So I havent written in a bit because not much has happened. Let's see... Saturday I went to the market with my mentor Jeffrey. He introduced me to Poffertijes: the most heavenly doughy sugary things ever. I'll definitely go back and take pictures of them. We hung around the market, didn't buy anything. It was raining pretty heavily on and off while we were strolling through the vegetable stands and then all of a sudden, WHOOSH SPLASH!!!! Yep, a liter of dirty tarp water splashed all over my head. I'm not a girly girl, so I'm not exaggerating when I say a LITER (maybe even more). My head was so wet that water poured all down my face and my neck. Lovely. The rest of the time with Jeffrey went downhill after that as he started ... read more

Yesterday I got an email from a professor who heard that there was a complaint from an international student who wished his/her class was taught in Dutch...this sounded like me but I wonder who told him. I emailed him back and we set up an appointment for 10am today to chat. He was really nice, offered me some coffee and then I clarified: I was never complaining about my class not being in Dutch because I already knew the circumstances before I attended the first class. He understood and after 15 minutes it was all clear. I rode to the centrum to poke around and realized that it was Tuesday, meaning there was the tuesday market, my favorite! Tuesdays and Saturdays have the same market with the same vendors, but there are less people on Tuesdays ... read more

So I started my Dutch course today. It's really great. My teacher is named Janny "Yanni" and she's in her 60s and told us that the only way for us to learn Dutch is if she speaks only Dutch to us. She is definitely right - I just didn't understand a lot of what she said today, haha. My class is 11 people: me, a chinese girl, 3 french guys, 2 spanish girls, 1 portugese girl, 2 german girls and 1 polish girl. It's a good mix and everybody is just as clueless as I am. We have a workbook and a cd, so I'll hopefully be much better at Dutch. yay! I haven't blogged in one or two days just because the excitement is dying down. I mean, I'm still enjoying every moment, but I'm ... read more

I've realized the reality. As this is the first time I'm in a different country by myself, without my family, without anybody I know, and without the ability to speak the national language, I was initially gung-ho and didn't know what to expect. I'm still "gung-ho" (thats such a weird word...) but last night really put it all into perspective: I'm not a native, I will never be a native, and not everything here will be as easy as it is in Seattle. It's not something I mind, but now I'm prepared. Last night there was this welcome party for the International students at some building in the centrum called Asterion. Nobody in my house had ever heard of it, but no worries, we looked it up. Should be easy to find. Janne, Anouk and Chiel ... read more

As I was reading some scholarly articles on the couch, Chiel turned on the tv and I couldn't help but watch what was happening. I guess today is a special day in The Netherlands when the Queen Beatrix reads to the public the results of the government's decisions on where the country's money will be divided and what portions will go to which departments (i.e., roads, healthcare, schools, etc). It happens every year and it's always the third Tuesday in September. This whole thing happense in The Hague, Netherlands, and is called "Prinsjesdag" or Prince day. She was seated on this gigantic golden throne, wearing a gold and black silky looking dress. Her hat was the best - gigantic, stiff and golden with the rim bent upwards so that you could pour water in her hat ... read more