Sam Culture Shock

I am finally home from spending 3 months in Europe and I will not lie in that it feels good to be back. However, there are many parts of society I still cringe upon each of my returns. Obesity, apathy and naïve people that constantly complain are all aspects of our culture that I despise. I have read through the other reflections and I see that everyone else has also heavily realized these major flaws in our society upon return.

It was really sad yet amazing to realize how ahead most of Europe is over the U.S. with ‘being green.’ I have fallen in love with the SmartCar, yet it is not even approved in the U.S. yet, go figure, instead our streets are packed with gas guzzling SUV’s, giving people far more space than they will ever need. People here constantly complain about our climbing gas prices when we are only facing half of what it costs over there, ringing in at $6/gallon. With concerns to obesity, I realized that people just typically eat a lot less with portion sizes. I know this is also something the other girls noticed as well. As previously mentioned, the apathy of our society toward politics is downright sad. I really wish there were more classes or even a major devoted to learning about the world and current events because I believe that alone is so important. I have been happy to see that bit by bit it seems like more and more people are jumping on the issue of global warming, yet I cannot help but think it might be too late before we are really able to make a true difference.

While I was traveling around with my mom, we could not help but yet again cringe at all the loud, rude, obnoxious American tourists. The volume of our culture is typically much louder than most others and here at home, that is fine and really does not seem out of place. However, even when my mom came over I constantly had to remind her to tone it down because as a whole, most countries are much quieter (except for Italy, hah we felt right at home!).

I was continually impressed yet also had the constant growing feeling of incompetence as I met so many people that on average spoke up to four languages fluently. I have decided I do not feel I would even be very comfortable returning to visit until I am fluent in at least another language.

The last bit I am happy to return to is the U.S. dollar! I finally feel like the costs are reasonable again, of everything! The dollar continually went down in value to the Euro as we traveled and it seemed like everything was just so costly. I am happy to be back in the land of baseball, as my Cubs are finally doing decent this year, or at least they were. However, I am excited to share these experiences with others this coming fall.

Allison Culture Shock

I apologize for not getting around to blogging until now.

When I first arrived home, the main culture shock I experienced related to laziness and its effect on the environment. Americans are just lazy. My community isn't very big, but I would get stares from the passing cars every time I walked up town. I even had some people pull over and ask if I needed a ride, who were then very shocked when I told them I wanted to walk. I see people every day using their cars to drive only like 4 or 5 blocks and then I hear them complain about gas prices. I have noticed that even though my town is half the population of Wageningen, it is twice the land area. We really have made everything cater to lazy lives.

With this, I have also noticed more and more obese Americans, children especially. It is really something I hardly ever saw in Europe, especially France and Italy. This really is something that needs to change in our society, but when discussing it with friends back home, they seem to just have an attitude of acceptance.

The final culture shock issue was one that I realized while in Europe but had never noticed the extent, this being xenophobia and naivety of other societies and even our own politics. I had been asked several times in Holland whether it was true that Americans don't pay attention to government issues. I unfortunatly had to say that it was true. I would say that only about half my friends even know who is currently running in our primaries. And if Americans don't know about our own government, they surely don't know what is happening in Holland or Italy or anywhere that we are not at war with. I found myself fumbling when asked about the Italian system.

Xenophobia is also still an issue. Right when I returned, my boyfriend began traveling around the midwest with his company. One night he began discussing how he wanted to get a job that would send him to other countries. The coworker he was traveling with was very confused by this and told him that there was no reason to ever want to leave America and that all other countries were worse than us. He just couldn't understand why someone would ever want to even travel. Since I was told about that conversation, I have had more and more people tell me that they just aren't interested in going anywhere outside of the U.S. and "what is the point of learning about thier culture." I understand that some people just don't like traveling, but this seemed more like a dislike for international travel.

I don't want to ever be one of those Americans.

Alanna: Culture Shock

After returning home from Denmark my family and I took a few weeks off to travel, some of which was very unexpected. I was therefore not able to write down my initial thoughts upon returning home from Denmark.

During the past few weeks I have gone to Toronto and New York and throughout these travels I have noticed several outstanding differences between North American and that of Denmark.

Prices on groceries and every day items were the first thing that struck me. After spending 9 weeks converting everyday items from Kroner to Dollars it really made me realize how much more expensive things were in Denmark. It gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of how taxes work and how each country handles their tax system.

The second thing that shocked me when I got home was the profound rudeness I experienced while traveling to New York. New Yorkers, or American city people in general, are not friendly and welcoming. While trying to travel through midtown Manhattan I mistakenly entered the wrong subway terminal. I backed up and went to the information booth to ask for help and was immediately scolded and was told with attitude to go through another gate. In another instance while standing in time square the other day a few foreigners were trying to ask for directions. Several people gave them the cold shoulder and one guy even had the nerves to mutter under his breath, "Learn some English" as he walked away. I was disappointed by these American's behavior. Even though I spoke another language and was placed in a different environment the Danes (and other Europeans that I had encountered) were for the most part friendly and helpful when asking for help or directions. If they could not speak English they would direct me to someone who could. There was no hesitation or disregard towards me. It proved to be very comforting. I'm not sure why people in the U.S. are so unwilling to help. Whether it's the fear Americans have distilled upon themselves or the sheer lack of respect, I can't help but wonder why Americans have become somewhat narcissistic. Perhaps it's the crowded population or the hustle and bustle of a large city that makes Americans unfriendly. Whatever it is I feel that it is giving the world a negative image of Americans.

Although I have experienced some negative things while returning home I still like my country. I just hope that one of these days we can open up to other countries and one another.

Sam: Still in Europe!

I wanted to post a quick note that I will still be in Europe until August 11th. Therefore, I plan to post about my experience of culture shock when I return then. I am currently in England and today I move on to travel to Spain, France, Italy, Belgium and then I finally head back home. I have very limited internet access from here on out, therefore I unfortunately do not have time for much reflection now. However, I skimmed through the most recent blogs quickly and noticed many comments similar to experiences that I have had when returning from previous study abroad programs. Best wishes to all!

Jess-Culture Shock!!

I have returned home to the farm...but that does not mean that I did not experience a culture shock! I would not say that I experienced a culture shock when I returned to the U.S., but I would say that I had a great realization about how it feels to be an outsider.

When we stepped off the plane we were taken to yet another passport check point. We were once again moved through a maze of ropes like a herd of cattle. Then it was our turn to be told which booth to continue to in order to have our passports checked. A man, who was maybe three years older than I rudely asked Alanna and I if we were together. I replied yes and he asked me whether we were sisters or not. I had to smile, but he did not find the question humorous in the least, so I replied that we were not sisters, but we were students who had been traveling together. So, he allowed me to go through the line with Alanna with a warning that we were NOT to "processed" together, whatever that was supposed to mean.

I eventually learned what the young mans “not to be processed together” warning meant. Alanna and I moved into line at the passport "processing booth," but this was not even passport control yet. Alanna was the next person up. She moved to the booth and I, mostly out of habit, followed close behind her. The next thing I knew I had this young man, who was not much older than I, screeching at me..."M’am! M’am! Move behind the red line immediately! I told you! I already told you to stay away from her!" Wow, what a great welcome into the United States!!!

I found this very telling. I now know how foreign travelers must feel when they first enter the U.S. They are all treated as though they are some sort of boogie man that could blow up the entire Midwest at any second. I found this very unfortunate. I know that the U.S. has to keep tight security because of 9/11 and the seemingly never ending threat of Al Qaeda, but that does not mean that we have a right to treat people like they are terrorists. I am a twenty year old, white, woman, who (in my opinion) is not at all threatening looking, and yet I was treated as though I was some huge threat to national security because I stepped two feet across some red line! How must a twenty year old man of Middle Eastern decent feel?

I think this was the biggest shock that I experienced when I returned home. That one instance made me think twice about whether I was really happy to be back in the U.S. or not. I was treated better in Denmark! I do not know that this instance is considered a "culture shock" but it definitely made me see my country in a different light than I had in the past.

The other revelation that I had when I returned home is that Americans truly are fat! I know that as a country we are very well taken care of in the eating department, but when I stepped off the plane and looked around, I did note that people were much heavier than in Denmark. I think part of this is due to the fact that food here is so cheap and readily available. I also think that this is due to the American lifestyle. Heaven forbid we actually get on our bikes to go to the grocery store, work, or maybe even the park! Even though we are fat and lazy as a whole, I think that we should all understand how fortunate we are that we can be fat and lazy. We always have food and entertainment!

Despite these small welcome home blunders I am still very grateful that I was born in the great U.S. of A. and happy to be home!

Jess-Final Blog from Viborg

The final days of my stay in Denmark are coming to a close and as I think back to my perception of the world before living in Denmark, and almost after, I have learned some interesting things about myself. I have changed in several aspects and on multiple levels. There have been changes that I identified before even leaving U.S. soil, but now somehow seem dubious now that I reflect on my time here. Some of these changes include my self confidence, my level of global understanding, and my communication skills. But, the most interesting changes have nothing to do with traveling, agriculture, or living in a foreign country.

In addition to some of the predictable changes that I have encountered, I have become more understanding of how I deal with a perilous situation. I know that I have met people here with very colorful life stories that have shaped them both in ways good and bad. I think I have learned to address the fact that someone’s own life tragedies do not have to become my own. I can tell someone how I feel about how they are treating me and make a change that is better for both of us. I know that this lesson in consciousness and consideration will stay with me for life and I am grateful for that.

On a very different level I feel more confident in my abilities to problem solve. I have been put in positions that require me to make a decision based on finance, time, and language. I now truly understand that there can be plans laid forth for a project and those plans will be altered. In the past I believed in setting a goal in order to accomplish anything and that by following a plan from conception to finality a goal was achieved. That thought has been turned upside down. From my time spent with Peter I have learned that a plan can be altered and the results of that altered plan can ultimately produce a better outcome. I know that this will serve me well later in life, no matter what aspect of science I end up studying.

The last change that I have noted might not have anything to do with being in another country, but it is a change that has occurred none the less. I have always been proud of how I was raised, but since I have been here I have noticed an even greater pride in that fact. I knew that I could connect with farm families and other people working in agriculture, and I felt very fortunate to be able to do so. After speaking to producers here I fully understand that farming is a hard business no matter where you are in the world. I have to commend my parents on how they raised me, but also on how they managed to keep a farm business growing through very hard times and yet still be proud to produce food for the world. I truly know now how fortunate I am for every opportunity that I have been given and I will not soon forget that.

Viborg Last Days Alanna

It’s absolutely amazing that two months have gone by and I will be going home in less than a week. There is a lot going through my head right now in terms of what I have learned and experienced while in Denmark. Although the trip is coming to a quick end, the things I have learned about myself, those who I have encountered, and the issues circling the globe will always be a part of me. Learning is a part of growing and I feel that through this trip I have personally grown to become more aware of my own strengths, weaknesses, and world issues.

The three changes that I have recognized in myself since leaving home that I would like to focus on are confidence, empathy, and a greater understanding of politics.

Confidence
I have noticed that over the last month or so I have developed a greater confidence level in myself and in others. For some reason I have always been hesitant to approach people I don’t know. Whether I need help with directions or just starting up conversation I find it hard to just speak up. Being here, however, has forced me to make conversation with strangers. When you don’t know where you are you have to ask. Just like Allison has stated there is just no way out of it. Being the only native English speaker in my department I found it difficult to adjust to the group. In the beginning all the department members would speak amongst one another in Danish and I would just sit there. My curiosity about the country and culture was what really forced me to speak up. I found myself starting up conversations with co-workers and feeling comfortable talking about myself, my travels, and the issues circling the scientific community and world. Other times in which I noticed my confidence to speak with others were during our travels. Traveling teaches you responsibility and confidence. Arranging trips ahead of time, asking for directions, and mapping out where you need to go all played apart in building my confidence. On another level regarding academics I now have more confidence in myself and my ability to over come difficult tasks. Even if a task seems too hard for you to handle it’s always important to ask questions when you need help, don’t hesitate to tell who you are working with you don’t understand something, and always speak up if your experiment is not going as well as you would like. On this note I would also like to mention how I have built confidence in others. I rarely have to work in groups at school. My department, however, taught me the importance of group work and collaboration. Having confidence in others is vital in science and you can’t always just depend on yourself all the time.

Empathy
In my original application statement I feared that language would be a big hindrance in my stay here in Denmark. For the most part I was proven wrong, however, there were a few instances where I became frustrated because of a lack of communication. On our trip to Copenhagen I encountered a few instances, which made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. For instance, asking to make reservations at a restaurant. Since the owner’s English was not that good she ended up telling me rudely they had no room and just shoved me off and when standing in a line to pay for something the native Danish speaker would be served before me cause I obviously looked like a foreigner. I didn’t really appreciate being treated like that. By no means were these instances a full portrayal of the Danes attitudes and actions, but I did feel some tension being a foreigner in larger city. For the most part most of the people I have meet or encountered have been warm, caring, and amazingly helpful. However, being in a larger city made me think about my own actions and feelings at home. It made me realize that if I didn’t want to be treated like a foreigner who seems ignorant to everything I should not assume that those visiting the U.S. are the same. I can now emphasize with those who come from another country and are visiting the U.S. Even though language can be a barrier sometimes it should never be an excuse to be rude, pushy, or plain ignorant. Being in someone else’s shoes helps one realize how we view one another in the world. I think if more people traveled outside the U.S. we would have a greater understanding of one another’s feelings and concerns. Perhaps less racism would occur if people were just more patient and took time out to understand one another and embrace their differences.

Politics
I will admit that my understanding of world politics is not up to date. Being here has made me realize how out of the loop I really am. I underestimated the amount of concern people outside the U.S. had about our government and the lack of knowledge I have on other country’s governments. I not only have gained a greater understanding of my own country’s politics but of the various issues the European Union has been facing. Understanding how others feel about the U.S. government system helps me reevaluate what works and what doesn’t. I can confidently say I will be walking away with more knowledge about world politics and its effects on the U.S.

Although I have only mentioned three specific changes that I have seen in myself I know there are more. An opportunity like this has shaped me and has significantly changed me for the better.

From Dean Bohn via Dr. Hurley

Dear Allison, dear team,

What Allison said about being less fearful really resonated with me. I'm in Chicago this weekend for MBA classes. A classmate's son, 16 years old, had to spend his day in the hotel room because his mom, in class with me, was afraid to have him roam Chicago on his own. That is sooooooo sad. Maybe I am naive. Maybe Chicago (all of Chicago) is a really dangerous place. But all I see is fear controlling Americans' daily choices. It is easy to be manipulated if you succumb to fear! How come America is the country with the highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world? I thought the threat of incarceration is supposed deter criminals? Ok, I should really be paying attention to this exam review. Love to talk to you in person when you get back to campus.

Great job, girls, on all levels!

Dean Bohn

Wageningen Last Days Allison

So, it is my last real day here in Wageningen. It is really hard to believe that we are done. My roommates for next year are starting to talk about school again, and I don't really feel like it has even been summer yet. This could be due to the weather, but I think it is just because time flew by here.

After careful consideration, I have come up with three things that I see different in myself.

The first, is learning the ability to approach people and just start a conversation. I hadn't really forced myself to do that in a long time, but coming here and knowing no one, I think it is something that we have all had to relearn. If I hadn't done this, I don't think I would have met the people I did, and a lot of opportunities would have been lost. It helps that the Dutch are generally friendly people who are willing to make new friends. Back home, I sit in class with the same people every week for a semester, and for some reason, never say a word to them. It is strange how people can be so close to people and never actually meet them. It is an attitude where someone thinks because they already have made friends, new ones are unecessary. I hope to not fall back into this habit again when I get home.

The next thing would be allowing myself to take part. I have had many shadowing experiences in the past, and in all of them, I just stood back and watched most of the time. I expected the same here, but the physiology team was willing to show me how. Before I knew it, I was helping out. I was worried at first that I might mess something up because it was my first time and this was real research, but after a few days, it became just like a job for me, and I am really grateful that I was able to take part. I never would have learned as much from just standing and watching.

The final thing I have noticed about myself is something I didn't really notice at all until it was pointed out to me last weekend. I am not afraid anymore. I used to worry about traveling, living alone, and even walking at night. I have gained so much independence here and met so many great people leading lives that I now want to mimic. I really don't mind traveling alone now. I have really gained faith in people, and I understand that bad things do happen, but I can't let myself go on in fear of them or else I will lose out on a lot of great experiences. This is not to say that I will put myself in dangerous situations or that I will not be careful when meeting people, only that I feel like a stronger person.

This program has been wonderful, and I am so glad that I applied. I hope that everything I did and saw here will be useful for others in the future.

I am glad to be heading home soon to see my family and friends, but I will miss Europe and the new friends I have made.

Wageningen Week 8 Sam

Through talking with many students from Wageningen as well as our supervisor, Rene, I have noticed many common day to day differences in the cultures between the U.S. and the Dutch. Most of these differences are small, but were fairly amusing to me.

Students from our course invited us to a dinner they made for us. It was a common Dutch meal and this was the first significant difference we have noticed. It is very common for students to have other students over for dinner and typically, you return the favor later on. This is not something Allison or I see much of in the States. I think it’s very nice and enjoyed it very much. We got to chatting about daily routines and I mentioned how the long days were a bit hard for us, since we college students typically take a nap during our school day. They were shocked, what do you mean you take a nap? Hah so we explained that it varies for each student, but it can be anywhere from 20 min to hours, in any place, your apartment, dorm, the quad, the Union, etc. They again were really surprised. This topic also came up when Rene had us over for dinner and again, everyone was surprised! End rule, students don’t nap here! How strange as that seems to be the basis for college life in the U.S.

This leads me to our next point difference. We have noticed that students here typically only work on school work during the week, through the typical 9-5 work day Mon-Fri. This was strange for us, as most students I know get quite a bit of work done in the late hours of the evening and throughout the weekend. The Dutch students end their day around 5 typically, some a bit longer and head home for the weekends, forgetting all about school. They were shocked to hear we stay at the library past 2am and take exams from 7-9 at night.

Also concerning school, work ethic and integrity. We have found that for most students, it is perfectly acceptable to aim to just ‘get by with a passing grade.’ There is no competition scale here constantly comparing your GPA and formulating a class rank. We discussed this also with Rene. We talked about our differing societies and what they deem as acceptable. Allison and I agreed that is often unfortunate in our own society that it is often hard to find mediocrity as acceptable or respectable. I was always raised to respect all people, of all jobs, because we need all types of people to make our world function. Yet unfortunately, much of our society does not share my same view and looks down on much of our working class. It is really unfortunate. That does not seem to be the case as much here since the general aim is satisfied with average.

You also decide which career path you will take at about 13 years of age. In ways I think this is good because you are not bothered with courses that you will never need, rather you continue on in an academic direction related to your career. Yet at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that most kids actually know what they want so young. So many of my friends have switched their majors halfway through college, which is shocking for most people here to hear.

Vacations/Holidays! Another very interesting difference! It seems as though most Europeans I’ve met from several countries take what we consider LONG holidays, as in 21 days straight, at a time. Heading off to Greece or Italy for 3 weeks is very common for a holiday! Allison and I are not familiar with taking family vacations for more than a week at most, because our parents would never think of leaving their jobs for longer. Many Americans do have more vacation time than that, but we take it in different chunks I suppose, breaking it up. I also explained that many will work through their holiday and get paid time and a half or save their days in case of an emergency or to be paid for them later in retirement.

In the theme of work, Rene pointed out something very interesting. They have too many jobs, not enough people here in the Netherlands. So they are cutting back weekly hours to 36-38 hrs/wk to accommodate more people. Not nearly the case in the U.S. as we have far too many people, not nearly enough jobs.

Food! I have recently discovered something interesting trends while at our last dinner at Rene’s. First, they do not eat doughnuts for breakfast, ever! Allison and I were so confused, we asked, well when do you eat them? As a dessert of course… apparently. We explained that doughnuts are a fairly common to-go breakfast food, amongst many others. It all started when we brought a pie for dessert and even that was ‘a bit much.’ A typical dessert is maybe some of their delicious yogurt with fruit and granola. So we again asked, well when do you eat pie then? Later, with coffee or at celebrations. We laughed and they got a bit of our culture as well by having pie as dessert.

We also got to talking about another Dutch tradition, which is eating a herring whole, to the tail. My face was shocked and horrified when they first were explaining this, because they assumed I knew that the fish had been cleaned out and that the head was chopped off. I imagined big eyes staring you down and was still disturbed that they ate it raw, I commented that it sounded like feeding the penguins I work with at Sea World, seeing as though that is just how they eat it. Rene even pulled out some pickled herring, his favorite evening snack. No thanks, especially when I have the particular food beyond associated with the animals I work with.

Those are the main recent differences that come to mind at the moment. I have a few must have tips for the handbook! For the Netherlands, bring a rain coat, it’s a must must must have! It has rained all day, for a majority of the days we’ve been here. With that, an umbrella is also great to have! You never really know what to expect with the weather! While it has been blistering hot in the states, we’ve barely been about to reach 60 here! So bring many variations in clothes, maybe a few more warmer things than you would think you will need for summer!

I cannot believe I only have a few days left here. I am finishing up working in the Aquaculture hatchery and then I am off to Interlaken, Switzerland to experience some extreme sports! I am quite excited! Beware girls, the culture shock of the U.S. has been harder for me each time I return from studying abroad, its amazing to realize how much a different culture can impact you.

Jess-Viborg

So yesterday finished up my last week of work here! I cannot believe it is over. I was actually sad to leave yesterday. I took a cake to share with everyone at the 9am coffee hour and it was really nice to see everyone one last time.

I am really going to miss Foulum and all of the nice people that work there. It is a really unique place and I hope that I am lucky enough to be able to own or work in a practice someday that has the same warm feeling and good will that can be found at Foulum.

Yesterday we said our final good byes and left work around 11am to go to Landsskuet with Winnie. Landsskuet is the National Show for all of Denmark. All of the best livestock from around the country go there to compete. It is similar to our state fairs I would say.

I had a great time taking pictures of all of the different breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, and even rabbits. A lot of the breeds there were exactly the same as the breeds at home, however I found that the confirmation, frame size, and muscling on the beef cattle differed quite greatly from the beef cattle in the U.S.

After we went to Landsskuet, Winnie invited us to have dinner with she and her husband and brother at her home in Oby! It was wonderful! I think both Alanna and I had a great time with Winnie and it was the perfect ending to a perfect working trip while here!

We are going to CPH this Monday until Thursday. It should be great time as well!! I cannot wait to see the Little Mermaid and maybe even the royal jewels as well. Everyone has said that Copenhagen is a wonderful city and that we will surely like it there, but it is very different than Jutland.

I am still not quite ready to go home yet, but I am sure once I have seen Copenhagen I will feel better about going home. We may go to the west coast after we get home next week, but that is all dependent on the inconsistant Denmark weather. It has been raining here everyday at least a little bit for the past three weeks! The sun refuses to come out and shine. So we do not really want to go to the west coast and the beaches if it is just going to be raining.

I will be sure to write again just before leaving and right after returning home to relay what jumps out and grabs my attention when experience the American culture shock!

Viborg Week 7 Alanna

It has finally hit me that this is the last week of work. After taking numerous blood samples, pipetting hoards of plasma, analyzing and preparing data, and completing a paper I finally have the time to truly explore all the facilities that Foulum has to offer.

Last week I went out to the swine research facility with Birthe, a veterinarian whom I have been working with, to watch an experiment pertaining to piglets and their response to E. coli. This was a great experience for me because it allowed me to see first hand what a research veterinarian does and how they juggle the responsibilities of research.

Every Wednesday Birthe, Jens (a scientist involved with milk studies), Lene (a lab technician), and myself go out to the cattle research center to take blood samples and liver biopsies. It wasn't until last week that I found out Birthe was a veterinarian. The only way I found out was because I noticed that Birthe was the only one doing the liver biopsies. After a few weeks had past I asked her if you needed a special certification to handle biopsies and she told me that usually the veterinarians take it even though many senior scientist have the skills necessary to do it. I only bring this story up because I think there is certainly a level of modesty here compared to the U.S.

On a side note, that is the one thing that I find incredibly interesting. It seems that people in Denmark are not so interested in their titles. Everyone responds and introduces themselves using their first name only. No Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Dr. is ever used. There were several instances in which I did not know how to address my colleagues and I found that odd. It's nice that no one is so caught up in themselves here that they loose sight of their overall purpose.

Today I went to the mink farm with Birthe. We looked through the mink that had died in the past few days. She had to make a proper diagnosis for each mink's death. The dissection is really exciting because you never know what you are going to find inside. Most of the minks that we saw today had died from an enlarged cyst. Many of them had enlarged organs, discolorations, and/or some kind of blockage in their system. During the months of May, June, and July mink mortality is very high because the mother often dies of either complications before, during, or after, they give birth to their young, which takes place in May.

Aside from my happenings at Foulum hopefully after next week I will be able to talk more about our travels. Due to weather restrictions and lack of time we've only made a few day trips to cities around Denmark that have been mentioned earlier in our blogs.

Wageningen Week 7 Sam

I cannot believe my time here in Wageningen has gone by so quickly and that the end is so near. We finished up the Animal Behavior and Environment course last week with our 10 minute presentations of the reports of our data that we analyzed and wrote in the span on 3 days beforehand. The presentations went really well, it was very interesting to see how the research turned out for each group in our class. Our presentation was voted to be one of the best by the students, we were quite pleased that they enjoyed it. The experience overall was very positive, I believe I learned a lot, not only in terms of course material but also about group work, research analysis methods as well as all about several international students.

There were several specific instances in the course that I found really interesting. For example, the day after we finished our observations, we were sitting in lecture to learn about the expectations of our reports. After our professor, Paul Koene, explained that the report was expected to be at least 10 pages in length, without the references or appendices, a girl raised her hand and said, “10 pages in 3 days, that’s impossible, I cannot do that.” Allison and I just kind of looked at each other in awe and in shock. Neither of us could ever imagine speaking out in that way to a professor. We think of it in terms of if a professor says jump, you jump, never do you question something like that. The professor answered in a very well mannered way, explaining that we did indeed have several pages complete already from all of the pre-observation reports we completed and that much of this space includes graphs and charts. It really wasn’t that much to expect, even for us. We mentioned this Rene later in the week and he felt it was something worthwhile and interesting to mention here.

Another point concerns plagiarism. I believe we mentioned before about how the topic was fairly lightly touched on at the beginning of the course, yet I still could not believe people really would do that. Yet the professor did mention that there were a few groups he needed to speak with about it before handing in our reports. We also noticed that even in the presentations we gave earlier in the course, there was only 1 other group that cited all of their information in the presentation. Again, very surprising for us. This topic came up once more when we were helping edit a Polish friend of ours thesis paper, mainly for grammar and word choice at times. I was discussing it with her, not that she had at it, yet she said it really does not matter at all in Poland. I found this all strange since the topic has been beyond enforced to me since I learned to write.

Allison did mention that this course was very different from a typical course here at Wageningen, which is very true from speaking with other students. Yet I believe it is really important that these opportunities are offered. I communicated further with the professor after we finished the course about what the purpose of our particular program is. He was curious if it was to help input a similar course at UIUC. I explained that we do not have the resource of a zoo within 2 hours of campus, but that I hope the ideals of the course structure are influential on professors approaches to their courses. I know this past Spring we (students from ANSC 199, the course where you reflect on your abroad experience) completed an international study campus wide teaching retreat where we were able to speak with professors as well as other influences from campus about our experiences. I know this helped many people that attended and also helped complete our goal of spreading and expanding international experience.

I have I think evidently found how valuable studying abroad can be, which is why it has become a slight addiction that I enjoy so much. I am very pleased to see that the other students are also gaining so much from this experience. I have never known someone to come back from studying abroad and have a negative overall experience. Sure you will face challenges as you are immersed in a different culture, yet I believe we all emerge as different and better people at that.

There were several objectives and aims that I have interpreted for the program. They include; experiencing a different educational system, learning from the differences and differentiating them from our own system, meeting international students and learning about their experiences as well as learning some new material. The intent of completing the objectives and aims listed above fall in sync with the ultimate goal and hope to further internationalize our own Animal Sciences program. Through taking the course and helping with research, we have all been able to easily recognize how beneficial applied learning can be. We have also noticed there is much more group work with a cooperative effort, which helped Allison and I not only learn the material more thoroughly, but much more about ourselves. We do not do much group work at all in most of our courses, therefore we honestly found it very difficult in the beginning to collaborate our ideas. Ultimately, I do not feel my experience here could have been more complete in filling those aims and goals, along with so much more.

Aside from the Netherlands, we did take a lovely trip to Berlin, which I really enjoyed. I feel Allison really accurately described how we both felt about the city, so much history within such a big city. It was nothing like any city I have ever visited and the tours we went on gave us the opportunity to really meet and spend the day with so many different people. The trip also really made me think, as much as we know it all happened, it really hits you that it was not that long ago at all, when you see so many recent pictures. You also constantly think how terrible it all was, how could people ever actually go along with that happening? Yet it made me realize, we are doing nearly the exact same thing, only its happening in Darfur. Yes, in a smaller scale than the Holocaust, but many similarities exist. The sad part is when it is not thrown right in our faces, we fail to realize how big the problem is or was. It’s just hard to process, that no matter how much you feel you know or try to do, there’s always more to be done, more people that need to be helped. I think those were some of the most important realizations I grasped from the weekend.

Wageningen Allison Day 41-48

It has been too long since I last posted, but we have been very busy since the beginning of last week.

After many hours in the computer labs, we were able to complete our analysis work for the course. I was pleased with the results we extracted from our data. It showed that the infant we were monitoring was spending more than half the time with its mother. Also, even after only 5 days of observation, I really felt that we were able to assess the situation and make positive recommendations for the zoo.

On Wednesday, we presented our work to the class as well as to the professors and zoo staff. Our presentation was ten minutes long, and in that time we had to squeeze in everything we discovered about our macaques as well as all the analysis from our data. We both know we speak too fast, so toning it down was difficult. People seemed to like our presentation, however, because they voted us in the top three. We didn't want that to happen though because we know this class was more important to other people. We did make some friends in the class, and it was nice to be able to hear their perspective on things. I realize that the class we took was not stereotypical of classes here, but I am glad we did it.

This weekend, we decided to go to Berlin. I am so glad we did because the trip was very spur of the moment. Berlin was absolutely phenomenal. The city is so rich with history, and we met amazing people from all over the world. My mother was worried about me traveling to Germany after the G8 riots, but honestly, I can say that I felt safer there than I do in New York or Chicago sometimes.

What I thought was most interesting about Berlin is that it is such a mixture of old and new. Because of all the bombings and such, Berlin has been rebuilt over and over again. Even the buildings that look old most of the time have been rebuilt.

We took several walking tours put on by the New Berlin Tours company. They really do a wonderful job, and I don't feel as if we would have gotten as much out of what we did if we had just walked around by ourselves all the time. We took their tour into a nearby town to visit the concentration camp there. It was really incredible the difference it makes actually seeing it. You read about it in text books, but standing in the middle of it can not be replaced. Sure, it wasn't the happiest tour, but I am very glad we took the time out to do that.

We met great people traveling Europe as well. Most of those individuals were very free thinkers, so it didn't matter to them that we were American. We only had a couple cases where we felt Anti-Americanism, but after talking with those people for awhile, I feel that they also realized that people are people. We may not have changed their opinions of America, but maybe they have a better understanding from our side.

Overall, I would say that Berlin is one of the most interesting cities I have ever visited. I would love to go back someday.

This week, Sam and I are back in the labs. I start tomorrow helping with assays. Only a week and a half until we are done with the program. It has really been a worthwhile experience, and I have noticed changes in myself that I know may not have come otherwise.

Jess-Viborg

This Monday starts my last week of work at Foulum. Time has really flown by here! I feel like I am just getting into the usual momentum of work, if there is such a thing, and I think it will be very hard for me to leave it all behind. I am still very interested in what the analyzers will tell us about the diets that the pigs were on and how that information can help people too. Peter has promised to keep me informed, so that makes me feel a little bit better!

I must admit that before I came here I knew that I just wanted to work with animals. I was perfectly happy with the idea that I would do something with some species of animal each day at Foulum and that would be sufficient. But, I am really happy that Peter and everyone else here has taken the time and made a huge effort to include me in every single aspect of their project. And most importantly, they have made the effort to allow me to choose what role I would like to play in their work. I think that takes a lot of trust and true dedication to science on their part.

I will surely miss catching the bus each morning and seeing the same faces saying, "Gut morn" regardless of the weather, the time, or their general mood!! Denmark is a wonderful place that I will be sure to visit again!

This week I will be working as usually, but on Wednesday Peter will be treating me to a special 4th of July! He is planning on taking me to his farm and meeting his family to celebrate the 4th of July with a strong Danish influence! I do not know exactly what he has planned for the day, but it will surely be memorable!

Another event that I am looking forward to this week is attending the National Show here in Denmark. Helle, from work, has very generously offered to include me with her family for a trip to what would be our version of a state fair! She showed me a show bill or sort of itinerary for the day which includes horse shows, rabbit races, tractors, cattle, and anything else having to do with agriculture in Denmark. I am really excited to see how this may compare to our county or state fairs in the U.S. and to just get back to seeing people being proud of their agricultural background!

Next Monday I plan to travel to Copenhagen for about three days. I have a good friend who lives in Malmo, Sweden who plans to meet me in Copenhagen and show me around. I may stay with her in Malmo after visiting Copenhagen, but at this point that is all dependent on her work schedule. Some things are always universal among college students! She said we can visit the beach and see the Little Mermaid!! I can't wait!

I plan to return to Viborg on or before Monday before we leave to fly home Thursday.
I don't know that I will be able to see Peter or Helle after this week. I think they are both taking holiday, so this week will really be strange because I will be thinking I won't be seeing either of them for a long time. Winnie plans on driving us to the airport when we leave so I am grateful that I will get to see her one more time before jumping on the big, white, bird.

It is amazing to me that this trip is already coming to a close. I have to say that one of the most important lessons I have learned is to be true to yourself even if others around you are changing. I know that I have changed while I have been here, but I know that it has only been for the better. I feel much more confident in my basic daily activities and I really know now that friendship and family are truly important to me no matter what else is going on in my life.

Of course I have learned invaluable lessons about science. I would say that I have learned more about how science works as whole than minute scientific details though. I was always under the impression that I loved science because there is always a right and wrong answer to everything! But I have learned that I could not have been more wrong. I still love science, but I have become so much more aware of the variables that are still present in science no matter how much you calculate, aniticipate, and repeat your experiments.

I think this has been a wonderful trip and I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to take part in such an amazing life ride. I will be sure to write again before I leave, but I am sure that my overall feelings will not change a bit!

Viborg Week 6 Alanna

This has been a very fulfilling week academically and socially. This past weekend Jess and I attended Viborg's summer solstice festival. The Danes celebrate the longest day of the year by lighting a witch on fire. I thought that was the funniest thing when I first heard about it. Every year a witch made out of cloth and wood is put on a raft and sent into the middle of north lake in Viborg. The raft is then lit on fire and the people of the town celebrate. A long march through town opens the celebration and concerts and the witch burning end the celebration. This event comes from a pagan tradition that was celebrated hundreds of years ago. It has modified itself and has turned into a celebration that hundreds of people partake in. It's like Halloween in the middle of summer.

Work has been challenging this week. I am in the final stages of writing my research paper and gathering my thoughts for the final two weeks to come. It seems that one can never be truly satisfied with their own writing. After weeks of working on and editing my paper I still have much to revise. Although this process is very grueling I have learned a few things. This paper has given me the chance to learn how to write like a scientist. After years of writing essays and papers for my humanity classes I found it very hard to transition over to scientific writing. According to Jens writing a research paper is like a "march." You have to write in precise steps which are to the point and methodical. I'm still struggling to write like a scientist and I would love to learn how to integrate the science mentality with the smoothness of humanity writing. Some scientists have done it but it's an art. Hopefully I can bring back the skills of scientific writing back to school with me.

As the weeks come closer to an end Jess and I have been anticipating our travels to Copenhagen. After hearing such wonderful things about the capital I am excited to see what it has to offer. Hopefully we won't run into any troubles purchasing tickets and getting around. If all our plans come through I hope to share what we've seen when we come back!

Wageningen Week 6 Sam

Time here in Wageningen is flying by, as we are already almost finished with our course that I feel like we just began. I guess 4 weeks really isn't long for a course at all, yet putting in 40 hours/week is a lot of time. Allison's blog generally reflects most news I would've covered in a general update about Wageningen, not much else has been new.

I did however, find Jess's blog about borders, visas and discussing the U.S. situation with several people very interesting. In response, I cannot say I was nearly as surprised about what she found out. It is truly unfortunate that our borders are becoming so tight, however it is happening all over the world. For instance, I know getting 2-week Visas for our study tour in Brasil this past Spring is becoming more and more difficult. People are often surprised when they hear this, yet as we make it more difficult for people to enter our country, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to enter theirs. I have also been fortunate to speak with many people around the world so far that have trouble traveling, namely to the States, but to other countries as well.

Through my time here, I have to say that discussing politics has been one of my most enjoyable experiences. In the aquaculture hatchery I worked mainly with PhD and post doc students, therefore I was much younger than everybody there. Also, being an American, they had several pre-conceived notions about how much I knew or whether I even cared. Yet each day at lunch or well we were working, I have had extensive conversations with people from all around the world, for example, Zambia, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, etc. about our current politics. After I few days I had successfully proved myself to many of the men I work with in this discussion and we were from that point able to talk freely about politics. I understand why many people have these notions about people from the U.S., because unfortunately the apathy of a good percentage of our country gives us the reputation. However, I know they were pleasantly surprised and impressed to find such a 'young' person so aware of the rest of the world and their politics as well.

I find it very sad that I have been able to have more extensive discussions here about the next election, the debates, the issues, the war, etc. than I can find when chatting with friends from home. It's odd to find that it seems like everyone from all around is so interested in what is going to happen with our government, yet many people actually involved in voting for these changes seem hardly phased. That says a lot about our country and mainly, our generation. I really hope to see my generation step up from the apathy and begin to care, just as the rest of the world does.

Wageningen Day 37-40 Allison

We have been working on analyzing our data gathered from our observations at the zoo. It has been a bit troublesome for us because we seem to be behind everyone in this area. It seems as though we are expected to know quite a lot about this already, but unfortunately we have never had a class on it. The professors actually seem to be a little annoyed when you ask for extra help. I think we will be fine though.

Our observations went fine until the last day, when a dominant female took the infant for nearly the entire day, so we are hoping this will not become habitual. It would be nice if we could stop by and check on the apes before we leave, but I doubt the zoo will let us do that, and it is not worth 17 euros to us just to pop in.

We had a seminar on Friday at a company called Noldus where they make and distribute technologies used to enhance behavior studies. It was interesting to see what products are being developed, and after trying to use pencil and paper for everything, I can see how digitalizing things would make recording easier. Sam said that she uses a computer always when she does her behavior work at Shedd.

We had some unfortunate excitement this week in town. One of the student dorms was struck by lightening and caught fire because the gas tanks on the roof exploded. They made an announcement in our class about it, and one poor girl told us she lived near the top floor and left to go see if everything was okay. I can tell my family is paying attention to any news from here though, because not half a day later I was getting messages from them asking if I was okay. The explosion was pretty big, and we could see black smoke from across town, but when we passed it yesterday, there didn't seem to be that much damage to the building, so that is a good sign. Here is a link to a picture someone took of it.

http://rijnsteeg.bit.nl/hoevestein/img_1946.jpg

Yesterday we made a day trip to a national park in the area called De Hoge Veluwe. I thought it was wonderful. They have a lot of land, including grasslands, forests, and sand dunes. Also they have several wildlife preserves and a phenomenal art museum and sculpture garden. It would have been a bit nicer if the rain had held off, but other than that, I would highly recommend this park. They even have bicycles for everyone that you just take whereever you want and then leave for someone else to use when you get to your destination.

Today I will be working on some class work so that we don't have to worry about it in the next couple days. We already present our final reports on Wednesday. This trip is really flying by for me.

Jess-Viborg

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to travel to some local farms with a Veterinarian from Orum. Torben, graduated from the Danish vet school located in Copenhagen about ten years ago. Since then he has been a veterarian at an ever growing clinic along with two other doctors.

I was able to make the contact with Torben through Peter and Helle. They were both nice enough to offer to help me on my task to finding some veterinary work before I leave here. I was very curious to learn how vet med compares between the two countries.

To my suprise veterinary medicine here is a lot different that veterinary medicine at home...and almost exactly the same at the same time. What I learned yesterday is that here in Denmark all forms of antibiotic and medical treatment on any animal are only jobs for veterinarians. For example, in the United States if a beef producer sees that he has a cow that is starting to have a small mastitis problem, he can strip her udder really good, clean her up, give her a shot of Penicillin and be on his way. That would not happen in Denmark! Everything here is regulated. No antibiotics can be purchased by a farmer at a Farm and Home or Big R store. A veterinarian has to supply, and in some cases, actually inject the antibiotics.

Torben showed me the paper work that is necessary every single time he visits a farm. He has to write down each cow's given number (this number has to be in every cow's ear, or else the farmer is breaking the law), he has to write down what he did the for the cow, what he gave her, how much he gave her, the date, time, his clinic information, the farmer's information, what he left the farmer to continue treating the cow, how long the cow can receive that medicine, how much she can be given each day, when her milk can be sold again, and when she can go to slaughter. And, on top of all of that, at the bottom of each of the tickets with all of this information, there are stickers with numbers on them that match up to the ticket number. Any medication that is left at the farm must have one of these stickers on it with the number that matches up to the receipt! Then, all of the information must be kept on file for a minimum of five years by both the veterinarian and the producer. The veterinarian is then responsible for reporting all of the information from each farm into a national database so that the government always has a running record of what is going on at each farm!!

Beyond these tasks, veterinary medicine here is exactly the same as home. Here though there area lot more dairy farms to visit than beef farms!

Jess-Viborg

Work is still going great here! We drew blood from three pigs today, which made the day fly goodbye! At some times during the day we have only fifteen minutes in between times for drawing blood. This may seem like a lot, but when you have to measure glucose, hematocrit, spin down the blood in a centrifuge and pipette plasma into appropriate tubes for analysis, fifteen minutes can seem like two!

I am beginning to learn more and more about the scientific community here and in the United States from the people here and I will have to admit that it is something that I could not rule out as a potential life long career. I do not know that I could give up vet school for a research job, but I might be able to combine the two and find a happy medium. After vet school is completed of course!

We are planning to travel to Copenhagen and Germany during out last week here! I cannot believe that we only have two more weeks of work left! Time has really gone fast as Alanna said. But, before we take off to another big city, I am checking out the world news...just so that I am aware.

I watched a video on MSNBC that was about Iraqis fleeing their country to seek asylum in Sweden. I found this very interesting because the video explained that the country of Sweden has always opened its door to refugees and tried to help them. Sweden offers a place to stay, a daily stipend, and language classes while families get their feet under them again. I think that is wonderful, but I am feeling a little bit unsure about where the future of the world as we know it is going.

The next article that I saw under the title for Iraqis fleeing to Sweden was an article about how hard it is to get into the United States. I found this very contradictory. I was always under the impression that the United States was the free land that welcomed people of all races. But, now all of the sudden we have closed our doors to those who we are inflicting problems on.

The story about Iraqi refugees featured a family who had to leave their country because their son and father were working for the United States military as construction workers. The family received threats of beheading because of their association with the United States.

Last Friday when we traveled to Skagen, we met a man who is studying at Foulum who is from Iran. The tour group was walking to the beautiful northern tip of Jutland on a gorgeous, white beach, when this man came over to me and introduced himself. Of course I introduced myself and asked him where he is from. He jovially replied, "Iran, the country that is giving ‘The Bush’ all of the problems." Immediately I felt terrible. I know the war is a very heated topic, but if you just step back and think about what it must be doing to all of the innocent people who had generations of happy, healthy, wonderful families that were established there, it is a terrible thing. I have always struggled with the concept of war, but now I have a face to place with the concept.

The man told me later in the day that he originally wished to complete his PhD in the Food Science Department at the University of Illinois, but he was not granted a Visa in order to do so because he was from Iran. Once again, I did not know what to say to this man. How do I explain to him the raw feelings in the U.S. about the Middle East? How do I tell him that some people in the U.S. fear the people who are trying to flee his country for their own safety, when my country is the one disrupting it?

Until this evening when I really started thinking about this issue, I always took the stand point that the United States is denying people Visas in order to protect us. I understand that there are very dangerous people who would like to cause more pain and suffering in the United States, but I wish that there was a better way to decide who is allowed to come to the U.S. and who is not!

I am glad that I came here if only so that I could make this realization. I am very proud of my country and my friends and family who have served and are still serving in the military, but I am beginning to think more as a neutral person who does not really belong to one country or another...and it is really making me think.

I guess this is just some "food for thought" but I know that I will not forget the man from Iran, or the family from Iraq.

Viborg Week 5 Alanna

I can't believe we have been here for a month already. It seems like the more work you have the faster the time flies. After a long week of analyzing and preparing data for our project I can finally sit down and look at it all. In all honesty, this week has been one of the most stressful weeks here. I had to pick up lab skills quickly and prepare myself for sorting out all the data I gathered.

One of the things that is very frustrating about this research is the program SAS. SAS is a statistical program that allows you to enter in data and create graphs and sets using a series of commands. This program uses similar programing styles to that of DOS. I wish I had learned this program before coming here because I realized it's an essential program in our project. When I told Jens I had never used SAS before he looked shocked. Gladly I knew what the program was and its purpose from working with graduate students at school. It takes years to master this program so you must realize how I felt just learning the basics. We have 14 different parameters that we tested on 72 different dairy cows. That amounts to alot of data and alot of time spent graphing results.

Jens and I recently attended a meeting with one of the statisticians here at Foulum to see if we could improve our data and back up our research. I must say, that was one of the hardest meetings to sit through. Although I understood the basics such as normal curves, t-testing, variables, and standard deviations, I could not grasp the concepts of more complex topics. I think this is normal seeing as that I haven't had too much statistics, but it is a bit discouraging. Although all these things have been tough to over come, everyone here has been really great at teaching me the basics.

The one thing that stands out this week for me is realizing science is never as straight forward as one might think. You have to consider all the variables before starting and ending your experiment. When we first started analyzing blood samples I thought it was pretty straight forward. Pipette the plasma, put it in ADVIA (the analyzer), graph it, and there you go...results. Oh no, that's not how it works. There is the "plasma matrix" (all the stuff in the plasma that can effect the sample), the different feeds, time, date, temperature and all sorts of other variables that make it difficult to just read a graph and analyze it. Standard curves have to be placed on all samples in order to ensure its accuracy. I am learning so much about biological statistics and it seems to be making sense. Let's hope I can keep up with the world of biochemistry and statistics as the weeks comes to an end.

Wageningen Day 30-36 Allison

So, we have been here over a month now, and I am a little sad to see it go by so fast. We just finished our observations of the apes today. We have really been having up and down weather, but luckily it has been fairly nice the last two days.

Our infant survived, and is back under the close watch of the zookeepers. We were very pleased with what we were seeing, up until today. The mother had been keeping the baby with her most of the time, which allowed the baby to get enough to eat and be able to sleep some. However, today a higher ranking female in the troop decided that she wanted the baby, and kept her for nearly the whole day. When we were finishing up, we were relieved to see the mom with the baby until the same female tried to take her back again. We are now worried that this may become a problem because the mother feels that she cannot take the baby back because she is lower in rank.

It was amazing to be able to watch the baby grow up for even just a short time because she developed so much. She has started trying to imitate the adults in eating and communicating, and she has been roaming around and exploring more on her own. We even saw her ride on a male's back today. They are so much like humans sometimes, and it we really got to know each personality. We have even been concerned lately with the health of a couple animals because they both had unusual injuries. I think that we have almost been a help to the keepers, notifying them when there is a problem. It seems that this zoo has a very "let them be" attitude though, and a lot of the care is just monitoring. I thought it odd that they did not know the pregnancy status of this particularly fat monkey, but they just explained to me that it would be stressful to the animals to be handled.

I think we could recognize the animals as well as the zookeepers can. I will miss them now that we have gotten to know them, and I will be curious about the fate of the infant for a long time.

We begin analyzing our data starting tomorrow and then we will go back into the labs again after the class is over. I enjoyed that we are able to see so many different things while we are here, and I think it will allow for a good perspective at the end in 199.

Other than that, we have been having fun chatting with our classmates, posing for our professors camera (they make a DVD at the end for the whole class), and relaxing with our neighbors. This is a quiet little town, but I feel like we have been having a good time with it.

Jess-Viborg-Week 5

Today was an interesting day at work, but not because there was a lot to do. I had a good day to sit back and reflect on the last few weeks here and some of the conversations that I have been able to share with many different people.

Sometime last week I had a conversion with Peter about the work force here in Denmark. He informed me that the unemployment rate in Denmark is extremely high and that many people simply do not want to work. This same subject was brought to my attention again only a few days later when I spoke to a dairy farmer.

From what I understand, Polish people are willing to move to Denmark and seek employment doing jobs that the Danish people would rather not do. Polish people are supposed to be paid the same amount of money as the Danish people, but that is not always the case.

I find this very interesting because it seems to me that it almost mirrors what is happening in the United States. Many Hispanic people move to the United States and do jobs that Americans choose not to do. For example, jobs working with livestock are often filled by those who are not from the United States. The same is true in Denmark. The people who are uprooting their families and moving to Denmark or the United States are taking on jobs that have to do with agriculture.

So my question is, why do I hear from farmers, both in the U.S. and Denmark, that they have the greatest jobs in the world...but nobody wants to work for them? Is it the way society views farmers? Is it the way farm work is portrayed? Or are farmers just so cheap (or rather so poor) that they cannot offer salaries, vacation time, health insurance, and other benefits that maybe another employer can?

I want to know how people view farm work. I know that it is extremely hard work, you never have a week or even sometimes a day to take off. I know that the work is often dirty, very dangerous, and time consuming. But, I know that I have loved growing up on a farm. My parents love what they do and the farmers that I have spoken to here also love what they do.

I am wondering if the idea that farming is the greatest job in the world is simply because it is "in the eye of the beholder". If someone had asked me as a freshman or sophomore in high school if I loved living on a farm, I would have laughed at them and asked for them to tell me a specific task on the farm. I would then answer accordingly. There are really good days and really, really, bad days, but as a whole I think that farming is one of the greatest professions in the world. So, in that case, I get back to my original question as to why no one wants to work on a farm?

I think this is a question that could come back to haunt our country as well as other countries around the world, because if there are no farmers to make the world food, there will be no food in the world.

Wageningen Week 5 Sam

Things here in Wageningen have been going very well. After finishing with the second week of the Animal Behaviour and Environment course, I have discovered a lot over the two week span. We presented the research material that we had been preparing over a week period of time in front of the class and then there was a short discussion immediately following. I really tried to speak slowly through my presentation, however it still was not slow enough, so that is something I will need to work harder on for the next time around with our final presentation. The critique mainly came from the professor and teacher of the course, concerning topics that we had been unable to find exact research on at that point. After a week of research, we learned that there was an infant Barbary macaque that the zoo requested we specifically observe. Therefore, we unfortunately discovered there was not much background research information available on the young concerning this exact species of monkey. Yet, in meetings the following day with our group (which consists of about 5 other pairs of students), our supervisor, the teacher and professor, we talked through any misunderstandings that arose the day before within our presentation. After only receiving positive feedback to this point, we finally received critique on this Wednesday, which is what we had been looking for, yet not to come the day before we began observing. We worked with the professor and teacher separately, only to discover they each had suggestions of different sampling methods, therefore we ultimately attempted to compromise between the two. We made everything work and it was one of the first days that we had to stay a bit longer than we usually have needed to, to make appropriate changes.

An advantage that we have noticed we have over the other students in the class, is that English is our first language, we think in English, we speak it, we write it. We have found that many students need much more time to write out the reports and presentations, as they have told us they sit there and talk about how to write it correctly in English. They speak much slower and use simple language, understandably so. We discovered exactly what they meant when we had to complete peer reviews of their background research introductions. The English in the paper I was reviewing was very poor and Allison and I barely knew where to begin, because we were unsure of how far we were supposed to critique. We were told to watch for sentence structure, not just content and becoming so brain washed and trained over the years caused this review to be much harder for us than intended.

However, our observations at the zoo have been great! We finally met the zoo keeper for our monkeys on Thursday morning before we began observing and she helped us to identify almost all 10 monkeys of the troop. We can finally pair names with key features and people probably think that we are crazy as they walk by and hear us speaking to the monkeys using their names. We are primarily interested in the infant who was born on May 16 and who she (we think it's a girl, as does the zoo) spends the most time with. So far we have found that there are 2 older males in the troop that spend a decent amount of time with her, her young mother spends the most and then there was quite a bit of drama in the troop Thursday when the youngest, very interested female of the troop stole the infant for over an hour. This was very nerve racking for us because she is very inexperienced, she has never had a young of her own and she was running around the habitat carrying our screaming subject by the neck. This went on for the longest time, zoo keepers kept coming by debating whether to get their manager, however there was not much to be done, as the zoo barely ever handles these monkeys. The head keeper came by later after the mom had her baby back finally and to our surprise we learned that this very female, named Kim, was the monkey who killed the infant that was born earlier this year, because she took it from the mother for too long. So now, you can only imagine how nervous we get any time Kim gets near our baby, as we feel the pressure is slightly resting on our shoulders for this infant to survive at least while it's under our watch. The funny part about it all however, is that from the start, Kim was our favorite monkey. She is the most energetic monkey in the troop because she is so young and she is definitely an instigator. Therefore, she's absolutely hilarious to watch, except when she goes after our baby. She is always near the mom and baby, or male + baby, trying to help groom or cuddle, which we thought was beyond adorable until she made her get-away when one of the males let the baby wander within a foot of him during their lunch. Friday's observation was much calmer, we were more familiar with the personality of each monkey and Kim fortunately did not get her little hands on the baby. We will observe at the zoo for 3 more days and then come back and analyze all of the data we have collected. Our sampling methods mainly focus on the specific behaviors of the infant, recording which adult she is with during each sample we take. We take proximity samples to see who is near her the most and then finally, a time budget scan of the entire troop throughout the day so we can ultimately give the zoo an idea of how they spend their time each day.

It has been a pleasure to observe at Ouwehand Zoo, the staff is great and I have really enjoyed watching these monkeys. I am excited for 3 more days with them and I have a feeling I will miss it as the end is approaching so quickly. Other than class work, we relxed in Wageningen for the weekend, gave our wallets a break and I enjoyed the town market on Saturday. However, we finally booked our trip to Berlin which I am quite excited for! I will likely post more pictures on photobucket of our darling baby and the other monkeys later on this evening. For now, I hope all is well with everyone back in the states and whoever is traveling anywhere and everywhere! We are jealous of the hot weather we keep hearing about, it has been overcast with bouts of rain for most of this week and we are missing 'summer weather.' However, I know I will regret saying that if it does get warm eventually with the lack of air conditioning! So far, so good!

Jess-Viborg-Day 23

I was lucky enough to be able to take time off work at Foulum and travel to two working dairy farms in Northern Denmark today. One of the girls who is studying at Foulum and living at the Kollegium asked me to help her with a behavior study that she has to complete by July 7th.

We left the Kollegium early Wednesday morning and traveled to a very small dairy farm in Suldrup, Denmark. It is about one and a half hours away from Viborg. There I was introduced to Finn, the farmer who manages the 90 or so cattle that are there. The operation was small and Finn was not very talkative so I was not able to gather very much information from him or his operation.

After a four hour observation of one cow in a special social group that is designed to help cows re-enter the herd after calving, we packed up and took off to move farther north in Denmark.

We went to a farm in Tanum, Denmark. There the farmer was much more social and his operation was very efficient and up to date with modern dairy technologies. The farm was composed of over 200 dairy cattle of all ages. They milk about 185 cows each day and the rest are either babies they have chosen to keep back or dry cows.

Because the cow I was observing was very happy she did not need to interact with the other cows around her and therefore she was very easy to observe. Neils, the farmer and half co-owner of the farm with his father, saw that I was not very busy and he began to discuss differences between the U.S. dairy industry and the industry in Denmark.

A few years ago Neils traveled across the U.S. with a group of dairy farmers from Denmark. They visited multiple dairy farms and were given a very good idea of the range of farming practices in the U.S.

After my time speaking with Neils (it was actually over three hours of speaking and mostly listening to Neils) I found that I had learned a great deal about dairy farming in Denmark. However the great deal that I had learned mostly consisted of what the great similarities are between farmers in the U.S. and their concerns and the farmers here.

Growing up on a farm I was always given ample opportunity to speak to farmers, or rather just listen to farmers about their trials and tribulations. Speaking to Neils made me feel right at home again.

Neils told me about the frustration that is met with speaking to people in Denmark from larger villages and cities. He said that it is very discouraging to listen to their perception of what a farmer does and how he handles his animals. Similar to wha the farmers have told me at home Neils commented saying, "People from the village think we are old farmers out here, wearing bibs, walking our cows to the barn with a piece of hay in our teeth, and doing nothing for the rest of the day." I hate to say it but I have experienced this same perception from non-farm related people from the U.S.

Neils said that ignorance and perceptions such as the one described above are the reasons why it is so hard to be a farmer in Denmark. He said you either have to keep up with the new legislation, even if it means borrowing more money from the bank to adjust your operation to follow legislation, or go out of business completely. He said one of the most disturbing instances in which he has seen consumers react to farmers was when a local news station aired a report that said that dairy farmers, particularly those who raise Jerseys, are shooting their bull calves just as soon as they hit the ground. Neils explained that while this is a common practice it is a necessary one in order to stay in business. He said Jersey producers must do this because it costs too much to raise a Jersey bull calf, or even steer, and lose money on it when you send it to the meat market. So everyone, including the calf, is better off if the animals are euthanized when they are born. He said he knows that it is a very hard issue to people to understand, and even the farmers do not like the practice, but with the way that the market is designed right now, there is no better way to be able to stay in business.

I found this to be very true to the way that consumers and producers in the U.S. view farming practices. For example, here is a joke that I have heard told so many times at farm auctions. "Why do farmers have 4X4 written on the side of their trucks?...so that they remember to work for days in the spring and four days in the fall!" Yes, yes it is a cute joke, but sadly that is how most of the people from non-agriculture backgrounds view the people who put food on their plates every single day.

I think that there has to be more education and awareness between farmers and consumers in both Denmark and the U.S. and I think that it will have to be up to the farmers once again to make this communication possible. I know that Farm Bureau and other agriculture organizations often try to organize educational farm tours, but I do not think that is enough to make people really understand what it means to be a farmer. That is in issue that I predict I will continue to struggle with for the rest of my life.

Jess-Viborg-Day 19

Three problems that I have had since coming to Viborg have been transportation, obtaining money, and communicating with people at home.

When we arrived in Viborg, we were under the impression that we would be traveling to Foulum each day by bicycle. We knew it was a long trip to get there, however we were not aware of the lack of roadside bicycle paths and how the people drive in Denmark. We ventured out the on the first Sunday we were here to see for ourselves how the bike to Foulum would be each day.

Shortly after beginning our trip we learned that the bike paths simply dwindle into shoulders along the road. You simply have to balance yourself down hills, across bridges and up hills again in such a manner that you do no cross the white line on the side of the road. Drivers of vehicles here do assume all responsibility for cyclists if they happen to hit one, but they do not drive as though they will be held responsible to the harm done to a person on a bicycle. I was lucky enough to experience the rush of a car traveling toward me, in the opposite lane, passing a large semi truck and coming so close to may hand on my handle bar that I could feel the wind and the whooosh of the car's rear view mirror!!

After that trip we decided to remedy this problem by spending money on a bus pass. Our parents were happy to hear that we had decided to be lazy Americans and travel by bus each money if only for their sound of mind. Each bus pass that is good for ten trips is 140 Dkk. There is a monthly pass, which I would suggest for people next year to buys as soon as they get here. With the month pass you can travel as much as you want on the bus in that period of time and it is only about 400 Dkk. We decided not to get this pass because by the time we learned of it, it was already going to be less than a month before we left.

We also were lucky enough to be given rides to and from work on occasion by the nice students who live at the Kollegium with us. This helps reduce some of the weekly travel costs. But, students in the future should not rely on this as a cheap source of travel because the students who live here are graduate students. So, a lot of them do not travel to Foulum at 8am every morning and back to Viborg at 4pm every night.

The second difficulty I experience since being here has been obtaining money. When I traveled over here, I had a large sum of cash (which I would not say to do in the future as it is very nerve wrecking to carry that much cash across the globe) and I had a credit card that I thought could be used as a credit card or atm. However, most of the shops in Viborg (basically all of the shops in Viborg) do no accept credit cards from outside of the country. There is a girl here just from Germany and she cannot even use her credit card that is only from one country away!

I knew that if I used my credit card to purchase anything here there would be a three percent additional fee added on to whatever I charged, but I did not know that to take money out of an atm machine using the card, there is the addition three percent interest, then a fee of about $10 to just use the card that one time, and then there is a 24% interest fee tacked on to the end of the monthly bill of whatever you charged while you were in Europe.

This missunderstanding was partially my fault and partially my credit card companies fault because when I contacted them before I left to let them know that I will be in Europe for a certain period of time (just like Dean Bohn suggested) they only spoke of a 3% interest fee for every transaction. So, being the naive traveler I did not think to ask about what it costs to remove money from an atm using the card.

I also checked into simply paying Inge (the woman who owns the Kollegium) my rent by transferring money from my parent's U.S. bank account to her bank account in Denmark. My mother checked with our bank and was told that it would only a $15 fee to send the money to Denmark. Inge said this would be fine to do, but that I would also be charged on the Denmark side at her bank. Inge promised me to check with her bank about this transaction and get back to me. While Inge did get back to me, she really did not provide me wiht any answers. She simply told me that I must pay in cash the remainder of my rent for June and July (I had already paid for May in cash) and that her bank only told her it would be very expensive to transfer money from the U.S. to her bank and they did not even give her a dollar amount!! This was a huge source of stress and frustration for me!

Luckily, Alanna's atm card does not have extraordinary charges to use it outside of the U.S. We are now planning on my parents sending Alanna's parents money to deposit in her bank account and then Alanna and I can withdraw the money we both need from her account from an atm here in Viborg.

The entire money situation here has absolutely been the bane of my existence in Denmark. I feel like I cannot enjoy my trip because I am constantly trying to figure out how much money I need to feed myself and get to work each week and still have enough left over to pay Inge and buy a few things to take home with. I suggest for future travelers that they open a bank account here and transfer money into it before even arriving, so that there is a surplus of money to spend and a lack of headache to spend it. And, that travelers truly understand the cost of spending just one week living here in Viborg. I am keeping all of my receipts from absolutely everything I have purchased here and I will have an exact dollar amount when I return home to offer to future students who would like to study in Denmark.

The last problem that I have run into in Denmark has been communicating with home. We were told prior to coming to the Kollegium that there is internet access. However, we were not informed that the internet access is not wireless, but rather you have to have an internet cable in order to use the internet.

This was stressful the first night we were here because we needed to email home to let our parents know that we have arrived safely. But, because we did not have internet cables here we could not do so. Luckily, one of the girls who lives here was nice enough to loan us a cable. The next day though we had to go into the shopping center in Viborg and send about $10 on a cable to use. We were told that we would be able to possibly use cables from Foulum, but there was a five day period during which we would not be traveling to Foulum and we wanted to be able to talk to home before then.

I also use skype to speak to my family at home. It has been a very reliable source of communication and I would recommend it to anyone who comes here in the future. The telephones here are not a good way of communicating. They rarely work and you cannot dial out to call home. They are basically useless. Nobody here ever uses them.

Beyond these three major difficulties, we have not had any problems in Viborg. I think the key for those who plan to travel and study here next year is that they have an atm with a good exchange rate (you should have this no matter what, even if you do not use one at home), have money to purchase either a monthly bus pass or multiple ten trip bus passes, and to have skype set up and ready to use on your computer when you arrive!

Jess-Viborg-Day 16

I learned today that the consumers here want to know where their food is coming from, just like in the U.S. However, the Danish are going about accomplishing this task in a much different manner than the U.S. Legislation has already been passed here that forces producers of everthing from tomatoes to dairy products to have identification numbers and labels on their animals and the products they produce. For example, all dairy cattle must have a yellow, plastic, tag in each ear that reads the identification number of that animal. If the government travels to a dairy farm (the government only allows the producer a 24 hour heads-up before arriving) and that farmer does not have proper identification on each animal he can be fined more than 2000 Dkk.

I found this to be very different from the U.S. Yes, people in the United States say that they want to know where their consumer goods come from and our Departments of Agriculture (at least in Illinois) want to be able to trace back to the origin of any animal within a 24 hour period. However, at this point there is no legislation forcing a producer to register the animals that he has on his farm with the IL Dept. of Ag. for example.

When I have spoken with consumers and producers here there is a very mixed opinion about how these issues should be handled. The farmers feel like they have no choice but to follow the governments laws or else they will simply have to go out of business. Farmers also believe that consumers can force legislation to pass to law in a very short period of time without any research or scientific evidence to support their reasons for change. This leads to stipulations being put on farmers that are not necessarily in the best interest of the animals, but rather make people "feel" better about what they perceive as better for the animals that are producing goods.

This issue forms quite a tangled web of emotions, fines, and legislation for a producer to follow. I have a hard time trying to wrap my brain around the thought of U.S. producers being regulated as the producers in Denmark are, and I cannot help but to think that there would be even fewer farmers in the U.S. if they were treated as they are in Denmark. I cannot decide whether this is a good approach or not. I will be sure to write more later about what other consumers, producers, and even researchers think about these issues.

From Dr. Hurley

Your posts are great! Keep them coming. Also, keep adding to your photobucket site as appropriate. Both of those approaches to communicating your experiences seem to be working quite well. You will be able to get great value from the blog and images later on.

I leave soon for my next trip. I will get Nancy to send you more prompts for your next reflections.

Also, about the working in teams - looks like I need to see all of you in my Lactation biology course in the Spring. Probably 80% of the work in that course is done by group work. Now that you are experts you can show others in that class how to do it.

Also, this image was from Sitou Park in Taiwan. Dr. White is expanding on broad issues about careers, etc to our ANSC students. Recognize anyone?

Good luck.

Dr. Hurley

To Allison From Alanna

Hey Allison! I read your last post and I just wanted to say that I can completely relate to your problem number 3. I had such a problem riding a bike the first week I was here. The first bike I got was a bit rickety so that didn't help my situation. I too was embarassed about not being able to ride a bike. I fell almost everytime I got on it and trust me...people saw it. I have battle wounds to prove it. There were times during the week that I would go and practice alone so I could get the hang of it. It's nice to know that someone else had the same feelings towards the bike as I did. I'm glad you are enjoying the bike rides now too. I've discovered that once you get the hang of it you really start to enjoy it. :)

Denmark: Pictures From Alanna and Jess

We have finally uploaded some of our many pictures. Sorry about the delay! You will find pictures of surrounding areas and scenery of Viborg, the Kollegium, Foulum, the Danish Cattle Research Centre and the Swine Research Lab on photobucket. Enjoy the pictures...there will be more to come!

Wageningen Day 24-29 Allison

This week Sam and I ate lunch with Dr. Grossman. In our discussions, we talked about the independence that is expected of students here as has been brought up by several of us on this blog. He had also noticed that students we expected to handle many things on their own, where we would get detailed instruction in the U.S. I find that it is an important element of learning that we may be lacking in the U.S. We also discussed working in teams, which seems to be very common here. At first for our class, it was difficult for Sam and I to work together. We each had our own idea of how things should be, and putting that together in one project became difficult. It took some discussion before we found a way to compromise and divide up the work. It is really helpful to learn how to work in a team, and I think this could be a great improvement in the classroom activities at U of I. We are not forced to work in teams often back home, and even assignments where you are asked to work together, I have found that each member does it on his or her own, and then the pair compares answers. Competition, we have noticed, is not as heated here. I think it is a good thing that less focus is put on the individual here. These are just a few new ideas that we have been discussing lately that I wanted to mention.

The new question is: Identify 3 problems that you have had since leaving home. For each, describe in detail how you went about solving those problems or coming to a personal accommodation about the problem (for example, how did you use communication, creativity, persistence, dialog, negotiation, etc to resolve the problem?). Also, how has solving each problem impacted you since that time?

Problem 1: Traveling
We have had a hard time getting from point A to point B without some confusion nearly every time we have traveled. The first day, we got on the wrong train to get to Wageningen, we spent a whole morning trying to find our meeting point with Rene, and we spent one afternoon on the exact opposite side of town looking for a building. To solve this problem, our map did come in handy, but it turned out to lead us astray in one instance. We have found now that the best solution is to always ask someone. At first we were hesitant because we didn't want to look lost, but since we were actually lost, what did it matter. Luckily, people are always happy to help here. On the train here, people were willing to watch for our stop and two gentlemen even offered to walk us to the next platform. Also, we have used determination to find what we need. It isn't helpful to get frustrated or anxious about being lost. In the end, it is best to just keep looking. It may have taken us a long time to find that meeting place, but we did find it. I now am more familiar with what to do and what type of person to ask when this problem arises, and I am glad that we struggled a bit in the beginning because now I feel that we have more resources and knowledge to use in the future.

Problem 2: Meeting people
I have found it very difficult to meet students our own age here. Part of it is because we live with graduate students, and part of it is because we were not taking classes and did not know where to find other bachelors students. I am not trying to say that the people in our hallway or labs haven't been wonderful, because they have been good friends to us and I believe we have both made good contacts here, but it is just nice to be able to socialize with students at your same level. To solve this problem, I have had to get very creative, and I have learned that you find friends in the most unusual places. I was able to sit in on a lab course just a while back, and as I was observing, I slowly began to mingle in with the students and just started asking questions about how courses were run and such, and by the end of the class I had an invitation for dinner. It was really just a matter of opening up a conversation, and people here seem very curious as to why we are here, so doing this isn't hard. We have now been trying to put ourselves in situations where it is easy to start a conversation and have met several new people doing so. Solving this problem has opened up a new gateway into learning about Dutch culture. Before, we were able to observe, but now we are more involved in what is going on here, and I feel that I can understand better now how our cultures differ.

Problem 3: Biking
This has been a problem for me alone. I must admit that I had not been on a bicycle since I was six years old until two weeks before we left. I had never learned to ride a bike, and never thought it would ever be an issue. When I found out that this would be my main form of transportation, I panicked. I had two days of learning before I came, but I was still quite uncomfortable with riding. When we arrived, I thought that maybe I would be able to walk everywhere, and I nearly gave up on the idea that I would use a bike even if it was available, but I soon found out how spread out the campus was. Once we rented bikes, I was embarassed that I was bad at it, and I avoided riding as much as I could. To solve my problem, it was pure persistence. I really needed to forget my fear in order to get any better. I began to take the bike out by myself and ride in the country for an hour at a time. After just a few days of pushing myself to do it, I really started enjoying it. Now I can ride all over town. I have few problems left, sometimes I have trouble starting, but really, I feel pretty good about it. It was all just a matter of forcing myself to do it and ignoring everyone elses reactions.

The class is going well, and we begin observations tomorrow. I posted pictures last week of Wageningen and the physiology work I had been doing. I am sure there will be many more pictures to come after spending the next few days in the zoo.