They have an interesting perspective on testing here--different then what I have heard or experienced. The message I got from today was that testers are there to tell you what you did wrong--and nobody likes the testers or doing the testing--especially in the "big companies that have people designated to do the testing." The way the teacher described these big companies where there are people for testing made it seem like down in the dungeon they have designated testing trolls that tear apart your work and tell you have bad you did it. I also was surprised at the lack emphasis on the importance of testing as part of the whole development life cycle. Maybe there were some things that were lost or confused in translation of the lesson to English but it was odd compared to my previous experiences.
There were some similarities to classes at home, like making the distinction between verification and validation--as well as mentioning the different phases of testing, but everything seemed like it had a negative view. The teacher also touched on testing for games (which is what we all expected the class would be) but this section of the lesson was minimal.
> > > FAST FORWARD TO AFTER CLASS > > >
Today was the day we were going to get our residency permits so we're allowed to stay legally in Holland longer than three months. The five of us students headed with Job (our boss at buro302) and Jan (human resources at HAN), to some city a little over an hour away of which I have already forgotten the name. We were told ahead of time that we would each have a half an hour interview. This was not the case. Michael was first so his lasted a little longer than the rest of us and I'm not sure how much he had to talk, but I didn't have to say more than three words during my "interview." I said hello, had to sign two documents, sat and watched the lady helping me typed in some stuff into her computer that I couldn't see, I asked her what the sticker was that she was putting in my passport, then I responded with "Oooh cooooool!" to that. Then we shook hands and I went back to the waiting area. Easy enough. We now each have a sweet sticker that is official proof that w have applied for residency in Holland and are allowed to stay here longer than three months! There is still more paperwork that has to be done, but that goes with being guinea-pigs for this exchange program.
The best part of the trip was the ride home when Michael and Job were discussing history. Mostly it was about WWII, but also a bit about Holland's occupation of Indonesia and other such topics. I really enjoy hearing history from other perspectives.
The rest of the night will consist of homework and work work for us.
