Boogie Nights!

With another amazing weekend under my belt, orientation is but a distant memory. A bad dream. to celebrate our freedom on Friday, we went out for pizza at this egyptian place (??) and started with a couple heineken. Then of course we found ourselves at the Highlander, the regular exchang student hang-out, until we were kicked out at 3:00am. I had another encounter with sketchy dutch boy which rivals the heineken son. Let me try to recreate the scene:
**I am typing away with Robin on MSN and checking email on the complimentary computer they set up for the email starved (and obsessed) exchange students when..."**
Sketchy Dutch boy approaches.
Sketchy Dutch boy: "Did you get my email?"
**I look at him trying hard to figure out where I know him from, if at all, decided i don't and ...."**
Kristen: "umm....no."
SKetchy Dutch Boy: "that's because you haven't given me your address yet."
Kristen: "did you just use a line on me? you must be dutch"
Sketchy: "yes i come here all the time..."
At this point I did my best to get rid of him, but they are kind of slow with rejection so you have to be very forward. I told Erin all about it, and so she decided to play a little game with him. A little later, she goes up to him and says "hey, did you get my email?" and it was all bad from there. he wouldn't leave her alone all night because he didn't understand she was making fun of him. Girls are so mean. haha.
At 3:00, we piled into Marco (the dreads)'s car and headed to Aechen in Germany. There is a really cool club there called Starfish so we hung around there until 6:30 or so. We met this group of Norwegian guys on vacation visiting family in Germany. For some reason they all had afro wigs on...they were a good time. i took a picture of one guy who fell asleep on the job and everyone just piled their wigs on top of him. unfortunately, i can't figure out how to post a picture here. if there are any fellow bloggers reading this, please enlighten me! i think i have to know somthing about html coding though...hmmm.
Saturday, i woke up at 12:45 and without even getting out of bed started to put things into motion for a bike ride. I didn't care what the weather was, or what time, or anything. i just want to ride my bicycle (said queen.). i was pleasantly surprised when i opened the blinds and there was SUN!!! even happier when i went outside and it was about 12 degrees!!! I met Mo, the dutch bike-boy (also sketchy) and we rode for about 4 hours through belgium. Again, I would post pictures, but can't figure it out!! ARGH!
the riding here is more than i expected (but i didn't expect much...). There isn't much single track, but there are, *gasp* a LOT of hills! and they are long!! for U of T MTBers, think of the rosedale hill x3. so hopefully by the end of my stay here, i will be a decent climber. I also hopped over a log or two, so I can't complain. The country side is really beautiful, and seriously, i saw a cliff. a cliff in holland. who knew?! Here's the best part though: we found these abandoned caves in Belgium where the brick-block has been broken through. they go for miles under ground and the cave floor is mostly dirt covered. We are coming back with headlamps and riding through when them once Mo's headlamp arrives. CRAZY! underground MTB.
Saturday's exertions were satisfying enough to deserve a little nap. I woke up at 21:20 feeling pretty please with myself. I sat in the common room with the Italians on my floor (Lauretta, Marco (the "glue") and Frederico) watching Euro MTV, (so weird...has anyone heard the song by Anouk called "girl"? if i hear that song one more time....Grrrr. ) and drinking fine italian wine that Frederico had stashed in his luggage. Thank you Frederico! once we were through that, we moved onto the whiskey. mmm. so good when it touches your lips! then we realized the time, and also that we were supposed to be at a party in the other building!! after a little "walk" in the parking lot (where I learned how to count to five in Italian, Spanish, Finnish, and Swedish!) we made our way to the floor party. I don't know how they did it, but there had to be about 100 people crammed onto that floor. It was great. However, we arrived too late and the beer was all gone. boooo. so we stayed and chatted for a bit, then me, the swede (christopher) and the finn (whose name i can't even pronounce, let alone type) went on to Metta. The rest of hte party followed us. no beer is big problem. We stayed there dancing until 6:20. GREAT night. WEIRD music. Any genre is game. dutch folk, euro techno, american rock and even some Billy Joel! (go canada!)
Sunday was the best sunday ever. sundays should always be like this. Met some friends who are of German origin, but not exchange students, got some chinese take out (which is not really like chinese food...we are seriously spoiled in toronto), rented "the perfect score"and then sat our asses on the couch at their place all afternoon.
My congratulations to Jerome however, who was certainly not sitting around on the couch. I hope you enjoyed your race at CIRCs!!
This morning I had my first class. Erin and I are thankfully in the same one and it is ädvertising". it started at 8:30 but now we changed it to 9:00 thank god. We were finished pretty early and so now we are both sitting here in the library like the internet fiends that we are. Today Erin is moving into my building and she has promised grilled cheese in exchange for helping her with the move. So exciting! (on all counts...)
Off to the grocery store (always an adventure...) and then GYM. you heard it here first.

Hold the Mayo!

It has been awhile since i last blogged...i know you're all waiting eagerly to hear about what kind of abuse I have put my liver/lungs through lately, but I am happy to report you'll be disappointed. I have made an effort to behave myself in the past few days.... at least a little (well, except for last night...and tonight...).
In my mission to change things around a little i joined the gym, and I have even gone once. I was going to go tonight, but raging hangover and impending dutch-hosted beer binge tonight will probably prevent that. apparently we are learning dutch drinking songs as part of the welcome week. that is my kind of education. anyway, back to the good stuff.
i joined the gym, i went once, i cooked a meal (omelette with peppers, mushrooms, onions, ham and cheese), and I stayed in One night. Also on the up and up, I picked up my bike and man can those dutch do a tune-up. It is running better than ever, from what I can tell, but I have only had the time to ride it to my new friend Mo's place where it will be stored during my time here. Of course, Mo lives on the third floor. On the bright side, his place is just around the corner from mine, and he is automatically a biking buddy too. After my efforts on Wednesday, Thursday came along and now I am off track again. but, school starts next week so things will calm down. i hope.
last night was the welcome week pub crawl. it was also the UCM welcome dinner/drinks too, which to my surprise was completely paid for. Including beer!! then i thought about it, and beer is actually cheaper than water which only comes bottled in restaurants: another pet peeve i forgot to mention. Once we'd finished drinking on the university's bill we joined the student union party but I never made it past the first bar. it overlapped with another student party and they were selling 2-4-1 drinks all night and somehow, i still didn't end up paying for anything. i love those nights. I got a ride home on the back of a bicycle (freaky-deaky-dutch!!!) and poured myself into bed at 4:30. orientation this morning started at 10:00. i have been punished for the entire day for all the excitement of last night. I expect to be recovered just in time for tonights previously mentioned dutch beer-tune adventures. orientation today was interesting as i certainly wasn't the only one.
I have now mentiond orientation a couple times and let me tell you, it has been a true test of patience. The other exchange students and I have been put in with the frosh who are just starting here at UCM so most of the lectures (which last two hours!) are directed to them and discuss stuff that doesn't apply to us. yet attendance is mandatory. UCM doesn't mess around with this attendance stuff either. if you miss more than 2 classes, you FAIL. it you are late, it counts as an absence and you will FAIL. they are so strict in Maastricht! i feel as though i am back in high school some of the time they hold your hand through so much.
besides the useless lectures, we also had training for the "PBL" which is their unique teaching method. It stands for Problem Based Learning and is extremely structured. almost too structured'. Each problem is solved in groups of no more than 12 following 7 steps. I won't get too much into it because i don't want anyone to get too bored. We had to do about 6 test problems to teach us how to deal with PBL. it isn't a tough concept or anything so I felt like the last 4 were a little overkill. I am happy about some aspects though... I participate a lot more than I ever did at home. In fact, I actually feel smart, which is not the case at u of t. I normally wonder if we've even done the same reading at home! Of course, everyone else is using their second language, so maybe i shouldn't get too excited.

I'll have to continue this later because it is time to eat. i am making my own dinner tonight. mayo free.

Isn't that veeerd?

I have been here long enough now to have made a few "cultural observations". aka, annoying things dutch people do.
I am about to rant....

1. Nobody picks up after their dogs. there is poop everywhere.
2. Nobody salts sidewalks..very scary on smoothed cobblestones.
3. Everyone just leaves their bikes wherever they feel like it. they are always in the way.
4. You can't go anywhere without encountering heavy 2nd hand smoke (spoiled Torontonian!)
5. Dancing is always an adventure...the music is totally unpredictable. one minute it's some billboard chart-topper, and the next it is some traditional dutch tune, involving an accordian, and once, I even saw a saxaphone player noodling on the bar.
6. Dutch boys are SKETCHY. One tried to pick us up on the way out of the bar. His line: My dad is Mr. Heineken.
7. People pee on the walls. any wall.
8. Everyone is anal. Everything has to be "just so".
9. Cobblestones. Which I affectionately refer to as "hobblestones".
10. Mayo on EVERYTHING.
11. Vinegar where there is no Mayo.
12. Fries with everything. no matter what you order, it is assumed it comes with fries.
13. there is never any salt on the table!
14. in the bathrooms, there is only ever one tap with which to wash your hands. and it is cold. wtf?
15. in the grocery store, eggs are kept on the shelf...ross, aren't they a fridge item?

i think i'll stop there for now.

What Day is It?

Jet lag is a funny thing. just when you think you've nailed it, it is two days later than you thought. still never sure of the time. i mostly just go by my stomach. speaking of which, i found the grocery store yesterday and had myself a shopping adventure. i guess i took it for granted how much reading i do in the course of an average day. dutch is unavoidable, so i hope i pick it up fast. til then, i go by picutres. i also found out that i am an avid label reader. now that i can't, i notice. i pray i don't come home a heavyweight.
Yesterday was a good day. I bought myself a little housewarming gift: a very pretty plant. Ross if you're reading this, I bet you I can keep it alive for at least 2 weeks. I am going to be so good this time. not like your rosemary, i swear. btw, i suppose i owe you a rosemary plant.
i can't remember much more of yesterday which is probably an indicator of last night. it started off with grand plans to go downtown, but we never made it out of the guesthouse. the way a party works here is much more civilized...you just bring a bunch of beer, and then leave it in the fridge and everyone just takes. it is much more feasible here than in canada because a tall can only costs 20cents. i woke up early this morning (12:45!!) and listed my little missions for the week. Must get a gym membership! must get in touch with rowing team! must get costume for "Carnaval".
Our first holiday is not even a week into our first semester and it is in honour of this booze/drugs/sex fest known as Carnaval. it is four straight days of blitzed and is famous all over Europe. The town is all pumped up at the moment. there are streamers and masks and confetti everywear in the official carnaval colours of red, green and yellow. Maastricht is famous throughout Europe for having the second largest carnaval party, Venice being the first. Honestly though, i don't know how we could possibly drink more, smoke more or stay up later than we do already.
I am out of time, so on to the next thing.
Alex, no, I don't think i'll make spinning class this week.
Robin, come over for carnaval, and you'll be broken in for your own exchange. DO IT!
Gramma, aka Zeda, you go girl. Erin has been a few times and shes says it is very beautiful.
Kim, good work with the calling :S
Duane, you suck.

When in Rome...

The days don't start until 14:30 and they don't end until 5:30. What a lifestyle. Eating is optional and beer is obligatory. Residence in Toronto, back when I lived with nuns, is nothing like residence in Maastricht. Thank god. It seems like everyone is called Marco and comes from Italy which makes it easier to remember names. Besides the heavy Italian influence, there are also some Americans, French, Hungarin, Norwegian, German and Irish students that Erin and I spend most of our time with. We went to an Italian restaurant with the Italians last night then bar after bar after bar. someone had rented a nine-seater van so when we'd had enough to drink/smoke/eat, we went careening through the streets of Maastricht over cobblestones and possibly a cat. acceptable losses.
I woke up this morning ... err... afternoon at the early hour of 14:00. Marco 1 had stopped by at 9:00 to try and convince me to go to Utrecht to --get this-- a pot-growers competition. all the best coffeehouses in Netherlands bring their goods and they have a smoke-off or something. I decided to pass in favour of waiting by the phone for the airline to call. My prudence was rewarded because at 15:00, my long lost bag arrived. The security was tight. I had to play a guessing game with the driver instead of just showing my ID the old-fashioned way. all's well that ends well.
Tonight, Marco 2 (seriously there are about 7 Marcos) has invited Erin and I for coffee (actual liquid this time) and dinner. Looks like we'll be having Italian again. Fine by me.

Jet Lagged in Maastricht

I have arrived.
It was an arduous journey which ended (as usually happens when I fly) with one missing bag. Just as well because with my enormous carry-on, and a bike box, I had more than enough to carry. When will I learn to pack clean underwear in the carry-on?? Besides that, with all that's happened, some retail therapy went a long way. Thanks British Airways. We'll see if I ever see it again, in which case i may not be so cheery.
I messed up the train thing as well because i was so out of it. stupid jet lag. I ended up on a train heading to Rotterdam which is NOT the direction to Maastricht. not even close. Happily, you can always count on the kindness of strangers. At the end of my tour-de-Holland via rail, I arrived (an hour late) in Maastricht where some nice boys picked me up and showed me where i live. That was a trick...I thought Nicolai was a girl's name, so imagine my surprise when a young man came up to me with a little too much purpose. Luckily, he wasn't interested in mugging me. just carrying my bike box. new best friend!!
I found Erin shortly after my arrival (she is another girl from u of t) and we puttered around Maastricht in search of clean underwear before the stores closed. Upon successful completion of that mission, we ate, then crashed. We both went to our rooms for the night. or so we thought.
Two hours after I fell asleep, a knock at my door...a party going on right downstairs. how convenient. so of course we went. We didn't last too long, and i was back in bed by 2:30. I slept until 1 like it was my job.
Today, I am looking after a few things. I got a phone number for example, which is free for me if you call, so no need to feel guilty! it is 0628842130. don't ask me how to dial it from Canada. Since my bag still hasnt'arrived, I had to pick up a few more essentials to hold me over until it does. assuming it does. Scary thought.
Now, I think it would be best to find something to eat. I am about to be kicked off the computertron, so I best sign off.
Keep in touch!!
KL