Monday was our first day of classes. Registering for courses is not at all the same here as it is back home. Like in the States, you register for classes prior to the start of the semester, but unlike in the States it is pretty much impossible to add a course once the semester starts. This means that you're stuck with whatever courses you get at the beginning. You may not attend the first day of a class you wish to get into and there is no begging and pleading with professors. It just isn't done. The education system in the Netherlands is very different than that of most liberal arts schools or even large universities in the US, although university systems in other European countries are quite similar. In general, there is much less hand holding and students here expected to learn more independently. At the beginning of a course you receive the syllabus and course list and often students are expected to simply have all the reading done on their own schedule. There are only two or three grades and at least 50 to 60% of your grade is determined by your final (either an exam, presentation, or final paper).
The first course I went to was Global Politics and EuraAsia which is my fifth course and the one that I will probably drop.The professor had a very strong accent which I was unable to place, although I believe he is from somewhere in the Middle East. The course examines the current and past states of international order but focuses on the relationship between the EU, central Europe, the Middle East, Asia. However, since I like my other four courses better I think this is the one to go.
Last night I also went to the University's Institute for Second Languages, where I will study Dutch. Because the CIEE course offered is for beginning Dutch and I have a bit of an advantage, CIEE pays for me to study at a higher level. At the exam I met Thomas, who is a CIEE student from last semester, and is also moving on to another level of Dutch. The first part of the exam was a series of fill in the blanks, reading three paragraphs of a Dutch story and then answering some questions, and writing an essay. Needless to say this part did not go as well for me because I have never really learned Dutch in a formal classroom setting. I therefore, have never learned to write or spell. After the exam I met with a teacher who judges how well you comprehend and speak Dutch. She was stumped because I placed into the beginner class based on my written exam but into the intermediate class based on my speaking and comprehension. Eventually she decided that I should start with Beginners and get a good basis and then move up halfway through the semester if I do well. I'm a little relieved that I won't be thrown into writing essays in Dutch right away, since my essay of the exam read " I speak a little Dutch. But I can't write anything."
This morning I had my first Regulating Cultural and Religious Diversity class with Marcel Maussen. This is the class that I am most excited for and one of the primary reasons why I wanted to come study here. The course is a case study of Dutch immigration, immigration policy, immigration integration, and examines the conflict between many Muslim immigrants and Dutch society and culture. I'm incredibly excited! The professor seems wonderful too. He seems a little more relaxed than others here and is very accessible to his students and suggestions we may have for the class.
Later that afternoon I had Current Dilemmas of European Integration. Unlike my other courses, this is within the program for Social Studies and Humanities at the University of Amsterdam and not the International school. The course is taught in English but there are many more Dutch students in it. I'm a little intimidated by the course because many of the students have a strong background in the EU, which I do not. But the course seems interesting and I think I'll learn a lot about the EU.
My final course is Social Trends, Social Problems, and Social Policies in the Netherlands. This is a general study of the different social policies and problems the Netherlands faces, including prostitution, euthanasia, drugs, immigration, abortion, homosexuality, crime and justice, and poverty and the welfare state. Our final project is a huge research paper which includes doing fieldwork, so interviews and talking to NGOs, to prepare for our papers. I'm hoping to write about immigration so that I can do some sort of fieldwork in the area. We'll see.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Settling In
Well I have now been in Amsterdam for five days, and though there is still lots of adjusting ahead, I already have come to love this city! Orientation for CIEE was a blur of overwhelming information and first impressions of the city and of the people on my program. There are around 64 of us CIEEers here, including four people from last semester. Now that orientation is over it's quite a relief not to be navigating the narrow streets of Amsterdam is such numbers. During orientation I was set up with a bike from a rental company in Amsterdam. I think I have to get it checked out though, because I have to peddle more times in a minute then other people.... and no this is not an opportunity for some people to make a crack about being in or out of shape! At first I was incredibly nervous about biking around the city, especially after hearing the horror stories of bike wheels getting stuck in tram tracks, etc. However, biking is really the best way to get around the city and believe it or not safer then walking sometimes. As a pedestrian you really are at the bottom of the food chain because you have to watch out for cars, trams, buses, AND bikes. Believe it or not bikes can be the most threatening.
I live at Prins Hendrikkade which is on one of the bigger streets close to the Central Station. Amsterdam is comprised of streets and canals that run in sequential half circles and expand as you move further and further out of the center of the city. My street is at the top of this half circle, a five minute bike ride from the very center of the city. I feel very lucky to be living in the center of Amsterdam, as most students, let alone residents, find it very difficult to find housing at all and at a reasonable price. My building is right next to the ISHSS building, which is the home of the International School for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Two of my four classes are here, which means that I can sleep 20 or 30 minutes longer than many of my fellow students. For this I am eternally grateful. My room/flat is on the fourth floor of this beautiful old building, which made dragging my one hundred pound suitcase to the top very challenging. My flatmate Jasmine, is from Germany and is here studying for her masters in Argumentation theory. She is incredibly sweet and we get along fabulously. We often eat dinner and breakfast together if we're both home and have discovered that we both love the show "House" and like to watch an episode together in the evening. It was nice to come into an apartment that already had toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and some pots and pans. Past residents of the flat have left many kitchen utensils behind, so I don't have to run out and stock an entire kitchen. Our bathroom is small and cold, as there is no heat in either the bathroom or the kitchen, but has everything we need. It is a true Dutch bathroom, which means that there is no separate shower, but instead a shower head and a curtain that runs across half the room including the sink. Like everything in the Netherlands, the small room was designed to to save space.
The Netherlands is something like the thirteenth most densely populated country in the world, so everywhere you go things are small and compact to allow as many people and things to fit into the country as possible. Despite, the cramped quarters, the center of Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places I've seen. True to many of it's stereotypes, the city is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, a little harder to bike on, canals, bridges, and rows of narrow but tall Dutch houses. I have yet to take pictures in the hubbub of orientation and adjusting, which I regret because the first five days here were sunny which never happens during winter in the Netherlands. Instead you shall all see Amsterdam in it's traditional environment - rainy and gray.
I live at Prins Hendrikkade which is on one of the bigger streets close to the Central Station. Amsterdam is comprised of streets and canals that run in sequential half circles and expand as you move further and further out of the center of the city. My street is at the top of this half circle, a five minute bike ride from the very center of the city. I feel very lucky to be living in the center of Amsterdam, as most students, let alone residents, find it very difficult to find housing at all and at a reasonable price. My building is right next to the ISHSS building, which is the home of the International School for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Two of my four classes are here, which means that I can sleep 20 or 30 minutes longer than many of my fellow students. For this I am eternally grateful. My room/flat is on the fourth floor of this beautiful old building, which made dragging my one hundred pound suitcase to the top very challenging. My flatmate Jasmine, is from Germany and is here studying for her masters in Argumentation theory. She is incredibly sweet and we get along fabulously. We often eat dinner and breakfast together if we're both home and have discovered that we both love the show "House" and like to watch an episode together in the evening. It was nice to come into an apartment that already had toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and some pots and pans. Past residents of the flat have left many kitchen utensils behind, so I don't have to run out and stock an entire kitchen. Our bathroom is small and cold, as there is no heat in either the bathroom or the kitchen, but has everything we need. It is a true Dutch bathroom, which means that there is no separate shower, but instead a shower head and a curtain that runs across half the room including the sink. Like everything in the Netherlands, the small room was designed to to save space.
The Netherlands is something like the thirteenth most densely populated country in the world, so everywhere you go things are small and compact to allow as many people and things to fit into the country as possible. Despite, the cramped quarters, the center of Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places I've seen. True to many of it's stereotypes, the city is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, a little harder to bike on, canals, bridges, and rows of narrow but tall Dutch houses. I have yet to take pictures in the hubbub of orientation and adjusting, which I regret because the first five days here were sunny which never happens during winter in the Netherlands. Instead you shall all see Amsterdam in it's traditional environment - rainy and gray.
At the beginning....
Alright well I’ve decided to try to use this blog as much as possible to document my impending adventure back to the home-country, otherwise known as the Netherlands, and more specifically Amsterdam. Just as I finished that sentence two men walked by speaking Dutch, heading, I imagine, to the gate at the other end of the terminal where there is a Northwest/KLM flight boarding to Amsterdam. I am flying to Amsterdam via Shannon and Dublin aboard AerLingus, which I hope will bring adventure and entertainment on its own. There was not a single person waiting in line to be checked in at the desk when I arrived, not necessarily the best sign , but made for a very quick check in. Again no line at security although once I had passed through, a gentlemen informed me that he had to check my laptop and upon completion felt that “he just had to tell me I was very, very beautiful.” SO all in all a pretty interesting half hour here at Logan airport where I sit at my gate awaiting the commencement of my adventure to Amsterdam. Groetjes, dag!
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