Wageningen Day 11-14 Allison

So, things have been going well here. I am very lucky to be observing in the labs. My team is very helpful besides the occasional Dutch conversation that I understand only three words of. Also, I have been able to dilute antibodies, cut tissue for slides, mix buffer, and create capillary storage tubes. The tours have been great too. They have very advanced behavior facilities and I may get to observe intestinal extraction and inversion from rats for a graduate lab practical. I am a little nervous about this though. Sam is correct though, the animal welfare systems are looked at in a different way than in the U.S. Hunting may as well be a sin according to some people I have talked to.

To answer the questions:
What did you do over the weekend? What did you find interesting? Why was it interesting?
We went into Amsterdam this weekend. We had been warned, but I would never have believed the extent of the drug and sex trades there. The city was green with marijuana and it was just sad to see what may have been a very beautiful city at one time filled with stoners. The canals were nice, and the museums were interesting, but the crowds for everything were horrible. They ruined the art experience for me. We met several other American students there, and it was nice to talk to someone who doesn't hate Americans. Even at work, they make jokes about how we as students just shoot eachother all the time. It was interesting that everyone we met was a tourist in Amsterdam. It made the city feel less like a real place, and more like a twisted Disneyworld.

Now that you have been there nearly two weeks, how has your behavior changed in your day-to-day life? What changes have you had to make to adapt to your new environment?
I can ride a bike now! I am certainly getting better at it. Also, I have been speaking differently. I knew it would happen because I pick up dilects without even realizing it, and I hope people don't think I am making fun. I really can't help it. I have also been trying to avoid asking questions about what I should be doing day to day. I think it is just expected here that you will figure it out on your own, so I have just been popping in and out and seeing different research on my own.

How have you changed the way you think or respond to eating, traveling around, your daily schedule, communicating with others?
Eating is interesting. There are no instant meals here, and it is hard to cook for one. Plus, I only know a few Dutch words now, so buying ingredients you need to make boxed things is impossible. I tried to make soup from a bag the other day and failed miserably because I just tried to make up what I thought the directions said. I was wrong. Travel is expensive. We have narrowed our travels to things we feel we must see or will die because we would both be bankrupt by the end if we didn't. I love hearing other people's opinions on travel because I now know some good places to go in the area that will be less expensive in the end. Communicating is hard sometimes because if you are the only one who doesn't know Dutch in a group, they will just leave you out to avoid using English. Most everyone speaks English, it is just getting them to use it so that you understand the jokes at coffee or the tests they are running is difficult.

What types of questions should Dr. Hurley be asking you to help you record your thoughts, observations, reflections on your international experience?
Questions relating to what we are doing specifically may help us hone in on a better way to explain it to others when we get to 199.

Things are good here. I like the laid back lifestyle and I like seeing all these tests actually being done. I have attended a few peer reviewed research presentations, but most of it is over my head. I am glad to be invited though. It is good to know what students are expected of here.

Here are a few pictures of the labs I have seen.

Taking pictures of cells:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/Allieolie639/DSC03686.jpg

A tent designed to measure energy intake under low oxygen conditions:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/Allieolie639/DSC03690.jpg

Device used for slicing tissue thin enough to place on a slide:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/Allieolie639/DSC03689.jpg

Mummified fetal pigs:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/Allieolie639/DSC03695.jpg

Hi from Dr. Hurley

I am in the blog now. Thanks Sam for reminding me how to get into this blog.

We had a great time in Taiwan last week. It is an amazing place. It was a fast-paced program that covered many of the potential parks and other activities that may become part of a broader summer biodiversity program over there. I have probably over 800 pictures. I will try to post some of those later on either on this blog or my other one. I feel confident that we can set up a great 4-5 week program for next summer. There are still a number of issues to be settled first.

Nancy just sent you the last set of reflection questions that I had written up before I left for Taiwan. Now is a good time for you to give me feedback on the types of questions you find most useful. You are continuing to learn and change as the summer progresses, so I do not want to keep asking you exactly the same questions if they are not appropriate. Give me your thoughts and suggestions and I will come up with more reflection questions to guide your blog responses. As always, you are welcome to include anything else that you want in your blogs.

Good luck.

Dr. Hurley

Wageningen Week 2 Sam

What did you do over the weekend? What did you find interesting? Why was it interesting?

We went into Amsterdam for the weekend and the city in itself is beyond interesting. Two uncommon things that are legal: marijuana and prostitution (but not on the streets at all, in windows and shops). However, I could not nearly expect the abundance it came in, it is all over most of the city. Many parts were very sad to see, especially the people living their lives through smoking marijuana all day or making money through starting prostitution at a legal age of 14. The city was an experience because it is nothing something you really believe exists in its entirety until you actually see it. However, the trip was very positive, there are many museums, we visited Van Gogh and the Anne Frank House and there were also canals throughout the entire city. Overall, the experience made me really recognize many realizations about cultures that exist differently from our own.

Now that you have been there nearly two weeks, how has your behavior changed in your day-to-day life? What changes have you had to make to adapt to your new environment?

I have made many changes in my day-to-day routine. I have been getting up and working a full, long day at the hatchery for the aquaculture department. They take 15 minute coffee breaks frequently and relaxed lunches. Yet I’m many times exhausted after working hard most of the day and a trip to the grocery store every few days has become habit since I can only carry limited amounts of food back at a time and there is limited space in the refrigerator. Other than that, trying to journal about everything I’ve experienced each night has helped me keep everyone from home up to date.

How have you changed the way you think or respond to eating, traveling around, your daily schedule, communicating with others?

From reading other’s blogs, I agree that the food is definitely much different! Meat is entirely different here, but fortunately I do not run into much of a problem because I do not each much meat at all. I have been able to make many of the dinners I made at my apartment throughout the year, so I don’t feel my eating habits have needed to shift much. It’s hard to try and make new things though, since all the directions are in Dutch! It’s also at times quite the guessing game when grocery shopping, yet fellow shoppers and workers are friendly if you ask.

Travel: I love that everyone bikes! I actually love my bike so much that I decided to get adventurous and take a nice ride out in the country last week. Yet leave it to me to get entirely lost and end up a good 10 miles outside of Wageningen. When I finally realized I was way lost, I asked a nice farmer who was outside which direction Wageningen was in, he looked shocked and said it was very far, I laughed knowing it was, yet he pointed me the right way. I eventually made it home about 3 hours later, good work out!

Communication: I have barely come across any language barrier in Wageningen, merely elderly people, accents have not been a problem with students from all over the world. Funny part, we met a British soccer team this past weekend in Amsterdam and they were by far the hardest to understand of everyone I’ve met! Go figure, we speak the same language and have a harder time communicating than with people who speak English as a second language. I found this funny, yet I wasn’t surprised, seeing as though I at times have a hard time understanding my family from England as well.

What types of questions should Dr. Hurley be asking you to help you record your thoughts, observations, reflections on your international experience?

I think questions pertaining to how our experiences working and at the University differ from those at home will help when reflecting back to develop a learning module next semester about this program. I know a constant theme I have been continually recognizing is animal welfare, mainly concerning the conditions respective countries keep their animals it. I feel as this might be an interesting comparison across several countries, because I have noticed extreme differences throughout my travels.

Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?

I am really enjoying my time here so far. I especially love my work in the hatchery and I have been fortunate enough to help with research for two different government funded projects as well as start on my own today. It has been a remarkable experience thus far.

Viborg Day 6-10 Jess

What did you do over the weekend?

This weekend Alanna and I spent Friday night watching some television shows that we downloaded from the internet, we talked to some of the students who live here and had a quiet night. We were still suffering from jetlag a bit.

Saturday we went to a music festival in downtown Viborg with some of the other students who live at the kollegiet. The festival was a ton of fun and a great way to learn what people here enjoy and find funny. It was amazing for me to read some of the T-shirts and clothes that people were wearing that had American logos, or quotes from American television characters. I am sure they are much more aware of our culture than we are of theirs. It is kind of sad for us.

Saturday night after the festival we attended a birthday party for one of the grad students who lives here. Even though we had only been here for three days, everyone welcomed us and made us feel at home. We baked a cake, took strawberries and ice cream to have with the cake, and everyone was happy with us.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

I found the time we spent at the music festival to be very telling of the lifestyle here. Most of the people where probably not typical everyday people, but the way they do things I am pretty sure is typical. For example, when we were waiting in line to get into the festival everyone was happy. They were happy to open their bags for the guards, happy to pay for a ticket, in general they were happy to follow the rules. If someone wanted to, they probably could have walked right passed on of the ticket sales booths and walked right into the festival without paying, but nobody did that. I guess I was just amazed at how cooperative everyone was.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

The drunk people who were at the festival were a bit negative to see! I always thought that the Danish would look down upon someone who was drunk, but they really didn’t. It could very well have been the environment we were in that made it more acceptable to be “smashed”, but I was still a little surprised by the huge amounts of alcohol being consumed.

Also, the amount of warm alcohol that was being consumed really surprised me. I don’t drink, but I know that most Americans like cold beer. Not here. When I asked some of the Danish people here about it, they just shrugged and said something like “…why waste time and energy to make cold beer when you can drink it right out of the store and it tastes just fine!”

What have your learned to date about the work you will be doing while there?

Today was our second day of work and I have learned a great deal already. Yesterday I was able to read a PhD Thesis paper explaining the procedures and point of the trial that I will be helping collect data for. That really helped me get a good idea of what was going on. Even though Peter and the other people at Foulum speak excellent English, are very patient, and explain almost everything, it still really helped me to read the material and figure it out for myself.

I will be helping with a dietary trial that measures the nutrients that are absorbed by the small intestine. Using catheters to draw blood from an artery and a vein and then analyzing this blood, it is possible to determine what the animal is using from its diet.

I read an entire ninety page or longer thesis on this and can explain it in much greater detail if that is necessary.

Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?

I am enjoying my time here and I am hoping that it stays that way. I really like work so far. I am getting great hands on experience, not only with veterinary related applications, but with science and learning in general. I am afraid that my time here is going to fly, but I will be sure to say at the end of the trip whether the nine week period is long enough or too long.

How has your first week “on the job” gone?

My first week working at Foulum was wonderful! I was able to jump right into the trial that Peter is working on and learn why he is doing this experiment, who it is for, and how it is being performed. The experiment that I am helping with actually belongs to another PhD candidate who left Foulum to work on another project and Peter took over the experiment. So, he was actually learning a lot about the trial as I was learning the information as well.

I was able to read a thesis on Monday that explained the reasoning and procedure behind what I will be helping with. That gave me a good idea of what was going to happen as a general view, but I learned the details more when we went to the barns and started working with the pigs. Tuesday, I was able to watch two surgeries to fit the pigs being used for this trial with catheters so that blood can easily be drawn from them on a regular basis. Wednesday was a surgery recovery day for the pigs…and the humans both. Thursday is the really busy day during the week though. On Thursdays, blood has to be drawn about every fifteen minutes. The blood is then tested for glucose and hematocrit levels. Then the drawn blood is placed in a centrifuge and spun down. The plasma that is separated during this process is then pipetted into various test tubes so that it may be further tested later. All of this took about ten to fifteen minutes, so by the time you finished with one blood sample, it was time to turn around and start all over again with another blood sample. After Thursdays, Fridays are a breeze. The pigs are done with their trial diet for the week on Fridays and put back on a flushing diet by the stable help. This leaves Fridays as work days in the office.

What did you learn?

This week at work I learned how to draw blood from catheters, measure blood flow using a probe that is surgically placed around the portal vein in the pig, centrifuge blood samples, pipette plasma, and how to pool samples. All of this had to be done when a sample of blood was drawn, so I learned very quickly how to perform each of these steps.

What did you find particularly interesting?

I found that I really like drawing blood and then using it to draw conclusions almost immediately. When I have worked with veterinarians at home, we are usually drawing blood samples for health certificates. So, when I have drawn blood before, I simple place it in a test tube and send it off to a lab where someone else analyzes it. Here I can at least take glucose levels, measure hematocrit and centrifuge down the blood to obtain plasma before I send the blood to a lab. And by doing all of this and recording the information that is being gathered, I am able to see patterns among all of these steps and feeding times. So, I feel like I am actually learning more about the blood samples here than I would be at home doing similar work.

What did you find frustrating?

I found reading Danish very frustrating this week. All of the tables that have to filled in with glucose levels, hematocrit, volume of plasma, feces and urine mass are all written in Danish. So, I had to have a crash course on Wednesday in reading the important words in Danish to make sure that I provide all of the information necessary for the blood samples. Also, all of the procedure sheets for drawing blood and analyzing it are written in Danish. So I had to write my own procedures in English and go through it with Peter to make sure that I first understood what I was trying to read in Danish, and then second understood that I had the correct times and amounts of everything that had to be taken from or given to the pigs. This was just a minor frustration though. It was actually kind of fun to learn some new vocabulary and to learn that I will be working with gris here…(gris being the Danish word for pig)!

Viborg Day 9 Jess

How are you feeling about being away from home?

At first, I was really homesick. Just for the first night here and a little bit the next day though. Then I came to the realization that I am going to be here for the next nine weeks, I am in Europe doing something that I am really interested in and absolutely nothing is going to change at home during the time I will be here. I also really started learning the names of everyone here and talking to them and made instant friends, so I think that really helped too.

How are you feeling about being where you are located now?

I love Viborg and the Kollegiet very much! It is really a nice town. I feel very safe here. This evening I went jogging around the lake and felt more comfortable and safe then when I am jogging around Champaign! The trip to Foulum is a little long, but by bus it is no problem at all. The bus picks you up almost at your door and literally drops you at the main door to enter the institute at Foulum.

What have you had to do to adapt to living/working there? How are you coping with those changes in your day-to-day behavior?

I had to learn how to make a dinner that is healthy for me when I got here. I never cook. Never! When I am home (at school) I eat out, at the dorms with friends, or eat a sandwich at home. Sandwiches were not cutting it for lunch and dinner here everyday, so I made some pasta and got some broccoli and tomatoes from the store. I made a weeks supply of dinner all at once. I am sure I will get tired of it by the time it is gone, but at least I have something hot to eat for dinner.

Is there any knowledge that you would like to contribute to our program’s Survival Handbook for that country.

Buy a bus ticket! Before you travel to Denmark, plan on setting aside money to take the bus to and from Foulum almost everyday…unless you feel ambitious and want to ride your bike a few days a week. It was 140 Kroner for a ten trip ticket. One trip to work, and one trip home counts as two trips. So, basically a weeks worth of rides costs 140 Kroner. I am going to check into how much a month pass is because I am pretty sure that it will be even cheaper. I really think it is something that you have to have though.

Also, make sure you either plan on spending quite a bit of money on food and going to the grocery store almost daily or take lots of boxes of pasta, pop tarts, granola bars, or other snack like foods from home because they are really expensive in Denmark. Almost everything is more expensive in Denmark. Plan on spending some money of your own just to survive by our U.S. standards.

Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?

I noticed that people here are very willing to help you find whatever you need. They will be happy to give you directions, help you read something, or find you anything from DVDs to watch at night to a bike to ride around town. Even perfect strangers on the street will talk to you and ask where you are from. They are not weird at all, they truly want to know about you. I have found this to be very comforting and I have been able to learn more about the culture and how people do things here that are sometimes the exact same as in the U.S. and sometime completely different than the U.S.

Viborg Day 6 Jess

We had our first day of work today. I loved it!! Peter Theil, who I am working for, picked us up from the Kollegium this morning and drove us to Foulum. It was so nice to go there when you do not have to avoid the traffic and being hit!

When we arrived Peter drove us around the institute a little bit and we were able to see where some of the student housing and livestock barns are located on the grounds. Then we went into the research “stable” as they call it. Calling the area a “stable” kind of sounded funny to me because I am used to people calling them barns. It really isn’t a stable or a barn though. The way the building is set up and is attached to the barns/stables reminds me of the vet school at Illinois. The halls of the building and offices eventually turn into halls that lead to the barns.

In the animal areas there are nice, clean, rooms with small individual pens. For the pigs at least this is true. I have not seen any of the other barns. There are sliding doors that lead to each room and I believe that each study has its own room with its own pigs in it. There is also a kind of cooling room for different blood samples and such and a freezer with different diets and necropsy samples.

There is a surgery suite as well, but I have not been able to see it yet. Tomorrow I will be able to observe and possibly assist in two surgeries to put catheters in two gilts. The blood flow probe is placed around the portal vein in between the small intestine and the liver. This is where the blood flow in the pig’s body will be measured and recorded during each day it is on a specific diet. Catheters are then used to draw daily blood samples out of each of the pigs one from a vein and one from an artery.

I was also able to read a research thesis that was created and started by a woman who actually left the institute to take on another research project, but left Peter with this thesis to finish. I have never read such a long explanation of one experiment in all my life though!! And I realized that statistics, microbiology, and organic chemistry are going to all come back to haunt me for the rest of my life…so long as I am in the scientific community. Of course the courses that I loved like anatomy and physiology will be forever constant as well, but I like those subjects more anyway.

Viborg Day 4 Jess

So, it turns out that we cannot read our blogging page when we open it here in Denmark. All of the text is in Danish. We can type in English, but we don’t know what any of the icons say in order to save it or edit it at all. For now, Alanna and I decided to type our thoughts into word and post everything when we figure out how to change all of our computer settings to English again.

It is really strange because we went to use Google yesterday, just like at home, but when you type in what you want, all of the text pops up in Danish. So you really can’t even use Google without changing the settings on your computer. I didn’t realize I was so dependent on my computer and I don’t even feel like I use my computer as much as some of my friends at home do, but after going a few days without internet it has made me realize how dependent I have become on communicating through this technology.

We went to downtown Viborg today to buy internet cables for our computers so that we don’t have to keep bothering Marianne (my neighbor) for her cords. So, needless to say we are feeling much more freedom now and closer to home because we can pop on the internet now and find someone to talk to on AIM or via email or Facebook. I can’t imagine traveling here without all of this access to see and hear from people at home. I am finally starting to understand what people mean when they say, “The world is getting smaller and smaller all the time.”

One thing we did learn, on a very slow learning curve, was that whenever you go into a busy store you have to take a number from a machine. We went into the bank this morning to exchange some of our cash and I saw a guy take a ticket with a number on it, so we went up to the machine, pressed the British flag and out popped our ticket with a number on it. Then we waited for the number to pop up on a screen and we were helped. It was no big deal. However, when we went to the electronics store next, we thought you only needed a number if you had a question and needed help from a salesman, so we didn’t get a number. We just went and got what we needed and then got in line at one of the many cash registers in the store. We waited in line forever because there was a dad there with his two kids about ten and nine years old and he was buying a lot of stuff. So we finally get up to the girl at the register and I set my stuff down and she says, “You have to have a number.” So, we went back to the number machine and started all over again. Luckily this time there were only two people in front of us and we got out pretty quickly the second time around. So, the lesson we learned today was that if you walk into a store and there is a little machine there spitting out tickets, you had better take one or you will never be helped or get out of the store.

The grocery store we went to next was interesting as well. It was similar to a Sam’s Club, only on a much smaller scale. But there were random jackets, shirts, pants, books, cosmetics and such there along with food like Sam’s Club. So we walked around for a long time just trying to decide what to buy because the meat is sold so much different here. All we wanted was lunch meat, however unlike home you can only buy about five slices of ham, turkey, or chicken in each individually wrapped case and it is about $1.50 for the five slices! So, needless to say we were much more careful about what meat we were buying and how much it cost and whether we really would like it once we got it home.

Milk is sold differently as well. We are used to gallons of milk that will last a single person for a good seven to ten days. Well, here you can only buy cartons of milk. So, because I eat a lot of cereal, I tend to take down a lot of milk. I got about five bowls of cereal out of one carton of milk. I guess I use more milk in my cereal than the average person would, but I will definitely have to reconsider my cereal eating habits now that I am in the land of the small.

Speaking of small, everything here is small, except the people. The cars are small, the houses are small, the boats are small, even the stores are small. It is really strange to realize that these people have been living here for hundreds of years with very little space for a large number of people and they have managed to downsize in order to fit everyone in. I am sure it has a lot to do with being more environmentally friendly and conservative too, but no one seems to be worried about not having enough space for his or herself like it is in the United States. I feel like people here are a lot more laid back and happy just to be than people in the U.S.

Viborg Day 1 Jess

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

While traveling to Viborg, something that struck me as very unusually was that for the first time in my life, I am in a country where a large majority of the population really does look alike. I noticed myself starting to crane my head toward the rear of Peter’s car to see what the person in the passing car looked like. Yep, most of the time is was a fair-skinned, blonde person. I wasn’t raised in a highly diversified community, but I guess I never realized how much I am used to seeing red hair and dark brown hair in about an equal ratio with blonde hair. I just seems strange to not see very much physical diversity.

On a more agriculture based topic, I noticed that a lot of wheat is now growing in the fields near Viborg. Peter said that this is a common practice because it never becomes hot enough here to grow corn and soybeans. He explained to me that corn is grown here, however it is harvested before maturity in order to make silage for the cattle here. Hay is also prepared in a little bit different manner here than in the Midwest. Here, hay may be mowed and bailed before it is dry. It is then wrapped in plastic. When the producer finally decides to feed the hay to his cattle, it must be used quickly or else it will go bad and the cattle will not eat it.

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

Copenhagen airport is huge! We had to travel from one absolute end of it to the other absolute end of it in less than one hour. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but we also had to go through two security corrals and passport security. We barely made bording the flight to Karup.

What are your initial impressions of the country you are visiting, the town you are living in, your accommodations, the people you are interacting with, or any other initial impressions that you would like to share?

The people here are great. All of them are really willing to speak English and help you find whatever it is that you may need. Alanna and I were at the grocery store earlier today and a man saw her using her dictionary to look up what a specific meat is in English. Alanna triumphantly stated, “It’s chicken!” and a man next to her asked if she needed help. He said, “Yes, that is chicken.” It just struck as funny because in the U.S. if we heard someone so excitedly say, “It’s chicken,” we would probably look at them funny and walk away.

What are you most excited about in looking forward to the next several weeks? Why are you excited about that?

I am most excited to start working at Foulum next Monday. We will have four days including the weekend to explore Viborg, but I really want to start work so that I am busy throughout the day. I also really want to start to learn how the swine and dairy industries differ here from the U.S.

Is there any knowledge that you have from your travel that you can contribute to our program's Survival Handbook for that country.

Pack your own small blanket and pillow. You will want to go to sleep, and it will be easier to go to sleep with a pillow and blanket that you are used to and that smell like home. The pillows and blankets here don’t look or smell or feel all that great, but I got used to them within the first week here.

Also before you leave home, make sure that you have every little detail figured out as far as how you will communicate with home. Make sure that you have proper cables and internet wires that will fit with your computer and foreign outlets. I stressed a bit because I didn’t have an internet cable that worked here, so I couldn’t get internet, so I couldn’t email home right away to let everyone know that we had arrived and everything was just fine. We had to go into the shopping center of Viborg in order to buy internet cables.

Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?

I am so happy to be here right now! I know that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. However, I have this tremendous feeling that I have gotten myself into something that is so big I won’t know how to handle myself. With this being my first time out of the country, I feel like I have committed to a time period that may be really long and hard for me to handle. It seems like nine weeks is a really long time to be away from home right now, as I sit in my little room by myself, but I know I will look back on this trip and be so happy that I jumped on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and didn’t give up.

Viborg Day 7 Alanna

What did you do over the weekend?

Jess and I attended a concert on Saturday called Viborg Rocker with some students from the Kollegium. The Viborg Rocker is a small festival/carnival in the center of Viborg where Danish rock bands come to play. Later in the evening we attended a dinner party at the Kollegium to get to know more people over some great food.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

I thought the Viborg Rocker was especially interesting this weekend. The music was what really shocked me. What we found popular in the late 80s/early 90s has made a comeback in Denmark. I don’t think the music here would fly at home.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

On Sunday Jess and I decided to take a bike ride out to Foulum. We wanted to see where it was and how long it would take us to bike to work. We shortly discovered that on our way to Foulum the bike paths cut off midway and merges in with traffic. Biking several miles in heavy traffic is very difficult especially when cars are going faster than 40mph. There were several points during the trip where we thought we’d get hit. Cars came very close to us and some were not as yielding as others.

What have your learned to date about the work you will be doing while there?

I have learned that I will be working with dairy cows. I am not sure what I will be doing exactly because I have not been to Foulum yet. Denmark has been on a holiday since we flew in.

Wageningen Day 10 Sam

My first week on the job has gone much better than I could have ever predicted. The Aquaculture department here at Wageningen was beyond welcoming in they I’ve learned about every research project currently running at the hatcheries, by different people working on each project. I was able to help a masters student with her project that examines coral consumption of artemia and also amino acid input to stimulate consumption.

She finished this week, but since she was not able to get all of the data her supervisor would like with the new acid input, they have passed the work on to me to complete next week. We exam 8 different corals, 4 types, complete water sample collections 4 times per hour with each set of 2 corals and then analyze the samples by counting the number of remaining artemia, to determine how many were consumed.

I was also able to help with a much bigger project that being sponsored by the government of the Netherlands. It is a 2 year project that concerns Nile tilapia fish farming and whether closed re-circulation system are causing growth retardation. With this project, we took many samples from 4 different systems, I worked with filtering samples to be prepared to determine COD and mineral levels. I found this project particularly interesting because we completed a small tilapia fish farming study during my program in Jamaica and this situation is much different, but does have similarities.

It has been very enjoyable so far working in the aquaculture department. Everybody in the hatchery is so welcoming to my presence and I had no idea I could learn so much in just 3 days.

Wageningen Day 9-11 Allison

This week has been great! I have met a lot of great researchers, all part of an animal physiology team. I have been working under Professor Katja Teerds in labs with her graduate students.

How has your first week “on the job” gone?
The first week was great! I started out obeserving, but by the second day, I was allowed to help with some of the slide staining procedures and then tissue cutting from parafin blocks.

What did you do?
I have toured all but one of the animal science facilities used by my work group. This includes the isotope labs, the photography lab, the rat behavior and experiment rooms, the livestock houses, the staining labs, and a lab for nutritionists and physiologists to use to test engergy consupmtion in humans. I have also done some hands on work preparing slides of testis from hypothalimic rats as well as preparing supplies for an upcoming radioimmune assay.

What did you learn?
I have learned quite a bit about how to use antibodies to stain certain cells in slides. In the lab I have been helping in, they are using vectastain and the ABC method, which is a very sensitive method of staining. I also sat in on some presentations of other projects going on currently. One of these was on the recognition by cells of a certain protein receptor that may be linked to cancer.

What did you find particularly interesting?
I find the process of using primary and secondary antibodies to stain specific cells for their function particularly interesting. It is amazing to me how this technique works. The girl I have been helping is staining testes for identification of Leydig cells. Only these cells will turn brown, while the rest of the tissue turns blue.

What did you find frustrating?
The only part I have found frustrating is how much each student is expected to just know. They just asked me to help, assuming I had all the skills necessary to do the job, but there are many things I have never seen before. At first, I thought this was just because I am at an earlier stage of schooling than the other students, but one student told me that this was the case for her as well when she came, and she wished she had had someone walk her through the basics the first time, but they were upset when she needed help.

I have been very lucky to see all these things they are doing. I feel very in the way when I am there, but I am appreciative that this team is willing to take time out and share what is going on and allow me to visit other labs.

Wageningen Day 7-8 Allison

The past couple of days have been very nice. I got to see all the slide staining in an experiment with Leydig cells. I also learned how to take pictures of slides, sat in on presentations about current experiments, and got to tour some labs. One lab was a human nutrition lab where there was a big tent that regulated oxygen intake to test energy consumption. One girl was using this equipment to test the energy intake after eating certain breakfasts or none at all. Sam and I both were able to tour the farm facilities, which were much cleaner and nicer for the animals than ours back home. The animals are treated much better here. They were even having trouble inducing stress on chickens because the birds are so content.

To answer the questions about the weekend:

What did you do over the weekend?
We went to Utrecht to the open air markets and we went to Apeldoorn to the monkey reserve.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?
The monkey reserve was so cool. The monkeys roam all over the park and they have lots of species. I would recommend it to anyone who comes here.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?
The bus system is not that difficult to learn, but the language barrier was hard to get past and I think we may have overpaid for our rides. Also, the busses take very long to get anywhere.

What have your learned to date about the work you will be doing while there?
I have now met with one whole team in cell physiology, and I know I will be shadowing each of them to learn what they are doing and I will be doing some simple practical work for their experiments such as cutting sample blocks and measuring out liquids for stains.

Wageningen Day 7 Sam

What did you do over the weekend?

We went out the city of Utrecht, which is much bigger than Wageningen and it has streets and streets of stores. It was very crowded due to the huge open markets they have on Saturday and it reminded me of New York City markets and shopping in a sense. On Sunday, we spent all day at the Apenhaul Monkey Reserve.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

I found the monkey reserve especially interesting because I have never been to another facility like it. Apenhaul had over 20 different types of monkeys, most free roaming throughout a huge park. So as you walked, you could look up and see monkey’s hanging out above your head or within an arm’s reach, I really enjoyed it. It gave the monkeys a ton of space and with very few fences or cages, it felt like it was a much more humane approach to keeping monkeys.

What did you experience over the weekend that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

We found that a few towns over might be longer bus rides than we could have imagined. We probably spent a good 8 hours in transit between Saturday and Sunday on buses to and from what seemed to be ‘close towns.’ Many times the bus drivers did not speak English, therefore there was a bit of a language barrier and we may have lost some money on bus fares over it. Yet, we are learning the bus system as we go.

What have your learned to date about the work you will be doing while there?

We know we are signed up for a 4 week Animal Behavior course that runs throughout June. I am very excited for this course, we will pick our preferred select animals to study soon and find out which animal we get when the course starts to complete the project on. I will be helping with PhD thesis work before and after this class begins and ends. I am excited to be learning about Miriam Schutter’s thesis, which is based on the influence of abiotic factors on growth and morphology of scleractinian corals in aquarium systems.

Viborg Day 6 Alanna

How are you feeling about being away from home?

I feel fine being away from home. I’m usually not home during the summer so this is not out of the ordinary. There are a few things I miss at home though, namely food, family, and friends but I know it will all be there when I get back. The Nørresø Kollegium, our housing facility, is very much a community and every Wednesday we eat dinner together. The students here are friendly and very welcomining, which makes our stay more enjoyable.

How are you feeling about being where you are located now?

Although Viborg is a small town, it has much to offer. The center of the town is filled with small shopping and grocery stores. I enjoy the beautiful scenery and slow paced lifestyle of Viborg. I can finally relax a bit.

What have you had to do to adapt to living and working there? How are you coping with those changes in your day-to-day behavior?

There were a few things I had to adapt to living in Viborg. As silly as this may sound I had to seriously practice riding a bike. I usually depend on a car or walking, but here in Viborg a bike is an everyday part of life. The hardest thing out here is finding cheap food. Food here is expensive and the quanities are small. Learning how to conserve your money and how to spend it wisely is key. At work the only thing I had to adapt to was the coffee breaks and a foreign keyboard. I’m not use to having two breaks in the middle of a workday. Their concept of the coffee break is NICE. Not only do you get to converse with co-workers otherwise not seen, but you also get to take a break from the mayhem of science. I finally got use to the keyboards as well. There are extra letters and symbols on the keyboards here. It’s a bit difficult to navigate. With some time and practice though, it's easy to master the Danish keyboard.

Is there anything knowledge that you would like to contribute to our program’s Survival Handbook for that country.

I recommend bringing food from home. Food here is expensive and sometimes the grocery stores are closed when you least expect it.

Wageningen Day 4-6 Allison

We have worked our way up to getting around town fairly well now. We have also met some of the professors and students that we will be working with while we are here. I am excited now because I talked to a couple students who had taken the behavior course that we will be taking, and they each said that it was a great course. This weekend we traveled around the area to Utrecht for the open markets and to Apeldoorn to the monkey reserve, which was very fun.

To answer the questions:

How are you feeling about being away from home?

I am feeling fine still. It is alittle hard not seeing my boyfriend everyday, but I would recommend Skype to anyone traveling abroad because it is very easy to use and it is free. I ahve spoken with both my parents over it now and they seem to like it also. I have not felt homesick at all, and that may be because everyone is so nice here and we are making friends fast.

How are you feeling about being where you are located now?

Wageningen is very small, which is nice for getting around. Everything is so close. Also, everything is very green and they seem to really try to take care of the environment. Very few cars are on the roads, and there is nearly no garbage in the streets. I enjoy it here.

What have you had to do to adapt to living/working there? How are you coping with those changes in your day-to-day behavior?

My biggest adaptation has been riding a bike everywhere. I am so used to walking or driving places. We have started riding a little further each day, which helps me get used to it. The bikes are also bigger and more upright here, which was a change. I still like to walk though, which is fine because Zodiac and the centrum are so close to us.

Is there anything knowledge that you would like to contribute to our program’s Survival Handbook for that country

A new contribution may be to be familiar with some common Dutch phrases because people like to say hello to you, and many of the bus drivers to not speak English. I am still quite confused about the bus ticket system here, and I am afraid that it may have cost us some extra money because we did not understand what they were trying to tell us.

Other than that, up to Monday, we haven't really started our lab work, so we have just been getting other small errands done throughout the day and exploring the town more.

Wageningen Day 6 Sam

How are you feeling about being away from home?

I am feeling great away from home. I am used to leaving for extended periods of time, so it really is not something out of the ordinary. There are certain conveniences I miss, such as having a cell phone for easy contact, having a car to get places easily rather than relying on public transportation, having fully functioning internet and places being open past 5pm. Yet these are changes that I am adjusting well to and I believe they just take a little getting used to.

How are you feeling about being where you are located now?

I am really enjoying Wageningen so far. It is very different than what I am used to, yet I believe that I will learn so much while living in such a different place for 8 weeks. The people have been beyond great, for instance, Rene welcomed us into his home and his wife, Emmy, cooked us an amazing home cooked meal. We were also able to meet his two daughters and I found them really interesting to talk to. The students in our wing have also been really friendly and it’s been really neat to meet people from all around the world. An Italian boy on our floor cooked us a delicious Italian lasagne tonight. I really enjoy the town we are in, it appears as a very small town at first, yet as we explore further out, it has a lot to offer, such as different types of shops and huge open markets on Wednesdays and Sundays.

What have you had to do to adapt to living/working there? How are you coping with those changes in your day-to-day behavior?

I have had to adapt to many of the changes that I listed in the first question, yet I feel that it has been a smooth transition. I absolutely love that everyone rides bikes here, it is so much more environmentally friendly and it is also so nice to be outdoors. I have also needed to learn an entire new town, we have been glued to our map. Also learning the bus and train systems has been an adventure so far, yet I think we are getting the hang of it. I should have more things I may have to adapt to concerning my work environment in the coming days, since we will officially start tomorrow.

Other Comments:

My internet is currently very limited in function. I am working on getting this problem fixed, they are not sure what is wrong. Basically I can only access my email and cannot even reach this blog site, use google or much else. Therefore, Allison has been very kind to allow me to post from hers.

Viborg Day 1 Alanna

I am super excited to be here in Viborg, DK and look forward to the next 9 weeks!!

Reflection Questions:

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

I was especially interested in the Dane’s mode of transportation and laid back lifestyle. Bicycles and mopeds are more popular in Denmark than the conventional car, SUV, or truck found in the U.S. It's weird that I have not seen a single SUV or pick up truck roaming the streets of Viborg since we got here. The Danes obviously do not depend on or spend alot of money on gas. Surprisingly, biking 8 to 10 miles one way to work is not that big of a deal here.

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

The weather was the only experience during my travel that I found especially negative. While we were on our way to O’Hare airport it was down pouring and it only slowed down a little right before we boarded our plane at 10 PM. After a long flight we got off the plane in Copenhagen and were greeted with more gray weather and rain. The weather in Viborg has been windy, cold, and very cloudy these past few days. Hopefully the weather will get slightly warmer as the weeks progress.

What are your initial impressions of the country you are visiting, the town you are living in, your accommodations, the people you are interacting with, or any other initial impressions that you would like to share?

My initial impressions of Denmark have been very positive. On the first day of our arrival Jess and I went to Netto, a small grocery store near our housing unit. We quickly discovered we could not read any of the labels in the store because they were all in Danish. People in the store, however, caught on that we were Americans and tried to help us to the best of their ability. Those living in the town and in our unit are very friendly, helpful, and talkative. I look forward to meeting more people in our housing units and at Foulum.

What are you most excited about in looking forward to the next several weeks? Why are you excited about that?

I am most excited about exploring more of Denmark and meeting the researchers and students at Foulum. I look forward to learning more about the differences between Denmark and the U.S. in terms of agriculture, social and political issues, and culture.

Wageningen Day 2-3 Allison

We are still working on figuring out the town, but slowly, we are learning the ropes. Yesterday, we walked about town even though everything was closed for holiday. Today, we spent the morning shopping for more supplies now that we know where to go and what we have here to use daily. It has been very helpful to ask our neighbors about where to shop, because the prices at our current store are slightly high. We also rented bikes today, which will be very nice because many area towns and things are just a short biking distance. A tip for future students is to be very comfortable riding because these bikes are very tall and very big. It would help if you were very comfortable on a bike in general so that the switch is easy; as it hasn't been for me. We were also nicely invited to Rene's home for dinner this evening and had wonderful food and were able to meet his whole family. I enjoyed the conversation with his daughters because we have as much to learn from them as they have from us. It is too bad that people here only see the U.S. through movies and politics because the ideas extracted from those are believed to be the customs and beliefs of our country. There is so much more to see. I wish we could to an exchange program where students from here would be able to experience the U.S. as well so that we could compare experiences. Maybe someday this can happen.

Wageningen Day 1 Allison

Getting here has been crazy and exciting, but I am glad that part is over.

Reflective questions:

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?
I thought it was especially interesting that everyone is more than willing to help you. We had half a train trying to help us as well as people coming up to help us on the street. Fortunately, we have been really really lucky on this trip so far.

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?
I thought it was negative that everything was in Dutch as soon as we hit the ground. It makes it very hard to know where you are going or even what you are ordering for dinner. Hopefully we will make friends that can help us learn what common things mean.

What are your initial impressions of the country you are visiting, the town you are living in, your accommodations, the people you are interacting with, or any other initial impressions that you would like to share?
My initial impression of Holland is that everyone is very laid back, no one moves to fast or seems worried about anything. They even close the whole town down for holidays and weekends so that everyone can go home and relax. This town is very quaint, but I feel right at home because Macomb isn't any bigger than this. I think that once we get a feeling for everything things will be easy to find. The people here have been great so far. People are willing to talk to you and if you look like you need help, they will come up to you and ask you.

What are you most excited about in looking forward to the next several weeks? Why are you excited about that?
I am most excited about meeting new people. I am a social person, and I know I am going to miss hanging out with people at home, so I hope to meet people here.

Is there anything knowledge that you have from your travel that you can contribute to our program's Survival Handbook for that country.
I would like to add that if you are lost, make sure you ask. People are very helpful, and most will speak English. Use the resources you have around you, and that includes people too.

Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?
My only concern is that for next year, students should be sure to speak with their contact a week or two prior to departure about what to do when they arrive and where to meet.

Waegeningen Day 1: Sam

Waegeningen: 5/17/07

Sam:

What did you experience during your travel that you found especially interesting? Why was it interesting?

Throughout our travels and finally making it to Waegeningen, I found it really amazing how overly helpful people were as we were on our way. We hardly ever even had to ask for help because people would willingly approach us, likely due to the complete lost looks on our faces. I found this interesting because when I think back to anytime I’ve been lost in the U.S., whether it be Chicago, New York City, etc, I have had the hardest time finding help from anyone, even when I ask, even when it’s a police officer. Therefore, this came as a very nice and relieving surprise as many different peoples’ help finally got us here.

- What did you experience during your travel that you found especially negative? Why was it negative?

Picking up our keys for our rooms, when we got to Waegeningen, was not the best experience. There was a lot of confusion of where to go, who to get our keys from and whether we were actually going to be able to get into our rooms for the night. Had we known that our contact person, Rene, had, had the keys all along, then I doubt this would have been a problem. Yet I think this also just seemed exhausting, since we hauled our luggage all the way to where we were staying, then ran around to a few different buildings trying to locate our keys. Meanwhile, we had not had the chance to eat since our first flight very early that morning (about 3am), it had become quite cold but we were in a rush, so there had been no time to grab warm clothing. We were in a rush because most places close at 4 or 5 in this town and everything would be closed the next day because we learned that it was a holiday.

- What are your initial impressions of the country you are visiting, the town you are living in, your accommodations, the people you are interacting with, or any other initial impressions that you would like to share?

My initial impressions of our living accommodations and the people here are very positive. We were fortunate enough to happen to run into a guy from our wing, who showed us all the way to our building and wing when we arrived. Our rooms are huge and very nice. The rest of the people in our wing are very friendly and from countries all over the world, I’ve really enjoyed talking to them so far, learning where everyone is from has been amazing. The town has come as a bit of a radical change for me. It is a very small town, which I am not used to at all. Most places on campus close by 5, including the grocery store and restaurants. This is something that will take getting used to. Yet, I do see it being a truly valuable experience that I will learn a lot from.

-What are you most excited about in looking forward to the next several weeks? Why are you excited about that?

I am very excited to continue meeting people. Everyone I have met so far has been beyond welcoming and very friendly. It is really neat to be meeting people from so many different countries. I am also looking forward to meeting some of the Waegeningen University staff that we will be working with in the coming weeks. Rene has us meeting with many of the people that we listed as interested in working with. I am looking forward to getting a better feel of the layout of this small town, getting a bike tomorrow and seeing what their school is like here.

- Is there anything knowledge that you have from your travel that you can contribute to our program's Survival Handbook for that country.

Coordinate with your contact person before you leave of where to go when you get in town. Beyond that, I do not have much to contribute now to the handbook, however I feel that I definitely may when I have been here a bit longer and know more. [see http://classes.ansci.uiuc.edu/ansc293/students/handbook.cfm ]

- Are there any other observations or reflections or concerns that you would like to share?

It’s cold here! Hoping it gets warmer soon!

Before the Beginning: Wageningen

Samantha:

This is my first blog, a few hours before our plane is scheduled to fly out tonight. Honestly, a pressing concern I have right now is whether the weather will allow us to fly out on time, seeing as though we are expecting a huge storm in Chicago. Other than that, I am very anxious and excited to finally get to Europe. I have been fortunate to travel to both the Caribbean and Brazil on past study tours that I have completed, however I feel that this one will be very different.
I cannot wait to experience the different culture and meet all types of new people.
Professionally, I am excited to see how zoos and aquariums operate there. My desired career of working with marine wildlife will take me all over the world someday and I feel it is important to optimize my exposure to other countries now. I am excited to work with the Aquaculture department at Wageningen, since we have nothing like it at the University of Illinois. I am also looking forward to participate in the animal behavior based course that the students who went last summer completed. I cannot wait to land and I am really hoping Chicago allows us to leave on time!

Before the Begining

Allison:

So, I am posting my first blog before we leave. It is hard to believe that our plane flies out tomorrow. I am very nervous about traveling there. I had my first crash course going to London this spring, but I am still worried that something will go wrong. I am sad about leaving friends and family, and I am hoping that I will not be homesick too much.
I am very excited to get there and meet new people. I have set a couple personal goals as well as a couple professional ones. I would like to make at least one lasting friend on this trip, and I would also like to learn a bit of Dutch. Professionally, I would like to work in a lab in some sort of cell biology research and make ties in Holland that could help me in the future.
I can't wait to see what everyone else has to say before we go.