Silliness

I just wanted to post this, because I figured you all would enjoy it.

So I have class usually on Tuesdays-Thursdays. Coupled with the fact that I have a group meeting on Wednesday in a different city right after my Wednesday class, I was flipping out. I ate breakfast/lunch in record speed (since as most of you know, I never wake up early enough to do anything) and then rushed to class, just to realize that my Wednesday class doesn't start until NEXT WEDNESDAY!! Haha...I'm an idiot...I showed up to a completely empty class.

Hope this gave you a chuckle.

Integrating...

Hey everybody!

Sorry my update is coming a couple of days late this week. Things are getting busier and busier here, so I'm not sure how frequent my updates will be, but I'll try and keep them coming.So my Dutch class ended last Tuesday and my exam was this past Monday. Here's a picture of my class and our teacher.

On Wednesday thru Friday, I had an "integration" trip with other students from the exchange program. These students came from all around the world, one from Austrailia, others from Brazil, a few from the US and Canada, etc. I was a bit skeptical of the trip at first, but it turned out to be a lot more fun than expected. We started with several acrobatic tricks/trust exercises. It was the FIRST TIME EVER that I was considered "light" and asked to be the "flier" rather than the base. I did many things ranging from standing on top of someone's shoulders while he himself was also standing to doing a headstand, etc. Here's a good picture of the group, I am on the top left side.

Aside from the acrobatic tricks, we ate A LOT of bread and cheese (typical Dutch food) for lunch and for breakfast and sometimes for dinner, too. We did some team-building workshops and exercises and played some silly games. The best part was there was a bar in the place that we stayed...I think you get the idea that drinking is a big part of the social life here. It was even included in our fee, I imagine, to have several drinks paid for by the school. All in all, we had a great time getting to know one another. I made a lot of friends and was even introduced to my team for our International Business Project. I found out I'll be consulting, along with four team members (one from Brazil, one from Netherlands, one from Canada/India, and one from Taiwan), for a company that provides a platform for carbon-emissions trading.

For the weekend, I decided to stay in Rotterdam and see a bit more of the city, especially since I had the exam on Monday. I went to the Euromast, the highest point of Rotterdam, and took some great pictures. There were some crazies even repelling on the side of the building. I also met a random student from Ireland and had coffee with her (I know, I meet a lot of people randomly!). Here's a great picture of Rotterdam, with the Erasmus bridge, a famous site in Rotterdam. Aside from site-seeing in Rotterdam, I didn't do much else. I go to a market here on a weekly basis, it has everything from old washing machines to bikes to tons of different fresh fruits/vegetables/fish/etc. I also finally figured out that I was biking on two very deflated tires; I love biking now that I fixed that problem! Lastly, I started normal classes today (Tuesday) and it's very different from the US. I realized there's A LOT of interaction here between professor and students during class. So yeah, I think that wraps up my latest news.

I leave for London on Thursday so stay tuned for some exciting updates and pictures!

Legality is Amazing...

So I've now officially been in Holland (also known as the Netherlands) for over two weeks. It's cloudly all the time in Holland...here's a goofy picture for you.

For week #2, I finally figured out how to ride my bike. I've been dropping pounds since riding a bike here is more exercise than I have ever done in the States. haha. While on the subject of bike-riding...apparently, people here bike to the clubs/bars (sober or not sober?) and then bike back home (probably not sober this time)! I had my first experience with this the other night, while biking home from a jazz club. I have to admit, it was a pretty interesting experience. Try it for yourself sometime (actually, don't do it, there aren't enough bike lanes in the U.S.).

So other than biking, my dutch class is going well. I don't do any homework or studying for it, so I doubt I'll learn any real dutch. It doesn't help that everyone here speaks english so there's really no need to learn dutch. Class has been fun, we (the students) went on a field trip and then had a drink with our teacher on Wednesday (he bought me a beer, no worries, I'm legal here!). Then we had een feest (a party in Dutch) on Friday and he brought wine and each of us brought a food to share. Hah, I know, I'm clearly not taking any real classes in Holland.

Alright, I've saved the best for last. On Saturday, I went to Delft, a town about a 15 minute train ride from Rotterdam. It's known for it's lovely blue-patterned Delftware (plates, vases, etc.). Here's a picture of Emma and me on a large Delft chair outside of the Het Prinsenhof museum. We did some whirlwind museum touring since I'm an uncultured non-museum liking person. haha.
We saw the "Olde Kurk" and "Niewe Kurk" (yes that means Old and New Church), which look the exact same to me. We went to a street market and then walked around the city a little more. The city is known as "Baby Amsterdam," same scenery with smaller canals and less notorious, of course. It's beautiful, so if you ever get the chance, definitely go.

On Sunday, I went to Den Haag (The Hague), which houses the International Court of Justice. Here is a picture of the ICJ and then me with the World Peace Flame.


Aside from the ICJ, I saw the house of the Netherlands Parliament. On one side of the building is a beautiful refection pool/small pond and on the other side is a grand square. I have pictures from both, but here is a neat picture of the building with the reflection pool.
Another neat thing about Den Haag is the Mauritshuis Museum. It houses many works of Johann Vermeer, including "Girl with Pearl Earring," which I think is considered the Netherlands Mona Lisa. The museum is connected to the buildings of Parliament and is also connected to the reflection pool. It's definitely an amazing museum and would highly recommend it (I enjoyed it, and I don't even usually like museums!).

That wraps up the highlights from my weekend trips. Stay tuned for more...

Wishing you all the best!

Fun First Stories...

So a few things that would of course only happen to me...

I arrived in Amsterdam last Friday, and of course, my phone that I bought for Europe doesn't work. Of course, me being me, I also didn't have the phone number of the person I needed to reach to get my keys....that person was supposed to call me. Well, with a broken phone, I began walking cluelessly around Rotterdam Center (aka downtown Rotterdam) with two suitcases, a backpack, and a large totebag (yeah i don't know how I survived or didn't get mugged either). By the way, to be clear, I do have a working phone now and you can reach me by any of those many numbers I gave you.

Anyways, so lucky me, a stranger, who looked friendly enough, offered to help me with my suitcases and find the internet slash get to my keys. Don't worry, I only agreed b/c she was a female in her early thirties. Turns out, she is the nicest person in the entire world, a dutch teacher to foreigners so she spoke fluent english...told me about the movie "Pay it Forward" and helped me get internet and reach the person with my keys.

I must have some good karma b/c the person who had my keys is a really nice guy who helped me find my way around for the next couple of days. I'm also convinced he has a crush on me, but I'll leave that for another story.

I have dutch class five days a week for five hours each day...yeah, rough I know!

I went to Amsterdam on Saturday and almost got run over by a bus...not even kidding, it was like several inches from my face.

I got a bike and ran into a pole because I hadn't ridden a bike since I was less than 10 yrs old.

Oh, and remember random stranger who helped me...yeah she invited to to her house for dinner with her and her family...and I went (because she seemed nice enough, I know, I trust easily)...so I had a homemade real dutch meal. (although they usually never cook dutch food b/c they don't like it).

Finally, my room/roommate are both amazing. (this is a hint for you to come visit me!) My roommate is from Curacao, very very sweet, silly and ditzy. I think I got super lucky!

Attached are a few random pics...click on them to make the pictures bigger.