Day 124 - 126 - Weekend Wrap

Blogging is just a normal activity, and no longer a chore. This weekend was moderately interesting.

Day 124 (Cont.) - Alan in Amsterdam

I went and met up with Alan and Ankit in Amsterdam. We agreed to meet at Dam Square, and I saw Alan before he saw me and I snuck up on him and gave him the Gumby House "kakaw" and he wheeled around and gave me a giant hug, which I was predicting would happen.

We explored the Red Light District, as is the go-to move with new arrivals to Amsterdam. I realized that you really have to treat the entire Randstad (Amsterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht, Rotterdam urbanized region) as a destination, and not rely solely on Amsterdam to occupy your time. After a few hours catching up and soaking in seeing each other for the first time in four plus months I took them to the Central library, which is my favorite thing in Amsterdam. We explored that a bit and then ate dinner at Vapiano, a nice casual yet classy Italian food place inside the library that I've been to twice before with the family. After a delicious pizza dinner and enjoying the bustling ambiance of the restaurant we ventured back into the District and did a bit more exploring.

Afterward we wandered the streets of Amsterdam for a bit, stopped in at a grocery store and grabbed some drinks and snacks, and sat along a canal and watched Amsterdam breath - another of my favorite things to do in the city. We had a lot of fun trying to creep out tourists on canal boats by staring at them, which usually produced a visibly shaken reaction. It was chilly and I had a bit of a headache - and knowing I'd see them again in two weeks in Barcelona - so I went home to Leiden and sent them on their way.

Day 125 - Vamos Barca!

The day began with sleeping forever. I woke up and counseled Liz for a bit, which was a nice (not really NICE but you know what I mean if you're reading) role swap from this past February. I watched three movies - Cedar Rapids (a DVD rip finally popped up online) and the documentaries Anvil and Blood Into Wine - all of which were enjoyable. It's been a while since I've really watched movies, as I've been big into the TV programs as I'm sure you've grown to understand and denounce.

I finally rolled out of bed and made it to Vi-Kings to watch the Barca-Manchester United game with James, Stephen, and Chase. The bar was packed with drunk Dutch guys who treated us to all kinds of football chants, and we were dazzled by a spectacular football game. Barcelona is far and away the best club side I've ever watched play, and it was nice for Man U. fans to get a taste of the pain I felt when Barca completely dominated Arsenal in the second leg of an earlier Champions League matchup. Lionel Messi is so far and away the world's best football talent, it's simply a joy to watch him continue to discover new tricks to his game, and I'm certain I'll never forget coming into my football consciousness with Messi at the foreground.

Afterwards I accompanied James back to his place, as this was his last weekend in Leiden, and we hung out for a bit more. There wasn't a whole lot to this part of the story. It stopped raining just in time for me to make it home to the Swamp. The weather has been quite shit recently in comparison to the end of April/start of May we had a month ago.

Day 126 - Farewell James

More movies to wake up today, this time The Crazies, which was a terrible horror movie, and Casino Jack, a documentary about the vile scum that is Jack Abramoff and his band of corrupt friends. Really frustrating to watch and understand the level of corruption in government, in this case from the already abhorrent Right, and know that not only are we not doing enough to prevent this from happening again, but that we are in fact making it easier by eliminating corporate campaign ad spending laws. Disgusting.

I went for one last Eazie meal with James, as he leaves tomorrow morning bright and early. James was definitely my best friend here in Leiden, and I do think I've made a friend for life, which is a cool thing. Hopefully he gets to visit the mythical Gumby one day and it lives up to expectations.

Jordan comes back tomorrow for a final 1.5 days before he heads back to America. I've got some stuff to handle before heading off Friday to Dublin, so we'll see what happens this week of note.

Until then, thanks for reading. There will be one more post on Thursday before my trip, and you should then expect a 3-week hiatus as I trek through Ireland, Spain, France, and Italy. I'll post about the trip in installments when I return, and by that time I'll be gearing up to head back to the States. A whirlwind month ahead of me, I think. Should be fun to go out on a high note.

Day 120 - 124 - School's Out for Summer

As of writing this I have completed my second and final exam of the semester, and have done my last bit of academic work as a junior. This is pretty cool. Five more weeks in Europe ahead of me.

Day 120 - Four Months Abroad

This week's update is going to be pretty uninteresting to everyone, as most of it was spent studying (and not studying) for my last final for Globalization and the Market. I endeavored to do a semester's worth of reading in a week, which was a bit of a suspect strategy, but there have been some serious motivation issues when you couple the lax conversion factor Michigan applies to grades here that already don't factor into my GPA.

Of course, before I got too heavily into reading, I decided to start up a new column on WCBN's Maize and Blog, to be found here. It mixes pop culture and sports, and while this isn't in any way groundbreaking, it's fun to do. I like that I'm the most musically adventurous of the WCBN Sports crew, and how this makes me the closest of anyone to the music side of the station, and it's fun to share my musical preferences with the group in the relatively light summer months.

Day 121 - Bob Dylan

Tuesday was Bob Dylan's 70th birthday, so I used it as an excuse to listen to some of the extensive Dylan catalogue. What an incredible talent. His earliest acoustic stuff is really nice to listen to and have playing in the background when studying, but it gets kind of hard when you just want to listen to the stories each song tells. I'm not a big fan of kids my age who are massive classic rock proponents and whatnot, but I'll make an exception for Dylan (and Neil Young and The Clash).

I finished Out of the Pits, a book on commodities futures trading in Chicago and digital markets in London. It was interesting but could have easily been condensed into a 30 page research paper - as it stands it's just a fluffed up book of redundancies. It tells us what we already know - everyone in the financial sector is an asshole.

Day 122 - More Studying

The new Arctic Monkeys album is really good. Maybe their second best album, after the debut. I can't stop listening to it, and it leaked on Wednesday. It has a horrible title ("Suck It and See") but there isn't a song I don't like. Stronger fourth album effort than the Strokes put out, that's for sure.

Turns out reading 2 books and 14 articles in one week is a pretty ridiculous task. I struggled through Ara Wilson's Intimate Economies, which featured an absurdly long and off-putting introduction that set the tone for the rest of my interest in what she had to say.

A new development is a compulsion to do pushups whenever possible. This can only be positive. Also, I can't believe it took me this long to start watching Louie, Louis C.K.'s show on FX. He's hilarious.

Day 123 - An Exercise in Group Study Futility

Met up with James and Baran to study for our final, with the gift from above of a study guide compiled by some classmates that included summaries of all the readings (though some were basically as long as the original articles). We got very little accomplished, as group study tends to go. The door to the room we were in was hilariously loud and Roj popped in and destroyed most of the already feeble energy we had for studying. It was nice to get out of the house proper, but the ride back to the Swamp in a storm was no fun. Dutch weather imitating Michigan weather, it sounds like.

Day 124 - Senior

The test was fair. I'm a fairly good exam-taker, and I'm feeling pretty confident about how it all turned out. I'm done with academics in Holland, and I'm done with junior year. Pretty ridiculous that I'm a senior in college now. Time for 5 weeks of relaxing and traveling in Europe until I go home July 1. Sounds a lot like the first 16 weeks.

I'm headed off to meet up with Alan in Amsterdam. This will be the third of the four housemates from home I'll see in Europe this year, and I'm really excited about it. I'll see Alan again in Barcelona with Adrian in a couple weeks.

One last note. Newly European Liz has a blog about her time in Madrid, which got underway yesterday. Read it here.

Day 117 - 119 - London Calling (Again!)

Lazy days in Holland for the time being, I'm blogging to further put off studying for my second (and last) exam of the year on Friday. Kind of exciting times in the lives of my friends, though, as Alan arrived in Berlin today to kick off his Eurotrip and Liz is gearing up to move to Madrid for the summer!

Day 117 - End of an Era

The NBC Thursday comedies I watch (all of them, now) wrapped up their season finales on Thursday, and I finished out the seasons on Friday. This is an incredibly uninteresting update, but it's basically all I remember doing. This marks the end of Fridays spent catching up with my NBC Thursday comedies. I had to have something to fill this space.

Day 118 - London Calling in Amsterdam

Very exciting day, as James and I headed to Amsterdam for the London Calling festival at the Paradiso, which is supposed to be a showcase of UK and American bands on the rise, but objectively, it was the Americans that stole the show.

Somewhat strangely, Ra Ra Riot, perhaps the highest profile band playing on Saturday, was the first band I wanted to see going on at 7:30 PM. They turned in a really good set, and it was certainly better than the times I'd see them at the Blind Pig. The sound was very full and you could hear each individual instrument nicely. They had a new drummer I didn't recognized who seemed to rush the pace a couple times, but all in all they were a great way to open the show. James and I migrated up the balcony to grab some seats to take in the next couple bands, and Cults was really good. I had only heard their hit "Go Outside," but they delivered pleasant pop music with a great female vocalist. The Crookes, a British band, were the first non-American act on the evening to be better than average, though I couldn't help but feel that we've heard their sound a million times before. Enjoyable nonetheless.

The band I was most excited to see was Cloud Nothings, and they did not disappoint. Playing in a smaller room than the main hall, they absolutely shredded through their set, and it was a bonafide punk rock show. I absolutely love the new album, and they play all their songs live at even more frantic speeds, and it all amounted to a glorious set. I decided afterwards that they are my favorite band of 2011 so far. Back in the main hall, Wild Beasts were up next, and they were aggressively boring and painful to sit through. They played the longest set of any band, and the entire time I was waiting for any of their songs to be worth my time. When you're playing a festival, let's shy away from three-minute noise breaks and other self-indulgent garbage. I was actively upset by how terrible their set was. For what it's worth, the drunken crowd loved it.

Saving the day, however, was Twin Shadow. I loved the album last year, but it's a bit sparse, and I didn't quite know what to expect in terms of a live show. What we were treated to was the most surprisingly tremendous set I think I've ever seen, wildly surpassing my expectations. Every single song was a winner, with driving 80s synths, catchy choruses (CHORUSES are a concept, Wild Beasts), and shockingly heavy guitars. Some of the songs had moments bordering on metal, and I absolutely loved it. I'd go see Twin Shadow live whenever I get the chance. Rounding out the evening was a manic set from Ty Segall, which was really good, and had a raucous crowd. On a whole, the top five sets at London Calling were 1. Cloud Nothings 2. Twin Shadow 3. Ra Ra Riot 4. Ty Segall and 5. Cults. USA! USA! USA!

There was an indie disco afterward that we stuck around for for a bit, but we ended up leaving and wandering the somewhat sketchy streets of Amsterdam after dark back to the train station. After FEBO and waiting forever for a night train, we made it back to Leiden around 4:30 AM, and had the pleasure of biking home in the rain.

Day 119 - Embarrassingly Lazy Sunday

Owing to the late night, I woke up fairly well into the afternoon, and managed to watch Arsenal mercifully end their season with a 2-2 draw away at Fulham, and the Michigan softball team lose a lead in the 7th inning and get themselves eliminated from the NCAA softball tournament. Not a great day for my rooting interests. This does, however, leave the Tigers as the only team playing right now that I have a rooting interest in. Weird.

The next week is all studying, and then after my final on Friday I'm meeting Alan in Amsterdam. More blogging to come, surely.

Day 113 - 116 - Slackademia to Academia

Cool post title, eh? Right on schedule, as promised in the last update, here's what has happened this week. It's no secret from reading this blog that the academic effort needed this semester has been a little less than at Michigan, but it's crunch time now with the end of the year coming. STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

Day 113 - Monday

Jordan, bless him, decided to go to Amsterdam in the threatening weather all by himself. He made it, found Michigan students in the Red Light District, and generally had himself a good time, so I'm glad his injury didn't impact his ability to see the mythical Amsterdam.

I spent the whole day in my room trying to get back into the studying groove. I endeavored to read the entire Dutch culture textbook in three days, and read a solid 1/3 of it with some self-congratulatory Community episodes sprinkled in. The history of the Dutch has some interesting points - like Tulip Mania and the creation of the polders - but after an entire semester of not really being pushed it was kind of hard to get back into history.

After Jordan came home I threw together some snacks and we just hung out for the rest of the night. We ended up watching The Human Centipede, which was more creepy than scary, and features the absolute worst female acting parts in the history of cinema. It was a good thing we watched it after Jordan's trip to the hospital, because the creepy German doctor in the movie surgically removes the knee ligaments in his victims.

Day 114 - Studying

I spent the day reading more Dutch history and culture. By far the most interesting chapters in the textbook were on Dutch law and the history of water in The Netherlands. The Dutch are very pragmatic about their laws, and their law enforcement philosophy is all about context. Crimes without victims are tolerated, and more productive solutions (rather than imprisonment) are offered for things like hard drug abuse. It's the way the laws should be. The Dutch get trashed by a lot nations for permissiveness, but living here has been a joy and the police have basically never factored into my life. They are doing something right.

The other most interesting bit is about the Dutch history with water. The Netherlands was literally reclaimed from the sea by the process of damning and draining to create polders, the Dutch have a long history with fighting to keep the sea out. They undertook massive projects like the Zuiderzee Works and Delta Works and now they're marvels of engineering. It's just fascinating to think about the extent to which water is everywhere in this country, and the complicated history the people have with it.

Jordan was physically beaten down after Amsterdam on crutches the previous day and had a well-deserved day of rest. I went grocery shopping and picked up some pretty good stuff to nom on. We ended up watching See This Movie, an early 2000s Seth Myers and John Cho mockumentary about two hapless young filmmakers. The ending was rubbish, but it was enjoyable enough. It's just nice to chill with a friend and watch a movie.

Day 115 - Farewell, Jordawg

Got up, did a bit more studying, then endeavored to get Jordan to the train station to get to Schipol for his flight to Belfast to see Friend of the Blog Cory. It took a while but we made it, and Jordan made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch his flight. Hopefully EasyJet treated him like a king again.

I went with James to grab some Eazie and discuss the Dutch culture final. We basically were completely unprepared to have any meaningful conversation on the topic, but Eazie is our spot and it was good to see James again after a couple days. You need your new friends here more than you'd guess at the beginning. I spent the rest of the day cramming for the test. It's an uninteresting story.

Day 116 - First Exam of 2011

So today marked the first exam I've taken since December 2010. That is awesome. The exam went fine, and while I didn't get 'em all right, I definitely got a good grade, which is nice. That should mark two of two courses completed so far that I've gotten good grades in, not that the grades I get here matter.

After the exam I met up with James to recap everything, and then I made my way back here. I completed booking flights/hostels for the Ireland-Spain-France-Italy trip I'm filling June with, which was a big weight off of my shoulders. Time to relax a bit before heading to wish Iowa Andy a happy birthday. Class tomorrow, a review for Globalisation, for the first time in ages. One week to learn something and prepare for that final. I'm also really looking forward to the London Calling festival this Saturday in Amsterdam with Ra Ra Riot, Cloud Nothings, and Twin Shadow amongst many others, so more on that after the weekend.

Thanks for reading, you guys. Closing in on four months abroad is pretty cool.

Day 109 - 112 - Return of the Gumby

Jordan's back.

Day 109 - Bike Trip

My teacher made it clear in her message to the class before heading out that we should take nice bikes with us on this class bike trip out through the polders. I figured mine would be fine. More on this later.

We met up at the University library (James: "Oh, so THIS is the library!") and headed out along a very picturesque path out of Leiden. We passed through this really beautiful wilderness area with high grasses and canals that we all wished we'd known about earlier, and ended up biking for more than an hour through the gorgeous Dutch countryside. I forgot to bring a camera, sadly, but the countryside is like farmland dotted with cute, well-maintained country homes along canals. I could honestly imagine retiring there. So quaint. It's also really nice being out in polder country, where you can see the various water levels of the canals and the system they use in the Netherlands to combat the sea and make land livable. The very existence of Holland is a feat of engineering.

We finally made it to a campground/petting zoo where we spent an hour or so. The main attraction is goats of all sizes and ages, and there were plenty of adorable baby goats to play with, which was nice. They're not kittens, but they're still pretty cute, and it's always nice to get a chance to play with animals now that I'm separated from Weezer and Punk. There were also horrifying roosters that patrolled the grounds, and disgusting pigs that shrieked for food (kind of like how Weezer does, but more unbearable).

On the ride back my back tire popped. The bike has been falling apart for some time now, but this was the first major damage. I rode home on the rim until it jarred the fender loose and the noise was unbearable, so James and I walked the last couple km to the Central station, where we grabbed food and I put my bike in the shop for a new tire. I then rode a backup bike that I happened to have locked at central station back to the Rijnfront, but this bike was clearly built for a tiny child, and it was a miserable ride back.

Day 110 - Community

I started watching Community. It's the final piece of the NBC Big Four that I'm not up-to-date on. That's basically all. I probably stressed out about things. Planning the June trip has been a mixture of procrastination and DUMB, and it's all added up to frustrations. Whatever, getting past it.

Day 111 - Return of the Gumby

Jordan came back to Leiden today, leg brace and all. He successfully navigated the buses to James' apartment, and we hung out there for most of the day. Berlin tripmates came over and we hung out (music supplied by yours truly - listen to the new albums from Yuck, Holy Ghost!, Jeff The Brotherhood, and Bass Drum of Death) and made American pancakes, which were delicious.

We migrated over to Marissa's to watch Eurovision, a continent-wide song contest. Most songs were complete shit, but it was kind of funny to associate musical acts with countries. Our pizza quest was foiled by shockingly closed supermarkets, so Marissa made us all pizza, which was fantastic. I had a bit of a headache, so I rode home when the rest of the crew went to shisha, and Jordan spent the night on Marissa's couch because it was too late for buses. Not being able to bike here can be limiting.

Day 112 - Quesadillas

I went and met Jordan at Marissa's for a late breakfast, and then we tried to watch the Ajax-Twente match to decide the Eredivise but couldn't find it on regular Dutch TV. Instead we watched Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles and Romeo and Juliet. We set off back into town to go grocery shopping, picked up some stuff, and then got Jordan on a bus back to the Rijnfront. He made it back and I made quesadillas, which were pretty good. Basically the only thing I cook for myself. Quesadillas and sandwiches. When I'm feeling motivated it's sandwiches...

Slow week coming up, so I'll probably blog again on Thursday after my first Dutch final. 'Til then, thanks for reading.

Day 103 - 108 - Berlin, and a Fallen Gumby

My extended jaunt to Berlin was one of the best things I've ever done. Unfortunately, for newly European Gumby Haus member Jordan, Berlin resulted in a torn MCL and a Eurotrip in limbo.

Day 103 - To Berlin

This was the first trip I've taken with a large crew of Leidenites - James, Chase, Marissa, Dani, Karen, and Michelle all went - and we all met up at Leiden Centraal and then headed to Schipol. My first EasyJet trip was better than expected, and we arrived in Berlin a bit after 8 pm. We took a train into the city center and made our way to our hostel (BaxPax Downtown), which was very nice. After moving in we headed out to meet Dani's Berliner friend Kersti at a Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar, Que Pasa. They served a pretty good chicken burrito, and I'm fairly sure this was the first Mexican food I've had while I've been here. Also, the Long Island Iced Tea is a silly drink.

After this we headed to Tacheles, a famous artist squat in a giant building that was just recently reclaimed by the city and auctioned off. The entire building is covered in graffiti, like all of Berlin, and there are tons of artists with spaces inside. There was even a club in one of the rooms that you had to walk through plastic door flaps to get to, and I remarked that this all felt like an episode of Skins, what with our absurdly cheap, delicious German beer bottles in our hands. Afterwards Kersti had us hop on one of the trams and we rolled over to what was described to us as a goth club. I was excited to see something that sounded rather quintessentially Berlin, and the people and decor inside were about what I was expecting. The music, however, was completely bizarre. I shouldn't know every song played in a metal club. That's how you know you're doing it wrong. I guess metalheads are allowed to have their moments when they jam out to garbage like Drowning Pool and (!) Green Day (!), but the musical stylings were a bit disappointing.

Afterwards we headed back to the general area of our hostel, which was pretty lively at night. We stopped and chilled at a shisha joint, where I was first exposed to the delicacy that is Spezi - a uniquely German mix of cola and orange pop. It's delicious, but better with ice and not from a bottle. We finally made it back to the hostel at some absurd hour as the sun was coming up. A successful first night in Berlin.

Day 104 - Tour and Kreuzberg

We woke up late and went off on the U-Bahn to the Brandenburg Gate for a free walking tour of the city. We had a funny British tour guide named Rob who knew a ton and took us on a really good, if not a bit excessively long, tour of the historical sights of Berlin. We saw plenty of the Wall, a moving Holocaust memorial, plenty of rebuilt buildings, and got a really thorough history of the city during WWII and afterward. I guess I hadn't thought about the extent to which Berlin was destroyed and then rebuilt after WWII, and never really thought about life in East Berlin while the wall was up (and how remarkable the very existence of such a wall is!). I absolutely love Berlin because it combines my favorite aspects of 20th century historical study with a creative, thriving, dynamic 21st century urbanism.

After the tour we went back to the hostel to recharge for a bit (we got some delicious ice cream somewhere in here), and later set out to meet Kersti in her Kreuzberg neighborhood, which is diverse and hip and so full of life. After hanging at Kersti's apartment for a while with our 79 eurocent .5L Carlsbergs (what a wonderful city) we ventured out into the lively streets and went to a delicious pizza place where we promptly destroyed a pizza per person, and all agreed we could have eaten four more. We considered and then rejected a burlesque show, and somehow ended up back at a different location of Que Pasa for more cocktails before venturing over to SO 36, which was bumping Turkish dance music to a diverse crowd. It was really quite cool to be in such a unique environment, and we had a great time. We left for a bit and ventured over to a very chill, but also very popular, bar that Kersti convinced the bouncers to let a bunch of Americans into. Marissa, James, and I had a nice, long, relaxed conversation over giant German brews before heading back over to SO 36, which at this point was playing more straightforward German techno. We danced our hearts out for a while and eventually made it home with the sun coming up, once again.

Day 105 - Michael and Jordan and a Fallen Gumby

Dani went off to meet up with Kersti and the rest of us late risers ventured out to lunch at an Indian restaurant that was rather delicious and featured the most shockingly nice bathroom I've ever set foot in. I've been craving Indian food for a while and this place delivered with a very good lamb curry. Afterwards we wandered through a street market where I picked up some cool old East German stamps for my grandpa, which I hope make it back to the States with me intact. Marissa and I didn't feel like going into the Pergamon Museum with the rest of the crew, so we just sat in the wonderful museum island park and soaked up the sun and ambiance of such a wonderful city in front of the Berliner Dom, which is one of the more impressive buildings I've ever seen. After we reunited we walked the royal boulevard, grabbing some ridiculous German spaghetti ice cream (ice cream served to look like spaghetti) before making it to the Reichstag, which is a really impressive building.

After regrouping at the hostel we set out to meet Dani, Kersti, and Kersti's boyfriend Martin at a restaurant in the gorgeous Potsdamer Platz for a traditional German meal. The waiter was a bit of a creep, but the place had a massive beer selection, and my Czech pilsner was good, but I was especially impressed by the Namibian beer I counseled James to get. My model UN pride kicked in, having represented Namibia in high school, though we did question the use of water for beer in a drought-plagued nation. I had an absolutely delicious meal of boiled beef in horseradish sauce - the chef's specialty, apparently - and enjoyed my bite of James' pork knuckle - the height of traditional German food. Afterwards we split from Kersti and headed back over to the area near Checkpoint Charlie to look at more stuff about the wall. From here we made plans to meet up with Jordan, who had been with his friend Michael who is spending the semester in Berlin this whole time, and ventured into a new Berlin neighborhood for more cocktails before reuniting with Jordan. Michael took us to a super trendy bar called Wendel that was featuring an avant garde (read: bad) band when we walked in, but luckily the music ended soon after we arrived. Michael counseled us to get special unfiltered German beers, and they ended up being delicious. After a fun time talking we stopped off at a burger joint under the train tracks that Michael described as having the best burgers in Berlin, and with a grilled bun, it was hard to disagree.

This was the point at which we discovered the trains were done running for the night (it was Sunday, afterall). We finally figured out we could hitch a bus back to the general area of our hostel, and after much debate about the proper route to walk, we finally made it to familiar territory around 2:30 am. At this point Karen, Marissa, James, Michael, Jordan, and I split off an went to another shisha place, where we were treated to a hilarious Turkisk pop song about Facebook on a loop for at least a half hour. We finally wandered back to the hostel around 4, and I was giddy to set up a laptop in the hostel lounge and with Karen, Marissa, and James watch the Wings and Sharks in Game 5. I miscalculated game time, and tuned in just as Danny Cleary was tying the game, and go to watch the Datsyuk-Lidstrom-Holmstrom magic that won it for the Wings. I was elated. One of the best nights ever.

It was not a great night, however, for Jordan. After he left us he went to the Brandenburg Gate with Michael and ended up falling down and tearing his MCL. This was/is most unfortunate, and the fate of his month-long trip hangs in the balance as he decides whether to gut it out in Europe on crutches for a month or head home for potential surgery. Most unfortunate, indeed.

Day 106 - SUSHI and Tempelhof and Wine

Kersti took us to a Chinese/sushi buffet that was the best thing ever. I'd been craving sushi for so long, but it's so expensive in Leiden, so it was awesome to be able to eat as much as I could stuff in my mouth. I was most undignified about the whole affair, and certainly got my money's worth. Sushi is just the best. I'm no expert, so I don't know names, but whatever one I ate that had a deep fried crust around the edges and was warm was the best thing ever. Afterwards we (slowly) wandered around the Mitte neighborhood we were in and stumbled upon a really nice park and plenty of cool graffiti. At this point we decided to split up, and James and I headed to the former Tempelhof Airport, home to the Luftwaffe and site of the Berlin Airlift, and currently a massive public park. I suggest you read the wiki as it has an absolutely fascinating history.

The current park is just awesome. It's probably the largest public space I've ever seen (I've seen Central Park, but you can't see the whole of it at any one time) and was teeming with people playing every sport imaginable and having a wonderful old time. The airport building itself is massive and impressive, and we had a great time walking around and enjoying it. Afterwards we wandered through a cool Turkish neighborhood before hopping on the U-Bahn back towards the hostel.

After hours of indecision, we headed out to grab some food at a doner stand before heading to a cool bar where you pay 2 euro for a glass and get to drink all the wine you want, and then pay whatever you think is reasonable for what you drank on the way out. It was full of people and clearly a pretty cool place to be, and having never been at all a wine person, it was nice to be able to try a lot of different kinds without having to pay a pretty penny. We had a fun time talking about all the German hipster hotties around us, and I learned a thing or two about wine (though I'd still much rather be a beer snob). Afterwards we headed to a bar called White Trash Fast Food, where we proceeded to have the most delicious "lemonade" ever. It was pretty empty, but I got the sense that on crowded nights it's quite the hip place. The night was complete with fries and mayo from a stand and a confrontation with hilariously drunk Dutch boys who were less than coherent. Two episodes of Freaks and Geeks in the hostel lounge later, we were asleep once again when the sun was coming up.

Day 107 - Departure

After checking out of the hostel we grabbed DUNKIN DONUTS (haha!) and went to a park along the Spree to relax, which we did for several hours before meandering our way to the train station (with a pit stop at a playground). After futilely battling the German train ticket machine we hopped on a quite late train to the airport, which put us at the airport less than a hour before our flight was supposed to leave, and proceeded to test my anxiety issues. We made it onto the plane without any issues and landed in Amsterdam a short while later. Berlin was incredible, and probably my favorite city I've been to so far. There's so much life and energy in the streets there, and it's a city that simply has to be experienced to be appreciated.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, doing nothing but catching up on all my sports news, of which there was plenty. I was able to stay awake for the awesome first period of the Wings game, and was so glad to see that they pulled off the victory when I woke up. I'm so excited for Game 7. I'm planning on actually pulling off staying up for it.

Day 108 - Market and Laziness

I spent almost all of the day procrastinating. I did make it to the market to get kibbeling and kiwis, and I finished off with some clutch grocery buying decisions. I saw the lovely Kelly a couple hours ago, but other than that it has been an uneventful day. Bike trip tomorrow with Dutch culture class, which I hopefully wake up in time for, and which hopefully my bike is able to handle. I need to get the University of Michigan Law School application done soon. Or at least start working on it. Time to be a bit productive, eh?

Here are some pictures!

Brandenburg Gate.

Holocaust memorial.

Section of the Berlin Wall, victim of souvenir hunters.

Berliner Dom.

Tacheles.

Reichstag.

Tempelhof.

Cool street art.

Thanks for reading! Further updates will surely be boring for quite some time.

Day 99 - 103 - A Gumby Arrives

Jordan (who I live with at Gumby Haus in Ann Arbor) arrived this week. We're headed to Berlin today. Here's the past week.

Day 99 - Bleh

I tried to get some of my Urban Inequalities paper done ahead of Jordan arriving, but I made very little progress. I did laundry and cleaned my room. Oh yeah, and Seal Team 6 killed Osama Bin Laden. That was surreal. The frat-boy, party in the streets scenes we saw from college campuses across the U.S. made me uncomfortable.

Day 100 - Jordan

I picked Jordan up from the train station, after an hour of miscommunication and not being able to find each other. He was super jet lagged and took a nice long nap, and I got a lot of my paper out of the way, which was nice. Once he woke up we rode into town and went to Oude Leyden for pannekoek, which I've fully come around on. They're simply delicious. I showed Jordan a couple of the coffeeshops in town and he enjoyed sitting in the Pieterskerk and soaking in the pleasant, old world ambiance.

After dinner we went to Vi-Kings to watch Barcelona-Real Madrid, which was fun enough. It was kind of a shit game, but the place was crowded and lively. We caught up and talked a lot of life back home and otherwise, and it was a good time. Afterward we headed home, as I was exhausted, and we watched Four Lions, a really funny British movie that I realized I'd seen a few minutes in but enjoyed nonetheless.

Day 101 - Market and Library

We went in to the market and got kibbeling, which I just adore. We did a little shopping for some things Jordan needs (he's going to be in Europe for all of May) and then headed to the University library for the first time all year. The library is kind of cool from the outside, quite modern, but inside it's a bit of a maze. It took a while to find where people with laptops do their work, but after we found it and got settled I was able to finish my paper, which was nice. We wandered around a little more afterward, Jordan almost got hit by a van, and then we headed to Eazie for dinner.

After hanging out at home for a while we headed back into town to go to Einstein's, where I hadn't been in like two months. I saw people for the first time in a long time, and it was nice being in a lively atmosphere again. Jordan had no problems finding people to talk to, which was good. We headed home at closing time, which was a first.

Day 102 - Sleeping In

We were exhausted from the night before and slept in until like 4:30, which, yeah, absurd. Jordan decided to take a bike ride to the sea, and he apparently had quite a good time with that. I stayed in bed and watched the Tigers take 3 of 4 from the Yankees, which is encouraging, and then we met up at the train station for a late dinner consisting of Julia's Pasta, Burger King, Smullers, and Albert Heijn. After my internet stopped working we gave up on watching The Human Centipede. What a shame.

Day 103 - To Berlin!

I've sent some important emails and got my blogging done, which is good. We need to be at the train station in four hours, so I'll probably catch up on last night's comedy TV, shower, eat, and pack. Jordan's still asleep.

It's great seeing people from home, but it also makes me super homesick. Hopefully I can combat it with travel!

I'm really excited to go to Berlin and can't wait to share it with you later. See you Tuesday.

Day 93 - 98 - Gumby and Royal Festivities

The week started off slow enough, but the past weekend has been a wonderful blur. Here's as much as I can remember (and not in a drunken-forgetfulness way, mother, in a regular-forgetfulness way).

Day 93 - ?

I'm not sure last Tuesday happened, because I don't remember anything worth mentioning happening. I checked Facebook to see if I posted anything interesting, and I didn't. Welp. I might have gone into town to catch up with James over some Eazie with Steve and Adam tagging along. That was nice.

Day 94 - Market and The Market

When I look back on this experience, I'm sure one of the things I'll miss most are the twice-weekly markets in Leiden centrum. The town is alive, thriving, and vibrant. I got kibbeling as usual, and ran into a bunch of people I knew, including James, and then got some kiwis. Fruits and veggies are so cheap at the market, it's quite nice. I wish Ann Arbor's farmer's market was more in the center of town.

I spent the rest of the day typing up an assignment for Globalisation and the Market, where we had to interview Dutch people who received government money to purchase healthcare for their disabled family members. I was blown away by the level of support the government provided my interviewee, who had two autistic and mentally retarded sons, and the wide range treatment options they could explore was revelatory. Of course, Americans would never go for paying higher taxes so that the parents of autistic children could try to find the best treatment option for their kids. America, the greatest country on earth, right?

Day 95 - KOHWI

I started the process of booking the June trip with Adrian, and then rushed off to the train station to retrieve Cory, the first Gumby House member I've seen in three months! He's in the midst of a European tour under his sleepcore electronic music moniker Kohwi, which is just the coolest thing ever. We made the long walk back to the Swamp, and after successfully moving the apartment's couch into my room for maximum chill, we headed back into town to see Leiden a bit and eat. I showed Cory a couple of coffeeshops, which even if you don't partake are worth checking out just to see them. Even now, it's still a little bit goofy and exciting to walk into one. Later we got pancakes, which I've come around on. I thought they were overrated, but they just aren't. Spek & kaas all day.

Afterwards we headed back to the Swamp and chilled out. It was awesome having a Gumby around to talk with, and I had a ton of fun just reminiscing. Cory's in Berlin for the summer (after he finishes up the semester in Ireland) and I'm super jealous of how cool he is. Duh. It was raining, so we decided to stay in, and we watched Skins, which Cory is still behind on.

Day 96 - Royal Wedding and Queen's Night

After class, James and I met up with Cory and headed over to Freddie's to watch the Royal Wedding. I guess we missed the actual wedding part, not that I cared anyway. I'm firmly against any monarchy, and can't understand the massive support the British royal family receives. I still further can't understand the American fascination with the royal wedding, but maybe that's a "Haha we won THAT war..." attitude. In any event, I was there because I wanted to have some fun, and we sipped G&Ts and made fun of the collection of kids from the Commonwealth there celebrating the wedding.

Afterwards we headed to the park and set up shop along a canal on the grass. The three of us had a majestic couple hours in the wonderful weather, just snacking and telling Gumby stories I bet James LOVED. We fed the birds, and they terrified me with how close they'd come for our popcorn. It was a great day.

We met up again in a bit to head to Den Haag for Queen's Night. We didn't really know what to expect, and were met with a big music festival and carnival in the streets. We saw one band, the Handsome Poets, who were a hilariously mainstream Dutch rock-pop band, but they were fun enough. We wandered some more and bumped into the Freddie-Baran-Australia crew, and wandered around with them for a while, eventually finding a rather bad 60s soul stage to dance at. Ardrik took a headbutt to the dome and started bleeding, and that kind of killed the vibe and the group split up not shortly afterward. We wandered back towards the train station, and eventually back to Leiden. Queen's Night was a fun enough time, but it felt a bit like Comerica CityFest or whatever it was called.

Day 97 - Koninginnedag 2011

For Queen's Day, we decided to brave the masses and head to Amsterdam. Cory had to catch a flight to the UK for his tour, so we bid farewell on the train, and James and I headed to Amsterdam with a couple of his friends from his dorm. The train situation wasn't nearly as bad as we expected, and we were some of the early risers who got to Amsterdam well ahead of the crowds. We went to the apartment of a friend of James', and after that headed out to explore. Each Queen's Day about a million people invade Amsterdam, all decked out in Orange (for the House of Orange) to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Seeing the throngs of people in orange reminded me a bit of Michigan football Saturdays, only maybe replace Michigan with Clemson. We walked around, saw all the people selling stuff on the streets (street commerce laws are suspended and people sell their junk), and listened to music at outdoor stages and got food. The best part of Queen's Day is that the canals are jammed with boats carrying revelers, and it was great to just sit alongside the canal and people-watch.

James and I were really excited because Odd Future, the shock-rap, alt-hop, swagcore group from L.A. that is being hyped into the stratosphere was doing a free show at the Paradiso. There was a huge crowd, and I spotted about 30 different U.S. sports teams unwittingly being supported by Dutch kids trying to look their coolest. It was one of the most insane shows I've ever been to, and certainly the most violent. That said, though the moshing was constant, the crowd was pretty respectful of things like not punching people in the face, which was nice. For the last song Tyler, the leader (and Creator) of the group, exhorted everyone to rush the stage, and it was awesome climbing up there and being a part of something pretty epic. I'm still unsure how I feel about the group's disgusting lyrics and immature attitudes, but I can't deny that that was just about the most fun I've ever had at a concert.

Afterwards we were exhausted and James and I made our way through the streets of Amsterdam and onto a train (full of drunken Dutchmen) and back to Leiden. I fell asleep almost immediately. So exhausted.

Day 98 - Catching Up

Today is a low-key one. I've written some postcards for family, done some more trip-planning for June, and hammered out this blog, which keeps on chugging away. I'm excited to start my paper for Urban Inequalities, and Jordan is coming on Tuesday, which should be great. Watching Arsenal-ManU now, and the Wings are on at 9 this evening, so hopefully they level the series with the Sharks. Weather is awesome today, which is a nice bonus.