So Long, Farewell

It's been two months since I've returned from my European adventure, and I can't even begin to describe what an impact this experience has had on my life. I've thought about some aspect of the trip pretty much every day since I've gotten back. Within the first few days of being back at work, a professor had me read research papers written by veterinarians from Utrecht, and a lot of people I worked with over the summer attended vet school at some of the universities we got to visit. That really put into perspective how truly interconnected everyone is and how important it is to understand and appreciate other cultures.

I miss a lot of things about Europe. I miss being able to walk everywhere, I miss hopping from one train to the next, the weather, the history, seeing/hearing different languages, and eating either gelato or stroop wafels every day. I love that Europe truly has an appreciation for their history. Instead of moving on to the latest and greatest, they take the time to preserve their past for future generations. It seemed like every time we turned around we saw something of historical significance, and that is not always the case in the United States. I also miss going to a new place every few days, and believe it or not, I miss living out of my backpack and having just the essentials with me.

At a restaurant on the last evening of the trip

One of the biggest differences I noticed after arriving home was just how much we use our cars. It's one of those things that I've never thought twice about, but after walking upwards of six miles per day for four weeks, that really stood out when I got back. It seemed almost silly to have to drive myself everywhere, even if it was just around the corner! We spend a lot of time sitting in the US! I also really appreciated being able to have water (with ice!) for FREE anywhere, and being able to just swipe a credit card at stores.

Besides those small cultural details, the similarities and differences in the education of veterinarians really stood out to me. The main difference being that here in the US, we go to an undergraduate college for four years, and then attend veterinary school for four years. Over in Europe, they get accepted into veterinary school straight out of high school, and attend for six years minimum. Both forms of education definitely have their pros and cons, but in the end, the product is very competent doctors.

I really loved my time in Europe. There is no way I could pick a favorite place. I got to visit Germany, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and the Netherlands and I enjoyed each country for different reasons. They were all unique, whether it be because it was beautiful, historic, cultural, or just plain interesting. All the people we met were very welcoming to us and were proud to show us where they were from. I had such a great experience, and I hope I make it back one day!

The End

One month ago, as my plane was landing in Chicago and I listened to a girl behind me tell a European that Michigan was "so hilly" (nice sentiment, but not true), I could hardly believe that I had just spent nearly two months in Europe. Where had the time gone? It felt like yesterday that I had showed up in Germany and followed a tall blonde woman around everywhere. Today, it still feels like a dream as random memories keep coming back and I think, Oh yeah, I was actually there. Bonn, Cologne, Paris, Hannover, Berlin, Prague, Büsum, Copenhagen, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, London, Gießen, Marburg. 6 countries in 7 weeks. It sounds like a long time, and towards the end, I was indeed looking at my "turtle shell" backpack with disdain and starting to miss home. The last night in Germany was 100 degrees, on a top floor apartment with no AC or even fans (why, Europe? Why??), so I did not sleep at all as I lay in a pool of my own sweat. I was ready to get on that plane - by myself, this time - and make the long, nearly 15 hour trip back to Michigan.

My connecting flight from Sweden to Chicago took about 9 hours, during which I had a broken TV and was sitting next to a family with 3 infants/toddlers that threw things (food, shoes, whatever) in my general direction and made some noise. So, I read an entire book, listened to music, and slept 0 hours. After one final flight to Detroit, I was relieved to be done traveling. Except I wasn't! My mom picked me up and drove me 4 hours to our lake house for the holiday. I chattered about my trip in a sleep-deprived delirium. My friends and relatives were all very interested in my travels, and I did my best to provide them with interesting stories and my experiences. The question I seem to get the most is, "What was your favorite place?" It's difficult to answer because I liked different things about each place - Germany was the most interesting, Scotland was beautiful, the Dutch students were so accommodating, Prague was very vibrant. I honestly did not feel much of an adjustment or weird about coming back to American society; it just felt like home.

My insights about the differences between American and European society are probably not anything new or inspired, but I do think that veterinary students offer a somewhat unique position. We are a little bit older than our European counterparts, a bit more educated and very much in debt, yet all of us are driven by the same desire/passion/calling to be veterinarians. As I've mentioned, vet school is different in every country, but they all start after high school and finish after 5-6 years, with or without a DVM depending on the school. And, of course, education is free. On the flip side, taxes are higher and incomes are lower in Europe. Americans are so driven by a need to succeed, work hard and earn what we deserve, which is a great ideal I share. However, I'm going to be drowning in hundreds of thousands of student loans for the rest of my life because of it. I do feel like I'm getting a better secondary education in the US, but I'm going to pay for it. Literally.

Something else I loved about Europe that is a bit obvious was all of the history right in front of your face. I felt like I was constantly learning something interesting in every place I visited. Giessen was a small and sleepy town, its Bavarian architecture destroyed in WWII, but it has one of the oldest vet schools in Europe (200 years) and invented the method of plastination for arteries and veins. Marburg is the home of the University where the Brothers Grimm studied. It's pretty interesting that a 3 hour train ride in any direction will land you in a different country with a different language, culture, and landscape. I miss living in the moment, getting lost in a new place, walking everywhere, and interacting with my international peers. I do not miss living out of a backpack and being at the mercy of public transportation. I fell back into my life with ease, but I won't ever forget my experiences abroad. I can't wait to go back someday.

Auf Wiedersehen to Germany and my new friends from Texas, and of course Mira with her yoga posing for these group photos

Farewell,

~Andrea

Hola from Holland- Week 4

This week is a bit shorter because we come back from our weekend on Tuesday instead of Monday. Either way, this was a week that was funner and more intriguing than what I thought it

would be. I was hoping my host would be nice and very helpful. She ended up being just that. My host Baukje Andela, was really  great. She made sure that I was comfortable and taught be a lot about Holland.

We had some interesting lectures while visiting the faculty. I enjoyed comparing how the curriculum  of Holland and Europe is very different compared to the US. In Europe they have 6 years of straight study of veterinary medicine while we get 4 years of vet med education after 4 years of undergraduate studies. Even if US vet students don't get started earlier studying vet medicine, we are a bit more well-rounded because we are forced to study other subjects like political science and technical writing. We also get more time to figure out if we really want to do veterinary medicine. European vet students are just coming out of high school and don't have time to explore other subjects. However, education is covered in Europe. So even with the competitive nature of veterinary medicine, they have one less guilt of being more into debt. I cannot wait until universal education is accepted in the states. We had lots of discussions with the other hosts about all the differences. Both curriculum are good and bad in their own ways. Maybe in the future the two can be combined to make a nearly perfect curriculum.

My favorite lecture was the lecture about the Lab animal research section of the facility. The professor talked about a lot of small mammal handling in which I had learned in my lab animal club wet labs. It was very exciting to hear some of the similarities and differences. I really enjoy all of the tools and cages they had out to show what they did in their research. I kind of wish that I could of showed my rat handling skills but I do understand them wanting to prevent issues like the rats possibly biting someone, even if they were pretty friendly.

We had tours of two of the facility’s hospitals, the Horse and companion animal hospitals. The horse one was rather interesting but the companion one caught my interest a bit more. I really like the aesthetic of the waiting room. They even had some poles that could be used to tie dogs to. We got to look into the exam rooms and the main treatment area that is also used for vet students and veterinarians to talk about the student’s cases. There was even a area on the first floor (second floor for the US) that had computers and a study area for the vet students in the companion hospital. That would be great to have whenever someone needs to research something. We got to see a few other rooms but the one that impressed me the most was the intensive care unit. It had clean cages that were off the ground. There was vets in the room to watch the patients and there were even cameras so that the owners can see their pets while they are in the IC unit. I understood though when they explained that they would cover the camera and leave notes when they were drawing blood or doing other procedures so that the clients would not freak out. I really liked the exotic ward. It was separated from the dog and cat areas and even had its own waiting room. I was kind of said we did not get to see much of the exotic ward but I was glad we got to see a bit of it at least.

One thing that I did not realize would make this week so great was hanging out with our hosts every evening. We did not hang with all the host every night because some of them had papers or rotations to do. Yet, the ones who did have time took us out to have fun in Utrecht.

After saying goodbye to our hosts, on the last day of our study abroad program we stayed in Amsterdam. We had a walking tour with this great tour guide. She knew a lot about Amsterdam and told us about some of the secret stuff that not many people get to know about. I loved it the best that we got to try some Holland cheese. That was delicious. She also told us about the symbol of the 3 Xs that does not represent the red light district. That symbol was meant to help sailors to know that they have been to or are in Amsterdam. That was really interesting to find out. I made sure to buy a shirt for my fiance.

Now is the end of the trip. I really enjoyed myself through this whole trip. I learned so much. However, I am really glad to go to Italy to visit my godfather soon. I am starting to miss the US. I can't wait to go back home.

Wadding in the Wadden (Northern) Sea- Week 3

This week was a lot more exciting for me than the past 2 weeks. We did a bit more traveling this week (which was very tiring) but it was for sure more fun. I am still amazed at how many beautiful and massive building there are. Most of built hundreds of yeas ago. Thank goodness we have been given tours so I don't get soo lost in these eminence cities. Later in the week we go to Busum and that was a big contrast to Berlin. Yet, it was still cute and I liked it a lot. It was funny that Busum is basically a  smaller Florida with having more elderly people, but much colder.

The Anatomy-Histology institut was very interesting to visit. It was cool to see how vet students in Germany have their classes, at least in Freie University of Berlin. The most impressive thing is that they has windows, WINDOWS, in the anatomy lab. Ours has no windows at all. They were big and let in so much light. One could see a some green pastures and trees. I would love to have that in our anatomy lab. Of course there are issues with rights activists that would ruin that in the states. I also really like the book stands. This allowed the students to have their book up and away from the dissections. The books would still get a little dirty but not as much as they can like in my anatomy lab.  The anatomy lab also had a second story ledge that allowed one to look down into the anatomy lab. There was of course skeletons and plastic models in the lab to help students study. I am kinda in love with that lab. In another part of the Anatomy-Histology insitut, there was a study room that had glass cases full of skeletons, plastic models, plastered models and lots of other neat anatomy models to help students while they were studying. It was amazing. We have something kinda similar in a hall way but we really cant take  those out to study.

The Jewish museum tour confused me at first. We were given a tour of the architecture of the museum. Once we got started I understood why we were. The architect who was making the museum was trying to make people feel and sense more how Jewish people over the hundreds of years felt. It was intense. The one sculpture that freaked me out was the falling leaves/faces one. I cringed when I climbed over all the metal faces. I did not stayed on very long out there. We had to rush through the rest of the museum but it was still awesome all that I had seen.

In the zoo and wildlife research institute, it was cool to see the institute but it was too bad we could not take pictures (I understand though).  We got to see a grand CT scan that produced 3D and 4D images. I don't know if we have something similar but I would be happy if Texas A&M did.  I even got to practice some blow darting and after 4 tries I hit the 'cheetah' on the tarsus. I was super excited!

Except for the way the Tour guide treated us while giving the tour, The National History Museum was pretty interesting. What I loved the most was the room/wall of exotic animals. I never knew what a tanuki (raccoon dog) actually looked like and was very pleased to finally see one (even if not alive). The museum had lots of hands-on stuff as well.

On Wednesday, we headed over to Busum and stopped by two centers. The first was the seal center where they educate people about seals. The center was very well put together. They had 2 main pools that housed about 5 adult seals that are unable to be released into the wild. One of the trainers/caretakers talked to us about the facility and the seals they take care of. They work with seal hunters to rescue abandoned seal pups and raise them strong enough to release into the wild. I was amazed at all the work they do here. Their educational areas were very well made too. They were able to explain how the immune system worked in an almost accurate but fun way.


The second center we went to was the Multimar Wattfourm center. It is a educational center that teaches the public about the mud flats and waters off the northern coast of  Germany. I did not think that there would be soo much creatures living in the mud. I was excited to see them in real life in the mud flat walk in the next few days. The part I loved the best was the basement which talked about whales. I knew that whales used sonar to find food but not to paralyze them; that was amazing!

The next day we went to the Aquatic Wildlife center. We had a few lectures about the facility and the research being done there. The research on monitoring the movement of wild animals was the most interesting. Afterwards, we went to the most anticipated part of the whole study abroad trip, for me at least. We got to do dissections on two 'fresh' marine mammals, one harbor seal and harbor porpoise. The seal was more fresh so it bled a lot more compared to the porpoise. We found that the seal was pregnant when it died and had aborted its pup. The pup looked nothing like a seal pup, more like a ball of fur. The seal also had its intestines twisted onto itself. The veterinarians believed that the unborn pup was possibly dead before the mother died and that the twisted intestines most likely killed her. The porpoise had a more ironic death in my opinion. We think that the porpoise possibly died from choking on a fish. We found a fish in the bifurcation of the trachea. There was 2 more fish in the stomach and intestine. The veterinarians from the institute said it is unusual for marine mammals to choke on their meals. The end of the dissection consisted of helping the veterinarians make samples for them to sent to lab and finding parasites and preparing them to send off too. I very much enjoyed that dissection. The smell was tolerable, much better that formaldehyde.

The mud flats were one of the best things to happen this week. We first started off in an area with lots of shells from dead clams and mussels. We had to walk over these shells to get to the deeper part of the mud flats. I learned that day that my feet are sensitive and delicate. I was soo happy when we got to the more mud than sea shell part of the mud flats. The tour guide showed us many of the creatures that live in the mud like the lion worm and the pacific mussel.  He explained how many migrating birds stop here at the mud flats before going all the way to Africa. Who would of thought some mud is important for the ecosystem. It was hilarious to get knee deep stuck in the mud though.

This week was great compared to the previous week, for me at least. I am excited for next week and meeting the Netherlands vet students.

Holland: of stolen bicycles and wounded thumbs.

I have 15 minutes of free internet (so generous....) on this train, so I am going to use it to start my last post about the program! Right now I'm somewhere on the east coast of the UK, looking out at the seaside cliffs on my way from Edinburgh to London. None of the last few days in the UK were part of the study abroad, but Scotland was absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to travel after class ends!

Anyway. After a rendezvous in Amsterdam, the group headed to Utrecht, a town known for its big university about 30 minutes south of Amsterdam, "the center of the Netherlands". We met some of our hosts, who were very friendly and enthusiastic to have us. We went on a brief city tour then had a boat ride down the canals, which was relaxing and a neat way to see the town. I met my host, a second-year vet student interested in equine medicine. We got along and spent a while getting to know each other on the canal tour and at a "BBQ" dinner.
Our days in Utrecht were mostly spent in the veterinary school, learning about their program - which is very different from ours - and touring the clinics. Their students apply to a weighted lottery system directly after high school and do a 3 years bachelor's, then another 3 years of a master's/DVM. Each student has different odds of getting in based on grades and then are randomly selected - overall the odds are about 1/5 to get in since they take 250 students per year. It's nice that they get to start relevant coursework so soon, but on the other hand, starting such a difficult program at age 18 is not ideal and contributes to an attrition rate of something like 15%. The facilities are very modern and spacious. Obviously I loved the equine hospital... though I think the Dutch are a bit insane for riding a horse on an indoor treadmill! (...I would still do it...) 

The best part of Holland was spending time with the students. It was nice to stay in an apartment and get to know my host, who got up every morning to have breakfast with me. I felt awful when the bike she lent me got stolen the very first night I was there, even though I locked it right outside the door for just 5 minutes! We also went water skiing and played laser tag with the students, which was a ton of fun even though I failed at both of these activities. The opposing team we played in laser tag was a group of dirty Dutch cheaters, and I ended up falling rather spectacularly down a ramp and busting my thumb wide open. Worth it.  

Open Air Museum

Burger Zoo

The last morning in the area was spent at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, which is an outdoor exhibition of old farm houses and windmills representative of Dutch history. It was very neat, and I prefer being outside in the sunshine anyway. Afterwards, we went to Burger Zoo and had a guided tour of two of their "ecosystem" sections. I actually think this zoo had some of the most natural exhibits we've seen, and I would have preferred to explore the entire zoo at my own pace instead of with a guide. Nevertheless, I'm glad I got to visit. 

Shannon and I in Amsterdam

After a farewell dinner and breakfast with my host, the very final day of our program was in Amsterdam. I've heard a lot of interesting things about the city, so I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and quaint the city actually is. Our city guide was a sassy young woman who did a great job showing us both the historical and modern aspects Amsterdam as to offer, including the Red Light District, which isn't as seedy as it sounds despite girls in windows literally right next to the cathedral (sin and forgiveness had to be close together, as our guide explained to us). I really enjoyed strolling along the canals lined by ridiculously narrow and crooked houses, including the Anne Frank house, and I wish I had another day or so there. But, again, I'm still happy for the experience. 

And so we arrive at the end - after eating pancakes one last time together. I still can't believe how fast it all went! This was a great way to see Europe for the first time, and one of the best things about it was meeting vet students and people from around the world. The experience has given me confidence that I am not totally incompetent at navigating a foreign country and has inspired to me travel more in the future, and I really hope I will be able to see everyone I've met again in the future. Traveling - experiencing new cultures, getting lost in a different language, and seeing how history can shape a country (which is what makes Germany especially cool) - is something priceless that no one can ever take away from me. I am lucky to still have two more weeks here at Giessen University, where Rebecca and I have already started in the vet school clinics. I will fly home on July 3, after which I shall write my last post about how sad I am to not be in Europe anymore. 

~Andrea

Week 4: The Last Week

Nyhavn

The past four weeks have flown by, I can't believe it's the end of the trip already! We spent the weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark. Several of the vet students from the university there were kind enough to host us, even though it wasn't officially part of the program. We spent Saturday wandering around Rosenborg Castle where we got to see the crown jewels (!!!), and the botanical gardens. That evening our host drove us around Copenhagen and showed all the sights that we never would have seen just by walking! We saw the beach, The Little Mermaid statue, palaces, parliament, and Nyhavn. The next day the vet students scheduled a tour for us of their large animal clinic, and we were even allowed to go on rounds! We got to observe a guttural pouch endoscopy and an EKG on a calf. In the afternoon we visited the royal stables, went back to Nyhavn, and went to Tivoli, which is the second oldest amusement park in the world. It was a blast!

After Copenhagen we went to Utrecht, Netherlands and stayed with host vet students there. Once again I was impressed with how welcoming everyone was. The first day they took us on a canal tour and to a BBQ hosted by students in the equine department. For the rest of the week we had lectures at the University of Utrecht during the day on various vet topics, such as public health and history of veterinary medicine, and had tours of their clinics. In the evenings we hung out with our hosts. We had another BBQ and played laser tag one evening and they took us water skiing the next! On Friday, we took a train to Arnheim, and went on a tour at the Openluchtmuseum, or "open air" museum. We learned about the history of Holland as we walked through homes from different time periods. After that we went to the Burgers' Zoo and learned about the bush and ocean regions.

The narrowest house in Amsterdam!

Gouda cheese

For our last hurrah of the trip we went to Amsterdam. We went on a guided tour of the city and learned about Amsterdam's history as well as the unique aspects of its architecture. Many, many years ago home owners were taxed on how wide their houses were, which is why all the houses are so narrow and so tall. Because of this, the staircases in these homes are almost vertical, which as you can imagine makes moving difficult! Furniture has to get brought into the homes through the windows by a pulley system. The soil is so soft that the houses will eventually start to lean, and pillars have to get placed under the houses to hold them up. The Netherlands is also the home of Gouda cheese, so of course we sampled some on our tour! We had some free time after the tour so I went by The Anne Frank House and Rembrandt's grave. Our group ended the study abroad program in style, by eating traditional Dutch pancakes of course! Overall this was a fantastic program, and I would definitely recommend it to any up and coming veterinary students. There was a good mix of learning about both veterinary medicine and cultural/historical aspects of the countries we visited. I can't even begin to describe all the amazing things we learned and saw. We met wonderful people and animals and this is an experience I will never forget. I already want to visit again!

Week 3: Seals, Sun, and Sand

The third week of the trip found us in a place completely different from Berlin. Büsum, Germany is a small town located on the North Sea. We jokingly referred to it as the Florida of Germany, if that gives you any indication of the demographics there :) I loved it there. We stayed in a cute, resort style hotel just a few minutes walk from the sea and the center of town. On our way from Berlin to Büsum, we stopped at the "Seel Center" in Friedrichskoog where we got to view the different types of seals (seehunds) and watched a demonstration on how they are trained. The center is also the place where injured seals and seal pups are brought if they are found stranded on the beach. There is a quarantine area where the pups stay initially. They are then rehabilitated and can then hopefully be returned to the wild. Later in the day we went to the Multimar Wattforum Centre, which is the information center for the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. Our guide was very knowledgable and taught us a lot about the ecology and creatures that live in this area.

The second day in Büsum was spent at the Aquatic Wildlife center. Several of the professors and vet students there gave lectures about their research involving marine mammals, and we got to participate in two necropsies! One was on a porpoise and the other was on a harbor seal. The porpoise died from choking on a fish, the fish was caught in the larynx. The seal died from a volvulus but also had a necrotic placenta. All of the organs were removed, parasite samples were taken, and the amount of blubber was measured for a student's project. These necropsies are important in that they help  

give veterinarians and biologists an idea as to what the health of the population of the seals as a whole is. Dinner later in the evening was amazing. Our study abroad group plus several vet and masters students went to eat at Kolles Alter Muschelsaal where we ate a delicious meal that consisted of several courses such as asparagus soup and stuffed fish. The restaurant is owned by what is known as a "seal hunter," which is a misleading name. Seal hunters nowadays are the ones that are called out when a seal or other marine mammal is stranded on the beach. They evaluate the health status of the animal and then transport the animal to a seal station where it can be cared for and hopefully nursed back to health. Last year alone seal hunters were able to help over 200 seals!

The last day in Büsum ranks as one of my favorites from the entire trip. For the first half of the day we did a mud flat hike led by a guide. We had so much fun finding our way through sand, mud, and all of the seashells while our guide pointed out different kinds of birds and other creatures living in the mud, such as jellyfish, little crabs, and lugworms. There were areas where we sunk in the mud all the way up to our hips! It was amazing to essentially walk on what makes up the ocean floor for part of each day. The second half of the day was beach time! It was the perfect day for it. Everyone spent most of the afternoon just reading and napping on the sand, but some of us (even the Texans!) swam out into the North Sea, if only for a few minutes, it was so cold! Later that evening we went out with a couple of people we had met at the Aquatic Wildlife center and ended up at a German karaoke bar, and I will never listen to Proud Mary the same way again. All in all, it was a great few days and we got to learn a lot and meet several interesting people!