Day 44: Nothing to Report Except....

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO THIS BRAID!

For years I have been able to french braid my hair but I could never quite figure out how to do this particular braid.  It is because you have to do an inverse french braid! Go me.  

Day 40: Rotterdam..take three

the slanted white "floor" is actually a mound of sugar

So on Friday we went to Rotterdam again to go back to the Boijmans Museum and also to the architecture museum of Rotterdam (the name escapes me at the moment...probs because it was kind of boring).  We didn't actually look at anything new except for a minimalist exhibit in the Boijmans, which was actually very beautiful.

the minimalist exhibit

art in the museum cafe

The day had lot's of strange interactions and events.  At lunch the teacher announced that we were all going to get tomato soup but if anyone did not want the soup thy could get a sandwich instead.  So I said that I would prefer a sandwich.  When the sandwich and soups came out, every person in the group threw a giant hissy fit ("that's the sandwich?" "that's not fair" "I'm so hungry and this is all we get?" I mean, it's soup--hotliquid--what were the expecting?) and it was so awkward and It definitely felt like a personal attack.  Then they got a bunch of bread with the soup and it came with all these spreads.  The mood immediately reversed ( "Have you tried the pesto? You have to try the pesto" "I'm so glad I didn't get a sandwich" "O ma gawd, this is the best tapenade I have ever had" "I'm going to buy more of this bread for the week")  and once again it felt oddly like I was under attack.  Even after lunch Steve came over to me and asked, "Did you get enough to eat?"  I never realised how competitive lunch was before.

Allison & I in a 50s mansion

STRANDED

After the academics for the day were over, Angie, Allison and I decided to stick around to see a drum competition.  But then it started to rain and the competition was not going to start for another three hours so Allison and I decided to head back and Angie stayed behind.  On the train ride we all of a sudden realise that we have been at one of the stops quite a while, then we hear dutch announcements, then we see everyone get off the train, then I start to feel slight panic.  We asked someone what was happening and they said that there were electrical problems and that we all had to get off the train.  The moment we are off, the train leaves us in the middle of nowhere.  No information booth, no english announcements, no phone.  The way I'm recounting this makes it seem super pathetic, but actually we handled everything and just kept asking for help from random people.  Eventually, aka 1 hour later, we were able to get on a train that took us to Amsterdam.  We treated ourselves to Burger King soft serves for a job well done!

Day 39: Amsterdam Biking Day

crazy houses

On Thursday we went on a bike tour of Amsterdam's new architecture.  We rode around for several hours in the contemporary areas of the city...not really "of the" because it is more like the suburbs but they are trying to make it part of the city--eventually, as it grows and becomes more developed I'm sure it will become a lot more integrated.

Marek's adorable hat

The Ij River

Serpent walking bridge

modular house boats

random house in the new areas of amsterdam

Anyways, the day didn't consist of much.  But it was wonderful weather and the ride was pretty.  One funny thing: I am beginning to feel like my two professors are starting to hate each other.  It is very clear that everyone loves Marek, but no one is that big a fan of Steve.  At one point during the tour, Steve started giving his opinion about a building (contemporary art is pretty much the farthest subject from his area of expertise, Baroque Art) and making unnecessary comments like, "maybe if it had one less it wouldn't look like a hotel."  Marek cut him off and said, "It seems like we are all suddenly architecture critics!" Wow, passive aggressive move made by Marek...it was great.

Day 30: Rotterdam...again

the first "skyscraper" in Europe

Rotterdam architecture tour was on our agenda today.  We met up with the bus and low and behold their were 30 Korean students on it as well.  My teacher apparently arranged for us to share a ride with another UvA program.  Two girls in my group were ten minutes late and one Korean student told her teacher that they should "not be associated with this kind of behavior" and that they have their "reputations to look after." Thank you! I told my teacher that I thought our group was being disrespectful with time management last week...I should have been in the Korean group...  Anyways, the tour was super long and we saw a lot of weird but interesting buildings.  Rotterdam was pretty much obliterated during WWII so the city had to be completely rebuilt and even now there are many new construction projects.





One such project are the famous cube house, which are individual apartments raised up form the ground.  They are apparently very cheap and therefore lots of young people live in them.  We got to go inside one and it was so strange.  Also a major downside is the fact that all furniture pretty much needs to be custom made in order to fit against the slanted walls.

       

          the custom couch--and lovely cactus?

  Although I deem the cube house to be weird enough to be called a "fail" we did see some actual buildings that seriously failed.  Becky this will make you so sad, but the public library is one of the most hated buildings in  Rotterdam!  Apparently because of dutch frugalness the building only received partial funding from what it was originally promised and therefore came out cheap and ugly.  What are those tube things even supposed to be? Looks like a horrible apartment building/factory.

Side note: today was pretty ridiculous.  Some of the people in my group were beyond annoying today...I won't name names but lets just say they spent a good half an hour talking about the most vain crap on the bus and another half an hour talking LOUD about the groceries they needed.  At one point during a lecture, I looked over at Tracy and she was listening to her ipod, a girl fell asleep, and our teacher was interviewed on the street about KRS One and started rapping the lyrics to a song...he knew a lot.  It was also wavering on a monsoon slash tornado.  As is evidence in the picture that was meant to be me smiling nicely in front of the harbor.

Although certain buildings like the library are a little older and not so attractive, most of Rotterdam is very contemporary and still in process since Rotterdam is considered an up and coming city.  You can really see the urban planning that is going on and how within the next few years Rotterdam will shape into a very urban setting.   The architecture is very experimental and has a lot of nautical reference since this is the city where the cruise line Holland America was started.  To the right is a picture of the school for students to become captains of major sea vessels.  There are 26 escalators inside and that is how the students go to their classes.  It's also meant to look like the stern of a ship and the grass is in the shape of a boat deck.  









This is an apartment building in Rotterdam.  These cube-like structures are a part of the inner apartment, but are supposed to look like life boats on the side of a cruise ship...they do not really look like that to me but I see the connection.  A bit odd. 

At the end of the day we got back on the bus to go see some of the iconic windmills! Unfortunately, it had already been a very long day so we had to skip the originally planned walking tour.  So essentially we just got off for about ten minutes and looked from a distance and snapped some pics.  The funny thing was that the Koreans did not get off the bus at all and when we got back on they were all completely passed out.  There really were so many windmills and they are still functioning, which is cool.  Another fun thing was that there were lots of people out in front of their houses doing yard work and they were all actually wearing wooden clogs. And I thought that was just a tourist scam! Maybe I will actually get some and start a new trend...aka I will wear them and people will laugh and tease me and no one else will ever wear them too.  my life. 

Glory, Glory: God Does Exist

HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH

Best meal in Amsterdam so far.  Thank the heavens for Kraft, and Thank you C1000 for supplying this marvelous product.  I am forever in your debt.

Day 28: Anne Frank House --> Girls Day

only photo, since photography is not allowed inside...also serious
hair troubles going on here.

Sunday Tracy and I went to the Anne Frank House, which is one of our school assignments.  As we got there I realized that because it is a summer weekend, tourists are all here and want to visit the museum.  Aka, the line was ridiculous.  I told Tracy I didn't want to wait and would rather come back another week day, but she begged so I caved.  We then stood in line for an hour and a half through all four seasons of the year: hot, light rain, absolute crazy storm (this was the majority) and temperate. The museum was freezing and really a huge disappointment.  It was so poorly done and even the artifacts they had on display were not labeled.  All the rooms were dark and freezing.  In short, a total let-down.  I think the diary is amazing and I even love the movie but the house really was not worth it at all.  Unfortunately, Tracy and I had a different pace.  I read every plaque, watched every video, and looked in all the rooms and still I finished a good hour before her; not entirely sure what she was doing....so I got a brownie and sat in the museum cafe...story of my life.

Straight-up red syrup and ice

movie theatres here have so many snacks! Doritos anyone?

 After the museum we split ways and I met Allison and Angie for food and happy hour at Coco's Outback.  We watched an international track meet on the big screen while sitting in super comfy leather couches.  Angie even got a Kangaroo burger (so adventurous) and I got fries (so not adventurous).  After we had each had our crazy sweet and seemingly non-alcoholic cocktails, we headed to a movie.  Magic Mike.  A movie about male strippers.  There was not an empty seat in the entire theatre, and for that matter, not a single guy.  Girls laughed, talked, holla-ed throughout--I am pretty sure they had all been to Happy Hours of their own; see how local we are becoming! Anyways, the whole situation was really funny. Movie review: started of good and campy, become boring and lacked any plot whatsoever...defsies a rental.

The picture quality is bad but look at the amazing colors! On our walk back home! (at ten at night and no rain!)

Day 27: Ot Het Festival

Apparently bringing a baby
to a bar is acceptable here

So the last two days have continued rain.  Rain, rain, rain...never-ending.  But each afternoon the rain usually lightens to an acceptable-for-trying-to-leave-the-building level.  So Saturday night Tracy invited me to go to a festival out at the old ship harbor that we had gone to earlier in the week.  We rode our bikes to Centraal Station and caught the ferry.  When we got there we immediately realized that the "festival" consisted of metal shipping containers--those rectangle crate things--with little performance art pieces inside and for each you pay entry of like 1-3 euro.  So we decided to give one a try.  As we bought our tickets we were blind
folded and guided into the crate.  We then heard a loud noise and a woman yelling in dutch. I took off my blindfold and was in utter pitch black.  For twenty minutes we listened to a women yelling, talking, and singing in dutch.  At one point she grabbed my arm and asked me a question, she asked it again and I whispered, "I speak english..." By the end of the performance I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and ready to kill Tracy for the invite.  I then asked if we could just go to the bunker bar that was in the area.  So we went and found a nice couch to plop on.  Then we talked about Tracy's religion, Jehovah's Witnesses, for a good while...its called "informal preaching" she says...it started to get late and  I was more than ready for the night to be over, but ooohhhh nnoooo, we get on the wrong ferry.  So by the time we made it home, it was 1:30 am.  "Interesting" night.

Day 26: Leiden

Leiden Windmill

Today we went to the city of Leiden.  It was an early morning because the train ride was about an hour and a half.  It was POURING rain this morning so it was all a bit miserable. Even Marek says that the bad weather we have been experiencing this week has been unusual even for the wet climate of Amsterdam.  We went to the Leiden Museum, which is by far the smallest museum we have visited so far (secret sigh of relief), and saw a lot of Last Judgement triptychs with a few Rembrandt works thrown into the mix. On the topic of Rembrandt, we recently learned that art historians are in constant argument over Rembrandt's oeuvre because he did not sign his work and had many students that painted in the same style that he himself used so therefore a person or museum is never positive that they have a genuine Rembrandt.  Back to the museum: it was fine and there was actually a set of Jan Toorop in another section of the museum that I really enjoyed but for the most part the museum was not that amazing in comparison with others we have visited.

Canal and boat cafes

Leiden Church--we didn't go in, ph

After the museum visit we walked around the city a little as the skies began to clear.  A girl in the group, Katy, had her 19th birthday on Monday but she was sick and it was not celebrated so we all decided to take her out for a birthday dinner when we got off the train in Amsterdam.  We found a restaurant called Vapiano connected to the public library right near the station.  It was amazing and so is the library! When you go into the restaurant they give you a card and then you take the card to different sections of the restaurant to get food, drink, dessert, etc.  Each time you want something more you just swipe the card and as you leave you take the card to the register and pay your total.  This system made it so easy with a large group.  Not only was paying convenient and cheap but the food was made in front of you from fresh ingredients.  I will defsies be going back to this Italian restaurant, which has a big front patio, but I also want to go to the library, which looks so absolutely state-of-the-art.

Fashion Police, who wore it better?

ma food and our tree table.  I swear I wasn't alone..just the first to get my food!

After dinner the weather was really nice,  so Tracy, Angie and I decided to walk back to the dorms instead of tram.  We got a little stuck because at one point we ran into water and no way to cross, but for the most part the walk was so pleasant and I saw areas of the city that I had not seen before at all.  The picture to the side is a floating herb garden in one of the quite canals...how these are tended to and harvested are a mystery to me but it is a really clever and cute idea.  The thing at the bottom of the picture is a duck nest and ducks really do use them! It's adorable.

Day 25: Arty Outskirts

 

On Thursday we went to an area of Amsterdam that used to be the old shipping area but as the water level has changed and the city has expanded, shipping is being pushed outward and areas are left with big unused open spaces and warehouses.  One area in particular is just past the Eye, which is the new modern cineplex building I previously posted.  The ferries in Amsterdam are free so we hoped on and went with an architect to this previously abandoned land.  I say previously because now the area is starting to become a new cultural center for the arts.  A majority of the open area is used for music festivals and other activities, and one of the large abandoned warehouses has now been converted into artist studios.  The funny thing is that everyone in my group freaked out over the whole area.  They were saying things like "I want to live here!" and I was thinking, "This is a cold abandoned warehouse."  However, the whole idea is pretty cool and I would definitely like to go to concerts or something in the area...Im just not looking to live here.

There actually is real housing in the area as well.  A new concept of modular rooms that are built with plumbing and wiring built in and then stacked and connected to each other is a cheap student housing option.  However, the "rooms" are essentially those metal shipping crates found on barges with one window.  I think it is a good idea in theory but probably needs a little more work.  Essentially you would be living in a rectangular metal crate that is stacked on other metal crates. 

Student Housing Module "Apartments"

Larger companies have actually taken root here as well.  HEMA, MTV Europe and a IDTV Film & Production all have their major offices in the area.  The IDTV building was very cool and is the longest office building in the world.  It was built upon a preexisting concrete structure used for cranes for lifting cargo.  The offices were then built on top of the concrete but maintains a "floating" look by being built on steel beams that raise the offices above the concrete.  My only question is how they get from one side of the building to the other...my theory: a movie sidewalk like in airports.  Would be pretty snazzy.

  

IDTV Headquarters

After our tour we went to a small cafe after missing the ferry and I got a really good hot cocoa! The weather this whole week has been so bad--rainy, cold, thunderstorms, and then randomly each day the sun will come out and for five minutes I am boiling hot.  Stop being so goddamn moody Amsterdam. Only I am allowed to be moody!

bunker cafe

Day 24: Stock Exchange & Shopping

view of Centraal Station from the bell tower 

Tracy, Anna & Erin

Today we visited the original stock exchange building of Amsterdam.  There were a lot of mosaics and stain glass windows that had symbolism of socialism but even these were not very visually striking.  The whole tour was rather short and a bit bland...after all, it is the stock exchange! The building is no longer the current stock exchange but is a place for parties and other events.  The best part of the tour was when we got to go up into the bell tower.  The stairs were steep and narrow on par with every other staircase in Europe, but the view was pretty cool.  We could see the train station, part of the royal palace, and the Western Makt Church.  So of course we had ourselves a little photo shoot up there, obvi.

American Diner, yeehaw

After the tour Angie, Tracy and I went to an "American Diner" where I was served an amazing club sandwich and fries while listening to Salt n' Pepper.  Even though it said American there were still a few oddities: the three milkshake flavors were Banana, Vanilla with Chocolate Sauce, and Carmel....what?...and there was no mustard only a tube of mayo on the table.  Nonetheless, the place was pretty decent and not too horribly priced considering its close vicinity to Dam Square-tourist mecca.

Then we went for a little touristy shopping ourselves.  H&M, Mango, and Zara seem to be extremely popular.  H&M is on every corner here...the Starbucks of Amsterdam.  The cool thing is that these places are so cheap! Way cheaper than at home or probably even other European countries.  Literally every store here has 30-70% of signs on everything.  Apparently the Dutch are very frugal people and will only buy things on sale...their tightfistedness is where the phrase "dutch date" (or other variations of this) come from.   The clothes in Zara were cool but when I went to try things on they told me I could only take six in even though I had nine items.  So I left three with the lady and when I had tried on my six I asked her for the next three.  She replied to me, "what, did you think I was going to save them for you? We are busy I can't just do stuff like that."  At first I was completely shocked and stood there all deer-in-the-head-lights but then responded, "well, well I think you are very rude."  Needless to say I was done shopping for the day.   The stores were busy but no need to kill my shopping buzz! I can definitely tell tourist season has begun here.  There are less Dutch people since they go to the sea for summer while everyone else floods in.

Day 20: Palace & Sports Bar

the palace in the background...on a non rainy day

This past Saturday I went to the Royal Palace...by myself...and took an audio tour of the ground floor.  The palace is one of five used by the Orange royal family.  This palace is still lived in at times and is only open to the public at certain times depending on the family's whereabouts.  It was a crazy rainy day so I was glad to get inside and check it out.  The tour was ok but because the palace is still used, what you are allowed to see is pretty limited.   As a part of the tour you are given an audio guide, an older Indian woman in a fabulous bedazzled sari was given hers at the same time as me and pretty much followed me through the building.  She couldn't speak Dutch or English and she kept pointing her audio guide at random objects hoping to hear some feedback.  It was so funny.  Although I have to admit, I accidentally pointed my audio device at a few things that were not the sensors either...it's confusing in there!

After the palace I met some friends in Rembrandt Plein, an area of the city that has lots of bars, restaurants, and even a Starbucks (of course).  Our purpose for going there was to find a sports bar and watch the Wimbledon Grand Final and the final outcome: Coco's Outback.  A bar designed to look like an aborigine cave that serves Kangaroo Steaks at happy hour...so ridiculous.  But they did have tons of big screen TVs! We watched until the match had a rain delay and then realized our bootys couldn't handle bar stools anymore.  We then went to a pancake place for dinner.  So yum! Pancakes here are similar to crepes because they have savory and sweet and are big and flat.  Pretty much the only food I like here hah.