New Modules and Visiting Friesland's Tallest "Mountain"

Week 13 (18/04/16 - 24/04/16)

After a weekend break following the completion of assignments this week saw the beginning of our next period of study which involved a whole new timetable. The only classes continuing from the previous period are "Dutch Language and Culture" and "Places of Memory". In addition to these we will now be taking the modules "Active Learning Environments", "Classroom Management" and "Special Needs and Education". Again we don't have a very full timetable with only one class a day most days and Thursdays off however for me this will be occupied by my placement module.

In our first class of the new period, "Active Learning Environments", we will have to prepare lessons as a group to teach to a Dutch class on the BREXIT which is very relevant right now. This will be difficult in parts as we have been away while this has been taking place and I myself will not actually even be home for the vote. As well as this it is extremely likely that the pupils we will end up teaching this to will have no prior knowledge of the situation. However it will be an interesting module non-the-less. Another interesting addition to our timetable is "Special Needs and Education". Coincidentally this is very relevant to us as we were studying special needs education before Christmas while still in Belfast so it will be interesting to see how this is dealt with in the Netherlands. Also the tutor for this module has given no deadline for its assignment and has even said that we can submit it from home after we leave which is a very different approach than other tutors. She also seems very down to earth and I'm interested to hear her opinion on the topic.

To finish off our week we made another excursion with our "Places of Memory" tutors. This time we were visiting Friesland's tallest "mountain" as they kept referring to it. And by "mountain" they actually meant a 9 metre tall grass hill. All around Friesland they have these grass hills known as "terps". These are artificially made hills originally intended to provide some sort of protection for residents from storm surges and flooding. On top of these terps there would be a small community with a church at its centre. The terp we visited was at Hegebeintum and is actually the tallest terp in the Netherlands standing 8.8 metres tall. The church is still standing on top of the terp which we were able to visit and it seems to be quite a regularly visited site as there is a visitors centre and there were quite a few other people there at the same time as us.

Steepest incline I've had to walk since
I've been here

Concrete had to be laid to stabilise the terp 

Church lined with wooden displays to
commemorate rich families from the area 

Symbols are carved to represent the person
who has died - broken branches on the leaves
means they are the last in their bloodline

This was a relatively slow week as nothing very exciting happened however next Wednesday is Kings Day which is a nationwide holiday to celebrate the Dutch king. Markets and festivals all over the Netherlands this promises to be a good day.

School Visits and Deadlines

Week 12 (11/04/16 - 17/04/16)

This week I had my first visit to the school I will be completing my placement module in. Nadja, a German girl in our class, and I will be doing our placement together in a local school only 10 minutes cycle from our accommodation. For our module we will have to run an English project once a week for 5 weeks. So on Tuesday afternoon we made our way to the school for our first meeting with our contact to plan our project and discuss the dates we would be coming in. Having only visited an international school while I have been here I wasn't sure what to expect however I was pleasantly surprised. The school had a very familiar atmosphere and was decorated very much as I would expect a primary school at home to be decorated. The children were not actually in during our visit so I had no interaction with them but we met the teacher who will be supervising us along with her classroom assistant and a masters student who will also be helping us run the project. We had a short meeting planning the outline of our project and discussing the other dates for our visit. The project we decided to do is a research project where the children have to research an English speaking city and create a display on this city. The teacher was very keen on this idea and we hope it will be successful. We also decided to arrange another short visit for the Thursday in order for us to witness the children during an English lesson so we know what kind of level to expect.

Classrooms look very similar to home

On the Thursday afternoon we made our way back to the school. After a minor issue with Nadja having a flat tire, a serious issue when your bicycle is your only mode of transport, we got there just in time for the lesson. Just like at home the children were very excited at the prospect of visitors and were very keen to talk and converse however it took them a while to realise we did not understand the majority of what they were saying. We were in a Year 8 class which is the final year of primary school and we arrived in the middle of silent reading. The main difference I was able to notice was that the class was a lot more relaxed. The pupils were in casual clothes as their is no uniform here but at the same time they had a lot of freedom to communicate with each other and to move around the room. They were learning time in English which we actually covered in our Dutch lessons last period. It was evident the children had good English and I was able to pick up the odd word of Dutch. The lesson only lasted half and hour and they were then off to P.E so it was a very short visit but I am looking forward to the rest of my time in school.

Looks just like an N.I primary school

Everybody rides their bike to school

The rest of the week was spent starting and finishing assignments for my period one classes. Unfortunately a bad habit which I appear to have brought with me from home is leaving everything until the last minute. However after a little stress and speed typing they were all completed and submitted in good time.

Amsterdam

Week 11 (04/04/16 - 10/04/16)

Too early a start for Lucy

As I mentioned in my last blog Lucy and I had planned an overnight trip to Amsterdam so apologies for a much longer post than normal but it would be impossible to give a satisfactory account of the trip in anything less.

We arrived around 12 o'clock on the Sunday and immediately headed for lunch at a popular café that I had visited the last time I was in Amsterdam with my parents. Here we made our plan of action for the day. We decided to go to one of the many tickets and tours shops along the main street and purchase tickets for the canal tour and ice bar and to see if there was anything else we wanted to do. Upon arrival we decided to get tickets for the Amsterdam Dungeons as well.

We decided to do the canal tour before heading to our hotel to leave off our bags as they were in opposite directions. The canal tour was great. We got good seats at the back of the barge and were able to sit outside due to the great weather. The whole thing took about an hour and was quite interesting hearing about different parts of the city and it was a really nice way to view the city. My favourite fact of the tour was we were told that many of the houses had hoists on the outside as they were very tall but it was normal for Dutch people to move house around every 8 years so it made it easier to get furniture in and out of the buildings. So apparently its common to look up and just see furniture dangling on the outside of a building.

Just before getting on the boat

All the canal boats

Bridge featured in James Bond: Diamonds are Forever

Anne Frank House 

Church where Rembrandt is buried

After spending longer to find the hotel than expected we were in a rush to get out to the Anne Frank House which we had booked tickets in advance for 5:30pm. With my own personal interest in WWII this was a must see for me. We were there in plenty of time and because we booked in advance we were able to enter immediately and view a talk about the story before entering the house. In the house you were not allowed to take photographs which was slightly disappointing but is understandable as visiting the house can be very emotional for some people. The house also remained unfurnished after the Nazi's sacked it per the request of Otto Frank, the only survivor of the secret annex.

"Whoever is happy will make others happy too." - Anne Frank

We were allowed to take photos of the timeline

Cross-section of the house and annex

It is safe to say we were nothing short of starving after the day we'd already had but we still had more to do. Thankfully we found this fantastic little Mexican restaurant down a side street with the friendliest staff who gave us a substantial feed. We then headed to the ice bar for our 9:00pm slot. When booking the ice bar I honestly expected just a normal bar with some ice decor however when we were handed thick coats and gloves I knew I had been mistaken. The whole thing was made from over 60 tonnes of ice, even the glasses were made of ice and the inside maintained a temperature of -9.4 degrees. It was brilliant but very, very cold.

  

So cold we froze over

We then made a quick pass through the Red Light District, a must see if visiting Amsterdam. Taboo and unacceptable in most other cultures I think this area shows the acceptance, tolerance and openness of the Dutch culture.

After a well needed night's rest we checked out and made our way to the Van Gogh Museum. The weather was worse today with a spot of rain but we timed it well and spent most of it inside viewing the works of one of the most influential artists in history. Once again photography wasn't allowed but I managed a few sneaky snaps.

One of Van Gogh's self portraits

Van Gogh's "Sunflowers", bit blurry but I was being stealthy 

Upon leaving the Van Gogh Museum we finally found one of the illusive "I Amsterdam" signs which I had been keeping my eye out for the whole time because obviously no one would believe I was in Amsterdam unless I had a picture in front of a sign.

Finally found it!

Following this we made our way back to the city centre for probably the most entertaining experience of our trip in terms of laughter, the Amsterdam Dungeons. The live actors were fantastic and the material was both interesting and funny with a good balance of jump scares thrown in. Lucy and I were both lucky enough to be selected to take part which I think made the whole tour that bit better. I was tricked into signing myself and the rest of the tour up to work on a ship and Lucy was burned at the stake for being a witch all of which was very well played out.

We spent our last few hours in the city centre going around the shops where Lucy had actually pre-ordered stuff for collection (standard girl). We came across a Waterstones book store which we spent quite a lot of time perusing the shelves and a Marks and Spencers where I was reunited with one of the greatest meals ever invented; the roast chicken and stuffing sandwich.

We decided to get dinner before heading back to Leeuwarden and while searching for a viable restaurant we came across the Rembrandtplein which we had somehow missed until now. An open space surrounded by restaurants with a tall figure of Rembrandt in the centre surrounded by his Night Watchmen. We decided to spend the last of our money in Gauchos which is an Argentinian steak restaurant and Lucy tells me there is another in London. This was a fantastic meal and a great way to end our trip before heading back to Leeuwarden for a much needed rest.

Rembrandt and his Night Watchmen

"My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them" - Terry Pratchett

I think we had a much better time than Terry Pratchett however I can not say I fully disagree with him.

The rest of the week in Leeuwarden was mainly concerned with rest and assignments as well as good food. With Lucy still here until the Sunday we took the time to visit some of the local restaurants with Leeuwarden offering a great selection. A favourite of mine being Double B where you create your own burgers for a very reasonable price. Having visited it quite a few time previously it was great to take Lucy here so she could see what all the fuss was about. We also had the opportunity to go up the Oldehove ("the leaning tower of Leeuwarden" as Lucy has aptly named it) as it has just opened to guests. After climbing nearly 200 crooked stairs we were greeted with a great view of the town even if the weather wasn't the best on that day.

Top of the Oldehove

Lucy left on the Sunday to resume her studies in Hasselt. The next time we'll be seeing each other is in May when we'll be making the journey to Paris and I'm sure that will warrant another extra-long entry.



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Assignments, Exams and Rotterdam

Week 10 (28/03/16 - 03/04/16)

This is the final week of that they refer to here as our first period of study. After this week there are two weeks set aside for exams and resits. Not having any exams means I have these two weeks off class however I will have to spend a good bit of time doing assignments which, much like at home, I have stupidly left to the last minute. Lucy is also still visiting as she has a lot of time off university in Hasselt for Easter.

On Tuesday we had our final "Dutch Multicultural Society" class. In this class we looked at a system developed by a Dutch social anthropologist Geert Hofstede that uses different dimensions to analyse cultures in different countries. It was clear that having an understanding of different cultures could help us in our teaching careers as it can give some explanation for some social behaviours. Having an understanding for the role of the teacher in other cultures can also help as in some cultures the teacher is seen as a great authority figure which should be treated with utmost respect and never disobeyed, and in others they are seen as equals and should treat the pupils accordingly.

"Studying culture without experiencing culture shock is like practising swimming without experiencing water." - Geert Hofstede

Wednesday saw the first of my assignment deadlines for "Dutch Language and Culture" as well my Dutch language exam. The assignment was done in good time so there was no stress there. It was quite an interesting topic of foreign influences on the Dutch culture. The exam itself was a bit harder than what I was expecting but it was all on material we had covered and I've already received my mark of a passing grade.

With Lucy being sick basically since she arrived there hadn't been much opportunity for anything. On the Thursday we made the decision to attempt to buy some simple over the counter medicine. A task which sounds much simpler than it is. I have been told that the Dutch do not advocate medicine a lot, apparently if you make the decision to go to the doctor it is very unlikely you will receive a prescription, the general advice is to go home and rest. I can only assume this is why the selection in the local supermarket was so limited. After much consideration and deliberation we opted simply to buy Strepsils for her sore throat.

Struggling to stay awake on
the train

As Lucy was on the mend it seemed only right that we make a day excursion and we opted for the city of Rotterdam, which I have visited before but would be a must see for her. Excited by the prospect of the shopping and another trip to the tremendous Markthal we caught an early train on the Friday morning in order to make the most of our day. However our arrival in Rotterdam was a bit delayed after a usually simple journey became a lot more complicated. Some of the copper from the track had been stolen turning a 2 hour 45 minute direct train into an over 3 hour train with 3 train changeovers. Needless to say we tired by the time we arrived. But we had a great day shopping, exploring and eating. The sun even made a welcome appearance.

Rotterdam Eye

Happy in the good weather

Back to the Markthal

Lobby the Lobster

Becoming a burger connoisseur

We planned an overnight trip to Amsterdam on the Sunday which was another good trip and I was able do and see some more of what Amsterdam has to offer, but I am going to save Amsterdam for the next blog.




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Visit to International School and Frisian Museum

Week 9 (21/03/16 - 27/03/16)

This week started with my first experience of teaching in the Netherlands, although it wasn't strictly speaking within a Dutch school. On Monday morning Niamh and I had to get an early start in order to catch the 07:51 train to the neighbouring town of Groningen. This meant wakening at 06:50, the earliest time I've seen since arriving in the Netherlands. We were making this trip in order to visit the international school in Groningen as part of our "International Baccalaureate" class (Nicola and Zoe had visited the week before). Once I had woken up a bit and wiped the sleep from my eyes I was excited for the day.

"The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring 

young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural 

understanding and respect." - IB Mission Statement

We were placed in an MYP1 class which we thought would be the equivalent of our P7 however we now think the children were more likely Year 8/9 age. The children were from all over the world including South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Morocco and the UK. One of the teachers was even originally from Belfast so it was nice to hear a familiar accent. The teaching style was a lot less formal than what we would be used to. When we were told we would be visiting a school I asked how we should dress and we were told that jeans and casual clothes were the norm, which is a big change from home. The children themselves were dressed in casual clothes and had a lot of freedom within the classroom. They would very often be out of their seats and talking to a friend however I found that they were always on task with the exception of one or two. Within the classes I witnessed they only used pen and paper once, all the rest of the classes were majority oral and the pupils all responded well. I think the most interesting class I saw was the Dutch language class as they were completely immersed as the teacher would not speak English to them and they were given forfeits for using English. All the children were extremely well versed in Dutch, especially the South Africans as they have previous experience with Afrikaans. Overall I very much enjoyed my visit to the international school unfortunately we won't be back but we will have the opportunity to visit bi/trilingual schools in the future.

Classes continued as normal this week except for one as our tutor was actually caught up in the Brussels tragedy, but he's fine and will be returning to our next class as normal. In "Places of Memory" we made another excursion into town this time visiting the Frisian Museum and attempting to pick up more about the Frisian Culture. They had some very nice and interesting displays however it was slow going as all the information was written in Frisian and Dutch so our tutor had to stand and explain each one.

Painting of a Frisian cow

Sword that supposedly belonged to the giant
Grut Pierre which is aprox. 6ft long

"We're going on a bear hunt" in Frisian

Copy of a painting of Rembrandt's wife

We were also able to have a quick visit into the WWII exhibit which was great as I've always had and interest in WWII and with the Netherlands being an occupied country during the war their were some very cool artefacts to see.

Frisian I.D Cards

Members of the Frisian Resistance 

On our way back from the museum we stopped at a fish stand to try what our tutor described as a Dutch delicacy called "Haring". Essentially it was a raw fish covered in onion which you lifted by the tail and just bit into. The girls chickened out but I tried it and it wasn't too bad however I think I'll stick to battered fish.

"Haring"

Lucy arrived late on the Thursday evening to spend her Easter as she has quite a lot of time off. I am excited to have the chance to show her around where I am living and convey some of the knowledge I've picked up over these last two months. We are also planning further trips to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.



IBO (2013) "What is an IB education?" [online] Available at:
http://www.ibo.org/globalassets/digital-tookit/brochures/what-is-an-ib-education-en.pdf

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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