Showing posts with label Introductions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Introductions. Show all posts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Back
Well, I am back in the States again. It was 100 degrees in D.C. when I arrived. I was pretty ready to turn around and fly back the Netherlands where it was 65. Then, on the drive back, we got stuck in an almost tornado that dropped dozens and dozens of trees across the highway. It was an exciting welcome home. But, now I am sitting on the porch, and it is less than 100 degrees, at least at 6:30 in the morning EDST (12:30 in the afternoon, my time) and I have a good buddy who was awfully glad to see me and who seems pretty content to just hang out.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Almost Last Post (Kind Of)
When I set about to write this blog for you guys, I looked at some other travel blogs, just to see the kinds of things that people were writing about. For starters, I was surprised at the number of blogs named "Hannah's Fun Traveling in Europe Blog" or some variation thereof. I always forget how popular my name got a few years after I was born. (It took a few years for my fame to spread.)
Another thing that I noticed was that every. single. blog. began their last post with the sentence "I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone". I swore then that I would not do the same thing for my last blog post. Not so much because I oppose cliché (sometimes things are clichéd because they work) but because I hated to seem so derivative. Well, having almost reached the end of my European Travels, I am terribly, terribly tempted. I will remain strong, but it is a struggle. Because events have proceeded with greater alacrity than would have seemed conceivable in the past and, indeed, than seems creditable at present.
Yesterday was the last time I will hear the early-warning sirens tested. Yesterday I also had my very last exam. (Although I do still have to finish writing my thesis and I do have a presentation later this week.) This coming Sunday will be my next to last Dutch church service. I probably won't need to go to the grocery store again because I will just be eating to clean out the fridge and my cupboard. I will be flying out in just a little over three weeks.
It's been quick.
Not to worry though: what with one thing and another, I have not kept up with all of my exciting travels so I may be putting posts here for another year (or two). I currently have about two months of draft posts waiting to be finished and at least another couple of weeks worth of posts for which I have not even organized a draft. And, since I will be travelling to England and visiting Penny and her husband next week, and will be visiting Albania--with a little layover in Italy along the way--the week after that, I will still have loads and loads of things to talk about. Maybe while I am house-sitting for Mom and Dad (since they plan on leaving on vacation as soon as I arrive to look after their stinky and varied fowl) I will have time to finish up all of those posts.
But in the meantime: I can't believe . . .
Another thing that I noticed was that every. single. blog. began their last post with the sentence "I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone". I swore then that I would not do the same thing for my last blog post. Not so much because I oppose cliché (sometimes things are clichéd because they work) but because I hated to seem so derivative. Well, having almost reached the end of my European Travels, I am terribly, terribly tempted. I will remain strong, but it is a struggle. Because events have proceeded with greater alacrity than would have seemed conceivable in the past and, indeed, than seems creditable at present.
Yesterday was the last time I will hear the early-warning sirens tested. Yesterday I also had my very last exam. (Although I do still have to finish writing my thesis and I do have a presentation later this week.) This coming Sunday will be my next to last Dutch church service. I probably won't need to go to the grocery store again because I will just be eating to clean out the fridge and my cupboard. I will be flying out in just a little over three weeks.
It's been quick.
Not to worry though: what with one thing and another, I have not kept up with all of my exciting travels so I may be putting posts here for another year (or two). I currently have about two months of draft posts waiting to be finished and at least another couple of weeks worth of posts for which I have not even organized a draft. And, since I will be travelling to England and visiting Penny and her husband next week, and will be visiting Albania--with a little layover in Italy along the way--the week after that, I will still have loads and loads of things to talk about. Maybe while I am house-sitting for Mom and Dad (since they plan on leaving on vacation as soon as I arrive to look after their stinky and varied fowl) I will have time to finish up all of those posts.
But in the meantime: I can't believe . . .
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Language School FUN!
I have received official confirmation of my registration for the Dutch Language Intensive course which begins 1 August which means that I should be leaving in three weeks or so, provided my visa gets sorted out. I will have 6 hours of language training per day for three weeks and then a week or so off before my regular classes starts in which I might get to do some traveling. Also, if I get passing marks on my final exam in the language class, I get a refund of my tuition money as part of a University sponsored scholarship, so here's hopping that I am better at languages than I thought I was.
I have registered for an apartment as well. "Stadswonen" is a bunch of apartments and rooms specifically for exchange students where the rents are governed by the University. My room will be in the "African Inn" which is part of the exchange student housing and community areas (it is several blocks square) generally inhabited by students from Africa (the Dutch had a very recent colonial connection which, apparently, increases their cultural and education associations with lots of different peoples). It is a little studio apartment and it is ~$800-$820 dollars per month (depending on the status of the dollar) but it has a private bath (which is a given neither in Europe nor in university housing) and a kitchenette, which should be awfully nice, and plenty of security, which should make Mom happy. It is about 4 miles from the University and across the river but there is, theoretically at least, ample public transportation in case of rain or oversleeping.
In a couple of weeks I will be driving to Michigan again, to get some final paperwork taken care of, and then it is off, into the wild blue yonder. . .
I have registered for an apartment as well. "Stadswonen" is a bunch of apartments and rooms specifically for exchange students where the rents are governed by the University. My room will be in the "African Inn" which is part of the exchange student housing and community areas (it is several blocks square) generally inhabited by students from Africa (the Dutch had a very recent colonial connection which, apparently, increases their cultural and education associations with lots of different peoples). It is a little studio apartment and it is ~$800-$820 dollars per month (depending on the status of the dollar) but it has a private bath (which is a given neither in Europe nor in university housing) and a kitchenette, which should be awfully nice, and plenty of security, which should make Mom happy. It is about 4 miles from the University and across the river but there is, theoretically at least, ample public transportation in case of rain or oversleeping.
In a couple of weeks I will be driving to Michigan again, to get some final paperwork taken care of, and then it is off, into the wild blue yonder. . .
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
As a part of my PhD program at Central Michigan University (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan), I will (God willing and Dutch customs officials permitting) be studying abroad this coming academic year. If all goes well, and if I ever get around to writing my thesis, I will even be able to get a Master's degree diploma written in Dutch.
I will be attending Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The whole program is in English, which makes it much easier, but I will be attempting to learn enough Dutch to make getting around more entertaining and to make research more convenient. I will be studying in the "History and Modern Society" program but I will be focusing on Early Modern Dutch political thought (~1500-1700 AD) particularly looking at the ways in which they justified resistance to the Spanish king. I also might be looking at the influence of English ex-patriots who settled in the Netherlands while fleeing the Marian persecution, some of whom remained and founded English speaking churches which are still extant.
Hopefully, I will also get to do some traveling for fun. Rotterdam is very convenient for this as it seems like it is just about 2-4 hours from anywhere in Europe. I am hopping to visit Copenhagen, Denmark (because who doesn't like Vikings and the Little Mermaid), the Czech Republic (because I have a friend who used to live there and who wrote me letters about it and because it is one of the older, cheaper type places in Europe), Albania (because they have a heroic history and because no one else ever goes there) the U.K. (because I have wanted to see the British Museum ever since I started reading about Egyptology, because you can see a matinee of a Shakespeare play, at the Globe theatre, for about $12, and because I know a lot of people there, including Penny (Schultz) Philip) and any place which was formerly inhabited by ancestors of me (because it is fun to say you saw the places that your family couldn't get away from fast enough). Unfortunately, every time I look at a travel guide, I keep thinking of more places I never realized I couldn't live without having gone to see, so we will see how much time I spend studying and how much time I spend trying to see everything that ever happened anywhere in Europe.
In any case, I thought that, since I tend to be bad about remembering to correspond, and since I might be in places where it would take a really long time to upload pictures to email, that I would try to kill a few birds with one stone by 1) letting everyone know that I am not dead yet, 2) showing off some of my pictures and telling all my funny traveling stories while I still remember them, and 3) allowing everyone to say "Oh, I think I already heard all about that . . ." when I come back to the States and whip out my giant photo album.
Feel free to enjoy, ignore, or share, as seems convenient.
I will be attending Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The whole program is in English, which makes it much easier, but I will be attempting to learn enough Dutch to make getting around more entertaining and to make research more convenient. I will be studying in the "History and Modern Society" program but I will be focusing on Early Modern Dutch political thought (~1500-1700 AD) particularly looking at the ways in which they justified resistance to the Spanish king. I also might be looking at the influence of English ex-patriots who settled in the Netherlands while fleeing the Marian persecution, some of whom remained and founded English speaking churches which are still extant.
Hopefully, I will also get to do some traveling for fun. Rotterdam is very convenient for this as it seems like it is just about 2-4 hours from anywhere in Europe. I am hopping to visit Copenhagen, Denmark (because who doesn't like Vikings and the Little Mermaid), the Czech Republic (because I have a friend who used to live there and who wrote me letters about it and because it is one of the older, cheaper type places in Europe), Albania (because they have a heroic history and because no one else ever goes there) the U.K. (because I have wanted to see the British Museum ever since I started reading about Egyptology, because you can see a matinee of a Shakespeare play, at the Globe theatre, for about $12, and because I know a lot of people there, including Penny (Schultz) Philip) and any place which was formerly inhabited by ancestors of me (because it is fun to say you saw the places that your family couldn't get away from fast enough). Unfortunately, every time I look at a travel guide, I keep thinking of more places I never realized I couldn't live without having gone to see, so we will see how much time I spend studying and how much time I spend trying to see everything that ever happened anywhere in Europe.
In any case, I thought that, since I tend to be bad about remembering to correspond, and since I might be in places where it would take a really long time to upload pictures to email, that I would try to kill a few birds with one stone by 1) letting everyone know that I am not dead yet, 2) showing off some of my pictures and telling all my funny traveling stories while I still remember them, and 3) allowing everyone to say "Oh, I think I already heard all about that . . ." when I come back to the States and whip out my giant photo album.
Feel free to enjoy, ignore, or share, as seems convenient.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)