Days 8 (F), 9 (S), 10 (s), 11 (M): Welcome to Amsterdam, a.k.a. Where Traffic Is The Hunger Games

Well, I have a presentation on a Russian dance producer tomorrow morning, but I really just need to talk about this weekend.

 This weekend: Amsterdam.

Friday, up at 6:45 for 7:00 breakfast. 2 hour bus ride in, which consists of telling Dojna The Venray Adventure (it was initially called the Venlo Adventure, but then she told me I actually went to Venray), attempting to read The Odyssey, and sleeping. Right off the bat (after literally dropping our stuff in the hostel storage room and getting out fast), we're on a tour of the city, dodging bikes and getting trapped on sidewalks left and right. Guess who got Chester Lee, the guy who's lived in Amsterdam for years and literally wrote the test on it for tomorrow (a.k.a. later today)? This kid. Mel and I had a fantastic chocolate cake during the lunch break, and afterwards we all saw the Rijksmuseum, walked (somehow without casualties) to Rembrant Square, and as a group inhaled some of the best Indonesian food I think I will ever have. There was a terrifying TV screen across from the bus stop, which we all tried to avoid watching and all failed miserably. Then I landed what is probably one of if not the best possible roommate situation in our program and later went out with Mel, Alessandra, Lane, Najah, Lucas, and Riley to see the Red Light District and find a bar.

Frankly, the Red Light District was interesting to see but definitely bizarre. We left after a six-minute tour to find the 3 Sisters Pub back in Rembrant Square, and didn't wind up getting back to the hostel until 3:30. We were waiting for the night bus, which was supposedly going to come but never did; meanwhile, Johnny was talking to locals about the bus schedule and René was singing, at first things like Hotel California and classics, then just singing about his life. We finally started walking after being outside for nearly an hour - my good humors had completely run out by then - and within two minutes found a string of taxis on the next block. OSA Chaperone Fail.

Saturday: I saw the Anne Frank house, which was (for lack of a better term) astounding. The model gave it quite a bit more space than in real life, and the walkthrough was honestly terrifying to imagine as real life.

After the book shop (moral opinions withheld), a group of us went out hunting for lunch. Lars is gluten-free, so the Pancake Shop was out, but two stores up was this fantastic place with GF options called Utrecht - they even let us upstairs to reorganize the tables for our group! 

As for the food, feast your eyes.

Front: Pan-fried chicken w/feta (Sat); Back: goat cheese with apples, honey, and walnuts (Sun)

Discuss.

 I had a fantastic Belgian beer on the side - or rather, a half beer - which nobody could pronounce, then we all split into smaller groups back in the Dam Square for our respective museums. Mine? Baroque Flemish art. I actually didn't know it was going to be Baroque. My life just loves me like that sometimes. Right after dinner was prepping for the 20th Century concert - for anyone who thinks they've heard accordions play, you actually haven't unless you've heard Aydar Gaynullin. (This wasn't what he played for us but he's still amazing). We headed out afterwards for Chris B's 20th birthday at Club Escape - my first time clubbing, and apparently the first for many others too (not Mel or Lucas, obviously, as they've been doing this since around 2007). We met up with a huge chunk of the Emerson population in the line. Guess what the female to male Emersonian ratio was? 

Around 40, maybe 50, to 4.

I think we did it right.

This time, I didn't get home until 4, then (after a shower) finally crashed at 4:26. I dreamed I was still at Escape and woke up more tired and yet somehow energized.

Sunday was my no-requirements day, so while some classes had museum trips, Lane and Alessandra and I went out for coffee/Dam Square exploring while Emily E. was in the Frank House. We met up and decided to just go back to Utrecht for lunch (as Emily hadn't gone), this time on the ground floor. Turns out, the ground floor has a cat.

Alessandra and Emily keeping our new friend far away from me

We named him Bailey; the waiter (same guy from yesterday!) told us that Kitty didn't have a name. The sandwiches picture also includes my Sunday selection. Nom.

 We poked around a department store, grabbed some delftware and postcards, then headed over to the Royal Palace Museum.

This. Please.

 I want to live here.

The tour took a good two hours or so, during which time we tested and collaborated our art history knowledge to figure out which statues meant what based on their locations, how room styles affected uses, etc. Unfortunately, my camera died in the sixth room, so everything after 4pm is on someone else's camera.

Alessandra suggested Turkish food for dinner, so we found one (opening later in the night) and in the meantime wandered around the city finding vintage shops, accessories, and a wonderful place called Sabon. 

So. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Lush junkie; there is a specific, sizable section of my heart set aside for natural bath & beauty products. This is a known and widely accepted fact.

Well, Sabon has now nestled itself into that spot and is currently taking up about 25% of the assigned space.

Not kidding.

We pitched in on an actually magical Dead Sea mud mask for girls' night, only €7.50 each. My face is still softer on the tester side. You'll find out why this is sad later.

About 45 minutes of walking/shopping later, we finally found the Turkish restaurant and then let Alessandra pick everything because nobody else knew what was what. €21 (each) later, we've had some of the best food & wine I think I might ever eat.

4 hours of screaming, running, dodging bikes, laughing, confusion, exhaustion, semi-terror, and general exhilaration later, we land in Well. Somewhere during the train ride, we misplaced the Sabon bag and apparently our sanity; it's also snowing.

I'm still in a skirt.

Dojna said that any of our troubles were because they were traveling with me.

As for today, let's just say that 8 hours of sleep was not enough. However, Prague is set for Thursday and next week's Lucca trip is almost completely solid. I can't believe this is my life.

Days 6 + 7: Explorations and Exhalations

Clever, huh?

Seriously though, yesterday was pretty crazy. I had class at 10-12, then decided to go get my OV ChipKaart and maybe go exploring to Venlo - so I did. Parked my bike, bought the card, got on the bus, and then I realized something.

I didn't know what stop Venlo is.

... ADVENTURE!

So I rode for about 40 minutes until I saw a marketplace in a square surrounded by clock towers, stores, and vaguely metropolitan lifestyle, then got off the bus (apparently tapping my card once too many times because I surprised the busdriver by getting off so quietly and he almost shut the door in my face). It was kind of chilly but otherwise perfect, with a huge spread of scarves, charms (several of which I quite liked), and bags (one of which I particularly wanted, aided by the €2 price tag). Then I realized something else.

I didn't know how to ask the price.

.... WINDOWSHOPPING!

To elaborate, I didn't know how to say "how much is that?" in Dutch; rather, all I could remember was "これはいくら出すか？” which frankly was not going to help anybody. So, the meandering went on until I came across an H&M, going inside on a whim that they might have my favorite tank tops in the colors/sizes I needed. They did! Nederland H&M 1; MA & NH H&Ms 0. Yesss. Walking went on to a gorgeous little square including a storefront sign of "Chocolaterie" on a beautiful old door - now I have a little bag of chocolates and the knowledge of "Hoeveel" for "how much." A bit later I was right freezing and saw a sign for "Chocolademelk binnen!" outside of a café called Milk & Cookies. Somehow I managed to order and pay for "a small dark hot chocolate for here please oh and how much is it?" in almost complete (but likely butchered) Dutch. Turns out the chocolate was all at the bottom and I stirred the hot milk part of it all together, with a tiny, kind of floury-tasting, chocolate chip cookie on the side. Best homework session EVER.


Then came the trip home. Unfortunately, the market was being packed up when I got back, so that bag'll have to wait - got on the bus, no problem, waited, and hit "STOP" when the LED screen above the broken map read "Klein Vink," because OSA keeps saying "It drops you off right at Café Vink!" Turns out, Klein ≠ Café, it equals two stops before Café Vink, and two stops in the Netherlands is VERY. VERY. different from two stops in Boston. As in, I waited for 10 minutes, then walked for 45 and still was only about halfway from my stop back to Well when a car honked behind me and pulled over. He asked me where I was going and (from the other side of the road) I said "Well." He said something in Dutch, then when I made no forward movements, said, "Oh, sorry. I ... I drive? You back? It very cold!"

Okay, I know what you're going to say, but after a minute or so debating, I figured that he seemed like any normal person taking pity on an obviously rather lost student walking along a several-mile-long bike path near twilight. So I got in, with my hand on the phone in my pocket just in case.

He asked my name, if I was on vacation (all in Dutch), then (another 10-15 minute!! drive later) dropped me off at the bus stop. I think he was asking for my telephone number, but I told him I didn't have one, sorry, yes it's weird, thank you so much; he said to take care, then I got back to my bike at Spar, biked home and sat in my room with a hot chocolate thinking "wtfwtfwtf" for the fifteen minutes until dinner.

Lucas later told me that I #1 am the stupidest person on the planet and #2 could have, in fact, called OSA, as the red card we are all required to carry has their numbers on it. Mine was, apparently, tucked away behind some card or another in my wallet. Bekka Fail.

Later that night: Red-White-Blue Themed First American Night. Let's just say there were about five times as many Dutch boys as on Saturday, and of course they are all, surprise surprise, around 16. I'm assuming that the people from around here who are actually our age are, you know, in college, but that didn't stop a fair number of girls from flirting. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Alessandra and I are avoiding the smoke and excitedly discussing the Lucca trip, Italian food in general, and how fantastic Jamie Oliver is. Oh yeah, and the bar owner gave us all free Flugel shots, toasting to the new semester and doing his shot hands-free standing on the table. #Likeaboss

AS FOR TODAY
I was woken up by my music group members each showing up 30 and 25 minutes earlier than I thought we had agreed on, then finally met up with Taryn (who lives on my floor) but never managing to find Emily until lunch. After lunch, I picked up my package from the mailroom - from Miss Kate et al.!!

My life can always do with more #1 Chokotoffs, and #2 Kindergartener signatures.

By the way, between breaking in the boots and breaking in the flats, it is wonderful that EUOR has athlete tape. I grabbed some after class and rushed back for our second attempt at a group meeting; Group Meeting turned into Girl Talk + some talking about the project for the next hour and a half (thank god for GoogleDocs so we don't have to waste time on organizing meetings during Amsterdam), then dinner time, pre-packing, and yoga with Lars from 7:30-9.

Can I just say, I have not been worked that hard in YEARS. On top of that, although rumors had been that only two people were going, by the end all 11 or so of us had basically turned the Barbetta Room into a Bikram studio. My favorite part was during Shavasana, where after a long week topped with a long workout had my mind wandering but unfocused at the same time; It was sort of like listening to myself list my worries and stressors from across a foggy swamp - it's there, I can hear it, but not really and it's not that important anyway. Granted, the room temperature probably had a say in that, but it still felt wonderful. (Wheels and Shavasanas have always been my favorite parts of yoga practices, honestly.)

Well, tomorrow is Amsterdam. Rooster-call at 6:45.
With that, I bid you adieu.

Day 5: It's Like The Flight of the Bumblebees Over Here, I Mean Honestly

Last night, I finally read Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman - Larisa's been telling me to read it since I borrowed Drew's copy of Smoke and Mirrors after Christmas, and last night I found it online. While I want to say that it was a beautiful story, I honestly can't - because of the story's content, it was more fantastic. However, it was definitely beautifully written.

I found my bracelet! It was right where Lane had left it, although it was rather cold and damp from the morning mist, but that was fine. Originally, I had intended to get up at 7:45 to get it before any potential children and/or magpies found it first - although I didn't get out until after breakfast (which included discussing/generally being in love with Prof. Shrinivas's class last semester) and signing up for the Amsterdam activity (which was later changed due to scheduling errors on OSA's part, whoops), there it was! Yay, bracelet.

Today was generally pretty busy - class from 10-2 (Music), another class from 2:30-4:15 (Ethics), another class from 4:30-6:15 (The world since 1914), dinner, get my phone... rush rush rush. And yes, you read that right - I have a phone now. Woohoo!

Music class was fine, although I was tired all day - we listened to Stravinsky (among others), and can I just say that he is probably the most amazing man ever? From what I could tell, he was about 4.5 feet tall, but he was also a magician with sound, astoundingly old, and adored by the audience (for good reason). The class was a bit long, but we were also sitting in the dark for a lot of it. That class has now been moved to across the courtyard, so as of next week we're in a charming - no, really - atticky space above the computer lab.

Ethics was initially slow (I was still groggy), but we talked about what we'd each do if we had an Invisibility Cloak and future trips to a zoo where the monkeys can climb on you if they so desire. During the ten-minute break, I learned water, which is actually pronounced more like vataar, but definitely not like "Um... wasser, alstublieft?" which is what I tried. The "alstublieft" part was correct, but "wasser" is another country over. Oops. The bartender/ deBuun owner and my professor both told me not to worry about messing up, and I even got a thumbs up for pronunciation anyway. That class, for whatever reason, has been moved to KB 1 now, so there goes the perfect bike route.

History was fun! I'm doing a presentation on Stalin, who Ralph says was "sent to us from The Planet of the Assholes, and we had quite a few of those in the 20th century. I guess they thought one wasn't enough and sent the whole damn class." Something tells me this is going to be a very interesting class - for example, he started the class while we were still talking amongst ourselves by starting a video compilation of people dancing to I Will Survive, later with subtitles naming each of the concentration camps in the video. As it turns out, the older man was in Auschwitz and escaped, to later bring his daughter and granddaughters to the camps "to basically say, F*ck you Nazis!"

Currently, I'm sitting in Sophie's Lounge (after forgoing the flopped dodgeball attempt) surrounded by the cacophony of piano, speakers, trip planners, and students (mainly the first three), trying to do homework and meet up with Melanie to plan Italy in a few weeks. This is possibly the first time outside of mealtimes (and the fire drill, obviously) that almost all of us have been in one place at one time. As Najah said, "if OSA asks, we had a group activity tonight!"

Day 4: The Day of Questioning

You know what's awesome? Your Monday schedule involving a trip to the bakery (pizza roll and a half loaf of bread that makes my entire desk smell amazing), one class, and an hour long bike trip around the (entire) town with classmates. Said bike trip included a stop at the the Spar*, for stroopwafel, cookies, or (in my case) a small jar of Nutella that actually fits perfectly in my desk drawer. It's almost like they planned it. *Spar = the local grocery store


You know what's not awesome? Losing one of your new bracelets during said hour-long trip, then fruitlessly walking around for 20 minutes in the dusk looking for it with a flashlight.



However! There is something even more awesome than part one: One of your bike buddies saying "Oh my god we found it and put it on the rail next to the Spar!" Guess who's getting up wicked early tomorrow morning to find it? This kid.



In the meantime, we had three hours between dinner and the pre-Amsterdam info meeting - I'm finding some really awesome-looking places to visit in the Amsterdam Made By Hand book I got for Christmas two years ago too, so I have a wonderful list in the workings for cool places to go when we're released on Sunday. I've also been searching for tickets to Slovenia, but one of the only plane tickets I've seen is over €1000, so... maybe that could be a 21st birthday present from Dad or something, but definitely not right now.


I have to say, though, there is one food that I miss about America: hummus. I searched high and low through Spar for a savory spread to go on my bread (poet don'tcha know it) but couldn't find anything potentially what I wanted other than "Now Pizza!" which may or may not actually be a spread, it may just be a condiment like mustard or something and honestly who wants to eat plain mustard bread? Not me, that's who. Nutella it is, then.

We do have a communal fridge on the third floor but I'm not sure about leaving things up there; maybe next week I'll try putting some cheese and/or meat in there for the midday snacks and we'll see what happens, mold or midnight munchers or what.



Oh, and class was fine. Actually, I'm pretty excited about reading everything but wish I could've gotten a copy of Dante for myself; translating the pages or codes is one of my favorite aspects of reading books like that, particularly Beowulf. Turns out our professor does not like Beowulf and has never heard of Wishbone, so when I mentioned how I'd studied "Beowulf proper" but had always loved the Wishbone version, she needed a bit of an explanation. I forgot to mention Gaiman's "Bay Wolf," but that'll definitely come up in later discussions.


Oh! Picture:

The sun came out today!! At least for a bit, and then it was suddenly raining again, but after class it was gorgeous and sunny again until we got back - hence the bike ride, and hence the new rouging in my face. I am just so good at being outside!

Day 3: I'm pretty oriented by now

Last day of orientation! There's not much to talk about during the day here, other than I found out that my debit card does, in fact, work perfectly well to withdraw money but any transfers have to be done online - it's literally not an option at the machine. I would have biked into town to cut the time, but I'm still hurting a bit from yesterday so I decided that walking was a perfectly lovely option as well.

Rob, who was supposed to take the cash I went to take out (because I had forgotten to get it earlier, oops), had already left; this actually worked out perfectly, as I was absolutely ravenous and the only transaction I wanted involved food, not class supplies. Since everything in Europe is closed on Sunday, the Mars Corporation-supplied vending machine was my best friend today, providing sustenance when none else could. Dank u wel, Mars Co.

Dinner, which we could smell from walking out of our building, had a familiar scent of frying oil and potatoes wafting through the air (probably in the entire town). They turned out to be these fantastic swirly mashed potato frites that we had sometimes at ISB, presumably supplied based on good behavior, which I explained to Erin while in line and we all got very excited (for good reason). I forgot to take a picture because they were far too delicious and I was far too hungry, but I must say that Dutch ketchup is better than any ketchup I've ever had. Dank u wel, Kasteel.

After dinner, I taught Lucas how to play Go Fish and then War, narrowly missing a defeat by winning a Double War with my second-to-last card, but then we ended the game early (this seems to be a pattern) to get to the next activity: chamber music in Sophie's Lounge to start off the new semester. They went chronologically through time by musical style, including Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Impressionist (personal favorite!), Roots, and Contemporary, including You Raise Me Up. Whenever I'm around live music, suddenly there is nothing else on my mind but playing viola or singing and how much I actually miss both.

Otherwise, I've been rampantly trying to schedule travel breaks, mainly the March visit to Belgium. I should probably focus on wherever I'm going for the Feb 2-5 trip, as it seems that a huge chunk of Kasteel is heading for Bruges (which I plan to do later) and rates only get more expensive the closer they get. I might stay here, I might hop on a plane/train somewhere by myself, or I can check the Facebook page/people in class for who's going somewhere that's not Bruges. For instance, my next-door-neighbor is going to Prague that weekend. Hm...

Day 2: +20 EXP Points (or more like +40 EXP)

Today marks several events in particular: 1, My first mandarin-orange-peeling experience, 2. My first time on a bike since sometime around early high school, and can I just say it was One Of Those Adventures. (Pictures will come for later events; I struck out on my own and oh what a plan that was...), 3. An introduction to checkers, and 4. My first night in a bar. The oranges require no further explanation than adorable, delicious, and everyone should try them.

As for the bikes, I was jumpy all morning, as Katie's advice had been "literally, RUN." This worked out to my advantage, because the minute my lunch was cleared, rainy, bike-laden courtyard, here I come. It was fairly expensive at once (€75 for the semester with a €55 deposit), but the 25 available bikes are now rented all semester rather than at €8/day. Although there was a purple bike with a basket, the frame was way too big for me so I have a lovely light fuchsia number sans basket.

After the initial garbled understanding of the lock explanation and wobbly mounting (or two), I settled into the basic movements left towards New Well, passing other students to practice in the grocery parking lot - unfortunately, there were about five teenage boys already there, so it wasn't really ideal. Back to Old Well it is, then. Despite increasing levels of rain and wind (and hat issues and allergy attacks), I wound up staying out for the better part of an hour. Granted, that was mostly because I went exploring down a back, as in no-longer-in-Well, road and then couldn't find a good turnaround for a good 10-15 minutes. It's just not a Bekka Trip until someone gets irrationally lost! Obviously everything was fine, but man will I be happy when that seat's adjusted.

I was planning to take a shower between dinner and the RA hall meeting to kind of clean out the agricultural perfume I'd accumulated from the afternoon, but wound up learning checkers. Apparently you're supposed to learn that before chess? Oops. It's basically like playing with only bishops, who then become "Kings," or (more accurately) archdeacons who become bishops. Somehow I managed to win the first game!

The bar, or rather bars, were very different but each worth a return. The first one many of us visited tonight, Café Vink, is actually a café (obviously) and restaurant by day, so everything was generally quieter, the tables were smaller, no smoking, vaguely audible music...
Then there was Linden. A proper European bar, with locals in the corner (watching the Bostonians raid the place), smoking permitted, a two-level table pre-worn with (likely) decades of dancers, everyone yelling over the music and screaming at the music, and every now and then you see a bartender winking or dancing along with us, or grabbing a (hands-free!) shot before her break. The only somewhat annoying thing of the whole night was my purse getting in the way sometimes.

So tomorrow is the last day of orientation before classes start, then we have a matter of days until our first group trip to Amsterdam. Ready or not...

Day 1 (and a half-ish)

Finally settled into my new room at the Castle! I'm exhausted - a lot of the other students hit the bar (and may have come back while I was napping...) but this whole "start flying on the 19th at 7, fast forward through nighttime and go directly to 7:40am on the 20th, be busy all day" thing is not really conducive with a pub night for me. Thankfully I have a single, so me going to bed uncharacteristically early won't disrupt anyone's plans.

More info tomorrow - for a brief summary, we've already had five abrupt rain/hail squalls, tried Stroopwafel, seen the entire town (and its baby goats), probably the most entertaining experience was Dulcia taking attendance (trust me), and we've only been here a matter of hours. Thankfully, the coffee machine in the VB entrance (my resi hall, part of the original 14th Century castle) was free all day, for various caffeinated concoctions, including such delicacies as "Wienermelange" and "Chocolademelk," so at least we all limped along until dinner. Then some crazies (like myself) dragged ourselves to bed while other crazies dragged themselves out into the world.

Granted, it's an Emerson program, so everyone and everything gets at least a little wacky just based on principle. That's just what we do. (And we thought the weather was testy in Boston!)