Land of the Free

So today is August 23rd which marks the date of exactly FOUR months to come of my study abroad adventure. So far this long weekend has been pretty busy. We've been going out at night in Leidsplein, which is a popular place with a lot of bars, pubs, and clubs. On Friday, a bunch of us went to 'Sail Amsterdam 2010.' It only happens every five years so it was awesome that we were there to experience it. Pretty much, there are THOUSANDS of boats in the Amsterdam harbor and there are a bunch of activities for four or five days. Although we didn't make it to the fireworks, they happened every night at 10 pm. There were some massive boats. I couldn't help but think how much my dad and sister would have absolutely loved this.





Friday night involved some bar hopping. Apparently people don't like to stay in the same place for more than 20 minutes... We make a frequent appearance at the "Sports Cafe" where you can buy either 10 shots of Jager or some fruity liquor for 10 Euro. The fruity liquor tastes more like cough syrup but apparently some of my friends actually enjoy that taste. Here's a picture of a few of the kids from the Loyola crowd.




Saturday we ventured to Ikea to get a few things to spice up the room. After picking out a very cheap rug for my room, I saw a little boy circa 5 years old pick out the same rug. Yes... I purchased a racecar rug. Here is it on my floor.



On Saturday night we went to this bumpinnn club called Melkweg. It's set up like a concert arena but on Saturday nights, they are filled with DJ's. It was super fun and we all danced the night away. Some people thought it was clever to 'ice' someone in the middle of the club, so that was entertaining.



Today, we had our orientation at HES. Amsterdam could not have chosen a better time to be itself and downpour on our 35 minute journey to our school building. Although it was a pain, it was really quite humorous. My jeans ended up looking like leather pants and we were freezing for the entire day because it took a while for our clothes to dry. The orientation was somewhat helpful, but pretty much informed me on things I already knew. The rest of the week is the ISN program where we are all split up into small groups and show us the city of Amsterdam. There are about 200 international students so we are all put in different groups so we can mingle with students from all over. Apparently they take us to museums, bars, etc. But for the most part it's a surprise!

Things I observed on the tour of HES:
1) A man smoking IN the library
2) A library stocked with about 300 books at the most
3) A school snack bar that serves beer and wine after 3pm.

Would this ever happen at Loyola?

back to the land of pleins and straats

I'm back in Amsterdam and am finally all unpacked and settled in for the most part. This past week, Jaclyn and I continued our truly cultural Italian experience by touring around Genoa, stopping in Cannes, France for the weekend, and spending two days in Tuscany. (Yes. We were spoiled.)

We took a long walk around the city with one of the cousins, Christina, and her daughter, Eleonora. A lot of steep narrow streets and hopefully toning of my legs and butt led us to a beautiful view of the sea and Portofino in the distance.


If we were alone, there is no way we would have found any of the places we went to. The blue building in the distance of this picture is one of the most popular bars in Genoa and you can only get to it by walking on the rocks. The view, as everywhere in Genoa, was breathtaking.


Cannes! Unfortunately it was raining on our first day in Cannes, but we were able to walk around the city and see the touristy spots. We took this lovely photo on the red carpet at the Palace of Festivals. For those of you who are culturally aware, watch Entourage, or have heard of the Cannes Film Festival, this is the place where all of the films are viewed. We went to the beach the next day and I gained back some of the tan I lost from sitting in an office this summer. Everywhere in France they sell these gladiator sandals called Les Tropeziennes, so... I had to buy a pair. My first real purchase of the trip, but they were so worth it Mom!!





Our last stop was Tuscany. We ate like Kings. Our last big lunch consisted of about 8 different appetizer plates, ravioli, a meat dish, lemon sorbeto and a coffee, of course. However, the coffee cups are the size of my thumb and it’s filled with espresso so it’s much different than New York coffee. The Italians also have a tendency put a HEFTY amount of sugar in something that takes one sip to finish and I’ve seen no sign of Splenda or Equal. Anyway... the country house was nice a quiet. We got to check out their small vineyard and we tasted the homemade red wine that is stored in their cellar. We also walked around a small village and got a nice view from the top of an old castle.


Now it's time to reunite with Loyola and really experience Amsterdam. Amsterdam is an extremely unique place and there are always interesting things to see or watch. Besides the mispronouncing of every dutch word and the probability that the boys in our group will constantly chant "USA" while walking through the streets, I think we'll fit in quite nicely here.

Miopin

Ciao! I am currently sitting seaside at a place called "Maa Beach" in Genoa, Italy and it is absolutely beautiful. Jaclyn has cousins here and they have let us stay in their extra flat with a wonderful view of the 'mare' from the balcony.




Today we walked around the city center of Genoa where there are a lot of little narrow streets called 'viccoli' filled with little shops and restaurants. We also walked around the old port that was the main port back in the day. Jaclyn's cousins, Masamiliano, Paolo, and Franceso, were kind enough to let us use one of their parents cars. I was the lucky one who got to drive it. Needless to say, I was a little nervous when I first put the key in the Toyota... but it ended up working out okay. Minus the fact that people drive like maniacs at high speeds and most of the TWO way streets are hardly wide enough to fit one car. Day one in car however was a success and there were no accidents today - knock on wood. The hardest part is driving up the steep hill to where we park for out flat - if there is a car coming the other way, pretty much ".. uh no good." This is me in the car:




Although it has been somewhat hard to communicate, I did add Max as a bbm contact today to keep in touch while he is at work. In order to figure out his pin I had to type 'miopin' on his phone and for some reason I found that hilarious. It's really great to be with natives here because they know everyone and we haven't spent one euro yet!

Friday we go to Cannes, France for the weekend and even though the film festival will not be going on, the beaches are supposed to be gorgeous.

Ciao for now!

Hallo, Doei - Hello, Goodbye

We made it! Jaclyn and I landed an hour early in Amsterdam after a usual flight filled with bad airplane food and minimal inches of legroom, but who cares - we're in Europe! Looking nothing less than your typical American tourists, we purchased a more legitimate map and decided to tour the main city on our own before we could check in to our hotel. Dutch is an interesting language to say the least but after butchering a few words we were able to find our way to an active part of the city: Leidseplein. The canals are beautiful and Amsterdam has proven to be fascinating so far. The most interesting part is the fact that pedestrians hardly ever have the right of way. Texting while walking is VERY dangerous because if you are not looking up, it is very possible to be in way of either bikers, trams, or cars. Unlike NYC, people don't anticipate the split second they have to 'go for it' and cross the street, people are cautious of which vehicles have the right of way.

In reference to my earlier blog post, I did see the beerbike live in action. From a mile away you can hear loud cheering and soon you see the bike approaching with smiling people happy for attention. I turned to take a picture and they cheered and waved like I was their biggest fan (maybe I was...)



There is lots of shopping! We walked around a main shopping area crowded with people and the Dutch originated company, H&M, popped up every fourth of a mile.


We fly to Genoa tomorrow night for a two week adventure in Italy with some of Jaclyn's family, so this has been such a teaser of Amsterdam. So as my post title, we say "hallo" and goodbye pretty fast, but we'll have plenty of time to continue exploring when we return! For a closing photo, here's a picture of your typical canal.

10 Days

Ten short days until I depart from America! I've been doing some research on Amsterdam and I'm trying to make sure I know all the "fun" things to do while I'm there, and I came across this video. I guess essentially they figure...like those Miller 64 commercials...you can burn the calories from beer by pedaling while drinking. Let me know when you want to visit and I'll book one of these .. 10-22 persons!

so what, so i've got a smile on

Maybe I Will Blog

So I initially created this blog for a Video class I took last Fall, but I decided to give it some pizazz and make it my own. I will be studying abroad this coming Fall semester in Amsterdam, and I thought this will be a good place to keep family and friends updated... for those who might actually be interested. For those who are interested in following my blog, thanks! For those who aren't, you're probably just jealous that I will soon be traveling to some BA places. But that's okay. Today's date is July 13, 2010, and in less than one month I will be flying to Amsterdam! My flight is on August 7. I will move into my building on Monday August 9, and then fly to Genoa, Italy for a two week vacation before classes start! My older sister, Katherine, has been traveling for almost a year now so check out her blog as well: http://krainnz.blogspot.com/
Stay tuned!