I'll work backwards starting with today.
Mondays and Tuesdays I dont have class--yes it is very nice--and I thought today would be a great opportunity to personally get oriented with the city, to finally figure out how this thing called "navigating" works. I am quite lonely without the map feature of my iphone. It sounds obnoxious, but seriously I appreciate the iphone in ways I never knew...guess the "dont know what you got till it's gone" slogan comes into action here. I attempted to go to Waterlooplein market to buy some things to brighten my insane asylum-esque room and white walls, but that was a failure. I was riding bikes with my friend Steve and a car came up right beside mine and I always get freaked out when cars drive next to me. I spazzed and fell over attempting to go over a large curb onto the sidewalk that my granny bike was/is clearly unable to successfully accomplish. This isnt the first time this has happened. Unfortunately my steering got messed up so I had to take my bike in to the bike doctor. The guy fixed it, but I have no idea if Granny will make the entirety of the semester, especially with me riding her in my strange spazztastic ways. I grabbed an incredible cup of coffee at Schuim, the cafe with the cool walls pictured a few posts earlier to temporarily ease the pain in my knees. I think I actually have a bruise the size of a softball now that I fell a second or third time in practically the same spots as I previously fell in, but thats a whole other story.
Anyways, I watched the superbowl last night at a bar/restuarant called Coco's. It was basically the only place in Amsterdam showing the game so all the Americans piled into the place to watch with a sprinkling of European football lovers. Personally I am not a football fan, but I had such a great time watching the game in Amsterdam. It was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by, just for a brief period, Americans singing the national anthem and cheering for their favorite teams. A bunch of friends and I camped out at Coco's from 9:30pm onward to make sure we got comfortable seats. Between 9:30 pm and 4 am I met a ton of people and met a PhD philosophy student who goes to University of Michigan who is taking time off from Mich to get a degree at UvA in Logic and knows one of my GSIs (graduate student instructors). Unfortunately, the situation got incredibly awkward when this guy emailed the gsi from his phone in the bar telling him that I said hi. Well, intro to philosophy wasn't my hottest class--in fact my worst--and that particular gsi and I ended not on the best of terms. Whatever. He ended up paying for my friends drinks because we gave him one of our prime seats. I guess Michigan connections have turned out to be really good... When the Saints won, the guys I were sitting next to picked me up and the whole place went crazy, especially since people were following the beer is cheaper than water rule. Great fun.
On our way back home at like 4-4:30AM I attempted to do what the Dutch do when one person forgets to bring his or her bike along--hop on the back of someone else's. This takes incredible skill--a running start and mad steering strength. Failure, but not a long walk home thank gosh.
Classes
Classes began last week. the end. I was quite sad when classes started--to be bound to a schedule where each class lasts 3 hours and the need to do homework became inevitable. I have to read two books by this week and write a little paper among other things. I totally was not expecting this much work and thought that after working really hard for two and a half years, this was going to be a breezy time. Not so much. I will work hard, just not that hard if ya know what I mean ;) Plus, grades dont really count--passing does. Never thought I would go with this mentality, but it happens. When you are put in a great city full of adventure and fun, why would one spend time cooped up in a room studying?
My professors all seem legit. Two are from Germany and the other two are from the Netherlands. The classes are all taught in English, but the profs. English is pretty broken which makes it difficult to understand everything. When its difficult to understand everything, one can get a little sleepy. So you give them a cookie, but if you give them a cookie then you need to give them a glass of milk! Just kidding, wrong story. Sorry mom and dad that I slept partially through the first classes.
I am taking "Change We Believe In": What has happened in Obama's First Year, Regulating Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Netherlands, The Local and Global Complexity of Prostitution, and the Social and Cultural Climate of Cities: The Case of Amsterdam. The cities class is cool because each class we spend part of the 3 hours taking a walking tour of a particular area of the city to see what we discussed in class with layouts and social constructions, etc. The religious diversity class is pretty interesting because it focuses on the issues the Netherlands and particularly Amsterdam has with its Muslim population and the faith itself. The class on Obama's first year will be great because it is my most diverse class consisting of many dutch students and many european students with only a few American students. We are going to have debates about perceptions and such. My favorite class so far is *huge shocker!* my class on prostitution. It is relevant to the area and the rest of Europe as well as the world. My assignment for Friday is to knock on a prostitute's door and try to talk to her in addition to checking out the Red Light District from an academic standpoint and not in a sleazy way. Everyone couldn't believe the professor when she said to wait till some guy comes out from a door in the RLD to see his expression and if he went with friends, what did the friends do when he came out after they waited for him, among other things in the RLD (she even said to go to a peep show and do an intense case study on the colors and structure of the place--shout out to my AmCult 350 buddies back in Michigan). A very social science-y experience I guess. Nothing like I have ever done or imagined doing before. In this class, there will be a guest speaker nearly every week including but not limited to: a prostitute/sex worker, a sex worker union leader, a client, and lawmakers from the city. Should be quite interesting!
I am taking "Change We Believe In": What has happened in Obama's First Year, Regulating Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Netherlands, The Local and Global Complexity of Prostitution, and the Social and Cultural Climate of Cities: The Case of Amsterdam. The cities class is cool because each class we spend part of the 3 hours taking a walking tour of a particular area of the city to see what we discussed in class with layouts and social constructions, etc. The religious diversity class is pretty interesting because it focuses on the issues the Netherlands and particularly Amsterdam has with its Muslim population and the faith itself. The class on Obama's first year will be great because it is my most diverse class consisting of many dutch students and many european students with only a few American students. We are going to have debates about perceptions and such. My favorite class so far is *huge shocker!* my class on prostitution. It is relevant to the area and the rest of Europe as well as the world. My assignment for Friday is to knock on a prostitute's door and try to talk to her in addition to checking out the Red Light District from an academic standpoint and not in a sleazy way. Everyone couldn't believe the professor when she said to wait till some guy comes out from a door in the RLD to see his expression and if he went with friends, what did the friends do when he came out after they waited for him, among other things in the RLD (she even said to go to a peep show and do an intense case study on the colors and structure of the place--shout out to my AmCult 350 buddies back in Michigan). A very social science-y experience I guess. Nothing like I have ever done or imagined doing before. In this class, there will be a guest speaker nearly every week including but not limited to: a prostitute/sex worker, a sex worker union leader, a client, and lawmakers from the city. Should be quite interesting!
Anyways I gotta run to do some skim reading.
"I hope the red light district experience goes well" Love,
Syd
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