video entry: amsterdam #3

video entry: amsterdam #2

biking in the rain haikus

biking through puddles

sheets of water spray around

it's worth the wet socks

whipping my face like

dull needles that never leave

stinging for hours

when i finally

feel i'm truly dry again

i must ride once more

the poncho-clad dutch

bright orange flying like capes

are smarter than i

gray february

with months of wet days ahead

i dream for dry times

update shmupdate

AN UPDATE of things I have learned/done/seen since i've been in Amsterdam (officially 3 weeks):

• I love ringing my bike bell at pedestrians in the bike lane. it gives me a false sense of power and any excuse to use my bell is good for me.
• Tonic water tastes like gin to me which lead me to think for an entire night that I had (accidentally) relapsed on a sip of gin.
• Dutch people are much taller than me, in general. I'm used to being one of the 'taller' girls, but no longer!
• Thursday night is (un)officially take out night. 2 weeks ago was 5euro pizza, last week was thai, tomorrow we shall see!
• Tuesday night is (un)officially drag-queen-bingo night at 'The Queen's Head'.
• Van Gogh's paintings are 100x more amazing in real life. just sayin'.
• Daily bike rides to/from school/meetings helps my depression. It only took me 5 years to figure out!
• I have yet to have a major bout of homesickness. Everyone says that it is coming, but I am still waiting!
• I am officially detoxed off of coffee--I will have 1-2 shots of espresso every few days or so, but am no longer drinking 20-30 oz a day. This also means that drinking a cup of coffee at 8:30pm will make me WIDE AWAKE at 2:30am, hence this entry.
• I am pretty sure I am no longer a tourist here, which is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world! My housing permit should be arriving any day in the mail!
• Even though I am (for the most part) quite happy here, I need to remember that I am still an alcoholic, suffer from depression, and cannot 'let up' on self-care just because I am feeling better.
• Had my first fall the other day on my bike. Very minor, but I doubt it will be my last!

Anyways, that is all for now. Tot ziens!

--Rose

lazy blog-writer rose

lost in amsterdam

so wednesday night i had an experience that everyone should have at least once when they move to a new place--i got lost. except mine was not a 'daytime lets get lost on foot and find our way back again', mine was a 'on my bike for 2 and 1/2 hours at night'. side note: do not choose the 'back-way shortcut' if it is your first time getting somewhere on a bike and it's night time. needless to say, i got terrifingly lost--not just that i couldn't find the place i was going to (today i realized i must have circled the block a few times), but i got so turned around that i was getting into an area that i couldn't find on my map and the area was getting less urban. needless to say i totally freaked out, but followed the signs that took me back to central station. and now i would have to say i am a bit more confident on my bike!

video entry: amsterdam #1

amsterdam: take 1

so here is my first entry from the netherlands! instead of a synopsis of my 2 days here, i thought i would just give some bullet points of things that are different/interesting/unique that i've noticed about amsterdam and such. also, bullet points are much more fun to read than long paragraphs of writing

• bicycles: there are SO many here--475,000 I believe, even though there are only 760,000 people. i will hopefully be purchasing one within the next week or so. they are between €50-100, but it is practically unheard of here to not have a bike. it's the most practical means of transportation, and there are separate bike paths and tons of bike parking all throughout the city. i may wait to get one til it gets a little bit nicer however, as it has been particularly cold/snowy/icy, and i have no experience biking in snow/ice.
• dutch: i guess i did not realize that, although everyone can speak english, most everyone speaks dutch to one another and all of the signs are in dutch. i wish i had learned some before i got here, and am going to try my best to get into the dutch language/culture course that is being offered, even though i did not sign up for it at first. it was a bit difficult to go grocery shopping today--me and my roommate lauren had to pretty much guess what most things were by the pictures on the box/container.
• beer: although not the biggest deal in the world, i purchased beer for the first time! i owed my roommate some money and so bought her a bottle of beer at C1000, the supermarket by our apartment complex. it was quite surreal--i was not I.D.ed, and it was surprisingly normal feeling. hopefully this will be the last beer i buy in amsterdam, unless i am treating someone to a drink :)
• euros: they are fun to use and much prettier than US money! this is my first time off the continent, and haven't used foreign currency since the last time i went to canada. unfortunately the exchange rate is crap and the bank charges me a shit ton to withdraw cash, and it is very uncommon that stores will accept credit cards/debit cards.
• architecture: it is some of the most amazing i have ever seen, unlike anything in the states. we went on a canal tour (there are 165 canals in amsterdam) with my study abroad group. i cant even explain how wonderful it is. i took some pictures which i will post soon.

i will write more later--right now i am exhausted and need to get up at 8:00 tomorrow to get to UVA(universitiet van amsterdam) for continued orientation. fun!

--rose