Intro with ISN

So I should really be going to bed right now because I am exhausted from walking around the last several days but I thought I'd throw up a blog since it may be a few days before I am able to do so again.

Tomorrow is the last day of my introduction here in Amsterdam. It has been a whirlwind experience but a great one at that. My intro group consists of 14 other people and myself. I will name them and their countries so I can talk about them in the future without needing further explanation. There are two girls from Belgium (the Flemish speaking areas) named Nathalie and Marilyn. A french guy named Richard, a Brazilian girl named Juliana, a German girl named Eva, a British girl named Abbie, a spanish guy (Speaks Catalan) named Pol, a Turkish girl named Ceren, a girl from Singapore named Bevelin, two Canadian girls named Jen and Cathy, our two Dutch "coaches" Jasmijn and Marte who come from Gouda (yes, where the cheese is from), one other American named Lix and myself.

We all get along very well and we have been having a great time together. It is very interesting how we all interact together being from so many different cultures and countries. We all have great fun together. I suspect we will continue to meet up occasionally during the semester to go clubbing or just sit at a nice bar (Amsterdam has so many) and just enjoy a nice cold beer.

So far we have done some typical get to know you activities that we do in the US but we also have participated in some typical Dutch "get to know you activities." Last night we attended two borrels which are informal drinks at a bar. One was put on by the housing corporation De Key that provides most of us exchange students with a room. I was held at the club Odeon and there was an open bar that was taken full advantage of. The second one we went to immediately after the first was at the Heffer which is where the International Student Network - Amsterdam (ISN) typically has their weekly borrels. It was crowded at first but eventually became more comfortable. The borrels are held every Tuesday so I am sure you will hear more about them in the future. Several of us went to another bar for an hour or so before deciding to hit the hay. I caught the night bus (for the first time) from centraal station to my apartment without any problems.

This morning we went on a walking tour through the city. This was awesome. I suggest anyone traveling to Amsterdam (A'dam) to take one of these free walking tours that start at the famous Dam Square.

Next we had some dutch pannenkoeken (pancakes) with bacon in them. After this we went on a tour of the Amsterdam Historisch Museum. This is a great museum housed in a former orphanage that was in operation from the 1500's until 1975. I greatly enjoyed this museum and I plan on returning when I have more time to spend wandering and learning.

Tomorrow we are playing sports and in the evening will be the final party at Odeon.
Sunday I will be traveling back to Nijmegen relatively early in the morning and then hitching a ride with Gemma to the birthday celebration of Lieselot's grandfather in Venray.

Last but not least some pictures.

Marte (Dutch), Me, Jen (Canadian), Cathy (Canadian), and Liz (American)

The Dutch "coaches" dancing on the bar at De Heffer.

Walking at night along a canal on our way to a borrel. I know it's blurry but I like the "mood" of the picture.

Amsterdam!

The day is finally here. I traveled to Amsterdam last night and stayed at Iris' house so I could get up early to be at an appointment this morning (Iris is a friend of Lieselot's.) At 10 I went to the international student coordinator's office to fill out paperwork for my Residence Permit as well as to set up an appointment and get the necessary introduction letter from the school to a bank so I could open a student bank account. After that meeting I walked to the bank and promptly opened an account. I then went and spent an hour filling out more paperwork to get the keys to my apartment but also to register with the city government and get a SOFI number (their version of a SS Number.) I then returned to Iris' place to retrieve my luggage then I made my way to my new apartment in the burrow of Slotervaart. The room is larger than I expected which is nice and also has internet and cable TV provided.

My introduction put on by the International Student Network - Amsterdam begins tomorrow and continues through Saturday night. I will post pictures soon.

I am now off to bed. I am tired and I need to get up early.

My day with Gijs

So yesterday Lieselot had to work from 2:45 in the afternoon until about 3 in the morning. I didn't really have anything planned for the day. So Gijs invited me to go to a bar with his soccer team. What started as a trip to the bar turned into a 14.5 hour adventure that ended at a club in Nijmegen called Doornroosje. The music and atmosphere was amazing. Here are pictures and videos.

Skating/Chilling

Blaauwe Hand - Up the stairs to the right is the church called Sint Stevenskerk.



Biking Back From Ice Skating Thursday



De Ooij



Jules and I



Hannah, Jules, and Leentje




It took me a little longer to get this posted than I wanted but here it is anyways.

Last week I stayed in Nijmegen instead of traveling down to Maastricht with Lieselot. It's the end of her semester so she is busy with projects and lots of homework. During the week I just relaxed and hung out with Heleen (aka Leen, Leentje), Gemma, and Gijs (Lieselot's sister, mom, and brother, repectively.)

Ferry, a longtime friend and former babysitter of Lieselot and her siblings came over for dinner last monday.

Tuesday Hannah (a family friend from near Maastricht who lives with Gemma and goes to Radboud University in Nijmegen), a friend of Hannah's named Jules, Leentje and I rode our bikes to a small lake called the Ooij which had frozen over in the cold weather to go ice skating. It was very fun. The first time I have skated on natural ice.

We also went skating thursday afternoon. Thursday evening Gemma, Leentje, Floortje (a friend of Leen's) and I went to the Blauwe Hand which is a very nice bar. I sampled several of the quality beers they had on tap including two local beers brewed in Nijmegen's brewery De Hemel(http://www.brouwerijdehemel.nl/ned/product.htm). I had a Tiep Top and Nieuw Ligt from De Hemel. I had 2 Chimay's and a Grand Prestige made by Hertog Jan (http://www.hertogjan.nl/bier_grandprestige.html). Translater http://translate.google.com/translate_t?sl=nl#

Wednesday I had dinner with Guus (Lieselot's dad) and Leentje at Guus' place. It was very nice.

Friday evening Lieselot returned to Nijmegen from Maastricht.

We all just hung out over the weekend. Lies and I did some shopping. On sunday evening we headed down to Maastricht.

Last night Lies and I went to dinner in town and Lies went and viewed an apartment the she was interested in (she was offered the apartment and accepted.) While she was doing that I hung out at the Shamrock. An Irish bar down the street from where Lieselot was. Nice atmosphere and good beer. http://www.cafeshamrock.nl/home.htm

We are heading back to Nijmegen tomorrow and will be visiting Robb (our former exchange student) at his home in Tiel.

Oude Nieuw (New Years)

Oude Nieuw was leuk!! (New Years was cool!!)

We did some grocery shopping in the early afternoon for the evening. Lieselot and I went to her dad's place for about an hour before we rode our bikes to Marij's house (Marij is a friend of Gemma, Lieselot's Mom.) We went to Marij's last year for Oude Nieuw also. Marij's 3 sons, Joes, Niels, and Rens were there as well. We did gourmetten which is a tradition for their families. Everyone has a small pan and there are many different types of meats and vegetables to choose from and each person cooks what they want. It is very good.

We finished eating around 9pm and Lieselot's friend Anneke and her boyfriend Ton arrived around 10. At about 11:30 Niels and Lieselot started to make Olliebollen which are tradtional New Years donuts that the dutch make. They have raisins in them and are sprinkled with powdered sugar.

At midnight we toasted with champagne then everyone gave the tradition 3 cheek kisses to one another (men shake hands with each other) and then we all went outside to wish the neighbors Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar! (Happy New Year) and to shoot off fireworks.

At 12:45 Lieselot, Anneke, Ton, and I went to Anneke's brother's girlfriends house which was just around the corner. We visited for about 45 minutes or so and then we went back to Marij's to get ready to go to Discotheek Inferno for their new years party.

We got to Inferno at about 2am and we met a group of Lieselot's friends. We met Janine, Piet, Sara, Iris, and Gabi out front and went in. We had a great time. The music was good and it wasn't too crowded. We left the club at around 6:15 or 6:30am and rode our bikes back to Lieselot's house. We had a bite to eat before heading to bed.

In all we had a great time.