My First International, International Trip

It was a whirlwind weekend across a much smaller pond, but before I launch into that, I have a little unfinished business from last week to catch you all up on. I had two more presentations to give, and after the first one a few weeks ago (the one we don’t talk about), I was understandably nervous. The presentation for Transformation of Contemporary Europe could have been better, but no one really takes that seminar seriously, so I’m not going to stress about it.

I feel funny/arrogant/silly using this blog to brag, and I apologize in advance, but I don't feel bad enough to not do it all the same. While the other presentation was mediocre at best, my presentation for 1916: The Somme, my WWI class, went extremely well. There's a sentence I never thought I'd write. My task was to argue the extremist position that the war had no positive political consequences. I took my tutor at his word and came up with outrageous arguments linking the war to the collapse of the Liberal Party, the rise of Nazism, the Holocaust, WWII, the Cold War, death and destruction, and essentially the downfall of civilization as we know it. It was a much easier presentation to give than any of the others because in some sense, I was acting and playing a ridiculous character. Halfway through the presentation, the entire class (even the opposing side) was laughing, as they were meant to. I probably should not have cracked up myself in the middle of it, but besides that, it was a success. Afterwards, I was e-mailing with a classmate who is organizing a class trip, and they wrote back “well spoken today during your presentation. I was very impressed at your argument” and “you have set the bar high so we will do well to be as convincing.” :D

In general, this class is in contention for my favorite (still not "favourite") of the semester. The lectures are fine, but the seminar portion is one of the best I've taken at either school. It's not simply a repetition of lecture information, nor is it 100% discussion, which so often results in long, awkward silences. There are small-group activities, in addition to full-class discussions, and they're actually fun and interesting, which is a very difficult balance to obtain. Future teachers, take note.

This next piece of news is more depressing than exciting if you think about it, but I’m happy anyway. After five weeks of complaints, I finally found the right person to contact, and my building manager sent someone to deal with my roommate, the black mold. It’s unclear to me what exactly was done, but I can’t see it anymore, and they at least did a little something more than slap some paint over it. Problem (more or less) solved.

As much as we all enjoy reading about the intricacies of black mold, let’s move onto more fun topics. I left campus on Thursday afternoon, and my train from Brighton to Gatwick airport was almost delayed by thirty minutes. It ended up being only three minutes late, but there goes my faith in British transportation. Still, I arrived at the airport in plenty of time, enough in fact to take the earlier flight. It’s too bad easyJet doesn’t have standby lists…But I amused myself by reading and eating chocolate, so it was all good. easyJet is by far the most peculiar airline I’ve ever flown. They don’t announce what gate a flight is departing from until thirty to forty minutes before departure, and the gate technically closes exactly thirty minutes before takeoff. Consequently, as soon as the gate number appears on the board, there’s a huge rush of people streaming to the gate, all jostling for a good position in the queue since they have an open seating policy. It’s not exactly how I would run an airline.

By accident, I was hanging around the right area and ended up in the front of the line, so I had my choice of seats. The flight from Gatwick to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport was very easy and almost identical to a Chicago-St. Louis flight. Customs was a joke, and Gwen, my old friend, fabulous hostess and knowledgeable tour guide, was waiting for me right past the sliding glass doors, although I ruined our touching reunion moment by exiting through the wrong doors.

We took a twenty-minute train ride to her house in Utrecht, a nearby Dutch city. I couldn’t see much of anything, but I was excited to discover double decker trains. Europeans really know how to get around. Before I knew it, we were there, and I felt very much at home in Gwen’s cozy and pink room.

It was a little late to start sightseeing, but it was the perfect time for culinary exploration, and I fell in love with stroopwafel (literally, syrup waffle), a yummy Dutch treat that needs to get on the first plane back to America. A generous amount of gooey, buttery, caramel goodness (the syrup part) is squished between two thin, cookie wafers (the waffle part), which results in pure bliss with every bite.

The next day, we woke up early (for students anyway) and took a bus and train to the city centre of Rotterdam, nearby where Gwen grew up. (Everything is really close together in the Netherlands, at least by American standards.) Our first stop was the Kunsthal, a museum where Gwen used to work. It’s unusual in that it doesn’t have any permanent exhibits, but I suppose that’s why people keep coming back.

We saw the “Made in Holland” exhibit, featuring all sorts of Dutch inventions, including windmills, obviously, some type of videogame, indoor plumbing, and basically everything since sliced bread. There was a very enlightening display about Syrian lingerie, which is apparently the only way for a woman to keep her husband from finding a younger and prettier second (or third) wife. We looked at miniature cars after that, and then an awesome exhibit showcasing a huge number of paintings that are normally stored at another museum, whose warehouse is under construction. Rather than simply hanging the art, the Kunsthal created an exhibit about how art is stored, so parts of the collection were randomly placed with other paintings behind fence-like constructions, and there was no distinction between 15th century masterpieces and modern “art” (and we all know how I feel about modern art). A disturbing collection of “Skin and Hair” sculptures were next, and we ended our visit at the Kunsthal with a collection of photographs taken in Istanbul.

Our next stop was the Euromast, Rotterdam’s version of Seattle’s Space Needle. The very top floor was closed, but we took the lift to one of the upper floors and took as many pictures on the deck as we could before our fingers went numb. Then, we had lunch at the Euromast’s café, surrounded by the gorgeous view. Rotterdam is the most modern-looking city in the Netherlands because huge parts of it were rebuilt after it was bombed during WWII. It’s the only Dutch city with skyscrapers, and the tallest building in the country is located there.

At this point, I have an important announcement to make: I like tea! It took twenty years, five weeks in England and a weekend in the Netherlands, but I now appreciate flavored hot water and will consume it of my own free will. I had some sort of a spicy blend at lunch, and paired with an egg and cheese sandwich, it was one of the highlights of the trip. (Weak pun completely intended.)

We decided to have a leisurely afternoon and slowly meandered towards the city centre. It was very chilly but sunny, which I am told is almost as rare there as it is in England, so I guess the weather cooperated. I beg to disagree with all of those people who told me that Europe has no American-style shopping malls. What else am I supposed to call the huge collection of stores located within a one-block radius in the “shopping gutter?” I’m pleased to report that I bought my first fun purchase since I’ve been here, a new shirt from Zara, an affordable Spanish store somewhat similar to Gap.

We took a train into the suburbs of Rotterdam, where Gwen’s family lives. I met her parents and her brother, all of whom were so nice and welcoming. Her dad outdid himself and cooked five delicious Indonesian dishes; I haven’t been so stuffed in ages! In an attempt to make up for lost time, I drank more tea after dinner. I know some of you reading this will be very proud of me. The dinnertime conversation reminded me of meals with my family, and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

The next morning, we took a bus to the centre of Utrecht and walked around for a bit. It’s a really neat and old city, dating back to Roman times. Many of the buildings are either over a hundred years old or look it, and I couldn’t get enough of the lovely canals that seem to be everywhere. It’s a very dense, walkable city, and at the center is the Dom Tower, the oldest church tower in the country. It’s very tall and very Gothic. We didn’t go inside, but you can see the tower from almost any point in the city, and I heard the bells ring a handful of times throughout the day.

We walked to the Centraal Museum, and the first thing we saw was an old Viking (?) ship from 900 A.D. I was instantly grateful that warm, enclosed airplanes are the preferred means of travel these days, even if they’re a major hassle. The next exhibit was all about a particular fashion designer, and I don’t pretend to understand any of it, but it was fun to look at. For something a little different, we moved onto Dutch Italianists, 17th century artists who were inspired by Italian art. Next up was a huge and peculiar display linking art and social issues. It required too much thinking for a Saturday morning, and I happily moved into another room to look at ancient Roman artifacts found in Utrecht.

It was then time to go meet Chris, another friend I knew while he was an exchange student at Wash. U. during my freshman year. It was great for all of us to be reunited, and I drank more tea. I’m not sure which of those statements is the most important one…

After lunch, Gwen and I went to the University College Utrecht campus, where she was an undergrad. It’s unique since it’s the Netherland’s only college campus, and even though it’s significantly smaller, it reminded me of Wash. U. Little did I know just how much Wash. U. was in store for me that afternoon.

We walked through a beautiful park that Gwen assures me is an excellent place to picnic in the summer, and then we had a lovely afternoon tea (!) with Rachel, a friend from Wash. U., in a café (not a coffeehouse, for those of you that know the difference). And then, because we are Wash. U. students, Rachel and I took the obligatory picture with “The Bunny.” There’s a notorious statue of an anorexic bunny thinking deep thoughts on Wash. U.’s campus, and as I discovered, there are eight or so identical sculptures all over the world. One of them just happens to be in Utrecht, so I saw another familiar, if unexpected, face.

On our way home, Gwen and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up supplies for dinner, and I was surprised to learn that big, American supermarket chains are something of a foreign concept there. She explained that most people don’t drive to the store and aren’t accustomed to doing a month’s worth of shopping at once. Instead, they usually walk or bike with their bags home, so it’s just not practical to buy an XXL bag of chips or the value size package of toilet paper rolls that wouldn’t fit in the backseat of a car anyway. Neighborhood grocery stores are the norm, and although I would not be able to buy a year’s worth of peanut butter, I would be able to find smaller packages of chocolate spreads. You may remember that chocolate spreads are my new favorite food, and in the Netherlands there was white chocolate spread, dark chocolate spread, more nutella flavors, and combinations thereof. I was briefly in heaven, and next time I visit, I’m bringing a suitcase and filling it with chocolate spreads to bring back.

If I had any doubts, I knew I was in the right country that night when we made pancakes for dinner. I have been having pancakes for dinner my whole life, and while they’re good at breakfast, dinner is the way to go. I was delighted to discover that the Dutch are creative when it comes to pancake toppings and have options far beyond traditional syrup. We had apples, bananas, chocolate sprinkles, and just for emphasis, let me repeat, chocolate sprinkles. It was a very nutritious dinner. I had to be an American at one point and tried a peanut butter and jelly pancake, which was just as good as I thought it would be.

For a nice conclusion to my trip, we had cocktails with two of Gwen’s friends, both of whom were really cool. I was excited to see an “AppleFunk Martini” on the drink menu, and with visions of JD’s signature “appletini” drink floating in my head, I wanted to try it. (For those of you that have never seen the best sitcom in the world, that was a Scrubs reference). So I ordered it, and that is the last time I let a fictional television character pick my drink. Still, I pretended to be mature while sipping my martini, and it was a fun night.

The next day, Gwen was kind enough to take me to the airport, and after a predictably long day of travel full of misadventures, I was back in good ol’ England. It was a fantastic trip, and I’m so lucky I had Gwen to show me around. Wikipedia is not exactly an ideal travel guidebook, and a there’s no substitute for a local. (And I swear I’m not just writing this because I know she’s reading! SO much fun, and I can’t wait to go back!)