Already going home

You've probably been blasted with "Time has gone so fast" commentary more times than you wish to remember, but it's somewhat unbelievable that it's already December. The usual semester in the United States, for example, starts in September and ends in mid-December. So if I were merely studying "abroad" here in the Netherlands, my time here would be over. That's an odd thought, given that I feel as if I only recently truly settled in.

Stamen's post brought up good point; it might be a good idea to share what I'm doing here and why I chose this program. During my time at university, I was quite interested in politics, both domestic and international. I slowly became more interested in geopolitics and domestic public policy, and from there I started to focus more on environmental policy and urban design. Because I felt so cynical about politics, and about national legislative change, cities seemed a large enough entity on which to spend energy, but small enough so that you could probably overcome the corruption and levels of bureaucracy if your idea was good enough and you knew how to work at it.

I applied to Urban planning programs and to programs a bit more generally environmental, like Sustainable Development. Ultimately, I figured that I didn't want to be pinned down to simply urban issues; my interest was much broader and what I wanted to work on changed monthly--an inclination I didn't want to necessarily stifle.

In any case, I don't think I could have made a better choice. (Full disclosure, I'm receiving no added renumeration from writing this blog!). The program is good (not excellent). But the people...it's really the people who have been unbelievably inspiring. Our meetings for the Masters Committee for Sustainable Development have attracted over 40 people sometimes. People want to do something meaningful, and most of them are capable of doing so much. It's been great to be able to be part of that, and to witness how many people are passionate and diligent about so many different projects. Also: the city is really a great place to live. And if you want something more rural, you're a 15 minute walk away from it. If you want something more urban and crazy, it's a 4euro, 25 minute train.

But back home for a few weeks I shall go. I'm flying back on New Years Day. Apparently nobody flies that day. Maybe that means it will go faster and use less fuel (flying, it turns out, is an ecologically expensive thing to do).

Cheers everybody, and happy holidays/religious celebrations.