I Amsterdam!

So, I know this post about Amsterdam is so overdue! But it's here now.
We woke up early on saturday morning, had packed up some food and grabbed a quick breakfast before running out to the train station. It was Natasha, Julie, Kelsey and I who made the journey out there. We arrived in Amsterdam at around 12 or 1pm, and then put our things in lockers before buying our IAmsterdam cards (which gave us free entry to many sights and free access to the public transport)






Amsterdam "Coffeeshop" where they don't quite sell coffee...








Our first stop was Rembrant's House. Since Rembrant went bankrupt and all his possession were reposessed (think Justin Timberlake in punk'd) they had a major inventory of all his stuff, and therefore could restore his house to its former glory and then charge people to get into it to see "how he lived" =P






Rembrant's House


Our next stop was Anne Frank's House. Or rather, the hideout of the Frank family during WWII. It was clear across town, and we really had to make a long journey out there. We finally arrived and went in. No cameras allowed though! It was pretty interesting to see, would have been more powerful if we had the chance to be led through it in small groups. But I could definitely see the scary stairs they had to climb, that were super steep like a ladder. And how hard it was to be quiet in that place. and the windows were blacked out to make sure no one saw them. The saddest was to hear all about Anne's neighbour who saw her in the concentration camp before she died. And how Anne had lost the will to live because she thought her entire family had died :(

After AnneFrankHouse we made our way back to the train station and collected our bags then went out to our hostel, where we were pleasantly surprised to find that instead of a dorm the 4 of us had a private room with bunk beds, an attached shower, and breakfast was included! :) yay!




Kelsey and I in our hostel room

We left our stuff there then headed back out downtown to see the famous Amsterdam Red Light District. And WOAH! was it Red Light! haha. there were peep shows and prostitutes standing in windows like meat. and there was one pregnant prostitute with a tattooes stomach, and one 60year old prostitute with stringy hair and orange skin. Walking through the red light district, some man comes up behind me and starts commenting on my ass, and mentions how big and nice it is, and says "Can i BITE it?" So i grit my teeth and say to julie, who's infront of me, "WALK FASTER JULIE!" and julie says "what? why? what's happening?" I'm gritting/whispering "WALK FASTER JULIE!!!" haha. never even saw the guys face in the end.




Me at the red light district

















From the red light district we wandered over to Dirty Nelly's the irish pub, where we had a drink...bacardi breezer for me, because bailey's is too expensive!! :P We were sitting in the window, not like in the red light district though! ;) And we started singing to the oldies playing. Then the Grease medley comes on. And we start singing. And this guy comes walking past, and ears us singing, come back, puts his hand to his ear to make sure we're singing what he thinks we're singing. Then as we start into "I got CHILLS, they're multiplying!" he starts to dance....like danny dances in that song!!! With the taking of the jacket and the dancing in place! :) It was so a-mazing!









Julie and I with our breezers







We then went out to the square, where some random aussies convinced me to mount a lion. No, that's not a euphemism!! These random aussie brothers were posing for pictures on top of tis statue of a lion. and Julie and Kelsey had climbed a lion when we were in Brussels the day before (ok maybe that's another post) So here was another lion to be mounted, and we were waiting for the aussies to leave, but they saw us waiting, and insisted we climb up there. so julie and kelsey, lithe that they are, manage to do it. I dont even try, but they try to get me to come up there. and by they i mean random aussies. and he keeps on and on and on until finally i give in. but you know me....i cant climb anything. so i'm like NOPE, not gonna do it! And then all 3 brothers team up to get me to the lioN! I ave to stand on one guys shoulder get pushed up by another guy and then have another guy pull me up. fabulous really. so glamourous. but after much persuasion, i finally do it! and it feels so GOOD! Thanks random aussies! Then came the issue of...coming down. But no problem, ausssies to the rescue, they just helped me down. So sweet.







The random Aussies who helped me climb the lion.












After that, we took some more random pictures and headed back to the hostel, with me falling asleep and almost falling out of my seat on the tram back! :P
Started our day early the next morning, becasue the IAmsterdam is a 24hr pass, and we had to make full use of it before 220pm. So Julie and I started early and went to this huge museum of art, saw all sorts of cool paintings, and then met up with Kelsey at the Van Gogh Museum. Which basically had tons of van gogh stuff - his paintings, his inspiration, those he isnpired.










Me at the super cool art museum



After the museums, we ran to the canal cruises that took us for a ride through the canals of Amsterdam. Pretty kind of, but we'd seen most of it while walking around.














Some towering tower













Sights from the canal tour














A giant ship

















We managed to finish the canal cruise at 205pm, and then Kelsey and I ran off to see a secrety catholic church that was in an attic because catholics couldn't practice in the open at the time in the Netherlands. it was really pretty!! Julie went to a Jewish heritage museum, and then met up with us later.











The secret hidden church

























The "Old Church"

The "New Church" with it's "Black is Beautiful" exhibition
















I went souvenier shopping while they went to another musuem and then we headed back just as it started to drizzle. this was like 6pm
Finally got on the train home, and on the way, at Den Haag, we get booted of the train, because Julie (and technically me too) was travelling without a passport with her special train ticket. and they made a big fuss, and kicked us off, and then made her buy a regular ticket. which made no sense. if you need a passport to cross borders, how does the kind of ticket you have make a difference? either you have a passport or you dont right? not that they check passports if you dont have a railpass, but still. anyway. so there was a 1hr wait in Den Haag, and this whole issue of actually buying the tickets! To buy it from the office, was 3€ more expensive than the ticket machine. but the ticket machine takes only coins. and it's like 17€ for the ticket! it's possible to use a debit card, but we tried 3 cards and none of them worked! how fun eh? and so julie had to buy a ticket for extra from the office :( By this time we hated "fricking Holland" =P
So we get on the next train an hour after getting off the first one, and this man who smelt like booze and other things sits by us, and keeps yabbering on and on and on....he spoke in a mix of french and english and that's how we communicated back. poor kelsey he sat next to her and wouldn't shut up! After a while, e mentions he's a painter, and we are like "wow!" and then he takes out his case of paintings and then shows us each and every one! And he invited us to come stay with him at his house in strasbourgh! haha.














































Stuck in some random station in the middle of Amsterdam



















The weird French guy who talked to us incessantly on the train...








Finally reached home sunday at like 11pm, slept in till Monday right before lunch. fabulousness! That's it for my post on Amsterdam! =)

I had a really amazing Sunday! :)


It started at 8:30am when I woke up and took a shower ( I don't think anyone needs to hear the details of my toilette ;) )


Anyway, had a nice breakfast where we managed to get pilfered sandwiches for our lunch. And croissants and yogurt :)


And then Brianna, Agnes, Joyce and I went to church together. We went really early for mass. The chapel was tiny, but pretty full. I enjoyed the service. Lot's of little children that go up at offertry time to offer candles. So cute. They didnt know what they were doing! haha.


Then we were asked to introduce ourselves to the church, because we were new (they made all the new people do it)
After mass, we went to the reception, for juice/coffee and cookies. And we talked to a lot of people. It was funfun.


We walked back and Brianna and I met up with Julia and Kelsey, and the 4 of us went out to picnic at the botanical gardens, which were really beautiful! We sat/walked and talked for ages.
Then we went out to the main square of Leuven, and there was a Parade! So we sat and watched that...don't ask me what the parade was FOR.


Then we wandered out to a funfair, were we shared a HUGE cottoncandy thing that was 3 euros. It was bigger than my HEAD! (and I have a big brain remember?)


We got back and relaxed for an hour and then we went for a run...(I know what you are thinking...JOANN? RUN? I jogged for a little, walked for a little, just enjoyed being out and getting some movement into my slack weekend.) Then we went to dinner at a place that has student discounts, pastas and pizzas for 5€. 2 of us each split a pasta and we all split a pizza, and we sat there and ate and talked for an hour, swapping stories etc.


Then we came back up to our room to play cards, but never got around to it with all the talking we were doing.


So that was my fabulous day!
:)

Here are some of the pictures...








Joyce and I after mass

















The crypt of Father Damian, who worked with lepers.



















Botanical Gardens


















Kelsey with the gummy bear hedge




























































The town hall of Leuven

















St Peter's Church.











































Julia, me, Brianna









Ice cream truck! It was playing "Rock Around the Clock"

















One of the groups in the parade. All the men walking in this group had the moustache.





















COTTON CANDY!!!
















SUGAR! :)










KU Leuven Library

I've been complaining about my room/living situation to everyone, so here are pictures as proof!
I'm at the end of a long long hallway, and as I've told many of you, the room wasnt even furnished when i moved in. now there are beds and small side tables, but no big mirror, no cupboards, no desks. living out of suitcases people!!!!

This is the door to the corridor....

The lovely corridor that still smells of construction materials like paint/wood/thinner etc

Some sort of thing that they still need to assemble in my room.,..who knows what that is

Chairs without tables! That's the empty part of the room for the desks (presumably) and cupboards too...
The beds! We probably will move stuff around though.

All in all, I would say that our room isn't bad. Will wait for the furniture to come in, and think it'll be pretty nice.

Only trouble is we have to move again in 6 weeks!!! Sucks right? I'm going to live out of a suitcase forever...

UPDATE ON LIVING SITUATION...

Saturday night, Kelsey and I are in our room and discover we have a bug...a moth. We chase it around the room, trying to kill it (you know me and bugs....sometimes brave, sometimes a wuss) so we finally chase it to the window. and we're looking at the window (that was closed) and we see....5 moths sitting on the window.

So...we just draw the curtains on that and pretend it doesnt exist! Luckily for us, Julia and Brianna come in a little later, and Julia awesomely kills all of them. She's our hero. :)

Also, another major crisis occurred. Kelsey and I heard dripping in our bathroom, but couldn't figure out what was dripping. When Kelsey goes into the shower, she realizes that the light fixture on the ceiling has some sort of water dripping into it and pooling in there from the ceiling because apparently some sort of pipe was leaking into it...Dangerous Much?

By the end of the night, this was the water level. (notice the fact that that water was yellow!)

(Dirty water in the ceiling light)

(Julia our hero)

We tried to watch PS I Love You, but were really tired and didn't finish it.

Our room was really cold on Saturday night, but Sunday we got in space heaters, so am slightly happier :)

The KU Chapel
From right to left, the pictures are...the Nativity, The Finding of Jesus in the Temple, The Crucifiction, The Ascension, Pentacost













Exterior of the building housing the International Student Chapel



















Inside the garden/square (interior of the building)






































The Bible Tree. Bibles in various languages is on the tree.

I'm leaving for Belgium.
I'm terrified. I hope it all goes well. :-S
I miss my friends. My gang in the US and my gangs in Singapore.
Stiff Upper Lip!!
I'm going to be strong and go have an awesome 3 months.
And if it isn't awesome, it'll be a learning experience.
So here I go ...
I'm going to take the big leap.