Even though those two words never go together in my brain, i learnt since a week to appreciate the atmosphere surrounding this once-in-15-years event: dutch can skate on "natural" ice again! my colleagues have twinklings in their eyes and are happy to share their interest with me. i therefore learnt a few cool facts: the ice should be 14 cm thick b

I didn't see the movie "300" but i read somewhere it is about a war involving 300 soldiers. well, i had 410. not soldiers, but students. 410 students fought against the examination i created for them, and i really thought it would be easy (for them). not for me, alas, as i had to correct the whole bunch of papers. after some cries of protest, i man

You want to get pissed-off and grumpy a whole day? try www. sncf . fr, the french railway website. in all other countries i know, when you type www. <compagny acronym> . <country code> you get what you want: the timetables and prices for the trains. in france you get a spam-looking webpage with some ads for discound cards ("to have a "zen and fluid

Texel en juillet, très froid, bourrasques et pluie cela faisait longtemps que je ronchonnais, mais finalement c'est arrivé: j'ai du aller à l'école d'été sur texel, la plus grande des îles néerlandaises. vu le temps, on a été gâté, c'était plein de boue, et j'étais donc entourée de mines réjouies. le sourire de mes collègues cepend

Wouiiiinnnnn... mon meilleur copain dans les temps difficiles (je l'ai reçu quand j'ai commencé l'université) a décidé qu'il était l'heure de prendre sa retraite... nous formions une excellente équipe. je vais le regretter. ... et donc j'ai été a la chasse a la machine a café, et pour le prix le plus raisonnable, j'ai acheté une princess

The word for finland in finnish is "suomi". both "suo" and "fin" seem to be derived from the root "fen" (in dutch still "veen") = wetland, which sounds quite appropriate for the country of the 1000 lakes...this year my new year's eve has been quite memorable (note that it was last year as well - we had good fun in delft -). but this time i celebrat

I was at a workshop some time ago, in the middle of holland, with 20-30 people from all the same background. this gave rise to pleasant discussions, a nice atmosphere and relaxed exchanges between the participants. out of context, it might be a bit hard to laugh about them, but we had a good time. scientists are like big kids when they are together

Hier, on a eu un visiteur brésilien au labo. il était de retour aux pays-bas pour des vacances, mais il a vécu quelques années a delft. c'était intéressant d'entendre ce qui lui manquait le plus de ce pays. - vla (crème vanille, en brick d' 1 litre) : - haring et lekkerbek (poissons). la manière hollandaise de manger des harengs (le sushi h

Delft, monumentendag, temps superbe... jusqu'à ce que nous nous mettions à chanter (vrai! il a plu pendant que nous chantions.... et le soleil a brillé de nouveau après!) :-p cantiamo en irlande monumentendag est un chouette week-end: pendant le samedi et le dimanche, on peut visiter tous les monuments des pays-bas gratis (pas seulement en holl