It's Been Awhile...

Sorry all, I have been horrible about updating this thing the past week. Since I had very few classes this week, I took it easy and relaxed a bit. I've also gone slightly crazy booking trips and whatnot. My calendar is quite fun to look at because I feel like I am quite the little jetsetter now! My first big trip is this weekend, and a big group of us girls are going to Brussels. Then we'll be doing a weekend in Berlin later in March. For Easter weekend I'll be staying with a friend in London, she is in my program and her wonderfully nice parents offered up their flat to us. I've also heard mention that if we are around at mealtimes we might be fed too, so it's a really good deal. So far that's all I have planned, but I have a couple of long weekends in May that I need to figure out if I'm going anywhere for. I really would like to go Copenhagen for one, but we'll see what happens.

Hmmm, what else? I went to Groningen this weekend with CIEE. First we took a bus up to the small fishing village of Urk, then went all the way to Groningen which is in the north of the country. It wasn't spectacular, but it was interesting nonetheless. We did a walking tour around Urk, then did a canal boat cruise in Groningen. After that we had some free time, so we went to the contemporary art museum and to the outdoor market for some fresh stroopwafels. It ended up being a really long day, we met up at Centraal Station at 8am, and got back at 10 at night.

Today I decided to venture to Ikea, because my room has yet to feel like home. The duvet cover they gave me is falling apart, so I bought a new one (which wasn't too terribly expensive and it's hot pink). I've also investing in some candles, because we're allowed to burn them in our rooms. It was pretty easy to get out there, I just took the metro and was able to walk to the Ikea. I did get a little lost looking for the entrance, they really did design it for people in cars, just like in America. I did also resist buying the duvet cover exactly like the one I have at school, because it was twice as expensive as the one I got. Plus my room needs a lot more color and the hot pink will help with that. My next mission is to track down tape, so I can put stuff on my walls to make them less bare. I also bought some flowers at the market last week that really brighten my room up and make it more homey.

What else to talk about? Have I discussed public transportation here? It really is wonderful, of course everyone rides their bikes around and it's a lot cheaper to ride my bike than use public transport. However, here in Amsterdam they have trams, buses, and a metro. I think my favorite are the trams, they are good for the shorter distances and I personally find them the easiest to navigate. The buses are also quite nice, and the metro is good for the long distances (like to Ikea). They don't currently have that many metro lines, however they are building more. What is especially nice about public transport is that I use an OV chip card, which is exactly like the Oyster card in London. You put money on the card, then tap it on the sensor when you get on and off public transport. It's quite nice and rather easy, much better than the old system of strippenkaarts, which were little strips you had to get stamped. I see some people on the trams using them, but nowhere else.

Ok, that's all for now. But I promise to write an entry after I get back from Brussels, because I am sure that it will be an adventure!

Tot Ziens,
Laura