Sinterklaas

Ok, so I am a bit late on the deli every about Sinterklaas, but it is better late than never, right?

Ok, so on November 15th Sinterklaas the Dutch version of Santa comes to the Netherlands from Spain on a boat and has a little (actually quite a large parade). This year he came to Almere, a city in the North about an hour form Utrecht by train. So, myself and maybe 6 others we took the train to Almere to see Sinterklaas arrive. At the train station all the little kids were dressed up as Swarte Piet who is Sinterklaas's helpers, they are traditionally black slaves, but now the story is that they are black because of the soot from the chimney. It is a wacky tradition, but that is just it, it is a tradition. Back to the kids, some have black painted faces, that is the weird bit, considering they have blonde hair and blue eyes, but I wouldn't mess with the tradition. And, colourful outfits and little bags to collect candies that are handed out, and lastly, letters they have written for Sinterklaas. Very festive!

When we arrived in Almere it was chaos people everywhere, signs pointing us in the direction to the buses to get to the port. So, one bus ride packed full of little Swarte Piets and parents and we are taken to the parade zone. The parade route was already packed and we were an hour early! So, we squeezed ourselves into little pockets along the railings, and managed incredibly compromising positions to see the full parade route and get a proper glimpse of Sinterklaas. To keep the crowds entertained there were kids parading about along the route with decorative outfits they made in primary school, and then..... Sinterklaas's boat arrived. This massive ship decked (no pun intended) out to the 9's. It was at least 3 levels in total totally decorated, and loaded with Zwarte Piets. Finally, they docked and the procession began, first the Piet's came and threw, yes threw, little gingerbread cookies at the crowds, avoiding them was difficult. The Piet's were dancing and doing little acrobatic things along the way, collecting the letters for Sinterklaas, while the kids yelled "Piet, Piet, Piet"! Then, came Sinterklaas, who may I add looked like the Pope (historically Sinterklaas was a patron saint) riding along on his white horse, and looking ever so real! It was definitely one of the best Santa related parades I have ever been too, and our Christmas parade back home has nothing on the Sintreklaas parade. But, Sinterklaas came and went in the flashest of flashes, and then it was over. Kind of like the build up to Christmas, and then you open all the presents and then it is just the aftermath. But, for those few seconds that we saw Sinterklaas and the Piets it was totally worth it. Afterwards we took photos with a few Piets and then took a look at the boat, very decked out. You could go on the boat but, the line up was a bit too much for me, especially because I didn't want to take away a spot from a eagerly awaiting child. We saw some dancers, drank some hot chocolate, and then decided to head home exhausted from the chaos of the crowds and the excitement. However, the crowds to get on the buses back were just as bad. It was like waiting for the doors to open to Futureshop (maybe WalMart is a better choice) on Boxing Day... out of control. After 25 minutes we had enough and wiggled our way onto the bus and only to get on an indirectly wrong bus, meaning we had to transfer, but it turned out to be worth it because we were heading away from the crowds. When we arrived back at the train station we were famished, so we stopped in for a good ol' sub at Subway! Can you believe they have Subway? Me neither, but I was stoked they did, yum veggie foot long. We ran to catch our train and settled in for our ride back home.

A few things to note about Sinterklaas:

The kids put out their shoes with carrots or hay for the horse of Sinterklaas in exchange for presents.

Typical candy for Sinterklaas is: a chocolate letter- yum a block of solid chocolate in your first initial. Pepernoten, kruidnoten (is the type gingerbread-biscuits that Piet was throwing at the parade, but you also by them by the bags to eat),chocolate coins, a figurine of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and wrapped in painted aluminium foil, and coloured marzipan shaped into fruit or animals. (Not a fan of the marzipan).

When you exchange gifts on December 5th, the eve of Sinterklaas's birthday you have to write a poem about the person you are giving the gift to. For example, I had to write a poem for our Sinterklaas gift exchange my international committee arranged, it goes like this: (don't laugh, I am a noob at this)

It has to rhyme...

Sinterklaas has come, and celebration is near.
If you listen closely, the shoes of Piet you will hear.
Because you have been so good this year.
Sinterklaas wants to share the cheer.

It was a generic poem for all the participants, but usually it is a little bit longer and more in depth, relating to the gift, and poking fun at the receiver of the gift. I think it is a cool tradition.

So, that was Sinterklaas, the more traditional Christmas celebration in the Netherlands. However, people do celebrate Christmas too, sometimes both!

The Netherlands - 4 months

Four months in, and this place is growing on me. Markets on Wednesday and Saturdays = cheese by the wheel, flowers by the bunches, fruits and veggies brimming from boxes, knock-off bags and wallets, kitsch watches- blinding with their 'diamonds'. Coffee Company, my new favourite hang out. Lattes in proper latte cups, big comfy chairs, and music to inspire even the coldest of hearts. It's the living room I never had. Museums galore, I am a frequent flyer at the Van Gogh Museum, I am really getting used to the European way of life.

Life has been buzzing along and the next thing I know it's already Christmas. It's insane! School is going well, I am taking Conflict Resolution (I am learning how to deal with large scale conflict negotiations between parties such as Russia and Georgia, or rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the UN- I hope this translates into more practical use in everyday life). And, my Art and Ideology class is phenomenal, I wish I got into art history much earlier in my academic career. This class is really linking so much, it's essentially examining the art produced during periods of conflict or revolution - ie) The Mexican Revolution, the Cold War, the Russian Revolution, etc- and how these periods of strife effect the art being produced such as, limitations and inspiration, so to speak. I love it, by far one of my favourite classes so far content wise. It also helps make those historical links when you are actually looking at the paintings. For example, I will be in Berlin and during Hitler's reign he considered all Modern Art degenerate art, and showed it off to the people as that trying to persuade them to dismiss it, and revert to Classicism, more traditional art forms and painting styles. So, having studied that I can look at some of the pieces that were banned during the Third Reich (the ones that survived, or others by a particular artist considered degenerate) and have that backgrounder. Love it.

About 2 weeks ago we had our floor Christmas dinner, that was a lot of fun. I decorated the kitchen, and I got a planted 'Charlie Brown' tree, and decorated him to the 9s. Then everyone made a dish or two and that was our dinner, so we had pizza from the Italians, American Mushroom Risotto, I made yams with honey and brown sugar, a tofu Parmesan loaf (sounds gross but it was actually really good!) oh and I made stuffing, with apples and walnuts as an alternative to celery, because apparently the grocers thought cilantro was celery, so when I got 2 people, 2, to go and get some celery for me, that is what they came back with. But, it was a blessing in disguise because the apples and walnuts were a flavour explosion. There was Italian desserts, Polish perogies (btw if you think you are eating perogies in Canada, nothing compares to the Polish ones)! It was a hit, we managed to drag a table from downstairs upstairs and add it to our table. Wine and beer galore, a bit of champagne I really like these huge dinner parties, I am going to host them when I get into my new place.

Other than that, I have mastered my bike manoeuvring skills, so far I have only almost been hit 3 times by a car, that is a good score card, 1 per month with the actually total being more like 2 in one month. Oh I climbed the Dom Tower in Utrecht, you can see the WHOLE city... it is unreal! 490 stairs up, I took it like a champion, nothing like the 520 in Kolon (Cologne). There is a Viktor and Rolf fashion exhibit at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, so when I get back (from xmas break) I will check that out, and go to Den Hague to see the 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' and the miniature everything in Holland, in a museum also in the Den Hague,and maybe check out the ICC (International Criminal Court).
My days are numbered here, so I have to check off my list of things to see before I go. But, this has been an amazing experience, and wouldn't trade it for anything. I am also excited to come home, I must say Christmas was really different this year. It really didn't feel like it, unless I was directly participating in a Christmas type event. I still enjoyed myself.

I will write about the individual trips and such, in another blog.

Christmas in Poland

What a trip... I left for Poland Decemeber 22, at 8:15pm the bus was estimated at 16 hours, route -->the Netherlands to Germany north into Poland. To start, the bus was 25 minutes late, and it was literally on the verge of freezing. The bus ride was ok for the most part until we arrived in Poland. At about 8am we arrived at our transfer point, except the the bus from London had its engine break down, and delayed the other busses for 3 hours. 3 hours! Don't ask why they couldn't send another bus, it was pretty shady and hardly anyone spoke English. So, I had to wait it out, and finally we were able to leave and I was on my way to Lodz, my roommate's city. I arrived in one piece happy to be off the bus, and met Ania and we headed to her city 20 minutes from Lodz. It was an interesting situation, because Ania's mother spoke very little English, she spent 1 year in Canada 30 years ago, and her father spoke only Russian and Polish, so we had quite the language barrier. However, Ania was able to translate quite well for me, and I was able to pick up bare essentials in Polish, and used sign language to communicate with her dad when Ania was not available to translate. It all worked out quite well.

December 23rd, I arrived and got to decorate the Christmas tree~! Christmas eve I was tasked with food prep for the dinner, and misc things. In Poland they are very Catholic and very traditional, this meant that for dinner we had to 'break' the bread with everyone and make Christmas wishes. After, we start the first of 12 dishes, yes 12. The first was traditional warm drink made with dried fruits (apricots, plums and prunes, with cinnamon and nutmeg and lovely Christmas smells) 2nd was soup with perogies inside, very tasty. 3d was a different type of perogy with mushrooms and onions inside, 4th was fish dish 5th and 6th were traditional Polish salads, 7th and 8th was a fish dish with vegetables and potatoes, 9th was an additional salad and 10th, 11th and 12th were cakes. I thought Canadian Christmas dinners were too much food, this was a lot! It was a very cool experience to eat traditional Polish food. Afterwards, came the tea always the tea, very typical of eastern European culture. Then came the presents, the family was very nice to me, and gave me gifts, I got a book about Poland, typical Polish chocolates and a bracelet. I gave them a wine decanter in the shape of an old bottle, and a candle decoration from the Christmas market in Cologne. It all went very well!

On Christmas morning we had a big breakfast, and just spent the day hanging about the house and eating. In Poland, their biggest meal is our lunch around 3-4, and then a small meal at 7-8. Another big meal was the Christmas 'dinner' and then we had to eat later on as well. It must be noted, that I am not used to eating this much food, and well it's a good thing I didn't have anywhere special to go because I just wanted to wear stretchy pants, even though I secretly wanted to eat granola and go to the gym. But, hey when in Rome.

The following day we went into Krakow in the south and Auschwitz, about a 2 hour drive. Auschwitz was an interesting experience, it was something to see if you want to grasp the gravity of the situation, but it is hard to see. Going into the camp and seeing the displays was pretty hard, it's hard to comprehend how one individual was capable of creating an ideology that inflicted so much cruelty and harm, and that people actually believed in and supported such an idea. I saw both camps, but the smaller one with the buildings where the torture and killings happened had the biggest affect. A lot of strange things, like a display of hair that was collected from victims and shows, and bowls and luggage. Hundreds of pictures showing victims lined the walls, and it was hard to see them after awhile. But, if you have an opportunity and you have the will to see it, it is something that should be seen.
It is a beautiful city, with a massive castle and a wonderful old city centre. We walked around the castle, and then headed over to the centre. I saw an old market set, where they were sealing touristy things, and loads of jewelry and some Christmasy things. We went into a Christmas market and bought traditional Polish candy, the fudge like stuff, so full of melty goodness. Afterwards, we went to the gate of the city that was from the Roman times. All this in the what I felt was freezing cold, and darkening of night. Finally, we went to restaurant and I had some hot rum with cinnamon, and then a giant pancake concoction with zucchini and cheese. A wonderful dinner of sorts. Then it was time to go home.

The last day Ania took me shopping to one of the largest markets in Europe, and then to one of the biggest shopping malls in Europe. A bit excessive, but interesting to see. In the evening we went to several parties in the centre, and I got to party Polish style. I must say, even though the Dutch don't dance, I prefer the non-dancing blunt Dutch to the electro ravers of the 80s in Poland. Overall, it was fun, the first club not so much, but further through the night it got much better. My stay in Poland was very nice and on the 28th I was on a bus to Berlin.


Poland is an interesting country, it is still recovering from the war and has a mixed tier of poverty and wealth. The buildings are quite old, and shambled and will become revitalized but in time. Being a new member of the EU means revitalization is occurring but it will take time. I would recommend Poland, but in 10 years. It is a tough country to be in as a back-packer, but I had the luxury of being with a family and well-off family too. I am glad I went, it is one country I am glad to have had company and someone showing me around, and maybe I will go back.

Paris part trois

Where did I leave off.... right the 200 lb man sleeping above me. Well, everything is ok, because I am here writing this blog, but it was a little disheartening. Day 3 was our final day in Paris, and it was a little sad. I had (and still am) gotten used to using the Metro system, and being able to go from one end of the city to the other in a matter of minutes. Not to mention, the exceptional organization and efficiency of the system. I would also miss the simple pleasures of having historical monuments at your finger tips.

But, it wasn't over yet, let me explain my last day in Paris...

So, we got ourselves ready and stored our gear in the 'storage room' which was just a room behind the kitchen. It's a good thing I had a lock for my bag, I felt a bit safer leaving my stuff there. Afterwards, we had our last baguette and croissant breakfast, and then headed out to the city. Firstly, we went to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery \9http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.php?lang=en),housing the likes of James 'Jim' Morrison, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust,Oscar Wilde, to name a few. Quite the 'A-list' of celebrities gracing one of Paris's oldest cemeteries. It really was amazing though, the tree lined lanes, and old tomb stones, and people paying their respects. In October of last year I watched a film at the Vancouver International Film Festival which was directed my a Dutch women, based on the cemetery. The idea was to uncover why people went to the cemetery. Many of the people there were older women taking care of their loved ones graves, going on a consistent bases, bringing water to clean the grave, brooms to sweep debris, and flowers to adorn it. Other people were paying respects to some of the greatest individuals of history. The film inspired me to see the cemetery. I am incredibly happy I went there, I tried to break down that Western fear of death, difficult at best, but necessary because I feel that we are so afraid of death. But, enough about this it is a difficult subject but one that felt compelled to explore. I did see Oscar Wilde's grave and I kissed it, it's a unspoken tradition to kiss the grave, and after what seemed hours of searching we found James Morrison's grave, fenced off to fend off people from fornicating and doing drugs on his grave. One weird thing though, when I was leaving the cemetery, a pigeon fell from the sky (what it looked like, probably a tree) but it was convulsing and then died. Kind of weird. Also, it's head seemed to be decapitated. I was so afraid for like 2 hours, I thought it was an omen. Everything seemed ok though.

Afterwards, we headed over to Versailles to see the Chateau Versailles home of the infamous Louis the 14th and Marie-Antoinette. It took a while to get there, with the train lines being incredibly confusing to get to- the case for suburban trains, not to mention the underground network of tunnels that you have to walk through to get to the 'other' trains. Despite my best efforts, we ended up on train C which I was told to avoid in my guide book, it is the SLOWEST train in Paris. What should have taken 45 min tops took about 1 hour and a half. But, we arrived in one piece, getting a lovely view of the industrial and then the fields of Paris.We had to walk about 20 min to get to the Chateau but it was worth it. A sprawling view, the chateau is immense, something I would highly recommend one to see for themselves. It was breathtaking the closer you got. It was also incredibly busy, people were everywhere, queues for hundreds of meters. Unfortunately, this meant we couldn't go inside because the line was outrageous, so huge. But, we did get to go into the garden which was stunning. We had fabulous sunny, warm weather. Walking into the garden felt like you time warped backwards to the days of French court. They had classical music playing, and people were milling about, it was so cool. We took loads of photos and then sat to take in the view. My favourite spot was the terrace looking over into the orange orchid and then on to the man-made lake. It was such a manicured spectacular view. We walked around and saw statues of gods and goddesses. I think in the end the money spent on Versailles was worth it, the view and the constructions were phenomenal, and it instigated the revolution which created the French Republic and Freedom for the French. So, in retrospect, it paid off. All that greed and materialistic spending. After we scoped out the garden we peeked through the windows to the inside quarters, but stopped shortly after because of the fierce looks we were getting from the people pissed that they didn't think to do what were doing, and who instead spent a fortune getting inside, and hours standing in line. I don't blame them. So, we toodled off to the book/gift shop. I got a guide to Versailles, which gives me the historical background, and images of the inside. Pretty exhausted from the walking we hobbled our way back to the train station, hoping to catch the train in time because on Sundays half the trains run, compared to every other day of the week. We made it though, and the fast train.

When we arrived back in Paris, we decided to head over to the Eiffel Tower to catch a river cruise on the Seine. It was free with our Paris tour cards, however, the card expired on Saturday, so we had to fudge it a bit.... It worked though, we were able to get on the cruise and sit back and enjoy our last hours in Paris. It really was the perfect end to our visit. We got to take the cruise at dusk, so the sun setting against all the buildings and monuments was an amazing view. We also got to see the major monuments and buildings again, but from the water which was a very unique view. When the cruise ended we headed back to the hostel to grab some dinner near -by and head over to the bus station to go back home. My last meal in Paris was a Marilyn crepe- dark chocolate melted, with pear and ice cream. Fabulous. I gained a new found love for pears, they have such a unique taste when paired in combo with something else.

Our ride home was ok, except for the ridiculously rude bus driver who made us wait for 30 minutes well he went inside and did who knows what.... we made it home on time though, which was the most important thing. Exhausted but happy we made it back to our humble abode and slept for hours.

That was Paris, and I would go back in a heart beat. It is my favourite city, in my growing repertoire of cities experienced. I could live there, it's that amazing.

Paris part deux

Day 2:

We managed to wake up at 8 to get ourselves showered and Parisian for another day in the city. The hostel 'kitchen/dining area' was packed and getting food was tough. But, half a bagette and a croissant,with some stiff coffee and I was good to go.
Our first stop was the Catacombs.... woooooo scary. It actually was. Brief history lesson (don't hate because it is from Wikipedia) -->

"The Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. Organized in a renovated section of the city's vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns towards the end of the 18th century, it became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. The official name for the catacombs is l'Ossuaire Municipal.

This cemetery covers a portion of Paris's former mines near the Left Bank's Place Denfert-Rochereau, in a location that was just outside the city gates before Paris expanded in 1860. Although this cemetery covers only a small section of underground tunnels comprising "les carrières de Paris" ("the quarries of Paris"), Parisians today popularly refer to the entire network as "the catacombs". (End quote).

You have to go down a spiral set of staris for about 250-300 metres, it is also quite narrow so if you are clastroophobic your troubles are only beginning. There were names scarwled along the walls heading down... Finally, we got to the bottom and it opened up into a low ceilinged room with paintings and historical facts (all in French of course). There was an English tour happening but we decided to skip it because he was too 'fun and games'. It takes quite a bit of tunnelling to get to the actual catacombs, but these tunnels were enough to creep you out. And, then we turned the corner... and it started... the rows and rows stacked at least 5 feet and even 6 feet high. Mostly, legs bones, skulls,and arms bones. Freaky stuff. We were down there for about an hour and you just walk along these paths stacked with bones, there were also some tombstones and inscriptions. Nonetheless, I didn't freak out from the lack of space, or get all sketched out from the potential horror movie scripts running through my head. When we climbed back up from the the depths we were faced with these three guys, in a room that connected to a back alley. They were the 'bone collectors' (hahaha) their job was to make sure you didn't steal centuries old bones as a little souvenir. After our inspection we were free to go. We walked around the neighbourhood for a bit, scoping out the cute Parisian stores, and relishing the lack of tourists.

We made our way to the Metro and headed to the Jardin de Luxembourg, what a beautiful garden. I could sit there for hours reading or just people watching (a favourite French past time). The most popular thing to do is to buy a bagette, either pre-made or to make yourself, wine or coffee and head down to the garden. I loved it so much. We did it backwards, we went to the garden sat, enjoyed and then left, found a wicked sandwich shop and then headed over to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was a Christian basilica, now it is a temple of the nation (so eloquently put), it also houses a crypt with some of the most famous French people, such tombs include-Voltaire and Rousseau to name a few. There are monuments and paintings dedicated to the French Revolution, and my favourite Foucault's pendulum- demonstrating the rotation of the earth. After we left we ate some of our food and Ania got busted, apparently you can't eat on the steps of the Pantheon, the one set of steps in Paris. We checked out the Law Faculty at the University of Paris, and then headed back to Jardin de Luxembourg to finish up our food, like 'normal' people.

Onto the Metro again, this time we headed over to Musee de Orsay. Oh so fantastic. A lot of French art and loads of Italian sculptures,a few key pieces from Monet, and Van Gogh's self portrait. His 'Starry Night' was on loan. Damnit. There was also a section dedicated to French architecture and design methods. I picked up the museum guide, important to remember my favourite pieces, not to mention a great coffee table book. Afterwards, back to the Metro to catch the Norte Dame Cathedral. When we got there, the masses were huge. People milling about everywhere, trying to get a picture. That's the thing about Paris, every tourist area is hoped up on steroids- with its constant buzz of tourists and flashes from the cameras. You have to queue just to get a picture. But, even more monolithic was the line to get into the cathedral. It's a good thing that it was moving quite fast, and despite its size it wasn't really that daunting. Inside, you were really wowed. Very dark, candles everywhere, also people, despite signs saying no pictures, flashes were in a frenzy. It really is a stuning sight to see, I must say I was a litle disappointed when I didn't see the Hunchback (ahahaha kidding), it did inspire me to read the book, and would spawn me into the depths of French literature and eventually the French Revolution. After we lit candles and admired the cathedral, we headed out into the fresh air, only to head into the crypt of the Cathedral and into its stale air. It was neat to see what looked like replica archeological digs, and the history of the cathedral. To be honest though, it was a little boring. The cool thing is that Norte Dame is on a little island, so you feel like you are enveloped into the city, such a stunning city.

We took a minor break, only to get back on the Metro and over to Blvd. St. Germain (ahhh I've been wanting to go there, ever since I started listening to St. Germain the jazz house fusion band). We walked the streets of the blvd, such a beautiful blvd, with shops crammed next to each other and even on little islands of concrete between streets ie) the candy shop I pillaged to get a sugar fix. We walked and walked, and found ourselves going further and further into the heart of Paris. We ended up getting slightly lost trying to find the Shakespeare and Co. but in return we ended up in a busy side alley with heaps of resturants all vying for our business. We settle on a quiant resturant called Le Bistro (it was French) with a three-course meal for 10 euro- yum :) We started with a fabulous French Onion Soup - chucks of bread, with onion and a cheese lightly grated and melted on the top, amazing. Next I had salmon and pasta, unfortunately it was salmon or no second, it was ok, nothing special, but dessert made up for it, a chocolate mousse = divine. Oh, and a half litre of red. What a great dinner, I can still remember the soup almost a month later. After we relaxed and filled our tummies, we decided to try and catch a river cruise, but when we left we got side tracked by the glittering of the souvenir shops. Not to mention the scarves and hats. So, we picked up some hats and gifts from Paris. By this point, we were so exhausted we just went back to the hostel, and chilled out. Around midnight, two people came into our room (they were going to occupy the other two beds) but I was on the bottom bunk, and the guy took the top bunk above me, and I was so afraid I was going to die. Call me crazy, but a 200 pound man above me on a rickety metal bunk bed, was not exactly the limits I wanted to test. To top it off, he snored. So, I slept with one eye open, so to speak, ready to dive off the bed. When I did wake in the morning I felt slightly sleep deprived but happy to have made it out alive.

Pairs, Paris, Paris I finally went

I am so happy I was in Paris! This is a city I could live in. It is a city of romance, it oozes romance. On every corner people are canoodling and kissing and acting all in love. It was really quite special. I don't think any other city can duplicate the beauty, the elegance and inspiration that Paris has.

This past Thursday I took the night bus with my roommate Ania from Utrecht to Paris, 7 hours. We took the 10:45 pm bus so we could sleep on the bus. It was hard though, I was so excited to be FINALLY going to Paris after so much time pining over going. We arrived at 6am on Friday morning. We were in Paris.

Day 1

The bus station is on the outskirts so we had to take the Metro into the centre, Metro stop Galleini. Ahhh... so wonderful. We had to transfer once to get to our hotel. When we came up from the Metro it was still dark. I had prepared well before so I had everything marked on the map etc. However, we still got a bit lost, but we found it after a few minutes, and our frist encounter asking in partial French if the person could help us.
Our hotel was a budget hotel, so don't get any ideas... I wish though. We stayed at Hotel Opps, it was actually quite nice very modern and chic, a few steps up from some of the hostels I have stayed in. We couldn't check-in to our rooms until 4pm so we freshened up to Parisian standards and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel. Yum, warm crossisants and half a baggette with jam and butter, and liquid caffine. I don't think they put much water in the machine when they were making it. LOL> So, we stocked up on carbs to get us through the day and then at 830 headed for the Eiffel Tower. Nothing was going to stop me from living my dream! Just like Journey said "Don't stop believing". So, we navigated the metro quite well (I might say, I suppose the amount I am paying for my university education I should be able to problem solve and navigate through 14 lines of underground metro). About 20 minutes later, we arrived. Bir Hakeim station the Eiffel Tower stop (or one of them). The anticipation was killing me, but on street level I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, my heart swelled a bit. As we got closer to the tower, it didn't seem so amazing. After beating the lines and waiting 30 min to get in, we got our tickets and practically ran up the stairs. We paid to go to the very top 12 euro, nothing to live your dream. Up the elevator to the second level, out to the terrace and up one more elevator, this was it the top. Breath-taking. When we stepped out, you just sort of stopped. The view was stunning. The Eiffel Tower itself might be an iron structure and slightly browned from weather, but it is still epic, and the view holds even more 'epicness'. Unbelievable, I still can't believe I was there. So, I was at the Eiffel Tower, with a complete view of the city, Paris for miles. The weather was perfect too. It's like Paris knew how much I loved it, and how long I waited to go. So, after we took photos (and the the infamous Lionel Ritchie shirt made it's major debut) we headed down to the second level to the gift shop. At first I was apprehensive, the prices were astronomical, but... then I saw it. It was a Christmas tree decoration. It was this decorative ball with Paris on it (plastic in the sense it wouldn't break straight away if I dropped it, but still nice enough that I knew I had to have it). I also found a beautiful print of a pencil sketch of the tower, so 12 euro later my purchases in hand we descended back to the ground. Honestly, perfect timing, within minutes of us going up and down the tower was PACKED. People everywhere, tourists from all over the world to see this icon. It was worth it all.

Next stop, the Louvre. We headed back onto the metro and went to the Louvre. We walked through the Place du Louvre and out into the plaza with the pyramid. Beautiful. After some photo ops we headed into the labryrinth of the Louvre. Holy cow, it was enormous. We wandered through the Greek and Roman sculptures, over into Italin, French and Spanish period paintings, then we came to the Mona Lisa. The room was packed, people queuing to see this enigmatic creature. My first reaction was, the painting is so small. For some reason I thought she was so much bigger, but she was worth all the hype, it really is a beautfil painting, I can see why people spend hours looking at it. But, maybe not when tourists are mobbing each other to get a photo with her in the background. I sometimes feel bad for Parisians, because in some places tourist over run the city. After the Mona Lisa, we wandered into some beautful Italian paintings and contiuned to a temporary exhibit of Picasso. Off to the Venus de Milo or Aphrodite. Also people queuing for her picture. The Louvre is amazing, there is so much to see it really takes days to see the full extent, but we managed to cover quite a bit. We caught a glimpse of the Egyptian exhibit but my legs and feet were unsympathetic by this point. So, off to the bookstore. I bought a detailed guide of the Louvre so I can mull over my favourite pieces and look at what I missed. I could have bought so many books, too bad they were in French. Not to mention that I would need a seperate suitcase for the books.

After the Lourve we walked out to Rue de Rivoli and grabbed some Nutella Banana crepes and walked over to the Jardin du Carrousel and the Jardin des Tuileries. We sat and watched the spectacle of everyday life in Paris. We happened to stop by a group of older men in the distance, at first glance it looked like they were about to start a brawl, but it turns out they were playing bocci ball, and they were just acting like ... men and it just came off like they were in competition to win a mate like in the middle-ages.

Into the gardens, wow. Sculptures everywhere, and beautiful ones at that. Into the major garden of Tuileries which is definitely a place lovers frequent. A view from the garden out to the Concorde a big plaza with fountains and historical monuments. After a brief stop, we headed for the Musee de l'Organgerie - or the museum holding Monet's Water Lilies!!!!!! The coolest thing is you can take photos inside, so have some pictures of Monet's masterpieces!!! Afterwards, we took some pictures of the Concorde and then decided it was time to go home and get a shower and some food. This was about 5pm. A full day, and this so far is only day 1. Daytime. We went back to the hotel, freshened up, and then we grabbed some dinner, we decided to go for sushi in Paris. This was Ania's first time eating sushi, so it seemed kind of special to eat it in Paris. It was pretty tasty, my only complaint is we had to pay for the green tea, that is bananas. Overall, the food was great. Now, off to the Arc de Triomphe and Av des Champs-Elysees, ohh so beautiful. We took some photos and ended up talking to this couple from LA who were on a whirlwind tour of Europe, but were also there for the drugs, and loved to talk. Resulting, in us getting our photos taken, and learning about their drunken adventures in Rome and about trying mushrooms in Amsterdam (keep in mind they had to be about 40 and the guy looked like he was dressed straight out of Blade and was into vampires). But, they were nice enough and so we talked with them, but if we didn't get out we wouldn't. So, said our good-byes and headed down the Av des Champs-Elysees. Loads of stores, expensive ones al open to the toursits looking to buy up the city and loads of outdoor cafes with local Parisians looking fabulous and taking in the view. We stumbled on to a Dolce and Gabbana shop where I found a fabulous pair of sequined shoes for 990 euro. Not bad, if I was ready to have fabulous shoes but become a homeless Canadian on the streets of Paris. Instead we stumbled onto Sephora a much more purse friendly shop with cosmestics galore. I bought some fab bronzer and felt great shopping in such a chic shop. We continued our shopping and found ourselves back at the Concorde and the gates of Jardin des Tuileries. We took the metro back to the hotel and called it a night.

Here I must stop... there is so much more to write....

Follow the link to pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097751&l=ff602&id=116202560

Pictures

I have included a few more pictures from the zoo(oh right I should point out, that I am including a really cute picture of racoons, for some reasons these guys had one of the biggest enclosures, I am not sure why... I mean we have them in Canada. No one was available for comment at the time of printing). Walking around Amsterdam (I feel I should comment: the picture of what looks like a porta potty, is for men they just walk up pee and walk away. If only we had that in Vancouver... there would be at least a 10-15% reduction in arrests, just a thought); Utrecht by bike; and the ridiculous boat party I went on.

Meg x

1 month later

I have officially been living in the Netherlands for 1 month. It actually feels much longer, like 3 months or so. It is pretty neat how you adjust and accustom yourself to a new environment. For me, I think I have things under wraps. Life has a pace, and even some routines. It's weird, I suppose I am used to being 'nomadic' if you will. Uprooting has been my life for the past 4 years. I am getting used to it, but it'll be nice to have my own place for a bit. Communal living is fun, but I think this might be my last bout of it. I love knowing that there is someone around if I ever want company, and most of my friends live mere metres from me. So, getting together is a pinch. But, bunk beds, and shared rooms is moving into something of the past. I will say I am enjoying myself though. There is a good group of people on my floor, pretty diverse, so there are a lot of stories, and interesting facts swaping (which I love). For example, biscotti is actually just 'any' cookie in Italian, but in Canada (and apparently in Spain), it is that hard biscuit you dip in coffee. I love this stuff. I am also expanding my world vocabulary, I am solidifying my knowledge in Spanish, and re-learning Italian, and learning a bit of Polish (I will need to, I am spending Christmas at my roommates place), and even the interesting array of Aussie slang words that I can use in my aresanal.

Life has been pretty jammed packed the last week or so, I believe similar to the last report. SO much school work it is sick!!! I am writing 3 papers- 1) on headscarves in France, UK and the Netherlands, and whether it is a breach of neutrality or a right to religious freedom (my group, and myself included are pretty liberal and balanced about it, but it doesn't make writing the paper any easier. Not to mention several people in my class cannot understand me, apparently I have an accent and speak to quickly, so I am working on slowing my speech down and rolling my r's more- although this would be a altercation of who I am, and thus an impediement on my personal identity, especially because in Canada we don't roll r's, and I think most of the time it is silent. See what they are teaching me here!). 2) I am writing about the use of the internet as a new form of mobilization for social movements, specifically looking at the World Trade Organization protest in Seattle in 1999. It really was epic, they had to call a state of emergency and call in the national guard. 50,000 people came to Seatlle organized through the internet to protest the WTO. 3) I am writing about the Palestinian diaspora, this one is tough, it's the hardest one for me, because I feel like there is un-due pressure on me to perform well on this task, especially because this is the class that the prof chose me to run the class. Plus, I have to learn the whole conflict from the ground up, and we have to have a task force that presents. It will be an interesting challenge and the topic is interesting, I just know I am getting in over my head, and I have to pull out a big one for this semester. Did I mention I am also on the International Committee at school?

So, you can understand why I have been slaving away reading and researching. The bonus, is I get to make power point presentations, and once I get a handle on the Palestine/Israel conflict I will feel better. The social movement paper I am really interested in, so reading is interesting for me. However, one will go mad if spent doing too much 'work'. Take for example Jack Nicolson in 'The Shinning'. I don't want to hack peoples' doors down saying "Here's Meagan!!!" although, that would be a good prank......
In light of all this work, we are organzing some gatherings here, and I think that will be a good break. Go out on the town, possibly integrate with the Dutch. They tend to keep to themselves, so it is really hard to be friends with Dutch people. I have loads of friends from other nationalities, but limited in the Dutch dept. 3 to be exact. Plus, nightlife here, is nothing like back home, beer, beer, beer, and more beer. In addition, all the dj's at the have been terrible. There is consensus on this, it isn't just me.

Good news on the travelling front!!!!!!!!
I am booked to go to Paris October 17-19. We are taking an overnight bus on the 16th to Paris from our city at 1045pm and we will arrive at 6am. (ok not so 'overnight', but close enough). Then the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, that will be a jammed packed day! I am so looking forward to Paris I can't contain myself. It's like when I was a kid, and I would run through the shrubs after chores to play with my friends and feel so liberated that I was bursting at the seams ready to scream. I reckon I might cry, but only for like a moment.

I am also going to London on November 20-23rd to visit friends from South America I met last year. London should be fun, I am actually really looking forward to that trip too, a lot to see there. It will be expensive, but with all the drama in the financial markets I am hoping that the pound and euro will slump a little, with high hopes that the Canadian dollar won't nose dive. Otherwise, I am in for it.

In between now and Christmas, I am hoping to travel in Holland a bit more, get to see some of the highlights. At Christmas I am going to Poland (I mentioned that earlier). I will go on the 20th -26th, and then off to Berlin to hang with my friend who I met in Canada. We stayed in touch, and her parents live in Berlin so she will be there. My plan is for NYE there, so it would be fun to travel around a bit, see some German hot spots. And that will bring me to the new year. Whoa.

This is interesting, I have big plans for the new year. In February (Provided I manage my funds correctly) I will visit some friends in Italy, do a little tour there (ohhh that will be excellent, I've wanted to go there since I was 15). Then, volunteer at a seal rescue centre in the north of Holland for 2 weeks. Afterwards, head over to Madrid, where I have been accepted into this program that is 1 week, and I will teach English to business executives (well they give you 1 business exec as your buddy). The organization pays for everything, except travel arrangements to Madrid. The accomodation looks really nice, I believe 4 star... heheheh I am really excited about this too, because I wasn't sure if I could swing Spain, and now I can. I just have to wait for the dates to come out for 2009, currently they didn't have any, so hopefully that works out. So, despite all this hardwork the fun will happen.

But, I am really enjoying myself, even though I am tooth and nailing it now, the commute is beautiful and the weekends are always well spent in the city centre wondering around. I actually would like to take out a paddle boat on the canal.

So, I hope everyone is doing well. Miss you guys... a little :)
Will post more pictures.
Wish me luck on these papers/presentations.

Life as a Dutchie

OK, so it has been awhile since I last updated.

The past week and a bit have been kind of blur, in the sense that I always have something to do. Class, readings, walking or biking around the centre, and just hanging out. Right now I am up to my eyeballs in work. I am taking three courses, and in Holland this is unheard of (well maybe only keeners like myself do it). So, it is a lot of work in the Dutch sense. For me it's ok, it's just that the books for the classes weren't available in the first week, which meant that I got behind in my readings, and they are all catching up to me now. And, because the system here is shorter (my classes end in the beginning of November, and a whole new set start right after) everything is compressed. Luckily, I don't have to work so technically I have a lot of time.... Anyways, suffice to say that I have my work cut out for me, but part of me likes the challenge. Actually, last week my prof was sick and she wrote up our lecture on a hand-out, and then indicated that I would dictate the second part of class (one of her masters students set us up in class and then...). WHOA! yeah exactly what I thought. My stomach dropped a bit. I know I am vocal in class, and I think that what I am saying sounds good, and has grounds because people listen and the prof seems impressed. I suppose this is why she chose me. (Part of me thinks that because I speak English fluently it helped). It's werid though, when I talk in class I have a commanding demeanor, and everyone turns and listens, and I become another person. It's like the part in Old School, where Will Farrell is in the debate with the political huncho from CNN, and all of the sudden he just miraculously comes up with an amazing debate, and crushes his opponent. If you haven't seen the movie, sorry you are out of luck. I only hope that you can take my word for it. Otherwise, I am just Meagan, goofy and full of movie-liners and loads of facts. hahaha.
See link: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=OEflzeCGta4

My cultural integration has gone well. I am getting much better at riding my bike, although last week coming from the market I almost got hit by a car. That would have been bad because I reckon I would have flown a few metres in the air, and had potential damage. But, as luck would have it, I am safe. I think because of the saddle bag I attached to the back of my bike with all my groceries, it made me slower and also I think I went on the cars turn, instead of mine. I think I have it under wraps, riding to school is getting easier, and there is a really beautiful park on the way, that is a nice detour.

Partying is selective around here. Tuesday is free entrance and cheap beer at this club associated with this International Organization, but the music sucks, so it becomes a tough trade-off. Maybe every other week. Thursday is student night, so everyone goes out then. My floor has decided to start having themed parties, which could bode well for me, being 1) an organizer 2) a fan of themed parties. Some themes include: Miami Vice, 80's, Pimp and Hoe (not pimp my hoe), Superheros, cocktail/black tie, and a recent addition that I saw some friends participating in on facebook - 'everything but clothes'. One guy wore a diaper, and a lot of people wore garbage bags. We'll see, that one might not go over so well.
Halloween is coming, so prepartion for that is underway. I have NO IDEA what I am going to be, but this is an even bigger decision than back home, because Halloween is just catching on here, so I really have to blow them away.

This past Friday I went to this party in Amsterdam on a boat. We had this wicked plan, to pull an all-nighter & save money by not getting a hostel for Friday, but then checking into a hostel in the morning and doing toursity stuff all weekend. So, we put our stuff in a locker at the train station, and got all ghetto by drinking outside the train station. A few friends rented an apartment last minute in the Dam so we were going to go there and have some drinks, but we got lost. 'Lost' hahah. Anyways, we ended up walking through the Red Light District. Upon entering the first street, I was propositioned by possibly a pimp. Then came the 'Live Porn Shows', wow, I so did not know they were 'live porn' shows. Damn. I am sorry, porn is one thing but watching it live... ewww. We kept walking, and loads of sex shops and neon lights were blinking and promoting EVERYTHING you could thinkg of. We eventually, neared the windows of women. They were ok, I mean they looked like prostitutes. FYI: 50 euro for 20 min. My reaction was : digusted, I suppose this kind of thing just seems tainted... paying for sex, and selling your body. But, there is no need to get into a moral debate, I am just saying that the Red Light District was not a district I would like to 'hang' out in, or find attractive.

We eventually had to go back to the train station to meet up with the people who had tickets for the party, and try and get some for ourselves. This was the start of an adventure. Everyone was high or drunk or both. We had to take a ferry across to the place where the boat was docked. We arrive on the 'other' side of Amsterdam, apparently it is not good enough to be considered part of Amsterdam. We had to hang out for a bit, and then eventually we walked through this industerial park, or graveyard depending on how you look at it. Graveyard in the sense that everything was rusted and decrepit. Then it appeared... the 'ex-Soviet whaling ship'. (Well, at least that's what I thought, it could have been a militray ship from the Cold War). It was called Stubnitz and the party was Switch. A techno party, that may have been promoted as more techno friendlier then it would eventual be.

The party was 19 euro, holy crap we are off to a good start. The tickets were sold in a small twinky looking trailer where the women scanned your money to make sure you weren't scamming them. If you were cold, there was a ghetto fire in an old oil drum, and then the ship. We all boarded, thankfully it didn't move, I would have been afraid it would have sunk. We were early. Apparently 1130 is early, however, we were in for the long haul. We had to stay until 5am, because the ferries stopped running and we had no hostel. Essentially, it was fun for like 2 hours, and then the music was too repepitive, we had our photo ops and we were ready to leave, except we couldn't. You needed to be high on something to keep up with this crap, oh and you needed ear plugs. My ears still hurt. My mistake... vodka/red bull I ended up getting sick, and turned into a party pooper around 2am. We finally made it off the boat warmed our frozen asses and had to walk to the 'other ferries'.... we ended up taking a cab back to the central station and loitering there for 45 minutes to get our bags from the lockers. Blocking the stairs catching some zzz's we killed 45 mintues and then got our stuff, and then made the executive decision to go back home. 730 am = back on the train to Utrecht. Oh, I forgot to mention on the way to Amsterdam, we got on an international train to Frankfurt, it was stopping in Amsterdam, but for like 10 minutes we thought we were throughly screwed. Or, were we? We will never know.

So, the party sucked, but we made the best of it, the most we could. We had a better time on Sunday. We went back to Amsterdam, this time 3 of us. We went to the ZOOOOOO. OMG it was so much fun, well at least for me. They had so mnay animals I was freaking out. Now, there comes a moral issue, being an animal activist, I am against holding animals against their will especially in unnnatural habitats. However, it did make me want to save all the animals in the wild from extinction because of various human activities, so in a sense seeing these animals makes you consider what it would be like to see them in their natural habitat, or at least have a deeper appriciation for them. Thus stimulating a several things (and as I beging to write this, several arguments have surfaced, mainly things my uncle would say in rebuttal - being a lawyer they tend to do that- so I am just going to stop). Depsite, my reservations, I think zoos can have positive effects if done properly, and this zoo was done to an extent, there were definitely things I would change.

Then we walked around the city, what a beautiful city, the houses and the canals. Every corner is teeming with history. We went to this photography museum- FOAM and checked out the exhibition, and walked around some more. Did some shopping, and enjoyed the city. There are a lot of things to do in Amsterdam that is why we have to go back. Next time we will bring our bikes. I could see myself making it a weekend occurance, just spending the day there. There are also musuem cards that are 22.50 and they give you free access to all the musuems in Holland. I'll be getting that. We ended the evening with a canal cruise and then headed home. It was a splendid day. Now, I am catching up on all the readings I missed (so worth it), nursing a potential cold, that I seemed to have nipped with this Emergency C my aunt gave me.

In 2 weeks I go to Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited. And, this week there is a film festival so I will check that out.

Hope everyone is well.
xxx

Rush hour ... with bikes

This morning was the first day I rode my bike in the AM rush-hour. There were bikes backed up for metres (they use metres in the Netherlands). Back to back bike jam. It is pretty intimidating at first, because bikes are within inches of you front and back, making it difficult for me to start up on my bike because I have to push off on my tip-toe, balance the bike, and start peddaling. I almost caused an accident this morning when I left my building. I am still learning to maneover my bike, and I needed to cross one bike path and a road to get to my bike path. In doing so, I almost collided with another bike. The guy looked pissed, and then I think swore in Dutch about foreigners. I suppose it is similar when on the sea-wall in Vancouver, and Asian tourists don't know how to ride bikes, and ride into cliffs and cause huge back-ups because someone has crashed with someone else, or they are going the wrong way on the wall. So, I am getting much better at all the things involved in riding a bike in Holland (and there are alot) moreso, for dignity's sake.

Anyways, I thought you would all get a kick out of a bike traffic jam, coming from a country that grew up on cars. Just imagine next time you are in a traffic jam, how many bikes you could fit in the space that one car occupies on the road. This is my world. If anyone is familiar with Critical Mass, an organized bike ride around Vancouver the last Friday of the month, right around rush hour at about 5pm. This is a good indicator of a Dutch bike jam.... Bikes rule.

Bikes

Finally... after weeks, well two weeks, I have found a bike. I bought it last Wednesday. Essentially, it came down to word of mouth. My friend Lukas got this number from a girl he knows, she said call this guy 'Jos' the bike guy, he'll hook you up with a bike for 25 euro, and the lock is 12.50 euro. This sounded too good to be true. But, sure enough Lukas shows up with his new bike, a nice looking bike I might add too. He said it was legit. So, I am on the phone with this guy for 3 days trying to get a bike. Finally.... I call him in the morning Wed, and he says call me at 5pm tonight. I called him at 5pm and he had one bike... this was good for me, however, my roommate needed one too. I should mention, I just awoke from a mid-day nap, resulting in the residual rosy cheeks and slight disorientation. However, I managed to get up and find the place from the hand drawn map within the hour.

Jos is quite the character, he is an older Dutch man with an earring and a tattoo that makes me think he was once in the Dutch Mafia. Or, something along those lines, it was a branding of a sort, or his wife's name. Personally, my over-active imagination sides more with the former. Despite, this he is actually quite a nice fellow. He shows me my bike, and tells me he can fix it up no problem, and if there are any problems come back. The bike is 25 euro which is a steal(not literally), because all the other students have been paying 50 and up for their bikes. Also, the lock which is quality and sold in the stores for 25 euro is only 12.50. Bargain, cha-ching. Turns out that he has some bikes stowed away, and a little touch up means that Ania is able to get a bike too. Both of our bikes are too big for us. Fully extended, I am on my tip toes when the bike is stationary. The bike is fully loaded-it has a bell, a light and 1 1/2 working brakes-I am not about to be picky after searching for so long. After about 45 minutes there, Ania and I pay Jos and we are on our way with our new bikes. It's a good thing I practiced so much on the seawall riding my bike and such.

Holland is built around the bike. The bike takes precedence on the road, they have their own lanes and lights, and generally bikers will run pedestrains down, or make you feel incredibly guilty for being on 'their' path. Rightfully so, I suppose. Everyone rides bikes here, actually the second day at my place, I saw an elderly man get hit by a car on his bike (he seemed ok, anambulance came for him), that made me want to google the accident rate of bikes and cars in Holland. Parents ride with a kids on the front and back, or in little carriage contraptions at the front of the bike. Today, I saw a mother with a newborn strapped to her front riding, ONE HANDED. No one wears helmets, unless they are into 'cycling'.

Biking in Holland is a must though, it makes you feel more integrated in the culture. I think I am doing well. I use my bell frequently now, and I am fiercely protective of my bike. In Holland, people pay more for their lock than the bike. The rate of bike theft is very high. Loads of 'junkies' sell bikes really cheap, but recently police have gone under cover dressed as 'junkies' and arrested unsuspecting patrons (usually exhcange students) for purchasing illegal bikes. I do think that Jos is legit, I think junkies sell him the bikes, or even the police.

So far, biking has been great, getting around by bike takes single minutes versus walking which can take you into the double digits. I am going to buy a little baggage attachment for my bike so I put my groceries, and what-not in it while I am riding around. Also, that little rack at the back of the bike duals as a second seat for a passanger. I haven't riden on it yet.... but I have every intention of hitching a ride soon enough.

For now, that is my intro to biking culture and my experience with bikes in Holland. Gotta love it.

Utrecht and all its glory...

So, I have officially been in Holland for a week. It's been quite the EPIC WEEK.

Moving in, university orientation that went all week, partying, wine socials in the kitchens, meeting new people,shopping in the centre, walking the centre, and figuring out how to not get hit by bikes, and where to buy a bike for cheap without getting arrested for buying one from an undercover cop. It's everything I could have asked for and more. We started a tradition, where we all conglomerate into the kitchen between 8-12pm. Bottles of wine appear on the table, chairs are assembled,the lap top is blaring,and the social chatter begins. The first night,it looked like something out of a movie. Word of mouth and the next thing you know, we are having a party in the kitchen. We produced a sheet of music requests to make sure everyone gets their music played. Being the social planner that I am, I took on the task of finding the music and herding everyone to the kitchen. But, I don't mind.

Partying in Utrecht is quite an interesting experience....

The first club I went to was the underground one I mentioned in the previous blog. What a gong show. They don't believe in limits on people so there were literally hundreds of people in the underground tunnels of what used to be the city prision. Nice to know, after the fact. We danced all night, my roommate and I. We were up on this stage like thing, we had a bit of an audience because apparently the Dutch don't a) dance and b) dance on stage. A little ways through the night, the worst audition for Dutch idol appeared, to show us why he was rightfully rejected from the show. It was one of the most painful experiences ever! Amazing how some people will exploit themselves in what they think is a good money/popularity scheme, but really everyone is making fun of them.

The second place we went to was Woolomooloo. Don't ask. It is atached to a frat house, the only frat house in Utrecht, where the memebers dress in suits all the time, and make their recruits do distrubing things to gain membership- all I will say is chicken. But, I suppose that is typical for fraternaties. The club was pretty packed, the coat check people were arses, and they neglected to mention that the machine on the wall that says change actually dispenses tokens for beer. I found this out the hard way, when the coat check lady wouldn't take my 20 euro note and made me go get change. So, I turn and notice this machine that says 'change' and has pictures of various bills on it. I put my 20 in and got like 15 tokens... was I pissed. I didn't even bother checking my sweater. Luckily, I sold most of the tokens off, and had a pocket full of change. A little way through the party, I noticed 3 girls on the back of the bar 'dancing', so I decided to show them up. Well, more like just dance a good dance because they looked like they were just (sorry for the grotesque langauge) 'humping' each other in the air. So, I asked the bartender if I could go up, and then I spent the rest of the night on the back bar dancing my heart. I don't know why, but I love being elevated like that when I am dancing. I don't like being in the crowds,and I like being away from all the man scoundrals who circle the dance floor looking for prey to stock. So, I had a bit of a crew cheering for me, and the made a few girls jealous, but I was up there for the music not for the potential phone numbers I might get.
Eventually, I needed a break, and hung out with my peeps for a bit. Apparently, I should have been paid for my skillz, according to some of my friends. hahaha,I just laughed. Everytime I think of dancing on stage like that, I think back to Electric Circuit this dance show on Much Music in the 90's. I used to watch it religiously, I think that show spawned the dancer in me. In the show people would crowd around Much Music in Toronto and vie to be picked from the crowd to dance on the show. It was a huge deal, to get picked. So, after 3 hours of dancing like Jennifer Beal in Flash Dance I decided to head home for some much needed sleep.

The centre of Utrecht, is like all European cities, cobblestone streets, the typical tall thin Dutch homes, and canals everywhere. Utrecht has quite a bit of shopping which is pretty nice. There are at least 2 of the same major shops throughout the city, which is kind of bizzare. And, then a major shopping mall. There are markets on Wednesday and Saturdays. Awesome! I love them so much. There is a guy who sells the nicest scarves for 5 euro and it makes me warm and fuzzy inside to have such a wicked hook-up for such nice scarves. Essentially, I can still be a fashionista as long as I have these scarves. Otherwise, shooping is pretty ridiculously expensive, I try not think about it. And, hope that the Euro will drop steadily. The markets are good for fresh produce straight from the sellers farms, cheese, eggs, fresh fish which I saw today, it was crazy... I saw squid and every kind of fish you could want.

We have been spending a fair amount of time in cafes, not to be confused with coffee shops. A standard price for a cappucino is 2.25 euro. So,anything more is a rip-off anything less is a bargain. The resturants are fabulous here, but expensive. The terraces in the middle of the centre are really nice for people watching. And, on the weekends the streets come alive with music and are clogged with people. It's insane but, also kind of nice.

My hunt for a bike might end nicely this week. A friend of ours bought a bike for 25 euro from this guy, and it was legit. Everyone else has been paying 50 euro or more. So, my fingers are crossed.

The grocery stores are good too, my house is right next to one, not to mention everything else in the city I really lucked out. The grocery stores, and dept stores sell wine, and they sell it cheap. It is a nice change to buy Chilean or Argentinan wine for like 3.50 euro... ahhh wine. At least it's not as bad as beer. But, that is pretty cheap here. About 2 euro for a beer, but with 2 inches of foam and smaller than a sleeve. So, really I don't think you are getting a deal.

I joined the gym today, so I am psyched about that. The guy thought I was crazy when I asked if they had a punching bag... I might take a kick boxing class on campus... we'll see. RIding my bike everywhere should keep me in shape (when I get a bike).
School starts tomorrow. I am pretty excited about that, I have really interesting courses such as: Violent conflict and diaspora; Culture Diversity and Identity; and Culture, violence, trauma and reconciliation (might make me a better negotiator/reconcillator). The books are what is going to kill me. Almost 200 euro in books. I can't believe some of the prices in Europe. It pretty much means I won't be leisurely reading magazines or books because they are so expensive. Thankfully, I have the internet.

Anyways, this blog seems like the equivalent of an entrance essay.

Until next time.... stay classy Vancouver.

- For those of you that know my love of movie quoting, that was a quote (slightly modified) from one of my favourite movies. Whom ever guesses correctly gets a postcard! hahha kidding :)