Mr Daan Herckenrath, Recipient 2008
Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Internschip, U. S. Geological Survey

On April 1st, I started with my internship in Florida. One objective of this internship is to compare two different computer programs for the modelling of groundwater flow in coastal areas. One computer program is used by the Dutch research institute “Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research”; the other is used and developed by the “United States Geological Survey” in Fort Lauderdale. The second objective of my internship is to write a short article about parameter uncertainty in combination with the modelling of groundwater flow in coastal zones. This internship will also be the last part of my Msc-study “Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management” at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Because I suspected that living here would be quite expensive, I applied for a scholarship of the Netherlands Florida Scholarship Foundation, which they luckily honored.

When my plane flew over Miami, I immediately noticed the different structure of the city in comparison with a Dutch one. In Holland every city has some kind of centre with small streets and the most of its shops. Miami showed a less dense city with a lot of big roads crossing it. Everything seems to be more spread around here. Because I only have a bike and the public transportation isn’t very good in Fort Lauderdale, I didn’t like that very much at the beginning. This part of the States is really built for the car.

The arrangement of the housing in Fort Lauderdale was the biggest problem for me. I thought I found a nice hostel on the internet, but when I arrived I noticed it wasn’t located in the best neighborhood. But I needed a place close to work, so I spent my first week at this hostel. However, the people were very friendly. Besides a couple of Americans, also people from Europe, Cuba and South America stayed here. Because everyone is staying for a short period at this place, making new friends was very easy. That was also the reason why I already became familiar with the night life in Fort Lauderdale the day after my arrival. However, I was happy when I arranged something else, because a hostel doesn’t offer a lot of privacy. With some help of a colleague, I’m now renting my own apartment just a few minutes from the beach and Las Olas Boulevard.

My first day at work felt very normal. But there was one big difference. In the Netherlands people take lunch with them to work and eat that together in some kind of lunch room. My colleagues at the U. S. Geological Survey haven’t got this common moment and do all something else during the lunch. Some people are going home, some skip the lunch with a bag of chips or donut in front of their computer and a small group of colleagues has dinner at Taco Bell or at a fish restaurant. I’m joining the latter group.

During my spare time I’m trying to explore the surrounding a bit. It’s a pity that I just have one day a week to do this, so I didn’t visit a lot of places. First I went to some ordinary places like a Wal-Mart and a big mall in Sunrise. Most of the stores here are much bigger than those in the Netherlands. I also went to the New Times Beerfest with a couple of new friends. Besides this I also visited some bars but the most of my spare time I spent on the beach, with its everlasting breeze, waves and sunshine. One time I also went to Miami, which was a very good experience. Especially the Coconut Grove and a tour with the metro-rail through downtown Miami were very nice.

The people from work are also taking good care of me. After work we’re sometimes having a beer and play some darts at an English restaurant. One weekend we also went to the ocean with the boat of a colleague to do some scuba-diving, snorkeling and having a drink. When I am looking at all the different aspects of my stay till now, I must say this is a great experience.