Amsterdam

Wow have I had a lot of work to do. I've had several pilot studies and presentations to worry about. Fortunately, things have JUST calmed down again for a little bit so I finally have an opportunity to post about my trip to Amsterdam. Next week, I will be taking a trip to Italy, staying in Florence and making day trips to Rome and Venice.

Unfortunately everyone I was going to go to the Hague with had something come up, so I ended up doing the solo journey to Amsterdam I had originally planned. Fortunately, I picked the perfect day! There wasn't a cloud in the sky! And it wasn't quite as cold as usual...

Once again, you will be viewing my journey through pictures. Enjoy!

This is how misty it was that morning. I have done nothing to this picture to make it so gray.

I can't figure out why this picture looks brighter, but you can see how even the top of the bell tower is obscured.

Found this in the Red Light District (because everyone has to visit it once). Wasn't fond of the district itself, but the graffiti was cool :)

I LOVE the architecture. There was also a bizarre little demonstration of some sort going on in the square with lots of people dressed up like death.

More architecture!

Pretty buildings...

This sign did its job well. I would not have entered if I hadn't stopped to take a picture of such a beautifully painted sign. Ended up spending about a half hour looking at their stock of entirely spirituality-focused books. They had everything from Christian and Kabbalah to Daoist, Buddhist, and Shamanic.

More beautiful buildings.

Really lovely houses. I could live there.

The beautiful canals!

Senatus Populusque...Amsterdam? That's the only thing I could come up with.

A wider shot of one of the canals. Somehow when people said the city was full of canals I pictured something more like Venice, with little bitty canals. Oh, no. These are CANALS.

The Rijksmuseum!

Some of the exterior of the museum.

My absolute favorite thing in the Rijksmuseum. Von Aert Van Der Neer's "River View by Moonlight." This is the best image of it I could find on the internet and it still does not do it justice, but it is enough. (Credit must go to http://www.mypicasso.com/de/river-view-by-moonlight-12487.html)

And finally, while walking back to the station, I had to pass the flower markets. I figured everyone knows what flowers and seeds look like so I decided to take a picture of the canal instead.

Making Friends and Planning a Trip

Just a brief update: Today I had a WONDERFUL lunch with three women from my International Human Rights Protection class. They're very artsy and dedicated to a lot of the issues I am. Most importantly, they are as nerdy as I am about international relations/international politics. Therefore this weekend, instead of going to Amsterdam as I had planned, I will be visiting the Hague! Hopefully I will be able to arrange things with class such that we will make it in time to see the International Court of Justice in session!!! Looking forward to it.

In other news, I went to Zwolle yesterday to pick up my residence permit. The weather was depressing and I didn't see any part of the city that was very interesting. It all was very business-oriented.

Everything I saw pretty much looked like this. Note they gray sky. Again.

The one point of interest: apparently the Old Ones made it to the Netherlands. What do we think? Yogg Sathoth? Or is it one of Cthulu's priests who's been granted eldrich powers?

Photojournal

It is Friday! My presentation on Jenny went quite well. The weather is once again cold, but sunny. I actually brought my camera along with me to class, so I had some opportunities to take more pictures. They feature some of my favorite places in the city so far.

Enjoy!

The little street on which my favorite little bagel and coffee shop is situated.

This is the Martinitower, Groningen's most famous landmark (by which I mean the most referenced on postcards). Its at the corner of this beautiful little square. I'm not sure what the large poster of the classical statue is for. I think it's associated with this production of Tiresias that some group or other is performing.

Not sure what's in this building, but I liked the sunlight. Opposite corner of the square with the Martinitower.

Next to the Martinitower.

This is a beautiful little coffee shop in the same building as the Martinitower. I haven't gone here yet, because I fear the shop may be a bit too posh (or expensive!) but I'd like to. I probably will at some point.

Now THIS is a bell tower! The bell tower on the top of the Academiegebouw (Academy Building).

This is probably my favorite street in the city. Not only because of the delightful selection of quirky little shops, but also because the phases of the moon are set in brass or bronze or something into the pavement, as you see below.

It goes through all the phases of the moon down the street, with the full moon in the middle.

I haven't the slightest idea what sort of church this is.

But I love the fact that it has this strikingly modern tower attached to it!

Proof that spring WILL come! Eventually!

Finally, the light sculpture of a human being. I didn't bother taking a picture of it from the side, because from the side its just a bunch of loops of neon lights next to each other.

Life Calms Down a Bit Again

Well, after a couple weeks of some pretty intense homework, I finally have a chance to sit down and provide and update. For the most part, classes are as they were, though I've finally started my Gender Studies: Text and Context course. I'll be presenting Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own later in the semester. Should be fun!

I of course need to show you my FABULOUS bike. I am very much hoping it looks too old and rickety to be worth stealing.

Earlier this week, for two days, the weather was GORGEOUS. On Monday, it wasn't as windy as usual, and the weather was warm enough I didn't need a hat! Both Monday and Tuesday were sunny and bright without a cloud in the sky! And today it is gray and drizzling and the wind as I rode my bicycle back from the grocery store threatened to knock me over. Ah, well. I suppose there's an end to the miserable weather in sight.

I have now gone to two big international parties, and let me tell you, hearing some 20 different languages being shouted over each other in the same room can be quite disconcerting. My friend Mattias (Belgium) and I hung out two weeks ago, and I heard (besides English and Dutch, of course) Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Arabic (I think), one or two Asian languages (I couldn't have said which) and Finnish. At least that's what I'm assuming they were speaking because I knew one of the guys I saw is from Finland. Mattias let me have a bottle of his Belgian beer. Yum!

Last Friday, my friend Kristen (Norway) and I hung out at a "sangria"-themed party; apparently the theme had something to do with a type of drink, but basically everyone present was dressed up either as a bull or a bullfighter and the proportion of Spanish speakers seemed to have skyrocketed. We each had a can of a German beer that two of Kristen's German friends confided wasn't actually German. It was watery and....less tasty. We only spent about a half hour at the party before deciding that if we were going to chat, it was much more productive to do so upstairs in her room where we didn't have to strain our ears or our vocal chords.

In other news: I got a haircut!

I'm quite pleased with it.

Otherwise, I don't have much to report, besides the fact that homework is calming down again. Tomorrow I am presenting the novel Jenny (by Nobel Prize winning Sigrid Undset) to my Scandinavian Lit class, so I'm off to review for it some more!