Goedidag from Maastricht! - Positive Psychology

After spending an action-packed New Years in Amsterdam with all the CRAZY fireworks, I finally packed my bags on the 3rd of January to head to Maastricht, a 2.5 hour train ride south of the capital. Our arrival in Maastricht was greeted with a light shower of rain that would remain constant over the next couple of days, but even that didn't lessen my excitement - after so much anticipation I was finally about to start my Positive Psychology journey!

The main entrance to Maastricht trainstation

I caught a taxi to the guesthouse accommodation with another student, but as the taxi began to pull up to a hospital entrance we became unsure of how well our driver had understood our English directions. Strangely, it turned out that the student accommodation is located within the hospital itself, who knew! As I was staying in the shared accommodation I was expecting a room similar to that in a hostel, so therefore I was pleasantly surprised to find that my room was quite spacious. It even had a kitchenette and bathroom sink, as well as a desk, bookcase and wardrobe for each person.

My roommate arrived not long after with some others from my floor, most of which were also Australian. We later discovered there were also a few Americans from North Carolina doing courses over here, so it's been interesting to hear about their college experiences compared to our experiences in Australia.

Braving the cold and crazy cyclists on our first morning

The next morning started with a guided walk to one of the university campus buildings located in the city centre. Unlike most universities in Australia, such as in my hometown of Newcastle, the university buildings here are located throughout the whole city of Maastricht rather than being located together in a central campus setting. This means that to get from building to building you get a beautiful scenic view of Maastricht. It also means that if your building is located on the other side of town, as the psychology buildings are, then it can take up to an hour to walk there. The majority of students however overcome this in a very Dutch manner - bicycles!

My beautiful bike!

Our first Dutch bicycle experience was certainly eye-opening as many students hadn't ridden a bike since childhood, but despite this and after many wobbles and near misses, our group of close to forty cyclists managed to complete the hour round trip relatively unscathed. We must have looked quite a sight to the locals, crawling along at snails pace until we got our confidence up, and constantly forgetting that we needed to stick to the right side of the bicycle lane instead of the left.

Fellow shared accommodation students; Amy (left) and Kylie (right) with their brand new bikes

As we didn't have any activities scheduled for the weekend several of us set out to explore the town by night, and as most of the christmas lights are still out it all looked absolutely beautiful. Maastricht is home to over 350 bars, so we found the nightlife to be quite active and even came across a bachelor party, which was quite interesting to say the least...

This is about half of our pack of nervous cyclists on our way to uni for the first time - the rest were behind me!

By the time Monday rolled around we were all very excited for classes, and our first lecture didn't disappoint! Our crash course introduction to Positive Psychology left us all eager for the rest of the course, and it seems like our time here will be over before we know it! Our second day of lectures introduced us to mindfulness and meditation, which I was fascinated by as I have not personally meditated before and have always been intrigued by it. I found the experience very enlightening in regards to both learning about myself and my thought processes, as well as learning about the process of meditation itself and how it can be used to benefit other people.

Our first lecture in the brand new psychology building!

With upcoming trips to Belgium and Amsterdam I'm sure there will be many more adventures to come! Our first round of assignments is also impending and hopefully the first snowfall of our visit! I'll keep you all posted.

Amy Bartolacci

Amy Bartolacci is completing the Positve Psychology program at Maastricht University running this January 2013. Amy is in her 4th year of a Bachelor of Psychology at University of Newcastle.

Week two - International Relations and Politics in the EU Blog by Sophie Ootes

WEEK 2
From Friday until Sunday we had a long weekend of travelling. On the Friday we rose early and hurried onto the bus in the cold dark hours of the morning. Most people slept on the way to Brussels, and awoke to beautiful old buildings lining the streets and lots of traffic.





That day we were to visit the European Parliament and the European Commission, which we had just been learning about in our course. At the Parliament we were greeted by a very enthusiasitc guide who gave us a lecture about the various European bodies. Many of us were surprised to have a lecture as on our itineries it stated that we would ‘visit’, and in our minds that meant walking around and seeing things!! However the lecture was very informative, and helped us to consolidate what we had learnt in class as well as giving us extra information, and the chance to ask lots of questions. The building that hosts the European Parliament is very interesting in itself, as you can see:



After our visit, we all parted ways for lunch. I ended up at a cute little French-speaking Italian resturant where we had filling pasta dishes. We then headed to the Commission where we had to whip out our passports for identification. Dario collected them all up, and we came to the concensus that he was going to sell them to the black market and run away!



I found the Commission slighty less interesting than the Parliament, although I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it. I think we were all just very tired from the early morning, the travel and all of the information from the morning’s lecture so it was difficult to fully concentrate!

After checking into our hotel, we all went out to a pub (Delirium Cafe) to trial the Belgium beer! It had a great atmosphere, and in a count conducted in 2004, they had 2004 different varieties of beer! Our dinner that night was 10 euros each for a drink and a beef steak, salmon steak, chicken or lasagne! Yum!

On Saturday morning the Psych kids joined us, and we had a historical tour of Brussels, which felt to me like a cross between Paris and Amsterdam, with the addition of some areas of big glass buildings. But not ugly modern buildings. I felt that everything fit togther quite nicely, and found out later that there is a law for building, where you must consider your surroundings when you build. We need to adopt the same idea in Australia. Anyway, back to the tour:

• In the main square where we were, there is a huge catherdral-type building which is actually the town hall! Many people are married there, and the many tiny statues and carvings tell stories – eg. One pillar had a carving of a man and woman kissing, the other side of it had the man and woman with kids, the next pillar had the man at the pub drinking, the other side had the woman throwing him out of the house with the furniture, and the next pillar had the man alone doing the chores for himself!! I still think she should have kept the furniture, but each to their own.

(2nd pic is of some of the old buildings in the main square)

• We were taken to the oldest undercover shopping mall in Europe. It was filled with expensive fashion stores, chocolate shops and cafes. Halfway down the mall, there was a slight change of direction, and apparently it was designed like that so that people would be curious about what was around the bend and wander further in to see!
• We visited Manneken Pis (the boy who pees) and also his female counter part. There are many stories behind these two, and it is unknown exactly which is true. When we arrived, the boy was dressed in costume but was not peeing. A man had to climb over the fnce and fix the piping so that the fountain worked. Both statues are normally naked, but the boy is dressed several times a week in different costumes. The girl was placed where she is (down some little side streets to entice tourists into that area and help the bars and resturants there. She is locked behind a grill so that no one can steal her.
  

Pick the real Manneken Pis!

After the tour we had a few hours of free time to explore and grab some lunch. We all parted ways, and some of us headed back to the chocolate shops! The chocolates were very tasty! We also stopped into the Tin Tin shop, and realised that some of our group obviously missed out in their childhood by not knowing the adventures of Tin Tin and Snowy!

We had lunch in an Ethiopian resturant where we enjoyed a range of meat and vegetable dishes which we wrapped up in pieces of pancake and ate with our fingers! With full stomachs, we left Brussels and bussed to Gent where we had a quick stop to walk up the Belfry tower which gave us a wonderful view. We then drove to Bruges, our final destination for the weekend.

Sunday morning we had a historical tour of Bruges. Bruge is a small town of about 20 000 people who live there permanently and then 2-3 million tourists who come every year. It is a quaint little place, with beautiful original and restored buildings, horse and cart taxis, lovely little cobbled streets, and very cold weather!! I think Sunday was the coldest day (or definitely very close) that we’ve had during our trip! Other than the beautiful buildings and atmosphere, the highlight of Bruges for me was definitely the brewery visit to Halve Maan brewery! The guide we had was just fantastic, and really made the experience memorable with her amount of knowledge and her great sense of humour! A couple of interesting things that I learnt:

• For tax purposes, beer is classed as a food, while wine is a drink. This means that drinks such as Port are very cheap and popular, while beer is comparatively more expensive despite the lower alcohol content.
• When they used horse and carriage to transport the beer, the drivers were given 7 beers a day. They would then normally get a beer or two at every place they stopped, and so would often end up drinking a carton of beer a day! When the company started moving towards trucks, these drivers were very against it because they couldn’t drink this much, fall asleep and trust the horse to take them home. Sometimes if the drivers were inside drinking too much at a stop, the horses would get frustrated and go home without them. For this reason they had to change the routes every couple of weeks!
• Hops is related to the nettle, and so the pickers would get very irritated skin from it. It also apprently increases female hormones and raises labido! A pillow filled with hops is also supposed to help with sleeplessness. In the words of our guide, this all led to the picking women having ‘huge balconies and lots of children’.
  

Altogether it was an amazing weekend and I had an absolute ball. Despite our itinery being great in itself, the people there made it even better. Everyone in our program gets on well with everyone else and all are happy to give a helping hand, share some knowlegde, the cooking, have a few drinks, and speed walk to uni together in the mornings when we are running late!

Tip of the week
You can’t get tap water in resturants in Belgium!! Though unlike a number of countries that can’t drink tap water, buying still water is very expensive. Frustrating.

Fun fact of the week
The highest point in the Netherlands is 323 metres high and is therefore called a ‘mountain’.






Sophie Ootes is participating in our January 2012 International Relations and Politics in the EU program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Sophie is about to enter into her 4th year of a Combined Bachelor of Arts/Laws degree at the University of Adelaide.

Or as we say in the Netherlands… - International Relations and Politics in the EU Blog by Nathan Johnston

[We are all] like tea bag[s]. [We] only know [our] strength when put into hot water. - Nancy Regan.

It seems that I’ve developed a habit for starting each post with a quotation, and in the end they are but snappy summaries of my week…but as we say in the Netherlands Al regende het varkens, je krijgt er geen borstel van, literally meaning Even a rain of pigs doesn't give you a brush and figuratively meaning, that me using someone else’s words doesn’t really count as a blog now does it? So here we go…

Last time I left you we had all arrived back at our own little palace, the UniMaa Guesthouse, a day before we would start the whole course. A quick word about the Guesthouse to anyone thinking of coming on this course in the future, we think it’s an old mental institute, that might be because all of us here are a bit batty ourselves, or maybe it’s the ghosts we’ve seen walking around, either way the rooms are actually really spacious and equipped and it’s fun to try to scare your roommates with a few mental stories here and there! I guess that’s what that first week was for though, getting the vibe of the place, becoming realmates with your roommates (just a shout out to my corridor, GroundControl!) and getting a sense of friendship in the group…because little did we know we’d need it when the course put us through our paces.

The only challenge on that first Monday morning though was getting used to waking up at a respectable hour. It seems we’d all been lulled into a false sense of security by our Australian holiday season and the lifestyle of your standard dirty backpacker. To shake the sleep from our eyes however: a day of touring the beautiful little historic hub that is Maastricht. What a town. Middle aged walls half buried, a striking red church clock tower adjacent a 13th century cathedral, the secret to why we toast drinks ‘to our health’ or buy our mates ‘a round’, a sea of Roman aged tunnels leading all the way to the Belgian border, the elegant Apostelhoeve winery and of course our beloved Vrijthof, or as we say in the Netherlands…oh wait it’s just Vrijthof. But as I said, this was all just the calm before the storm…





The electric Professor Matt Heckman is a force to be reckoned with. For those at home thinking of coming over, I don’t mean to scare you but the dynamic speed and content of this course mesmerised me on the first the day. He manages to bring together law, economic, international relations and politics in a homogenous program that while I have found challenging (let’s face it I could just be a bit more simple than the other students) I have equally found rewarding. On Wednesday, after our jaws had been scooped up off of Tuesday’s floor, we were keeping pace without any chance of being bored, but as Nancy Regan has said, how do we know ourselves until we’re placed in some hot water?

Luckily, we had some student guides to help us cool off. Our traditional Dutch ‘Pancake Night’…or as we say in the Netherlands Pannenkoeken Avond…soon turned into an indoctrination into the culture of the Netherlands that was not only joyfully taken, but proactively craved. Despite our Aussie Masterchef team of myself and Sophie outshining the Dutch students in the realm of whipping up a pannenkoeken feast, the night lead to something else traditionally Dutch…a spot of drinking! We struggled to learn to count from five backwards in Dutch in order to play a certain party game, but now that the night is over, I struggle to count up from one. Veive, Veer, Dree, Drei, Eine! We were also introduced to the Highlander, one of our most beloved institutions in the whole of the Netherlands, a night some of us will never forget and a select few will never remember!



So after the week that was, we find ourselves sitting in Brussels on a group weekend trip, post the hectic week of learning. But don’t think that Brussels is an exception to the week’s rule, just as much learning has occurred here at the European Parliament and European Commission as has occurred in our familiar little multi-coloured lecture hall. After visiting the world-voted best and biggest bar in the world with the world’s largest selection of beers, it was a necessity to visit the adjacent bar that conveniently contained the world’s largest array of Absinth. This cosy little corner contained Absinthe ranging from a mere 30% alcohol content l to a colossal 92%. With the sole pure intention of blog investigation, I thought it necessary to join some friends who were sampling said 92% absinthe shot. Suffice to say my sinuses are now clear.



With an historical tour of this amazing city to get to, and another day of bathing in history and information to enjoy I guess it’s time I said goodbye for this week…or as we say in the Netherlands, HOI HOI!









Nathan Johnston is participating in our January 2012 International Relations and Politics in the EU program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Nathan is about to enter into his 2nd year of a Combined Bachelor of Laws/International Studies degree at the University Wollongong.

Week 1 (Part 2) - Positive Psychology Blog with Amy Swindon

We visited the Maastricht caves - an entire network of 80+km of man made tunnels from the Netherlands to Belgium! There were some amazing stories! I particularly liked the man who made his own stalactites to attract tourists. Our guide was lovely and knowledgable and clearly loved her country.

Afterwards we went to Ijnggaard Apostelhoeve winery for a tour and then tasting. Wishing now I could have brought some of the white home for dad but as I’ve still got a month of travel after this I’m always worrying about luggage. Sigh. Some people have made some fantastic purchases of coats and boots in Maastricht but I’m trying to restrain myself. We’ll see how long this self-discipline lasts...


Amy Swindon is participating in our January 2012 Positive Psychology program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Amy is going into her 4th year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Melbourne.

Week 1 (Part 1) - Positive Psychology Blog with Amy Swindon

Wow how time flies. As day 4 draws to an end, I’ve realised this trip is going to be over before I know it. The group has gelled pretty well considering the diversity of experiences. I’ve spent most time with the psych kids which I must say are all personality plus. Hopefully I’ll have more to do with the other groups over the coming weeks. It’ll be interesting to see whether 3 weeks is long enough to see everyone open up.

A quick overview of my favourite experiences:

-Moving in with my *rad* roomie, Chelsea

-Italian restaurant with the group

-Ice-skating

-Exploring the city at night with Mark, Kate and Danny while some of the others went salsa-ing

-getting lost in the beautiful streets of Maastricht

-the AMAZING beer

-the Highlander. 1 euro Jagers. But most importantly, Allen!

-Eating frits met frittessause (fries with mayo?)

-Another messy night at the Highlander.

Amy Swindon is participating in our January 2012 Positive Psychology program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Amy is going into her 4th year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Melbourne.

Learning From Traveling - International Relations and Politics in the EU Blog by Jingjing Zhang

I am doing International Relations and Politics at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. The course is focused on the history, structure and politics in the European Union.

I came to Europe on 17th December, 2011, twenty days before the class. I was traveling in the twenty days and have been to Berlin, Koln, Milan, Venice, Rome, Geneva, Paris, Madrid, Toledo,Valencia, Barcelona and Eindhoven all by myself. I feel excited as this is my first time to Europe and this was the longest solo travel I had done so far. This trip is a preparation for my study, which not only let me get to used to the weather in Europe, but get to know different people and cultures.

Berlin is an important city for temporary international relationship after World War Two. I felt shocked when I visited the Berlin Wall Museum. Back during the Cold War, relatives and friends were separated by man-made barriers. Many young students and parents wanted to escape from one side of the Berlin Wall and reunite with their family on the other side, but unfortunately some of them were shot. The youngest victim was a three-month-old boy. The memory of war is just one part of Berlin. As same as other cities in Europe, Berlin has been rebuilt on the ruins.

Rome is the origin of Western Europe culture and the center during the Renaissance. Walking in the city, I was always surprised when a palace or a fountain suddenly appeared around the next corner.

I was in Paris on New Year Eve. I will never forget that thousands of people squeezed in the Champs-Elysees, waiting for the new year countdown at night. Standing besides were six thousand armed policemen.

Spain is warmer than other places in Europe at the moment. Valencia is in its spring and I love the orange juice! One hour drive to the south of Madrid is Toledo, a city with Crusades castle on the top of the mountain. Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures coexisted here.

Europe has a long history. The establishment of European Union will definitely be part of it. Will be really interesting to know how European contries came up with this idea to prevent war, to preserve its cultures and promote the economic development.

Jingjing Zhang is participating in our January 2012 International Relations and Politics in the EU program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Jingjing is about to enter into her 4th year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at Edith Cowan University.

Or as we say in the Netherlands… - International Relations and Politics in the EU Blog by Nathan Johnston

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Mark Twain.

If you try googling ‘travel quotes’ you’ll soon come across a robust list of snappy one-liners, clichés, word tapestries and thought provokers. I could have easily chosen twenty to kick-start this blog with, however if I have gained any impression of Maastricht, CES, AIM, The Netherlands and the new friends that I’m currently sitting around the dinner table with, it is one of broad-mindedness.

Hello, or as we say in the Netherlands, Dag!

We arrived exactly a week ago now. Some of us were bright eyed and bushy tailed, some were hungover from their one night stop over in Amsterdam and then there were those that you could just tell had been backpacking for weeks prior (they’re usually the unshaven ones with a slight odour). However we arrived in Maastricht, we were here as a single broadminded group, united in common purposes; discover the world and discover ourselves. But our goals mean more than it appears, they mean discovering the world beyond studying International Relations just as they mean discovering ourselves beyond our Positive Psychology. We are here to live and learn, and after some introductory sessions with the lovely Aude and Dario and the CES crew, we got right to it.



So what exactly do Aussie students get up to when they’re thrown together in the pulsing heart of Europe? It seems that despite the helpful Student Assistants’ introduction to Dutch supermarkets, the first night had pub dinners on everyone’s menu. A great get to know you. Roommates were met, the seeds of friendships were planted and even a few nicknames found their origins. It seems that we all found our beds a lot earlier than usual that night, psyching up for a day of orientation and getting to know this gem of a city.

The next day lived up to our expectations and more as some of us dared to try the very romantic national dish of The Netherlands, hot chips and mayo…or as we say in the Netherlands fritz met fritzsauce (little did I know this would later be one of the only Dutch phrases I can pronounce well).

As friendships were forged under the good vibes of CES and fritz, a free weekend soon opened up a whole world of imagination to us. Suddenly the penny dropped and we realised that we were in Europe…we were actually in Europe…it sounds stupid now but who knew we had been flung smack bang in the middle of a whole stack of countries accessible by a short train trip!



Imaginations ran wild as a million and one different plans were made and remade. While some journeyed to dubstep parties and cathedral climbing in Cologne, others were tempted by the home of chocolate itself; Belgium. Some day-tripped to the close by Aachen for some real German character, while a few friends and I embarked on a classic Australian pseudo-pilgrimage to Ieper (Ypres). Drenched in history and solemness, this incredibly friendly Belgian town taught us so much about our own country, despite being on the other side of the world. Seeing my own great uncle’s name on the walls of the Menin Gate will truly be an experience I won’t forget.



That’s the crazy thing about travelling though, just how much you learn about yourself, your home and other people and by adding studying to the equation you create an explosive package. It seems I’ve been too ambitious by setting out to write about a whole week, so I’ll spare your eyes and write another post soon about our first week of actual class.

Until then, as we say in the Netherlands, HOI HOI!








Nathan Johnston is participating in our January 2012 International Relations and Politics in the EU program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Nathan is about to enter into his 2nd year of a Combined Bachelor of Laws/International Studies degree at the University Wollongong.

Week one - International Relations and Politics in the EU Blog by Sophie Ootes

Week One

There’s always that night of excitement just before you embark on something new, a mixture of excitement, nervousness and curiosity. I arrived in Maastricht having been travelling around Europe since mid November, and spent this night of excitement in Breda (a small town between Amsterdam and Maastricht). The train in the morning took just under 2 hours, and the bus to the guesthouse another 20 minutes and a quick walk. It was an easy journey following the directions we’d been given, with the only problem being that it seemed to lead me to a hospital!

After a little confusion, I realised that our accommodation was in fact an old mental hospital, part of which was now used as the university guesthouse. I had decided to share a room as it was the cheaper option, and it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to meet more people.

I had been expecting a tiny excuse for a room – we were in the Netherlands after all – however our room turned out to be absolutely massive. We have a nice set up, with a bed, cupboard, desk, shelving and a comfy arm chair each, plus a sink, and then about an acre of space in the middle. Our corridor then has a shared kitchen and bathroom.



The next day and also on Monday (the weekend was free and many people travelled to Germany or Belgium) we were given tours of the beautiful city of Maastricht, and given a whole load of practical information. We also visited some interesting places such as the Sint Pieter Caves and a winery. Here’s my attempt at sharing some of the most interesting things with you:

• ‘Maastricht’ means crossing the river Maas. It was taken over many times by different countries as it had one of the main bridges across the river, and so having possession of the city meant that you could move on and take more land.

• The city stands on lots of rubbish – this fact stunned me a little as it kills the romance of the city a little, but apparently everyone used to dump their rubbish in the streets and no one cleaned and so over time areas of the city were raised. Parts of the city walls still stand, but over time they have become shorter and shorter as the rubbish piled up. Our guide told us that this created the small hills in the town.

• When the city was being attacked, the gates would be closed (obviously) and everyone would have to rely on what was inside. They had to make sure they had at least 6 months worth of food – beans etc, to make it through these times. They stored this food up in the rooves of their houses, and made little holes just big enough for small owls to fit into so that they could catch the mice, and also to make sure the food didn’t get to hot and catch alight during the hotter months. Also, when they were under attack, they would have to rely on the city water. This water was heavily polluted – many of the toilets dropped straight into the river, and often the attackers would deliberately pollute the water. Due to this, everyone was made to use wine and beer in their cooking and to drink instead of water. Apparently this is why when we raise our glasses before a meal we say ‘to your health’.

• People used to be taxed for their houses by the number of window pane they had, so you can spot the rich houses according to this!

Our visit to the caves was amazing. There are around 200km of these tunnels under Maastricht, and having visited the Catacombes in Paris (which I highly recommend), I was expecting something similar. I was very surprised at their sheer size – wide enough for a horses and carts, and as high as a small building. They began to cut out the stone blocks in the 13th century, and continued for many many years. The caves have been used for lots of things over the years, including in no particular order:

• The removed stones were used for buildings
• The caves were used for growing mushrooms
• To protect people from wars and invasions – there was even a bakery set up down there, wells, places for worship, advertisements painted on the walls, beautiful artwork on the walls.
• To smuggle people over (under!) the border into Belgium
  

Anyway, enough about Maastricht for now, I should say something about the whole reason we are here – the course! Our first information session was held in a beautiful lecture theatre. I won’t describe it, but I’ve included a picture!




For much of our time we are integrated with the students here for Psychology which is great because we all seem to get on well together, and the more the merrier! Our lectures have been interesting so far, with the course based around EU law, economics and politics. So far in my studies I have not learnt about these specific aspects of Europe, so I’m finding that I learn a lot each day – even though the lectures are 2 hours long without a break, so sometimes I find myself drifting off!!

This weekend we are travelling to Brussels and Bruges which is very exciting! We will be visiting a few places relevant to our course (because as with everything in Europe, they are literally just down the road), and also doing some sightseeing!

Tips of the week:

1. Make sure you always have cash and a credit card on you, preferably with a chip. Many of the supermarkets don’t take our credit cards, and the university charges you 25% extra if you pay with cash for things like food, printing etc. SO FRUSTRATING!

2. Also, the supermarkets make you pay extra for bags, which is great, unless you didn’t know and have to attempt to carry a 600kg bag of shopping home while it is breaking at the seams!

3. Look left AND right at roads. You will never remember which way they are actually going to come at you from!

Fun fact of the week:
The Dutch are the tallest people in the world, averaging 1.81cm for men and 1.68cm for women! The minimum required height for doors in new buildings is 2.32m.



Sophie Ootes is participating in our January 2012 International Relations and Politics in the EU program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Sophie is about to enter into her 4th year of a Combined Bachelor of Arts/Laws degree at the University of Adelaide.

Ah Maastricht! - Positive Psychology update from Jazmin Squire

Check out this awesome Facebook status update from Jazmin Squire, who's currently doing our Positive Psychology course in Maastricht, the Netherlands:

Each day here just keeps getting more awesome! Yesterday was too full and amazing to write about in much detail, let's just say that I enjoyed every minute!

It started with a 'mild' and interesting class on the history of Positive Psych and mediation, followed by a nice walk through the streets of Maastricht to a typical Dutch cafeteria at the student centre (this means brimming full of a large variety of fresh, healthy and delicious food at a VERY reasonable price!).

We then caught the bus up to Casino Slavante, a very quaint cafe on the hill of Sint-Pietersberg. This was so much fun! They had an old wooden merry-go-round there that we all had rides on. The views of Maastricht and the river Maas from here were wonderful! I need to come here in the summer sometime and sip wine at a table beneath the roses, outdoors overlooking the river! This is nearby the grand home Andre Rieu!

We then visited the ancient handmade limestone caves of Maastricht. The caves were spectacular and our female tour guide told us so many interesting tales of the history of the caves. Fascinating! And too many to share right here, they will be tales for when I get back home.

We then when on to Wijnggaard Apostelhoeve, one of only four wineries in the area that have been making their own white wines unique to this area, since the 1970's. The lovely Mathieu, owner of the vineyard, gave us an informative tour of the winery that ended with a wine tasting in his cosy little stone wine-tasting restaurant adjoining the beautiful, ancient stone farmhouse where his family live. Mathieu served the wine with delicious sandwiches of dark brown bread and succulent prosciutto. We sampled three of the wines at Apostlehoeve, A Muller-Thurgau, which was a lovely crisp, light wine perfect for aperitif and two Pinto-Gris, the distinction being that one had been aged in the cellar in a wooden barrel and the other had not. The wines were amazing, Kate and I may have gotten quite tipsy, but it made for a lot of laughter and fun times and we admit to buying a few bottles between us. I will definitely be seeking out this wine label. However, because they are such a small winery and have such good produce they sell out quite quickly!

As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, we ended what proved to be a perfect day with a meal of pancakes and beer at the home of one of our host dutch students Daisy. Daisy was good company and she and her friends cooked us a meal of pancakes with bacon, capsicum, onion, apple, cheese and maple syrup. A surprisingly tasty combo, and plied us with good dutch beer! We then bundled into our coats and walked slowly back to the Guesthouse in the dark, feeling satiated! Ah Maastricht! :)

Jazmin Squire is participating in our January 2012 Positive Psychology program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Jazmin is going into her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Psychology degree at Griffith University.

Life in Maastricht so far... - Positive Psychology travel snaps from Julie Morris

Check out these photos from Julie Morris, who's currently in the wonderful city of Maastricht, the Netherlands doing our Positive Psychology program.

Maastricht is widely known as a student-friendly city full of history, culture and local folklore. Looks like Julie and the fellow AIM Overseasers are making the most of this unique city!



Pretty Maastricht



The traffic in Maastricht



The crew with our lovely tour guide, Stephanie



Shopping!



Pinkies waffles are the bomb!



Ice skating after dinner and drinks



On the road... the Dutch way



Arriving at uni



Our first Maastricht uni lecture



Group excursion - trekking to the caves



A charcoal drawing in the caves dating back over 100 years



Wine tasting at Apostelhoeve



Dinner with the Maastricht crew at an Italian restaurant owned by a Croatian



Panoramic view of my room



Dinner at home!



A parade that none of us know what for...



Funny sign

... and this is only week 1! We look forward to seeing more photos as your adventure unfolds, Julie!



Julie Morris is participating in our January 2012 Positive Psychology program at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Julie is going into her 2nd year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Newcastle.