blogs

Courtney's Thanksgiving abroad thoughts

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 16:39:40 +0100

Courtney Kafka 11/28/19 Thanksgiving Day
Despite being sick for half the trip, and me not being home for thanksgiving for the First time. Today I really reflected on what I’m thankful and blessed for, not just to day but everyday. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my back, and a loving and supportive family. This trip has been quite the experience. Getting to see such beautiful countries such as Belgium and Netherlands, meeting some great people and some kind hearted teachers who helped me while I was sick. All the abroad students were so sweet to me while I was sick. Some of them were nursing students and they came to check on me, keep me company, and even offered to get me medicine and banana. These people barely knew me and wanted to help me while was sick, if that doesn't show you that kind of people they are! Today was the last day that we met with our groups in person. I’m happy a lot of them came out to celebrate our thanksgiving with us. We went to Angelo’s restaurant for our thanksgiving celebration, It wasn’t turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, etc. But the food was delicious! The room was full of talk and laughter. Felt good to actually experience the food here, just smelling it all was such a tease!

Happy Thanksgiving! Courtney

Lovely ladies at Inholland University Alkmaar the Netherlands

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 12:02:22 +0100

Caitlin's First day on campus in Holland

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 11:35:31 +0100

November 25th, 2019

Monday’s Blog by Caitlin Reynolds

Today was the first day at university for all of us. Everyone was assigned to random groups where puzzles were put together. This was called an ‘ice breaker’ even though the real ice breaker didn’t come until afterwards. Could you imagine using your body to create a number or letter? Neither could I, until today that is. As you can see from some of the pictures, some of us had simple tasks, like laying in a straight line to create an ‘I’ and others had to bend their bodies into 9’s. Sounds fun, but we definitely learned we’re not as flexible as we were as children.

Although we were all nervous to meet our groups face to face, my group made the experience very welcoming. We met at a table where the Dutch students arranged a little game with questions and food. I tried several new things and learned some fun facts about my group. But I’m still questioning whether a hotdog is considered a sandwich or not. A stressful day full of anticipation ended with some laughs and tons of fun.

Hannah keeps a smile impressions of Brugge

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 11:16:40 +0100

11/24/2019
Hannah Alley
Day Two

Good news, day two was much better than day one! We started our day around 7:30 am and got ready for the day planned in Bruge, Belgium. Even though we felt a little rough and were maybe a little stinky from not being able to shower (with soap) since we left Maine due to our luggage taking a trip to Germany, we had a big day planned at the Christmas market.
We arrived at the Christmas market around 1:30 pm, it took us about three hours to drive from our houses to Brugge. We ate some really delicious food and drinks, including pita bread filled with chicken, bratwurst, crepes, Belgian waffles with Nutella, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider. After shopping for a few hours and eating our way through the city, we met back up and got into the van for what could arguably be some’s favorite part of the trip this far: picking up our luggage!
Now we’re back to the housing, relaxing and getting ready for our first day of meeting our fellow crossing borders students. And I will never take body wash and shampoo for granted again

Away we go -- Dawn

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 11:17:56 +0100

DAY 1-2 (The First 24 hours)

Day of Travel

How did we get here? Well first it started off with evolution. No, no, no just messing with you. Well, at about noon we left the University and headed to Fredericton. Yes, dear Reader, we went to Canada to just go to another country. Wild, right? Then from Fredericton we flew to Toronto and this my dear reader is were the fun part begins. Our flight landed in Toronto at 7:40pm and our next plane began boarding at 7:45pm, which was all the way on the other side of the airport. We practically made a giant circle around the whole complex to get to our plane. Once on the plane, none of us had seating next to each other and were sitting next to people who took up too much room. Then we had dinner on the plane. The chicken, at least what I had, was an experience, but not in a good way to be expected. Honestly, its airplane food. Then, we landed and here comes the extra fun part, our luggage did not come out on the conveyor belt. Well, at least our luggage had a vacation, to Germany that is. I hope our suitcases at least come back with chocolate for us to eat. Most of us forgot to pack a spare of anything! The van reservation got messed up and our housing accommodations as well. We had to get a whole new outfit. Did I mention the Dr. Uriah Anderson was the smartest one of us all and packed all of his clothes in his carry-on and didn’t even check a bag. By now, dear Reader, you are probably thinking, “oh good, god!” In all honesty, I’m only explaining half of the story. Through all of this hardship the girls were amazing. Maybe we cracked one to many jokes and probably the most amount of jokes were about not having our checked bag. We were all super troopers, though. I am really proud of the level of positivity that the other girls had throughout this trip despite everything going wrong.

P.S. We get our luggage Sunday afternoon. I thinking I am going to embrace my suitcase, like a long-lost lover.

Your friendly mentor Dawn Johnson!

Stay tuned for more our dear Readers.

Crossing Borders 2019

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 11:12:37 +0100

It is hard to believe we are now in our 18th year. So many memories! I will open by saying this has been a wonderful group to work with both our UMM students as well as our international students. The UMM ladies will each take a day to bring you with us on our travel, sit back and enjoy the fun.

Kwi Nam charmed the Dutch

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 21:31:46 +0100

This trip is a great learning experience with other four countries. I am impressed with the different countries use of the English language. English is not a first language for anyone who is in the group that I am in, but we haven't had a problem communicating. Our group's focus is about the treatment of PTSD in children 0-8. I love Holland. I like the landscape, its such a small country, compared to the US. It is neat to see how the people are organized and respectful of the landscape. It is really neat to see all of the bicycles that are on the roads here. I saw small children on their bicycles, and they were so confident. It is so tidy here, there are canals that help to keep the land dry. Everyone is so fit here, which since I enjoy running is really fun to see. I have been able to see some of the city while I was running. It was nice that there is a place for both pedestrian and bike paths, they are everywhere! I have made friends with students from Netherlands, they are very kind, respectful, they took the time to tell about the school and this beautiful country. I hope to come back some day. Kwi Nam Park

Sightings from Sarah

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 21:04:00 +0100

On Wednesday, November 28th, we gathered to present our research in front of the Crossing Boarders class and the professors. I am in group two which covers the topic of child abuse. We were told to make our presentations creative so it keeps the audience's attention. My group did a powerpoint with pictures that resembled different types of child abuse, and in most of the pictures, I was the child. Even though it was a serious topic, we made sure to keep it light in order to keep everyones attention and avoid any bad feelings that might have come up. After we presented the powerpoint, we had everyone play Kahoot, but we also made sure to keep that light and happy as well. Even though we only had a short amount of time to create it, all of the groups ended up creating amazing presentations that kept the audiences attention and got their information across that they needed to. Furthermore, being in Holland has been a great experience and has opened my eyes and mind to many different cultures and ways of life. All of the students have gotten pretty close to each other, which makes this whole experience even better. It would definitely be something I would participate in again if I could! Stay tuned for Kwi Nam, Sarah Klein

Brooks Big Adventure

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 21:33:44 +0100

Today is November 28th, and has it been a busy few days. We spent most of the day at the InHolland University working on our projects and the other part of our day looking for the restaurant where everyone was meeting and eventually getting some food into us. A few of us also did walk through Alkmaar, just to see how pretty the agriculture was, and it was so worth it. It seems that all of our papers are coming along beautifully. We are all almost to the conclusion part of things which means the next few days will be a breeze. We are making more and more friends here and trying to learn everyones names but pronunciation has been a challenge with most of the names. We have all been very interested in learning about other cultures and government systems because they are all so different from ours. We have made amazing bonds and have spent many hours socializing with on another. I am rather certain that no one from the other countries have the personalities like we thought that they did, everyone seems to get a long very well. Prior to meeting them in person we all had mixed feelings on how others personalities were going to be, but it is all working out. I am loving the views, foods, drinks, people, environment and much more, and this is only my fourth day here, we have seen and done so much. We have walked miles and miles just in amazement of this beautiful country. We have made amazing memories and connections. But, I can without a doubt say that Maine is home, and home is where my heart is. Brooke Hachey

Euro Tips from Teresa

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 21:28:35 +0100

Happy Monday. Today was the first day we meet at the university in Alkmaar, InHolland. We got to meet all of the students, totaling like 50. It was so exciting to put bodies to the names and voices we have been talking with all semester. The first half of the school day we did meet and greet fun stuff and toured the university. The second half we were able to meet with our groups for writing. After school a group of students went to the grocery store to pick up stuff to cook dinner together. Each country was able to make food from their country and share with the rest of us. As the Americans we made American Chop suey and strawberry short cake. We all meet in the camp park we are staying at their bar and had a pot luck dinner. I was able to socialize with the other members of my writing group and also other students form Norway, and the Netherlands. We all played cards and talked and laughed. It was so cool to see 50 college students from 5 countries, and their professors, enjoying a meal together. After the dinner all the students staying in the camp park gathered in one of the bungalows for more socializing and entertainment. It was a fun day full of new experiences and new friends. I feel blessed to be able to be here and experiencing this once in a lifetime oportunity.