My Life as Lisa: and then I woke up married to an ugly pineapple

Have you ever watched Ice Age? Monster, Inc.? A Bug’s Life? The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Ratatouille? Tarzan? Finding Nemo? Mulan? Okay, I think you get the point…Though, may I mention one more? HOP – you might not have heard of that one yet, but it seems like one of the cutest movies that exists. Why am I listing those endless movies? People that know me better will probably not very surprised; I am a film-student and all I do all day long is listing movies, plots, actors, characters, music and so on and so on all the time. People that know me will probably have shut down their listening-modus already at the beginning of the this paragraph, merely for self-defense purposes. I promise though to everyone who has read this so far, the conclusion of this list will be worth it.

I was going to meet Peter De Séve, the man who created the characters for all those above mentioned movies. He also draws the covers for the New Yorker, a highly prestigious and sophisticated magazine. Believe me, those covers are brilliant. There is so much detail in them! If you feel like procrastination, why don’t you visit Peter’s website and look at all the amazing things he did?        

You might wonder whether I was nervous. I will make the answer to this very simple: Hell yes! Nervous, excited but most of all incredibly happy. After the first ever email of him, I was so happy and excited that I jumped against a shelf. You can imagine in which state I was in at that moment, on the train towards Utrecht.

When I arrived, it took a while for me to find the university where the lecture would take place and strolled around there. Oh and there on the other side of the street was Peter De Séve. I made my way towards the door of….wait, what?

There on the other side of the street was Peter De Séve. Alone. No Groupies jumping on him. How could that be? After recovering from at least two heart attacks, I summoned all of my strength and went towards him. He immediately treated me like an old friend. I got three kisses on the cheek (“That is how you do it in the Netherlands, right?”) and we went inside for the technical check up. The rest of the day I was by his side, I felt like a real V.I.P.

I like to think that people wondered who that girl by his side was all the time. Most likely they did not but I like the idea. And, you can be sure, I like-liked the day!

Sadly, it was over much too soon. Okay, actually there was nothing to be sad about after all; even though it was unfortunate that this day would ever come to an end, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. I can certainly say I left to Middelburg with a big smile on my face.

P.S.: His lecture was amazing, if you want to see a bit of it, you can check out the bunnies! episode of campus news that can be found on youtube/the website.

 Lisa Theresa is a theatre&media studies student, minoring in Statistics merely for the sake of insanity. She is a second year at Roosevelt Academy and apart from work in other committees head of the Campus News Project  (www.ra-campusnews.webs.com).

Kelly and...Now What?

Monday morning, 8:45 AM. On my way to class (a little late), I once again realized how much I hate early classes. Really, I’m not a morning person. I quickly slipped into the classroom, muttered a “sorry” to the professor and sat down, praying that a cup of coffee would magically appear on my table. Nothing happened.

After a while, the class (one of my Literature courses) engaged in a discussion about the position of writers. To what extent are authors a product of their generation, and to what extent can they transcend the problems of their time and provide readers with refreshing views on the situation? Of course, as a writer, this question interests me very much. However, at the same time, I don’t exactly see myself as a sort of role model. I don’t believe that if someone wants to hear the voice of my generation, they’ll think of me.

Then I felt my cell phone buzz. A text message. (Yeah, I wasn’t exactly a model student either today…) And that’s how I heard that Osama Bin Laden had been shot.

As soon as I came home I checked facebook to see the reactions of my friends – the children who grew up in the aftermath of 9/11. Some were really excited, others disappointed that he won’t be punished for his actions. I talked about it with my roommate. I remembered a conversation in London last week, about the way we’re used to exhausting security checks in airports even though these measures are still pretty recent.

Of course it’s a good thing that this villain won’t trouble us anymore, but we shouldn’t forget that he’s not the only one. He was but one pawn in a very complex game. Only time will tell what’s going to happen to global politics now; only time will tell what’s going to happen to you and me. But I am absolutely sure that years from now, we’ll still remember this day.

Kelly Meulenberg (class of 2012) studies Arts & Humanities, focusing on Literary Studies and Theater & Media Studies. She is also a writer and filmmaker. Other passions include music, food and traveling.

Ilse Feels Whelmed

It's hardly my favorite movie (though I enjoy watching it when I'm feeling down) but '10 Things I Hate About You' does have one of the better questions ever asked in films; 'I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?'. A small bit of internet research told me that yes, it is possible. 'Whelmed' apparently is an archaic, somewhat poetic word and means 'submerged' or 'overcome'. Overwhelmed, then, is a hyperbole while underwhelmed is an understatement. If that's the truth – the Internet never lies – then I feel terribly whelmed at the moment, as in, there's so much stuff to do at this particular moment but I know I can handle it. I am submerged in homework, but as the Zeeuwse motto says; 'I struggle and emerge' ('Luctor et emergo'). I am whelmed. Interestingly, the answer to the question in the films is 'I think you can in Europe.' Well. Isn't that the truth.

Ilse is a second year social science student with an interest in law and law enforcement with an interest in many different sorts of media.

Maud's Guide to Surviving Middelburg

It's great to see our blogs get cross-posted to the Roosevelt Academy Facebook page! This means they can reach a lot more people. However, the main purpose of this blog is to give prospective students an idea of what it is like to study at RA. With them in mind, I have compiled a list of ten of important places in Middelburg. Many of these I mentioned before in my blogs.

Eleanor, Franklin & Theodore

Rather than Building #1, #2 and #3, our university buildings were named after various Roosevelts. The funky names were undoubtedly implemented to cause hilarious situations when giving directions to non-RAers. I don't think I'll ever forget "to reach the IT helpdesk, one must enter Eleanor from the rear".

Arguably, our best building is Eleanor. This is where people assemble during the day in coffee and lunch breaks to discuss class or other important matters—all in English, of course. At night, productivity reigns supreme for those of us who study best in public spaces with a handful of kindred souls. Eleanor also has Wi-Fi!

Crostini

Four-hour class sessions on Wednesday would not be the same without Crostini, a tiny Italian store where everyone goes for its delicious sandwiches. (The Filet USA is particularly good.) Added advantage: RA students get a 10% discount.

In the sun on the wooden bench in front of Crostini, with the humming sound of a needle floating by from the tattoo parlor across the street… this is where you get to feel far away from the RA bustle for one blissful moment.

De Drukkerij

A huge bookstore with a café at its center, de Drukkerij gets cool points for its decent English books section, its toasties, and its free Wi-Fi. Last but not least, we can buy our textbooks here with discount.

Ko D'oooooooor

Ko D'oooooooor, popular among students, is a small coffee place with an art gallery attached. It serves great coffee and is a little more study-friendly than de Drukkerij. I love both, though, so it will always remain a struggle to decide where to settle down with my laptop and study books.

Hit me or the kind lady behind the counter up for the internet password!

Barrel

After last month's public letter of apology I have little left to say about our very own student bar, except: go there and drink the Brugse Zot beer they're proud to currently have on tap.

Rooie Oortjes

It's Friday, 8.45. You're in class. The person next to you has hazy red eyes and smells distinctly of cigarette smoke and various kinds of alcohol. You wince sympathetically when they explain, "So I ended up in the Oortjes last night…"

The Rooie Oortjes is where party-goers flock together after closing time of all other places. Expect to meet a lot of intoxicated people here. I can never help but wonder how often said intoxicated people fall down the stairs that lead to the toilets.

Seventy-Seven

Out of the many bars Middelburg has to offer, a lot of RA students have adopted the Seventy-Seven as their pub of choice. I personally cannot be positive enough about the Sev. Between its great atmosphere and the bartenders' awesome taste in music, I have never even felt the need to give any of the other pubs a shot. (Rooie Oortjes doesn't count!)

A Domani

Unlike the other places on this list, A Domani doesn't really have places to sit. It makes up for this disadvantage by selling amazing ice cream and, more importantly, coffee. If you hurry, you can make it to A Domani in your break and return victorious with a large cappuccino. Even better, if you do this ten times and don't forget to collect stamps on your card, you get one for free!

My name is Maud and I am a second-year student of Linguistics & Literary Studies. These are a few of my favorite things: books, sneakers, loud music, and coffee.

Kelly and London, Baby!

Ah, the Easter weekend. While most people were looking forward to sleeping in and taking a breath, there was one bunch of brave students who prepared themselves for three full days of working non-stop. Well, not really. With my entire Contemporary Dramatic Literature class I went to London, to see and analyze plays, but also to have a good time!

And a good time we had. Hyde Park, Starbucks, Foyle’s Bookstore, Portobello Road, Bizarro’s Italian Restaurant, Starbucks, Primark, HMV, Waterstone’s (we like bookstores), Starbucks, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden… and did I mention that we went to Starbucks often?

It was a fun and relaxing weekend, because we all tried to ignore the work that was ahead of us. Even when I came back to the Netherlands I didn’t want to think about my deadlines. Sadly they didn’t go anywhere and I couldn’t avoid them any longer. The stress is really starting to kick in again, but I shouldn’t complain: only three more weeks till summer!

Kelly Meulenberg (class of 2012) studies Arts & Humanities, focusing on Literary Studies and Theater & Media Studies. She is also a writer and filmmaker. Other passions include music, food and traveling.

Alyssia and the American Dream

A few more days to go, a few more exams to write, a few more papers and presentations to do.. Yes, there is finally an end in sight!

Not only makes that these last few weeks a lot more bearable, also it means that I can really start to focus on my exchange! It’s only three more months before I leave (can you imagine?) and I really cannot wait.

Last week I met Gary Davis, the head of the honors department at UNK, who will basically be the person I need to go to if there are any problems. He was here in Middelburg and we talked a lot about the awesome opportunities I will have over there! He was very enthusiastic about us coming, he even insisted that I would do undergraduate research in psychology there! As my plan was already to do an IRP in my last semester, this extra semester of research experience will definitely add to my resume. Also, it is even possible to do sports there for credits! Obviously these can’t count towards my RA degree but at least it is nice to have a few hours of sports every week. The choices are unlimited: tumbling, swimming, archery, bowling.. whatever you want.

This exchange just brings so many opportunities. Especially for psychology students it is great! There are so many psych courses that you almost drown in them. There are also lab courses and more practical psychology courses, which we don’t have at RA. Definitely sounds very good to me.

Aside from the academic part, I just cannot wait to have some American food: poptarts, Reese’s cups (although I cannot really eat them.. allergies ugh!), big American hamburgers, pizzas.. I really do hope they have some healthy options there too haha! I can’t wait to see a real American football game, the cheerleaders and all that cliché stuff you see in movies. Because apparently, it is real!

My name is Alyssia and I am a nineteen-year-old second year student. I do an interdepartmental major in Psychology, Cognitive Science and Life Sciences.

Micha is Making Money While He Sleeps!

Heya all!

I just figured out how to earn money without doing anything! Wow, I must admit, it almost sound like I want to get you to buy something very dubious, which promises to make you rich when you sleep. Even though what I am going to talk about, will make you rich when you sleep, it is only for RA students ;-). Too sad for all those readers wishing they found a nice way to earn some money in the summer... Anyway, during the summer holiday a lot of RA students are simply not in their room. During summer, however, there is also the MCTS and a UU (Universiteit Utrecht) Summer School program. Both take place in Middelburg. Students attending these programs need a room. And that is where we come into the picture, as students not using their room, why don't we  sublet our room to a summer student, and earn some money? To be honest I don't know why I shouldn't, therefore I also signed up ;-). The summer student is going to stay here for almost a month. This is absolutely no problem for me since I will be away for 2 months in the summer holiday (when I have the final plans I will of course share them with you guys ;-) ). Thus for current students, and future students: subletting your room is the easiest way of earning some money, whilst being on a holiday!

My name is Micha, I am a first year student focussing on anthropology and sociology.