iamsterdam.

Today, Tucker, Sasha, Alex and I got free plates and utensils sets from accomodate, which was really nice. They're our property now, which is nice to know because if anything breaks, we don't need to pay anyone back!
We decided to go to Amsterdam and do all of the touristy stuff. We walked to the train station and I finally saw the big windmill in Leiden on the way and it was truly soo cool. I actually ended up seeing a lot of parts of Leiden which I hadn't previously seen. We got to the train station eventually and got sandwiches and juice and tried to figure out how to get our tickets. Eventually, we figured it out and headed to catch our train. The trains here are really nice and double-decker. We sat on the second level and chatted until we got to Amsterdam about 30 - 40 minutes later.
When we arrived, we realized we hadn't actually planned to do anything, so we just walked around and took pictures, which was actually really fun. There are so many whacky things in Amsterdam to see. We tried to get into the wax museum, but decided to cover was too high, so we went and looked at a couple churches and decided to find the Red Light District, which proved to be more difficult to find than we had imagined. After looking at a couple of maps, we found the Red Light District and walked through it for a while. It wasn't so bad during the day, but I can imagine it being reeeally sketchy at night. We passed several coffeeshops (legal weed-selling shops) and head shops (shops that sell weed paraphenalia), along with many sex shops.
One of the most unnerving things about the Red Light District is that prostitution is legalized there and they display women like objects in a window. There are these little cubbies (all glass and kind of telephone-booth-like in shape) in the sides of shops and in each one there is a one in lingerie. If someone were to be interested in one of these women, they could go up to the window and buy them. It's really sketchy and it just made me feel really sad to watch. I feel bad for the women, they must feel so objectified...
On a happier note, after three or four hours of continuous walking, we decided we would get frites with frites sauce (French fries with a mayonnaise sauce) and go back to Leiden. On the way, we stopped at a shop so Alex could by incense and there was a cute little kitten who may have been high on marijuana because the shop was pretty sketchy and when I went to pet it, it barely moved and just kept sleeping while I petted it vigorously. Maybe it was just tired. We also stopped at a free space where artists could show there work and there was this weird, abstract video display up, so we checked that out for a while, which was interesting.
Finally, we got our frites, which we scrumptious, and headed back to Leiden. I can tell I'm growing accustomed to Leiden because I felt a sense of ease when we pulled back into the station. We picked up some cheap groceries (huge 1.5 L water bottle for 25 euro cents!) and went back to our building. I was so pooped and ended up talking to David for a bit and then just falling asleep at 8 for what was supposed to be a one hour nap and sleeping until midnight. Then, I talked again to David for a bit and then to my mom, which was nice. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to play it cool. Might go to Bagels & Beans (miss it already!).

























i

Getting acquainted.

I'm starting to feel a bit more at home here in Leiden, which means that I've been able to enjoy it a whole lot more. I've grown to look forward to seeing familiar things each day. Being a home-body, I find this sense of familiarity is essential.
I've been going to this really cool café called Bagels & Beans and I sit on the second floor and people-watch like a creeper and/or read and/or draw. Today was no exception. I packed up my new drawing pencils and sketch book and set out for the walk to B & B. Right around the corner from my dorm, there is a nursing home which I really like to look in at when I walk by. If I ever were to live in an assisted living facility, I would wish it to be like this one. A lot of the old folks gather in the cafeteria and get served tea and pastries almost all day. After passing this big room, I pass smaller bedrooms on the way up the more main street.
One thing I've noticed about the Dutch is that even though they tend to be relatively reserved in every-day conversation, most of them leave their ground floor windows exposed, no blinds, curtains, or other drapery. It's an interesting contradiction. Tucker said he read something about that being a way of showing social status in the Netherlands.
Anywho, back on the topic of the nursing home, I pass mostly empty bedrooms, but almost every time I walk past one old man's bedroom. He looks awesome. He has an old phonograph and chills in his room a lot of the time. I almost always make eye contact with him. He doesn't seem sad, but content to be alone a lot of the time. I imagine this is how my dad would be if he were to have grown to live in assisted living. I think a lot of people could use some more time with their thoughts. After all, when did enjoying alone time become such a crime?
Continuing on my journey, I'm realizing Leiden is quite a bit less convenient than living in Montreal, but it's not such a bad thing. It forces me to get some fresh air and exercise, for which I ultimately become grateful. I got to Bagels & Beans and sat on the second floor near the window. I had planned on drawing the architecture out the window, but realized the view was really not ideal, so I decided to draw a line drawing of the café instead. It proved to be quite a complicated and difficult drawing, since there were so many things overlapping each other and people and objects were moving about, but it was a fun challenge! The perspective also caused me some struggle. I need to practice drawing more. I think I've lost some of my technique, but I really enjoy drawing and I'm sure it'll come back in time. It's so therapeutic.
Later on in the day, I met a new friend! Her name is Sasha and she's from New Jersey and goes to Rutgers. She studies fine arts, so I think we'll get along quite well. She seems really sweet and interesting. Also, I talked to David and he booked his plane ticket (at a seriously reduced cost!), so that he'll be arriving just before Valentine's Day! We're planning on going to Paris together for Valentine's Day, which should be sooooo awesome.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to finally go to Amsterdam and visit the Van Gogh museum. Also, I want to get a phone arranged and I might meet up with a girl name Melanie from McGill who's also studying in Leiden!

Jacketz.

Last night, I couldn't sleep. I was feeling incredibly awake, so I decided to play the Sims and build a house for me and David. I'm a painter and he works for the military in the game. ha Later, I read and talked to David before he went to sleep. I ended up not being able to fall sleep until about 8:30 am and then slept until 5 pm. Big oops. I'm feeling tired now, though, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep at a decent hour tonight. I don't remember experiencing jet lag to such an extent when I was in France both times, but maybe I'm just getting old.
Almost everything closes at 6 pm here, but I felt a strong urge to get some fresh air, so Tucker and I went back to Jacketz (the baked potato place) again. Upon exiting the building, we noticed a very pungent aroma which seemed to be that of marijuana. We laughed and kept going. I took a few pictures on the way and before we knew it we were back at our home away form home... Jacketz!
Our friend, the founder of Jacketz, was there with his co-founder, too! I wasn't able to finish my potato because I got full really fast. I haven't been eating much here, so it is quite possible that my stomach has shrunken. We headed back home and walked again past the mary-j and back to our rooms. I talked to David for a bit, which was very fun, and decided I needed to take a shower. Since I'm not used to using communal showers, I often get in the stall and under the shower-head only to realize that I've forgotten my shampoo and conditioner. Having done this again tonight, I left my stall to run back to my room and found two new guys in the bathroom. Interestingly, one was shaving the other's head. I'm assuming they were in some way related to the weed stench... but that's just an educated guess.
Now, I'm back in my room relaxing and hoping I'll be able to fall asleep tonight! If I can, I might go to Bagel and Beans in the morning and then go to Amsterdam to check out the Van Gogh museum (which, by the way, has no student discount!) and maybe do a little shopping. Dak!

my first days in leiden. hallo!

Friday afternoon, I sadly said good-bye to my family and my boyfriend and boarded a plane for Washington DC. Having taken one Xanax about 10 minutes before getting on, like a good girl, the flight was not as nerve-stimulating as I had expected it to be. I read the Brother Karamazov to keep my mind off the fact that I was flying and made it to DC in one piece. Since we were delayed, I walked quickly with my heavy carry-ons and treated myself with a caramel frapuccino at the airport Starbucks and sat down to wait for my plane to board, which I soon realized was already boarding. I called my mom and David and prepared for the long haul.
I was so excited when I found out that my United Airlines flight did, in fact, have personal TV screens!! I watched part of some bad Renée Zelwegger (or however you spell her name) film and then switched to Slumdog Millionaire, which I had seen before, but is suchhh a good movie. The seat next to me was empty, which was nice, but I'm not sure if I p'ed off the guy on the other side of the empty seat by occupying it with Bunny No-Butt and other personal belongings and using the tray table as well. Oops! lol
Unfortunately, I had some travellers' diahrrea starting Thursday night and lasting throughout my plane rides, but I managed to retain some food and liquids. Maybe I should have taken some of David's prescription pills for travellers' diarrhea (take up to three times per day as needed!). The dinner they served on the plane was actually really good! I had the pasta, which was like stuffed shells and cheesy ravioli thingy-mabobbers with a salad and roll. A brownie was for dessert, but after eating Mom's brownies on the DC plane-ride, I knew the plane brownie would pale in comparison.
I dozed off for an hour or two and then fiddled around and whatnot, watching the addicting plane-tracker application on the TV. Before I knew it, I was landing in Amsterdam! I easily passed through customs, secured my checked luggage, and headed for the train station, which was conveniently located within the airport. I bought my ticket for Leiden Centraal and bought a sandwich and really innovatively designed bottle of water!! I missed one of the trains for Leiden, but they come every fifteen to twenty minutes or so. Some old man who worked at the airport roped me into a conversation, but he was very nice and taught me the informal way to say thank you (Beh dangkt - kind of like badonkadonk ;) ).
Once on the train, I luckily met another exchange student who was going to Leiden and it just so happened that he also lives in my residence hall and basically just one floor right above me. His name is Tucker and goes to William & Mary and is from Virginia. We got into Leiden Centraal and joked about all things Dutch at the station Starbucks until the Visitors' Center finally opened (oh, the European pace of things). I learned from the Starbucks worker how to say thank you in a formal sense (Dangk ya vell - quite a bit like German, or an American impersonating a German person saying "Thank ya well"). We diddled around the visitors' center for a while and laughed at everything as we were both terribly sleep deprived. After obtaining our dorm keys, we set out to walk to our building, but got less than a block when we realized a cab was probably necessary as our hands had already gone raw.
I was so surprised at the size of my room! It's HUGE! And I have two huge, beautiful windows which overlook the pretty courtyard. I unpacked a bit and then Tucker and I walked around the open-air market and got some food at Subway, of all places. This was okay with me because I was absolutely starved and just wanted something that I knew I would like. We headed back to our rooms and I got really homesick really fast. Maybe it was culture shock, but I felt very depressed and went to sleep at 7 pm and slept until 7 am. I called my David in the morning and then went back to sleep from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. Later on, I went to the grocery store and felt about to faint from lack of food, taking photos along the way. I bought some much needed, and might I add cheap and scrumptious!, groceries and headed back to my room. At night, Tucker and I headed to find some grub for dinner and decided on a baked potato shop named Jacketz, of which I am now a fan on Facebook! We got talking to the owner and it turns out it's the only baked potato shop so far in all of the Netherlands (score!)! We asked him to recommend some places for us to go in Europe and in the Netherlands, specifically and he literally listed every big city in Europe and every city in the Netherlands! lolol My baked potato was only about 4 euros and super filling! The owner guy put so much meticulous work into decorating our potatos, it was awesome! I also had some of their home-made apple juice, which was also very delicious. I was very sad yesterday, though, when I found out that my internet wasn't working very well. I had to unplug and re-plug the ethernet cord about every 30 seconds, which was very frustrating, but it's much better now! Yayy!
Last night, I also talked more to another girl on my floor whose name is Anka. She's from Romania and seems very nice. I stopped at her room after returning from baked potatos and we chatted for a while. She is very studious and is getting her masters at Leiden in tax law. She helped me out a lot with some generalities about Leiden and directed me to use this booklet we were given at the Visitors' Center. When I got back to my room, I looked at it and it really did have so much useful information. I read it cover to cover and went to sleep at midnight and woke up this morning at 7 am and called David. He was already sleeping, but was kind enough to talk to me for a while. I fell asleep again around 11 and woke up again around 2:30 pm. I talked to David again when I woke up and he helped me to feel a lot better.
After Skyping with David, I headed out to find a good coffee-shop, which is an essential for me here, I think. On the way, I stopped at this really cool art supplies store and bought a nice sketching set with various degrees of pencil hardness and sepia tones, too. I bought a cute little pencil sharpener, too, for 80 euro-cents. The ladies that work there were super nice.
I went and bought a cheap convertor after that and found a nice coffee shop called Coffee Star. I ordered koffie (coffee, if you couldn't guess it!), which turned out to be an americano, essentially. I'm not sure if that's what they think coffee is here or if she just didn't have any coffee on brew. She gave me a little wedge of fudge with it and it was super yummy! I sat down at a table and wrote in my paper travel journal (which I love dearly, it's so cute!) and read a bit of Brothers Karamozov and headed back home, while looking in at stores here and there. I Skyped with my mom when I got home and it was so nice to have a more positive conversation, as the past couple days have been really hard on me.
I'm feeling a lot better today and I hope that things will only get better from here! I'm trying to arrange to meet with Charlotte in Paris for a day, but if she doesn't respond, I might end up just going over by myself for a day. According to David's sister, Paris is the best city to spend alone-time in. Also, I might go to Luxembourg some day this week with Tucker. The city looks really cool and medieval, should be something really different and exciting to see!!
I'm getting excited for what the future holds.
I'm also going to post some random old photos which were on my camera plus some Leiden pics! and one delightfully creepy pic of me!!