Saturday, February 14th 2015
After a great class of CSE in Leuven (which you can read my reflection on in my education blog) Sonia, a student in the class, drove me back to Leuven. It was really great to chat with her in the car. I learned so much about her, her project and CSE from the student perspective. When we reached Leuven, I didn’t even go back to my room. I went straight to the train station to get on a train to Maastrict, Netherlands. When I eventually got there Juliana picked me up at the train station. Juliana is a friend from Olin College. She and her husband, David Boy, are Olin alumni who came back to teach for a few semesters. During that time, they lived in the professor’s quarters in the dormitory, so I got to know them well. I was in David’s bread baking co-cirricular and Juliana played with me on the Ultimate field. Juliana and David moved in January of 2014 to the Netherlands. We went from the train station to Susteren, the small town that they live in. They live in a very cute house in this small village. We saw the Sint Amelbergachurch, one of if not the oldest building in the Netherlands. They also pointed out both ice cream shops, the health center, the rec center and the school. It is quite the cute small farming town. Since Carnival was starting, the whole town had flags up and was very patriotic. This year’s Carnival song was actually from Susteren.
That night we made pizza! It was just an ironic coincidence that the first time David was making bread in the Netherlands was when I came. As predicted, it was delicious. We each made our own pizza with toppings and then shared. I really enjoyed being with friends from home. It was nice to talk about Olin after being away. Even their cats remembered me! Juliana and David said it was very weird that they were acting so normal with a guest around. Their apartment was also very familiar to me, because the furniture was a lot of the same from when they were at Olin. Overall, it was a very comforting and fun place to be.
Sunday, February 15th 2015
Today is Carnival! For breakfast David made us thick crepes. Of course, I had to try it the local way: topped with actual chocolate sprinkles. We also put jam and yogurt on it. The experience was very similar to the Hungarian pancakes. When we were ready, we walked the 10 minutes to the local train station to go to Maastrict. When we arrived, I was shocked by the incredible costumes. Throughout the day we were humored by seeing people in elaborate costumes doing normal things like sitting on the train or eating at a fast food place. Inspired by the costumes, we went to a store to get carnival attire. I bought a Belgian colored hat, to support my new home. We then did a walk around the town of Maastrict, seeing all of the markts and squares. We walked past a bookstore that was put in an old church. However, everything was clearly not in its normal state because of the Carnival festivities. The stores were closed, the only thing left open were bars and fast food restaurants. Most places had boarded up the windows to prepare for drunk citizens. Even the bars put away all of their tables and covered their countertops with Carnival ready wood. This was clearly not a small party. We started the Carnival day off with a beer in one of these Carnival-ready bars after pushing through an already partying crowd just to get to the street. We saw the witch hanging in the center of the square. Juliana and David told me that it is burned at the end of Carnival. Their friend corrected them and said it was just dropped a bit, but I liked Juliana and David’s answer better. We toured the whole city, seeing the old walls and crossing over the bridges. We then took a break at Juliana’s favorite fry place. The specialty of this place was the amazing sauces they put on their fries. Fries are a meal in Maastrict. We got three different sauces to share: soufles, carnival and peanut to share and enjoy.
We walked out with our fries to the street to watch the carnival and in only a few minutes, Juliana notices her friend hanging out of an apartment window. She waves us up into her house. Juliana and David’s friends are temporarily living right above the street the carnival parade passes by, so we got to watch the parade from a birds eye view! It was pretty nice to be able to sit and relax to watch the parade. The parade was filled of bands and groups in incredible costumes. It did seem however, that all you needed to be in the parade was some colorful costumes and a cart with beer on it. Yes, everyone was well prepared for the day with their cart stocked with plenty of beer. In fact they were drinking it as the went through the carnival. The samba groups were incredible, playing music as they strutted down the street. I liked the group that was like a rowboat paddling through the town. Other favorites included these women in elaborate and huge pink dresses. When they spun the poofs connected to their dress twirled out! Also, there was a pair of ladies wearing suits with bug tushes that said twerk on them. They were absolutely hilarious and looked like they were having a great time.
Across the street there was a few kids throwing confetti from their balcony! But after quickly running out of confetti they switched to toilet paper! It was quite funny.
After the parade we roamed the streets. It was amazing how these groups prepared for Carnival. Each of the floats were parked outside of a bar or cafe and clearly ready to party, they were well stocked. You would run into bands and groups who were partying everywhere. Bands walked down the street while playing music and some samba groups performed just outside of a bar. We were fortunate enough to run into a samba group grooving on the street. They were a lot of fun to listen to and clearly have a great time.
I got the grand tour of Maastrict while fighting the crowds. At the end of the night we made it back to Juliana and David’s house to eat a traditional Dutch meal. This involved heating Raclette on pans underneath while cooking meat and vegetables on top. You then scraped the Raclette onto your plate and ate it with the meat, vegetables and bread. It was superfun! I even tried a sour beer and really enjoyed it. I had a great day and a half with David and Juliana and am so thankful for their hospitality and friendship.
After the parade we roamed the streets. It was amazing how these groups prepared for Carnival. Each of the floats were parked outside of a bar or cafe and clearly ready to party, they were well stocked. You would run into bands and groups who were partying everywhere. Bands walked down the street while playing music and some samba groups performed just outside of a bar. We were fortunate enough to run into a samba group grooving on the street. They were a lot of fun to listen to and clearly have a great time.
I got the grand tour of Maastrict while fighting the crowds. At the end of the night we made it back to Juliana and David’s house to eat a traditional Dutch meal. This involved heating Raclette on pans underneath while cooking meat and vegetables on top. You then scraped the Raclette onto your plate and ate it with the meat, vegetables and bread. It was superfun! I even tried a sour beer and really enjoyed it. I had a great day and a half with David and Juliana and am so thankful for their hospitality and friendship.
Monday, February 16th 2015
Today was quite a long day. It started with taking a train home from Sustren and then making my way to a meeting with my Robotics partner and professor. The professor is great! He really pushes you to think about what you are saying and the conclusions you are drawing. We will be doing research on how robots organize the skills they can do in their head. I then ran to my Decision Making course, which I am really enjoying. The professor challenges you to think about how you make decisions and how it shows in your personality and teamwork. After class I went to Pangea to get some work done! After awhile Niels, a Belgian student who studied at Olin last semester, met me at Pangaea to catch up and get a few drinks. It was really fun to see a familiar face in Leuven. We went back to my place to cook dinner and he mentioned that he reads my blogs! I was so happy! So I’ll take a moment and thank all of you out there who are reading this right now!
We then went to Paus, which is the bar in the dorm that Joachim lives in. We met Joachim and Thibau (also Belgian students who studied at Olin last semester) at Paus for an evening out. It was completely empty when we got there and incredibly crowded by the time we left. I tried the other common regular beer Jupiler. Also, they were making what they called strawberry DNA by making a mixed shot of strawberry puree and alcohol and then lighting it. It was pretty cool! Overall a very fun night out.
We then went to Paus, which is the bar in the dorm that Joachim lives in. We met Joachim and Thibau (also Belgian students who studied at Olin last semester) at Paus for an evening out. It was completely empty when we got there and incredibly crowded by the time we left. I tried the other common regular beer Jupiler. Also, they were making what they called strawberry DNA by making a mixed shot of strawberry puree and alcohol and then lighting it. It was pretty cool! Overall a very fun night out.
Tuesday, February 17th 2015
This morning I got some work done before heading to Group T to interview the students who are in PPIEE about their team projects. I felt very important, walking around and interviewing members of the teams and discussing what they are working on. It was all very interesting and they seemed intrigued about what I was working on as well. You can read my conclusions in my education blog under ‘Exploring the Team Projects’. I then went across campus to my Computer Vision course. I was shocked by how many girls were there! I mean it was only a couple of girls, but it was more than two! The class was very interesting, although it is interesting when I noticed that I speak better English than the professor. I am looking forward to this class and learning about computer vision. I then worked through dinner and went to Ultimate Frisbee practice. Frisbee is becoming one of my favorite things in Leuven. All of the other players are super nice and welcoming. It is great exercise and I feel like I am a part of something. It was nice to see Rik again. I was really happy to handle for the entire game and made some really great passes. I feel like I have certainly held my own as a solid player.
Wednesday, February 18th 2015
I had another class of Economics of Education and Lifelong Learning. I think I have continued to like this class more as it has gone on. I look forward to seeing what happens next week. I then met up with Marie, Dom and James for lunch. I had missed this little group that we made during orientation, so it was great to see everyone again. We went to a Thai buffet, which was very yummy! I love curry and pad thai, so I couldn’t go wrong. That afternoon, I had PT and then spent the rest of the time preparing for my trip to Berlin tomorrow!
Also, per my mother's request, a picture of my main mode of transportation:
Also, per my mother's request, a picture of my main mode of transportation: