I have been abroad for four months now, and have some nice red markers to show for it. (Note that I visited Romania, Bulgaria, and Istanbul in August 2012). Although many of my visits were too short or too infested with mosquitoes, I am glad I am getting to see so many amazing places. I can't wait to fill in many more red dots in the coming weeks and months.

I have booked my flight home. I leave this diverse and interesting part of the world on February 23rd from Dublin, Ireland. It will be a great final adventure before saying goodbye. 

The weather is definitely turning, and rapidly approaching a point I haven't experienced in California. My weekend in London two weeks ago encouraged my repressed desire for a better (and therefore expensive) winter jacket. Paris last weekend settled my internal dispute, and I knew that I would have to buy a new coat soon. I kept putting the task off because I don't know from which stores to buy a coat, neither how to determine the quality of a coat, and I feared spending an entire day uncomfortably wandering through the shopping areas in the city. Thankfully, I found a nice jacket in the second store I entered, and purchased it just a few hours before the storm hit Utrecht. 

I'm so close to getting snow, and it's so exciting! The hail and wind was pretty intense last night - so intense, in fact, that the wind blew my bedroom door shut while the window was closed. It was challenging to keep the apartment from freezing over with the wind howling through the windows. Today while shopping for gifts, I was happily caught in some very snow-like hail. The snow must be coming this month, and I'm so excited! I hope snow falls before I leave for Italy (but not so much as to delay my flight). I don't think the other Europeans will appreciate this wish, but as a Californian, it is very exciting!

A video has been spreading like wildfire across facebook of time lapse photographs of the UC Davis campus. It is beautifully composed and wonderful to watch. I would definitely recommend it! 

(Hint: if it is having trouble loading, make sure to turn off HD in the bottom right of the video)

Credit to Joseph Na and Joenagraphy.

I chose this image because it portrays the beautiful and interesting mix of the ancient with the contemporary in Athens (pictured is Hadrian's Arch and a street of the Plaka neighborhood). The entire city is both modern and classical. The Hellenistic identity is very much a part of the Athenian identity, and littered throughout the entire city are remnants of the country's vibrant history. Part of the Acropolis Museum included glass flooring so one could gape at the excavation of ancient Athens beneath your feet. The city constantly reminds you that there is this entire ancient world hidden beneath our modern existence.

I spent hours each day wandering along the streets in Athens. The streets felt like alleys because they wound around chaotically often changing direction. They weaved through ancient ruins and old churches that were surrounded by frolicking kittens and meandering tortoises. Watching tortoises wobble along the Acropolis and kittens jump around in the ancient Greek amphitheaters was a sight to see.


Below: the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an amphitheater on the Acropolis.

According to the BBC, Utrecht is #4 of the 5 happiest cities to live in! Check out the article here. 
(Note: the Utrecht section continues onto Page 3).

It goes without saying that a huge part of my study abroad experience is the "study" aspect. I am enrolled in two courses for the first half of the semester, and begin two new courses on November 11th. I wish I could say that my studies in the Netherlands are so different and interesting compared to attending a university in California. But I can't say that, because aside from a few small details it doesn't seem very different.
I have fewer hours of class and subjects to stress about because I take only two subjects at a time. This is a big fat pro in the pro list. 
There is also a huge improvement here in the quality of the discussion. UCD forces (usually) untalented TAs to run a discussion that they are neither interested in nor prepared to do. The professor manages everything in the class - there's no disorganized lack of communication between students, TAs and professors. At UCD, the professors and the TAs have different responsibilities in every single class dynamic, and honestly, it only takes away from the students' education. I've never felt a discussion section that hasn't been a waste of time because they are usually unorganized, unproductive, and irrelevant to the class subject. At UU, however, it's just students and professors, and the professors seem to take a very active role. In the discussion times, we actually discuss! Who knew! Sarcasm aside, the professor expects students to have come to class prepared with answers to reading questions (yes, I've actually had to do my reading assignments), and she/he actively engages students and [forces] a response from everyone. It can be very intimidating, but I feel like I learn a lot from this because 1) I was forced to actually do most of the reading so that I don't sound like the "dumb American" people expect me to be, and 2) it's so much easier to absorb the information when it's not said into a microphone one hundred feet away, but students are forced to listen and think critically (in the fear that you get called on to speak next).
Although it's difficult for me because I sometimes get nervous speaking up in class, generally it is a very useful environment to the study process. It's too bad UCD hasn't gotten it right.

I naturally rest in a state of uninspired neglect towards my blog. 
It's been a month since my last post, and my brother reminded me that these can be short and simple. 
To re-cap the past 3 weeks:
     I have begun my two classes for Block 1 of the semester. The classes are much smaller and more intimate than I am used to at UCD, and all the reading is required for study questions and in-class discussions -- my habit of complete nonreading is having a hard time coping, but so far I have not fallen behind (although I skimmed a few chapters...) 
     I received an amazing package from my boyfriend last week that has made a huge improvement to my life here -- sour punch straws, redvines, framed photos, and a keyring clip have successfully tied together the loose ends of my life abroad. I have also decorated my desk with a ton of postcards I bought in Amsterdam, further livening up my living space. 
     I visited my cousin and his girlfriend last weekend, which was great because I haven't seen him in years, and here we are meeting up in Nederland!
     In Utrecht is the largest fabric market of the Netherlands, so some friends and I went yesterday, and I bought 3m of fabric to give my loft bed a curtain. The size and beauty of the market was amazing, and I'm definitely going back!
     In other news, money here just disappears from my purse like I've never experienced before. I am done making big purchases, but still I spend a little money every single day, and it adds up fast, especially when in euros! The extreme money management and budgeting has begun. Sorry for those of you in California, but I'm done mailing you European candies...

I've been in Oslo since Friday at midnight, August 23rd. 

I had a great first day with my friends who could not have been more hospitable and kind this week. We took the train up a mountain which overlooks Oslo and enjoyed a nice hike to the new ski jump, where we climbed some very large stairs to the ski museum. The stairs are relevant to my state of mind and body at the time because a day earlier I climbed to the top of Dom Tower in Utrecht with my orientation group. Dom Tower is the tallest structure in Utrecht (no buildings are allowed to surpass it). And being a medieval church tower, it's stairs are steep, uneven, and extremely winding. All 465 of them. The hike was difficult in the least, while dizzying and nauseating at its worst. However, the view of the entirety of Utrecht was breathtaking (literally -- remember, I'm an asthmatic and it was 465 steep steps!) and all the more powerful because I was in such a historical, beautiful tower. Sidenote: apparently for Dutch students in Utrecht, you're not allowed to see the top of Dom Tower until graduation, because if you climb it before that, you won't graduate (or so the myth goes...). Anyway, that long side-note explains the complete disgust I felt for the stairs at the ski jump. Now, back to Norway...

After a long day out exploring the city, the three of us went to a pub to meet some of their friends and bandmates (whose music I adore, by the way!). Had a beer and chatted with a sweet Norwegian musicology student for about 3 hours comparing and contrasting our respective countries.

Now to skip to the part where I buy a 48-hour museum entrance pass and begin an exhausting adventure known as the Oslo edition of Museum Speed Dating. Here's a short recap:

1. Viking Ship Museum: Full size Viking ships and other historical pieces with intricate details and all-too-real damages.
2. The Norse Folk Museum: This one gets a longer blurb... It was simultaneously the coolest and the creepiest place, and far from what I expected. It was beautiful and interesting and full of great stuff, but it also gives you that feeling you would get at an abandoned amusement park moments before the zombie apocalypse hits. It was a large meadow and hillside which has been converted into an open-air museum. There are miniature villages which represent real villages in Norway, and are in fact made of authentic buildings transplanted in Bygdoy Island from their original locations. Cool, right? While exploring these aged villages, I was completely alone. I felt alone in all of Oslo as if this weird conglomerate of villages was a trap or an illusion. When I entered buildings the rooms would be perfectly furnished and on display, but abandoned. The museum exhibits were completely dark and filled with faceless dummies in old Norse clothing. It was eerie to be in a huge winding museum exhibit by myself, with faceless bodies everywhere and reflecting in the glass cases. In one little cottage house I entered, I wandered through to another room and actually jumped out of fright from the movement of another human being. It shocked me that much. In addition to the feeling of intruding on some past person's home (which seemed haunted in some way), there were a couple of Norwegian museum employees who were living props. An old woman knitting silently in a house while clothed in a traditional outfit. Or another washing in her kitchen. Just silently pretending. I felt so intrusive and out of place. Like everything around me wasn't true. The whole experience was surreal, and I wouldn't suggest that anyone miss it if they are in Norway.
3. The Kon-Tiki Museum: Not too much to say. I enjoyed reading about the Kon-Tiki voyage, but a large portion of the museum was devoted to the story of Rapa Nui, a story I already know very well as it is a common topic in Anthropology.
4. The Fram Museum: This one was very cool because the building was built around the Fram ship from the polar explorations. There were games, simulators, artifacts, and the actual ship to discover! It was really fun to climb aboard and go below deck to see exhibits within the bedrooms of the adventurers.
5. The Maritime Museum: I was getting tired of boats by this point, and the museum seemed to almost solely consist of small models of Norwegian ships. Sorry, Norway, but I kind of zoomed through this one.
6. The Nobel Peace Museum: Again, I was tired. I played around with the interactive aspects, for example pulling up the images and descriptions of particular people, but didn't stay for very long. (Sorry, Aunt Cindy!)
7. The Astrup Fearnly Museum: So I don't think I much care for modern art, at least compared to other art. I was constantly on edge in this museum because at least 70% of the pieces included artistic perceptions of human genitalia. Every turn I took made me a little more...uncomfortable. It's easy to say that I did not stay for long. 
And that concludes day 1 of my museum pass. 
8. Akershus Fortress: Impressive room sizes, wall tapestries, and everything else. What you would expect in a castle! I came to realize how many castles I have actually been in, as well, and noticed this one differed in its owners' vanity. The mausoleum was extravagant and the amount of portraits was over the top, but that's not uncommon for royalty.
9. Cultural History Museum: Full of fantastic artifacts and displays, ranging from the Vikings to ancient Greece to ancient Japan! I was, however, quite disappointed by the lack of English in this museum. I saw so many cool things, but I felt like I missed out on so much, like I didn't get to learn what I wanted to learn about each item. I left feeling like I lost the knowledge that comes with a good museum visit, as if I saw just beautiful, but empty objects. That is with one exception though -- the Native American exhibit! The size and beauty of the Hopi Katsina dolls (of which I have many from my grandmother) were astounding, not to mention the California Native American baskets! I guess since my internship at the UCD Archaeology Museum, I've really come to appreciate a beautiful Native American basket, although I have to admit I was confused as to why such an exhibit exists in the Oslo museum of cultural history...
10. The Munch Museum: Beautiful landscapes! Something I never before associated with Edvard Munch, a Norwegian painter most famously known for "The Scream". I could picture portraits, but not landscapes, of which I thoroughly enjoyed "The Sun" and "The Oak Tree". 

I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth with that museum pass...

I should never assume healthfulness, especially during times of travel. Of course not... This should be obvious to me by now, and I really ought to be better prepared.

It did not take long for my body to react to the new environment, time zone and eating habits, resulting in my first illness abroad approximately 5 days after arriving.

I thought a few cough drops and a good night's sleep will cure me, but of course not...

I awoke each day feeling worse and worse, causing me to see a doctor earlier this afternoon. The experience was interesting in comparison to a doctor appointment in California. The room I was seen in was a typical office, one in which you might see a banker or other businessman. The doctor sat me in a chair by his desk and I did not feel like a science experiment on display as one might in the average US medical room. His attitude was very welcoming and his English was great (as expected), although he had one funny slip-up when he asked me to pull up my "trousers" so that he may listen to my lungs. He of course meant shirt, and after taking various measurements, he sent me on my way with some prescriptions.

On the way out, I spoke with the man at reception for at least ten minutes. He's a med student about to finish his studies and has visited California three times in the past. He, like everyone else I have met, has only been extremely nice. People had told me that the Dutch are some of the nicest people in the world, and I am glad I can confirm.

Although I don't want to need to return to the doctor's, I will look forward (per se) to going back when I need to (and I will).

I suppose it is now officially the 5th day I have been in the land of orange (called such due to the country's loyalty to founding father Willem of Orange, the ancestor to the Dutch Royal Family).

The first two days were tough, but exhilarating. After suffering on an 11 hour flight at the hands, feet, and shouts of a family with many young children who maintained no understanding of common airplane etiquette, I made it to Amsterdam airport. 

After a night in the hostel, I met up with other UC students at the train station and we all went to our temporary housing. The UCU campus (I am attending UU and will be moving to the city center soon) is beautiful with it's greenery and brick buildings. It used to be a military barracks, but has the feel of a cheery boarding school.

The Dutch people I have talked to so far - mostly coffee servers and helpful civilians in grocery stores - are so kind and amicable. I can easily ask for help pronouncing a word or translating a menu into English, and I haven't had a bad experience yet. Our language class began this morning though, and unfortunately I do not have high hopes for my Dutch. Some of the sounds are so foreign to my normal and concise English consonants, but I look forward to integrating my language skills further. The Dutch have done it, and so will I! (94% of Dutch people can speak at least simple to moderate English).