All hell breaking loose

Well, the title pretty much sums it up. All hell has broken loose at my lab. The Dutch girl resigned her job on Thursday, and came in on Friday to make a planning for her last month at the lab. However, the conversation with my supervisor went so bad, so horribly bad, that she walked out, asked me to finish her western blot and went home. And when I called her this morning, she was on the bus to Heathrow to take a plane back to the Netherlands. She was just so tired of being talked down upon, controlled and manipulated, that she took a plane home. So there you have it, cancer research in Oxford, very professional.

But I won't totally ruin you weekend with drama, because life also has its good moments. For one, there is loving family. Take my mum, who went to the Hema (store in the Netherlands) to buy me a leather jacket, after I send her an email saying "Mum! Run to the store! They have a cheap leather jacket!". And the darling bought it for me, even though I already have a bunch. Just to cheer me up, the sweetheart.
And than there is this lovely photo, I took when I went out for dinner with my Dutch friend the night she resigned:

Yep, that is my room mates car, and yes, that is the wheelie bin on the roof. Priceless.

Hope you have a nice, and drama-free weekend!
 

One leaving

Well, its official: my Dutch friend at the lab has quit her job. Yep, she finally had enough of our supervisor's opinions (how everything is her fault and how she has to change her personality) and her constant control freak attitude. She chose to be unemployed, rather than being anywhere near her. But please don't think she's happy about it, she told me she feels awful. To support her, we left work a little early today (I supposedly was going to Skype with my mum) and went for dinner in Oxford city center. She confided in me she really didn't want to spent the evening alone, since she felt so bad about the whole situation. Also, she's terrified of the last month she's going to have to spend at the lab. Even if she takes all here vacation days, she still has to work at least 3 more weeks. And lets face it, there is now way to predict how the supervisor or the other people at the lab are going to react... Even though I'm getting along with all of them pretty well right now, I really hope this is not create awkward situations. It's been hard enough for her already, and she just wants to leave in peace. I'm going to miss her so much! :( 

With love, Willemijn 

Group dynamic

Remember the lunch date I had last weekend with a girl from my lab? Well, lets just say that things have become a lot more clearer on the whole lab atmosphere and group dynamic. She basically told be that she hates working in our research group so much, she wants to quit. The only reason she's not gone with the wind is that it took her 4 months to find this job, and she finds the prospect of being unemployed absolutely terrible. For some odd reason, and she honestly has no idea why, the other girls have taken a disliking with her. And are showing it in more than one way. They're just plain rude (which I have to admit, I noticed the moment I arrived in January). I didn't thought she was bothered by it much, because she always reacts really professional, but she confessed to me that its eating her up on the inside. I just can't believe it, a bunch of grown up adults, doing high-end academic research into cancer, are acting like high school girls! Our supervisor is aware of the situation, but keeps saying "the problem is her fault, and she needs to change her personality". Which I feel is highly unprofessional as well, and of course isn't helping at all (if not making it worse). So, there you have it: cancer research in Oxford, nothing like I could have ever imagined. Luckily, were are getting along very well, and that's not just because we're both Dutch, she's genuinely a very nice person. I just hope its not going to stir the others to become nasty to me as well... Can you believe I just said that?! I sound like a bloody 16 year old! *sigh* Only 4 more months and 2 more weeks...

With love, Willemijn

1 month gone

Hello hello! Its been a while since I wrote something on "Everyday life of a Dutch girl", so today I decided to write another post. Which will probably be about how the weather is shit in the UK, how I'm really tired from the late hours I spend at the lab, and how I still miss the Netherlands. Bad. So, let me start off by saying there are massive flooding in the UK. For once I'm really happy my house is on a hill, although I'm still out of breath every time I cycle up (health condition not improving: check). And the hairdresser who did my hair today told me its was going to snow next week. Ah, I almost forgot to mention I got a hair cut. I was planning to go for a color as well, but decided to first see if she could handle this. My god, I've never been so terrified! Like a toddler was going at it! Another thing I miss about the Netherlands: my hairdresser. Incompetent woman. And it cost me 40 pounds! I had dinner on Thursday and Friday (combined) which was the same price! Although both were a bit disappointing. Thursday I went out with some girls of the lab to celebrate that one of them got a PhD position (the position I was going for as well). The moment she learned that I was going for the same PhD position I felt she somehow got more competitive with me (and nasty, like talking behind my back), so I hope that's over now she got it... And Friday we all went out with my supervisor, and some people from another lab group as well. We started at the Old Bank Hotel for drinks and later went to an Indian place called "4500 miles from Delhi", which was nice, but nothing spectacular. Biggest downer was that it took them 1.5 hours to brings us our main dishes, so we were pretty hungry when the food finally arrived. But the atmosphere and conversation was really good, which made up for it. However I'm not missing home any bit less. Tomorrow I'm planning to meet up with the other Dutch girl at my lab, perhaps we can share some good memories about Holland, since I know she misses home as much as I do...

Hope have a nice (and dry!) weekend ;)

p.s. On some of my lower points this month I send these pictures to my dad:

When I was homesick and one of the girls was being rude, I wondered why I had chosen an internship abroad...

When I did the FACS analysis, and the results were the complete opposite of my expectations.... (in the end, the FACS technician and my supervisor didn't agree on the outcome. No idea what to do now.)