Endings

"Ever done a project for a long time, one that organises your whole life, until it stops?"

Vocabulary lesson: accommodation

"Subtle shifts of language are overlooked in the discourse about building a bilingual Dutch-English environment"

Losing to the waves

"It felt as if part of my life had been cut off, erased"

The genie of global Dutch

"The Dutch did something different: they kept their language for themselves"

How to have a fellowship

"If you do at least half of what you say you’re going to do, you’ll be successful"

Calling all writers

Creative writing programs and community-based writing schools don’t exist here

Thinking about skiing

What used to seem joyfully improbable, sliding down a slope on two thin planks, now felt grim and plodding

Dog food 

Maastricht University does not practice what it preaches about learning

A serious case of homesickness

"She makes me look better than I deserve to, and I twirl her, because she likes it" 

A hazardous discovery in the forest

Research into deathbed final words 

There’s a paradox at the heart of Dutch language policy

Maastricht University’s language policy was devised by common sense. 

Precious scraps 

Writing a book: Instead of sitting down right away, I go to the Friday market

Presume Positive Intent 

You’ll be slapped back over and over until you find a safe place, cozily inside the perimeter of your job description

Wedding ring gone

As a symbol, it’s the anchor of my life

Office surplus

"My favorite desk, a grey Steelcase table, I found in that warehouse"

Scooter exhaust is my madeleine

Tijden

A life on campus