How to speak Netherlese

As promised, I'm writing this from my kitchen table in Cincy. I've been back in town for a little over a week now and have mostly been trying to sort out my life by arranging employment, internships, and getting the apartment organized.

On my last day in Utrecht it snowed! The day I went home I woke up at 6am to catch the bus to the train station (midnight EST), caught the train to Schripol and waited in a number of lines at the airport. They wanted to charge me 50 euros for my checked bag weighing too much so I unzipped it on the scale and started throwing stuff out to get it lighter. I think the lady working the baggage check-in thought I was nuts. At customs the security people were suspicious of my cheese ball, so they did a chemical test on it using cotton balls, a metal clamp and some strange whirring machine. Other than struggles with luggage my flight from Amsterdam was uneventful. I am glad I don't have to make that trip on a regular basis though. I got a headache on the jet, I think because of watching movies on the monitor installed on the back of the seat in front of me. The screens are too close to my eyes.

So for everyone concerned, I am home and safe. I plan on working as a peer advisor (starting Wednesday) at the UC International Programs office. Manifest has put me back into the swing of things, scheduling me to work a few days last week. As for paid employment, I've been corresponding with the UC writing center about being a writing tutor but I discovered that according to UC's HR department I'm under-qualified to instruct. I may be working there doing secretarial work and perhaps I can work my way up the food-chain from there. That's enough about my depressing job search.

Seeing how my term overseas is ended, this will be my last blog entry. It's been fun keeping in touch through this medium, take care everyone.

In my last few days here I did a fair bit of traveling and sight seeing. On Tuesday Gaia and I went to Amsterdam to see a few exhibits we were both interested in checking out. First we hopped a tram to Binnenhof right outside of the city to see the CoBrA museum (stands for Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam) which was devoted to post-WWII expressionist artists. I had never heard of the group or the museum but Gaia really wanted to see it. There were mostly paintings by the CoBrA members in the permanent collection. I thought some of them were pretty interesting, and the whole experience was informative because all the art was new to me. Picasso prints and drawings by a Dutch artist were on special exhibition as well, so in the end Gaia and I decided it was worth the trip. And it snowed for the first time this winter in this area! We got back to the heart of Amsterdam around 4 and got some fries with Curry sauce to share. Then we went to the Bodies exhibit ! I'd heard only good things about it from people who had visited in Chicago, so I wasn't too upset paying the huge fee to get in, and, as promised, it was wild. All the stereotypes I'd heard about were true. First, the bodies were of asian people mainly, second, the poses and props were irreverent. There was no pregnant woman though (not that this disappointed me). Gaia said she could smell them, but I couldn't and refused to try harder. The scariest set up was designed to highlight the parts of the body in the nervous system. It included a brain with different layers peeled off, 2 eyes attached to the brain, and octopus-looking tendrils streaming out from under it. The whole mess was laid on a white table under glass and was the sort of thing you only see in nightmares. They also had organs effected by strange illnesses such as a cross section of a brain after a stroke with the whole inside turned black, and cirrhosis of the liver. There was a dark room with just the veins and arteries of various organs floating in clear, under-lit boxes of water and looking like sponges since they still held the shape of their formal condition. Yep, Gaia and I had fun here making disgusted faces at one another. That night I sold my bike, chain, and lights to one of the Greek guys, Vasileios, for 40 euros which was a pretty good price for us both.

Wednesday I went to Maastricht finally. I had heard good stuff about this town from everyone so I decided this was the next best thing to Germany, since it's 30 miles from Achen, right at the border. I caught the 10:30 train and was super confused by the whole travel situation because the train added another 1/2 to the front at the stop in Eindhoven and I had to get out and move to the new part of the train because at some point the 2 parts re-divided again, arriving at different destinations. The instructions were given over the intercom in Dutch so I kept bugging the people near me to explain what I needed to do. I arrived at 12:30 after a really beautiful ride through the south-western part of the Netherlands. There was snow on the trees and everything was really gray, misty and cold.

( Photos! )

Maastricht was super beautiful. The city is medieval and made of stone mostly, insead of brick. There is a stone wall that circles the whole town and instead of canals there is a river which runs right through the middle with 3 bridges crossing it. I loved it there and walked over each bridge at least once and all along the walls perimeter and on top of it where permitted. They also have a great art museum calledthe Bonnefanten  which housed a large part of the Rijksmuseum's permanent collection while the Rijk's is being renovated. I hadn't realized that this stuff would be there, and neither did the expert Sandra (she was as surprised as I when I talked to her that night since she didn't make it there during her stay). The other half of the museum was for contemporary art, mainly Dutch artists that I wasn't familiar with but they were nice. There was an installation that I really enjoyed, and usually I'm not such a huge fan of this type of art. The building itself was really stellar too, designed by an Italian architect Gaia had told me about named Aldo Rossi. There is a university in the town that took up many of the buildings so there were lots of people my age, and not too many tourists. I was unusually picture-happy and mastered the art of gloved photo taking. I covered the entire town by foot and was exhausted and cold by the time the sun set, hopped the 5 o'clock train, was again confused by the train switching, and got home around 8.

( Photos! )

It's Sandra's last night here so she's making a Czech meal for all of us, including the new people (2 German and 2 Greek guys) who moved in on the 1st. I won't try to regurgitate the name of the dish in Czech, but it involves sour kraut, pork and dumplings (which I helped her prepare yesterday). Because it's a labor intensive meal I assisted in preparing the dumplings yesterday afternoon, and Gaia and I helped her with cleaning the kitchen, chopping cabbage, and everything else the past couple hours. Now we're waiting for the meat to finish cooking. Not that I'm too interested in the meat situation, but she kindly made me a chicken with some stuffing so I get my own little feast.

Today and yesterday the weather has been gloriously glorious. I took a walk yesterday and today a bike ride in the country so my lungs are full of fresh air and I feel exercise-tastic. There are daffodils blooming along the roads and I don't even need a scarf. Did I hear it's freezing in Cincinnati? Mwa ha ha. I decided against going to Germany this weekend in favor of being with my friends, which I think was a good decision. Ian left for Spain with his girlfriend on Friday morning and he won't be back before my flight, so that was a sad farewell Thursday night. I'm also unhappy to see Sandra go, but I realize this was inevitable, and I'm content that my time here was spent well. Sandra wants me to come back to Europe in August, buy a month long train pass, and travel in Italy and Spain with her and her friend Sonja (in addition to Prague and Vienna, located by her home), so I may be seeing her soon depending on how the summer looks intern/job-wise. There is a Venice Biennial in Italy during this period and since she and Sonja are Art History majors and better acquainted with Europe (Sandra's been to Italy multiple times), educated in multiple languages, and experts at traveling via trains, it would be the best way for me to see this part of Europe.

Well, I have been beckoned for dinner, so adieu for now. Sandra wrote the (anglicized) Czech name of our dinner in the title.

Check the Aboriginal Art Museum off of my 'Things to do' list. Yesterday Sandra and I braved the drizzle and wind to see this gallery in town, mainly as an excuse to escape the apartment. As expected the paintings were spirals and dots, reminding us both of psychedelic posters and black light art. The people working there gave us a guide explaining what different marks symbolize, so we were able to make up narratives for some of the works. Then we used the kids coloring area to create our own art. One of the curators, predictably enough, came into the room just as Sandra was doing interpretive rubbings of the walls, window mouldings, and my face with colored pencils. He seemed tolerant enough of our expressive endeavors. She also illustrated a landscape and taught me the names of things in Czech, though I remain unable to pronounce them. Since I'm still unable to roll my 'r's after 5 years of Spanish class, words with 'dv's and 'cz's are impossible.

Today my housemates are throwing a going away party for ourselves, though most of us aren't going anywhere for a week. It's a pretty big raucous since everyone is moving stuff around, cleaning out rooms and putting furniture in others since there's barely enough space for ourselves without inviting people over. It should be a pretty fun night. Fra's got the music turned up so loud right now I can't concentrate on my book anymore. I've been reading the rest of "The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance" by Charles Shumaker published in the 70's, which I used in my paper on Alchemy. Instead, I tried to look up the author to see what else he's written, and his email so I can send him creepy love letters. Sadly, it looks like the guy was born in 1910 and died in '99, so all my hopes have been dashed. I'm really interested in how Renaissance Neoplatonists tried to mold pagan mythology to 'prove' Catholic Christianity. This allegorical method was (is?) also used by political factions and the Puritans to 'prove' their own opinions; showing you can twist texts, and especially the Bible, to mean just about whatever you and your constituents want. Also, this cannon is much more 'Eastern' than 'Western' in its pursuit of the 'One,' which reflects strangely on my prior assumptions on European religion. I would love to pursue this vein in grad school, but all the original texts are in Latin so I would either have to learn it or be at a severe disadvantage in the field.

It's about 12:30 over here and I am entirely finished up with school as of now. I woke up about 10 to turn in my term paper for my class on the Renaissance. I was allowed to pick my own topic, so I did a massive amount of research on Alchemy both before and during the Renaissance. It's always been a goal of mine to exert some serious effort into understanding the Alchemic arts, so I really enjoyed the project. I ran into my professor when I went to the arts office today and handed him the paper, and realized on the bike ride home I had forgotten to sign the 'Plagiarism statement' I had stapled to the back. If I haven't mentioned it before, we're required to sign one for every essay. Not like I know what I'm signing anyways since they don't attach an English translation on the university website. Moral of the story: I'm absentminded.

Yesterday was really awesome. Sandra invited me to join her Art history field trip to the drawing archives at the Rijksmuseum. We got into town early and saw the Stedelijk Museum of contemporary art, then an exhibit of local artists in the Oude Kerk (church), visited the Vermeers and Rembrandts for the last time at the Rijks (in her case, anyways), then found the offices near the concert hall. The two contemporary exhibits we saw early in the day were alright. The best thing from the one in the Kerk were speakers that had wooden legs and baa-ed intermittently. They also put red cellophane with the Coke logo across it over one of those giant cathedral-type windows. Cleverly done in both instances. The church itself was gorgeous, with a wooden barrel vaulted ceiling and ancient painted decorations on the wood and stone work. The floor had graves in it that were cut in very high relief so I kept tripping over the coat of arms of some dead guy or another. Not to mention the sun was super bright and warm so the whole place was glowing. Not much to say about the other exhibits, but the Rijksmuseum was in the process of having its exhibits changed so anyone who paid full fare for entry was probably angry that day for only getting to see a severely limited portion of the collection. The drawings we saw at the museum's archive were really neat because they weren't behind glass and I have an affinity for linear works, despite the fact they are monochromatic and arguably 'unfinished.' Sandra's class also includes the German girl Julia I met in the fall who made lasagna and invited me over one evening to meet her friends. It was really good to see her after so long, but of course we couldn't talk too much.

I've been watching a bunch of movies with everyone in the kitchen lately such as Elephant man, Apocalypto, and (last night) Running Scared. The funniest part of the latter film was when the hero (from Fast and Furious) passionately tells the Russian boy (albino kid from X Men III) to abandon his dogmatic Russian heritage and chant "I am an American" over and over while F&F's guy plays classic rock on the tape deck of his red mustang convertible. Did I mention it was a guy movie? 2nd funniest part was during the climax when the Russian mafia is warring against the Italian mafia in one of those kill everyone scenes. In the end, after all the carnage and commotion, the Italian mob boss dramatically rises and is the only one left, at which point Fra jumps out of his chair and screams "the Italians won!" I couldn't stop laughing as Fra's usually pretty averse to outbursts. But, don't worry back home, the American's won in the end, and balance was returned to the force.

A few days ago I spent forever in the kitchen with my flatmates just talking and talking. I love when we get together and have meaningful conversations. That's why I try to start my ssignments early, so I can rearrange my schedule to accommodate these unexpected great moments (hours?). Finals week is usually not ideal timing for lazy pow wows on the couch. It was concluded in this session that Ian is going to India with his parents during the time when, coincidentally, I was to be homeless. So, instead of rescheduling my flight as I was prepared to do and shell out the +100 dollars, I am able to stay in Ian's until the 9th. I actually wrote the people at USAC who arranged my trip asking why they told me to stay until the 9th if the new semester begins on the 4th and the SSH kicks residents out promptly on the 1st. They didn't reply, but up until I had this arrangement in Ian's worked out I was pretty angry about the whole situation. The new people will be here on the 1st we're told so there will be loads new people to get to know and annoy (whichever comes first). All of us will still be here when they move in. Nina left weeks ago (but is coming to pick up the rest of her stuff this weekend), Sandra leaves on the 5th, me the 9th, Gaia and Fra are here till March 1, Ian and Toni are staying until Judgment, and Ondrej will be here until... well, he doesn't have a ticket yet.

Things I plan to do with my free time here:

1. Visit Alchemy library in Amsterdam (it's the biggest in the world according to Wikipedia. Who knew?)
2. See the Istanbul exhibit because it free for me, and I've got time.
3. See the Amsterdam 'Bodies' exhibit I've heard so much about from people who saw it in Chicago. Do anatomical sketches of the dead people made into plastic all day long, or until they kick me out, because entry is 18 euros so I'm only going once.
4. See the Catherinje convent and Aboriginal art museum in Utrecht
5. Hang out at the Utrecht University library to read the magazines, etc.
6. Write Browning essay (I'd like to make my victory record an even (odd?) 3 years)
7. Sell my bike
8. Schedule my GREs
9. Look into grad schools
10. Read "War and Peace." All of it.
11. Travel a bit, maybe to Germany (still) for a weekend but I'll probably have to go alone.
12. Try raw herring

It's turned into another rainy day in Holland, though it wasn't an hour ago. My last day of classes was today, and the professor only lectured for 1/2 the allotted time. I wore my regular cloth jacket and stayed %100 dry, no drizzling even on the journey. Afterwards, I came home to eat breakfast and watch the news. On the BBC they showed all the oranges freezing in California and the icy road conditions in Texas. Then they showed a huge purple and blue weather system coming straight across the British Isles and heading for me! What do you know, an hour later the weather turned and the man at the BBC foresaw it all on his digital monitor, letting me in on his divinations. It's Sandra's 22nd birthday, so I was going to get a chocolate cake at the Oriental market to celebrate, but it's become too torrential right now. I worked on a paper all day yesterday, and I have 2 more to go and a final exam next Wednesday. After that I'll be bumming around here until the 9th. I'm told some classes don't have exams until the 4th, so that's why the International Office here told me to stay so late after most classes have ended. I'm not complaining, Sandra and I are planning a trip to Germany during the weeks before we head back to our mother nations (and our mothers).

Food I will miss from Holland:

-cheap Edam cheese
-cheap, fresh brussel sprouts
-cheap wheat bread with seeds and nuts
-cheap beer
-raisin rolls (Krenten/ Rozijnen bollen)
-brown eggs
-pre-cubed chicken

I was so proud of myself for waking up early today. I made coffee and ate breakfast with the sun streaming through the windows. I'm sure that's why I woke up when I did- the unusual appearance of the sun. In the AM there isn't techno music bumping down the hallway yet, and I was able to spend some time in the kitchen alone (blasphemy of blasphemies). Idyllic moment end scene. Somehow the chronically clogged sink in the bathroom got turned on full blast and I happened to be the first one to hop through the soggy corridor to turn off the faucet. Bleh. I roused Gaia and Toni, who were also awake by this time, and the three of us used dust pans, then mops, to remove the water from the floor. Luckily in the hall with the toilet, showers, washing machine and dryer, there is a 2 inch bumper that kept the water from getting past this area, but it had nearly breached the mark. Us girls spent ages cleaning up, and I made a Noah and his arc sign advising against using the phantom overflowing sink in hopes of avoiding future deluges.

The moral of the story: Stay in bed longer so someone else can clean up these public catastrophes.

Like everyone else it seems, I jumped back into the real world this week. While Randy was visiting I put off all of my homework and am just now beginning to catch up. I just got home from the library where I printed up a paper that's due tomorrow and this afternoon I posted an essay for my other class on the course's internet forum. Friday I have a big presentation and met up with my group after class today and the paper which is worth 50% of the grade is due the 19th... in other words, I have my work cut out for me.

Since I didn't really post at all over the holiday I'll try to put up some of the photos Randy took around town, along with a little commentary about where we traveled. Again, I didn't take any photos so thank Randy for these stunning compositions.

( Dom )

For Randy's birthday on the 2nd we went out for Indian food in one of the restaurants along the lower level of the canal. I hadn't had Indian food since I was in Cincy so I was really missing my chicken saag. We had a really difficult time communicating with the waiter and reading the menu but it ended up being delicious. Unfortunately there are no doggie bags so I ate as much as I could and had to give up. The spices they used were different then what I'm used to in the US, but I think it tasted less greasy and more wholesome. Randy's being the paparazzi here taking candid photos.

( Randy's )

We walked around Utrecht pretty much every day since the weather stayed pretty dry.

( Utrecht )

For New Years Nina and Roumen made a traditional Bulgarian meal for us which was so nice. Since Roumen's flatmates are all Germans they were still in Germany over the holiday so he had all of us and a bunch of Italian friends of Fra over at his place nearby. Most of the food was cabbage wrapped with different stuffings. One had beans and rice, another had grape leaf wrapped rice and beef. There was also quail eggs and Bulgarian cheese. It was really delicious but so different from food I'm used to eating of my own accord. After dinner we went back to the apartment and when it hit 12 all these fireworks went off from everywhere. You could see them 360 degrees around the building and, since there are no hills, they went all the way to the horizon. It was pretty incredible, and went on for hours. Turns out fireworks are illegal up to 3 days before New Years in the Netherlands.

( New )

Last Wednesday Randy and I went to Brussels. It's the one major city in Belgium I hadn't visited yet, and Sandra said it was really nice. We had to take a train after 9 for my discount card to get us 50% off the train tickets, then had to transfer trains 3 times and stand in the aisles, which kind of sucked, but wasn't a huge deal. Arrived around noon and walked around the city a bit, then went to the art museum which was free! Stayed there for a couple hours then went to the cathedral and took a bunch of photos there. We went to the 'Royal Park' and ate some lunch and walked around. Supposedly, Austrian Empress Maria-Theresia organized it to be like Versailles in it symmetricality. Went back to the art museum to see the modern portion till it closed, then walked to the main square and had french fries (with mayo, of course) and a beer, walked around some more then had a delicious Belgium waffle with strawberries and whipped cream on a bench in the center of town, got the train schedule and bought a cup of coffee to share on the steps of the Cathedral. Somehow caught a direct line from Brussels to Utrecht (3 transfers there versus none on the way back) and got home by midnight.

( Brussels )

Randy's been visiting since last Monday (11th), so, like the rest of my flat mates, I finally have the pleasure of being a hostess and tour guide. I managed to get all my schoolwork for the week done over the weekend, so we've been seeing all the touristy stuff around town, the markets on the outskirts of Utrecht, and my favorite trails along the canals. Actually, he's been doing me the most favors by buying groceries and cooking dinner while I'm in lecture or reading. We took some beers in a backpack the other night and drank them by the canal in the center until the rain chased us away. There's a nice bar with live music every night nearby, so we sought shelter there for an hour or so and listened to some hippie bands on 'open-mic night.'

Thursday we went to Amsterdam and had a great time seeing the sights and walking until our feet were numb. I bought a (40%) discount pass for the trains in Holland at the station, and we arrived in the city around 2. I've already been to the museums in Amsterdam, so Randy decided that he preferred to see Vermeer as opposed to Van Gogh. We went straight to the Rijksmuseum from the station, but ate an apple and an avocado outside on a bench. The weather wasn't rainy, but at long last it's getting frosty here, so we didn't linger. We toured the museum until they kicked us out at the giant sailboat model that appealed to Randy's nautical background. For dinner we found an Italian restaurant where all the customers spoke Italian so we knew it had to be good. I got a plate of seasoned fresh anchovies and he ordered a pesto and mushroom pizza so together we had anchovy and vegetable pizza! Of course this was followed with espresso so we would fit in (it aids the digestion, I'm told), and I thoroughly enjoyed going on my first date in 3 months. Afterwards, we loosely decided to try and find the red-light district, but got distracted with all the interesting streets and buildings along the way so we had to stop and have a few beers at a pub first before we eventually accomplished our mission (we're both still contemplating that experience). We managed to get back to Utrecht by midnight.

( Photos! )

Roumen's brother, Marty, was here over the weekend. Nina, Randy, the brothers, and I all watched Little Miss Sunshine in the kitchen yesterday night before they headed home to Bulgaria for the holidays (Nina's here till Wednesday). I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in my entire life. I want to personally recommend it to everyone. It is the greatest film, trust me.

Today we went on my current favorite bike trail to Bruekelen. Randy acted as photojournalist on our mission. He fixed an extra-stubborn bike of Fra's this morning, so I didn't have to ride on the back rack of my bike while he pedaled like we've been doing this past week. I'm afraid we aren't quite as graceful as the natives here at balancing 2 people on one bike. It was another cold, but un-rainy day, so we had to get out in it after my lecture ended at 1, but before the sun set at the ungodly hour of 4:30. We hurried a little to beat the sun, and made it back to the city before nightfall and a thick fog and made it so you couldn't see 5 feet in front of your bike. Luckily, Randy fixed my bike lights so I wasn't in danger of becoming a speed bump, but it was nice and eerie during rush hour.

( Photosx2 )

Last night I went to a Dutch girl's apartment for her birthday party. The highlight of this experience wasn't the free Grolsch, but the quintessentially Netherlandse party favors. Sometime in the night the b-day girl, Sasha, fires up the deep fryer and makes loads of french (Belgium) fries and fried fish which she puts in newspaper cones with mayonnaise squirted on top, and distributes around the apartment. I thought it was amazing.

I've been keeping busy with school the past week and trying to stay out of the weather. It is 'reading week' for one of my classes, so I haven't had to go to my Monday or Wednesday lectures. Sandra and I have been hanging out together non-stop. We've watched so many movies in her room (the Departed, City of God, Merchant of Venice) and now were watching all those exciting HBO series I had heard of in the States, but are free for the downloading with our ethernet. Fra, Sandra and I were sucked into 'Heroes' yesterday (I know, I know. That one's on NBC), and today we watched 3 'Carnivale' episodes. So many delightfully trippy and magical shows in this world, and I had no idea. It's like Harry Potter for adults, and I am a sucker for fantasy. Sandra was supposed to go to Poland and Ukraine this past weekend but her flight was canceled so she had to hang out with me mwa ha ha! We went to a party on Friday night thrown by the international student union but we didn't stay too long. We generally spend far too much time in each other's company, but I can't complain. All this girl time reminds me of being a camp counselor again (with the boys here being the children).

I'm working on a group presentation for my New Media course with a Dutch guy named Vlad (Romanian originally, no relation to the Impaler), and another exchange student from Poland named Marta. We met up on Monday at Vlad's place so I finally got to see the interior of a Dutch apartment. I suppose a bachelor's place cannot be considered the epitome of Dutch domesticity, but he did have this sweet dreamcast game called Samba-something with electronic mariachis and motion sensors. After our meeting was completed I 'played' a few rounds and it was pretty hilarious, especially if anyone was watching us through the window. It was like playing Dance Dance Revolution, only with Latin music and more accessories. Should be a great presentation, since we really know how to stay on task, obviously. We decided to do a case study on Newgrounds.com, which is a forum that shows flash animations and has a complicated voting system for audience participation.

The 6th was Sinterklaas day, so on the 5th Sandra drug Gaia and I out of bed at 9:30 to create a fish-tastic feast for the flatties. We rode down to a market I hadn't visited yet and bought so many fishes of various colors and sizes, along with 5 salmon steaks. Carrying all that seafood made my backpack stink like fish by the time we got home. We stopped by the supermarket to buy fixins', bike bike biked back, dropped off the stinky fish to stink up the kitchen, then I accompanied Sandra back out in to the rain to visit my favorite oriental market. We bought sushi stuff and another chocolate cake mix for Nina and we made it home again before 12:30. Then Gaia began ruthlessly chopping the heads off the fishes, which proved both brutal and hilarious to watch. I set about making the cake and helping with the sushi when needed (though, I was careful the twain never met). Class was not canceled this fine Sinterklaas eve, so I jetted to school just after pulling the perfect cake from the Dutch guys' oven and leaving the icing to someone else. Cyborg class was great. We're discussing the 'panopticon' and the POMO philosopher Foucault. I got home about 5 and continued with the fish baking and mashed potato blending. Ian's girlfriend from America is visiting this week so she added one to our group, and Gaia had a friend in town from Italy so we had 10 total. As usual for our meals, the boys were useless, we drug a 2nd table into the kitchen, there was much wine to go around (white this time to go with the fish), and it was a good, greasy fat time.

( Photos )

Picked up my resident permit today making me official. At the immigration office the guy working the counter said "Holterhoff, that's a really pretty Dutch name." This is humorous on two levels. One, if I was Dutch why would I need a resident permit, and two Holterhoff is a German name, not Dutch. The weather here was glorious so I decided to follow whatever canal I was on and found the Utrecht Red Light District! The prostitutes here work out of houseboats, wearing little, with red neon lights along the panes. Considering it was 2 pm I was a little surprised to see them working, but... se la vie, no? The best part was that across the street were soccer fields with little kids playing a match. I guess it's no worse then TV or billboards, only with these ladies there's no veil of coyness. Only in Holland!

I rode up to Breukelen, a gorgeous town with lots of old buildings and castles. Of course I forgot my camera, so I'll have to go back sometime. I ate an apple by the canal, managed to not get attacked by angry Dutch geese, marveled at the Dutch topiary. I rode for 3 hours, took a shower, then made spinach and eggs to put over leftover pasta (all the major food groups). Ian had picked up our final exams from the Kaleidoscope course we took last quarter, and we both did awesome. 8=A, and we got 9s. Team America!

I'm getting progressively worse and worse at keeping on top of this blog. I've mainly been devoting myself to school, namely my New Media New Citizenship class. I am really enjoying the readings but they are so full of information I spend loads of time just trying to keep decent notes. Yesterday I read an article on 3 major kinds of democracy (liberal, social, and radical) and all the nuances of each. I also read a bunch on feminism and gendering in Postmodern versus Modern theory. I know it sounds dry just listing them, but I'm actually really enjoying the material since it fills a void in my knowledge base.

Last Friday in my NMNC class a guest lecturer, a Dutch woman, was discussing the architecture of the internet, different organizations involved in hosting and regulating the web, ISPs, browsers, the history of the internet, etc. Very cool stuff. At one point on her powerpoint the word 'souverenity' was bulleted, which I initially assumed to be a misspelling of sovereignty, but then she pronounced it "so-ver-en-ity" (5 syllables) as opposed to "sa-ver-in-ty" (3 syllables). I thought about it for a minute and decided it may be some jargon for political studies or maybe a technical, computer term. Plus I thought a PhD would use spell check on such a stark presentation, and her English up until then was flawless. If the spelling had been right and the pronunciation off, I definitely wouldn't have asked...but, as you probably have assumed by this introduction, in the end I decided to raise my hand and see for sure if the former was equivalent to the latter. The lecturer was really nice about it, saying "that's what I get for having a native English speaker in the class," and turns out it was just a mispelling. I didn't think too much of it the rest of the day, but as I was trying to read a book for NMNC that evening called "Re-reading Popular Culture" written by a professor at Amsterdam University, I noticed at least one typo, as well as multiple instances when I had difficulty understanding her sentences because they seemed unnecessarily complex. Not that scholarly writing is ever cake to get through, but some sentences seemed to have no point. Assertions in one sentence seemed entirely unrelated to the sentence before and after, leaving me to draw somewhat arbitrary conclusions more from interpretation then from a surety that this is what she wanted to say. I finally got frustrated with re-reading the same paragraphs over and over, and went next door to take a break in Ian's room where Ondre and he were watching the original series of Star Trek. When I mentioned my suspicions that the writing I was struggling through might be slightly convoluted because it was written by a non-native speaker, Ondre remembered my comment earlier in class and chewed me out for asking the lecturer such an obvious question. "Of course she meant that." I had definitely not expected this sort of reaction, since it had been more a passing comment for clarity then a critique, but I felt frustrated that I might have seemed insensitive by my honest question. I couldn't get him to understand that I really didn't know if that was real jargon or a misspelling. Since this course is an elective, not my specialty I have been trying extra hard to humbly understand the tenants of this field of study. Ian wouldn't take a side one way or the other in our argument, so I felt like I needed one of those confessional rooms they always have on the Real World to vent my anger. I guess I just care too much; I want to maximize my learning, but I also don't want to look like a pretentious know-it-all. A fine line to walk, and it appears I failed on this instance according to Ondre's estimation. He's not one to hold grudges, though, so I'm not too upset, but in retrospect it was an interesting series of events.

Thanksgiving '06 was a blast. I told all my house mates about the impending holiday the day before and they were super excited to honor my sacred American heritage. Instead of getting up early as planned I slept in Thursday ("accidentally") which, coincidentally, is my day off school this quarter. Sandra was the most adamant about making the feast happen, and was the one who woke me up by pounding on my door. Luckily it was locked so I could get up, put on some jeans, whisper 'busted' to Ian as I sneaked to the bathroom before she accosted me. Sandra's class was canceled, so she went with me to the Turkish market where the butcher shops, blasphemy of blasphemies, were not in the business of selling Turkeys until Christmas. We bought some vegetables at the market and rode from butcher to butcher in vain pursuit of the 'big chicken.' Nina's been sick so she couldn't come with us, but she special requested I get another cake like I made for my birthday, so I brought Sandra to my magical Oriental store and got another Dunken Hines' chocolate cake mix. Eventually we gave up on the Turkey hunt and bought 2 whole chickens. We bought got so much food and 3 bottles of red wine, all of which was precariously balanced on our handle bars, in backpacks, and strapped to our bike racks. We managed to keep the bill around 25 euros so each person payed 3 euros. Gaia had cleaned the kitchen in our absence. I explained that to properly honor my culture we had to make mashed potatoes, and I made stuffing to put inside the chickens. It was pretty ridiculous. I'm a much bigger fan of sitting on my butt on Thanksgiving then trying to explain how to make everything to 4 girls that are all much more accomplished chefs than I. Somehow everything went off perfectly. I discovered the Dutch guy's have a hand mixer which was very helpful. The cake didn't even burn this time since I checked it every 5-10 minutes in the Dutch guys' oven. They are kind enough to let us foreigners invade their kitchen and use their appliances whenever. During my visits I discussed their feelings about the elections that occurred earlier that week. It appears 'Harry Potter' was victorious again. I layered spiced pumpkin and Nuttella in the chocolate cake and it was a huge hit. Green beans were the vegetable of choice, but no one here really eats them, so I had to explain how to make them properly ( in other words I made it up since I don't really know either). Meanwhile, the boys bought a couch for 20 euros from some guy, making them a little late to dinner as they carried it on their bikes from there to here. How, you may be asking yourselves? 3 bikes: 2 carried the couch on the back tire rack, 1 held it on the front tire shield. According to them they looked like the Starship Enterprise, and everyone on the road got out of their way. We microwaved whatever had gotten cold, moved another table into the kitchen, and poured some wine for everyone. I stood on my chair and recited the beginning of the Gettysburg Address, which Francesco mistook for praying. Then we ate a pseudo-traditional meal devoted to those dear pilgrims and Indians, 'lo those many years ago.

( Photos! )

I figured my last entry's extraordinary lengthyness and the html skills involved in uploading all those photos exempted me from writing for a few days, but I'm feeling the itch on this fine Saturday evening in Utrecht.

I just read all the assignments I have due for my rad New Media New Citizenship course. I felt guilty for not performing well the first week of lessons so I'm trying to make up my essential dork credentials by posting my mini-essay on a Saturday night. Our readings covered such topics as cyborgs and the gendering of citizenship. The first was an interesting look into the non-paid 'caring' aspect of many women's lives which, in purely financial terms, makes them lesser citizens because they are less likely to receive pensions from employers because they take more leaves of absence for their family. Their financial situation links them to marriage by necessity or else they are supported by the State, begging the question, should women get special social privileges? Separate but equal seems to be in question. That's a terrible synopsis with lots of holes. Forgive me.

Another article dealt with cyborgs in society and had multiple references to Star Trek: Next Generation. I then wrote a paper on 'radical feminist' Valerie Solonas (she shot Andy Warhol) and her utopian dreams of a man-less world made possible through test tube babies and the complete genocide of all men. Wow. I read her SCUM Manifesto (1967) in high school because a guy (of all people) thought I'd enjoy it and lent me his own personal copy. I thought it would make a great point of comparison for the material we were covering, and so it was done.

Last class were supposed to have written a mini essay my Wednesday at 5, but I was confused in general, but mainly on where the class was (both the building and room # were TBA for me until Tuesday), and what to do with the website and discussion board. And so... I didn't do the assignment. The teacher was not happy with me on Friday, but there is a make-up drop box so it will just be a mark down for the stupid exchange student. On an aside, my schedule said the room was 'Afgewezen' so I spent time that morning trying to find this facility on the multiple maps of Utrecht in my possession, finally giving up and asking Toni where this mysterious building is situated. Turns out (perhaps you've already guessed), 'Afgewezen' means... To Be Announced. Jokes on me, eh?

Yesterday night was pretty fun. Sandra made pancakes, which, to all the individuals of flat 227 excepting Ian and myself, means crepes. She rolled them burrito style, with spinach, cheese and tomato salsa inside. It was so delicious and so filling. I had been watching a National Geographic on the ascetic Shaolin Monks so I really felt like a useless fat American after the meal. Gaia had also made a cake (no mix for her), and we had red wine and some of Sandra's secret moonshine. Haha. It's actually a clear brandy her family makes in Czech from apricots which she keeps in a plastic coke bottle in the fridge. Pretty tasty. I agreed to go out dancing with Sandra since I don't go out dancing at the clubs here with the regularity exhibited by others. I first watched Where the Buffalo Roam with Bill Murray playing Hunter S. Thompson. It was so interesting to see the slapstick and terrible stereotypes associated with drug culture when that came out in 1980, as opposed to the psychedelic interpretation popular in 1998 with Johnny Depp's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Yes, I looked up the dates on IMDb. After the movie, Sandra and I went into town, had a few beers and dance dance danced. Good times.

I'm back in rainy Holland after 10 ten days of traveling. Decided to take notes in my sketchbook about all the places Ian and I visited because the days went by like lightning. I hope this format isn't too much of a snoozer due to the shopping list format, but I'm not about to write a novel.

In the Beginning...

Friday Nov 3

My flight left from Amsterdam at 10 pm so I arrived about that time at the London Gatwick airport (I lost an hour), and had a huge hassle with the subway transfers and trains to get to the New Cross Gate stop. Ian lives on Goldsmith college's campus, which, I'm told, is the most creative university in England. I arrived around midnight and both he and I were thoroughly relieved I had managed to make it there before the subways stopped running. Ian introduced me to the popular British beverage Strongbow cider from the 24 hour Spar. We both had one and caught up in his kitchen.

Saturday Nov 4

Woke up at 9, went to Sainsbury's to get groceries. Ate Cabernet, tiger bread, OJ and Nescafe for breakfast. Got an all day train pass and headed to Tate Modern right on the Thames. Spent 2 1/2 hours there because it was huge! Saw my first Francis Bacon painting in person (a big highlight for me) , a great art film that simulated an orchestra by combining video clips and meshed the soundtracks, and an example of all the major art movements I learned about at DAAP. It was like walking into a modern art history book. I was pretty awestruck and slightly overwhelmed. Oh, and by the by, all the art museums in Britain, except special exhibitions, are completely free!

When we finished up I bought some delicious, overpriced, warm, candy-coated peanuts from a street vendor, popped our heads into the Shakespeare's Globe theater, walked across the Millennium bridge, got up-close-and-personal with St. Paul's Cathedral, hopped the subway to Hyde Park, walked through St. James Park, saw the War Rooms and Buckingham Palace, and walked by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Headed back to Ian's as the sun set. Ate chicken and peppers with Indian sauce and rice for dinner. Walked to the bus stop to meet up with some of Ian's friends and see fireworks at Greenwhich park for Guy Fawkes Day, but ended up walking because the buses were too crowded. Drank a Strongbow and watched the sparkly festivities. Turns out their musical selection did not include such WEBN favorites as "I come from the water," and other classic rock songs, but instead utilized an entirely classical musical accompaniment. Afterwards, we went made another dent in the cider and went to a bar called the Gipsy Moth. We decided to go to a party in Soho so we rode the DLR line which was like a roller coaster since where we were in the first car we could watch the tracks coming at us. The party ended up being just a bar so Ian and his friends parted ways and he and I walked around Piccadilly circus and took the tube home around midnight.

( See Photos From the 4th )

Sunday Nov 5: Guy Fawkes Day

Today we went to Tate Britain where we saw lots of Pre-Raphelite works which were actually pretty famous. I'm not too big a fan of this genre but it was still fun to see these works in person. Because the "Norton Anthology of British Literature," which all English majors at UC are required to own, has colored plates of paintings from the Victorian era, Ian recognized a bunch of the works we saw in this section as well. There were also many painting by Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud, 2 of my favorites because they do figurative paintings, and a few Hockneys and William Blakes. Afterwards we walked by Parliament and Big Ben again, toured the Westminster Cathedral and walked along the Thames. We went to a restaurant called the Hobgoblin by Ian's flat at 4, just in time for their roast dinner. I had a vegetarian bake, which included a veggie souffle, neeps, carrots, greens, potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. Went home and hung out in Ian's kitchen drinking Nescafe and watching Arrested Development on Ian's computer.

( See Photos From the 5th )

Monday Nov 6th

Went to the British library Gallery to see Illuminated manuscripts, and hand written notes and pages by the authors of Carroll's "Alice and Wonderland," Mozart, Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake," and Virginia Woolf's diary. Ate fish and chips at a place nearby, Walked to Regent's Park, which turned out to be the best park in London ('sez I), and saw all the roses (what was left of them). Walked to Oxford Circus and saw the more mercantile side of London in order to balance all that 'culture.' Went the Trafalgar Square and saw Nelson on his pedestal surrounded by fountains. Went into the National Gallery to see all the greats: da Vinci's "The Virgin of the Rocks," Van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Portrait," Raphael's "Madonna of the Pinks," Botticelli's "Venus and Mars," Vermeer, Michaelangelo, Rubens.... I'll stop. Very cool stuff, especially after seeing these in books all of my life. It's like meeting a famous person face to face, well, behind glass anyways. Went home and bought groceries for Scotland, walked to Ian's friends' house to hang out. Watched "Braveheart" which was coincidentally on TV and got super pumped up for our journey to Edinburgh.

( See Photos From the 6th )

Tuesday Nov 7th

woke up at 7, caught the Megabus to Scotland, enjoyed hours of English countryside and naps, arrived in Edinburgh around 6:30, found our hostel which was near to the station. Took a walk around Edinburgh to see the city and castle lit up at night, read "Moby Dick" in bed until I fell asleep.

Wednesday Nov 8th

Ian didn't feel to well this morning so I went to Scotland's National Gallery alone. There was a great collection of works, including Vermeer, Titian, Rembrandt, Raphael, Botticelli, and, Scotland's own, Raeburn. Spent 2 hours here, then woke Ian up again at 12:30. Walked around an old graveyard where Hume and Raeburn were buried, headed to Calton Hill to see a great panorama of the city including the Firth of Forth, walked into town and saw all the buildings in the daylight. I love the hills and crags in Scotland, all covered in moss, so get ready for a million pictures. Decided against touring the Edinburgh castle since they wanted 10 pounds (aprox 20 dollars US) and continued walking all over the city. Toured the St. Giles Cathedral, shared some Earl Gray tea with Ian at the Elephant House (supposedly a haunt of J K Rowling). Since it got dark at 4 we read at the hostel until 7 and found a pub for dinner. Ian had haggis and I tried vegetarian haggis, both of which came with tatties and neeps, and both were delicious to us veterens of the dish. Ian compared it to Goetta. After the meal we both had a Strongbow and played Scrabble at the pub. Ian slaughtered me using words like 'aorta.' Went to another pub located under our hostel. I had a Guinness but was unable to finish it since the pubs close at 11. Went uptairs, read a bit and fell asleep.

( See Photos From the 8th and 9th )

Thursday Nov 9

I bought some coffee and Ian got tea at a place under the hostel called Snax, then we headed to the Palace of Hollyrood. Took a different route back to the Calton hill and sat on a bench taking it all in. Went to the Chocolate Soup cafe and had a Cafe Americano. Hung out in the hostel's kitchen for a bit, then cought our bus to Glasgow. Arrived about 3:15 and checked in at our hostel wich was completely across the city from the station. This hostel had free hot drinks, breakfast, and internet access. Took a walk around town while the sun set. Saw the river Clyde and lots of shops. The city was set up on a grid, the first I'd seen in a while. Ian and I agreed Glasgow looks alot like Chicago. Had dinner at an Irish pub. Ian had a lamb burger, and I tried a baked potato with tuna and onions. Got home around 6:30, had some coffee in the lounge and pored over the map deciding what to do with ourselves the next day. Went to a pub around the corner and had a couple Strongbows. We discovered that the pound notes in the UK are printed by individual banks, so each looked different depending on the ATM we visited.

Friday Nov 10

Had some wheat bran cereal for breakfast and discovered, after days of non-stop, fabulous, sunshiney weather, that it was now pouring outside. We headed to the Glasgow Cathedral which let us tour the basement then toured St. Mungo's Museum of Religious life and Art, both of which were doubly nice since they kept us dry. Then we walked through the Necropolois which looked so gothic and cool, perched on a hill with the grave stones overlooking the city and outlined against the gray clouds. Unfortunately, the weather made it a little miserable, so we went back to the hostel to dry off a bit. We next went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on the other end of the city (but near to the hostel). We walked through the Kelvingrove park and across the river Kelvin to get there, but, again, it was a little too nasty to dwell. We saw pretty much everthing in the museum. It was such a strange layout, and was organized like a children's museum, with interactive materials and sophomoric explanations alongside each exhibit. We had fun with the experience though, and it did make for an interesting shake-up after the normal, stuffy museums I'm used to visiting. We left around 4, and on the way home the rain picked up so both Ian's and my shoes were soaked through, not to mention the rest of us. We decided not to sightsee further, and headed back to the hostel to dry off. Over tea, we met a girl from Melbourne named Kate, as well as Todd, the owner of the hostel. There was a Flaming Lips concert that night, but the tickets were 20 pounds (40 US) so we declined all offers to attend. Todd was a riot, he gave Ian some money to buy vodka at a corner store, so long as we'd drink some of it with him. With this request in mind, we decided to venture in our now less soggy shoes out to find some food. Kate went with us to Witerspoons, or maybe Weatherspoons, a chain pub. I had Plaice, chips, and peas which I smothered in 'brown sauce,' a delectable condiment prevalent in the UK. Afterwards we bought the vodka and found Todd had rearranged the tables in anticipation. Some more Australian girls had arrived and were all very talkative and nice. The whole night Todd was busy working the desk and offering all the new arrivals shots. They looked a little frightened walking into this un-bussinesslike situation, doubtless wondering what they were getting themselves into. He is an ex-pat from Canada, living 1/2 the year sailing in Greece. Sounds like the life to me. It ended up being a really fun and inexpensive evening, and made up for the soggy afternoon. We headed to bed at midnight.

( See Photos From the 10th and 11th )

Saturday Nov 11th into Sunday 12th

Carried our stuff across the city again. Luckily the rain had lessened. Caught the 11:00 Megabus to London. Enjoyed all the scenery (though it was a little gray and rainy), arrived at the Victoria station at 8:15 pm, bought some cheese, bread, and carrots for lunch/dinner/breakfast, bought a ticket to Gatwick airport, said goodbye to Ian, spent the night reading "Moby Dick" and snoozing in the airport, was a shell of a girl by 5am check-in, my flight left at 7, got to Schripol airport in Amsterdam by 9, took the train to Utrecht (1 transfer at Amsterdam centraal), walked home from the station in Utrecht, unpacked and got some laundry going, fell asleep at noon and slept until 8 pm.

...Whew

I checked on Wikipedia again, past the first paragraph, and it says Cromwell was called 'Lord Protector.' The internet wouldn't lie to me.

Today I took my first Dutch exam. I'm a proponent of basing my grades on solely upon essay assignments, but essay and short answer tests are the next best thing. I was actually a bad student on this one because I did not prepare adequately. Yesterday I spent the entire time writing my final essay for my Kaleidoscope of Western Literature, and it wasn't until I was completely burned out and feeling entirely unconcerned about any other pressing demands, that I read over my notes. One of the texts we were responsible for was a play called "Love for Love," which I couldn't find for the life of me in any library catalogs or the internet. 'Love' is just such a popular word I was bombarded with other titles instead of the obscure English Renaissance play. I was beginning to suspect that the title was a typo of the professor for Shakespeare's "Love's Labours Lost" because the author was not listed on the syllabus, but somehow I stumbled onto an online version by William Congreve this morning so I speed-read it from 11:00 to 1:30. The test was from 2-5 (ouch, 3 hours and my right hand hurt) in a building I was unfamiliar with. I gave myself 1/2 an hour to find it and saw a whole new part of campus. Turns out the facility was in the northern corner and in view of the 'now leaving Utrecht sign.' The test was scheduled in an athletic building with desks set up in a gym (no basketball hoops, very unusual for mwa, an American). The test was not what I'm used to receiving in an English class. There was a huge history section with very obscure questions such as 'What is the battle of Bosworth Field, and what was its relevance? I just stuck with old reliable: all history can be attributed to the rise of the middle class. Not for that last question though, I knew it was something about the War of the Roses. If nothing else I can say it was long, oh so long, and not easy, even on the parts I felt confident about. Was Oliver Cromwell's title Prime Minister? I hope so, because I can't blame that one on the middle class no matter how I twist it.

I'm going to polish my paper now which is about "House of Leaves" and "The Hours" while hanging out with the radiator because it finally got cold. I leave for London tomorrow so I probably won't post again until the 13th of November. The schedule on the island is: spend the 3rd-6th in London, 7th-9th in Edinburgh, 9th-11th in Glasgow, and my flight to Utrecht is on the 12th. It will be my first time at the Amsterdam airport, but not my last. Oh yeah, and I just checked Wikipedia about Cromwell, they say he was a dictator, but I'm sure that's not what he considered himself.

This weekend I had an adventure of unusual magnitude. Sandra and I went to Belgium to do it up- Art History style. I'd like to begin by saying that Sandra is a much more dedicated photograper then I am, so all the photos I'm posting were taken by her. I had nothing to do with them and I am infinitely grateful that she let me use them.

We got up at 5:30 am Saturday. I carried both our sleeping bags in my backpack, 1 change of clothes, toothbrush, etc. and Sandra had a backpack with sandwiches and the paperwork with train schedules, and her amenities. We rode our bikes to the station, chained them together (praying that they wouldn't be stolen in our absence), and took the 6:15 am train to Antwerp station. Sandra hadn't taken a Tylenol PM as I had the night before, so, as I had enjoyed a full night's sleep I read during the trip while she slept. The Antwerp station was so beautiful in the morning light. The ribs were iron and glass plates made up the ceiling on the platform. The facade of the station and the actual building was made of stone with all kinds of intricate carvings, niches for sculptures, and gilding.


( see photos of Antwerp station )


The architecture in Antwerp looked a lot more like the French style then Brugge or Ghent. We arrived early in the morning so nothing was open yet. We passed the morning walking around the city. Antwerp is known for its collection of Rubens paintings. After studying in Italy and learning the Baroque Mannerist method of painting, Peter Paul Rubens worked in Antwerp for a major part of his life. Sandra and I tried to see one painting of his in a church before it technically opened. The priest there pointed out our erronious assumption, and said we'd have to come back later. We smugly arrived at the Cathedral of Our Lady right when it was supposed to be opening, but the facility was being used for a funeral until 12:30. After this second rejection we were feeling fairly unlucky, so we visited 2 other less renowned cathedrals, then went to the Antwerp museum of Fine Arts called, in Flemish, the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten.

Turns out Sandra is talented at recalling all the symbols in religious painting, and is particularly interested and well versed in Flemish painting. Sandra is also very vocal in sharing her knowledge; she'll make a great professor of Art History someday. She taught me much about paintings that I would normally pass by rather quickly, after saying to myself "Jesus dying, Jesus dying, baby Jesus, Resurrected Jesus, Mary and Jesus, Jesus dying...(ad infinitum)." I am attracted to paintings that possess high technical quality, not just paintings with historical significance. She told me about the 'ecce homo' (meaning "behold the man"), and the attributes of saints like Herinomous, as well as the evangelists using the numerous bloody ways they met their maker, a second time. There was also a contemporary art exhibit called George (1) with some video installations and kinetic spatial installations, which added a little balance and variety to the unusually high concentration of historical art we had been viewing that day.

Also of note, Sandra has a Press Pass so she was allowed into this gallery, as well as all afterwards, free of charge. At this museum they gave her a folder with scholarly information about the exhibits. She explained to me that galleries often give journalists special privileges to encourage favorable reviews, and they sometimes provide information explaining the exhibited art to supplement journalists' often-lacking knowledge regarding the interpretation of fine art. Basically they are handed pre-written interpretations! This means that the articles I've read about art shows in magazines and newspapers may have been composed for the journalist by the gallery that sponsored the event. That was a wake up call, the popular interpretation of art is fabricated by the venue, which is assimilated by the media, then passed along to the readers. I shouldn't complain, since I get to read the articles from the gallery and they were pretty interesting, though some leaned purely on the visual impression, which seemed a little demonstrative and over simplified to me.

After we finished up at the museum Sandra and I returned to the Cathedral of Our Lady, paid our 2 euros for the privilege, and saw 2 of Rubens' most important altarpieces, the "Descent from the Cross" and "Raising of the Cross". They were pretty neat to see in person, I certainly recognize his influence throughout history. Then we sped to the train station and headed to Brugge


( see photos of Antwerp )


We arrived in Brugge after an hour long train ride and had time to see the Michelangelo "Madonna and Child" at the Church of Our Lady just before it closed at 6. We walked all over the city, then checked into the Snuffel Backpacker Hostel, and went out for dinner. After some delicious spaghetti with salmon and beer (it's cheaper than water) we toured the city at night. The Northern Renaissance architecture was gorgeous, especially with the fall leaves and the continued warm weather in accompaniment. Sandra took a million pictures of the sights. We were excellently matched travel partners as far as our interest in art and mode of travel (laid back). Around 9:00 we returned to the hostel and had some happy hour (1 euro) beers in the pub and played 2 rounds of chess. We actually passed out around 11:00 that night and slept excellently. The people we shared lodging with were really considerate, turning out the lights around 11:00 so we both got plenty of sleep. I figured with so many people crammed in such a tight space there would be at least one person creating a disturbance, but we slept like the dead, and were up and moving by 10:00 the next day. I bought a quiche for breakfast/ lunch, but it wasn't nearly as delicious as the ones I had in Paris. I guess there's no substitute for French bakeries. We went to the Groeninge Museum next and saw Jan van Eyck's" Madonna and Child with Canon Joris Van der Paele" painted from 1434-36. It was the 1st large Van Eyck I had seen in real life and it was phenomenal. I had no idea his works were so large because they are known for the realistic detail.


This is a link to see "Madonna and Child with Canon Joris Van der Paele"


Again, Sandra kept me on my toes by telling me all about the symbols in the paintings and the significance of certain artists. I started to see definite patterns in the depiction of elements where precedence trumped realism. This is important when looking at a depiction of baby Jesus, where He looks like a miniature person as opposed to an actual infant. This disturbing representation was mandated, not a result of the faulty perspective of the artist. There were many regulations imposed on the artists by the patrons and the church, so they had to be politicians in their designs to appease all parties involved. I saw my 1st Heironomous Bosch altarpiece, which was really interesting with lots of surreal detail. We finished up at the gallery and returned to the station.


( see photos of Brugge )


Then we went to Ghent. At first the streets looked a little seedy. We cut through a beautiful park and saw the fine arts museum, which was under construction. Sandra had expected this, and informed me that the collection had been moved to St. Bavo's crypt (pronounced 'Bravo'), where the "Ghent Altarpiece" was also housed. The further from the station we ventured the more beautiful the city became. The older buildings were further from the station. Ghent had the same stone architecture that we appreciated in Brugge, but on a far grander scale. In the city center there are three towers, and 2 castles. I hadn't heard too much about this city previous to our visit, but it turned out to be really beautiful. Lucky for me, Sandra took a million pictures once more. St. Bavo's Cathedral was really great, probably my favorite in Belgium. The floors were black and white marble and the ceiling was red brick. We were planning on seeing the Ghent altarpiece first but a huge group of Japanese tourists filed in right then so we decided to wait till they moved on. There was a huge collection of art on the walls and even a guy in one room playing the harp for all us nosy tourists. In the crypt we saw more paintings by the Flemish Primitives including "Christ Carrying the Cross" by Heironymous Bosch painted in 1490.


This is a link to "Christ Carrying the Cross"


After seeing the paintings in the crypt, and the Bosch painting twice, we tried for the Ghent Altarpiece again. There's no discount for Press or students in the Cathedral collections. Upon entering the room where the altarpiece was housed Sandra and I were speechless for the 1st time during our trip. I had read a whole book on the altarpiece before this expedition but, wow, it was amazing. I felt extremely privileged seeing 2 excellent Van Eyck paintings in one day. We spent a long time poring over this work from all sides and all angles. For once I was the one to tell Sandra about the symbols in this piece. It was painted in 1432, and both Jan and his brother worked on this


This is a link to the "Ghent Altarpiece" (open)


This is a link to the "Ghent Altarpiece"(closed)


On an anecdotal note, the tower of Utrecht was painted into the deciction of Jerusalem in the mystic lamb portion of the altarpiece because at this time in history Ghent was building its magnificent towers which some people criticized for being extravagant. Utrecht had recently built its huge tower so Van Eyck included it in God's city to show support for extravagant constructions aimed at glorifying God and, of course, demonstrating the wealth of the citizens.


We toured Ghent further along the canals, enjoying the huge structures. We bought some fries (frites) and a couple beers, then watched to sun set by the water, taking it easy and seeing the lights turn on across the skyline. We went to two pubs, one was playing jazz and had velvet seats, the other was like a coffee shop and we played 2 more games of chess and a little bit of Scrabble while drinking warm wine (which was new to me and decidedy delicious).


( see photos of Ghent )


We caught a train back to Antwerp station, then another to Rotterdam, then, finally, to Utrecht. I am so grateful to Sandra for working out our schedule and taking me around with her.

As I write this Martin is saying his final goodbyes, for the hundredth yet hopefully last time. Before now I have barely mentioned the fact that Martin came back. He actually returned directly after Ian got home from France (so, a few weeks ago). He's been staying here every night since then, initially in Ian's room but after Ian kicked him out he moved into Ondre's. The situation has been so bizarre I have difficulty even discussing it because I am both involved and an outside party. At the same time, I was concerned enough that if he hadn't left today I was personally prepared to call the housing facility or the police to have him removed. There are so many episodes and subtle moments that have created the situation, I have difficulty isolating an adequate narrative. In the simplest and most negative terms, you could say that Martin, the bum, got complacent here with us University students who fed him, entertained him and gave him a place to hang out, so he decided not to leave until we forcefully insisted. It's really so much more nuanced then that. I was one of the first people to tell Martin to get out so I feel compelled to give a more detailed, liberal explanation. It's so funny because if he had the least bit of sense we probably would have let him stay indefinitely. If Martin would have just bought coffee once in a while, or left the house during the day instead of playing video games in the kitchen all the time making everyone uncomfortable it wouldn't have become such an issue. I guess that's just a symptom of his lifestyle choice which has isolated him from a society that doesn't want to support his parasitical existence. There I go again, I'm trying so hard to be objective. For the first week he stayed here (ever, not Round 2) I gained something from Martin in the form of a drawing model, an off-beat conversation partner, and exposure to an all-around different viewpoint. I guess the turning point for me, after the initial economic annoyance, was when trying to be civil last Saturday. I asked him how his day went, since he had went into the city to beg, and he gave me the exact same schpiel he had given me about begging when he first moved in. No exciting anecdotes or nuanced observations, just the same charming credo about some people being receptive to him and others not, and all he wants to do is "make the people happy, you know?" by writing poetry for them, blah blah blah. That's when I decided Martin had gone full circle for me and I was back at the beginning, the uroboros was eating its tail, the rollercoaster was back at the platform. Do you feel how hard I'm trying not to focus on the petty issues. How he smelled terrible, drank all the coffee and when we ran out looked at us like we should go get some more for him, and was always in the kitchen. Yesterday he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, 1/2 of it ash, while intently staring at the TV, shooting asteroids on the Playstation while I'm scooting around him trying to cook dinner, just waiting for the ash to fall on the floor of the kitchen where we all have to eat.

Perhaps the arrival of Francesco's video game consul in the kitchen is what drove us all over the edge. The kitchen is our only common room. By all, I actually just mean the girls. This issue really existed more on gender lines then anything else I've witnessed in the flat. Because the boys are so laid back they proved themselves to be ineffective in terminating Martin's stay. All 5 of us ladies are pretty clean and everyone here, boy or girl, likes to spend time in the kitchen either talking around the table or just making a quick meal. Yet, all these activities were interrupted by our German friend. I learned that Nina and Sandra (and maybe Gaia too) confronted Martin the day before yesterday and asked him to leave. Instead of being sheepish and acquiescing, Martin actually argued with them, explaining that he's been in this situation loads of times and there is always one person who doesn't like him and he's just waiting until we all got used to him. We wonder about Martin's mental faculties at this point, because Martin couldn't understand that, no, we all wanted him to leave. Nina told me that he had an answer to everything they told him in the confrontation. Furthermore, he complained that we were being impolite because we had been ignoring him the past couple of weeks. Up until the past few days the ladies of the house had been dealing with Martin passive aggressively, hoping he would get the hint and leave us. Ignoring Martin was about as 'polite' as I personally, though I don't want to speak for anyone else, could get. Plus, he was similarly passive, just getting in the way. I don't want to treat Martin like a monkey, as though he needed to preform for us so as to make his presence valuable, but there comes a time when pity wears thin. It just happens to occur quicker for the females in our flat, it seems.

Last Saturday I celebrated my 23rd birthday in the beautiful city of Utrecht. I started out my day by sleeping in. After pondering that anticlimactic paradox, let me continue. I drank a cup of coffee, read some emails, and Toni, Gaia and Nina proposed having a dinner for my birthday. I then put on a skirt because the weather was glorious and biked around attempting to find the 'Centraal Museum'. This is Utrecht's main art facility and for whatever reason I had not visited there yet. I discovered it eventually, as well as another part of the city I hadn't seen yet, and chained my bike near the entrance. By this time it was coming up on 1:30 so I walked down the chic streets of that area and found an over priced bakery. I ordered an apple something and walked down to the canal and ate it alongside the water. All the leaves are beginning to accumulate in the canal and it makes watching the water particularly nice. Luckily, I was on my last bite when a tour boat going ever so slow drove by and the elderly tourists all stared at me like I was a monkey in the zoo, so I felt justified in getting up and heading for the stairs and back to the street. Now that I had some energy via pastry, I sauntered back to the museum, paid my 5 euros and went inside. The museum was not to large, but I spent a long time looking at paintings which are considered 'Caravaggist'. I understand this term to indicate a sect of the style that followed the Italian Renaissance called Mannerism. Sandra (ie. the flat's own Art History major) later pointed out that the Caravaggist's were known for the twisted, unnatural poses. I am particularly interested in the exaggerated musculature that was common in this era so I really enjoyed these works. I learned that Utrecht Caravaggists were particularly prolific and were led by a painter known as Bloemart, and that's why the collection here is so great. The museum also houses a thousand year old boat in the basement that smells terrible. After I tickled my painting fancy, I considered going shopping but it began to rain so I headed home, and got drenched on the way. The weather here is beyond fickle.

After changing into some dry clothes which I didn't mind getting baking accouterments on, I began preparing a cake mix. This is a rare commodity in Holland, but I had found the mix at the Asian Market where I bought my green tea. The mix must have been straight from America because not only were the directions in english, they were not in metric. I guesstimated the amount of oil and water but luckily the eggs translated seamlessly. The Dutch kids had a cake pan which I appropriated for my purposes, and preheated the oven (which I had never had occasion to use here up until then). Unfortunately the the oven was set to 'stupid' (which may have had something to do with my faulty guessitmation of Fahrenheit baking instructions to the oven's settings at Celsius) so I burned the top of the cake black, while the bottom was still liquid. Disaster? Not quite. I adjusted the oven accordingly, and the rest of the cake turned out fine. After letting it cool, I peeled off the burnt portion, which the ladies of the flat deemed delicious despite it's color so I saved it didn't last long. I had also bought Duncan Hines pre-fabricated icing and it was a huge hit. I guess this is a delicacy with which the European contingent is unfamiliar. After allowing the house multiple taste tests, I iced my now lopsided cake, applied the sprinkles and set it in the fridge. I was glad to be able to share the delicacy of premixed american pastries with the my house (just add the liquid ingredients, right). Roumen, Nina, Gaia, Toni and Sandra did most of the cooking for the actual meal, and prepared a great chicken wrap set up for the table. Francesco made fries in the Dutch kids frier (a must-have appliance for every Dutch household, I've learned) and about 8ish we ate. It was so nice. I had no idea there would be a shindig for me. I've known these people for less than 2 months and we're already like family. I can't say enough good stuff about the whole experience. I had a difficult time editing the # of photos from that evening so I'm going to post a bunch.
( see photos )