The Adventures of Stephanie

aliens that speak German and Einstein on a wall

June 2, 2011
"It sounds like the aliens in District 9 speaking German."  That is apparently what someone, to remain unnamed, thinks that Dutch sounds like.

I have a bit of a beef too - there are two things that have frustrated me and impeded slightly on my ability to be organized in the office.  1 - hole punches.  We have three-hole punches but here they have no such thing, they have two-hole punches.  So odd.  I saw the hole punch on the desk in George's office and was trying to figure out what it was and then realized it the other day when I was given some papers that had two holes in them.  2 - the tops of my papers were getting ruined!  All of the printer paper here is taller than ours so it sticks out of my folder and started to get ruined on the top edge being in my backpack.  Pedro gave me some folders though, so my papers are now safe.

Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Enrico Fermi, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Max Planck... the list goes on.  These are all scientists that have marked their presence and signed a wall that is in the building I work in.  The signatures are of those that have given colloquia at the University.  How cool!  I'll be sure to post a pic later but my camera died for the time being.

They caught me too - they understand just how much I appreciate and love good dessert food - like stroopwafels.  Sarah had pointed out how almost all of my blog entries contain something about stroopwafels.  I really have no explanation. haha

Today has been a little bit of a drag at work.  We met at 10:30, which we all arrived a little late I think.  I forgot my computer charger, and then I forgot my lunch so I had to bike pretty much all the way back.  Barely anyone was around today because today and tomorrow are national holidays.  We worked more on the production of the new website and determining its organization because it should be useful and easy more than anything.  The old site is a bit of a mess and is hard to navigate.  Then in the afternoon we began working on designing the board game for children.  The topic is about light.  Here is a picture of our work and Pedro's guide to brainstorming which was fun.  We of course were watching the first episode of "Sheldon, Sarah and Stephanie's Space Science Show" while working! :)
 
 

After work we met for pancakes - well, Dutch pancakes, which is the pannekoeken.  We ate at a restaurant called Pannekoekenhuysje.  We split a bacon and cheese one and a banana and powdered sugar one.  They were gigantic!  The table knife was just about the radius!  Very delicious though!

 

I am very tired today so I'm off to bed a little earlier than usual!  Hasta pronto!
 

a 'car park', 'dead dog' and oil soaking hair

June 1, 2011
Today was pretty entertaining to say the least!  It started out like normal, I got up and ready, and I'm telling you, this concept of time in Europe is just so relaxed I don't worry if I may be a few minutes early or behind; it's a coffee break!

I felt so cool biking to the University today.  I say this because I have refused to wear my tennis shoes or 'lounge' clothes per say, because I am (hopefully) looking like a "European"!  Just a small accomplishment of mine!

So the whole joke here at th...
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life size bugs

May 31, 2011
First, my apologies for skipping out on an entry yesterday, so I will start with a little recap.

... Nothing really happened... Just kidding, but really, it was a normal work day and I spent the whole day working on going through the old Universe Awareness website content.  As my first task was to sort through all, and I mean all, pages of the old website - 463 to be exact, and then determine if it should be kept, updated, etc.  The next task is to transfer all of the information.  That is wha...
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Somebody take the stroopwafels away from me please!

May 29, 2011
Today I just couldn't help it, I'll admit that I made a trip to the grocery store specifically for stroopwafels.  They aren't fresh like at the market but I just had to have some more.  I still haven't given in and boughten lots of nutella, but they do have many generic kinds too that I plan to try eventually.

Anyhow, since it is Sunday there hasn't been very much to do.  Instead I thought I'd enjoy "some" stroopwafels and strawberries and work on my Dutch grammar lessons.  I am definitely imp...
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STROOPWAFELS and BARCELONA!

May 28, 2011


Yum!  This is a stroopwafel - it is like two wafer pancakes with syrupy stuff in the middle.  Puts that Belgian waffle to test!

This morning I ventured to the Leiden Market.  It is held every Wednesday and Saturday, but Saturday is the bigger of the two days.  It has been going on in the same location for, what I've heard, 900 years.  I knew I could get a fresh stroopwafel so of course I was there.  They fill them fresh as you order.  So good!  About the market, I don't really know what to say...
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Hallo, ik ben Stephanie!

May 27, 2011
I'm starting to work on my Dutch, well Nederlands.  With some advice, I'm aiming for two words a day because even though most do speak English, I would still like to learn.

I know that my parents and sister especially will not be very happy to read this, but I already love the city.  I hope that sometime in the future I will have another opportunity to return, as I don't think that two months is going to cut it for me.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, has been so kind and welcoming - also very ...
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and Chicago calls itself the windy city?!

May 26, 2011
It is sooooooo incredibly windy here today!  It's never been like this I don't think in Kenosha or Chicago.  I almost got blown over on my bike today and as soon as I was in front of a canal instead of a building, myself and two other bikers near me just about came to a standstill because going against the wind was so difficult.  I was contemplating getting off my bike and just walking!

Today and tomorrow Pedro is not going to be in his office so I was free to work from home or a cafe or of co...
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"...no beachfront property there!"

May 25, 2011
Yes, that is just one of the many good quotes of Sir Martin Rees from the UK, in response to a question from the audience about the methane lake on Titan.  

 Yesterday, on May 24, I was fortunate to be able to attend an event at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium where Universe Awareness, the program I am here working with at the University of Leiden, was being publicly acknowledged of receiving a 1.9 million euro grant to be implemented over three years in six different countries.  ...
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Hip hip HOORAY!

May 25, 2011
I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!!!!

This morning, I biked to the university, didn't take the wrong turn once, and had plenty of time to spare!  I don't mean to gloat, but I am so extremely proud of myself.  I have been so nervous about this endeavor since arriving here because in America, we mostly bike for exercise rather than transportation.  In the Netherlands, there are 1.11 bikes per habitant (which equals a whole lot of bikes).  I thought for sure it'd just be a quicker way for me to get lo...
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Parlez-vous anglais o espangole? Oui s'il vous plait?

May 24, 2011
This is going to be a long one!

Today I woke up to a beautiful day in Brussels, Belgium but unfortunate to say that I was tired when my alarm went off.  Since I didn't want to waste a minute of the one day I had in Belgium and I didn't need to be at Parliament until noon, I got ready and decided to start off by going to the natural caffé just a few door down for a wake up call as I remembered passing it last night.  

 I packed all my stuff up and headed out with my map in hand - the one that I...

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