Day 11 1/30/2010

Well Day 11 has arrived but I still have other days to talk about.

Day 8 1/27/2010

Well when I woke up this morning I had a very hard time getting up. I ended up getting up really late. Way later than I should have and ultimately that meant I had to just wash my hair without a shower and then at 7:06 I had to ask my host mom if she would drop me off at the meeting place so I could catch the bus that would be leaving for the excursion. I felt really bad because I didn’t ask her till I was positive that I wouldn’t make it in time. That meant I was going to make her late. I really wish that I had asked her earlier. She dropped me off and I threw my stuff onto the bus and after one more person showed up we left on our way to Amsterdam. The drive there was fairly uneventful we sang some 80’s songs and I recorded the country side. We got there at around noon and immediately without a bathroom break had to get to an appointment that had been made by Ariane, one of our directors. It was a cruise in the canals of Amsterdam. By this time we were fascinated by the difference in the city compared to Bonn and home. We boarded the ship right after we got off the bus. The ship was a low ship with booths and tables just like a restaurant and it was covered. So, we weren’t cold while we rode. The driver played us a CD that told us different things about the city and he spoke about it as well. I don’t remember as much about this tour as I did about the tour in Bonn. We passed several tower-churches that he told us about and we passed the Anne Frank Huis or house. This is a museum for the girl, Anne Frank and her family as they were in hiding during the World War. We were to go to this museum the next day. Which reminds me of something about Bonn, Bonn was bombed during the World War as well by the Allies but there was no reason to bomb it they just did to test a new weapon and they needed a city that was mostly still standing. Anyway back the Amsterdam. We drove through most of the canals and we were intrigued by the swans that we saw. We drove through most of the canals. The biggest things that I found strange were the boat houses. There are these houses that line most of the canal edges and people pay large amounts of money to live in these houses. They are tiny, but they want to live there. They also pay city taxes on the houses. I don’t understand it but they love these homes and they love living there apparently. I found this tour to be a good introduction to the city even if it was slightly boring. We got a lot of good pictures. After the tour we walked to the meeting place for later that day and Ariane gave us free rein to do anything. Garrett and David H. and I walked around the different shops trying to find a place to eat. Eventually Garrett and I got some fries with mayonnaise. Then we walked around trying to find a place for David to eat. Eventually they found a sandwich shop and I went to look in a souvenir shop across the alley street. I bought a Stein, some wooden shoes, and a shot glass. After a while we walked around some of the streets and I found another shop where they sold dolls. David and Garrett waited for me outside. I love them... Anyway, I found myself a doll from the country and a spoon for mom. After we walked around and I bought my souvenirs we walked over to the monument that we are suppose to meet at. It is a monument to the Jews who died in WWII. We found an ATM and I was able to pull out some cash. Then we met up with the rest of the group to catch a bus over to the Van Gogh Museum.

This was one of the things I was looking forward to the most on this trip. We got off the bus and headed inside. After purchasing our tickets we headed inside to give our coats to a desk clerk for the lockers. They would hold our coats while we walked through the museum. This was an amazing museum. They had 200 of the 900 painting he ever made and 500 of the 1100 drawings he ever made. They didn't have many of the drawings on display but they did have quite a few paintings there. I loved all of them. I got the see a few that were my favorite before I even went to the museum. It was just amazing. I also saw some works that I've never seen before as well as some that I had and were more famous. This wasn't as moving as the museum we did the next day but I'll talk about that later. After the museum we checked into our hotel. The Hotel Astrix. I was a little freaked out by the place because of this weird feeling that I kept getting and I would hear really creepy stuff in the middle of the night. Well after we checked in and messed with the TV for about an hour we headed to dinner at a traditional Dutch restaurant. That was some of the best food I've ever eaten. It was boiled potatoes, sliced baked potatoes, mashed potatoes with sauerkraut and bacon, sausage, 2 different stew meats, and pears soaked in Cider, and finally red cabbage and apples. It was served family style and it was very good. I also had a dark beer that was strong but also good. I'd never had a beer that dark that I can recall. Trisha had a beer that I wish I had got and it was better. It was sweet with a little lingering. After dinner we headed back to the hotel. Some people went out to go explore some more I was so exhausted that I decided to sleep.

Day 9 1/28/2010

Well today was just as long as the day before. We had to get up at 6:30 in order to be down in time for breakfast. It was a typical European Breakfast. White-bread and cheese. After we got up Trisha, Catie and I went back upstairs to pack up the room because we roomed together the night before. After we gathered our stuff and put it in the storage room for the hotel we walked over to the Anne Frank Huis. This is the museum I mentioned earlier. We walked there and after being made to stand outside in the rain we were allowed to come in. We went inside to pay thing immediately went back out and over to the front of the building and had an introduction to the house. The girl told us the story of Anne Frank, why they went into hiding and when. What happened before and briefly of the place. She told us how they lost the business and why they went into hiding. After she gave the story we headed inside to go through the museum. This was so moving because it was the actual place that they stayed while in hiding they lived there. Eight people in five rooms. It moved me so much because I read her diary as a girl with being required to and I also watched all the videos about her and the family. It made me cry. I had to pull out a tissue before it was over. They also had copies of all the photos taken of Anne before she went into hiding. Her father had taken a snap shot of her every year till the year they went into hiding. So I saw a picture of her from the time she was a baby till she went into hiding. After I cried and we left, we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and head for Rotterdam were we would go see an artists studio. I watched the country side on the way there. I had a few exciting moments were I got to see the famous Holland windmills. We got to Rotterdam and I have to say after spending that time in Amsterdam going to Rotterdam was very disappointing. It was a nasty city and ugly to look at but I can see how it would appeal to the less nostalgic of us. Anyway when we got there we had to head straight to the warehouse district so that was no fun to look at. It was nasty and dirty but anyway I guess you have to see some bad to enjoy the good. We got to the studio and had to wait in our car for Judith and Markus because they were the ones that knew the people there. So eventually they arrived and we got out to go talk to them. One lady, I don't remember her name showed us around and talked about what they do as a studio. I didn't really like the sexual stuff but the other sculpture that they were working on was awesome. It was a stack of barrels like oil drums and there were these dripping figures just oozing off of them. That was really cool and another installation that they are doing is a skeleton of bones which will be in Indianapolis later this year. She talked about the process and past exhibits and about some of the past stories of the city which I didn't pay much attention to because it was outside and cold. I really wish she would have talked inside. Well right after that tour we got on the bus again to head to Renesse. That was another trip of me wishing I had 6000 eyes so I could look at everything at once. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of a windmill but I did get a video of one. After we arrived in Renesse we went up to our rooms and put our stuff up then headed right back down stairs to go to a meeting with two schools from Texas including A&M. We were giving our story pitch that we had come up with the last class period. We spent a while getting ready then a couple of hours pitching and talking with the other schools. After that we walked to the restaurant that we would be eating at. I don't remember the name. I ordered some fish and Hollandaise sauce and spent most of the time talking to Markus, one of the professors, about some deep stuff like God and such. After we ate everyone went back to the hotel. Catie, David H., Garrett, Jacob and I all went to the guys room. I tried some Absinthe. It was disgusting by the way, even though we did put sugar in it and watered it down. Anyway. we spent several hours in there talking about random things and specifically cars, car wrecks and ghosts. After we decided that we were done talking Catie and I went back to our room and went to bed.