Debit Card Finally!

My letter from the bank finally arrived! I went to go pick up my card today. Now I just need to get the visa office to move my money from their account into mine and everything will be all good.

School – The Reason I’m Here (right…?)

I’ve been going to classes for the past three weeks now and I’m starting to a better understanding of the school system here.  Its still an upward battle though, but things are getting easier and I’m adapting.

The school system and format is really different from school at home.  I’ve been use to a semester system with a largish class size (approx 60 students).  Here, instead of semesters, they have “Blocks” which last about 7 weeks + a week of exams.  I’ll be here for two blocks. 

The philosophy behind their teaching method is also very different.  They use something called Problem Based Learning, where its more the students teaching each other instead of having a professor lecture to a bunch of students half asleep.  Because of this, students are put into small classes (called tutorials) and are required to participate.  Participation is a large part of the course and can determine if you pass or fail the class (aka if you don’t participate, you will fail despite marks in other areas of the course).  In my tutorials I have 13 – 14 people.  Really small compared to the classes of 60 students at home (which is already small compared to other faculties at UVic)!  Because of the need to participate you have to be prepared for class.  All the assigned readings and tasks need to be completed or else you’ll have nothing to contribute and lose marks.  I’ve been struggling to stay on top of things, but there is just so much to read and so many things to prepare! 

This first block, I’m taking 2 classes (you’re only allowed to take 2): Brand Management and Business and Politics in Europe (which is a mandatory class for UVic students).

 

Brand Management

So far this class has been really interesting!  Some of the material is a bit dry, but most of it talks about consumer behaviour, advertising (excuse to go on YouTube?!), and how branding works.  Most of the people in my tutorial are regular students.  Of a class of 14, only 3 are exchange students.  Its really amazing to see the regular students interact with one another, building off of each other’s questions and really knowing the material.  They are able to make connections with the material that I never could.  This is learning on a whole different level!  It is pretty intense.  It has been a bit difficult for me to contribute in this class – there is so little airtime!  Most often I contribute by explaining things about Canada and how they relate to the particular topic we were discussing that day.

An interesting aspect of this course is our second life project.  Second life is a virtual reality world where people can interact and (almost) do anything they like.  Within this platform, we’ve been split into groups and asked to market a product.  We create the marketing plan for our product, creating brand awareness, and implement things we’ve discussed in class.  Ultimately we’ll be able to “purchase” products from our classmates.  Its been a bit difficult to learn how to use second life, but the project itself is a really interesting way to learn.

 

Brand Management’s Island on 2nd Life

 

Business and Politics in Europe

This class has been intense from the start.  There are lots of reading to be done on academic journals which are not necessarily the easiest to understand.  This course really makes me feel stupid.  Conversation doesn’t flow as easily in the class compared to the other.  The majority of the people in the class are exchange students not use to the PBL system.

The materials covered really reminds me of IB History in high school mixed with a bit of the introductory International Business class I took last year.  There is a lot of prior knowledge needed in order to make sense of the class.  The best part of this class is that there is no final exam, only a paper.  If I had a choice and it wasn’t mandatory for me to take this class, I wouldn’t.  Its been a headache from the start.  Some parts of it is pretty interesting, others is so difficult to wrap my head around.  Even after class I’m still horribly confused.  I even have difficulties understanding the teacher.

Tomorrow I’m discussion leader with another student.  The two of us are responsible for leading the class in understanding the literature assigned.  We had to create questions about the readings and tomorrow we guide the others in answering them.  Hopefully our questions will be okay!  It was difficult to create questions that were not too easy (straight out of the readings) or too hard (where no one can answer it).

Aachen, Germany!

This past weekend, I headed to Aachen, Germany, just over the border. It was a 45 minute bus ride, so not too far. The city really reminded me of Maastricht.

There seemed to be some sort of festival going on. There were masses of people out, stalls set up with yummy looking food, a ferris wheel and tons of musical entertainment set up around the center of the city.

Ferris wheel gave us an opportunity to see the city from up high. It went pretty fast! And the "gate" where you get it isn't secure at all. Once when I was up in the air, I grabbed it and was stunned to see it open! Sooo scary!

Ferris wheel!

The view of Aachen

Most of the music, if it had vocals were classic American songs. Well known and in English. Despite the crappy weather, and the continued threat of rain, there were masses of people around, listening to music, tasting beer and just having a good time.

We visited the Aachen Cathedral (the actual site is in German only). Construction was started by Charlemagne, and his remains are in the church. Many kings and queens were anointed, crowned and enthroned here. The church became an important place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages, on par with Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Following in this tradition, the church continues to welcome pilgrims every seven years. The next one is in June 2014! This church is also an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

The best (non-blurry) picture I took >.<" You can't see it behind everything, but on the right hand side of the picture are the remains of Charlemagne.

The church was really pretty inside. Everything was gold in colour and shimmery. It is very different from all the other churchs that I've visited so far. I'm not too sure what the difference is - I don't know too much about religion and everything that goes with it...

Looking up towards the chandelier and Charlemagne's throne (difficult to see)

What weekend would not be complete with a marching band? There were so many out, with the music of various groups mixing together, all trying to get your attention. The silver "bulb" in the background, actually blooms and water sprays out. Its pretty cool!

And finally, a familiar sight! Starbucks! The first one I've seen in Europe (unless you count the one in the airport, but I hadn't gone through customs yet - so technically still in the states...). The menu was in all English, which I thought was weird. Maybe its some head office regulation... I didn't try anything, but maybe next time!

Aachen was a cool city. There wasn't too much to see (perfect for a day trip), but the city was very much alive. Best things it that its pretty close to Maastricht and easily accessible =)

See more pictures here.

Tongeren, the Oldest City in Belgium

Over the weekend, I headed to Tongeren, just over the Belgium border. It prides itself in being the oldest city in Belgium. We took the bus and it took just 30 minutes.

The main reason we went was to see the antique market that the city is famous for. There were a bunch of stalls, inside and outside selling the most random things. I was on the hunt for lacy things for my mom. There wasn't too much available, but what I did find were pretty reasonably priced and good quality.

One of two buildings with many stalls

I was starving, so we headed out to get some Belgium waffles =) So now I can say I've had Belgium waffles in Belgium (Its kind of tacky... oh well). It was an interesting waffle. It had the syrup mixed into the dough. Inside the waffle it was soft and gooey almost. Very different from the Belgium waffles we have a home. It wasn't too sweet, but it was sweet enough to be good. Mmm thinking about it makes me want another one!

We walked around the city a bit and came across the La Basilica de Notre Dame. The Basilica took over 300 years to build from 1240 until the 16th century. It was a massive church! The church is currently undergoing renovations and has turned into an archaeological project. They were originally suppose to complete the project earlier this year, but when I was there, there were still fences up and it looked the renovations were still in process. According to their website, they're in Phase II of the process.

The outside of the basilica

Around the corner from the entrance to the basilica sits a small replica of the church. It was placed there to allow the blind to "see" the church with their fingers. It comes complete with braille descriptions and labels. I thought this was a really cool idea. Apparently, this is type of model is available quite frequently here (according to the guy taking us around).

It also showed us the part of the church that was not visible due to renovations and the archeology project.

Across the square stood a lone figure, the statue of Ambiorix, a Belgium hero because of his resistance to Julius Caesar. He remained largely unknown until the 19th century, when the Belgium became independent and government started going through their historical archives. There are tons of touristy things available with his name on it.

By the church are some walls from the original Tongeren I'm guessing. There were plaques with descriptions available, but were really washed out and difficult to read. It was still pretty cool to touch and walk over parts of the walls.

Then we headed to a prison turned museum. It reminded me all too much of my trip to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S21) high school turned prison in Cambodia. While I know the circumstances are very different and the nature of the two places are extremely different, I just couldn't shake the feeling. I felt uncomfortable the whole time I was there.

The front gate of the prison/museum

We walked through the Beguinage, where Tongeren was original founded. It is a small collection of buildings where Beguines lived in the 13th century. Beguines were Roman Catholic lay communities living in a semi monastic community, but without the vows. There are a number of these communities throughout North and Northeastern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and West and North Western Germany. The one in Tongeren has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

We headed to one of the original city gates (Moerenpoort or Marsh Gate) and was able to climb up to the top for a good view of the city. We were able walk along the old city walls for a bit before heading back for the bus.

Even though Tongeren is in Belgium, many of the people here speak Dutch. A lot of the menus and tourist information is available in Dutch. I heard some French and there are French publications (along with English and German), I think the majority of people still communicated using Dutch. I guess its understandable, the city is really close to the Dutch border and travel between the two countries is ridiculously easy.

All in all, it was a good first trip from Maastricht. It was close and wasn't too different from what I was use to (both good and bad...). I definitely can't wait to head further into more French parts of Belgium and see how much of that French I have retained (probably not much >.<)

See more pictures here.

ESN Arrival Week

Another thing the ESN organized was arrival week with a bunch of activities. You have to buy tickets to everything in advance and many were sold out really fast. I got tickets to the Cantus, the Dutch buffet and the final party. I wanted to go on the fortification tour but they ran out of tickets. I think there was a bowling night and a pub crawl as well. I met tons of people and it was an awesome way to start the year.

Market Day!

On Wednesday and Fridays, the Centrum is turned into a market with stalls selling everything from fresh groceries to fabrics to perfume. Apparently, the market on Wednesday is famous for its cloth and fabrics and the Friday market is known for its fish. My first day here, I had stumbled upon the market as it was being taken down. This time I headed out earlier and was able to wander around and see what was being offered.

There were tons of people walking up and down the stalls. On the outside of the square, were the food and produce vendors (meat, cheese, baked stuff, fruits & veggies, and hot food). On the inside, there were stalls for everything else, such as fabrics, card making supplies and clothing.

The inner stalls

Prices are pretty reasonable. One thing that stuck out in my mind was the price of the flowers. For a bouquet of roses it only costs 5 Euros (approx $8CAD), but if you got those roses in Canada, it would be super expensive.

Veggies galore! Super entertaining group and really decent prices!

The produce is fresh and definitely cheaper than going to the grocery store (and the market environment is fun too). I ended up getting some oranges (they're HUGE) and some cookies from the bakery. I think next time I'll get something from one of the meat stalls... First I'll have to figure out what "chicken thighs" is in Dutch...

Mmmmm freshly baked goods! Smelled like heaven =)

Where exactly IS Maastricht?

Maastricht is in the southern tip of the Netherlands right in between Belgium and Germany. Makes for a GREAT travel location!

Things I Have Noticed

• The proper name for the country is Netherlands. Holland refers to 2 provinces in the Netherlands in the north west. According to a lecturer I had on my orientation, people in the rest of the country get offended when you call their country Holland. Maastricht is in the province of Limburg (and I think its the capital of it too).

Transportation

• Everyone gets around on bikes and mopeds. I can't wait to get my own bike and getting around will be so much easier! (Buying one seems to be a pain the butt though. Everywhere its super expensive to buy a USED bike. Upwards of 50 euros! I had previously heard it was only 20-30 euros...)
  
• Bikers seem to have the right of way. Cars yield to them and pedestrians yield to them (to avoid getting run over). They just go zooming around wherever they want. Pretty crazy.
• The traffic lights are vertical (just like at home), but instead of being on the opposite side of the intersection, it is right in front of the car. The traffic light system is kind of confusing with lights for cars, bikes and pedestrians. I have yet to figure out the pattern (or maybe there is no pattern?!)

Shopping

• Everything shuts down on Sunday. There is nothing open except for the odd touristy place and restaurants. If it is open on Sunday, they have reduced hours. Sometimes on Koopzondag there will be stores open. This usually is the first Sunday of the month. This past weekend, everything was closed, but next weekend, some times should be open.
• Stores do not open until 12PM or sometimes 1PM on Mondays. I made the mistake of heading down to get a SIM card on a Monday around 10:30 to find nothing was open.
• Department stores seem to be a big deal here. Walking around, there are a lot of department stores with everything under the sun available.

Language

• Everyone speaks English (and probably French and German as we're so close to the border), but everything is written in Dutch. Really disorienting. Google translate has become my friend.
  
• The Dutch greet each other casually by saying "Hoi hoi" which sounds to me like "Oie oie." I've heard people use it to say goodbye and as a sound of warning too.
  

Random

• There are no front lawns or back lawns for houses. There is the sidewalk and right there is the front door to the house. As you walk down the street you can see into people's houses. Somepeople use window distortors (kinda like the boxes TV uses to obsure a person's identity) to avoid that, but a lot don't.
  

Maas River

I finally was able to make it across the river on Monday, while waiting for the stores to open. The water is pretty brown, but the sun made up for it =) There are a number of bridges to cross the Maas River. You can see one in the picture below. The one I was on, was pedestrian (and bicycles) only which was nice.

The bridge is divided into two sections to allow for passing boats too tall to still get across. In the above picture, you can see the divider.

Do you see the swan?

YUM! FOOD!

I've been doing a lot of eating lately (and no exercise >< unless you count walking...). On Saturday I went to Dutch buffet. They had underestimated the number of people they had sold tickets to and there wasn't enough room in the restaurant and definitely not enough food. By the time I got to the table, there wasn't too much interesting stuff left.

What my plate looked like

It just seemed like typical western food. It was pretty good, but wasn't all that different. The kebab on the upper left corner was the most interesting (I think). It was covered in a peanut like sauce. My mom had told me that Indonesian food is really popular here. I have definitely noticed in the grocery store that the food sold is very heavily influenced by Indonesia (I see lots of Nasi Goreng pre-made.)

On Sunday, I headed to the food festival (Preuvenemint in Dutch) in the main square. There were lots of musical entertainment and tents serving food and beer. To try the food you need to buy tickets.

Front of my ticket

These tickets can be exchanged for food depending on the stall's "price" list. There was a wide range of food available from sushi to Korean to Dutch food. I really wanted a sausage as I was unable to try one at the buffet. The only place was this:

I ended up getting a Grillwurst which just looked like a hot dog to me. It was served in a bun with lettuce and some mayo. It definitely did not taste like a hot dog. It was really juicy =)

Cell Phone

I ended up getting my cell phone unlocked at an electronics store in Richmond at a reasonable price. Because I was picked up by the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) at the train station, they gave me a SIM card from Ortel Mobile with 2 euros credit. I used it for a week and then I found that the rates were really high compared to other prepaid SIM cards.

In the end I chose Lyca Mobile because they had the lowest rates. 18 cents per minute calling within the Netherlands and 9 cent per text. Its 12 cents to call home and 9 cents as well to text to Canada. Its only when you leave the Netherlands it gets pretty expensive. When you first buy the card, you can register it to get additional free credits. I did that, but my credit never came (but I think I may have entered the address wrong so its probably my fault).

Another alternative with similar rates is Lebara Mobile. I also heard that T-Mobile had pretty good rates too.