Netherlands Exchange 2016-17

So what happens after there's a national holiday on a Thursday?  You take Friday off of course.  This is a traditional four-day weekend in the Netherlands.  Schools, government offices and many businesses are closed both Thursday and Friday.  That means that today's Friday market in the city center of Groningen is full, like a Saturday says Liesbeth.  This is great for me because I get to see it all in action. Groningen is a great city of about 200,000.  It's a college town with lots of students, more than 50,000 college/university students.  It has a very old world feel in the city center, but of course has every modern convenience. Today we had kibbeling, which is small pieces of fried fish, very typical here.  Then I had to try poffertjes, which are a very traditional dough, made on a special cook-top, served with butter and powedered surger ... heel lekker! We really took it pretty easy today, especially since y...

Yesterday was actually our last working day for this trip.  Today is a national holiday, so what to do? We joined the Dutch and visited an island in the North Sea just a few miles off the north coast of Netherlands.  The island is a great place to spend a few days or just go over for a day trip like we did.  It was quite something.  I don't know what I expected, but it was beautiful!  Here's a link to some info about the island: Info about Schiermonnikoog We rented bikes a took a great biking tour around many parts of the island ... have I mentioned Dutch people ride bikes??? :) We think we did about 12 miles! There's very little to say that my pics can't say.  Here is a sampling: We ended the day at the home of another of Liesbeth's colleages.  She spent all day cooking a fabulous dinner for us.  Her name is Estrelita and she is originally from Suriname (a former Dutch colony).  It wa...

Refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands create a situation similar to the illegal immigrants in the U.S.  What is very interesting is that the sentiment towards these people is very similar to that of the US.  Surprisingly, here, the laws are very strict about who can come, stay, and seek special status as a refugee or asylum seeker.  In a nutshell, they are dealing with very similar challenges, but there are organizations that are helping with the situation, because it's more than the government can handle. Today we visited an organization that has the purpose of providing a "bed, bath and bread" to those who are waiting to hear if their application for asylum is granted by the government.  The program is called BBB+.  The director, John (in the pic above), is a very passionate man who is doing a great job leading the organization in providing dignaty and respect to people who are at a very low point in their lives. They are taking a very systema...

We had such a great day today visiting two Noorderpoort sites.  The first one was the school of maritime and energy in the town of Delfzijl.  We had such a great tour by three of the students there.  They showed us many of the aspects of their four year program.  During their four years they study almost every aspect of what it takes to run a large ship.  They learn basic welding, machining skills, engine systems, navigation ... you name it, they do it.  Part of their training includes two five-month gigs on a real ship as an apprentice; talk about real life training.  One of the most interesting aspects of their training is the bridge simulator.  We were able to join some students as they were navigating into Sydney Harbor.  We asked the teacher to change up the simulation and make it so the weather conditions were very bad.  It was so real that I had to leave the simulator as I started to feel a little seasick.  It was so interes...

Monday was a real work day.  I spent most of the day at Lisbeth's school site.  She had lined up several meeting with teachers and other coordinators of student service programs and I had a great time talking with all of them.  I also had a good time taking with a few students again. If anyone is wondering what I'm learning ... I'll try to sum it up in a few words. The Netherlands has mandatory education until about the age of 18 like we do.  But two main in differences seems to exist (that I can see anyway).  First, from the age of 12 kids are tested and a system of tracking begins; at the age of 16, many of them are making choices about vocational programs they will complete.  Some, of course, begin a track towards university, but it appears that most others are in programs of vocational education, or at least what we might call, career preparation education (for instance they earn a diploma in business marketing or secretarial skills, among othe...

This blog entry is going to cover the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, and boy howdy, what a weekend it was ... We met up with a few of the other visiting colleagues and their hosts for a short drive to Bourtange, which is a very old village that started out as a fort.  Complete with a moat and drawbridges, except for modern things such as electricity, running water and nice toilettes, it's like a picture from a history book.  You can read some details about its history at Fort Bourtange  . We arrived and did a little walking around and then had coffee.  Then we did some shopping and more looking around.  The weather was amazing, and it has been mostly very good so far anyway, but it was sunny and cool.  This is a historic village, but it is also a real village where people live.  There was an old lady working in her garden, probably 85+ years old, and I just had to say hello.  With Liesbeth's help I introduced myself to her and t...