Andy in The Netherlands: Day 38 - 42

Blog postings are getting less and less frequent, but I'm still married to the idea of having a post for every day I'm abroad, so bear with me.

Day 38 - 5-0 to The Arsenal

I don't remember anything pre-8 pm that went down on Wednesday. I think I did some reading for Urban Inequalities, which was actually interesting, about gated communities in Turkey. It was the first inclination that the course might be useful for what I'm interested in.

I met up with Steve, Chase, and James at Bad Habits for the Arsenal-Leyton Orient draw in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Arsenal romped to a 5-0 victory with a reserve side, and a good time was had by all. I noticed in the bathroom that there was a sticker advertising a bar called The Oak that someone had used marker to amend to read, "The Royal Oak." I couldn't help but wonder if a Michigan study abroad predecessor had left his or her mark on that stall - I should make a similar, seemingly innocuous mark.

After Bad Habits we headed over to Einstein's, but it was on the lame side, so James, Dani, and I headed out early for fries. Fries with mayo might be the national food of the Netherlands, and with good reason - it's tremendous. After fries we headed home for an early night, which suited me just fine.

Day 39 - Oh Right, School

Class! Urban Inequalities continues to perplex and frustrate - not because it's difficult (far from it), but because I feel like we engage with everything really superficially and in kind of a disjointed and unfocused way. If you asked me what, five weeks in, the point of the course is, I'd be at a loss. We watched documentaries about slums in Mumbai and related them to Slumdog Millionaire, which our professor hasn't seen, though that doesn't stop her from referencing it like every class. The story of trying to clear slums in Mumbai shared a bunch of parallels with the history of slum removal ("negro removal") in Detroit, which I thought was interesting. We also got out an hour early. Whatever.

Dutch culture class continues to be mind-numbingly boring. Thank goodness for the break in the middle of the two-hour period. I'm looking forward to the part of the course where it doesn't suck.

[ed. glaring omission correction!] I had a WONDERFUL dinner at an Italian place here in Leiden called Donatello's Thursday night with Dani (Germany), Karen (Ireland), Roj (Australia via Iraq), and Federico and Edoardo (Italy). I had been craving pizza forever, and got mine with an "American base," which turned out to be a mildly ridiculous fluffy crust. My pizza had pepperoni, ham, onions, and mushrooms, and was really quite tasty and enjoyable, even if it was a bit lukewarm. The real treat, though, was having such wonderful dinner company! It's really special to me to be able to sit down to dinner with such a diverse and exciting group of people, and it's one of the reasons I wanted to study abroad in the first place. A special shoutout to Dani for getting on my case about somehow forgetting to blog about this initially - I can't imagine what my Leiden experience would look like without you and Karen as my mentors!

Day 40 - Class/Sick/TV

Globalization (no, I will not spell it with an 's') was rather interesting, as we analyzed a speech from a Nobel laureate about peace and poverty. Again, though, I feel like the point of the course is unclear. "Lectures" don't really seem to exist in this course (or Urban Inequalities), and there isn't a cohesive focus or discernible path the course is taking. I'm complaining.

I was (still am) a bit under the weather, so I laid in bed all day watching TV online. All of season one of Portlandia (Dad, check it out - email me if you need a link to watch it online), caught up on Archer, watched some UK Skins, and started season two of Mad Men. Very productive!

Day 41 - Delft and #Winning!

Saturday I went with Steve, Adam, and Chase to Delft, which everyone said was one of the most adorable Dutch towns. It didn't disappoint, even with the cloudy skies. Delft was tremendous - like Leiden but quainter, and with the famous Delftware everywhere.

We first stopped by the Oude Kerk (Old Church), which is 750 years old, and has a tower that leans 2 meters. It houses the tomb of the pride of Delft, Johannes Vermeer - who, by the way, is easily one of my favorite painters (he loves the maize and blue). It's not one of the prettiest I've seen, but, 750 years old. Very cool. We also saw the very impressive Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), built in the 1390s, and the second tallest church tower in the Netherlands. We climbed to the top up a tiny, cramped, harrowing spiral staircase, and were treated to some really great views of Delft. Holland is so flat and small that you could easily see the skylines of Rotterdam and Den Haag in the distance.

We ate lunch at a really nice restaurant, and while the hot tuna sandwich was maybe a bit small to be completely satisfying, it's really nice to take a break from eating shitty food and sit down and enjoy something.

We roamed through the market, which is always an exciting part of a city visit. There have been markets each time I've visited a new Dutch city, and they add such character and life to the city. Also adding life: Carnival! The Dutch dress like clowns, get drunk, and parade through the streets. It was a lot of fun watching the festivities, and I don't think we could have picked a better day to be in Delft. We also took a long stroll to the botanical garden, which isn't really a show-stopper in early March, but it was a pleasant walk.

When I got home I caught the end of a disappointing 0-0 draw with Sunderland, squandering a chance to pull within a point of Manchester United in the Premier League (thankfully, Liverpool drubbed MUFC today, massive favor to The Arsenal). The real sports attraction, however, was Michigan-Michigan State at Crisler. I cannot think of a bigger basketball game for this program that I've been old enough to be a fan for, and I couldn't be prouder of Coach Beilein and his troops. What an incredible turnaround to the season this young team has had. They've surpassed everyone's expectations, Tim Hardaway Jr. has emerged as a legitimate star, Darius Morris looks like he'll get a shot at the NBA in a year or two, Jordan Morgan has turned into a Big Ten player, and Zack Novak will end his Michigan career (a year from now) as one of the most beloved Michigan players ever. Sweeping Michigan State on the season is one of those things that it almost too perfect to be true. Little Brother, now and forever. Time to finish the job on Friday against the Illini and get into the tournament for sure.

Day 42 - Groceries and Jesse Eisenberg

Bought groceries! Made beef and cheese quesadillas for dinner, which were super greasy but also super delicious. It's nice to actually make my dinner and not just settle for a sandwich or bread roll.

Finally watched Adventureland, which I really enjoyed. So much so that I decided to watch The Social Network again. Still fantastic. Deserved the Oscar without a shadow of a doubt in my mind. I've got a thing for Jesse Eisenberg.

Here are some pictures from Delft!