Job Applications and Study Abroad.

Wanderlust. That urge to travel everywhere, the notion that beauty is everywhere, the near need to be everywhere. It happens and it happened to me. While studying abroad does require some studying, it also requires a little bit of fun and adventure. I have participated in two study abroad opportunities: my first was to China for two weeks on the China short study business tour in March of 2012 and the second was to Zwolle, Netherlands in the fall semester of 2013. As a graduating senior I have had to turn my study abroad experiences into promotable objects on my resume and cover letters. Sure, it is interesting to show someone where you studied abroad and list all the cool places that you went to (no worries, I have pictures for the end..) but more importantly what did you LEARN from your time abroad?

From my experiences I was able to pull the ability to learn quickly and adapt to my surroundings. Have you ever been to China or tried to read their language? Not something very easy to pick up therefore, being creative and patient allowed for me to get around easily and communicate with people in the stores and at restaurants.  I remember in one "American" restaurant we eventually resorted to the old point and pick method because even the chef who spoke "English" only knew the words "Marinara" and "Beef". But being able to adapt to your surrounds and think both on your feet and intelligently about where you want to go and what you need to be doing is a skill you can learn from an education abroad experience.

In the Netherlands the course work I focused in was international business and cross-cultural management. Both impressive to see on a resume, because where better to learn about business and culture in many different settings than in a foreign country? However, easier said than done. A group project that was assigned was working on dissecting an international company from the inside out and then creating two different reports on the situation followed by a group presentation. What generates an, "ugh, not another group project" from the Americans also generates a huge challenge for other students who don't natively speak the English the project must be prepared and presented in. Each group was made up of different countries, my group was: Choi from South Korea, Robin from the Netherlands, Martin from Ireland, and myself from the USA. When you think about educational stereotypes in the different countries you are more than right. As a student from the States I was focused on individual work, divide and conquer, while my other 3 group members were from societies which focus on group learning and group activities. This was the challenge: working with students from all different backgrounds. We had to address concerns about how we typically complete work at home, how we had to change that for this project, how we were going to complete the project, and over come all the additional hurdles along the way. On a resume, this is easy to clean up by saying that you learned how to work in diverse group settings, or even in an internationally driven group. Working in groups, even those you don't always get along with, is something that happens daily in the real world. Being able to successfully over come the international barriers present in those type of international education stand points is incredibly impressive and a real job getter. Of all the interviews I have had, telling my prospective employers about my experiences abroad has been a huge hit and a great conversation starter.

My final advice: If you have yet to study abroad, look up ways prior to leaving that can help you tailor your experience to the job market after graduation. If you have already studied abroad, look at everything you did in the shoes of an employer, what did you do that would make you want to hire yourself? It sounds silly, but really... it helps.

Katy Lang

History & Political Science

Graduates May 2014

Now, if you have made it this far, here are some pictures of my adventures abroad:

Iamsterdam - Visiting Amsterdam

Lunch in front of the Notre Dame, Paris (September)

Typical food in Brussels, but we had this all over the Netherlands as well

Jardin de Luxemborg, Paris in September.

Utrecht, Netherlands (My favorite picture)

Skoluvnde, Denmark
The "suburb" I stayed in with family friends outside of Kobenhavn
(Copenhagen)

Code de Hammurabi
The Louvre
Paris

City Square by the Royal Palace
Brussels, Belgium

Nyhavn, Kobenhavn, Denmark
October

Trying Sarah's waffle in Brussels

"The Little Mermaid"
Kobenhavn, Denmark

Cathedral in Cologne Germany
Surprisingly it was untouched during WWII when
the rest of the city was destroyed by bombs

Rotterdam, Netherlands across the Erasmus Bridge

Guinness Storehouse in Dublin
My mom came to visit me for Christmas and New Years

The Great Wall in Beijing
March 2012

Jumbo on a boat tour in Hong Kong
March 2012

Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an
March 2012

and Zwollywood, my home for 5 months
Zwolle, Netherlands
August 28, 2013-January18, 2014

From Platteville to Zwolle, and back again

New semester, new faces! Interns Holly and Nate have moved on, and joining us in the UW-Platteville Education Abroad Office for Spring 2014 are AJ Coley and Nichole Padgett. AJ is a Marketing and Outreach Intern who studied abroad in Zwolle, Netherlands one year ago in the Spring of 2013.

AJ is majoring in Business Administration with an International Emphasis

"My favorite part of studying abroad was probably the fact that I was the only American there, so I got to learn about many different cultures. I learned a lot about the Hungarian culture because that was where my roommate, Bence, was from. He invited me back to his home town in the Western part of Hungary to further experience his culture. It was awesome, his parents couldn't speak any English so he had to translate for me, but it was pretty great. There was a language barrier, but we managed to figure things out and have a great time.

Like this one time we went to a castle in Austria and everybody was supposed to meet back in the car, but nobody was there except for his Dad. So I just kind of like shrugged at him so he knew I was confused, and he got it and pointed to where everybody went. It just goes to show how important the non-verbal communication was for us on that trip.

AJ with Bence's family in Hungary

The structure of the University in Zwolle was pretty different. Each class met one time per week. At the beginning of the week you had to figure out what time they met at, because it wasn't always the same. In that way, it wasn't as organized as here. There was no homework, and the only thing you were graded on was the final exam. It was terrible! I like homework points because they are easy points. If you have to rely on one final, it's not that great. The homework here keeps you on track for the class. There you show up and listen to a lecture, but you don't really have to think about it until the end.

In front of the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona

My favorite place that I visited abroad was Lisbon, in Portugal. I met a friend that studied abroad at my high school from there. After not seeing him for six years, I stayed with him at his home in Lisbon for four days. It was really good- a different experience. They only eat like twice a day and the dinner was at 11 p.m. I forgot what we ate, but his mom cooked regular Portuguese food and it was really good. He drove us around and showed us the entire city, everything touristy. I also found out that there are two cities called the "city of seven hills" and this is one of them, because the road and everything were very hilly. It was also the first time I've been to the ocean, and on a real beach. That's the first thing we did after landing, was go to the beach.

I also went to Barcelona, with a  friend that visited me from UW-Platteville. We visited the soccer stadium, one of the most historic stadiums in Europe, so that was really cool to see. We took a tour and learned at lot about the city. It was the first time I went kayaking, off the coast of Barcelona and France. There were caves that we kayaked into-it was really cold. We docked the kayaks there and went snorkeling. We saw starfish and some other tropical creatures."

Q. So, what made you want to work in the Education Abroad office?
 I want to help students in anyway I possibly can in order to help them follow their dreams of one day being abroad. Working here, I also get to learn more about different universities and places abroad. I enjoy connecting with these students that desire to go abroad, because I once had a desire that I wished to fulfill and it meant the world to me that I was able to.

Stay tuned to learn about Professional Writing Intern Nichole's experiences in Japan! 

Vrolijk kerstfeest en een gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Holiday Series Day 7: The Netherlands and Friesland

Dam Square all festive, Amsterdam, NL

When first attempting to carve out what makes holidays in Holland the best, I had a difficult time focusing on a non-biased matter of fact description, since my own experiences all came flooding back. That being said, I would feel amiss if I didn't at least first try to explain a few of the splendid parts that make the holiday season in the Netherlands (and fabulous Friesland!) a wonderful time. So, bear with me now as we first delve into a few "must haves" at any Dutch holiday celebration, and explore some of my own experiences from this wonderful little country. (Yes, Welmoed, I just called it little. Don't take offense. :P )

Sint and Piet- the best of friends

To begin, their holidays start much earlier than ours. The first part of their festivities takes place on the night of December 5th. You see, that is Sinterklaas- when Sint, Zwarte Piet and Amergio travel all the way from Spain to check up on all the young Dutchies, give the good ones sweet treats and surprises in their shoes, and bag up all the naughty children to bring back to Spain. That's right, they bag up the naughty children. Scare tactics work wonderfully on young impressionable souls. But no, in all seriousness it's not a scare tactic, just an old tale. On December 5th the kids place their shoes (boots preferably- more room for surprises!) outside the door or along the fireplace with a few treats for Amerigo the horse and a few for Sint and Piet as well. 

Amerigo and his besties (besides me of course)

If you know of my passion for horses, it should come as no surprise Amerigo is one of my favorite parts of the Dutch holiday. He is the tall grey/white horse that Sint rides in on each year. Sint is all dressed up in his red and white bishop-esque robes, with his helper Zwarte Piet garbed in renaissance attire at his side. There have been countless movies about their adventures, including my favorite Winky's Horse. Once Sint and Piet have been paraded throughout all the major cities and done their duties December 5th, then take board the next ship back to Spain with all the naughty kids stuffed in sacks below deck. Being practical as ever, the Dutch stores even sell these burlap sacks for parents to conveniently leave for Sint's convenience the night of the 5th. Thoughtful, right? 

Besides the children's surprise gifts, Sinterklaas also incorporates a family gift exchange. Somewhat similar to our white elephant, it take gift wrap to the next level. Families get together the weekend prior to or following Sinterklaas for the big exchange. Now, it is different for each household (some are more extreme than others), but I will share with you my experience. Get ready, it's a fairly long description.

For the Sinterklaas celebration, my Friesian family told me to pick out a thoughtful or funny gift and write a poem to its recipient. We all drew names a few weeks prior to the event, and then spent hours trying to find the ideal gift. I drew my host brother Bate and since he is a very classy gent I searched all across London during our Thanksgiving break for a Bond style hat. Skyfall had just come out and he, a few friends and I all went to a neighboring city to watch it in one of the Bioscoop theaters. 

Anyway, what I didn’t realize was that rather than wrapping these gifts normally, it is expected that each gift giver disguise their gift in mysterious wrappings of some sort. I'm sure Welmoed, my host sister, explained this tradition to me, but I must not have fully comprehended as I was lamesauce and just wrapped mine in festive Christmas paper from home. I still felt confident about my gift, since I had written a brief poem and thought the hat would earn a smile. I had completely underestimated the dedication of my fellow family members. 

I don’t recall many of the specifics now, but from what I do remember, someone built a life size jail to mock a family member’s speeding ticket and hid their gift items inside, forcing him to crawl within the jail cell. I can’t recall all the other gifts, but trust me when I say they were all humorous and heartwarming at the same time. Some were homemade concoctions of wood, nails, etc. while others were the store bought variety like mine. 

A photo of me with most of my Dutch family in my little kitchen/dining room. Miss them like crazy!

Of course, I do recall how craftily my present was wrapped. My host sister, Welmoed, knew of my passion for everything ponies, and so she wrapped all my presents and hid them inside the belly of a small black horse. No, not a real horse, but a construction of chicken wire, yellow foam caulk and painted glory. She had literally wired together a horse skeleton, storing the presents inside the chicken mesh belly, and then caulked the entire thing before painting it black and adding a mane and tail. To get my presents, I first had to claw my way through the foam and then use a wire cutters to pry open the chicken wire stomach. There was a lovely poem to go along with it that made me tear up at the time and was full of sentimental endearments from our time together. Needless to say, the whole evening really meant a lot to me and helped me greatly in getting through the holidays whilst abroad. For full details on that night and for the full poem, check out my old blog entry.   

Now that I’ve gotten that emotional rant bit out of my system, back to holiday staples of the Netherlands. I was told to mention the food selections, and although I am sadly a bit remiss on this topic, I do have a few key bits that complete the Dutch sweets selections. Since my host family ate only wholesome and organic foods, my holiday dinner with them was a bit different than is traditional, but they still took care to introduce me to the essentials: kruidnoten, pepernoten and oliebollen. Firstly, here's what you need to know about kruidnoten versus pepernoten. And yes, that means they are definitely not the same thing. My favorite are the chocolate covered kruidnoten that you can find in every Aldi, Albert Heijn and Deen this side of the Ijsselmeer (and the other for that matter).

Secondly (and lastly) is Oliebollen. Not a typical Christmas food, they are traditionally served around New Year’s. Similar to donuts, Oliebollen always come in a ball form, but can have a wide variety of toppings or filling such as raisins, pudding, powdered sugar or crème. My all time favorite are the raisin ones with a bit of powdered sugar on top- messy as all get out, but delightfully so. 

Such as this delicious pile of Oliebollen

 Now, similar to the Swiss, it is custom for holiday dinners to decorate the dining table with all sorts of holiday finery and fill it full with delicious foods. As I mentioned previously, my family always focused on wholesome, organic foods. Just because most Americans associate organic foods as being un-flavorful doesn't mean that's accurate. I can assure you that our dinner spread for Sinterklaas was stunning. We had mushrooms sauteed in something delicious, a cooked roast of beef from their own farm, a variety of beverages, lots of greens, and too many other foods to name. Unfortunately, I was a klutz and managed to spill my moscato on the ham and bree wraps. Luckily, my family just laughed it off and decided to enjoy the additional moscato flavoring. 

Now that I have spent the entire blog post discussing Sinterklaas, I suppose it's about time I got to Christmas day, right? Well, there isn't too much to tell. Christmas eve and day are equally heartfelt and full of holiday spirit, but it is truly a time for family and/or religion. Since only about 39% of Dutch citizens are religiously affiliated, you can probably guess which of those two is more celebrated. Yup, you nailed it- family! Usually immediate family will gather and share an intimate dinner, followed by some family time with a few Christmas shows and possibly a few presents around the Christmas tree. 

Ice skating is a big hit once the canals freeze over

One big difference, the Dutch celebrate two Christmas days and both are recognized holidays in the Netherlands. The first is on the 25th and is dedicated to immediate family, delightful foods and relaxing or spending time in nature. Day two on the 26th is usually a time to enjoy leftovers from the previous day, travel to visit other family weather permitting, and potentially go ice skating if the canals will allow it. There are a few other characteristic Dutch foods said to be the staples to Eerste en Tweede Keerstdagen such as the kerstkransjes (Christmas wreath cookies that hang on the tree), kerststol (a fruited Christmas loaf- not to be confused with an American fruit cake), meats & roasts, fondues and gourmetten. 

Gourmetten- Essentially a central grill on the table to produce all things delicious

Alright, alright, I know this post is supposedly to focus on Christmas centric holiday traditions, but it wouldn't be a Dutch holiday season without mentioning the New Year's shenanigans. I already touched on Oliebollen, but there are three other items I want to briefly discuss: carbid canons, midnight festivites and Elfstendentoch. During the New Year, it is custom for the Dutch to light off fireworks and cannons such as this and this and this.

 

The homemade canon we used for New Years

Usually that takes place all day long with make-shift canons made from milk cans, soccer balls and other funnel shaped objects lying about that can withstand the reaction. They put carbide into the cannon, pour in some water, seal off the top with a soccer ball or can lid, let it simmer for a bit, then light it off. Usually the more carbide/water and the longer it sits, the farther the lid will fly and the bigger the boom. As our celebrations went on, the little kids present were assigned as runners to go fetch the flying objects. I surprised to learn that people don't usually get hurt from this practice- in fact, more injuries are sustained from normal fireworks during new years. As the cannons fire, homemade oliebollen are passed about and enjoyed. It’s a completely different experience, but somehow just so very Dutch. 

Something else very Dutch- using your bike no matter the conditions

As everyone rings in the new year, it is popular in most cultures for kisses and good feelings to be shared. The Dutch take this to the next level. For an American such as myself, where we take a "hands off" policy towards most intimacy between strangers, it was a bit of a shock- but refreshing. As the new year bell chimes, every mingles about the room to wish every (and I do mean every) single person a happy and successful new year. I use the word "wish" loosely, since they not only say the words and drink to your happiness, but then lean in and do the usual triple cheek kiss. So it's say the words, then 1-2-3 kisses, and lastly drink. Repeat. All around the room. Fun stuff, right? 

Mmkay, since I was living in Friesland for my internship, I need to bob a nod to one last (FRISIAN!) custom: Elfstendentoch or the Eleven cities tour. It doesn't happen very often, but when all the canals freeze over enough to support thousands of ice skaters for a span of days, then the party commences. Aptly named, the ice skating tour follows down the canals through the original eleven founding cities of West Fries. A true party on ice, families all across Friesland gather and skate from one end to the other over 200 kilometers. It only happens every so often due to conditions, but Friesians are said to suffer from Elfstedenkoorts (tour fever) in January in anticipation. For more info on that, check out good ol' Wikipedia.

The entire elfstendentoch tour route

For more fun facts about the Netherlands complete with lovely videos and graphics, check out and like this  facebook page! Now, not to overwhelm you, but stay tuned because this afternoon Hannah is going to amaze us with the full English Christmas experience. I heard that Butter Beer and trips to Hogsmeade might be involved, but don't quote me on that. 

The Netherlands: Stereotypes Revealed

Alright, it was bound to happen. I was going to have to- at some point- write a post regarding the fabulous and splendid Netherlands since it was my home away from home for about six months. Now, as much as I'd love to tell you every delightful detail from that wonderful time in my life, I realize that would make for one very long blog post. And so, I have decided to follow a similar trend to my previous post, "Finally Friday!," and utilize images to tell you a bit about the Netherlands- mostly by clarifying all the half-truths that foreigners generally think up first when attempting to describe the Netherlands.

First of all, there is a quite large difference between the Netherlands and Holland. You see, Holland is actually only part of the country. In fact, the Netherlands, similar to our dear United States, is comprised of 12 provinces all with their own specific regulations and cultural backgrounds- some even speak a completely different language! On top of all that, the country of the Netherlands is actually just one part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which includes the cities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, as well as the additional island countries of Aruba, Sint Maarten, and Curacao. For a thorough explanation on all that confusion check out this hilarious video compliments of Madi Traffico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLuFYEw7Ick

Second fact of the day: not all Dutch people smoke pot. In fact, only 11.4% of Dutch people age 15-24 have consumed cannabis and the number has been dropping steadily each year. Also, it is technically illegal to smoke pot in the Netherlands, though there is a policy of tolerance especially where the coffee shops of Amsterdam are concerned. So yes, you can smoke weed there, however, don't expect all your Dutch friends to accompany you. For more information on what's legal and what's not, check out this wonderful article from CNN: 
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/17/travel/amsterdam-travel-legal-parameters/

Number three in our list would have to be that all Dutch citizens are tall, blonde and blue eyed. Yes, the Netherlands is home to the tallest average population measuring in at over men coming in at 6'1" on average, but you need to keep in mind that the Netherlands is not just for the original "Dutch" anymore. Like the rest of the world, the Netherlands has seen a large increase in immigrants from places all around the world. Besides that, Amsterdam is one of the largest salad bowls this side of the equator and very well known for its multitude of different cultures.

Fourthly, the Dutch people do not wear wooden clogs everywhere they go and for all occasions. Undoubtedly some of the older generation, tiny tots and rural population still stick with the traditional Dutch clog to tromp about the country, but a majority of the population wear normal shoes like the rest of the world. However, they are still content to let us carry on thinking this common myth in order to help boost clog sales by the surplus of tourists that poor into Zanse Schaans annually.

           

                                     

Fifth on the list would have to be their surplus of windmills. With all the weather and wind that sweeps off the North Sea and the Ijsselmeer, it's no surprise that the Dutch have a strong relationship historically with Windmills, but nowadays most of their windmills are just more tourist attractions and museum types there to compliment the landscape and draw in more tourists. In fact, the Dutch have definitely improved on the old model and expanded their collection of wind turbines to better utilize the weather that still batters their sloping shores.

The sixth and final item for my brief blog post is, naturally, the Red Light District or de Wallen in Dutch. Generally whenever I give classroom presentations, students are too nervous to come out and ask about it, so here's the sitch. It's overrated, and in my opinion not worth your time. If you google it, there are tons of websites promoting it's splendor and telling you what a lovely tourist attraction the Red Light is, but honestly I wasn't very impressed. To top it off, when I mentioned it jokingly to a Dutch friend, he promptly told me that he'd rather wait outside by the canals than "sample the wares" from the shops lining the lengthy street.

Not that I'm telling to avoid de Wallen, but there are a slew of other more worthwhile attractions to check out should you find yourself meandering the streets of Amsterdam such as the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank Huis, Vondel Park, Artis (the zoo), Heineken Experience, Science Center Nemo, the Royal Palace, Heineken Music Hall, the Van Gogh Museum, and Albert Cuypmarkt just to name a few. I'm sure this blog post will be followed up with more regarding the Netherlands, Dutch culture and my experiences, but for now I hope you enjoyed our Friday edition.