Sportsdag (Sports Day)

After several days that have been mentally exhausting, but not necessarily physically exhausting, I decided to get up early and go for a jog. (Yes, it turns out that is not impossible after all. 😀) Today was probably not the day to do that, but so it goes.

I went to Estrelita's college, Noordepoort, this morning, but wound up in the teacher's lounge talking about America's political and educational systems with professors as they wandered in. I have learned much about the Dutch political system. Here, when you are 12 years old, you take a test. The results of that test, together with the recommendations of your teachers, determines your educational track from then on. Academically gifted students, level 4 (I believe), take a more academic track through high school and have the option to go to the university or to a junior college like Noordepoort. The law students here are mostly level 4, with some level 3. On the other end of the spectrum are level 1 students, who receive a general education, appropriate to their abilities, in high school, followed by vocational training. (Noordepoort has programs for all 4 levels.) School is comparatively inexpensive, but every program is not open to every student.

It's all about tradeoffs. Always.

Back to sportsdag. The weather today in Groningen was "incredibly hot," (82 degrees Fahrenheit) and one of Estrelita's neighbors offered to escort me, by bike, to a nearby lake. So I got to ride a bike like a real Dutch person, although not as aggressively, perhaps.

If my calculations are correct, we went about 20 miles. The wonderful thing about Dutch topography is that it's flat--even flatter than Indiana's. Still, the Dutch have no obvious preconceived notions about personal space, and that can be a little nerve-jangling for Americans. We biked along the Nordwillem Canal, saw houseboats (some nicer than others) and rowers, and just enjoyed some scenery. We spoke to the sluice-watcher. This is a job in the Netherlands, although I'm not sure why. The gentleman who does it is friendly enough, but the job seems to involve sitting on a chair in the shade and waiting for boats to come by so that he can open the gates between the canal and the lake. (Why are there gates between the canal and the lake? No one was sure, but they thought it might have something to do with thwarting invasive species.) We talked to him for 15 minutes. No boats came by.

Windmills? Heck, yes, we saw windmills!

Unfortunately, the windmill was closed, so we couldn't go in. But it was a lovely day--and a lovely setting--for a bike ride, and it didn't hurt me at all to get some extra exercise in.

Storks? Yes, we saw storks. The Dutch build stork stands to hold nests.

Why do they build stork stands? "We love storks." They are associated with fertility and they are, apparently, just cool.

Dinner! For dinner, we joined Estrelita's sister-in-law and her husband, and were joined by a Latvian woman who works as the principal of a school for special-needs children, also visiting for 2 weeks. That was an interesting conversation. And wonderful, "genuine Dutch" food. People are the same all over--and yet, very individualistic. Dieta (the sis-in-law) was chock-full of interesting stories of her travels through Russia and eastern Europe, of bribing people with chocolate and nice clothing ("not bribing; making friends!"), of hitching rides on freight ships, and how to negotiate a good price for dinner at restaurants in eastern Europe, including Latvia.

All in all, a good day. See you tomorrow!