I know how you feel. Having an awful week myself - no exam but no progress on my work. There seem to be new obstacles every day and so far I haven't found a way to work around them. I crave chocolate and what I really want to do just now is go home and watch TV.

I had a cold last weekend and I always find that going for a walk helps. 20 minutes of fresh air will certainly clear your mind and help your cold get better. Maybe I should walk around a bit myself?

I actually made the same experience. During my MSc, it took the Dutch students in my class about 6 months to recognize me and actually say hello or talk to me. However, once you get to know them more, they are usually really nice.
I also found that it helps if you ask them along to something you were going to any way. I threw a party for the people in my class at the end of my year in the Netherlands, and they all came, had a good time and said they would have really enjoyed doing something like that earlier. They are just shy, I guess, but really friendly once you do get to know them. So maybe if you try to be a bit more outgoing they will open up... Good luck!

If you are in Germany, supermarkets have them, too. And obviously, you could get them in the Netherlands almost anywhere.

Hey monkey,

I hung out a lot with people, went swimming and tried to stay indoors as much as I could during the winter in Rotterdam. Don't you just love it when it is really crappy outside and you get to sit inside with some tea and biscuits? I could recommend the Dutch stroopwaffels for that...

I think it will also reflect on you badly if you go and do the labtalk and mess it up badly because you are not as well prepared as you could have been.

Maybe it would help you to take some time off to figure out what you really want to do? It doesn't sound as if doing a PhD is what you really want to do, but then maybe it is, and you just need some time to figure it out.

Generally, I think that if you are unhappy with what you are doing and have been that way for quite some time, it is time to do something else that you will be more content with. I would suggest cancelling that labtalk tomorrow and setting up a meeting with your supervisor instead to talk to him or her about the problems you are having with your research and the research environment.

Good luck!

Hey monkey,

where in Holland are you? I did a MSc in Rotterdam and loved the weather there - not the rain but the five-month fog during winter...

I guess you'd all feel quite young if you were doing your PhD in Germany - people here are generally 25 or older when they start...

I don't think a normal 18-year old could handle the demands of a PhD, but then there are always people who are more mature than their biological age, so why not? Even though I always feel so old hearing about these youngsters

Wouldn't say I am not geeky - aren't we all in a way?

I am sitting in Cologne.

Hey, I guess you are right and I have been talking about research...
I cannot promise that this will be the last time but I still love to talk about other stuff too.

Hi guys,

I am new here and I was truly amazed last week when I found this forum. I am really glad that there seem to be other PhD students besides myself who like to speak about other topics but research! I am sitting here in Germany surrounded by people who talk about nothing else but their work. So thanks for that!

I am just interested as it seems almost everyone here is doing a science PhD. Anyone doing one in economics?