Monthly Archive for August, 2010

Back on my fiets*

Published on August 31, 2010 in biking and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

From the day I arrived in Rotterdam, I’ve been on a mission to buy a bicycle so I can get around using my preferred mode of transportation, which happens to be the same as many Dutch people’s. Yesterday Molly and I went to a bike shop near Rotterdam’s Centraal Station, but it was a bust. All the bikes were out of our price ranges, and the shop owner was arrogant, to boot.

After lecture today, we decided to try again. Jonathan found a bike yesterday at a shop on Niewe Binnenweg, so we thought we’d walk up the street and see if we could find something, too. Continue reading ‘Back on my fiets*’

Biking to the North Sea

Published on August 28, 2010 in biking and travel. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Molly had the terrific idea of biking to the North Sea as a day trip this weekend. She planned the route, and she, Jonathan and I set out at about 9 a.m. this morning. Several miles outside Amsterdam, we were delayed by a sudden, fierce rainstorm. Fortunately, there was a house nearby, so we took shelter on the side protected from the wind. We still got a little wet, but not completely soaked as we would have otherwise.

The ride there took us a lot longer than we thought it would, mainly because of a persistent headwind. When we got to the North Sea, we all agreed that the ride had been worth it. Continue reading ‘Biking to the North Sea’

‘ware the chipkaart

Published on August 27, 2010 in grad school and travel. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

We had our first free day – with no lecture – in Amsterdam today, so folks were left to their own devices for entertainment and enlightenment.  Well, mostly. Sue organized a canal tour in the morning, so people just had to come up with a way to fill their afternoons.

The canal tour was lovely. I had taken a tour of Amsterdam’s many canals a week earlier, but the two experiences were completely different. Continue reading ‘‘ware the chipkaart’

NISV Hilversum

Published on August 26, 2010 in grad school and travel. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

NISVThe Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum is amazing. The building in which the archives are housed is itself a marvel of Dutch design. Every detail was planned and executed to fit with the purpose and vision of the institute. The building is 96 meters from top to bottom; it stands 26 meters above ground and descends 70 meters underground. Part of the reason for building so much of the structure below ground level is because of building height restrictions in Hilversum. In addition, the underground temperature is a fairly constant 17 degrees Centigrade, making it easier to regulate the temperature of sensitive archived materials.

The building clearly is built for function, but it’s aesthetically brilliant, too. Continue reading ‘NISV Hilversum’

Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam

Published on August 26, 2010 in grad school, libraries and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I went to my first library of the trip, and I have to say that I’m deeply impressed. Judging from the Openbare Bibliotheek, it’s evident that the Netherlands values libraries. Such care was given to the design of the building and its contents, from the bookshelf arrangement to the labels on the books. I could see myself spending a lot of time there.

I was especially impressed by the setup of the children’s section. Continue reading ‘Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam’

Amsterdamse Bos

Published on August 25, 2010 in grad school and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I’ve been itching to ride a bicycle around town from the moment I got here. Since today was the first clear day we’ve had, I took off toward Amsterdamse Bos, a wooded area southwest of central Amsterdam. I’m not really sure what route I took to get there; I just followed the signs posted along the bike path (fietspad – my Dutch word of the day), but eventually I got there. The woods were delightful. Bike and walking paths criss-crossed the entire area, which is roughly 2,500 acres. It was really easy to feel like I was alone among the trees. Continue reading ‘Amsterdamse Bos’

Guest lecture: Paul Wouters

Published on August 24, 2010 in grad school and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Paul WoutersPaul Wouters, director of the Virtual Knowledge Studio in Amsterdam, was our inspiring guest lecturer today. He talked about a lot of really fascinating things, but one thing that really struck me was at the very beginning of the lecture. Paul mentioned how in the U.S., we use the term “information technology,” while Nederlanders use the term “information and communication technology” (ICT). Americans’ omission of “communication” in connection with technology seems pretty significant to me. After all, if it were not for communication, it would be nearly impossible for people to get information using the technology we currently have. (I could go off on the meaning of information here, but that’s best left for MLIS classes.)

Technology does, in fact, change the ways we communicate. Continue reading ‘Guest lecture: Paul Wouters’

Market day

Published on August 24, 2010 in grad school and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I needed a day to wander around by myself, so I went to flower market and the Albert Cuyp market. The flower market had quite a few fresh flowers, but mostly it sold tulip bulbs and wooden tulips. I enjoyed fantasizing about planting hundreds of tulips in the scraggly flower beds outside my duplex, but I didn’t end up buying anything. The Albert Cuyp market was amazing. It’s a huge street market that is open daily (except Sunday) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it sells just about anything you could ever need. There were stalls for bicycles, fish, stroopwafels, footwear, household items, fabric, produce and much, much more. I was tempted by several items there, but I only bought fruit. Produce here is super cheap, but it doesn’t seem to make it into very many meals in very detectable quantities. I savored my affordable apple.

Frites, churches and a group dinner

Published on August 23, 2010 in grad school and travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

After lecture this morning, Greta and I decided to go to the Anne Frank House museum. When we got there, however, the line to get in stretched around the block, and we didn’t know if we’d have time to wait and go through before our group dinner tonight. We were both feeling a bit hungry, so we asked a man working in a nearby souvenir shop where we could find some good frites (Dutch-style fries). He gave us some convoluted directions to a shop several blocks away and assured us that all of the locals got frites there. He promised they would be “the best frites you’ve had in your life.” Continue reading ‘Frites, churches and a group dinner’

Tall ships and fireworks

Published on August 22, 2010 in grad school and travel. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Today was the first day of the UW iSchool’s Netherlands Exchange program. Almost everyone in the program arrived today, so people were tired. I came a week early to check out Copenhagen, however, so my inner clock had pretty much adjusted to the time difference; I was ready to play. Luckily, I talked a few people into going to see the ships that were here for Sail 2010. Pretty cool. There were ships, people singing sea shanties, and fireworks that we watched from behind the bow of a particularly humongous ship. By the end of the fireworks show, the smoke was so thick that the fireworks were almost completely obscured, but we still had a great time. It was a great start to my Netherlands experience.