Monday, February 25, 2013

Den Haag, Accidental Amsterdam, and Real Dutch Nature!


              Time is absolutely flying by! Three weeks here has definitely made my room at Kaarsenmakersstraat feel like home, but I am definitely not any closer to being Dutch (still grotesquely mispronouncing words and crashing on my bike). This week I discovered a store in town called the Tucker Box that only sells British and Australian foods and goods. I have never been so happy to read the label on a package. I also made my way to Ikea in Haarlem. No matter what country you’re in, Ikea is exactly the same, full of ligonberry jam and affordable Swedish design. Getting to Ikea was an adventure in itself. The first time I tried, instead of making the right transfer in Haarlem (fun fact: Haarlem is actually known as a pretty ritzy town in Holland!), we ended up in Amsterdam. 
Ikea in Haarlem!
              This was my first time in Amsterdam and oh my was I overwhelmed. The city is hundreds of years old with some buildings leaning to one side or another and built along the canals. It is also VERY touristy. There is no shortage of upscale shopping and iconic cheese stores. However, what really threw me off was the Red Light District. As you draw closer, the streets are lined with sex shops, “coffee shops,” fried Dutch food, and finally big windows with half naked women standing in them. Since we were only in Amsterdam for a Sunday evening we didn’t stray too far, but I was told there are neighborhoods that are less intense with markets and museums. 
Train Station in Amsterdam

Tilted Buildings in Amsterdam

            In addition to Amsterdam, I also made my first trip to The Hague, a really lovely city with the country’s embassies, many international justice buildings, and Parliament. My favorite part was going to the M.C. Escher Museum though which is located in an old Dutch palace. Although you might not recognize the name Escher, he specializes in tessellations and some truly mind boggling pictures altering space and perspective. 
Parliament in The Hague

M.C. Escher Artwork

            Another one of my adventures this week was attending a tour of Leiden’s synagogue. It is very small, used only once a month for Orthodox style services, and today serves as more of a museum. One of the Temple’s board members told us the history of the building from its creation in the 1700s. During World War II it was utilized for cattle slaughter and storage since over half of Leiden’s Jews died in the Holocaust. Today, most of the Jews in Holland live in or near Amsterdam where there are also progressive congregations.
            Last Thursday, I was introduced to one of Leiden’s many student associations (about 60% of students here join one) as a member of Leiden United, which pairs Dutch students with internationals to introduce them to student life here. Quintus was the first one we visited. It has about a thousand members that are divided into disputes of about 30 people. After dinner at the Quintus cafeteria, we had drinks and were able to watch all the different disputes dressed in their group’s costume/uniform for their weekly meetings and hangouts. Unlike, Greek life in the U.S., men and women join the same organization and take incredible vacations together all over the world (my mentor is going to India with her dispute next week and another girl is going to Egypt with hers). The student associations do love to throw huge parties for their members though. So far, I am still pretty happy that Clark has no such organizations.
            This past weekend I went to Hoge Veluwe, one of two national parks in the Netherlands (or as one Dutch person told me, one of the few areas to see “real nature”!) It was a little over an hour bus ride to the little farm we were staying at. All 30 or so of us slept in one enormous bed! We spent much of the weekend eating Dutch food like pancakes, potatos, pea soup, fried dough, and plenty of cheese. The next day we biked through the park and went to the Kroller-Muller museum, which is in the middle of the park and absolutely amazing!! They have the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings as well as many other notable artists such as Picasso and Lipshitz (my AP art and art history classes have paid off a little). The next day we were supposed to take a horse drawn carriage ride through the park, but because of snow, the carriages were actually pulled by cars. After more eating, we headed home to Leiden. 
Giant Bed at the Farmhouse at Hoge Veluwe

Cows at the Farmhouse

Van Gogh at Kroller-Muller Museum

Biking through Hoge Veluwe

"Horse" Drawn Carriage

            Other highlights of the past week include trying a giant Dutch pancake, repairing the loud squeaking my bike was making, and setting up recycling in my kitchen! Next week I have friends coming from France and I’m hoping to try my luck exploring some different areas of Amsterdam.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Don't Forget to Wear a Costume!

          I was told to go to Southern Netherlands for Carnaval (or Dutch Mardi Gras), but I never could have imagined what I was getting myself into. After making my bi-weekly trip to the market in town and picking up my residency permit from City Hall, I parked my bike in the train station’s garage and was off to Tilburg! The trains zip from city to city and pass through fields, herds of sheep, and canals between each stop. As I got closer and closer to Tilburg, the amount of people in costume increased exponentially (a common outfit is a fuzzy animal onesie). When I finally arrived, the station was surrounded by people in costumes and draped in neon orange and green scarves singing along to Dutch bands. Overwhelmed I made my way through town and to my first hosts’ house. The house is know as Casa Merode and quite reputable for all of the couchsurfers that they have hosted. There are five housemates from all over Europe including 2 from Greece, 1 Dutch, a Belgian girl going to school for juggling, and a Lithuanian studying liberal arts at the local university. We played complicated board games, ate dinner together, and finally the Lithuanian, Igor, took me into town to celebrate the insanity of Carnaval. Before hand he shared with me his fascination with the backwardness of many American laws (such as gun control) and that if I ever went to Lithuania I would be given vodka then told why America is ruining the world. I suppose I can rule Lithuania off my travel goals!
Outside Tilburg Train Station

Tilburg Couchsurfing Room
            The next morning I left for Eindhoven. Eindhoven is not the most beautiful city since it had to be mostly rebuilt after World War II. Nonetheless, my host Theo, a Ph. D student and droplet specialist (he studies the physics of how liquid comes out of a ketchup or shampoo bottle), brought me with him to his hometown Asten. Asten, a rather agricultural area, was having their own Carnaval celebration that included elaborate costumes and having a drink at each of the town’s 11 bars. Aside from being the only American amongst hundreds of rambunctious Dutch, the celebration was America themed so his friends were very excited to have me join them. I especially appreciated the people who dressed up with American flags, beer bellies, and carried around McDonalds in line with the theme. The day ended with a dinner of various fried foods at one of Theo’s friend’s family house (my vegetarian diet absolutely baffled them). Although his parents couldn’t speak English, they thought I’d be a suitable wife for their son. 
My New Dutch Friends in Asten

Theo in His Pig Onesie (He wants to wear it on Casual Fridays)
America themed Pub Crawl


American "football" building
            From Eindhoven, I hopped back on the train to Maastricht, the Carnaval capital of the Netherlands. My host, Frank (an environmental/urban planner!) was off to Aachen, Germany for their parade so he introduced me to his neighbor Osman. Osman is studying Medicine at the university, 1 out of 10 children, and the first to leave Saudi Arabia where he grew up. He even asked me to teach him ebonics—we certainly had a lot to learn about each other! Without asking he gave me a grand tour of the city, which was dotted with small parades of people and drum bands. He was particularly excited about taking me to the “American boulevard” where there is a monument to the US soldiers that crossed the River Maas and liberated the city of Maastricht in WWII, John F. Kennedybrug bridge, and a giant building that looks like a football.  That night the city came alive in full force again for Carnaval! My favorite costume was a Scrabble board (there is an “SJ” in Dutch Scrabble). The bars and cafes blast traditional Carnaval music and let’s just say the music is an acquired taste (the locals are grateful it’s only a few days a year.) Before finally heading home, me and the other couchsurfers headed to a tiny village of about 100 people for their big parade of floats pulled by tractors (fun fact: the cows here say “boo”). 




            In addition to my adventures, I have actually attended classes. It is a whirlwind making it to my back to back classes. They are all on Thursday and a 10-15 minute bike ride from each other—it is actually not possible to make it to class in time without one. I am taking Environment and Society, Dutch Culture, and Decision Making and Rational Choice, plus Consumer psychology in the second half of the semester. Classes are MUCH bigger than at Clark, but for the smaller ones I have frequently been asked how the native speaker would define or pronounce something. Another professor was telling us about the history of Dutch dikes, dams, and canals and I inquired about feelings of global warming here. Her response was, “Of course it’s real! It is fact! I don’t know what country you’re from, but the waters are rising here and we have to deal with it.” What a great country! Until next time, Omhelzingen en kussen (hugs and kisses)!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Week One.



Goedemorgen all!

I can’t believe it has already been a week since I arrived in The Netherlands (or Nederland as they say
Iconic windmill shot
here since there is only one…). After a night of zero sleep on the plane, but plenty of good movies and surprisingly delicious airline food (they gave the vegetarians Indian cuisine), I made it! I was able to hop right off the plane and onto a train that took me into the central Leiden station. More than anything else, I was awed by the number of bicycles. I was told beforehand that there are more bikes than people here, but now I really understand. I mean picture, parking garages of bikes. Directly across from the train station is the Visitor’s Centre that was incredibly friendly and just as bureaucratic as I was warned sending me to 5 new locations. With my giant backpacking bag on my bag and over packed luggage, I eventually dragged my things over the cobblestone roads to Kaarsenmakersstraat 85 (it means candle maker street!) As if that wasn’t challenging enough, the layout of the city absolutely baffles me. Unlike most cities based on grids, Leiden follows the canals that twist and turn throughout it.

            At Kaarsenmakersstraat or K-straat, the dorm is nestled between a canal (obviously) and across the street from a nursing home still in the city center. I have a huge single that I have been plastering the walls with anything I can find (recent addition was an old South Africa calendar) and a huge window that overlooks a lovely courtyard that the caretaker lives in with his wife, a rooster, a giant rabbit, and various other animals. The dorm is for internationals since finding housing is very difficult here. Although, Brandeis has about 10 students here too which is like a little taste of home.

With little time to settle in, orientation started the next day. It is a very different system here! Registration is an entirely different process depending on what faculty you are taking class in and I am in 4 different ones! They also had us attend a Dutch language class (impossible). Although Dutch is similar to English, they have rolling Rs, a “ch” sound similar to Hebrew, and overall sound like the language they speak in the Sims. Alas, as soon as I give someone an “Ihavenoideawhatyou’resaying” look they switch right over to English.

Microwaved gouda pizza bread...American contribution
Every night so far seems to be a different reason to head to one of Leiden’s Heineken themed bars. The only night the bar was packed with just Americans was for Superbowl Sunday. One of my favorite events so far was the international dinner that my dorm held. The foods from around the world were incredible!! Fish and chips, crepes, omelets, risotto, gnocchi, it was heavenly—with the exception of the American contributions that included pizza bagels (my contribution and even sadder since they had to be microwaved because the Dutch aren’t big on ovens), PB and J, Coca-Cola, and even McDonalds. Dutch cuisine has something to be desired as well, although the city’s markets are enormous and have no shortage of warm stroopwafels, fresh produce, and TONS OF CHEESE. You can never go wrong with cheese and bread here for any meal.

Me and Maxima
Each day has been a new adventure especially now that I have my own bike (I named her Maxima in honor of the new Queen who will be taking Queen Beatrix’s spot when she steps down on Queen’s Day). Getting lost each time I’ve discovered the city’s old fortress, paved roads outside the city, and neighborhoods of houseboats (this country is ready for global warming). Hopefully, I will start to get the hang of the city and avoid crashing into any other bikers or pedestrians (cars are few and far between). Things on the agenda for next week include heading to Southern Holland for Carnaval or Mardi Gras, testing out a “coffeeshop,” and surviving my one day of back to back classes across the city. Tot Ziens! (see you later!)


Love and cheese,
Sharon Bort

They LOVEEEE Obama here