Bicycles, Barbers and Beer

Week 8 (14/03/16 – 20/03/16)

Apologies for the late upload but I've been having internet connectivity problems. All fixed now. 

After spending the weekend with my parents this week I made two major accomplishments – first I bought a bicycle and second I got my hair cut. Writing them down it seems rather silly to call them accomplishments but living here to me these are definitely accomplishments. Using a bicycle for transport is a major part of Dutch culture and I have never seen more bicycles in my life. As well as this there are bicycle lanes along every road and I have come to the conclusion that bicycles have right of way over everything. Everybody seems to own a bicycle and I have been looking for one since I arrived however it has been difficult to find one for a reasonable price in the size I need. However on Monday on what seemed like my 1000^th visit to the bicycle shop below the NHL (that’s right, a bicycle shop below my university) I finally found one suitable. I can now race around the streets and what was a 15 minute walk is now a 2 minute cycle. So that was accomplishment number one.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep going.” – Albert Einstein

Number two was getting my hair cut. This being a generally trivial chore at home was an activity of anxiety over here. It’s relatively simple task to find a place but the next challenge is explaining to the barber how you like your hair cut (something which at home I forget cut to cut). The night before I found myself googling if barber language was the same in every country, you know like a 4 back and sides and just thin the top? When it came to the day I just had to suck it up and be brave. I found a place that was packed with people so I made the assumption it was good and spoke to a very nice woman behind the desk, who’s English was impeccable, and made an appointment for the same afternoon. Of course when I returned in the afternoon a different lady was cutting my hair who described her own English as “not so good”, however it has decades on my Dutch. After about 10 minutes of failed explanation she pointed to a guy leaving the shop and asked “is that good?” I replied with a thumbs-up and a smile and after 20 minutes I left with one of the best cuts I think I've ever had.

With St. Patrick’s Day falling on the Thursday of this week I had big hopes and I was not disappointed. The whole university had the day off and I was surprised to see how many people were about celebrating the day. The Leeuwarden ESN team had planned St. Patrick’s Day festivities starting in the afternoon with a trip to the local Irish Pub Paddy O’Ryan. Surrounded by Guinness, green beer and what seemed like every Irish person in the Netherlands I didn’t feel like I was in a foreign country at all. The celebrations continued throughout the evening and into the early morning with a whiskey tasting and listening to what can be weirdly described as a Dutch Punk Folk band, who were actually quite good.

“There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.” 

- Irish Saying

Nice old school bar

Everybody out celebrating St Patrick's

This week due to multiple cancellations we end up with only one full class on the Wednesday so there isn’t much to report on that front. However next Monday I will be visiting an international school in the neighbouring town of Groningen which I am thoroughly looking forward to and can’t wait to share my experience in my next blog.


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Frozen Food, Visitors and Amsterdam

Week 7 (07/03/16 - 13/02/16)

First week back after spring break went rather similar to all the other weeks so far. I completed my routine weekly shop on the Monday getting my standard groceries plus one extra, sausages. A favourite of mine at home and a staple of the Marshall household diet I bought these with a little bit of excitement. On the same day I completed another successful wash. Go me!

On the Tuesday I woke with anticipation of the sausages and scrambled eggs I would be having for lunch before heading off to class. I got ready and headed to the kitchen to begin the task of cooking. However to my despair I found my sausages completed frozen. Despite my heartbreak I couldn't help but see the irony as a common complaint of mine is the lack of a freezer in my flat. After many exchanged messages with Lucy and my mother I opted to fiddle with the fridge thermostat and hope that they were okay to cook the following day. I quick check before bed and the sausages seemed to be on track and would be on the menu tomorrow. However, once it came time to cook them the next day I found them once again completely frozen. I followed the same procedure as the previous day and hoped for the best the following day. Long story short, eventually after multiple freezing's and partial defrosting's I threw the sausages out through fear of food poisoning.

Nothing happened in class this week that was overly different to what has been happening over the past couple of weeks. However we had another meeting about organising our placement within a bi/tri-lingual school which I am thoroughly looking forward. As well as this within our "International Baccalaureate" class our tutor has arranged for us to visit an international school in the neighbouring town of Groningen that will be happening in the upcoming weeks which I am also thoroughly looking forward too as it will be our first look at teaching in the Netherlands.

I was up early on the Friday to catch the train to Amsterdam to meet my parents, who had come to visit, for the day and night in Amsterdam before we all travelled up to Leeuwarden on the Saturday. Obviously very pleased to see them I found it a slightly odd experience to be meeting up with them in a foreign place. We had a great afternoon in Amsterdam walking the streets, doing the Heineken Experience and of course you can't go to Amsterdam without walking the Red Light District. It was a massive culture shock as you literally go down a side street off the main street and you're there and it's an extremely busy area.

Tulip Market

"I think Amsterdam is to Holland what New York is to America in a sense. It's a metropolis, so it's representative of Holland, but only a part of it - you know, it's more extreme, there's more happening, it's more liberal and more daring than the countryside in Holland is." 

- Anton Corbijn

I think they should go back to the 1963 design

When your parents visit you dine well

We travelled to Leeuwarden on the Saturday and it appears my parents brought the good weather with them. After checking them into the student run Stenden Hotel I took them for a tour of the town surprisingly myself with how much I actually knew about the place. My dad made the fair point that Leeuwarden is actually a very cultural and historical little town. After a weekend of good company and good eating it was time to say our goodbyes and for them to return to the apparently sunny Northern Ireland. 

With St Patrick's day coming up and various placement days I'm looking forward to the coming weeks.

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Spring Break - Work, Bruges and Brussels

Week 6 (29/03/16 - 06/03/16)

So this week was finally spring break and before setting of on another trip to Belgium I decided to be a conscientious student and spend the first couple of days starting some assignments. It appears motivation problems have followed me from Belfast to Leeuwarden but after persevering for 2 days I felt accomplished enough to warrant the break to Hasselt on the Wednesday.

Having stocked up on movies and snacks for the train journey I was pleasantly surprised to be provided with a cheaper train ticket with 2 less changeovers. However it was still near 6 hours on trains which can get rather tiring and uncomfortable. I was delighted to be met at the station in Hasselt by Lucy and even more delighted by the news that she had bought steaks for dinner. That evening and the next day was just spent relaxing together and planning later trips. Within Belgium it's possible for young people aged 18-25 to travel for only 6 euro so we planned to visit Bruges on the Friday and the capital Brussels on the Saturday.

It was an early start on the Friday morning as we wanted to be in Bruges by lunch. After making a new friend of the 4 legged variety on the train we arrived in Bruges. Unfortunately, like most other days, it was quite cold but for a change it wasn't raining. Having been there once before Lucy knew her way around quite well and we immediately headed to the main square. Here we climbed the Belfry which consisted of 366 stairs of spiral staircase which at parts was only as wide as my shoulders. However the view from the top was incredible as you could see the whole of Bruges in all directions. With narrow cobbled streets, old architecture and canals it was easy to see why Bruges is considered one of the most scenic towns in Europe. Thankfully the weather picked up in the afternoon and we were able to spend it enjoying what Bruges had to offer before heading back to Hasselt in the evening. The trip to Bruges also included my first experience of the Belgian waffle which is definitely worth the hype.

Belfry of Bruges

View from the top of the Belfry

Sun makes a rare appearance

Weirdest trees ever

Church of Our Lady 

Delicious Belgian Waffles

Saturday morning was a later start as its only just over an hour to Brussels. We had arranged to meet Kim, a friend of ours from home, who is also on Erasmus and was visiting Brussels the same day. We found Kim and after a quick lunch we set off for the main square. Here I was blown away by the sheer size and architecture of the buildings, everything was incredible. Like Bruges we spent the day exploring the streets and seeing the sights as well as visiting a home favourite of Marks and Spencer. One thing that is especially clear to me is that the Dutch and Belgians love their dogs as they are everywhere, including in shops. After a great day spent in Brussels we said goodbye to Kim and we headed back to Hasselt to relax and for me to rest up for my long journey home the next day.

Brussels

Brussels Grand Palace

Brussels main square

Brussels main square

Tintin's a big deal in Belgium

Chocolate covered strawberries

(Right to left) Lucy, Kim and I outside the Grand Palace

I had a fantastic spring break seeing Lucy and catching up with Kim as well as scratching 2 more places to visit off my list. However I'd definitely like to visit Brussels again in the future.

"Adulting" and Touring

Week 5 (22/02/16 - 28/02/16)

In my last post I wrote about how this is becoming an easier process as the weeks go on, I take that back. This is only an easy process when you have an idea of what you would like to say. Yes, every day I am living in a different country and experiencing a different life to home but when you just have another standard week like the one before where you wake up, survive and then go to sleep again it's hard to pinpoint the aspects of the week worth sharing.

I've found over the last 5 weeks a phrase I regularly utter to myself is, "I don't want to adult today". Yes I am 21 years old and technically an adult but over my 21 years of life I think I've maybe cooked myself a maximum of 10 meals which didn't involve Super Noodles, sandwiches or cereal. I've never even turned on a washing machine never mind actually completed a wash and quite pathetically I've never really been in charge of my own money. But now that's all changed and it's been a steep and bumpy learning curve. I'm doing weekly shops and cooking for myself every night, I'm budgeting and paying my own rent and as of yesterday I have successfully completed 3 washes without changing anything's colour or shrinking anything to an unwearable size (a mistake my mother would still make on occasion). Although these may seem like trivial tasks to other accomplished adults I still find these to be stressful and exhausting and I have a new found respect for all the adults of the world who have been doing this for much longer than I have.


Classes took an interesting turn this week. "Dutch Multicultural Society" became very anthropology based and we discussed mental programming and the idea of taboo categories in different cultures. "Innovative Dutch School Systems" was much of the same as we learnt about the other 2 educational reformers we will be focusing on, Maria Montessori (1870-1952) and Helen Parkhurst (1887-1973). Within "International Baccalaureate" we continued our work on backward planning and began our learning on how to create a rubric which I can see will be a very useful skill when teaching in regards to assessment. I blundered my way through another "Dutch Language and Culture" lesson and finally we did our first excursion out of the classroom for "Places of Memory" which involved a walking tour of Leeuwarden, this probably being the highlight of my week. We missed the tour of the Leeuwarden on the first day of the induction week as we were still travelling however I imagine it wouldn't have contained the same locations or knowledge of the culture and place that our tutor was able to offer us. He made it very clear that Leeuwarden and Friesland is extremely multi-cultural and has for many centuries (with a few hiccups along the way) encouraged religious freedom.

Next week is spring break which means lazing around and hopefully a trip or two, but I'll write about that next time.

De Oldehove

Oldest House in Leeuwarden

Royal Entrance to the "Big Church"

Orange tree above Royal Entrance

Free Mason building in Leeuwarden

Monument for Jewish residents displaced
during WWII

Smallest registered street in Leeuwarden

St. Boniface

Count William Louis van Nassau - Dillenberg
(1560 - 1620)

Tree planted for the birth of a royal
family member

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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