Home and Graduated

So the year in Leiden is over. I have returned to the USA with my Masters Degree in tow. What an incredible ten months I had in the Netherlands! Such an amazing country, people, and environment. I have only been back a short time but it is quite a different feel in the states. Everything is so much bigger and faster. Maybe that is just the reverse culture shock settling in. I am sure it will take a few more weeks to clear out the Dutch air and replace it with American.

But life must go on and as one chapter closes, another opens up...
With that I leave you with some final pictures.

From the Dutch-Denmark Friendly Match




















Dutch Countryside












Master of Science in Public Administration!

OWisOR- “Our World is Our Responsibility”

“Our World is Our Responsibility”
An International Students’ Conference

LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS – As Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars left their home countries
to gain experience in a new living and social environment, six scholars currently studying in the
Netherlands organized an international students’ conference inspiring young people to begin
paving their own paths to impact the world.

On April 5, 2008, at the Kammerlingh Onnes

Building, the home of the Faculty of Law at Leiden
University, over one-hundred attendees actively
participated in a full day of lectures and in-depth
discussions surrounding humanitarian topics of
Built Environment, Peace, Food Security, Health,
& Ecology. Attendees included university students
from all over the world, fellow Rotarians, Rotary
Scholars, and alumni of various Rotary educational
programs. The conference speakers were a varied
mix of academics and real-world practitioners,
which also included Rotarians from other clubs
around Europe. As a result of the gracious
sponsorship by local Dutch Rotary Clubs and the time donated by the speakers, the attendees
were able to participate at no cost.

The speakers provoked and challenged the participants to think and question issues regarding
climate change, peace and conflict dilemmas, and unequal distribution of resources. Kentaro
Hayashi, who is simultaneously a current Rotary Scholar and a doctor-volunteer with Doctors
without Borders, spoke about his experiences in conflict zones around the world, which included
a recent trip to Iraq.

Annabelle Slingerland, a Dutch
physician, spoke at the conference about her work with
Kid’s Chain for Diabetes and the importance of taking
a holistic and pro-active approach to managing
pediatric health issues.
A Rotarian from Germany, Paul-Josef Ziesler gave a
detailed presentation on Rotary’s World Community
Service programs with a focus on women’s health in
developing countries. He inspired participants to
engage in such work in third-world countries. In
addition, Jos de Krieger, an architect with 2012
Architects, discussed the need for reusing waste
materials in designing sustainable architecture. A
former Rotary Scholar, Shital Dixit, presented her
doctorate dissertation on how the environment and
climate change can have a significant impact on food
production.



The conference was capped off by a Rotarian from Scotland and Keynote speaker, Robert
Thompson, who spoke about his Group Study Exchange experience with Rotary’s clean water
project, which thus inspired the audience to become engaged and active citizens to help face the
challenge of humanitarian issues worldwide. The conference was concluded by a panel
discussion of all speakers where attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions about how they can get involved in humanitarian related projects.
After the long day, conference attendees and speakers further discussed issues and got to know
each other at a reception and dinner held at Het Koetshuis de Burcht, Leiden. District Governor of District 1600 Hans Meerburg was in attendance and was very impressed by the conference. At the reception, he noted that such a conference should be an annual event.

Overall, the conference was very successful, and attendees walked away with new ideas, a
greater understanding of Rotary International, and an awareness of a personal mission.

Thank you for the financial support of the following Rotary Clubs:
- Rotary Club Amsterdam Hoog-Zuid, the Netherlands
- Rotary Club Deft-Vermeer, the Netherlands
- Rotary Club Leiden, the Netherlands
- Rotary Club Lisse-Bollenstreek, the Netherlands
- Rotary Club Zoetermeer, the Netherlands
- Rotary District 1590 & 1600

OWisOR Organizing Committee (L to R): Matt Hill, USA,
Elisa Mayes, USA, Janita Han, Malaysia, Christin Reynolds, USA,

Katrina Perehudoff, Canada, and David Nguyen, USA

Koninginnedag

It was Koningnnedag here in the Netherlands yesterday. It is a national holiday to celebrate the birthday of the Dutch Queen's mother. But basically it is just another excuse to drink beer. Now most people associate the day with the party Amsterdam, but Leiden too has an excellent festival. This year they even had the world's best DJ play here. Armin van Buuren is his name and he was actually born here. I went down and listened to the music and found it to be pretty good. So with that I leave you with this...

Have We Lost Our Ability?

So I came across this article in the BBC the other night,

Danish PM jogs with Facebook fans

Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has gone jogging with about 100 people he met through the social networking website Facebook.

It goes on to say,

One of his Danish Liberal Party aides, Soeren Lauridsen, said Mr Rasmussen was enthusiastic about Facebook as a way of connecting with ordinary Danes.
"He has 12,000 supporters now on Facebook - he's only just behind [California Governor] Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he's the Europe Facebook champion," Mr Lauridsen said.
and "for him it's a way to reach a lot of people who are not specifically political", Mr Lauridsen added.

Now this is great, but it got me thinking. When does something like this happen in the US? I could never imagine this taking place. Sure our leaders engage the public but is anyone being innovative and fresh with their approach? It is as if there is a disconnect between the elected and the population, both functioning separately in their own world. The appearance is that the elected only enter the public sphere when the must make a speech to explain something or defend something. Never for the reason as simple as a desire to listen to the people. But really have our politicians become so disconnected from the populace? I scan the newspapers everyday and I find nothing about our American leaders, both local and national, doing much to reach out to and listen to citizens' opinions. This of course comes when 81% of Americans thinks our country is headed in the wrong direction. So again I ask, what is going on?

While you ponder that, here are a few more pictures from the Keukenhof.

A View From Abroad...

I am a bit busy with the thesis at the moment. But I have had a few side thoughts the past couple of days. Trouble is stirring in the US. No doubt about it. Look in the News. We have this example,

Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies
The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country.


And this...


Foreclosures Jump 57 Percent in Last 12 Months
Home foreclosure filings surged 57 percent in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank repossessions soared 129 percent from a year ago, as homeowners struggled to make mortgage payments, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Tuesday.

What do people think?

Aside from all of this stuff I have been enjoying the nice weather. This is one thing I did recently. A few pictures from the amazingly beautiful Keukenhof Gardens.

Holland and a Controversial Film

So while I finish all of my work at the end of the third quarter there has been an interesting debate taking place here in Dutch society. This right-wing politician, Geert Wilders, recently released a film about how Islam is an extreme religion. He is very nationalist and has been hammering away on this issue of Muslims and immigrants for many years now. Due to this, he has in my opinion, successfully managed to chip away at the notion of Dutch tolerance in society. Instead now there is an ever increasing anti-immigrant resentment forming in the country. This also stems from two previous, high profile killings of public figures that have been used as 'evidence' to demand a more homogeneous society instead of the multiculturalist society that Holland used to be famous for. While the film is not as bad as people originally thought it would be, it is still interesting to view. What are your thoughts?

Money is a Beach

So the American economy is tanking at the moment. Quite an interesting time to be living in Europe. Unfortunately, there is little left for me to do except make it through my studies and hope for the best. It really is crazy to see headlines from the paper saying, "Dollars tough to sell on streets of Amsterdam." I mean the dollar has lost 10 cents in the last month and over 20% of its value since I arrived in August.

While I am not going to get into the reasons for why this dollar predicament is happening conveniently while I am in Europe, I think it is still very important for not only Americans but other internationals to think of the repercussions that the collapse of the dollar could have. I think this exchange rate graph nicely sums up the extremes of this decline...









So with that I leave you some pictures from the beach which is only about 10 kilometers from here and still is free to attend!

Happy Chinese New Year

The other week was Chinese New Year. It is the year of the rat. The same year that I was born. I had heard that The Hague was having a celebration in their Chinatown. Who knew they had one? So I went their on a nice sunny Saturday to see what was going on. And to make it even more exciting the city laid out a one kilometer red carpet which was apparently the world's longest. It was quite crowded but very interesting. It was celebrated in the traditional manner, complete with the dragon dance for good luck in the upcoming year.












Dragons

Trappist Beer... mmmm....

So a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting a real Trappist brewery here in Holland. For those that don't know what Trappist beer is you can read up more on it here. But in short it is beer that has been made by Trappist monks. These monks follow strict religious rules and live an extremely simple life, yet they make some of the strongest beers in the world. This is all done in the confines of their monastery where making beer is the way in which they support themselves.



What is unique about true Trappist beer is that there are only seven such breweries left in the world. Six are in Belgium and one is in the Netherlands. Located in the Abbey of Koningshoeven, southern Holland, the monks have been producing their brand label La Trappe since 1884.






A view of the Abbey. (We could not go in)








Originally, the monks of the abbey used the brewery as their centerpiece in which they sustained their livelihoods. Yet in recent years they have had to remake themselves to cope with dwindling numbers of monks. While this has not deterred the monks, they have largely shifted over to the role of Board of Directors with brewery operations as most work has been taken over by a professional brewing company. But they still also assist in crafting the beer themselves, adding the much needed religious flavor!









Say a prayer before you enter the brewery.












The brewery grounds.











The monks also have land in which they cultivate to sustain themselves and to earn additional income. It is also located on what used to be the King's royal hunting ground, hence the name Koningshoeven (royal land).














Jackpot!!!

Happy New Years

Hello all- I have been quite busy since I last posted. Sorry for the delay, but I have been doing great and enjoying life in the Netherlands quite a bit. I have had many visitors come through and also finished my second quarter of school. Its amazing that I have been here in Leiden for five months now! I also just recently returned from some holiday travels to Germany for the New Year. So to get you up to speed on my activities these past weeks I leave you with these...

A nice weekend with my cousin Catherine and her friend Elizabeth. They visited from London where they were studying abroad. We just hung out and I showed them around the city. It was a lot of fun.

Elizabeth, Me, Catherine


I also did some Rotary presentations. I attended my local club, Leiden RC and also my host club, Zoetermeer. I made presentations about myself, where I am from, and what I am doing here in Holland.


Me and friend, fellow Rotary Scholar in Leiden, David, at Leiden RC.


Zoetermeer Club President, Me, Host Rotarian Eiso

This was followed by a visit from my friend Georgia. She spent a week here in Leiden seeing how I lived. She had just spent the last four months working on small family farms throughout Europe and was really tired. So while I did my school work, she caught up on her sleep. It was very nice to see her.

Georgia Asleep

Then it 'snowed.' It was not like Minnesota's weather, but somehow snow appeared on everything. It happened during the end of the quarter so I had this to look at from my desk while writing papers. It was an enjoyable view.


From my desk window














At one of the windmills

Before I knew it the date was December 22 and my long-time friend Ryan came out to visit and spend Christmas with me. Ryan also got meet some of my other friends and we had a nice Christmas Eve dinner together at my apartment. We spent about a week here then headed out to Berlin for New Years.







Ryan and David, Christmas Day, Kings Bar








Me and Ryan in Leiden














Our first stop was Potsdam, where we explored the Royal Palaces of the old German monarchy. Potsdam is just a short train ride outside of Berlin and is still quite preserved in it's historical character. We spent most of our time at what is known as Sanssouci. It could be considered a smaller, German version of the Palace of Versailles. While it would probably be nicer in the summer it was still amazing to see these palaces:

.

Sans soucci is French for "without cares" Me at the palace





















Another palace.

Historical Fact: This garden hosted the Potsdam Conference of 1945, in which Truman, Churchill and Stalin decided the fate of the post - WWII world.









We then spent a few days for the New Year in Berlin. We saw a lot of the sights, which is easily made possible when you have a city with an amazingly efficient transportation network. We then met up with my friend Phillip from Leiden to ring in the New Year. Phillip, a German, was also with 12 other German friends which made for one very fun night. A real German New Year!
Here is a few of the pictures from Ryan and I sightseeing.





The famous Reichstag, German Parliament
















Remnants of the Wall.






















The Berlin Cathedral and the Berlin TV Tower







After the New Year, Ryan had to return home. So I decided that since I was so close to Phillip's family home in Frankfurt it would be worth seeing. It was a very nice end to the trip and a very interesting city. It is known as the Manhattan of Europe because it is the only city with a skyline.







Named the "Meinhattan" because of it's resemblance to New York and its location on the Mein River.













From the ground
and from 200 meters up

Me at the European Central Bank

Home of the strong Euro...

Our train ride along the Rhine.

One of the many castles.

After those few days in Frankfurt I returned back to comfortable Leiden and waited for my next visitor. Katie, my girlfriend, arrived recently for an extended stay. We are enjoying our time together. It is really great having her out here and things could not be more wonderful!















Katie and I