Day 27 - 32 - PARIS Megapost

I'm sorry this took so long, Mom and Dad. It's daunting. Pictures at the end, on Flickr eventually, and on Facebook.

Day 27 - Recovery

Incasa Friday night/Saturday night was fun, but I woke up in a terrible state, and it took an entire day of laying in bed to rally in time for the Paris bus later that night. We had a good Rijnfront meet-up before Incasa, and we basically all danced the night away together, which was fun. I don't think a single soul would have guess that I was Jack White, even as I was a spitting image of the man, but it didn't matter. Multiple people said "Yes!" to Michigan.

I met up with Kyle at Leiden Centraal around 9:15 pm and we headed to Den Haag, where we boarded a bus for Paris. The bus is pretty cheap, especially booking a bit in advance, and is comfortable enough if you're sitting next to someone you know. It was snowing as we left, and the bus driver was a bit surly/bizarre, but the ride was fine. I got to rest some more, we stopped for a while at a truck stop in Flanders (first time in the motherland!), and we made good time.

Day 28 - PARIS!

We arrived in Paris around 6 in the morning, and Kyle and I navigated the Paris Metro (more on this later) to the neighborhood of our hotel, which was easy enough to find. We were hoping to be able to drop off our luggage, but when we arrived the doors were locked, and we had to rouse someone with a buzzer. He looked annoyed until he realized we had a reservation for later, and he let us check in well ahead of the scheduled check-in time. Relieved, we got to nap for a couple hours, waking up around 10 to navigate to Notre Dame. The Cathedral is really beautiful, and impressively massive. I have zero idea how such fine details were possible so long ago, but the thing took 200 years to build, so that should say something.

We met up with a free tour group for a jaunt through the Latin Quarter, which first included some history of Notre Dame which I'm sure was interesting but most of which I don't remember now. We visited some other historic churches, Shakespeare and Co. English bookstore where various famous English authors stayed in Paris, some Roman ruins, the homes of Hemingway and Descartes, the Sorbonne, and the Pantheon amongst other things. The tour was a bit dry, and the weather a bit shit, but it was a good introduction to the city and good way to see some stuff that Adam didn't mind missing. Afterward we headed back to Notre Dame to go inside - it was really crowded, but the stained glass windows were worth the (free) price of admission. After Notre Dame we grabbed sandwiches on the street, which were really great (first real food in ages), namely because the bread was pretty fantastic.

After Notre Dame we headed over to my personal request, the famous Centre Pompidou, home to amongst other things the national modern art museum. The outside of the center is eccentric and breathtaking, and I was really looking forward to checking it out. They had an exhibition on De Stijl which was a neat White Stripes connection to Paris, but it cost extra to get in (we bought Paris museum passes which got us in basically everywhere and paid for themselves really quickly) so we decided to check out the Michel Gondry film festival that was going on downstairs. We found out that Gondry was putting on a month long film festival of his own works and works that inspired him, and tired and needing to kill time until Adam arrived, we decided to go see the film playing that day - Hibernatus (1969). We knew it'd be all in French, but embraced it anyway. The theatre was pretty crowded, and as we waited I spotted a familiar face that startled me. Michel Gondry - who I had no expectation of actually being there - was in fact in the audience, and he gave an interview (en francais) before the movie. That was really exciting - the unplanned portions of the trip always are - and even though the movie was bizarre and hard to follow, it was an enjoyable experience. Afterward Gondry was in the lobby signing a few autographs, and I managed to snag one, which was really amazing. He was really nice, made it out to me, and when I told him I was from Detroit and loved his White Stripes videos, he mentioned that he'd like to build a filmmaking studio/artist's space in Detroit. Wouldn't that be something?!

Afterward we headed upstairs to see the impressive modern art collection, which included a bunch of Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky. The visit established what would be our preferred museum speed for the rest of the trip - appreciative but brisk. After more resting we headed out and strolled through the city a bit, including a walk around the outside of the Louvre and great views of the Eiffel Tower.

We met Adam, in from Leiden via Utrecht, at the Metro near our hotel and after a short rest headed to the Sacre Coeur, in the Montmarte area, right behind our hotel. It was a long walk up the stairs of the hill to the top, but it was worth it for a very impressive view from the top - even if it was less impressive than one would expect. The problem, though, was that everything was super seedy up there - people hawking cheap tourist shit and drinking - so I was happy to move into other parts of the Montmarte area, and got my first Parisian crepe - jambon et fromage - after ordering completely in French, which was exciting. My French proved to be sufficient to get us around and have basic interactions with people, but it was too easy to also use English. My pronunciations are amazing, if anybody cares. The crepe was delicious even on a still upset stomach, and I was happy to get back to the hotel and call it an early night (probably the first time I've fallen asleep before 3 AM in years - passed out around 11).

Day 29 - MOAR PARIS!

Monday was action-packed. We woke up early for a breakfast of croissants and jam with a gaggle of British school girls, and then headed off to the Champs d'Elysses to see the Arc de Triomphe. Walking out of the Metro station you're immediately greeted by that famous monument, and it was quite the impressive sight surrounded by a giant whirling mess of cars. We walked around it for a while, and I took a moment at the tomb of the unknown soldier, which is one thing that will always cause me to tear up (military cemeteries are another - I can't even look at pictures of Arlington). We walked up a massive spiral staircase (Kings of Leon was stuck in my head) to the top, which displayed incredibly impressive views of the city. It was sunny and a bit hazy, but there were awesome views down the radials, and a cool view of the Eiffel Tower. After some photo-opping on top we made our way down and strolled the Champs d'Elysses for a while - it was less impressive than I though it'd be, but still cool to be there.

Our next stop was the Louvre, which was just breathtaking. After wandering rather hurriedly through the Dutch Golden Age section, I proposed we split up and reconvene later, which was a tremendous idea. I got to rest my weary legs often, while still basically seeing all of the Richelieu and Denon wings, which included the magnificent Napoleon III apartments, and various masterpieces, foremost amongst them obviously being the Mona Lisa. Different from my unexpectedly negative reaction to the Red Light district in Amsterdam, I was surprised at how cool I found seeing the Mona Lisa in person was. Hokey as it sounds, I was entranced by that grin, and I got chills. The throng of people taking touristy photos kind of spoils the moment a bit, but it was still awesome. The Italian wing of the museum was by far my favorite - the paintings just have a special life to them. On a whole, the Louvre was breathtaking. Every room is physically commanding and demands as much attention as the priceless pieces it houses. One of the things that struck me was just how impossible it is for me to imagine how people hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago were able to create immense statues or incredibly detailed jewelry without the benefit of modern conveniences. The best (feel free to tell me it's the worst - never really thought it out) parallel I could think of for a modern day creation to rival the intricacy and beauty of these pieces was the internet, but that's a thought for another time.

After the Louvre we took a pit stop at the Apple Store for quick internet time before heading out to Napoleon's tomb and the Musee de l'Armee - the military history museum. While inside was a bit of a dud, the building housing Napoleon's tomb was incredible - Kyle made a reference to the gilded dome being more impressive than the golden dome in South Bend, and that her Irish father would disown her for such a remark. The military history museum was really great - they have a great history of the world wars to walk through, and plenty of stuff in english. It was definitely my second favorite experience behind the Louvre, and is without a doubt worth a visit for any history buffs.

Afterwards we walked to the Eiffel Tower - as cool as advertised, and deceptively intricate and beautiful. We went all the way up to the top, which triggered my fear of (exposed) heights a bit, but was impressive nonetheless. Less than ideal visibility limited the view, but just being up there at night was enough. It's pretty crazy to think that 110 years ago, that structure was the tallest in the world - now it's dwarfed.

After a very full day we headed home exhausted once more, and watched The Fighter on Adam's netbook, thus checking the last Best Picture nominee off my list! The Social Network was my favorite movie of the year, followed by Black Swan and The Ghost Writer, but it looks like The King's Speech will win. Whatever.

Day 30 - Versailles and Crispin Glover

We headed out to Versailles Tuesday morning on the RER suburban commuter train - yet another awesome part of the Paris train system, which I have to imagine is amongst the best in the world. The palace upon arrival was a sight to behold. Such grandeur, such splendor, such GOLD! SO MUCH GOLD! Nuts. The palace was really impressive and just ridiculously decadent and opulent, but after a while the rooms started to blend together. It's kind of frustrating that the touristy-ness of the place diminishes the history that goes along with each of those rooms. The free audio guide was great, though, and helped establish just how special each room was.

The gardens of Versailles might have been my favorite part of the entire trip. The scale of those grounds is mind-boggling, and the beauty is undeniable, even before trees are green or flowers have bloomed. We spent quite some time walking through the gardens, which I couldn't help but imagine my parents would have adored (Dad especially - I get the idea you'd love Versailles). We also visited the Grand Trainon and Petite Trainon chateaus which were less opulent but still beautiful. I could have spent hours just sitting in the breeze in those gardens.

After we left Versailles we headed to the Musee d'Orsay, the last attraction we'd hit. As we were waiting in line I spotted Crispin Glover (you can't tell me it wasn't him - unless you've got a link) leaving, which makes two indie/cult celebrity sightings in Paris! The museum itself had a really cool collection of Van Gogh, Cezanne, Serat, Monet, and Manet, and I especially enjoyed the famous Van Gogh self-portrait and was blown away by the impressionist collection. The building itself is also very cool - in a former train station - but no photography was allowed inside.

Afterward we walked along the Seine back to Notre Dame so Adam could go see it, and afterward grabbed another tremendous crepe - CREPES ARE THE BEST THING WHY DON'T THEY EXIST IN ANN ARBOR? I'm opening a crepe stand and it's going to be awesome.

We made it back to the hotel, and ended up watching Pineapple Express later that night, which is always funny, and perhaps improbably UNDER quoted. Another early night to bed was much needed.

Paris Takeaways

Paris was really great, and it was a whirlwind trip. Bullets? Bullets.

• The Paris Metro is incredible. It's remarkably efficient, we never waited more than a minute for a train, and I never felt in any kind of danger like some people had warned about. It's obvious that Paris wouldn't be "PARIS" without such an awesome subway/transportation system.
• It's seedy after dark. I guess that's all big cities, but I didn't like the vibe when the sun went down at all. I was happy to be at the hotel each night.
• The multicultural aspect of Paris is really cool. People from all over the world call the city home, and it makes it lively and interesting. That's what Detroit should be shooting for.
• Speaking of which, who the hell called Detroit the Paris of the Midwest? I guess that was during Detroit's boom times and the reference had to be cultural, but at least physically, Detroit doesn't resemble Paris in any way.
• I'm glad I travelled with other people, because it's just nice to have someone to talk to, but it was also obvious to me that I could do such a trip on my own if I wanted to. Most of the time I was the one taking charge and making decisions, which is fine by me, and it was good to feel like I was doing some leading. I'm proud of being assertive, opinionated, and decisive when it comes down to it, and I think this would make travel on my own possible. I'm obviously not the most outgoing person though, so a trip alone might be a solitary affair - which may or may not be a good thing ever so often.
• I call Leiden home now. This is cool.

Day 31 - In Transit

Wednesday was basically spent entirely traveling home to Leiden. We stopped in Brussels and Antwerp, but not for more than pitstops, and it'll be interesting to go back with the family in June when it's warm and not SNOWING.

Once I got back to Leiden I spent too many hours catching back up on the internet. That's about it. Really, not interesting.

Day 32 - Oh Yeah, School

Class today! Urban Inequalities continues to baffle - 1/3 of the way through and I'm not sure I've learned a single thing. It's essentially a show and tell for the Americans about what their cities are like, and I have no idea what class would look like without "Mr. Detroit" to spend half the class talking. Whatever. I'm looking forward to writing the paper at the end.

Went to Jacketz, a baked potato place, with my buddy James, and had a delicious chicken salad baked potato. Really great. We're planning a trip to London in a few weeks that should be fun.

Came home, messed around with the internet, and finally got around to uploading pictures and blogging (it's taken me 1.5 hours to write this basically without stopping). I should probably do some reading for class tomorrow.

This weekend is a goofy college party/basketball tournament at the University gym here for teams from all over Europe, which should be a fun time, but I'm also unsure what internet access this weekend will be like, so expect another blog on Sunday evening.

Pictures!

Look at that tourist.

Napoleon's tomb.

Grand Trainon.

Such a tourist.

So impressive.

What you know about gold?

Hey girl.

Decadence.

Tourism.

The out of focus-ness is actually kind of cool.

Town halls here are better.

Notre Dame.

Love you all, thanks for reading. Please post any comments here, hit me on Facebook, or email me! It would be great to hear from you.

Day 23 - 26 - Swampsters Unite

On the one hand, I feel bad that I'm not as eager to blog every day now, but on the other hand that's probably a good thing for the integration process. Here's a recap of the week that was. This will probably be the last post before I head off to Paris tomorrow night (unless I take my laptop, which is doubtful), so look for something again next Wednesday. It should be an epic post.

Day 23 - Tuesday

I don't really remember doing anything on Tuesday. I think I might have gotten my official course registration paper signed, finally, but if I already blogged saying I did that, whoops! Oh yes, I did my first assignment in The Netherlands on Tuesday! Two months without any class work whatsoever probably made me a little rusty, but it was oddly comforting to have school work again. It's still really annoying to not have access to wi-fi in some of the university buildings - pretty inexplicable, really - but at least I'm less distracted when I'm doing my work.

Day 24 - 2-1 TO THE ARSENAL!

I registered at the Town Hall in Oegstgeest, officially completing my legal residency in The Netherlands (while still waiting for the residence permit to arrive via mail). So that's kind of cool. I got a laundry card, which was beyond necessary at this point, but the three washing machines for 500 students were all full when I checked so I put off doing laundry another day. I tried doing some reading but couldn't focus, as I was far too excited for the Arsenal-Barca match later that night at the Emirates.

I managed to drag Stephen, James, and Chase to Bad Habits to watch the game, where the draw had a big crowd buzzing when we got there. Barca went up 1-0 early, and held that lead well into the second half before a great strike from Rotterdam's own Robin van Persie made it 1-1, and embattled striker Andrey Arshavin made it a shocking 2-1 for The Arsenal late in the second half. Arsenal held on, and I was genuinely overjoyed. I think I'm transferring a bit of Arsenal pride to the other American guys, and I look forward to watching the big matches at Bad Habits.

The frenzy from the Arsenal match transferred into the rest of the night as we made it to the "Flirt Night" thing at Einstein's, where everyone got a number, and there was a board with a nail for each number - want to flirt with someone, write a note and stick it on their number. I was generally less than successful, but I blame that on my number falling off. Oh, and the GIANT RIP DOWN MY PANTS. Unbelievably, the first night wearing some really great fitting Dutch jeans, I drop it too low and the pants absolutely shred down the backside. It provided some funny times, but a bit annoying to only get 1/2 a night's worth out of those jeans.

Day 25 - SWAMPSTERS UNITE!

Class today! The novelty, class. Urban Inequalities is a puzzling class. We haven't learned much of anything, and it's basically a show-and-tell for the Americans to talk about their home towns (as the Dutch students in my classes don't appear keen to talk in class). I like the class, but 25% of the way through it and I haven't gain much of anything from it. Maybe the essay at the end will be the best part of the course. Dutch culture class remains boring, but easy, so no complaints. We're vaulting through centuries of history in single class periods, which is simultaneously overwhelming and boring.

After class I grabbed a couple groceries, came home, and did laundry. I conquered the TINY washing machines and notoriously poor dryers, so that was good. My roommate Lizi, from China, made an awesome three course meal to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival (I think?), that consisted of mussels with a tasty onion and garlic sauce, ridiculously tender chicken bathed in a cinnamon (I think) sauce, and rice balls. It was really nice to have a meal with Lizi and Martin and just talk for a while.

Afterward I hopped on Facebook to discover that a group had been made for the residents of the Swamp (Rijnfront housing!) which was long overdue. I discovered that a friend actually lived directly next door to me, and a bunch of us organized first a run to McDonald's for stroopwafel McFlurries, and then we headed out as a crew to a bar in Oegstgeest, which was really nice. We socialized for a few hours over pitchers, and it's really nice to know that there is a solid group of friends in the Rinjfront, and that we don't always have to go into Leiden for fun. We're planning a RIJNRAVE that'll be the talk of the town. The Rijnfront isn't so bad, after all.

DAY 26 - InCasa + Paris Prep

I got an email this morning (though I woke up at 3 pm) that I have the chance to switch into Kloosterpoort student apartments, but I think it's a sign of the times that I'm not really considering it. It might be a pain to ride to and fro, but I like the Rijnfront, and it'd be a dumb idea to switch housing now and not know anybody in the new building all over again.

Doing a bit of Paris planning today. I'm beyond excited for this to happen. I can't wait to show you lot everything I end up doing. I think I'm most excited to see Versailles.

Tonight there's an ISN party at InCasa that I'm dressing up as Jack White for, and the Rijnfront crew is meeting up before hand for a pre-party, which should be fun.

Time to roll out of bed and find some food. Talk to you guys soon!

UPDATE! Just got a package from MOM! Love you MOM! This is the best! Also, the Dutch postman goes, "I have a package for Andrew... it's from MOTOWN!" and he proceeds to engage me in a five minute conversation about Detroit techno and how he played with pioneers Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. This country is hilarious.

Day 19 - 22 - Weekend Wrap

After what I'm sure has been quite the painful hiatus for all of you to manage, I'm finally getting around to blogging about my past weekend and Valentine's Day today. Let's do this. Pictures at the end and on Flickr shortly!

Day 19 - Intro Weekend

I departed on Friday with ISN-I for a trip to a small town in the Dutch countryside called Loon Op Zand, where we'd spend the weekend. The bus ride was shortish and uneventful - the main observation was how shit the Dutch highway system appears to be. It makes sense that a country that gets rail and bike transit so right would have a less than superb motorway system, and the Americans in our crew who are used to superhighways were all bothered by how congested and slow the Dutch highways were. We also passed some modern wind turbines, which, for such a progressive, green country are surprisingly few and far between. The Dutch countryside, while a bit monotonous, is very picturesque, with canals everywhere and each little village dotted with old churches and windmills.

When we arrived at our "camping" complex (a building with two rooms of bunk beds and a common room for eating/socializing) we split into four teams, organized by color, for the weekend-long "Ultimate Contest," which was basically silly team-building games that were fun enough but lost their luster as the weekend progressed. After a round of games and dinner, we had a "Wild West" party, which was basically everyone wearing jeans and plaid shirts. The party was a lot of fun - early highlights included dancing to Youth and Young Manhood/Aha Shake-era Kings of Leon with some Australians (Roj, I know you're reading this, despite your blogjokes) and laughing at the approx. 1 million beers the ISN-I crew had brought for the weekend. There were games, and dancing, and drinking - which was especially enjoyable because my bed was 20 feet away as opposed to 2 km. There was a bit of "USA! USA! USA!" revelry, and all in all a good, sweaty time was had.

Day 20 - CHEESE + Woods + PJ Party

I woke up in the fetal position with an assortment of goodies - somebody's glasses, purse, etc. - scattered about me in a bed that was not mine at the ungodly hour of 9 am. Terrific start. After breakfast we had a bit of downtime to recover before heading out to the cheese farm we were all so excited about. We quickly realized - on the half-hour TRACTOR ride out there - that we wouldn't actually be making cheese, but the tour was cool nonetheless. The cheese farmer we met has his own cows, and their milk is pumped directly into his cheese factory attached to his house. Making cheese is a surprisingly simple process, but this guy makes some cool varieties of cheese that we got to sample, which were all delicious. It seemed like the business was a family affair and that was it, which was cool - he had his young sons running around hamming it up for us, cats in tow. We also got to sample some fresh whipped cream, which was delicious. Overall I was very impressed with how everything he needed to operate his cheese farm was located on site, and it was cool to find out that he supplies 35% of his cheese products to the Albert Heijn grocery chain, which is the most high-end chain I've encountered here.

After the cheese farm, we returned to our base camp for more games (including tug of war in a bizarre indoor ancient novelty game center/sand pit) and then headed out into the woods in the rain to play a weird variation on capture the flag. The game was one of the dumber things we did, as it was dark and rainy and a bunch of people were just wandering around in a rather dense forest looking hopelessly for a tiny white flag, but at least at first it was calming to just walk through the woods alone. On the way to and from the woods we serenaded a girl who lived along the route whose birthday it was (the Dutch keep their curtains open all the time, it's part of the culture of equality that everyone have an open view, and we wandered past a birthday party - the sight of which caused some of the more outgoing members of our crew to approach and sing happy birthday), which was rather hilarious given our relative isolation.

We had a traditional Dutch meal of mashed potatoes, some other vegetables, ham bits, and sausage, which was filling but also kind of disgusting. Afterward we had a pajama party, which was another enjoyable night courtesy of the laughable quantity of alcohol available. I'm quite the dancer when I want to be - no, really - and I was bounding about the room having a gay old time most of the evening. Good times were had all around. The social side of life in the Netherlands at least initially appears to be a much bigger deal than the academic side, so it's good that I'm getting these social experience right off the bat and building a nice big network of friends and acquaintances - it's especially cool that I could count people from all over the world in that group.

Day 21 - Swimming? Swimming!

On our way home from Loon Op Zand we made a pit stop at an aquatic center, which was a bit strange but fun nonetheless. There was a pretty fun water slide, and our crew took over the outdoor heated pool with acrobatic pool shenanigans. One of the more interesting things came afterward, though, as we were all sitting around waiting to go. People were having discussions that trended towards political, and the Australians in the group unanimously expressed shock and horror with regard to American gun laws. It was really something. They were floored by our descriptions of gun prevalence and laws in the States, and could only offer up stabbings are a relatively common violence crime. They also declared the existence of pennies, "the stupidest fucking thing ever," which, yes, fair enough.

I slept most of the way home, though I was awake while we passed through Rotterdam, which I'd like to visit soon. I don't remember doing anything the rest of the day besides catching up on the last 48 hours without internet (Mubarak officially gone, Wings win, Michigan hockey sweeps OSU, Michigan basketball beats IU, SO MANY EMAILS AND FACEBOOK NOTIFICATIONS).

Reflecting on the weekend, it was a really great experience, and I'm happy I decided to do it. I got closer to the friends I already had and made new friends in the process. This adventure in Europe is supposed to be all about exploring and doing, and this past weekend was great. I'm over three weeks into this now and I'm feeling more and more comfortable each day.

Day 22 - Valentine's Day

Lazy Valentine's Day for this most-eligible bachelor. Picked up a letter confirming my official legal residence in the Netherlands, which is kind of cool and symbolic. Went grocery shopping not once but twice, which is just about the best feeling in the world. I've been keeping my meals really simple (like, painfully simple) and these bread balls filled with different Asian chicken varieties they have here are amazing. Beats the hell out of Hot Pockets.

Aside from that it has been a pretty lazy day. I'm working out the details of a trip to Paris for this upcoming Sunday-Wednesday, and zeroing in on when I'm going to visit Rachael in Copenhagen, which is exciting. Travel has proven to be a bit more expensive than I anticipated, but I also have never bought anything significant in my life and I figure the best way to spend some of my savings is traveling around Europe. I'll never get a chance to travel like this again, and I'm determined to get to as many places as I can.

Busy week ahead, I should be getting into "2 more hours on the internet before bed"-mode. I should blog again soon. Thanks for reading everyone! Love you all.

USA! USA! USA!

The not-so-successful Big Red Machine.

PLAID.

Too good to not include.

Adorable family cheese farm.

Cheese farmer with CHEESE.

Days 18 + 19 - Short Update

I'm in a hurry to pack for this weekend's ISN-I trip to the Dutch countryside, so while I like having the "Days 18 +19" written down, not too much in the way of an update.

Classes are progressing, and I'm something like 1/6 done with all of them. Kind of ridiculous. I really need to start planning out my trips across the continent, starting with when I will be visiting Cory, Matt, Rachael, and possibly Chris (in Madrid). Lots to do!

I'm off on this trip and will be without internet and everything, so I'll be back with lots of pictures and stories on Sunday evening! Until then...

Day 16 + 17 - Amsterdam and PIC DUMP!

Too tired to blog yesterday, so naturally I'll give it a go when I'm super exhausted today. I'll dump a bunch of pictures here and on Flickr at the end.

Day 16 - Hortus and Sun!

Tuesday was great. The wind finally died down and the sun was out in full force. I set out in the morning on a lovely bike cruise into town and got my enrollment contract signed by my advisors, which was good. I also looked for books, which was frustrating and one of the more inexplicable things about Leiden. Books for classes are scattered throughout various stores around the city, and are only available in very limited quantities. You'd think there'd be some kind of central book store, or at least enough copies of every book. I set up shop at the cafe in the Social Sciences building (cafes in like every building ever is awesome) with a delicious chocolate muffin and did my weekly reading for Urban Inequalities, which was mildly interesting. It was about the effects of creating mixed-income communities, and how in the Netherlands it's largely failed to create any kind of social good. I'd read some of the studies they referenced for Prof. Greg Markus' Urban Politics class last semester, which was cool. Another inexplicable thing about this school - no WiFi in the Social Sciences cafe? Ridiculous.

One of the highlights of the day was going to Hortus Botanicus, the oldest garden in Leiden and one of the oldest in the Netherlands. It's a giant botanical garden that I image is gorgeous in the Spring, but even now without a lot of flowers in bloom it was really peaceful and relaxing. I sat down and journaled for a bit, and that was nice. I also got a Museumkaart, which, for 45 euro, gets me in for free to over 300 museums across The Netherlands, which I think is an unbeatable deal.

On my way home I decided to soak up more of the beautiful day and rode around taking pictures of the very architecturally interesting medical/tech campus. The buildings are super modern and photogenic, and the ride through that campus home is more scenic than the rather bland ride home along the Wassenaarseweg.

I was lazy the rest of the day, tried to do some more reading but failed, and ended up talking to my lovely friends and watching The Damned United, which I've been meaning to watch for some time. It was OK, better if you've got an interest in English football.

Day 17 - Amsterdams and Don'ts

I woke up early today and met James at Leiden Centraal to head to Amsterdam for the first time. The train only take about 25 minutes, and it really quite convenient. We got off at the beautiful Amsterdam Centraal train station and joined the throng of people heading down Amsterdam's main drag. Our first stop was the world-famous Rijksmuseum, which is unfortunately undergoing massive renovations and has most of it's collection off display. The building was still extremely impressive, and we got in free with our Museumkaarts. They have a ton of Rembrandt, including The Night Watch, and some very beautiful Vermeers. After the Rijksmuseum we made a pit stop at the "I Am sterdam" sign for very TOURIST pictures and then headed to the Van Gogh museum, also on the Museumkaart list. The museum follows Van Gogh's career from start to finish, which I was shocked to find out was so short (less than ten years!) and much more varied than I expected (lots of strange Japanese influences). The museum itself lacked any of the most famous Van Goghs but still had an impressive collection (25% of his total work) and had a room with Manet, Monet, Seraut, Cezanne, and a few more megastars that are slipping my mind.

After the museums we headed out to a fixie (fixed gear) bike shop and cafe James the bike enthusiast had found on the internet, which was pretty neat. The place itself was a bit overwhelmingly cool, as fixie bikes despite their simplicity are super expensive (think minimum 500 euros, some for 1000). They had great hot chocolate though. Next on the hipster tour was a really cool vintage clothing store. They had a pretty awesome selection of stuff but nothing I found fit me, which was weird. They had a bizarre amount of ironic American items like trucker hats and varsity jackets, which I guess is even MORE hipster here than back home. I got a really cool slate skinny tie for 2.50 euro, and I was elated. We stopped in next at a cool craft beer store called Cracked Kettle, where an American ex-pat from Boston guided us through the local Dutch craft beers, which were all intimidating. The store itself was 400 years old and super cool, and the American guy liked my joke about the Dutch beer "Natte" (supposedly very nice) being their equivalent of Natty Ice - which is when he betrayed his nationality and assured me it wasn't. All in all it felt like we were in a really cool section of the city that would be worth a day exploring.

Next we headed to the infamous section in the old quarter of Amsterdam with "coffeeshops" and the Red Light district. We first strolled through the Red Light district, and woof, that was terrible. I was shocked at how unsettled and uncomfortable with the whole set up I was, and I couldn't help but find it a horribly depressing place in the middle of this very progressive city and nation. I guess it's progressive to legalize prostitution, but in the process they've institutionalized epic sadness. The area with "coffeeshops" was pretty hilarious - the paraphernalia is as omnipresent as you'd imagine, and you could probably get a contact high just walking down the streets filled with the aroma of marijuana. All in all the area felt like Hash Bash in Ann Arbor - cooler in theory than in practice, and generally attracting a seedy crowd. I really wasn't impressed with either of these two sides of Amsterdam, and while I'm happy I went to say I have now, I wouldn't be interested in going back anytime soon. I feel like there are a lot better places in Amsterdam worth discovering, and that touristy garbage is a one and done type deal.

NOTE: A few months ago, Videogum.com posted a story about a drug addict named Monica who was entering a program that gave addicts Facebook pages and tried to get them to have friends in order to stop doing drugs. Or something. Monica lives in Amsterdam. The program isn't working, because I saw Monica numerous times today begging for money and being generally quite fiendy. It made me really sad, and it was incredible that I saw her.

I got home to listen to the first new song from The Strokes in 5 years, Under Cover of Darkness, which I've been listening to for the last two hours. It's great (Listen HERE). Tonight is also action packed with sports (MMB, Wings) and the series finale of Friday Night Lights, which is incredibly sad. The show is truly one of the best I've ever watched, and it's so sad to see great television die while awful television thrives. I'm sure the episode will be amazing though.

I'm going to try and get a bit of reading done and then probably end up watching the Wings or a movie. I'm looking forward to class tomorrow, should be interesting and fun.

Check out some pictures here and on Flickr.

The canals all look the same. That is to say gorgeous.

Amsterdam Centraal Station. Imagine the Michigan Central Depot restored like this.

Rijksmuseum!

A random church I was really impressed by. First floor converted to office space!

TOURIST!

Imagine this path with flowers in bloom. Delightful.
One of the Hortus greenhouses.
This is an academic building/Hortus. It's beautiful.

Cool medical building. Whole lot of these.

OH HAI JAMES.

META - Interesting Blog Tidbits

One of the things I've enjoyed most about keeping the blog is keeping track of who is reading it. Here are some screenshots of my stats tab. It's neat to identify people by the country they clicked on over from, and it's nice to know that the plurality of the blog viewers are using Macs.

EDIT: Not sure how to make the images bigger, but if your computing device has a zoom function, that should get the job done well enough. Sorry Mom, ask Joey to show you how to zoom on the Mac.

Day 14 + 15

I sense this thing trending towards multiple days rolled into single posts, but I'm enamored with the "Day X" counting, so I'm going to have to find a solution.

Day 14 - SUPER BOWL

Yesterday was action packed, a welcome departure from Saturday's laziness. First thing I got up and went into town to buy some groceries. My biggest hit discovery of this trip was the Dutch equivalent of Hot Pockets. They're round balls of dough, filled with Tandoori chicken, and they're only 1 euro at the supermarket. I anticipate buying hundreds. I also made my discovery of Doritos "Cool American" chips, the Dutch equivalent of Cool Ranch. They're less flavorful but still delicious. Buying groceries is now one of my favorite activities, and I feel tremendous afterward.

Cool!

Following grocery shopping I went over to the nearby University Sports Center for basketball practice with my team for the Intergalatic Tournament. We unfortunately got chased off our court by some programming, and ended up running a more technical practice in a fencing room, as there are a lot of newcomers to the sport on our team - it's for fun anyway. There were a bunch of boy's field hockey games going on while we were there, and that was weird to see. Play real hockey, guys. After practice we went back to Dani and Karen's new house, which they're renting from someone who is studying abroad. It's amazing. Very cool layout, in a nice quiet neighborhood. I'm extremely jealous. Our team name is Space Balls, and we ended up watching Space Balls as a bonding exercise - not as funny as I remember it from watching it 10 years ago.

After Space Balls I went to a Chinese place - Nieuwe Wereld - in Oegstgeest for Steve's birthday. The menu was really extensive, and it was pricier than I'm used to paying for Chinese, but it ended up being pretty great. There was definitely not the "Oh God what have I done," feeling that accompanies Chinese in the States. We got hot towels for our faces afterward, which was luxurious, and Steve got a flaming ice cream sundae for his birthday. All in all it was a good dinner, and Oegstgeest appears to be very cute. Some of the houses were massive, and I may be wrong about this, but it appears to be a bit of an upscale suburb of Leiden. Except for the Rijnfront.

Birthday boy with fireworks sundae

Then it was time to head to Bad Habits for the Super Bowl party. We got there a bit early and were able to snag the booth with the pillows, which would prove to be an awesome choice. People trickled in, and by kickoff there was a pretty solid crowd of Dutch and international students alike. Somehow, everyone seemed to be rooting for the Packers (Sorry, James) and I was fine with that with the one and only Charles Woodson in the green and yellow (Sorry, Lamarr). It was a pretty good time when it was all said and done, though the lack of commercials, and their replacement with a bizarre collection of ex-NFL guys nobody has ever heard of in some weird studio in London at every commercial break was less than terrific, but it just meant I got to have some good conversations instead. The novelty! It was kind of a battle to make it to the end of the game, as it ended around 4 am local time, but the dedicated amongst us made it. I rode back to the Rijnfront with Ariel, and the wind was cooperative and we made pretty good time. Somehow, 4:30 am wasn't a good enough bed time, so I stayed up talking to my Gumbgloo buddies, who are always just the loveliest.

I'd also be negligent if I didn't mention getting great emails from the parents, and I now feel compelled to give a shoutout to blogfan Cathy! Thanks for reading, I'm sure your kids will say nice things about you once they mature a bit and realize how great you are!

Day 15 - I'm really good at this sleeping thing

Woke up around 4 pm, which was great considering my late bedtime and lack of anything to do today. I've been lounging around, eating, interwebsing. I got an email from Rachael that needs a response and I skyped with Mallika which is always great - even if her internet connection is the worst and she's incapable of maintaining a video feed for more than 3 minutes.

Planning on getting some reading done today, and hopefully going to sleep at a decent time to wake up and be productive tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be on Facebook for most of the day, so find me there or on Skype if you want to chat (Skype name is amgodd).

Day 12 + 13 - WIND

Yesterday was pretty busy, and today has been pretty lazy, so I'll roll them into one post.

Day 12 - WIND

I went to sleep and woke up later to the most ferocious winds I've ever encountered, but more on that later. It was nice to bike to class, Globalization and the Market, with a strong wind at my back, and I settled in next to James again. The class itself is really small, maybe 17 students, and overwhelmingly Dutch in composition. The professor seems pretty knowledgeable and like a cool guy, and the subject matter is more anthropological than economic, which is good for me I think. We have an assignment in which we have to interview a person receiving this specific form of Dutch governmental assistance that is a bit intimidating, but I think it'll be alright. The reading load appears to be closer to what I'm used to, not that I'm ecstatic about that or anything. While in class, out of the window, James and I witnessed a girl get knocked off her bike by the wind (60 km/h yesterday, with gusts up to 90 km/h), which was simultaneously horrifying and amusing. She appeared to be alright, so I'm no monster.

After class I rode into town and went to the record store, Plato, I checked out earlier and got a ticket for the Cut Copy show in Amsterdam in March. Zonoscope has been one of my favorite albums of the year, so I'm really looking forward to the show. I think Adam is going to come with, and I might be able to talk Cory into coming across the North Sea for the show. After Plato I headed to the V&D (think JCPenny) to get another pair of pants, as it became apparent with the rain and everything that trying to survive with one pair of everyday jeans wasn't going to cut it. I was relieved to find sizes in a format I could understand, and even more relieved to find that pants are available in large volumes not only in 32/34 and 34/34, but also in the unheard of 33/34 - ah the benefits of shopping in a land where my tall, skinny frame is the average. Everything was on sale, so I got a cheap pair of purplish/wine/burgundy colored pants and a pair of slim fitting jeans whose tapered legs I simply couldn't pass up (since I've worried about my soon-to-be massive legs fitting into them). One of the other perks of shopping here is that all the bigger stores appear to have cafes in them (V&D had two!), and I got a pretty cheap/pretty good ham sandwich after my grueling pants shopping search.

Afterward I went over to the Common Room for a "Pimp My Bike" event that was cancelled by the gale force winds, but ended up getting talked into signing up for Disco Bowling later that night instead. Afterwards I headed home, on the way back battling the winds once again. The Rijnfront appears to be situated in a wind tunnel, and you have a straight 2 km shot riding directly into the gusts to get home. It was all kinds of awful.

I haphazardly made spaghetti for myself and then braved the wind to head back out. I flew down to the Common Room in record time thanks to wind assistance, and met up with Chase and Michelle amongst others. I really do despise bowling - there is a wholly unsatisfying relationship between effort and results - but I was trying to keep an open mind about the whole thing. We set out in a big pack riding our bikes there, and ended up taking what I must assume was a ridiculous route thanks to Google Maps, and finally perhaps 30 minutes later arrived at what had to be the classiest bowling alley I've ever encountered. It looked more like a posh club than a bowling alley, so that departure from the Downriver agglomerations of bowling pins and human depression was appreciated. I ended up bowling a high of 128, which was mildly satisfying, and won a bet in the process, though in such dominant fashion that it took some of the thrill out of it.

The highlight of bowling was this video coming on the TV screens. See if you can spot why. VIDEO LINK

The ride back was the stuff legends are made of. We were led on once again a terrible route, and this time against the wind. Several in our party were knocked off their bikes by the wind, and it took a level of exertion I haven't mustered in quite some time to make it back into the somewhat better protected city center. My quads were on fire, and the all told 20 km we biked in the wind were less than excellent - though I survived, and that's the important part I guess. I stopped in at another pub, Roebel's, on the way home but it was, surprise, super crowded, and I headed home early.

Day 13 - Rest

Today was basically squandered away resting. I had planned on going to Amsterdam with Adam, Steve, and Chase, but we scrapped the plans as the wind was pounding when we woke up and was apparently worse in Amsterdam - in all honesty, I was just too tired to get out of bed. The good thing about having class only two days a week is being able to go to places like Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam, or Utrecht basically whenever I want, so it's no huge loss - I just feel like I need to get on this traveling thing sooner rather than later! Plenty of time, though.

So I stayed in all day, watched Arsenal's historic 4-4 draw with Newcastle (Arsenal was up 4-0 at HT and became the first EPL team to ever blow a 4-0 lead), and then Man U's choke job against Wolves that netted a one point gain in the standings for Arsenal, crazily enough. I spent a good part of the day talking to friends back home, as has become the custom, including a really great chat with Emma and I received a terrific email from Mallika that I'll need to respond to after this. I'm not sick to my stomach missing my friends at this point, but I still miss them all very dearly. Again, it's these lazy days when I miss them most.

Fortunately tomorrow will be anything but lazy. I need to grocery shopping in the morning, and then I have basketball practice for this goofy team I'm playing on in this goofy weekend party/basketball tournament, followed by a viewing of Space Balls (our team name - the tournament is space themed). Steve's birthday is tomorrow, so I think I'm getting dinner with him and his crew as well. All of this leads into the most blatant and obnoxious display us Americans have had a chance to put on, as Bad Habits' Super Bowl party is tomorrow night/Monday morning and should be a really fun time. I'm looking forward to it, even if I hate both teams. At least either Woodley or Woodson gets a ring.

I really want to hear from all of you. Shoot me an email with an update on your life.

Days 10 & 11 - Pub crawl + Courses

I'm packing two very eventful days into one mega-post, so bear with me.

Day 10 - Pub Crawl

Wednesday was both productive and a ton of fun. I handled some business, and I'm creeping closer to and closer to being "settled." Wednesday's main event was the ISN-I Intro Dinner and Pub Crawl, which kicked off at Einstein's. The Netherlands is two-for-two in billing food as "Thai" and then not coming anywhere close to it, so I'll keep an eye on the international food situation. The "fast food" here is cheap Middle Eastern food served at snack shops, so at least that's interesting. The dinner was nice, and I hanged out with Adam, Steve, and Michelle, which was a good time. I was still ravenously hungry after my chicken dinner, so I was relieved when they brought the Dutch staple - fries and a very vinegar-y mayonnaise - to the table, my first time with this peculiarity in Holland (thought I think the pomme frites at the Cadieux are dipped in the same sauce).

After dinner, we headed out for the pub crawl. I was most excited about it as a chance to see other places around Leiden to head to, so that was nice. The first stop was a nice, small pub that our group quickly overran. I love the dark, wood-covered, laid back atmosphere of the pubs here - a much better atmosphere than anywhere I've ever been in America, granted this is mostly sports bars to sip a Coke and watch sports. We headed to Vi-Kings next, which was small and kind of shitty, but it's another sports bar location and appears to show ESPN America, which is good. Next, we headed to Proost!, the atmosphere at which was punctuated by flashing lights, but I got to sample my first Belgian beer, which felt like an appropriate thing to do. The next stop on the tour was called, conveniently, Next, and was by far the trendiest feeling bar we went to. It was upstairs, in what could pass as a trendy hipster loft in Manhattan or something, and had a decidedly different atmosphere than any of the previous places. The strange custom of singing at the top of one's lungs to Kings of Leon continued here, but they had snacks which was a tremendous development. Once we arrived back at Einstein's for the usual International Night it was absurdly crowded, but all in all a fun time. I got to talk hockey with Kyle, a student at Boston College, and she shared my hatred for Sidney Crosby (Caps fan). I got to see Dani and Karen again, which was great, and I was declared Dani's "Meant to be Mentee!" It was also nice, and this should be taken in the best way possible, that I was able to have conversations with people on my own without needing their help, which feels like a positive step. Only the second time at Einstein's and I'm already recognizing lots of people, which is comforting. I made the long bike ride home in the rain with Adam and Steve and survived, so all in all the night was a success. I ended up talking to friends back home again when I got back to the Rijnfront, and that's always the best.

I couldn't fall asleep again, shockingly, so I ended up reading more of Game Change, which was long overdue. Looking forward to getting back into it. I should definitely take advantage of all my free time to do more reading, I only wish I had thought to bring more books. The store I was at yesterday didn't have any books in English, but hopefully I can find a place that does.

Day 11 - First Day of Class!

I successfully made it to my class of the year, Urban Inequalities, and found James there - it's going to be great having all of my classes with him. The professor seems quite nice and the class is about 60-40 Dutch to international students. It appears to be quite the anthropological study of cities, which I'm really looking forward to, and I talked a lot about Detroit (I'll need to be ambassador!). I've been planning all along to keep a record of the cities I visit and compare them to Detroit and Ann Arbor, and at the end of my time have some kind of compilation of musings on different cities and how they strike me, so that will be nice if I follow through. The course itself is listed to run from 10-1, but starts at 1o:15, there was a break in the middle (at which point I got a delicious muffin from the cafe downstairs - all the buildings I have class in have cafes!), and we got out an hour early. The professor told us that this level course is generally mandated to have 600 pages of reading, but that she's going to go easy on us and have us read 200 pages over the semester. This is where things really hit me... University here is NOT like home. I'd have 200 pages of reading per class each WEEK back home, and to have the equivalent of a 5 credit social science class with only 200 pages of reading for a semester is mind-blowing.

Afterwards James and I biked over to the Lipsius building for our other class of the day, Culture and Society in the Netherlands, which a lot of my international friends are taking. It, once again, appears to be quite the cake walk - 12 course meetings, including 4 that are field trips or films. It's kind of astounding, really. My other course, which meets on Fridays, is Globalization and the Market, which should be the only difficult course I take this semester, just given my problems with economic concepts - ha! We'll find out tomorrow at 10!

James and I were talking about how University here is like what we would have dreamed up when we were in middle school. Classes start late, break in the middle, and end early. We only meet 12 times during the semester (once weekly, so I only have classes on Thursdays and Fridays each week), so I'm already 1/12th done with two of my courses. The reading is light, and there are minimal assignments when compared to UofM. This will be an interesting experiment in different educational philosophies, and I'm very curious to see if this style is more or less conducive to actually learning anything. This is a very highly ranked university globally (60/70ish), but at least initially the gap in rigor between this and Michigan (which is, after all, the best University in the world) is shocking, and makes me appreciate how wonderful UofM is even more. Can't wait to study here, though, so we'll see.

After class I went to a record store that apparently sells tickets for shows in Amsterdam, so I'm headed back tomorrow to get tickets to see Cut Copy at the Melkweg. I also stumbled upon the most bizarre find while there - a box set of vinyl, put out by a German record label, composed of like 60 tracks from 1960s Michigan teen punk bands. It's called Scream Loud: The Fenton Story, and was the most shocking thing sitting there in this little record store in Leiden, Holland. Amazon link.

On that note, I must also mention that I returned home last night to discover that The White Stripes had officially broken up. Having one of my two favorite bands break up was/is quite hard, but honestly, with The White Stripes, hardly unexpected. I got used to their hiatuses and everything, but I'll still be sad they're officially done. Thankfully Jack continues making music non-stop, but nothing he does will ever be better than his White Stripes discography. Just earlier that evening I bonded with a friendly Englishman over Jack. He said to me, right off the bat, "You know why I love Detroit? Jack White." Things went well from there. He and his buddy from Uni in the UK are the life of the party, so it'll be nice to be able to pull the Jack card with him, as weird as that sounds now that I'm saying it.

After the record store I settled in at Bagels and Beans, the only place in Leiden to get a bagel, and got delicious hot chocolate (you mix in chocolate chips to warm milk!) and a great tuna melt on a bagel, which tasted like heaven. Afterwards I headed home, where I've been all night. I finally got around to unpacking today, which was therapeutic, and I kinda already feel like this is less of a temporary thing and more of a life change for a while. We'll see!

I need to make myself some dinner, catch up on Friday Night Lights (only one more episode left in the series! Tragic.), figure our what the size conversion for pants here is, read some more Game Change, and hopefully watch Michigan beat #1 OSU on the road at Value City Arena. I'm really looking forward to tonight and all the events of the weekend, as I've got more class tomorrow and then shopping, heading to Amsterdam on Saturday with Adam and Steve (and maybe more? Chase? James?), and then celebrating Steve's 21st Sunday before the Super Bowl party at Bad Habits. EUROPE! COLLEGE!

As you can probably tell I'm getting more and more happy with each day. It's a testament to the wonderful support of all of you reading this wherever you are across the world, and I cannot thank the people I've talked to for support and comfort enough. You guys are always in my heart. I love you all, and I mean that.

I'm probably going to deserve the "tl;dr" comments, but I had a lot to say! See you soon.

Day 9 - Avoiding The Snowpocalypse

First of all, I'm very jealous of all the people back home in Michigan who get to deal with this epic storm that's apparently on its way. I love snow, and what could be more fun that crazy dangerous amounts?! Stop complaining (funny coming from me, right?).

Today I finally rolled out of bed around 3 pm after once again not being able to sleep. This time, however, it was because I was awake thinking about all the fun I'm going to have here and across the continent. Quite the difference a day makes. I was up late thinking about travel plans to see Cory (Belfast), Rachael (Copenhagen), and Matt (Prague), and Adrian has talked about going to Dublin in June, which would be a lot of fun. My family is coming in June and I can't wait for that either. I also think I'll have friends in Spain in June, which would be amazing as well (and come to think of it, Chris K. is in Madrid this semester too!). I also looked into music festivals, and found one at the end of June in Luxembourg that features Arctic Monkeys and Arcade Fire, amongst a few others, and might be a lot of fun if I don't bump up my flight. I was also looking into attending some soccer matches, but will probably have to confine myself to the Dutch Eriedivise because Arsenal tickets look to be astoundingly expensive. Either way, at the very least I was staying up because I was excited and not because I wanted to book it over to Schipol and hop on a direct flight home.

I got my student card today, which was good, and ended up making a cheap quiche I got at the grocery store for dinner, which was yummy and filling. I met new friends Chase and James at a sports pub called Bad Habits to watch the Arsenal match, and despite them not being big soccer fans, it was great to hang out with them in a surprisingly relaxed setting and watch a come-from-behind 2-1 Gunners win over Everton. There's a Super Bowl party at Bad Habits this Sunday (starts at Midnight!) that I can't wait for. The big discovery of the night was that James has all of the same classes as me, which is a huge relief and also awesome. Looking forward to that. First class is Thursday (have I mentioned I only have classes Thursday and Friday?!).

Dumb name, nice place.

Since I've been putting things off I've got a fair bit to accomplish tomorrow, but hopefully when pressed can get it done. There's a dinner + pub crawl event tomorrow evening I'm going to that I'm really looking forward to, as most of my new friends are going and it should be a good way to see other bits of Leiden with good company.

The biking is really growing on me. It's becoming less and less of a chore, even when raining as it was today, and I kinda like it. It's got a peaceful component to it as I hit the home stretch back to the Rijnfront, and it's definitely healthier than slothing around. I took some pictures of the bike racks at the train station to give an indication of just how crazy the bike culture is here.

BIKES!

BIKES!

BIKES!

BIKES!

I keep being reminded every day just how loving and supportive my friends and family are. I got a really awesome and unexpected Facebook message from Ellen today that brightened my day and was really reassuring. I Skyped with Jordan, Adrian, and Cory last night, which was nice, and I've been talking to my Gumbgloo crew every day so far. It's also great to hear from Adam, who Matt and Jack and I have abandoned in AA, and then the aforementioned gentleman - Matt as he gets ready to head to Prague and Jack as he does his big time White House internship in D.C. If I can make great friendships here and not have to slow down with the contact with home that'd be ideal, but we'll see how it goes. Right now, every single person I've talked to has been there for me and patient, understanding, and supportive, and I really cannot thank you all enough. You mean the world to me.

I'll try to fall asleep now but will inevitably not be able to sleep. See you guys on Facebook in a couple hours? :)

If we're not talking regularly, please please please leave me a comment here! I'd love to hear from you.