Wednesday, April 27, 2011

three fifths. zero point six. sixty percent. three months.

As of today I've been here for exactly three months and I have exactly two months left. Crazy! I arrived on the 27th of January and I'll depart on the 27th of June. And seeing as it was the 27th of April I figured I'd take a day trip to Amsterdam. Well that wasn't really my motivation for going but it sounds good.

Tess has a friend who is living in Amsterdam, he arrived about a month ago and is going to school and working, she was headed down for a visit and asked if I wanted to tag along. It was nice because I've done enough of the touristy stuff in Amsterdam that this time we rented bikes and he showed us around more of the locals areas. It was fun to bike around the city, sit in a cafe with locals, and see his apartment with other Dutch students. It is so different than living in a student house full of internationals.

I didn't actually get to stay long because I needed to be back for class tonight at 7:15, which after a 2.5hr train ride and a mad rush from the train, I made just in time. It was nice to get out and see something other than the park in Groningen.

So, as previously mentioned, today marks three months here, which makes me realize how little time I have left. Today I also had the last of my Wednesday classes, the final is in two weeks. How crazy! Just as quickly as I started to feel like I was settled here am I starting to feel like I'm leaving. This is both good and bad. I miss a lot of things from home, but mostly I miss people from home. And I miss my home, and having a place of my own, and I miss quiet, it is never quiet here, except perhaps between the hours of 8 and 10am, if there wasn't a huge party the night before. That said, I know I'm going to miss all the travel, excitement, and not having to work. haha, its been a long time since I've been unemployed with so much free time on my hands. I mean even when I was unemployed in high school I was at sports practices/games every night.

I know it is going to be hard to get back into the routine of going to work every day but I'll manage.

I know that I won't miss; this student house. I had high expectations, I think because I had such an amazing experience in my first year of residence at the UofC; there may have been drama and everyone didn't get along with everyone but we all ended up quite close by the end of that year together and I made a solid group of life long friends, and by the end, it really felt like a cozy home. Here is most definitely different. It may be because there are so many students in one space, we all come from such different backgrounds that it is often difficult to find a common ground, there is often a language barrier, and so much more. Anyways, I have made a couple great friends here, but not many that I really feel that close to. Oh well, take it for what it is, a really dirty, expensive place to live. ha.

Earlier I said I was trying to edit a video I shot the other day but it sounded like I'd need to buy the upgraded version of my operating system in order to update my iMovie and I got too lazy to really figure it out so forgive me for uploading a totally unpolished film but below you can watch a tidbit of my ride to the lake the other day. Enjoy :)


Also, today the Calgary Folk Fest announced their entire lineup for this years fest and its looking pretty solid. I'm also excited about the fest because I signed up to volunteer, I might be working in the beer gardens or as part of the security team! I'm really excited about this.

2 comments:

  1. I am excited for k.d lang and City and Colour and Lauren Mann and that you will be there too.

    U of C res is amazing it seems compared to other places. We didn't know how good we had it :) I miss that place...a lot. Especially our room!

    Also, your video makes me want to ride my bike but I can't quite yet.

    Maybe you will get your present tomorrow!

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  2. Nice vid. Enjoy the next two months- its crazy to think of what you've done in the first three eh?

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