…

2010-02-06T00:05:00.002+01:00

So I may be in the minority that is rather hateful of the snow. Many of my Dutch friends are rather excited to see the snow, which is quite unusual (especially for this long). With the rare appearance of snow also brings along the following discussion: Will there be the Elfstedentocht this year?

For those who are lazy to look up the Wiki page, the Elfstedentocht (English translation: Eleven Cities Tour) is a rare winter event that takes place in the Dutch province Friesland. The most comparable thing in the U.S. would probably be the Boston marathon, but just for ice skating and on a more infrequent schedule. It starts and stops in the same city, Leeuwarden, with a winding path of frozen canals that leads through the eleven cities in the province.

From what I have been told, this event is huge. Tons of people skate along the canal route (although you have to be in pretty good shape to go the whole route, which is 200km). Those who don’t even skate flock to this province just to watch (and I think get totally drunk in the process). It is also televised, and pretty much the whole country shuts down when this event takes place.

Would it be interesting if the Elfstedentocht took place while I was here? Sure. However, that would also mean that it would be a really freaking cold winter, which I am not very interested in witnessing (any further than I already have, at any rate). The weather has seemed to warm up some just above freezing, so I doubt the Elfstedentocht will occur this year.

As far as ice skating goes for this year, I will at least watch the Dutch speed skaters at the Olympics as they compete against the Colbert-sponsored U.S. speed skating team. ;)

A Southern Belle + Snow, Part 2

2010-02-06T00:03:00.001+01:00

For the first couple of weeks I came back to Holland, we either had snow on the ground or new snow falling. Most of the snow has melted now, except for some random mounds where it was pushed aside or has not warmed up enough to melt.

As far as my bike ride skills go, I adjusted to biking on snowy road and in some cases, on top of a few inches of snow. I did not realize that biking “on” the snow is not nearly as bad as biking “in” the snow, which I think is actually worse than biking in the rain. Flecks of snow getting into your eyes are a bit of a hazard while biking, and something I did not particularly enjoy.

I also had the misfortune of noticing that my wallet fell out of my pocket while biking home one evening. My route home follows along one main road with a bike path, although I had no clue where I dropped it. I got off my bike, parked it, and took my detachable bike light to use as a flashlight to look for the wallet. After traipsing through the snow for an hour, I returned home very cold and empty handed. Fortunately, less than an hour upon my return home someone returned it. Now, I definitely take my wallet out of the pocket of my jeans prior to biking ANYWHERE.

So my adventures in the snow have not been great. I think as a kid, I thought it was fun to play and enjoy. As an adult and a constantly working PhD student who works in the office, home, or elsewhere, it is a nuisance and annoyance. Also, the wind-chill at 15 degrees Fahrenheit (or -10 degree Celsius) makes me start muttering all sorts of profane language.

Let spring come soon, please. And hopefully, Gen. Beauregard Lee was right on Groundhog Day and we will have an early spring…just kidding. ;)

Do you want fries with that?

2010-01-31T02:04:00.003+01:00

This entry has been a long time coming, but I finally had time to sit down and write it.

French fries are commonly associated with all things American (except for the brief idiotic conservative movement of “freedom fries”). McDonald’s, hamburgers, and of course, French fries. To tell you the truth, I am not a huge fan of the fried potato. I mean, of course, I will eat them, but I wouldn't classify them as an essential part of my meal. I can take them or leave them.

However, one thing I doubt I will ever comprehend or appreciate is Dutch (and German, Belgian, and others I believe) desire to use mayonnaise as a condiment for fries. Especially huge globs of mayonnaise. Ketchup? Fine. Ketchup and mustard? Sure. Chili and cheese? Okay, but not really my thing. But mayo…just mayo…not happening.

I’ll admit, I did try it when eating out a few times. I do like to try things at least once, and part of the whole “living abroad” experience is to try new things that you’re not used to. In small quantities, it is fine. But still, I can’t imagine the way I have witnessed others eating it—mayo with a side of fries. Despite my Dutch friends proclaiming the mayo-fries combination as ambrosia from the gods, I’ll stick with my American standard of "Heinz-57 with my French-fried potato" (and yes, I couldn't resist the Jimmy Buffett reference).

However, I will admit that I do like the addition of a small plastic fork when eating your fries. Very practical, although I am sure some Americans would consider it blasphemy to not eat fries with your fingers. ;)

"I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink..."

2010-01-29T01:29:00.004+01:00

It's 3:55am in Schiphol airport, and yes, I am still awake.

Not by choice, trust me. The deep shadows under me eyes (which one of my past advisors called "meth eyes") reveal the lack of sleep I have had for the last few days, not aided by an all-nighter in the aiport, followed by a journey over 9 time zones.

So why am I at the airport at 3am? Well, my flight leaves a little after 10am, And with the advanced security following the Christmas incident on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, I heard that security and screening may take longer. So, adding the time of getting to the airport early and the time it takes to take the train from Groningen, I would have been pushing my luck to take the first train in the morning, especially if there were delays or my inability to wake up early in the morning.

So here I am in Schiphol, and I am not the only one.

A few random observations:

-I have seen more Segways weaving around than I ever thought I would in my life.

-Burger King is still open, a mecca for all travelers.

- (Huge revolving doors x escelators from the train platforms) + winter weather = a very cold, drafty airport = unable to stay warm = unable to sleep

-Parts of Schiphol are like a deserted mall at 3am (like many airports these days). You can go to H&M, HEMA, a supermarket, liquor store, and a place called "Wonder Woman".

- And Juggle Juice Bar? WTF?

So since I can't sleep, y'all get the benefit by receiving more blog updates. Hey, I know it has been a while, but I've been busy (as usual). More to come!

A brief update about my updates...

2010-01-29T01:25:00.003+01:00

Hi all!

So I am finally updating my blog, after what seems like forever, I know. I wrote several blog updates while waiting at the airport, so you get to benefit. I am currently in Las Vegas for a conference, and I will drag out the updates, since I will have to edit my posts, add pictures, and check for typos. Then of course, I will have to write another update about this trip to the States as well. So stay tuned for more updates!

Southern Belle + Snow = AHH!!

2010-01-05T23:30:00.004+01:00

As I have said before, I departed Groningen in December in the hopes for warmer weather. And indeed, I did get it. About half of my stay was around the 60's (or 20 degrees Celsius for those metric users). It did get a bit chilly and around freezing overnight from time to time, but most of my stay was unicumbered by hats, scarves, gloves, and for the most part, jackets.

It was for this reason I was laughing hysterically when I realized I missed a heavy snowstorm in Groningen, which happened a few days after I left. Snow may look pretty and be fun for a brief spell, but I had no desire to be that cold, wet, and uncomfortable. Southerns (or at least those in the deep South) don't do well with snow, and a mere inch of snow can cause chaos, pandamonia, and quotations from the Book of Revelation. I have experienced some snow while living in Atlanta and Winston-Salem, but this usually accompanied automobiles, apartments, and offices that have heating. Look at the snow, fine--but that is about the extent of it.

But of course, I didn't get off that easy.

Upon my arrival into Amsterdam on Saturday, I saw a thin dusting of snow, with a forecast of more to come during the day. My train ride northward showed more snow on the ground, and more snow falling (by the way, snow in the slipstream of a train is rather interesting...). By the time I reached Groningen, it had stopped snowing, but I still had to drag my luggage though the snow to the bus stop and into my apartment. Despite my fatigue, I had one necessary chore I had to do--to get groceries (as everything is closed on Sunday). This meant riding my bike in the snow.

The idea of snow is natural, and even driving in the snow with proper additions (i.e., snow tires) makes sense. The idea of riding your bike in the snow still baffles me as something only a lunatic would do, but it is the only way to get from Point A to Point B with some degree of speed. I had no desire to walk in the snow for fifteen minutes each way, and carrying groceries on the return trip. So I hopped on my bike and biked in the snow (on cobblestone streets, no less). Some people may think it is fun, but I am glad I was able to make it to my destination without falling over or dying. And for good measure, I picked up some vodka from the liquor store to warm me up back in my apartment and help me forget that I just had to bike in the snow. :)

With the way this winter is going, I am sure to complain about the cold or snow once again...but I think the necessity of riding a bike in the snow is a legitimate complaint.

Culinary Photos from the Holidays

2010-01-05T23:20:00.004+01:00

When I was home for Christmas break, my family was pretty awesome in making sure I had foods that I did not have living in the Netherlands. Southerners are known for their comfort food, and I definitely enjoyed the following meals, generally accompanied by some sweet tea (also something I did not have for months, which is a pretty big deal for me).

1. Lunch at Aunt B's, a local restaurant. Despite the monochromatic plate, the food was awesome--fried chicken, fired okra, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Yum!

2. Christmas Dinner with my mom. This traditional Irish meal is something I generally have for St. Patrick's Day, but I had it a few months early. It is not really "southern" like the theme of this post, (aside from the cornbread), but it is comfort food--corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion, and cornbread.

3. New Years' Eve Dinner with my dad: This dish is called Frogmore Stew or Low-Country Boil. Usually you can add more seafood to this dish (e.g., crawfish, which I don't care for too much). We just had the primary ingredients--shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn.

4. New Year's Day: I had two different versions of this dish, one from a friend and another from my mom. It is called Hoppin' John, and it traditionally brings you luck and prosperity. I'm not really superstitious, but it is a dish I only have once a year--on New Years' Day. (No picture really necessary, just check the Wiki link if you're really curious what black -eye peas and rice looks like...).

So I definitely enjoyed the food from back home, although it probably wasn't the most healthy route for the holidays. Ah well.

German Christmas Market!

2010-01-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

Right before I went home for Christmas, I finally ventured outside the Netherlands to another country in Europe. Granted, it was a short day trip into Germany, but hey it counts. :)

I took the bus to Oldenburg, Germany to visit the local Christmas Market. I intended to go with a group of friends, but I had to get an afternoon bus ticket since the morning bus was full. I hoped to meet up with them in the afternoon, but we only were able to meet and chat on the ride home. So my journey into Germany was primarily a solo venture, although that was not the original intent.

Despite the chilly temperatures and solo experience, I did manage to have a good time and do some final Christmas shopping. Some things I learned on this venture:

1. The Germans are way into Christmas spirit (I guess "festive" would be a better term). My reaction upon seeing the market and crowd was similar to "holy crap". I saw a lot of people wearing Christmas hats, and the market was packed for hours. It was hard to get to some of the booths because of this crowd, but I still managed to wind my way around.

2. I could tel the difference between German and Dutch. I actually understand some random words in Dutch, and I understood nothing in German.

3. I am grateful for the Dutch people who speak English, because most of the Germans I encountered in Oldernburg did not speak much English at all.

4. German fudge & pastries = yummy.

5. I will definitely return next year. :)

And a Happy New Year

2010-01-01T22:03:00.003+01:00

I officially am horrible at getting anything done while at home during the holidays. I swear, these past three weeks have flown by, and now I am back in Jacksonville airport on route to Amsterdam again. Considering I have a three hour layover in Atlanta, I definitely will be adding some more updates today, thanks to Google's free WiFi for the holidays. :)

But since I am boarding soon, I will leave you with an image I forgot to upload a few weeks ago. This is a nice and festive picture of the Martini Tower, which helped put me in the Christmas spirit before I left.

I really didn't get into the Christmas spirit until I came home a few weeks ago. Still, once I did come home, I made sure to watch my regular Christmas movies (such as A Nightmare Before Christmas and A Muppet's Christmas Carol...yes, I am actually nine years-old, not 24 years-old during the holidays...). I enjoyed spending time with my family, although I do feel the need to get back to work.

Anyways, off to Atlanta now, and I'll update some backlog entries soon.

Christmas Laziness...

2009-12-21T20:35:00.004+01:00

As usual per the holiday season, I have turned into a lazy bum. Part of the reason for the lack of updates was that I caught a cold right before leaving Groningen, which I have been fighting for the past week. Actually, I still have a lingering cough, but at least I am up and functioning again.

Here are some random notes from the past week, considering life in St. Marys is not as exciting to blog about...

1. To Kill a Mockingbird is still an awesome movie (and book).

2. I have gladly missed the Palm Pixie commercials. Seriously, who was the crazy ad executive who agreed to that one?

3. I missed Moe's, but it is still good as I remember it.

4. I'm glad I missed the snow in Groningen. Biking in the snow does not seem like an entertaining prospect at the moment. Apparently, I also missed snow in Winston-Salem, but I don't know when I'll be back in NC again. I'm enjoying the warmer weather here, although it is a little chilly today (low 50's or 12 degrees...still warmer than what I have been dealing with).

5. I love my new Ipod. :)

It is great to be back with my family for the holidays. Also, I will work on updating my blog in the next few days on some back entries that I have been meaning to post for a little while now. Thanks for being patient, and stay tuned!

A Southern Belle Going...Southern

2009-12-14T01:27:00.002+01:00

I am currently at a gate in Memphis, enjoying the free holiday WiFi. So yes, I am back in the South, although not really my area of the South. Well, I am back in the States at any rate.

I've been on the go for a while today. I took an 8:20am bus to the train station, caught a 9:06 train, and made my way through the airport around noontime before my flight. I did not have a long wait time, since the security chcekpoints are by gate (not for all gates as commonly done in the States). Still, things went fairly smoothly, which is nice to know.

My actual flight was pretty long, although we did arrive a little early. It was around 9.5 hours, and I am curerntly fighting a cold on top of it. I hate flying while ill, but I couldn't refund the tickets even if I wanted to. So it was not the most pleasant flight ever, but I made it back in more or less one piece. Big plus: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince was my inflight movie, which was nice to se again. My first tarns-Atlantic flight consisted of watching Goblet of Fire, so you can see how times have changed. :)

And for those who are curious...what did I buy as my first food item back in the States? Starbucks. Yep, a Starbucks tall no-fat hazlenut late and a blueberry muffin. They are a bit sweet for my tastebuds right now, but it works. I'm going to arrive in Jacksonville after 10pm and probably get to St. Marys around 11:00pm or so...so it will feel like it is 5am by the time I do get home. But at least I will be home.

Anyways, more updates to come (particularly about my trip to Germany yesterday) in the few days, once I recover from jet lag.

Out in Left Field...

2009-12-09T18:00:00.003+01:00

A quick post before I go home today (yes, I am actually posting at work despite my old jokes to NOT do this...but hey, it is after 6pm here).

I had a brief meeting with my supervisor today, and here is a paraphrasing of a small bit of our conversation:

Me: (discussing a decision I made with my research)...Okay, I just wanted to check to make sure my logic was not out in left field or anything.
Supervisor: (raises eyebrow) Out in left field?
Me: Oh, sorry, it's just an expression.
Supervisor: Yeah, relating to baseball? I like it. But why left field? Aren't left and right field symmetrical?
Me: (laughing) I have no idea--it is just an expression to make sure you are not crazy.
Supervisor: Or it could be something against left-wing politics.
Me: (still laughing) Wouldn't surprise me.

So after this brief discussion, I was prompted to look up the origins of "out in left field". I mean, if I am going to use colloquial expressions, I might as well know. So I turned to the faithful source of random knowledge, Wikipedia, which had this section on the subject. There is no clear origin of it, but I am more inclined to think the Babe Ruth origins would make more sense than anything else. For those who are lazy to check Wiki, here is one theory:

The phrase "out of left field" is popular vernacular (first attested in 1961) meaning "wildly unrelated to the subject being discussed", and "out in left field" means "a little crazy". One theory is that this refers to the popularity of seats in right field at Yankee Stadium while Babe Ruth was playing that position; buying a seat in left field would have been "stupid".

So lesson for the day: Watch my use of colloquialisms, although an occasional colloquial reference can lead to an interesting conversion.

Ik ben de kaas!

2009-12-08T00:31:00.007+01:00

This post is a bit long, but I hope you don't mind staying with me for a bit.

Today I decided that I will start Dutch language courses in February. I debated whether I wanted to take formal courses for a while now. I knew I did not want to start the lessons right away because I was starting a new area of research and adjusting to life here in general, and I did not want the stress of taking language courses hanging over my head on top of that. I also sought the advice of other international students who went through the courses before with mixed reviews. Even some of my Dutch colleagues understood the rationale for not taking the classes. I am only here for four years, and I can get by with English--why bother learning a language I may not ever use again after I leave?

There were a few things that led to my final decision in taking the course. First, my intentions of learning Dutch on my own have failed miserably. I planned on working on my Dutch after work--but usually I want to do other things after work (e.g., watch the latest episode of House online). Second, if things work out as they should, I should not have to worry about the cost of the courses. Third, I won't be doing it alone. A Canadian colleague of mine who started last month will also be joining me in this endeavor, so I will at least have a study buddy. ;)

The fourth and final reason is a bit more personal, I suppose. It would just make things easier on me. I have been around a group of Dutch people who make the effort to speak to me in English, but I know it gets tiring for them after a while to speak in their second language. Also, I want to be able to make transactions easier and not expect the fellow Dutch people of Groningen (or elsewhere, really) to speak English just for me. After a few months, I have noticed a general pattern among those who try to speak to me in Dutch:

Dutch person: Ik ben awesome.... (or whatever they say in Dutch)

Me: frowning slightly I'm sorry, I only speak English.

Dutch person: Oh, sorry. (repeat whatever they were saying in English).

Granted, the Dutch people may vary in their ability to speak English, but they do try in most cases. Also, the thing I can't seem to get, is that they apologize to me. Seriously? I mean, I am the one who moved to your country, not knowing your language. It is my own fault, really. I am just grateful that I can work and live with my native language in this country. I can't imagine being an international student who speaks English as a second language communicating to the Dutch who also speak English as a second language. I am sure it is frustrating for both sides.

I suppose the price I pay in return for speaking English natively is that people, particularly colleagues (students and professors), ask me to check their English. I do not profess to be a grammar expert by any means--there was a reason i was not an English major. But still, I am often asked to define words, pronounce words, check grammar, and translate slang (yes, dykes aren't just the things that regulate water levels...). It is rather odd to me to be in this role, but I am getting used to it. Actually , I really don't mind it at all. If that is the price I pay for having the Dutch communicate to me in English, then it is fine by me.

Oh, and an explanation of the title. In my French class back in high school, we would learn random odd phrases, including "I am the cheese." or "I am a giant potato", or other phrases of little practicality. So when thinking ahead to my future Dutch classes, I am reminded of memories of my old language classes. :)

Hey, Rollover DJ

2009-12-06T15:22:00.007+01:00

For those of you who have not known me for a long time, I love to make music mixes. I may not be able to play an instrument or sing incredibly well, but I do appreciate all sort of music and arrange them into Mix-CDs (since we have evolved from mix-tapes). Even in the iPod generation, I make iTunes playlists long enough so that they could be burned to a CD. For the past several years, I have taken the time to make my friends mix-CDs for Christmas gifts (cheap, but thoughtful). Although my skills in high school in making mixes were rather crappy, I would like to think my skills have improved in time. One of my better mixes included a mix for my classmates at Wake that symbolized toiling over our thesis.

I also make mixes for myself, kind of like a soundtrack-of-my-life moment. I made one mix for leaving Wake and moving to Europe, which I opted not to post at the time...for some reason I no longer recall. I also recently made a mix for my trip back to the States next week, my first time home since I have been abroad. I know it seems a little soon to be going back to the States, but I really wanted to b e with my family for Christmas. Anyways, I thought I would share the mixes, for those who are curious. Finding appropriate songs was a bit difficult, but it works for me. :)

*Edit: I decided to add links to YouTube and Grooveshark for the song if you don't know it. Some are live versions, some have music videos, but you at least get an idea of the song. In many cases, you can probably find the actual version on Grooveshark if you don't like the live version I posted.

Moving to Europe Mix

1. Dexter Freebish "Leaving Town"

2. The Beatles "In My Life"

3. Keane "Everybody's Changing"

4. Jet "Move On"

5. Ben Kweller "Living Life"

6. Toad the Wet Sprocket "Walk on the Ocean"

7. Jim Sturgress "All My Loving" (Beatles cover from Across the Universe)

8. Journey "Wheels in the Sky" (yes, I went there... :D)

9. Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"

10. Neutral Milk Hotel "In the Aeroplane over the Sea"

11. The Apples in Stereo "Skyway"

12. Phantom Planet "Is this Really Happening to Me?"

13. Oasis "Roll with it"

14. James Taylor "Carolina in My Mind"

15. Morcheeba "Let it Go"

16. Billy Joel "Vienna"

17. Ok Go "Let it Rain"

18. Ben Folds Five "Your Redneck Past" (I was actually at this concert...)

19. Queen "Bicycle Race"

20. Hot Hot Heat "Island of the Honest Man"

Coming Home Mix

1. 4 Non Blondes "What's Up"

2. Incubus "Wish You Were Here"

3. Train "Drops of Jupiter"

4. Bernard Fanning "Which Way Home?"

5. Ghost Mice "Holland"

6. The Who "Going Mobile"

7. The Beatles "Wait"

8. Cat Stevens "The Wind"

9. Simon & Garfunkel "America"

10. John Denver "Take Me Home Country Roads" (the only John Denver song I like)

11. Ray Charles "Georgia on My Mind"

12. The Postal Service "Such Great Heights"

13. Lynyrd Skynyrd "Sweet Home Alabama"

14. Spoon "Sister Jack"

15. Fastball "G.O.D. (Good Old Days)"

16. John Mayer "No Such Thing"

17. Ben Folds Five "Where's Summer B?"

18. Social Distortion "Story of My Life"

19. John Mellencamp "Pink Houses" (Depressingly realistic song, I know)

20. Kim Wilde "Kids in America"

21. Blackmore's Night "Home Again"

Cheers!

2009-12-03T20:45:00.004+01:00

I would claim that Americans can be pretty prudish about things. Upon mentioning to friends or family that I am in the Netherlands, I usually hear some joke or question relating to marijuana use and legalized prostitution. These comments are beyond ridiculous, but it comes up because the idea is very radical among Americans. However, I think this prudish attitude extends beyond sex and "illegal" drugs to something as simple as alcohol.

In the Netherlands, you can purchase alcohol and go to clubs and such at the age of 16 (add that to your list for sweet sixteen). In addition, going out for a drink after work is a very common thing. For example, I attend classes in southern Holland (usually Amsterdam) as a part of my PhD training. After every single class I have had so far, people have asked, "Hey, do you all want to go for a drink?" I have gone once, but since I have a 2.5 hour train ride home after these classes, I usually pass. After catching an early train to travel to Amsterdam, you wouldn't want to hang around either. ;)

This evening played out in a similar way. My fellow Groningen Ph.D. students and I passed on the post-class trip to the pub and caught the train home. However, my officemate surprised me on the train. Even though we had a quick five minutes to grab food before catching our train, she bought some Heineken for all of us. Our conversation (or close to it) went as follows:

Me: "Awesome. You know, you definitely couldn't do this in the U.S."

Officemate: "Well, cheers to that."

And of course, the guy checking our tickets made no comment. Again, something that would not happen in the States. I know there are exceptions to my claim, such as the wonderful city of New Orleans. But in general, the U.S. is not fond of drinking your own alcohol in a public setting like that...or at least from the areas I know in the South. Things that seem like taboos in the U.S. definitely are not a big deal here--and I am quite okay with that.

Sinterklaas is Almost Here....

2009-12-01T00:01:00.001+01:00

It is officially after American Thnksgiving now, so I am willing to start talking about Christmas time in Groningen. Hey, some habits are hard to break, and even though Christmas lights were up (and lit) before Halloween, I refused to get into the Christmas spirit...until now.

So the day I was out hanging with the seals, Sinterklass (aka Santa Claus) came to Groningen on boat from Spain.

And yes, if I said that sentence to someone here, that would make total sense.

The Dutch definitely have their unique Christmas story. Their main tradition is on December 5, or the eve of St. Nicholas's day. Actually, the tradition of leaving out a shoe for candy is not completely foreign to me. My parents had this tradition when I was a kid, although we had a modified version when we would receive it the morning of December 6. My brother and I would usually receive a candy bar or some toy in our shoe. Not very common among Americans, but I don't claim to be a common American. ;)

Anyways, the best explanation of the Dutch Christmas traditions has to be from David Sedaris. A friend of mine mentioned that there was a chapter, "Six to Eight Black Men" in Dress Your Family in Cordoroy and Denim that discussed the Dutch holiday tradition. It is one of the David Sedaris books I have not read, and I stumbled across David Sedaris giving a reading of this chapter on YouTube. It is in three parts, but it is hilarious and has some nice animation pictures along with it by the poster. Enjoy!

Part Two:

Part Three:

As November Draws to a Close

2009-11-30T21:49:00.005+01:00

Although I missed my family and my traditional Thanksgiving meal this year, I still managed to enjoy my Turkey Day. I went to work, as I mentioned before, but I went out that evening and went to an Irish pub in town, which I considered to be as close as I would get to family atmosphere. Although they didn't have much of a dinner selection, I managed to have a good stew and a beer for my Thanksgiving dinner, which was quite enjoyable. I then started some Christmas shopping around town, dodging the rain (as usual).

In order to make up for not being with my extended family in Charleston on Thanksgiving, I sent a video to my family to send my greetings. Unexpectedly, they sent a return video, and it was nice to see my family in my grandparents' old house (now my aunt & uncle's house). Still, I will be going back to the States in a few weeks and I will be with my family on Christmas.

On Saturday, I ended up having what I considered to be my real Dutch Thanksgiving. A colleague and friend of mine decided to host a potluck, so we all got out or aprons and pans and were domestic instead of academic for a change. We all put out a nice spread, from salad to dessert. I ended up making a Shepherd's Pie (with mashed potatoes from scratch), and I had a great time. I didn't stay out too late because I was still worn out from the previous day in Zwolle. I picked up my residence permit (finally), so I am legally here until September 2013--yay! I decided to stay in the area and look around, but I did a lot of walking in the process.

Oh, and other things I am thankful for: care packages! Thanks again, mom! It was a welcome gift around Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T15:06:00.006+01:00

Today is Thanksgiving in the States, but here, it is just like any other day. I even had a meeting with my advisor scheduled for today, which made this comic very fitting:

So crazy academics are just normal people over here...well, sort of. If you were to work on a holiday here, you would be considered insane. :)

"And tell me grey seal, how does it feel to be so wise?"

2009-11-21T18:40:00.006+01:00

This morning I woke up bright and early to meet some friends to visit a nearby town, Pieterburen. After a brief train ride and a bus ride through the countryside, we arrived at Pieterburen, which is home to the Seal Rehabilitation and Research Center. Groningen is not far from the North Sea. To be more precise, the sea between the coast and the islands is called the Wadden Sea, and beyond the islands is the start of the North sea.

The Wadden Sea is the home of two different types of seals: the harp seal and the grey seal. Recently, the seals experienced a huge decrease in population (around 60%) when a virus attacked the seals. They also have to deal with pollution and other illnesses, so Seal Rehabilitation and Research Center rescues sick seals and treats them before releasing them back into the wild.

Beyond these serious environmental and educational messages, the seals themselves are great advertisements in sheer cuteness. I mean, who can resist this level of cuteness?

Or this one?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

After visiting the adorable seals, we had some lunch and wandered around town. We also walked for a couple of kilometers to a nearby dyke that overlooked the sea. The view was rather nice, and it was great to have a fun down outside of Groningen for a nice change of pace.

Bike cam!!

2009-11-21T00:19:00.004+01:00

For some of you, it may be a bit hard to believe that I ride my bike all the time. So I decided to be a little daring and a little insane and used my digital camera to document the last leg of my bike ride home. It isn't the best camera work, which is reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. However, I am riding my bike while holding a camera in my hand...which was not easy. You also tell where the road gets bumpy or is messed up a bit by the degree to witch the camera shakes. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the flashing light is my bike's headlight. Enjoy!