We began our final week in the Netherlands with a student-organized talent show. It was a great way to showcase the unique skills and abilities that everyone in the program secretly possessed. Some students claimed it was more of a "freak show" than anything else—several participants contorted their bellies, tongues, and backbones. However, I was really impressed with the raw musical talent of Professor Trent Hill (he played a mean banjo) and the vocals of other students in the program. I personally recited "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley and performed a quick and easy magic trick (I passed a string of dental floss right through my neck). Overall, it was a crazy night full of roaring applause and uncontrollable laughs.
No trip to Holland would be complete without a visit to Delft. Once our class arrived to Delft via train on Wednesday, we immediately headed to the Delft University of Technology Library. It honestly looked like a small grassy hill with a protruding cone from the outside, but from the inside, the library was actually warm and spacious. After a self-directed tour of the place, our class broke off into groups for lunch. My group headed towards the downtown area of Delft for some last-minute souvenir shopping. We were also able to see the old churches that were in the city square. Eventually, our class reconvened at the DOK Library Concept Center and was absolutely taken aback by all of its innovation. They had anything and everything a librarian could ever want and fathom: state-of-the-art Bluetooth technology, Microsoft Surface Tables, video gaming consoles, laptop docking pods, cozy childhood play areas, and even an artwork loan program. This place was by far the most impressive library I have ever visited. And I must say that everyone who works there seems to be really content with their quality of life. I can't blame them.
The last two guest lectures of the week have reinforced what we have learned about research methods. On Tuesday, we listened to Dr. Stef Scagliola give a presentation on "Access to Content: The After Sales of Conducting Oral History." Interestingly, she used her military historian background to interview victimized war veterans and preserve their responses through a scholarly database. On Thursday, we listened to what Dr. Karina van Dalen-Oskam had to say on the modern practices of digital and computation studies in literature. Using algorithms to analyze transcribed text from past literary works made it possible to distinguish stylistic deviations between the original author and a scribe. It was simply astonishing to learn how today's scholars are annotating textual data from the past.
Thursday was the program's final day, and our class had our last supper together at De Pelgrim. The food was nothing less than amazing and a great culinary conclusion to our experiences abroad. After dinner, we returned to Hotel Baan and said our final goodbyes to our hotel managers, who left us with a nice parting gift. I had an early flight the next morning, so I packed up all my belongings before snoozing. Before I knew it, my alarm went off at 5 am, and I rushed towards Schiphol Airport for my flight to the states. Next stop: America.
Survival Guide Tips: Things to Do Before You Leave the Netherlands
31. Visit the Erasmus Bridge. It's very interesting its design and engineering.
32. Pay tribute to your hotel managers. They have accommodated your needs.
33. Finalize your souvenirs, because you may not return to Holland for a while.
34. Have dinner at Het Eethuisje van Delfshaven. Experience authentic Dutch cuisine and top-notch customer service at its finest.
35. Take a complete group picture. Our program did not do a good job at this; we barely remembered to take a class photo on the program's last day…
 |
| Professor Trent Hill playing the banjo with finesse. |
No trip to Holland would be complete without a visit to Delft. Once our class arrived to Delft via train on Wednesday, we immediately headed to the Delft University of Technology Library. It honestly looked like a small grassy hill with a protruding cone from the outside, but from the inside, the library was actually warm and spacious. After a self-directed tour of the place, our class broke off into groups for lunch. My group headed towards the downtown area of Delft for some last-minute souvenir shopping. We were also able to see the old churches that were in the city square. Eventually, our class reconvened at the DOK Library Concept Center and was absolutely taken aback by all of its innovation. They had anything and everything a librarian could ever want and fathom: state-of-the-art Bluetooth technology, Microsoft Surface Tables, video gaming consoles, laptop docking pods, cozy childhood play areas, and even an artwork loan program. This place was by far the most impressive library I have ever visited. And I must say that everyone who works there seems to be really content with their quality of life. I can't blame them.
 |
| TU-Delft Library. |
The last two guest lectures of the week have reinforced what we have learned about research methods. On Tuesday, we listened to Dr. Stef Scagliola give a presentation on "Access to Content: The After Sales of Conducting Oral History." Interestingly, she used her military historian background to interview victimized war veterans and preserve their responses through a scholarly database. On Thursday, we listened to what Dr. Karina van Dalen-Oskam had to say on the modern practices of digital and computation studies in literature. Using algorithms to analyze transcribed text from past literary works made it possible to distinguish stylistic deviations between the original author and a scribe. It was simply astonishing to learn how today's scholars are annotating textual data from the past.
 |
| The Erasmus Bridge in all of its glory. |
 |
| Alas, our final supper. |
31. Visit the Erasmus Bridge. It's very interesting its design and engineering.
32. Pay tribute to your hotel managers. They have accommodated your needs.
33. Finalize your souvenirs, because you may not return to Holland for a while.
34. Have dinner at Het Eethuisje van Delfshaven. Experience authentic Dutch cuisine and top-notch customer service at its finest.
35. Take a complete group picture. Our program did not do a good job at this; we barely remembered to take a class photo on the program's last day…
Maybe you guys were too busy to take group photo or just enjoying it at the time and forgotten all about it? Seems like you really enjoy this side trips during your summer break.
ReplyDelete