Maastricht Part 5: 11 November

I know I mentioned this post would contain information concerning my trip to Utrecht, but I wanted to post some pictures from today.

Apparently, the Carnaval Season starts on the 11th of November here in the Netherlands.  To celebrate, the residents of Maastricht dress up in crazy costumes, listen to music, and drink beer.  The city closed off the main square and set up a mini-fest.  Here are some pictures I snapped during my walk today:

These are toilets set up right outside my door.  Not much privacy, but great for a guy whose been drinking all day considering the bathrooms at the fest cost money.  I didn't get involved in the festivities, so there was no reason for me to use these.

Lastly, as I was walking around I heard a familiar song, you might recognize it as well:

Maastricht Part 4: The Limburg Countryside

A few (read: many) weeks ago I was invited to see the Limburg countryside by a Dutch student who studied at Washburn University School of Law last year.  Here is a recount of what happened that day.

Laurie picked us (two other Washburn students and me) up at the train station and drove us to Margraten. We didn't see much by way of the town, but we went to the Netherlands American Cemetery and walked around.  Like all other military cemeteries, it was hauntingly beautiful and very meticulously maintained.

In total there are six Medal of Honor winners buried there.  I had no idea what LTC Cole earned his MOH for before I took the picture of his grave marker, but afterwards I read about it and it was pretty amazing.  As a quick way to put it, he did what just about every other battalion commander (and military leader at that) envisions their combat time will be like - he fixed bayonets and charged enemy positions.

After we spent a good while at the cemetery (where I got asked a lot of questions about the military by the others on the trip), we had ourselves a Dutch treat:

These are called Negerzoenen, which translates to "Negro Kisses."  There has been a movement in the manufacturing business to shorten the name to simply Zoenen.  They consist of a wafer topped with marshmallow and covered in chocolate.  They were good, but one is almost too much sugar for one person. So what did we do after we had too much sugar from the zoenen?  We went for ice cream.

For about $5 I got three scoops of vanilla ice cream covered in about a pound of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries.  Despite the fact that it was about 45 degrees outside (and that is where we ate), the ice cream was amazing and something I will have to do again once it warms up in the spring.

Once we had finished our ice cream, we headed to the highest point in the Netherlands, which coincidentally is also the point where Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet.  The Dutch have turned the area into a mini-theme park-esque area with a fake little village where they sell over-priced food and souvenirs.  There was also a labyrinth:

We never actually figured out how to get out, we just back-tracked and went out the entrance.  Here is a picture of the four of us who traveled.  I've got the beard, then it is Laurie (Dutch), Kali, and Lauren.  Kali and Lauren are in their third year at Washburn.  Kali is spending the entire year here studying for her masters in tax law (gross) and Lauren is just here for the semester.

Here is the actual point where the three countries meet.  I have labeled them to make it easier to tell (there aren't red lines on the ground, though there are thin strips of metal).

Lastly, we took the elevator to the top of the look out tower where I snapped this panorama of the three countries (the second photo shows roughly where the borders are).

These lines aren't perfectly laid out, but you get the idea.  All in all it was a good day seeing the areas outside of the city limits since I haven't gotten out too much (though I have run to Belgium twice in the last month; it is about a 4-mile trip each way).

Preview for next post (whenever that may be): seeing Coheed & Cambria in Utrecht.

Maastricht Part 3: The Faculty of Law

I wrote a little about the university in my first post; here I will discuss the Faculty of Law a little and provide some pictures.

As a general introduction, the university has six faculties: Arts and Social Science; Business and Economics; Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences; Humanities and Sciences; Law; and Psychology and Neuroscience.  So within the university there are a number of sub-units known as faculties.  In the US we would refer to them as schools, but with a little difference for the law faculty.

Law schools in the US are part of larger universities (sometimes), but they are separate in the sense that law schools normally occupy their own buildings and are somewhat insulated from the undergrad (and other master-level degree schools) part of the university.  Here, the faculty of law encompasses everyone who is studying law from the first year undergrad to the Ph.D. candidate.  We don't mix classes (some exchange students will jump between masters and bachelors classes), but you can never be sure what level of education a person in the hallway has.  Additionally, unlike the US, the faculty of law does not have a separate library, so it is still a surprise to me when I go to study and the people sitting next to me are working on the quadratic equation (it is also a little surprising since that was high school math).

The faculty of law has its own building:

The building used to be the seat of the regional government of Limburg.  Because of the history of the building, it has some pretty stately rooms.  Here are the two rooms where most of the lectures are held:

The first picture is of the Festzaal.  The Festzaal is also the room used for the moot court competitions.  It is a gorgeous room, but it is quite formal so it really feels like the lecturer is talking at you.  The second room is the Staatenzaal.  Despite the brightly colored chairs (if you've ever been to continental Europe, you have probably seen how the Europeans love to mix the old buildings with contemporary decorations), it is a very beautiful room with great windows that are populated by the coat of arms of the towns in Limburg:

You can see the red shield with the white star of Maastricht in the upper right.  Unfortunately, not all of the rooms are as nice.  The tutorial rooms are much smaller and normally cramped.  Of course, the one I took a picture of is probably the nicest tutorial room in the entire building.  Either way, it gives you an idea of where the "real" learning happens:

As I mentioned earlier, because of the building's previous purpose, there are many impressive features:

Of course, the faculty does their best to make this place seem less like the former seat of a regional government and more like Hogwarts:

This was the best one, but it seems that each (I'm assuming) former dean chooses a ridiculous pose for their picture.

Below are some pictures of the library.  It is a nice building, but is way too crowded since it is the only library (there is another one but it is about a 15-minute bike ride away) in the downtown area.  I really miss having a separate law library when I go there and can't find any place to sit and study.  The entrance is through this gate:

The building has three US floors (two and a ground floor if you're European) and what would seem like plenty of seating:

All in all the faculty of law is a nice place to learn (I have only walked through one other university building and it seemed quite nice as well), just like the city of Maastricht itself.  In fact, the university was ranked the 19th best university under 50 years old in the world.

As a side-note, if you are interested in seeing the horrible pictures I took of the World Championship Road Race a couple weeks ago, they will hopefully be posted here soon.

As a preview of the next installment, I ran through three countries this weekend in the span of about three seconds.  Till then, doei.

Maastricht Part 2: The Apartment

As I mentioned last post, I live right off one of the main squares in the heart of Maastricht.  The apartment, if located in NYC, is what you would call a 4th floor walk-up.  Of course, since the apartment is in Europe it is on the 3rd floor (the 1st floor as we know it is the ground floor) and the lack of an elevator is normal.

The place is perfect for a single person, as it has one bedroom, an open living room area, a small kitchen, and a tiny bathroom.  But since I'm a poor college student, I am sharing the apartment with a schoolmate. Here are some pictures:

This is the building:

Here are the kitchen and bathroom:

Lastly, as a consequence of putting two people into a one bedroom apartment, here is a picture of my cozy corner of the living room:

I have to get to IKEA soon and buy some dividers, but so far it hasn't been too big of an issue since I am normally awake before my roommate.

The real selling point of the place is the location, and while this picture doesn't really do it justice, it shows how close we are to the main squares (the dome on top of the town hall situated in the Markt can be seen in the back left of the shot):

Just beyond that tree is the Vrijthof, which I spoke about last post.

Despite being so close to downtown and much of the shopping/eating establishments, there are still times that I want to get out into the 'burbs a bit and enjoy nature.  In order to do that I either have to walk 30 minutes, or hop on my bike and ride for 10.  The cycling culture in the Netherlands is like no other - there are almost as many miles of bike paths as there are miles of roadways.  Everyone from small children to elderly people ride their bikes everywhere, in all types of weather.  Sometimes it is a bit of a rough ride in the city because of the cobblestones, but beyond that it is quite easy and enjoyable to get around by bike because the country is pretty flat.

Here is my bike (I bought it used and will sell it before I leave next summer) locked up just outside of town while awaiting the peloton to pass during the World Championship race last weekend:

There are six total apartments in the building.  The other day I met my downstairs neighbor; he is an Air Weapons Officer in the Air Force stationed just across the border in Germany at a NATO base.  He seems like a real nice guy and has a pretty interesting job.  It's always nice to have a military guy to talk with as it breaks up the academia by which I'm surrounded.

Till next time.

Maastricht Part 1: In The Beginning...

I hope this post finds everyone doing well and hopefully enjoying the beginning of a nice fall (except for those of you in Kansas, I've come to the conclusion there are no nice seasons in Kansas). I have been in Maastricht, Netherlands for a little over three weeks now.

Today marks the beginning of the third week of classes as I pursue my masters in International Human Rights law. I am currently taking Advanced International Law and International Dispute Settlement. Neither class is that exciting, but they lay the foundation for future learning. I am especially looking forward to International Human Rights law next period and International Humanitarian Law (the Law of War) in the spring.

The academic environment is quite different from what I am used to, both in my undergrad and at law school in the US. The school year is broken down into four, 8-week periods instead of the semester system we have. I have a total of 8 hours of class a week: 2 on Monday, 2 on Tuesday, and 4 on Wednesday. That's right, I have a 4-day weekend every weekend. The Monday and Tuesday sessions are lectures (about 80 students per lecture) from a professor covering the reading that was assigned for the week. The Wednesday sessions (there are two, 2-hour sessions) are what they call tutorials. Tutorials are presided over by a tutor, who has a Ph.D., and it follows what the university calls Problem Based Learning. In each PBL session, which has about 18 students, we discuss the lecture and then the assigned writing. The tutor's job is to guide us toward the (most) correct answer by way of questions. This aspect is similar to the idea of the Socratic method with which US law students are familiar.

The city is decent sized and has about 120,000 inhabitants. It was settled by Romans because the Maas (Meuse) River was easy to ford here. I guess in old Dutch stricht meant ford, so the name of the city is Maasford (like Hartford, where ancient settlers forded the Hart! Or New Hartford, where ancient settlers forded the New Hart!). Apparently there are over 360 cafes within the city limits, which makes getting bored of a specific place very difficult. There are two main squares in the downtown area - the Markt (Market) and the Vrijthof (Free Square). I live right off the Vrijthof with a schoolmate from Washburn as it was the most economical option that kept us near downtown. We live in a 1-bedroom place, so I pay less rent and have a corner of the living room to call my own for the next 10 months. All in all it isn't too bad given the location to downtown and the faculty of law (the school is a 3-minute walk). An interesting fact about Maastricht is that it was supposedly the place where the first dinosaur bones were found. A farmer found some bones and a professor told him he would pay for any bones the farmer brought into town. Once the farmer realized what he had stumbled upon, he didn't want to sell them anymore. Like modern day man, the two went to court and argued about it. To make the court's decision easy, Napoleon, who had occupied the city, took control of the bones and now they reside in Paris.

I haven't really traveled since I've been here, save for a night in Brussels. I didn't have a place to live here in Maastricht yet and the hotels were booked, so I took the opportunity to get out and see another city. I ended going there during the Belgium Beer Weekend, which was frustrating because I was unaware of it and hadn't made plans to go, so the tents were full. This coming weekend is the UCI World Road Race Championship (cycling) that starts right here in Maastricht! As a big cycling fan, my timing couldn't have worked out any better. Hopefully I'll be able to get some autographs and meet some of the riders.

This is the red tower of Sint Janskerk (Saint John the Baptist Church) right on the Vrijthof. It is painted red because it is made from marl, a limestone quarried here in Maastricht. The stone is yellow when quarried, but oxidizes to black after a while. Maastricht was known as the city with the black tower and, being a somewhat posh city, didn't like that and decided to spruce it up and paint it red.

I toured the caves where the marl is quarried and saw this drawing, among many, on the wall (the caption on the picture says, "Napoleon visits Maastricht." What a nice way of putting it.):

That was the scene at the beer weekend in Brussels:

Finally, this is a Dutch cop demonstrating proper form when covering his buddies who are assaulting a car (don't worry, it was a display put on by the police, not a real arrest):