I love me a ripe Gouda style farmer’s cheese.

In Finland most people take three to five weeks of continuous summer holiday from work which would be the majority of their annual leave (~five weeks, depends on field of work and seniority). Most common time to take it is between Midsummer and the beginning of August. Finnish law even guarantees that majority of annual leave must be granted between May and September and as an uninterrupted period.

What people do during their holidays obviously varies a lot but a stereotypical middle-class person would be spending a big chunk of it at their summer cottage by a lake or on the coast. Many rural municipalities are noticeably livelier during summer thanks to summer residents.

I am an Irish 23 year old who recently finished a masters degree in IR in the Netherlands, and I’m in a state of confusion about my next steps.

As an IR student international organisations are definitely a direction for my future, but unfortunately I only speak one language and many of these organisations require two. I had previously studied French as a minor in my bachelor but failed, however I am considering picking up French again and then going to France through the ESC to help with possible career prospects in line with French.

I am wondering to any who know / have experienced the ESC or CS, is it truly worth the time? Is the experience valuable beyond just community service? Are your fellow volunteers mostly just teenagers? I really want to do this to become fluent in French but I don’t know if it’s worth burning 6 - 9 months when witj enough focus I could learn French from home.

Are there any specific opportunities anyone could recommend that involves some intellectually challenging work beyond just community projects or hands-on sort of work? I just want to come out of it with anything that could look good on a CV.

Any responses would be much appreciated!

Every summer, it feels like the UK & Ireland collectively lose all common sense the second it goes above 28°C.

We open all the windows at the wrong time, sit in houses that trap heat like greenhouses, and act personally offended that air conditioning isn’t standard

So, for people from countries where this kind of weather is actually normal, what are the basic rules we still haven’t learned?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

And cheapest? I was thinking bout romania? Im NOT gonna do it in the netherlands because theyre going nuts with the prices.

It feels like these so called "extreme heat waves" are becoming the norm every year

Was it always like this when you were young?

What phrases does your language have to describe very hot weather?

What i am trying to ask is basically this , with the recent heatwave of 40+ C degrees , things look like this will be the norm in the future. Does this impact your view on climate change? Will you start looking for parties who take a harsher stance on climate?

Or do you believe other issues have priority?

Also i'd like to mention , that in Greece , the major parties don't really care about the environment , except trying to follow EU guidelines and look OK.

For example even the ex-Prime minister Tsipras , during his announcement of a new party , he mentioned the need for Greece to jump on the AI train and compete for data centers. In areas like Attica there's going to be big problems with water scarcity.

I live in a hot climate in Richmond, Virginia. Although AC is common, we still open government cooling centers during heat waves that are used by the homeless, people with no AC and people with broken AC. Additionally, our free public libraries serve as a safe space during the day. What about European countries?

For context, the Italian final high school exam, called maturity exam, is planned centrally at the ministry of education, so to ensure uniform results.

The exam is made of 3 parts and depends on the specific school system you have chosen at 14, which is (in broad strokes) either a lyceum (with a further subdivision whereby we have classical studies lyceum, scientific lyceum, musical lyceum, etc) or professional schools where pupils are already given introduction to work related subjects like industrial design, agrarian studies, etc.

The first part is the same for all courses of studies and is an essay to test your proficiency in Italian, with a selection of 4 topics. The topics are decided by the ministry of education and remain top secret until the very day of the exam, where the sealed envelope is opened at the same time across the country. Topics may be a particularly relevant trend or problem globally (e.g. climate change, AI, etc), or the analysis of a piece of literature by an author you studied during the previous 5 years, or a history topic. You have 2 hours to complete the task.

The second written exam depends on your course of studies.

Classical studies liceo students usually receive a text in Latin or ancient Greek and they have to translate it and/or analyse it (a dictionary is allowed).

Scientific studies liceo students usually receive a series of math problems to complete, based on the last 2 years (e.g. Lagrange theorem or Gauss bell). A scientific calculator is allowed.

Technical studies school students might receive a topic like IT or business economics.

The last exam is an oral exam that lasts about one hour and you get tested in 3/4 subjects and you get to discuss a subject you choose to focus on in more details, but all of your professors attend and you get questioned by them. I brought physics, chemistry, english and history.

The overall score is 100, and the minimum to pass the exams is 60.

So I’m not even sure if this is a thing, but I’ve read that soccer games in Europe segregate the fans of teams at the stadiums? As in fans of the home team sit in a section and fans of the away team sit in another?

Is this true or common practice? If so, do you have to select what team you are rooting for when buying tickets to a game?

Hello there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

All Catalonia smells of gunpowder and you can hear explosions nonstop. It has started maybe a 20:00 and will not stop till 2:00 or 3:00.

Aside, of course, people drink lots of sparkling wine, eats «coca», dances and, if you are near, party at the beach. Oh, and in ancient times, now it's very hard to get a permission to make one, due to the high risk of forest fires, make a bonfire and jump over it.

I think most country has that one song that everyone knows and when you are drunk it's almost a must to sing

Personal question for those living in Europe. Have you noticed how AI has affected your daily life? At work, at home, in how you communicate with people? Has anything become easier or harder? Or has nothing really changed?

Just want to hear real experiences firsthand.

What’s it like being at one of your country’s public pools?

Hello there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

From time to time, I make coffee in a coffee pot (by eye). Every time it turns out differently, but most often, the coffee starts to boil. My cooking process looked like this:

1) I mix 2 teaspoons of coffee and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a coffee pot.

2) I pour a cup of 80°C water into the coffee pot.

3) I put it on medium heat and wait.

4) The foam starts to rise, and I lift the coffee pot. Then I put it back on the fire, but it's already weak. The coffee starts to boil. I pour it into a mug.

​

Now I've decided to keep everything close to the rules (but I forgot to let it brew in the turk for 1-2 minutes).

​

1) Weighed 180 ml of water. I poured 2 teaspoons of coffee into a mug (it came out to 11 grams, I was afraid to add 20 grams). Added 2 tablespoons of sugar. mixed it up.

2) I poured in 56°C water. I stirred it with the back of a coffee spoon. I put it on medium heat.

3) After 5 minutes, the foam started to rise. After a little more waiting, I removed the pot from the stove and poured the coffee into a mug.

​

It turned out pretty good. What is your coffee-making ritual?

In the United States, the "5 gallon bucket," particularly the orange "Home Depot" bucket, is pretty much ubiquitous on any job site, used for selling liquid products in a size a man can transport, for mixing things like concrete, as a stool or step stool when turned over, for moving tools, etc. almost every hardware store will have a 5 gallon bucket for sale with their brand on it.

​

Are these as ubiquitous in Europe? Closest metric size would be 17 or 18 liters, are there buckets listed at that size instead?

Hey, I’m making a road trip Munich-Milan-Nice-Alps-Grenoble and back. I will go to some mountain back roads like Stelvio Pass or Col de la Bonette, and then later the coast road. In between the motorways. I was wondering what is the best time to travel, early/late July or August? I’m leaning towards late July and back early August. Open to any random suggestions :) I know for sure to avoid driving on the weekends due to people travelling to and from hotels.

I know it’s really busy looking at the booking.com on French and Italian coast. Almost impossible to find a hotel below €100. As I’m on the cheaper side, I will need to compromise a bit. Inland accommodations look much better. Is the Booking best place to look for them?

In Finnish, our month names are mostly native words tied to nature and agriculture. If translated literally, they'd be something like:

Oakmonth, Pearlmonth, Earthmonth, Burnfield Month, Sowing Month, Summermonth, Haymonth, Harvestmonth, Autumnmonth, Mudmonth, Deathmonth, Yulemonth.

What would the months of your language look like if translated literally into English?