Breakfast In America

My tradition is to take a picture of the windmill across from my apartment building whenever I leave Middelburg; this marks the third occurrence of this tradition. Eventually I'll make a collage or something!

Well, I'd thought about doing a Q&A post for the final installment of the year; but for that I need questions, which I've only had three of. So expect this whenever I receive ~8 questions, hopefully the first post of next year. So ask more! The questions I've received so far: 

How do you manage being so phenomenal seem so effortless?  

With seawater rising what will keep The Netherlands afloat? 

What do you think the biggest cultural differences are between NL and USA? What (if anything) do you like about those differences, and what is frustrating about them?

Instead of this you'll hear about my journey from Middelburg back to Saint Peter, via Amsterdam and Philadelphia. By plane, train, and automobile, I covered that in about 48 hours with a LOT of waiting and sightseeing. Beginning on Thursday morning, the 12th...

The train from M'burg to Amsterdam Centraal takes about 3 hours in ideal conditions; but due to a defective drawbridge outside of Rotterdam this took longer. I always travel to the city one day before just in case of trouble like this; the trains can really derail travel plans sometimes. 

On the left, FEBO, a classic Dutch fast-food chain with vending-machine style service. And on the right, the giant new bike garage beneath Centraal Station.

I dropped my bag at a very small hostel and started my exploration of Amsterdam, the Dutch capital city where you won't hear very much Dutch. An example: I asked if there was a discount for students at my first museum of the day, and was promptly replied to in English: "Yes, that will be €7.50 please." 

That museum was the KattenKabinet, a collection of cat-related artwork on the Prinsengracht. As a human of two cats back in Minnesota I was impressed! It's in an old mansion, and the collection isn't that large, but it's an excellent museum for the price. 

Some of the collection, artwork from all periods, and an excellent quote by Charles Bukowski.

I took the long way over to the Museumplein, a sort of one-stop-shop for museums in Amsterdam. I've been to the Rijkmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, but not the Stedelijk. This one has a collection of mainly modern art; focusing at the moment on sculpture. I have the feeling it's terribly overshadowed by all the world-famous art just a few hundred meters away, but I enjoyed it regardless. 

A collection of posters from protests and rallies; one of my favorite galleries. 

"Indoor car wreck"

A classic Dutch Railways poster and the grand staircase.

The sun sets very early, and I found my way over to a Surinamese restaurant at 5:30. This cuisine, from the sparsely populated nation and former Dutch colony in South America, is outstanding. It's a combination of Indonesian, Indian, and Africa flavors; stemming from the slaves and laborers the Dutch brought there. And I'm hooked! 

Pretty lights and saoto, a sort of chicken soup, and coconut juice. Not pictured: coconut-chicken-sticky rice rolls!

After a strangely quiet night of sleep at my hostel (it must be an in-between time for them; a weeknight before the holidays) I woke up way earlier than need be and took the train out to Schiphol airport; to allow extra time for plane spotting and a tradition of mine: a stop at a terrible Dutch restaurant in the terminal. 

This is about how much daylight there is at 8:30 AM... consequently, I tend to sleep in! 

I got an over baked gevulde koek and a bad coffee for €6. Overpriced and busy with glaring staff. On the right, my plane waiting at the gate. Schiphol is located 15 feet below sea level, one of the lowest spots in the entire country. 

Impressively, there was no trouble with delays! Thankfully I didn't spend more time than needed in the Philadelphia airport. The highlight of the journey was overhearing some other Americans at the gate in Amsterdam: "You guys really should have gotten cheese here at the airport, it's so much cheaper than that shop we were at yesterday!" The words of a victim, I'm afraid... I get my cheese at about 1/4 of the airport prices, so I'd hate to hear what they paid in a cheese shop! 

As I write this, it's a cool and windy day back in Minnesota, where the damp weather has followed me. Like some sort of voodoo curse... regardless, it's great to be back! Thus begins three weeks of good eatin' and deep sleep. Happy holidays and see you next year! 

On The March

 

Lately in The Netherlands there has been a proposal from the ruling government to cut over €1 billion from higher education. Understandably it's in my interest (and both my parents are teachers, so...) as a university student to speak up against this, so last Monday I joined a busload of other concerned HZ'ers to protest this new budget. 

Kerék and a hastily made sign. My board read, in block letters: "Education Is Empowering". 

Though first some explanation is in order. The Dutch government is an exceptionally complex system, and even I have just a misty understanding of it all. There are about a dozen major political parties, who can all win seats in the House of Representatives, de tweede kamer. These representatives then must form a ruling coalition, strategically based on party-lines and wheelin' and dealin. 

The far-right coalition at the moment is in favor of bezuiningen, or cuts to funding for colleges and universities, to spend more on defense and economic stimulus. (though they also plan to invest in green energy and enshrine animal rights in the constitution... a mixed bag!) Currently, they only have control of the tweede kamer and not the eerste kamer, the Senate. So while it's unlikely that these cuts will be approved in the 2025 budget, the very mention of them is enough to get Dutch students and teachers out protesting. 

My friend Juan and I in the crowd. We were right next to the loudspeakers for maximum visibility; so everyone was a little bit deaf afterwards. 

Around 30 other students from the HZ had time to escape Middelburg for the day and travel two hours to Den Haag, the administrative capital of The Netherlands. (Amsterdam is just for show) Since we only have about 8 hours of daylight this time of year; half the day was spent on the bus and the other half at the protest. 

Beyond this; there's not too much to say: we listen to a few speakers in Dutch and English, made the national news, and did a short march around the city. I heard 20,000 as the official estimate for the size of this crowd, so hopefully this made an impact on the proceedings over at the Binnenhof (Dutch equivalent of the US Capitol building)

The crowd outside the tweede kamer.

We lucky students also got oliebollen as a snack; this delightful fried donut-like treat is eaten around the holidays here. Think of beignets, and that's what they essentially are, optionally with raisins and powdered sugar. Very unhealthy, very delicious. Literal translation: "oil balls"

These pop-up stands are found in every city square this time of year. What could the Dubaibollen be???

Protesting complete, we returned to Middelburg at 6:00. A fine day out and certainly worthy of a blog post, but I still have an agenda point to address: a Q&A post! In hindsight it seems like an obvious thing to do, so now is the time. Post your questions in the comments below this post; and of course I'll notify the old emailing list too. Be interesting, be bold, be funny! I'm curious to see what there is. Until next time!

Unrelated to the protest; but the holidays have really arrived in Middelburg! Cheesemonger for scale.