Journal 2

---

I have come to realize that time moves much faster in Europe than back in the states. Whenever I sit down to write, someone barges in and says that a couple people are going to a museum in Rotterdam, or play futbol in the park. Although the Netherlands is a small country, the cities have such a different and unique feel to them. We went to a mordern art museum in Rotterdam last week, and it was nothing like any other museum I had seen. Back in World War II, Rotterdam and its huge shipping port was completly destroyed by the Germans. The buildings in the City Center now are very modern and huge which contrasts every other building I have seen.
The past few days I went with some friends to Amsterdam. I thought that it was going to be exactly like Utrecht, only bigger. I was wrong. They are getting ready for the celebration of the city's 736 birthday. As an American I find that hard to wrap my brain around. We got to go see the Anne Frank house, the Rijksmuseum, and Van Goghs museum, but what i liked most was just walking around the small streets and past the canals.
One of my favorite museums was the Hueller-Krueller museum. It is on a national park, so in addition to the paintings (which included everything from Rembrandt, to Picasso, to Mondriaan, to the second largest collection of Van Gogh), there was a massive sculpture collection out on the grounds. There are about 7 bike paths and they give you bikes and let you explore the entire park. We found this really cool and very large house, but the tours were done for the day.
We have about two more weeks of break before classes. A bunch of friends are returning from places like Munich, Brussels, Barcelona, and Paris. I get to start my traveling on Sunday when I fly out of Brussels to Rome and I stay there for 4 or 5 days. I was talking to a friend about how much I want to go to Greece, and she told me that she has family on one of the islands and could porbably house us for a couple days. I dont care if my next break isnt until November, I have already starting checking out flight schedules and things I want to do.
I moved into my permanent dorms last week and they are much better than the dorms that we were staying in. We finished our orientation and language class and all of the UC students have gone to thier respective cities. I havnt met anyone yet on my hall, it seems kinda quiet. Some freshman were playing futbol on the lawn so went to throw on some shorts and go join them. Big Mistake. I was never really good in america, but I was just hoping that since I was athletic I could fake it. It was clear from the begining that even though I was 4 years older, they were way better than me.
My dorm looks right out on the campus center, and I love just people watching from my window. The room is gigantic and I have nothing to put in it. I almost wish that I had a roommate so there would be more stuff in the room. I am ALMOST excited to start classes.

---

Comments

[A.D.]

museums??
What is the word "museum" euphemistic for ? I don't speak Dutch (even though I just spent a week with a 6'8'' Dutch boy) so it might be a foreign word to me. Now, Joe, tell us what you're really up to.