by Chase Newman
Leiden University, The Netherlands
So I didn't put in an entry for last week, but that was because I wanted to wait until after this past weekend to write about this past. The reason for that is because I went on a trip with a large number of people to a town in the Midwest of the Netherlands, and I wanted to write about it as soon as I got back. But more on that in a bit.
Most of last week wasn't too terribly exciting. Classes went fairly well. I'm really enjoying my class on The Anthropology of Art and Material Culture, because it looks at art from an anthropological point of view and there's quite a bit of philosophy involved in it at the moment. My class on Dutch culture and society is interesting, but I'm not getting a whole lot of enjoyment out of it yet simply because we cover so much history in each class period and it's a bit to much to process and take notes on all at once. One night in the middle of this past week I did get to meet up with the two girls who are serving as mentors to me and a group of other international students. They are two very nice Dutch students who are more than willing to give advice on life in the Netherlands.
Now, as for the trip I took this weekend... we left on Friday afternoon and took a bus to this small town called Loon Op Zand, where we stayed in this cabin that had been rented out for us the group that had organized this whole trip. Loon Op Zand was a major change of scenery from what I've gotten used to in Leiden, as this town was much smaller and much more rural. Fields are farmland surround this place, so it was a nice change of pace to see a different part of the Netherlands that isn't urban. After our arrival on Friday, we played a number of games after being split into teams based on color. I was a member of the red team, which actually ended up coming in last place after all the competitions were over with at the end of the weekend. Saturday morning we took a short trip in back of a tractor-pulled wagon to a cheese farm. While this certainly doesn't sound exciting, it actually proved to be a very interesting experience. This Dutch family gave us a tour of their cheese-making facilities, showing us what each of the different machines was used for. We were immediately greeted by one of the family's two young sons who went around and shook everyone's hand as soon as we walked in the door. The husband started to explain a few things about what all they did, and then the wife came out with a bowl of cream that we all took a turn whipping until it turned into the most delicious homemade whipped cream that I've ever tasted, as we all got a chance to sample it. After looking at some of the machines, the husband cut up a number of the cheeses that he had made himself on his farm and let us all sample them. These cheeses were all very different from what I'm used to, but each one of them was delicious. One of my favorites had truffles inside of it. We got to see where the cheese wheels were submerged in salt baths, we were given a demonstration of how the wax coating is applied, and we got to see where the cows were housed. It was interesting to think about how they were able to take care of every step of the cheese making process right there in their own facilities. I should also mention that this was the first tour that this family had ever given of their facilities, but they were incredibly warm and welcoming to us all. We did a lot more team competitions the rest of that day, including one that took place in the woods which probably wasn't such a great idea since it got dark on us rather quickly. The following Sunday morning we packed up to go back to Leiden and stopped at this indoor pool place on our way back. This place had one of the best water slides I've ever seen, and it even had an outdoor heated pool that you could access by swimming to it from inside the building. Overall, it was a really fun weekend that I'm glad I experienced.
Here in the Netherlands, people don't eat ketchup with their fries- they eat mayonnaise with them. At first the thought of it sounded rather gross, but now that I've eaten fries and mayo a few times I must say the idea is growing on me and I do rather enjoy the two together. On another random side note, one of the small differences between here and back home is that grocery stores don't provide you with a limitless supply of plastic bags. Either you bring your own bags, or you buy one at the store. It struck me today while at the grocery store that this is a really great idea and I wish more places in the States did the same thing. It certainly is inconvenient when you forget to bring your own bags, but when you're used to it I'm sure it's only second nature to bring bags with you to the grocery store. This simple difference cuts down on so much plastic bag waste here as compared to the U. S. that I really don't understand why it's not a common practice for American grocery stores. It just makes more sense
Leiden University, The Netherlands
So I didn't put in an entry for last week, but that was because I wanted to wait until after this past weekend to write about this past. The reason for that is because I went on a trip with a large number of people to a town in the Midwest of the Netherlands, and I wanted to write about it as soon as I got back. But more on that in a bit.
Most of last week wasn't too terribly exciting. Classes went fairly well. I'm really enjoying my class on The Anthropology of Art and Material Culture, because it looks at art from an anthropological point of view and there's quite a bit of philosophy involved in it at the moment. My class on Dutch culture and society is interesting, but I'm not getting a whole lot of enjoyment out of it yet simply because we cover so much history in each class period and it's a bit to much to process and take notes on all at once. One night in the middle of this past week I did get to meet up with the two girls who are serving as mentors to me and a group of other international students. They are two very nice Dutch students who are more than willing to give advice on life in the Netherlands.
Now, as for the trip I took this weekend... we left on Friday afternoon and took a bus to this small town called Loon Op Zand, where we stayed in this cabin that had been rented out for us the group that had organized this whole trip. Loon Op Zand was a major change of scenery from what I've gotten used to in Leiden, as this town was much smaller and much more rural. Fields are farmland surround this place, so it was a nice change of pace to see a different part of the Netherlands that isn't urban. After our arrival on Friday, we played a number of games after being split into teams based on color. I was a member of the red team, which actually ended up coming in last place after all the competitions were over with at the end of the weekend. Saturday morning we took a short trip in back of a tractor-pulled wagon to a cheese farm. While this certainly doesn't sound exciting, it actually proved to be a very interesting experience. This Dutch family gave us a tour of their cheese-making facilities, showing us what each of the different machines was used for. We were immediately greeted by one of the family's two young sons who went around and shook everyone's hand as soon as we walked in the door. The husband started to explain a few things about what all they did, and then the wife came out with a bowl of cream that we all took a turn whipping until it turned into the most delicious homemade whipped cream that I've ever tasted, as we all got a chance to sample it. After looking at some of the machines, the husband cut up a number of the cheeses that he had made himself on his farm and let us all sample them. These cheeses were all very different from what I'm used to, but each one of them was delicious. One of my favorites had truffles inside of it. We got to see where the cheese wheels were submerged in salt baths, we were given a demonstration of how the wax coating is applied, and we got to see where the cows were housed. It was interesting to think about how they were able to take care of every step of the cheese making process right there in their own facilities. I should also mention that this was the first tour that this family had ever given of their facilities, but they were incredibly warm and welcoming to us all. We did a lot more team competitions the rest of that day, including one that took place in the woods which probably wasn't such a great idea since it got dark on us rather quickly. The following Sunday morning we packed up to go back to Leiden and stopped at this indoor pool place on our way back. This place had one of the best water slides I've ever seen, and it even had an outdoor heated pool that you could access by swimming to it from inside the building. Overall, it was a really fun weekend that I'm glad I experienced.
Here in the Netherlands, people don't eat ketchup with their fries- they eat mayonnaise with them. At first the thought of it sounded rather gross, but now that I've eaten fries and mayo a few times I must say the idea is growing on me and I do rather enjoy the two together. On another random side note, one of the small differences between here and back home is that grocery stores don't provide you with a limitless supply of plastic bags. Either you bring your own bags, or you buy one at the store. It struck me today while at the grocery store that this is a really great idea and I wish more places in the States did the same thing. It certainly is inconvenient when you forget to bring your own bags, but when you're used to it I'm sure it's only second nature to bring bags with you to the grocery store. This simple difference cuts down on so much plastic bag waste here as compared to the U. S. that I really don't understand why it's not a common practice for American grocery stores. It just makes more sense