Discoveries in the USA

By Björn de Rijk
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I am very Dutch. My family has lived in the Netherlands for centuries. When I moved from my hometown to the city of Leiden to start my mathematical career, I would have never imagined myself living abroad. However, the moment I got awarded a travel grant, it was excitement all over: I was going to spend a semester at Brown University in the USA as part of my PhD.

The first day in the States I woke up very early due to my jet lag. Since the international office would not open for the next several hours, I browsed the internet for things I could do in the early morning. It turned out that the Walmart opened at 7. So I decided to take the bus to explore this new world. That morning I made my first (non-scientific) discoveries: vegetables are more expensive than junk food, peanut butter and jelly are sold in one jar and aerosol cheese exists.



Brown University in winter.

During the first month of my stay the Brown campus looked like winter wonderland. Getting to work felt like competing in the television show “Wipeout.” I had to climb giant piles of snow, jump over big puddles of slush and avoid slipping on ice. Except for the weather conditions I quickly started to enjoy my life in Providence a lot. It is great to come into a new group, learn new techniques and work with an inspiring supervisor. Moreover it is difficult to dislike a university where there are so many good lunch places nearby, the campus looks like it is taken from a fairy tale and the department serves afternoon tea with cakes, cookies and fresh fruit.

At the end of April it seemed as if winter would never end, but then suddenly flowers started to blossom and trees grew new leaves. Spring was great, although it lasted no longer than one week before I needed to switch on the air conditioner. Coming from a country known for mild and rainy weather, this was continental climate to the extreme for me.



Brown University in spring.

With the start of summer my two projects started to take shape. One of these projects was in cooperation with another PhD student. It is great to work with two PhD students on one project. Since PhD students are generally not involved in many important committees, they tend to have more time. This means intense blackboard sessions, sharing the joy of solving something or both feeling stupid.

Although I was very productive without family, friends and partner, I started to miss them in the end. Fortunately my partner visited me during the last weeks and we explored the fantastic nature on the east coast by car. I wasn’t able do that before, since I can only ride bikes. As I said, I am very Dutch.

After this holiday I had to say goodbye to my new friends from the department in Brown. It had been a great time and I am looking forward to new mathematical adventures.

Björn de Rijk

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