A Year in Utrecht

All of the close friends that I have made thus far have been fellow internationals. Thats nice, people who get what its like to move to a new country, that must be why we found each other. Wrong! I actually decided to befriend them only to trick them into cooking for me so I can try new dishes. Just joking guys (😉).  Actually a really wonderful tradition the pals and I have been developing is hosting dinners at our various abodes about once a week or so. The gang consists of Claire (Irish), Constantina (Greek), Modjeh (Iranian), and Jessica (Canada eh). Today I captured the last dish to complete my quest to sample each cuisine.  Claire has treated me to a classic roast dinner, complete with chicken, spuds (of course), and yorkshire pudding, all washed down with a pint o beer. Can't go wrong with that. The highlight of course was the yorkshire pudding, which I have only ever read about jealously in various British books. Eating this meal made me feel as if I had been traveling...

Early Morning Mist This week I have been evicted from my room at 7:30 am by construction workers who seem to be intent on destroying any semblance of peace I may have previously taken for granted. You're probably thinking, oh wow Abby very dramatic, just wear some earplugs and go back to sleep. Well reader, I'll have you know that these guys are in my bedroom, so there's no other choice but for me vacate before the sun is even up in the morning, thanks very much.  The whole of rowhouses which we are attached is getting updated one piece at a time over the next several months, and the first step was to install new ventilation tubes and plumbing, which evidently involves drilling holes in my walls and ceiling prior to dawn, several days in a row.   The first morning (monday) I was roughly awoken by Joke bursting into my bedroom, standing over me and speaking a load of rushed Dutch to me. A very jarring experience I can tell you. It was 7:30 and she was telling me that the w...

Over the past several weeks I've been working with my pals on a sustainability evaluation of a new development in Rotterdam, dubbed M4H. The project involves interviews with relevant stakeholders involved with the development, and yesterday the team and I went over to Rotterdam to conduct our last interview, as well as do a site visit. The city of Rotterdam is a very unique place it turns out. Like many European cities it has a long history, but its development has been punctuated with intense bombings during World War 2, which left it's city center completely wiped out and ripe for redevelopment. As a result it has become a place of architectural experimentation, which gives visitors the sense that you are in a sort of theme park, wherever you look there is some new oddity to admire.  Iconic "Cube Houses" This was my first time in Rotterdam, but my teammates Constantina and Jessica have both spent significant time living and working in the city, and proved to be exce...

Just wanted to share that today I had the absolute pleasure of biking home in a torrential downpour. I bike in the rain a lot and most of the time it is admittedly a bit of a drag, but today I had an absolute blast. Had another exam today followed by a two hour lecture, and was in desperate need of some steam blowing. When I left campus, it was a normal drizzle, but over the course of my 20 minute ride, it steadily picked up in intensity and it wasn't long before I was completely soaked. At a certain point you reach peak wetness, and from there its total freedom. The bike paths even started to fill with water, and soon I was just sloshing through a continuous inch of water. By the time I got back, my boots had filled with enough water for me to feel the sloshing when I walked.  Obviously I took my BeReal during this ordeal: here it is for your viewing pleasure: Although I got home completely drenched (no need to shower tonight I suppose) it was an amazing way to decompress from a s...

This week I had my first exam. The format of it brought me right back to highschool and taking the SAT. I haven't taken a timed, essay writing style exam since then, in college all assessments were either projects, papers, or online tests taken at home. The anxiety that comes with a timed, sit-down in person test is something I haven't had the joy of experiencing in quite some time. On top of this it was my first examination of this masters program, so I didn't really know what to expect (and I still don't know how it will be assessed). Needless to say, the nerves were quite fried.  Something I and a lot of my classmates found to be quite frustrating is that for the exam (written on our computers) we were told we could have any resource we want, provided that it was printed out. Now, in this day and age that is extremely ridiculous to me. Especially at an institution that has so much messaging about being sustainable, recycling, and even asks that you bring your own cof...