Maastricht - where Mother Nature is bipolar...

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I have had a lot of complaints that I have not blogged frequently enough. I'm sorry to announce that since school has started, I quite literally have no life beyond European environmental law, European criminal law, & European human rights law. I highly doubt that anyone wants to read about my lessons on here, so until there's a break in schoolwork, I'll apologize for the lack of blogs. 😊

Today, the weather was crazy. It was about 50 degrees but Mother Nature couldn't figure out if she wanted the sun to shine or for it to pour down rain. Quite literally one moment it would be sunny and beautiful with clear blue skies & 5 seconds later I'd have to bust out an umbrella. It was ridiculous. However, the temperature was very welcome. Considering last week at this time it was snowing, I'll take any break I can get!

Beyond schoolwork, this week I actually took part in some fun activities! Last night, a bunch of us headed to an Irish pub called John Mullins for trivia night. I'm a HUGE fan of trivia nights (mainly because I'm full of useless knowledge that most people could go an entire lifetime without ever needing to know, but that's another issue) so needless to say I was really excited to get back into it. However, I had to tell my trivia teammates in Carlisle that I was cheating on them, & that really stung. 😊 Regardless, I don't know how often I'll be going back, mainly because it lasted FOREVER & most of the questions were out of my range of expertise. (For example, most questions revolved around soccer players/coaches/teams & there was a round on 1980s Eurotrash music that I've never heard - you get the picture.) Oh well. It was worth it just to compare the atmosphere of trivia night in the US versus trivia night in Europe. Interestingly enough, the age groups that partake in both are relatively the same - the pub was packed with Dutch people in their 30s, 40s, & 50s & we were the youngest group (much like we are in Carlisle). It was a fun experience, but again, I don't think I'll make it a regular activity.

Tonight, I went to the movies with the Swedish girls to see Shutter Island (mmmm, Leo). The movies here is an entirely different experience. It cost 7,80 euro so it's roughly the same amount as at home, but the whole buying a ticket thing was so confusing. There wasn't really a board that displayed what movies were showing at what time, so if you didn't know ahead of time, I'd imagine it would be very confusing. Also, at the concession stand, they have BINS of candy that you can pick & choose to buy by the bagful. I was shocked at it, but Sofia & Carolina told me that in Sweden there's even more of a variety. I'm just used to super buttery popcorn, soda, & giant-sized candy. I never imagined that a movie theater would also include a candy store! The girls were shocked when I said that we load up the popcorn with butter & that's what makes movie-theater popcorn so great. Apparently that's strictly an American thing. 😊 Also, about half way through the movie, there was an intermission! The movie was only 2 hours long so I thought that was insane. We were shocked & didn't know what was going on. It's not like we're talking about Gone With the Wind which is 80 hours long & you NEED a break. haha Regardless, the experience was well worth it, plus the movie was FANTASTIC. (I need to see it again because I feel like I missed a lot. It might have something to do with the fact that I kept trying to read the Dutch subtitles, haha).

That's it for now. I'll be sure to post any more random adventures that I have!

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Photos

Rainbow over Maastricht
The advantage of having sporadic rain showers all day is that it created a beautiful rainbow this evening!