Posted in November 2014
Alisa Silven, University of Maryland, Post #2: Traveling, Studying & Combining
Hi all,
It has been a while since my first blog post, but in the meantime I have done so much, here is a small update!
I think I can say that I’m used to living as a student in the USA now, combining studying with doing several fun things; it is getting better and better. Since my last post I’ve visited Boston, completed four midterms, had a million quizzes, homework assignments and project deadlines, turned 21, celebrated Halloween the American way, and visited New York City with my parents.
A new experience for me: midterms! I am not used to the American way of studying, learning definitions, and theory by memorizing the exact words in the exact sequence, but in the U.S. I have to. This required me to develop a new way of studying. In the end, it turned out well and I passed all the midterms.
On October 29th, I turned 21, which means I’m an adult in the U.S. now. Two days after my birthday, was Halloween. Since Halloween is not a big deal in the Netherlands, I was curious about the celebration of Halloween in the U.S. Well, it’s a huge thing here. Everybody wears his or her costume (even to class!) and celebrates Halloween not only on the 31th, but also on the 30th, and the 1th of November (actually it is more like a HalloWeekend).
On Wednesday the 5th, my parents came over! I showed them around campus, Washington DC, and we spent the weekend in New York City. It was amazing and we saw so much in just a short time!
Bye!
DC seen from the Lincoln Memorial
NYC from the Brooklyn Bridge
Visiting MIT in Boston
Oscar Heerkens Thijssen, Clemson University, post 2: Clemson at it’s best
Dear reader,
Football is big in Clemson. The games are insane. There are fireworks, cheerleaders, a big band and a stadium with a capacity over 80,000. The color of Clemson is orange so everyone is dressed up in orange. It is as American as it gets. Hours before the game starts fans from miles away gather around the stadium for a tailgate party. Thousands of people load their trucks with bbq’s, beer and food and pre-party on the parking lots surrounding the stadium. The game itself usually takes around two hours. If you want to know what Clemson Football is like, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbvtdXHXaLU (4:00).
During half time we usually walk to downtown Clemson to watch the rest of the game in one of the many college bars. There is air conditioning and beers which both the stadium lacks. Since there are no bars on campus, downtown Clemson is the place to be. Students, regarded that they are over 21, come downtown mostly during the weekend.
Also, if you are planning on going to the States, make sure to attend a few frat parties. These are house parties thrown by fraternities. They usually only let girls in but if you play the exchange-student-card you will be likely to end up at an awesome party. The girls, united in sororities, live on campus so they host their events downtown. They often organize mixers. In that case different sororities meet in a bar for a theme party. If you are lucky they will ask you as their date.
Kind regards,
Oscar
Rik van der Vossen, University of Pittsburgh, Post #2: Student life
Dear reader,
As promised this entry will be about my classes here and the different area’s in Pittsburgh. I’m taking bio engineering classes here to complete my minor and so far it has been very different from applied physics. The courses are less fundamental and more tailored to dealing with problems you’ll face in your career as a Bio engineer. The work these engineers do is closely related to healthcare. For one of the courses, called artificial organs, we actually have to visit a hospital and we get to witness an open heart surgery in the OR, quite an experience! There is a lot of homework in each course, so the final exam will only make up 25% of your final grade. This means that you really have to keep up with all the assignments and homework deadlines, even more than I’m used to in Delft.
There is still enough time to enjoy the city, though. Pittsburgh has some nice neighborhoods besides Oakland where the campus is located. The strip district is famous for its many restaurants and ethnic supermarkets, and a nice place to spend an afternoon in the weekends. Pittsburgh also boasts an area which has one of the highest bar densities in the US according to some locals and luckily I get to enjoy that as well.
Last weekend was Halloweekend, which meant dressing up in a costume and going to a lot of parties. It is very comparable to the Dutch carnaval and I really enjoyed going out with my friends and meeting a ton of new people. That’s it for now.
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