Ok so I know its lame but after all the changing places and buying new things and adjusting to new languages, people, responsibilites and timetables its nice to actually be into the second week where things should be relatively the same!
Day 57 - Nerd alert!
Monday: same history class, a spot of study in the reading room (home to the a mouse apparently!), signed up to be part of the uni magazine and yearbook committee (could that sound more geeky?!) and then cycled a new (and thankfully easier way) home to cook stir fry for my Asian housemate :P
Day 58 - Nana nap
Tuesday: admittedly dozed off momentarily in an 8.30am lecture (held in a beautiful old church-style room), later watched Moulin Rouge for another lecture, dinner that night with two Dutch girls and a German girl I met during orientation (Iris, Celine and Nele) at Celine's. Each week we'll be rotating dinner at one of our houses to try and stay in touch ... and improve my Dutch hopefully. Iris informed me very politely that my accent is "geting better..." lol
Day 59 - Friendly face
Wednesday: day off from classes, joined the uni gym (now I just have to start going!), met up with Auntie Leonie who was in town post Uncle Pete's birthday celebrations in London and Sufi celebrations in northern Netherlands. Was so weird to see her, all the way on this side of the world, but just like Mum it also seemed like no different to catching up at home. Gave her the usual tour before we sat down to dinner. When I decided this was an ideal time to bust out my Dutch and ask the waitress "spreek je engels" she looked at my blankly, actually uttered some sort of "HUH?", then it dawned on her what I was trying to say... "oooooh" and she left, returning a moment later with two English menus. Success ...?!
Day 60 - Thursday: finally got my Dutch bank account card and PIN, second Dutch lesson that night. Far less daunting than the first but still don't know what the teacher is talking about (more than) half the time. Learned some invaluable pronunciation tips though (would you believe "ee" is meant to sound like "ay" and "ui" is meant to sound like "owh"?!?!? Each thursday night I go straight home to do my Dutch homework before everything we've learned leaks out of my brain onto my pillow!
Day 61 - Time flies
Friday: honestly this week flew. Back to the food markets for Tess and my weekly shopping effort, also picked up a random selection of Dutch licorice (some sweet, some salty, some weird ... but mostly tasty) to try more than just the little "chalk" ones. Its all super popular here and there are more varieties than you can comprehend. Good thing they all come in different shapes and sizes to tell them apart. After another cool poetry class (I'm actually starting to understand some of the more abstract ones) it was off home to cook dinner for Nakita and two Scottish girls, Katie and Kathleen. Round the (tiny) kitchen table we made our travel plans for this period. Next weekend its Belgium and about a month later we're off to Berlin!
Observations: Have been having the most bizarre, unsettling dreams and awful sleep the past couple of weeks. Dreamt Dad had cancer, Brett practically dumped me at a family wedding and I got accused of being a terrorist!! Perhaps Mum was right about the Feng Shui in my room! Also starting to get writers cramp, haven't taken this many notes in LONGHAND for years. And I'm freaking out about exams already because I haven't done one in like four years.
Mistakes: Chicken going off because of the lack of freezer ... seriously contemplating buying a second hand one.
Mini victories: Scoring a 40 euro return trip to Berlin! Discovering there is a facebook group just for people living in our guesthouse.
Dutch I've learned: "Ik kom uit Australisch" = "I come from Australia" (haven't learned how to say land down under yet :P)
"Dat klopt" = "that's right" (don't hear this one directed my way much in Dutch class yet!"
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Days 55 - Making friends
Day 55 - (Saturday) Party in the park
The guesthouse I'm living in is not as "social" as the main guesthouse where they have a communcal kitchen and common area and more people. But here in the "countryside" as its come to be known, we're still doing our best to get to know each other. I decided to help things along by organising a park party on the grass out the front of our building - and by organise I mean stick a sign made from a cereal box to the front door of the building. Despite these meagre means, it was a grand success. The weather had been dreary all week but the sun came out and stayed out for us as we bonded over munchies (including stroopwaffles with melted chocolate - new addiction discovered! [thanks to nakita]) and games of soccer and ultimate frisbee. Day turned into night and well all headed down to the "exchange student pub" near town where we boogeyed (and one Spanish guy impressively salsa-ed) to top 40 and old school (think Mmm-Bop and Spice Girls again - never gets old!) side by side. Also finally found a place that sells Australian-sized beers. Although one girl (not in our happy little group I might add) may have had a few too many - she was seen swinging on a pole, yes as in pole dancing pole, swinging on multiple men and ended up making out behind a projector screen in the corner. Imagine our view - couple entangle from the waist down while they're heads are obscured by a giant image of the Hanson brothers... hrm
The guesthouse I'm living in is not as "social" as the main guesthouse where they have a communcal kitchen and common area and more people. But here in the "countryside" as its come to be known, we're still doing our best to get to know each other. I decided to help things along by organising a park party on the grass out the front of our building - and by organise I mean stick a sign made from a cereal box to the front door of the building. Despite these meagre means, it was a grand success. The weather had been dreary all week but the sun came out and stayed out for us as we bonded over munchies (including stroopwaffles with melted chocolate - new addiction discovered! [thanks to nakita]) and games of soccer and ultimate frisbee. Day turned into night and well all headed down to the "exchange student pub" near town where we boogeyed (and one Spanish guy impressively salsa-ed) to top 40 and old school (think Mmm-Bop and Spice Girls again - never gets old!) side by side. Also finally found a place that sells Australian-sized beers. Although one girl (not in our happy little group I might add) may have had a few too many - she was seen swinging on a pole, yes as in pole dancing pole, swinging on multiple men and ended up making out behind a projector screen in the corner. Imagine our view - couple entangle from the waist down while they're heads are obscured by a giant image of the Hanson brothers... hrm
Friday, September 10, 2010
Days 50 to 54 - Back to schoooool, back to schooool
Monday to Friday
Day 50 - First day of school
First class up this morning - Contemporary World History. Some of you may remember how much I thoroughly enjoyed a similar class at Adelaide Uni (NOT!!!) but its a pre-requisite for the eminently cooler Theorising Terrorism course I want to do next semester... I'll just keep reminding myself the section on Israel/Palestine will make the bit on the Cold War worthwhile. For the meantime visualise one Aussie, a tutor called Wolfgang (no joke) and a bunch of Germans discussing WWII and the notion of WA ceceding from the state of Australia by floating out into the middle of the ocean (trust me, it was relevant at the time!).
Day 51- F*ck you (again, I promise its relevant)
Started the day with an 8.30am Contemporary World History lecture (because yes, uni administration, I agree that is the perfect time to absorb the complexities of international state relations!) Comic relief came later though in the form of a Pop Songs and Poerty tutorial. Led by a funky older female tutor with a lisp who spontaneously bursts into song at points during the class, it is literally all about analysing Top 40 music and old and new poetry. I even have to write my own poem at some point (eek! not sure how much creativity is left after 5 years in news journalism?!?! but that's why I'm in 'romantic' Europe right?) Luckily the first assignment was more in my zone - an analysis of Lily Allen's catchy and sardonic critique of George Bush and everything else that's wrong with America! A personal favourite on my MP3 list and a pleasure to listen to for "homework". We finished with an equally "difficult" end to the day - a 2 hour lecture spent watching the movie 'Dead Poet's Society'. After such a strenuous study day(!) it was time for some socialising with a troupe of 4 other Aussie girls I've come to know, including 2 who are also from Adel Uni. Later we partook in a party organised just for exchange students, where I ordered my first beer entirely in Dutch! Unfortunately others did not represent their country quite as primly as I and there were... "meetings of nations" shall we say, all over the dancefloor! Given my current romantic situation there were particular urges to slap/separate people that had to be suppressed! But then there's always a nice 20 minute bike ride home to give one time to calm down :P
Day 52 - Dinner date
A relatively uneventful day - no classes, first proper study sesh at my trusty IKEA desk - but the highlight was my first official dinner invitation to another student's unit. Andra, who lives up the hall invited me and one of the Aussie girls, Nakita (the one you met Mum), over for burritos. (You will come to recognise this among a revolving menu of cheap and easy student friendly meals.)
Day 53 - Naughty student
Unintentionally late for one of my classes today, having written in my diary that it started half an hour later than it actually did. Bugger! There goes one of my 2 free passes in this strict, very 'un-Australian in contrast to our '10 minutes late to a tute is still ok' system. And hate being 'that kid', you know the one, the first to flout the laws! Oh the shame! Made up for it by being super early (mostly out of paranoia!) for my night time Dutch class. Again, a spectacular time (6.30pm to 8.30pm) for efficient learning. After about a 5 minute introduction in English the teacher matter of factly informed us she would be switching to "instruction in Dutch" - the three most terrifying words an exchange student can hear. I felt like I was back in Year 8 French minus the bludge cheese tasting lessons. After two hours taught 80 per cent in Nederlandse it goes without saying mijn brain hurt... :S I'm determined to get it though ... in no time I'll be ordering bus tickets and buying vegetables in the native langue!
Day 54 - Homebody in my new home
First real food shopping trip with the roomie, to the morning markets. We're finally getting into a groove and managed to stock up on all the essentials for about half the price of the supermarket. She even reckons I'm a whiz in the kitchen - and that's without my baked goods as evidence (remember the lack of oven). Seems all it takes to impress are chicken wraps and making pasta sauce by adding onion and garlic to tomato concentrate. After another highly enjoyable Pop Songs and Poetry class this avo I spent the night hanging out at home with Tess, making dinner and, get this (parents pay close attention) ... vaccuuming my room and mopping the kitchen! Yep, study exchange = wild parties, drinking and missing classes .... (well, maybe just the last bit!)
Observations: Eating out here is really expensive unless you plan to live on fries. No cheap chinatown, even Maccas is pricey! Everyone has to ride with lights on their bike at night but mine are especially eye-catching because I can't attach the front one to my bike so it gets clipped to my clothing smack in the middle of my chest! HELLO oncoming traffic :P Unfortunately though, I'm discovering that not EVERYONE in the Netherlands is fully considerate of cyclists...
Mistakes: Riding too close to parked cars and nearly getting cleaned up by a rapidly opened driver's side door! eep
Dutch I've learned: "Ik ben Lauren. Ik woon in Maastricht. Ik studeer Nederlandse." - "I'm Lauren, I live in Maastricht. I study Dutch" ... this was the sum of two hours in Dutch class!
I then asked how to say this "Ik spreek geen Nederlandse"... ironically it means "I don't speak Dutch"!
Day 50 - First day of school
First class up this morning - Contemporary World History. Some of you may remember how much I thoroughly enjoyed a similar class at Adelaide Uni (NOT!!!) but its a pre-requisite for the eminently cooler Theorising Terrorism course I want to do next semester... I'll just keep reminding myself the section on Israel/Palestine will make the bit on the Cold War worthwhile. For the meantime visualise one Aussie, a tutor called Wolfgang (no joke) and a bunch of Germans discussing WWII and the notion of WA ceceding from the state of Australia by floating out into the middle of the ocean (trust me, it was relevant at the time!).
Day 51- F*ck you (again, I promise its relevant)
Started the day with an 8.30am Contemporary World History lecture (because yes, uni administration, I agree that is the perfect time to absorb the complexities of international state relations!) Comic relief came later though in the form of a Pop Songs and Poerty tutorial. Led by a funky older female tutor with a lisp who spontaneously bursts into song at points during the class, it is literally all about analysing Top 40 music and old and new poetry. I even have to write my own poem at some point (eek! not sure how much creativity is left after 5 years in news journalism?!?! but that's why I'm in 'romantic' Europe right?) Luckily the first assignment was more in my zone - an analysis of Lily Allen's catchy and sardonic critique of George Bush and everything else that's wrong with America! A personal favourite on my MP3 list and a pleasure to listen to for "homework". We finished with an equally "difficult" end to the day - a 2 hour lecture spent watching the movie 'Dead Poet's Society'. After such a strenuous study day(!) it was time for some socialising with a troupe of 4 other Aussie girls I've come to know, including 2 who are also from Adel Uni. Later we partook in a party organised just for exchange students, where I ordered my first beer entirely in Dutch! Unfortunately others did not represent their country quite as primly as I and there were... "meetings of nations" shall we say, all over the dancefloor! Given my current romantic situation there were particular urges to slap/separate people that had to be suppressed! But then there's always a nice 20 minute bike ride home to give one time to calm down :P
Day 52 - Dinner date
A relatively uneventful day - no classes, first proper study sesh at my trusty IKEA desk - but the highlight was my first official dinner invitation to another student's unit. Andra, who lives up the hall invited me and one of the Aussie girls, Nakita (the one you met Mum), over for burritos. (You will come to recognise this among a revolving menu of cheap and easy student friendly meals.)
Day 53 - Naughty student
Unintentionally late for one of my classes today, having written in my diary that it started half an hour later than it actually did. Bugger! There goes one of my 2 free passes in this strict, very 'un-Australian in contrast to our '10 minutes late to a tute is still ok' system. And hate being 'that kid', you know the one, the first to flout the laws! Oh the shame! Made up for it by being super early (mostly out of paranoia!) for my night time Dutch class. Again, a spectacular time (6.30pm to 8.30pm) for efficient learning. After about a 5 minute introduction in English the teacher matter of factly informed us she would be switching to "instruction in Dutch" - the three most terrifying words an exchange student can hear. I felt like I was back in Year 8 French minus the bludge cheese tasting lessons. After two hours taught 80 per cent in Nederlandse it goes without saying mijn brain hurt... :S I'm determined to get it though ... in no time I'll be ordering bus tickets and buying vegetables in the native langue!
Day 54 - Homebody in my new home
First real food shopping trip with the roomie, to the morning markets. We're finally getting into a groove and managed to stock up on all the essentials for about half the price of the supermarket. She even reckons I'm a whiz in the kitchen - and that's without my baked goods as evidence (remember the lack of oven). Seems all it takes to impress are chicken wraps and making pasta sauce by adding onion and garlic to tomato concentrate. After another highly enjoyable Pop Songs and Poetry class this avo I spent the night hanging out at home with Tess, making dinner and, get this (parents pay close attention) ... vaccuuming my room and mopping the kitchen! Yep, study exchange = wild parties, drinking and missing classes .... (well, maybe just the last bit!)
Observations: Eating out here is really expensive unless you plan to live on fries. No cheap chinatown, even Maccas is pricey! Everyone has to ride with lights on their bike at night but mine are especially eye-catching because I can't attach the front one to my bike so it gets clipped to my clothing smack in the middle of my chest! HELLO oncoming traffic :P Unfortunately though, I'm discovering that not EVERYONE in the Netherlands is fully considerate of cyclists...
Mistakes: Riding too close to parked cars and nearly getting cleaned up by a rapidly opened driver's side door! eep
Dutch I've learned: "Ik ben Lauren. Ik woon in Maastricht. Ik studeer Nederlandse." - "I'm Lauren, I live in Maastricht. I study Dutch" ... this was the sum of two hours in Dutch class!
I then asked how to say this "Ik spreek geen Nederlandse"... ironically it means "I don't speak Dutch"!
Days 46 to 49 - Mumsy visits my 'hood
Day 46 (note to readers: last day of previous blog should have been 45... its hard to keep track!)
Welcome Mumsy
I'd been looking forward to seeing Mum but to be honest her arrival kind of snuck up on me! Before I knew it was heading to the train station to pick her up - very surreal given I hadn't seen her in almost two months and now here she was in my neck of the woods. And even more surreal, it seemed like it had only been days since I'd last seen her... First up I gave her the grand tour of town on the way to her hotel (as we conspicuously dragged the roller suitcases along the cobblestone streets). It felt really nice to be able to show her "my new town", explain what and where everything was and why it was cool or not. Dinner later was interesting as we tried to interpret a Dutch menu (they SPEAK a lot of English here but there's actually not much WRITTEN on menus or signs etc). Later we crashed at the hotel - yes I am a grown woman, moved halfway round the room who shared a twin room with my mummy! you'd do the same if you had the choice to ditch your student-issue mattress for a few nights! There we "stayed up all night, swapping girly stories ... and in the morning ... we had WAFFLES" (10 points for picking this movie adaptation)...
Day 47 - Tour guide for a day
The morning did indeed start with waffles for breakfast, followed by the grand tour of 'everything related to me in Maastricht'. By this I mean a tour of the uni buildings I'm studying in (which used to be a nunnery, then an orphanage, then both at the same time and now a uni - consequently there are these cool wooden beams and pillars in the classrooms dating back to the 1700s I think). Mum was suitably impressed by the age of the university, the moss-covered tiled roofs etc etc. Then, post lunch and a power nap for Mum in the hotel!, we caught the bus to my 'house'. First impressions prompted Mum to label it Eastern European Spartan Chic... I like to think it has more of a 'homely student meets random collection of possessions' feel. We'll agree to disagree! Anywho, after Mum poked around in every draw and cupboard, complained about the feng shui and threatened to rearrange the furniture while I was in the shower but then redeemed herself by discovering crucial things only a Mum would notice but that make living infitely better (like how to roll down my awning so the back neighbours can't see me in the nuddy(!) we walked up the shop to buy some ingredients for dinner. At the supermarket I received my house warming present - pine nuts, crushed garlic in a jar and other kitcheny items (and later a proper bread knife on behalf of Dad!). About an hour later we were sitting down with to a 5 euro bottle of Chilean red wine at my tiny table for two (which also houses the microwave) for our first (almost) family home-cooked meal in quite some time...
Day 48 - 'Wheely' cool
Bike hiring time! Mum's new rented bike and the rusty but beloved Moo Mobile made an odd couple as we cruised around town and along the river. We just sort of explored, riding the wrong way up some paths and on others which were probably meant just for pedestrians. Neither of us got hit or fell off althought there might have been a tiny moment of tension where Mum decided her travel DNA, as she calls it, meant she knew exactly where we could ride and we should forge ahead while nerdy me begged to differ ... but over a period of just less than 96 hours of constant mother-daughter interaction that ain't bad :P After another pit stop at the hotel for a bit, where I took it upon myself to update Mum's facebook with pictures of us having so much fun, we did something I've missed since leaving home ... we went to the movies :)
Day 49 - Au revoir ... again
Last day with mum, sniff! Had a bit of family time in the morning, skyping Dad together :) Just enough time to fit in some more waffles for breakfast and then just like that it was time for Mum to leave. Have to admit there were a few tears at the train station ... most from me actually. It's been ok missing family and friends when they're not here, and then when Mum was here it was just like at home only with a European backdrop, but when she had to leave again ... UGH, a reminder that I am actually here, without all of you, for quite some time to come...
Observations: Someone else is as genius as me when it comes to Pimping one's bike. I found a girl who painted her white bike with zebra stripes!!!
This close to Belgium I expected all waffles to be delicious but some are actually quite average and taste more like a normal ice cream cone than a spongey version of a waffle cone :(
Mini victories: Applying for a Dutch bank account (just before Mum arrived) and scoring a free fold-up BBQ in the process! Random I know, but again, anything to add to my bare cupboards is welcome.
Welcome Mumsy
I'd been looking forward to seeing Mum but to be honest her arrival kind of snuck up on me! Before I knew it was heading to the train station to pick her up - very surreal given I hadn't seen her in almost two months and now here she was in my neck of the woods. And even more surreal, it seemed like it had only been days since I'd last seen her... First up I gave her the grand tour of town on the way to her hotel (as we conspicuously dragged the roller suitcases along the cobblestone streets). It felt really nice to be able to show her "my new town", explain what and where everything was and why it was cool or not. Dinner later was interesting as we tried to interpret a Dutch menu (they SPEAK a lot of English here but there's actually not much WRITTEN on menus or signs etc). Later we crashed at the hotel - yes I am a grown woman, moved halfway round the room who shared a twin room with my mummy! you'd do the same if you had the choice to ditch your student-issue mattress for a few nights! There we "stayed up all night, swapping girly stories ... and in the morning ... we had WAFFLES" (10 points for picking this movie adaptation)...
Day 47 - Tour guide for a day
The morning did indeed start with waffles for breakfast, followed by the grand tour of 'everything related to me in Maastricht'. By this I mean a tour of the uni buildings I'm studying in (which used to be a nunnery, then an orphanage, then both at the same time and now a uni - consequently there are these cool wooden beams and pillars in the classrooms dating back to the 1700s I think). Mum was suitably impressed by the age of the university, the moss-covered tiled roofs etc etc. Then, post lunch and a power nap for Mum in the hotel!, we caught the bus to my 'house'. First impressions prompted Mum to label it Eastern European Spartan Chic... I like to think it has more of a 'homely student meets random collection of possessions' feel. We'll agree to disagree! Anywho, after Mum poked around in every draw and cupboard, complained about the feng shui and threatened to rearrange the furniture while I was in the shower but then redeemed herself by discovering crucial things only a Mum would notice but that make living infitely better (like how to roll down my awning so the back neighbours can't see me in the nuddy(!) we walked up the shop to buy some ingredients for dinner. At the supermarket I received my house warming present - pine nuts, crushed garlic in a jar and other kitcheny items (and later a proper bread knife on behalf of Dad!). About an hour later we were sitting down with to a 5 euro bottle of Chilean red wine at my tiny table for two (which also houses the microwave) for our first (almost) family home-cooked meal in quite some time...
Day 48 - 'Wheely' cool
Bike hiring time! Mum's new rented bike and the rusty but beloved Moo Mobile made an odd couple as we cruised around town and along the river. We just sort of explored, riding the wrong way up some paths and on others which were probably meant just for pedestrians. Neither of us got hit or fell off althought there might have been a tiny moment of tension where Mum decided her travel DNA, as she calls it, meant she knew exactly where we could ride and we should forge ahead while nerdy me begged to differ ... but over a period of just less than 96 hours of constant mother-daughter interaction that ain't bad :P After another pit stop at the hotel for a bit, where I took it upon myself to update Mum's facebook with pictures of us having so much fun, we did something I've missed since leaving home ... we went to the movies :)
Day 49 - Au revoir ... again
Last day with mum, sniff! Had a bit of family time in the morning, skyping Dad together :) Just enough time to fit in some more waffles for breakfast and then just like that it was time for Mum to leave. Have to admit there were a few tears at the train station ... most from me actually. It's been ok missing family and friends when they're not here, and then when Mum was here it was just like at home only with a European backdrop, but when she had to leave again ... UGH, a reminder that I am actually here, without all of you, for quite some time to come...
Observations: Someone else is as genius as me when it comes to Pimping one's bike. I found a girl who painted her white bike with zebra stripes!!!
This close to Belgium I expected all waffles to be delicious but some are actually quite average and taste more like a normal ice cream cone than a spongey version of a waffle cone :(
Mini victories: Applying for a Dutch bank account (just before Mum arrived) and scoring a free fold-up BBQ in the process! Random I know, but again, anything to add to my bare cupboards is welcome.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Days 43 to 46 - Geek Refresher Course
Days 43 to 46, Mon to Wed - Getting down to business
So as nice as all this swanning around Europe recently has been I must remind you dear audience (and myself!) that I am actually here to study! So this week it was back to the classroom for University Boot Camp. Think three 9am to 5pm days of library tours, practice tutorials, lectures on exam and plagiarism protocol blah blah blah. The University College Maastricht prides itself on its Problem Based Learning system (stick with me here, I promise this won't turn into an ad for the uni's teaching methods) but to be honest its not exactly revolutionary. Its similar to a tutorial back home - brainstorming, discussion, questions - except you have to do everything in a precise order. You also HAVE to do the reading, you HAVE to contribute, you CAN'T be more than a minute or two late... certainly more strict than laid back Aussie education! And on that point, I am the only Aussie in any of my classes (think a contemporary world history class full of Germans discussin WWII...!) Anywho, it wasn't all bad this week. The uni managed to throw us a "welcome" dinner of Indonesian food (which is apparently really popular here) and gave us a UCM mug and chocolate! The mug might sound lame but when ur student kitchen is crockery-challenged every piece counts.
Outside of Uni Boot Camp there were a number of other interesting happenings:
Mistakes: Trying to pump the tyres up on the Moo Mobile and somehow managing to let all the air out of them instead. Quite the "deflating" moment ... badoom tish! Managed to rectify the situation by walking my temporarily lame bike to the nearby uni guesthouse and borrowing a pump. However, I paid with my pride. The bloke who helped me dissed the Moo Mobile as an overpriced lump of rust (sure she's seen greener pastures but he was just downright conceited about it!). He was wearing a pink euro sweater tho (you know, the woolen ones with the crew neck...) so I decided to disregard everything he said! He probably owned a 400 euro pink bike to match his sweater!
Mini victories: Managing to get out of paying 433 euro for my visa. I can now apply for a 41 euro visa but have to do a bit more legwork without the help of the uni. Still, its worth it for the boos to my new Dutch bank account.
Dutch I've learned: "Lekker" - delicious, useful in many situations
"Spreek je engels?" - Do you speak English? also very handy!
So as nice as all this swanning around Europe recently has been I must remind you dear audience (and myself!) that I am actually here to study! So this week it was back to the classroom for University Boot Camp. Think three 9am to 5pm days of library tours, practice tutorials, lectures on exam and plagiarism protocol blah blah blah. The University College Maastricht prides itself on its Problem Based Learning system (stick with me here, I promise this won't turn into an ad for the uni's teaching methods) but to be honest its not exactly revolutionary. Its similar to a tutorial back home - brainstorming, discussion, questions - except you have to do everything in a precise order. You also HAVE to do the reading, you HAVE to contribute, you CAN'T be more than a minute or two late... certainly more strict than laid back Aussie education! And on that point, I am the only Aussie in any of my classes (think a contemporary world history class full of Germans discussin WWII...!) Anywho, it wasn't all bad this week. The uni managed to throw us a "welcome" dinner of Indonesian food (which is apparently really popular here) and gave us a UCM mug and chocolate! The mug might sound lame but when ur student kitchen is crockery-challenged every piece counts.
Outside of Uni Boot Camp there were a number of other interesting happenings:
Mistakes: Trying to pump the tyres up on the Moo Mobile and somehow managing to let all the air out of them instead. Quite the "deflating" moment ... badoom tish! Managed to rectify the situation by walking my temporarily lame bike to the nearby uni guesthouse and borrowing a pump. However, I paid with my pride. The bloke who helped me dissed the Moo Mobile as an overpriced lump of rust (sure she's seen greener pastures but he was just downright conceited about it!). He was wearing a pink euro sweater tho (you know, the woolen ones with the crew neck...) so I decided to disregard everything he said! He probably owned a 400 euro pink bike to match his sweater!
Mini victories: Managing to get out of paying 433 euro for my visa. I can now apply for a 41 euro visa but have to do a bit more legwork without the help of the uni. Still, its worth it for the boos to my new Dutch bank account.
Dutch I've learned: "Lekker" - delicious, useful in many situations
"Spreek je engels?" - Do you speak English? also very handy!
Days 41 and 42 - quick one cause I'm falling behind!!
Day 41 - Day trip to Germany
A few weeks earlier Mum had travelled to Europe for work and had (as the champion mother she is) brought some extra luggage of mine with her which she left at a hotel concierge in Germany. Today seemed as good as any to just "pop over the border" to pick it up! Luckily a bloke I met in O Week was visiting his grandparents for the weekend in the exact same city I needed to go to, so I caught a lift with him. Instead of giving him petrol money I paid in those chalk licorice lollies I mentioned last blog! But that was the easiest part of my day. On arrival at said hotel the desk lady didn't speak English and my German is as good as my Dutch at the moment so a pointing game ensued as we searched for a bag with a name label that matched my passport! Finally, bag in hand, I followed mum's directions to the train station to ride back to Maastricht. On the way "home" I had to change trains twice, couldn't understand the train PA system, got off at one wrong stop and almost got crushed drying to dive back into the carriage in time! And once I was finally back in Maastricht I then had to haul my ass (and extra luggage) back to my place, uphill, on the bike... So its clear it had been a tough day of travel for me but I was put to shame by an Aussie bloke who knocked frantically at my door a few hours after I got home. Also tired from travelling all day, the poor fella had forgotten which room he'd deposited his luggage in earlier and now couldn't figure out where he was living, which key to use and in what door! He seemed infinately younger than me and I felt very Mum-like telling him "it'll be ok mate, let's just think about this for a moment...". It took about 15 minutes, knocking on a couple of other ppl's doors and finally me trying each of his keys in about 10 locks before we found his pad. Needless to say he was grateful: "Oh Man, thank you ... can we hug?!" he says. Apparently we're besties now.. :P
Day 42 - Home in bed
Compared to yesterday, today was a bore. I managed to get sick last night for the third time since leaving home and spent the entire day in bed reading, blogging and watching TV. Quite the European adventure!! Highlight of the day was figuring out how to make toast on the gas cooktop because we don't have a toaster! Good think I brought my vegemite :)
A few weeks earlier Mum had travelled to Europe for work and had (as the champion mother she is) brought some extra luggage of mine with her which she left at a hotel concierge in Germany. Today seemed as good as any to just "pop over the border" to pick it up! Luckily a bloke I met in O Week was visiting his grandparents for the weekend in the exact same city I needed to go to, so I caught a lift with him. Instead of giving him petrol money I paid in those chalk licorice lollies I mentioned last blog! But that was the easiest part of my day. On arrival at said hotel the desk lady didn't speak English and my German is as good as my Dutch at the moment so a pointing game ensued as we searched for a bag with a name label that matched my passport! Finally, bag in hand, I followed mum's directions to the train station to ride back to Maastricht. On the way "home" I had to change trains twice, couldn't understand the train PA system, got off at one wrong stop and almost got crushed drying to dive back into the carriage in time! And once I was finally back in Maastricht I then had to haul my ass (and extra luggage) back to my place, uphill, on the bike... So its clear it had been a tough day of travel for me but I was put to shame by an Aussie bloke who knocked frantically at my door a few hours after I got home. Also tired from travelling all day, the poor fella had forgotten which room he'd deposited his luggage in earlier and now couldn't figure out where he was living, which key to use and in what door! He seemed infinately younger than me and I felt very Mum-like telling him "it'll be ok mate, let's just think about this for a moment...". It took about 15 minutes, knocking on a couple of other ppl's doors and finally me trying each of his keys in about 10 locks before we found his pad. Needless to say he was grateful: "Oh Man, thank you ... can we hug?!" he says. Apparently we're besties now.. :P
Day 42 - Home in bed
Compared to yesterday, today was a bore. I managed to get sick last night for the third time since leaving home and spent the entire day in bed reading, blogging and watching TV. Quite the European adventure!! Highlight of the day was figuring out how to make toast on the gas cooktop because we don't have a toaster! Good think I brought my vegemite :)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Days 36 to 40 - Week One in Maastricht
Day 36 - Home sweet new home!
FINALLY off to Maastricht via train from Amsterdam (2.5 hours). After my earlier "turtle"comments about having too much luggage I'm smugly pleased to report that the Dutch girl who picked at the train station me up to show me my place was surprised I had "only one" bag. Many other girls have arrived with two jumbo suitcases plus...! Took the bus to my new digs, about 15 minutes from the centre of town - 3 university housing buildings in the same street, each a long building of adjoining two-bedroom units. Have my own room and share bathroom (no bath), kitchen (no oven or freezer) and laundry with my roomie Tess who's 22 from South Korea but speaks great English (I'm beginning to wonder who doesn't!) She arrived a couple hours after me - giving me just long enough to wash the Contiki out out of my clothes(!) and walk to the supermarket bout 5 mins up the road (which, I discovered later, is about another 5 minutes from the Belgian border!!! I repeat, I can WALK to Belgium from my house!) Not knowing where we were or who else was in the surrounding rooms, Tess and I made our first sharehouse dinner (pasta of course) and hit the sack.
Day 37 - O (what a) Week!
With no bikes as yet, Tess and I bussed to town to start INKOM = Dutch O Week, similar to home but on a larger scale - DJ parties with 5000 students, beer companies as sponsors, opening by the Mayor of Maastricht etc. Despite the rap, the kick off was a bit of a fizzer - a "fun" parade which turned into what felt like a prison march through Maastricht! Luckily there was beer at the end. Managed to leave my assigned group of students (8 Dutch, 2 German ... and me - guess what the common language was?) to buy towels and a quilt(!) in the avo before a 1 euro per beer pub crawl through town. Was starting to feel like I fit in ... until it was bike riding time. People here ride EVERYWHERE. And, being in a group of Europeans, they all pretty much had bikes but me, which meant riding, not walking. Apparently its common here to hitch a ride on the back of someone's bike. Fine if you're the 50kg, 5"2' German girl in our group with no bike. Not so fine for the ... shall we say "broad" 5"10' Aussie with limited balance! Needless to say an awkward and painful (think what its like to sit on a metal grate on the back of a bike on cobbled streets) experience!
Day 38 - "Are you Australian?!?!"
Today I was approached by a Dutch girl exclaiming "Are you Australian? Wow!" I replied "Am I that much of a freak?!" which prompted her to assure me "Oh no, we just don't see many of you". Aussies abroad ... endangered species? Hrm... But the fascination with Oz continued later in the night at an improv comedy show for new students. The Dutch comedians (performing in English, naturally) asked for someone who had an interesting story about travelling to Maastricht and before I could help myself I blurted out "I was stuck on a bloody plane for a day!" and soon found a bloke with a microphone under my nose. They asked the usual - what are you studying/what do you do (journalism), what did your parents say about you leaving (good riddance! have fun) and finally what do you miss most about home which prompted me and quite possibly the only other Australian in the room to simultaneously yell "Vegemite" (Sorry Brett :P). As you can imagine, explaining what exactly Vegemite is to a room full of Europeans took some work but eventually these comedic geniuses were ready to perform "Lauren's journey to Maastricht". I took a video which I'll hopefully post, but the gist is: My hippie parents (Dad, they put you in a skirt!) send me off to Maastricht. On the plane I watch "How to Train Your Dragon" and put the concept of this movie to use during my stopover in Malaysia where I tame an out of control dragon with ... you guessed it, Vegemite, as a treat. When I arrive in Maastricht I realise there is no English speaking newspaper there and plan to start one. Funnily enough Mr Vegemite is in town looking to invest profits from the massively popular product in Europe. We do a deal and my life is complete here in this happy university town editing the Vegemite times!
Day 39 - Pimp my bike
Two days of hitch-hiking by bike was enough to motivate me - today was operation buy-a-bike day. After traispsing around the city on foot looking without success I gave up and hired one ... only to find new wheels that afternoon! Murphy's Law. Good timing though as one of the INKOM activities that day was "Pimp your bike". Originally a white bike, my new friend Iris came up with the genius idea to paint black splodges and make it "The MOO Mobile". We even found an INKOM promotional seat cover which just happened to be in cow print. And oh was it worth it, being able to ride MY new bike with the group. Its first destination - BBQ dinner, Dutch style. Now, it wasn't like an Aussie BBQ (no 'dead horse' in sight Dad) but was actually quite tasty with this overly creamed/mashed potato salad and coleslaw but not with mayonnaise... :S Unfortunately I did not fare so well on my first cycle home at night - it POURED and I got soaked. On the upside it still only took 15 minutes. The next day I asked a Dutch guy what you do when it rains - his response: "ride faster"!
Day 40 - Beer, glorious beer
This afternoon I experienced a Dutch event which must be seen to be believed. Called Cantus, it involves holding a "song book" in one hand and a beer in the other, belting out Dutch songs and literally throwing beer over everyone in sight. Everyone is drenched and stinky by the end of it and the floor is disgusting. But they seem to love it. I think its a waste of beer frankly! Later that night was the final INKOM party - Heineken Night - featuring (apparently) famous Dutch DJs. Really it was just a flash back to the 90s, playing spice girls and five etc. The funniest was an all-male rock group who did a cover of Britney's "Hit me Baby One More Time" - equally funny was watching the Dutch blokes in the crowd go nuts for it! Apparently 90s pop is still popular in Europe ... who knew?!
Observations: The beers here are too small. It's harder than you'd think to buy a bike. But the bike lanes are so well set out. The whole lane is painted red and pretty much everything has to give way to bikes. DJs in clubs play only the "good bits" of songs and then skip to another, usually without any attempt to mix. Licorice lollies called "chalk" (bc they're white and look like chalk) that taste sweet and minty and salty all at once are actually quite delicious.
Mistakes: Not getting a bike sooner - seriously, you're a social outcast without one! Not laminating my map before I got rained on while riding.
Mini victories: Learning about 10 sentences in Dutch so far!
New Dutch I've learnt: "Hoi Hoi" - yes they actually say this, it means hello, "Ik wil bier, astjulbliff" - I'd like a beer please! and "Ik hep un vriend" - I have a boyfriend :)
FINALLY off to Maastricht via train from Amsterdam (2.5 hours). After my earlier "turtle"comments about having too much luggage I'm smugly pleased to report that the Dutch girl who picked at the train station me up to show me my place was surprised I had "only one" bag. Many other girls have arrived with two jumbo suitcases plus...! Took the bus to my new digs, about 15 minutes from the centre of town - 3 university housing buildings in the same street, each a long building of adjoining two-bedroom units. Have my own room and share bathroom (no bath), kitchen (no oven or freezer) and laundry with my roomie Tess who's 22 from South Korea but speaks great English (I'm beginning to wonder who doesn't!) She arrived a couple hours after me - giving me just long enough to wash the Contiki out out of my clothes(!) and walk to the supermarket bout 5 mins up the road (which, I discovered later, is about another 5 minutes from the Belgian border!!! I repeat, I can WALK to Belgium from my house!) Not knowing where we were or who else was in the surrounding rooms, Tess and I made our first sharehouse dinner (pasta of course) and hit the sack.
Day 37 - O (what a) Week!
With no bikes as yet, Tess and I bussed to town to start INKOM = Dutch O Week, similar to home but on a larger scale - DJ parties with 5000 students, beer companies as sponsors, opening by the Mayor of Maastricht etc. Despite the rap, the kick off was a bit of a fizzer - a "fun" parade which turned into what felt like a prison march through Maastricht! Luckily there was beer at the end. Managed to leave my assigned group of students (8 Dutch, 2 German ... and me - guess what the common language was?) to buy towels and a quilt(!) in the avo before a 1 euro per beer pub crawl through town. Was starting to feel like I fit in ... until it was bike riding time. People here ride EVERYWHERE. And, being in a group of Europeans, they all pretty much had bikes but me, which meant riding, not walking. Apparently its common here to hitch a ride on the back of someone's bike. Fine if you're the 50kg, 5"2' German girl in our group with no bike. Not so fine for the ... shall we say "broad" 5"10' Aussie with limited balance! Needless to say an awkward and painful (think what its like to sit on a metal grate on the back of a bike on cobbled streets) experience!
Day 38 - "Are you Australian?!?!"
Today I was approached by a Dutch girl exclaiming "Are you Australian? Wow!" I replied "Am I that much of a freak?!" which prompted her to assure me "Oh no, we just don't see many of you". Aussies abroad ... endangered species? Hrm... But the fascination with Oz continued later in the night at an improv comedy show for new students. The Dutch comedians (performing in English, naturally) asked for someone who had an interesting story about travelling to Maastricht and before I could help myself I blurted out "I was stuck on a bloody plane for a day!" and soon found a bloke with a microphone under my nose. They asked the usual - what are you studying/what do you do (journalism), what did your parents say about you leaving (good riddance! have fun) and finally what do you miss most about home which prompted me and quite possibly the only other Australian in the room to simultaneously yell "Vegemite" (Sorry Brett :P). As you can imagine, explaining what exactly Vegemite is to a room full of Europeans took some work but eventually these comedic geniuses were ready to perform "Lauren's journey to Maastricht". I took a video which I'll hopefully post, but the gist is: My hippie parents (Dad, they put you in a skirt!) send me off to Maastricht. On the plane I watch "How to Train Your Dragon" and put the concept of this movie to use during my stopover in Malaysia where I tame an out of control dragon with ... you guessed it, Vegemite, as a treat. When I arrive in Maastricht I realise there is no English speaking newspaper there and plan to start one. Funnily enough Mr Vegemite is in town looking to invest profits from the massively popular product in Europe. We do a deal and my life is complete here in this happy university town editing the Vegemite times!
Day 39 - Pimp my bike
Two days of hitch-hiking by bike was enough to motivate me - today was operation buy-a-bike day. After traispsing around the city on foot looking without success I gave up and hired one ... only to find new wheels that afternoon! Murphy's Law. Good timing though as one of the INKOM activities that day was "Pimp your bike". Originally a white bike, my new friend Iris came up with the genius idea to paint black splodges and make it "The MOO Mobile". We even found an INKOM promotional seat cover which just happened to be in cow print. And oh was it worth it, being able to ride MY new bike with the group. Its first destination - BBQ dinner, Dutch style. Now, it wasn't like an Aussie BBQ (no 'dead horse' in sight Dad) but was actually quite tasty with this overly creamed/mashed potato salad and coleslaw but not with mayonnaise... :S Unfortunately I did not fare so well on my first cycle home at night - it POURED and I got soaked. On the upside it still only took 15 minutes. The next day I asked a Dutch guy what you do when it rains - his response: "ride faster"!
Day 40 - Beer, glorious beer
This afternoon I experienced a Dutch event which must be seen to be believed. Called Cantus, it involves holding a "song book" in one hand and a beer in the other, belting out Dutch songs and literally throwing beer over everyone in sight. Everyone is drenched and stinky by the end of it and the floor is disgusting. But they seem to love it. I think its a waste of beer frankly! Later that night was the final INKOM party - Heineken Night - featuring (apparently) famous Dutch DJs. Really it was just a flash back to the 90s, playing spice girls and five etc. The funniest was an all-male rock group who did a cover of Britney's "Hit me Baby One More Time" - equally funny was watching the Dutch blokes in the crowd go nuts for it! Apparently 90s pop is still popular in Europe ... who knew?!
Observations: The beers here are too small. It's harder than you'd think to buy a bike. But the bike lanes are so well set out. The whole lane is painted red and pretty much everything has to give way to bikes. DJs in clubs play only the "good bits" of songs and then skip to another, usually without any attempt to mix. Licorice lollies called "chalk" (bc they're white and look like chalk) that taste sweet and minty and salty all at once are actually quite delicious.
Mistakes: Not getting a bike sooner - seriously, you're a social outcast without one! Not laminating my map before I got rained on while riding.
Mini victories: Learning about 10 sentences in Dutch so far!
New Dutch I've learnt: "Hoi Hoi" - yes they actually say this, it means hello, "Ik wil bier, astjulbliff" - I'd like a beer please! and "Ik hep un vriend" - I have a boyfriend :)
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