• Someone told me that his biggest regret from his trip to Paris was seeing the Eiffel Tower by himself. I assumed (considering the source and the hype) that this was because it was such a romantic spot.  I too regret having visited the Eiffel Tower by myself, but not because it was so romantic.  Shady? Absolutely.  Scary? Definitely.  Romantic? Not so much.
• Everyone was really very kind to me.  From what I’ve been told, this is an anomaly – Parisians are supposed to be snotty and superior.  Perhaps I looked the right combination of terrified, exhausted and apologetic.  Or perhaps the stereotype is wrong.
• For being the fashion capital of the world, I didn’t feel out of place at all in my sneakers and jeans.  To be fair, I didn’t really go shopping in the upscale stores, but even so it was nice not to feel like I stood out (in a bad way)
• Crepes are delicious.
• Baguettes ≠ french bread.  Just in case you were wondering.

I promise that I will update in detail and with pictures in the next couple days.

For Dutch children, Sinterklaus arrives the second or third weekend in November carrying gifts from Spain and accompanied by his “little black helpers’ whose job is to put coal in the shoes of bad children. (shudder) In the story, the little black helpers were Moors from north Africa. (For those who don’t know, the Moors invaded Spain several times (and vice versa) and so they play an integral part in many traditional Spanish/European stories).  I understand the history. I can even blame the overt racism on historical influences which have since lost most meaning.  What I don’t understand is this:

“Zwarte Piet” (Black Pete) is one thing. But using blackface, with all its derogatory implications about the superiority of caucasions, is inexcusable.  Even the stuffed dolls and pictures on candy wrappers are in blackface.  I don’t understand. And it turns my stomach. 

I told you the Dutch are trying to ruin my Christmas!

 Today was a great day.  After making (and breaking) plans to go to Rotterdam for at least a month, we finally made it.  It was pouring when we got to the Utrecht train station but as soon as we were on the train and ready to go, the rain stopped and by the time we got to Rotterdam, the sun had come out.

Most of the day was spent wandering without a destination.  I’ve found that sometimes that’s the best way to explore a new city since lists of tourist attractions limit your experience.  Rotterdam is a (very!) small city, so we were able to wander from one end to the other.  First, we wandered past the Maritime Museum, but since we really had no interest in going in and looking at the history of shipping, we walked through the boats moored on the canal outside.  From the Maritime Museum we could see the Erasmusbrug (Erasmus bridge), which is just as pretty in person as it is in the pictures.  It was sunny and there were few clouds, so the bright white bridge stood out against a blue sky. Very picturesque.

Our next stop was the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen which is located in the Museumpark. Again, we didn’t actually go into the museum; the day was too beautiful and there was too much wandering to do to go to (another) art museum.    On the way back we noticed this interesting tree/sculpture along the bank of the canal (do canals have banks, or is that just rivers?)

From there it was time for lunch. We stopped at this Turkish themed hotel/restaurant/bar.  The falafel was delicious (and affordable) and so after a lengthy lunch we set out again, this time in search of the Centrum Binnestrad, which (someone told me or I read somewhere) is the largest outdoor market in the Netherlands.  We also, quite by accident, found this.  The only way to explain it is “creative architecture”.  I thought it was cool, but there is no way that I would want to live there!

The day ended early with some window shopping and a beer at a neighborhood-y dive bar.  We were back in Utrecht just in time to ride home ahead of the rain. It was exhausting but so much fun!

'I amsterdam' statue in the park between the Richt Museum and the Van Gogh Museum

Amsterdam Canal

Not, of course that there haven’t been a few crazy nights. The last time we went out was as close to epic as I’ll ever get. The night started with dinner at the apartment of our Russian friend from Germany and included several bottles of wine. From there, we went to a bar that had a live punk-rock band playing. The space is actually underground (how cool is that!) and fairly small, but we were able to get really close to the stage.  (I have some great pics of the band that I’ll upload later.) Finally we ended up at Havana (which, contrary to its name does NOT play latin music) a very popular dance club in the center.  Again, lots of fun…especially since the DJ played a considerable amount of “normal” music (read: not electronic house music.)

On our way home, M. and I stopped for falafal (which btw, is a close second to pizza when it comes to drunk food) at a popular stand and ran into some friends. We were chatting in English and a group of young, very drunk Dutch boys came up to us and started hassling us. It was the first time that I experienced the anti-American bias since I have been in the Netherlands. They kept asking if we were ashamed to be American and confronting us about American international politics. Now, I’m as critical of international politics as the next person (and probably more so than most) but that kind of confrontation was completely new to me.  (In their defence, the guys also harassed the girls from Austria and Germany who were with us, so at least they were equal-opportunity xenophobes)

In a completely unrelated story, I spent a half-hour on Saturday rescuing my bike from the bike parking lot at the law library.  Friday morning I had ridden my bike to school and parked it at the library, not realizing that the library closed at 5pm and that the courtyard where my bike was parked was locked at closing.  I was not patient enough to wait for the next Monday to get my bike back so I decided to undertake a rescue mission.  I hopped over (and by hopped I mean climbed over a fence that was taller than me) unlocked my bike and managed to get my bike and myself back over the fence without any further problems. I rock!

In other good news, I officially rode my bike ALL THE WAY to school today and did not run into/over any cars, other bikes, or pedestrians. Success!!

My last stop was a bike shop near the International Studies office on Drift.  I was nervous going in because I had stopped by about a month ago and the only person working there had been gruff and impatient (which, I should note, is very different from most of my interactions with the Dutch.) Today however, I was helped by a very nice guy who helped me try on several bikes until I found one that (almost) fit.  I say almost because in reality, the bike is about 6inches too big for me, my toes barely scrape the ground and I have to hop (literally, jump!) on and off.  Unfortunately, there are no other options for us short people.  While I could have bought a kids’ bike, that would have been too small…and I would have looked even more ridiculous! After trying his best to talk me out of buying it, he reservedly agreed to sell it to me.  (Although the look on his face clearly showed that he thought it was an awful idea!)

He carried it down the stairs for me and told me (looking very concerned) to be careful.  I was off…kind of.  Since I was in the center, I just walked it to the Coffee Company. The real test will come when I try to ride it home tonight…

 1) Vlaames Frites may be the best thing since sliced bread! McDonald’s, BK, and Wendy’s better watch out if this ever makes it to the states. The fries themselves are the size of steak fries and are deliciously crispy and horribly bad for you…but without the dehydrating saltiness of fast food fries. They come served in a giant paper cone with a tiny wooden fork for easy transport and you can choose between mayo (the local fave), ketchup, or curry (which I am not brave enough to try because it both looks and sounds disgusting). 

2) I still/once again do not have internet access at home and so am spending much of my time in the Coffee Company. Please be patient if it takes me a long time to post or respond to emails or facebook.

3) Apparently the Coffee Company has live music on Friday afternoons. I’ll keep you posted on the quality.

Tot ziens!

Didn’t someone tell me this was going to be all parties and no work?