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.