Wageningen University

That doesn't sound too cool or anything like that at áll, does it?!
(Especially to my friends in Delft and maybe to more of the Dutch.)

But, I can tell you that it is!! For me, at least.

In the first weeks I didn’t want to write anything about it, because I felt as if I couldn't already have a fair view. My idea about it couldn’t be true yet, something like that. Still kind of feel that way, but here we go.
As far as I know, I love it and I feel like I'm at the right place, doing the right thing. Yes, I ám taking a MSc in Forest and Nature Conservation... :D
In so many ways it is what I was expecting it to be. Hard work. Lots of hard work. Many hours. But hard work is easy, when you want it. Finally some decent education. Not a single day is wasted and I'm learning every day. There's lots of people with lots of hair, especially of the male variety (because it is a really ‘green’ university). Beards. Tales. Fluffy hair. Dreads. Goaties. Everything.
And I lóve one of the subjects I was taking this period: Ecology I & II. It fits me, and I find it very interesting. Listen to this quote of my studybook: "The beauty of ecology is that it challenges us to develop an understanding of very basic and apparent problems - in a way that recognizes the uniqueness and complexity of all aspects of nature - but seeks patterns and predictions within this complexity rather than being swamped by it." Brilliant!
And another one: "One of the ways in which we try to make sense of the world around us is to search for repeated patterns. In doing so, we are not pretending that the world is simple and that all categories are watertight, but we can hope to move beyond a description tat is no more than a series of unique special cases."
Ok. Last one: "As ecologists, we try to describe and understand the distribution and abundance of organisms. We may do so because we wish to control a pest or conserve an endagered species, or simply because we are fascinated by the world around us and the forces that govern it." Yeah, baby, yeah!!

Seven weeks have passed already. Each of the five periods a year, consists of eight weeks; six filled with classes, practicals, studying and projects. Week seven is 'the white week': no classes, but only self study. 24/7 :)
Next week I'm already facing my first exam and the deadline of of an integrated essay. It will my chance to prove myself.


Studying math in the library. Mouse-still.


Some of my co-students doing measurements in the forest, which we reached all sweaty after 40 tiring minutes on the bike, trying to keep up with a fanatic teacher.

Took this shot on the way home one day. I 'have to' bike from Ede to Wageningen and back (can take the bus as well, but I enjoy biking, especially overthere). Twenty minutes is my personal record, but it takes thirty when doing things the easy way.

Another practical. The Dutch famous (?) river forelands. The trench in front was created for fish, to reproduce, and for birds. The Rhine is the other water on the top-left, we crossed it with the sweet little ferry.

Load of students on one of the dikes of the Rhine.

This is how the Dutch stay thin :) (Well, ok, most of them...)

Giving the river some space, to prevent flooding trouble in the future.

To the left; the Wageningse mountain :) I'm enjoying this part of my home country, it is really different compared to what I'm used to growing up near the coast, in the most urban area we have.

This is greener. Some forests. Beautiful beeches. Heather. Space. Nice smells.

But the travelling... The distance is close to 100 km, getting near the German border. Mostly it takes me about 5 hours a day. Fifteen minutes on my bike in Leiden. Than a train from Leiden to Utrecht (40 minutes), wait for 15 minutes, get on a train from Utrecht to Ede (30 minutes) and finally I bike the 20-30 minutes to Wageningen. My fastes time is 1 hr and 55 min, from the door of the lecture hall to home. Blessed to have an iPod!!

I have been trying to find some square meters that I can call my own again, but ‘my’ university has been the fastest growing university of this country, out of almost twenty. So here I am, still living in my parents'house again. It’s funny to live at home again and I am enjoying it. The company, the time together.

And one thing is just like the time I spend on farms in Canada; no worries about food or laundry :) And there's lots of space here, compared to a student room.

The main thing I want to change is me in combination with sport. Got some pretty serious running shoes for my birthday, so I go for a run when I have enough time, which is sweet and definitely gets me tired. But I miss my girls, I miss kicking a ball. And I’m eager to try new things at one of the many sport facilities at the university. Next period.

First I have to make some things happen. Get my first results. Good ones.