Since I've Received Some Menacing Emails...

Hello All,

I've received some menacing sounding emails about how half of the family back home thinks I'm dead because I haven't updated in a long time. I don't really have much time right now, but I'll just do a short entry to give an update.

The first weekend of March (yikes, it really has been a long time) we went to Brussels. It was fun, a kind of easy city to navigate once we got the hang of it. We opted to just take the bus to our hostel, but for the rest of the weekend we walked everywhere. Brussels is a relatively nice city to visit, but the food is very expensive. There are also lots of touristy restaurants where creepy men stand outside trying to make you come inside. Good thing my time spent in Los Angeles has taught me the art of pretending people aren't there and continuing on my way. I found saying no in an unintelligible accent and walking quickly worked pretty well. We mostly just walked around the city and looked at buildings/peeing statues. Yeah, the Belgians have a thing for peeing statues it seems. There is Mannekin Pis, who is the iconic peeing boy. Then there is Jannecke Pis, his female equivalent. And not to leave anyone out, they also have a peeing dog statue. The city was pretty easy to see within 2 days, and on Sunday morning we left early so that we could get back to Amsterdam in time to finish homework.

What else happened? Oh yes, I went to the Netherlands vs. US football match. It was a very enjoyable experience, I saw European soccer hooligans up close. They are especially hooligan-esqu when decked out in orange (the Dutch national color). The home team won (of course) but I liked going anyway. I really didn't know what was going on the whole game, I just cheered when the people in orange were cheering. That's my usual philosophy when it comes to sports.

That's all for now, I have plans with some friends tonight and I have to get ready! However, I promise in the near future to write about the epic weekend that was Berlin. It really was such a fun city to visit, and I want to be able to devote a long enough entry for it!

Talk to y'all later!
Laura