Mars
Space travel is not that cool
Recently some machine landed on a piece of rock floating around in the middle of nowhere. Pretty cool I guesss.
Some very dominant country wants to send humans to an even bigger piece of rock covered in red sand. Amazing. But why not send a robot instead. Yeah, I know it is about prestige and all of that but these astronauts would be . . .
Dutch Drugs
Why weed is not cool in Holland.
Dutch people are always high, right? Wrong. They rarely are.
In fact, the most frequent coffeeshop customers are foreigners.
Actually the Netherlands rank pretty low in terms of cannabis consumption if you compare it to other countries. Less than the Czech Republic, the United States, France, Greenland, or even Liechtenstein.
. . .Posted in: englishnetherlandswriting
University Gentrification
Is campus Woudestein getting too expensive?
Campus Woudestein. Home to Rotterdams Erasmus University, which I happen to attend.
At an university with around 20,000 students you would expect an opportunity to eat cheaply. Then you better look somewhere else. Woudestein is expensive.
Here are the contributors:
1. Starbucks
Yes, there is a Starbucks . . .
Posted in: englishnetherlandswriting
SPACE DOGS
Cool pictures of soviet space dogs
Did you ever hear of Laika? She was the first living being in space. She was also a dog and died. That's sad. But the life of the adventurous is full of dangers!
You might have also noticed that the domain of my blog contains the word "spacedog". I think space dogs are great.
Why?
BECAUSE THEY ARE . . .
Welcome to tracksuit town
An introduction to Rotterdams "most dangerous" neighbourhood: Feyenoord
People often ask me where in Rotterdam I live. Their reaction to the answer often sounds like this:
"Feyenoord? Oh my god I would never go there! It is such a rough neighbourhood."
No, it's not. Instead it is time to look at some of the broad statements about this lovely area on the south side of the river . . .
Posted in: englishnetherlandswriting
The Conquest of Love
Three individuals. Two millenia. One Day. Follow the Valentine's Day through the course of history until today.
ITALY. ROME. YEAR 269.

The 13th February of 269 is a bad day for Valentinus. He is in prison in Rome. And you only leave a prison in Rome for one reason: To get executed. Especially if you are Christian. A banned religion in the Roman Empire.
But how did he end up there? Well, performing weddings for Roman . . .
Cover image credit: http://Ernest Thiesmeier
