SREF-naval museum

 For my SREF project I went to a local naval museum with some of the group. The museum looked quite small when we entered, but the more we explored, the bigger it became. In fact, I got lost in there and had trouble finding my way out. There was an extensive amount of information (mostly in dutch) as well as a lot of scale models of what certain parts of ships looked like. One in particular that was interesting was the engine room, which housed the engines that made a freight ship run.

European Culture

What I noticed during this trip is how much more personal history seems to mean to European towns. Everywhere you go in a town you can see the way their history has shaped them. For example, delft blue is a staple piece sold in almost every store in delft and a few towns outside of delft. In Franeker, everyone seemed to want to tell us to go see the observatory. US towns definatly have a history, yet most do not seem to be as connected to it than in Europe. 

Antwerp Freight Museum

 The Antwerp freight museum was an incredibly in depth tour of the history of Antwerp. It gave insight into exactly how many cultures influence Antwerp and how confusing it can get. One thing that interested me was the different mentions of how archeological projects are influencing how we view history. As of now, we do not know for certain who were the first people to live in Belgium, and our tour guide kept mentioning how research for it is ongoing and has been producing new evidence and results. Another thing I found facinating was some of the models on display. Specifically, there was a viking longboat 3-d printed model that was printed directly from a recently discovered longboat. It is facinating how we can use modern day technology to showcase history.

Culture - Maddi

 I found transportation to be one of the biggest areas that was different than in the U.S. People there seem to use public transportation much more than we do back home. This could be because they just have a better public transportation infrastructure. Also, there are quite a few big cities in such a small country compared to how our big cities are more dispersed throughout the country. We definitely have similar systems in the U.S. but they’re really just concentrated in big cities. It is also very obvious that bikes are a very common form of transportation there. Overall, it doesn’t seem like driving a car would be the best option. The transportation workers are also more blunt when it comes to telling passengers what to do/where to go. 

Railway Museum - Maddi

 One attraction I liked at the railway museum was getting to go inside the train cars. This was cool because I got a glimpse into how it was to be a train passenger from different time periods. It was interesting to see how trains improved over time. I also liked the 3D ride and small roller coaster ride. I think those are a great way to keep guests and museum attendees entertained apart from the regular displays. 

Culture-Taylor

 Something that I noticed through out the trip, and especially after eating at a resturaunt in Amsterdam was how consuming water during meals is different. I know that I personally drink a lot while I am eating, so it was really different when I was given a glass bottle of water half the size of a glass of water in an American restaurant. The glasses they gave us to put the water in were also very small, like the size of an alcohol or child's glass. When Mallory, Brianna, and I were in that resturaunt in Amsterdam, we each ordered a large bottle of water meant to be shared with the whole table, and we all drank them completely. I think the waitor thought we were a little wierd. I don't know if we just drink more liquids than them in general because all of their bottle sizes are smaller, or if it's because water is generally free in the US, or they look at water as more of a sipping drink, but I could definitely tell a difference. 

Culture - Allison

 Something culturally different between the Netherlands and the US is pets. There are no stray dogs or cats in the Netherlands and their spay and neuter policies are very effective. All cats that are outside are chipped and collared. Dogs also are more well behaved and disciplined in the Netherlands compared to the US. They are very good at walking on leashes and stay in their carts or strollers. Something that is different is that I notice dogs in the city go to the bathroom anywhere; I've even seen them go in a mall. There are few grassy places for the dogs to go to the bathroom and people don't clean it up frequently. 

European Culture: William

One observation that I've noticed is the amount of public transit that is available. In the U.S., I feel that public transit is incredibly limited compared to the Netherlands. I was also surprised by the number of people that utilized public transit (definitely a lot more people than what I was expecting). In the U.S., I feel that even when public transit is available, people still opt to utilize cars. I also found it surprising that many train stops extend to more rural areas such as Franeker (which is Platteville sized) which is definitely not seen much in the U.S. where public transit is less common in rural areas.

Culture - Molly

 One of the cultural things that I found interesting was that they don’t drink as much water as we do. I always felt like we were constantly asking for water and still needing more because they only gave you a small amount. We are also not use o having to pay for water every we go, so that was new. Also having sparking water almost be more popular that still water was interesting. I am not really a fan is sparkling water so to make sure I said “still” water was rough at first. 

European Culture - Dan

When it comes to European culture, I noticed financial transactions feel different than from the US. On a basic level discussed earlier, taxes are implemented into the prices of food and goods already. Some new observations I would like to comment on would be that in Europe, cashiers most of time ask for specific payments when using cash such as an extra amount of cents to better round when giving change. Additionally, they can be more flexible about exact change over a few Euro cents if it means exchanging more even change. They are also more likely to forgo a few Euro cent if it means cleaner change back to the customer. In the US, cashiers are less flexible about forgoing a few cents and often break change with whatever is handed to them. It’s really cool to see and from the perspective a person who likes nice, round numbers, I love it! 

European Culture- Mal

 I have noticed a few more cultural differences since our discussion this past Wednesday. The observation I noticed was how comfortable and well behaved children are on public transit. I first noticed this when I was on a train and recognized that I was sitting behind an upper elementary aged student and he was alone. I also noticed that toddlers and young pre-schoolers are really comfortable with public bus rides. This one small kid was just holding a pole next to his parent, knowing he shouldn’t talk and also knew how to balance to withstand the force of turns which I thought was really interesting (he had to be only about 5).

European culture

 This biggest culture shock to me was how restaurants were ran. I work in a restaurant at home and we are taught that the customer is always right and we go out of the way for them. Also water is free. Here one must wave down a waiter if you need something because it is considered rude if interrupted during your meal. Split checks is also frowned upon but in the US we do it to please the customer.  I still don’t quite understand the logic behind it but found it to be an interesting experience. 

Railway museum

 There were many things i enjoyed about visiting This museum but my favorite was walking through the Royal waiting room and their cars. It is evident that the royals got the best of the best. It was also interesting to see what royals got in the 19th century vs what Royalty looks like today. It is very different but I thought it was interesting. 

Railway Museum

 My favorite part of the Railway Museum was how I was able to explore the exhibit on my own. There was a portion called the tech lab which was really cool and interactive. The tech lab has several stations that were created to show the development and changes in the railway system that allowed for train cars to be more efficient and have smoother rides. One station had three individual cars on a track. The first car was wood and was on a wooden track so it was quite difficult to pull the car against the track. The second car was wood on a steel track which was a bit easier. The the third car was steel and it was on a steel track which allowed it to be the smoothest and have the least amount of tension. It was cool to see the different demonstrations of how trains have evolved.

Culture - Zoey

 The biggest difference in culture that I noticed was the transportation. It wasn't a surprise to me that there was public transportation and that it was so easily accessible. I wish it was more like that in the states because it is just so much easier and better for the environment than personal transportation. 

Freight Museum - Zoey

I liked learning about the mail system and how it worked on train cars. I thought it was odd how small the car was in the first place and then to learn that many others sat in the car while the person was sorting the mail probably wasn't fun. It seemed like a poor working condition, especially after hearing that everyone smoked in the tiny car.

Railway museum-Taylor

 There were a lot of really cool and educational exhibits at the railway museum. One thing that I found especially interesting is the post trains. The first post trains were also combined with passenger cars. The post person would sit in a spot and sort mail while other people were in the car. I did not know that this was a thing, or even thought of how post moved by train either here in the Netherlands or in the United States. I know somewhat about our current system and when it moved by stagecoach. 

Railway Museum-William

Something that I learned how long the royal train was. I had no idea that it would be basically a moving house. I also leanred that the train station was used to deport Jews during World War II. Something I found interesting was the POST car and how there would be passengers riding in the same train car as the person sorting mail. It also interesting that people could smoke in while in the train car.

Railway Museum - Dan

For my blog post, I will be discussing the interior design of trains from the past compared to the present. For older interiors, the train cars are extremely luxurious and could be lived in day to day like a home. These cars have kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and functioning bathrooms. Newer trains tend to have much more seating and are focused on transporting as many people to one location as quickly as possible. During the time period of the older train cars, this was the main form of traveling large distances, so the goal was to design interiors to be as comfortable as possible to travel from one place to another. This is also attributed to older trains not being nearly as fast as older trains, so traveling from one destination to another would take much longer. 

Railway Museum - Jacob

 I enjoyed all of the unique exhibits in the railway museum. I learned about post cars and how they where used as both transportation of mail and people (at the same time.) The coolest exhibit for me was the “future of transportation” exhibit which featured magnetic levitation trains that could reach up to 1000kph by removing all forms of resistance like air (vacuum tunnel) and wheels (using magnets).

Railway Museum - Brianna

My favorite part of the Railway Museum was the World 3 dark ride. That was certainly the most unique exhibit I’ve ever seen in a museum (and I definitely rode it more than once). But one thing that surprised me was the royal class waiting room. I’m glad that someone pointed out the change in “rich people” design over the years. Nowadays, neutral colored minimalist decor is the preferred style. Back in the day, richly colored and patterned decor was preferred. I’m curious about which factors affect change in decor style, and how that style will change as we move into the future. 

Railroad Museum - Molly

 When we first arrived at the railroad museum I did not think it was going to be that big until we started walking through. The museum ended up being very large with many different interactive exhibits. I enjoyed doing those the most. There was one where your group had to “conduct” the train and your chair moved to the direction or slope the train was going on the screen to make it feel like you were on the train in the early stages of working trains. There was also one where you went into a door and it essentially brings you to an old town and station that you could explore. 

Antwerp Freight Museum - Allison

 Visiting the Antwerp freight museum we learned about the historic and roots of trading. Vikings were the first great traders, not barbarians, contrary to popular opinion. They had advancements in ship building and sailing that allowed them to travel up and down the west coast of Europe efficiently; trading goods and establishing or enhancing settlements. Through these settlements their trading grew and created the basic concepts of what we now call the trading and shipping industry. 

Freight Museum- Mal

During the tour of the freight museum in Antwerp, Belgium, I learned about the developments in ships to allow for trade and exploration. Specifically, there was one exhibit that showed a smaller to scale ship that was found when digging in soil in Belgium. This ship was taken a part to protect and preserve the wood and is now slowly being put back together. The current model at the museum is really cool because it is identical to the larger ship found in the mud, but is a smaller model that was 3-D printed! I think that was my favorite ship in the exhibit.