Holidays

We are now entering both a beautiful and holiday filled part Spring here in the Netherlands. I have been pushing along with my thesis, which is going fairly well, and trying to enjoy the sun here in Maastricht, while also getting out for the celebrations.

Two weekends ago (April 23/24) was Easter. I was saddened to hear the alarming news of tornadoes going through St. Louis, but I was relieved to hear that miraculously nobody was injured. Here in the Netherlands we saw much less excitement on the weather front, but it was great weekend as I went up to Doetinchem to visit family and celebrate.

I went up on Saturday afternoon to visit, we basically just sat back in the garden, had a few beers, and caught up. I was able to meet my cousin's new girlfriend and then go out exploring a bit of the Acterhoek with them. We went to Stroombroek, where there is a man made lake, to take Motte out for a walk. Then, it was about dinner time, and so we went out to a Mexican restaurant. I had mentioned to my cousin that I thought it would be a better idea to go somewhere else, because I thought it would be disappointing, but he was adamant in defending it's quality. And, to be honest, if it hadn't been called "Mexican Food" it was good. But I wouldn't consider it Mexican, Tex-Mex, American-Mexican, at all. It was very Dutch/American style food, but still enjoyable and a good time.


The next morning I woke up early and went out on a bike tour of the Acterhoek.

It was a lot of fun to see the area from which my family originated. We saw a few castles, a lot of farmland, and some nice windmills as well. After that, we went to Nijmegen to see the other part of the family, and Ebbe, who just celebrated his first birthday.

It was pretty amazing to see how different he is since I last saw him over Christmas. He has become a very happy little guy and seemed to enjoy listening to English. I also was able to go to the Liberation Museum (even though it was a bit early, because Liberation Day is May 5) but I was able to learn more about the occupation of the Netherlands and the way in which it was liberated by the Canadians, British, and Americans. It again hit me to think how, not that long ago, this country was in a completely different, and somewhat precarious, position with wars running through Europe almost as a common occurrence.

After the Easter celebrations, it was back to work for the week. But, this past weekend was Queen's Day. I looked it up and was surprised to find out that it's actually celebrated on the last Queen's birthday. I asked some friends, why, and basically they said because the end of April is a great time to celebrate, so they didn't want to move the celebration to another time when the weather might not be as nice.

Either way, we went up to Amsterdam, the heart of the celebrations. My friends Pedro, Chris, and I took the train, where we met up with Lauren (my friend from Mizzou) and Gabi (Pedro's girlfriend). We basically went out in the morning on Saturday to experience the vrijmarkt. This is the official day where anyone in the Netherlands can sell basically anything they want in the streets. It makes it into a city wide garage sale. Some people were selling really awesome stuff, a lot of people whatever junk they found in their house. I was thinking there must be some really awesome deals in there, but we didn't really have the time/patience to look through it all. We then went to the Vondelpark where people were playing music, dancing, playing frisbee, and generally having fun. We went through the canals, where there was basically a water parade going on, with anyone who could find anything that floated and could support an engine partying in the water, making it interesting for us spectators as well. We then went to Dam Squre, where basically a carnival was going on, and heard some marching bands going through. After a long day, we went back to the dorm, had some food, and hung out until getting some sleep.

Sunday was much more low key, with all the partying over, so I showed Lauren around Amsterdam, where we spent a lot of time just sitting around, drinking coffee, and enjoying the nice weather. After that it was back home to Maastricht and a catch up on homework. For this weekend, we have Liberation Day (3 weekends, 3 festivals!), but I'm not exactly sure what goes on with that. I think there will probably be live music in Maastricht, so I'll stay here and enjoy that!

Croatia

The past two weeks have been almost at extreme opposites of one another. I spent a week in Croatia (thanks to a ridiculously cheap 22 euro ryanair flight!) and spent the other week working non-stop on my thesis (which is coming along! I'm starting to look at dates for flying home.) Obviously, the more interesting/fun of these two was the week in Croatia.


My Quebecois friend, Chris, and I booked the cheap flight to Croatia almost as an insurance policy. We both had a lot of work to do, but since it was so ridiculously cheap, we decided we might as well buy it and then if we hadn't finished our work, it would only cost us 22 euros. Neither of us knew much about Croatia, except that it was not that long ago that the country was in the midst of war after the fallout of Yugoslavia, and that it was supposed to be a beautiful place. So, we packed our bags and hopped over to Zadar.


Zadar is an older city in Croatia. We found a hostel in the center of old town, which was on a small peninsula between a bay and the sea. On the one side was a massive city wall left over from Roman times, and the other side was an open view onto the sea and surrounding islands. Zadar was really a beautiful place, although we found the individuals from Zadar to not be the most friendly. For example, we heard a bunch of people singing and playing instruments at a bar, but as soon as we approached to sit and have a drink and listen to their music, they stopped playing and stared at us. When we turned around to go, they started playing and laughing again. We're not sure why, but it was a bit discomforting. Besides that, Zadar was excellent.


We took a day out to the island of Ugljan and were the first people to rent the new mountain bikes they had purchased for the upcoming tourist season. We spent the entire day biking around the island. We were given a map, and tried to follow it, but found that the signs on the island were pretty poorly placed and designed, and that "bike train" really meant anything that was larger than 1 foot wide. We rode down steep rocky hills, through bike trails, and under fallen trees. It was an excellent day, but not something that we had been warned of while renting the bikes. Either way, we spent the entire day hardly seeing another soul (except for a few locals walking their dogs) and saw some stunning beaches and beauty. We also found an incredibly eerie church, St. Jerolim, which seemed abandoned, but strangely was not vandalized at all. When we opened the door, someone had assembled what seemed to be a small gremlin out of what we think were sticks and leaves, but we didn't want to get too close. Either way, it was an interesting find on the island.

After the Island, it was back to Zadar and then Dubrovnik.


From Zadar we took the night bus to Dubrovnik, which took us through parts of Bosnia, and down a large stretch of the Croatian coast.

It was really a beautiful drive, albeit 8.5 hours long, and upon arriving in Dubrovnik, was well worth it. Dubrovnik was absolutely gorgeous, but unfortunately felt a bit "fake." It was weird, because in the old city we could see that there were a lot of locals and a fully functioning city, not one just set up for tourists, but it seemed almost impossible to find any of these people during the day. Everything seemed to be set up for tourism, kind of like going to a historical theme park. That did not take away from the beauty of the city, as walking around the city wall was one of the best sights I've experienced in Europe.

We also were able to find a "blues bar" which, while expensive, did have a quality live guitarist and very intimate setting.

Further, at our hostel we made some good Australian friends who were traveling around the world for 9 months. Lucky for us, they were also heading to Split on the same day we were, so we were able to catch the bus with them.



Split was very different from both Zadar and Dubrovnik. As the second largest city in Croatia, it felt like a real city, not just set up for tourists. It also had an incredible old town, but this one seemed much more like old ruins that had been around for a long time. Walking around the city streets, you could envision Roman soldiers walking around the same stone streets and looking at the same (albeit now partially destroyed) buildings that made up the old town. Just outside of old town, was the beautiful port area, some great parks, and the rest of the city. It made for a great two days of exploring and getting to know our new Australian friends as we took in the sights.

After Split, we had to make the bus trip back to Zadar, then catch the flight back to Brussels (Charleroi). Unfortunately, due to poor planning on our part, we had to spend the night in the Charleroi airport because our plane landed about 5 minutes after the last train back to Maastricht left. It was not a friendly airport for sleeping, as the security guards forcefully awoke everyone in the airport at about 4 am, but after that, it felt good to get back to Maastricht. Upon return, I spent a lot of time catching up on my thesis, and today I've started my last class which will end in June, hopefully around the time my thesis is finished as well.

Spring

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head:
1. Happy Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The Honkbal Hoofdklasse has nothing on the MLB (and doesn't open for another week)
2. Fake Doritos from Albert Heijn are not very good, better just pony up the extra 15 cents and get the real ones.
3. I do not understand why time changes in the USA two weeks earlier than it does in Europe.
4. I'm sorry that MU did not get Matt Painter, but I hold out hope that we will get a great coach.

The past few weeks have seen some great Spring weather. It's been warming up (slowly) still staying around freezing at night though. Generally, it's been fairly sunny with periods of rain running through town.

The latest crazy Maastricht festival also ran into town was a big one the TEFAF: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/arts/design/european-fine-art-fair-maastricht-the-netherlands.html
However, given the price of entry at 55 euros a day, I missed out on this one. I was lucky enough to see the never ending stream of Bentleys, Rolls, Maseratis, and Aston Martins as they pulled up to the VIP parking and were led into the incredibly expensive art fair. Maybe some day I'll have to come back for the celebration.

Besides that, things are moving forward with my thesis. I have nearly finished the literature review and will start collecting data next week. Things are looking positive for finishing in June and being home in July (maybe in time for the 4th!)

Until then, I've been having an excellent times with the weather warming up. A group of friends have started playing soccer regularly, but we are still trying to find the right place to actually play. Besides that, we have been having numerous BBQ's, just so we can spend more time outside. I have to say, Dutch BBQ's are very disappointing when you are used to great Missouri BBQ, but it's still fun hanging out with friends and grilling out.

Aside from that, I am leaving on another wonderful Ryanair trip on Saturday to Croatia (22 euros round trip! How do they make money?!) during my exam week. This period I just have a report due, which is almost finished, so I can turn it in before leaving and take some time to relax and hopefully enjoy some beautiful nature.

Carnival/Madrid

I realize it's been a long time since I have posted. From the last post until the start of Carnival, not much had happened. Cold, rainy weather. Long days working on my thesis (I've gone through four topics, until I finally found one that will work on) and trying to keep up with school. Not the most fun, but necessary.
Just before Carnival, Amy and I made our way to Weert to have another Rotary presentation. While most of our presentations have gone well, this one was so far my favorite. It was the first all men's club we have seen and one of the most intellectually curious. Not only did they ask numerous questions after we finished, but also invited us to stay along and continue discussing issues ranging from business, cultural stereotypes, and ways to grow Rotary clubs among more youthful audiences.

After our presentation in Weert, I just had one day left of class before our week long Carnival break. I had heard a number of different accounts regarding what to expect, but really none of them did the festival justice. I think for four days all of the Limburgers drop all of their inhibitions and just have all out fun. It is a combination family event, parade, cultural festival, and party. Most businesses close for Monday and Tuesday, most of the bars/restaurants board themselves up with colorfully painted plywood depicting Carnival scenes/colors. I also was able to see the Carnival Prince a few times, although I'm still not really sure what he did... But, he wore a cool hat and rode around with a posse.

I started Friday just walking around getting a feeling for the pre-festivities. That generally involved random marching bands walking through the incredibly packed streets of people just starting to celebrate and have fun. Only really the individuals in the marching bands were dressed up for the day, because I was told that Sunday is the day the locals really wear costumes, and I didn't want to look too much like a foreigner so I took their advice.

On Saturday we hit up the parade. It was very different from the Mardi Gras parade I'm used to back home. I mean, Maastricht only has 120,000 inhabitants or so, but it looked like 100,000 people were in the parade and even more watching. The parade went on for hours and had mostly smaller home made type floats and tons of individual marching bands. It was lively and friendly. Although, I think I would have gotten a bit more in to it if I could understand any of the Dutch music, but either way the atmosphere was great.

On Sunday I went all out with my makeshift costume. I went out with friends, we wandered around the city, listened to more of the bands who were around the streets and had a great time. It was a sunny day, a bit cold, but fun to be outside having drinks and seeing all the people around generally letting loose.

For the rest of the week I generally worked on my thesis/homework so that I could enjoy my time in Madrid, thanks to Ryanair and 40 euro roundtrip flights. I went with my Portuguese friend, Pedro, and we stayed with a group of his friend's near central Madrid.

The first day in Madrid was not beautiful, because the weather rainy and we were tired from our early flight, but we still made it to the famous Prado museum where we saw some incredible art from Rembrandt, Goya, Van Dyck, Caravaggio, and Raphael. It was a great way to spend a rainy day. After that, we had an amazing Spanish lunch. Then wandered around the city a little before meeting up with Pedro's friends. Luckily, I was able to meet up with some old family friends who moved back to Spain. We had dinner and caught up for awhile, and were lucky enough to go grab a ton of wonderful Spanish ham.

The next day we got up early and met up with Pedro's sister and ran to another museum, the Sofia museum, which had a number of works from Picasso and Dali, including the Guernica. We then went out to explore the city and saw the Plaza Mayor, the National Palace, and a few Cathedrals. For that evening, we attempted to go to a Real Madrid game, but unfortunately to get tickets together we would have had to pay 75 euros each, which was way out of our price range, so we ended up just watching the match at a local bar, which was still a fun experience itself.
Sunday, our last day in Madrid, we took it easy. The weather was nice so we generally just walked around a few parks and saw the city from the outside. It was a really laid back day but a lot of fun.
We had to head back early because our flight back to Maastricht left at 6 am. We made the flight and then work on my thesis and classes started again. However, the week off was a wonderful break from all the work, and the weather seems to have turned for the better. Today was about 60 outside and sunny, so after class I went to the Vrijthof (main square) to hang out with friends and enjoy our first real day of Spring. Hopefully it will be like this for the next few months... but we'll see....

Latvia and Semester 2

I have had a great past few weeks, my friend Pedro and I visited Riga, Latvia. Thanks to Ryanair and incredibly cheap airfare as well as an almost free hostel, we were able to make it very cheap. While it was cold and snowy, I think it was a bit nicer than St. Louis/Columbia at the moment. It was definitely a new and interesting experience, as I have never been to a former Soviet country before. In parts of the city, you could definitely feel the taste of Soviet leftovers. It was so cold the entire river was frozen over and there were a number of beautiful large gray block buildings. However, the main city center was filled with beautiful (reconstructed) historic buildings. We wondered around the city and saw numerous embassies, new buildings, Art Nouveau style buildings, and a pretty great park with the freedom monument.
However, one of the most interesting things we did was go on a "Soviet Walking Tour" of Riga. This took us through a lot of the parts of town that had been converted or built during the Soviet Occupation. We went through a few museums, including one that went over the history of the occupation. When looking at the history of this country, the fact that it's been occupied by Poland, Sweden, Russia, Independent, Soviet rule, Nazi Rule, and Soviet Rule again. Only gaining independence finally in 1991. I came to the realization that if I were here, living in the Netherlands just 15 or 20 years ago, the reality would be completely different. The Soviet Union would still be a force, and wars would still be taking place on the continent. Then, I consider what's happening in Egypt right now and it reminds me of the way the Latvians stood up against the Soviets. As we went through the "barricade" museum we really were given an idea into what it was like during the rejection of Soviet Power.
When I returned Amy and I had another presentation in Gulpen, site of one of the many Dutch breweries. The presentation went well, we got a lot of questions and interest in our topics. It was also interesting being in a club that is still, basically, all male. They were all male until just a few years ago, and now have just 1. The feeling is a bit different than the clubs back home, but none the less incredibly welcoming.
Last of the events of the past few weeks was a sushi night with friends as a bit of a kick of to the semester. We spent a few hours making and eating sushi and generally just hanging out. That was pretty great way to kick off the semester before all the work starts up.

Thesis time

The past few weeks have mainly consisted of me working on my thesis research question and finding literature to support it. It has not been the most fun but has gotten me to think more about what my thesis will be on. I'm working now towards developing a plan to study the characteristics of organizations that adapt IFRS so that I can start that up in a week or two, once I have everything settled and prepared.

Besides that it has been a time of meeting up with friends again. We've had a few dinner parties, a Portugese dinner party and an American dinner party (I made home made hamburgers at a Norwegian friend's house... it went over pretty well) and celebrated a few birthdays. It has been fairly laid back for the past few weeks and a lot of fun. That has been great because I know once classes/thesis start up on Monday, I will not have a lot of time to relax.

On another note, Amy and I gave our presentations to the Maastricht Rotary club, which went over very well. We had some interesting questions ranging from corporate transparency to preconceived notions of the Netherlands by Americans to the Tea Party. I was glad that we had an interactive group that really wanted to get to know us better and made us feel so welcomed in their club.

As for now, I need to pack and get to sleep. I found a very cheap Ryanair flight to Riga, Latvia and leave early tomorrow morning. One last hurrah before hitting the books for the next 7 weeks!

Travel

I apologize for a long delay in posts, but I spent the past few weeks traveling around seeing friends and family around Europe. After Christmas with my family in Nijmegen we went back to Maastricht briefly (just for the overnight) and then took the trains to Munich, where we stayed with an old friend and AIESECer, Silvio. Unfortunately, the trains were not running well and we had a pretty rough time getting to Munich, but after a 9+ hour journey we made it. This trip to Munich was very different from my last, we did a lot more of the cultural touring and also meeting with more of Silvio's friends.We checked out the city from above by climbing the Alter Peter just off Marienplatz. Silvio showed us around and took us to the markets where we had dinner at a beer hall and then cashed in pretty early. We also were able to show Silvio a terrible, but hilarious movie, Eurotrip, which he found amazing. The next day we got up early and went out to Schloss Neuschwanstein, apparently the inspiration for the "Disney" Castle. It was a really amazing site, and I'm glad we went when there were not many tourists. I was amazed at how new it is (built in the mid-late 1800's) and how incredible the art inside the building was, each room depicting a different fairytale or myth. Also unbelievable was the area around the castle, with many walking paths to explore the forest and mountains. These paths lead to the most amazing views of the castle as well.
After the castle we went back to Munich and had hot pot as dinner at home with Silvio and some of his friends, which was interesting because we were able to discuss many aspects of life and work in Germany when compared to the states, as well as stumble upon a few (sometimes not very intelligent) arguments. We discussed normal items like politics, food, and experiences. But one of the funny ones involved video games, whereby we were reminded of how stubborn we can all be, sometimes for no real reason. And of course, we played in the snow a bit as well.From Munich we went to visit Switzerland where we visited two friends, Fabian who lives in German speaking Switzerland and John who lives in French speaking Switzerland. Here we spent our New Years, in the way that apparently German Swiss who live outside the cities generally spend it, in a small hunting cabin in the mountains. At first it was rough because we did not have anyone to talk to, but as the night progressed and Fabian's friends became more comfortable with us, we were able to start talking. It was not my ideal New Years, in a cabin with no heat or a shower in the mountains, but it was one I will never forget.

And it was, of course, very beautiful in the mountains.

We then went to French Switzerland. I was actually surprised at how different they are. It is like going from Germany to France. The two barely seem to integrate at all. One of the best aspects of staying with my friend in French Switzerland was that his parents do not speak any English, so I was forced to recall my 6 years of French and put them into practice, and it went surprisingly well. While I know my grammar was atrocious, I was able to have decent conversations with his parents and also relearn a bit of French. We also checked out a cheese factory, tried curling, went ice skating, and, importantly checked out a chocolate factory (which was amazing for me), especially once we hit the tasting room and unlimited chocolate... After a long, healthy day of chocolate, we decided it was time for Cheese Fondue, which was our amazing Swiss dinner, in Gruyer, where the best cheese comes from (so claim the individuals in that region).
After awesome cheese fondue we got some sleep because we still had to check out Bern, back in German Switzerland, and then come back through Maastricht before heading for the end of our trip, Paris and Brussels. Bern was, of course, beautiful as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but bitterly cold. We went around the city and checked out the very strange statues. We also checked out the bears, the symbol of Bern.We had a few days in Maastricht (I actually had some work to finish up), but luckily had wonderful weather so Barbie and I explored the city a bit and I was able to show her around.
We also made it up to Amsterdam for a bit, because you can't come to the Netherlands and not see Amsterdam!

After Amsterdam we hit the train to Paris, where we were able to see a lot of the beautiful sites there, and even got some decent weather for Paris in January. We hit the Louvre, went to the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer, and of course had wonderful french meals while we were there. We also met up with Cyrille, an old friend from Mizzou for dinner.
After Paris we made the last stop on our trip, Brussels. I had never spent time in Brussels before but found in a city of contrasts, with towering high rise buildings as well old buildings as well. We had wonderful food, including waffles and fries, wandered around the city, and met with the Director of the International Center from Mizzou, who happened to be in town. It was a great way to finish up the trip, although I think Brussels may not be quite as impressive as many of the other European Cities I have visited, but it was still a great place to finish up the trip. Now, back to classes on Monday.