Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Michael Nocella
Taking on a class for the first time is like
asking a beautiful girl out on a date.
You always know what you want to say,
but it comes out like mashed potatoes.
Terra Incognita
Terra Incognita
Michael Nocella (1988) studying chemistry
at Illinois State University does undercover
research in Dutch high schools. In three
months he explores terra incognita using
the NHL-University in Leeuwarden (NL)
as his station. From the Chicago suburbs to
the “rural” Frisian area, his study serves as an From suburbs to Frisia
investigation of international student life.
He takes a glimpse at (chemistry) teaching
Michael Nocella
Editing house: Ter Verpoozing
ISBN: 978-90-73064-06-5
NUR 300 / 525
© M. K. Nocella
first print 2009
All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced without written permission of the
editor and the author Michael Nocella mknocel@ilstu.edu
Omne ignotum pro magnifico est
Tacitus
8
1/27
The late night plus a day of traveling had taken a terrible toll on
our bodies, so Wonil and I started off our day at noon. After a
shower, breakfast, and checking our emails, we quested our way over
to the supermarket (Albert Heijn), which was the one that Kirsten
had showed me the day before. It took us a while to navigate the
store and find all or our necessities, but we did it.
At four, we met up with other students planning on studying at
the NHL and walked over to a plaza near the city center. We took a
group picture and broke up into smaller groups. My group from the
party the night before (Katri: Finland, Erdal and Ali: Turkey,
Wonil: Korea, Pablo: Spain) and two newbies (Rossana: Italy and
Bori: Hungary) assembled. Then we went on a picture scavenger
hunt and had a blast. Our travel led us in a big circle throughout the
city. During that time, Ali acted as our leader and Erdal became our
video tour guide. For one picture, Erdal, Wonil, and Katri
pretended to lick a statue of an ice cream cone. In another, I got up
on a huge statue of a horse and pretended to ride it. Although I got
a lot of weird looks from the locals, it was totally worth it.
When we returned to the city center, cold and tired, we waited in a
pub for the other groups to come back. Upon their arrival, we
ventured to a pancake house that was on a boat in one of the canals.
They specialized in almost every imaginable sort of pancake (even
those filled with fish!). I got one with bacon and kaas.
Unfortunately, I was split up from the group. They sat at the table
next to mine, but I got to meet some Dutch and German students.
They were Margerie, Andrew, and Laura. Margerie and I spoke a
little German back and forth, but for the most part everyone
conversed in English. Actually, I am hoping to help the members of
my group or herd if you will (hopefully you all have seen the movie
Ice Age and will understand) in learning more English words and
phrases in order to help them expand their vocabulary. For the most
part, they have seemed interested. This week is taking a toll on
everyone so it will have to wait for now. In the meantime, Wonil is
helping me make a list of helpful things to learn.
9
1/28
11
1/29
Today Won and I were again slow at getting up, but we still
managed to find time to do a short workout (morning calisthenics if
you will) in preparation for another long day. At eleven, we met up
with Rossana, Ali, and Erdal. We sought out Aldi because it is much
cheaper than the other grocery store (Albert Heijn). There we got
some more rations for the weekend. We still need to head back for a
sponge and detergent. That will be the next big adventure after
classes next week: laundry. Surprisingly, for some of the others this
will be their first time doing their own laundry. Instead of calls
home to their mother, I think they will be consulting me. Maybe
they will know better than to do that by the time we all need to do
laundry.
Following this adventure, Rossana came up to our room to use my
bed as a desk (the sacred bed of wireless internet). It still seems to be
the only place that anyone can connect to the internet and stolen
internet at that. Then at one, I met up with Sanne. Through his
kindness he’s allowed me to borrow his extra bike. It is much older,
perhaps an antique, but it suits me for getting to the campuses.
Hopefully, it will be suitable for longer trips too. After he showed
me how to unlock the bike and the best way to lock it, we headed to
the Tesselschadestraat campus of the NHL. There I was finally able
to purchase health insurance. In addition to that, I had some extra
time to meet with the teacher of the science department Gerard
Stout and tell him we should meet after my meeting with Martha
regarding my class schedule.
In a hurry, due to Sanne needing to get back to work he got me
halfway to the other campus (where I would be meeting Martha)
before he had to leave. At Hempenserweg I met with Martha briefly
to discuss my intentions and generate an acceptable schedule that
would fit my goals. Here’s how it goes so far: on Tuesdays I have
comparative education, on Thursdays I have a Dutch language
course, and on Fridays I have a Dutch history course. I still have to
figure out when my classroom management course will take place.
However, that will be with Gerard, so no worries there because he
will keep me posted.
12
Upon finishing with Martha, I called Gerard to see if he was still at
his office. He was, so I sped over there on my bike. Once I got
there, I had a little bit of a wait. In that time I called my parents to
keep my mind off how thirsty I was. In the Netherlands, I do not
have the luxury of water fountains or free refills. It is quite
depressing. I actually asked one person where I could find water to
drink at the NHL campus and she replied “the toilet”, so I gave up
on searching. At about ten till four, Gerard was finally free. First, he
introduced me to his contact in Groningen, Paul Cloo. He is a
chemistry, physics, and biology teacher at a high school in
Groningen. He said I was welcome to visit anytime. So hopefully
on one of my free Wednesday’s I shall go to see him. In the
meantime though, I am going to Appingedam with Gerard on
Tuesday to visit high schools all day. It should be a great experience
and I am really looking forward to it. I will be finalizing the details
on Monday with Gerard.
Later in the night, there was a party at our residence. The Dutch
students split us up into groups, so that there would be one group
per floor. Each floor was to play a different game, all geared towards
trying to get to know those around you a lot better. The first game
we played was a memory game. And the second game was a card
game. After that game we all ate pizza. Then, the third game was
asking questions to people. However, it got out of hand and the
questions became inappropriate. Once we finished the third game,
we all went to a club. Our circle of friends was tired though and did
not dance much. At least everyone, aside from Erdal, did not dance
much. He is a machine on the dance floor, always doing a different
dance with a different girl. Most of the time we spent though was at
a table drinking cola and socializing. Yet, since we were tired we left
early and decided to play cards in our lounge. Again, I acted as the
teacher and taught them how to play spoons. I think this was the
easiest (aside from go fish) and most fun game they have learned yet.
Afterwards we polished the evening off with poker. Somehow I won
both in spoons and poker. Had it been for real money, I would have
definitely lost.
13
1/30
This morning started off with a shock. Rossana came to our room
as we were getting ready and was the bearer of bad news. She told us
that Ana was returning to Lisbon because she did not enjoy the
NHL. It came as a surprise to both Won and I because we had
always enjoyed her company tried to include her as much as possible.
We stopped by her room just to see if she was still there, but it was
already too late. However, Rossana said that she has her email, so we
are looking forward to contacting her again and to keep in touch.
Due to all that, and the fact that we woke up later than usual, we
had to hurry to the first floor in order to be picked up for ice-
skating. The place was not far from one of the NHL campuses and
on our way there we met two more of the Turkish students. They
typically have more trouble getting visas for studying due to the
strict regulations of Western European governments imposed on
people from Turkey. After a brief introduction, we continued
onward to the ice rink. Each step closer my heart beat faster. I had
never been ice-skating before and for most Europeans, it is second
nature. As we arrived, we signed in and found out our skating
partner and buddy for the day. The Dutch students told us to use
the smaller skates, but of course the person at the counter gave us
the long skates used for speed skating. Feeling nauseous I was
wondering how I would ever succeed at this. Unbeknownst to me,
Ali and Erdal were in a similar predicament. Other members in the
group such as Katri, Bori, and Rossana were really good at skating.
Fortunately for Erdal, he picked it up quickly. On the other hand, I
had to use a contraption similar to a walker for the elderly because I
was at such a remedial level. However, with the advice later given by
Erdal (how he was able to give me such helpful advice as a fellow
beginner I will never know), I was able to succeed. By the end, most
of us were doing laps around the rink like naturals. For Ali, he was
not so lucky. The long skates were not the right fit for him as a
beginner. His appearance was hysterical; he looked like a cat being
held over water. With sweat dripping down his face, he clutched the
walker or the side of the ice rink for dear life. Although it was funny
at the time, he also fell on his back and at the end of the night it was
really bothering him. Hopefully, everything will be just fine and he
14
will not have trouble with it in the future, but he was definitely in a
lot of pain.
During the skating, we met up with our buddies as well. My
buddy had a Dutch name that was similar to Janet and then we were
ironically paired with Won and his buddy Jolanda. They took us to
a small restaurant/pub for lunch called De Dikke Van Dale. They
had really good food and a comfortable ambience that gave us
warmth in the cold weather. Won got a calf meat sandwich and I
got two kroketten. Kroketten are like Twinkies in appearance and
size, but they have a crumbly crust and are filled with shredded meat
and a thick sauce. To be blunt, they are fantastic, the most
authentic Dutch cuisine. From there, we went to a shoemaker’s
shop to look at wooden shoes and wooden shoe souvenirs. We then
learned the appearance of the Frisian flag. It is blue and white
striped with hearts on the white stripes. After browsing a little bit,
we went to an eyeglass shop to visit one of their friends for a short
period of time. Then we went to a bookstore to search for typical
Dutch children’s books and a book about Friesland in English. We
found one book about the Netherlands in English and one book
about Friesland in Dutch. They were on the expensive side, but
maybe it is something to keep in mind. Soon thereafter, we finished
our adventure and headed back to the NHL for our international
dinner. There we were required to present our country with some
facts and cultural information to the other international students.
Some students gave a few facts, or taught us some words in their
native tongue, and others dazzled us with songs and dances. All in
all, it was a very informal ordeal. I just gave a few facts about the
United States, Chicago, and asked them to raise their hands if they
were a Barack Obama fan. Everyone here seems to have followed
our inauguration very closely and is strongly in favor of Barack
Obama. It is surprising to me because I care little for politics in the
United States . For people of other countries to be more interested
than me in my own country simply baffles me.
Although there was another party following the dinner, we all
decided to skip it and enjoy each other’s company. Can you guess
where we were? Our whole group spent the evening in our, Won
and my, room checking email, talking via webcams with family, and
sharing stories about pictures on our computers with each other.
15
Katri showed us pictures of her house in Finland, where her and her
boyfriend reside. Then we got to see a picture of him. She had told
us the wonderful story of how their friendship grew into a
relationship. Maybe someday I will find a similar happiness as she
has. In addition to that, she showed us her biking club and some
pictures of the Finnish countryside. It has an appearance similar to
Oregon and Washington, which was very beautiful indeed. Then
Rossana showed us her most recent summer trips with her boyfriend
to Portugal, Iceland, Germany, and Ireland. Though she was
hesitant at first, when we urged her to show us them, she told us
wonderful stories and revealed some funny videos that she made on
her trip. Then Ali introduced us to his girlfriend over the webcam,
she was a beauty. He made everyone type to her “I LOVE YOU” in
his or her language. She appreciated it a lot. Once everyone had
shared his or her stories, people started to slowly file out and head to
bed.
However, Ali stayed with us for a little while longer. He
enthusiastically showed us several videos promoting tourism in
Turkey with hopes of having our next big trip be one to visit him.
He especially pressed for it to be in the summer time because then
we can enjoy the comforts of his family at their summer home where
the weather is absolutely wonderful, so he claims. I believe him and
Istanbul would be a wonderful city to visit. Finding the time and
money is another story though. When we finished the final video
(probably the fifth or sixth one) Ali decided it was finally time for
bed. I then taught Won a new card game, which we only played for
ten minutes or so because we were beat as well from the long day
(and week for that matter). However, Won was able to fall asleep
quickly. He would sleep through a fire alarm if it went off. Needless
to say, he didn’t wake up when Ali came back. At first I thought he
had another video for us, but thankfully it was only that he forgot
his cell phone. Then I stumbled back to bed and collapsed.
16
1/31
18
2/1
19
2/2
22
2/3
23
about the night before on our way to the train and next time we are
calling the police, no questions asked.
At the train station, we discovered our debit cards were not
acceptable. We came prepared though with plenty of cash and just
as easily received our ticket to Appingedam from the sales desk.
Since we had a rough night, Katri decided to help herself wake up
with some coffee. However, despite our fatigue, we were still on
time for the fast train (in the Netherlands you can either take a fast
train with less stops [Sneltrein] or a slower train that makes many
stops [Stoptrein]). This allowed us to meet Gerard a lot earlier in
Groningen. He took advantage of this too. As he is a talkative
individual, he enjoyed the brief opportunity to be our tour guide of
the immediate area surrounding the train station. From the origin
and symbolism of certain statues to the reason a building is shaped
like an open phone book, with his tour, I feel like I can now tell
someone more about Groningen than I can about the city of
Chicago. It is nice to have someone as knowledgeable as him on our
adventure and though our encounter with Groningen was very
short, what we gained in those ten minutes will be of great benefit to
us when we return there to visit schools.
After concluding a fact-filled tour, we hopped on our train to
Appingedam. The countryside in the Netherlands is very green, but
nearly as flat as Illinois. Thus, at least despite the flatness I don’t
have the monotony of cornfields. Upon arriving in Appingedam, a
small less wealthy area, we had to walk for a good twenty minutes to
reach our destination. The school was technically in a town called
Delfzijl, but in relation to train stations, it was between
Appingedam and Delfzijl. Walking is no trouble for me though,
especially since it allows me to get acquainted with the general area.
Plus, a little fresh air doesn’t hurt anybody. After passing homes,
construction sites, and a car dealership, we finally reached the
Fivelcollege Delfzijl. Do not let the name deceive you; though it
contains college, it is a high school. Due to the amount of building
renovations and additions over time, the building winded like a
snake on the grassless campus. Unlike many of the high schools in
the United States, the school contained within it four different high
schools based on ability. There are a total of four different ability
school types in the Netherlands, two of which are interchangeable,
24
outside of Latin and Greek lessons. This school had what is called a
VMBO, HAVO, and an Atheneum. Students from the VMBO can
only go to a trade school after graduation, whereas students from the
HAVO and Atheneum can eventually proceed to the university.
Also, whereas our high schools are typically ages 15-18, here the high
schools start at age 12-13. It is frightening to think about seeing as
students need to make serious life decisions at 12 because they only
get one shot at high school and where they go will determine if they
will ever have the opportunity to go to the university.
25
with Frits and us. Gerard told us before we arrived, as something to
keep in mind, “The students do not need to hear your story, so don’t
tell them unless they ask you. Always ask about their story”. So, we
asked them what their interests were: one by one. Then we wrote
up on the board all the ones that we remembered and had them
correct us if we forgot anything. They really seemed to enjoy it, as
did we.
26
From there, Katri and I split up for the day. Katri went off to
observe classes that focus on “crafts and recreation” (in other words
things like home economics). I, on the other hand, went to a science
classroom. Both of us were in the VMBO. Thus, the level of
instruction was very basic, as these students are being prepared for
the workforce, not the university. However, also note when I say
classroom, that it does not necessarily mean that there is a physical
classroom. Classes seem to take place everywhere. The school is
literally utilizing every ounce of space for education. I saw lessons
conducted in rooms, hallways, and open areas. One would think
that this would be a very distracting environment, but it works like a
well-oiled machine. While I was at the science classroom, conducted
in an open area by Frans van der Vlugt, I socialized with the students
about their lives and daily activities. Yet, it was hard to get my
questions in because they were so curious about the United States. I
felt like a celebrity. They even had me show them where Chicago
was on GoogleEarth. Everything fascinated them. Some students
even told me they wanted to move to New York to work for the
FBI. American TV has such an astounding influence here, especially
Prison Break. Apparently that show takes place in Chicago, so I will
be forever known here as the Prison Break boy. That may have also
been why one student asked me if I owned a weapon. I should have
told him that I had not only a weapon, but also my own army. I
couldn’t be that cruel to children though.
After my last class, I ran into Gerard and he said Katri was ready to
go if I was too. So, I did a victory lap around the school to see some
last minute things and then we left. Unfortunately, with me
dawdling we missed the first train back by about three minutes. We
saw it leaving the train station from about 100 yards away. As a
result, we had to wait thirty minutes for the next train. Leo, the
student teacher Gerard was visiting, took this time to show us
around the nearby neighborhood and describe the makings of
traditional Dutch architecture. It was very interesting, but it got
harder to pay attention to as time passed because it had been such a
long day already.
Once we reached Groningen, we bid Gerard farewell and
continued with Leo until he got off at Buitenpost (one of the last
stops before Leeuwarden). In Leeuwarden, Katri and I went to Aldi
27
to replenish our stock of food. She got nearly four times as much as
I did and yet she still fit it all into her backpack! How do women do
it? We then returned to Kanaalstraat for some dinner. It was
relaxing, but by nine I needed to head upstairs for bed. Won and I
did a little journaling and reading before lights out, but it was very
brief.
28
2/4
30
2/5
Well today I finally was baptized Dutch; it rained for the first time
since we have been here. We had been lucky so far, but it was bound
to happen sooner or later. It was actually quite pleasant because it
was a soft drizzle opposed to a rampant downpour. Today I was
actually able to wake up early with Won too. Each day gets a little
bit easier to do so, as I continue to mesh myself in the Dutch lifestyle
and time difference. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred this
morning, I just checked my email (with stolen internet of course),
showered, worked out, and ate a small breakfast before grabbing
Katri to head to class. Unfortunately, Ana could not join us because
she was sick, and Rany and Rossana were already at the NHL
because they had an earlier class.
Surprisingly, Katri allowed me to lead the way to school.
Naturally, I decided to try a shortcut I had never done before, nor
did I know if it was officially a shortcut. News flash: it was not by a
lot. As many of you know, I am terrible with directions to begin
with, so you can empathize for Katri. On the bright side, we had a
wonderful walk and with how concerned we both are with being
punctual, we still arrived to class on time. Actually, we ended up
much earlier than we expected because we originally thought our
class began at twelve thirty, but it turned out that it began at twelve
forty five.
Our teacher was an enthusiastic middle-aged man, with a worn out
sweater and an off-colored pair of dress pants. Once you hit a
certain age you stop caring what other people think of your sense of
style and wear what is most comfortable. That day will soon be
coming for me. I just need a job and perhaps tenure first (wink).
Anyway, we received the classroom from the previous lesson
disorganized and chaotic. Raymond Fabriek, our professor, told us
to organize the desks (a job meant for the other class, or so I
thought). Neglecting to think out of the box, I went with the
traditional approach thinking we would organize the desks in rows
and columns (much like the periodic table… sorry bad chemistry
joke). So, I began with the back row. Others did not follow by my
example. Perhaps this means I need to work on my leadership skills?
They decided to arrange the desks in a square fashion. Once I saw
31
this, I preferred it. In our cramped room, it kept everyone involved
in conversation and also allowed everyone to make sufficient eye
contact: a much better way to encourage personal interaction. As
we all know, almost all communication is body language anyway.
Despite our expectations, we discovered most of the class revolved
around Dutch culture and history, opposed to learning the language.
Although I get around with relative ease because everyone here
speaks English very well, others aren’t so lucky. This is especially true
for those coming from countries that speak languages with Latin
roots. Knowing please, thank you, and see you later is only cute for
so long. I need more to impress the Dutch honeys over here that are
twice my height. That is not to say that our lesson was not
fascinating. We learned about the Queen, Dutch provinces,
everyone’s perception of what is typical Dutch, and also had a quiz
of other knowledge at the end of the lesson.
From there, Elin, Katri, Hanne, and I had to head over to the
other campus to meet with Gerard. Elin and Hanne had the easy
trip through the rain: by bike. For Katri and I, our feet had to bear
the burden, but we shared an umbrella so it was romantic. Too bad
I don’t go for older women and her boyfriend sounds like a hoot. I
look forward to meeting him when he visits. Needless to say, it took
us a little while longer than the others to get to Gerard’s office.
With Gerard, we had another insightful meeting. His philosophy is
so amazing; it feels like I have Dr. Hunter of ISU over here in the
Netherlands. It is so nice having both of them as mentors. I cannot
even describe how much I have learned from them. At our meeting
though, we discussed how to maintain composure in tense situations
and how to condition students and ourselves like Pavlov’s dogs. We
also talked about mimicking and leader recognition. All of which
can be helpful in establishing control in a classroom. Utilizing space
in the classroom was another topic. It goes hand in hand with
conditioning. One must find spots in the classroom to perform
specific tasks or actions, or as I like to call this the “baseball
diamond” method. Your most comfortable position is home plate.
First base can be where you discipline students or where you stand
when you expect them to be quiet. Second base can be for
something else, along with third base, and the outfield can be when
you are roaming the classroom. Overall, it was a very productive
32
meeting. Then we met with Paul Cloo to talk about visiting his
classroom at the Harm Jan Zondagschool in Groningen. I will be
there on Monday and Wednesday. Also I intend to join Gerard on a
trip to Utrecht for a national chemistry standards meeting for the
Netherlands! Talk about exciting, I nearly wet my pants when he
told me I could join him!!!
After the meeting, Katri went to pick up her bike from Hanne.
Elin joined them as well. Thus, they split up from me. However, I
stayed with Gerard for a few minutes extra to pick up some pictures
from our previous trips and a few movie clips as well. I look forward
to watching them when I have time tomorrow. In addition to that,
I need to contact the two teachers I will be visiting. Also, being the
most proficient in English here, naturally as a native speaker I
should be (although sometimes I wonder; other international
students often tell me I “eat my words”), I have to compose a formal
complaint to our landlords: Short Stay Solutions. In other words,
they are the spawn of Satan. They continue to tell us they are doing
the most possible to accommodate all of our needs. Somehow, I find
that difficult to believe because our internet does not work, our
building smells awful, we pay much more for what we have
compared to other people, and our building is hardly ever locked.
Aside from my missions on paper, I also had a mission on foot
today. Rossana had not returned from class all day and it was seven
thirty. She usually joins us for dinner and all of our classes typically
end by four. So, I was getting very worried about her whereabouts
because it was dark outside and she would have no one with her.
Obviously, it is easy for Dutch individuals to pick out foreigners
because they are so ridiculously tall. Hence, a short Italian girl with
dark features clearly stands out in a crowd. Thus, I set out to find
her and told Won to call me if she returned. Go figure, once I got all
the way to the campus and was searching the building and
classrooms,Won calls. She had forgot to mention that she had had
soccer practice that night. At least she was in one piece, but I still
had a thirty-minute walk back to our building. Once back, I worked
on my journal as the others finished off Braveheart. Tomorrow is an
earlier morning because our class starts at ten fifteen or ten thirty… I
already forgot. I just know I should be out the door at nine thirty.
So, off to bed for me.
33
2/6
36
on the Short Stay Solutions office with our signed document. I can
only hope they don’t get out of hand.
Around seven, Won and Rany cooked us an authentic Korean
dinner. Our main course was Kimchi and rice. It was a splendid
meal to clear out all the illnesses and my intestines. With all this
ethnic cooking, the last food I am craving is from the states. How I
do miss mom’s cooking though. Being on my own in a foreign
country has been good for growing up and taking on more
responsibilities. It’s a lot different when you don’t have a security
blanket of family within reach.
Other than that, we concluded our night with another movie
extravaganza. Won and I voted to watch Batman the Dark Knight,
but we lost hands down to the girls. They wanted to watch The
Notebook. What a typical movie for the girls to have chosen. Oh
well, they are the best company to have around so we have to abide
by their wishes. Additionally, until I cook something for them, I am
forever in their debt.
37
2/7
As soon as the alarm rang this morning, I hustled about the room
in a frantic mania. Not only did I have two weeks worth of laundry
to do, but I also had to be ready by noon to go biking with Katri. I
inhaled my granola (muesli), peanuts, and vla (along with some
stroopwafels and a few glasses of peach/orange juice). Then came a
force to be reckoned with: laundry. For those of you that have never
had to live in Europe, let me just say laundry is not as simple as in
the US. This is especially true when you live in an international
housing development, but they still put the instructions in Dutch.
Additionally, the machines we have are far more complex than any
college student could possibly ever need or should ever be allowed to
touch. With that in mind, you may now understand why I stood
before the machine in utter confusion for the first ten minutes. My
dilemma: should I run the risk of ruining my clothes or should I
stink for the rest of my vacation here? I chose to take a chance at
wearing tattered clothes, opposed to the alternative: no more
contact with foreign women for the remainder of my stay.
Despite the situation at hand, we had experience on our side… or
the experience of another I should say. Thankfully, Katri had
encountered the same obstacle a few days before when she
attempted her laundry. Afterwards, she had told us the settings she
had used, so I modeled it around that. The washers were much
smaller than I expected too, so that made things a little bit of a
squeeze. On top of that, there was no timer on the machine. Just
my luck too that there would be five hundred different settings and
no timer. Thus, it took a little longer than I expected to do the
washing portion. However, my struggle with everyday tasks is
always never ending. Therefore, when the load was done, I finally
realized there were no dryers. Everything needed to be hang dried!
Try and imagine how two weeks worth of laundry would possibly fit
on one drying rack about the size of an end table. To be quite frank,
it does not work. Again, Katri came to my rescue (and Won’s too
because he will be doing laundry tomorrow). She was nice enough
to let us borrow her drying rack. Somehow, everything fit
comfortably. Then the only issue remained drying in a timely
fashion. Our solution was not the most comfortable or the most
38
logical, but it seemed to work. We turned our room into a sauna by
setting our space heater at full blast. Though I am cooked to
perfection and ready to be served at the dinner table, my clothes will
be dry by morning. Wet clothes are in style here anyway with all the
rain we receive. So, in the event, they aren’t done. It is a win win
situation.
As can be inferred, the bike ride got postponed by about a half
hour. That’s not too bad when you are at the liberty of a stubborn
wash machine. After brushing the dust off my bike, we headed to
the tourism office. Yes, ironic I know, but we needed a map of bike
trails surrounding Leeuwarden. Then we assessed the best towns to
head to based on location and proximity to trails. Starting at one,
our travels first led us to Stiens. It was the second largest town we
hit today. Wooden windmills surrounding Stiens marked its age.
Littered with traditional cottages, it invited us to take a closer look.
Hidden within the historical exterior of the city were a bustling
central market and several construction sites. With how exciting
our adventure began, I was worried that we would not return before
dark. As Dutch law states, all bikes must have a light on in the dark.
Since neither of our bikes had working lights, I bought a flash light
at a local store as a precaution. After all, no one wants to pay a fine
while on vacation; it reduces spending money. We also found a
large church near the center of the city. Amazed by different types
of architecture, we took lots of pictures. However we did not realize
literally every town would have some sort of monumental church.
Though we found Stiens to be a wonderful place, we hungered for
more and started our trek towards the next town. The next stop
would be St. Annaparochie. We found it even more beautiful than
Stiens. I never expected the little towns to be anything exciting, but
they seem to have just as much character, if not more, than the big
cities. In St. Annaparochie we found another glorious church. This
one dated back to 1682. Unfortunately, we were unable to get into
all the churches today. If they were so neat on the outside, I can only
imagine the spectacle waiting on the inside. While we were in St.
Annaparochie, we grabbed some lunch. It may not have been quite
a filling meal, but it definitely suited our taste buds. We shared
some garlic bread and some traditional Frisian cookies. These
cookies were extremely moist with apple dough in the center. Each
39
cookie was also crowned with a single almond in the center. By
observing their bag we also learned that they had a location in
Leeuwarden. We will be sure to promote their business as soon as
we locate their bakery.
After lunch, we wound our way back to Leeuwarden. Along the
way, we hit three other small towns. They were much smaller than
the first two though. These towns were Berlikum, Beetgum, and
Marssum. Every town had its own church, which shielded the sun
from the small upward gazing cottages. Yet, when we got to
Marssum, the last town before Leeuwarden, we found a castle!!!
What a way to end a biking adventure! Although it was small, it still
had a moat. We even met a nice elderly man. He made nice
conversation and seemed genuinely interested in the US and
Finland, but seriously the sun was going down and we needed to get
back. To my surprise, he said goodbye first once he realized we
hadn’t traveled there by car. However, it wasn’t that big of a ride
back, only a mere three kilometers.
As soon as we were in a familiar part of Leeuwarden, we scrambled
to get to Aldi before it closed. A lot of people seemed to have the
same general idea because when we got there it was packed.
Through the crowd we even found Won. Hunger pains seem to
attract people to the same location: the cheapest grocery store
around. I took this opportunity to restock my bread, cheese, meat,
and apples. This time I switched it up and got liver sausage and brie
cheese: yummy. Later I enjoyed this at the dinner table amongst
good company. Rossana and Ana were out shopping, and the
Turkeys (Ali and Erdal) have been sick all week. Hopefully, they get
better soon because we really miss their entertainment and
company.
Despite my intentions to have light meals, somehow I always end
up getting fed again and again. It switches everyday between which
girl decides to give me their leftovers (again I don’t ask and this time
I was at the opposite end of the building, but they still found me).
Ana knows I have an addiction for typical Dutch food. Specifically,
my addiction is for kroketten. Ironically, I almost bought some at
Aldi today, but resisted. I guess I was meant to have them today
though because she bought them too and gave me two along with a
hearty helping of her homemade rice. I am salivating now just
40
thinking about how delicious it was. In fact, it happened while I was
in the room journaling. I don’t know what I do to deserve this, but
why should I complain?
Anyway, tomorrow we will have another biking adventure and
Rossana will be joining us now that she has acquired a bike. Keep in
mind I use the term bike loosely, since the bikes we have are like the
dinosaurs: extinct. There is no telling when they will turn into dust.
With this in mind, there is no telling whether or not we will make it
to our desired destination: the sea. We hope to head west of
Leeuwarden, through Franeker to Harlingen, which is a coastal city
by the Wadden Islands. We should have good weather and I am
really looking forward to it. It will be quite a hike so we are leaving
at ten thirty tomorrow morning. Pack a good lunch! Oh well, that
isn’t stopping us from watching The Dark Knight tonight. Late
nights, early mornings, and a lot of appointments this upcoming
week, hopefully I survive to see our vacation the week after.
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2/8
42
if the food matches the ambiance. Shortly after taking a few more
pictures in Franeker, we pressed onward.
Halfway between Franeker and Harlingen (our intended
destination) we found another small town: Herbaijum. Again, a
quick snapshot of the church, and we waved goodbye. Harlingen
was within our reach. The wind was relentless, but the fresh ocean
breeze fueled our will to prevail. We found our final obstacle to be a
hill, but at the peak we found the promise land. Hallelujah for
Harlingen! As compared to most Dutch cities, it also had canals,
tight knit buildings, cobble stone walkways, and roundabouts.
However, this town contained a gateway to the sea. Hence, we also
found a large dike and harbor. With no surprise, to us, we found a
church too. Yet, we could enter this one under one condition: no
camera. That did not mean I could not take pictures with my phone
(wink). Unfortunately, two gentlemen came in to pray so I only got
one off before feeling the urge to leave. It was so beautiful. Maybe I
will have another opportunity to return there and get a few better
pictures. However, if and when I return, I will be sure to go when
the weather is much warmer. On the sea, it is freezing!
Due to this, we took a few pictures and tried to find a warm
shelter. Of course, on Sunday nothing is open here, so we had to eat
our lunch at the train station outside. Though it was awfully cold, it
was very enjoyable. Katri made us cheese/lettuce sandwiches. With
my apples and carrots, this made for a healthy lunch. While we were
there a few trains came in and out, but definitely nothing like the
hustle and bustle of Leeuwarden.
Upon finishing, we unlocked our bikes and headed home without
looking back. Although, we did catch a glimpse of what was beside
us. Off in the distance we could see a torrential downpour. Fearful
that we may be its next victims with a little under an hour left in our
ride, we peddled ever faster. For me, this was nearly impossible due
to my seat discomfort. Not only had my legs cramped up from all
the biking, but also I could not feel my groin. Bearing the pain of
sitting down was difficult and it looks like I’ll need a cushion for the
next few days. Luckily, the rain did not hit us. When we got back to
Leeuwarden (which was much warmer than the sea), it was sunny
and snowing. This did not last long, but it was a very confusing
situation nonetheless.
43
Once back at Kanaalstraat, I split up from Katri and headed over
to Ciska’s house to drop by and say hi. The last time I tried she had
not been home. At this time, I had not seen her or Kirsten for
nearly a week and a half, so I was hoping she’d be around. When I
arrived, I had just missed her saying goodbye to Sven (her new
boyfriend). Thus, I still have yet to meet him. We had a wonderful
talk and I showed her my pictures from the day. I told her I would
start sending her and Kirsten pictures because I probably won’t be
seeing them to often. She was glad to hear things were going well
and although she enjoys spending time with me, she is overjoyed
that I am meshing well with the other students. We then wished
each other well and I headed back to Kanaalstraat for a much
needed shower (not had one for two and a half days) and some
dinner.
At dinner, I had the pleasure of having Rossana, Katri, Won, and
Ana as my company. I ate my trademark meat, cheese, bread, and
carrots again. Yet, it wouldn’t be a day here unless someone fed me
more than I brought myself. Ana again said that she would not want
to have her food as leftovers. I first told her I would not eat it, but
when I found out it was going to be put in the garbage I changed my
mind. I also did the same with Rossana’s pizza crust. How can
people let food go to waste? Anyway, with all the biking I had done
it still was not enough food. Not even the two apples I ate later did
anything for me. Katri and I shared our photos later on, while Won
and Rossana talked of their day in Leeuwarden. They had beautiful
weather aside from the snow. Rossana was even compelled to make
a video because of this. She enjoys film and that is her current area
of study, but she ultimately wants to do anthropology. I guess to
document research she could use her skills in film, but for now it is
just fun to watch the smaller ones she makes of everyday things.
Time to sign off and get some sleep. There is a long week of work
before my week vacation.
44
2/9
47
2/10
49
2/11
Usually the “early bird gets the worm”, but this morning, after
waking up at five in the morning, this Illinois State Redbird got on
the right train, but not the right bus. I specifically asked the bus
driver if he was going to Zernike College. He said, “but of course”.
Little did I know this Zernike fellow was such a famous man that
half the schools in Groningen were named after him. Thus, the bus
driver rightfully labeled me as a university student and brought me
to the Zernike Hogeschool, which was on the other side of the city.
I found this out when I politely asked the receptionist why their
campus was so huge. With my new found love for public
transportation I backtracked all the way to the bus station at the
train station. It gets better. I then started asking people which bus
to use to get to my desired destination. Nobody knew. How can
you live in a city and go to the schools and not know where
something is located? Shame on them, for this ignorance cost me an
hour and a half. Puzzles are fun, don’t get me wrong, but not when
they involve appointments, especially really exciting appointments.
Frightful as I stepped onto the next bus because I merely got a “yes
we are headed that direction”, I got off at the second stop. Although
I only had a general idea of where I was headed, it was probably
better that I was on foot. Despite the amount of time it took and
the embarrassment of being late, I made it to the school (it was an
hour and a half after I intended to be there, but I only was ten
minutes late to the first lesson).
Standing before me was an older school, but life and the flare of
the title “Montessori” had rejuvenated it in these most recent years.
Montessori schools are much different from normal schools. They
tend to emphasize group work, projects integrating several subjects,
and combining certain similar classes (i.e. combining physics and
chemistry). After introducing myself to the receptionist, she
escorted me to one of the two classrooms I had been invited to
attend. Although, at that time I did not know the honorable fact
that teachers were fighting over me. It was quite gratifying to find
out after how rough my morning had been in my eyes. The teacher
leading the class (I say this because I found that sometimes two
teachers would be in the same class) was Bas Siebring (no dad not
50
the Chrysler convertible you own). He seemed generally
enthusiastic and excited to have me as a guest in his classroom.
Though my introduction was belated, the class still gave me a cordial
greeting. This would be the first of five classes and three teachers I
would see today. Two students doing their student teaching and
one other teacher accompanied Bas for this lesson. On this
particular day, the students were to perform a lab. It was one I had
done before during my high school career: the copper-recycling lab.
However, they did all five (or at least as I recall five) steps in one day.
For a one-hour class period, that is working pretty diligently if you
ask me.
The next two classes were the same ability level, but they were
younger and had a lecture that day instead of a lab. Bas taught one
class and the other was taught by my contact: Jan Jurjen. Also, in
the younger grades, they were not learning chemistry/physics,
instead they were taking a combined health education/biology
course. Again, keep in mind this is not a traditional school here.
Some methods they employ may be similar, but the school functions
in a completely different manner. When the students had free time
many of them showed great curiosity about the United States and
asked me several questions about Chicago. They also asked silly
questions like have I met anyone from MTV or someone from
Hollywood. It was cute, but if I had connections like that I would
be in the Bahamas right now living it up on a yacht sipping fresh
squeezed juice in a bathing suit (quite possibly a Speedo). Anyway, I
enjoyed their company and excitement.
Starting with the fourth class, things got a little more interesting
with respect to behavior. I hate to attribute behavior to ability
because I think it is more that the methods used by the teacher need
to be different based on ability. So, as you may know from how I’ve
worded things, these students were of a lower ability. The fifth class
was the lowest ability and their teacher also encountered the most
problems with them. However, she (their teacher) did not employ
all the methods necessary to control the students. It was actually
quite ironic because after the class she expressed the remedy to me:
movement. Students that have a more difficult time paying
attention need to be active or continually participating. Thus, the
material needs to be conveyed in that fashion: a constant
51
bombardment of activity. Not only may this tire them out, but
there’s no telling how much learning they may experience. Why she
does not modify her lessons, I will never know because the classroom
was so tense between the students and the teacher that you could
just feel it by observing the classroom. I couldn’t even understand
what they were saying, but the body language spoke so strongly that
I would have to be a fool not to know what was happening. It was
just sad because when I spoke with the teacher after the class, I could
tell that she had already given up on the students just by her
attitude. Once that happens all hope is lost.
Aside from the bumpy road getting to the school, the observations
were fantastic! I finally got the chance to see actual lessons.
Hopefully, that’s how things will continue to be as I visit more
schools. In fact, I plan to return to this school several times because
they want me to come on a consistent basis and perhaps teach a
lesson. What an experience that would be! To teach chemistry, not
even as a certified teacher, in a foreign country. How good would
that look on an application? Think about it.
When I finished observing the lessons, Jan Jurjen took me to the
train station. He found no sense in me walking back. I was too
distraught from my earlier experience with the bussing system to
give it a go again in one day. Then, as I did on the way to Groningen
this morning, I continued my reading. I finished the “Sneaky uses
for Everyday things” and moved on to “Why do Men Fall Asleep
After Sex?” Trust me it is as interesting and vulgar as it sounds, but I
am not too far into it and already I highly recommend it. After
about forty pages or so, our train arrived back in Leeuwarden and it
was time for me to head home.
With the enthusiasm my fellow international students show to
learn English from me (they speak it well, but they always have so
many questions), I’ve almost contemplated becoming an English
teacher. Sometimes, I even feel like one. For instance, today I had
to edit the papers that Rossana and Ana wrote. Of course, I couldn’t
rewrite it to the point that it looked like somebody tweaked it, but I
definitely pointed out some better ways to word things and made
sure I explained my thoughts. Naturally, they were quick to agree
that it was the right choice. I can only hope that they learn from my
52
suggestions. After all, I can’t hold their hand throughout their
English class.
Not too much else is new, well aside from the good showers
flooding. Hmm, well the showers aren’t necessarily flooding, but
the floor drain in the shower room is, which is odd because it is
backwashing dirty water. It smells like a fisherman’s wharf, looks
cloudy, and would probably eat away at my shoe if I touched it.
Thank goodness I am on the second floor, but I used the first floor
showers because they didn’t have a peculiar odor. Now that they do
it is picking the lesser of two evils, or in this case the one without the
plumbing problem. Irony seems to surround my life because our
landlord was here today, but the flooding occurred after she left.
Such an odd coincidence wouldn’t you say? I protest it is sabotage!
Her and her money hungry minions are out to get us poor
international students. I worry that this problem will not be fixed
quickly. The people that have been here since last semester said this
happened then too. Perhaps we will start a new plague with our
water? Then I’ll really become part of history! Record this journal
as a historical recap and you may earn the copyright. Sorry, just
working the old hyperbole. It shouldn’t come out to be anything
serious. It is just annoying things like this that seem to surround our
building. Such is life.
As I wrote this journal, I talked with one of the Turkish guys. His
name is Mustafa and by George every time I think of his name I
think of Mufasa from The Lion King. He’s also got a scraggly beard
and a particular hairstyle that could probably reflect a lion’s mane.
A scary thought, but at the same time it is kind of cool. Just thought
it would be a fun fact for all you Disney buffs out there. Goodnight.
53
2/12
62
Eager to get home, eat, and relieve the pulsing pain in my bladder,
I power walked the entire way back to Kanaalstraat. I did not arrive
a moment too soon either, for everyone was planning to eat dinner
downstairs at 7:30 and I showed up at 7:27. So, I quickly performed
the most important of the above things to do and gathered my
dinner. In the kitchen we each enjoyed a candle lit dinner. Of
course, it was a warm up for tomorrow’s superb Valentine’s Day
dinner and dessert. It will be our last hoorah before we go to
Amsterdam for three days. At tonight’s dinner, Won and I had the
pleasure of joining Dominick (Phillippines), Sanket (India), Ana
(Portugal), Katri (Finland), and Rany (Korea). At that dinner, we
talked about our days, found out that Dominick is 34 and has a wife
and kids, and shared some historical events surrounding our
countries. Dominick and Sanket also talked me into indulging in a
few glasses of wine with them. Tonight we toasted to each other’s
company, the fact that we are surviving our stay on the island, and to
another glorious night. (Later, I would work on my journal while
listening to a Korean thriller. This time it would only be Won, the
ladies (plus Rossana after returning from soccer practice), and
myself: another glorious night indeed.)
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2/14
65
2/15
66
As I am bad with directions, I initially suggested that we were
headed due east. Quickly, I realized my slip and corrected myself.
However, this led Katri and I to tell everyone about the beautiful
area we found just east of Leeuwarden on our romantic walk the day
before. As we were trying to describe the natural setting with lakes
and grasslands, Katri blurted out, “It’s like a water park for animals!”
Caught off guard by the description, I found myself laughing hard
for the second time today. It’s nice to be able to surround myself
with people that make each day better than the last.
With each step closer we got to Amsterdam, the more crowded the
trains became. We felt the true effects of this when we transferred
trains. Each of us had to endure the last thirty minutes in solitude.
It actually turned into a nice opportunity for some of us to get in a
quick catnap and recharge a little from the early morning. I had to
wake up Rossana once we pulled into the station. She can sleep
anywhere during the day; it’s unbelievable. She lives at night.
At the station, we could truly feel the population density. The
culture was tremendously different from Friesland and Groningen.
You could feel the difference in the pace of life. Living in a big city is
certainly conducive of this fast-forwarded lifestyle. I for one prefer
the countryside, but cities can be nice places to visit. Thus, it took a
while, but little by little Amsterdam grew on me. Also, in the ever-
changing Dutch climate during this time of year, experiencing a city
to the fullest can be difficult.
Needless to say, the cold and the rain after a long day of traveling
made me a very sleepy boy. First and foremost, Won had a mission
for all of us. We had to help him look for his bike, which had been
locked up outside the train station for over two and a half weeks
now. After searching for over fifteen minutes, I already concluded
that it was gone and lost forever in the hands of some petty thief or
miscreant taking part in Tom Foolery. Next, before any official site
seeing was done, we all had one thing on our mind: our
accommodation. Optimistic to find a better situation than a hostel,
we consulted the nearest tourism agency. Our cameras and bags
didn’t give away our identity in the slightest bit, but honing in on
this office like a heat-seeking missile totally confirmed the label of
tourist. To my surprise, we had an accommodation within ten
minutes. All six of us were to share one bedroom and one
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bathroom. We all also had our own beds, but barely any room to
walk. At least it was a place we could leave our belongings so we
could travel lightly. The best part was that it only cost 15 euros per
night! The aspect of sharing a room with four girls had nothing to
do with it.
When we arrived at the hotel “Y-Boulevard”, named for the fact
that the canal across the street was called the “Y”, we found our
room in the middle of cleaning. So we got all the paperwork and
deposit for the key straightened out during this time. Another plus
we found out there was that breakfast was buffet style and free: a
perfect situation for starving college students. During our wait,
Rossana gave us some cookies to munch on, for it had been a long
train ride. Soon thereafter, our room was ready to have a new set of
occupants. Won and I took the bunk bed and the girls each shared
the double beds.
After dropping off our belongings, perhaps our identities as well,
we set our compass for the Anne Frank house. I feel so silly saying
this, but I never realized that her and her family lived in the
Netherlands. Their house was quite a walk, but nothing for us
strapping young individuals. We even enjoyed some Dutch French
fries (if that makes sense) along the way. Each time I have them, I
am further addicted to the concept of mayonnaise with fries:
delicious. They gave us such a heaping helping, that they lasted us
all the way to the house. The line, long for the rainy weather, was
still shorter than I expected. I even met somebody from Chicago,
who had temporarily lived in Palatine. This is due to the fact that I
heard American being spoken in front of us (I don’t care what you
say, American is totally an official language derived from English).
Her and her friend were only two spots in front of us in line. She
had been recently transferred to Amsterdam for business.
Chicagoans are everywhere: true story. Inside the house, we found
several original artifacts, videos, and quotes from her diary. I wish
they had left the furniture in the house, but her father insisted on
moving it out. Also, I am saddened every time I cannot take
pictures. So, I was sure to take all the free brochures I could find.
The last survivor that had helped Anne and her family, Miep Gies,
turned 100 today. It is hard to believe how much change she has
probably seen in her life.
68
From there, we found a restaurant by the center to satisfy our taste
buds and empty stomachs. I got a club sandwich with bacon and
eggs on it. While our food was being prepared, we told stories and
jokes. Rossana on the other hand, played with the owner’s cat.
Although it was a beautiful, playful cat, I am a dog person until the
day I dy and I still say cats are creepy. Then the food came… It was
fantastic! Not only did I get a hearty portion, but it was loaded with
all sorts of greens as well. Ironically, we were nearly all alone in the
restaurant. I thoroughly enjoy the pace of eating/dining here much
more than in the states. It seems to be more about the experience
opposed to one’s speed of food consumption per hour. Being here
allows for much more relaxed socialization.
On our way back to the hotel, we cut through the red light district
to see what it was all about. It really didn’t seem to have the flare of
a Las Vegas strip that I expected to see. In addition, I caught a
glimpse of quite possibly the only overweight person I’ve seen in
Holland and she was for sale for a “good time”. That moment took
all the interest (which there wasn’t much to begin with) out of site
seeing in that area. From there we tried to get a peak inside one of
the big churches. Within thirty seconds of entering they rushed us
out. No time for pictures. I have yet to find a church willing to let
us take pictures. It is quite depressing. Our adventure back also led
us straight through the center of the city. We took some pictures by
some statues and continued onward. I had the most fun taking
pictures inside enlarged wooden shoes though.
At last, we got back to our hotel, a home away from home if you
will (that is if your really consider Kanaalstraat worthy of the term
home… I’ll stick with accommodation, but even that is a stretch).
We all got in our pajamas and then began reflecting upon the day. I
did so by working on my journal up on the top bunk, while the
others did so out loud. Then I leant my cards to the kids. Before
they started playing Kemps (a common childhood game that got me
through many swim meets), Rossana used the to read my future. It
was really more of a personality reading though. Surprisingly, its
odd foolishness, which I would typically claim to be hardly worth
the time of day, seemed to fit me quite well. However, what it told
me about myself is for me to forever keep secret.
69
2/16
73
2/17
75
2/18
Even with all the construction that took place surrounding the
house this was still possible. Men were working on the second floor
windows and we were building, or attempting to at least, a green
house. First off, we helped by securing the base flashing to the
foundation. Then I drilled a hole through the shed, yes on purpose
dad, to feed an insulation tube through for electrical work. Next, we
moved on to assembling the building. Thankfully, we were supplied
with the kit. However, reading manuals was never my strong point.
Needless to say, by the time we figured out the instruction manual (I
knew picture books would have helped me more than novels as a
child), it was already time for lunch. For lunch, Gerard prepared for
us a delicious tomato and cheese on toast (with an assortment of
spices as well). It was similar to bruschetta. Our participation in the
“honey do list” project ended there. We barely got the frame for the
back and front wall constructed.
77
Following lunch, we took an afternoon cycling tour of the area.
Along the way we went through three other towns before returning
to Peize. In order, we hit Eelde, Donderen, and Vries. However,
not only was this a trip solely for cycling, but for education as well.
No one would have guessed this though while traveling through the
beautiful Dutch countryside.
First, we stopped in Eelde to try and visit a retirement home. This
would prove beneficial for Katri as she is working towards a degree
in creative therapy. I am particularly unfamiliar with the area of
study, but it seems to be very broad. For some reason, I always have
a little bit of discomfort inside of retirement communities. On this
visit, we were given the ability to explore the premises on our own,
which didn’t take very long at all. We took a quick photo and were
on our way again. Passing through Donderen (the town of thunder
how sweet is that!?), we set our course for De Brink in Vries: a
community for people with physical and mental handicaps.
When Gerard told us to stop, Katri and I were caught off guard. A
small business building that could have passed as a middle school
stood before us. We soon learned that we were on the outskirts of
Vries at De Brink. After cordially asking the receptionist if we could
look around, we were on a guided tour within ten minutes.
Thinking that it wouldn’t last more than a half hour after a question
and answer session in a small conference, at its conclusion we
paraded around the campus (housing more than 180 physically and
mentally handicapped people) for an hour and a half. Although all
of the residents were on their holiday, we got a good feel for the
goals of their community and what they had to offer. Overjoyed,
Katri seemed to have a much better fit at this location than at the
retirement home. She even got an invitation to spend a full day
there once the holiday was over. Up until now she has been
involved in an identity struggle as far as a career path is concerned.
This certainly should give her a sense direction.
At this point, the sun was starting to fall and we were more than
10 kilometers from home. It went by relatively quickly due to
conversation and lack of traffic. When we returned, we had just
beat being in the dark. With our earlier construction project, we
dragged a lot of dirt into the house. So, after locking up the bikes,
Katri and I came down to business with some serious sweeping. We
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were determined to have the house spick and span by the time Meta
arrived. Once we completed our task, Gerard invited us upstairs to
take a look at his collection of novels, his novels that is. They ranged
from his diary from Africa to short stories written in a local dialect.
Eventually, I intend on buying a couple from him, not only to
practice my Dutch, but also to experience his writing.
When six o’clock rolled around, Meta arrived with some groceries
for tonight’s meal. We had enough food to feed an army, but at the
same time it would have been impossible to have too much. Katri
and I helped out where we could. She helped out more so with the
cooking than I did, which was a smart choice. So, I mostly set the
table and tried to stay out of the way until I was needed for the
potatoes. Little by little, everything came together quite nicely.
Gerard was summoned from the second floor; he was working on a
presentation for senior chemists in the Netherlands on food
chemistry. It was a lavish four-course meal. To start it off we had a
rice salad with avocado, mango, cucumber and walnuts. Then we
enjoyed another salad with a sesame/raspberry dressing, baked
chicken, Irish potatoes, and a green bean casserole. This was
followed by warm applesauce and a typical Dutch dessert of cherries,
ice cream, and whipped cream. With the ice cream we also mixed
some of Meta’s homemade blueberry preserves. Just thinking about
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them makes my mouth water. Of course, a mountain of dishes
followed this. Katri washed and I dried. Everyone has to play his or
her part.
With open arms, Gerard and Meta have provided us with the
utmost love and care. We truly have been blessed to have them and
truly feel as if we are part of their family. Someday we would like to
do more for them, but for the time being all I could do was say
“thank you” and I mean it every time. Afterwards, Gerard
courteously dropped us off at the train in Groningen. Certainly our
wonderful night was not over yet! There we even got some after
dinner entertainment. The train got delayed, while we were on it of
course, because two people got in a pretty serious fight. Naturally,
the police were summoned to intervene. I’ve never seen so many
cops for such a silly incident. All in all, there must have been ten.
At least their scuffle gave us time to get to know the gentleman
sitting by us. He gave us a website to check out for when we plan to
visit the Wadden Islands. After a half hour, we were on our merry
way again and before we knew it we were back in Leeuwarden: home
sweet home.
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2/19
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On the walk back, my cheap grocery bags self-destructed and its
contents proceeded to spew out all over the drenched cobblestone. I
didn’t have too many, so I was able to cradle them in my arms. It
was still a chore though to walk back. For once, the return trip
seemed shorter than the ride there. When I got back to the room, I
put away my goodies and enjoyed a couple of stroopwafels. They’re
addicting (like cigarettes morphed into a cookie), so beware of their
power if you ever venture to the Netherlands. That is if I don’t
capitalize on their unique quality by selling them as a franchise in
the US.
Earlier in the week, I had promised Ana that I would take a look at
some of her writings. She likes to write free verse poetry in English.
Might I add, she has a knack for it too. When I read her writing,
although it is not always grammatically correct (that’s where I come
in), I can truly feel the emotion. This may be because I have a
personal connection to the author, but I refuse to believe that it is
the dominant factor. So, instead of making direct changes and
saving it, I utilized the “track changes” function of Microsoft Word.
Then she can compare what I’ve modified to what she previously
had and see if it fits better. In addition, it should also help her with
bettering her English as well.
With a jump drive handy, containing vital information for Ana, I
sought her out. To my surprise, she was not in her room. So, I went
to check Rossana’s room because that would be the only other place
she would be if she were still in our building. She was not there, but
Bella (Rossana… she also calls me Bello) beckoned me from the
kitchen. Seeing her made me remember the news I heard from Katri
about Easter. Apparently, Rossana’s boyfriend Davide planned on
coming to visit her during our Easter break, so Italy is not happening
now. Boyfriends ruin plans, enough said. Anyway, we ended up
having a nice conversation that jumped around several different
topics: gardens, Route 66, and Native Americans. It was quite
intriguing actually. I enjoy having alone time to talk with her
because I feel like she is still somewhat apprehensive towards me.
This may be due to the fact that I typically speak very quickly and I
think she has a more difficult time following what I say than the
others do. Nonetheless, each time she opens a little bit more than
the last, so hopefully this trend continues.
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From then on, Won and I tried very hard not to work on
homework, but failed. The easiest solution is to put work off until
Sunday: the epic day of procrastination. Yet, on days when it rains
so much that most of the time you are kept inside, it becomes a lot
harder to put things off because you feel more compelled to do
them. So, I put a little time into working on my presentation for
comparative education. I have to present the United States
educational system. Along with that, I have some other projects to
complete for other courses as well. Everything is due in either
March or April, but I don’t want to hold off until it becomes too
late.
Aside from that, not too much else went on tonight. We had
dinner without two integral components of our herd (Rossana and
Katri). Katri wasn’t much for socializing today. I think she spent
most of her time painting in her room. Rossana, on the other hand,
had soccer practice today. So, she did not return until after eight
thirty. Thus, that left Won, Ana, and I to fend for ourselves. Won
did a classic breakfast for dinner (muesli and milk). Ana was the
most creative by making chicken filled with cheese and sautéed with
vegetables. It looked yummy, but I made my bruschetta with cherry
tomatoes: a new fan favorite. As long as it fits in our toaster oven, I
am good to cook. At the conclusion of our evening Won and I
checked our emails, spoke with Rossana via skype, and watched The
Terminal. Cambuur soccer game is tomorrow!
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2/20
88
2/21
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2/22
Growing up with Mario Teaches Typing has finally served its true
purpose: preparing me for countless hours of journaling. I am
forever grateful for Nintendo. As I burned fingerprints into the
keys of my computer, slowly the kitchen came to life. Springtime
fever is starting to hit. Love is in the air and still I am married to my
computer. Despite this lull in my life, others have prospered.
Listening to music, plowing away on journals and political matters, I
saw Shahzad work his magic. This was my first observation of his
courtship. Making coffee is usually a pretty menial task. Well, that
is if you aren’t dazzled by the presence of a woman. Captured by her
beauty rather than their conversation, Shahzad forgot all about the
boiling brew. “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and
caldron bubble.” Needless to say, in the heat of the moment,
literally, the forgotten morning mixture spilled all over the stove. It
appears he’s got a big heart, but no game. His princess seems to
enjoy it anyway: that a boy.
Entering about ten minutes later, Won missed the big show.
Originally, I had moved to the kitchen to let him sleep. It may be
my new office because it gets more natural light than our room,
which is more conducive to writing. After finishing my first
morning objective, I moved on to breakfast and a letter that Rossana
wanted me to write to the administration of our housing. Most of
us won’t be living here in July and they’re charging us for it anyway.
So, we’re going to see if we can do something about it: nothing
ventured, nothing gained. It seems we’ve been quite ambitious with
our goals lately. If possible, we would also like to clean up our
backyard. It’s more of a large garden or porch. At the moment it is
infested with the neighbor’s ivy and garbage from last semester’s
parties. I’m going to draw something up and make a proposal for
shovels and other tools to borrow. Again, we’ll see if anything
happens.
Then came the dreaded part of my day: laundry. It is not clean
fun, but rather dirty business. Taking longer than expected, I
decided to get a few things done in the meantime. It didn’t end up
being very much, but I started some writing assignments and had a
good chat with my parents. I’m still working on convincing dad to
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come here with mom. Yeah, the economy sucks, but why not have
one last hoorah before it tanks? Oh well, I hope he comes around.
We won’t be able to travel for ten years after this, but at least we
could say it was worth it. In hopes of finding some tools or buried
treasure, Won and I also decided to explore our basement. Instead
of finding a pot of gold and the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms
commercials, we found graffiti ridden walls, a few broken bikes, and
a ton of trash bins. Ten thousand years from now, maybe all of that
will be worth something. For the time being, it was a dead end.
Once my laundry was done, I had to borrow a drying rack from
Rossana. It’s impossible to hang dry everything with only one. At
the same time, I found out that I had to redo the letter. It wasn’t
general enough. I have no problem with that. It’s just that writing,
when coupled with the weather, completely drains me. Walle and
solar powered calculators would never survive here. After I managed
to hang everything up, Won and I went out the window of the first
floor kitchen into our backyard. We hope to convince the landlords
that we deserve better than an enchanted forest full of broken
bottles and cigarette butts for a back porch. I’ve noticed that my
peers are all stricken with a serious condition: defeatist syndrome.
They all lack motivation to make a difference. Perspiration never
killed anybody. Thus, I hope today’s cleaning efforts by Won and I
weren’t in vain. I cut myself twice on broken glass from beer bottles
and am hoping I don’t get some odd form of hepatitis.
From there, I tried to work on some homework. I got a list of
questions devised for our video interview. Now Rossana just has to
add some that she wants and subtract the rejects from my list. I also
tried to list three really “Dutch” experiences that I have had. It is for
my final project for my Dutch language and culture course. So far, I
have listed two: biking and eating. I’m toying with sports too, which
would include soccer and ice-skating. Each experience has to be a
page in length. Seeing as I write more than that each night, it
shouldn’t be a problem.
Before dinner, Won and I took a short recess to send a letter to his
family. It felt great to get outside. Being cooped up all day can make
a person sleepy and irritable. I also got a second chance to get some
fresh air shortly after we returned. Earlier, I had told Rany and Katri
if they wanted to go for a walk I would be up for it, but they had to
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work on a film project. When their script was complete, it took
them outside. So, they invited me to tag along. Figuring my nerves
of steel and Chicagoan blood would be immune to any climate
condition, I exited the building in shorts. Unless you are from
Finland, Alaska, or Canada, do not try this. Comfort at a
sustainable level lasts only ten minutes. After that, without the aid
of hot chocolate or a fur coat you may run the risk of becoming a
permanent resident in the form of a living ice sculpture. Plus, film
projects never go according to plan. So, what would normally take
fifteen minutes turns into a half hour. That’s exactly what
happened today. I enjoyed helping Rany and Katri. Of course I
enjoyed their company too, but after I had to pick up confetti size
paper for a second take, I knew the cold would be too much for me
to stay any longer. Although, I have to admit, running around
trying to pick up all these bits of paper in the wind must have been
quite amusing for any passerby. Actually, more people noticed my
shorts than they did the paper. I even got a car to honk at me. It
made me feel so special, like a cute girl on the street when the
immature teenage boys pass in their hand me down Fords.
Anyway, by that time dinner was long overdue. Luckily, tonight
Won and I split our meals. My side of the refrigerator is getting low.
I got some kimchi from him and he got some bruschetta from me.
In my mind, I had the better deal. In addition to that, I also finished
Katri’s meal. Nobody here keeps leftovers, so I’ve become the
designated garbage disposal. With the talented cooks among us,
food is a better payment than cash. Tonight, we also had the
pleasure being joined by Dominick and Sanket. Each time we
encounter one another, I feel like I learn so much more about them.
It is sometimes difficult to understand Dominick when he speaks
English, but I think I got the gist of it today. It seems he and his wife
experienced difficulty having children. Although it was a long road,
now they are blessed with two beautiful children. Both, however,
were born several months premature. It is easy to tell how difficult
it is for him to be here, despite the great company that we are,
because of his strong family ties. He is an admirable man and I look
forward to continuing to get to know him. Sanket, on the other
hand, dazzled us with his palm reading skills. He went one by one
around the table foretelling the future. Between him and Rossana,
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right now he has my vote. He told me I’ll have a long life, two kids,
money will build up after time, and that I have a fairly good marriage
line. When compared with Rossana, who has now told me I will
have no kids and that I have past issues to workout, Sanket’s method
looks pretty darn good.
Later, the lovebirds joined us at the dinner table: Shahzad and his
Polish princess. She must be good for him, even if she is only a
friend, because he seems to be in much better moods these days.
Won and I often hear them laughing in the hallway and next door
too. There may be other factors contributing to his elevated
happiness as well. Part of it may be that he also intends to transfer
to Rotterdam University, which would be an easy escape from
Kanaalstraat. For the time being, this all seems to be up in the air.
Time will tell.
Just before bed, Rossana stopped by the room. She’s been doing
English exercises from an old book she kept from Italy. I
volunteered to give her suggestions and offer corrections as well to
help improve her abilities. Often, the sentences that I correct
contain the simplest errors. Although she may be frustrated with
them, they will be very easy to correct. The environment here also
helps tremendously. Being forced to speak a language day in and day
out makes a bigger difference than any classroom or book. Her
knowledge is far greater than she gives herself credit for, so she’ll do
just fine.
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2/23
Bedtime stories are my favorite. They may even explain the cloak
and dagger behavior of Frisian cows. Since, my arrival, I have yet to
see a Frisian cow. Last night, Shahzad told us of his epic birth. The
moment he was born, his neighbor’s cow died. If that was the
capability of his birth, imagine the potential destruction of his life. I
think he has these cows running scared. One of my professors
offered another explanation. She stated that they are always in the
stables during the colder months. With hair all over their bodies,
they should be able to survive the cold better than myself, so I
disagree. Shahzad is the true culprit for their hiding.
Eager to start my day, I got up at the early hour of nine o’clock
(that’s early for here unless I’m visiting a school). I had some
errands to run and since I’ve been here I’ve become quite
disorganized. Where has my trusty assignment notebook gone?
Those should be issued. Otherwise, I am too lazy to go purchase
one. Although, the day of giving in to this necessity is nearing. On
my to do list were many errands. First, I stopped by the Short Stay
Solutions office at Stenden University to pay my rent for March. I
also took this opportunity to discuss the state of our backyard. It’s
tricky business though because a lot of the previous tenants (some of
which are still residing in Kanaalstraat) have tarnished any trusting
relationship between tenants and landlords. Hence, making things
happen can be an issue. Hopefully, ground can be reclaimed within
the relationship (without others ruining it) and we’ll both see
positive results. At least they said that they would discuss the matter
and get back to me. It’s better than a definite “no”.
From there, I headed to Aldi and Albert Heijn. It would be nice if
one or the other had strictly better prices for all items. Quality is
not an issue for a college student, only quantity: bang for buck. I can
survive without eating tiramisu and filet mignon. I get apples, meat,
and cheese from Aldi. I saw mold on the cherry tomatoes there, so I
can afford to sacrifice a few extra euros at a different store for those.
At Albert Heijn, I purchase muesli, peanuts, and vla. I’ve gone on a
hunger strike from stroopwafels. We’ll see if I can last one week. It
looks like it will be extremely tough though. Every time I passed
through the sweets isle, I felt the true effects of withdrawal
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symptoms. Resistance will certainly be a true test of character and
strength.
Noticing the warmth of the day, I longed to spend more time
outside. In the Netherlands, that makes for perfect bike riding
conditions. I knew just the person to join me: Katri. On past rides,
we’d explored the north and west of Leeuwarden. Having found a
nice park leading east on a walk this past week, we decided to
explore it further by bike. The cleanliness and extent of the paths
still mystifies me. An intricate spider web of trails, solely designed
for bikes, virtually connects the entire Netherlands. Today, our
journey led us through Tytsjerk, Hurdegarijp, and Bergum. As
tradition would have it, we took photos in every town of every
church. Tytsjerk, the town of heresy, did not have a church.
Therefore, it was not our fault. After reaching Bergum (Frisian:
Burgum), hunger pains and declining weather conditions forced us
to back pedal. Throughout the ride, the wind was relentless.
Somehow, we had a healthy dose of it heading both directions. I’m
surprised neither of us toppled over.
After my hearty lunch of apples and peanuts, I returned to my
room. I finally got around to sending a necessary email to Fran
LeBeau, a former teacher and coordinator of mine. She ran the
educational internship program at Palatine High School. That
coupled with the enthusiasm of Michael Comerford in the
chemistry classroom led me to seriously consider my career path. At
Palatine High School, we were fortunate to have such a terrific
faculty for all subjects.
Shortly thereafter, during one of my regularly occurring fits of
writer’s block, Katri came to our room. She needed the services of
our internet café and soon to be physical therapy clinic. Dr. Won
and myself did the best that we could after she sent her email. I gave
a neck/back rub (long bike rides do a number on one’s upper back),
while Won provided her with a heating pad. By the way, payment is
mandatory, so we’ll be expecting an insurance check in the mail as
soon as possible.
Then Katri and Won ran off to the supermarket for some last
minute groceries, while I finished up folding my clothes from
yesterday’s laundry. Immediately following, I had to rally the troops
and inform them of the later time. Dinner usually takes place at
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seven, but it had to be pushed back to seven thirty to accommodate
Won and Katri. When I told Rossana, I dropped off her drying rack
that she had been so kind to lend me. She also made me put some
final touches on the letter I devised the other day. Next I had to
inform Ana. As I entered her corridor, I caught a whiff of
something fierce. The pungent stench of marijuana reeked
throughout the hallway. That’ll put hair on your chest almost as
well as a drive with the windows down through Decatur, Illinois.
When the time came, dinner was quaint. The usual crew was there
too: Dominick, Sanket, Rossana, Ana, Won, Rany, Katri, and I. It
was easy to tell that classes were back in full swing. Not too much
conversation tonight, everyone looked really exhausted. Usually, we
are down there for almost two hours every night. Tonight we barely
lasted forty-five minutes, if that. Fatigue is setting in… and I’ve still
got the whole week ahead of me.
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2/24
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based on where the international students come from. I am next
week woo hoo!
As usual, the class started late, despite the fact that the teacher had
arrived fifteen minutes early. This worked out well for Chris, Rory,
and Cathrine (the students from Northern Ireland) because their
smoke break lasted longer than expected and they were to present
first. Chris sat next to me. We had a nice talk about our break. His
family came down to visit and they stayed in Amsterdam. They
were there the same three days as us, but of course in a big city it is
hard to run into people unless it is planned. The diversity of the city
surprised him. This came as a shock to me. Sure, being a city
Amsterdam had some cultural diversity, but nothing compared to
the United States. I guess when you come from different countries
you notice different aspects of societies. He noticed the ethnic
variety, while I noticed the canals, coffee shops, and tall people.
During our intermission activity that kept us busy, while technical
problems were attended to, I had the pleasure of talking with Rory.
Irish is probably the hardest variation of English for me to
understand, and his lack of enunciation does not help matters. I
thoroughly enjoyed the conversation nonetheless. When he spoke, I
had to unscramble his laryngitic speech. Piece-by-piece, I put his
puzzling messages together. In so doing, I learned that he has
traveled to Chicago several times to visit family. He even spent a
summer working for a summer camp in Wisconsin. When I
inquired about the specific location of his family members, he
replied “Porsche Town”. According to him, they live in the more
affluent suburbs. My guess is the north side of the city, perhaps in
Wilmette. Like it or not, it is definitely a small world.
At the conclusion of what seemed to be an endless struggle of man
vs. machine, we finally heard two of the three presentations for the
day: Northern Ireland and Sweden. Turkey’s presentation got
pushed back until next week. They better not bump me back a week
too. I’ve been itching to get mine over with. Class ended promptly
after Elin’s presentation on Sweden though. Then, I had a nice talk
with her, Hanne, and Maria (Spain), as we biked back to
Kanaalstraat. I love the curiosity that people have about the US, but
I want to ask questions too darn it! They’re stealing all my fun, but I
love to answer questions too, so I guess that’s not entirely true.
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Since class ran a little late, by the time we got back it was nearing
dinnertime quickly. So, in the time I had, I sent a few emails and
worked on my homework for the upcoming weeks. Everyday I get
more of it done, but it’s definitely a slow process. Thank goodness
Katri came by to change the time for dinner to six thirty instead of
seven. As it was my stomach was already singing at five.
Soon enough, dinner came for my yodeling engine to keep
chugging. Yet, when I knocked on Katri’s door, I found her trying
to sleep. Scratching my head in bewilderment, at least I knew I was
on the right floor for eating. Our kitchen has been decommissioned,
as it has become a Chinese restaurant. Well, not literally, but it’s
used quite frequently and it smells like rice. Maybe that’s why I’m
always hungry? I love that smell though. Makes me reminisce of
eating shrimp fried rice from Sun Kwong, at the intersection of
Quentin and Northwest Highway, before they closed. Aside from
that, she admitted it indeed was dinnertime and I moved on to
Rossana’s door. She’s one to eat late, but today she gave in to peer
pressure. Won would be joining in a little bit. He had work to
attend to for the time being. In the middle of cooking, I realized I
had forgotten Ana. With a spring in my step, I rushed up to her
room (all the while hoping my food wouldn’t burn). When I
arrived, I found her bed ridden. She had been sick all day, partially
due to trouble breathing (asthma I think). However, with a quick
shower she joined us as soon as she could. It was still easy to tell that
she was out of it. Burning the candle on both ends seems to catch
up to everyone around here. I can only hope that it doesn’t happen
to me.
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2/25
Six Flags season passes should be valid for the trains in Europe, or
at least the strip from Leeuwarden to Groningen and vice versa. I’ve
traveled that piece of railway enough to qualify as a resident. VIP
membership should be in order. With all the money I’ve shelled
into that ticket kiosk, they could make the rails to Groningen gold.
I’m sure Fort Knox could lend a helping hand.
In the Netherlands, there seem to be about as many types of high
schools as there are colors of Crayola crayons. Thus, I’m always kept
busy with visits. In addition, most of them occur in Groningen.
Today was no different than any other in that respect. The format,
on the other hand, was different. Considered a “free” school, named
not by price, but in principle, its establishment came from the
philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. He was a German educator in the late
nineteenth century and originally put his theories into practice
there.
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around. Train rides are a lot more fun when you have a buddy.
Although, I think the prospect of following Gerard to the frontlines
is a little more exciting than a train ride with me. We enjoyed each
other’s company though, even if we were practically asleep the entire
way to Groningen.
Fortunately, our train arrived earlier than expected, so it gave us
some more time to reach the bus station before Gerard. His bus
arrived about two minutes after we did. The timing couldn’t have
been better. From there, we were able to walk to the school. It took
no more than ten minutes. At first, we found an entrance from the
street, but it was locked. So, taking a more simplistic approach, we
followed the students. Undercover, we breached their security
seemingly unnoticed. Actually, in most schools I’ve visited, I don’t
even have to check in with reception. As long as the teacher knows
we are coming, we can go straight to their class.
First and most importantly, we saw the chemistry lesson. Jos van
Vliet cordially accepted us. Shortly thereafter, we were introduced
to the class. They were a mixed ability batch, but they meshed
together nicely. In addition, they seemed to work well
independently, aside from random impulses to be put on film.
Towards the end of the period we also had an opportunity to
socialize with the students as they worked. It’s always nice for them
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to talk with someone older and genuinely interested in their daily
life. So needless to say, the presence of Katri and I in the classroom
would be as if you or I could meet Michael Jordan in person. The
effects of this would be evident in the later classes. We stayed for
two more periods after the chemistry class. Both were fine arts
courses: a woods/sculpting course and a two-dimensional art course.
Being in these classes definitely provided a strong support for hands-
on learning. So many students can be lost in a simple lecture,
especially since strictly auditory learners are quite possibly the
smallest in number.
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found a student dancing with a paper-mâché upper body of a
mannequin. Video cameras are beautiful. Need I say more?
On that note, Katri, Gerard, and I bid the school farewell. Check
it off the list because there are more to see! For the time being, our
course was set for Aldi. Boy was I starving! At least, an orange from
Katri on the train home made up for my not bringing a snack. Food
still clouded my thoughts, which never helps the wallet at the
grocery store. Hunger along with my lack of stroopwafel intake for
the week, prompted me to buy chocolates and cookies. Sugar is
amazing in any form, but stroopwafels would have been a much
smarter purchase.
During my lunch, I decided to call dad via skype. One thing led to
another and soon our conversation turned into a get to know your
computer seminar. Now I know how the commanders at missile
silos must feel when training new recruits. The slightest
misinterpretation could lead to disaster. “Don’t press the red
button!” At times, customer service is like talking through a two-
way mirror. The observed hear your voice, but they can’t register
how to act. They’re too concerned with the task at hand.
Somehow, after two hours of back and forth “turn right, turn left” I
think dad got the hang of uploading and printing photographs from
the computer. If I can survive that, I’m pretty sure the real world is
nothing.
Hence, by the time this session was over, it was practically time for
our evening meal. I made myself three biscuits with lunchmeat and
cheese, complemented by carrots and an apple. Later, I would be
nominated taste tester for Ana, Katri, and Won. Won’s goal was to
make me cry with spices. Each time he prepares a sample for me it
gets a little bit more intense. It’s almost as if I’m leveling up in some
video game or martial arts. I should start asking for belts to mark my
progress. Ana provided me with a delightful soup and Katri gave me
chicken chunks in a spiced beef sauce. Basically, even though I try to
lead a plain life, others allow me to have the luxuries of a king: a
four-course meal and the company of wonderful women.
After dinner, I did a follow up on dad. He had the pictures
printing, but very slowly. In the middle of our conversation, I got a
surprise chat message from Steffi (a cousin of mine from Germany)!
At first we tried to speak English to English, but by the end I had to
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recall my high school German knowledge. It was very exciting to
talk with her. I don’t think we have seen each other in person for
eight of nine years. So, spending Easter with them will be amazing if
it works out. We are scheduled to discuss the details via skype on
Sunday!
Talking with Steffi also refueled my enthusiasm for speaking
German. By the end of the conversation, Katri showed up in our
room. Apparently she has taken German in high school as well.
Therefore, we are at similar levels of fluency, which makes it easier
for conversational practice. We held onto a half-hearted German
conversation for over a half an hour before Won got frustrated with
the inability to understand us. Then, we fetched Ana and Rossana
to work on the birthday posters for Rany. We posted them up on
her door at midnight. Of course, I had to suit up for the occasion (I
wore my Dutch national team water polo Speedo: bright orange
with a lion on the butt).
Then, I made the biggest mistake ever. Never play practical jokes
on people from another country, even if you are on great terms with
them and with someone else from their country. Erdal had me
knock on Ali’s door and ask him if he’d be my valentine. Finding a
practically naked individual at your door while you are talking to
your girlfriend via video chat at midnight isn’t exactly something
someone dreams of happening to him or her. Also, having this
moment caught on candid camera doesn’t make matters better. So,
I think Erdal is ok because birds of a feather flock together, but I’m
definitely in the doghouse. Ali came by the room about five minutes
later. He said everything is ok, but he wants to talk tomorrow. You
can guess who won’t be sleeping tonight.
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2/26
112
2/27
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Arriving early at Oldehove, Rossana and I had plenty of room to
lock up our bikes. Well, I locked my bike, but her first attempt
ended in failure. She locked the lock to the pole without attaching it
to the bike. It appeared that she had an invisible bike. Kodak had
never seen such a perfect moment. Finally, I was able to make up for
her taking my picture when I slept in Amsterdam.
As soon as everyone arrived, we found out our destination from
the professors: across the street. We were to browse the Frisian
literature and historical archives. The archives were neat, but the
presentation was as bland as a blank sheet of paper. Sitting in a
conference room, listening to a monotone monologue on how to use
the internet for forty-five minutes is not my idea of a good time.
Then we visited the archives. The penmanship and artistic accents
inside the literature were flawless. Words cannot describe their
unique beauty. In our last room, at the point where I was beginning
to think this excursion was worth it, Magali (from Belgium) asked a
question that got our guide to rub me the wrong way. As you may
know, the Dutch and the Belgians like to poke fun at one another.
So, anytime there is an opportunity to reclaim ground either side
takes it. In this case, Magali phrased her question in such a way that
it came out as more of a malicious attack on Frisian culture than
anything. Yet, somehow whenever anybody is put in such a
defensive situation, they have to bring America into it. Our duties
as saviors used to be seen in a positive light. This guy killed this
image from yesteryear. He kicked us right between the legs by
disrespecting the relevance of the pilgrims. Someone has obviously
not experienced the glory of Thanksgiving. Instead of having this
particular individual tarred and feathered for such blasphemy, I kept
my cool. At that point, I had seen quite enough and was ready to
leave. However, I would be unable to do so until after one more
visit to the conference room and a brief visit to a temporary art
exhibit (that I liked very much!).
Feeling fatigued, Rossana and I headed home with hopes of ample
relaxation time. Again, I had to lead the way. This time we avoided
the market. At Kanaalstraat, we went our separate ways. Won got
to the room shortly after I did. It would be just the two of us, until
we got a knock at the door a few hours later. Ari and Katri were our
first visitors. They talked with us a little bit about their day.
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Apparently, they were at the Friday market as Rossana and I weaved
through the sea of people. The four of us then set a dinner date and
we took them to the Kanaalstraat dungeon before their nap.
Walking down a dark stairwell of narrow steps to a musty humidity
with the pitiful luminance of a flashlight does not set high
expectations. Sloshing in a thin layer of water at the bottom of the
stairs, we found a gangster’s paradise: white walls covered in graffiti,
mangled bikes, windowpanes, and a row of garbage cans. Now I’m
thoroughly convinced that a murder occurred in our building.
Whether I intend for it or not, as tradition would have it, through
the courtesy of others I always get food thrown at me when I go to
dinner. Tonight, Ari and Katri made an enormous colorful salad
with a vast assortment of greens. I couldn’t stop the beam of
kindness that shined on me. I tried to deflect it, but it was too
strong. They made me take two helpings, well not like I minded.
Then Rany gave me one of her homemade egg rolls. She advised me
to eat it with ketchup: delicious.
After dishes, we moved upstairs to our room for dessert and a
video presentation. We were introduced to a Finnish comedy:
Kummeli. When complimented by stroopwafels (my feeble attempt
at a week long strike is over) and Finnish dark chocolate, it makes
for a pretty fantastic night. Overall, the comedy routine was
interesting. I enjoy simple humor and by the end of the night, it
started growing on me. Many of their skits would not be socially
acceptable in the US though. We’ll leave it at that.
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2/28
As a gentleman always does, Ari paid the entire bill. Since they
didn’t give us separate checks, we reimbursed him later. In every
horror film, the first step of the killer is turning off the power.
They’ve been a little late with us, but now we’ve been initiated. It
appears we’ve only got a limited time left to live. So far, we’ve had
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fire alarms, floods, suicide trains, hair in our carpet, and poor
internet service. Tonight, our power went off within the two and a
half hours we were gone. No surprise for our building. However, it
was localized in a square set of four rooms. Ours was included. It
makes no sense though, since the circuit breaker is connected to
more rooms than that: creepy. According to the Bible, if we’re going
through the seven plagues, we’ve only got one left. There’s no telling
how catastrophic that one will be. How many of us will survive?
Furious with the fiasco, I frantically paced the hallways searching
for a solution to the problem. Thwarting such a cunning enemy
that slowly cuts you off from the outside world can be dirty business.
Questions fly through your head. Starting with the simple, why me?
Then they move on to plotting revenge. Is this an inside job or is it
the housing company? Whoever they are, they started with the
internet, but we prevailed. Escalation ensues. Power is a triple
whammy. Electricity takes out the internet, one’s food supply, and
destroys morale. Thankfully, some battery power remained in
Shahzad’s computer and he was able to launch an email SOS to
Short Stay Solutions. In the darkness, they somehow found our
flare of despair. Based on their previous response times, I expected
to be rescued from the island of isolation by Monday at the earliest.
Tonight turned out to be an exception to the trend. A team of
electricians showed up after ten at night (only a half hour after
arriving home from the restaurant). Within five minutes of their
arrival, we were back in business. We’re getting to close to the secret
operations of our building, so they had to throw us a bone. Let
them, it won’t fool us. There’s more that goes on here than meets
the eye.
Once that was fixed, we had a photo expo with Ari and Katri. I
only got to see bits and pieces because the Mexican food caught up
with me. Montezuma’s revenge is not the greatest way to end a
night, but it probably was amusing to watch. I ran back and forth
between the lavatory and the room every ten photos or so. That
worked itself out within half an hour, but the long day of walking
had made me exhausted. So, near the end, I started to fade. All in
all, after about an hour of photos, we could finally say we were
finished.
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3/1
Life in the Netherlands is like a big jigsaw puzzle, only half the
pieces are missing and others don’t fit. It’s a chaotic circle of
confusion. I’m caught somewhere between no man’s land and
Timbuktu. Riddle me this, how can their dikes (quite possibly some
of the greatest engineering feats in the world) or their intricate canal
system even exist when there seem to be no building restrictions
whatsoever? High quality with low expectations… it doesn’t seem to
fit. Take into account one key disaster. Oldehove has a bigger
leaning angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That’s a significant
flaw in foundation. Let’s not even bring Kanaalstraat into this.
Utilizing every ounce of time this morning, I sought to find the
“flying bridge” alone. By bike, it ended up only being a fifteen-
minute adventure. However, on the way to the bridge, I took the
long way. It appeared that both sides of the canal would offer a
direct route, but the side I took definitely was a big half circle
instead of a straight line. Next time, I will follow the hypotenuse
method. Normally, bridges here operate like medieval drawbridges.
Either one side or both sides lift on a hinge. In contrast to those
bridges, a monstrous muscular arm effortlessly lifts this one into the
clouds. Thus, it is not just raised; it is completely uprooted when
boats pass. Unfortunately, this time of year, the weather isn’t
favorable for boating, so the traffic is very low. Hence, I didn’t see
the bridge in action. Maybe I will get lucky later in the spring.
As I headed back, the shorter way this time, I made a miraculous
discovery. A flux capacitor may exist. Train tracks extended no
more than five or six meters in length, emerging from a grassy patch
and ending on an overhang leading into the canal. As it would seem,
a train has been used in the Netherlands instead of a DeLorean to
make Back to the Future a reality. Yet, I was at the end of those
tracks, so it came time to head back to Kanaalstraat.
When I returned, I found Rossana ready to leave for our film
project, but our technical assistant (Won) still needed to shower.
So, we left at two o’clock instead of one thirty. Eager to unveil the
beliefs and customs of the Netherlands and Friesland, with a camera
as our witness, we headed for the city center. Out of the two, prying
answers from proud Frisians would be the tougher task. Just before
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we hit the city center, we found our first victim. On the opposite
side of the canal, at a canal-side café, sat a tall blonde. A perfect
Dutch specimen, it doesn’t get any better than that. Being the social
butterfly, I had to be the one to break the ice. It got easier every
time. By the end, I’d be shattering it. Jumping at the opportunity to
elevate the entropy of a given day, I honed in on individuals, preying
on the weak if you will, like Brian Urlacher on some helpless
quarterback (presumably Brett Favre). Short of running, I chased
them down like a nerd fixed on a cheerleader. Each chase was more
thrilling than the last. Going stag to the dance wouldn’t have been a
problem. We only got shot down twice and for good reasons too (at
least that’s good enough for this heartbroken soul). One had to get
home and another had a movie date with her husband (Ugh! Older
men ruin everything).
During the rest of our quest for knowledge, we encountered a wide
variety of people. We joined a couple at their restaurant table,
caught some fresh air with an elderly trio at the park, and
embarrassed some other NHL students. My personal favorite was
our final interview. With a little reassurance and motivation from
Rossana, I disrupted another person’s daily routines. A middle-aged
man of average height stood before us, working diligently on
remodeling his 100 year-old boathouse. These are very common
along the canals. To our surprise, he excitedly participated in our
interview. On top of that, he (Chris) even gave us a grand tour of
his boat. Inside, we found a portable Lake Geneva cottage. The
walls were lined with painted and stained wood panels. It was
completely furnished with a standard kitchen and appliances, three
bedrooms, a large living room and a bathroom. His family
graciously greeted us. They then told of their travels with the boat
and put in a little sales pitch as well. Starting with the history, these
boats used to transport potatoes. The middle, where we were, was
used as storage and the families would live in the small rear
component of the boat. We didn’t see the front, but it too was
furnished for five more people to have bedrooms. On our way out,
Rossana and I each received a business card: a viable accommodation
option for mom (and possibly dad), when she comes. By then, it was
getting late, so we made a stop at one more location: the colored cow
statue. Since it was Sunday, it was locked in a screened room of a
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restaurant because all businesses, for the most part, shut down on
Sundays. Luckily, the owners saw us and let us take our five second
video clips. He said we would be the last to see it because it moves to
another city on Monday.
Having woken up to sunshine, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Yet, as
luck would have it, it’s impossible to escape the rain here.
Meteorologists are never right; it’s a known fact. But, even this
knocked my socks off. Although, I previously deemed it impossible,
weather can occur indoors. When we returned, we found rain in
our kitchen. In the Netherlands, anything is possible. Never forget
that. I’m a firm believer. That is, if you have booby-trapped ceilings.
Among the long list of growing problems in our building, plumbing
had remained, for the most part, low profile until now. Pipes from
the second floor kitchen sinks were leaking through to the first
floor. Being that we had already moldy drywall panel ceilings, it
didn’t take long before one of the panels completely deteriorated.
On its crash landing, debris scattered about the countertop and
floor. I guess we’ll have to file a permit with the village to install
skylights.
After the premature accidental notice of renovations, I stopped by
Ciska’s for a brief visit. As I typically don’t expect a call or text on
my US phone these days, I overlooked the fact that she wanted to
reschedule. She accepted me with open arms anyway. While she ate
dinner, we caught up a little bit. It was a nice heart to heart. It’ll be
fun doing the chemistry education workshop together. We’ve even
set up to try and meet on Sundays if possible, so I’m excited. I have
still heard no word from Kirsten though.
Dinner went quick. Although, I still had time for some
invigorating political discussions with Ari. He will be missed after
he leaves tomorrow. After a thorough amount of debating that
yielded perspiration, I ran upstairs for my Skype date. At first, I only
anticipated talking with Steffi, but I got an invite from Dani as well.
So, we had a group chat for the next two hours to come. It’s really
nice to talk with them, especially since it allows me to practice
German. They invited me to join them for Easter and in one night
we’ve already made all the travel arrangements. I’ll be flying from
Amsterdam to Munich. Upon arrival, either Walli or Axel will pick
me up. I can’t believe I get to see them!
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3/2
125
Leeuwarden as well. When the weather gets nicer I may have to take
her up on it.
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3/3
All work and no play are the makings of a rainy day. When the
morning bell chimed, I hit the books. As of now, I have three
projects and two final papers to complete. They are due in April,
but it would be nice to have time to focus on research as well. So,
since I had thought that I figured out my intentions for one of the
final papers, I started with that. I ended up changing the focus over
three times. Getting nowhere, I moved on again. This time, I
shifted to the other final paper. Finally, these journals came in
handy. According to the rubric, we were to describe three of our
truly “Dutch” experiences: no sweat. I’ve had a million already, so it
was easy to get all three figured out. I chose ice-skating, biking, and a
grand tour of a Frisian boathouse.
Within an hour, I was able to shell out one of them. Each was
supposed to be a page in length. One paragraph is for description
and the rest of the page is for the experience. Soon thereafter, it was
time to head to class. Today the students from Turkey, Spain, and
myself were to present our educational systems. Due to presentation
anxiety, I didn’t focus too much on the other groups. They gave
nice presentations, but many systems are so similar that once you’ve
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heard one you’ve heard them all. It’s more beneficial at this point to
experience it firsthand.
In comparison to the other groups, I think mine went quite well.
The entire class even joined me in the recital of the pledge of
allegiance. Spreading American nationalism in a scheme to take
over the world may be easier than I thought. Actually, that was
totally not my call; my teacher told the students to do it. I did not
intend for that to happen though and immediately explicitly said
that no one had to participate. Aside from that, winging the rest of
the project went fairly well. In addition, at the end of the lesson, I
received further details as to my guest speaking opportunity in an
American studies course at Comenius School in Leeuwarden.
Currently, my professor is sending an email to her contact.
Hopefully, I will receive further instruction from them. If not, I will
be seeing them next week at our required class visit there.
Back at Kanaalstraat, I plowed through the second of my three
“experience” papers. However, just before finishing, Katri
interrupted my work. She longed to go for a walk or jog. Having a
body meant for water, the choice was easy for me: walk. Although I
had just gotten a groove for my homework, getting a breath of fresh
air never hurts. When we came back, it was time for dinner. As
usual I got dibs on taste testing meals. This time, Rany let me try her
food. It was a lot better than the overcooked fish that I wouldn’t let
Ana throw away. I’m still confused as to when I should say yes and
no, when they offer for me to try food. So, I just mix it up randomly
depending upon the day. Regardless of that, I still think they enjoy
having people try and enjoy what they cook.
With my mind on school, I cut out of the kitchen early: back to
the drawing board. Another important school visit on my schedule
tomorrow. I’m going to see a chemistry class in the Northern
regions of Friesland in a small town called Ferwerd. According to
the map, it lied only one or two kilometers from the sea. Perhaps I’ll
catch a glimpse.
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3/4
129
Before, I was officially let into the school, I needed to present my
password: Douwe Anema. He was the teacher I intended to visit.
After presenting his name, the older teacher who had let me in acted
as my escort. It wasn’t long before we found him. Douwe then gave
me a brief tour of the school and brought me to his classroom. Until
class started, I interrogated him on the workings of his school and
classroom. Ten minutes later, he had to start setting up shop and I
braced myself for fresh faces. Much like my other visits, the majority
of the period passed in the same fashion. Yet, students in the
VMBO are much more rowdy than those in the higher levels. Also,
they are not afraid to express their feelings, whatever the
circumstances. Thus, they can be very outgoing, which is not a bad
trait. This led to some excitement for me. During the middle of the
second hour of the period (the students are given a coffee break after
the first hour, but I think it’s more a refueling session for the
teachers), Douwe was occupied with three students on the left side
of the classroom. I sat in the back of the middle section. Yet, a
student still managed to get me out of hiding for a question. Having
not the slightest idea for the reasoning behind correct answer, which
he had chosen, I became the next accessible source of knowledge.
So, without any hesitation whatsoever, he broke me from my trance
of note taking. Startled, as I had worked in silence for the entire
lesson, I stuttered out a few incoherent sounds. As Douwe was
coming to the rescue, he paused. Once he realized the student had
asked me the question, he encouraged me to help out.
Mustering up some courage and suppressing my fears of steering
the student in the wrong direction, I proceeded. His question
regarded one of the worksheet problems. It asked, “Welke van de
volgende stoffen is opgebouwd uit macromoleculen?” (Which of the
following stuff is built up with macromolecules?). The choices were
as follows: aardgas (natural gas), plastic, suiker (sugar), water, and
zout (salt). As previously mentioned, he knew the answer was
plastic, but he couldn’t remember what macromolecules were. So, I
had him start off with what he knew by asking leading questions.
For example, “What is salt made of? Can we rule that out then?
What is water made of?” and so on and so forth. After we had
determined what the others were made of and that those clearly
weren’t macromolecules, I described what macromolecules were. At
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that point, I had had my two minutes of fame and resumed my
silence for the remainder of the lesson.
Following the lesson, Douwe usually has another class. However,
today he had an appointment during the time of his later lesson.
Coincidentally, it happened to be in Leeuwarden. Out of the
kindness in his heart, he offered to drive me back. My bus card
would live to see another day. His car was full of dirt and tools: the
makings of a country boy. Seeing as I wear jeans everywhere these
days, I had no problem getting them dirty. Then we were off. Even
though he was running late he decided take a detour over the sea
wall. Although we weren’t able to reach the sea, it was neat to see
some of the man made fortifications to prevent the invasion of a
tidal wave. When we got back on the main road, we talked a little
bit about farming and his childhood experience growing up on a
Frisian farm along the sea. At certain times of the year, the sea
would come right up to the border of his property. It may have
scared foreigners, but Frisians have been living with it for hundreds
of years. We also spoke about kaatsen, a Frisian handball. He plays
in a league and also prefers speed skating to soccer. I’ve got skating
down, well sort of, so now it is time to learn kaatsen.
Although the sun took a peek at us this fine morning, by noon it
went back into hiding. Shortly thereafter came the rain. It’s climax
came after I exited Douwe’s car. Such is life. Naturally, I tried
defending myself. Feeling confident, I brandished my umbrella. On
came the wind. An umbrella isn’t the most effective sail, especially
when you are downwind. It impeded my progress tremendously to
the point where I almost lost ground while wielding it. Sheathing
my failing instrument of dryness, I continued on, naked to the
treacherous conditions. Working twice as hard, I achieved only half
the time efficiency. A walk that normally takes ten minutes took
closer to twenty.
Arriving back at Kanaalstraat with a broken spirit, I collapsed on
the bed. Only by eating peanut butter straight from the jar, along
with three mandarins could I regain my energy. Of course, my
weekdays are not meant for luxury, so as soon as I put fuel in my
tank, it was back to work. I labored tirelessly at the computer from
that point until seven thirty that evening. During that time, I found
out Won would not be joining me for dinner. He had a date with
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some Korean girls. He made up for it though by buying stroopwafels
and replacement toilet paper. You’d be surprised how much we go
through, both of those that is. Later I would also find out that
others from the gang would not be at the dinner table for various
reasons. This included Rany (going with Won), Katri (cycling
club), and Rossana (soccer practice). And then there were two: Ana
and I.
When the clock struck seven thirty, I headed for the kitchen. Ana
had started cooking a little bit earlier, so when I got down there the
burners were on full blast. As I toasted some bread in the oven, the
smell of her dish drew me to the opposite end of the kitchen.
Mushrooms and ground beef simmered in one pan, while pasta in a
cream sauce boiled in another. Her and Rany seem to be the best
cooks among us. While we cooked and dined, we had wonderful
conversations. They touched upon Portuguese culture, hot spots
where she likes to travel and would like to travel, and various aspects
of her university lifestyle back home. At the end of the meal she also
fed me. With Won not around that meant more for me. To make
up for it, I tried to pay her back with a stroopwafel, but that hardly
matches up to a main meal.
Right as we were about to head upstairs, Katri returned from
biking. Beat red and exhausted, she could only offer us a few
minutes of time. A much-needed shower was in order. However,
she did promise to meet up with us later and I held her to it. In the
meantime, Ana came to my room. Won had yet to return. Of
course, my giving her a single stroopwafel upped the ante. So,
walking in, each hand had an ice cream bar: a treat that brought me
back to my childhood days of Dilly Bars from DQ. Summer time
never felt so missed. As we indulged with our second dessert, Katri
entered with a full plate of leftovers. She ate dinner, I worked on
papers, and Ana watched Portuguese news online. To top off the
night, Katri and I watched a few clips from The Office: her first taste
of true comedy.
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3/5
Napoleon gives me hope for all the short stacks in the world. Not
only did he come close to taking over a large part of the world, but
he also did it in style. Someday, I’d like to have my portrait painted.
I’ll be mounted on a valiant steed, perhaps a stallion or a Harley
Davidson. It depends on whether I’m going for classic or flare.
Currently, Katri is working on portraits for her art independent
study course. She holds the key to getting this fantasy up and
running.
Today would have been the perfect day for it too. Anytime I shave
that means I have serious business to attend. In other words, I had
another school visit. Dick Eekman has extended the offer for me to
come every Thursday if it suits me. Flattered, I took him up on it.
Last time, I had only enough time to visit his first class, but today I
was able to see three. Much like viewing a movie or reading a book a
second or third time, each time I visit a particular classroom, I notice
a lot more that had previously been overlooked. Thus, I am able to
dissect and nit pick classroom environments to a greater extent.
For instance, I’ve noticed many involuntary habits of students.
Wandering minds create a spectacle for perceptive observers. Oral
fixations come to life in high school classes. This is most obvious in
the form of chewing utensils. Either lunch periods need to be longer
or children of the twenty first century are malnourished. Thank
goodness they have a coffee/bread break after the first two hours of
classes. I can only imagine how useless paper would become if the
students had to forgo these breaks.
Speaking of which, on the coffee break, I talked with Dick about
my mission here and his travels throughout Africa and to Brazil.
People in Europe seem to be more comfortable than those in the US
with traveling to Africa. Something doesn’t add up when civil wars
and genocide come to mind. Maybe it really is as beautiful a
continent as people say. One day I hope to convince my parents
that I won’t get killed if I go there. In fact, I may even make a
difference in a few lives. After all, I am still young and invincible.
With ten minutes left in his period, and fifteen minutes to spare, I
headed next door to the NHL for class. Walking past the windows
of the canteen, I saw Dilsad and Deniz from Turkey at one of the
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tables. Since we had ten minutes before class, I decided to grab an
apple tart from the lunch line. Trying to swipe my card initially
ended up in failure. I came up a few cents short. So, I scurried over
to the money machine around the corner and added a few euros to
my card. The second time was the charm. By the time all was said
and done, I had about five minutes to enjoy a short chat with Dilsad
and Deniz. Then we had to go upstairs for our afternoon lesson.
In our Dutch Language and Culture course, we’re starting to learn
a little bit more Dutch, but it’s still very basic knowledge. For
example, today we learned how to count to ten, the seasons, and two
more food items. Knowing English has its benefits, but when it
comes to getting in touch with the locals it becomes a crutch.
Everyone can speak English. Yet, they as well as I would like to
speak Dutch or Frisian. Aside from my list of grievances geared
towards international courses, this lesson held several highlights as
well. One of which was our video presentation, but I will elaborate
on that later. The other two were Rany’s presentation and the
Belgian presentation. From Rany’s presentation, I learned a neat
aspect of Korean traffic control. People walk on the left side, but
cars drive on the right. That’s too complicated. Stay right has been
permanently drilled into my cerebral cortex. There’s no turning
back.
With respect to the Belgian presentation, it caught my attention
with its uniqueness. They did a PowerPoint presentation multiple
choice trivia game based on numbers significant to Belgium. Out of
the eight questions, I got six correct. Rory beat me with seven, so I
missed out on the grand prize: Belgian beer. Needless to say, I’m not
missing out. Perhaps they have six hundred and eighty brands of
beer (one of the questions I missed) because they are still trying to
figure out the best combination for taste that can actually compete
with Dutch and German brews? Second is nothing to be ashamed
of, especially since winning meant more to me than the prize. So,
Rory deserved to win; he’ll drink up his success.
Noticing greater productivity outside the room, I decided to
follow Rossana down to the media center after class instead of
heading directly home. On the way down the stairs, I even ran into
Meta. She seemed to be doing well and I think she looks forward to
seeing Katri and I again as much as Gerard. We’ll be spending the
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night at their place in two weeks because a high school visit on the
German border we’ll require an early morning travel by car. Thus, it
would be most efficient to ride with Gerard from Peize (just outside
of Groningen). Anyway, at the media center, while I wrote at a
table, Rossana uploaded some videos onto Facebook. She is quite
talented when it comes to cinematography. Everyone seemed to be
very impressed with our film interview. It coupled culture and
comedy. Even we enjoyed it so much that it didn’t feel like
homework. Overall, it turned out to be a great learning experience
and a lot of fun too. Unfortunately, our teacher cut us off after
viewing just two questions. Although, he did suggest that we revisit
the video later during pockets of free time. Hopefully the class will
see the entire finished product. Ending with a cliffhanger wasn’t
exactly what we had in mind.
Halfway through uploading, Rossana craved coffee. As her knight
in shining armor, I vouched to watch her station and belongings.
Even though I sat across the way, I watched them like a hawk. A
suspicious pair took the computer next to her. The guy pushed her
chair slightly and I nearly jumped out of my perch. Before I could
act on this aggressive attempt to conquer a larger computer station,
Rossana returned. Life returned to normal.
After twenty minutes, or two full pages of writing in my notebook,
she had finished uploading her videos. She gave up on the last one
because it would have taken over an hour to complete. Leaving had
pros and cons. The pros were satisfying hunger, whereas the cons
meant biking in the rain. No matter how cloudy, there’s always a
bright side to every situation. Here the upside of the weather is that
I don’t have to shower ever again: kidding. However, it does feel
refreshing.
Returning from a long day of work, when it looked like all our
chores were complete, there still remained one task at hand: grocery
shopping. So, we dropped off our backpacks and headed for the
supermarket. Yet, choices always lead to decision-making. I lost the
vote of where to shop. Instead of Aldi, we went to Albert Heijn.
This ended up working out in my favor though. I found a larger
container of peanut butter for half the price offered at Aldi.
Needless to say, that furthers the fact that I have to split my
shopping between the two stores. For some odd reason, I left the
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supermarket earlier than everybody else. I did tell Rossana when I
left though. That way I didn’t leave the rest of the group (Won and
Katri) hanging. Sometimes when I feel swamped I get impatient
and feel it necessary to get things done. In addition, since I go
shopping with a set list, don’t fall into the trap of impulse
purchasing. It’s a tough battle, but I’ve learned to overcome it with
budgeting time in certain isles, while avoiding others. Hence, I
finish a lot quicker than everyone else.
Furthermore, empty rooms are conducive to getting work done
quickly. In that time frame, I was able to type up my class visit
notes, send a few emails, and work on finishing up the journal for
yesterday. Won would return within fifteen minutes or so. When it
came time for our evening meal, we found Sanket and Dominick in
the kitchen. Both are very animated, so they make for an
entertaining pair. They’re our international odd couple. If Sesame
Street were looking to increase their diversity, they should replace
Bert and Ernie with Sanket and Dominick.
Later on, Katri joined us in our room again this evening after she
returned from the gym. This time we knew she hadn’t been cycling
because she didn’t look so flushed. If she’s going to keep coming
home late there are definitely going to be consequences from her
den mother. After a good scolding, we watched a few short clips
again from The Office. Slowly, she’s becoming addicted. Today we
also added super bowl commercials, which caught Won’s attention.
Signature American advertising shows its true colors once a year.
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3/6
Boys and girls ought to listen to their moms more often. Don’t
wait until the last minute to understand their reasoning behind the
madness. This especially pertains to the consequences of sitting too
close to the television set for prolonged periods of time. I have been
learning the hard way. People say that “builds character”, but it’s
only a matter of time before my eyes spontaneously combust.
Depending on my computer, as my lifeline and connection to the
outside world, has prompted long hours of journaling in dim
lighting. However, there’s only so much the body can handle. For
the time being, I’ve developed a sensory immunity, but there’s no
telling how long I have left.
Beating the sun, as usual, with my alarm clock, I prepared for the
long day ahead of me. Yet, Facebook proved to be a time consuming
distraction. So, when it came time to shower, I had Won gauge the
time it took me. Remarkably, I made it there and back within six
minutes. That gave me plenty of time to finish getting dressed and
pack a small lunch: a lonely apple. Then I fetched the girls. Bella
and Katri were prepared, but Rany had a late night, so she hadn’t
showered yet. Knowing it would be a while, she told us to leave
without her. As we mounted our bikes, Rossana noticed her back
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tire had become flabby. She seemed skeptical that she would be able
to make it to Hempenserweg without sufficient air in the tire. With
a little convincing from Katri and I, she agreed to give it a try. If she
made it there, they would have pumps available. Then we could
determine if it were a flat or just low pressure. She made it two
thirds of the way on the bike, but after that she had to walk the rest
of the way. At Rossana’s request, Katri and I continued without her.
Getting to campus ahead of significantly ahead of schedule allowed
us to relax. I took this opportunity to get a second breakfast. A
solid snack for brunch would have to hold me over until we
returned. Simon, one of our professors, arrived on time, but the
other did not. We waited at a table in the canteen for over half an
hour for him. If we were able to use a bigger van, we could have left
without him, but we needed every inch of space we could get. With
his car, we had just enough seats for everyone. Thankfully, him
being late also allowed for some stragglers to arrive.
Wasting no time when he arrived, we filed into the vehicles. I
went in the van. Mustafa, Katri, Laetitia, Maria, and Dilsad joined
me. Simon drove and Harry was copilot. They even brought along
KITT’s daughter: the talking GPS. With a long drive ahead, we
started off with a simple game of tag. In a closed environment, that
gets old real quick. So, we moved on to “I Spy”. After one round,
Mustafa unpacked his breakfast: Nutella chocolate spread and
Turkish bread. He was nice enough to give his fellow occupants of
the back seat, Katri and I, a nibble. The only problem with samples
is they leave you wanting more. However, before I could dwell on
my shortcomings, we were already at our destination.
In between Sneek and IJsselmeer, the roads led us straight to
Sloten. There was no getting around it, only through it. No wonder
it was such an important city for the Frisians during the 16th and
17th centuries. At that time, the Dutch and Frisians were fighting
the Hapsburgs from Spain. If anyone wanted to take the road
through Sloten, they had to pay a toll. Although the city was still
fortified, there were no more tolls. With the amount of people in
our caravan, that worked out in our favor.
Stretching our legs would have to wait though, until after a coffee
break. De Zeven Wonder Café answered our call. I do enjoy the
smell of coffee, but I only drink hot chocolate. Boy did we receive
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premium service. Not only did my hot chocolate have a bargain
price, but I also got a mountain of whipped cream and a fancy truffle
on the side. Following our intermission, we were able to roam the
city for thirty minutes. It only had one main street, so we were able
to give it a thorough once over and move on. During that time,
Mustafa and I “fired” a warning shot from a cannon to ward off any
potential threats to the city. Then, we also took turns facing public
mockery by locking ourselves in the stockades. With places to go
and people to see, we pressed onward.
On the road, we passed many more lakes as we neared the sea.
Flocks of birds consumed fields normally grazed by cattle and sheep.
Swans are the Canadian geese of the Netherlands. They should
definitely send some our way. In addition to that, we also passed a
house with a wooden stork in the garden. It is the typical Dutch
marker for a newborn baby. I always thought that Hallmark had
made that up. There must be many storks, especially if they have to
fly all the way from the Netherlands to the US to deliver babies.
Soon, trees grew sparse, the air moistened, and the soil reddened.
Time reversed as we went forward. The year was 1345. Clouds
filled the sky, but the sun shined on a band of Frisian locals, farmers
and fisherman alike. Dutch ships lined the IJsselmeer, but their
anchors would not drop in Friesland. Not on this day. Frisian
townsmen decimated an entire professional invasion force of
knights (some of whom were French and Flemish returning from
the Crusades). With the rising sea at their backs, the invasion force
lost not through force or strength, but tactical errors.
Today, 60 or so Frisian nationalists annually commemorate the
Battle of Warns. It occurs on the last Saturday of September at the
Red Cliffs monument that was built in 1951. This location’s red
soil actually holds the blood of dead Frisians. Ironically, the
monument was placed where they would later lose to another Dutch
force. However, placing a monument in the true location would be
impossible because the sea has consumed it. Embedded in the
massive boulder is the Frisian inscription leaver dea as slaef (rather
dead than slave). Frisians take pride in their ideals of freedom about
as much as Lee Greenwood does about being an American. They
even wrote a proclamation in the nineteenth century claiming that
Charlemagne granted them freedom and that should be evidence
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enough to be free from any Dutch state. In fact, believe it or not, the
document was dated as if it were written in the time of
Charlemagne. I won’t even get into The Oera Linda Book. Let’s just
say some practical jokes go to far when they’re geared towards
fanatical freedom fighters.
As we huddled in a cultish circle, cigarettes seemed to serve as our
candles. Only smokers stayed somewhat warm. The fierce sea
squalls bombarded us like punches from Mike Tyson. Standing
took stamina. Thus, our visit and speech were brief. Most of the
trip we had spent below sea level, so it was nice to be on higher
ground. It provided a nice vantage point for viewing the vast plains.
After painting a picture of the medieval bloodbath, we learned some
tid bits about the landscape. The soil near to the sea is very water
logged, but it’s extremely fertile due to the concentration of peat.
Hence, canals and drainage ditches litter the countryside. Yet, when
the land dries, it sinks. Thus, it’s a self-defeating endeavor because as
it sinks, the sea slowly creeps up. Mother nature is a niche nuisance.
Sloshing about in sheep feces, our stinky battalion meticulously
worked our way back to the caravan. On the way back to
Leeuwarden, our third and final stop was Bolsward. We parked at
the ruins of a church built in 1580. The interior had been burned to
the ground in 1900. Then we all walked over to the town hall and
roadside fish stand. Our teachers showed us how to eat raw herring.
Sprinkle on a little onion, dangle it from its tail above your mouth,
and chomp away. Although we weren’t so bold as to try that
method. The owner was nice enough to make a sampler plate with
Frisian flag toothpicks. Hoity-toity midday appetizers never tasted
so delectable. After licking our chops, Maria, Laetitia, and I walked
around together. With them, I got to see the inside of a Catholic
church. Finally, we found an open one. Then we passed a wood
carving of a father and son fishing above the canal. From the hook
hung a black boot. Whoever said Frisians didn’t have a sense of
humor? We met back up with everybody at three thirty. Of course,
our teachers still were at the café sipping coffee, so we sat on the
bench, filled with fatigue. In the meantime, Harry gave us Frisian
thumbs (traditional cookies). On the ride home, he also taught us
some Frisian. If only it stuck with me.
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Arriving back with only a few hours to spare before my next set of
plans, Won decided to join me for an early dinner. That night,
Oscar and I planned to watch the Cambuur game. Tonight they
would be playing RBC Roosendaal. They weren’t supposed to be
anything special, but they would take first blood. Locking our bikes
together outside the stadium, we headed for the box office. Again,
we decided to sit on the east side. It’s got the cheapest seats, but the
second best view. Plus, it’s fun to sit by the rough and tumble of
Leeuwarden.
Before the game, the fans were going nuts. Yellow and blue
streamers shot over the goal posts. Our mascot paraded the field.
We could feel the energy in the air. This time we had third row
seats at center field: not too shabby. Last time we could afford to sit
away from our intended seats, but this time we didn’t have such
flexibility. The stands were packed. As previously noted, we got off
to a slow start and they scored first. There’s no way our goalie could
have blocked it. A free kick from a forward sent the ball sailing
between the upper corner. The shock sparked a motivational flame
and we brought on the heat. As it built up, we got more
opportunities. Near the middle of the game, we finally tied it up. At
halftime, Oscar and I wrestled the crowds for a fresh batch of
French fries and mayonnaise. They helped us thaw a little bit in the
bitter cold. For the most part though, we froze our fannies. In the
heat of the moment, it’s hardly noticeable. When the teams took
the field for the second half, Cambuur dominated the attack,
through numerous onslaughts on goal. Technically, there should
have been more goals scored on our part, but all it takes is one to
win. With less than ten minutes to spare, that wish came true. That
and a red card against the opponents crushed their spirits. Victory
came at last.
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3/7
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Initially, I thought Ferwerd would be our final destination because
it is extremely close to the sea. Heading over the sea wall, we found
out that a vast marsh stood in our way. On top of that, it was a bird
sanctuary. As we got closer, that would become quite obvious. In
the thousands, we found them in one congested blob. Any physical
match would have been lost to their army, so we beat them with
wits… or cowardice. A birdwatcher was kind enough to inform of us
of a proper detour. We would have to go ten more kilometers to the
next town if we had any hopes of catching a glimpse of water.
Having encountered few obstacles on the way and a bountiful
amount of time, we proceeded.
Smelling out the sea is as easy to identify as mom’s chocolate chip
cookies fresh out of the oven. Not only is the air fresher, but also the
wind is stronger. That certainly gave us a workout. Just shy of the
sea, we stopped for lunch in Holwerd. Although we craved De Echte
Baker, we had to make do with a phony wAnabe bakery. Katri and I
split some fresh bread and almond cookies. Sitting at a bench felt
great after an hour and a half of steady biking.
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3/8
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3/9
Why can’t I wake up every morning smelling like sweet roses in the
spring wind? Deodorant is such a chore. That is if you wake up at
5:30 A.M. Only a brisk summer morning swim practice could
knock some sense into me that early. Daylight savings losing an
hour in Illinois is still programmed into my body clock. So, my six
hours of sleep really felt like five. However, Mondays are rough, so I
wasn’t the only one lagging behind.
In fact, for once the trains seemed to be lethargic. Like die hard
shoppers of Black Friday, we crowded around the entrances to the
train. The lights were out until only five minutes before departure.
Then it took three official giddy ups to get the train huffing and
puffing. We entered on the second attempt to get things rolling.
During the transition phase shortly thereafter of alternating cardiac
arrest and stable breathing, one poor soul got locked in between two
cars. I anticipated the worst. As the power went out, scenes from
horror films seemed to unfold in my mind. Imagining an eerie fog
down the corridor, his figure vanished. All that remained of the
trapped individual was their silhouette in splatters of blood on the
glass door. This conjured up morbid fantasy escaped within thirty
seconds as the power flickered back on.
Closer to Groningen, I got a train buddy. It’s not always the most
comfortable, but it reassures me that my morning shower or striking
looks are sufficient. From Groningen’s station, I walked all the way
to the Zernike Montessori College, which took about twenty
minutes give or take five. Having been to the school before, I didn’t
have to ask where to go when I entered the building, so I just
waltzed right in. It’s not common to see a security guard or a
questioning face. Everybody just assumes since you’re there that you
must belong. However, it could also be the “somebody else’s
problem” fallacy. Either way, I like the relaxed environment much
more. After all, nobody likes a full physical examination when
picking up their sick son or daughter from school. Pediatricians
already scarred me for life, cough! So, let’s not make it worse with
officer so and so.
Although my instincts told me to head to the classroom I had
previously visited, I headed for the teacher’s lounge instead. There I
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joined Jan. He’s one of the student teachers in his second year of
study at a university. In accordance with his student teaching
requirements, this year he’s been following Bas Siebring and as of
today took over one lesson. As soon as the other student teacher
showed up, who had taught for the first time on Friday, I went
downstairs in search of Bas. I found him at the classroom preparing
for his first class.
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During this period, I dominated the questioning. As she punched
out numbers, I wrote. At first, I got a lot of information pertaining
to typical demographics: school size, grade level of students, and
things of that nature. Then a juicy uncertainty came to mind.
Feeling daring I asked, “How are students tracked when they show
exceptional abilities in math and science, but struggle with language
arts?” Her answer suggested that it would be more common for
students to be held in the level of their weakest subject. Of course,
all circumstances vary, but this answer came as a shock to me. I am
still unsure as to the validity of the comment, but if true it shows the
difficulty for students to completely fit into a particular tracking
level for all subjects. Afterwards, I inquired about visiting and
teaching. She seemed very enthusiastic and eager, so I’m glad that
I’ve established this connection.
When I returned to Kanaalstraat, Won shared some information
with me. Last night, an interesting turn of events apparently
occurred in the ground floor kitchen and hall after some people
returned from the international party at the Fire Palace. I don’t go
to these sorts of shindigs. After the first week, they ceased to
interest me. Anyway, some guys seem to take pleasure in tormenting
Katri. One of them, who no longer lives in our building, sang
obnoxiously outside her door at some God forsaken hour of the
morning. Although they got her upset, they’ve caused some
collateral damage bringing Ali and Rossana into the situation. Also,
rumor has it that they threw Sanket’s bike in the garbage as well.
There’s not much I can do about it if I don’t see it nor do they treat
me poorly. So, I wait.
Following our evening meal, Won and I joined Pablo and
Dominick in the living room for the Liverpool soccer match. At the
time we joined, they were up on Real Madrid two zip. After the
half, David joined us too. I couldn’t stay too long though because I
will have an early morning tomorrow. Hence, after I finished my
drink from Dominick, I went to bed. When I left the score was
three nil. The final score ended up being a shutout of four nil.
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3/13
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3/14
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3/15
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3/16
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Arriving back at Kanaalstraat, we gathered our belongings within
fifteen minutes and then waited outside for Gerard. During our
wait, we ran into one other tenant of Kanaalstraat and Moose
(Mustafa). The other tenant happened to be the French girl that
lives two doors down from me. There still seems to be a language
barrier between us, but with a lot of smiling I think she’s come to
understand that I am harmless. She said they’d be having a party on
our floor that night and I’d be more than welcome to join.
Flattered, I told her I’d be out of town and maybe next time. In
reality, with that news, my absence was more of a relief. Maybe I’ll
sleep better tonight not having to deal with the noise and air
pollution seeping into my room from down the wall.
Before we ran into Mustafa though, I saw a car that resembled
Gerard’s. For some reason, I thought they owned a Volkswagen.
Later, I would find out that it was a Citroen. Mirages can appear
outside of deserts. The mind plays tricks during periods of
anticipation and excitement. Seeing a familiar silhouette in the car,
I ran to it. I found a middle-aged man that probably deemed me
crazy. Then, when Gerard did pull up, I did a triple take before I
believed it.
In the car, he said something that struck me: “I belong to a group
of people that like making things, not consuming them.” Life is
about changing the world for the better. Some people are givers and
others are takers. Gerard is definitely a giver. He lays it all out there
for each and every one of us and there’s something to be said for
that. In addition, he does put a comical twist to the meaning behind
backyard scientist. His half-life of beer foam experiment was a
perfect example. These are ongoing endeavors. At his house, we
also used one as an excuse to get out of setting the table. It involved
extracting pigments from various fruits and vegetables using bleach.
He had used carrots, tomatoes, and oranges. Carrots seemed to be
the greatest affected. The exterior, up to one centimeter deep,
turned completely colorless after just two days of exposure.
However, matter is neither created nor destroyed, so the effects
upon the bleach were equally as interesting. The extracted pigments
and or sugars significantly thickened the consistency of the bleach.
I’d love to do a separation and qualitative analysis of it.
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Halfway through cleaning up and our scientific photo shoot, Meta
beckoned us to the dinner table. She had prepared for us a typical
Dutch meal, reminiscent of Thanksgiving break when we hosted
Kirsten and Ciska. We started off the evening with a salad, Meta
intended to only bake the cheese topping before putting it on the
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salad, but she put the whole dish in the oven instead. For those of
you that have never tried it, oven baked salad is actually pretty
fantastic. Put it on the “to do” list. Red cabbage, pork chops,
applesauce, and potatoes followed this. To seal the meal, we had a
yogurt-like ice cream sweetened by cranberry jam. The best meals
here always come from their house.
Once the table had been cleared, Gerard and I talked
philosophically. Meta set Katri up with a movie. During this time,
we explored the differences between the United States and the
Netherlands. Also, he told of another teacher in training that had
previously been a marine. He too sought the wisdom of Gerard’s
suggestions. In so doing, he’s noticed flaws in other classrooms
throughout the school. Tip one domino and the rest will fall. We
spoke too of technical gymnasiums. They are few and far between,
but hope to address the issues revolving around students that show
exceptional abilities in math and science, but seem to be held back
due to their language arts skills. Thus, these schools provide a
scapegoat for students hindered by the general practices of the
education system.
Before heading to bed, Gerard gave me a “how to make a PDF”
tutorial. That’ll come in handy when I want to make a few copies of
my journals in a paperback form before I leave. Then, Katri and I
looked at a book of his paintings before going to bed. Oh yeah, and
we also took silly pictures. It’s fun having spur of the moment
getaways that take me away from Kanaalstraat.
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dialogue. People of the 21st century could use a cultivated
vocabulary.
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3/18
Dim the lights and butter up the popcorn. Pull the curtain and
roll that beautiful bean footage! No, this is not another add for
Busch’s Baked Beans. I’m just convinced that all my alter egos and
past lives have been connected with movie stars, aside from a few
years as a musketeer. But, that’s an entirely different story. This
notion hit me when Katri and I took an evening adventure tonight.
I chose to bike as she jogged. It was reminiscent of some training
exercise for Rocky Balboa. Although, it would have been too cliché
if “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor had been playing in the streets.
Then I’d have to file for copyright infringement.
Starting my morning off early for the second day in a row, I rose a
minute before my alarm in an excited anticipation. Today I would
be visiting the Singelland School in Bergum (Frisian: Burgum).
There I’d be observing the classes of Alwin Dodewaard. He had two
VMBO classes and a study hall to supervise. As usual, the VMBO
classes were quite active. It’s as if they constantly have ants in their
pants. A lot of teachers seem to blame the students directly for the
classroom management. A good phrase to describe a lot of
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Montessori and VMBO classes is controlled chaos. However, I’ve
seen VMBO classes, and Montessori classes for that matter, with
perfect management. Although, defining acceptable management
may vary from teacher to teacher and as always there are tradeoffs
for every action. When a teacher governs too strictly, students are
afraid to participate, but if the leash is too loose, the students take
control. Karma causes more friction in life than sandpaper rubbing
up against calluses. Even Newton was too smart to explore the
physics behind it.
In the teacher’s lounge, the rest of the faculty cordially received
me. With a school population below 250, that’s not too large of a
staff. I ought to get more acquainted with television programs here
though because they have an awful lot of questions surrounding
American pop culture. The latest I received involved Oprah. This
led to American stereotypes: a wonderful way to break the ice. I’m
sure they feel the same way when people ask them about wooden
shoes. The lessons of the day corrected their impression of
relationships between blacks and whites, loud New Yorkers, and big
sizes for coffee. I blame reality TV for this mess. Additionally,
MTV and Jerry Springer should not be played in Europe. However,
I did take a positive stance on free refills. Dehydration is the enemy.
During the second class, I got to play around a bit. Mingling with
students finally allowed me to implement some of Gerard’s
techniques: observational discomfort and the torture of a loitering
teacher. Students don’t like teachers standing close to them when
they are not working. They’ll do anything to get you away from
them, even sing. With today’s experiment, most students went
straight into explaining their situation, but some students didn’t
even require speech. After standing within a foot of their desk,
bending over close with a big smile on my face, their instinctual
giggling transformed into work.
After a fulfilling visit, I bid Alwin and the staff farewell. Walking
to the bus stop, a twenty-minute journey, I found multiple sets of
violets sprouting along the sidewalk. It’s a very soothing subtlety of
spring. Upon my return to Leeuwarden, I checked the currency
exchange outlet for American pennies: not one of my brightest
moments. Why in the world would anywhere else have American
pennies? That should have dawned on me before looking like a fool
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at the counter. Oh well, the two receptionists and I had a good
laugh about it and one said she’d check her house and I could come
back Friday if I desire. I’ll give it a shot, but in the meantime I found
another solution. The Hawaiian, Phillip, came of use to me. After
consulting Ciska about leftover pennies, I knocked on his door.
Luckily, he had three. Yet, I could only use two because they were
dated after 1983. That’s when pennies became copper coated
instead of being solely copper. The whole class won’t be able to keep
a souvenir, but at least they will get to see the results and it will cut
down on time, which I may have been running tight on.
Once I got that worked out, I finished my term paper for another
class. Every little bit I finish allows me more time to focus on
observing and teaching. Katri then knocked at my door for a jog.
As previously mentioned, I biked instead. Not too far into the
adventure, she brought up Rossana’s fortune telling days in
Amsterdam. She reminded me of a particular card that she drew for
both of us. It symbolized an older man that meant a lot in our life.
Fortune telling can often be mumbo jumbo, but Katri did have a
point. Take a guess at their identity.
On the way back, we got somewhat lost, but the sunset led us
home. Then I went to grab a bite to eat. As usual, I found the two
stooges in the kitchen: Dominick and Sanket. They like to play
mind games. One of which I learned today: talking by shouting. So,
we put on a confusing display of excitement for the others.
Screaming at the top of our lungs, along with other phrases for small
talk, “HOW ARE YOU? SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!” Being in
close proximity with a variety of people leads you to do completely
ridiculous things. Maybe that’s why I found the random chair statue
in the living room? Don’t even try comprehending it.
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3/19
Not too much else happened between there and Gerard’s class
back in Leeuwarden. In class, we tried something new today.
Create solutions to problems through experimentation. For me, it
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wasn’t a new concept because I’ve followed Gerard on most of his
adventures and he had used this trick before. He’s got a lot in his
playbook though. This one entailed writing a brief phrase that
applies to us on a small piece of paper. Afterwards we had to slip it
into our shoe. During lessons, it serves as a reminder of things to
accomplish within the lesson. Unbeknownst to students, it gives a
teacher extra strength to make it through even the toughest days.
On my note, I wrote, “I have the tools to succeed.” One of my
biggest problems seems to be confidence in times of broken focus.
When I lose my train of thought, I crash and burn. Every bit of
practice helps in taking a step back and starting from the last
endpoint.
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At the time, we were reassured by the comforts of a GPS.
However, those feelings can be deceiving. When it came to our
experience, it steered us in the right direction until we encountered
road construction: its demise. Just minutes from Zaanse Schans, we
required an alternate bridge to cross into the city. Following the
signs, best as we could, led us away from where we needed to be.
Our route didn’t feel right, so we turned around and hoped to find
signs again. This time they took us straight to our destination.
Once we parked, we had more important business to attend to than
site seeing: finding a bathroom.
Toilet taxing, even in tourist towns, shall not be tolerated. Bladder
blocking is a serious crime. Lavatories should not be treated as a
luxury, when they are most certainly a necessity. Today, Kirsten and
I paid fifty cents to keep our kidneys from kicking and our sides
from aching. Crossing legs is only a temporary fix that is not
suitable for road trips. Thus, we conformed to the “pay to pee”
principle. In addition to that, targeting tourists also leads to higher
prices for gifts and souvenirs. Hence, although a lot of books and
key chains looked really neat, there was no way I’d purchase them at
that shop. Next, we headed to a pancake café for a quick lunch. I
got to treat this time, which made me happy that I could reciprocate
on some level. Kirsten made the better choice in pancakes. She got
a bacon and cheese pancake, whereas I got one with eggnog, apricot
jam, and whipped cream. Mine tasted great, but I figured out that I
REALLY don’t like eggnog. Aside from that, in Zaanse Schans, we
walked through more gift shops, a cheese maker, a wooden shoe
shoemaker, and along the trail of windmills. Towards the end of the
trail, we thought we could walk around in a huge circle to return to
the car, but that proved impossible. So, after I took a few more
pictures, we headed back the way we came.
Then, our next destination was Volendam. Getting there proved
pretty simple, so I napped. An already fun-filled weekend, along
with a busy previous week, made me extremely fatigued. An old-
fashioned mill welcomed us on the outskirts of Volendam. It
marked its history, but hardly concealed the thriving city within.
The city sat on IJsselmeer and seemed to attract a lot of tourists with
its sea of traditional buildings and seaside cafés. At first, we walked
around and visited the museum at the heart of the town. They had
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an exhibit of traditional Dutch clothing worn in the nineteenth
century. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but we still had a goal to
accomplish. Where could we take a photo in traditional clothing?
Thankfully, one of the receptionists at the museum could direct us
to their locations. Low and behold, we found them by all the gift
shops scattered along the sea. Jumping at an opportunity to do
something unique, we got two photos for two. That way, we each
received a copy to cherish forever. In a half an hour, they were ready
and we set our sights on home. However, our adventure was hardly
over.
Again, the GPS lagged behind. As we passed our intended exit, it
told us to turn. That sent us into Amsterdam. This led to higher
gas prices when Kirsten decided to refill the tank. Note to self,
cartographers are trust worthier than computer programmers.
Thus, we took another omleiding (detour). That was okay with me
because I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with Kirsten this
weekend.
Although Niels expected us home within an hour after our call, it
took us an extra half hour. Shortly after we returned, he ordered
fries, kroketten, and frikadel for all of us to share for dinner. This
was my first time eating a frikadel. It’s a special type of sausage cut in
half and then dressed with mayonnaise, ketchup, and onions.
Essentially, it’s the master hot dog with a different type of sausage.
When we finished, Niels took me to watch some car racing taking
place nearby. I hoped to see a few crashes, but we saw none. Yet,
there were some comical near misses with a tree. Despite this, the
car racing was great because it allowed for Niels and I to spend some
time getting to know each other better. Again our Nengels
(combined Nederlands en Engels = Dutch and English) worked well
as a method of communication.
To top off the night, we busted out the Kolonisten board game.
Perhaps the best description is that it contains a mixture of
Economics from monopoly combined with the tactics of Risk.
From the start, Niels and I battled on and off for the top position in
the game until about eleven o’clock. Both he and Kirsten were good
hosts though and let me win. I still think it was beginner’s luck.
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3/22
Never buy two hundred dollar sunglasses unless you are willing to
suffer the potential consequences. Again, I woke up first, so I took it
upon myself to get my belongings stowed away. Then I wouldn’t
waste time and make Kirsten wait for me later. But, being a bull in a
china shop makes even the simplest tasks chaotic. Hence, packing
my backpack proved to be a chore. As a scatterbrain, I put down my
sunglasses beside my backpack, while I gathered larger items such as
clothes. After my last round about the room, I carelessly had
forgotten the whereabouts of my sunglasses. Snap! Just like a twig
in the forest, something crumbled beneath my boney feet. I had
stepped on my Maui Jims right as I put the last few items in my
backpack. They have since been retired to a garbage can; forever,
resting in pieces.
With knowledge of my other pair back in the States, I soon
overcame the overwhelming grief of the tragic loss and headed
downstairs. Again, I had about an hour to myself before I began to
see signs of life. Kirsten came down first. I must have been
consumed with my work though because I didn’t see her until she
was already showered and dressed. Maybe there’s a secret stairwell
that I don’t know about? Old houses are full of tricks. While Niels
snoozed through the alarm, Kirsten and I enjoyed some stroopwafels
and cookies. With Niels’s appetite, and sense of sweets, we needed
to capitalize on the opportunity. However, I still left one cookie and
stroopwafel for him. As I watched television, Kirsten got our brunch
rolling and ran upstairs to rouse Niels. He came down shortly
thereafter and joined me in the living room. Yesterday, I had heard
Bon Jovi playing at his workshop, so this morning I felt compelled
to inquire about his taste in music. Browsing through songs in my
play list, we discovered that we shared similar interests in music. So,
now it’s my duty to prepare a few mixes for him to enjoy at work.
Within minutes, at Kirsten’s beckoning we were summoned to the
kitchen for breakfast. She served use cream of mushroom soup and
garlic bread. It hit the spot. Hot meals don’t happen too often
when I prepare food for myself here. Frugality is a fatal flaw of mine.
After breakfast, we had a quick photo shoot. I vouched for a few
pictures with Niels and then took a nice picture of the two of them.
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Apparently, it was the first picture of them outside of the reflection
from the Millennium Park “bean”. Needless to say, I felt quite
honored with the knowledge of this.
Then, we hit the road. We weren’t even out of the town and I
yearned for a photo op. At the first stoplight, I jumped out of the
car to take a couple snapshots of Kampen from across the river.
Blank stares shadowed me as I clumsily darted back and forth with
my camera. If that doesn’t scream tourist, I don’t know what does.
Since I was short on time, I didn’t have an opportunity to position
myself with the best angle, but two of the photos came out pretty
nice. When the light changed, my getaway car awaited.
Without using the GPS, we encountered no detours. Explain that.
Despite this, it is hard to realize how tired you are until you sit in the
passenger seat of a car. Somewhere between five and ten minutes on
the highway, it’ll hit you like a ton of bricks. Thus, the drive variably
shifted between light conversation, mentally dozing off, and softly
listening to music. In under two hours, we reached Kirsten’s
hometown: Baflo. There, we intended to surprise her parents with a
visit.
Entering with Kirsten’s key, we found her mother and father in
the living room. Their house was quaint and welcoming.
Apparently, her mom had been cleaning for the past few days,
expecting the possibility of my visit. Luckily, we caught her right
before she left for her choir group. Although it was brief, I’m glad
we at least had the chance to meet. When she left, Kirsten’s father
and I fantasized about fishing. He and a few friends head up to
Denmark every year for trout. In fact, he got so excited when he
learned that I enjoyed fishing as well that he pulled out a DVD from
last year’s trip. The past year hadn’t been the greatest for numbers,
but by the footage, it appeared as if they did really well compared to
most people. A few years back, they came home with a total of over
a hundred kilograms of fish! Denmark must really be a gold mine.
At the conclusion of the video, we finished our drinks and cookies.
Immediately thereafter, we walked over to Kirsten’s sister’s house.
They lived just down the block and around the corner. There, we
met her sister, brother-in-law, two nephews, and niece. Thiemen,
the youngest, appeared shy at first. Yet, by the end of our visit, he
came out of his shell. With his makeshift wooden fishing pole and
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fuzzy wire hook, he ran around trying to catch us. I proved to be his
biggest catch. Hooked on, he paraded me around the backyard four
or five times until his parents snatched him for naptime. Shouldn’t
it be the other way around? Kids have so much energy these days
that they wear out their parents. Therefore they should take the
naps, not the kids. Just a thought…
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3/23
After the lesson, Bas and I discussed various aspects of the lesson.
These included the pros, cons, and how to improve. He gave a lot of
great suggestions. It seems like managing a classroom is the buildup
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of a lot of little things. Despite the deceiving nature of the relative
ease of this, remember all it takes is for one domino to fall to knock
them all over. At least, the students seemed to enjoy today. I
received applause at the conclusion of the lesson. However, on their
way out, one of the students lit a cup partially full of ethanol from
our DNA experiment on fire in the sink. I don’t think they realized
the potential danger of doing so; they just wanted to light something
on fire. Fortunately, I saw it in the early stages as some students
stared in awe and put it out by turning the sink to full blast. So,
today was definitely a phenomenal learning experience.
During the train ride back to Leeuwarden, I realized how deadly
sweets could be when in close proximity. Over the weekend, Kirsten
supplied me with enough treats to feed an army. Too bad I have the
appetite of ten men. As a result, these chocolates and stroopwafels
have become history. Currently, they are moving along quite nicely
through my digestive tract. Their mission will be complete soon
enough.
Throughout the remainder of the day, I found myself working on
papers for school and revising my lesson plan for next week. I may
have the opportunity to conduct this same lesson five more times.
It’d be great to gauge the improvement. Aside from that, I also
caught up with journaling and had a skype date with dad. Towards
dinner, I also caught David in the kitchen. He seemed chipper. We
both briefly chatted about our weekends and I offered some travel
advice based on my recent experiences for places he may wish to take
his girlfriend when she visits this upcoming weekend.
On top of that, Won and I spent some time in Ana’s room after
dinner. For the past few weeks, she’s really been struggling with
periodic occurrences of the stomach flu. Since she’s been somewhat
bedridden, we figured she’d enjoy some company. I stayed until my
computer battery ran out. Then I had to continue my work back in
the room. Finally, I get to sleep in this week.
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From then on out, I worked tirelessly on typing up a revised paper
for Dr. Hunter. As I started to fade, Katri paid me a visit.
Indirectly, I convinced her to skip class and join me for a bike ride.
I’m a terrible person and education major. We made it to
Lystegeast. It’s about a five or six kilometer trek southeast from
Kanaalstraat. With it’s size, on a drive, you could sneeze and miss it.
The village constituted of a circular block of brick homes. On the
way back, I led us to take a turn too soon. Katri tried to stop me, but
I just used the fresh country air as my guide. Thanks to my blunder,
we ended up trudging through a farmer’s field, nearly ankle deep in a
hearty blend of peat and feces for a good two hundred meters. I’ve
got such a wonderful sense of direction.
As soon as we got back, I went to Ciska’s for an hour to talk about
our workshop coming up on April 3rd in Utrecht. Somehow, our
good intentions always lead us into enthusiastic conversations about
our experiences, but we never actually write anything down. Oh
well, that’ll change by next week. If worse comes to worse, we’ll just
talk our audience to death. Our first “serious” meeting will take
place on Friday. Then it’ll be a week countdown, so a lot will have
to be accomplished in a short time frame.
Towards the end of my evening a great number of miscellaneous
events occurred. It ended up to be a p.m. of potpourri if you will. I
started off dinner alone, but ended up eventually spending the
greater portion of it with Dominick, Sanket, and Katri. Ana, Ali,
and Erdal also worked their way in and out of the kitchen as well,
but their visits were brief. Although, I did get a pretty intense back
rub from Ali, which led me to realize how out of whack my back is at
the moment. Erdal has yet to do 100 pushups. For now, he’s all talk
and no walk, so I’m not impressed.
After dinner, Katri showed me her latest paintings. They seem to
be showing warmer colors now. Her self-portraits reveal less
tension, age, and sorrow. What used to evoke grief, is now
exhibiting slow revitalization. No longer to the shackles of the past
weigh her down. She’s becoming independent. Progression is a
beautiful process.
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In addition to that, I got a few fun emails tonight. Alex keeps
bombarding me with questions about studying abroad here. I love
it. It’s funny too because a lot of her questions are the same exact
ones my parents and I were asking before I came. So, I should be
able to answer most of them. With an open mind and a lot of
excitement, she’ll be just fine. Also, I got an email from Brigitte
Kusevskis! It’s been too long since high school water polo. Not a
day goes by without a piece of me missing it: a lot of memories.
Then, just when I thought my night would be winding down, I ran
into Shahzad. Tonight he was role-playing someone in between a
hip-hop singer and gangster rapper. Maybe there is something in
the water? That’s the only explanation I have for his peculiar
behavior outside of the fact that he’s either plum crazy or showing
off for the young lady next door.
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3/26
Lewis and Clark paved the pathway across the American west.
Cartographers put their travels on the map. After their famous
expedition and later the launch of satellites, the globe seemed to
hold no more secrets. Although the world may no longer contain
uncharted geographical terrains, within every individual there is a
new frontier: personal discovery and the notion of self-actualization.
Every day is an adventure into terra incognita. Piece by piece,
identity falls into place. There are multiple paths to reach it, but few
find them.
Bright and early, I met with Bas Siebring at the NHL to discuss
ways to improve my teaching for the upcoming week. Rome was not
built in a day; neither are lesson plans. Trial and error seems to be
the best option. It can be painful, but labor and learning have a
direct relationship. At least, that’s what people keep telling me.
We’ll see if the backbreaking reaps any benefits come harvest.
Anyway, as far as improvements to my lesson were concerned, we
started off with the worksheet. A once three page double-sided
monster had now been condensed to a succinct single double-sided
sheet. Then, a few minor adjustments were made to the format and
organization, but other than that everything looked ready for the
assembly line. Aside from that, we also addressed what to write on
the board and potential time savers. With all the modifications, my
prototype lesson was molding into a semi-finished product.
Speaking of progress, our Classroom Management course with
Gerard not only covers classroom dynamics, but also fosters personal
development. As usual, we started off the day with a reflection.
This entails looking back at the past week, noticing changes, and
perhaps making predictions on what the future holds. Working
down the line starting with me, everything went smoothly until
Hanne. She’s been feeling the pressures of work and an
uncooperative home university. With time running short and
exams creeping up, the pressure finally became too much.
Fortunately, she vented it all out before us. Sharing in front of
strangers takes a tremendous amount of strength. It’s a piece of cake
after that, well at least in comparison to taking the first step.
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In addition to that, I’m still trying to figure out if Gerard plans his
course of action or his impromptu detours just naturally come full
circle due to experience. Story telling is his gift, so it wouldn’t
surprise me. Dad’s jokes take a similar circular trajectory. Yet, by
the third, the black hole of hackneyed humor is apparent. One
would assume I’d be used to it now, but that’s hardy the case. I may
just have too much on my mind to keep up. Anyway, today’s lesson
somehow related personality, implications of society on expression,
and self-growth. Everything clicked, so it ended up being pretty
sweet and Hanne felt a lot better too.
At the conclusion, I retrieved pictures from Gerard and my visit to
Lauwers College in Surhuisterveen. He had taken some nice ones of
about twenty students and I in front of the school. Every time we
bid him adieu, it’s easy to tell how proud he is of Katri and I,
especially Katri. She’s come a long way. Being her adopted sibling is
quite an honor. We’ve been able to help each other grow and
provided support when necessary. As a result, getting by in a strange
environment has been so much easier.
On the way back, much like most of my biking done today, was in
the rain. It’s quite refreshing, but the corresponding visual
impairments are hazardous. Wet eyes can lead to a great simulation
of drunk driving. However, that’s not the reason I tumbled to the
ground. Height deficiencies are to blame; being short stinks.
Pediatricians ought not lie about potential growth spurts. That
gives an individual hope, taking that away crushes dreams of
following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan. Oh well… so, my seat
is just barely too high to rest my crotch comfortably at a complete
stop. To make up for this, I utilize raised sidewalk barriers that
divide them from bike lanes at the stoplights. Today, I informed
Katri too late. She blocked my path to comfort during a red light.
On a feeble attempt to go around, I lost my balance and gravity took
over. I didn’t even try to brush off the fact that I fell before a million
natives. Embrace thy embarrassment and feel no shame. Hence, it’s
not so hard to notice a Yankee in Frisia, but that just put it in the
spotlight. At least a few people probably got a good laugh about it,
including myself.
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3/27
It’d really be a pity if that light at the end of the tunnel were a
freight train. I can hardly afford two steps backwards at the
moment. There is little room for errors. As of now, the promise
land feels within reach. All that remains for the NHL is a
comparative education paper. Yet, speculation has seeped into it.
Any information regarding the education system in the United
States is based off the best recollection from my own personal
experience. Thus, it may not be totally valid, but it meets the
rubric’s requirements. Polishing off two and a half paragraphs never
seemed so painful. However, once it’s done I can allocate all efforts
to the most important aspect of my trip: compiling observations
into a synthesis paper.
Speaking of work, I met with Ciska to finally make some headway
on preparing our workshop for April 3rd at the second annual Lion’s
Congress in Utrecht. We will have one hour of presentation time to
entertain science teachers from across the Netherlands. Filling that
time in less than a week seemed pretty scary, but like any busy
students (or hard core procrastinators rather), we managed. Ciska
came up with the introduction activity. As she got started on the
PowerPoint format, I had to sit still. That can be nearly impossible,
so my mind began to wander. Then it dawned on me. We’re going
to keep them involved through a series of multiple-choice questions
that pertain to personal ideals. From there, we’ll share our
experiences and show them where they fall in place on a scale of
educational beliefs. For once, my random thoughts and short
attention span paid off. Within two and a half hours, we were
basically finished. A couple meetings will suffice to put on some
final touches.
When I got home, I worked ahead a little more on assignments for
school and ate a quick dinner. After all, I had to be ready in time for
the soccer game. SC Cambuur is currently ranked third in their
league. Tonight they’d be fighting the fourth place team to hold
onto their position. At quarter past seven, Oscar and I left for the
game. We seem to be the only die-hard hometown fans from
Kanaalstraat. Thank goodness we left that early. The game’s start
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time was set for eight, but already at seven thirty the stands were
packed.
Out in front of the stadium, someone looking to get rid of an extra
ticket stopped us. He said he’d sell it for three euros under the retail
price. It seemed too good to be true, I let Oscar go for it. Figuring
he took the bait of a crook, I felt pretty lucky to have avoided the
scam. All people aren’t con artists though, so everything worked out
really well. To celebrate, Oscar ended up buying French fries for
both of us with the money he saved.
Taking our seats, we ran into a season ticket holder. He seemed
genuinely interested in our backgrounds. First he talked with me
about Chicago and then with Oscar about Sweden. I tried to make
an effort to speak Dutch with him, but he jumped at the
opportunity to flaunt his English skills instead. He also tried to
explain to me the standings system and the implications for
Cambuur with a win or loss. In addition, I found out he too was a
referee for youth soccer. It’s nice to see people take part in their
community. Before the kickoff, we also had to move down a few
rows because we had taken the seats of another season ticket holder.
I didn’t mind though because the seats were still near to the center
of the field. During the game, the penalties were definitely not
called in our favor. We outplayed them, but I’m surprised we didn’t
lose with two less players on the field. The final score between
Cambuur and Excelsior ended up to be a draw 1 – 1. Both scores
were off of penalty kicks. Normally, I don’t like to see sports end in
a draw, but I’m afraid the turnout would not have been desirable
had there been an extension. As we say about Chicago sports, “well
there’s always next year…”
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Mi cha el Nocella v is it ed th e t op of T h e Neth erla nd s:
other
Vries (De Brink)
High schools in The Netherlands.
☐ main location
o subsidiary branch
■ number of schools per location.
Lines connect schools & subsidiary schools