Time for Another Post!

Hello Again,

Well, I've been here for over a week and I still haven't made another blog post! Since my mother finally bothered me about it, I guess I'll give a little update:

After I moved into my dorm and went to a very interesting dinner where I was the only native English speaker at the table, I had the International Student Network (ISN) Introduction. We were all in smaller groups with people from all over the world, however there seems to be a majority of Americans. The groups sometimes mixed together too as we were walking between events, so I was able to meet more people. It was really nice to finally be meeting people from around the world after having spent the first couple of days with all Americans. I mean, it was nice because as Americans we all get each other and the experience we're having, but I didn't travel 6,000 miles to make friends with only more Americans. The ISN Introduction wasn't really much of an orientation to the university, but a way for international students to meet each other and be social that first weekend in Amsterdam. On Thursday night we had a borrel, which is Dutch gathering that includes alcohol (but people really don't make a big deal if you don't drink). Then on Friday night we had karaoke, which was really fun. I have to admit some of the Americans from my program embodied the loud American stereotype, but we all had so much fun we didn't really care. Then on Friday night was the big party, which was also very fun. It was at one of the clubs here in Amsterdam and it was very popular. They had a sports day at the University Sports Center earlier in the day where you could get a free ticket, otherwise you had to pay 6 euro. Apparently very early on in the night they ran out of tickets and only those who already had them could get in. Before the party, I went out with my introduction group to a Turkish restaurant, then we went to a little bar to have drinks before heading out to the party. My group that night had about 3 Americans, 1 Danish Girl, 1 Italian girl, and the two Dutch coaches. It was nice to get to know them on a more personal level before getting into the loud club. But it was also fun at the club dancing with all of my new friends I've been making.

Classes started on Monday, and of course I have a 9am class that day. But it is Public International Law, which I am really excited about. The professor is American, was one of the first women accepted in Yale, got into Harvard Law, but decided to run away and join an orchestra traveling Europe. After traveling for a bit, she decided to go to University of Amsterdam Law, then also did a law degree at Columbia. Then she got a job working at the International Court of Justice in Hague, and after she decided she didn't want to be a lawyer anymore decided to start teaching. We'll be doing field trips to the Hague to hopefully observe some hearings (depending on if there are any cases with open hearings). She was also on the flight on Christmas Day that the nut tried to bomb, and said that she had no idea what was going on until she got off of the plane because she was in the last row of coach and he was in the front of the plane. I don't have class on Tuesday, and yesterday I had Intro to Sexual Studies, which should also be interesting. This is actually the one course I'm taking that directly correlates to my major. The professor is Dutch, and it has a good mix of international students. Today I have Dutch National Cinema and my Dutch language class.

This weekend we are planning on being tourists in Amsterdam. We're planning on hitting up the Anne Frank House and checking out some of the museums. It is also one of my friend's birthday tomorrow, so we are planning on going out tomorrow night to celebrate. On Tuesday night I became rather sick, but I drugged myself up with Nyquil and slept every moment I wasn't in class so I think I'm getting better. At least it's the first week of class so I don't really have much work to do yet. But now I have to get to class, so I will give another update later! (and I'll try to do so more often)

Laura