ESN Trip to Volendam
Tags:amsterdam erasmus student network esn study abroad the netherlands travel volendamIt was a nice Saturday, warm with fleeting glimpses of the sun. A friend and I were hurrying — unnecessarily quickly — from our dormitory to Centraal Station to meet up with a group of two dozen members of the Erasmus Student Network. A few hours of waiting and a bus ride later, the big group of us arrived in a town of 20,000 people. It’s called Volendam (full dam) because they built a big dam and filled it with clay. Everyone who was born there stayed there, more or less, and became fishermen.
We immediately started on a tour with a guy (a real Volendammer, born and raised) dressed in the traditional fishing outfit. The town was really cute and had a tiny city center.
I tried raw herring from a fish stand (very Dutch) for the first time. It was surprisingly good! And salty.
Then we dressed up in traditional costumes for fishermen and their wives and took a group photo.
All in all it was a great day, perfect for recharging my batteries from nonstop thesis work.
Undressing from our costumes in Volendam:
Party bus of some sporty guys drove by:
I’m starting to like Amstelveen
Tags:amstelveen amsterdam study abroad videoHappy Easter! It is now Easter Monday (1ste & 2de paasdag in Dutch) so I’m writing my weekly blog. Next week I’ll write about how my bike was stolen and I had to get a new one — how Dutch — but this week I have a video celebrating the spring I want to show you.
After several months in living just where Amsterdam starts to be called Amstelveen, I thought Amstelveen was total crap, just some lame suburb with nothing to do, nothing to see, and no reason to be there. Maybe it’s just the spring time romantic in me, but now I’m starting to like Amstelveen. It’s a little watery city all on its own, nestled under Amsterdam. Amstelveen has its own commercial areas, including a real shopping mall & a large outdoor market (both at Amstelveen Binnehof). Who knew? There’s a modern art museum I plan to check out in the coming weeks. Amsterdam’s city center is only a few (dozen) tram stops away, plus you can take your bicycle on the metro.
People in my dorm don’t see enough of Amsterdam, let alone Amstelveen. I like the quiet serenity of this bicycling suburb, where het Amsterdamse Bos is never too far off. Plus I could send my kids to the Guus Kieft School, where I’ve been volunteering. I could see myself settling down and raising a little family… Definitely not right now, but it’s a nice thought :)
I’m not sure for how many years I could deal with the weather, though. Thirty minutes ago, tiny flakes of snow were floating up over my balcony and onto my window. It’s been snowing here for several days, and it comes down in these windy snowshowers that look like fog. I woke up this morning to the sun shining on ground covered in snow. Then it was hailing, and the ground was getting covered in little balls of ice. Now it’s sunny again.
Here’s a video of me biking in Amstelveen along the river Amstel:
Football in the rain
Tags:amsterdam dorm life football study abroad the idea of soccer the weatherI was in my dorm room, toiling away on my thesis with good intentions. Several quick knocks suddenly disturbed me from my reverie. Two of my friends were standing in the hall, inviting me to play football. (We all know that the idea of soccer is something that white people like.) I protested because the weather was rainy and windy, but they told me we could play on the artificial pitch behind our dorm. So that’s what that sandy field is for!
I like the perseverance and willingness to not let small obstacles stop them from doing what they want in the Europeans I’ve met. In the Netherlands especially, people don’t let the weather get them down; they don’t feel SAD and stay inside because the sky’s a bit grey.
We had a great time playing with eight people for about three hours. I felt happy to be socializing, meeting new people, and being athletic all at once. We followed it up with a little dinner party.
Check out what happened to my nice new football shoes… only 15€ at Decathlon near Amsterdam ArenA. I’ve found the right equipment is really essential to play a sport!
Before.
After.
New photos (in chronological order) from the US & Amsterdam
Tags:amstelveen amsterdam photos study abroad
http://picasaweb.google.com/derekraustin/ComingHome
http://picasaweb.google.com/derekraustin/VisitingTheUSForPhDInterviews
http://picasaweb.google.com/derekraustin/SpringtimeInAmsterdam
By the way, have you heard of Obama, Japan?
Coming Home
Tags:amsterdam richmond study abroad travelI just returned from a month long stay in the US, where I interviewed at several graduate schools and spent time with family and friends. I had a great time at a party that my friends threw for my birthday. I felt happy to see many parts of the US I had never seen before (Seattle, California) while seeing some of the US’s greatest cities (Boston, New York). I haven’t yet decided on a graduate school, but I’ll end up somewhere nice.
It took me only a few days of home to return to my suburban American habits: driving, eating out, and lazing around my parent’s house. Humans are creatures of habit, what can I say?
Now, I’ve returned to Amsterdam and to my routine here: meeting fascinating international students, grocery shopping with my bicycle, and complaining about the weather. The trees are starting to bloom here, as they were a month ago in Berkeley, but apparently the trees here are only reacting to a change in sunlight, as the weather is no different from when I left at the end of January! The sun will come out tomorrow someday ☼
My trip’s made me question what home really is. I feel lucky that I feel at home here in Amsterdam. I like being at my parent’s house because I was excited to see my family, but I hate being so far (20 minutes driving) out of the city. Although I was surprised to miss my warm car after a few months of living here, I guess driving isn’t my thing after all. Biking twenty minutes is much more enjoyable for me, and Amsterdam is the perfect place for it.
All in all, I had a great trip, but I’m glad to be back.
Traveling does have its downsides, though; I spent an hour today cleaning spilled protein powder off of my stuff in one of my suitcases. Anyway, this will be the first of my weekly Sunday blog entries. Enjoy! :)
Video from the San Diego zoo: