Switzerland

I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. In the days leading up to it I could hardly wait, i was sick of schoolwork and needed a break. Is it the same for you, when youre really looking forward to going somewhere that the few days before hand you get really bored and dont do much...cos youre just waiting to leave? Well thats what it was like for me. It was a pretty short trip away, only four days. But when i had booked my plane tickets i just took the cheapest flights i could find, and i thought that id have classes at school etc. So i wish i could have stayed just another day longer or something. So a brief visit, but totally worth it! I had an amazing time.

Saturday 18th
Woke up very excited of course! I had packed my bags the night before, so spent the morning tidying my room, doing dishes, double checking i had everything...oh and saying goodbye to my flatmate who was moving out that day. About 10.30am i jumped on my bike and headed towards Utrecht central. It was a pretty slow moving, when you have a heavy bag on your bag your bike goes way slower. I hate having no gears. Also i kept stopping along the way..triple checking that i had my wallet...tickets..toothbrush. I took the 10.50 intercity directly to Schiphol and spent some time wandering around trying to find the departures lounge..and the check in etc. Very confusing. I found out that my flight was delayed which i was a bit annoyed about. So i had some lunch at Mcdonalds to fill in the time. Its funny,the only time i ever seem to eat Mcdonalds these days is when im at the Airport! I got through customs without too much trouble...they did search my bag though..i had forgotten that i had left my mini pocket knife on my keyring. But he didnt confiscate it so thats good. The plane trip was really boring. I was stuck next to this PDA couple who kept hogging the window view. I actually got really angry..whats the point of having tiny little windows if you cant look out them cos peoples heads are in the way!Grrr. Arrived at EuroAirport. Its really cool..its like the gateway to three countries...switzerland...france and germany. Crazy. Exchanged some euros to swiss francs and then missioned to find the bus to take me to Basel SBB station. I had ordered a swiss transfer ticket which turned out to be very handy. It allows you to use all transport systems to go from the airport to any destination in switzerland within one day, via the most direct route. I had decided i wanted to spend the afternoon in Basel, because id seen on the internet that they have a cool cathedral called Munster and a cool Art Museum. My first impressions of Basel were that its lovely. Very fresh and not so busy like Holland.I got really stressed out though, i couldnt find a map of the city, and i couldnt work out where these sites were or how to get a ticket for the trams. I actually wasted like half an hour deciding whether it was worth going. I realised this was actually my first time travelling ALONE in a strange country, and it freaked me out a bit. I ended up going though, a kind man told me how to use the trams and i made my way to the Kunstmuseum, Basel.

So glad that i went. This turned out to be the most amazing Art Museum i have ever been to. i got in for free too which was great. The museum has the best collection, such a variety. I saw work from Cezanne, Gaugin, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Van Gogh, Kline, Still, Stella, Warhol, Johns, Rauchenberg, Lichtenstein, Picasso, Chagall, Rothko, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, Munch, Mondrian, Van Doesberg, Giacometti, Dali and much much more. Honestly it was nearly too much to handle, too much to absorb. Some works i was really impressed by, others i wasnt so impressed by.But it was amazing ay. I totally reccomend that if you like Art, and if youre ever in Basel, you should definetly give this museum a visit. Walked back to the SBB which didnt take long. I was quite annoyed cos the man had told me earlier that the museum was ages away and it wouldnt be worth walking, but it only took like 10minutes. I found a timetable, and hopped on the 5.30 train to Chur (pron. Cor-rrrrrr).

The train ride took about 2 1/2 hours. It was brilliant to get out into the countryside though. Switzerland is a very beautiful country of course. Lots of pasture, and steeples, clock towers, trees, beautiful lakes, snowy peaks and oh my goodness...sun and blue sky. It really reminded me of New Zealand, in particular Queenstown. Id describe Switzerland as a massive Queenstown. By the time i arrived in Chur it was very dark. I transferred onto a postbus that would take me to Flims Waldhaus, where my brother Marcel is living.

Marcel was waiting at the stop when i got there and greeted me with a big bear hug. It was so surreal to see him, i hadnt seen him for almost 2 years i think. He looked pretty similar, perhaps a bit shorter and i think that his eyes have changed colour. I followed him to where he lived, which is in the top floor of an old school hotel right next to the bus stop. We spent sometime hanging out in the lounge watching german tv, and i met some of his flatmates. It was cool because one of Marcels friends Eeavan was also visiting. She used to live in Hanmer for a while.

Went on a walk to check out the nightlife in Flims. Switzerland is very pretty at night time. You cant see much, just alot of lights. They seem to be obsessed with lights, apparently its their way of trying to be arty. We went into a club called Arena, a bar called the Living Room, and the local club called Flem. The living Room was my favourite. Alot quiter and more chilled out than the clubs. I think its because i was quite tired from the day travelling. I tried this drink called Carpe diem Kombucha. Very interesting, apparently its made out of some sort of fungi. It smells like gherkins but i think the taste is similar to sparkling grape juice. They have another odd drink called Rivella. It tastes like sherbet and is made out of Milk Serum. That totally put me off.

Sunday 19th
I woke up to the most amazing view. I hadnt noticed at night time, but it turns out that we were surrounded by the hugest Mountains all around us, most of it taken up by Flims Laax Falera, the ski resort where Marcel has been working. Far out scout. This Ski resort is absolutely massive, its about 8X Cardronas. maybe a slight exaggeration, but lets say its insanely big. A true skifield!I hired out some skigear, and Marcel and i spent the day exploring the mountain and riding all the different lifts. You actually spend most of your day on the lifts getting to the top. I hadnt been skiing for a while so i found it quite hard work. What is cool is that heaps of people have houses on the ski resort too, and there are also lots of barns and stuff. When all the snow melts in the summer the ski resort is used as farmland.At every lift there is a restaurant too which i thought was very cool too. We had lunch at one of them. It was such an amazing weather too, blue sky and hot sun. I took time to sit and enjoy the sun while Marcel played around in the half pipe and jumps at Crap Sogn Gion (crap st john). In the evening we went to some of Marcel's New Zealand friends for dinner and a video called Adaption. It is perhaps one of the wierdest films i have ever seen. We also briefly went to visit one of my mums friends Ursula who lived a few houses down. Mum and Dad will be coming to stay with her in June when they come over. (Photos - view of the glacier - can you see the halfpipe?, marcel on the halfpipe)

Monday 20th
Woke up to more beautiful weather! Another day on the slopes. I thought id try my luck at snowboarding for a change. I have only been snowboarding once before about 4 years ago with Kate Dunbar at Treble Cone. We had no idea what we were doing though, and spent most of the day sliding on our butts down the hill. Marcel was a great teacher and i got the hang of it very quickly. I was pretty determined. Within about 3 runs down the kiddies field i was turning both ways nicely and even attempted the mini jumps. So much fun. We had lunch at The Living Room and then i got myself a lift pass because i felt confident enough to move on to bigger and better things than the kiddies field! I only managed to get about three runs in the afternoon though, because it took so long getting up the lifts, and im not the fastest snowboarder in the world. My legs really hurt too, because the bindings werent positioned right. Also on one of the chairlifts Marcels snowboard fell off. It was unexpected and very funny at the time, but also annoying because i had to spent half an hour at the top while he went down to get it and take the lift back up again. I had a fantastic day though. I actually enjoyed snowboarding better than skiing which was odd, i think its because its always fun doing something new for the first time. Im pretty keen to get into it when im back in New Zealand, if time and money allows. Also saw Daniel and Sarah Conrad, some other locals from Hanmer Springs. In the evening we went to a BBQ in Laax. This was great. Some friends of Marcel live in this real typical old swiss shack surrounded by snow and trees. If you've ever seen cold mountain, it was exactly like that. They had spent the week building a jump in their backyard, so they all took turns playing on that while i spit roasted myself next to the bonfire all night. I love bonfires. Pity they dont have marshmellows in switzerland. They are very deprived. It was a good BBQ..potatoes, sausages, mushrooms. Good times. (Photos - selftakes - marcel and i on chairlift, view from Foppa while waiting for Marcel,small but very hot bonfire)


Tuesday 21st
Today was a very long long day. Im not even going to go into much detail because not much happened. Just a whole day travelling on buses and trains and planes and waiting around. My body was very very sore and i was very tired as well. I left Flims at 8 in the morning and didnt get back to my flat until about 5 in the afternoon. It was really cool being on the train during the day though, it was really stunning and Lake Zurich took my breath away. I think that im definetly going to come back to Switzerland again, if not this year then definetly again in the future. It was very odd coming back to Holland, i had to remind myself that im here to study. I imagine that it will be very hard to get back into. i think im going to need a few days to let my body recover from the weekend, plus i can feel another flu coming on again so thats not cool.

GAME:guess the contents of my parcel

Thats right i got a parcel today! thats right i feel special! Thats right im at my happiest right now! Parcels from home are just make your day when youre in a crazy foreign country on the otherside of the world. Perhaps this might not be the most exciting blog to read, but i tell ya i was mighty excited!!!

No need to guess whats in it, ill fill you in...

Object #1 - MILO
One of the neccesities of life. Just like water, bread and milk. Im sorry, i dont care if nestle makes it, milo is my favourite chocolatey drink. Nothing else comes close...cadbury hot chocolate, bournvita, ovaltine...pah...and none of the stuff here does either. The hot chocolate here has a real tang to it, i cant work it out but i think that it is disgusting. Im stoked i have my milo now, though i doubt it will last long. I havent really had many hot drinks while i was here. I had tea the first week or so but i quickly got over that. And i dont do coffee, ive had too many bad experiences with coffee.

Object #2 - MARMITE
hehehe. another basic. I honestly cant live without marmite. Marmite on toast is my comfort food. It was the first thing that i tried to find when i arrived in Holland actually. I did actually find marmite...a tiny tiny little container of it. Must have been a mistake somewhere because it definetly had a more vegemite taste. Some people say theres no difference between the two, but there definetly is in my opinion. Its like one of those opposites you know, like light vs dark, good vs evil, marmite vs vegemite. Marmite will always dominate!

Object #3 - WOODCUT TOOLS
Im suprised these didnt get conviscated actually, theyre pretty sharp objects. I forgot to take them with me because i just assumed i could buy them over here. But ive been looking and looking and can never find what im looking for. So now i have them and i can start planning some woodcuts for school. Excellent.

Object #4 - JEREMY CAMP 'RESTORED" CD
ahhhh. possibly one of my favourite "christian artists". This guy has an amazing voice, and sings such awesome worship songs. If you have never heard of him you should definetly look into it. I was introduced to his music by Jane and Ruth Stewart...i think that between the two of them they might have all his albums. In fact i think this cd was the soundtrack to jane and my trip to Rotorua last year.

I couldnt have asked for a better combination of items in a parcel. Now i can eat marmite on toast, drink milo, carve woodcuts and sing along to my new cd all at the same time!

t'Oude Pothuys

Sunday night. i wouldnt usually be the one to hit town on a sunday night, but this was a special exeception.

Jazzy sounds at t'oude pothuys. Sunday night. Not to be missed.

I organised to go with Sarah America last week some time.Sarah is another exchange student from the art school. Shes from America. I dont know her last name?So i call her Sarah America.. I was complaining that Utrecht had a crap nightlife, and she begged to differ. Shes been here nearly a year.She told me about this place, and seeing that we both like Jazz we decided to make a go of it tonight. I had to find her apartment first though...she lives in what i like to call the twin towers...two identical highrise apartments where the majority of exchange students in Utrecht live. It was pretty cool though cos they have those buzzy things where you press the button and they talk to you through a speaker phone and let you in. Very cool!

She told me that her flatmates were coming. But i didnt expect 8 of them!Going out in town in Utrecht is pretty hilarious. Especially in winter. Nobody would even think of dressing up in skimpy clothing like many young girls do in New Zealand. Nope. Here you wrap up in as many items of clothing as you can and hop on your bicycle for 10minutes into town. All 9 of us went in convoy. It was a pretty funny site. Overtaking the roads..and then when a car came somebody would shout 'CAR' and we automatically went into single file. It was fun times.

As soon as I entered t'oude pothuys i knew i was at home. You go these steps into a kind of underground basement/dungeon and immediately soak in the atmosphere.. Its pretty small and cosy, we are lucky we scored a table. The music was absolutely fantastic.5 piece jazz band -saxophone,piano,double bass, guitar, drums. No idea what their name was, they were dutch, but they were dang good.The best ive experienced. My dad would love it. Hes obsessed with jazz. He would be very proud of me. To be honest, jazz is probably one of my favourite music genres. I have always secretly liked it. But when you are young, there is no way you can like the music that your father does!Its just not cool. But now im over it, Dad i think jazz is flippin cool! Anyhow, it was a great night. Had good chats with all Sarah's flatmates..very multicultural flat of course - america, portugal, italy, taiwan...they were all really cool and said im welcome at their apartment anytime. Anyhow, it seems that we're gonna make jazzy sounds sunday a regular
thing. (photos - jazz band, table - KJ, me, Sarah, Juao)






Bring it on.

Rotterdam Excursion

"this could be Rotterdam or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome, Cause Rotterdam is anywhere...anywhere alone....anywhere alone"

Rotterdam ay....Rotter'shite' on officially the coldest day ever! Today Rosy and I ventured off on another ESN 'field trip'. I almost pulled out though, because i woke up to find it was snowing again. But anyhow, i jumped on my bike like i always do and decided to not let the crap weather get to me.

That didnt last long. Walking into Rotterdam is like walking into a freezer of Death. Rotterdam is the port town of Holland, in fact its the largest port in the world. So being right by the sea, you have no shelter from the killer sea breezes. Wellington has got it good.

The above lyrics are from the Song 'the beautiful south' which most of you should recognise. I found these highly appropriate. Rotterdam was bombed in the second world war by the germans. The dutch troops on their bicycles could not compete with the Germans, and so Rotterdam was completely destroyed apart from four buildings. And so the city of Rotterdam was rebuilt, and is still in the process. The 'New Rotterdam' is highly americanised, lots of skyscrapers and alot of glass. Alot of the dutch think that Rotterdam is ugly because it is a huge contrast to the small narrow quiet streets and canals that you find in the rest of Holland. And so Rotterdam sits alone from the rest of Holland. Loner city. Nif Town.

ESN trips are usually well organised and highly informative. Alot of the day was spent walking around from site to site in the antarctic temperatures. Our first stop was the Erasmus bridge. This was of significance as ESN stands for Erasmus Student Network. Every city has its symbolic piece of architecture, In Paris its the Eiffel Tower, In New York the Empire state Building. In Rotterdam its the Erasmus Bridge. The bridge links the northern and southern parts of the city. Its also called 'The swan' because of its graceful posture over the water.

(Photos - The Erasmus Bridge)

On the otherside of the bridge we stopped in a cafe to have a drink and warm up. I got talking with many of the other members of our group which was great. I love going on these trips because its a great oppurtunity to meet other people. Had some good chats with a girl from Portugal and a guy and a girl from somewhere in Russia. We crossed back over the water via another bridge, the Willemsbridge. This bridge is of no particular significance, it was the main crossing between the south and north before the Erasmus bridge was built. Ive decided i really like bridges. They make good photos.(Photo - Me and 'Eskimo Ro' on the Willemsbridge...Alstublieft.!..)

Next on the list was the Boymans Van Beuningen Museum (An Art Museum). This was fantastic. We got a good informative tour around the museum and some insight into some famous Art Works. I got to see some original Dali, Mondrian and Kandinsky works which was pretty great. I think that the majority of the group were intrigued the most by the scupture that stands at the entrance of the Museum. Innocent as i am, i understood it to be Santa Claus holding a pine tree, but other interpretations were more 'phallic'. I was very dissapointed. Im so sick of 'phallic' interpretations, it ruins everything. But they were probably right. Take a look for yourself in the photo. Anyway, many of the group were climbing up it and taking photos etc. It was a pretty funny sight. (photo - santa holding a ?)

Rotterdam appears to have a reputation of trying to be "arty". Honestly everywhere you go you are bound to see a sculpture in every nook and cranny, sculptures of all shapes and sizes, some fascinating, others of the eyesore/'I live in the trashcan' type.

The most fascinating thing i saw was outside the 'Pathe' (a huge movie theatre in Rotterdam. There is a big square with what looks like huge giant mechanical cranes. They are actually huge spotlights though, and there are controls so you can move the spotlights around. I wondered what the point was, the answer was that it was 'modern art', it has no point really. Ahh..with a chuckle, it makes perfect sense. Rosy being a 'scuptor' was pretty horrified i think, but i think it would be fun to play with these giant spotlights at night. (photo-giant spotlights)


The most hideous thing that i was unfortunate enough to lay my eyes on what is seen in the photo on the right. It is 'sculpture' like this that makes me really angry and question the whole notion of what art is. I guess thats one of the things that annoys me about scupture too..alot of it contaminates the landscape. Dont ask me what the heck its meant to be. Rosy decided on a marshmellow, Im still not sure. possibly a cow roasting a marshmellow, or a cow roasting a marshmellow, or melted crayons roasting a marshmellow, or a marshmellow roasting a marshmellow. Either way i think its absolutely hideous and should be removed right away. (photo-not sure what it is)

I thought i saw snowy mountain peaks. But i was decieved. It was the Kubuswoning (cubic houses) instead! These houses are pretty wack ay. They were designed by Piet Blom in the 70s, a housing development on top of a pedestrian bridge. The concept behind these houses is that he tried to create a forest, each cube representing an abstract tree, therefore the whole village becomes a forest. The cubes are tilted and sit on a hexagonal pole. We got to explore one of the houses which was really great. The pole contains the staircase that leads up to the cube, and also some storage space. The cube is split into three levels. The lower level has a living area and a kitchen, the middle level has a bedroom, a bathroom and a study, and the top level is like like a viewing area-possibly used as an extra bedroom or living space. Its funny cos when you look up at the houses you wonder how anyone could move around in such a tiny space, but its actually suprisingly spacious. About 100 square metres of floor space. And it managed to fit like 60 exchange students in it. Crazyness. (photo - cubic houses from a distance)

The final and in my opinion the best part of the day was our adventure aboard the PannenkoekenBoot (which i have renamed Pannenkoekenboaten..cos it rhymes and amuses me more). You can probably guess that this is a Pancake Boat. This is a one in a lifetime experience as the Pannenkoekenboaten can only be hired out for function. It takes you for a cruise around the Harbour for about 45 mins and within that time you are welcome to eat as many pancakes as you want. It was so lovely, the views of Rotterdam at night are spectactular, especially the Erasmus Bridge. I managed to up my Pancake limit from 3 1/2 to 4 which i was pretty proud of...my stomach regretted it later though.(photo-scoffing down pancakes)

Tuesday..the longest day ever!

Awake 8am...went to bed 2.30am

oh my goodness what was i thinking! Despite the length, i had a really interesting day and achieved alot. A few weeks ago i sweettalked the Bookmaking tutor 'Manuel' into teaching me how to make a book from scratch. Its something ive always been interested in. I love books..and reading, and diarys..and journals. All forms of books i like.

Anyway i was pretty excited and great expectations for the day. I even wrote myself a note to make sure i didnt sleep in and miss it.."Wake up lazy butt..Bookmaking at 10am'...i had to do that because it had been a late night and i would have slept in if i could.

Another exchange student Michael from Leeds was there too. So we had a great time learning how to make a book. It was a really intense process but so worth it. Manuel taught us in one day what he usually teaches in three! He showed us two different ways of making a book..how to glue the pages together..make the cover lining..make the canvas cover. I made two books..one black and one red..for $1.50. BARGAIN!

The day finished at about 5.30 so i missioned home on my trusty bicycle feeling pretty darn tired. And pretty darn hungry cos id hardly eaten anything all day. Good move that id arranged to meet Rosy for all you can eat pankakes. Freshened myself up a bit and met her at the 'turnoff'. The pankake restaraunt was absolutely lovely..one of the ones right next to the canal. It played really good music too. I was loving it. Anway i missioned myself through 3 1/2 pankakes which i thought was a pretty good effort on my behalf considering Rosy only made it through 2. I had half a bacon one, half an apple one, a mushroom one, and one and a half fruitsalad ones. I think the last half was a bad move! I felt so bloated for the rest of the night. (photo - the pankake place...not such an interesting photo..i just wanted to put a photo in this blog)


Rosy and i had about an hour and a half to kill in town because we wanted to go to Club STORM at 10pm to sign up for a trip this weekend to Rotterdam. Far out. We walked around everywhere trying to find a nice wee quiet cafe to sit in and didnt find one until about 10 to 10. Everywhere we went was packed with noisy people watching soccer. stupid soccer. Anyway we found a nice cafe to heat ourselves up in from walking around in the cold. I sacrificed my stomach and got a chocolate muffin and a diet coke. Rosy and I had a game of checkers...I lost of course. The rest of the night wasnt too eventful. We signed up for the trip (took 2 of the last 5 places left which was lucky) and then boosted home. I was still feeling pretty bloated so took to a bit of writing blogs and talking to Brittany on msn. It was great, i passed heaps of time and at 2,30 i had digested and was ready to to bed.

18hour day. Flip. not to be repeated.

Birds of Freedom

I just had the most amazing experience. One of those 'GOD" moments...

Monday early evening. I was just walking around to the Albert Heijn to do some well needed grocery shopping..ive been out of food since saturday. I went to the supermarket yesterday..but forgot that everything is shut on a Sunday. Thank goodness its only a short walk.

Anyhow i was just nearly in my front door when i glanced up at the sky and saw the most amazing sight.....

The most amazing sight. I was totally captured by a picture of the most birds i have ever seen all flying around in the sky gracefully, dancing, making patterns in the sky. It was exactly what i needed. I was so in awe..of God and his creation, and of the birds and their freedom and beauty. Honestly, these photos dont even do the experience justice..there were three times as many birds!

But like i said. It was definetly God and his perfect timing. I had had another pretty frustrating day. Rosy and I had missioned to the IBB to print out some stuff on the computers. I having already spent two days in a previous week trying to figure out the computer system knew the frustrations and was well prepared. But i felt so sorry for Rosy, she just couldnt figure out why her images wouldnt fit on the page..and why her images would disappear..and why microsoft word would suddenly have 'technical difficulties..and why the printer doesnt print stuff. Poor thing, I really did feel her frustration. What was even worse was we had to bike back home in a freak hail storm. Honestly i was so pissed off. The weather here is just so stupidly predictably cold!

But oh, when i saw those birds nothing else seemed important. God reminded me about his life, his ways,his creation. He filled me back up with hope and excitement and all my frustrations were gone. The other cool thing is alot of my conceptual development in Art is based around birds at the moment. im using them as a symbol for the idea of freedom....the freedom ive found in both travel and movement, and of course in God.

The rest of the evening was good. I sat down and thought about it. I actually really do like Utrecht..even though it is crap weather all the time, and there are killer bicycles on the loose. It really is a beautiful place and im enjoying my time here. Im enjoying learning to spend time by myself and with my creator. He is teaching me new things all the time. I love it! I love it!

A Journey back in time

On sunday Rosy and I missioned along to CrossRoads again like we do, although this time it was far more exciting than a train trip.

I missioned my way on my bike to Rocco and Elvira's house (our smallgroup leaders...Rosy just reminded me of their names). I noted the other day that they were going to give us a ride. And how, their car is absolutely amazing! Its the oldest, crappest car i have ever been. Its sort of a tan/flash colour...pretty rusty...pretty vintage. In fact i think they mentioned that it was used in World War II or was it World War I? Either way, it was a pretty interesting trip. No seatbelts, pretty cramped in the back. One of the doors doesnt open. Simple frame to the car...the roof looks like its made of wood (but apparently the cars a convertible so the roof can come off)..lots of wires running everywhere in the car. You have to wipe the windows from condensation constantly. No car locks either. Rosy made a comment about 'nobody would want to steal it anyway'..Rocco didnt digest that comment too well. Hes in love with the car. He talks it up. He told us a few stories about how the car was ahead of its time because he could take the back seats out to fit in a large mirror...and the car had lights that popped out the front.We questioned about whether they had to get a warrant of fitness in holland..because we werent too sure whether the car would pass each time. But yes, it passes its warrant with flying colours. (Photo - Elvira huddled in the passenger seat..not much room in the car)

We got to church on time which was fantastic! The service was pretty interesting this week. It was like a celebration kind of service...lots of children dancing and singing songs. Not a really deep sermon..just three quick points on prayer. But it was good times. They had a great band playing who sung all the cool hillsongs songs like 'one way' that we sung at Apo all the time last year. Another homesick moment. I think the highlight was amusing myself my watching this wee blonde boy dance around to the songs and leap off the stage and stuff. He was pretty excited! Afterwards Rosy and I went to this 'Welcome coffee' thing. I hadnt seen it before. But it was great. We had a drink and some quality dutch snack food and got introduced to some of the elders of the church. Which was lovely. So good for people in the church to finally take interest in us and welcome us to the church. One of the ladies even took our details and is hopefully going to put us in contact with some other members of the church who live in Utrecht. Sounds promising.

Winter Wonderland

Snow, hail, snow, rain, snow, sun, snow, sun, snow, hail.......

It has been like this the entire week! Really pretty, but really frustrating. Its just so so so cold. I usually really love snow, and i think that it makes everything look magical. But its just not the same when there is no mountains or natural landscape. All i have here is brick roads and buildings, a few trees and alot of canals. Also pretty boring when theres no one to have a snow fight with. I managed to venture out to take a few photos of the snow around town though at places where it looked its prettiest. I also had a lot of fun with the self timer oprtion on my camera...so took selftakes when the snow was falling. So much fun, ive developed a little obsession with self takes actually. Ive stayed at home alot this week, just hanging out doing a bit of drawing and other schoolwork, surfing the net etc and starting to write this blog. Ill let you out on a little secret now. Ive actually written this entire blog in the space of about three days. I also have another one that i created for School purposes..kind of like an online workbook. I am finding writing very theraputic, and that blogging is a really great idea for me to get my thoughts out and document this trip. (photos - footprints outside, the park around the corner, self take of me outside in the snow)

I ventured into school on tuesday and actually had a really productive day. I found myself a studio space which is great. It means that i no longer need to go out to the Tractieweg except for theory lectures. I managed to introduce myself to a couple of other students too. One in fourth year sculpture and another in painting. I created my first printing plate on tuesday, a photopolymer etching. I had to get alot of help from the technician though, because they do things very differently here to Otago. Everything is alot more technologically advanced here, alot based around computers. I felt like i achieved alot though, because i also got taken through the screenprinting processes which will be helpful if i want to do screenprinting. Screenprinting is actually a seperate department to the other printmaking processes and usually you have to be enrolled in the screenprinting course to use the stuff. But i sweet talked the screenprinting technician and he seems pretty keen to let me use the facilties and im gonna get him to teach me how to print onto fabric and stuff. The only dumb thing is that i can only go in on a tuesday...and thats also one of the only days i can use the other printmaking room. Thats what im going to find really frustrating i think...the lack of time available to use resources because the Printmaking room is only open on Monday - Wednesday and the technician and lecturer are only there on a tuesday. So it will be hard for me to produce as much as i would if i was at Otago..because in third year there you have 24/7 access to the Print studio. You even get your own key

Tuesday night Rosy and I went to our first small group night. This was pretty exciting because we have been trying to suss out a smallgroup since we got here...but people were pretty slack in responding. Finally someone rang us and gave us some details of a group in Utrecht, not run through Crossroads, though the couple leading it go to crossroads. I struggled through the hail to get there. The couple are this cute little dutch/indonesian couple who live in this cute little house. I just had such a good night, This small group is a huge answered prayer, just what i ordered! There were a few others there too, a chinese guy Hao, an american girl Nicole and an african girl Emelienne( hope i spelt that right). We all had dinner together and then studied a psalm. This smallgroup is going to be every second week so thats cool. And also what else is cool is that they are going to be able to give us a ride to church each sunday. so no more train missions!

Thursday night Rosy and i skipped a theory lecture to go to this international dinner for exchange students. We had huge expectations of it, but it turned out to actually really suck. I was really looking forward to it, so i was really dissapointed afterwards.Especially because we had to bike over to the complete opposite side of town in the freezing cold. We originally had signed up to make a pavlova...but we pulled out at the last minute because neither of us had enough faith in our biking skills to transport a pavlova across town. I had imagined it to be this nice kind of dining hall thing...with like buffet tables and stuff and perhaps a nice band playing on the stage. But it turned out to be more of a crowded party and an excuse for people to get drunk. It was in this tiny gross room and there were no tables or chairs or anything. There were so many people there too. We kind of just had to fight our way through crowds of people hanging around tasting all this different food. I must admit the food was amazing though. My favourite was the sushi, and this yummy bulgarian kind of bread with ricotta in it, and this yummy bread with blue cheese dip.

Tonight (sat night) Rosy and i had originally planned to go to the movies. But it didnt end up happening because our choices clashed, and the movies are really expensive here so neither of us really wanted to pay to see a movie we only half wanted to watch. We ended up watching a dvd here instead that my flatmate had. ICE AGE. its fantastic. i was laughing the whole way through it. I was in need of a good hearty laugh too. haha, and what i found more amusing is that it had snowed during the movie so Rosy got a big surprise when she was biking home...

Ah snow..stupid white stuff, why wont you go away?

A pretty Exciting week

As the title says, Ive had a pretty exciting week. Ill fill you in on the exciting highlights.

For starters, the sun came out this week. (photo - first glimpse of sun)

Ive connected Up skype on my computer. That was exciting.It was such a great move, now i can talk to Mum and dad in New Zealand and Ruben in Japan for free! Im suprised that not many people are using it. Come on its free for starters, and it means you can acutally talk to people instead of having to type on silly MSN. Ive used it alot lately, not that im totally rejecting the telephone in my room. Thats good for calling no skypers. And i found this telediscount thing thats real cheap. I called Chris last week in NZ for 5eurocents per min, and Jane in australia for 2eurocents per minute. It was so good talking to them, made me pretty homesick of course.

Ive been surfing the net alot this week for flights and stuff, and sussing out where i want to travel to and stuff while im studying and also when i have free time in June to travel. I have some pretty fun adventures penned into my diary now. In a few weekends time im going to Switzerland for a long weekend to see my brother and hit the slopes. Two weekends after that im going to Germany to see a friend who was an exchange student when i was at highschool. I have also booked flights to italy and to london in the first week of May with Rosy. Its going to be so so so so fun, The thought of travelling makes me so excited! I talked to my parents the other night and they are letting me tag along with them in June. I imagine i will go to England for a start, and then explore France and Spain with them before i head back to NZ. Also exciting, is that Sarah Carey is going to come and stay with me in Utrecht in May. Its going to be so fun to show her the sights in Holland, and it will be alot warmer and the tulips will be out. Also we shall be celebrating her birthday.

Also in relation to travel, i found out that my friend Steve from Australia is planning to come to New Zealand for about three weeks in either July or September. I met Steve in Thailand two years ago and havent seen him since then. But we remained pretty good friends so its going to be so exciting to finally see him again. Something to look forward to when i get back to NZ. Also i think that Jane and Ruth are going to be in NZ too, so that will be super cool.

Im getting pretty underway with schoolwork so im alot more relaxed about everything there. Ive done alot of drawing, and conceptual thinking, so i imagine that next week ill be ready to start actually sussing the printmaking facilities and start producing some actual prints.

Shopping day on Friday was exciting of course. I explored the markets and the shops hunting down something to send Trudy for her birthday. Shes turning 21 which is a pretty big occasion, so i thought i better go out of the way and do something nice for her. I ended up getting her these cool sleeve things (from H&M..my fave shop) and this cool leather cuff from the market. I hope she likes it and is stoked because it was an absolute mission to post it. I had to line up at the post office for more than half an hour. 1o minutes...then i realised that i was in the wrong line..then about half an hour in the right line. Shes having her 21st the following weekend which im guttered ill be missing.

Saturday night Rosy and I missioned to Crossroads for a service called 'Godspace'. We actually got there on time which was pretty exciting. The service was focused on worship and prayer, and the sermon was based around 'Faith, Hope and Love'. It was just so awesome, i absolutely loved worshipping and praying and spending some good quality time with my creator. Im really beginning to like Crossroads. The worship is great, because the sound is really good and they play really varied music..which is a nice change from the same ol Hillsongs at Apostolic. And i find the sermons simple but effective and really challenging.

So theres the exciting highlights of my week. Hope you had as much fun reading about them as i did writing about them.

Miffy comes to town

Miffy. the cute little bunny that everyone loves, and that i myself adored when i was a child. Miffy goes to school, miffy goes to hospital...you name it, Miffy has probably done it.

When i found out about the Dick Brauna Exhibition was on in Utrecht i was very very very excited! Rosy and I went along on saturday to have a look. It was pretty busy so we had a quick look around, and then went to explore the rest of the Utrecht central museum. After church on sunday i went back to the Exhibition to have a closer look and take some photos and stuff. Dick Brauna is probably one of the most succesful dutch graphic artists, along with MC Escher i reckon. I just love his creations. They are just so so so so simple its insane.I had a look around in the shop, and brought a Tshirt. It was pretty pricey but i just couldnt resist. Here are a few photos from the Exhibition. My favourite room was the one where all the Miffy books, all in different languages covered the walls

'The week'

I am gradually settling into life and study in Utrecht. This was officially my first week of school so at the beginning i was pretty pumped to get right into schoolwork. But typical me, i caught myself the flu so was feeling pretty average and i managed to stress myself out within about two days. I just always seem to have this problem at the beginning of every school year where i worry about concepts to explore during the year. You see i usually have no ideas...or i have two many ideas and dont know where to start. And then theres the whole fact that the Art school here seems to have no structure and no organisational skills. They are just giving me so much freedom and im not sure how to handle it quite yet. I would consider myself a structuralist...i need structure! agghh! am i just expected to go with the flo?

i also got myself pretty depressed. A combination of crap weather and sickness and loneliness and just generally was pretty stumped on the whole idea of the purpose of life. Just one of those things i guess...when you suddenly feel you dont know what youre living for, dont know if youre doing the right thing, dont feel like you have any dreams or ambitions to work towards. I felt in a pretty poo place actually. Ive been feeling really homesick too which hasnt really helped.

On tuesday night Rosy and I went out to Club Storm for Valentines evening. Club Storm i think is the uni bar, the equivilent of Refuel in Dunedin i guess. It was actually pretty average. There was an overload of girls and hardly any guys. So we just chatted and had a wee boogie on the dance floor but the music was really average. Alot of that techno crap that neither of us are really into. So we left early and went to find somewhere else to hang. We went and had a drink at this bar called 'Stairway to Heaven'. Its the rockers dream, i think Rosy was at home there cos shes real into her rock. Anyway we had a real good chat just about school and life in general and she really challenged me with some good questions and gave me some pretty good advice about stuff i have been struggling with. Shes a pretty cool chick. (photo- self take at Club Storm)

What i love about God is that he can change your life around in a matter of days. I went home that night feeling so inspired. I love how god puts you in contact with the right people and uses them to speak to you. I decided to do a massive brainstorm just about everything. About school, and about life in general. What im thinking about and what i want out of life, things im interested in and things that get me excited, things that id like to achieve and dreams i have for the future. stuff like that. And i offered it all up to my creator. I have found such a freedom in that. and since then i have felt free for the first time in a long time. I feel like a new person now, and im so excited about my time here in Utrecht and what it has in store. I just know God is going to use it to grow me and i expect to come back a changed person. Each day that i offer up to god is just going to get better and better i reckon. Im pretty excited about it. I am definetly aware that there will be frustrations and i have already experienced many this week, but all of a sudden i am just at a peace about it and im learning that each moment is its own. I know that god can guide me through anything.

Amsterdam lives up to its stereotypes

The weekend of the 11th&12th Feburary, Rosy and I were part of a trip organised by ESN (Erasmus network) to explore amsterdam for the day. Boy was this an experience.

Everyone met at the Central Train station at 9am to buy our tickets. Boy are train tickets expensive. Its 11euro to get to Amsterdam and back (thats like around NZ$20..to travel for 20mins. Rip off!). Apparently you can get a discount card for 55euro and then you can get a 40% discount everytime you travel. We thought about getting one, but then worked out that we wouldnt be travelling enough to save any money on it. There were about 60 or 70 students so we got split into groups.

Our first stop was the Ajax (ah-yaks) soccer stadium, just outside of Amsterdam. The dutch are really keen on their soccer and apparently the Ajax team is pretty succesful with alot of fans. We had a tour guide who was pretty amusing. He toured us around the stadium..and explained everything there was to know about it. We even made it into the press room, and into the control room (we werent allowed to play with the buttons which was sad) and even into the Royal terrace where really important people like the Queen of Holland get to go. The stadium is really really big and has really really green grass. If only i was more interested in soccer. I think the highlight of my time there was just being able to amuse myself and Rosy with the fact that Ajax is a cleaning agent in New Zealand. hehe. (photos - Rosy and I in the pressroom, panoramic of the stadium)

Our next stop was Amsterdam city centre. Its a jam packed city, full of business. We went to an irish pub for lunch (what is it with me and irish pubs) and then we went for a walk through the red light district. Half of us didnt even know we were in the red light district until we happened to glance sideways into a shop window..and HELLO theres a prostitute. We actually headed towards the Amsterdam Sex Museum. Now this was a bit of an issue for Rosy and I and we werent too excited about it. But alot of people apparently were because there was a pretty big line. But we decided that God called us to be light in the dark, and so we thought perhaps it was a good idea to learn the history and see how these people live. Personally, i was really shocked by everything. It was the most sick, perverse thing that i have ever experienced and i dont actually wish to discuss it much. It just makes me really sad to learn that prostitution has been going on here for a long long long time and it seems that the dutch are really proud of it. Rosy and I lasted about 10 minutes and then went to explore a bit of the city. (photo - a mainstreet in amsterdam)

The souvineir shops were pretty interesting. I think the oddest thing about them is that they freely sell weed...in all forms and varieties. We had some fun trying on some wooly hats though. We continued our walk through town, and were suddenly alarmed by the sound of a bang and some people running down the street with black cloth over their mouths and holding green flags and soon after some police arrived on their motorbikes. A bomb was our first thought...can you blame us with all thats been going on lately? We asked some people later though, and they said that it was just a wee demonstration to do with some cartoons that had been published in Denmark.

Next we had a tour around the Jordaan, the oldest part of Amsterdam. It really is a beautiful area,lots of cute houses and canals.We had a tour guide who was full of interesting information about it, but for some reason i found it really boring. I think the problem was that it turned really really cold, and i wasnt really in the mood. I think the most interesting part of the tour was learning about why so many houses are on a lean there. It is so when goods came on boats, people could hoist them up on a rope without them hitting the buildings. (photo - leaning houses in the jordaan)

We then took the metro to an Italian restaraunt where the 60+ exchange students had dinner. Then afterwards Rosy and I headed to our hostel for the night. We passed the famous Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum on the way and decided we would go there the next day.I have never stayed in a hostel before so this was an interesting experience. It was really a really nice one and there was a pretty mean buffet breakfast. (photo - selftake..me and rosy exploring amsterdam at night)

In the morning Rosy and I got up pretty early and went to explore both the Riksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. The rijksmuseum is a huge huge building!We brought ourselves a museumkaart which was a pretty good deal. 17euro and it allows you into any museum in holland for free. These museums were an amazing experience. It was so cool to actually see the masterpieces of famous artists like Rembrant and Vermeer and Van gogh in real life, rather than just seeing them as pictures in a book. I must admit i wasnt really inspired by the Rijksmuseum. Dont get me wrong, most of the paintings are very amazing and very realistic, but its just not my style. I was more impressed with the Van Gogh Museum. I amjust absolutely amazed by his work and his life. (photo - The rijksmuseum at night)

Rosy and i then missioned our way to Crossroads church in Amstelveen. It is an international church that we had both seen on the internet and thought would be cool to go to. We arrived late though, because we got lost trying to find the metro, and then the metro was a pretty long ride. From what we experienced in the service though it seems like a pretty good church, with a really good worship band which is quite important to me. It will be quite a mission to get here every week from Utrecht i think, but i imagine that becoming part of a church while im here will be worthwhile, so ill do whatever i can to be in the house of God because hes worth it.

Intoduction to the HKU

It was so fun to finally have my introduction to the Utrecht School of the Arts. The School of Art is part of the HKU (ha-ka-you). At first i was really stoked because i thought that i lived so close to the school, because i had been given an address that was right in the city centre. But when i turned up to get registered i found out that the Art School is actually on the otherside of town, and that it is just the offices that are in town. So was a little bit guttered.

On the tuesday we had a meeting for all the exchange students, and an introduction to the Erasmus network, a network that provides many activities for international students. It was great to see Rosy and Aliki, the two other exchange students from Dunedin, and it was fun to meet other people from around the world who are to study in Utrecht.

We went on a tour around town, and the Erasmus people pointed out helpful things like good cheap places to eat and places to buy cheap bikes and stuff. Our first stop was the Dom tower. The Dom is the tallest church tower in Utrecht, and from the top you are meant to be able to see beyond Utrecht. But this was a cloudy day so our vision was cut off by low clouds. It is a long way to the top...like 400 narrow, windy steps to the top. Its really good exercise. We had this guy give us a tour, we stopped on each different level and he explained what each room was used for. My favourite room was the one with the bells. There are these huge huge church bells! Every day they ring and you can hear these tunes across the city. But we learnt the secret that it is not actually the bells that ring..but a giant music box. And sometimes the music box gets stuck and doesnt work. It didnt happen to work the day we went up the tower. It was really cold up the top of the tower, but the view was pretty cool...its a long way down to the bottom! (photos - The huge bells, Rosy at the top, Panoramic view of Utrecht)



After the Dom Tower, we all went to this pub for a free drink and a few bits of cheese. It was nice to warm up. Aliki, Rosy and I decided to go out for dinner. It took us a while to find somewhere to eat though that was within our student budgets. We wandered the streets for ages and then came across this nice Greek restaraunt right next to the canal. Aliki is greek so she turned on her greek charm and we scored the best greek meal ever for a pretty good price. I was loving it, because greek and other kind of middle eastern food is my absolute favourite!

My next appointment was on the Thursday, an introduction to the School of the Arts. I didnt really have a really good first impression of the school because i arrived half an hour late. It was a mission to find, and its about a half hour bike ride from my flat. I think i missed out on alot of relevant information, all i got was a quick tour of the IBB (what we call this part of the art school). I was most interested in the printmaking facilities, the computer room, and was most fascinated that they have a bookmaking department. I'd be pretty keen to learn how to make a book. We had a little time where we introduced ourselves to each other too. It was cool to hear where everyone came from. It seems everyone is in little groups. Three of us from NZ, about three from Ireland, about three from Leeds, about three from America. I think the only exceptions are a girl from Prague, and a girl from Bulgaria. Everyone seems really cool.

In the afternoon we had another meeting. This side on the complete other side of town at the 'Tractieweg' studios. About a 40minute bicycle ride. This building is where all the studios for third years are apparently. It seems a bit silly though that they would have studios on the complete otherside of town to the rest of the art school. I imagine it will be a bit awkward for me. It would be alot more convienient for me to have a studio at the IBB where the printmaking studio is. I'll have to suss that one out. We had a tour around the studio and a bit of an introduction to the year. A few lecturers introduced themselves to us. I expected to be given some sort of course outline but no. It seems that we basically just do our own thing, and tutors are available about one day a week to talk to if needed. There are no classes apart from a theory lecture every thursday from 5pm-7pm (awkward timing). We had our first lecture there and then. And i must admit it was very interesting. I usually hate art theory, but i must admit i got more out of this one lecture than i did out of any of the ones from second year. I think its maybe because these are more discussions than lectures, and its interesting to hear about students different opinions on different things. So school officially starts on monday. I expect this is going to be a very interesting semester.

A weekend in Leiderdorp

During my first weekend in Utrecht, My Aunty Hannie and Uncle Froggy (Hans) got a hold of me. It was so great to hear from them, they are the family that i probably know the most, as they came for a trip to New Zealand to visit with their children when i was younger. Hannie is my mothers eldest sister and i think shes great. Uncle Froggy is cool too. Hes so funny, one of those talkative types who is just so full of energy and information.

They came to visit my room and have a cup of tea, and asked me if i wanted to come and stay the night at their house in Leiderdorp. So i said yes, why not? Its not like i had anything planned for my weekend in Utrecht. Its not far from Utrecht to Leiderdorp..perhaps 20mins by car. In fact its not far to anywhere in Holland! The trip there was very nice, i liked looking at all the pretty trees with ice on them, and also the car seats were those ones that heat up. So i had a very comfortable ride.

Their house in Leiderdorp is very beautiful and perhaps the most modern i have seen of all my family. They have done alot of travelling in their life, so their house is filled with all sorts of objects from their travels. They also have the biggest garden i have seen so far. I had a very interesting evening there. Uncle froggy talked to me about alot of things. About the Leiderdorp area...about their travels... about what he likes to do in his spare time (muck around with computers)...about his work before he retired(something to do with oil)..about his heart condition, about his vegetable garden which got taken away from him because the council wanted to develop...about his iceskating...and he inspired me about places that i should travel to. He showed me many books on Norway and on Spain and on many artists which got me really inspired. I also looked at many photos..of their visit to New Zealand when i was younger, and also some of his vegetable garden that is no longer. So really i had a funfilled evening. Dinner was great too. Hannie and I went for a bicycle ride into town and ordered some Chinese which was really delicious. Hans and Hannie are really into their biking, they have the swishest bikes that i have seen so far.

The next morning uncle Froggy took me on a tour around Leiderdorp. He showed me the ice skating rink (now just a pond cos its not cold enough), he also showed me where his vegetable garden was and i saw all the developments that were going on. Really its very sad, and i do feel sympathy. From the photos i saw that there was a little community of vegetable gardens, belonging to people who got a lot of happiness and joy out of them. But what i witnessed was a whole lot of dirt and bulldozers , a windmill being demolished and a model 'town house'. So what theyre doing is developing a new housing area...like they do everywhere in New Zealand. Pathetic. We also went for a long walk down this bicycle path which was really pleasant. It was just what i needed, a nice walk in the cool fresh air. We walked until we came to the first windmill and then walked back. And he pointed out all the interesting things in the distance..for example the ventilation shoots for the underground tunnel to Paris. I actually walked over that tunnel. (photo - me at the turning point)



We had lunch and then Hannie and I took the train back to Utrecht. She taught me how to get a ticket from the machine which was a good idea. It was a slow trip back, but i really enjoy trains. I love looking out the window at all the scenery. When we got back to Utrecht, Hannie took me out for a drink at a cafe and i got to experience the famous 'appelbal' (apple ball). It was delicious. An entire cooked apple covered in a sweet sugary batter. I could not finish it though.

I returned to my flat, and Hannie returned to Leiderdorp by train.

A marvellous weekend

Welcome to Utrecht - The city of drearyness, shopping and Killer Bicycles

Utrecht. Not the most exciting place in the world, but i must admit its pleasant in its own way. Ive done as much exploring as the weather allows, which isnt a hang of a lot because the weather is so dreary. Honestly the weather absolutely sucks, ive only seen the sun about five times in the month that ive been in Holland..and every time the sun comes out it does not last very long, and is soon followed by rain or hail or snow or some cold substance falling from the sky. Its so depressing, i really do put all my hope into a glimpse of sunshine, sun makes everything better.

In my first week i was here i explored the city centre. Hannah left a map for me, so i found my way into the centre pretty easily. The maps are really stupid though..they are really big and make everything look like its really far away when really its not. I think its because Holland is such a small country..they try and make everything look bigger when its not. The city centre is amazing! Its basically just shops and the odd restaraunt. But its really beautiful because there are canals everywhere and there are shops and restaraunts along the canals. There are so many shops and so many people in town. People just love to shop here and i see why, people dont need to actually buy anything, but you can waste hours and hours just window shopping.

My first time in town i explored the Hoog Catherine which is the biggest mall i have ever seen. It puts Northlands in Christchurch to shame. in fact, i think it might even be the largest shopping mall in europe..i think i read that somewhere. It is like five malls in one, and i totally got lost in there because i had no idea where to go to find things. I dont so much like the mall though, i prefer to shop along the canal, which basically has the same shops as in the mall anyway. In fact some shops repeat themselves alot, its very confusing. My favourite shop would have to be H&M, which is a really cool department store kind of like glassons but way bigger. There are 3 H&Ms within about 200m, one in the mall and two along the canal. Isnt that ridiculous? There are also markets in town on a monday, friday and saturday which i love to go and look at. It is really good for buying fresh good like fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese etc. And one of my favourite stalls is where you can buy a bag of stroopwafel offcuts for 50c! theyre soooo good. Ive discovered its best to shop during the week because its quieter. Ive banned myself from shopping on a saturday because its just ridicolous, its so crowded and you can move anywhere and i get easily stressed out with lots of people. Ive also decided to put aside just one full day a week to go shopping. I think thats a better idea than going shopping at random times. Its just that it takes me a long time because im such an indesisive shopper and i want to get the best deals. But its harder here cos im constantly trying to compare prices to New Zealand, which is silly. I think i need to stop that. My shopping day is friday. I go to the supermarket often as well. The food is so cheap here which is great because im cooking for myself, and thats always more expensive. My favourite supermarket is the ALDI (because its the cheapest) and the Albert Heijn (because it is so close). There is so much good food here like lots of rich food and pastries and stuff like that, but im trying to eat healthy.
You really need a bike in Utrecht to get around. Everybody here has a bike, like the whole entire population of Holland. They are everywhere, i see more bikes than i do cars! Bicycles are high in the transport chain...they seem to have priority over cars and pedestrians. They have their own bicycle baths and traffic lights!My uncle found me a bicycle for 50euro which i thought was a bit of a rip off, but hey i need a bike. The bikes here are nothing like the bikes in New Zealand, these bikes are not made for any offroad surfaces..purely for getting around the streets. It took me a while to get used to riding my bike, but im a bit of a pro now. Its a good workout too, you need to work really hard if you want to go fast. My bike is an odd piece of work..complete with no gears, a pedal brake, a light which works by a cog that turns when the wheel turns..powered by the friction)...it has a round seat (unusual..but apparently its a ladies seat) and most importantly a bell. I think the bell is the most important thing on the bicycle, you need to use it if you want to overtake slow bikers (i dont attempt that too much..im one of the slow bikers). Everyone here gets bike rage because everyone is so impatient and want to get places fast. I get most most pissed off at those who dont like to use their bell...and they come out of nowhere and overtake you at high speeds. Its dangerous..even more dangerous if youre a pedestrian..if you see a bicycle you need to stay well clear of them. Im really suprised you dont have to wear helmets though. I nearly got killed one day because of an angry biker. I was biking down the Oudegracht (the main shopping street) and swerved to miss some pedestrians and all of a sudden a girl crashed into my back because she was trying to overtake me and hadnt used her bell!!! i was so angry. It was also a saturday..so this was another contribution to my ban of saturday shopping. (Photo - my cool bike)

Jacob Van der Borchstraat 17

I thought that my flat here deserved a blog all for itself because im really so stoked with it and how everything has turned out so well.

My first night in the flat was pretty cool. I had fun unpacking all my stuff and putting everything in its place and exploring all the nooks and crannys and ways of how the flat operates. I think my favourite thing about it is that it has central heating which you can adjust the temperature all the time, i always put it up really high cos i like to be nice and toasty cos its so cold outside. The flat is in a pretty good location i think. Its about 100metres from the supermarket and its about a 10minute bike ride into the city centre which is pretty sweet. (Photo-view from the street)

So my address is Jacob van der Borchstraat 17 (pronounced Yacob van der Borkkk-straat sayvan teen). I say it in such a kiwi way though. And its kind of odd getting used to the way that they say the number after the street. Oh the funny ways of the dutch. My flat is three stories high, like most flats here. On the ground floor is my room, and Diannes Room. I have met Dianne a few times, she is very lovely but is not here very often. She spends alot of time with her parents and also her boyfriend, and i think that she is moving out soon. Hopefully the new girl who moves in will spend a bit more time here. There is also a kitchen on the ground floor next to my room which i think is the absolute coolest. Its really small and cosy so no room for a table or anything, so i eat in my room. The only dumb thing about the kitchen is that there is no microwave or toaster...so i have to do everything in the oven. Its just not the same. I miss microwaves so much! There is also no electric kettle so i have to boil water on the stove. Thank goodness the kettle has a whistle though..so many times ive forgotten that im boiling water.

Climbing up the steep step stairs to the second floor. The stairs are so steep ay its really amazing. They actually have handrails that MUST be used otherwise you get canned and are garanteed to fall down the stairs. I thought i was tough and didnt need the handrail..but sure enough i was sent tumbling down the stairs. So ive learnt my lesson. Anway, on the second floor are two bedrooms. One is Nienke who i havent met yet (shes currently in NZ coming back in april), the other is Jelmer (such a typical dutch name..pronounced Yelmer of course). I have only met him once the other day. He too is not here often, he lives somewhere in town with a friend and only uses this room when he wants time out i think. But he is lovely. He works at the musiekcentrum called the Vredenberg (sort of a concert hall) where he does promotional/marketing stuff. He promoted it pretty well to me cos he said if i ever wanted to go watch something then to let him know and he would put me on the guest list! HOOKUP!There is also a storage room and a bathroom/laundry on the second floor. I really rate the shower, it is really hot and has really good pressure.

Climb another set of steep stairs up to the attic and you will find Rob's room. He is all set up there so not often does he have the need to come down, except to maybe collect his mail. But he is the flatmate i have probably seen the most of, and hear the most off. He likes to make trumpet noises whilst running up and down the stairs. Rob works for a film company doing website design stuff. So my flatmates are cool and all, but they are not often here so i find that i spent alot of time by myself in my room.

My room is flippin awesome, im just really stoked with it. Hannah has left most of her stuff here so i have heaps to keep me entertained. The room is quite spacious and furnished with a single bed, a large shelf where i can put my belongings, a wardrobe, a really comfortable fold out couch, a piano, a tv, dvd and video player, stereo and a table where i place my computer. Cor hooked me up with a sweet computer. I have become a real computer geek because i like to make use of the free broadband internet!yeah! So its great, i have lots of things to keep me entertained here. (Photo - my room..a bit messy)

My room has a backdoor out to what the dutch call a 'garden'. I wouldnt call it a garden at all...its more like a concrete courtyard/dumpyard at the moment. But i think thats maybe because its winter. Hopefully when the sun comes out maybe i can tidy it up a little bit and it would be nice to sit outside. If the sun ever comes out. (Photo - the 'garden')