I'm posting now because tonight is a big welcome party for international students at the disco here in Leiden and I don't expect to feel like typing out a big long blog posting when I get home.
Today was great, even with another 5 am battle with homesickness and oversleeping. Turns out I had my power adapter on the 'low' setting, which caused the time on my digital alarm clock to move more slowly than time itself (I counted, 75 seconds equaled a minute on the clock) so my alarm clock was an hour behind my watch, which was powerless to wake me up. I finally made it to the Plexus student center around 11 for an international student organization fair, which wasn't overly useful but I did throw my name down on a bunch of things so I expect to get a barrage of emails soon. The highlight was definitely a very kind Italian fellow engaging me in a conversation about the NBA in broken English - turns out he's a big fan but doesn't watch any games because of the time difference, so everything he knows he reads online. Dedication. After some mingling with people I knew we ate a big lunch of generic Asian stir fry ("Thai" it was not) and then headed over to a local music club to watch a student group rehearse a play. I'm not sure anyone came away from that experience with even the slightest clue as to what the hell the play was supposed to be about, and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the non-native English speakers to decipher what was going on through the heavy accents of the performers. Thankfully, it only lasted twenty minutes, and afterward we headed out in smaller groups for a tour of Leiden.
The tour was really tremendous. It was bitterly cold (they're expecting a freeze tonight) but Leiden is such a beautiful city that nobody seemed to mind. We caught a lot of historical landmarks, and saw good places to shop and eat. It's very striking just how well maintained each of these 400+ year old buildings is - every single one appears to have been renovated within the past decade. On a whole, it's quite the impressive sight. The Dutch aren't well known for their food specialties, but there seem to be plenty of interesting international cuisine restaurants around. The famous "coffeeshops" were pointed out as we went along, but compared to Amsterdam there are relatively few. We stopped halfway through our tour at a very nice pub to warm up, and I had some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had. The tour was also great because I met two more cool people, Americans (I know, I know), but very nice and interesting nonetheless. One of them, Michelle, marked the first student I've met from a Big Ten school (Minnesota - "The U" she said, to which I scoffed), so that was nice. After our tour concluded we went to a Dutch pancake house - Pannekoeken - and I got a massive ham and cheese pancake, which was delicious and wholly filling. They're a bit eggier than an American pancake, and less sweet, but the Dutch add syrup and powdered sugar to do the trick. Afterward we departed for home to regroup for the international student welcome party at Incasa.
Gate into Leiden.
Rembrandt monument.
Pannekoeken - ham and cheese pancake.
An imposing facade.
View from atop the citadel.
I've still got a lot to do - buy a phone, set up a bank account, ensure I'm officially registered for classes (exactly ZERO people understand this amazingly convoluted Dutch system), and talk to the people in housing about getting on the room switch waiting list (though today I made my return trip home in the freezing cold in a speedy 15 minutes without any issues... I'm telling you ladies and gentlemen, look out for these calves come September). I'm looking forward to taking tomorrow easy, figuring out some of this stuff, and watching the NHL SuperSkills competition live at 2 AM Sunday morning. Sunday should be similarly low-key, though I think I'm going to go to the British pub in town and watch the Arsenal match like a pro before retiring back to Oegstgeest, perhaps unpacking (there's a thought!) and then watching the NHL All Star Game Monday morning.
I'll post again either later tonight or tomorrow morning with how this party goes - I've been invited to a pre-party get-together with my mentors, who have been nothing but wonderful so far. I've been told by them that the place we're going - Incasa - is generally terrible, but everyone from ISN will be there so it should be a decent enough time. At the very least I can keep expanding my friendship base.
Yep. T.I. outside a Leiden salon.
For all of my photos, visit My Flickr.
EDIT: Somehow I forgot to mention how awesome it was to stay up and watch Michigan beat Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Nice to have something go right for Michigan.
Also, special acknowledgement goes to Liz, who is nice and has been helpful with my whiny transition to friendlessness from across the pond. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment