Gabby and I were going to go see the famous tulips of the Netherlands, however, the owner of those picturesque fields has decided to capitalize on the tulipomania of tourists.
Pictured: Capitalism
Keukenhof (the place with the tulips) charges 21 Euro (including the bus ride) just to see them, which I suppose was reasonable enough. But then the train ride to get there cost 46 Euro. Almost 100 Euro just to see flowers en masse that you can see in the city for free? It's preposterous, so I did not go.
I'm a principled man.
Also. A note on the Spanish exam about which I promised to update you: One of my classmates added me on Facebook and I asked her about our written exam. She just told me that she thought it was a resit and wasn't necessary for me, but to be safe, I decided to ask my professor at the oral exam. When I arrived at my oral exam, I asked her whether we had had a written exam. She said no, and that we do oral one block and written the next.
So all those shenanigans didn't really have a point.
Word of the day: Schadenfreude- delight in another's misfortune.
You guys are probably feeling schadenfreude at my scurrying around trying to fix my non-existent Spanish exam.
The story of a couple of poor students studying a semester in the Netherlands
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Spanish Test
Let me start this off saying that I knew a problem might arise when I enrolled in Spanish, I was given the warning that if I were to enroll in any classes outside their prescribed list, their accommodations might be more lacking than their listed counterparts.
However, this was a step higher than I had assumed.
I went to take my Spanish exam, the only grade determiner for this block. I sat down and a test was handed to me.
I opened it up, and it was all in Netherlandish (see this).
I went to ask the moderators (who have nothing to do with the Spanish program) where I could find an English version or even a Spanish version, and they just kind of sent me to the help desk, which sent me to the IT desk, which sent me to the help desk, which sent me to my Spanish teacher who wasn't there (which I already knew).
Luckily, my guardian angel, my teacher of Business Organization and Law was on my path on the way back. Her English is perfect due to her parents being from the States, or something like that. I stopped to ask her if she had any idea what to do, since I was still wandering the school trying to find out how to take my Spanish exam which was 40 minutes in already. What luck I had, she is applying for a position on the exam board soon, so she was happy to help and took me to a woman who gave me an email for the exam board.
As soon as I got home, I emailed them and an automated message came back saying that they would be back in the office on March 16th, or something. I didn't really want to wait a year to take this test, so I emailed the teacher who helped me. She told me it was probably just a message they forgot to change and that they would get back to me.
When they got back to me, they said I wasn't specific enough, so I was even more specific- however, I told them the room and the time and date on which the test was. Obviously, two different tests weren't going on in the same room, so I feel like that was plenty specific. I conclude that they're lazy.
My test is still pending, but all exams (so far as I know) have a re-sit option. So if this isn't figured out, I can just do the exam next block which would be equally easy because it's a semester long class and I speak Spanish.
I will post any new developments in this fiasco as they happen.
However, this was a step higher than I had assumed.
I went to take my Spanish exam, the only grade determiner for this block. I sat down and a test was handed to me.
I opened it up, and it was all in Netherlandish (see this).
I went to ask the moderators (who have nothing to do with the Spanish program) where I could find an English version or even a Spanish version, and they just kind of sent me to the help desk, which sent me to the IT desk, which sent me to the help desk, which sent me to my Spanish teacher who wasn't there (which I already knew).
Luckily, my guardian angel, my teacher of Business Organization and Law was on my path on the way back. Her English is perfect due to her parents being from the States, or something like that. I stopped to ask her if she had any idea what to do, since I was still wandering the school trying to find out how to take my Spanish exam which was 40 minutes in already. What luck I had, she is applying for a position on the exam board soon, so she was happy to help and took me to a woman who gave me an email for the exam board.
As soon as I got home, I emailed them and an automated message came back saying that they would be back in the office on March 16th, or something. I didn't really want to wait a year to take this test, so I emailed the teacher who helped me. She told me it was probably just a message they forgot to change and that they would get back to me.
When they got back to me, they said I wasn't specific enough, so I was even more specific- however, I told them the room and the time and date on which the test was. Obviously, two different tests weren't going on in the same room, so I feel like that was plenty specific. I conclude that they're lazy.
My test is still pending, but all exams (so far as I know) have a re-sit option. So if this isn't figured out, I can just do the exam next block which would be equally easy because it's a semester long class and I speak Spanish.
I will post any new developments in this fiasco as they happen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
