Tell Us About Your New Job!
Hi everyone! Thanks for tuning back into Musings by Suze. It’s been a crazy few weeks diving into the world of teaching and now that I’m on Fall Break, I’m so excited to tell you all about it!
How Did You Become a Lecturer?
Call it fate, or call it good networking, but I received an urgent email my first week in the Netherlands asking if I would come in to interview for a position as a University Lecturer at InHolland University for Applied Sciences.
Admittedly, my first thought was they have the wrong person! I hadn’t applied for any teaching jobs in the Netherlands! However, my soon-to-be-boss quickly clarified that he had received my CV from a colleague in Utrecht who is good friends with my former research advisor, Dr. Goldberg-Miller. By word of mouth, InHolland figured out I had the right mix of experience to help teach undergraduate students enrolled in their International Media and Entertainment Management program.
Well, seven weeks later and I can confirm…they are completely right! I have had a blast this first term connecting with students from across the world who are as passionate about the arts, event planning, and the future of the media as I am! So, the fact that I have quite a varied professional background (House management for an Opera, PR for a theater company, fundraising and event planning for a museum, marketing for an education nonprofit) and academic background (museum studies, policy studies, film and television studies) has really been an asset so far. So, no need to limit yourself to one possible career path; apparently sometimes it pays off to have seven!
I also feel really lucky to work with the other members of the staff in the IMEM program at InHolland. As someone so young in the field (shh…don’t tell my students), it is really humbling to work alongside actual filmmakers, radio DJs, music agents, and film distributors. It’s not every day you can say your co-worker used to manage Sinead O’Connor or started his own radio station!
If you want to see more about what a typical day in my life as a lecturer is like, check out the #takovertuesday I did for the Instagram account of The Ohio State University’s Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy: https://www.instagram.com/theohiostateaaep/
So, What’s Going on Besides Teaching?
Well, I wouldn’t be Susannah “I’m Always Busy” Montgomery if I wasn’t up to something. Here’s a snapshot into a few of the things I’ve been up to the last few weeks:
During my birthday weekend, I had a back to back personal culture fest with Oran. One afternoon we went to see the theatrical adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. You can check out my full review here: https://susannahmontgomery.com/2017/10/17/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time-the-international-tour/
Then, just a couple days later, we traveled back to the same theater to spend An Evening with David Sedaris: https://susannahmontgomery.com/2017/09/26/an-evening-with-david-sedaris-amsterdam/
The following weekend I finally left the Randstad!
This is the part of The Netherlands between The Hague, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. Oran and I took a quick weekend trip to Groningen; a university city in the Northeast of the Netherlands. We spent most of our day exploring the wide and beautiful streets of the city center.
For brunch, we began our day with an unexpectedly Dutch treat: banana bread! Now, I had always associated banana bread with America, but it turns out it’s quite popular here as well. However, the American version is much simpler than the Dutch version. While we typically throw some overly ripe bananas together with a bread mix and call it a day, the Dutch seem to enjoy smothering their banana bread with an assortment of toppings. This morning it was a peanut butter-honey drizzle with freshly sliced bananas and pecans on top.
Soon after, we explored one of the main public parks in Groningen and strolled along the city’s surrounding canal.
Along the way, we stumbled upon the market of food and…other items.
For happy hour, we decided to check off one of Groningen’s most unusual tourist attractions: The Three Sisters. Once three separate bars, the Three Sisters are now operated as one massive, alcohol-toting entity, making it the largest pub in all of Europe.
This shot I took earlier that day really shows you how distinct each “sister” is from one another.
Each room offers a different theme. From an Irish pub to a Disco dance party, the Three Sisters seems to have every kind of party available inside!
For dinner, we dined at Capricio; a cozy Italian restaurant tucked away just around the corner from the city’s market square. While the menu is perhaps predictable Italian fare, the dough they use to create their meals is truly a standout. Fresh, soft, and delicious, it made both of our dishes standout treats.
Finally, we wound things down at the Barrel Wijnlokaal. An intimate spot that felt more like I was at my friend’s posh flat than a stuffy bar, Barrel proved to be a delightfully cozy place to enjoy excellent wine and some nice cheese as well.
A funny quirk of the Netherlands is that—by virtue of living near wine havens like France, Spain, and Italy, nearly all wine available is tasty and quite cheap. However, when you go to any sort of bar or restaurant, you almost always just order “de witte wijn” (the white wine) or “de rode wijn” (the red wine). Hardly anyone orders “the sauvignon blanc” or “the merlot.” There’s just a choice of each color and that’s that. Maybe if they’re feeling diverse they’ll throw a bubbly or a rose into the mix. I’m not a wine snob, but I didn’t memorize the typical notes of a “pinot noir” for nothing.
So, it was really fun hanging out with a knowledgeable staff and learning more about the wines of Europe.
Dutch Experience of the Month: the 3rd of October!
Unlike America where we hold one country-wide celebration of Independence as a country, the City of Leiden has its own public holiday to celebrate its liberation from Spanish occupation on the 3rd of October 1574. During the so-called Eighty Year War with Spain, Leiden was besieged by the Spanish twice. The second time, from May-October 1574, conditions grew really harsh: about half the population died from starvation. When the Spanish were beaten, the siege was lifted and the starved citizens of Leiden were fed with herring, white bread, and a pot of hutspot (carrot and onion stew) that was abandoned by the Spanish army. That is restaurants all over Leiden offer hutspot for dinner on the 3rd of October, and the city council provides free white bread and herring (as seen below) to citizens who sign up in time.
Over the centuries, this celebration has transformed from a simple celebratory meal to a massive festival and a citywide party that starts days before the 3rd.
So, I spent the 2nd and then the 3rd enjoying a fun fair, concerts, and drinks aplenty. My only regret was that October 3rd was a Tuesday this year, so let’s just say the following work day was not my most productive day.
Dutch Words of the Month: dag, doei, and tot ziens
What do all of these words have in common? They are all ways to say goodbye!
“Dag” is very commonly used for saying “goodbye” and is also used as a casual greeting.
“Doei” is pretty informal and can only be used as a way of saying “bye”; it’s not a greeting.
“Tot ziens” is used to say goodbye. It’s the most formal of the three and is often used in official situations (within a company, in a store, on the street) and with strangers, but you can safely use it with anyone.
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