January 2024

 1/15/24

Happy New Year friends, 

The last week has seen me return to The Netherlands, re-adjust to student life, finish various portfolios and assignments, and now I’m preparing to… face another three week break! Say what you will about my schedule, but it leaves a lot of free time in between these strange and stressful weeks. So I’m planning various adventures, travel, work, volunteering, etc. Which of course you’ll all hear about soon.

Over the winter break I laid low and relaxed as much as I could, taking a much-deserved respite from my schooling. We had Christmas in Saint Peter, and traveled to my Aunt and Uncle’s in Denver for a few nights, skiing as well. I made a list of my favorite foods to eat while I was home, and I think 85% of them got eaten. 

The nicest part about my time back was the weather: I don’t care if it’s cold, just show me the sun and I’m happy. It was a dream to taste Mexican food, climb hills, and hold my two cats Boris and Julius again. 

Although, I also forgot some of the most important things on my return: a phone charger, my lunchbox, my nice windproof gloves, and my balaclava among them. What I did bring back was arguably just as valuable: two pounds of dried mango, wild rice, (for soup) a backpacking tent, and hot sauce. Eight select books in a tote bag, two packs of dental floss, two dozen american pens, and some wasabi-soy sauce almonds for the road. 

It has been very cold by the Dutch standard here: negative five celsius by my observation and windy. Not enough to free the canals and enable ice-skating, which my professors have reminisced about often. Historically, it was possible to skate anywhere in the province in a cold winter, faster even than cycling in some instances! It would be a great adventure, skating all around Zeeland.

The municipality rang in the New Year on the night of the 13th in the old City Hall on the Markt. This building is maybe the most medieval one I’ve ever been to, we’re talking 15 foot ceilings, giant staircases, and soot-blackened timbers. I knew it was a fancier (though still open to the public) event than I had planned for when they checked my coat and ushered me up the grand staircase. Red carpets and brass fixtures all around, and enough art on the walls to consider the place a museum.

There were around 200 people in the great hall, drinks were being served, and the usual suite of snacks were present: nuts, cheeses, fruits, bitterballen, crackers, and dried meats. Pretty extravagant for a city event! I met the mayor, Harald Bergman, a nice soft-spoken fellow who is retiring after 13 years on the job, and searched for other young people. I’d place the median age in that room at well north of 55. 

Most Dutch are very friendly and willing to discuss their country and culture, though not all: I was explaining (in a mix of Dutch and English phrases) to some locals that I had been living here for five months and was trying my best to learn the language. This woman made the remark that “Well, when I lived in France I spoke the language fluently after just one year!” This sort of killed the conversation, though in retrospect it’s exactly the sort of unfiltered thing the Dutch say all the time. 

The mayor gave his state-of-the-city address in Dutch, which (as I followed) was sort of a recap of his tenure and all the milestones the city has passed in the last year. 50,025 residents in what he deemed “the greatest city of the Southwest Delta”, something along those lines. It was good practice for me! The city poet recited something harder to understand, which got lots of applause. I met some former students from Scalda, the technical institute in the city, who by chance were also in the US for the holidays. All told, it was a fun evening. 

My roommate Emil had his own adventures over the break, namely a road trip through France and Belgium. I brought back American candy bars for him (butterfingers, payday, baby ruth, etc.) and we enjoyed apple tart and tea together. The apple tart which was on supersale after New Years.

A loving family member (thanks Mom!) sent advent calendars for us in the mail about six weeks ago. Well, tried to send! They never did show up for the holidays, rather, in the third week of January they arrived and are waiting to be retrieved. Thank you amazon.nl for the delayed delivery option, on a product that is useful once a year!

As I mentioned earlier I have more free time than I know what to do with. I’ll be reading and upping my volunteer work, and I’ve been considering getting a job at Albert Heijn, a grocery store. Travel is a third option here, I always seem to forget that most of Western Europe is just a few hours away by train. So stay tuned!

A prosperous year to you/een voorspoedig jaar voor jou, 

Aaron

—

1/30/24

It’s been awhile! 

I would have written this time last week, except, well, nothing had happened. Now that I’m three-quarters of the way through a 25-day break I can tell you that even in my free time, I find ways to keep busy– that’s what you’ll be reading about in this edition. Luckily there were two or three days where I did absolutely nothing. And that’s important, because everyone needs days like those to keep from going crazy.

Well, I didn’t get a job after all. Though I seriously considered it, I’ve been doing enough worthwhile stuff relevant to my studies that I would regret it if I did.

For example: On the 17th I was out and about all day on a bus tour of the region, much like the excursion which I did for my Spatial Analysis course except that this one was followed by a conference held on Neeltje Jans Island, in the control center for the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. (de Oosterscheldekering for you Hollandophiles out there) It was a medley of Rijkswaterstaat folks, artists, professors, hydrologists, and students, all united under the broad theme of Water-Management education. 

I didn’t arrive at this event expecting to preside over a workshop on legal standing for natural entities, but this is how the day unfolded. I must have missed the part in the introduction where they said we’d actually have to elaborate on our ideas to the group. (it was all in Dutch!) All things considered, it went flawlessly, given my shallow knowledge on the topic. I won’t go into the specifics of what I spoke about, but I'd certainly recommend the book Should Trees Have Legal Standing? By Christopher D. Stone– it investigates many of the same themes.

On Friday the 26th the Water Management program celebrated 33.3 years of existence, in spectacular fashion and style. Of course I was there to help with the operation. This was a luxurious event even by HZ standards, we’re talking chocolate bars and oysters for the volunteers at the end of the day! There were over 200 alumni there, though unfortunately for me 80% of them were Dutch, and more interested in reminiscing than offering internships. 

On that note, I have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity! Some acquaintances at the Scheldt River Parliament (an organization on behalf of the River Scheldt, one of the most polluted rivers in western Europe) have asked me to participate in an exchange program this fall, in either southern Belgium or northern France. There seems to be EU money involved, it’s financed by an Erasmus+ grant. (see link) The details are still emerging, but I would be a coordinator/representative on behalf of the HZ in this exchange– stay tuned for updates!

Lots of work has been going on within the Green Office, which is the coordinator of the student garden where I seem to spend so much time as of late. We planted over 200 tulip bulbs, along with willows and some native grasses, and re-built some fences. These are my favorites. We weave flexible willow branches (which are harvested in winter and have a myriad of uses, see my letter from December 2023) into a neat and very aesthetic barrier. It’s so strange to be gardening in January! 

I also signed up for a HZ cycling trip to Brugge (pronounced by the Dutch as “brug-uh”) at the end of May. I felt obligated to do so, it was my idea after all! I’m still in disbelief that the organizers actually listened and planned this whole thing. We’ll be touring a nature reserve, a brewery, and of course seeing the many canals by boat. 

It has been unseasonably warm here, as I hear is also the case in Minnesota. Highs in the mid-fifties fahrenheit, sunny, and no wind! It’s unusual to bike in short-sleeves in January at this latitude, and I'm not complaining. Two weeks ago we had just a little bit of snow, only a dusting which melted by noon.  Regardless, the municipality took the opportunity to blast the entire city with salt. Every bike path, sidewalk, and side street. I think I’ve mentioned this before, it’s just ridiculous– and they still complain about salty canals!

On Monday, February 5th, my new semester of classes will finally begin. This time next week you can expect an update on these, and I’m hoping they’re alright! I’ve also got a day-trip to Antwerp in the works, to see museums and eat some good food. Bye for now!

Enjoy the nice weather while it lasts/

Geniet van het mooie weer zolang het duurt, 

Aaron 

Link to Erasmus+ Grant: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-b/key-action-2/small-scale-partnerships