Another Week In Leeuwarden

Week 4 (15/02/16 - 21/02/16)

Each week when I sit down to write this blog I find that the originally difficult process is becoming easier. It's becoming easier to focus my thoughts and achieve the motivation to share and what I saw as being a potential nuisance before this adventure has actually become an enjoyable time of reflection.

After my little excursion at the weekend it was time to return to the reality that I am abroad to study and that I had to get stuck back in to classes...on the Wednesday. Having our Tuesday class moved to Thursday meant I had the first two days of the week to recover from a long trip (sitting for the best part of 6 hours is surprisingly tiring), purchase supplies for the week and complete any seminar tasks I had for the up coming days. Completing my weekly shop on the Monday as usual and seeing the small amount of money I keep in a suitcase under my bed becoming less and less I suddenly found myself being very conscious of the difference between what I need and what I want. Another thing I am conscious of is 'use by' dates. Everything I buy I find myself checking the date, comparing it to what I have and thinking when I can use it within my week. I find myself feeling rather pleased when I find the one pack of chicken breasts that is dated for the 21st rather than the 20th. It's the little things.

Class began again on the Wednesday with "Innovative Dutch School Systems". Focusing on the educators Peter Petersen (1884-1952) and Celestin Freinet (1896-1966) we began our more in depth look in to educational reform. Learning about their beliefs and approaches towards teaching it was interesting to learn the features of their schools which are similar to our own. For example in our home system circle time would be a regular feature in PDMU lessons, within Jenaplan schools (those developed by Petersen) each day would begin and end with a conversation usually structured in a circle for ease. Both school systems take on a very democratic approach allowing pupils to not only decide rules inside and outside the classroom but also at times shape their own curriculum by discussing what they would like to learn, which I found to be a very interesting concept.

'...the school forms a constructed space in which students, like citizens, are treated equally, irrespective of their family or social background.' - Schnapper (1994)

One idea which stuck with the most was a feature in Jenaplan schools. As well as celebrating birthdays and holidays, every week there is a class celebration. This creates group cohesion and has the idea that if you are with each other to celebrate you will be with each other during harder times. On the Thursday we had our second "Places of Memory" class after it was cancelled the previous week. Within 15 minutes of this class it became very clear to me that our tutors know more about our history than we know ourselves discussing how landscapes and heroes/martyrs contribute to culture and identity.

On Saturday, with the girls away to Amsterdam for the day, I decided to go into town and visit some of the sights our "Places of Memory" tutors had mentioned as well as having a good explore of the side streets looking for any hidden gems. Working my way through the maze of side streets I found some notable places I will have to visit in the future, including the first steak house I have seen since leaving Belfast. I also visited some the tourist sights of Leeuwarden.

With only one more week until spring break I hope to write a slightly more adventurous entry in the weeks to come.

De Oldehove (Leeuwarden's very own
leaning tower, 1.68m off true)

Statue of Count William Louis van Nassau -
Dillenberg, 1560 - 1620

Schnapper, D. (1994), La communauté des citoyens, Paris: Gallimard.

Dutch Language and a Personal Adventure

Week 3 (08/02/16 - 14/02/16)

Sunny day in Leeuwarden...
for a change

After a wonderful weekend adventure it was back to the daily grind of student life. A difference from university at home is that our weekly timetable can change slightly every week and therefore we need to keep on top of checking it at the beginning of each week. This week we began on the Tuesday with our first class of "Dutch Multicultural Society". This also gave us the opportunity to finally meet our main contact within the university as he is the tutor. As it was the first time we'd met much of this class was spent getting to know one another and it was clear that again this class would be a lot less formal than home and have an emphasis on discussion and comparison.

We continued classes on the Wednesday first with "Innovative Dutch School Systems" in the morning where we discussed some key educational reformers such as Freinet and Montessori and their key ideals (which I am looking forward to investigating further) as well as being told about our final assignment. It appears rather daunting compared to the assignments given at home as it is a 10 - 20 page paper on the reform movement and how it relates to our home school systems. We have to include an index as well as chapters and sections which we have not had to do before however I am sure we will be given further guidance. On the Wednesday we also had our first "Dutch Language and Culture" class. This is the first class we've had that has other Erasmus students who are not doing the teacher training course. So far language has not been a great barrier to completing everyday tasks as everyone seems to speak near perfect English however I was looking forward to learning more of the language and some of the culture. After a very fun class due to the mixed chorus of accents attempting their best Dutch impersonation, I left confident in my ability to count to 20 and recite the months of the year however after attempting the next day it appears I will require more practise.

'One test of the correctiveness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.' 

- Maria Montessori

One of my many trains

Lucy's a better cook than me

With Valentine's Day falling over the weekend I decided to make the 6 hour train journey to Hasselt, Belgium to visit my girlfriend who is also on Erasmus. As my Thursday class was cancelled I was able to begin my journey that morning getting the 0944 train which got me to Hasselt at 1549. This being my first long, solo excursion I was rather nervous, routinely checking my train schedule to ensure I was getting on and off at the correct stops to make my 4 change overs. After 5 trains it was nice to see a familiar face. With the poor weather there was little opportunity to explore so the next 3 days were spent catching up on our favourite TV series' from home and some cooking lessons (teaching me how to correctly cook rice). The one good day Lucy took advantage to show me what she could of Hasselt. With a busy main street and an array of restaurants we were spoilt for choice for our mandatory Valentine's Day meal. The long journey home was less daunting having done it once before and having made plans to hopefully travel to Bruges for a day I can not wait for my next visit.



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Class, Cooking and Rotterdam

Week 2 (01/02/2016 - 07/02/2016)

So after an eventful first week, in which not much education took place, I think we were all excited to begin class this week. However our first class did not actually take place until the Wednesday. Starting with a class titled "Innovative Dutch School Systems" we quickly realised that our class sizes were going to be a lot smaller than at home as there was only the four of us plus two other exchange students (the teacher training course is only offered to exchange students). This was followed by another class titled "International Baccalaureate" which seems to be primarily focused on improving our planning skills and give us an understanding of international teaching. The tutors take a far less formal approach and much of the teaching revolves around discussion and the comparison of the teaching in our different countries. Due to one of our optional classes not starting until the following week and another being cancelled as the lecturer was away we were left with only one more class to have on the Thursday. This class, “Places of Memory”, has the potential to be one of the most interesting as it involves trips out of college to locations around Friesland (the province in which Leeuwarden in situated)  in order to look at sites and talk about events which have influenced the Frisian culture.

Chicken coming along nicely

Having survived my first week on free meals, cereal and fried eggs this week I set myself the challenge of cooking an actual meal. Armed with nothing but good intentions I spent a while wandering the aisles of Jumbo, Albert Heijn and Aldi looking for the best deals, deciding to keep it simple with chicken fillets, potatoes, pasta and sauce. After many text messages and two occasions of setting off the fire alarm I was filled with pride at the sight of my first proper home cooked meal of pan fried chicken and boiled potatoes. And it was pretty good, although I am biased.

'Usually, one's cooking is better than one thinks it is.' 

- Julia Child

Taking advantage of the easy week we had and the little work we had to complete for the following week we decided to take the opportunity at the weekend to visit on of the Netherlands major cities - Rotterdam. Leaving early on the Saturday morning and with only a slight mishap on the trains, involving our tickets and technical lack of, we eventually made it to our hostel early afternoon. After a quick check in and freshen up we headed out to see the sights and take advantage of what the city centre had to offer. The Saturday and Sunday afternoon were spent shopping and visiting local attractions such as the Cube Houses and St. Lawrence Church. The highlight of the sites we visited for me was the Markthal. Calling it a large market hall doesn’t do it justice. From the artwork on the ceiling, the modern stalls and the sheer size of the building it was a sight to behold. Although I was thankful to collapse into my bed after a long journey back to Leeuwarden on the Sunday I will definitely take another opportunity to visit Rotterdam in the future.

Cube Houses

St. Lawrence Church

   

Markthal Ceiling

Upside Down Tree?

   

Markthal (Front)

Markthal (Profile)

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