are giving this week off. I only have my Tuesday night class this week. Of course it is the one I despise the most. I am really looking forward to returning to Mt. Holyoke academics. I am actually thinking of applying to be a key distributor through Res Life, just so I can get back on campus early. Otherwise, I am just going to crash in Emilie’s room for a day or two before I get access to my room. My roommate went to Luxembourg for the weekend, so I have had the whole apartment to myself on weekend. It has also happened to snow every single day this weekend.Friday I slept in. It has really been the first time that I have gotten to sleep in since before I went to Haley’s. It felt nice. I had three things on the agenda for Friday. My first item of business was getting train tickets for going to Düsseldorf, Germany for when my parents come in April. I actually made out quite well. We were able to get a special deal on the way back. So the return from Düsseldorf to Amsterdam was €19 each. Going was a bit more expensive, but with my discount card, I saved €9.00 on each of my parents’ tickets, and
I saved €15.70 on my ticket. I have already made back more than half of what I spent to get the rail discount card now. I quickly returned to my apartment to drop off my bag and the train tickets, because I 
was on my way to see Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai, which is currently on location here in Amsterdam! Cirque du Soleil was performing out by the soccer stadium, which is just about outside city limits. I had to take a train to get there. It is also out by some of the concert venues in Amsterdam. I had to walk about 10 minutes or so to get to where the tent was set up. It was a completely white
tent. The Corteo tent in Boston was blue and yellow. I had a little bit of time before the show started, so I strolled around the gift shop and the snack bar. I ended up 
getting popcorn and a soda. The show was good, but I think I enjoyed the Boston show better. I ended up buying a keychain and a wallet. I have been in need of a new wallet, and I really like the one they were selling. I am glad I had a chance to see this show, as this is one of the European shows, and as far as I know it hasn’t toured in North America yet, but it could have before I got interested in Cirque du Soleil, but that was 
several years ago. There are two different shows coming through Massachusetts in September: one in Boston and the other in Amherst. I am hoping that I will be able to see at least one of them. The final piece 
of business for Friday was bowling. The RA’s organized a bowling hall activity. I love bowling, so I jumped at the opportunity. I bowled rather poorly, but I still had a lot of fun. It was nice to get out with some other people. I enjoy the hall activities, so I have been trying to go to as many as possible. They are going to the zoo on Friday, which unfortunately I will be missing as I will be in France!I slept in again on Saturday. I have desperately been in need of new bike lights. I dropped my back one a few weeks ago, and it shattered. I have been too cheap to go and replace it. So, my first goal of Saturday was to buy new bike lights. My destination for this endeavor was Waterlooplein, one of the outdoor flea markets here in Amsterdam. I did not want to spend over €3 on new lights. I strolled up and down all the rows, and saw lights ranging from €3.50 to €7. I finally came upon a stand, which happened to be one of the last 3 stands, that was selling removable lights (exactly like my old ones) for €2.50. I jumped on those. By the time I had my new bike lights in hand the wind had picked up and it was snowing. The weather was unbearable, and it wasn’t worth riding my bike home right then. I had been meaning to check out the Jewish Historical Museum for a few weeks, and it happens to be in the same neighborhood as Waterlooplein, so I made my way over to the museum. I really enjoyed it, and I definitely plan on going back to that museum. It is definitely up there as one of my favorites here in Amsterdam. They even had a sheet of fabric with the golden Star of David’s that Jews were required to sew onto their clothes during WWII. It was a very moving experience. Saturday afternoon I spent doing errands. I went to the grocery store to get enough food to last me until I leave for France. Saturday night was another cultural night for me. I went to see the ballet again. This show was entitled “On The Move.” Het Nationale Ballet (Dutch National Ballet) said this about the show, “In spring 2008 the Dutch National Ballet showcases a work by Alexei Ratmansky, who was appointed artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet three years ago and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting young choreographic talents of the day. His ballet Russian Seasons (2006) was unanimously praised after its New York City Ballet premiere. As the title of Leonid Desyatnikov’s eponymous music suggests, the choreography is inspired by the seasonal changes of the Russian Orthodox calendar. But, above all, the work is an ode to and highly individual interpretation of the art of dance. Though based on the classical ballet idiom, Ratmansky makes use of elements from folk and jazz, creating a dance that is innovative, provocative and challenging.” I think I liked this show better than Coppelia. Again, I sat 8th row center. The ticket was €33.50, but I only paid €10. So, that was another exciting Saturday night out, which ended with a Turkish Pizza at the snack bar a block from my apartment building.
Sunday was Easter. Being that it was Easter I made the effort to go to church. There is an English speaking Episcopal church right near the main campus of UvA, so that’s where I went. It was all roughly the same as at home, but the one thing I just couldn’t get used to was the PowerPoint presentation for the service. It was just so weird. Afterwards I went to the Coffee Hour. I ended up chatting with these two college girls. They go to Luther College in Iowa, and are studying abroad in England for the year. They are on Easter break for a month, and their housing closes, so they were backpacking through Europe. It was nice to talk to some other college students who weren’t in Amsterdam because of the legalized marijuana. It was snowing pretty hard by the time I left. I ended up just coming back to the apartment and doing laundry the rest of the day. I also talked to my mom and dad on Skype. I called Emilie as well, because it was her 20th birthday.
Yep, so that was my weekend. I may try to go to the zoo tomorrow, and if I do I will post before I leave for France, but if not, you will hear again from me after France.
No comments:
Post a Comment