Last Post from Europe

So its the morning of December 23.  I'm sitting in the reception area of the hostel I'm staying at in Paris.  It is just before 7am local time and it is dark outside.  Why am I awake?  I have to catch a train in a hour back to Amsterdam before boarding my flight home.

In many ways I'm happy to be going home.  I miss Canada (despite it being covered under feets of snow right now) and home.  Sleeping in my own bed with my own private shower.  I miss the food, the familiarity and of course my family.  But also, in many ways I'm sad to be leaving.  I feel like I've barely seen the world and Europe (despite all my travels).  There is so much to see and do.  I feel like I haven't learned enough about Dutch culture and way of life. 

This last leg of my travels in Paris, I spent alone for 2 days and I met some amazing people in my hostel (more about this later). and I understand now why people like to backpack and travel by themselves. 

An so, in a couple hours I'll be heading home.  Can't wait to see the snow!

So my bags are packed...

... and its my last night in Maastricht.  Tomorrow after checking out I'm headed to Amsterdam to drop off my bags at Schiphol airport and then will be boarding a train headed to Paris for a couple days.

I'm extremely exhausted from packing and running around doing last minute errands around the city and yet I don't want to sleep.  When I wake up tomorrow, its the end.  I have to leave.

I'm dreading tomorrow.  I have no idea how I'm going to carry all my stuff to Amsterdam.  I have three bags, one of which is ridiculously heavy.  Hopefully I'll be able to enlist the help of someone to carry my luggage on and off the train...

I guess I should probably sleep.  I have some last minute packing to do tomorrow morning.

All I Want for Christmas is YOU!

So classes have more or less ended and people are studying and preparing to head home.  This past Wednesday evening, my corridor gathered together (25 of us!! so hard to coordinate) for an evening of world dining and gift exchange.  There are a lot of nationalities in my corridor ranging from German to Columbian to Italian to Australian.  So each of us was responsible for making a dish that was representative of our nationality.  I had no clue what to make - what's typical Canadian food?!  Maple syrup?  I didn't have any.  I decided to make something Chinese...  I've run out of rice and I don't want to buy another bag so close to leaving so that takes fried rice out (which is what I typically make for potlucks).  But I had a huge bag of rice noodles (米粉) left.  I've never fried them before, only had them in soup, so the experimentation began and the results were pretty good.  It tasted okay, but the others loved it.  Apparently Chinese food is a huge hit, half the table didn't get any.  I'm going to make it again tomorrow for dinner (I still have half the package of noodles left anyway).

My noodles!

Here is some of what the others made:

Making Knödel- potato dumpling stuffed with meat (German)

 

Tuna stuffed eggs appetizer (Spanish)

Elaborate salad (Italian) and some wrap appetizers (American)

Cheese fonduee~

Our dinner table!  So much foood~

And of course - dessert!  We had Panettone (Italian cake that is only available during the holidays) with Marscapone.  There was also some Portuguese desserts (I forgot their names) but I was way toooo full to eat it.  Someone was handing out homemade Brazilian chocolates and those were ridiculously good. 

And then came presents time! 

... and with it, the stupidness started...

C4.10!  Best corridor ever!

The Countdown Begins

Today I ran into a friend from York on exchange here that I hadn't seen for a couple weeks and we got to talking.  He asked me when I was leaving and then it struck me: two weeks.

Two weeks today, I'm going to be boarding my flight home from Amsterdam.  In 9 days I'm going to be leaving Maastricht for a couple days in Paris before heading home.  Today I had my final tutorial ever at UM.  Only a group paper and an exam before I'll be finished with my classes.

While I've had my ups and downs, battling homesickness and language barriers, Maastricht and the way of life here has become natural.  It has really become my home for the past four months and I'm sad that I have to leave soon.  As I go about my daily life, it strikes me, this may be the last time I'll be here or the last time I'll be doing this.  Definitely it will be hard to say goodbye to all the people I've met here from around the world. 

I'm scared to go home too.  What use to be normal will probably feel weird to me.  People will be different - I'll be different.  I'll have to adjust all over again.  I've been putting off purchasing a box to send my things home (through mail).  By going and buying that box its like saying to myself, that yes its true I have to leave.  I don't want to think about packing up everything here, putting it into boxes, and heading home.  Its exhausting and makes me feel bittersweet. 

I feel like there is so much I haven't done, so much I haven't seen - even within the city of Maastricht.  And there's barely any time to do all those things.  For awhile I took for granted what I had here and I forgot about experiencing things, instead withdrawing into myself.  Now that time is so short, I'm starting to realize all the things that I could have done. 

Bah - enough of this self pity.  I have a paper to write!

What's in a name?

I've started to notice a trend.  No one can spell my name properly here.  Everyone substitutes the last "a" in my name with an "e".  At first I thought it was just the one person (from the UM Visa office), but then the International Relations Office started doing it and then now my group mates do it too.  I don't understand.  I'll be spelling out my name and somehow they don't hear the last "a" and instead the "e" shows up.  Or even when copying my name from an email (in a reply for example), the last "a" is changed again. 

Maybe its not common to have a name ending in an "a"?  I don't know.  I think I will investigate, but its really starting to get annoying.  I'm use to people mispronouncing my name but seriously, copying it or with me spelling it out and they still can't get it right?  Bah annoying!

**UPDATE**  So I asked one of my Dutch group mates, and apparently the letter "e" in Dutch is pronounced like the letter "a" in English.  So that explains why they can't spell it when I spell it out for them.  What about during the copying?

Dutch Innovativeness

I'm currently writing a paper on the national competitive advantage of the Dutch flower industry.  So far, its been interesting and also a bit boring.  Because I'm in the Netherlands during the fall, there are no flowers.  It has been interesting to read about how the Dutch have innovated so that they can produce flowers year round despite the many difficulties the weather bring. 

While randomly surfing the internet (procrastination >.<" but on topic - sorta), I came across this article, detailing how a restaurant in the town of Zeist is harnessing the energy from a revolving door.  They have figured out how to convert the energy produced from someone passing through the door into electricity.  Each time someone passes through the door, enough energy is produced to make a cup of coffee!

Its a pretty interesting read.  Check it out: Holland Puts a New Spin on Old Technology to Combat Climate Change [via EcoWorldly]

Why Europe is awesome

I took this recording ages ago, but I finally put it up.  I love how cultured everywhere is.  One day I was walking home, and I stumbled upon this.  LOVE!  It was taken in the centrum area of Maastricht, right outside the tourist information building. 

When I first heard them, they were playing Czardas by Monti which really caught my attention cause that was one of my favourite violin pieces.  This is their interpretation of Pachabel's Canon in D:

Sinterklaas!

Today is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands.  There have been decorations around for ages, since the beginning of November more or less.  Sinterklaas is pretty much like Christmas, but takes place on December 5th.  They exchange gifts and have family gatherings.  I asked a Dutch student that is in one of my classes, and he says that his family celebrates both Sinterklaas and Christmas.  He had a family dinner yesterday night and exchanged gifts then too (but I think traditionally people celebrate it on the 5th).  In terms of holidays, everything is still open today, but on Christmas things are closed. 

There are two main figures for Sinterklaas: Sinterklaas (who looks a bit like Santa Claus) and Zwarte Piet (or Black Pete and kind of like the elves that we know).

UM Library

There are two libraries on at UM, the main one was where I went to do all my printing and was a great place to meet with classmates to work on projects.  The library set up is pretty interesting – you’re not allowed to bring your bags or jackets into the library.  Instead they have lockers for you to store your belongings.  If the lockers were all full, they had hooks for you to put up your things.  To get into the library you need to swipe your UM card.  Definitely a lot more security here than the libraries back at UVic.

The main entrance to the UM Library.

The lockers

Pulley system for jackets and bags

The most annoying thing at the library is that there are very limited printers available and more often than not, they don’t work properly.  Especially at the beginning of the block, there are tons of people wanting to print things.  The line for the printer is super long and the printers kept on breaking down.  Ugh – so frustrating.

Time for a Major Update

It has been ages since I’ve updated here.  Since the last time I wrote, I’ve been doing tons of traveling.  I’ve traveled to some smaller cities in Germany following the Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tale Route, visited Vienna, Salzburg and Prague and went to Den Haag for a day trip.

I also celebrated my birthday in style as a mime, went on my first (scary and bumpy) bike ride in the Netherlands, wrote my first set of exams and started a new class block at school.

End of Block 1 Classes

The first block officially ended on Oct 17.  For finals, I had to write a paper for my Business and Politics in Europe class and an exam for my Brand Management class.  Because I was leaving right after my exam for Vienna, I had to finish my paper fast.  We were required to develop an argument based on a bunch of literature we had read during the course of the class.  The most difficult part was coming up with an argument that involved all of the literature (that ranged from a variety of topics from lobbying to types of capitalism, problems with transitional governments to governance). The end result was a crappy written paper (although the beginning wasn’t too bad).  My exam went pretty well - all I was hoping for was a pass and surprisingly I did fairly well =)

Block 2 Classes

I’ve started my second block classes already.  I’m taking Crisis Management and Global Transportation Management.  They’ve just started so I’m not too sure where they’re headed.  I’ve done one presentation for the transportation class and have another one on Thursday about ocean shipping, ports and canals.  These classes have less exchange students compared the ones I took last block.  I’m the only exchange student in my transportation tutorial! 

Scary Bike Ride

I had decided on not purchasing a bike while I’m here, instead walking everywhere.  Maastricht isn’t all that big and its easy to walk to school and to the centrum.  It takes about 15 – 20 mins to school and 20-30 mins to the centrum which isn’t too bad and I really don’t mind walking (except when its pouring, but that hasn’t happened too much).  One weekend, one of my friends was heading out of town so I asked if I could borrow her bike.  There is a Chinese supermarket by the main train station but its really far to walk so I decided to take the bike.  To put things in perspective, the last time I rode a bike I don’t even remember.  Maybe grade 8??  Too long ago!  The streets here are much smaller and the cars pass you so much closer.  Half the streets are cobble stone, making for a very bumpy ride.  Then there are a bunch of one way streets that bikes technically aren’t allowed to go the wrong way on either.  But by the time I got back, I was feeling a little more comfortable with the traffic.  Its great to get around, but I’m still glad I’m walking everywhere.  Too stressful!

Travels

Stayed tuned for updates of my travels!

Did You Know?

Did you know that Euros are different from the various countries?  A number of different countries produce the Euro coins and bills.  For the longest time I never noticed.  There are 19 countries that produce coins: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City.

Currently in my wallet, I have coins from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as coins from Ireland, Spain and France.  Each denomination has its own designs too.  Check out what I have: 

 

The picture didn’t turn out all that great.  You can’t see all the details of the coins, but you get the general idea.  There are websites out there dedicated to the different types of coins produced.  People collect the various ones too.  I’m going to start collecting some of the smaller denomination of coins =)  Lets see how many countries I will get.

 

Check out more information and pictures here (European Central Bank Site) and here (collection site).

My New Obsession

Everyone knows about Nutella right?  That hazelnut spread that is part of of a “nutritious” breakfast?  Well this stuff is even better!  They’re called Knoppers and its like Nutella but in cookie form.  Its a combination of wafer, chocolate, hazelnut and nougat cream filling <3  Not too sweet, but sweet in enough~

Truly a Dutch Evening

Last Tuesday I was invited to a Dutch dinner at a local’s house.  They have taken an interest in Asian culture and has helped a lot of the exchange students from Asia get settled.  Also, they introduce the students to a bit of Dutch culture.  We met when I joined the group to Tongeren.  I was invited along with one of my friends for a Dutch dinner.

We had pea soup (split pea maybe?) and apple pancakes for dessert.  This is apparently a very traditional Dutch dinner.  If you know you will be having pea soup, then you definitely will know that pancakes will be for dessert. 

Pea soup

Served with sausage and bread

I’m not sure I liked the pea soup.  It has an interesting texture.  I definitely got full though.  The Dutch typically eat this in the fall and winter when it it super cold out, but on this day, the sun was shining and it was warm. 

The pancake with apple bits

Dessert was pretty much a pancake with some apple bits that made it sweeter.  Instead of maple syrup, they have an apple type syrup (called Apple Stroop) to go with it.  Its a bit like jam in taste, but less clumpy.  Its not as runny as maple syrup either.  Maybe around the consistency of marmalade and is spreadable (with a bit of effort).  Its too sweet for me, but I might bring back some for you guys to taste.  This kind of spread is very Dutch.

After dinner, I headed to an AIESEC event at UM.  They were having a Dutch night where they were going to play some Dutch games.  They had invited a couple of trainees that were currently in the city (mostly working for BMW) from Poland, Germany and Finland (although originally from Latvia).  The AIESEC meeting was pretty similar to home =)  Organized chaos pretty much.  We played a couple Dutch games and I got to try some traditional Dutch snacks. 

One game we played was an eating game.  Pieces of a cake were strung through some string and held above participant’s heads.  Each person had to finish a piece of cake.  The person that finishes first wins.  It was pretty funny watching people trying to get at the cake above their heads.  Oh – no hands =)

  

Racing to see who finishes first!

I tried a bunch of snacks they had available.  There was a “meatball” that was crispy on the inside.  I say “meatball” because it is (supposedly) made from meat, but inside was all mushy – not what I was expecting at all!  They crispy part was yum though.  Marshmallows, gingerbread cookies and Stroopwafels were other things I tried.  They had licorice as well, but that was a definite no for me.  The gingerbread cookies (called pepernoten) are associated with the Sinterklaas holiday that takes place in early December.  One girl told me that they celebrate both Sinterklaas and Christmas – lots of festivities (holiday decorations are starting to pop up in supermarkets and stores)!  The Stroopwafels are thin waffles that are filled with a type of syrup.  It was really gooey and sweet.  I could barely finish mine.  The Dutch called marshmallows “spekkies” but they just taste like marshmallows – just a bit more decorated.