Frankfurt for the weekend

Hello all, just writing to let you know i'll be in frankfurt for the weekend, i leave tomorrow at 11am and get back sunday around 230ish. i'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!!!
Goede Nacht.

To Germany and back

So today I was killing time in between meeting with advisors, because the first one didn't know anything and the second one doesn't open till 1400. So, I just was riding around looking for a cheap grocery store, i heard aldi was around, but my roommate didnt know how to tell me to get to it. So, i found this big park with bike paths and wandered around, found a nice fountain with ducks and a pond, and an old windmill. And finally i found the grocery store! So, i dunno if i talked to any of you about how you have to pack up your own groceries and they dont provide bags? But ya, i bought a cheap vinyl reusable bag and had another bag with me i was able to get by with.

And started heading back, i went the direction i came, but was all turned around and couldnt figure out which street i was on before. Long story short i started to notice the streets were getting smaller and there were fewer tiny shops so i stopped and looked at my map and figured out i was 2 streets away from leaving nijmegen and entering germany. So i headed back where i needed to go, got lost again, had to stop again and found out i was on a backstreet about one block from my place. And then later after my second appointment i got lost somewhere else and thought i was going the same way as before, but it was the forest area again, but without a paved road for some way, so i turned around and came out, and a street over from where i was was a car entrance that had a sign with a line through nijmegen, so i think that time i left the country...not positive though. But anyway, here are a few pictures of things i came across so far today...


You can see my building at the very end of this street, this is approaching from the back...i thought it was a good picture of the grass that grows between the bricks. You can always tell when bricks have been replaced in the street...there's no grass between them yet. This is just grown a little higher than most.
This is at Radboud University, the blinds are on the outside of the windows and they have the controller/pullstrings whatever inside.

My Room and Blog

So, I don't really remember what i was going to write about. Oh, yes, so i cleaned the kitchen today. Well, more like straightened up. I fixed myself dinner and was sitting eating, and just couldn't stand it anymore so i cleaned up a bit. I washed all the dishes, changed the foil on the stove (actually, my roommate did that after i took off the old) and washed the counters and microwave. Didn't touch the oven this time. It took me a bit over 2 hours to clean the kitchen. I'm also posting pictures of my room, floor, and kitchen so you can see. No joke, over 2 hours. After I finished one of my roommates came out and was amazed that the kitchen was clean and another came back home and the first showed the second. They both thought everyone would appreciate it (of course they will!!!!!!! or should!!!!!! it was disgusting...) So, now i'm the 'best girl' on our floor. Ah haha.

I have a new favorite treat here, its called Roomboter Reuze Stroopwafels. They're pretty much slightly cinnamon flavored waffels with camarmel in between. They're delicioso. When i got here i bought bitterkoekies, they were not so good, a kind of a ginger bread like sweet with a bite to them. So, i gave them to my roommates, and apparently they like them. One of my roommates gave me a popsicle, it was cola flavored, not so bad, today i found 'fresh cola' flavored mentos, also not bad. Interesting though. I had another movie night tonight and bough paprika flavored chips. Since I've been here ive seen paprika flavored things, but didnt know what it was till one day i ordered a dish that said it had paprika in it and i knew what everything else was in it, and so discovered there were bell peppers. I was kind of intrigued to try paprika flavored chips, but tasted them and they're pretty much bbq chips with a tiny kick. But they show red and green bell peppers on the bag...go figure.

Anyway...here are some pictures of my room.(obviously i didnt clean up)

Tot Ziens!

p.s. I didn't know if anyone knew that you can click on the photos to enlarge them. Just in case you REALLY miss me and want to see pictures of me as big as possible. : )

My Building

Where I put my bike outside of my building, you have to have a room key to get in.




Can you see how many silverware there are?????
Mail!!!! Mine's empty : (

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Okay, so I'm super duper pissed. I figured I'd be able to watch the shows i normally do just online, where i do anyway. No, no, only those damn Americans can. It says only people in the U.S. can watch full episodes, what is that about???? I think there is some discrimination going on!! What will I do without my grey's anatomy, desparate housewives, chuck, pushing daisies, heroes, boston legal, medium, dirty sexy money...and anything else i can't think of now??????

August 25th

Okay everyone, so i got a cell phone today and opened a bank account. So, its free for the U.S. to call me, but i pay 9 cents a minute to call you, so itd probably be best if you all can call me (if you can afford it that is!!!)
My number is (31*) 0624653260
The 31 is for the nederlands.
So, i also FINALLY!! got a pillow! I'm very excited to sleep on something comfy tonight! I also went shopping today and got a clothesline and pins and just strung it up in my room to help dry my clothes faster, i had them on just hangers i had, but not many places to put them.
haha, Diana, i'm listening to Perry Como, your favorite song, 'A' your adorable...and i was talking with the american girl last night...she likes old movies too!!!!!! I'm not so weird afterall!!! So, HA!
And Marsha, i got some sticky stuff and put up all kinds of pictures on my walls, so you're well represented : )
Brennie, I love the pictures you gave me and have most of them on my walls of us. Thanks! I'll make sure they stay okay so you can have them back.
I got converters and things today so im going to take some pictures of my room and building and bike so you all can seem them i know my parents have been kind of anxious to see.
But, Im going to go get something to eat before the bbq because meat and things are so expensive and i just got groceries yesterday. So, I'll probably get back on when i get back. The bbq is in Lent so it might take me a while.
Till then, Tot ziens!

Amsterdam and Zandvoort

Bike Garage by Amsterdam trein station
Gas Prices in Zandvoort

Beach party Cuban style in Zandvoort

So, this is the cat and below is the mouse. The people made statues to protest there not being a bridge to connect the canal in between. Below is a picture of just me between the canals. So, without the bridge it took people 30minutes to get from one side to the other. The bridge, or street to connect them is only about 7 ft long.

PaintingMy mentors

So, the three xs are a reminder to the dutch of the three dangers...fire, water, and the pest (the plague) so you find the 3 xs lots of places.

Down red light district, you can see under the red light bar coffeeshop sign are 2 ladys dressed in traditional dutch wear.

The few purple glass in the windows are from when they couldnt make clear glass back when.

August 25th in the wee hours

Okay, so here's an actual blog...
So, after i talked to my parents tonight, I went to use the washer. Oh what an adventure that was. So, i pried on every part of the tiny door trying to figure out how the damn thing opens. I pressed all the buttons and couldn't figure anything out. Right as I was about to give up, or knock on someones door a guy comes out of his room and introduced himself. Luckily he spoke very good english and helped me with the door. You had to press the on button and then another button i now know is door, deur, which i pressed earlier, but obviously not in the right set of buttons. So he showed me how to use the washer, which was very nice.
I guess everyone is just getting back from holiday and that's why the kitchen and everything is so dirty. He said there are no rules on our floor, so just use whatever I like. I guess it's pretty good that I know that now because tomorrow the american girl and i were going to go shopping for more kitchen supply type things. But, now i know i can use a skillet and things like that it will be easier. But, it kind of sucks there are no rules for cleaning, i asked if they took turns and he pretty much just said no. He seems very nice, i ended up talking to him for about an hour, he said he'd show me around the city if i like and if i had any other questions feel free to ask. : )
Okay, so most of you im sure know i went to amsterdam on thursday, which seems so long ago to me now. It was fun, we went on a boat canal tour, not quite like i expected. I thought it might be a bit more exciting, and plus i had to shi shi the whole time, so i couldnt really concentrate on much else. haha. well, we went straight from the buses onto the boats, so there really wasnt any time for anything. But, it was very disappointing because the windows were not so clear, so i didnt take any pictures in the boat, i dont think they wouldve come out so well. But, we did learn a lot about the history of amsterdam and the canals with the tour. The man said they use the canal water when distilling beer and send off the heineken to the u.s. and other places and thats why the bottles are green, but we were lucky because we were in amsterdam and they kept the real stuff (theyre in brown bottles here). haha. But i think one of the hungary girls misunderstood, because later on she was saying how gross it was that they used to use the canal water for beer. hahaha. its so much fun being around foreign students, you never know what will come next.
They call me their living dictionary because most of the students understand a little (some more) english, and no dutch, so they all look to the american and english (one), scottish (one), irish (two), and canadian (only one) people for translations. But, sometimes i feel really stupid because even i dont know what something is called, or have to think about what i would say. It was pretty funny when we were at the farm this weekend and another american girl, and a hungary girl and me went to take a shower and we were having troubles with how the shower worked. Mine was the only one that seemed to work okay. It was one of those showers that you had to keep pressing a button for the hot water every couple of seconds to continue. Well, the hungary girl was having problems and couldnt get her water to shut off, so she was asking me how to shut off the water. I asked if she could press the button again, she said no, and i asked if she could twist it. Mind you we're all in shower stalls next to each other showering. While talking and trying to shower and press the stupid button at the same time. So, i asked if she could twist it, she said, what does it mean to twist? haha. So, as im showering, pressing the button, and trying to think how to explain what it means to twist. Those kinds of moments are the priceless ones.
Also the farm had a ping pong table, a foosball(?) table, and a swing set, monkey bars, see saw and one of those things you sit and spin on, a merry-go-round kind of things. so, a couple of hungary girls were with me and asking what the playground things were called. i never thought of see saw, monkey bars, and merry-go-round as funny words until i heard the foreign students smiling and saying them. i'm sure its really confusing also when there are so many different kinds of english speakers who all say words and phrases differently to learn english. haha. today i made the mistake of saying 'fly by the seat of my pants', and ive really tried to not say the weird phrases and things that i never used to notice i say, but luckily it was around the american girl, who still didnt know what i was saying and asked me to repeat it. haha, shed never hear the phrase before.
When i was talking with the guy on my floor i was telling him that the international students sometimes dont know what im saying and the weird phrases i use and gave the 'fly by the seat of my pants' example, and had to explain to him what it meant. ive never had to do that kind of thing before. Or have to stop in the middle of a conversation to explain how to use a verb, or which is a better way of saying a phrase. It definately shows me how silly english is and how much we seem to make up.
So, I've rambled on i think enough, didnt really tell much about amsterdam or the farm, but both were just okay. ill put pictures of amsterdam up now, and of the farm later. my camera battery is dead, so it might take some time for those pictures. Tonight is the first night in a week i havent gone out to a pub or cafe, it feels kind of nice to just relax and hang out. im sure tomorrow after the bbq though well be going to a pub. i dont know how the dutch have as much energy as they do.
But, goodnight for now, ill try to write when i get more free time.
Tot Ziens!

City Center

Just a sculpture thing around the city center.

Cool building, my mentor didnt know what it was, something to do with the Roman history?

The Waal River, a branch of the Rhine. And the bridge that separates Nijmegen Heyendaal (where the University is) from Nijmegen Lent. Also, if you keep following the road that is on the bridge, you'll wind up in Germany. One of my mentors said she got lost in the countryside (a sign you're outside of Nijmegen) and figured out she had crossed the border.

The other side of my view. This is also a bridge to get to Nijmegen Lent, its the trein tracks.

Just a cool statue on the way down to the 'old city', down by the river.

Boat shaped benches down by the river.

Building in old city called 'the mermaid', kind of remnants of when the city used to be a fishing (and trading) city.

Used to be a Protestant Orphanage. If you look closely, there are what look like monks on the left side, and women on the right. Angels from above, i would assume a baby is in their hands, but i couldnt quite see that part.

Two girls in my group in front of some store we came across. I can't remember the girl on the lefts name, everyone is from different places and all have such hard to pronounce names, but i believe she's from Poland, and Alley is the girl on the right from England, but she studies in Scotland.

So, this is the group I've been with for the last couple of days. There are people from Poland, Belgium, England, Spain, Hungry, and the mentors of course are from Nederlands. (I think that's it)