Weekend with zee Germans

As promised, here are about 45 000 words worth of pictures from Köln.

Lily! 

Gerber!  

my belated bloemen (dutch for flowers!) 

Peter had a pin collection....

For two hours. My alarm went off on Saturday morning at 8:00am, and I didn't have the mental capacity to figure out why. So I just drifted to the shower, force of habit. By the time I had got back to my room, toweled off and dried my hair, I remembered why I was so rudely awakened. Cologne!! Erin, Cam and I made our way down to the station armed with half-hearted overnight bags, some trashy magazines, a guide book and determination to leave Maastricht. Well, Erin and I were determined. Cam, as usual needed more than a little convincing. She is lucky she has us, as she even says herself, otherwise she would just hang out in her room. "But I don't I get some credit just for getting to Europe?" Anyway, Cam needed fuel, so we stopped for a pastry and coffee for her, while Erin and I shared a granola bar. I wasn't ready for eating quite yet. Travelling is tough in Maastricht sometimes. We figured out the bus just in time and started counting our change for the fare. This annoyed the driver. He was also annoyed that Cam had fresh coffee and pastry and informed us angrily that "this is a bus, not a restaurant." He made her dump the coffee and I thought she might cry. We smuggled the pastry in though. Screw you busdriver. We bussed to Aachen in Germany and the first thing we did was miss our stop. We were so out of it, we all looked out the window and asked "is that the train station?" None of us knew, but no one wanted to ask either. So inertia made us just sit there. Then we clued in that it was indeed the train station and our bus was pulling away!! We asked the driver to please stop and let us out, terribly sorry, we missed our stop, and he refused (of course...he hated us.). He let us off at the next stop which was tricky because we don't know Aachen and were kinda lost by this point. We found a bakery, had a sandwich (always a good thing!) and continued to where we thought we'd left the train station, noting on along the way every German car that passed: BMW, Audi, Mercedes. We also noted some train tracks which was a good sign. We made it to the ticket booth without event, and the woman handed us our tickets with words "track 8, 2 minutes". AHHH! We literally ran through the station, and hopped on the train, and before we'd even got to our seats, we were on our way to Cologne (Köln).
the day before, I ran into our handsome German friend name Gundi, and since he is from Köln, I asked him for the scoop. The first thing he told me was to check out the Dom Cathedral. his words were '" you can't miss it". Let me tell you, when you walk out of the station, I think it would be more accurate to say you can't avoid it. It is a very very very impressive building. the kind that makes you feel like a little bug and wonder if maybe there is a god afterall. I think i would even use the word majestic. Anyway, I photographed the hell out of it...haha...punny...so look for the album in a bit. We went inside and felt very humble about it all. The Dom cathedral is home to the remains of the three wise men who visited Jesus all those years ago, so we eyed their box for a bit. It was gold and far away. It was the weekend's mission to touch it, however, I failed. that's ok. adds to the mystique. On one of the side altars, there was an elborate display of jesus and all kinds of trinkets in the shape of crosses of various jewels, rosaries, other symbols. Erin was lost for a lot of this church stuff as she comes from a Jewish background, so Cam and I did our best to answer her questions. But at this point I was lost and so we asked Cam if she knew the significance of the display. She said, "St. Peter had a pin collection. This is it!" Erin and I were awed and amazed. Then we felt really stupid for believing her. Honestly, who lies in church?! Did you know that "gullible" isn't in the dictionary? Besides the wise men, the size, and the pin collection, the other thing you do at the Dom Cathedral is climb the steeple. it is 509 steps up around a tight spiral staircase. We paid our Euro and began our ascent. It was grueling, and colder the higher we got. We came to a landing and had a rest and it looked like Cam and Erin weren't going to make it any further, so I went on alone for the view from the top. Again, hold out for the album, it is on its way. When I got back down, I was happy to see the girls had decided to go afterall. I took a picture of some tourists, thought about writing my name on the wall with the thousands of other tourists before me, decided not to, began to wonder about the other two, and then they appeared. We walked back down, which is arguably harder. By now, I was feeling ill with dizziness, vertigo and claustrophobia, Cam was in need of constant coaching and chatting from Erin, and Erin was doing a great job of distracting all of us with tales from her childhood as a Muskoka camp-kid.
Back on the ground, we checked the Lonely-Planet for hostel suggestions and decided on "The Station" which was only a couple blocks away. it was only 16E for the night, clean and friendly, so I would recommend it. there were two other girls in our room already so we made it our mission to be friends with them. It never happened, but such is life. Once we dropped our stuff, we hit the streets to see what shopping is like in Germany. Plentiful for one!! Expensive for another...
I talked to my mom for a little while which was nice. It is always fun to answer "where are you?" with a city other than where you are expected to be.
By now, it was raining a little, we were tired, hungry and starting to get nasty about it, so we stopped for some fries (WAY better in Germany than in Maastricht...) and KFC so Erin could buy corn on the cob. Too funny. Then we settled for "Authentic German food" for dinner over the other options of thai, or chinese. at around six, we found a beer hall with great atmosphere and a nice view of the cathedral. We ordered schnitzel, goulash, fries, soups, and of course beer and just sat there until around midnight. The conversation was great, the food borderline...both Cam and I had some bonus hairs in our meal which was met with a shrug from the waiter. He compensated with complementary coffees which was ok, but no need to make a stink. We went back to the hostel where I was pretty sure I was staying, since I was so sleep deprived i was half delirious. Best laid plans...
I changed my mind when I remembered the hostel had given us free beer coupons at the pub. Enter "Garth". Garth is an American boy we met in the lounge of the hostel travelling alone while on an internship in France. He kept making statements about how things are in Canada for mine and Erin's benefit and then making a big deal of being correct. when he was. He was mostly not. He made a big deal about how beautfiul Montreal is, and when asked about it further, he renegged and said he was actually only at Mont. St. anne (which is closer to Quebec city if I not mistaken...) and was there with his family...during the summer. I asked him what he did there, and he said Moutainbiking, which caught my interest, but it turned out he didn't know much about that either. Coming from me, that can't be good news for him. Also, he had this annoying game going on where he would [i suspect] pretend to have forgotten how to speak english. He was always trying to "remember" the word. I think we were supposed to be impressed with how worldly he is. or something. Anyway, we couldn't shake him, so off we went. The bar was a long cold walk away, but free beer is free beer. We arrived three minutes before last call. By now, I was at my wits end with fatigue, but I do remember that for some reason, they had a big screen projection of MTB videos including Downhill, and trials so I was quite entertained and left Cam and Erin to deal with the annoying American. That gave me a second (or maybe 8th wind by this point) wind and we headed to another beer hall where they played traditional german music, the beer flowed quite freely, and people of all ages danced on tables and such. It was cool. I gotta learn some drinking songs. Finally, it was time for bed.
The next day, we got up at 10 so we could go to the art museum. First things first, we went to a fancy restaurant for fancy people to have a nice breakfast. We ordered crepes/pancakes without maple syrop, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We even had mineral water. Aren't we hoity toity? We opted to have coffee second somewhere a little less expensive and found ourselves back a familiar cafe where we've stopped before. This was kind of hearbreaking, because honestly, although i am kind of embarrassed to admit it, I miss starbucks, and so do the others and we have SEEN the cups but couldn't find the place. Not that cafe ciabatta was bad...just a chai latté would have been really good. After our caffeine fix, it was off to the art gallery. Cam and I looked at the postcards and decided that was enough for us. I am not really an arty person. Erin is, so we left her there to do her thing and walked off planless and optimistic. We thought maybe we should walk by the Rhine for the view and such and did some ad libbing navigation in that direction when....STARBUCKS!! We were soo excited and it didn't matter that we'd just had an espresso not 10 minutes before. We went in and got tall cups of café americano (with caramel!!) and tchai lattés and chatted about our good fortune. Then we bagged the mugs as a souvenir and found our own adventure. As with city in Europe, Köln was once Roman. The old city wall can still be seen and also sewers and, as we found out from Lonely Planet (Really Ross, thanks for the book!! I use it all the time!) the praetorium, which I understand is a parliament building. We went in for a look around, only to discover that the hard-to-find exhibit was in GERMAN! I asked Cam, "how's your German"and it turns out it is as good as mine. Ich spreche nicht Deutsch. So we did our best, took in the sights which was mostly old walls and stuff, but we're both more into that than art, and when we got back to the beginning, I asked the museum staff if there was anything in English that I could look at by way of explanation. He handed me a pamphlet and said "50 cents". I started reading it, judged that it was probably worth 50 cents to me and reached into my pocket for change. I didn't have anything big, due to excessive espresso consumption earlier, and was down to nickels. I didn't think it would be a big deal to accept 10 carefully counted nickels, open your til and drop them in...it isn't like they were pennies...but apparently it is. He was a total dick about it and wouldn't let me buy the pamphlet. honestly!! isn't it easier to just accept a couple coins than to count change from breaking a 20? I was hurt actually. So I am not too sure about what Cam and I saw. But there were rocks, rubble and some walking through ancient sewers. Thanks Lonely Planet. Some people are just jerks I guess.
We hit up the souvenir store for some authentic "eau de cologne" and postcards and by chance ran into Marco (the Rasta), Franzie and Fabio. The meeting didn't go well...We were very worried because Marco had promised us a ride home and yet didn't seem that happy to have run into us. We analyzed the situation for about 40 minutes trying to decide if we should just take the train, or if we should wait, or what. Franzie was in Cologne to rent a car for her move home to Hamburg. We were under the impression they were also having a "closed" lunch for her goodbye and we didn't want to impose. Once we met up with them again, having decided to stick around for the ride, all was revealed. This was our first encounter with culture clash. It turned out we weren't the only ones evaluating the meeting. They had thought we were cold and couldn't understand why we weren't coming with them for lunch. Lesson learned. When you are not invited, it is no secret, otherwise, however un-Canadian it may be, it is perfectly ok to invite yourself. They wondered why we hadn't. We wondered why we hadn't been invited. Anyway, we all had a good laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation, which is still confusing to me, but live and learn right?
It was really great to have the ride home, so Thanks Marco! We made the trip in about 2 hours and passed all kinds of interesting things. Mostly wind farms.
I am sure there is more I would like to add, but this had been a long enough read I am sure, so maybe when it comes to me, I'll make a follow-up post. For now, stay tuned for the pics!
KL

Makeover magic...  

TGIF!

Friday was everything I'd hoped it would be. I slept in until I woke up, which was around 2 as opposed to the alarm clock. There were birds singing. Ladies and gentlemen, sunny day in Maastricht number 5. First thing on my agenda was to go to reception, fill up my laundry card (3E per load!!!! GOUGE.) and pick up a package i had been notified of. I was very excited to receive training treats from home, and very surprised to find valentine's flowers too!! I don't know what the etiquette is on online thanks so I am reluctant to name names, but they know who they are, and THANK YOU BOTH! let me just say that the receptionist is a useless bag of flesh, and didn't bother to get in touch with me about the flowers which arrived monday, until friday, and so please, if anyone else would like to send foilage my way, perhaps an email with a suggestion to check at reception would be the best way to avoid receptionist incompetence. my favourite part was that she made it my fault that she couldn't get in touch with me. I asked if she tried to call my cell, and she said "oh we don't call mobiles". WTF??? I didn't let her ruin my perfect friday though, how could I? I then got to strut around with an armful of flowers and a parcel. :) I hung around, took it slow, walked to the bike store, got some toys, and thought about what I would do with the rest of the afternoon. Cam called and she was starving, so we agreed to meet at school for some Mensa eats. Mensa is the dutch way of saying cafeteria, although I am almost certain it isn't dutch, and it isn't the brand name, so really i don't know why we say that. Point is, they have great soup. A few calls/sms later, and Fenna and Erin were on board. Then we changed our minds in lieu of waiting until 4:30 for the opening...yes, it took me that long to get my ass in gear for lunch. like i said, friday was everything i'd hoped it would be. The four of us went to a 'real' dutch restaurant instead and chatted a la sex in the city. We tried assigning characters, but that got really cheesy. It was brought up that those four characters are in every woman, and the point of the show is to isolate those extreme characteristics in one woman. so deep. we're silly, i know. Fenna was off to Amsterdam for her mom's b-day, so the three remaining amigos settled up (always confusing...) and walked home. I then rolled my fiets outside with a backpack of product and a bucket of water and went to work. She loved it. I will include photos of her makeover. unfortunately, I managed to mess up my front brake, don't ask how, and although i did attempt to fix it myself with limited success, I think I will take it in. I have issues messing with brakes. that's on today's agenda.
Cam and I then headed to the gym, I showed her some weight exercises, sat on the bike, and then we came home to start dinner. Dinner turned out to be chicken in a mild tandoori sauce, green beans a la Cam (tres delicious! ...clean beans, put raw into pan with olive oil and fresh garlic, fry to taste) brown rice and half a 26er of Malibu Rum. Then we went up to the floor party on Erin's floor which turned out to be the usual migration from floor to floor with the security in pursuit. They are such party poopers. Then we got suited up and headed to Backstage (after a date with Mr. Daniels of course...) for some dancing. I wasn't into it though because the strobe light was annoying me, AND, I discovered that Backstage has a pool table. So I hustled some Dutch boys for a little while, and then walked home with Damien (a friend of mine from Paris). Cam and Erin had already gone home because Cam was on some mission or other involving our friend Dan from Halifax. oi. Damien and I stayed up until around 4. I found out that he is a photographer and so he showed me some of his work, which was beautiful. He had some amazing photos of the Eiffel tower and it turns out that they were taken from his flat window. I think he lives about 50m from the tower and 'The Clan', as we (me, Erin, Fenna, Cam) are affectionately referred to in the guesthouse, is invited to stay there whenever we are in Paris. Right on. I ended up staying up until 6 talking to Jerome, and then finally went to sleep.....

This week in Holland...

Every week here tends to follow a similar pattern. Sunday, we do work because all the shops and places to eat are closed so there is literally nothing else to do. the only thing open is the library. Monday, it is back to the grind, and pretty hum-drum. Tuesday is party day. This Tuesday, I went to a MTB party with Dutch Mountains, which I will be joining officially shortly. I met up with Mo, Anton, Yicki, and made some new friends...all very cool folks and I had a great time. Although I did get somewhat lost trying to find the place. when i got there, anton awarded me a free beer so my troubles were forgotten. I only had the one though...i am trying to stick to my pledge of "no beer allowed in the country whose national beverage is beer". sad but true. too many calories, and i hate the heinekin hiney. anyway, i also met the lady who is interested in purchasing my beautiful bike, so it was nice to start a rapport with my would be buyer. hopefully that works out. if it doesn't, there is a bike for sale when I get home...
I also met Jolanda, who is very nice and another lady whose name I can't pronounce, let alone spell. She was a roadie though. Jolanda is a fellow mtb-er and she immediately signed me up for this crazy relay race happening in April. we have teams of 25 to run a very long way...three days straight. kind of like 24 hour races only longer and running isn't a sitting-down sport. at least the teams are big. anyway, i will be participating, and i think it is in eindhoven. at the end, there is the biggest dutch student party in all of holland, so that will be worth running for. There were all kinds of teams and stuff from UM at the thing, so i met some lacrosse players, tennis, --no rowing though. Saurus, the club here, seems quite set in their ways, and a month in, i am still not making any progress with them. another call due tomorrow. we'll see i guess.
After the beautifully smoke free environment of the university athletics party, i found myself at highlander with my fellow exchange students. I got a couple drinks past last call, which clearly shows i spend too much time there. hahaha. we four ladies got special glowy straws which we thought were fantastic enough to carry with us all night. After highlander, we went to Meta for some dancing and tomfoolery before calling it a night at 5:00. I love Tuesdays.
Wednesdays, i don't have school, so i slept until 2:40. The other big night is tonight, but I don't feel like going out tonight. I am currently at Mo's place where I am getting help using my new MP3 player whose instructions were partly in dutch. That's right, a NEW MP3 Player. I am very excited about my purchase. I came home today and my old one was still struggling to read a mini-disc. I guess it had been suffering all day. That settles it: it is definitely broken. i'll add it to the bone yard of small electronics that has been rotting in my closet because i can't bear to throw out what i spent so much on.
The new one was relatively cheap...only 130 Euro...and does a ton of stuff. it doens't need software, so i can use it anywhere, and it even has a radio. also, i can keep files and stuff on it as well like an external drive. pretty nifty. Creative made it.
Tomorrow, i am sleeping in until i wake up, alarm free, and then i am cleaning my bike. Then I might get a new computer for my bike ... only 14 euro here!!... and since a bike computer counts as small electronics, you know i already broke the one i came with. wow, i suck. CURSED!
a colleague of my mother's wrote to me today (Hi Crystal!). She blames the mp3 player on the fact that i put my shoes on my table for photographing. that's bad luck. she might have a point. i need to be constantly monitored for good karma. someone to stand over me and make sure i don't walk under ladders, and keep the black cats out of my path and whatnot. takers?
Saturday, we're going to Cologne to look around. Me, Cam, Erin and a new girl in mine and Erin's Advertising group, Valentina who comes from Florence and desperately wants to show me an Erin around in the spring. Can't wait for that!! Sunday Back to the books.
Lastly, I have found a passion for postcards, but only have a few addresses to unleash it on, so if you want postcards (and i have been known to send other silly things) from holland, please email me your mailing address. I promise to send you something. No address, no goodies.
Hope all is well in Canada, things are looking up in Holland :)

In a Funk

I desperately want to get out of Holland this weekend, but it looks like I will only be able to manage getting out of Maastricht. Tomorrow (Friday) we were given the day off, by surprise, which is actually really annoying. had I known sooner, I would have been able to get accomodation i can afford in any number of European cities. Now it looks like I will just be day-tripping. I feel like it is a waste of a long weekend.
I hate the weather here at the moment. once the temperature climbs a little bit, I think I will be more motivated to travel. I was going to go to Paris, but Paris in the spring sounds much better, so I don't want to waste time on paris in the cold and wet. although does weather really matter in the Louvre?? All in all, I am frustrated.
Franzi, (German) is leaving this weekend anyway, so I would like to be around for her send off.
More bad news: I broke my MP3 player this morning. I am cursed when it comes to small electronics. or else just über clumsy. life without portable music is not something I feel strong enough to face at the moment, so I will be looking for a cheap replacement. i will probably just break that anyway. i'll write some more when i am feeling less blue.
to cheer up though, check pungents.com and click the "demand" link for punny things to say about holland. PS, they're in the Post today. check out the arts/entertainment section: --> http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=f4f4aa02-ef3e-4b2a-bba0-27e6871dab00

My new kicks. :) 

Cobble Stones at my shoes!!  

My Franco Sartos in pain... 

Spanish Omelletes and Sangria for breakfast...at 2:30.

Maastricht in the distance with some determined sunbeams...notice the "mountain"on the left of the pic. good riding there. :) 

Kristen's World

Things in Maastricht have come down a notch. It seems everyone is sick, and the security is more diligent lately, and bedtime has been moved up a few hours.
This weekend was certainly indicative of waning spirits. I suppose midterms are coming up...the weather isn't the best...on the bright side, this is a pace I think I can keep up with!
Erin and I had a weekend at home while Fenna and Cam went off to Barcelona for a friend of Cam's birthday. We missed them terribly. They are back today and so Erin and I plan on roping them into a joint effort dinner so we can hear about their adventures. Unfortunately, there isn't much to tell about ours...
On Friday we made a lovely stirfry and then i don't remember what happened. Saturday we had a wine and cheese for Niamh (pronounce Neeve) from Ireland. It was lovely and wine is cheap, plus it doens't count in the calorie department. If you can refute that, I don't want to hear about it. Erin and I decided we desperately needed a pizza, so we lowered ourselves to eating at Dalia which is surely second rate, but the only thing open late. Yet to try their shoarma which is very popular around here. I pass about five places on the way home.
Once we'd had enough pizza we wandered across the street to the Shamrock where we were put off by a very drunk Gemma (british). we talked to another one of Erin's random contacts from Amsterdam who somehow found himself in Maastricht this weekend, then went to the old standby: The Highlander. Awful news! the mouse on the international computer is missing and the computer itself is wonky. We had a drink, got hit on by some sketchy dutch boys (and a girl too(!)) and decided it was time for some crappy euro mtv. I swear, music videos here are more like softcore porn. you know that song "call on me" with all the girls gyrating in the ruse of an aerobics class? ALL the videos are like that times about 8. And they play that song constantly as well. all the songs except for Schnappi
(pop mix) of course which I encourage you to download in video format, just for a laugh. Are you cuuurious? you should be. soo veerd.
So we watched TV for a bit and then bagged it. Sunday we spent the entire day at the library working on a presentation we had this morning. It went well and we were excused an hour early. Again. I am starting to wonder if maybe he thinks we are a lost cause because we almost always get out an hour early. Other groups stay the entire two hours...thoughts?
As for myself, I did a lot on the bike this week, getting out about three times. I believe I already reported on the bizarre bovine experience, but Friday's ride is also worth a mention. I met some new "Dutch Mountains" folks - Yicki and Walter - as well as hooking up with my old buddies Anton and of course Mo. We went on a course that was somewhat familiar (yay! learning the lay of the land! she can be taught!) It was my favourite ride so far. I am finally starting to feel more comfortable with the bike-trusting it again and such. I don't know when I got so timid, but for some reason, descents have been a problem lately, and now not so much, so hurrah. Also mud is no longer a groaning matter. I had to get used to that in a hurry. I am sure you saw the pics...blech.
Saturday I had grand plans to wake up early and get some work done, clean the bike, go shopping, do a work out....but I woke up three hours past my alarm, thus indicating that I probably didn't have any business anywhere but bed anyway. So fine. I quickly grabbed some materials for bicycle TLC at the bike store (those guys aren't regular bike shop nice. too bad.), then Erin and I went downtown to do some power shopping. We accomplished a lot in only half an hour and now I only have to pick up shoes since the cobblestones ate mine. that's this afternoon's mission.
I thought about napping, but sucked it up and instead got on the bike at around 6. My plan was brilliant: just pick a road, ride it for an hour, throw in some drills, keep it in the "good gears" and then come home for a hot shower. things were going really well. I biked to a town called Tongeren in Belgium which was about 20kms and lots of uphill plus a detour for some muscle memory work away from the crazy belgium drivers. I rewarded myself for my good work with a quick ride around this new town. Looks like they had good shopping anyway. of course everything was closed. all systems go, I stopped for a snack, and a layer just in case, and started back. I didn't even get to the city limits before it started to mist. Then rain. Then the temperature dropped and it was snowing/dutching. I was still 18km from home, out of layers and bootieless. Not to mention scared at this point because my hands were cold and my toes weren't far behind. Needless to say, the ride went from high to low in a hurry. I lost my top gears one by one as they iced over. My tires were feeling soft and the road was getting slippy. Dutching is a bitch too because it looks like snow, but feels like rain. as soon as it connects with you, it liquifies. I was soaked, freezing and scared. I will admit it here, on the world wide web, I even shed a couple tears over my miserable state. anyway, I made it. I couldn't feel my feet or walk at the end (due to clubfoot) but I made it. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or sick. we'll see about the latter.
Sunday was off!
Today, I am going to finish up my shopping and hopefully acquire some shoes. I hate shoe shopping...so many choices and it feels like a really important one since you have to wear them lots. too much pressure!
Meanwhile, how are things in Canada?? send news! send pictures! send words!
Ciao for now!

A word from Sean...

"Cars. Despite all the water, bikes and tiny streets, Amsterdam is nevertheless full of cars. And other cars are a danger to cars. Especially the sorts of cars which are most practical in a city of canals, bicycles and alley-sized roads. They are, fittingly, small cars -- with names like the Renault 'Twingo', the Nissan 'Micra' and the Toyota 'Sub-Atomic Particle'. The danger with small cars is that their drivers (especially male drivers) tend to compensate for the puny size of the vehicle by driving them as fast as possible along the twenty or so metres of clear road available at any time in Amsterdam. I have been a passenger in a small car (a BMW Flea) and it was extremely frightening--although I was very glad not to be a cyclist at the time.
Another problem is that the Dutch have completely disavowed the use of the indicator when turning, overtaking, changing lanes and any potentially fatal manoeuvres. Apparently they think it's too much trouble to move their hand a quarter of an inch to flick it on and avoid an accident; or they think that it's some sort of instrument to be employed in moments of autovehicular celebration. 'Oh look Piet, here comes Queen Beatrix. Quick, turn on one of those orange flashing lights.'
...
Ultimately it's this simple: when in Amsterdam, just say no--to bicycles, drugs, winking women in windows and, most of all, cars."

-My 'Dam Life by Sean Condon

Appending to Carnival...

I recently found this in a stack of things I still don't know what I should do with...It is the Dutch take on Carnival and somewhat humorous and came from a student magazine for exchange kids like us. I swear, I won't mention Carnvival again.

Carnival Explained

You guys are really lucky that you are here in Maastricht in this semester because the nicest event of the whole year is about to happen. We Dutch people (especially from this Southern region) are already looking forward to this event for months. I am talking about Carnival. You are probably wondering what Carnival is. Well let me explain it to you real quick. Carnival is drinking and partying for three days long until the morning begins, dressed up as a fool. Well you can dress up whatever you like, but the main part is the drinking. We have some parades with people walking through town with a big group, dressed like for example a butterfly or a bee or like Bob the Builder. The group who has the best costume gets a prize and after that....more drinking!
For us youngsters it is almost impossible to go and watch the parade because we are still drunk and tired of the night before but it is real nice for families to go and watch with their children. The Carnival starts this year at the sixth of February and ends at the eight of February. For the real die hards among, it starts at Saturday the fifth and ends on Wednesday. I think you will have to have a great condition and a very big wallet to make it last for this long!
Carnival is not only a time of drinking very much very long, but it is also a time to meet new friends (read girlfriend or boyfriend). Because of the great amount of alcohol everybody consumes, people dare to walk to that guy or girl that they have been looking at all night. Everybody thinks, well its Carnival so why not. Unfortunately these relationships normally do not last that long. Actually only for three days (until Carnival is over). Well I hope that you have become very enthusiastic about Carnival.

Forgot to add....

Re: Amsterdam get away....
1. Erin peed on a boulder. for shame!!!! 50E fine for that if caught. hahahahaha.
2. Cam stole a handbag (by accident)...shut up Ross....and when she tried to return it, we thought they migh arrest her. phew.
3. Fenna was interviewed for some Freaky Deaky Dutch TV show...it´s like they can smell her linguistic skills....dutch people always talk to Fenna first. in Dutch.
Later skaters!

Mooooo.  

Curious cows 

Cows and pup tents

Yesterday I went for a bike ride with Mo...just a short one given the delicate condition of my sinuses. We rode around for a little while through some logging areas, and came upon a strange scene. Pictures to follow.... The first thing that caught my attention was the neatly arranged military encampment. There were camo pup tents, a large mess tent and two military trucks all just sitting there. Not a soul in sight. Wandering among the camp were some very large and numerous long-haired black cows. It was very odd. Isn't the veerd? Maybe you had to be there.
I will say this though: mountain biking through a cow path is great for "positive visualization". After the military camp/ranch, we went through some single track that was a little messy. Read: cow pies everywhere. I was having enough trouble with the mud anyway, not to mention all the logging cuttings, and then throw poop in the mix and it makes it a regular obstacle course. It forced me to pedal through when I really wanted to put my feet down. I will do anything to avoid getting cow shit on my shoes. Also a plus of Dutch mountain biking is the mud. I have learned, (and don't laugh--this may come off a little "slow") that many an obstacle can by overcome if you just keep pedalling. Jerome, I hear your voice as it was that one day in the Don with Thorsten. Pedal. PEdal. PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL. Wow, who knew. So now I don't suck so much in the slick stuff. But I think Dutch mud is stickier anyway. It is probably the cow shit.
Other thoughts on training: "in-shape" is a state of mind. I know I am "in-shape" when the pain is welcome. When it hurts and I think "good...now we're getting somewhere." "Out of shape" is a different story. When the pain comes, I think "kill me", "why do i do this?", "I'll never get anywhere". I don't think fitness has much to do with this thought process as how much can you really gain in a week? or even one workout? Yet, the thoughts change. I am clumsily trying to report: I finally feel good again. Watch out ;)

H2

I saw an H2 in Holland yesterday. I was weirded out. It had Dutch plates too...what could a Dutch person possibly have to compensate for? They are 10% bigger on average than the rest of the entire world!! (A fact I learned from the inflight magazine on my trek over here). I decided I didn't want to meet the driver. He is probably just über badass. And rich too because how can you afford to keep gas in a Hummer in Europe? You lose half the tank just turning it on!

Another Album...

My last post today: another photo book for your perusal and enjoyment (?). Time for dinner (for real this time...)
Yay! I am happy to be all caught up!
See you tomorrow. xo.


Life in the Guesthouse - A pictoral journey :)

A Word from Sean...

"Trams: Amstedam's trams are enormous, twin-carriaged, articulate behemoths which have right of way over everything and stop for just about nothing. The very basic braking system seems to consist of a concrete-block anchor and is only emplyued in the most dire of circumstances, such as for a group of old women in wheelchairs carrying boxes of kittens across the road. And even then, the look of undiluted hatred that kitten-carrying old ladies would recieve from the tram driver would make them wish they were dead anyway. so always carry a box of kittens when strolling around Amsterdam and, if possible, try to be old. And a lady."
-My 'Dam Life, by Sean Condon

It's a Small World Afterall!

Once we'd had our fill of Carnaval, we decided to make sure the rest of our vacation didn't go to waste. So we shoved some things in a backpack and hopped on the next train to Amsterdam.
Erin, Cam, Fenna, and I arrived in Venice of the North at around 3:30 where we were met by the usual dutch rain and consequently were immediately ripped off by a cabbie, but hey, thanks for the tour. *bird*. Between the four of us, we were loaded with contacts and therefore, by extension, things to do, so we brushed off that small setback and immediately got down to business. tea and cookies with Fenna's mom!! Fenna is half dutch and half american. Both her parents come from Holland and recently, they purchased an apartment right by the vondelpark and leidseplein which is a very good place to be! We were very lucky girls, and a huge thanks to Fenna and her mother for being such good hosts! Once we'd had enough snacks and chatting in a real living room (funny the things you miss), we decided to get ourselves ready for dinner.
Erin's world: episode 1.
Erin's best friend is currently on exchange in Leeds. Her best friend from university, Elisa, is currently on exchange in Amsterdam. Although Erin and Elisa had never met, we were assured it would be fine to give her a call. so we did. and it was fine, and we had some very strange ethnic food of a spicey variety.
Erin's world: episode 2.
Following a lovely dinner with just us 5 girls, we went to a student pub to meet with Erin's childhood friend Remy, who is on exchange in Amsterdam. Remy's roommate's best friend was Rick, one of the oompa loompa's pictured in the Carnaval album. Rick had spoken of the Cdns he'd met in Maastricht and eventually, over a heiniken or two, it all came together at "Lux", the student pub. I also met a few other u of t exchange students and here we got a lead to another party.
Erin's world: episode 3.
Following the Lux night, we received instructions from Erin's dad on how to meet up with Barry, another one of Erin's childhood friends flying into Schiphol THAT DAY. We buggered it all up and weren't where we were supposed to be, but it didn't matter because we ended up running into Barry in the street (!!) while shopping that afternoon. He had a friend with him, also from ontario, going to Queen's, Sam, also a friend of Erin's and we agreed to meet up later for the party lead we'd acquired at Lux.
I am pretty sure that's all the Erin connections, but surely that's enough.
WHile I am thinking of it, one more "small world" annecdote: Fenna's mom's cousins used to live nextdoor to the Anne Frank hideout during the war (ie while Anne Frank was hiding.) The children Anne describes playing outside, are Fenna's relatives!! We didn't go to the house this time. next time for sure.
Cultural things I did get to were mainly summed up in the Rijksmuseum. There were lots of paintings of Dutch children, dressed like dutch adults, which was apparently the style. It has never left! Dutch kids still look like miniature adults and often are dressed better for school than I am. for shame. I finally saw "the Nightwatch". and I found out it is not as original as an original can be...it has been CUT! i have a hard time just cropping my photos; i don't know what i would do if someone asked me to crop a rembrandt. anyway, it was too big for a wall in the amsterdam town hall, where it was once housed, so they just trimmed it. crazy. the revealing photos of the fake that gives away the doctoring are included in the Amsterdam album.
I should probably mention that the reason we went to Amsterdam in the first place was largley cultural. We heard G-love and Special Sauce were playing and decided to try and get tickets. also, Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, G-Love was sold out, and we totally forgot about New Year opting for Sushi instead. More on that later...
Other Amsterdam activities included walking through the Vondelpark (they play Hepburn movies there in the summer outside the archives and people get really into it...we're coming back), walking in redlight (and we didn't take photos, sorry martin), walking through markets, walking for shopping, walking, walking, walking....my shoes are ruined. should have done shoe shopping.
The last day we spent searching and enjoying the sushi. Cam met a nice boy called Tal, from New York city, and so we invited him to come along too. Then we got ice cream and called it a trip. Well, at least Erin and Cam did. They went back that afternoon on the train with Barry and Sam who then got a little taste of Maastricht. Fenna stayed to have high tea with her mom and I stayed to catch up with some rowing pals. I cut my visit short though and decided to catch up with the ladies in Maastricht. Now I am thinking it was a little 6th sense of me...
I caught the last train out of Amsterdam and took a seat in the middle of the car. At the front there were the usual drunks about my dad's age, singing and just being generally obnoxious. I started to read Condon's book....then all hell breaks loose. Women are screaming, men are yelling, everyone running....I look up and see some young guys swinging huge on the my drunk friends from the front. The older of the two men turns and it is the most gruesome thing i have ever seen! a gash from his left temple to below his right eye is pouring blood and his friend has a shiner swollen sbut and bloody to the size of a baseball. When it is all over, there is blood all over the train (including some on my bag. I got it off though...). Of course everything was in dutch, but I asked around and apparently it was a racial thing. I guess the old guys had made some comment to the young asian guys and they didn't like it...so they clocked men twice their age. nice. We were delayed one stop out of amsterdam for about half an hour before they finally took those involved and bloody off the train and we were on our way. They cleared out the train except for me and this guy from UA who were both too lazy too move our shit. so we chatted for awhile which suited me fine since I am now terrified of being on the wrong train given my adventures of the first day. I was determined not to fall asleep and miss my stop in holland in the middle of the night. Once he left, I was moved to first class for all my trouble of moving. Danku Wel!
I made it into Maastricht without any further excitement and caught up with Cam, Erin, Sam and Barry at Highlander (where else??) then finished the evening off at The Shamrock.
The next morning, I woke up urgently needing to vomit. I won't get into details, but no, it was not a hangover. My mother convinced me I was in fact dying of Meningitis, but it wasn't that either. I stayed in bed all day and felt generally miserable and feverish until the next morning. That's when I found out that Fenna too had shared my fate. It was death by sushi. FOOD POISONING! I feel so violated. To have paid so much to be poisoned by my favourite treat. I am not touching the stuff until I get home to Sushi Inn. And I also swear of conveyor belt sushi for life.

My 'Dam Life - A word from Sean

My 'Dam Life is a story by Sean Condon about his move to Amsterdam. It is a great little book published by Lonley Planet(2003). On the back, it says he "casts a witty, watchful and wonderfully self-deprecating eye over his expat experience of laziness and leisure, dreams and destiny in the Venice of the North. With his uncanny ability to seek out the absurd in everyday life, Sean finds plenty of targets in a city of hemp and high culture, canals and bicycles, idiosyncratic plumbing and internationally unrenowned cuisine." Basically, his wife gets a job in Amsterdam, and he follows her all the while chronicling his adventures in this novel. We in the guesthouse can relate. Hopefully he doesn't mind if I borrow a few lines...
First up: The Inspection shelf.
"The inspection shelf is a porcelain platform which sits above where the waterline in a normal (by which I mean scatologically sane) toilet would be. I don't want to go into too much detail here, but what this means is that, because, umm...'it' just sort of...sits there, it's available for...errr...detailed...inspection before being dispatched off to where it belongs".
consider yourselves warned before using the bathrooms in holland. But hey, at least there is a seat!! (i'm talking to you France!...and Italy too!)

A pleasant surprise....

When I chose Maastricht as my host for this euro adventure, i had no idea that Maastricht is home to the second largest carnaval celebration in europe. what luck!! You have seen the pictures, you've read the build up, and now here is my official post-carnaval post. I did my research and I found out, from native dutch speakers (not always an easy task you know) that the reason for the season is the afore-pictured vegetable woman. Maastricht is a mining town (hence the afore-pictured caves) and this woman is celebrated because she would bring the food to the workers everyday. so for this small task, there is a week long party including copious amounts of alcohol, dancing, and COSTUMES. So anyway, we all stumble onto this week-long-party and embrace it. We did costumes, we got up early to watch the innumerable parades that go from town to town, we ate waffles and fries with too much mayo. It was very memorable (and yet not...) and the photos don't even begin to capture it. Luckily, I have some video too available upon request. I'll have to email it until I figure out a more appropriate medium.
Officially, Carnaval started on Sunday night, the 3rd. However, on Friday at 3, I remember having already consumed twee (dutch for two...) beers. The Vrijtof was transformed from barren concrete to crowded fairground in the time it took me to check my email and come back through. Naturally we couldn't just keep walking. Due to Carnaval, we UniMaas kids got a whole week off school so I was in great spirits anyway. Unfortunately, I also had a cold, which I did my best to ignore, but eventually succumbed to the pesky bug.
Saturday night (before Carnaval had actually even started...) we got all dressed up in our bug outfits and hit the town. note the photos. We lost Erin unforutnately, but I found her again at around 4am. Cam was also lost by this time, perhaps off with some oompa loompa or other. Erin was with the priest Marco and his "un-holy" water as Erin refers to it. Loaded. We made our way home through the still crowded and costumed streets of Maastricht. I think I talked politics with another of the oompa loompas. Maybe that was another night.
So as I mentioned, I was sick for most of this carnaval thing. Booze was hitting hard and fast, and so I decided later in the game to really try and get home early. I even had the discipline (or else incapability to move) to stay in one night. I picked a good one to stay in: Erin and Cam were "interpretive dancers" and I surely would have been roped into that as well. kudos girls :P.
Anyway, carnaval is good for a few things. You really get to know the city and so I am happy to say that I am no longer lost most of the time and I can now choose between a couple of routes instead of just one I have burned into my brain to get to places i need to go. I am running much more efficiently now! cobblestones notwithstanding. Also the exposure to traditional dutch folk music has been truly enlightening. I am now searching for the "carnaval compilation" cd and can't wait to put it into high rotation. Speaking of music, do yourself a favour and download "schnappie" (alternative spelling: schnaapie). If you get the video even better. you'll know you have the right one if there is a cute little alligator chasing a fly through ancient egypt. that song was the official theme of carnaval, has nothing to do with dutch music otherwise played, but is quite catchy. read: annoying. Also annoying: "girl" by Anouk. Take that spinners.
The costumes of carnaval, as I am sure you have noticed from the pictures, are quite elaborate. I tried to snap pics of unsuspecting revellers whose costumes I liked the best. Whole families dress up in a theme and they also build a music wagon thing and use it to transport *music*, beer (legal to drink in the streets here!), snacks, and layers. Why they didn't choose a warmer month for carnaval i don't know. oh well, february it is. I couldn't train the way i wanted to for various reasons (mainly that the gym, along with everything else, closes for carnaval week...argh!!!!) so I had my bike out to play downtown and take pictures. It was a nice day! luckily i didn't get caught because i found out later that Tristan, the very french frenchman, was ticketed for way less than what i was doing. I don't know what the fine is for riding down stairs and jumping curbs is, but i surely can't afford it judging by Tristan's ticket for riding in the wrong place.
Carnaval is actually a controversial time of year in MAastricht and the town is kind of divded on it. Some hate it and just leave. Others, as mentioned get all decked out and liquored up. Put those kids to bed, i say! It does have its downsides though, i'll admit. People just chuck their glasses in the street so there is now broken glass everywhere. Everything is closed so it is impossible to get anything done...which reminds me, i am still really behind on my laundry.
Anyway, the ones who take it seriously are very moved by the whole thing. Carnaval is ended when the vegetable lady, hoisted up on her pole for the week, is slowly lowered as the clock strikes midnight on tuesday. Kim (Australia...and a guy), Jane (Denmark) and Andrew (USA) and I all watched the whole thing finish up whilst enjoying a waffle (soooo good) and wiping our noses. I think everyone in the guesthouse is all partied out because we all have the same stupid cold. When the veggie lady is all the way down, people cry. Then quietly walk home. Just kidding, they party their faces off all night. but that's normal on tuesdays. Speaking of which, it is Tuesday and 8pm...time for dinnner perhaps.

Drinking in the streets... 

CARNAVAL!!! 

AMSTERDAMMIT - photographic evidence

well, i have really blown a lot of this unusually (!) rainy day blogging waiting for a break so I can walk home. lucky for you guys! here is yet another product of my procrastination, the album from our recent Amsterdam adventure. They say a picture says a thousand words, but I think i'd better fill this in with a little blurb or two, so that will be my next project until a suitable gap in weather. At least I am not at home with a cat eating chocolate and watching girly films....

Exhibit B

CARNAVAL - photographic evidence

Beware, the album is large, unorganized, and very colourful.
Hope you like it....there are videos too which have a soundtrack. eventually, i'll figure out how to link those in.
Exhibit A

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, CANADA
XOXOX

A word on the weather...(since I have already trashed food)

"Someone once peered up at the Dutch sky and glummly summarized it as follows: 'Just look at that. It always looks as if it has just rained, is about to rain or is raining.'"

So true, so true. Except for yesterday when the weather turned from just regular "dutching" to actual SNOW. We had almost a full fledged, flutter-your-eye-lash, pull-down-the-togue, pull-up-the-scarf, blizzard! Of course, four minutes later, the sun was out and I was thinking about removing a layer. seriously.

When you decide to go out to dinner in Holland...

The following is a direct quote from my student handbook. Very educational, and accurate I might add. Did I mention, I am starving?

Do try some of the local delicacies, but don't expect anything to be very spicy. The Dutch East India company bought and transported spices for centuries, but apparently never brought them to Holland. In fact, garlic is used more often here for repelling vampires than it is in Dutch cooking.
Don't expect Italian restaurants in Amsterdam to serve food that tastes Italian. If you look in the kitchen in most of these places, you'll find a bunch of Turkish guys trying to make Italian food taste like Dutch food. This procedure will include putting large chunks of carrots in your marinara sauce. In Holland, carrots are also a spice, apparantly. I've been to at least fifteen Italian restuarents in Amsterdam, and have only found one where the food was prepared by Italians. I won't tell you where it is, though, as they are probably doing something illegal.
Do expect potatoes to be served with anything you order anywhere. Even in the "Italian" places. I've ordered spaghetti bolognaise on more than one occasion, and had it served to me with a side of potatoes. I've even had a dinner that included large boiled potatoes as part of the entrecote, and it came with a side of french fries! Did I mention the Dutch like potatoes? They do.
Don't expect to find a spicy salad dressing anywhere near a Dutch restaurant. The Duthc have four basic salad dressings: mayonnaise, mayonnaise with water, mayonaisse with little flavorless flecks in it, and mayonaisse. Even Dutch pepper is almost without flavour. They generally use white pepper, which is very finely ground, and tastes like sawdust. I beliece it's made from small pieces of plywood, but don't quote me.

Borrowing Albums...

Please feel free to check out my friend Cam's photos (she's from California, goes to UC Davis.) It is nice when other people figure out the ways of the internet for me...I never realized how internet-illiterate I was. I will have my own album soon enough. CARNAVAL! But for now, Here's Cam's contribution.

Cam's photos

APB Kristen

I am not lost in a cave, Duane. No need to worry, Mom.
This past week was Carnaval and the whole city shut down, hence extremely limited internet access.
Stay tuned for pics and tales of adventure, but for now, I am off to Amsterdam.
Heard it was starting to feel like spring....enjoy the weather!

Maastricht 

My building! My kitchen is being pointed at by the tip of the pine on the right. :S 

Look! A cliff in Holland!  

Sketchy Caves previously mentioned...Coming back with headlamps and mtbs. then again with lanterns and a 2-4.  

Look! Mtb in NL. (Go Blues!) 

Germany, 4:30am. Starfish Nightclub 

The Highlander. International-Student Hotspot.  

Peace! Me and Erin.  

Hasta la vista!

Part of accepted life as an exchange student are the "goodbyes". We are in the midst of a changeover period and many of the people we have come to know and love over the past two weeks (has it really only been two weeks?!) are leaving us and, let's face it, we'll probably never see them again. It is a little sad in the halls of the C-building lately, but promise of "fresh meat" lifts spirits a little bit too. The Italians have been replaced for the most part with spaniards and now at floor parties, instead of grappa, there is sangria. i am fine with this change! At floor dinner, instead of pasta, there is potato omellettes...and pasta still. i think pasta is the universal student meal. just now the sauce is no good.
My travails at the gym are paying off...I am feeling much better about myself. Drinking has been reduced from a steady pour to a healthy trickle and I have found the inner strength to leave a party before the hour of 6:30. Now I am home at the much more civil hour of 5:00.
Carnival is just around the corner, and Cameron, Erin and I are going as bugs. I am a lady bug, Erin is butterfly and Cameron is a bee. yes, they are just cop-out wing-costumes. This weeks mission is to put the finishing touches on. Next weekend, we had plans to go to barcelona, but we were a little late and the trip is now slightly cost prohibitive. So instead, we are heading to Amsterdam for Chinese New Year. There is also talk of taking the highspeed train to Paris overnight or the ferry to London. We're basically up for anything as long as we get out of Maastricht. time to stretch our legs a little.
Bad news, I have a sore throat and persistent cough. The weather here is very damp and although the temperature is not quite as extreme as the ol t-dot, it is the kind of cool that goes straight to your skeleton. i have to search out vitamins and try to get on top of this. since missing school is strictly forbidden, i am not about to use my two freebies on an illness when there is valuable travelling to be done.
and that's it for today. still have readings. I am still in that "i am going to do all my work this time" phases that starts any semester. best laid plans...

Eureka!

thank you Rhain for your help with the photos. I have managed to post a few photos although not very stylishly. I'll have to work on it! Enjoy!
KL

Home! my dorm room.  

this is Erin (right) and Cam (left). no further comment...  

An example of the carnvial madness through excessive decoration. keep in mind, carnival is still about a week and a half away!!  

This is the "Vrijthof" which is Maastricht's main square. Just beyond is the city centre where all the shopping happens. I am pretty sure that is the main industry here....consumerism.