Latest blog articles

The Facebook page “Stuff Dutch People Like” recently published a list of what Dutch people do not like. First place: Being confused for a German. Second place: Germans. Whoa! 

Recently, I received an offer to write a regular, five weekly column in Dagblad De Limburger. The newspaper was looking for a new group of columnists and thought I might be a suitable candidate. I don’t think this blog was the reason; a journalist who then came to interview me for an article in the...

Scientific research involving animal testing at Maastricht University caused a lot of commotion last week. A group of animal rights activists mobilized, according to their own sources, more than 100.000 people to sign a petition to halt experiments involving dogs in particular. Emotions got so...

It’s that time again when national chauvinism takes over – the football World Cup is here! Pubs and entire streets are made up in orange and I am glad that I “naturalized” my German car with yellow license plates years ago (it would otherwise be too dangerous in my street…). The fan composition...

Maastricht is experiencing a new dynamic: student en stad, a project that addresses the usual issues inherent to a university city, such as the specific needs of the young, diverse student population and the negative side-effects, commonly summarized by the Dutch term “studentenoverlast”. The...

I really envy Luc, our rector, he is not only very smart and running much faster than I ever could, he also has a nice office with a glass frame that allows you to see if he is there, with whom he is in a meeting or what he is doing. This creates a sense of transparency that represents the openness...