Culture Shock

Pop quiz: You arrive in a country that officially makes your language the non majority. You brought no food or toilettries so the first order of business is grocery shopping. Fortunately you're with someone who has been to this country before and can show you where said store is. After that you're on your own. Cereal sounds like a decent thing to have around so you go in search of the most important ingredient: milk. Suddenly you find yourself standing in front of half a wall of milk. You assume that it's milk, because the "melk" looks similar to the English word, but there are so many choices! How do you make a educated decision on what to buy?

Answer: You don't. You go for what's ever cheapest because that's the only thing you can judge (unfortunately the amount is in Euros so you can't even compare that amount to the American price you would pay) or you pick the carton that expires on 5/6/10 (if you remember that in Europe this means the fifth of June and not the sixth of May, which was two weeks ago). So the "melk" you choose expires after all the others. Is that normal? I don't know, you might have just purchased yourself some soy "melk."

I'd forgotten the culture shock we experience when we went to Paris some five years ago now, but it has all come rushing back to me in many ways, the most prevalent being my trip to the grocery store yesterday. It's intimidating being in a different country and not speaking the native language, even when everyone knows how to speak your language.

Then of course there are more cultural things than lack of knowledge of language. I personally believe the way a society eats is revealing of it's culture. If you can master the culinary rituals, you can master just about anything and look like a pro, even if you're speaking English while doing it. Unfortunately many times we must fall and bump our heads before we take those first steps. So it's ok to loiter in front of a restaurant to see if people just sit down randomly at the outdoor cafes, all the while knowing everyone has spotted you as an American, and try to enjoy sitting at your table and talking with your friends even though you finished your meal half an hour ago. We rush too much anyway.

Today has been a day with many cultural bobbles, but I've learned a lot too, like people don't start to eat dinner until 6 even though they start drinking at noon, don't try and smile at people you meet in the street (they won't respond), don't be afraid to ask for the English menu at a restaurant, and best of all the steps of the St. Servaas Basilica is the best place to sit and eat pistachio ice cream. I have three months here and I'm going to fake it until I make it. Until then, yes I'll eat my french fries with the mayonnase the waiter brought instead of asking for ketchup. Who comes to Europe to be an American?

Welcome to Amsterdam!

Yesterday (or was it today?) I boarded the plane from Houston to Amsterdam at 3:40 for the second time this week and am proud to say that we were successful! We landed in Amsterdam around 8:40 this morning (flight was nine hours total). I've been rather intrigued, since I've now flown from and to Houston some three times, to watch the different routes our aircraft had taken. I never paid much attention before but on our first journey (the one that eventually ended in New Jersey) I happened to look up at the GPS running on the cabin monitors to find that we were directly between Jackson and Meridian. On our return journey that same night we flew further West, right over Vicksburg. I think it's odd how I could be so close to my family and yet 33,000 feet away at the same time. Then this morning we flew much further west between Longview and Shreveport and then crossing over Canada (almost over Greenland at times!)

After we landed we went claimed our baggage (not a problem there) and then through customs (again rather simple). We took two steps out of the airport and who's gorgeous face greeted us but Mr. Patrick Dempsey. Say what you want about the Dutch, they have admirable taste.

At the airport we loaded into a bus and drove three hours south to Maastricht. This was my favorite part of the trip, partly because I had a seat to myself (!) and partly because I just stare out the window. If you took away the architecture and windmills of Holland I could have been driving west on I20. The road varied between four and eight lanes with eighteen wheelers and the occasional RV (though not the big Class A's you find in America). There weren't many trucks or SUV's this Mom, Dad, and I discovered during our France trip. However, the cars weren't as teeny as they were in France. In fact I saw brands I actually knew. Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Volkswagen (yes Dad, I have to go all the way to Holland to notice a Volkswagen). I even saw a Land Rover and a Santa Fe. There were over passes, rest stops with gas stations. In all the drive down was neat and rather surprising.

So after a long day's journey, I'm settled in my dorm with my things unpacks. I have some milk in my fridge (at least that's what I think it is) and a day and a half before my first escapade across the European Continent. It's been a good day. Goedenacht!

Oh and since my picture of my travel companion Maas wouldn't load I thought I'd try and introduce him again. Here he is (in the middle) with my friends Amy and Amanda, excited about the bus ride to Maastricht!

Southern Hospitality

Where else but in the South could you find a family of strangers willing to pick you up from the airport and house you for three days? Certainly no where about the Mason Dixon line. As exhausting and disappointing as it was for us not to get to Maastricht on Monday, I think many of up feel that it was a blessing in disguise. We learned on Monday morning that we wouldn't be able to get a flight out until Thursday (tom.) afternoon. This brought about the question as to where all of us would go for the next few days. Many of us, if not all dispersed to homes of other students who were from Houston.

I've spent the past three days in The Woodlands with Amy, Amanda, and Brittany, three girls who I didn't know at all. We've watch an untold amount of movies, relaxed in the hot tub, and spent the majority of yesterday at the mall just wandering and looking. I think that we've been able to get to know each other in a way we wouldn't have if we hadn't had this time together. So in essence, I've made friends because of the whateveryoucallit volcano.

With that said, we are scheduled to fly out tomorrow afternoon, and I'm really hoping we make it this time because plans have been made for the first week of traveling. It's time to be in Europe.

We plan, God laughs...

This is one of mom's favorite sayings. She always uses it when I go into control freak mode. It's suppose to remind us that no matter how hard we try the plan can always go astray. God has His own plans in mind, particularly when your trying to get to Amsterdam on a one way flight from Houston.

We left Houston yesterday at 3:40 without problems. We got into the air. It was a pretty smooth fight. I ate dinner and got to watch When in Rome and even got about an hour of sleep (which is all I usually get on a plan). I was marveling at how we'd just reached the halfway mark 4.5 hours when I heard a disturbing word come from someone's mouth, "Newark, New Jersey."

We were halfway there, floating over the Atlantic Ocean when most of the major European airports were shut down due to the ash cloud from the Elkjoiudoaidufoaiudfapoifu (name is paraphrased here) volcano in Iceland. Before I knew what was happening we were in New Jersey at 1:30 in the morning refueling before heading back to Houston. Now we're all camping out in the lobby of a hotel that has given us rooms but don't quite have then cleaned yet.

Needless to say I haven't slept in 24 hours. I'm tired and hungry and somehow have managed to travel for 14 hours and not actually have been anywhere yet. Ah well, we plan...

Bears, Books, and Bags.

How exactly do you go about cramming three months of clothes, bedding, personal, and school supplies into two suitcases weighing less that 50lbs? I'm convinced this is impossible unless you have the packing skills of a squirrel hoarding acorns for winter. Fortunately, my mom possesses such skill. It's not that I'm concerned with getting everything over there as much as getting it all back- when I don't have Mom's superhuman organizational skills.


For any of you who want to do a study abroad or an extended stay somewhere in the future, here's a trick, fill one suitcase with cheap items- undergarments, socks, pillows, bedsheets, towels- and throw them out before you come back, that way you can fill the bag with whatever you buy when you're over there.


I've over packed. I know this right now. I have too many tops, WAY too many pants/shorts. But these items combined are outnumbered by the books I've packed. How do you guesstimate how many books you'll read in three months? Or if you'll feel like fiction or nonfiction or even a biography? The only answer I found was to pack for all possibilities, and in doing so realized that I don't have many non American books: Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, The Diary of Ann Frank, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame about cover it. I guess this means I'll be taking a trip to the bookstore.


Lastly I want to introduce you to my friend. His name is Maas, and he will be making the trip with me. Alright, 'tis all for now! I'll see you when I get to Maastricht!

*** note, due to technical problems I can't upload my pictures. I'll work on them later, promise.

"The Travel writer seeks the world we have lost- the lost valleys of the imagination"- Alexander Cockburn

It took me a really long time to name my blog, I spent a good thirty minutes flipping through my quotation dictionary before settling on a title. Ultimately the question was "what do I want to do with this blog?" Alexander Cockburn gave me the answer, to write about something that perhaps wasn't lost as much as it just wasn't discovered in the first place. I want to show my friends at home the unique world of Europe with it's ancient history, cuisine, customs, and languages. So let me tell you a story...



For three month (May-August) I've been given the opportunity to study in the Netherlands. When one thinks about studying in Europe, usually England, France, or Italy comes to mind, but the program through my University allows me to participate in a full study abroad experience and do it in the summer complete with three day weekends every week (some weeks I have four day weekends) and three solid weeks of traveling at the end of the month. So, why not the Netherlands? We'll do something a little different, and the best part is I don't have to be fluent in Dutch.

The area I'm going to be studying in is known as the Limburg region (the area shaded in light blue). Maastricht is the red dot at the very bottom of the map. Most of you who know me know that I'm full of random tidbits of information and I shall not disappoint in this blog (I hope). Maastricht argues itself to be the oldest city of the Netherlands (apparently another city claims the same thing and no one is sure who's telling the truth).

***Also, for your random knowledge, I was pleased to find out that the people of the Netherlands are averaged to be the tallest in the world. Yes! No more towering over all my friends, (sorry Amanda).

Anyway, back to Maastricht. The city gets it's name from the Maas river which now runs through the center of the city (traditionally, though, it flowed around the outside walls of the ancient walls). The picture at the top of my blog is of one of the bridges that crosses the Maas into the city proper.

Ok, so geography lesson over! All in all, I would like to say that I'm so excited (and a little nervous, not going to lie here) about this trip and the opportunity to write about my travels. So, stick with me, and let me take you to the lost valleys of the imagination... I think the trip will be fun.