13 February 2015

I woke up about an hour from Amsterdam. We got to the city at about 10 a.m. and walked over to the hostel. Since our rooms were not ready, we left our luggage in storage and hit the town.

The Rijksmuseum as we were walking to the hostel

Some friends and I first went to grab lunch at a bakery/sandwich place around the corner. Also coffee, much much needed coffee. The serving lady was very understanding of our tired states and both the food and coffee were made fresh on the spot.

  After brunch we walked across the city towards the Anne Frank museum. The architecture of Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous, but it is deceptively a friendly pedestrian city. The bicyclists will kill you, and it will be your fault. Just be mindful.

When we got to the Anne Frank House, there was quite the queue; we were in it for about an hour, so I took a few photos of the buildings around us. Also, this pigeon, which I have christened the Godpigeon, kept coming up to Connor and following him and strutting around him trying to assert his dominance. It was pretty amusing and a little intimidating as it kept following us down the line. Also, we were accosted by a guy wanting us to go on his boat tour, but we did not go since we already had plans for the rest of the day.

A small glimpse of the queue: we had been in line for about forty minutes at this point

I have no pictures from inside the Anne Frank House; it is requested that no one takes photos because 1) the diary pages could be damaged and 2) as a way to show respect for those who are there to honour the dead- a rule I was more than happy with which I was more than happy to comply. I am glad Erika gave me the final push I needed to go to the museum. It was sobering, emotional, and tiny and dark. And it was impossible to imagine people living there for years. It was frustrating to know how close Anne was to liberation. It was heartbreaking to see videos and photos of her grieving father after the war, trying to find his two little girls who, he learned, would never come home. It felt as though I was at a meeting place of all that is innocent and all that is evil in humanity. If any of yous are ever in Amsterdam, Go to the Anne Frank House; go honour and grieve for this family and what they represent on a larger scale.

 After we finished in the Anne Frank House, we crossed the canal over to a pancake cafe for second brunch/lunch/afternoon snack.

View from the bridge across from the Anne Frank House

A Famous Dutch Pancake

The pancake reminded me more of a crepe and the syrup more of molasses sauce. After we finished our pancakes we walked back to the hostel stopping at shops along the way. We found a fantastic vintage shops with clothes from maybe the '50s forwards. I found some great leather gloves to replace the ones that I forgot. After we put our bags in our room we went to take photos on the Iamsterdam sign in front of an ice rink behind the Rijksmuseum. 

The back of the Rijksmusuem

 After we were done taking pictures, the others wanted to go running, and since I was not interested in running, I took off on my own to go through the Van Gogh museum. After confirming with the gatekeeper that the museum was open until 10 p.m. on Fridays, I began wandering about in a quest for food. I got really excited following a group of students- because it is a universally acknowledged truth that college students, no matter where in the world you are, will know where to find decent and cheap food; however, that trek proved fruitless. So I kept wandering and came across a street that was all shops for almost every major designer line one can think of and was confronted with two realities. The first being that fashion can be used as an art form, and the second being just how much that art form costs. So I kept wandering and came across a pharmacy, what followed was a somewhat hilarious endeavor on my part to teach myself to read Dutch, because I was trying to figure out which bottle had aspirin. So, I kept wandering, getting fairly hungry at this point, until I circled back to a bakery I had passed early, that was about to close up shop. I hopped in and grabbed a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino. At first, I was worried that I would not be able to get even that because both workers addressed me in Dutch before switching to English, when they saw the terrified expression on my face. After finishing my evening snack, I wandered through one of the city's largest parks to get back to the museum.

It was about twilight at this point and I finally entered the Van Gogh museum. Now it is worth noting that this museum is the main reason that I wanted to go to Amsterdam. I love Van Gogh, not just his paintings but his writings as well. His impassioned frenzy-filled style makes him my favourite artist. Maybe it is the liberal arts major in me, but I find the channeling of utter madness into beautiful, expressive art something to be admired. Spending a few hours in such close examination of this man's work was not only a highlight  of my time in Amsterdam, but a highlight of my time "across the pond" period. If you are remotely interested in art and happen to be in the neighbourhood, go to this museum.

*Side-Note* I was mistaken for a Brit during my wanderings, an insult to real Brits, no doubt, but it was an error that amused me immensely.

12 February 2015

Going to Amsterdam for a long Valentine's weekend. I am so excited! I love art and Amsterdam has some of the most reputable galleries in the world, like the Van Gogh Museum.

Grabbed breakfast this morning with the girls. The pub outside the village we live in has all you can eat breakfast for three pound ninety-nine. Not a bad treat for a bunch of uni students- a status which is synonymous with perpetually, to some degree, broke.

The bus ride to Amsterdam took about thirteen hours, so I guess technically this post turned into 13 February 2015. We arrived at the majestic White Cliffs of Dover, which I am sure are much more majestic when not viewed through bleary, sleep-deprived eyes at 00:33, and we boarded the ferry to cross into Calais. I took advantage of the smooth ride by finding a chair in the corner and sleeping until we crossed into the continent.

A Typical Week in "Ze Life"

Okay. Yeah, this blog thing. I am supposed to write one, and it has been awhile. The main reason being that my presessional class is over, and I was throwing my self into my literature classes 100%. I also had a major essay due, which took a lot of my time, which kept me from posting. Also, day-to-day life is just that, day-to-day life. Though some of the finer details change, the structure of my week is usually pretty consistent, and  that is the theme of this post. So, here is the basic structure of my week.

Monday: By far my busiest day. I have two lectures in the morning, a seminar in the afternoon, and Christian Union in the evening. And sometimes the students at CU will all hang out together afterwards. So I am usually home for about ten hours on Monday and am on the go the rest of the time.

Tuesday: I have a seminar that runs from late morning to the early afternoon. When it is finished, I usually stay on campus to the mid or late afternoon working on the mountains of reading I have for classes.

Wednesday: I have a day off, and I am getting so spoiled because of it lol. Wednesday serves as my catch up day normally. If I need to go the market, I will go on Wednesday. I will take most of Wednesday to work on the coursework for my classes at NSU. I will work on the mountains of reading I have for my courses here. If the weather is nice, I will go for a walk around Swansea. Wednesday is the day I do laundry. Occasionally, Wednesday will also be used as a "day-trip" day. For example, Erika, my flatmates, and I are going to Cardiff for the day next Wednesday.

Thursday: I have a lecture on Thursday afternoon. I will usually take Thursday morning as "me" time. I will sleep in a little later. Actually cook a proper breakfast or brunch, whenever I decide to eat. If I do any work it will be just reading.

Friday: I have a three day weekend- did I mention I am getting spoiled?- so a lot of my trips throughout the semester will go over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If I am in Swansea, I will hang out with friends Friday night, and we will do something.

Saturday: A do-whatever-needs-to-be-done day

Sunday: Church in the morning followed by lunch either at the church or with a few friends. Then hanging out with friends in the afternoon, and I use Sunday evening to prep for Monday's lectures.

So, yeah. That is my week in a nutshell. Here are some photos from day-to-day life:

Jaime, Kaylin, and Erika at the international enrollment lunch a couple of weeks ago.

From when I was sick a couple of weeks ago. The tissues are significantly bigger than my face lol.

Erika and I celebrating finishing our essays with Joe's Strawberry Swirl, Nutella, and Banana sundaes.

31 January 2015 pt 3: Some various shots of Bath

Please note Queen Victoria on the building. To explain: the first time I was over here- and I do not know why I did this- I started what I guess can be called a sort of scavenger hunt for myself, in that every time I saw a statue of Queen Victoria, I would snap a picture. I guess that is going to continue on this trip because when I saw this statue the first thing I did was pull out my camera.

After the Baths and the Centre we still had forty-five minutes before the bus left, so we grabbed some coffee, pulled out our cameras and roamed the city for a bit. The above are some photos from that walk. I thought Bath was absolutely beautiful and would love to spend some more time there.

31 January 2015 pt 2

Those who know me know that I have what one might call a casual interest in Jane Austen. And by "casual" I mean that she has been one of my favourite authors since I was twelve years old; I try to read at least one book related to her a year; I own and have seen many times multiple film adaptations of her work and life; and I keep her action figure on my desk at home to serve as writing inspiration. So, it is safe to say that I was mildly excited about the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. And by "mildly excited" I mean that it was all I could talk about when Bath was brought up; throughout our day in Bath, I would exclaim at random "Jane Austen walked here!"; and the first words out of my mouth after the required tour of the Baths, themselves, was to ask for directions to the Centre. Yeah, this trip was definitely on my bucket list. After about a twenty minute lecture over Jane Austen's life and her time in Bath, I proceeded to spend about two hours in a museum that is just a bit bigger than my flat, and I loved every second of it :) 

The Centre Entrance: A Jane Austen figure and a nice man in costume. All the workers were in traditional costume.

Marriage Certificate of Jane Austen's parents

Look at that hat!

Tea Set- Because tea was so expensive, it was kept in a locked box, and only the woman of the house could have the key.

"Lizzie Bennet" Doll and Accessories

Letter written by Jane Austen to her sister, Cassandra

"Jane" at her desk

31 January 2015 pt 1

 Today our presessional class went to Bath for a field trip to see the Roman Baths as part of our cultural studies. I was beyond excited. Jane Austen lived in Bath. Two of her novels are set in Bath. Bath is filled with beautiful architecture. And the city is surrounded by beautiful countryside. I watched Northanger Abbey the night before leaving and read my favourite parts of Persuasion on the bus. Is it obvious that I was excited to be walking where Jane Austen walked?

 The countryside from the bus

 Entrance to the Pump Room: Jane Austen wrote about this place!

 

Ceiling to the Entrance of the Baths

 The Cathedral across from the Baths

Down into the Baths themselves

Ceremonial Mask of Minerva

We drank the water; it was metallic in taste, quite vile. On the bright side though, apparently we will never age or be ill again.
A word of warning: the Baths are a major tourist attraction; they will be packed with people. Also, some of the areas in the Baths, once filled with people, can feel very claustrophobic. I only had about two hours to go through the whole thing because I wanted to make it to the Jane Austen Centre and personally found the crowds to be quite overwhelming at times. If you are going be prepared for things to get cramped and try to have time to go through at a leisurely pace.

24 January 2015: St. Fagan's- three more hours in photos

St. Fagan's is an outdoor museum and village that represents daily Welsh life at various points in time through architecture and park interpreter lectures. John, you would really enjoy it, I think. One of the interpreters, bless his heart, tried to teach us a bit of Welsh, just a  greeting.It wasn't that I was an inattentive pupil; on the contrary, I was quite excited to work with the language. I just completely butchered it is all. And despite the saying "practice makes perfect", my pronunciation managed to get worse the more I tried to say it.Oh well, the trip was still a lot of fun and informative

(Erika and I on the bus)

 (one of the farmhouse outbuildings)

(Large farmhouse)

(Thatched Roof)

(Erika and cows)

(slated pighouse)

(Some of the old flour millstones)

(old toll booth)

(inside one of the old farmhouses and the animal stalls In The House)

(Erika and sheep)

(out by the animal houses)