Australia 2007 --> L'Olandese Volante

mercoledì, 26 dicembre 2007

17th November – An Italian supporter in Delft.

The same night I went to Delft to see the football match between Italy and Scotland, played in the United Kingdom. I met my Italian friend Luca who studies there, and with all his Italian friends we went to a pub to see the match. Netherlands was playing later in the night so we had the opportunity to conquer our room in the pub and watch the match (there was an horrible music instead of the commentary, but at least we had the images). Italy won 1-2 and assured the qualification for the next European Championship which will take place in Switzerland and Austria next summer.
After the match we went into the flat of Federica, one of the two girls who were there. We had a tasty dinner together and then started playing a drinking game. It was funny, but just for a while. After 5 minutes the girls were always making errors so they were the only ones always drinking, we had to make mistakes on purpose to drink some alcohol! :-)

After we finished both the food and the drinks I went with Luca and two friends of him (one Spanish, one Dutch) to Rotterdam to end the day clubbing somewhere in the centre.
I was quite tired but at least I was going out after two hard working weeks. And it had been nice until Luca has been kicked out because wearing a hat. This forced all of us to go out (we couldn’t leave our mate alone!), walk around looking for another place before heading back our homes at 4 am!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 20:04 | link | commenti (2)
sport, holiday, party, delft, netherlands

17th November – A Sunny Day in Rotterdam/2

The second part of my tourist day in Rotterdam brought me to the "fake" Erasmus Bridge, but before going there I still had another look to the Pencil and Cubes from another point of view.

Then I finally moved to the aforementioned bridge. It is a huge building made of steel, linking the central part of the city to an island from which another bridge brings to the southern part of the city, where the Feyenoord stadium is. But the "true" Erasmus Bridge is another one, and you will see it in one of the next posts...sooner or later!

After going forth and back from the bridge I visited some jazz clubs to see if they were planning to do jam sessions around New Year’s Eve (I’ll be visited by some friends and one of them would like to play the bass guitar there). Then it was time to go back home, and before getting there I stopped one more time, just to take a picture, of a church in an Autumn landscape.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 19:56 | link | commenti (1)
holiday, rotterdam, netherlands

martedì, 25 dicembre 2007

17th November – A Sunny Day in Rotterdam/1

After many rainy days, finally the sun came out.
Since I cannot go around during the week because I am always busy with my thesis, I can only enjoy my time during the weekend. On this weekend a bright sun was shining in the sky. And it was not even that much cold, so I decided that it was the ideal time to visit Rotterdam.
I took my bicycle and started my journey. After 5 minutes I stopped for the first time to take two pictures of a nice garden with a small artificial canal.

Five more minutes (this time walking distance) I was in Rotterdam Central station. More precisely I was on the bridge linking all the platforms and I took a picture of the tall buildings of the Rotterdam business district from there.

From there I went to Blaak, an area in Rotterdam, where every Saturday a small (well... not really small...) market takes place. It is possible to find a lot of different stuff there without paying much money. Anyway I didn’t have money with me and I had been shopping just the night before, so I didn’t need anything and I only walked through the market, which is next to the Pencil and Cubes buildings.
They are very strange, especially the cubes. Either offices or apartments can be found inside these yellow buildings, which seems to fall if observed from outside. Furthermore, I still cannot really focus how they are inside... I may go and visit them in the future...

Postato da: DexterH46 a 04:44 | link | commenti
holiday, rotterdam, netherlands

lunedì, 24 dicembre 2007

01st November – NS in Utrecht

Someone may ask: “why does he have to go to Utrecht?”. Easy! The answer is: “because I work there”.
NS is the main Dutch railway operator, is based in Utrecht and is the company where I am doing my Master Thesis. It’s just next to the Central station: a hundred metres and you are just below the tall building where many people everyday work hard to guarantee the best service possible to train passengers.
Actually I went to Utrecht even on my very second day in The Netherlands (I was looking for a room) and my first working day had been the 29th, anyway I took these pictures some days later but, believe me, the building is always the same, especially from outside! :-)
The first is one of the entrances of Utrecht Central Station, the second are the NS Headquarters.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 18:55 | link | commenti
utrecht, netherlands

domenica, 23 dicembre 2007

31st October – My Kingdom in Rotterdam

On the very last day in October, the 31st, I moved to a room I found in Rotterdam. Finding a room in Utrecht turned to be nearly impossible, so I had to adapt myself to the idea of becoming a commuter, catching a train from Monday to Thursday to go to Utrecht where the NS Headquarters are.
So here you are my new kingdom. Maybe it is not the best place I have ever lived in, but it is absolutely ok.
I am not paying that much money (well... 150 Euro per month is nothing compared to the average prices!), I am quite close to the station (so I ride my bike for just 5 minutes), I have a supermarket not far and I can even take a tram if I am lazy and don’t want to walk, the stop is just 100 metres from where I live.
My room is quite big. I have got a double bed and two sofas that can easily turned into beds as well. I have also got a small table in my room and a well-equipped desk with a lot of room to store many things. The heating is inside the room and there is internet as well. What can I ask more?!
Here you are some pics of the place, including the kitchen and the corridor... more stuff is coming soon! ;-)

Postato da: DexterH46 a 22:02 | link | commenti
accomodation, rotterdam, netherlands

sabato, 22 dicembre 2007

26th October – “Welcome to Holland”

These are the words pronunciated by Zjenja, my Dutch friend who came to pick me up at Schiphol Airport.

He bought me the train ticket (!) to get to his house (!!) where I would have been his guest for a few days, until I would have found a permanent place to live in. The Australian tale was going on.

In the evening Zjenja brought me to his house where he had prepared a room for me. In the morning I had been caught at Verona Porta Nuova station by the mother of another friend of mine met in Australia, Silvia. Despite she was still down under, she managed to organise a private pick up for me at the station to the airport. Definitely a great way to start this new adventure in The Netherlands. A way to link past, present and future. A way that shows that I’ve met many great people, ladies, gentlemen, Friends with capital F, in my life.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 15:45 | link | commenti
accomodation, journey/flight, netherlands, vlaardingen

sabato, 15 dicembre 2007

UTS ranks 1st???

On 8th October I have received the e-mail I report below.

Something really surprising me. Something impossible in my opinion actually.

Ok, I did not take the survey (UTS has been lucky...), but it seems that all other Australian Universities are even worse. God forgive them because they do not know what they do. Or, at least, what they write.

Or maybe, the only possible reason, is that they considered only teaching quality, for which I must admit I had four great teachers... but if they took into consideration other parametres... well, you already know the story...

<<Dear students

The Federal Government has rewarded UTS with $8.4 million from the Commonwealth's 2008 Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF). As a result of our performance we have been ranked as equal first (with the University of Wollongong) among Australia's 38 Universities.

We achieved this tremendous recognition as a result of our students' satisfaction with their learning experience, the employability of our graduates, and student retention and success. This is a very significant achievement for a University not yet 20 years old.

I would like to thank all students - past and present - who completed the course experience questionnaire and/or graduation destination survey. This feedback provided data that went toward our assessment.

This outstanding result is the culmination of many years of work focused on a strategy for improving the student experience of University. That strategy included:

* projects designed to improve the quality of teaching;

* curriculum quality;

* improving support services available to students; and

* innovations in the total student experience of university.

UTS is committed to ensuring that you have a rewarding experience during your time at university, both academically and personally. Our strong performance in the 2008 LTPF evidences this commitment, as does our continued efforts to encourage discourse that influences change beneficial to all students such as my article in today's Sydney Morning Herald. (You can follow the link to see the article itself)

Regards

Ross Milbourne>>

Unbelievable... what can I say if not... LET ME FILL THE QUESTIONNAIRE!!!

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