Journal 1

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Wow, Im finally here and have two seconds to sit down and take a breather. Ever since my plane landed I have been going full steam ahead with little consideration to how little sleep I have been getting.
The plane ride was pretty ridiculous. The airline over booked my seat, so I immediatly think I am getting upgraded to first class. I dont. Instead, about 30 minutes into the flight, the stewardess brings 3 cribs for babies and distributes them all within 10 feet of me. From there, the flight went down hill in a hurry. The movies wernt worth watching, and if the battery on my ipod died and i had to listen to crying babies, my sanity would have jumped out the plane.
Suprisingly, I made it without problem to my hostel in Utretch and promptly passed out for a long, long time. I woke up with a strange craving for something that had nether chicken nor pasta. I asked the lady working at the desk for a restaurant recomendation and without hesitation she said "Mr Jacks", an italian joint around the block. Ironically, I ordered spaghetti bolognese because it was the only thing I could recognize on the menu.
On Sunday, I walked to our check-in location a short 3 blocks away. One by one, jet-lagged american students arrived including my good friend Matt, who had had a much more pleasant flying experience than me. For the first 3 weeks, everyone from the UC system (~60 people) who is studying in the Netherlands is taking a Dutch language and culture orientation. Our dorm rooms are really nice and my roommate is awesome, which I am convinced is karma compensation for the airplane ride.
The actual city isnt that big bu our dorms are right in the middle of the city center and at the base of a cathedral and a huge bell tower. A tour and climb to the top of the tower (465 steps) revealed an awesome view of the city with Amsterdam barely visible to the North. The bells weigh a total of over 18 tons and when the biggest one is rang, it takes 12 guys over 4 minutes to push and pull until any sound is even made.
It is comforting that the cars drive on the right side of the road, however you are more likely to get from a bike on the sidewalk than a car on the road. They are everwhere and once we get one the city will really open up. The buses will take some time to get used to, and the train station is really close and has destinations ranging from Berlin to London, which we plan on taking advantage of. I did a double take when walking down the street and saw the top half of a huge boat motoring by on a canal.
Last night there was an International Student night at the local pub, and literally all 60 of us showed up at the same time. Everyone here is really cool and I dont want them to split up and go to their respective cities. At least I will have places to stay when I go visit them.
Unfortunatly the dutch give homework also, its not just an American thing. More later. Dank u well.

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