Snow Photos

As Jessica mentioned in the 's-Hertogenboscht post, we have been fortunate enough to have quite a bit of beautiful snowfall in the last few weeks. Especially with respect to the typical three to four light snow events eastern North Carolina experiences each winter, Dutch snow is noteworthy for two primary reasons.

First, snow events seem to 'stick around' much more gracefully than NC snow. Eastern NC snows seem to always be struggling against only slightly sub-freezing temperatures, which all two often (from a snow lover's perspective) destroy a beautiful snowfall in a matter of hours. There is also the 'rare-snow paradox' to deal with in NC, or any region that really looks forward to snowfall. If it is unusual to have good snow accumulation in an area, residents are more likely to get out and play in the snow. Playing in the snow, although loads of fun, accelerates the rate of snow destruction. For example, NC State's ~500 person snowball fight in the Court of North Carolina my Sophomore year, although one of my best snow memories, nearly cleared North campus' snow accumulation.

The second strikingly cool thing about Dutch snow is the temporal span over which snow actually falls. For example, it has been snowing here off-and-on for about two days, and our last 'snow event' was actually off-and-on snow over approximatively four days. This comparatively long snow-fall window gives snow lovers like Jessica and myself opportunity after opportunity to get outside and do things, even just routine tasks, in a crystalline water wonderland!

Although I am limited by DSLR camera recommended operating conditions, I have taken a dozen pictures of beautiful things my lenses can frame from the windows of our flat. This set of snow pictures, like some of my other photo sets, will continue expanding as I take additional snow photos. Find the set here, or start viewing a full size slideshow here.

Farrell

The Elfstedentocht

One of my professors is from Friesland, a region in the north of the Netherlands with tons of canals, but not particularly urban and with only eleven official cities. The region even has its own language, Frisian, which I only recently learned is the second official language of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. (And, for those who do not know, the country is still a monarchy with Queen Beatrix as the current head of state.) Anyway, Friesland is apparently a very beautiful area of the country of which the people there are very proud as evident by there enthusiasim for giving tours -- by foot, bike, bus, boat, and occasionally by ice! It does not happen often, but at least once every ten years or so the canals freeze over completely and the ice skating tour of the eleven FrieslChristmas, decorations, Dutch, Holland, Netherlands, picturesand cities begins...and the people go nuts! Dr. Slootjes says it has only happened three times in her life (she is probably somewhere in her thirties), but their are rumors it may happen this year. The 'Elfstedentocht' as it is called, is cerca 220 kilometers (about 150 miles) and can be done either as a race or just for fun. Feel free to check out this website to see the route, maps, and other information. 

Also, Prof. Slootjes sent out this video in an email (she thought it was funny and had told the class about it). The music is kind of weird, so just ignore it, but it gives you an idea of what Friesland looks like, the ice skating culture, and what Frisian sounds like. So, all around it is worth a look and/or listen. 



Truly, the 'Elfstedentocht' is a rare experience that seems like so much fun. Needless to say, if the canals freeze up, I will take my professor's advice -- skip class and head for the ice!

Until next time,
Jessica

's-Hertogenbosch

Fortunately, in spite of all the work (or perhaps thanks to), this week has managed to go by fairly quickly. Today is simply a study day for me, but Farrell has an exam later this afternoon and we both have one on Monday. So, my day should be comparatively relaxing: just studying, running a few errrands, and drinking peppermint tea and coffee.

Yesterday we got an unexpected fresh covering of snow. I am not sure what time it started but it was a good hour or so in the morning at least, which led to a beautiful and festive start to the day. No surprise snow today though, not yet anyway. I took a video yesterday of the snowfall because it was such an interesting and pretty snowfall, but we have not had a chance to look at it yet to see how I did or if it is worth putting up on the blog. However, our snow pictures and Christmas decorations will be posted over the weekend.

 For now, I leave you with these pictures from our trip to 'S-Hertogenbosch to pick up our visas. And, no, I cannot pronounce it properly. The few times I have said it, people usually just laugh and say something to the effect of "Oh, that was close!" or "Yes, something like that..." Although, it is always a little hard to tell if they are being sarcastic. And, of course, more than half the time the response is usually just a "No, not at all." (So, I guess that answers the sarcasm question.) Regardless, the Dutch always seem amused about it rather than annoyed, unless of course you happen across some crochety old man that believes everyone should speak Dutch, as does occasionally happen. Perhaps, I will write up that experience and post it this weekend as well. Anyway, enjoy the 'S-Hertogenbosch pictures -- it is a beautiful, old city with tons of canals, winding streets, and interesting canal-side statues.

Until next time,
Jessica

♫ ♪ A Lot Like Christmas ♫

Greetings!
After our unintended month-long hiatus, we find we now have a great deal to talk about. We celebrated our first bizarro-Thanksgiving, met the Dutch winter a bit earlier with a week-long snow, and became official residents of the Netherlands -- with the i.d. to prove it! As per usual, we have plenty of pictures of all these events which we will put up in the next week along with any associated stories. This post, however, is dedicated to more recent and upcoming events. 

The semester is beginning to come to an end, though a bit differently than usual. Here, classes continue until December 17, when Christmas break commences, with exams held throughout the month of January, though usually at the end. At the moment we are supposed to be registering for courses next semester, although this is proving more difficult than at the beginning of the year...or, at least stranger. Experience would prove that perhaps not posting dates and times for classes, or not assigning fixed locations for classes/meetings is some sort of annoying, though otherwise benign, byproduct of some mysterious Dutch culural characteristic. Either way, experience has also proven that it will eventually be worked out. As for the next two weeks, we have some early exams and final papers, but nothing to unmanagable, though we will not be going on any day trips during this period.

It is perhaps all the more fittng that on the day I turn in my final paper and Farrell finishes his final exam (before break), Farrell's Dad (Frank) will arrive, as we intend to do a great deal of travelling. Plans before Chrstams are not final, but the goal is to explore the Netherlands more, visit a Christmas Market in Germany, and maybe a short trip to Paris. Of course, after Chrstmas we have concrete plans flying to Edinburgh for New Year's, explore Scotland, and then hop over to Ireland to explore for a few days. It's all very exciting! Yet, as you can see it has taken a great deal of time and planning -- one of the many activities diverting our attention from the blog, and one of the many reasons we are so appreciative. Though, I think we are most looking forward to simply showing off Nijmegen a bit, particularly our favorite places, which include two delicious restauraunts that I look forward to revisiting. 

Fortunately, for those nights that are simply too cold to go out, the flat is warm and inviting, expecially with the Christmas decorations up. As you can see, they aren't much,  but it was fun to do. What has really put us in the Christmas spirit is the Christmas tree lot in fron of the windmill behind the flat. Needless to say it is pretty awesome being able to look out your window and see such a sight, especially with the snow on the ground -- though it it not really as exciting to talk about snow now that it has snowed back in North Carolina as well. However, it is worth mentioning that this snow event was unlike any other in our experience, though it is thought to be typically Dutch -- it snowed constantly (but very lightly) for about a week, with high wind and temperatures in the teens and single digits. It was an interesting experience riding our bikes in the snow for the first time, but it is not too bad as long as you are careful. 

Returning to the topic of Christmas trees, we have been debating buying a small, "Charlie Brown" tree, but I haven't yet visited the lot to even confirm that they sell such trees. It does seem odd that they are only now beginning to sell trees though, especially since the Dutch just celebrated their SinterKlaas this past weekend. As far as Sinterklaas and the Dutch Christmas I could not possibly explain it better than David Sedaris -- American author and comedian -- so, please follow the link and learn a little about this interesting holiday tradition. 

Hopefully this post was both informative and entertaining. In the next week look for uploads of new pictures and updates.

Until Next Time,
Jessica (and Farrell)

The Beautiful, Dutch Fall

Jessica and I have been given quite a special treat by the Netherlands over the last few weeks. The trees lining Nijmegen's roads and filling its well incorporated green spaces are bursting with bright, vivid fall colors. The last week and a half or so has been among the busiest times in my academic career, with our completion of the first period, or half, of the semester and the associated spike in projects, tests and papers. In the face of our excessive, but quickly improving, work load, we found time to get out into and enjoy the fall wonderland around us. As per normal for all rain free adventures, I documented what we found through photography.

You can find the set here, or a slide show here (recommended).

Note: The pictures in this set are from three different locations at three different times, but because it is not necessary to view them in the order they were taken, and they all closely correlate to the same theme, I grouped them into the same photo set.

Farrell