Sleepy day

Today I had a very sleepy day. And before I left I promised myself that even though I was going to be in a new city with so many adventures I would let myself have these sort of days if I wanted to SO...

I woke up at two o clock in the afternoon!
I put on my new super thick "I'm in Northern Europe" stockings! And some socks!
I rode "Paprika" (named after the popular potato chip flavor) to a coffee shop!
I read my book for two hours!
I cooked a stir fry dinner with some friends across town!

And then we went out for chocolate banana pancakes. It was such a good day. So good.

A quick update

I am finally back on the internet, this time with an ethernet cable! My Dutch neighbors must have caught on that all the students were using their wireless because three days ago they locked their network. I am completely exhausted but I want to give a quick update. Things have been so good. This week was the orientation for all 900 international students doing a semester or year at the university, so we have had activities all day and night to meet each other.

On Wednesday we went to the Amsterdam historical museum, took a walking tour of the red light district and some other neighborhoods, went on one more canal cruise, watched the ajax football game in a bar, sang karaoke and ended the night in a Latino club in Leidesplein. So much for one day! On Thursday I slept half the day away, but met up with my friend Esther to pick up party tickets and do some shopping before dinner. After dinner we went to a traditional Dutch borrel, and then to a club called Prime in Rembrantplein.

And today we went to the Artis zoo, then to our coach's flat for a bit before the final party at a club called Panama. We danced so much. I am being so unspecific but I promise to elaborate later with stories. It is 5:40 am. Yikes! In general, though, I am so happy. Everyone I have met is welcoming and eager to meet new people from new places. I found food I like in a close supermarket but I had raw corn with my dinner because I didn't feel like boiling water. Some things are the same overseas!

Tomorrow I aim to write a lot because I have nothing planned for the whole day. Until then, much love. Julie

Moving in

Yesterday I moved into my new apartment, or flat, or dormitory, in the morning. It is very nice, although the bathroom is a bit grungy. My roommate arrived later in the afternoon and we went to buy cleaning supplies together at the local spar, which is like a grocery store. I never realized that stores often don't have the function in the name, but are instead a brand. But this is difficult when you move to a new country! I learned today that Hema is Target like. Albert Heijn is Stop and Shop like. Lots to remember!

We met up with the forty American CIEE students and had a canal cruise with a pizza dinner. They gave us anchovy pizza, but sorry Grammy, no herring yet! The coffee is, though, incredibly good. Except that it often comes out of a vending machine and is therefore inaccessible to me because I can't read the options on the machine, so I'm not sure where the cup comes from. I can't tell whether I'm supposed to provide the cup. I must watch someone else do this! I also got my bike!! Any ideas for names? I have two bike locks, one for the front and back, and a light! It is illegal to ride at night without one.

Last night my flat mate and I (she is lovely by the way, her name is Kristen) took much needed showers and went out with some friends to a bar. We also went into a club for a bit where we had our first real exposure to house music. Dutch dancing is really amazing. There is a lot of fist pumping and arm motions and then a general pulse as well. I will have to practice.

This morning we went with the international students (900 of us!) to register with the university, get our mobile phones working, and have our welcome from the staff (in the church where Rembrant was buried!). Then they walked us literally across the whole city to a club in an old factory, where we danced more! To more house! There are students from every country. It's incredible. And my friend from Portugal showed me how a Spanish sentence sounds in Portuguese, and now I am determined to learn Portuguese. And German so I can read Dutch SO I CAN BUY COFFEE.

So sleeeeepy. Good night everyone! Love love love Julie

I'm here!

Welcome to my blog everyone. This first entry is going to be a bit quick and a bit delirious because I am very jet lagged and being timed on the hostel internet meter, but I wanted to write immediately. This afternoon at around two o clock I flew over from Dublin where I had my connection to Schiphol Amsterdam international airport. Everything was green because it was Aer Lingus, the Irish airline. I slept on my tray table and when I woke up there were lots of people staring at me.

I took a taxi to the Vondelpark stay okay hostel. I am sharing a room with five other ladies. The hostel is fine but I can't wait to move into my flat tomorrow morning. I just walked around for a while in the city center. It is crowded but everything looks strangely familiar. I saw the wagamama's and the delft store I'm pretty sure we went to when I was ten. I ate dinner on the side of the canal and I bought a passion fruit for desert because I love those and I saw one. We never have them in the states. Dutch is confusing. This computer is in Dutch so I keep clicking the wrong buttons by accident. There are a lot of other young people at this hostel but not from the US.

I am going to miss home a lot and probably miss you (if you are reading this I assume we care about each other). But, this is a good way to keep updated. I promise more exciting entries later on! Lots of love, Julie