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Saturday, November 29th When I first arrived here, everything looked and felt different, even strange. I couldn't understand the language, and none of the shops were familiar. Leaving the airport, the traffic, roads, and cars all were different. The trees were shaped into boxes and the roads were twisted and curved. At that time, everything felt a bit alternative, and I couldn't even clearly express why. People's first question was always how the countries compared. I tried t

Monday, November 24th It's Monday again, but there are only two weeks left in this time abroad. While two weeks sounds so short now, there have been times here in which two weeks feels like a long time. In this post, I will discuss some of the challenges I have faced while being here as well as my plans for the future. It's almost comical the way it works. I arrived here and everything was new. Everyday I faced new situations and was consistently challenged with culture and c

Friday, November 14th During my time at this school, my teaching schedule has looked quite different from what I am used to seeing in the United States. I teach in two parts of the same school that operate very differently. One part of the school is the traditional school. Here, students learn in the format of hour-long classes that are taught in the instructional style I am used to. The teacher gives a lesson, and the students complete work that practices and shows their und

Saturday, November 8th One of the exciting things about being in the Netherlands is all the opportunities I've had to see new places. I've gotten to visit Rotterdam with my host family, explore Utrecht with a friend, and learn some history at Kinderdijk. I have also gotten to travel to the small town of Buren, seeing an old fortified city and ro de the ferry across the Waal River at Tiel. Another great travel opportunity I recently had was to visit Brussels. After arriving at

Monday, November 3 As I've mentioned, biking is a deeply ingrained part of Dutch culture. People use them to go to school, church, grocery shop, or even pick their children up from day care. I've seen a mother carrying three children on her bike! There are cargo bikes that allow the children, or groceries, to ride in a bucket on the front of the bike. The nice thing about biking here is how connected everything is. You can bike from one town to the next using bike paths that

Friday, October 24 This week, the whole region of the Netherlands was off of school. It is the autumn holiday allowing students and teachers to rest from classes and enjoy the transition from warm to much cooler weather. I used this time off from school to do a little exploring with some friends from abroad as well as with my host family. First, my host family father took me to Kinderdijk. This is the location of windmills that have been used since the 18th century! I learned

Friday, October 17th I arrived in the Netherlands one week ago, and I have already experienced so much here. My host family met me at the airport and showed me the countryside as we drove to the house from the airport. There was a lot to take in when I arrived, but it was less overwhelming than I anticipated. My host family has made the transition comfortable and the school has eased me into observations as I begin the student teaching rotation. One key part of Dutch life her

Tuesday, September 30 I have been surprised to think that in just over a week I will be on my way to the Netherlands. With just six days...

Hello everyone, My name is Mason and I am an art education student from Ashland University. This semester I am completing my student...