Just got back from the conference in Groningen--if you don't know what I'm talking about, see previous entry--and I'm feeling better about things than I have in a while.
Groningen is just the loveliest college town ever. It's a little larger and more crunchy-granola than Nijmegen, with lots of beautiful canals and prewar buildings home to fair-trade coffee shops and Birkenstock dealers. The university itself is the second oldest in the Netherlands, and the architecture is just absolutely spectacular. (Sorry, forgot my camera. Sad face.)
Aside from that, it was worth the nearly 3-hour train ride (in this country, that's ENDLESS) to talk about things like political accountability and transcendentalism and Foucauldian power relations and to have my ideas chewed up and spat out over and over again. Yes, it was probably the nerdiest 9 hours I've ever spent, but my brain feels like it's exploding. In a good way. If the world of academia is like this--endless conversations and tons of books and free-flowing coffee--then you can count me in.
I also made some new Dutch friends, both students and professors, and not only did we make tentative plans for Monday night jazz at a local club...they also directed me to the local arts center. WHICH CONTAINS PRACTICE ROOMS. YES YES YESSSSS.
And with that, I'm off to make some Cup-A-Soup and hit the hay...my brain hurts.
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