Since my masters is set up to have an intensive 9am to 5pm 5 days/week schedule, I've gotten to chat and meet with many of my fellow classmates. Most of them are dutch as we have 6-7 total internationals out of 55 students. At first I was a little intimidated by the fact that most of my classmates typically communicate with eachother in their native tongue, which I don't speak or understand, but now most of them have learned which of us are international and are fully capable and absolutely willing to switch to english. This is a relief and also a kind gesture that continues to convince me that moving here was the right choice.
One of the most interesting things I've noticed about the dutch (although there are plenty other notable things), is that when they speak in english they often have a variety of accents. I think I tend to have an ear for accents and notice subtle differences that are attributed to more than simple person to person differences. It's really an interesting phenomena that I think can be chalked up to their exposure to english and american film and tv. Many people have different shades of english accents while others lean more towards american accents. Basically, I just find it super unusual because in the past I can tell different accents apart like italian, french, german and english. Here, it's a guessing game.
Today I also experienced something that I might call an evident culture difference. Generally speaking, the dutch are considered an egalitarian society that favors equality among individuals. I've heard this, read about it and been given examples but today it was also apparent to me that this situation would've gone differently at home. Today we were given information about the different opportunities for student representation and involvement in the department. There are a limited number of spaces in the groups and they also are interested in a diverse and equally representative group. Much to the presenters surprise, there were way too many volunteers. This is where I found it interesting. At home, I think the first suggestion to solve this problem would have been to hold elections. The group would decide based on the experience, qualities and presentation of each candidate who's best fit for each job. One could say it would've been democracy at work. Instead of this idea, essentially it came down to them saying they'll pick at random and also based on fulfilling diversity criteria because any other way would be unfair since they don't know anyone (although I'd argue that that is the fairest possible if you do a merit based scheme). I'm not complaining about their system but I realized that our culture differences come through in these ways. Anyways, I'm hoping I'll get a position but if not, I suppose it's less work and headache for me in the future!
Today I also experienced something that I might call an evident culture difference. Generally speaking, the dutch are considered an egalitarian society that favors equality among individuals. I've heard this, read about it and been given examples but today it was also apparent to me that this situation would've gone differently at home. Today we were given information about the different opportunities for student representation and involvement in the department. There are a limited number of spaces in the groups and they also are interested in a diverse and equally representative group. Much to the presenters surprise, there were way too many volunteers. This is where I found it interesting. At home, I think the first suggestion to solve this problem would have been to hold elections. The group would decide based on the experience, qualities and presentation of each candidate who's best fit for each job. One could say it would've been democracy at work. Instead of this idea, essentially it came down to them saying they'll pick at random and also based on fulfilling diversity criteria because any other way would be unfair since they don't know anyone (although I'd argue that that is the fairest possible if you do a merit based scheme). I'm not complaining about their system but I realized that our culture differences come through in these ways. Anyways, I'm hoping I'll get a position but if not, I suppose it's less work and headache for me in the future!
I've found that since moving abroad, seeing and hearing is believing. Before I left I did some reading up on weather, history, culture etc in the Netherlands. One of the most important was that they bike in ALL kinds of weather. Now, I knew this would probably be true but it didn't feel real until I started biking in it with them. *According to them, I haven't seen anything dramatic yet either* The other day was more typical dutch weather with rain and high winds. I used to think that walking into wind can be annoying until I was biking into it. It truly slows you down and if you weren't born on a bicycle (aka most non-dutch) you lack the grace required to maintain perfect balance when a crosswind catches you. But I haven't fallen off the bike yet and I don't expect to until perhaps the ice and snow comes. At that point I have no idea what to expect and I can only hope to not fall under particularly embarrassing circumstances.
A few important and exciting steps I've taken towards becoming a settled person here in Utrecht include picking up my residency permit, registering with the city, getting a bank account and bank card(!!), and hopefully soon a cell phone! It sounds silly but all of these items, particularly the bank stuff, makes it significantly easier for me to do anything in Holland. Most places only accept cards with a chip and rarely take anything other than maestro. Both of which I did not have before arriving here. I'm still getting used to finding my way around the city. There are occasions that I definitely know where I am but there are also definite occasions in which I find myself going in circles. It's all a part of the experience but it can really be defeating occasionally.
Class just kicked into high gear with a few big assignments on the horizon followed by our midterm exam. Even though I'm confident in my abilities, I worry about being graded in another country since it's different from what I know. I think it will be fine in the end, though. I really can't believe it's already October! I'm getting a little nostalgic for all of the fall and halloween decorations that plague grocery store. It's not a big thing here in the Netherlands. I won't be seeing excited children dressed up in costume this year which is weird since I've seen that every year since my own days as that excited kid! It's cooling off here too although it still hasn't gotten too cold. I've been enjoying home cooking most days and lately lots of traditional chinese because my housemate is chinese and Sunday was their mid-autumn celebration. It was really tasty and I loved being a part of different customs.
That's all for now!
Class just kicked into high gear with a few big assignments on the horizon followed by our midterm exam. Even though I'm confident in my abilities, I worry about being graded in another country since it's different from what I know. I think it will be fine in the end, though. I really can't believe it's already October! I'm getting a little nostalgic for all of the fall and halloween decorations that plague grocery store. It's not a big thing here in the Netherlands. I won't be seeing excited children dressed up in costume this year which is weird since I've seen that every year since my own days as that excited kid! It's cooling off here too although it still hasn't gotten too cold. I've been enjoying home cooking most days and lately lots of traditional chinese because my housemate is chinese and Sunday was their mid-autumn celebration. It was really tasty and I loved being a part of different customs.
That's all for now!
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