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.