Chronicles of Barynia: Classes, canal walking, and more!

I've just finished my second week of classes, so now I know a bit more what they're all about. The classes I'm taking are Dutch Social Policy, Introduction to Conflict Studies, Environment and Sustainable Development, and Advanced Dutch Language (this last class is actually only starting next week). So far my favorite class is Dutch Social Policy - it talks about the evolution of all the different policies of the Netherlands on everything from drugs to prostitution to euthanasia. It's interesting to compare how different the policies are here compared to the US, to see what works and what doesn't. We also get to go on field trips to see the social policies in action and to hear about people who know about them first hand. For example this past week we went to a Smartshop (where a wide range of drugs, including mushrooms, are sold) and heard from two people that not only worked there, but are also involved in drug and addiction research. Their take was that instead of banning all drugs outright, there should be a policy of "harm reduction", that is making it so that people that want to take drugs can do so in a safe and well-informed manner. This is done by educating the people that come into Smartshops about different drugs, and providing safe places for people to take them, etc. Environment and Sustainable Development and Introduction to Conflict Studies are set up similarly in that I will have one two hour lecture per week, and one work group session with about 20 students where we'll discuss literature and do group activities. I feel a bit out of my element sometimes in these classes, since I have a neuroscience background and most of the students in these classes have more related majors. However, I am learning a lot, and it's interesting to hear the perspectives and knowledge of people from other areas. In Conflict Studies for example, we'll talk a fair amount about current world affairs, and it's nice to be able to understand some things that I hear in the news better.

It's warmed up now finally, although that does mean it's started raining. It's currently about 8 degrees Celsius (that's about 40 Fahrenheit - I'm trying to convert!). Besides the lack of rain though, there was one big bonus to the constant cold, and that was that the canals froze! Unfortunately, they just didn't freeze enough to do the elfstedentocht, which is where you can skate between 11 cities in one of the northern provinces along all the canals! Even so, there were plenty of canals frozen enough to walk on, and I even got to skate! (Not in Amsterdam though, in a small city outside). Skating is an important Dutch past time, and as soon as the canals are frozen enough, all the locals are out skating and even throwing parties on the canals.

Some canal walkers

That's me!

View of the frozen canal from my room

Last weekend we went on a day trip with CIEE to a place called Zaanse Schanse, which is a town outside of Amsterdam with a lot of windmills. It used to be an industry hotspot, and it's been preserved as a museum town. It was really pretty, and some of the windmills are still used to make products - we got to see the inside of one that saws trees for lumber.