One week down and a weekend in the Netherlands

Well, one week of school down :) exciting. I like all my classes so far though I may not keep them all for credit since I don't need them. The DSH (german language exam for university level study aka if i want to come back for my masters, i need to take this) prep course is going to be challenging but I'm looking forward to it. I really enjoy hearing the Germans speak in their english with their cute accents ha ha I knew they'd speak english in the literature classes but it didn't totally hit me until they opened their mouths. Makes it more fun for me :)

This weekend I was able to go visit Jenny in Utrecht before she moved out and it was a lot of fun. The trains there took about 6 hours, between transfers and everything, but I really enjoy the trains here. They're comfortable, I don't get motion sick on them (imagine that), and it's nice to zone out with my ipod in and watch the countryside pass by. On Friday when I got there we walked around Utrecht and saw the inner city. It's a beautiful place that looks like a mini Amsterdam because it has canals and buildings in a similar layout. The words in dutch everywhere are hilarious because they have extra vowels inserted in the words. If you understand German, it becomes even funnier because it almost seems like someone trying to speak German and failing. The amount of bikes in the city is also nearly unfathomable. To cross the street, you have to play frogger: get through the pedestrians, then watch out for bikes, the the traffic in each direction, and the bikes and people again! There's just so many... I almost got squished. We made dinner afterwards with Anoek, Jenny's awesome and tall dutch roommate. I made hamburgers!! With hamburger buns! Haven't had that in months and it makes me miss the beginning of my dad's grilling season, and baseball...
Saturday we had a picnic in the park on a beautiful sunny day and headed to Amsterdam for the afternoon. We walked around, saw a few interesting things took some awesome pictures, but didn't have enough time to go and do things. I might make it back to Amsterdam before the states to see the Anne Frank house or Red Light district but if I don't, at least I saw the beautiful canals and got to travel with Jenny a little. We went with Anoek to her hometown of Appledorn in the evening for her friend's birthday party and to the #1 Gay Club in the Netherlands until 4 AM; had a great time dancing :) Sunday I headed back to Bonn and ran into one of the girls from China in my class at the Train Station in Oberhausen. Turns out she'd been in the Netherlands all weekend too and rode her first bike- a tandem bike through flower fields. How awesome for her :)

This week I start a volunteering project at an elementary school in the Bonn area and work my way through homework for the first time in months. Hope you all have a great week :)
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