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!