Week 2

Week 2 in Leiden brought with it some new friends, some new adventures, and, most importantly, new classes. That's right, school has begun.

It's funny to think that with all I've been doing and all that's happened thus far, this is the underlying purpose for my being here. After all, my entire class load for the week was 6 hours. 6 hours out of 168! Granted, there were many more spent in the library or in my room reading and preparing for those precious 6, but still... Seems a bit limited for what it costs to attend.

Not that I'm really complaining. As I'm becoming more acquainted with the Dutch way, I'm learning to appreciate the freedom and relaxed nature that seems to be the backbone of their culture. While, I must say, there have been a few administrative hang ups due to a relative lack of expediency and organization on the University's part, overall it's been a breath of fresh air.

In the classroom I couldn't be happier. My first course, a research seminar on the "European Civil War," is led by a very engaging professor who specializes in German history. More specifically, early 20th century German history. So I know we're going to be all over the Nazis and Hitler during the year. Our first class, in fact, he gave a written exam asking a series of questions based on our preparatory reading, most of which centered around Germany's role in nationalizing Europe during the second world war. I can tell this guy is going to be great.

My second course, held just after the first, is a Historical Methodology class. The focus here is to examine the practices of other historians to try and determine whether their arguments have contributed to the progress of knowledge in the field, or whether they're just fluffing the pillow. This class is also interesting, because it's broken into 6 segments, each of which deal with a different historical argument. And for each argument we get a different professor -- an expert in the area. So this could be either great or awful from week to week, based on the argument and what type of person walks through the door to administer. Also, the fact that it's right after the other class doesn't give me much time to readjust my brain.

The third course deals with the development of nations and states in Europe. This feels like the most clinical of the three. A lot of the discussion is going to center around what factors built which empires, and why civilization has eventually come to settle on the current national state formula. This course will also feature a number of professors, depending on the focus of the week. The good news here is that it ties in very well with my first course. The bad news is that it's a ton of reading. For the first class we were expected to read 2 entire books and a selection of articles. Eeker.

All 3 of the courses have no more than 10 students, some part of my program, some not. So, there won't be anywhere to hide. I'm planning on using large portions of my 162 free hours to travel around the continent, just so long as I can read on the train.

Tourist highlights for the week:

The Gravensteen. This building actually houses the international administration office currently, but it used to be the town prison. They would execute convicted criminals in a courtyard just beyond the front desk window, making it a somewhat ominous place for new students to start their academic process. Its a great old building though, very well maintained.

International night at club InCasa. The international student group put together a theme party at one of the clubs in Leiden on Saturday night. Everyone was supposed to dress up like their country of origin. This was great. I wore boardshorts, a t shirt, and my California flag as a cape. There were some really great costumes that I didn't get pictures of since it was so dark. (read: I dropped the ball with the camera)

Noordwijk beach. I hopped on the bus today and visited the coast. Took no more than 20 minutes, and it cost about 10 bucks round trip. It wasn't the best day due to clouds, but I actually found the beach to be pretty impressive. Tons of people kite surfing, great dunes to hike around in, and some good cafes right on the sand.

Hope everyone is living well back home. If you guys want to check out more of what I'm doing back here, I've been running a fitness blog at www.crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/

That's all for now...