amsterdam is a really fun place to go out! it is probably the best place to go out in the Netherlands. Although it is quieter than other towns in Europe (such as Berlin, Madrid, etc...) it definitely is alive and kicking, especially during the summer months when tourists flock to the city. Lots of italians, and americans pass by amsterdam - lots of great opportunities to meet cool people from other cultures.

A typical amsterdam tour consists of visiting the central station - which is a magnificent edifice; walking around the tiny curvy roads of the chinatown which lead to the famous read light district, from which a rather longer 15 minute walk past the niewmarkt towards rembrandsplein gets you to the first zone where you will find clubs/bars/discos. The better places (biased opinion) are the two clubs (?de kloomp?) on the your left when you come from the flower market area. on your right there are two bars which i dontr like very much (lots of heavy trance music and well, lots of people - way too packed).

Once you feel like you have maximized the experience - you can move on towards leidsplein - it is a bit of a walk from rembrandsplein to leidsplein, but once there (especially if its a good night) you wont regret it. there is paradiso as well as numerous other bars, restaurant/lounge, and obviously discos. some may charge a cover fee.

for food - i really recommend maoz for good falafels and endless salads - and the best fries in amsterdam are at vleminkX (on vootgoedstraat) - Really good stuff.

Enjoy your trip to amsterdam once you arrive at Delft

Coming back to Delft felt so strange. Not too many people walking the streets of the TU, and lots of tourists being guided around by people holding umbrellas. its hot but not too hot, the beautiful thing about dutch summers is that it not really exceed 30 degrees C (mostly in the 20's), the sad thing is that it may rain for an entire day, or a whole week.

New housing to be completed soon

the faculties are kinda empty as well. Last week the remaining students who have yet to submit the final draft of their masters thesis were still anguishing to hurry up and turn it in. In general the thesis are turned in by the end of July, however, in some cases supervisors may give an extension till august.

Coming into Delft in about a week will surely be a fantastic experience. You will realize very soon how fun the first two weeks are - survival week - its like a mini vacation here in Delft. At the end of those two weeks your faculty may take you on a 3-4 day trip (sort of an icebreaker) - that is a really cool way to meet fellow incoming international students.

Lastly you may be interested in buying things for your apartment or in general. for those you can shop at Den Haag (the hague - near the central station) for new items, or in delft (dixons for example - near the zuidplein. Obviously for second hand stuff you can buy at the second hand shops (I can recall one - gist straat - its called flintstones (small alleyway in center), but there are 3 others. Lastly, you can check out the forum at forum.ourdelft.nl (a website my friends and I are working on), where second year students can post items for sale, you can post items you are interested in buying, and obviously use the forum to talk about other topics as well.

Welcome to delft - you will enjoy it!

This week has been entirely spent in the library. Of course we are all watching bits and parts of the matches (sometimes the entire game) during this fascinating world cup. Then again, no one really wants to have to study during August for the retakes. That really puts a dent on your summer plans.

Here are the proud boys of the USA team who fought till the end. Unfortunately they were defeated by Ghana and will have to wait another 4 years till the next world cup. I think this was the best US team of the past 50 years.

 

As you may know, the Dutch national team defeated Japan in the World cup (group stage, 2nd match), and with 6 points are now assured of making it to the knockout stage. This time I was not watching it in the sports center like last time. I was just watching it via the internet. In fact, NOS.nl (the channel 1 television here in the Netherlands) is broadcasting all the matches for free (I am assuming it is only for residents of the Netherlands, and that you will need some sort of a proxy IP in order to watch from your own countries).

This weekend marks the end of a two week intensive course, Integration Moment. This is a once per semester course in the Management of Technology (MOT) program, recapping the material taught during the past semester. During the two week we were each assigned to a group of 6-8 people representing a company in a consortium. The two consortiums competed to present the best proposal for the creation of a new graduate school in the Netherlands, called the 3TU graduate school.

The first week was quite stressful for me since I had to miss some of the critical hours due to the Inspirational lecture that I organized, and the final day of my other course, writing a Business plan. The second week went much smoother because I felt like an integral part of the team, having made up for the time I was out, and since our team was really on top of things.

Working in teams can be the most fruitful or the worse experience in one's life. Some of us are individualistic and divergent, while others are sharers and convergers. There are many theories out there on personality types and group dynamics - I am certainly no expert at it - but from all my experiences I have found one key component which is critical for having a great, or at worse case an ok group experience: Communication.

You see, when you arrive here you will encounter a diverse set of culture, languages, and people. Working with someone from a certain country, or with a certain personality may be a totally new experience for you. Don't be afraid, and remember not to get frustrated. Almost everything can be resolved with communication.

I feel that my experience here in Delft has really helped me understand group dynamics, learn about how to come up with a balanced team, and to always keep communication a priority. I believe during orientation/"survival" week you will spend some time (?perhaps 2 days?) on learning some theory about team work, and of course you get the chance to apply the theory by working in a team setting.

Anyways, back to our group project at the MOT program. We presented our proposal based on the "New learning" approaches. What is meant by new learning is that learning becomes universal, easily accessible, and alternative. Virtualization is at the core of new learning (open courseware, blackboard, collegerama, evolve system (from Elsevier), file exchange, etc...). Another aspect is flexible spaces and formats - classrooms need not be 1 lecturer talking to 100 students. Instead, interactive seminar styles can be used when appropriate. Also, learning by experience is a key factor in this new approach - Delft offers students the chance to study abroad (IRP - International Research Program), as well as other options for experiencing education [committees, etc...]. Another aspect of new learning is preparing students for multiple career paths.

It was definitely worth the two weeks - even though it drained me of all my energies and sidetracked some of my other projecs. I learned a lot from this experience.

This week and the past week we are engaged in an intensive 2 week course. A sort of business simulation, wherein we have to take roles in one of four companies joining in a consortium to bid on a proposal for the 3TU (here in the Netherlands). We are playing as representatives of these companies, each with their respective boards, and a unified board for the entire consortium. We have lots of meetings and reports to fill out - it really simulates the working environment.

The world cup started on Friday, last week. Well, you guess right if you know what happened on Friday at 14.00 - we were all staring at the laptops streaming the match (Zuid Africa vs Mexico). The opener was quite interesting.

Today was really fun. At 14.00 the entire campus went into pause for 2 hours. the Netherlands was playing Denmark in the first match of their group. The oranje came in as favourites and ended up winning 2-0, although a 3-0 would have been more befitting for the occasion. Anyways, we were packed, 150 of us in the sports center hall. You will all get to know it quite soon as "survivor cafe" - where you will hang out for a long time during your orientation week "survival week". After 2 hours in uncomfortable stools, with hot, humid air, we all went out, back to our faculties, celebrating th victory for the oranje.

This phenomenon is really cool! the Dutch are quite relaxed about these things: leaving school/work in the middle to watch the National team live. I wonder whether professionals and others working in corporations also get to take off those two hours. then again, perhaps they don't care as much: who knows.

When you come here you will see how fun it is to attend a national sports event (whether be it football, or hockey, etc...)