Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Well, Well, Well...
It's official: The Netherlands do exist. I've seen it and I believe it.
We landed two days ago on Friday in Amsterdam after a surprisingly short 6 1/2 hour flight only to collect ourselves and depart again on the two hour busride to the village of Well. 
After all the preparations, the application process, the words of "wisdom," the waiting and the anticipation we finally arrived at The Castle. Which is, by the way, a fucking castle. I mean, I knew it was, you knew it was, I know you knew it was, but it's different when you really see it. My brain is only just coming to the reality of the fact that I am now a student of Europe, spending most of my time in a building that took 40 years to complete and outdates my country.
After all the preparations, the application process, the words of "wisdom," the waiting and the anticipation we finally arrived at The Castle. Which is, by the way, a fucking castle. I mean, I knew it was, you knew it was, I know you knew it was, but it's different when you really see it. My brain is only just coming to the reality of the fact that I am now a student of Europe, spending most of my time in a building that took 40 years to complete and outdates my country.
The past couple of days have been filled with orientation which consists of unavoidably necessary information sessions of questionable value. 
This is all, of course, interspersed with much socialization and friend making. Yesterday I rented a bike for the semester and rode into town to "get the lay of the land," as Francine Weaver would say. I purchased some more euros and some Stroopwafel from the local bakery (yes, it is as good as they say). I've spent the past two nights at the local drinking establishment, Onder de Linden, observing the local vibe and the native's reactions to the onslaught of (presumably) obnoxious Bostonian students.
This is all, of course, interspersed with much socialization and friend making. Yesterday I rented a bike for the semester and rode into town to "get the lay of the land," as Francine Weaver would say. I purchased some more euros and some Stroopwafel from the local bakery (yes, it is as good as they say). I've spent the past two nights at the local drinking establishment, Onder de Linden, observing the local vibe and the native's reactions to the onslaught of (presumably) obnoxious Bostonian students.
To my surprise all the locals have been sincerely nice. I mean, it goes beyond a frienly smile exchange on the street- i've had legitimate conversations with rando Dutch. Everybody knows english and it seems like everybody loves castle kids. I'm not sure why this surprises me so much.Today it snowed, which is apparently very rare around these parts.
The semester is off to a good start and hopefully will only get better with time and experiences. Will post again after the Amsterdam academic excursion this weekend. Until then we'll leave the score like this: Europe: 1, David B. Weaver: ... 2 (?!)
I miss your faces!
DBW
Monday, January 11, 2010
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