Pages

Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Day in The Hague

So this weekend, I was planning on going to Rotterdam for a quick day trip, but ended up going to The Hague instead. Not too much has changed since I was there two years ago with my mom, but it was definitely a good chance to get out of Leiden. I was pretty proud of myself too, because I kind of remembered my way around and where somethings were (like the Binnenhof and where my mom and I ate croquettes that one time). I didn't really do anything too fancy. We just walked around and saw some sights and grabbed a cup of coffee. It was cloudy all day, so I didn't take too many pictures, but here are some that managed to turn out alright!

Binnenhof

One Classy Statue

Adorable Puppy in a Shop Window

Monday, February 11, 2013

Classes and Carnaval

Hello again, people of the internet! I'm sorry about the long time between posts, but that's because I didn't really have too much to say until now. Quick summary of things that happened: orientation, classes started, and we went on an adventure to Breda to celebrate Carnaval.

Orientation and the start of classes wasn't too thrilling. I'm still getting used to the way classes are set up here. For the first part of the semester, I have 1 class a day no more than 4 days a week, and for the second part- only 2 days a week. People told me to expect more time out of class than at Michigan, but I did not expect it to be that much. The two classes I've had so far seem pretty good. Nothing I want to pull my hair out over yet, so we'll chalk that up as a win.

And now for the fun stuff- Carnaval! Yes, this is similar to the Carnevale in Venice and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, except it's cold. I went down to Breda with a group of international students from Leiden. We got there a bit before the festivities started, so the logical thing to do is to wait in a McDonalds. After that short little break, we watched the kids' parade and got to see all the crazy costumes that people were wearing. After that we headed off to make the Irish guys we were with happy and watched the rugby game against England. Then it was back out into the cold where we danced with the Dutch and I ate oliebollen and churros (yay culture clash!). We were so exhausted that we left Breda around 9pm. It was quite the experience and an awesome day.

Just a few pictures, go to my photos page to see more!