Wageningen Day 15-19 Allison

This week has been very nice for me. I was able to go through the process of electophoresis, tour the dairy farms, and also sit in on a bachelor's physiology lab. The dairy farms were very interesting because they use robotic milking here for small farms. These systems allow cows to chose when they want to be milked and requires very little staff to aid the milking process. A laser directed machine finds the teats and begins to milk the cow. She then stands until she is finished and is released back out into the pen. The cows know exactly what to do.

It was also nice this week to be able to sit in on a class. Although the lecture was in Dutch, I was able to see many differences in their teaching methods compared to ours. This was also the first time I had any encounters with students my age. We weren't sure that this school even had a bachelor's program.

This lab was to observe the breakdown and absorption of sugars in the intestine. The technicians removed the rat's intestines and inverted them to create a closed system where nutrients would flow inside and remain there. This way, sugars could be easily measured using a color detection system.

I also was able to sit down with one student and discuss general differences in their education system. They are on a 10 point scale here and most of the class grades are based on a single final exam. The students are responsible for themselves here and must be self motivated. They are also currently trying to make all lectures in English to encourage more international students to come to this small university. Tuition is much lower here as well; for Dutch students only 1,500 a year tuition and fees, and most students recieve financial aid from the government.

It was nice this weekend to just take a day away and go to the beach. Things will get more hectic once we start our class tomorrow. This class seems very intense considering it runs all day. I can't wait to see how it all is run here and what is expected of a student.

Wageningen Pictures Posted (Sam)

Things have been going very well here in Wageningen. Allison and I enjoyed taking a day trip out to Den Haag, the capital of the Netherlands, as known as the Hague, this weekend. We relaxed at the beach after walking a few miles through the city and realized that the North Sea is very cold as everyone had promised. We have finished up with research for the month and I excited to begin our Animal Behavior Course tomorrow. It should be interesting days, as they run 8-5, Monday through Friday.

I have finally had time to post pictures on the photobucket.com album. If you search for ANSCUSDA07, that is the name of our album and it will come up if you would like to view the pictures. I have created a sub album for our Wagenignen portion, so far containing folders of the pig and poultry research tour, robotic milking tour, my aquaculture research and picture I've taken around the town of Wageningen so far. Enjoy!