Catching up

Hey everyone!

I've been keeping up with school, although struggling a bit. Three classes in one period has turned out to be difficult, but I am still enjoying my time thoroughly. My Dutch lessons are going pretty well. I think I'm gaining an ability to read some Dutch, but speaking it still alludes me. It's incredibly difficult to pronounce but it's still useful, and appreciated by the locals when you at least try to fumble around with the language.

My other classes, while difficult, have been interesting and rewarding. My Managing Learning course has forced me to step back and review a lot of my own notions. It is a course that really challenges the way I think at a fundamental level, and through that is helping me discover not only who I am but also how I take in the world around me. So far, I would say it's the most useful course I've taken and will be an interesting complement to the one's I've taken back at MU.

Speaking of which, I have kept up with MU football and basketball. I've even turned a few of my friends here into (somewhat) fans. I think it's hard to explain football and the love and joy that goes with it while watching it online. It's much easier when I can take them to a game to get the whole experience. From tailgate to the Missouri Waltz. But, I think they get the idea and are at least finding it interesting.

Here, the festivals seemingly never end. It is really incredible. As the pictures for this post show, party time is going on. On November 11 (11/11) at 11:11 AM they "officially" started partying for Carnival (Mardi Gras... in March). The sheer number of people out on a cold rainy day was amazing, and makes me excited for the chaos of a festival that will emerge in March.

For now, I'm trying to keep warm, plan some trips for the upcoming months, and get in touch with Rotary here in Maastricht (so far proving to be a bit harder than I expected.)

Family/Period 2

Maastricht has had a wonderful fall. The colors were amazing. Glowing oranges, brilliant yellows, deep reds on all the trees. The weather also held up to stay warm just in time for my family to come visit and my Mom's first time to Europe! I had just finished exams when I had to get ready for my family arriving. At the same time, I started my second period, which includes my Dutch course!

With family arriving we had a lot to do. I started out showing them around Maastricht. I think my parents became more comfortable with my living here after they saw the city, school, and my apartment. With the colors and weather, it was the perfect time for my parents to both see the Netherlands and also to get in touch with our family roots. As such we went to the Acterhoek and saw the old family farm.

Spending time was a learning experience. Not only am I consistently amazed by how kind harted the Dutch people are, but I had also never really spent time on a functioning farm before. I was amazed that we could just walk on to the farm, unannounced, and be met with a family willing to show us around and even invite us in for tea and coffee later on! On top of that, the family spoke English incredibly well, had an exceptionally complicated system for following dairy cows, and also (as we later found out) may have actually been related to us! They also knew the story behind our family leaving the farm over 130 years ago...

From there we also spent time visiting my Aunt's family, eating home-made Dutch meals, exploring the Acterhoek, and generally having a great time. Some of the more interesting things we ran into were a Dutch historical museum where they move old houses/windmills/etc. to one location to preserve the history. Further, we were able to go to the Kroller-Muller museum, which had a number of Van Gogh works as well as many classical and modern artworks from Germany/the Netherlands. It was a great way to spend a rainy day.

Lastly, we took all went up to Amsterdam, toured the mesmerizing canals, toured the brewery, and basically just walked around on an uncommonly clear November day. We also were able to stop by the Elfrink store in Didam, although they were closed.

Now my family has taken off and I've had to spend time catching up with work. Today, I ran into an interesting aspect where we watched "who killed the electric car" for one of my courses, and in that movie they sort of poke fun of Europeans. It was a bit uncomfortable sitting there next to my friends from Portugal, Germany, and the Netherlands, while the movie poked fun... but it was just another experience and a way to remind them that it is not the opinion of all Americans. For now, it's 11/11 which means the start of Carnival. I'm going to head out there to see what's going down!