Some Girls Prefer Carnations: I'm in the Netherlands!

Monday, November 14, 2011

I'm in the Netherlands!

In March my boss was invited to give a seminar at a conference in the Netherlands in November. He was unavailable, so the conference settled for a replacement speaker: me. It was a lengthy process to get all of the ducks in a row, but a mere six weeks ago the dust settled and my flight itinerary appeared in my inbox. I guess it's official.

I'm giving a presentation on alternatives to agricultural antibiotics. I won't post my slides, but I will post a link to my accepted manuscript (huzzah!) that I'm heavily summarizing, when it becomes available.

The conference doesn't start for a few more hours, and I've been enjoying myself immensely! The conference is not in Amsterdam, but I wanted to see Amsterdam, so here is the tour that I wanted to take:

Do be do be do! Unfortunately this tour was cancelled due to a festival celebrating the original Santa Claus. But I found a different tour that was FANTASTIC. It included a few quick stops, including a tour of a cheese factory. It was a quaint little farm where we spoke with the 8th-generation cheese maker. Huzzah for keeping the business in the family for so long!

I'm off to see if I can rent a bicycle for an hour or so. This country has bike paths flanking nearly every major road, and bike lanes on nearly every non-major road. Incredible.

8 comments:

LoriNovember 14, 2011 at 8:22 PM
It's good to hear that you're there and being a bit of tourist as well as a speaker. I can't wait to hear all about this. An update on the ladies - last night at Gma's was wonderful. We did all our favorite things and added a sure to be favorite thing to Ms. A's list - her own private dish (smallest one I own) of butter (1/2 a pat) and knife (actually cheese spreader) for her exclusive use. Ms. E on the other hand, requested dinner in the high chair to which she repeatedly reminded us - "look at me, I'm the baby." Had to wake them at 7:30 to get to ACPC in time for breakfast. . . . enjoy the rest of your stay!
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Frank SwobodaNovember 14, 2011 at 9:34 PM
WOW - what an awesome opportunity. Sort of random, but two of the most amazing people I've ever heard speak about agricultural sustainability were both Dutch - so you're certainly in good company. Knock their socks off with your presentation, enjoy the bike ride, and try to see the Anne Frank house if you can make time for it in Amsterdam - it's remarkable.
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RachelleNovember 15, 2011 at 9:06 AM
Hope you had a great time!!!!
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HeatherNovember 15, 2011 at 11:51 AM
@MidMid: HILARIOUS about my daughters, both the butter lover and the born-again baby! I bought some delicious chocolates for them that they are sure to love.

@Frank: The tour took me past the Anne Frank house, but I did not go inside. The line was too long and my time was too short. Next time!!!
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NormNovember 15, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Mmmkay, that's awesome. Have lots fun. Drink lots of good beer. And kick some science butt.
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MarthaNovember 15, 2011 at 8:24 PM
Hope your talk went well!
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Simply BikeNovember 16, 2011 at 8:10 AM
Heather, it sounds just the tour we did! We stopped at the Anne Frank house (among other stops in the city) and then ended with a cheese factory (where there clogs too? I mean, I know it's Holland and there are clogs everywhere, but were there clogs being made/for sale at the cheese factory?).

Hope you're having a fabulous time!! And yay for renting a bike and cycling in Holland, I'm so excited for you! Can't wait to hear all about it!

S.
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HeatherNovember 17, 2011 at 9:11 AM
@Martha: I think it did! I got no questions, so that's never a good sign, but I got lots of business cards and compliments later, which is a very good sign. Someone even said it was brilliant. I wouldn't go that far...

@SB: Yes! They made wooden shoes there, too! Factory is actually not a very good word for the place--more like farm+carpenter+cheesemaker shop.
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Monday, November 14, 2011

I'm in the Netherlands!

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