Waarom?

We are going to the Netherlands! We are going to the Netherlands??!

You might be wondering why we are going to the Netherlands. Well here is some insight into the posh world of a college professor: Before tenure, professors get a one semester paid sabbatical to do research or what have you. After tenure you receive this same sabbatical every 7 years or so. You can use it pretty much any way you want but it is a good idea to actually do research.

 Anywho this 6 months will be Kurt's pre-tenure sabbatical. He studies DNA folding and the physics of how it packs into our cells (apparently this is very important). When we started talking about this upcoming sabbatical, Kurt explained to me that he wanted to use it to expand his research methods and pool of collaborators. He asked me if it would be ok if he looked for collaborators in a different country seeing as the logistics might be a bit tricky with two young children and all. I, of course, said 'yes!'- I have always wanted to live abroad but, as you may remember from my first post, I am really a coward when it comes to interacting with the wider world. Neither Kurt nor I studied abroad in college. How could we pass up this opportunity to be glamorous expats? We couldn't and thus Kurt's search began.

 I was hoping he would find someone to work with in the UK. I am a huge Anglophile (plus I would not have to learn a different language and thus avoid confronting my monolingual state). Alas there was really no one he was interested in working with. He found groups in the Netherlands and Singapore that worked in his particular field. The coward in me sputtered "Netherlands, Netherlands!" when he reported back. Singapore seemed too foreign a prospect for this interested but reluctant world traveler. I figure that we should start with a western country to warm my skills at living abroad before we jump into a place where I could really get in trouble for my ignorance.

  Kurt cold-emailed Professor Jon Van Noort at Leiden University in Leiden, Netherlands.  He had been to Leiden in 2005 for a conference and got to see some of the university. To our delight Professor Van Noort responded with enthusiasm and agreed to let Kurt work in his lab and study his technique. He even suggested that we stay 6 months rather than just a semester to give time for Kurt to get some real work done. Kurt and Professor Van Noort met up at the last Biophysical Society meeting in February to work out the particulars. Kurt is going to help him with some ion pulling experiments (for more information on this- talk to Kurt. My grasp of physics is pretty limp). Anywho I am sure it will be very exciting for him.

  So that is why we are going to the Netherlands (!)

  When my husband and I took a backpack tour of Europe in 2009 we both kept hand-written journals detailing our time there. It was an enjoyable way to pass the time on the train as we traveled to our various destinations. Something about it felt very 'old world'. Maybe I just watch too many period dramas. But I am really glad to have done it. It was a trip that I will never forget but I'm sure the specifics will blur as the years go on and my life fills up with other preoccupations.

  We are about to embark on our next European adventure. This one will be considerably longer (by about five months and two weeks) and will feature all the trials and tribulations of life and travel with two very young children. Leif will be 3 years and Klaus 10 months when we take off for Leiden, Holland on June 2nd.  

This trip will be very different but I'm sure it is also going to be amazing. Instead of my little paper journal, this time, I  plan to keep up this blog. Both for my own memories but also to keep friends and family abreast of our daily life. I am also viewing it as a guide for others who may find themselves on a similar adventure.  Perhaps you will be able to learn from my almost certain mistakes.

I feel that I should let you know that while I have been out of the United States several times I am in no way a wise and worldly traveler. I am actually a very nervous traveler. I am very afraid of making mistakes and pegging myself as an obvious foreigner. I am also horribly afraid of my own ignorance and insecure in my knowledge of the greater world. These days it seems that everyone outside of the U.S. knows multiple languages and just about everything about the U.S.- our politics, our history, our culture. There were so many times on our last trip to Europe where I felt like an impostor posing as an educated person; It seemed like everyone could speak English with very little effort (Kurt and I were soundly beaten at Banangrams by a random German guy at an Amsterdam hostel).They seemed to know so much about our country and language and we  knew next to nothing of theirs. It was very humbling to say the least. I have studied both French and Spanish but I can do little more than order food in a restaurant in either one (and even then I tend to mix them up). At this point I want to throw up my hands and say that I physically can not learn another language. Or I am just afraid to fail at it. The truth is I am a horrible coward and I am afraid of being found out.

This trip I am determined to change that.

I want this trip to push me out of my comfort zone and force me to confront the things I do not know with grace and ease and determination. I want to make mistakes publicly and laugh them off. I want my kids to see me do it and to grow up thinking that it is ok to make mistakes and to be found ignorant as long as you learn from the experience. I don't want Leif and Klaus to be held back by the shrinking confidence that I have fostered in my own life. I have shied away from too many people and experiences be cause of it. 

A few years ago our friend Abby gave us a book entitled "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol Dweck. My husband is a big fan of this book and periodically reminds me about the books basic tenant: all people can be successful in all things they just have to put the right amount of effort into it. When we are in Leiden I plan to put this to the test. I have already started studying Dutch. I love the language and I want to learn it. I want to make every effort to use it and not fall back on the fact that every Dutch person knows English. I want to make Dutch friends and speak to them in Dutch. I want to have horribly awkward conversations with them while I butcher their language. I need to do this for my own self confidence and to shake up my otherwise cautious and plain life.

That is the plan. Lets see how it goes. Het is goed, he?