living a dream

3-6 september 

seriously. somebody pinch me. 

i know i said that at least twice this last week. 

someone did pinch me - it's not a dream!

the second full week of living here in Den Haag has been incredible - from the amazing sites to the incredible people that i have had the pleasure to be around. 

let me show you just why my life has been so fantastic. try not to be too jealous alright?

on monday the school booked a boat tour for us to show us around Den Haag from the water!

we briefly talked more about Dutch culture and what we could expect from the class and then we headed down to the water to see the city! 

this used to be the head office for the port 

the traditional symbol of Holland

guess who wants to move into a house boat?

our tour guide

the other boats in our tour

pretty boats in the canal

restaurants use boats for extra seating 

we even got candy! we passed an old candy factory and our guide had some for us. remember those candy necklaces?

photos on the canal of what used to be

oh look one of the 32 bridges we passed under

grote kirk

beautiful buildings

where officers used to live.

love beautiful bridges

learning to be a snap happy tourist. i need practice

where the soliders used to live

watch your head! 

swans!

go that way

it was a delightful ride. it was sunny, hot weather but cooled by being on the canal to a perfect summer temperature. we had interesting features of the city pointed out to us by our guide. adventure was even included! there are a large number of low bridges that we had to be sure to duck our heads or lose them.  we saw many pretty and historical sites. it was a fun change of pace to see the city from that angle. 

after a delightful ride we had the afternoon to ourselves and a few of us set out to get some groceries then figured why not go to the beach? 

only two of us had bikes so they set out to meet us there while my friend and i took the tram to the pier. 

we walked to the water and this was the beautiful site waiting for us! 

we walked down to the pier but everything was close to closing for the night so we walked down to the water. we hung around there for awhile chasing seagulls and talking before heading up to the mcdonalds (i was hoping to avoid going there this whole trip) to get ice cream. we enjoyed stroop waffel mcflurries and then headed home for the night. as two of us headed to take the tram home we caught sight of the city lights just coming on. 

can i live here forever?

the next day was a short day of receiving more information of the people there to help us with any problems we may have and opportunities around us. afterwards i took care of a few errands then chilled to save energy for the fun night ahead! 

i went over to a friends to eat dinner and get ready. it's fun to chat with these girls! we enjoyed wine with our dinner. maybe someday i'll learn to like it. one of the girls had some temporary tattoos so we figured why not! 

what do you think? should i get it for real? 

{mom stop the heart attack. i'm kidding.} 

we chilled on the roof terrace meeting more people before heading over to the pool party! i hadn't been planning on getting wet but all my friends jumped in {ok we may have thrown one girl in} and who am i to ruin a good time because it involves getting a little wet? so i jumped in and we all had a blast dancing and laughing. 

finally it was time to go and we all headed home to grab some sleep before the next morning of orientation. Gotta balance all the fun with some responsibility. 

the next day was filled with visits from each department and just tidbits of information on courses. after the overload of information we grabbed some lunch and then rested for the afternoon. that evening was the big event put on by the school Oh Oh Intro with stages set up for talent and booths of groups on campus. we went a bit late and caught a few of them but the only stage performing wasn't great so we went back to a friends to play some games and chill. we were having a good time but figured we should head back to check out more of the bands. as we were almost there some friends came out and told us it wasn't very good. so change of plans to another group hang out. we chilled there until the big after party the school was putting on. a group of us went and danced for about an hour but it was time to head home. course registration was in a few hours! 

course registration isn't an online ordeal like home. rather you have to get there at least two hours early to put your name on a list {if you want a good spot you have to get there at least that early} then wait for your name to be called to pick your time slots. i got there at the bright hour of quarter to eight and i was already down at number 63! i waited there until about 11 when my name was finally called. i got into every class hour i wanted then went back home to sleep! after a great relaxing time i got all dolled up and headed over to enjoy a good dinner of pasta, veggies and wine with friends before heading out to this little place named Havana for some fun. 

we made a yummy dinner and went to the roof to chill with people for a bit again. 

{if you had a roof terrarce, it was warm out, and had a great view you'd find any excuse to be up there too}

finally we made it to the party and i tried cider for the first time. it was really sweet and yummy! 

we tore up the dance floor and met more students from the four year program.

 i also enjoyed the lovely night sitting in the courtyard talking with a friend. after a great night we made our way back to our friends apartment and crashed for the night.

a great week with an even better weekend that needs its own blog post to tell you about! this one is plenty full the way it is! this has been such a great experience so far and it's only been two weeks! what else awaits?

lets get the party started!

27 august - 2 september

oh boy it's been a busy 2 weeks so let me update you on just the first week! 

monday was more time to figure out getting a phone, roaming the city, and meeting another great gal from the USAC program (check her out!) we found a great little place in Grote Market with delicious french onion soup and talked til late. 

the next day everything started! a large group of international students met up at the train station to go for a walk around Rotterdam. we couldn't take a train straight there so we had to take a couple of different trains and i met a new group of people every time we switched! we wandered around for a couple hours, grabbed some dinner and then hung out in this fun place named Bed. 

new friends! 

jackie chan slid down that white building for a movie!

it was really fun to meet so many new people from all over the world! 

wednesday morning was the start of orientation where we just met the people with the answers to any/all questions we may have while here. we also walked around the building and enjoyed lunch with some traditional dutch food such as stroopwaffels (my favorite from when i was little!), haring, cheese, and information on whats around campus. 

that afternoon i wandered around to the city centre again to pick up some food and just explore a little more. that night was a big party with a ton of international students. we had a blast and ended the night chilling at a friends apartment. 

people of similar nationalities tend to group together but we are a motley crew! there are a bunch of americans, a canadian, an estonian, a swed, and all sorts from other places. 

the next day was simply registering to say we are actually here and going to school then a walk around the city with our group of americans and canadians. Den Haag is pretty cool! we wandered through Parliament and beautiful old buildings. pretty chill day. 

friday was more listening to information we need for our time here. just about the programs and what the school is all about. all very interesting and pretty simple. 

that evening i met up with a couple of friends to make some dinner 

and then we all headed out to enjoy the night with a big group! the theme of the night was orange and we tried to find anything orange we could! {orange is the color of the national soccer team} 

we had a total blast! one of the most fun nights just chillin, talking and then livin it up! 

saturday i got some more errands done and relaxed before meeting up with friends for Museum Naght! 

this was a fun night where the museums in Den Haag stayed open til about 2 am and you could go visit as many as you like for just 15 euro for the whole night! a few of us visited the Humanity House which was focused on the refugees that had to flee their own country and ended up here. from there we ended up in a fashion/mod art before grabbing poffertjes. we went to a more traditional museum and saw some art from Isaac Israels who i have wanted to check out. there were many old paintings and a whole room of what Den Haag used to look like. our last stop was to see a show that was being put on. talk about confusing! maybe i just didn't get it but that was an odd show. after that we thought about going to the after party that the event was hosting but ended the night chilling at a friends apartment together just talking about everything and laughing. 

all the people i've met are great and it's been a blast to get to know them! i'm so blessed to be here and surrounded by so many great people! 

jet lag may try to kill you

25-26 august

Ah the first morning in my new country....

....was spent asleep. 

now before you start judging me thinking i'm just a lazy person, let me just say that jet lag will sneak up on you and just destroy you. after getting to bed at 2 am the night before i opened my eyes at 9:30 only to close them again until 2:30 in the afternoon! 

the night before everyone would ask when i had arrived and when i said just that afternoon. they would always be shocked and ask if i was tired from jet lag. i'd respond with an "oh no i'm great!"
yeah it definitely caught up.

well i thought sleeping til 2:30 was enough sleep for the time being so i got up and tried to figure out what i should do with what little time was left in my day.
i needed food and had found a list of libraries that would be open so i took off towards the city center.
just before i left i figured just in case i don't find internet i should just bite the bullet and send my parents an expensive text to tell them i'm alright. so i turned on my phone to see i had no service! so to seek out the library it was.
the library address said it would be the same street as the place i had gone the night before so i figured i'd just head that way. well the street kinda ended and suddenly i wasnt so sure of that decision. but i thought how hard could it be to find?
next thing i know i'm lost. and i just kept going thinking maybe it's this way until i decided that was very much not right and had to figure out a way to get back to the area i knew. all of a sudden i came out in a shopping area. and as i looked around there was a grocery store and oh my word! the library! so i made my way in and figured out how to pay to use the computer. i plunked down and started typing emails to a couple of people and was even able to fb mom for a bit.
after finally letting them know i was alright i picked up a few groceries and came out to pouring rain and a small sense of the direction i needed to go. luckily there were signs pointing which was to the Holland Spoor station and that it was only 1 km. the rain even stopped about halfway home which was lovely.
the rest of the evening was simply spent relaxing and getting to know my roomie a little better. and going to bed plenty on time!

couple of views from my walk to the centre. the canal.

the little eatery i can see from my room. through the arches is the school.
i have such a long 30 second walk to class everyday. 

Sunday wasn't very exciting as i spent most of it either wandering the way i knew to the center to pick up some things i had forgotten/was too tired to worry about as well as just relaxing.
i thought i would be all up and fine especially after that first night but i needed the time to chill and slowly absorb into the timezone and city. so it may have been rather quiet but it was nice to explore the city. so don't worry about just taking some quiet time alone in a new place. you'll meet people soon enough and then you'll wish you had this time to reflect and sleep!