Campus Renovations

The main stretch of TU Delft's campus has looked like a post-WW II disaster area pretty much since the day we arrived back in August. The long-running renovations (see video below, though note that they've left out the winter footage) have finally been completed. The heart of campus, Mekelweg Park, is finally looking much better.

Frisbee Outdoor Competition Day 2

On Sunday we trekked all the way to the University of Twente in Enschede - practically in Germany - for the second outdoor competition day in the Dutch Ultimate Frisbee League. Despite the long journey, we were fortunate to be far from the coast; weather in Enschede was beautiful and sunny with temperatures well above 70 °F. Meanwhile, the east of the country was easily 10-15 °F colder, overcast, and rainy.


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The University of Twente is basically in the middle of nowhere and hidden in thick tree cover. This makes the campus more picturesque than most Dutch universities. (TU Delft, for instance, looks vaguely like WW II just ended due to construction in the heart of campus, and TU Eindhoven has the distinct misfortune of being in Eindhoven.) On this day the most notable feature of the campus were the remnants of what must have been the biggest student party in the history of the universe - piles of beer bottles, people sleeping on the lawns, tents, half-dismantled stages, people walking with enormous backpacks, etc.

The event turned out to be an 18-hour overnight race from Nijmegen to Enschede, culminating in the massive campus party that we had just missed. We still had two frisbee games to brighten our day, though. We won our second game handily but lost our first to the other best team in our division. This ultimately kept us from advancing to a higher division next month. Even with the unfortunate loss, it's hard to complain about spending a nice day on soft grass in the sun.



More pictures on Flickr...

The Weather

What a difference a week makes! Last week - even last weekend - temperatures were in the mid-40's. They've been slowly creeping up since then and we're now at the crescendo: 66 °F and sunny! This naturally has everyone very excited. Restaurants have expanded their outdoor seating - and people are already out enjoying their meals and drinks in open air. The city center is more abuzz than normal with activity. Today at lunch the Aula cafeteria at TU Delft was virtually empty because everyone was eating while sunning themselves outside on the grassy knoll (aka the library). The grass is green, daffodils are blooming everywhere (with tulips to come), the birds are singing... this is why people put up with the dreary Dutch winter!

Senz Umbrella

Here at TU Delft I keep reading press releases and hearing things about the Senz Umbrella, which was developed by some industrial design students and even tested in the university's own wind tunnels. I haven't personally used one; my umbrella cost $3 and a Senz Original runs the much more extravagant cost of ~€50, but that's probably why I can't take mine into a hurricane without having it turn inside out.