swallowed

by La Manche. Sorry. If any of you have been checking this regularly, I apologize for not updating in a while. Unfortunately, nothing has happened lately that has been worth writing about, so I just haven't written anything. I've spent the past few weekends here in Carentan, and I've been lucky to have some beautiful weekends, but not much else exciting has been going on. Took a last-minute trip to Cherbourg, a bigger town on the tip of the peninsula, two weekends ago, just to get away. Went to youth group at church, and ate Sunday lunch with my pastor and his family this past weekend. Other than that I spend my time preparing lessons for school, making plans for my next two vacations, eating, and sleeping. I am hoping to get away somewhere this weekend, but nothing's for sure yet, so we'll see. In any case, I'll write more later!! Much love. :)

Dutch New Year

After a long pause, the last installation of my break:

Before arriving in Amsterdam, I was somewhat unsure what to expect because I had heard a variety of reviews from people who had been there. I decided I would go with an open mind and make my own decision. As soon as we walked out of the train station and I took a look around, though, I was impressed. Running off the street, anywhere you look, are canals that stretch for what seems like miles, with narrow canal houses lining each side. There are bikers everywhere (seriously, at least half the people were on bikes and this was December) and the diversity of the population impressed me as well. From what I've heard, the same things that makes the Netherlands infamous-legal prostitution, drug use, legalized euthanasia-also makes it welcoming to a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds, and now something like only 65% of the people who live there have Dutch ancestry.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, Al and I headed out to find some lunch, our first experience with the Dutch language. Lucky for us, most people around Amsterdam speak English really well, so we managed to figure everything out and had a very tasty lunch of some sort of Dutch sandwich which seemed to be everywhere, and "oilballs" (olieballen in Dutch, I think) which is a traditional Dutch pastry eaten around the New Year. Seriously, I thought France had good desserts, but the Dutch just blew them away. Yes, French pastries are delicious, but most of them are a bit delicate and intricate-not things I was just pick up and eat on any given day. The Dutch, on the other hand, know how to do it-beignets (doughnut like pastries), oilballs-lots of lardy, sugary, yummy treats, the kind that you just pick up with your hands and sink your teeth into. If I lived in the Netherlands, I'd be fat (and happy) for sure.

After we headed to the Anne Frank House, which was really sad, but really well done in my opinion. The whole thing is set up as a kind of educational experience about the Frank family and their fellow hideaways, as well as the experiences of other Jewish people during World War II. Definitely a must for anyone going to Amsterdam. We finished out the night with some walking, some more eating, and just generally taking it all in. Once, as we were looking for someplace to eat dinner, we kind of looked at each other and said "I don't think this is where we want to be..."-that's right, we had wandered into the red light district. Basically, the seat of dabauchery in Amsterdam-"coffeeshops" that sell various marijuana things (don't so much have a good knowledge of drugs, so I can't tell you what exactly), prostitutes standing in windows literally bathed in red light, starting off their nightly business. I know it's legal, and that there's certain laws there that perhaps make it "better" for prostitutes in other countries, but it definitely made us both sad to see women basically selling themselves.

The next day we started out at the Van Gogh museum, which was a welcome change from the Louvre. The Louvre certainly has great pieces, but the layout of it drives me crazy. It seems like you can hardly appreciate one piece because there's so much stuff all crammed together. The Van Gogh musuem, although crowded, was easier to navigate, and it was cool to see some really well known pieces in person. Next was the Heineken experience, which was pretty much a glorified way to drink. Especially seeing that I don't like beer, I'd say take your euros to a bar and get more Heiney for your money-it wasn't anything special. The night was finished was a cruise on the canals, which was pretty fun, except that as we were on the boat a huge snow storm started and visibility wasn't fantastic. Plus, I like to sit outside on stuff like that anyway. So we grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel early, since the snow was really coming down. It was funny to see the reactions though-they don't normally get a lot of snow there, and you could tell some people weren't sure what to do.

Our last day in Amsterdam, New Year's Eve, we started out at the Tropenmuseum (the Museum of the Tropics), which was actually right next to our hotel. I was really looking forward to it, but ended up being really impressed. It's actually not so much a musuem of the tropics as an anthropological museum, and since I love cultures I was fascinated-I barely made it through two of the three floors in the time we were there. Al had mixed reviews on it, but in my opinion it's worth seeing if you're ever in Amsterdam. After that it was time to leave for the tour we had booked to some places outside of Amsterdam. We decided we wanted to see more of the Netherlands, so we joined a bunch of people on a bus to visit some windmills and a wooden shoe workshop at Zaanse Schee, Volendam, which is a city on the lake whose name I forgot, and a cheese farm right outside Volendam. It was all really cool, and our tour guide was hilarious and really informative. I'll share the most important info. with you: Holland is not, in fact, the name of the country where Amsterdam is located, even though most people incorrectly refer to it that way. The name of the country is the Netherlands (or Netherland-no s-in Dutch, but never mind that). Holland is the region of the country, or a state if you will, where various cities, including Amsterdam, are found. So refering to the Netherlands as Amsterdam is like referring to the USA as New York. Don't do it. ;)

We got back and had some delicious Dutch fare, then headed to Dam Square to ring in the New Year. It was easily the craziest celebration I've ever been to-thousands and thousands of people all over the city, drinking and dancing and setting off fireworks. It was sooo cold, but I'm glad we stuck it out. An experience I'm not going to forget anytime soon.

So I guess the Netherlands was my favorite part of the trip. It was different, but I got a very relaxed feeling there. It seemed like a place where you could just feel comfortable, and no one cares what you're like. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going just to the Netherlands, but if you're ever in the area, definitely stop there for a bit.

Whew, that took much too long but there's my break! Oh, I have to finish adding some captions to my pictures, so check for my progress there. Thanks for sticking that out, sorry it took so long!

Hail to the Victors

I just went to one of my favorite sites, Wikipedia, to look something up, and the featured article for today was on the University of Michigan! Just had to share my joy at seeing something about my alma mater!

you've got some speck right there

To continue the break recap:

From Paris, Al and I got on a train to Cologne, Germany. We ended up traveling first-class because that was all that was left, and it was actually quite nice. The countryside on the way there was gorgeous, and once we got close to Germany we even started to see some snow. When we arrived in Cologne, we stored our luggage and set out to explore the city until we had to meet up with Al's friend Yves at 5:30 or so. We decided to start off with what I'd consider one of the highlights of our time in Cologne (see previous posts about chocolate and Nutella): Schokoladenmuseum-The Chocolate Museum. As soon as we walked in the door we were hit by the smell of melting chocolate, and I spent the next hour and a half or so in heaven, learning all about the harvesting of cocoa, the production of chocolate, and overall appreciating the wonder that is chocolate. After we walked back to take a quick look inside the most famous of Cologne's landmarks, the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), which is the tallest Gothic structure in the world. I have to say, in terms of size, it certainly was impressive. Standing inside the immense cathedral, though, I felt miniscule, insignificant. I didn't like it. While there were certain parts of the Dom that I can appreciate, its size was just a bit much for me. Give me the Sacre Coeur, or even my little one room church in Carentan, any day.

Then it was time to meet Yves at the train station. Introductions were made, and then we headed to one of the most famous pubs in Cologne, Früh (I think), where the guys caught up and we all enjoyed some Kölsch beer (beer made in Köln, or Cologne for us non-German speakers). This was followed by dinner, more drinks and conversation, and then we ended the night at a club. I've decided that American club, German club, French club-there's really not that much difference. In any case, I had fun dancing and talking with Yves and his friends.

The next day we slept in a bit and then set off for Cologne (Yves and his family live about 30 min. outside of it in a little town called Wipperfürth, or something equally German). We climbed up the tower of the Dom and were rewarded with a fantastic view of both the Cathedral and the city. Then we set off for Düsseldorf, where we walked along the ritziest of its shopping avenues and laughed at the number of people we passed wearing fur coats. According to Al, "There's more fur here than in the Black Forest." We ended our time in Germany with a night in Wipperfürth, eating dinner and visiting some local pubs.

So that ended up being a bit longer than I had expected. To sum up, Germany was fun and beautiful, and probably one of the quieter parts of our trip. It was good to relax, talk, and get a bit of a taste of German life. Different than the US and France, though I'd have to sit down and think about that one to really explain how. Just trust me. :)

Till next time!

p.s. The title is a reference to Al's last name, Speck. Obviously, Al's "some speck," but "speck" in German also means "bacon," or some semblance thereof. However, when we were there we learned that it can also mean the bit of pudge you get on your waist. So, I guess there's "some speck" all over the place, really.

Christmas in Paris

Friday night I packed up and headed to Paris for the night so I could be at the airport in time to meet Al bright and early Saturday morning. That night I met a very nice, very interesting Australian named Jackie, and had a fun talk with her about all sorts of things over a bottle of wine. I only mention this day at all because it leads to a "funny" story about the start of my Christmas Eve. I woke up about 6am to get ready to go to the airport, and decided to be really nice to my roommates and use the communal shower instead of the one in our room so I didn't wake them all up. At that time of the morning, I had the place to myself and everything was going great. As I'm almost ready and brushing my teeth, I see someone else walk in but don't think anything of it. Then I see the same person try to leave, and he can't open the door. Finally he says "Am I doing something wrong here?" and I try to open the door and the handle just kind of flops around like a limp fish. Crap. So because I had seen him the night before and he kind of creeped me out, I decide to act quickly and pull out my recently purchased (thank God) cell phone to call the front desk. First try, disconnected. He decides this would be a real great time to try this one on me: "Well, I can think of worse people to be stuck with in here for the rest of eternity." What? Did you seriously just lock us in here and then try to pick me up? I quickly dialed again while watching out the window and thankfully someone came by just then. I frantically knocked on the window and the guy opened the door. I escorted Rico Suave out, quickly finished, and left as fast as I could for the airport. I suppose it makes for a Christmas Eve I won't forget anytime soon...

After I met Al at the airport and we caught up a bit, we trekked around to some of the local sites like Sacre Coeur, l'Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame. We actually attended Christmas Eve service at Notre Dame, and while it wasn't the most moving service I've ever been to (it's pretty hard to listen to a service in French, translate for the person next to you, and feel moved by the birth of Jesus while there are little kids and tourists poking around you. Why they don't close the church to tourists during big services, I don't know) it was pretty cool. We followed that with dinner in the Latin Quarter and a stroll up the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. The next day, Christmas, I was up early and caught part of a morning service at Sacre Coeur. After that we ventured all over the city, finishing with a nighttime boat ride on the Seine, which I highly recommend to anyone going to Paris. Seeing all the monuments lit up along the river is quite an experience. We also managed to make it over to the Champs Elysées to see all the lights on the trees along the avenue. The day after Christmas we made it to the Louvre, and tried to go to a few other things that were closed. All in all though, I think we made it to all the highlights, and had a pretty cool Christmas to boot. My summary can't really do it justice though, so if you want to know more hop over to my picture page and take a look at Paris at Christmastime.