Sinterklaas

The holiday of Sinterklaas is big deal here in Holland. Very similar to Santa Claus but more of the original saint part connected with the holiday of Saint Nicholas. It has been going on for the past week and can be seen all over the city as it marks the holiday season here in the Netherlands. What is different about Sinterklaas is that he comes with helpers known as Zwarte Piet who are not elves, but rather helpers who come on his magical ship to assist in delivering the presents.
So being the ambassador that I am, I decided it would make sense to go and take a visit to the house of Sinterklaas here in Leiden the other day. While the line was to long to sit on his lap I did manage to get a picture with a couple of his helpers.... I don't think this would go over too well in the US......

School Protests

So I have had to postpone my post about my tour to the trappist monk brewery for some other pressing news taking place here in the Netherlands. In recent days I have been following news stories in regards to students protesting their yearly required hours in the classroom. Now this is not university students protesting, but rather youth of the ages 14, 15, 16 who see their 1,040 hours of required classroom time as excessive. Many students apparently feel that their instructors must fill the mandated hours with fake and time consuming lessons only because they are mandated to use all of the required hours.

Now, I was not thinking much of the protests today until I ran into one happening right here in Leiden. As I was doing some early morning shopping (11am) I accidentally biked right into the middle of a group of probably 200 youth chanting, cheering, lighting fireworks, and tipping over signs as the police followed in pursuit. It was pretty crazy to see because I would never imagine this happening back in the US. I mean maybe some isolated protests here and there but nothing this massive by young teenagers, especially over classroom instruction hours! As it turns out, these protests have only grown here in the Netherlands and now spread across the country. In Amsterdam they even had to call in the riot police to disperse the crowd. So with that I will leave you with these images, a video clip, and your own thoughts about this..... Enjoy!

I'm back

So I haven't written in a while. I have been quite busy with school and enjoying my time in Leiden. I have three new classes this quarter that are very interesting. They focus on democratic institutions, international development, and neighborhood participation. Aside from school, me and some of the other Rotary Scholars in the Netherlands are planning a student conference on humanitarian issues for April. As for the weather, it is getting colder and the rain is falling more often but things couldn't be better. Other then that, the only problem I am having is to read everyday about the dollar falling further in value against the euro.... but hey! at least the economy here is doing quite well. The Dutch economy is enjoying a seven year high.




On a lighter note I will leave you with a clip from Dutch (American) Idol...

Update: Blog Action Day!

Well, the results are in. Blog Action Day was a huge success! There were over 20,000 blogs registered, with a total of 23,000 blog posts, all concerning the environment. Bringing total RSS readers to over 14 million people!!!

Check out the impact of the day on the chart below.

I think it was pretty cool to play a minor role in something so far reaching and diverse. As for my time in Leiden it is now being filled with my final papers for the first quarter. It's crazy how time flies, two months here already!

Guess What Today Is???

So today is Blog Action Day. This purpose of this day is to have bloggers' around the web to unite and put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

Being an ambassador of goodwill and understanding amongst cultures, I figured that it would be fitting then to address a very relevant topic that is being discussed in Holland at the moment. As we all (should) know, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded the other day to former American Vice-President Al Gore AND the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is a United Nations supported organization. Given the award "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change," I think this is a logical choice for the committee. Yet many people, from my reading of online American based forums and news sites, have attacked this award for the purpose of either they a.) have political differences with Gore or b.) they do not believe in the notion of climate change.

This is quite unfortunate because the evidence of what the globe is facing is quite obvious. While people have called the film Inconvenient Truth, which helped to win the peace prize, as being based on unscientific principles this is simply not true. As people will also point to the recent ruling by a judge in the UK, about the film being shown in schools as further evidence of the 'lies' in this movie it only requires two seconds of research to disprove this as one large farce led by corporate interests. According to recently disclosed political documents it has been shown that the man who took the film to court has strong connections with both mining and fossil fuel corporations, having accepted 1 £ million ($2 million US) in political donations for the party of which he is a member. These people are even further discredited by the fact that the leader of the party is connected to a controversial "documentary," The Great Global Warming Swindle, which has been supported by oil industry interests.

On the other hand, a fellow blogger has taken a few moments and shown that the discrepancies in the film, as ruled by the judge, to be quite inaccurate based on existing research. In his analysis he has compiled evidence which continues to point to the existence of global warming. Read the article, it is quite good.

Lastly, I think it is also telling that aside from many of my European friends being encouraged by this award, it also goes to show about the priorities of Holland and the US at the moment. In an unscientific but coincidental(?) search of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website I saw no mention of the Nobel Prize being awarded to Gore or the UN Panel. Alternatively, it is featured very prominently on the the Dutch environmental agency equivalent.

So with that, some parting words of wisdom: Do a little more research to discover the truth and also question whether the US truly has it's priorities in the right place when it comes to our environment. And don't forget to participate in Blog Action Day!

Surviving Leiden's Ontzet

The festival was great!!! It was quite amazing to see the city transformed into a giant festival and carnival. Every bar or restaurant in the city had either live music or a DJ playing outside, many of which were located in the canals on floating stages. The streets were full of vendors and stalls selling everything from smoked herring to toilet seats. It was quite eclectic during the day with a full blown party at night. So here are some pictures from the festival...

Me enjoying the 'typical' Dutch Herring... mmmmm....


The carnival during the day...

The 'festival' in front of Leiden's town hall...

The party at night...

Official Oct. 3 Site

If you are interested in the official site... Get out your Dutch/English Dictionary!
http://www.3october.nl/

Leiden Under Siege!!!

October 2 and 3 are big deal here in Leiden. These dates are comparable to American Thanksgiving except for a different purpose. Instead the City gives thanks (originally) for surviving the siege of the Spanish army in 1574 during the Eighty Years' War. This is a significant event not only for the city but also in Dutch history as it was a turning point that eventually led to Dutch independence and the end of the Spanish empire.

Of course it now has turned into an annual fall festival complete with a carnival and the canceling of classes, where the entire city comes out to celebrate what is known as the 'Relief of Leiden.' This happened on the 3rd of October when a Dutch army flooded out the Spaniards and came in boats filled with food for the besieged citizens. This famous painting by Otto van Veen depicts the relief of the city (1574).

In gratitude for the successful defense of the city Prince William of Orange awarded the city the University of Leiden which was established in 1575. This picture shows the original city as it would have looked during the siege.
So this Tuesday and Wednesday I will be out with friends and the rest of the city enjoying the festival and the traditional Hutspot stew. I'll make sure to post some pictures from the festival later.

Onward I Go

So I still have no internet at my apartment. It is a strange feeling but I guess I have to just get used to it and find other ways around it (like coming to the library). Even for a first world country you would think it would be as easy as plug and play but alas life goes on...
Anyways I have finally settled into my new apartment and classes. I am currently taking two classes in Public Administration. One focuses on theories of administration and the other on international public organizations, such as the UN. Yet what makes it all the more interesting is that I am the only American in the entire department of 60+ students beginning this year. The classes last only six weeks before a new block begins and it's crazy to think this block is already half way over.
I also continue to make new international friends and now count as having friends from Germany, Russia, Holland, France, Denmark to name just a few.
I recently took a boat trip into the Dutch countryside. Enjoy the pictures and the video!

Internetless

Hello everyone- sorry to say but I have no internet at my new place for the time being. I am working on getting it installed. Then I will get back to sharing my Dutch stories. It's strange being disconnected.

Holland is International!

Caught this in the news the other day. Very fitting considering I have met so many international students these past two weeks. Sorry for the short post but I have to get some things organized before I move into my apartment tomorrow.

Foreign students numbers top 6,100

Thursday 30 August 2007

Some 6,315 foreign students have registered for Dutch universities and colleges this summer, up by 1,000 from the preceding year, according to figures from the immigration service IND. The increase is largely because of less stringent immigration policy for students, said the IND.

An Interesting Government Policy...

So I was scanning the Dutch news headlines the other day and came across this interesting article discussing a new government policy aimed at reducing joblessness. Read it here...

State funds tarot card readings for jobless

Monday 20 August 2007

Tarot card readers, astrologers and spiritually-based ‘personal development programmes’ are being given government funding as part of efforts to get people back to work, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

The paper says more than 2,000 companies are currently operating on the market to boost people’s employability.

‘It is a new market, anyone can join in,’ says Ryanne Dijkstra, of Blik op Werk, which is developing a quality standard for reintegration companies.

Christian and Socialist MPs have called for an end to the subsidising of some programmes. ‘Such woolly projects do not help in finding a job,’ Christian Democrat MP Eddy van Hijum told the paper.

However, career coach Erica Groenendijk, who uses tarot cards, said the government should let the market do its work. Companies which are not successful will have to close down, she pointed out.

Since 2004, the jobless and people on incapacity benefit can get up to €5,000 from the state to pay for courses to help them find work. Last year, some 42,500 people were following such reintegration projects, the paper said.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2007/08/state_funds_tarot_card_reading.php

What do you think about that? Interesting approach to solving joblessness, maybe. I will have to look into this further. But nevertheless it does speak to the different approaches that the Dutch take in ensuring that all of their citizens have some sort of social support.

Other then that I have made it through the first week of the induction program. Was very good to meet other international students from all over the world.

Don't forget to subscribe to the blog by clicking here.

Off to the international BBQ!

What a great first weekend...

Wow! I have barely been here 3 days and I have already done so much. Here is a quick list of my activities thus far in Leiden:

1. Met the people I am living with for two weeks (very cool)
2. Believed to have secured an apartment
3. Toured the city
4. Listened to a famous Dutch DJ
5. Saw an amateur club soccer match

So let me begin... I met the students I am living with for the two introduction weeks, Eric and Marion. They both attend the University and live in apartment with two cats. They have been most helpful and guided me to getting a cell phone already and have been my translators for all my Dutch questions. It has been already very enjoyable to discuss and share about ourselves and cultures. Something that struck me as interesting tonight was the fact that they have never met an American and I had never met a Dutch person.

Along with that they have also helped with finding me an apartment for the school year. As rental space in Leiden is very limited I have been worried about finding an available apartment. But thanks to my new friends' help I believe I have found the perfect spot located in the center of town on one of the main canals. I am going on Monday to sign the lease making, this one less thing to worry about.

I have also acquired a bike from my friends' and took it out for the first spin on Saturday morning. I went for a self guided tour of the town and was amazed at how historic Leiden is.
While I have not learned all that much about the city I did manage to capture some of it on film...

Your Dutch flower stall at the Saturday morning market


A View of the center canal in Leiden


One of the historic Leiden windmills


Another view of Leiden's canals


Then on Saturday night we went to a disco to hear a famous Dutch DJ. It turns out the disco is unique to the city (and also the first time I had ever heard of such a thing). It turns out the disco is run on a not-for-profit basis, thus meaning all of the costs to the visitor are as low as possible. When I asked my Dutch friends about this they simply said, "They [the disco] want everyone to have a good time." Talk about a nice city!

And lastly, on Sunday I biked 20 minutes to a nearby small town of Zoeterwoude. Here my friend Eric grew up and still plays for the amateur soccer club SJZ. What they are most proud about is the fact that they moved up in the amateur league for the first time in their club's 60 years and now play in the third highest Dutch soccer division. While it was only a practice game with a team from The Hague it was good to get out and see the national sport.

All in all a great first weekend. Tomorrow is the start of the induction program...

Pre-Departure Countdown...

Finally, after months of waiting for acceptance from Leiden my year in the Netherlands is ready to take off. I have everything that I plan on taking with me ready to go and I just hope that my suitcase and backpack do not weigh too much to get on the plane with. This already has been a whirlwind adventure from the day I received my Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship and I am still flying by the seat of my pants. The good part is that at least I know where I will be staying for the two orientation weeks preceding the start of the school year. Of course this all has been made possible through the 'Rotary connection,' as I am staying at the apartment of a Rotarian's son from my host club.

On some other notes I am truly looking forward to the start of my studies and living in Europe for a year. I can not wait to see Leiden and go to a university which was established in the year 1575

Stay Tuned...

Hey everyone!!! My blog is under construction. Come back soon to follow my Rotary adventures in the Netherlands...
Cheers!