A Taste of Chase

What? I have a blog?

2010-04-05T08:10:00.002+02:00

Holy hell, it has been way wayyyy too long!

My b my b, to all four of you who occasionally wander upon this blog. Regardless, I am here.

Despite my lack of writing anything on here lately, it doesn't mean I haven't been writing. I've been doing almost 2 stories a week for the [X]Press paper at school, working 2 days a week interning at the SF Bike Coalition, and working 5 days a week. In addition to all the coolness that is my social life, I've been pretty exhausted lately.

So that's been the last 2 months of my life in a nutshell. A couple of fun events like my 23rd birthday, plenty of visits from friends and my brother, meeting tons of new people and learning to bike to Dolores Park have made it incredible, and I honestly can say I've never been happier.

Now, Vanessa and Berg and I are planning our ultimate summer adventure! As of June 1, I'll be saying goodbye to my faithful 22nd avenue home, moving to Gilroy for a few weeks before we take off to ITALY! Still trying to make it work between Italy-Croatia-Czech Republic-Denmark (for the Roskilde festival) and then on to Hungary to meet up with Barb... and I can't freaking wait!

Till then, I'm going to work my ass off to be proud of myself by graduation, then on to freeeddooom!!

Games

2010-01-26T05:15:00.002+01:00

It may..or may not..be ranting time.

I just don't see the necessity in the opposite sex playing games with each other. Yes, its fun at first when you don't know what will happen and you wait for their call (or text, as it may be...), and how happy you are when they follow through.

But the advent of texting makes it that much easier to not follow through. You have no inclination of their tone of voice or if sarcasm is something they know anything about (and lets pray to god they do). You can't read a person over text the same way you can hear their voice when they talk to you as opposed to anyone else, the way they sigh or sound like "shit, this was a bad idea. I just want to get off the phone!"

Regardless of the means of communication, I'm fed up with these games in general. If you say you want to hang out, lets hang out. If you want to wine me and dine me, lets wine and dine! But lets face it- we met at a bar and all you want is a booty call, and that just ain't gunna happen.

So now that leaves me to ponder, what effing hobbies do I need to pick up to meet a decent guy?

Giving Thanks

2009-12-07T07:21:00.005+01:00

I somehow managed to get three shifts covered, and was like WHAT UP OREGON! I was excited to go and see family I haven't seen in over 2 years... but this also meant an 11 hour roadtrip. With my mom and brother. In the car. Eleven hours.

Most of the drive looked like this:

Oh, whats that you see? A bunch of NOTHING along I-5. Nothing.

Until Mount Shasta rolls up around Redding outta nowhere.

True to my brothers form, we stopped in Weed. Bought some postcards and chilled with Bart.

Super patriotic?

They finally let me drive, instead of acting like "Sarah, you're still 13 and can't drive." Right when it became fog central!

Anyway, we drove through more nowhere for another long time, until we finally rolled up to my aunt and uncle's house around 9 on Wednesday.

Thursday the whole crew wakes up early and we begin the prepping: 32 guests=TONS of food! 2 turkeys, 20 pounds of potatoes...and 10 pies. TEN! Heaven.

This is the table...and our attempt at fitting 32 people around it.

Friday we woke up at the crack of dawn (after 9 am) and headed to Salem (capital- know it suckas!) for some cheap-o black friday shopping. That was lame so we went home and watched Up! Freaking adorable, ya'll need to watch it.

Anyhooter, Saturday my brosef and I were determined to get out of the house and away from the pie, so we convinced erryone to head up to Portland with us.

First sign I saw in the parking garage:

Went to the famous bookstore, it takes up a whole block!! But while the fam was inside, Pete and I wandered the awesomeness that is the Pearl district

Of course, landed at a brewery. Deschutes is tasty. And Portland is known for it's microbrews. Swoon.
All in all it was uneventful, but muy nice to see the fam, as always :)

And I thought this was cheap gas. Eh?

Shout outs!

2009-12-07T07:00:00.008+01:00

First, to my homegirl Vanessa and her new friend.
STARING CONTEST!

And of course, my bestie Barbie

Emily and her....whistle. Oh and Briana!

Gringas from the 818...and AL?

Sometimes eating a whole bag of doritos will do this to you.

Oh what up Ben! Why are you at the furthest point away possible?
Durrrr.....thumbs up?

This might be about Katie's boobs.

D-Ray's penicl stash had to be in here somewhere

And finally...Tom Cruise.

Como se dice.. PIZZA?

2009-11-17T08:04:00.006+01:00

Thursday night I got to be reunited with my favorite female Dane, Ditte! Her and her beau Henrik were traveling California and finally decided to give me a little time in their schedule. We went to hear a friend's band play, then scooted off around the corner to actually talk. Shout out to Denmark!!

The big highlight came the next night. Friday night was pizza night. I personally think it should be a monthly occurrence, but I'm just a fat girl. What do I know??

S Berg and Katie joined me (new nickname Ting Ting...still confused about it though.) went to Safeway to buy only the freshest of ingredients. Meaning Kraft 'mozzarella' cheese in a 13 pound bag. The girls made some bomb dough from scratch while I watched tv and took photogs

(I might have eaten that entire bowl of cheese. Don't judge me.)

Then we were like ahhhhh omg like lets totally take a group photo!!

(fake laugh)

(Ugh I just want to eat that chez)

They were nasty little buggers that didn't want to get off the plate

And oddly shaped

But Kate made a shweet "artisan" margherita!

At long last, we got to grub on this deliciousness.. for days. Yum!

Back in action!

2009-11-17T07:42:00.006+01:00

WHAT UP Triumphant return!

Maybe not. But I still feel it's necessary to fill ya'll in on my wee little life. 2 weeks ago Katie came up to me with a proposition- going to a Christian musical event. Aka Tyrone Wells. Bald white guy with a beautiful soulful voice! So I was like HOT DAMN, I'll be there!

We met up in the coldest most hoodrat part of SF (Union Sqaure) and booked it over to Slim's to see this radiant beauty:

Then after a couple of drinks Katie and I looked fab...except she was Matsu-ing it...

After we went to this sweet place called Butter to groove the night away. They serve 40's of MGD in brown paper bags to girls in cute outfits such as myself...nothing to hate about that!

Anyhooter, following that semi-uneventful weekend it was WEDNESDAY! Do you know what that means?

HORA DE FELICE!

Quite possibly my favorite time of day. Sarah Berg and Van and I decided every Wednesday it would be somewhere new, and we intend to keep it that way.

This week we wanted to hit up Tortilla Heights on Divis, but they don't even have a happy hour! So we headed up the street to find Frankie's Bohemian Cafe. Pretty good, giant $4 beer. And the icing on the cake? The Gilroy Burger, of course! Check it:

The girls were like "noooo we're on 'diets'!" or some shit so we got nachos and fried zucchini?!? Samesies...

Pretty bird

At one point during the meal I looked up and saw this little treasure

All in all it's been a good week, with good weather. Only complaint is the stupid plastic that keeps falling off my keyboard! Wtf Apple, wtf.

Never fear, I'll leave you with a little gem..that I think is completely frightening and I pass by frequently

Dont go there!

November

2009-11-10T07:36:00.011+01:00

Is time for finding a beau to cuddle with!

And if he looks like this
all will be okay in the world. Except, minus the cigarette because thats icky poo.

Anyhooter, November is also good for taking fun photos:

Also good for the sun to FINALLY start shining in SF. It was a cold summer...

Not to say that October wasn't the shiz, because it was.
First it was dinner with (some of) my lovely roomies:

Then off to Oktoberfest, a shitshow of ultimate proportions that may or may not have ended up with a pair of ripped pants:

We had LOVEVOLUTION the first weekend, resulting in tons of tulle and 10 minute tutu's:

And watching tons of people on E "dance" to the same crappy electronic music all day.

Some time around the middle of the month it was Fleet Week and there were a bunch of these walking around. But more importantly, PATTY came to visit!

I love him. And Van looking like a 12 year old pre-pubescent boy.

Time flies, and all of a sudden twas Halloween! Sarah and I were peacocks

I learned some "cool" dance "moves"

We went to Ms. Doubtfire's (I mean Jeff?) house... heeeeelllooooooooo!

Then...it was the end. And it was good.

And the end it is. So I will leave you with this, just because my cam is outta control awesome

FAILed education system

2009-10-07T01:43:00.003+02:00

Ok, maybe its just a huge pet peeve of mine, but when grown-ass adults can't differentiate between there, their, and they're, we have a BIG problem.

Livin' in the great big city

2009-09-16T07:12:00.004+02:00

You would THINK you could have a decent night's rest on a Monday. But on 22nd avenue, that just ain't true. (Other side affects may include rhyming.)

So Monday was nothing but ordinary- work. homework. nap. class. TV and nonsense for a couple hours until I climbed into heaven, aka my bed. I read about 4.5 paragraphs and fell asleep, only to be woken up 20 or so minutes later by something horrible. Terrible. Ear piercing. It was like a banshee in Mandarin.

I'm a stalker and live in the front of the house, which gives me the authority to stare out the window and leer at people. This lady deserved it. She was making all this racket yelling, and then was moving all this stuff around in front of a house across the street. I thought she was homeless and being obnoxious, and eventually her antics ended, until...

Around 3am, when the homie who lived next door came home blasting music in his really sweet car that looks something like this,

Which is not cool at all. Anyway, he parks and proceeds to exclaim, at the top of this lungs, F**K! F**K! F**K! F**K! I was terrified. So again, I poked my nosey ass head out the window, saw him patting the front of his car, kick the truck parked outside, and go into this house. I figured all was right in the world, and drifted off back to sleep. (Mind you, the cops had to come a few weeks ago because this kid was shooting a GUN in our backyards, and then got busted for having a ton of pot. No need to be worried Sarah, no need.)

So in the midst of having the weirdest dreams, one being Nikki opening her mouth to show me her hideously grotesque wisdom tooth coming in, I was abruptly woken up again at 4! If you know me, you know I HATE being woken up for a nonsense reason. I love sleeping, more than most things. I've been known to hold the title of a professional napper. But when I am woken up because of LOUD NOISES, drunk people or other things of the sort, my veins pump with anger. And rage. (Usually only for 13 seconds, but still. Hatred.)

What was I woken up to? CHINESE BANSHEE!!! Doing her same nonsense. A girl next door yelled to her to be quiet, but the lady asked her to call the police. It was obvious something wasn't right, and after 5 minutes on the phone with non -emergency, not 1,2,3, or 4 cop cars came, but FIVE! On a Monday. Guess their weren't enough stabbings in the T-loin.

Me, Katie downstairs, and the girl next door kept our heads poked out the windows to see what was going down, and apparently it was her brothers house, and she was trying to move out. At 2 am. And instead of him opening his own door for her (there is NO way he didn't hear her antics) we had to call the cops and suffer our beauty sleep-not like I need it, I know.

We watched her get cuffed and the cops said they were taking her to a hospital, because she has a history of mental illness. Really wasn't apparent at the time, eh? Either way, sleep at 5am sucks...when you're sober.

missing

2009-09-09T11:17:00.001+02:00

Not like any body reads this anymore, but get ready for an emo post.

Sunday I worked a couple of crazy hours and then went down to SJ to see my homegirl Kayleigh. It's only been a little over a year, but it feels like much to long. I mean, I've known this girl since 4th grade!! I need her in my life.

So we had a grand old time at her grandparents catered party with an open bar. I emphasize the openness of the bar here. Margaritas were flowing, and for some reason it seemed like a good idea. Long story short Barbie came to pick me up and we went to visit a few friends, but I was definitely not "able to drive."

So Monday I felt like boo boo. I had to drive back to SF, and all of a sudden I got hid with this huge wave of sadness. Not of the 'I want to kill myself' variety, but just sadness. Mostly because I thought of my dad.

I know I have plenty of people that love me, but sometimes I just remember that there is always going to be a little empty place left for him in my heart.

I hate that I can't remember his voice. I hate hearing motorcycles and hoping its him coming home. I hate that he isn't here.

And I love that two of my best friends offered their dads to walk me down the aisle (like that will ever happen) but I hate that I would need someone else to do that.

Debbie Downer, I know. But I feel like I've suppressed it for so long, and need to deal with shit sometime. I just wish he was here. I know my life would be completely different and I may have never met the amazing people I have or done the things I have, but to just have one hug from him... I wouldn't hate that.

Back home

2009-08-18T21:41:00.002+02:00

Fudge.

Can't believe its been just over 2 months since I graced this continent with my presence.

It's so amazing to be back home, surrounded by familiarity and such great friends, but there is this constant nagging in the back of my mind, telling me its just not the same.

Don't mean to sound all mopey, but its been the most difficult transition in my life. Going to Europe was easy- the excitement, self-reliance, new journeys at every turn. Coming home is different. It's everything it was before I left, but so much different at the same time.

I live with 8 of my best friends, but somehow I still feel outside of the group.

I live in a city with so much to offer, but thoughts of hoping on a train to Odense or catching a flight to Dublin consume my brain.

Seeing signs in Japanese isn't the same as attempting to read signs in Danish.

I picked up a Danish couple from the airport last week. Louise is my "buddy" through SFSU, and she brought her bf Eddie with her to study for the semester. I was so happy to be able to help them, but so incredibly jealous that they were about to embark on the greatest time of their lives, and I am stuck in the same place for now.

My biggest fear is that despite photos and journal entries, it will all start slipping away. I don't want to forget how it felt to be across the world, on my own. So alive. I wonder what's next for me, what will make me feel the same...

America?

2009-06-04T15:34:00.003+02:00

Is it just me, or is it a tid bit frightening that bin Laden issued another tape threatening the US, saying Obama's efforts to reach out to the Muslim and Arab worlds are only cause for more hatred of our country?

If you know me, you know I have never been the most "pro-American" citizen (hence why I moved so far away?) until this year. I truly believe Obama WILL do something different for our nation, and based on the views of all the Europeans I've met, they seem to feel the same way.

I admit we have our bad history, and the 8 year Bush legacy did nothing to help our image. But, there will be a change. There has to be.

But as long as there are protests in Iran with citizens yelling "death to America," our security is not safe, even when we refuse to fight a war on our own soil.

I remain confident that peace CAN be achieved, if given the chance. Obama's speech in Cairo today was a step in the right direction, although many (including me) were a little disheartened that he didn't speak too much about human rights. Though his mentioning of women's rights, especially of those in the Arab world, further shows his good intentions, and gets him a thumbs up from me.

Irish Music

2009-06-01T23:22:00.003+02:00

Yes, it's in P.S. I Love You. Yes, I'm obsessed. Yes, the version by Steve Earle is better:

Irish Adventures...

2009-06-01T22:34:00.015+02:00

So after all my gabbing, now come the photos! Your welcome, in advance.

Trinity College, and typical Irish weather.

Cork!

2009-05-28T22:30:00.003+02:00

No no no, for once I'm not talking about a wine bottle!

Just hanging out in the South of Ireland, enjoying it to it's fullest extent...

We arrived around 1030 last night on the bus from Dublin, were supposed to stay with a guy from CS that didn't answer my texts, so we headed to a hostel with alll our stuff (like a 20lb bag each, plus backpacks with laptops. Uphill. Nighttime. FUN!) thinking they would have rooms available, but homeboy wanted to charge us 22 euro each!

"F that!" we said, and trotted off down the road to Sheila's (possibly Aussie? It's on Melbourne road..Kiwi? Whateva.) and booked 2 sweet beds in a dorm for 10 euro. Score!

Met a cool Aussie, walked around the city center laughing at drunk people and getting free hugs, then to bed for a bit of rest before my really super convenient phone interview at 9am! There was lots of coffee involved.

We wandered around the city today (verrrryyyy tiny, but I really love it!) and by city, I sorta mean Primark. Well, Penney's. Seriously, they need to bring this goodness overseas!

Had some spicy Indian chicken madras, and now off to hang at our couchsurfer's house- he's a pretty cool guy and is in a band! Woo!

Photo of said Madras:

Luck of the Irish

2009-05-20T12:12:00.002+02:00

Means that it looks nice outside, but by the time you put your shoes and jacket on and walk out that door, its completely pouring. Grr Ireland, grr!

The last couple of days have been really good, just exploring Dublin and spending WAY too much time researching and begging people to give me interviews. One of my most important sources is only giving me 20 minutes! I better be prepared..

I went on a tour of the city yesterday and met some cool people, then encouraged them to stay at my hostel so I would have someone to hang out with! Smooth.. one of the guys just graduated from school in Arkansas, and is getting ready for med school in Texas, and after he wants to go abroad to offer medical help to underdeveloped nations. Heart of gold, I tell you!

The guide was really cool too, though I felt bad for him putting so much effort into a free tour where he is completely dependent on tips, and the crowd was just boring. I talked to him for awhile though, but I noticed that since most of the audience was American, I think there was a reason no one understood his jokes.

If I had come on the tour straight from the US, prior to learning as much as I have this year, I think I would have been clueless to about 50% of what he was saying. (Thank you, US public school system..) so even though the tour is free, they may want to rethink just how MUCH information they are regurgitating, as it may not be the best crowd pleaser.

Anyway, things are good and I have interviews the rest of the week!

The smallest of worlds..

2009-05-18T19:19:00.003+02:00

So, despite the other shit I went through and awkward feelings aside, something really fantastic did happen to me!

On Saturday we spend the day on a tour that gave us an hour at the Cliffs of Moher (pics to come!) walking about, possibly considering suicide, the usual. And despite the weather, there were still hundreds of people there.

Ok hold up, lemme back track. I met a guy in Prague named Gus, the awesome Aussie who is spending a year traveling the world. For some reason, we really clicked, got along great, and he just has a heart of gold; one of the sweetest guys I've EVER met!

He was supposed to contact me when he was in Denmark, but never did. I tried getting ahold of him on facebook, but no luck. Then I saw that he was in Ireland, and still no response. I thought, whatever, he's a busy guy and will contact me someday.

So back to Saturday, I had ditched creeper man to walk around on my own, and was wishing I was back in Prague with the cool kids I met there, Gus being one of them. Eventually we had to get back to the bus, and I was walking by a group of people, I looked up, and there he was! The Aussie, in the flesh!

After the way I was feeling, it was the perfect thing for me! We just looked at each other in shock, and hugged for about 5 minutes. I was soo happy to see him! We caught up a bit, then I really had to get back, but the day had improved, and my faith in humanity was restored.

He could be anywhere in the world, let alone the same country as me, the same island, the same tourist attraction, and the same side of mountain... I don't know why or how things like this work out, but I think I will be smiling about it for the next week.

On another note, I'm pretty sure my hostel is haunted. Still better than Creepervile, Brazil

Couchsurfing FAIL!

2009-05-18T18:45:00.002+02:00

So, if you didn't know, I'm kinda obsessed with the couchsurfing phenomenon.

The basics are people let other people sleep on their couches, as a free place to stay but also an amazing way to get to know others, who are, many times, other internationals.

While planning for Ireland (where I currently am, yee-haw!) I contacted a bunch of people, and got some things set up, and was really stoked to not be spending tons of money!

So I was supposed to meet up with my first host on Thursday morning, and he happened to be an HOUR late. Good start, buddy. He is (was? he's not dead, but I will never speak to him again!) Brazilian, so maybe it's in his nature. Anyway, he also failed to tell me he doesn't live IN the city, so we had to take the slowest metro EVER to get there. Oh, and one more thing.

His roomies don't know that he hosts couchsurfers!

Really? More information that would have been important to me YESTERDAY! (Wedding Singer? Anyone? Bueller?) Anyway, so he told me to lie to his roomies (3 girls) and say I was a friend of a friend, which already made me feel uncomfortable. The first night he went to work and I wandered about the city, then we met up at a pub to watch karaoke/football. It was going ok until later when we met up with one roomie and her boyfriend...or sort of.

We went to some young kids club where every girl wore dresses that barely covered anything of importance on their bodies, and i think the average age was 15. Maybe 13. I felt like an old maid. Nevertheless, a ton of drama ensued around the fact that the guy is married with 2 kids and refuses to leave his wife but is in love with the girl, and her crying to me and telling me she is in love with him but it makes her suicidal and oh yea, her eggo might be prego. DRAMA CENTRAL!

The next day we went off to Galway, and it was the longest, most silent 3 hours of my life. This guy just made me feel AWKWARD. I had woken up that morning to a text from him (he had gone to work early) saying "Hello sleeping beauty! You look very pretty when you sleep." CREEPER. My all time biggest fear is people watching me sleep. Eeesh. No thank you. I wasn't afraid of him, but just had NO desire to be near him. Why I went to Galway, I don't know. Momentary lapse of judgement on my part.

Anyway, we got there and met up with the other CS guy we were staying with, who was super cool! I was so so thankful for him, and was able to talk with him instead of the Brazilian. Later that night we went out and met up with some of his post-grad colleagues, where I immediately felt like the stupidest person in the universe. They were all working on their PhDs in ENGINEERING! Brainiacs.

After that we headed to an Erasmus party, where I felt much more at home with people my age and at the same point in their lives. After awhile, Brazilian decided to tell me "how happy I make him" and that he "really likes me." YUCK! For me being such a b**ch to him, I don't see how it was possible, but whatevs, guess I have that effect on people. So, true to Sarah, I kinda of yelled at him and told him to leave me alone, and it kinda worked.

So the NEXT day, we took an all day tour of the area around Galway, the Burren/Cliffs of Moher, etc. We left at 9 am. Spent all day on the bus where he continued to sit next to me although there were tons of free seats. No talking. Me walking away from him. Obviously not interested. Ew.

Then we had dinner with the guy we were staying with (who was really cool, no creepy, very mature, and had a cute German roomie ;) ) and then met up with some other CSer's (so I didn't have to be alone with him) and then I said F this, I'm going to sleep. So I did.

Sunday he headed back to Dublin early to make it to a birthday party that I was supposed to go to, but I knew I couldn't handle it so I stuck around Galway for the day, walking around the city in the pouring rain, and went back to Dublin in the evening. Being soaked to the bone was worth it for 6 hours of freedom.

When I got back Sunday night, I just headed straight to his house, grabbed my pack, and got the hell out of there! Back to my hostel I went :)

All in all, it was a REALLY unfortunate experience.

I know if you read this Mom you will be freaking out, but be assured that I am SAFE! I was never threatened by this guy, just creeped out. The other times I've done couchsurfing have been such great, great experiences that I was pissed it turned out like that. Nevertheless, I will definitely give it another go but make sure to A. choose females, B. not go alone, and/or C. get the hell out when I don't feel comfortable. No matter what the cost!

F the postal service!

2009-05-18T18:43:00.000+02:00

When winter break came around and I was going to the UK with the girls, I had too much stuff to carry on said crappy cheap airlines, so I sent a duffle bag to Mads in Denmark, sure it was to arrive before I got there.

Little did I know, the post office has it in for me.

Apparently, they dropped the bag off when he wasn’t home, but left a note so he went online, followed the instructions (Danish, of course!) and asked them to leave the bag at his doorstep on the next delivery time, whether or not he was home. Well, instead of doing this, stupid DPD sent the bag BACK to the Netherlands!

I had Mads on one phone trying to get a tracking number from the Danish side, and Emiel on the other trying to get a Dutch tracking number.

Nevertheless, nothing worked out in my favor. I called twice a month for the last 4 months, and eventually some lady SNAIL MAILed me a form to fill out about my bag, and a fax number to send it to. Weeks later, I keep calling and they say if an “investigation is being launched” they have no way to look up the info. BS!

So, almost 5 months after the initial sending of said bad luck package, Emiel gives it one last shot for me. And what does he find out? There is no fax number to send these forms to, so some lady lied to me. TNT Post has no idea what they are doing with their lives, and failed to tell me that there is a DPD Post in the NL as well, and that I could have called them. And between their Dutch speaking frenzy, Emiel got a form mailed to his parents who filled it out, and within 5 days they had my package, and now it is safe back at Mad’s house, its original resting place. Now that I’m in Ireland.

REALLY SARAH!?!?! Cool life you live.

Dublin Debacle

2009-05-13T19:53:00.001+02:00

So Europe is known for their low-fare airlines that travel to and from every city imaginable (albeit far from the city center, usually over an hour.) Well I’ve had my fair share of troubles with them
-Missing my flight in Spain and paying a small fortune to just to get back to Utrecht, or waiting 2 days.
-Sleeping at London Stansted (hour outside) to catch a flight to Århus in the wee hours of the morning. Arrival in Århus: yet another hour bus ride to the center
-Flying from Prague to London Luton (Yes, another hour outside the city, with a bus I paid for through the airline that was late, I was crammed in the middle seat of the front row with the driver touching me every time he shifted gears, and who didn’t speak English.)
-Flying from London to Copenhagen, where they would give extraordinary long directions in Danish, and then breeze over the English version of the safety instructions, as though we didn’t need to be prepared for an emergency!)

When I say ‘low-far,’ I really mean LOW fare! The first time I looked for flights from Billund (1.5 hours outside Århus) to Dublin, they were only 39 DKK! Meaning, around 6 dolla dolla bills.

In THEORY these airlines are a good idea. In practice, they rid you of any semblance of confidence you had in your self, your life savings, and trust in mankind in general.

They trick you into thinking you are getting such a good deal, when what you really get is a series of hidden charges and bureaucratic messes. First, baggage. Max you can have for a carry on is 10 kg, (close to 20lbs, I think) including EVERYTHING-purse, jacket, laptop, camera-whatever. I overheard a man saying he had to pay an extra 3 euro just for his jacket, though they said if he was WEARING it, he wouldn’t have to pay. If you want to check a bag (not recommended) you pay another fee, another $25 or so, for only 15 kg (33lbs)!! After that, you can only buy extra baggage weight for 2 kg for 6 euro.

Then, online check-in. Considerably less expensive than checking in at the counter, yet last time I checked in at the counter and all was well. This time, I tried to do self check-in, was marked “inadmissible” (goodbye, confidence..) and had to wait in a separate line to pay ANOTHER 20 euro to check in at the airport. What? Apparently it’s RyanAir law.

Add sporting equipment, baby stroller, first to board the plane, and insurance, and you’re basically broke. Using a VISA card is another $5.

For me, what went from being less than $50 quickly added up to around $130, including bus to the airport. FML.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:49:00.003+02:00

After thinking it was sometime in March because that's what they do in London, and then realizing it wasn't last Sunday like the rest of Europe, it finally dawned on me that today is the day!

This is a shout out (big ups) to my Mama, for I love her dearly. There just aren't enough words in the English language (Or Danish, Dutch, Spanish...) so, I'm just here to say I LOVE YOU!! because really, I do. Thank you for being you, and being everything you are to me.
PS...If I left alcohol out of my post like you asked, I don't think I would have anything to say :)

Crazy Arhusians!

2009-05-08T18:15:00.005+02:00

So while today (Friday) is the national holiday 'Great Prayer Day' (Store Bededag), yesterday was a scene of utter chaos! A weird mix of the San Francisco Love Parade, Bay 2 Breakers, the Easter Big Wheel race and a typical sunny day in Dolores Park came Kapsejladsen at Århus university.

Check out a video from 2007:

Complete craziness. It was pretty ugly outside when we first showed up, but there were still thousands of people there.

Basically, all of the faculties (departments) have their own team, and all have pretty extravagant introductions, with the economics faculty even bringing 2 strippers! Then the race begins, where they paddle one boat across the river, drink a beer, run around it 5 times, then have to paddle back and the relay continues. The medical school has one for the last 8 years, and while economics was a close second, they took the lead again this year.

People gather around the lake in the middle of the university and dorms, and drink and watch the festivities. After a bit of rain, the sun made its grand appearance, and all was right in the world once again. So we sat, watched, cheered, gossiped, and had a great time until around 5, when the races are over and people split off and find their own parties to go to.

The crazies thing is, it's all on CAMPUS! Excessive drinking, booths selling food and alcohol, naked girls, electronic music, and people peeing in the lake. No supervision by security or a higher authority- just good, wholesome uni students enjoying themselves. That would never fly in the good ol' US of A!

We headed to the Theological faculty, where everyone was partying in the common room, and my friend was playing Backstreet Boys on the piano. We met these 2 girls who were stoked about some boy band playing at a mall around the corner, so we thought, "what the heck, it's free- let's go!" and made our way over.

Weirdest experience ever.

It was this Danish Muslim boy band (apparently its hip hop?) called Outlandish and I attempted to understand what was going on, but it never really worked out. There were tons of people there, but everyone was really quiet- it was so weird! Some random cheers, but everyone sat there like they had no idea what was happening. I mean, neither did I, but I made the best of it and danced along!

So Outlandish.

Emiel and I with the random girl who brought us...

This guy was the weirdest. Old man holding a sack of potatoes in a precarious position.

Well, we got the hell out of there, found our bikes and rode to the city center to meet Martin and Anders, then went to place called "Under Construction" because it was opening night and they were giving out free shots, but it was close to being the worst place ever, playing Jason Mraz and then hip hop, and there were only 4 other people in there. With a doorman. And 3 bartenders. ??

Then we went to Kurt's Mor, my all-time favorite Århus haunt, with the most character of any bar I've been to. Listened to crazy Danish music, saw some creepy guy from the Bazaar, made a friend that looked like Peter Griffin, and oh yea- watched 2 bar fights. Good times! When you start drinking at 3pm, sometimes you just don't know when to call it a night.

Oslo: Awesome capital of Scandinavia (part 1)

2009-05-06T15:31:00.015+02:00

Of course, like every other time I travel to a new place, I am going to rave about how stark raving AWESOME Oslo is!

At first I was a bit skeptical about the whole trip, being that Norway is without a doubt the most expensive place, ever, in the world.

Anyhooter, we ended up gathering 9 of us to hit the road up north last Thursday, so we split gas in the cars 5 ways, and the ferry tickets were only a fraction of the cost. Yeehaw!

Steffi, Guri, Hanna, Nina, Emiel, Adelija, Simona, Alberto, and I

Hirtshalls Harbor, Northern Denmark

In addition, all the shopping on the ferry is tax free, and while I formerly thought this was a waste of space, time, and money, my thoughts changed when it became clear that we could buy a bottle of vodka for 20 euro, while in Norway it is closer to 35. Good call, Color Line.

Gloriousness of tax free shopping...

It took 2 hours to drive to Hirtshalls harbor from Århus, then we waited in an awesomely not awesome line for 2 hours to get on the ferry, and then is was 4 hours of FUN! Thank god for motion sickness pills, or I would have been barfing up a storm on that thing.

This is the windblown look...rawr.

So what I thought of a ferry was a crummy large boat with plastic seats and screaming children, but this baby was like a mini cruise ship! 4 hours of decadence, tax free goods, beautiful views, and only one screaming child, who happened to wake me up. GRRR.

Arrived in Larvik, Norway, and headed to Baerum (Guri's hometown) to drop her off and rearrange our stuff before driving the rest of the way to Oslo to continue our adventures.

Of course, none of our stupid Danish sim cards worked there. So, we had to use the Danish, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Dutch ones, costing a fortune and making things uber difficult. The main problem: WHERE TO STAY?!

As of Wednesday afternoon, we had nowhere to stay. Cheap(-ish) hostels were booked, no apartments to split, and Couchsurfing just didn't come through. Until Wednesday at 10pm, when all of a sudden CS paid off, and we had too many places to stay! Wherein lied another problem.. how to split 8 of us between different places???

Alberto stayed with some family friends in the ritzy neighborhood by the Palace, Emiel and Adelija stayed with a complete stoner man, and Steffi, Hanna, Simona, Nina and I were hoping to meet up with someone.

Eventually we got to Frode's house, ate some quick grub, then he took us to an art gallery (weird, weird stuff: eyeballs hanging from the ceiling as birds, sketches of a woman having an abortion, and rice on the floor in the shape of a vagine, complete with blood. I had no idea what to think, but to each his own...)

First night at Frode's, cool artist flat in Grunerlokka.

We got the hell out of there, but then all of a sudden Norway decided to be REALLY COOL and not allow people (us) into bars if we weren't 23. Whaaaaaattt??? I already waited 21 long years buddy, but whatever. After 3 misses, Nina and I called it a night and went back to sleep, while the others went to party at Villa. Norway got ever COOLER when they all came home at 4am, turned on music and continued to talk as loud as possible, and then Simona brought up gay adoption rights, and I gave up the idea of a good night's sleep.

Friday was the day for exploration! Guri sort of mentioned a bit about May Day, but said only there would be people protesting for the legalization of pot. Little did we know, as we walked to the city, we encountered the biggest parade/protest of the year! From every street and every direction, more and more people came, with signs about anything and everything, megaphone and marching bands. And claustrophobia for me.

  Really fun when you can't read what the signs say...
  Coolest marching bands! Playing ABBA!
  Clueless.

So the parade hampered our travel time a bit, but it was the best weather I have seen in ages, and was stoked on life. Not just sunny, but warm warm warm, close to 75, and I got a sunburn! Crazy times.

So we met up with everyone at the Central Station (junkie haven, btw.) and did all the major sightseeing, with Martin, who was Emiel and Adelija's host, and probably high all day.

First we went to the Akershus Fortress overlooking the harbor and apparently a popular sunbathing hangout.
Group photo! Minus Martin, weirdo...
Fortress/solarium
Harbor area, full of pirate ships! Yippeee

After that, we headed by the city hall up to the Royal Palace, to eat lunch and bask in the sun.

Giant palace, complete with tourists and Norwegian flag (EVERYWHERE!)

View from top of Palace, looking towards the city.

Nina and I, suckers for a guy in uniform...

Simona and Sarah enjoying the sunshine

Rested for a bit, then headed more north up to the sculpture park, Vigelund, and were thoroughly impressed. So much bigger than I thought, and overflowing with people, dogs, babies, and BBQs, basically all of my favorite things!

There are over 200 statues, portraying various human activities, though some seem overtly sexual, but I'm okay with that.

Thinking we're cool...not so sure.
Wrought iron gate guarding the Monolith.
River flowing through the park
Main fountain
Boys will be boys...

Setting sun, leaving the park.

Some of my favorites

The park was great, but soon it was time for dinner, where we parted ways, only to meet up later that night at the Palace, where the fun began!

We then went to the place Guri was staying with her boyfriend and his best friend, and hung out until we went out to Mono, and met up with Ola, our new couchsurfing friend we didn't get to stay with the first 2 nights.

Nina headed back to Frode's later that night (around 230) thinking we would have an okay night of sleep...until they came home 5 minutes later with friends, and stayed up drinking in the living room area until 630, which was just not so great! Glories of couch surfing continue...

Saturday. The weather was TERRIBLE, but we took a ferry to Hovedøya island, where an old monastery was build and is semi-preserved. It was really pretty, but when it started raining, us girls called it quits and the boys attempted to explore around the other parts of the island.

Old Monk fortifications

Had brief dinner at Frode's house after we ran into him at the supermarket, but decided it was time to move to Ola's house for the night, for *hopefully* better sleep, and possibly some better conversation, as we didn't feel so welcome at Frode's place.

To be continued..................

More weird conversations

2009-04-29T22:13:00.003+02:00

Just because I don't want to do work right now...

Me:

(865): mom just said that her bf is good in bed. fml.

(1-865): i am watching a movie about a vagina with teeth and then you sent that to me while im eating sushi.

(excerpt from www.textsfromlastnight.com)

Adam:

i'm lost

Me:

just laugh

and think its funny

Adam:

how am i suppossed to laugh at the though of a vagina with teeth?!

Me:

nature at its finest, I'de say

Adam:

no!!! u know what that could do

Me:

ruin your life?

Adam:

yes

Me:

survival of the fittest

Adam:

i hope i never encounter one of these toothed vaginas

or i'm screwed

On another note, today was WARM! Like, 'not needing a jacket for the first time in 6 months' type of warm! Especially on my bike. Which leads me to tell you that I think I sweated off the body weight of a large midget riding around today. My life is glorious.

But really, it is, and I am off to OSLO tomorrow! Quite excited indeed...

New obsession alert!

2009-04-29T02:05:00.001+02:00

Ok, facebook, twitter, fmylife and LOST are a thing of the past. Not really, because I'm still equally obsessed, but when you read something like this:

(212): dude wtf did we explode in my microwave last night?
(1-212): idk but i think it had a face

it makes me realize I may have hit an all time low, but I don't care.

www.textsfromlastnight.com

Get on it!

Random musings

2009-04-28T18:02:00.013+02:00

I can't believe this school year is almost ending. When I first got to Utrecht, I thought I had all the time in the world, but then all of a sudden, it was December and time for me to hit the road.

Then we got to Denmark, and I thought, "Eh, got 6 months here. Plenty of time!" but no no, it's really all ending.

This weekend 9 of us are heading to Oslo to visit Guri's hometown, and despite some logistical issues (like umm, a place to stay!?!) we're heading out Thursday morning, back sometime late Monday night. I'm pretty stoked- Norway is gorgeous! I wish I got to see it covered in snow, but hopefully the sun will grace us with it's presence sometime this weekend, and we will be even more thrilled :)

On another note, the week after that (May 13, I'm thinking) I'm heading off to Ireland for some articles I'm working on. I'm planning on writing about the drinking culture (no jokes-PLEASE!) and what has come with that, from the high risk of and death from liver disease and cancer, to the increasing rate of underage drinkers and the new ban on alcohol advertising at public events, to how the recession is affecting alcohol sales, with 1,500 pubs closing in the last 7 years, the proposed VAT increase, leading people cross the border to North Ireland to buy alcohol, and the amount of job losses due to the tax increase, recession, and border crossing.

Should be exciting, and I already have a lot of information, so hopefully it works out. Plus, I get to go to Dublin (and hopefully some other places...) and see what it has to offer.

But, when I get back we have a week of preparing our final, then a week to "reflect" and prepare for our oral exam, and then...I'm basically gone. Looking at a calendar is frightening.

I'm so, sooo glad I decided to come here. And so thankful for my supportive (emotionally and financially, ha) Mama. Sometime, we'll come back and do Europe right!!

Also, Ashley came to visit me 2 weeks ago (wow! that long already?!) and we had such a good time! Friday she came to school and got to experience a bit of Friday bar, although we both had to come home to nap because she spend the night at the airport, and I left school at 6am after working on a proyecto...
So far, at every school function or "meeting," we've had free refreshments. And by that, I usually mean BEER! For 15 of us, they bring an entire case. Good times Denmark, good times.
We went out later Friday night and to the coolest house EVER! Exposed brick walls, little kitchen with everything you needed, tiny bathroom (that I got locked in! ugh. claustrophobia...) and amazing artwork by his roomie, all in something that just looked like a big warehouse from the outside. Denmark is so Brooklyn.

Saturday we had a big bbq at the park with these DISPOSABLE BBQs! Such a mystery to me, but they work, so why the hell not.

We stayed there for awhile, until we basically started freezing although it was a gorgeous day, then watched a movie and called it a night.

Sunday we headed for Odense, a quaint little university town about 1.5 hours towards Copenhagen.
Because it was Sunday, it was pretty dead, but it made it more beautiful in a way. The self guided walking tour that was supposed to last an entire day took us maybe 2 hours, but then we had sandwiches, and took a nap in the park. Sooo worth it!

Odense is also the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, of children's fables fame. We got to meet him-BFF!

"Pull my finger!"

Ummm...story of our lives. I love this girl! And chocolate milk...mmmm...

Good times were had by all, and I think a bit of a sunburn to show for it.

Weird conversations..

2009-04-23T23:01:00.005+02:00

Maybe because its springtime and using your brain is optional, but nevertheless I have been subject to and the participant in many an odd convo over the last couple of days. Here are some great examples!

With Ashley via Skype, after making fun of her use of the word 'furnitcher' versus...ya know, furniture:

Ashley Matsumoto
btw.. im having serious spelling issues
doesnt furnisher just look wrong to you?????
the sher part
Sarah Chase
maybe because you fall asleep in the middle of spelling them
Ashley Matsumoto
im so jealous your going to norway!!!!!
Sarah Chase
furniture!!
dude, GOOGLE IT
Ashley Matsumoto
omg
Sarah Chase
furnitcher
Ashley Matsumoto
i hate my life
Sarah Chase
hahahahahahahahahaha
FML for sure!
Ashley Matsumoto
i did google it!
it says "did you mean: furnisher?"
Sarah Chase
furniture
Ashley Matsumoto
ah fack
Sarah Chase
"to equip with what is needed"
like to FURNISH your apartment
all i can say is WOW
you have been spending too much time alone ahaha
Ashley Matsumoto
shit
im speechless
w/myself

Then, I decided to tell Nikki about the whole debacle, and her response is:
"can you say special
my pants are giving me a muffin top and its quite uncomfortable"

Like that is appropriate! Also, later she said:
"i just goled
that stands for giggled out loud
its my new word"

Then Barb and I were talking about the insane heat wave in California, and I was curious.

Me:

sounds weird, but has anyone died?

old people always die of heat stroke in the summer

Barb:

haha not quite yet but ill keep my eyes peeled

and hears open

to hear of death for you

Now THAT is a true friend indeed...

Random convo with Ben a couple of weeks ago:

Ben:

hahah i dont have cable

or tv in general

Me:

thats what the internet is for

what the hell else do you think i do with my life

Ben:

i dunno cook food

kill babies

Me:

right

Ben:

i dunno throw jacks

u prolly do that a lot

Me:

i dont even know what that means

hoodrat

I like my friends. They keep me happy :)

Oldie but a goodie

2009-04-14T22:30:00.001+02:00

Because there is virtually nothing exciting going on in my life right now (besides my addiction to Lost, and Smash coming to visit this weekend!) I thought it would be of utmost importance to share one of my favorite videos. Through good times and bad, this always gets me through.

Enjoy!

This is WARM??

2009-04-08T11:38:00.003+02:00

Although the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and we are planning BBQs and other outdoor soires, yet Google weather suggests "highs" of 13 celsius, with a low of 7. People, that is chilly. I mean, not even room temperature chilly. I'll give it about 45-55 NORMAL (fahrenheit..wait what? America, get your shiz together and get on the metric system!) degrees. At its warmest point.

Maybe this isn't much different from other places, but to me it just seems damn chilly. How can you even enjoy yourself when you're busy freezing??

Bestie comes to visit

2009-04-06T17:38:00.013+02:00

So first off: NICE TALKING TO YA'LL LAST NIGHT, FAMILIA! I make one phone call, and heard 5 different voices... much appreciated on this end :)

Now a little update about Barb's visit of MAYHEM!
I flew out of Prague in the morning to meet her in London, though we didn't exactly know how it would all work out. She was supposed to have a through flight to Copenhagen, but she only packed carry-on and we though she could basically just get off the plane on her layover, then come to meet me. Not the case, apparently.

They were mean and couldn't help her in SF, and told her to try her luck in London, and she sorta did- the guy only charged her $200 to change the flight instead of $500+ or re-booking an entire ticket. Anywho, she got off, and wandered over to the hostel right after I got there, so I came downstairs, and she was sitting there with the saddest look on her face...but we were on LONDON!

No time for sadness, it was on to fish n' chips and beer at an Irish pub. Not great, but cheap-ish and well deserved in our opinions.

We headed back to the hostel for a quick bit where we met our cool roomies, Ben Child (name-for serious.) and Arturo, 2 guys from MN who were in London looking for jobs after graduation. Good luck! Ha.

Anyhooter, Barb had seen a sign for karaoke and was pretty determined that we get'r done. Karaoke virgin that I am, I was a bit skeptical as we walked into "The Queen's head," an Irish bar run by an Indian guy with only about 7 people and a crazy DJ that was all about his karaoke. Needless to say, we got up there and sang our little hearts out, (Dancing Queen!) and made friends with some characters, one of which was an old man who wrote his number on Barb's forearm. And it didn't wash off for days. Lucky girl!

Next day we got up early ish, had a n EB (english breakfast! mmm..) and meandered down to the tourist areas, like Trafalgar Square and the Royal Gardens.

We passed this place, called "The Spice of Life," which tempted us, but was nothing more than a bar with pub food, so we quickly walked the other direction.

Laughed at an Italian boy band taking cover shots for their new album (stalker much?)

Then rolled around in the dafs for a bit eating ice cream before walking to Big Ben.

When we got back, we met up with Ben and Arturo, and went out on our search for Indian food. We tried a nice-ish hotel nearby, and walked in to a large room full of tables, though only 5 or 6 were occupied. The host came up to ask if we had a reservation, which of course we did not, and he replied that they were booked for the night. It was 8:30, and 6 full tables. Apparently we didn't look like big spenders :(

We found somewhere else around the corner, and Barb decided to order the HOTTEST INDIAN DISH, just because she thought she could. It was intense, and one little bite was all the spicy I needed for about 3 months. Either way, she powered through and only broke a bit of a sweat.

Later that night, we ended up in the hostel bar, where we met some of the coolest kids! A whole load of young gents from Cardiff, who were the silliest and most sarcastic I've met in this European world. One guy looked like Patrick Swayze, the other a skunk, and one kept taking his shirt off and we couldn't understand a word that came out of their mouths, but had a great time.

The next morning we had to move to our other hostel near by, so we walked over, carrying my new bag with which BOTH shoulder straps decided to break, and Barb's "rolling" bag that's top speed was -3.4mph and would start wobbling if you walked at anything faster than normal pace. It was an issue. Anyway, cool place and we met 2 extremely good looking Swedish blokes, and another American girl named Kelsi from Seattle who just arrived that day to start her study abroad term.

That was the day we walked up to Camden, a part of London I've always wanted to go, so I was super excited! The weather was still nice, and it was a Sunday so the place was PACKED with shoppers! There was something for everyone- it was like a giant flea market/underground shopping center/restaurant area and perfect for people-watching!

This is part of the street, where vendors exploded onto the sidewalks and walking was made virtually impossible.

We sat to enjoy some delicious coffee and take in the scene, which included not only people hassling for bargains, but some sort of "Native American"-esque band, and groups of people drinking their day away at the bars/restaurants across the little canal.

In the flea market parts, there were nicknacks of all kinds, and I was tempted to buy a Swiss Army knife, but I refrained. I just want to have one not only to show how cool I am, but because they are so darn handy! Anyhooter, besides all these cool gadgets, the food was off the hook! Every corner of the world was represented. You had your choice of:

Succulent Asian drinks.

and bubbling South African pots

Thai food, Indian food, cupcakes, cookies, hamburgers, fries, waffles. Anything your heart desired! It was heavenly, heavenly I tell you!

After another long day of walking, we went out with the Cardiff boys again, if only to mock and attempt to understand their accents.

Barb, me, and Kelsi

The whole load of them, Patrick Swayze included.

It was an interesting night, but we were looking forward to more exploring the next day! It was a bit rainy so we weren't too thrilled, but we headed to get some grub, an ended up with something resembling pot pies in a random pub. (No beer, sorry G-parents.) Kelsi headed back, but Barb and I hopped on the Tube to the British Music Experience across town, located in the 02 Arena, something I've never seen in my life!

From the outside it looked like a huge white tent, but inside was almost an entire little community. There were restaurants and bars, Starbucks and gift shops. It was crazy..a person could probably live their whole life in there! Eww. The BME was pretty cool, especially since it wasn't crowded and we could spend as much as time as we wanted on every exhibit, and they give you these cool tickets that you scan for everything you like, and then can go visit all the info online! Pretty spectac.

Pretty tuckered out, so we spent the night in the bar in the hostel, watching this crazy guy dance for hours by himself, with a growing crowd watching him, though he was seemingly unphased. Met a really funny Dutch guy, and our entire conversation consisted of "yaaaaa" and "naaayy" (yes and no in Dutch, and maybe the 6 other words I could remember. But, it was an experience.)

Next day we had to check out, but we went to wander the British Museum and Tower/London Bridge area and the Globe theater, which was a total let down, but whatevs.

Pretty intense looking from the inside

and the outside!

We could only handle a brief walk around of the museum, and then it was on to the bridge!

Its weird, it's located in a completely refurbished business area that looks more like New York than anything else.

We walked by the castle nearby, took a little nap in the sun :) and then my camera died, which was really cool. NOT!

By then it was time to go get dinner and back to the hostel to pick up our things before we headed down to Victoria station where my bus left for the airport, and Barb could head back to Heathrow.

BUT THAT WASNT THE END OF THE TRIP!

No no. Just us sucking at life and logistics in general. With Barb's whole ticket fiasco, I had to book a flight out of a different airport, though they left around the same time. Unfortunately, neither of us could sleep, so by the time we met up in Copenhagen, is was exhaustion central.

We got to a Starbucks but Barb fell asleep right away. Then I tried to do the same thing, and we basically got kicked out. It was still early, but we had to wait until 6 or 7 to meet up with Troels, the guy we were staying with. This led to a myriad of cafe-hopping, in which we received multiple weird looks for sitting in one place for 3 hours, but were too tired to move or carry our obnoxious bags around.

He called around 7 and we finally got to his house to put our stuff down, and then went out with him and to meet up with some friends at the coolest little bar/performance area, with a very intimate crowd. It was a bit TOO crowded though, so we went to another place nearby that had a really loud metal band, and then a nicer Danish band that sang in English, which was cool for us. By then it was just the 3 of us, and we ended at one last local place, and tried to new April/Spring/Easter beer (a tradition for Danes- Christmas AND Easter beer) with a little chick on the label and the words "kylle kylle" which is sort of like clucking, I'm guessing.

The next day we woke up and wandered around his area of Norrebro and walked towards the city center, though the weather was MISERABLE! It was still nice to see, especially since I could sort of navigate us around. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock cafe, and, lucky for us, a group of about 30 of the most beautiful Danish boys, so life was good.

Typical Viking.

That night we went out with Troels and his friend Jacob, and the other 2 Slovakian girls who were staying with him as well. It was a long night of butchered languages and confused expressions, especially since the Slovakians were the most Russian people I've met (if you're picking up what I'm throwin down) Nonetheless, it was a good time.

"This is typical of our relationship"

The whole group! Jacob is crazy, T-money is the tall guy in the back, and the haters are the Slovakians.

There was a naked butt! Better than the U2 poster next to it...

Barb by the end of the night. Umbrellas and her aren't friends, and neither is drinking and walking :)

One of my favorite sculptures in CPH..

The next day we decided to go explore Christiana, the little hippie community I wrote about before. We went to a second hand store first, which was so pricey! I don't understand how people get off charged such absurd prices for clothes that SOMEONE ELSE HAS WORN! It boggles my mind, but Barb found it fun

We went deeper into Christiana than I'd been before, and around the lake that is behind it. Still a cool place, but I felt like such an obvious tourist that it kinda sucked, but was still gorgeous.

Another long night was in store, as X-Factor (The European version of American Idol) was on, and Troels had a group of friends coming over to celebrate. We watched, cheered, and were preparing to go to a cool euro electronic concert, but got there only to find that tickets were sold out! We parted ways, and Barb and I hung out with Klaus, Troels' neighbor, and went back to all the bars we visited the weekend of my birthday, basically. It was our last night, and we just wanted to have fun!

Next day was a late start, but we made it all the way over to the little mermaid. Unfortunately, all the walking took a toll on Barb, and while she had stubbed one of her toes really bad, all of a sudden her other ankle swelled up to the size of a cantaloupe! Ok, not really, but it was big and gross and walking was not the best for it. We had a yummy pasta dinner, and when we got back to Troels the party was just starting, again. We hung out for awhile before heading to a party at one of the dorms of the nursing students, which was insane! Everyone was in black and white, and tons of people were painted. Like, all out "no clothes but this black paint will cover everything AND make me look like a Siberian tiger" sort of deal. It was so euro, we were delighted!

But it was an early night, especially with the damn time change! We slept for 45 minutes, then messed around with public transport while Barb went to the airport and I caught a train back to Aarhus. It was a long ride, and I miss Barb already :(

I know I loved Berlin and Copenhagen..but PRAGUE! ahhh...

2009-03-31T23:50:00.012+02:00

So after a 10 hour drive in the rain from Århus to Nuremburg, Germany, and a bit of sleep, I got on a train to Prague. The weather cleared up and the German countryside was just beautiful..all these quaint little cottages and small towns with a church in the middle. I could definitely see myself living there someday, after my love obsession with big cities dies down.

So I land in Prague around dusk, semi-exhausted and the only metro map I could find was in German, after I had to deal with getting change in the Czech koruna, which is like $1 to 25 CZK... tricky. So I wander in the direction I think the hostel is in, in a bustling area that is obviously the center, where they have all these "helpful" signs pointing you in certain directions-only in CZECH! Cool, way to ward off tourists. So I continue one way, then turn around and go the other, then turn back around and go back the other way, then back the opposite way, looking like a completely baffoon. Eventually, I ask a nice lady who pointed me to a hotel where the guy gave me an English map and highlighted the street I need to be on... which is right in the center of the old town, straight in the opposite direction. Good enough I says, and headed off.

The first hostel sign I saw I ran to, and bam! Happened to be the right one. The guy behind the desk was a cool NYer who lived in Copenhagen for 2 years, which was a comforting welcome. As soon as I checked in and was about to head down to use the internet, the nicest Aussie ever, Angus (tee hee hee on his name...we may have called him Beef, but...whatever.) He was such a great guy, and told me all about how he is traveling the entire world for a year, even though the friend he was with ditched him. Then walk in 3 girls from Texas that study in Masstricht, NL (homies immediately!) and a guy from NYU who studies in Madrid (ginger could speak bueno Espanol) We all clicked well, and wandered around a bit the first night before ending up at a bar called Bloody Freddy's where we met a bunch of stereotypical English guys on a "stag do" (aka Bachelor party). They were lame, but we were not.

Next day we got up early because Angus wakes at 730, yippee! Either way, we wandered for a bit before meeting for a free tour. There we met some other cool kids, a Canadian and another NYer working in Stockholm. Good times, more bonding.

We started at the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Center:

The clock is pretty awesome- it goes off every hour starting with the bells and a skeleton ringing one and shaking his head, as if to say "your time is coming," representing the sin of death. The 4 other figures are vanity, greed, and infidelity. At the same time, the 12 apostles move through the windows above. Below, the calendar shows the 12 months of the year, as well as everyday and changes at midnight when the day is over.

Old Town Square with Tyn Church

From there we went to the oldest Jewish synagogue in Europe, I believe, and the graveyard that is overflowing with headstones toppled on each other. This leads to one of the wealthiest shopping streets, packed with every Italian designer you could ever dream of. We also saw Charles Bridge, the main passage way for tourists over to the castle on the other side of the river. Peddlers and artists set up booths and sell everything from jewelry to photos to paintings to caricatures. I even saw a guy with a cute dog laying on the ground..but upon closer inspection, there was a fat rat and smaller mouse on top of the dog, on their back legs, little freaky hands reaching out to him as he crouched over them, presumably talking. I may have to steal that trick when I get back to SF just to pay rent.

Then we hit up the Lennon wall, dedicated to John Lennon because the Beatles were banned during the Communist regime's rule.

We also crossed a little bridge that had the beginnings of a little love monument... when people get married, they come down here and lock a lock engraved with both of their names, and then throw the key in canal below. So cute!

(Yea, people love me.)

From there we saw a sculpture from this crazy artist David Cerny, who made 2 men who swivel and pee on a pool shaped like the Czech Republic.

Then it was on to the CASTLE! I thought riding a bike was hard. But 2,754 steps later I thought differently. Awesome views of the city, and an amazingly huge Cathedral that's still free of charge, and houses all of the CR's famous crypts, as well as a secret room that has 7 locks with 7 different keys all held by the most important people in the country.

The tour ended there, so we headed back down to eventually get some dinner. WOW. Greatest experience. This was my plate:

Beef goulash and an original pilsener to wash it down..for like $10. I love Prague!

After that it was decided that we would go on a pub crawl, mostly because the guy running it was hilarious, and he and the other chick missed all the Aussies, and since we had one in our company..we got a discount and Angus went for free! The first bar left us in an attic in the dark because the light didn't work...but unlimited beer was the upside, so we didn't complain. Then the 2nd place was boring and expensive, but we made our mark on a graffiti wall with '205 2009' for our room number.

The 3rd place, Chapeau something...was so euro! I loved it. The top looked like a normal, nice bar, but downstairs were foosball tables and a live band with a crazy dancefloor, and cheaper beer. Then, the 3rd level down was where it got cool. It was like being in a cave, with all rock walls, and loud dj music from one small room, and then a tiny bar in the back with beer for like 1 euro. It was an oddly magical experience you only expect in movies...i loved it! The 4th place was lame, but it was 3am and we decided it was time for home anyway!

Sunday, we woke up early again and I split off with the girls for a bit more exploring, and then they left later in the day. Angus, me and Domenick from Stockholm took another walk later on, saw a cool statue of a guy hanging from a building, and explored some of the Churches that were still open. Later, Domenick and I found the original Budvar (Budweiser, suckas!) and met some cool kid with a girlfriend in Copenhagen.

Monday I went to meet up with my German girls, Hanna and Nina, and then dinner with Angus before he left for Berlin! Lucky guy :)

I know it sounds lame and I can't explain it, but I really had the time of my life that weekend. Meeting people from all over that I actually had so much in common with (could be the American side of things...) and just being able to have a good time and not stress about school yet was much needed. Like I told my mom, it felt like I was walking on clouds, I was in such a good place. Hopefully I'll feel that way again soon :)

Tuesday I did some more exploring and prepared for interviews later in the day, meeting with the editor in Chief of one of the biggest papers in the CR, and then a freelancer from New Jersey who has lived her for 17 years. Wednesday I had an interview with the editor in Chief of Prague's biggest (and only??) English speaking paper, and then Nina and I ventured out to watch a film at a festival I wanted to go to. It was called One World, and focuses on Human Rights issues around the world, and this year had an emphasis one the 20 years since Communism (basis of my article, fyi.) We got really, completely, utterly lost, but it was worth it :)

Thursday I went out to take more photos and some video for my assignment, then met up with Hanna so we could climb the mountain opposite the castle. Btw, she did this while suffering from kidney stones. TROOPER!

It was a beautiful day! (though it snowed in the morning, hmm...) This is taken near the Charles Bridge.

Near the beginning of our hike, a statue dedicated to the 'victims of Communism,' showing the destruction of people.

View from near the top, before we slipped in mud :(

View over the river, dusk-ish

Another Cerny design, the BABIES!

After this, we met up for coffee and dinner with Tomas, a Czech guy who lived above me last semester in Utrecht. He is a really smart guy, and so sweet and polite. I'm glad we got the chance to catch up!
Then it was our "brilliant" idea to climb to the castle at night, but the views from below up at the castle are much more astounding than in the opposite direction.

It was my last night in Prague, and a very good one. Can't wait to go back one day :D

Things

2009-03-11T22:09:00.011+01:00

So I was just sitting here looking through photos, (not at ALL procrastinating on packing...) and decided these are some of my favorites that need to be shared!

Hee hee hee...wearing giant wooden clogs in Amsterdam

KFOG KABOOM! 2008

My fam at my going-away party

Winner for "most awkward photo EVER" award

Barb, Pat and I in Seattle at the Troll

Pat is a creative photographer...

Bob's Babe's Bitchin' Birthday Bash! (BBBB!)

Giants game for Nikki's 21st birthday

Mojito in North Beach on my 21st with my favorite girls :)

Sombreros and mustaches=Cinco de Mayo

Mustaches without Cinco de Mayo=even better

I just love everyone's expression!

We made him look like a cat...with a beard.

Pat and I at his brothers wedding, 2007

Despite the cold...

2009-03-10T22:39:00.002+01:00

Denmark has some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises I've ever seen!

The colors (when it's not overcast..) are so much more vibrant than any place I've been, and much more varied. One night its a deep purple, the next night pink, and tonight a crazy shade of aqua.

It's worth risking the numbness in your fingers and toes just to see it.

In shock

2009-03-08T17:34:00.002+01:00

About many things. The first of which is that there is SUN outside my window today! We took a bike ride to the Bazar market, and it rained on us the whole way home, and then the sun of course came out right when we got inside. Story of my life...

I'm also in shock as to how this chick next door can incessantly play her stupid flute without getting ANY better. I really don't think she has improved at all in the last 2 months.

Which brings me to my next point...its been 2 months since I've been here! And it's March, means I only have about 3 1/2 more months here...and that scares me. And makes me sad. I am missing home, but thinking about leaving everything I know here and all my amazing friends...I just don't know how I'll do it!

Speaking of friends, this month is going to be awesome! I'm leaving Thursday to drive to Nuremberg with my 2 German friends, then from there I will catch a train to Prague. I'll spend the weekend alone, then the girls are meeting me there on Monday, and we're renting an apartment for dirt cheap for the week. I'm working on an article about media in the 20 years since the fall of Communism, and how its changed. That Friday, I fly to London to meet up with Barbie! We'll stay there for a bit, then fly to Århus for a few days, then some time in Copenhagen before she leaves me :( Then its back here to Skjoldhøj to perfect my articles...

On a different note, I think I need to make a dedication to Lee Walton, who I have known since elementary school. He died this past week (service was yesterday). The worst part is, he committed suicide. When I think back to him, all I can see is a huge smile across his face (and possibly a cast on his arm, or leg, or wrist..) I know I wasn't close to him, but I wish I could have done something to help him. Who knew if he was reaching out to anyone, or had anyone to reach to in the first place. I hope my friends know they can always talk to me if they feel unhappy or depressed... it's just not worth it to take your life or have to suffer when someone else does. I hope he is in a better place now.

What in the world is happening?!

2009-02-26T23:50:00.002+01:00

So my friend from Gilroy told me today about the case of a Gilroy High math teacher (32) allegedly having sex with a 14 year old girl from San Jose. (Link to the story)

So it said they met on a social networking site, tagged.com And he was some total creeper with 100+ girl friends under the age of 18. Anyway, freako as he is, I sent my friend a link to the site, and here is what he sent back to me:

I officially have no idea whats going on in the world.

SF Chron to be shut down? "It's so Soviet."

2009-02-25T22:27:00.002+01:00

Article by Michael Rosenblum: (read the actual one here)

The Heart Corporation announced today that it was going to sell or close the San Francisco Chronicle.

This means that San Francisco could lose its largest and most powerful newspaper.

The Chronicle lost $50 million last year, and has suffered losses every year since 2001.

It make KRON look like a major success story.

If The Chronicle is on the ropes, then there is something wrong with the fundamentals of the news business.

And there is.

And not just newspapers - because where the papers are today, the networks will be tomorrow.

What to do?

About 6 months ago, I was on a panel at one of Jeff Jarvis’ confabs at CUNY in NY, on the future of journalism.

The panel was headed by Andrew Heyward, former Pres of CBS News.

The challenge - design the newsroom of the future.

The room was filled with media luminaries and we began by putting numbers on the board - how many reporters, how many editors, how big a staff - we were at around 250 (which seemed a painful number in and of itself), when one young journalist from a website in Denmark spoke up.

“I think you are all way off”, she said. “I think the number is closer to 30″.

30?

“30 total”. Like any good website today. 30 is a lot.

This small think is traumatic for those who have spent their lives in major journalism institutions like The New York Times or NBC News. 30 is the weekend cleaning staff - maybe.

But like our fixation on big cameras, our fixation on big staffing and big buildings and big infrastructure may be our undoing.

It’s all very Soviet.

In DC we have been running a pilot local TV station for two years, producing a half hour of original programming a day, every day. We have a staff of 7. Total. 6 VJs who work out of their homes. They report. They shoot. They cut and then they upload to a server in our NY office where an editor reviews and assembles their work to make the half-hour.

365 half hours a year.

Total cost: $600,000

Those are pretty impressive numbers.

And it works.

Now maybe you think it’s too lean. Maybe you think you need 8 or 10 reporters. Fine.

There’s lots of room here on the upside.

But what we have gotten rid of is the burdensome infrastructure. We don’t need the building, the desks, the lamps, the coffee machine, the parking lots… or all the transmission and retransmission gear, the edit suites (or when it comes to newspapers - the printing presses, the ink, the paper). Not to mention the layers and layers and layers of management and bureaucracy.

Look at the web!

Look at Wordpress.com. 198,285 bloggers, 183,275 new posts 46,650,198 words today. Today!

If you had to hire enough writers at Chronicle rates and benefits to write 46 million words a day, what would it cost?

Undoable?

The web….just worldpress, does it daily. For nothing!

Embrace the new technology for what it can do.. not how it can be used to replicate what we do already, and the news organizations can not only survive, they can thrive.

But time is running out.

Biking=blasphemy

2009-02-25T21:59:00.005+01:00

Ok, so being thrown into the death-defying world of biking in the Netherlands is tame compared to Denmark. Why? Because there are HILLS here. I basically have to ride over something like this just to get anywhere worth going. Because I am definitely not one of these:
(What up National Geographic!)
riding a bike is not the simplest of tasks.

Like going to say, the city center. Living in the ghetto may offer cheap food, but its boring as hell. I've been making excuses to take the bus lately, either feeling guilty by spending money on it (close to $3 each time...phuket.) or, tempt fate and not pay. (No Mom, didn't learn my lessons in SF...) but today I turned over a new leaf, and was like, "Girl, you need Kanye's workout plan" (Or, just wear this shirt?) so I'm determined to ride that P.O.S. every time I can.

Today Emiel and I put that into effect by going to the center, so I could go to the Police station and attempt to apply for my visa. Yes, 2 months later! Don't judge me. Anyhooter, I couldn't find the effing place, rode all around the block, then finally asked, she gave me crap directions, told me to go left and look for a yellow house, so of course I go to the

<--WRONG YELLOW HOUSE!

But the lady was nice, even though you can tell she gets the same question a zillion times a day, but I finally got to the immigration office, out of breath and 12,000 degrees, and the lady was a total beez. She told me my account information showing how much of a baller I am (from Wells Fargo!) was "not sufficient" and that I need a Danish bank account. Well, if she wasn't such a dingbat she would know that you can't get a Danish bank account without being a registered citizen, but you can't register as a citizen without a visa, but I can't get a visa without a Danish bank account?

Tell me where I went wrong.

Whateva. I'm ovs it, but then we went and sat at this cool cafe/art dealer/studio and hung out for 5 hours attempting to work on our Eastern Europe assignments, but pretty much goofed around and listened to the girls next to us speaking english in their knitting circle. But, to come full circle, on the way home I thought my heart was going to pump out of my chest and my freaky jello legs would just wobble away. Yes, that bad. Uphill (MOUNTAIN) and windy is never a good combo, especially paired with my lack of physical stamina and crap bike that plays this really exciting game called "whenever Sarah is at her peak of physical exhaustion, thinking she is near the end, I will switch into the hardest gear, making it IMPOSSIBLE!" For $20, I think I deserve more.

A Good Cause

2009-02-21T11:28:00.002+01:00

This is a shout out for my homegirl Phylicia, who is shaving her head to earn money towards childhood cancer research. I know times are hard, but even a little bit helps. Help her reach her goal here:
St. Baldricks Foundation

Good luck Philly!

Meet Copenhagen, the new love of my life.

2009-02-18T19:53:00.009+01:00

For my birthday last weekend it was decided that we would head to Copenhagen, so we rented some guys apartment (which turned out to be a really good idea), packed our things, and left Thursday morning. But not before my friends sang happy birthday to me, gave me a card, and bought me a full sized mirror (not only a hot commodity around here, but my narcissism needed fueling.)

The train ride from Århus is about 3 hours, but we got there in plenty of time, despite moving around a lot. Got to the apartment to find this:

That, my friends, is the small kitchen, and the white space-age tube is the SHOWER! Apparently quite common in older places, but you have to attach it to the sink first, then press a button, zip it up, and enjoy your 2 feet of room around you. Shaving you legs is a mission I attempted, failed, and constantly thought my friends would see as white vinyl isn't the thickest material...

We got there Thursday afternoon, put our stuff down and then semi-wandered. Of course, we ended up at a "Journalist Bar" (Whole different story-a concept I never knew of but basically applies to every European city. America, we are missing something good here.) We sat there for awhile, enjoying ourselves, then went home to eat yummy pizza around the corner (I even scored some free pasta from the place-happy birthday to me!) and just hung out at the apartment.

Its been a long week since the trip, but I still want to talk about it. Friday, my actual birfday, we awesome because my friends love me and repeatedly kept telling me it was the day of my glorious, glorious expulsion into the wide world. We spent the day wandering around with Mads as our tour guide, and we were soaking up the rare sunshine. We went to see the statue of the Little Mermaid, written by Danish Hans Christian Anderson, for those of you who were like, "WTF who cares about that statue??" It's Danish, so it matters.

Mads, Eliza, Adelija, Emiel and the Mermaid

We spent some time in the Castille area nearby, taking really cool photos:

After we walked across the river to the Christianshavn area, a cute little neighborhood with tons of shops and canals, and most notably Christiana. This is one of the craziest places ever. Very similar to the Haight in a lot of respects, but it is a town of about 850 people who live by basically their own rules, and have established semi-legal status as an independent community. A leftover military base taken over in 1971, there are no cameras allowed on the property, smoking laws aren't in effect, and it has been notorious for its liberal drug policy, especially weed which is still sold on the streets like NBD. It is peaceful place, full of hippies, but tends to get dangerous when the Copenhagen police perform random drug raids...not my cup of tea. It was cool to see, and something completely different from the rest of the city.

After that it was time for coffee and the bar we had gone to on Thursday, and met up with some of Mads' friends. From there we went home to cook a DELICIOUS meal of lasagna for all my wonderful friends. The best part was Liz, my good friend from SF studying in Vaxjo, Sweden came to visit us!! With her 2 friends, the 4 Danes, Emiel, Eliza, and Adelija, we had 11 people for dinner and it was the best birthday present I could ask for just to be with all of them :)

We were planning to go to some club later, but it was too expensive to get in so we went to a place next door and danced are arses off before remembering Euro music can suck for long periods of time, so we called it a night.

Saturday, it was Jesper's turn to show us around. We met at Nyhavn, a harbor area that is popular in the summer, where people buy beer and hang out all day. Perfect!

We walked around behind it, saw the German boat and made the previous video, and walked through a park where you could see the new Opera house across the water.

Walked back through King's park, and then past Tivoli, one of the oldest Theme parks. Safe, eh? Anywho, it was time for Adelija and Eliza to head home, so we went to dinner, and then there were three. Jesper, Emiel and I headed home to play cards and attempt playing drinking games while we waited for Liz (who spent the entire day in the hospital with her sick French friend!) They came over and we went to the club we didn't go in to the night before, but left soon after, happy we didn't have to pay. Everyone else was tuckered out, but Jesper and I were determined to have a good time. More wandering ensued, until we ended up at a cool Irish bar. Leave it to me, I met the craziest old American man, who has been living in Sweden most of his life.

His band is the Noel Smith Project and I spent a good 3 hours attempting to convince him to play at Strawberry, and what a cool music festival it is. I presume my attempts were futile, but nonetheless I arrived home at 8am, and was ready to sleep. Sunday we spent cleaning and then back on the 3 hour train ride.

All in all, it was a great weekend and I love Copenhagen. A lot. I will return sooner than I know :)

Oh Benjamin Button, how I love thee..

2009-02-18T00:58:00.002+01:00

New movie. Staring Brad Pitt. For 3 hours. WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!

Then I realized, yo girl, you in Denmark now and shivvy is expensive. But whateva, it was Sofia's birthday today, and mine this weekend, so we decided to make our to a showing at 9pm. That cost 80 kroner, due to the 3 hour-ness of it. But...
WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

Nikki had tried to convince me it was a snooze, but I refused to believe her, but do agree about the excellent makeup.

Ok, so if you haven't heard about this brilliant film, you should. I'm sure all the arsty-fartsies won't agree, but not only was it cinematographically beautiful in practically every scene, the story is complex and heart-wrenching, and the attention to detail impeccable. And when it's originally written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who can say no?

**SPOILER ALERT!! DO NOT READ IF YOU INTEND TO WATCH THE FILM!!**

The film takes shape with a daughter at her mothers dying bedside, in the present, when the mother asks her to read from a diary, the diary of Benjamin Button.

The story starts with a blind clock maker who loses his son in a war, and unveils a clock that runs backward, hoping it will bring all the men, and especially his son, home from the dreaded war. This leads to the birth of Benjamin, who is born basically dying as an old man would in New Orleans in 1918. His mother dies during birth, and his father is so freaked out by the creepiest of all creepy babies (and I know about creepy babies...) and leaves him on the doorstep to a senior citizen home, where a young black woman who works there takes him in, mostly because she can't have children herself.

Benjamin obviously fits right in, being an old man, but really is young at heart, spirit, and mind, and only appears to be in his 80's. Throughout this time, people come in and out of his life, dying and then new older people showing up. He sees it as the way it is, until he meets 5 year old Claire (Cate Blanchett) who knows there is something about him, and they share an instant bond. He turns 17 and meets a ship captain who allows him to work on the boat despite his age, and actually runs into his father one night after his first time at a brothel, though he has no idea who the man is. Later, he decides its time to enter the world, and leaves on a fishing boat eventually to Russia, but writes Claire every chance he gets.

Once in Russia, he is staying at a hotel and has a steamy affair with a married British woman (Tilda Swinton) who eventually leaves him, and only a brief note behind, much like most of the people in his life. From then he and his ship mates head back to the states to fight in WWII, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His boat is the only one to come upon a US ship hit by a Japanese submarine, killing all 1,300 men on board, then then the 6 or 7 men he is with, and he is the only survivor. After this, he heads home, back to the senior home, the only place he knows.

While he is at home, he meets his father again. He finds out the man is dying, but before he confesses who he is, and while Benjamin is angry, he forgives him by taking him to his favorite lake to watch the sunrise during his last days. He also gives Benjamin his life savings, and Button's Buttons, the company in his family for generations that flourished during the war, making him quite wealthy. While at his childhood home in New Orleans, Claire shows up there too, and they enjoy a romantic evening of her talking about her new life as a ballet dancer in NY and she attempts to seduce him, but he refuses, especially as he is still much older than she.

After awhile, he tries to chase her down in New York, but she is with another man, and then heads off to Paris for another professional ballet. One day, as the movie points out, a series of events that leads to a taxi hitting her, breaking her leg in 5 places and permanently ending her dancing career. Benjamin comes to Paris to be with her, but she still refuses him, not knowing how to handle his affection, and slight age problem.

Eventually, she comes around and shows up again in New Orleans. This time, they know they are meant for each other and don't fight it. They live together and Claire opens a dance studio, and they sail his boat around the world. But then, she gets pregnant and after one year he decides he is in no position to father a child while he continues to get younger. He leaves his fortune to them, and drives off on his motorcycle in the middle of the night. He lives like a vagabond, traveling the world and India in particular, with the knowledge of a wise old man but the youth and body of a young Brad Pitt. (Not a bad combo, in my opinion)

He consistently writes everything in his diary, and even comes back to visit Claire and see his 12 year old daughter. They still love each other, but it is obvious that things would have never worked. He continues to get younger, until one day Claire gets a call about a young boy who is suffering from some sort of dementia, and is brought back to his same childhood home. Claire comes to visit everyday before eventually moving in with him, and you watch as she enters her 70's while he becomes a toddler, then an infant, and then dies in her arms. The end shows a hurricane that is ripping through present time while the woman dies in the hospital. The woman is Claire, and her daughter is reading her fathers diary about a life she never knew existed. One of the last scenes shows water flooding a basement in which the backwards clock lies, slowly consumed by rushing water.

The only word for this film is...EPIC. It was amazing, and I encourage everyone to see it. Not only a love story that lasts generations, but a way to think about the ways that life takes us and leaves us behind, but thats just the way it goes.

Sinking in Copenhagen

2009-02-17T01:13:00.003+01:00

The whole point of this video is a response to this video about learning English:

We think its hilarious, but then again I look totally clueless.
Whateva.

Word of the Week

2009-02-17T00:07:00.002+01:00

SKINKE.
Simply put, it means ham.

But to me, Skinke is so, soo much more than that.

It is a noun: "That girl has the ugliest skinke I've ever seen!"
Or a verb: "I'll skinke you if you ever call me a Skinke again!"
Or, adverb: "I got here as skinkly as I could."
An adjective: "Ew, my hair is so skinke today."
An insult: "You're such a skinke!"
Confusion: "Skinke? I can't hear you."
Insult/Random profanity: "Skinke you, you skinke skinke!"

Basically, it can be used in any context, at any time, without any REAL meaning.

Aren't you glad you learned something new today?

Baby it's cold outside

2009-02-09T11:18:00.007+01:00

This past weekend, my goal was to go out and explore Århus more, despite the crappy weather. But, lucky enough, when we woke up Sunday morning it was beautiful and SUNNY! Seriously, only the second day of sunshine since we've been here, and it was much needed on my part. (It's like I'm from California or something...) Anywho, we set out and determined it was freezing, but wanted to make the most of it anyway. We rode to the city center, through some little side streets full of shops and restaurants, and finally made it to the BEACH! We rode along the coast a bit of a ways, then stopped across from Risskov forest. We rode up some more, through some gorgeous little beach houses, and even some huge mansions, where I will no doubt attend some elegant, classy, summer party, of course.

We took some steps over the railroad tracks that make their way up the coast, and landed on the beach. Parts were muddy, mostly rocky, and it was even colder with the wind picking up, but being by the ocean and and smelling the salty air was absolutely perfect in my mind.

On the way there we also passed the weirdest thing I've seen-a pacifier tree. Ok, maybe not the weirdest but odd in its own respect because it was a bunch of pacifiers hanging from a dying gray tree and looked like something out of some sick horror film. Emiel asked some Danes what it was, and apparently when children get too old to use them, the parents hang them on the tree. Eww.

We continued riding, but got to the city center and decided to stop for coffee...at the PERFECT moment. Right when we sat down, we looked outside to see what? SNOWFLAKES. Still sunny, but totally snowing. Only added to the mysterious day.

From there we set off to follow the canal/river that flows through the city, out to the lakes. It was pretty flat, but the intense wind made us ride pretty slowly and provided a bit of a workout. A little too swampy for my taste, but around 330 when the sun starts to set (damn you north pole!) the colors were fabulous.

A much needed day (if not exhausting) but worth it after Thursday and Friday nights. Thursday we had an introduction dinner and got to meet all the new internationals (all in all, 5 of us from SFSU, plus 3 other US and 4 Canadians), then Friday was the first "Friday bar" or the semester. The bar isn't open everyday, just Fridays starting at 2:15, and in a sort of basement-like setting that provides no ventilation, so basically we were in a sauna. Either way, it was really fun, and there is a RULE that at 8pm, the pool table is closed so people can DANCE on it. Crazy talk, but a good time. (And no, I did NOT submit myself to that sort of utter embarrassment. I'm a professional.)

Me, Simona, and my roomie Jena, with her friend Ashley that came to visit from London.

A list of goals

2009-02-03T01:50:00.002+01:00

In light of recent events, I've begun to compile a short list of things I want to accomplish in this life. Nothing big, and certainly more needs to be added, but a good way of putting my thoughts down and realizing what is important to me, even if it seems trivial.
1. Learn to play the guitar. My voice may make ears bleed, so in turn I will suffer from eternally blistered fingers.
2. Have half as many friends as my grandparents do in their 80's. If I can do that, I know I'll have people around me that truly care.
3. Sew my own clothes. For some reason, I just want to.
4. Learn to fix a bike. Living here proves this to be relevant knowledge that I apparently lack.
5. Bake a batch of cookies that isn't flat. I need to master this to get anywhere, in my opinion.
6. Meet someone famous. Maybe they won't be on the front pages of magazines, but being famous to me counts one hell of a lot.
7. Stop over-thinking. Bad quality of mine.
8. Keep a journal. Preferably written.
9. Read Love in the Time of Cholera. It sits next to my bed, I look at it everyday, and it is yet to bed read.
10. Write something that makes a difference to someone, somewhere.

11. Find someone who I can tell why I secretly love my nose.

Coolest thing, ever!

2009-02-02T19:23:00.002+01:00

In Utrecht, ESN was basically a joke. The Erasmus Student Network basically holds tons of parties, encourages you to drink a lot, make new friends, and become a real global citizen, with a few 'educational' field trips thrown in every now and then (not like I ever went on one...)

Anyway, cool idea. A train for 3 weeks, starting and ending in Bratislava (thats in Slovakia, in dun dun dun...EASTERN EUROPE, folks) going to some 40 cities along the way, with the capacity to fit 700 people per night. You can hop on and hop off. For 30 euro a night. Pretty cool, but the exhaustion seems overwhelming.

And I've become...a tea drinker.

2009-02-01T17:48:00.003+01:00

What??? You ask, knowing full well I consistently REFUSE to order fresh brewed iced tea, Lipton Peach iced tea, your grandmother's favorite down home summer drink special recipe iced tea, hot tea of any kind (too many years in the restaurant industry makes you bitter towards getting tea or, god forbid, HOT WATER WITH LEMON!), iced tea out of a box, mint tea, loose leaf tea, chamomile, black, green, or fruity. Nope, nope, nope I've always said, with such resistance you would think I was talking about raw tomatoes (bleh.)

But suddenly, I've changed. Maybe it happened when I came to Denmark and was too poor to afford 6 dollas for hot water and a bit of flavor. Or maybe it was the peer pressure and consistent insisting on drinking tea while at someone else's house (Silly Euro's and their tea..) Or maybe it was thinking, "hmm. It's cold, and I want something warm that isn't coffee." Whatever it is, I've turned a new page, started a new chapter, and am well on my way to finishing the book of weird things in my life that randomly change.

Nevertheless, I'm now rather obsessed with this age-old beverage we refer to as "tea." It just seems to make me happy. Peach mango, peppermint, lemon zinger, wild berry, basic green, and even chamomile! The possibilities are endless. But more exciting than the tea itself may be the wonderous invention called a water kettle. Put water in, turn on, wait 15 seconds and BAM! Boiling water. No sitting and watching the stove, no awkward trying-to-pour-scalding-hot-water-from-said-pot-into-tiny-coffee-mug, nothing. Just pure, unadulterated, warm tea lovin'. It's like a bear hug to your stomach.

I even bought a carton of iced tea yesterday, from a store. To drink cold. Maybe I'm just hoping one day I'll be outside drinking it in the sunshine... (work on that, Danish weather gods. People are getting sad here. And when I say people, I mean me. I need sun.)

Only in Europe can they not only play Backstreet Boys at a club, but everyone knows the words and sings along.

2009-01-30T23:48:00.002+01:00

True story.

We had a meeting yesterday to start volunteering at the Student house here, then over to Mads' house for dinner. Soon enough everyone joined us, and after a bit of merrymaking we headed to "Social Club" where we got in free, but had to pay 20 kr (~$4) to check our coats, but then it was FREE BEER from 11-midnight! Had a couple of free beers, then just danced the night away.

I love dancing here. Its completely ridiculous and you just dont give an F. Everyone dances to every song, no one is really worried about how cool they look, and EVERYONE has a great time :)

After BSB, Alphabeat, the FRIENDS theme song, and yes, even Paul Simon, we called it a night around 430. I was sweaty and exhausted, and looked down to see some sort of pink substance all over my boots and everyone else's shoes as well. Such a mystery..

We decided to just sleep at Mads' house in the center, and catch a bus in the morning, but Adelija passed out on the couch before me so I was left with a sleeping back that didnt zip on the cold wood floor. At that point I just wanted to sleep, but in the morning I definitely regretted that decision.

Either way, it was really fun and we met some really cool people. Being out in the center of Aarhus was also a good change, even if it means sleeping uncomfortably and having a bad hangover :)

Kindness of strangers

2009-01-26T22:49:00.003+01:00

So, my second day in Denmark we made it to the bike auction, where we had about an hour to look through over 200 bikes that had basically been confiscated by the police, looking for things like flat tires, bad breaks, loose pedals- anything. Anywho, the auction starts, all in DANISH, of course, and the guy offers to do it in English knowing all the international students that are there, and said to just raise your hand and ask. Ok, they wheel a bike out, he starts at 50 kroner (about $10 US) and it goes up in increments of 50 until the last one is standing. Since there is a 25% "auctioneers fee," we all decided our limit would be about 500 DKK, just to keep it from being too expensive.

But, you could never tell because he went so fast! You're at 50 one minute, 750 the next! Utter craziness for my feeble mind. One French guy attempted to ask for English, but the auctioneer basically laughed at him, then held up his fingers instead of saying the numbers, all the while laughing at him like he asked some sort of absurd question. Anyway, there weren't many girls bikes so we had to jump on them. Eliza was first, but was actually going against Jena, although neither could see each other, which ended up driving the price WAYYYY up. Either way, she got a good bike...for about 750 DKK :( The guy that took us there got one next for about 200 DKK, and then it was me!

I saw a purple bike, it looked ok, so I held up my card. And kept it there for 10 seconds before it was MINE! For only 100 DKK, 125 with the fee. YAY me! Only $25 for a nice looking bike. There was a crazy old hippie man outside we paid to cut the locks off (for mine he actually figured out the "code" that you sort of punch in, so I got a free lock too! woo!) Anywho, it ended up having a completely FLAT tire, and I attempted to repair it, but basically Emiel did most of the work, which in my mind is how it should be because he is DUTCH! All they do is fix bikes all the time, right?

Happily ever after...until we actually looked at them.

Well, we patched it but then I found out it has this really NOT COOL pump mechanism that doesn't work with most pumps. How the hell should I know that?? Grr. So my bike has been sitting around completely useless for 3 weeks while I pay 11 DKK for a 2 hour bus ticket (yea, about $2. RIP.) So today, after shopping and a bit of happiness that ensued, I was like "Yo Sar, get your act together and fix that shivvy!" So naturally, I asked my roomie's boyfriend to help me. (AMERICAN IN DISTRESS!)

Most.awkward.situation.ever. First off, this guy is Danish, and after knowing my Dane guy friends, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't know chivalry if it hit them in the face.

True story. We cook all the time, but he just watches TV, and never even OFFERS to do the dishes. At least make a verbal effort buddy, come on. Its like 3 words! Ugh. Anyway, he claimed he would have "no idea" how to help me get the tire back on, and then his girlfriend, my roomie AND friend totally backs him up. Come on, he's 1. a DUDE. 2. my friend 3. my friends boyfriend and 4. sitting there doing NOTHING.

I was beyond irritated, but went out and tried by myself, in the dark, for about 20 minutes to no avail. Thank god bwalt was online so I could ask him some important Q's! Unfortunately, he is a dingbat and only wanted to video chat to make things better which was totally impossible. But cool idea. So I watched some youtube video of a nimrod showing how to replace a bike tire, but knew I had already messed up.

Then, facebook got the best of me. I noticed my downstairs neighbor from Slovenia was on, and asked him for advice. Not only did he offer to come HELP me do it, but was super nice about it. Even though it was 830 at night, freezing, dark, we had no tools, and I messed everything up.

Either way, I think that was just plain old cool. I guess when you can't count on friends, you turn to perfect strangers.

Music that describes the UK trip...

2009-01-24T20:27:00.002+01:00

Iglu & Hartly- In This City

Kings of Leon- Sex on Fire

Queen- Don't Stop Me Now

The rest of the UK Extravaganza..

2009-01-23T13:55:00.011+01:00

We got to Manchester around 7pm, went right to our hostel and actually just bumped into the girls! It must have been fate... but either way, we were there, together, and ready to party.

We got our things settled, then went to explore and find food, which ended up being Wagamama! It was soo great to see them, and we were so excited we couldn't stop talking. We went to a couple bars in the area, but there was not much happening, and bars close at MIDNIGHT on sundays. How lame.

But we got a tip for a cool bar/club and headed over there, got in free, and danced to good music all night.

Ok, its been too long and I forgot to finish posting about this. Contrary to what Bwalt (jerkface) says about him falling asleep when I write, he can go read cool things elsewhere. PS, you look like a blueberry.

Anywho, Manchester was grimy and all the men spoke with that dirty accent you hear rugby players in movies talk like. The holidays are kind of a crappy time to travel in Europe, because everything is CLOSED! But whatever, we made the best of it. Our hostel was rad, in the center area and super huge. We shared a room with some 18 year old Canadians, and met a ton of cool people in the lobby downstairs. We became good friends with the guys who worked there (What up magic! and Scottish nightclubbing) and so Ash made up her (intoxicated-sorry M.M.!) mind at 2 am that she would go to Edinburgh to get her passport dealio worked out. In the end, it took her almost 24 hours, but she got a temp passport and money, just in time for NYE!

On NYE, we got on the train with 37,045,798,094 other people and their bags, and made our way to Glasgow. Our reserved seats were by the most annoying child ever and crowded, so then we moved to the car behind us that was akin to Siberia. Anywho, we powered through the cold, took tons of pictures and pretended we were Geishas, and finally ended up in GLASGOW!

We took a cab at the speed of light from the train station to our hostel, got hooked up, then got gussied up, and went out to find HOGMANAY! We ran around every corner of the stupid square looking for the box office that we never found, but were eventually escorted in by a burly security guard. At that time, it was too cold to be *completely* sober, so we headed to the bar and met some Scots who bought us drinks, even though they were terrible.. and we looked like an American flag:

We made it outside just in time for the countdown, and it was perfect! Fireworks and people screaming and happy, and I was with 3 of my best friends :)

The Scots are a nice bunch, even if they don't wear undergarments beneath their kilts, which was a definitely a possibility with these guys.

Like Manny, most stuff in GGow was closed on New Years Day and the following days, so we mostly wandered hoping to find something open. We met a cool kid in our hostel, James, who you could tell was constantly bored, and some Swedish guys that we met up with at a club called the Garage, apparently the biggest in Glasgow. Whateva, we went on "cowboy" night so everyone looked silly, but we had a really good time. And now I have friends in Sweden and Scotland!

Alright, so by this time its been a lot of laziness and wandering due to lazy Europeans and their bloody holidays! But Edinburgh was obviously the BEST place. EVER! I love love LOVED it, and was so happy to be there. Right when we got off the train we walked out to a Winterfest Carnival overtaking the city, blasting music and rides and games and ice skating. It obviously wasn't classically beautiful like Edinburgh is, but it was a nice contrast to see it all beneath the huge castle looking over everything.

But I must say, we thought it would be a rip-roaring good time to go on the big ferris wheel...of DEATH! I don't think I let go of the pole in the middle the entire time, and was busy saying prayers and keeping my eyes shut. Four girls, 21 years of age, scared shitless. It was so embarrassing, when the little kids around us were having the time of their lives. Either way, mental note to never do that again. And to grow a pair.

Our hostel was huge, but we were in a room with just the 4 of us so didn't have as much of an opportunity to meet people. We wandered most of the city the first night, and attempted to go on a ghost tour but got there too late. We did get to hear a story about the "suicide bridge" (Waverley bridge) in the middle of the city though, which connects the 'new' and 'old' parts (even thought its allll old, let me tell you) but the first person to cross it was a woman in a coffin that was being pulled by a horse who got scared...or something. I can't remember, but it was a good story in theory. Either way, people commit suicide here frequently as it lies over the main railroad tracks, and is ideal in the most morbid way. Because it is illegal to stop someone from committing suicide, people have been known to encourage the jumpers in order to clear traffic and get to work. Where is that hardworking spirit around the holidays, huh Scotland?!

We found a bar/club called the Three Sisters, in an old underground lair or sorts, and it was a cool place that we really loved. The second night we made it on a tour of the Underground City Total waste of money, but cool history lesson until I nearly peed myself in fright. These vaults housed hundreds of people, who were plagued by... well, a plague of sorts, but also living in dark, moist areas without proper nutrition or sanitation. Most of them were Irish immigrants who came to Scotland after the potato famine, and couldn't afford to live elsewhere. The vaults are no bigger than my room now, with 10 or more people "living" in them. Needless to say, many didn't live for long, and they are now believed to be haunted. There have been countless reports of paranormal activity, so of course Vanessa was stoked. We were in a big group, and the guide took us through, explaining everything (in the middle of the night, mind you.) and then played this really FUN game of blowing out his candle, the only source of light. Not once, not twice, but THREE times. And then BAM!! Some freak in a halloween costume jumps out of nowhere, we all scream bloody murder and possibly leak bodily substances, and he runs away (laughing, I presume) and we have to pay for this. I say I love Edinburgh, but God knows why...

Either way, it was cool to know and we got it out of our systems and ready for our next day of sightseeing. We did the bus tourist thing, but it was well worth it. The highlights were the castle, in the daytime and at night, being able to overlook everything, and Arthur's Seat, a giant mountain you can walk/hike/climb/crawl/huff and puff your way up to get a different view.

We attempted to make it up, but based on our diets of wine, beer, and pasta...we didn't get too far. But what we did see was well worth it! We also saw the school/monumental edifice that Hogwarts (What up Harry Potter!) is said to be based on:

And Bobby the dog, who stayed with his owner everyday until his death, then followed his funeral procession to the cemetery, and continued his allegiance there. He obviously deserved his own statue:

Alas, the trip had to come to an end, and the Verg (Vanessa and Sarah Bergner) left at 4 in the morning, while Ash and I slept a bit and then ran around trying to send my package, get breakfast, and get me back to the bus station for my NINE hour bus ride to London. Boy I sure love public transport. WOO! From London Victoria, I had to wait for another bus in the middle of the night to Stansted airport, an hour north of the city center, and from there wait until 7 am for my flight. Thats the thing with these cheap airlines though, ungodly hours in order to ease the pain on your wallet. But there were tons of people also spending the night there, so I curled up on my jacket like a true homeless person, used my scarves as blankets, and plugged in my laptop to watch a movie. Only hours later, I landed in Århus and thought "Holy guacamole, what am I DOING here??" It was smaller than probably the San Martin airport, but after another 45 minute bus ride, I was in the central train station with friends. And another hectic bus ride and stop to buy rations and linens, and I was in bed. Dead to the world.

And then the story goes on...

A UK event to remember

2009-01-23T13:00:00.007+01:00

Although amazing, stressful, exhausting, confusing, and great.... the time we spent in the UK over winter break will forever be remembered :)

It started out with an ELEVEN HOUR BUS RIDE from Amsterdam to London. I had my own seat for most of the time, but it didn't matter with all the ruckus going on around me. We left at 10 pm and not only were there a bunch of high school kids behind me talking up a storm, but then there was the infamous French man. He was justifiably INSANE. He kept talking about his kids and life in general, 12 decibels louder than anyone else, and when everyone was trying to sleep. Then, he thought it would be really swell to turn on the overhead light so he could read, but the dingbat girls got angry with them, so he got up to try to sit elsewhere. Mind you, people are dozing off, there are children present, mostly women on the bus, and no one wants to be there in the first place.

He starts talking so loud about how he has no where to sit, then yells at a man sitting by himself that he should be allowed to sit next to him. After using very expletive he can think of on the man, he starts questioning his sexuality, and claims to have known him from the bus ride days ago when they came to amsterdam, and that he let the man stay in his room. Obviously crazy, but the guy never denied anything either...so who knows. Anyway, some kid in the back tries to get him to come back and sit next to him, but he doesnt want to listen so he holds up in the toilet, trying to "read." After a while, he came back up and started yelling again, trying to punch the man in the face. No one knew what to do, but eventually the bus driver pulled over at a gas station, which are hard to come by, so we were lucky to find one.

We thought he had cooled off, and everyone had moved around to let him have 2 seats to himself, right across from ME! You can imagine the joy in my heart. ITs about 2am, and he won't settle down, and started rustling around with foil, and asked a woman for a pen. I thought to myself, "hey, this is kinda fishy..." but was so disoriented and discombobulated that I couldn't think too much into it. Until he leaned down under the seat and actually STARTED SMOKING CRACK. On the bus, not giving a f***. The woman sitting next to me started to yell for the driver, who had to again pull over, but had to wait for a place to do so.

By this time the whole bus is going crazy, and the bus driver and 2 other guys had to pull him off the bus. The driver wanted to leave him there, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between Belgium and France, but the guy was so crazed he stood in FRONT of the bus, refusing to move. We couldn't go anywhere, and the Belgian police didn't seem to care. So the driver lets him back on to sit next to him in the front, but you can hear him yelling at the French guy to stop bugging him, sit still, etc. Especially frightening when he is attempting to steer a giant bus through fog that you can't see 5 feet in front of. SCARY.

Nevertheless, we got to the French/UK customs area by the port, and he was taken into custody, and we waited to board the ferry. I was so exhausted, I found a place to sleep for about an hour, and when I woke up everyone was GONE, and I had to run down to get to the bus where almost everyone had boarded.

It was about an hour until we got into London at 730am, then I found a cafe to sit at and waited to meet up with Ash around 10. Of course, why would that be easy? No money on my Dutch phone, no way to call her phone when the payphones didn't accept my phone card. After about an hour of the worst phone-tag and confusion, I walked outside and saw little Ash sitting on her suitcase, surrounded by people. Reunited!

From there we saw a sign for Wicked, bought tickets for about 20 pounds, then headed to our hostel to get cleaned up and rest for a bit. Then it was time to explore London! We wandered, had a few beers, made it to the show (soo amazing...much greater than I expected) and went back to sleep.

The next day was Christmas eve, and one of the longest days of my life! We went on the London Eye, found Abbey road, took countless photos in the ubiquitous red phone booths, wandered around Big Benny Boo Boo, Westminster Abbey, and Trafalgar square, and attempting to woo the stern faced guards with our good looks and immature humor...to no avail. We had some dinner...with wine...then wandered back to the hostel. We hung out for a bit, then went to the only bar we saw open, which was a gay bar, so we felt right at home :) From there we walked around some more, and went to a center area with a small carnival and people everywhere.

We ran into 2 Italian guys (the kind your mother warns you about) who instantly duped Ashley into believing "They always wanted to meet a Californian girl!" Nevertheless, we decided it would be fun to go have a drink with them (if they're buying, who cares right? The dollar to pound conversion is not healthy.) But, because our lack of luck never fails, they turned out to be creepers. We went downstairs to use the toilet and hope for an escape route..when one guy followed us! He stood by the door to the women's bathroom, "twirling his hair" and basically waiting for us. On impulse, Ash freaked out and started running up the stairs and out the door at full speed! He was in hot pursuit, and when she turned and stopped outside the bar, he yelled "BOO!" and she took off again, further from me! He eventually gave up, and I caught up, and we got the hell out of there. Weird times, good stories. Sometime in the midst of all the craziness, we ended up in front of Buckingham Palace for almost an hour, talking and laughing and drinking.

We headed to Trafalgar square, bought some wine, and sat in the paws of a huge iron lion for hours, talking and reminiscing. One of the best times of my life, something I'll remember forever. We met tons of people just wandering along, and an Algerian guy that told us his life story, starting with "When I was one year old.." making sure we didn't miss anything, I suppose. After awhile, he got obnoxious, so we escaped back to the hostel, then left 20 minutes later to a bar around the corner, where we snuck the rest of our wine in and searched through every pocket and crevice to come up with money to afford one beer. The lengths we go to...

The next day was Christmas, and virtually only Chinatown was open. We waited for awhile and finally got a seat at one place, and had a deliciously tasty and fulfilling meal for a reasonable price. Hung out at the hostel for awhile, and were invited to a bar by the hostel workers, and basically everyone staying there went. It was sketchy as all hell, a couple of blocks away but we had to pay 5 pounds to get in, and were led downstairs to a filthy bar that "couldn't be cleaned because they had a party the night before, and no one works on Christmas." There were flies around the bar, all the toilets were out of order, and the bouncer was also the DJ and the bartender. Either way, we stayed and made friends with a Spanish gay guy and a guy from Penn State named Everardo. All was jolly until... Ash noticed her wallet was gone.

The contents of her wallet included all forms of id, cash, credit cards, passport, birth certificate, and social security card. If its going to be gone, might as well all be at once, right? It was basically the worst thing to happen, and at the worst time. Ever. It was the middle of the night on Christmas, the next day was Boxing Day (Which is the worst 'holiday' known to man. Lazy Brits.) and everything was closed, then it was the weekend. We reported it stolen to the local police, but had to head back to Cardiff later on Friday, so it didn't matter. We took the bus to Cardiff, then hung out around town and with her roomie, thankful for a free place to stay!

The next day she made it to the bank, who agreed to give her advances of 200 pounds without id, which was much needed. Then Sunday...it was time to head to Manchester to meet Sarah b. and Vanessa, friends from home :)

MARMALUND!!

2009-01-23T12:48:00.002+01:00

After an exhausting week working on an article about "green lifestyles" in Denmark, an exploring to an eco-village (basically a compound with a punch of people living on it in almost completely organic ways) it was time to CELEBRATE last night! Delish tacos and a box (yes, BOX) of wine later, we were settled in to watch the intensely popular Denmark-Norway handball semi-finals.

Now, when I think handball, I vaguely recall boys in high school itching for the bell to ring so they could run out and throw some stupid little ball against a giant green wall, or the side of a classroom if they were all taken up. They would play the entire brunch or lunch period. Such dedication... So when they asked if iI wanted to watch handball, I wasn't too thrilled. But no no no, this is some sick twisted version of both soccer and basketball. Played on an indoor court, you can only take 3 steps with the ball (like a small volleyball) without dribbling, or passing it on. There's a goalie in front of soccer goal posts, hoping to catch the ball before it goes in. 2 halves of 30 minutes each, one point every time you score. Simple.

Guri (our very own Norwegian Viking) was rooting for her team who needed to win to make it through, thought we would be seeing our Danish male counterparts crying at some point during the night, and used this to lure us over to actually watch. But no, not even Marmalund could help Norway play better. Denmark won 32-28, and then it was all over. Virtually the least painful sports experience of my life.

Because I'm obsessed right now...

2009-01-20T20:02:00.003+01:00

MGMT: Kids

Trolle Siebenhaar: Numbed

Hush: If You Go Breaking My Heart

A visit with mama...

2009-01-16T17:59:00.009+01:00

She came to visit!! And I definitely needed it, if not only for the hotel rooms and eating meals out, but just for the hugs :)

The first weekend we dillydallied in Amsterdam, took a horse and carriage ride, a canal boat tour, went to the Van Gosh museum, typical tourist things!

Then we spent some time in Utrecht, climbed the hellish Dom tower (a 2nd time for me!! my thighs felt it, too...) and did some shopping and relaxing..

Then it was on the Hague, which was beautiful in its own right, but we went on a Wednesday when there wasn't much to do. Went to the "largest' outdoor market in Europe, basically all Turkish/Middle Eastern, ate some yummy food, and saw Twilight!

On Friday we went to BRUGGE! Easily one of the most beautiful places I've been, ever. We arrived after dark, but the lights around the main plaza glimmered off the still wet cobblestone streets. I loved it! The next day we took another horse and carriage ride and explored all the beauty the small city has to offer.

After that, it was on to Brussels. A big city with not much quaintness to offer, but we enjoyed ourselves. In the Grand Place market, we scored a table at a little restaurant and watched the whole plaza light up, with a drummer pounding into the night, and ballet and other dancers on the second floor of the main building.
Of course, we wandered to find Manneken Pis, the 2 foot tall statue of a little boy peeing that apparently saved the town by peeing out a fire!

It was a great trip, and I love my mama more than ever :)

UPDATE!

2009-01-11T20:35:00.002+01:00

So sorry it has been FAR too long since I've written. And basically, sooo much has happened! My last post I was still in school in Utrecht, slaving over stupid assignments that I feel I never did well at. It was so sad to end the semester. I had SUCH an amazing time, and just fell in love with the city in general. More than anything, I will miss that the most :(

Since then, my mom came to visit and we went to Den Haag, Brugge (BEAUTIFUL!), and Brussels, then back to Utrecht to pack my shit before leaving to the UK. On the 22nd, I took a BUS to London, met up with Ashley and then partied for Christmas. We went to Cardiff for a couple of day, then up to meet Vanessa and Sarah B. in Manchester, then on to Glasgow and AMAZING Edinburgh!

Such a great trip, and details and photos will come soon :)

LOVE TO ALL!!
Happy holidays :)

Happy Birthday, UDHR.

2008-12-10T23:39:00.001+01:00

Prop 8 Musical!

2008-12-03T20:51:00.001+01:00

Star-studded humorous attack on the government. Good times for all!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Someone forgot to tell me how bloody COLD it gets here!

2008-12-01T18:07:00.007+01:00

Ok, well maybe someone briefly

mentioned something, but I

refused to listen. My b.

This is the view from our house last weekend, before we went to Brussels on Monday.

It was so perfect, being on the train to Brussels, with snow falling all around us, like a Christmas card. True story!

Anywho, we stayed in Brussels from Monday morning until Thursday afternoon.

We were late the first day, and went straight to the European Commission press

center for a couple of hours, where we were "lectured" by 2 people on Euro econ,

then had 3 journalists tell us all about reporting life on the EU. Later we all went

to find our hostel, then to a place called "Fodo Factory," which ended up being

terrible and tasting like Denny's, but more expensive. Either way, we headed to

an Irish bar and had a good rest of the evening.

The next day we had to be up before the crack of dawn, around 630, and after taking the worst shower EVER, consisting of a drizzle of water down the wall, and then a normal amount shooting 7 feet across to the opposite wall, therefore not allowing for any normal flow for normal showering purposes. grrrr..

We headed back to the press center, where we had a FULL day ahead. More speakers, more Sarah sleeping. Then we headed to the press area of the European Parliament, sat where they had press conference, and talked to the old Prime Minister of Belgium. (He loves chocolate and waffles, as his body proved.) From there we went to a lunch at a Spanish restaurant where met the spokesman for the future EU presidency, the Czech Republic. From there we went back to the press center for more lectures/sleeping, then back to the hostel to get ready. We were going to a dinner provided by the European Journalism Center, and it seemed like an ok place where students would eat, but no no no, we were wrong.

Although there was free wine, the first course was a small glass of some sort of fruity-foam thing that was not delightful, then 2 lumps of something pureed that looked like hummus and was really good, but turned out to be PIGEON!!! worst.surprise.ever. then, there were carmelized onions and with a piece of prosciutto wrapped around them, and carrots on top, and then a piece of FOIE GRAS on top. What is that fancy French word, you ask?? Small DUCK LIVER! Ugh. Gag me. It sounds nice on Top Chef when they make it for every dish, but to think of the poor duck being fed practically till it explodes just ruins it all for me. I couldn't think of anything else, and although it was kkiiinnndddaaaa good, it tasted like cheese and thats weird.

Then there was a fish dish, that I actually ate AND liked, followed by a yummy dessert. And lots and lots of wine! It was necessary. We went out to an empty bar with some of our professors afterwards, then to a little dance club that could have been gay? We're still not sure, but my guy friends were confused.

Definitely stayed out too late, and the next day was muy dificil para todos. More lectures, then on to the European Commission press conference area, where the EC President Manuel Barroso of Portugal. The place was packed with journo's, so it was cool to see it up close and personal. Even though I did fall asleep for a short bit :) After that, we had a free afternoon that consisted of Meryl and I heading back to the hostel for a long, refreshing NAP! So, so good.

We all got ready to go out (room with 6 Americans and 6 Germans...lots of makeup and hair products and perfume) then wandered around until we found a Thai restaurant. DELICIOUS! I got the highest level 3 spicy, and while those of you at home probably wouldn't be phased, (especially Nikki and Barb) my mouth was ON FIRE! For a good 5 minutes I couldn't talk or breathe or anything...it was awkward. And Chimay, while tasty, does not overcome spicy.

After we met up with everyone at Delirium, a world famous beer house with over 2,400 beers from around the world!! It was so cool...they had a giant book that you could look up beers by their type or where they were from. Either way, we had a good time but stayed out pretty late, and the next day was a bit brutal. Everyone else either went home or to Luxembourg, so we went to have a "Thanksgiving" lunch at the Cheesecake Cafe, which unfortunately, was owned by the same people that ran the Food Factory! I hate them. But I did have real French onion soup, so no complaints here.

After a long train ride home, I fell asleep around 830pm and woke up at 2 the next day, and it was glorious! This weekend was uneventful, but I bought some cute new clothes today so all is right in the world. Thank you H&M, thank you :)

Love to all!!!

It's snowing!!

2008-11-23T13:55:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I looked out the window and thought it was going to be a beautiful, sunny day, but 10 seconds later it was pouring rain. As it got louder, I realized it was hail! From that it turned into a light snow, nothing too impressive, but I was soo happy!

Now, we're sitting all cozy in our apartment, and we look outside, and its just beautifully snowing. And actually sticking to the ground!! I'm loving it :)

Procrastination is the name of the game...

2008-11-19T17:08:00.003+01:00

...and I am a WINNER!!

I feel like I am drowning in school work, but this just leads me to feel sad and mad about it and new shows online to devote my time to. In short, I've been in a bit of a depression funk, and I'm ready to get the hell out of it.

The last 2 weeks all has been well on the social front. Thursday turned into an impromptu bar crawl, where 14 of us wandered in search of a bar with room, but because it was a nice evening, everywhere was soo crowded! We eventually ended up at a "very Dutch" in Emiels words, bar where we drank like champs, and the Danish Jesper bought us shots called the "brain crusher" or something equally terrifying. The night ended with dancing at a place we went first, which is something we never seem to do, and I had a great time. Unfortunately, not all was fun because we were 'celebrating/mourning' Amy's last day. She decided to leave the program and head back to Ohio, apparently it just wasn't her thing :(

The next night was again all about Amy, and we went to a place our teacher took us during the first week, a bar inside an old abbey. Sinful :) From here we met up with a German guy who did the program last year and his 2 Spanish friends, then off to Filemon, a dance club I had yet to go to and was anxious about. Until we walked inside to HOARDS of gentlemen. I mean, I liked that the odds were in my favor, but it was just weird. But I was happy with the fact that they weren't as creepy and aggressive as American guys, and dancing with the girls was just what I wanted! (The 6 Euro vodka tonic was not though, boo.) That night ended in yummy falafel at, where else...FALAFEL CITY! (I can't wait for you to get here Mama!!)

Saturday I woke up at the ungodly hour of 1030 or so, then off to meet Leah at the airport. We met up with 2 guys from Gilroy, Gibbs and Neil, who have been traveling through Africa and Europe since sometime in August. This was a DISASTER, in the simplest form of the word. Instead of getting a hostel/hotel in the city center, they chose one by the airport. Unfortunately, it wasn't by the airport, and doubly unfortunate is that the airport is like 20 minutes away from the center itself. There was a lot of waiting/walking/waiting/bus transport/train transport/waiting/walking before we finally go there. Got some falafel and doner kabobs (sense a trend in my diet? eesh.) Then it was off to my first coffeeshop! I didn't participate because I'm not down with the whole "doing drugs" thing, even if they are legal, but they had a good time.

We found a small bar down the street and sat and talked for awhile, and watched 2 elderly men play a game on the most protected 'pool' table I had ever seen (3 different layers of cover..) when it finally was free from the grasp of plywood and table cloths, it wasn't even what we think of as a pool table! Only 3 balls, and no holes. I was very confused, but let it slide because who wants to knock 2 old guys about their weird sporting habits.

Then we journeyed through the Red Light District, which is much, much different at night than on a sunny day, let me tell you. Stopped in a bar that played only the most random of music, saw a parade for gay rights run by, and then made our way out again to another bar. This one was called "The Blarney Stone" and made me happy because I miss the one down the street from my apartment in SF :( By this time, the beer was definitely kicking in, only to realize it was only about 830 pm. The day seemed sooo long, and it was so dark, we had no idea! Very odd indeed. We stayed there till around 1 or so, then decided to call it a night. We headed back to the Central station, pockets empty, and got back to the airport. From there, we ate a deliciously late Burger King meal (shoot me now) and waited around. We thought about going back to the city, but then the trains were only running once and hour, and we missed the bus that only is once an hour back to the hotel. The we waited for close to 2 hours on the wrong side of the bus station, and didn't catch one back to the hotel until 4:52 am. Upon arrival at the hotel, the key cards didn't work and we had to bang on the door for the cleaning guy to let us in. FUN!

The next day was a little brutal, but I ended up leaving them and heading back to Utrecht to get a start on my homework. Of course, I got on a train I had never been on before. All I wanted was to get home, but I took the longest. way. possible. What should have been 50 minutes took about an hour and 20. I was so confused! But eventually I got there, and my bike was safe and sound, and I peddled me way home to comfort.

Monday night we went out to see ALPHABEAT! Another one of the greatest shows I've been to. Tivoli is a great venue, sort of like the Catalyst in size, but being in the 3rd row also helped. They put on an amazing show, and one of the lead singers, Anders (theres 3 guys in the band named Anders, wtf??) was soo into it, you could see the passion in his eyes, and through the sweat that continuously dripped off of him. We stayed after and just danced around, then went outside and on of my danish friends started talking to a guitarist, who he had gone to high school with. Somehow, he convinced the band and everyone else to come to the bar we were at, and while I tried to talk to the female lead singer who kind blew me off (water under the bridge, I'm over it now.) just being close to them was cool enough for me. I'm such a small town girl, its embarrassing. Who would have though I would get star struck over a band thats not even really famous yet?? Eh. Anywho, another late night but sooo worth it :)

I guess it's back to my studies, I'll post some pics later.

Smooches :)

The question is...now what?

2008-11-06T19:36:00.004+01:00

I had been sitting in a bar, surrounded by people, when around 5:30 in the morning, it all becomes so clear why we had been waiting. CNN, breaking news: Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. It's a moment that will not only forever be engrained in my head, but also my heart. Of the people around me, there may have only been 10 or so Americans, but the feeling of joy instantly spread. But there was another feeling...a feeling of hope, of change, or finally turning 8 disastrous, deceitful, embarrassing years around to strive for what America is really about.

Being here has shown me how people feel about Americans and the American government. While some people can't seem to grasp the difference between the two, the results of Tuesday night may finally shed some light on how we will finally work together, have our voices heard, and live up to all we can be without exploiting others, and even ourselves.

While I thought being here to hear the European viewpoint on the entire election, it also made me incredibly sad that I couldn't be amongst fellow Americans who depend on Obama to steer us off the path to hell and back in the right direction. Although the actions of the US no doubt have an enormous effect on the rest of the world, celebrating with them just didn't mean the same things. Their reaction was more of a "finally they did something right!" kind of thing, while Meryl and I sat their with tears in our eyes and exuberance in our hearts.

Although nothing can take away from exactly how happy I am about President Obama, I am still processing the fact that Proposition 8 passed with such high numbers. Yes, it was a close call, but 52.5 to 47.5 isn't close enough. 400,000 votes weren't close enough. How can we pass something so natural, so beautiful as the act (not even the RIGHT) of marriage, and then just take it away? How can those voters look themselves in the mirror everyday, and not see a homophobic, discriminatory, hateful person staring back? It really is beyond me.

It's times like these I thank God for my parents and grandparents, who see the good in people no matter their sex or skin color, and rather than hate because of differences, love because of commonalities. I was raised by people that not only love me immensely, but love other people just as much.

I hope one day, people will see the errors of their ways. While I don't exactly know how I stand on the whole issue of religion, I do know that there was no single man who decided just how and why you could judge someone for who they are, when he is the one who (supposedly) created them. I am a big believer in "agree to disagree," but sometimes just can't find it in my heart to allow these blatantly hateful people to overcome.

At any cost, Obama is in, and the world is ready for some much needed change.

January 21, 2009 will be a glorious day for the record books :)

The Great Dutch Pumpkin Search of 2008!

2008-10-30T16:01:00.004+01:00

Martin and

the Witch's

Brew

Everyone together!

Meryl, Jena and I all had the AWESOME idea to carve pumpkins, and assumed they would be easy enough to find, but maybe just because we are USED to them being in high demand. Anywho, it was not the case. More people in our class found out about us doing it, and all wanted to join, so we wound up needing 8 pumpkins! Not only could we not find any, but then we had to find enough. Meryl and I split up on our search, and shit hit the jackpot with 8 at only 3 euro! It was an excellent find. But the whole "carrying them home" thing wasn't exactly on our minds. I think I swerved more on my uneven ride home then I ever do after a couple of beers. Which might not be saying much..

Anywho, landed home with pumpkins in tow, and waited for the groupies to show up. Jena and Martin (the new couple! We'll see how that plays out when we'll be seeing each other everyday for the next 8 months...) came and made a "Witch's Brew," that was incredibly awkward looking. Reminiscent of Brownies, where we made punch from 7up and orange sherbet, but with the glorious addition of orange juice, grapes, and bottle of champagne, and a good amount of vodka. The sherbet god all foamy and sat on the top of the glass, giving you an orangish foam 'stash every time you took a sip! But like I said, we see each other everyday so pretty much could care less.

But then the carving started, and all was right in the world. Hannah and Nina (German girls,) and Emiel (typical Dutch boy) came also, and Ahinara my roomie. We all thought about doing patterns, but in the end decided it was a) too much trouble/time, and b) just not creative enough!! So we opted for the original style, and I think it was more fun that way. Our knives weren't the best, and I ended up cutting off all the teeth on mine, so he just had a big stupid grin. But I pulled the guts out from the inside, so he looks like he's puking, which adds a little character I guess. Mine was the meanest looking what! Is there some psychological message there...?

Either way, it was really fun to teach our foreign friends one of our little traditions, and they were all so excited! It was probably also a way to forget about the 4 papers and exam we have next week..but who cares. Tomorrow night is our big Halloween party, and I'm so jealous because Meryl found a costume, meant for a 3-5 year old, and can FIT in it! She gets to be a dragon, and I am eternally blessed with a large ribcage.

Can't wait for tomorrow :)

These boots are made for walkin'

2008-10-27T21:20:00.004+01:00

Photos:

Checkpoint Charlie

Holocaust Monument

Berlin Wall Memorial

Berlin by night from the Reichstag/Bundestag

Brandenburg Gate

Tapas Bar, El Tigre

Plaza Mayor

El Parque del Buen Retiro

Madrid Bank

Wow. It feels like time is just FLYING by! I can't believe its almost Halloween, and 2 months are already gone :( At least I can say I'm loving my time here, and have nothing to complain about except the lack of time left to explore and learn and live.

I guess I'll start with last week and my trip to Spain. I flew out on Thursday, the 16th, to Madrid to meet LEAH! It was a nice break from the rain, even though it wasn't exactly warm in Spain either. As of then, she was living in the Tetuan area, pretty far from the center where most of her other friends live. We met up with the girls later in the evening, and then went to a tapas bar called "El Tigre," super popular and very crowded! It was amazing though, you practically yell to the bartenders, and somehow they hear you, and you end up with a giant beer in your hand, and with every order, you get "tapas," or small plates. Croquettes, patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a mild spicy sauce) tortilla espana (egg/potato omelette on french bread) that has NOTHING to do with the tortilla we know and love, and other yummy things. It was a good night, and I got to meet all of her friends, who were all from California. It was nice to be able to reminisce about things I miss from home, and I even met people from SFSU!

Leah had class Friday morning (sucker!!) and when she got home we got ready and went shopping around the city center. Leah bought some euro clothes and tights, but I refrained and waited until later to buy only food and drinks :) We went to a surprise party for her friend Jackie, and it was nice to get to know everyone with yummy food and good music. I kind of forgot how it is to party with Americans... especially being from California where we do everything the same. I missed my foreign friends teaching me how they live and drink and talk... it was different. (But then again, aren't I the foreigner? hmm...) Anywho, I did meet a girl who has a boyfriend in Aarhus, and was telling me all about it, so now I'm looking forward to it more.

Saturday we slept in, and then met up with one of the girl's boyfriends so he could give us a tour of Madrid. The rest of Leahs class was in Segovia, where I really wanted to go, but they wouldn't allow people that weren't going to the school to come along :( We walked and walked and walked, then sat and drank Sangria for a long while in Plaza Mayor, then were so tired we wanted to go home and sleep. By the time we got all the way back to Leahs, we napped for about 45 minutes and then thought we could still make it out, but eventually we came to the conclusion we were just too tired. We just watched movies and ate chocolate and drank wine, which was nice for a Saturday.

Sunday we woke up really early to go to the Rastro, a GIANT flea market winding through the streets of Madrid. Things were super super cheap, but after awhile it started to all be the same pashminas and tights and jewelry and weird nik naks that we decided it was time to rest for a little. Leah and I went to El Parque del Buen Retiro to just people watch and enjoy ourselves. We made it an early night because Leah had class in the morning and I wanted to get homework done before my flight, so we just watched movies and chatted, and ate chocolate of course :)

Monday after class Leah rushed back to get me to the airport on time. I made it there, but NO NO NO, nothing can go right in the land of Sarah. I completely missed my flight, and after crying in the airport by myself, I was able to reach Leah and tell her I was coming back, and then re-book another flight, even though it was more than I probably spent on the entire trip, including my first flight. Not happy about it, but I needed to get home and Spain is actually much farther than I thought.

It's funny how comfortable I am here though. Although I don't understand the language, the culture makes sense somehow. Even though riding the bus or in the market or cafes I am completely unaware of conversations around me, its nice to be blissfully oblivious. In Spain it was different. For some reason I can't describe, I just wasn't comfortable. I know enough Spanish to get me through and around, but there was always a feeling of being an outsider, being vulnerable. Maybe it was because I don't look like most Spaniards, but can easily pass for being Dutch? And it was the first time I referred to Utrecht as "home." As I was crying to the travel agent, I said "I just want to go home!" and I realized that it finally feels that way. As much as I love traveling, the idea of having somewhat of a home base keeps me going.

Anyway, after a long an exhausting trip, I made it here in one piece and was never more excited to be on solid ground, and thankful I didn't have to ride my bike home! I was only here Tuesday and Wednesday, because early Thursday morning we left for BERLIN!!! And I fell in LOVE with it.

Thursday morning we piled into 2 vans, with a teacher driving each one, and began our long journey to Germany. It should take about 7 hours for the average driver, but our professor felt liable for all of us, and drove SO SLOW, even on the autobahn, which technically HAS no speed limit...and from years of road trips with my bro and dad who refuse to stop unless you really can't hold it in, stopping for 30-45 minutes 3 times was a little annoying. Nothing is quick! We all just wanted to get there, and it seemed never-ending.

Anywho, we got there around 630 I think, checked into the super cool graffiti-filled hostel, and then took the metro to the Brandenburg gate and Reichstag. There was this really cool "Festival of Lights" going on in the city, so the gate was all lit up, and the view from the top of the Reichstag was really impressive. Breathtaking actually. Or maybe that was the cold...

We went to a cute, cheap Italian place and I sat next to Arie, our history professor/group director, and Eveline, his administrative assistant. It was fun, and then we headed to a bar on the corner called the "living room," that made amazing caprihinas (Brazilain drink). The decor was really cool because it looked like an old hotel room, where nothing matched, and one wall was entirely forest wallpaper, and a giant chadellier hung down in the middle. We were a little tipsy, then headed back to the guys hostel room, which was like an apartment! We were SO jealous! They had bought some "christmas beer," so we drank those and had a good conversation, until some lady started banging on the wall and we realized it was close to 4am and time to go to bed.

Friday: EARLY morning! Woke up at 730 for free breakfast from 8-9, then headed to the Dutch embassy. I don't really know why, maybe it was more for my professor, but it kind of seemed irrelevant when we could be exploring Berlin. But on the other hand, the embassy was pretty freaking cool. It was designed with a whole "transparency" theme, so there are all these windows and cut outs, and the offices have no real walls or cubicles. All the doors slide sideways or swivel around, there are these awkwardly amazing angles and corners, a rooftop balcony, apartments in the other building and a "penthouse" for the second guy in command, and tons of artwork, even some of Queen B by Andy Warhol. Jesper was really hungover from the night before (as expected) and it was a nice change when we finally got to go to lunch in the sunshine and cool breeze. After lunch we went to meet up with a guy Arie knew who showed us the Berlin wall, from the bridge point where it was first torn down in 1989. It's crazy to think how such a life changing event happened, but theres no real marking of it on the site. Its just a simple bridge, with people coming and going in everyday life, yet the part of the wall in the center that have less significance are the ones the tourists always see....

From there we walked along the wall, through what was called "no man's land" between the 2 walls, on the East Berlin side. We made it to the monument where a church was torn down, and there is a viewing tour to climb and get an aerial view of everything. The area is just now, 19 years later, starting to build up and mend the 2 sides together, but the park where the main part of the wall still stands, is always full of people and a really beautiful, relaxing place to be.

From there we headed to meet Arie and Eveline for drinks with a German correspondent working for an American newswire, who was only 26 and pretty much doing what all of us hope we can do someday! It was inspiring, but also leveling because he was so straight about not getting paid very much, how he loves it but its not the glamorous reporting job so many hope for, etc. What he did do was show us a good Mexican restaurant, and all 5 of us American girls were the first in the door! By the end of dinner we had 4 bright red sombreros, and Arie had bought us shots of tequila. The phrase of the evening, and now the entire trip, became "When in Germany, do as the Mexicans do." That led to another night out, but we were pretty sleepy and when we ended up at the living room bar again, I called it quits and went home to wash my smoke-scented hair :( One of the best parts of the NL is the no smoking inside! rule.

Saturday was another early morning, but after bfast we were turned lose to travel on our own. Merly (U.S), Guri (Norway), Ditte (Denmark), Sofia (Portugal) and Simona (Lithuania) headed to see the Holocaust Monument, which was more moving than I ever thought cement blocks could be. From there we walked through the Topography of Terrors which documents war in the area of the bunkers of the Gestapo/SS in WWII, to Checkpoint Charlie, which wasn't so impressive, but still standing. It seems like so long ago that anyone would think of dividing people with a wall, so primitive, but only 19 years ago were these people "free" to move freely. If it seems to me like ages ago, how do people younger than me feel?

After we went to the Stasi museum for the German Secret Service during the war. The cutest, kindest old woman was our tour guide, and she lived through everything from its inception to when it ended, and gave us such good insight to how life was during WWII and the Cold War, and how nobody trusted anybody. The most interesting where the tactics the SS used to spy on people, through mini cameras in button holes and the amount of people working for the SS that no one would ever assume.

We had more time after, so Meryl, Jena, Mads, Martin, Jesper, Emiel and I walked along Karl-Marx-Alle (not my video, but a little view of it), stopped for a beer, then continued walking back to the center to see some of the Festival of Lights and find some grub. Everything was super expensive and overcrowded, so we ended up at another Italian place near the hostel, with yummy yummy lasagna, and then back we went to change because we were all supposed to meet up for a big night out. All in all, we ended up at a nice bar on the corner near the hostel for a few drinks, but most of the girls went home and it was Adelija (Lithuania) and I and 3 of the boys. Its funny that it always ends up being me, Jena, Meryl, or Adelija and the guys, because the girls never want to go out, and they end up being some of the best nights of my life :)

Sunday was the last early morning, and after a quick bfast we were all desperate to get on the road! I was in the all-girls car again, and the trip back was shorter, even though it started pouring about 2 hours before we got home. Welcome to the Netherlands! And it was pitch black, so the bike ride home was very long indeed.

All in all, I loved Berlin. One of the place I think I will DEFINITELY go back to this year, especially since it is much closer to Aarhus and will be gorgeous in the spring. I'm still shocked though, because I always pictured myself somewhere more "exotic," like Spain or Italy, but am finding such comfort in the NL and Germany (after being there 3 times already!) And didn't feel that at all in Madrid, or in Napoli 2 years ago. I guess I am already finding out more about myself than I thought I would...

More than enough for now, I'm exhausted and need to do homework.

Smooches!!

It's been too long!

2008-10-14T21:21:00.008+02:00

Amsterdam, tourists

EVERYWHERE.

Laverne and her beautiful kids, Kimmy and Victor.

The Ruhr area,

steelmill.

Benji Hughes! And the cool bassist.

The government "eco" building,

Germany.

So sorry dear fans, I know you have greatly missed my witty repartie! Well, maybe not. But I'm back and ready to attack. Let me catch you up on a few things...

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before we (Krystle, Ahinara, and I) headed to Amsterdam to hang out with Krystle's family friend Laverne, who has 2 super cute toddlers with a man named Arnold. They live in a cute area near the center, in an amazing house from the late 1700's that they are redoing. After a brief walk around the city, in which I once again fell in love with Dutch life, lights over canals, and candles in windows, we headed back to Laverne's house for a "cooking club" with traditional mexican food. Guac, some sort of pork baked in banana leaves, homemade tortillas, chicken mole, FLAN, and of course....hand squeezed margaritas!!!

It was an amazing experience....2 from the Caribbean, 1 from Spain, 2 Dutch men, 2 Americans, and 1 Mexican woman who has lived in Amsterdam for 11 years. Her name is Blanca, and she has one of the most amazing spirits of anyone I've ever met. Like a mother, best friend, sister, and saint combined in one human. Who can speak perfect english, spanish, and dutch. I don't know what it was, but she just had this air about her that you couldn't help but notice, and it was so infectious. I hope I can leave that kind of impression on someone someday...

Sunday we were pooped and it was pouring rain, so we stayed in and cuddled under blankets while watching and eating Chocolat. Johnny Depp on a rainy day can never be wrong :) It was nothing fantastic, but I think it is one of those days that I'll remember forever...maybe being in an actually house, surrounded by good people, good food, and good vibes, or just a chance to get away from school and be really carefree.

Monday morning we had to be at the Central Station super early to head to the "Ruhr" region of Germany for our regional economy class. I was ready for it to be terrible, but we had a bus drive us around to see these old steel mills that have been renovated. One is a museum that you can tour, which was stunningly gorgeous in the rain. They use old pieces as playground equipment, installed a giant slide, and even teach rock climbing. They also have an amphitheater for big shows, and a giant old gas storage tank used to teach people to scuba dive....pretty crazy! The other one was on a much bigger plot of land, also as a museum but with a pool during the summer, and ice skating during the winter. Some of the buildings were designed by Bauhaus, and it is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. We also saw some cool eco buildings that use only solar power and steam from the ground for power. Its like bio dome....with apartments, a gym, a library, classrooms, etc. Its a government building for "teaching" apparently. Anywho, they're trying to revive all these areas and I think they did a fantastic job.

Then on Thursday, Meryl and I randomly tagged along with Guri and Ditte for a girl's trip to Amsterdam to see a concert at Melkweg, and it was one of the BEST I've been to. The opener, Benji Hughes, is probably a little bit insane, but thats why I liked him. He has a huge beer belly, ripped clothes, a beard like ZZ Top, and a voice like an angel! I think he was much better live than his recorded music, but he was so versatile, if I closed my eyes I could picture him singing a million different songs. Anyway, he opened for Jenny Lewis, who is most famous for singing with Rilo Kiley. She was definitely channeling Janis Joplin, but she has an amazing voice, and her band was right on with everything. She is dating one of the guys, Jonathan Rice, who was actually in the movie Walk the Line, and his music is also pretty fantastic. It was so cool to be in a foreign place, with a crazy language, but everyone came together because they like her music, and it didn't feel like I was so far away from home.

I had a very, very lazy weekend involving lots of laying in bed and watching movies instead of doing homework, and I definitely think I was a little depressed. Not by anything in particular, but no motivation to do anything or talk to anyone, and I don't know why. But Saturday I had coffee with some girlfriends, and then we headed to our Dutch classmate Emiel's house for a "cocktail party" which was one of the best nights of my life! I met a lot of new people, and had some good conversations and got some dancing in. Just what I needed :) They like to party late though, so my friend Adelija and I didn't leave until 6am! But once in a while is completely normal in my opinion!

Lazy days again on Sunday and Monday, and we are on break this week so there is not much to do, and a lot of people are out of town, exploring the world. Meryl and I met up with 2 of the Danish guys, Mads and Jesper, at the Irish pub, Mick O'Connels. Cheap beer, fun music. And people kept riding by dressed as pirates, and then a group of people dressed as carrots. Weird... We decided to head out and when the Cafe Belgie, that has over 200 beers from everywhere in the world...heaven, you could say. It's very popular and usually really crowded, but because of the break it was sort of empty, and we ended up leaving and heading to the Nieuwde (most likely spelled wrong...), a big square in the center. But it was also empty! We just kept riding along, and ended up at this really cozy small bar, and continued the good conversations. I learned some new Danish phrases to prepare myself for next semester, and then when this big old man who had a smashed face like a bulldog came over and started 'politely' insulted the intelligence of both Americans and the Danish, we knew it was time to go. Plus, it was almost 4am. I think I have officially achieved nocturnal owl status. Thanks mom! :)

Last but not least, I'm off to MADRID tomorrow to stay with Leah for the weekend!!!! I can't wait. It just started raining here again, and I'm hoping Spain will be better. I'm so excited, and will report will all the details when I get back.

Smooches!

PS....Im sending in my absentee ballot request tomorrow, so wish me luck that I will have time to vote for the big O-meister!!

PPS...Happy birthday again, Brother bear!! Love you :D

Oktoberfest!

2008-10-01T21:07:00.002+02:00

Was AMAZING. That was our vocabulary word of the day...everything was just simply amazing, no better way to put it!

We left later than we thought on Friday afternoon, and after 9 of us climbed into the van (very clown-like indeed) we headed in the direction we thought we should be going. Until the freeways switched on us! It's so much easier to blame the freeways rather than our own lack of direction, and either way we ended up in Gouda. And we didn't even stop for cheese! Such a blatant crime.

Anywho, back on the road and in traffic, and about 10.5 hours later, we finally arrived at Hannah's house in Munich. Longest drive EVER, I will tell you. Her parents were actually up and welcomed us into their beautiful home, and instead of going out as planned, we watched McCain and Obama duke it out on CNN until we fell asleep. (Coma-inducing!)

Saturday we had a leisurely brunch at the house, then took the train into the city to see some sights. Sadly, we just missed the Glockenspiel that rings at 5, but the atmosphere in the city was amazing nonetheless because of the festival, and Jena bought a pretty dirnd to wear as our "Heidi." (Think: St. Pauli Girl) We had dinner at a cute Italian restaurant with GINORMOUS pizzas, and got started preparing for the next day with a few beers at a Mexican place down the street. We headed back to Hannah's around 12, for the big day was rapidly approaching! Jena and Jesper got a little too drunk, so the next morning was a bit of a killer.

We all woke up around 630, got ready and left the house by 815. Impressive for 7 people! Met up with Nina at the train station, then....stepped out into the most amazing carnival I've ever been to! We got in line at the Hippodrome tent, which opened at 10, waited for 30 minutes and then got a prime location at a table meant for 8 in the center of it all. Our waiter, Florian, (who had a twin named Patrick who was not so nice...) accidentally brought us 9 beers, and then forgot to charge me for mine, so it was starting off nicely! Then he brought my food and forgot to ask for money again. I think I only paid for one beer all day! They were liter size, and 8.30 Euro, so I was a happy camper.

Our tables ended up being in a reserved area for some reason, so around 3 we were kicked out to wander the insanity. There was food (pretzels and wurst!) everywhere, along with games and fun houses and roller coasters. We sat at a beer garden outside, I made friends with a Canadian girl and her bro, and 2 Aussie girls, and we all had an amazing time. No complaints! It was a long day though, and when we got back to Hannah's at 11:30, I pretty much passed out as fast as I could. The next day I didn't fare so well, but took my motion sickness meds (which are remarkably wonderful, I must admit!) and fell asleep in the car for the journey home.

All in all, the German countryside is gorgeous, I experienced a little bit of their food and culture, finally saw the sky lit up with stars, and bonded with the people I know think of as close friends.

We have a week long break in 2 weeks, and I'm considering the possibility of going to Madrid to see Leah, if I can find something reasonably priced. Wish me luck!

should I be paying attention in class?

2008-09-22T18:25:00.002+02:00

It's funny to think we are so anxious to lose our innocence, and one it's gone we seem to envy those that have it. As you get older, you seem to gain a different sense of that same innocent quality; you have seen and experienced more, but either by choice or age you seem to forget about it. Why are we so eager to grow up, start a career, start a family? Looking back, I think we may regret it.

Sometimes I can't help but laugh. People take themselves so seriously, and I don't understand it. I don't expect to only have good experiences or not live up to society's expectations of what is required for me to succeed in life, but success is only what you make of it. I don't see why you shouldn't have fun along the way. If it's true that we only get to live once, why not take advantage of every opportunity? As I write those words, I know I don't practice them. I came here to change my life because I was bored. I don't want to change myself, but I want to be changed and influenced by those around me, those that challenge me to prove myself and think for myself, not follow the crowd.

Most importantly, I just want to laugh. While people may not always understand my humor, I genuinely think I can see the good in every situation. Although I can get upset easily, looking back I see where certain instances have affected and changed me, and am confident that while in the moment, I've been positive for the most part.

Living here has been easier that I thought it would, or should, be. Speaking English in and out of school only helps the situation, but I can't imagine how the other kids are feeling. My goal is to meet more foreign people and most definitely become friends with the locals. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I better make the most of it. I don't want to look back and feel like I didn't try, I didn't do it right. Didn't achieve everything I thought I should. This will change my life. This is my life.

And I can't wait to travel. Paris for New Years? Munich for Oktoberfest? Ireland for Christmas? I can't believe I'll actually be away from my family for the first time. Hopefully I'll find someone to adopt me, or all the orphans can ban together and have our own special holiday.

It's weird to think about how much I love it here. I was always itching to get out of Gilroy, knowing I was destined for a bigger place. And San Francisco suits me. Populated, but in a small geographical area. New York, LA, and Chicago will never compare to the love obsession I have with the foggiest place I know. But as much as I love it, there is something to be said about how quaint it is here, how genuine everything is. I didn't get to experience Amsterdam too much, but what I did see were tourists. Utrecht is much more than that. It's a small city, but the center proves me wrong everytime. Especially when it is sunny, there are always people out, on bikes and on foot. The air is clean. There is rarely traffic, and when there is, rush hour is from 9-1030, not 530-830 like the US.

People here just don't try so hard. Things get done when they get done, but the Dutch hate being late. Almost every cafe, restaurant, and bar has outdoor seating, with huge umbrellas to prep for the chance of rain, which is inevitable. And while going out for a meal is much more of a big deal than at home, going out fro coffee or a beer is completely normal. And these occasions are prolonged, anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. People love to sit and talk, friends come and go.

It's such a different feeling to not have a job either. I want to look into it, but feel it would sacrifice my learning and leisure time. I heard once that Americans don't know how to relax, and now I believe it. These people aren't lazy- they just live their lives how they want to, and I admire them for it.

An American vacation consists of jam-packed outings and excursions, no time to yourself. There is no chance for even a glimpse of relaxation. Rush to meals, eat quickly, pack everything in. What happened to enjoying your food? Enjoying your much-earned spare time? Enjoying each other's company?

Americans also keep to themselves. Here, everyone is talking and chatting to each other on the train, in line at the supermarket, riding by each other on their bikes.

I have already run into a ton of American stereotypes, but can't say that I don't fit into some of them. I may not be an expert on anything European, but I am making an effort, taking a chance, and trying my hardest. It really rubs me the wrong way when people say Americans don't want to learn about the rest of the world. In our educational system, we have to take it into our own hands in order to learn anything specific about Europe or China or Russia. It's not until college that we are even offered the chance to take classes geared in that direction. And it's obvious we don't all make it to college.

How can someone from Finland say we don't want to learn, when we aren't ever given the choice? (True story, btw.)

Becoming a global citizen works both ways, and it's not only up to the Americans to educate themselves. If you think we're ignorant, maybe you should take more than 2 seconds to judge me and help me learn, rather than criticize me for not knowing everything already.

interesting...

2008-09-15T18:30:00.003+02:00

In a conscious effort to NOT continue with my economics reading, I find myself here, looking for a distraction :)

I only have 5 classes (the others have 6 due to an english course, boo!) but I have 2 econ classes, regional and european, lord knows if I'll ever understand the difference, a European history class, an investigative reporting class, and "Utrecht views" and a web design class that coincide so we get our stories up on the website. (I'll post the link here when it's finally up!) Our classes are at maximum only 2 hours, and only once a week. This week we only have school 3 days, but next week we have 5 days. It's definitely odd how the schedule is worked out, because 4 of the classes end at the end of october, and then 3 more start. Something along those lines...very, very fishy!

We're also headed to Rotterdam this week for an econ class, and to Berlin October 23-27 for "class." I've heard Berlin is super cheap, so I'm excited! I could use a break on my wallet. Also, our 2 German friends are taking us to Munich for the REAL Oktoberfest! I am so stoked...they're also trying to get us to find a traditional drindl (the dress the women wear) but so far they are looking pretty expensive, even though it would only add to the experience to get to dress up.

I've also been meeting a bunch of people in our living area because it is all students, there was a party next door on Friday and we had come people come over on Saturday, and on Sunday there was a little pot luck/social thing in front. I met an Aussie girl who is planning a trip to Barcelona (determined to go!) and to Ireland (also, a necessity.) I told you I should have taken out a loan mom!!I know it will get pricey, but since I'm here I really want to be able to see as much as I can. So that WHEN, not if, I come back, I'll know where I want to go.

The one thing I am completely aware of is the language barrier between all of us. Although we all speak English, the foreign kids think it's easier to talk amongst themselves because they aren't as embarrassed as they would be in front of "native speakers."

It's honestly starting to bug me! I know they are nervous, but I make such a conscious effort to understand what they are saying and help them, that I don't understand why they continue that way. Maybe it's a personality thing for some people, because others don't seem to care and they really try. But I feel like people don't want to talk as much when I'm around for fear of saying something wrong, when I could really care less if their english isn't perfect :(

Either way, I'm still having a great time. The weather continues to be gorgeous, and things are looking up all around. Although we did make a trip to IKEA the other day, only to find the bedding set I paid 50 Euro for was most likely no more than 20 Euro, and they probably got some sort of insane discount for buying in bulk. These people are just sucking the money right out of us. So when they send an email saying we are too loud during our parties, I will tell them to do something productive with their lives and stop stealing money from poor college kids that have no direction in life. GRR!!

On a brighter note, I made an amazing Mexi-breakfast today (although it was almost 3pm...don't judge me!) with eggs, refried beans, potatoes and a tortilla, and it made me feel right at home :)

Grocery shopping is probably one of the funniest things to do here, because you have to just look at the pictures and hope you're buying the right thing! And the peanut butter...whoa. The one I bought is semi-normal according to my friend Meryl who bought something not so normal, but it still has a twinge of weirdness. And its coarse...like sand. Very odd flavors and textures all swirling around! But hey, its a learning experience.

Another is living with someone who has only previously lived with family. Ahinara (Spanish girl) is soo sweet, but has these crazy ideas of how it should be to live people and cleaning and buying immense amounts of food when we have no where to put it...very odd. But I know its an experience for her too, so we're all adapting. Even when Krystle spends time in her room for days on end...

And last but not least, I am going to the BEST concert on November 17! It's a Danish band called Alphabeat, and I'm obsessed. They are playing here, and are getting super popular so I'm sure it will be an awesome show. Can't wait :)

Smooches!

experience

2008-09-10T23:48:00.002+02:00

Walking around, Dutch boys are very, VERY cute! Looks, yes, and also their demeanor. They seem so much more polite, and even a little shy. Not like cocky American boys!! Anywho, I was looking forward to meeting some at the International Drink Night our school program sets up every week. We went to Ivana and Meryl's before, and it ended up being 8 of us girls gossiping and talking politics (many of whom knew more about our country than I do...that was reassuring. bleh! They are SO excited for the elections, I can't wait to see what happens!) and we rode over in a big bike gang to the bar after.

Long story short, I met a creepy Dutch guy that at first pretended to be Mexican, but nothing gets by me and my alcohol-numbed senses, and I saw through that one pretty quick!! He was obnoxious, so we went to go dance, and of course he followed, for the rest of the night. Some people just don't get the hint! I talked to Katie about it (who lives in my room in SF now!) and her advice was as follows, verbatim:

"In these cases it's good to know phrases in Dutch like, 'I hope my third nipple turns you on!' or something else like 'I'm so glad when I was 13 I decided to have the sex change to become a full girl because you're hot!"

Great advice, and I didn't have to sit on a couch or even pay for it. What are friends for??

Even with the creepy creeper, the night was REALLY fun (out till 530am fun...!) My favorite part was when I looked over and saw a boy holding an onion, and nibbling on it. Just for fun, because he can. Boggled my mind, but I kind of fell in love. Oh, the simple things in life...

love :)

It's been a week!

2008-09-08T19:31:00.002+02:00

I guess nothing tooo exciting has been happening in these parts. The weather is INSANE, and it was pouring all morning and I didn't want to get up, but then I went out for coffee with a friend and then the sun showed itself for the rest of the afternoon.

Our house is finally starting to look like a home...and I like being here. Even if there was a spider joining me in the shower this morning, its much, much better than it was. Ahinara (from Spain) and I bought some things to clean and make it look more home-y, and we finally got our 3rd addition!! Krystle is from the Netherlands Antilles, actually St. Martin in Caribbean. Both of the girls are gorgeous and sooo nice! We've formed a pretty good, instant bond, which i feel is lucky compared with some of the other people I've talked to. But it's hard not to get caught up in speaking english really quickly, because I feel like sometimes Ahinara doesn't get to catch all of it, and I don't want to leave her out.

And I think I'm finally learning to stop mumbling! In my class there are 2 Lithuanian girls, 3 Dutch kids, 4 Danish, 1 Slovakian, 3 Germans, 1 Norwegian, and 1 Portuguese, so speaking clearly is imperative.

We are having so much fun already! Friday was really rainy, but we had a (free) group dinner and a little Italian place, then a bunch of us went to an outdoor cafe under a big umbrella (it had mostly stopped raining by then) and sat and talked and drank for a couple more hours, and then split in different ways. I went with the group who wanted to party, and we ended up at a club that had a drum'n'bass show. (Old folks: look it up!) It's like a techno-mix-y vibe that is virtually impossible to dance to. Most of us hung out at the bar while one of the Danish guys danced his heart out (gotta give him credit for trying...) and then went to the "Maria" bar, which is the local bar for all us INTERNATIONAL kids. These places are open till 5 or 6 and that in itself boggles my mind. We ended up getting separated from people, so I hung out with Jesper and Mads (2 Danish boys) and talked about random things, and apparently it's been decided that the American girls (there are FIVE of us...) are cooking Thanksgiving for everyone. I'm totally down with that! But I don't even know where you can buy a turkey, and I'm kiiiiinnndddaaa not sure if I want to go looking. eesh. You never know what you will find here!

Saturday we had a little pre-party at Meryl and Ivana's, then were supposed to go to an "international" party at a club called Woolloomooloo! I liked the name, but the place was hotter than hades, so 6 of us went to a little Beligan bar and had some yummy beers :)

On Saturday I also went with Krystale to meet her "buddy," a Dutch guy that was sent to meet her and a Polish guy at the train station, and I ended up knowing more about the city than him because he lives an hour north, but we went to lunch and the Polish guy cracked us up because he was the only one drinking, and said everyone drinks after 11 in Poland, or before they go to work. Cool life, buddy. Cool life. He also brought her buddy a bottle of Polish vodka, and I was a little bit jealous :)

Yesterday was pretty unproductive, I had to interview my friend and then I had to write an article about him and these "old music festival" concerts we went to. They were odd, full of old people in wheelchairs that fell asleep. But hey, I finally got my stuff done this afternoon, so we'll see how the professor feels about that. I have to read 100 pages in my European history book by Thursday, and today I went to buy the book and they didn't have any! And the housing place wanted 405 more Euro from me, so I had to go raise hell and tell them they are a little slow in the cabeza.

After Meryl and I went for coffee and talked and talked, and the sun came out, and then we got some ice cream, and it was magical!! So far so good, I'll try to take more pictures!

Love all of you :)

Finally settled!

2008-09-01T19:51:00.002+02:00

After wandering alone last night for what seemed like forever, I finally found my new apartment! This really nice cab driver had picked me up from the train station, took me to school to fill out my housing paperwork, came back to pick me up and take me to my place to drop my stuff off, and then over to the dome tower for the tour I had to meet up with and would have been late for, without his assistance! It may have been expensive, but so, sooo worth it! Unfortunately I didn't get a good look around, so when the sun set I was completely lost, and theres a ton of construction so the street doesn't go all the way through and you have to go around, thus making me confused.

Nevertheless, I was stoked to arrive. Until I began to explore. The other 2 roomies weren't here yet, and it was dark so I closed all the curtains and turned all the lights on. First off, its like a rustic cabin. Second, its obviously a converted senior facility, based on the raised toilet seat and handrails, as well as the handrails in the shower and little seat. Not to mention the emergency call light switches! WTF. My mind is thoroughly boggled. It wouldn't be so bad but being on the first floor is kind of weird, I've never been down there before. Also, and toilet area and shower are in separate rooms like most dutch houses, but they're also in a separate hallway, near the front door that has a huge glass window! Very odd indeed. And this place is NASTY. The floors aren't even clean, and there are spiders everywhere, hair in the shower drain, and a moth that won't go away. Plus stray cats wander in if you leave the door open.

Either way, My room is finally settled and it's not so bad when I don't think about the bathroom and vow to spend as much time away from here as possible. It's relatively close to the center, and in a cool little area that is walking distance. I'm going to buy a bike tomorrow!! Hopefully I don't fall flat on my face.

Yesterday we took the worst tour ever, with our guides getting lost and taking us to the same place 3 times, the blistering sun beating down on us (but I'm totally soaking it in before it's gone!!), and the fact that our table was the very, very last to get served and everyone left before us. Fun. Don't mess with a hungry girl's food people! I'm doubting these Dutch fellas.

We climbed the Dom tower, the highest point in Utrecht and I think one of the tallest in the Netherlands. Being that height=465 stairs. Yes, we had to climb them. Hell NO I would not have gotten in an ancient elevator anyway! But it was claustrophobia+ancientness+sweaty people+sweat me+hunger. Alas, it all equaled an AMAZING view! Definitely worth it.

Needless to say, yesterday wasn't the best day, but we had our first day of school today, free lunch, I got home ok, and I just met my first roomie, a fun girl from Spain. She will keep my spanish sharp!!

Love to my fans :)