It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

"At Christmas, all roads lead home" - Marjorie Holmes

I cannot describe the excitement that ran through me when I brought my little Christmas tree back to the apartment yesterday and began to string the cheap lights I had bought from Blokker around the €6 Albert Heijn special. Even when I went into The Hague this evening to buy some sparkly adornments, I couldn't bring myself to switch on the lights until all the baubles and tinsel was on it. Behold, the Budget Kerstboom!

Now for a quick (and mostly incomplete) lesson in Dutch Christmas. It's a busy time in here in the Netherlands, as Sinterklaas arrived a few weeks ago and has been busy touring the country. If you don't know who Sinterklaas is, it's this guy...

Unlike some guy you may know, who comes from the North Pole, he comes from Spain. He also travels on a boat with a load of these guys...

In case you are wondering, yes this is basically a white guy in black face paint. His name is Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). It might seem a little racist to some of my friends back at home, and apparently this debate occurs every year in the Netherlands, but as far as kids are concerned these little guys bring them their presents. And that is that!

In fact, the kids all get their presents tomorrow. What is even more important is that I also get to leave work an hour early! But I have to wait a few more weeks for my gifts...

All aboard for Utrecht, but mind the sliding doors!

"The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before"
- G. K. Chesterton

To paraphrase a good friend of mine, here comes a boring trains post. As the expiry date for my Museumkaart rapidly approaches, I have been making a valiant effort to visit as many museums in the Netherlands as possible! So last weekend I embarked on a day out to Utrecht, with the aim of visiting Het Spoorwegmuseum (the Dutch Railway Museum) and the Rietveld Schröderhuis.

Het Spoorwegmuseum

The grand entrance to the railway museum.

My primary aim was to visit the train museum, which had recently launched a new attraction: De Vuurproef. It turned to take you through the history of railways, then leading to you all driving a train in a simulator. It was actually quite good and certainly had the kids that were also on the ride wanting to do it all over again!

Working replica of De Arend ("The Eagle"), the first Dutch train, from 1839.

One interesting fact I discovered was that the first train to arrive in the Netherlands, De Arend, was in fact driven by a man from a small coal mining village near Newcastle upon Tyne, England. What a small world!

In summary, the museum had a lot of interesting attractions and more than a few locomotives. It was also completely overrun with kids, which shows it's not just another stuffy museum!

Oh, and on the way out I treated myself to one of these for the mantelpiece...

Model of an NS Class 1600

If you really want to see more pictures of trains then take a look at this album!

Het Rietveld Schröderhuis

Rietveld Schröder House in the suburbs of Utrecht

Part two of my Utrecht trip was a visit to the Rietveld Schröder House, which I had recently heard about on Saturday Live, a programme on BBC Radio 4.  In short, the building was built by in 1924 by Gerrit Rieldveld for recently widowed Truus Schröder with the aim of having an upstairs that was open plan for the daytime, but in the evening could be partitioned into several rooms using a series of sliding doors. It was also furnished with Rietveld's unique furniture.

I'm really interested in modern architecture and this small building, a fascinating example of De Stijl architecture, is well worth a visit. However, you have to reserve a place as only 12 people can go into the house at once!

Not all of the Netherlands is flat

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

- Haruki Murakami

If you ever want to know where the Dutch have hidden their hills, just go to Nijmegen. When I was initially told about the Zevenheuvelenloop (seven hills run) I took the use of the word 'hill' with a pinch of salt. After all, this is a flat country and you can probably argue that there are more inverted hills than actual ones!

But as I heard more and more about this race I began to realise that this was probably going to be quite tough. As I waited with 15,000 other people in the back streets of Nijmegen I was wondering how steep these hills really were. Take a look at this image that shows the profile of the run...

Now let me assure you that the centre part is red for a very good reason. Now take a look at this picture...

...and you may begin to realise that when they say hills they really do mean it! So, in short, it was a pretty tough run but I still managed 1:15:31, which I am extremely pleased with!

I was very lucky in the fact that work sponsored our team to attend as part of their Fit For Work scheme. Here is a picture of me and two colleagues before the race!

Congratulations to everyone from Fugro that ran with us that day - it was tiring, but great!

Ik woon in Den Haag

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."
- Albert Einstein

So, after one year of what became an elaborate game of geographic table tennis I have finally made the move to the Netherlands. I've been here two weeks now and have to say that it doesn't feel like that major a change at all! As I have got to know many people here in the last 12 months it felt more like the completion of something, rather than the start.

Of course, what was more difficult was leaving Newcastle. Having spent 7 years of my life there it really did feel like home. A busy week of trying to see as many people as I could before I left ended in a great leaving party for my flatmate, Tom, and myself. Coupled with that was the fact that it was my birthday within days of arriving in the Netherlands. Thankfully, as you can see from the picture below, having a birthday in a foreign country for a second year running didn't go unforgotten!
 

Spot the little bit of Newcastle in my new apartment!

Returning to the Cecilia International Choir has made me realise that Christmas is fast approaching and it will, in fact, not be long until I make the return to the UK to see friends and family. But to get back into singing again really is great. Incidentally, if anyone is around The Hague area on 15th, 16th and 18th December then why not come along to one of the concerts?

I never thought I would be singing John Rutter again...

This week was the viva examination for my PhD thesis, which involved a brief two day trip back to Newcastle. It felt very strange knowing that I no longer lived there, especially when I saw the 'to let' sign outside my old flat. But after a rather daunting 3h40m, I was told that I had 12 months to complete the corrections to my thesis and did not need to do another viva. I cannot yet prefix my name with 'Dr.', but I am well on the way! Naturally, I also had a great time celebrating with my CeG colleagues in the evening!

Finally, I also hope to revive another one of my passions...

I might need to buy a practice mute if I'm not to annoy the neighbours!

Taking advantage of my trip to Newcastle I brought back my trumpet. Hopefully I can find a jazz band or orchestra in The Hague who is in need of some extra brass!

So this brings to an end my first blog post. If anyone has a suggestion for a better name for this blog then please do let me know. If you are interested in hearing tales of other Newcastle University PhD students that have been scattered across the globe then take a look at Letters from Colorado.

Tot ziens!