Cycling fun.

Woo! First, an update. My flatmate Mariana arrived from Transylvania on Saturday night and we are getting along great. We are stationed at Gevleweg so we each have our own room with shared facilities like the kitchen and bathroom. I met the chaps next door yesterday and we’re off to watch the football tonight at a place called ‘Coco’s Outback’ in Rembrandtplein close to Rokin which is approximately twenty minutes bike ride from here.

The RA’s last night hosted an introduction party to welcome students to Gevleweg. RA’s are resident assistants and Dutch students who live in the buildings to keep an eye on things. In honesty, it was a pretty good party. There is a bar round the corner from the ‘Rochdale’(the student ship) called ‘Aan ‘tij’ which looks a little like a miniature ‘la monde’ inside with drinks, interesting glowing plant décor and a pool table. There’s even wireless internet inside. Importantly, they stock Cointreau and nachos. It was a great chance to mingle and meet the neighbours. I met seven different people from Mexico, Spain, America, Bulgaria, Chile, Peru, Germany and The Netherlands, several of which are now coming to a Pancake dinner we’re hosting on Friday.

Now to the bike! Thanks to the UVA, I am currently the proud owner of a small, blue bike nicknamed sonic. Each year the UVA runs a bike lottery for the international students. If you are selected, you can rent a bike for a year for forty-five Euros rather than forking out over three times that amount for a new one! There is a deposit of fifty Euros which you will be reconciled with on the return of the undamaged bike at the end of the year. If you stay for only one semester, the price drops to twenty-five Euros.

It is possible to buy a second hand bike from shops around Amsterdam for a reasonable fee but beware. Never buy a bike for ten Euros on the street. The police are vigilant against this kind of activity as it’s probably been stolen. There’s a website that lists all the registration and details of stolen bikes. If you’re interested in the bike, check if it on the website first and always get a receipt. If you’re here for a weekend or so there are many places to rent a bike for ten Euros for twenty-four hours.

Bike locks are available from the market places from about ten Euros to sixty-five depending on how fortified you want your bike to look. Before coming to Amsterdam, I would never lock my bike. The thought never came into my head but now I am paranoid! There’s a back wheel lock that is immobilised when you push down a grey lever on the one side and of course, there’s the muckle thick chain that should be entwined between the front wheel, the frame and something else sturdy.

Cycling in Amsterdam for the first time was daunting. I’ve seen the natives casually talking on their mobile phones, listening to music and even carrying coffee jars whilst on their bikes. They’re naturals! I on the other hand have to be on guard to constantly look over my shoulder to watch for overtaking bikes, trams, road signals, tourists and bumps in the road that just look like a nasty accident waiting to happen. The cycle lanes are amazing and have priority the majority of the time. I’m improving slowly and my confidence is getting better the more I’m on the bike. I’ve even been introduced to the concept of ‘dinking’ otherwise known as two people on the one bike.

Right, I’m off to buy ‘Remains of the Day’. All the major bookshops at the Spui are sold out, so I’m cycling to a small shop in Jordaan called the English Bookshop. Hope it’s there. I’ll write again soon! Cheerio!!!!

Kirst. x

 

A tour of Tübingen and German beurocracy

One and a half weeks into being here my brain is beginning to dissolve. I am now half way through my three week intensive pre-semester-beginning language course. I am experiencing an unforseen problem; rather than gaining the ability to speak/think in two languages I currently can´t in either. For some reason my brain has begun to forget how to make phrases in English and is putting them together in a Germanic way (eg pre-semester-begin, when have you EVER used that phrase??). To not know a word in German is something I am used to. I did, however, begin to panic last night when I was on the phone to my English friend and could only remember a word in German. At the same time, when I speak in German and an English word is used (eg „immatrikulation“), my brain stutters over the word and I just can´t pronounce it in either language. I am so glad I am doing a language course, because everyone on it is just as confused as me! It´s a great way to get to know people, and you immediately feel pretty close because of the situation.

Most importantly though, the teachers helped us to matriculate. German beurocracy has truely earned it´s noteriety for being endless. After visiting four different offices with different forms for each one, I now have to wait two weeks to recieve another form, which I will then have to take to a fifth office before I can get my student card (and free access to the internet-I hope you appreciate the cost involved in this blog!).

Tübingen is a relatively small city, and the university dominates most of it. It has a really lovely old town with cobbled alleyways and a daily market. There are a million bakeries and icecream shops, and it´s really great just wandering around and looking at everything. The weather so far has been stunning, and it´s been a pretty funny experience to see leaves fall off the trees and not immediately turn into manky slush. Given the warm temperature, I´ve been suprised at the lack of bellybottons and leg on show. Everyone is just ignoring the sun! The manic „We have to do something because ist sunny today and will not be again for a year“ English attitude doesn´t exist. I´m trying to resist the urge to sunbathe, but it´s just not normal to be eating icecream in late September. Who knows, maybe it will even snow this winter. I know, crazy world if the weather actually does what it´s supposed to do.

The nicest thing about the old town is that even though a nightlife definately exists, it doesn´t attempt to dominate the place. There are no obscene neon-lit clubs, no industrial gastro pubs that churn out the same food in every establishment. Instead, it exists as an amazing, classy subculture. Pubs that from the outside look a million years old are vibrant and atmospheric inside, a tasteful mix of new and old. It feels like the city has so much to offer, but that you have to find it out for yourself and explore it. I love the fact that it´s left up to you to do the leg work. It makes you feel like you´ve earnt the happiness. Before I arrived I had so many fears about studying abroad, yet right now I can´t think of anything more rewarding. To not only exist in a different culture but enjoy it and own a part of it is a pretty brilliant thing to have a go at doing.

It´s just a shame that I may well have no brain left by the end of it.

Preparing and Arriving

It never dawned on me just how many belongings I own until I tried to pack for my year abroad last week. The cruel weight limit allowed a mere twenty three kilograms,the result of which left me forced to admit a certain thing that my mother has been telling me for years;
Contrary to popular (and until recently my own) belief, twenty odd pairs of shoes are not necessary to your existence.
This may seem obvious to you, but to me it was akin to an epiphany. Deciding what stuff to leave behind became a puritanical purge of all that is unnecessary in my consumer driven life. Down with capitalism! No longer would I go shopping if I didn’t need anything, no longer would I buy things I never use but think I may one day. In Germany I envisioned myself (free from the burden of 26 pairs of shoes) going for a run every day, eating healthily, learning to play the piano again.
I arrived in Tübingen yesterday and am starting my language course tomorrow. I have not been for a run but there’s always hope. I have spent most of my time wandering around getting used to the town and taking it all in, and forcing myself to speak to people. I have been suprised at how friendly everyone has been, once realising I am from a different country. Take the poor man who unwittingly offered to carry my enormous case to my room when I arrived, for example. After three flights of stairs and his arm starting to turn blue, he was nevertheless still happy to tell me where to get food from and how to use the phone in my room. It is interesting how important little gestures of kindness like this are when you have just arrived in a new and somewhat intimidating place. Added to my list of resolutions is now a wish to help international students when I get back to Edinburgh.

My unpacking process has so far involved finding a dog-eared „Guide to outgoing students“ which has some great advice I should maybe have read before I set off, and being confused at how such a large case can hardly even begin to fill my room. For this reason I have begun making a list of all the things-only strictly necessary ones ofcourse-that I could not bring but will need to buy. Something tells me my puritanical resolutions will not last very long, and that on the way to buy an extension cable I may happen upon a shop selling shoes. What can I say? Preparing for my ERASMUS exchange has made me realise the temptation of seeing the process of moving countries as a way to reinvent myself (is that why unhappy people always emmigrate?), but it’s better to be yourself and be open to change than force it.

WOW

Instead of a ‘Freshers’ Week’ UCSB puts on events for its students in the lead up to classes under the title, ‘Week of Welcome’ (WOW). And these last few welcome days, whilst also being utilized to sort out a few final things before classes start, have essentially been one rolling American cliché.

Somewhat naively expecting a raucous alcohol aided welcome to America’s No.2 Party School, I was a little surprised when I arrived at my first social, which was a S’mores party. ‘S’mores’ are a strange combination of ‘Gram Crackers’ (which appeared to be basically digestive biscuits), melted marshmallows and melted Hershey’s Chocolate all thrown together as some kind of sandwich. They were disgusting – but were apparently just the thing needed to convince Americans out of their rooms to meet new people around a pool, with blaring hip-hop in the background. This was followed up by an Ice-cream social, which followed a largely similar format except 4000 people turned up!

But the most amazingly American part of my week was to come the next day with Convocation on the Faculty Club Lawn. At about 3 in the afternoon under the blazing sunshine every new student turned up to sit on the thousands of chairs that had been set up in University colours on the perfectly cut grass. Whilst we were taking our seats we were being serenaded by the University a cappella singing group ‘Naked Voices’. Once nearly all of the seats were taken, a voice propelled itself across the lawn from the temporary stage set up just in front of the University Lagoon asking us to please rise for the entrance of the notable faculty, which included about 60 professors, every single one of which was introduced at lightning speed with their name, qualifications and job titles, nevertheless everybody was waiting at their seats for a good five minutes waiting for the list to finish! Then, before we could sit down, we were led by the ‘Naked Voices’ in a rendition of the National Anthem during which the person next to me was quite vociferously reminded to remove his hat?!

Once we had finally retaken our seats we were welcomed in various manners and by various people for around 45 minutes until all new students were invited once more to stand and to be formally welcomed as students of the University. So, that makes me officially a student here I guess. At least, that may be what I have to try and convince US Immigration… Due to the amazingly strange class sign up system here that has left me absolutely shafted, I am currently signed up for 1 class, which equals 4 units. In order to maintain my visa status however, I need to be taking 12 units – you can probably spot the sizeable disparity. So, with classes starting tomorrow, I am ‘crashing an extra 12 units worth of courses, which essentially means that although they are full, I’m just turning up anyway, putting myself at the mercy of the relevant professor and hoping that he lets me take his course! It’s a little intimidating for me, but apparently reasonably common here, but if I’m not allowed onto at least 2 out of the 3 courses that I’m crashing I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do! Cross your fingers!

Montreal

My entry this week is a little later than intended because of my incredibly fun trip to my second Canadian province, Quebec. This weekend we journeyed into the unknown and visited Montreal.

The first thing I noticed about Montréal is that they speak French as obvious and slightly idiotic as it sounds it’s true. Now Canada is a bilingual country and living in Ottawa has only reconfirmed that with most things in both French and English from train announcements to street sights to food packaging is all in French and English. In Québec I expected it to be a bit more French but it surprised me, Québec is not a bilingual province- it has one language and it is French.

However this change in language allowing me to struggle through with my VERY limited French only added to the fantastic change in atmosphere and pace this weekend provided.

On Saturday we spent the morning wandering through the historical streets of Old Town with it beautiful cathedrals, small parks and winding alleyways before strolling back along the river front. We stopped in an inexpensive café with a spectacular view and listened to the Native American buskers on the street corner.

In the afternoon we headed downtown into the heart of the city and shopped until we could shop no more and just immersed ourselves in the crowds and the excitement of a big city. Once the sun began to set and the shops began to close we found ourselves a nice bar to waste away the hours before the clubs would be open and the party would begin. The club played an interesting mix of American dance music and French rap which probably required some getting used to. After we had danced ourselves out we headed back to our hostel uptown for some much needed rest before another day of sight seeing.

On Sunday we visited the famous Biodome, built inside Montréal’s Olympic stadium it holds four completely unique and separate eco-systems. It starts with rainforest which had colossal trees, waterfalls, parrots, monkeys and even the odd Cayman. Then we moved through into temperate forests turning all shades of yellow and orange as fall arrives and some amazing marshlands with a beautiful array of wading birds and river mammals such as otters and beavers. After this we entered the deep sea zone with some of the biggest fish, crabs and starfish I have ever seen. Finally we entered the Artic region with snow, snow and more snow and allot of entertaining penguins. After a quick lunch and a brief look around the insectariums it was time to catch the bus home.

I was sad to leave Montréal it was an exciting city with lots to see and do but I was glad when the two hour bus journey was over and I could stumble home to my room and catch up on some much needed rest before classes on Monday!

Santa Barbara

Based on my previous blog, one might be forgiven for thinking that I wasn’t going to enjoy the beginning of my Santa Barbara experience as much as would have been possible – one would be wrong. On the drive up from San Diego (via Newport Beach), whilst feeling decidedly sorry for myself we rounded a corner on freeway 101 and as we passed the sign reading ‘Santa Barbara County Limit’ were greeted by the most amazing scenery. Stretching up to the immediate right was an impressive range of grass coated mountains coated in a thin mist and leaving just enough space for the freeway before the ocean took over. The sky and the sea were indeterminable at the horizon, so blue were both and the temperature was a slightly less intimidating 75 – setting the sunburn-bubbles that had formed on my skin in Santa Barbara to simmer.

My Mum and I had briefly checked out the UC San Diego campus whilst we were there and although it was nice, all it eventually served to do was to provide perspective on how awesome a campus we have at UCSB. The architecture is a little crazy but all somehow congruent and the Pacific Ocean lies about 20 yards from the edge of campus on 2 sides.

Now, admittedly in the days since that glorious entry in to my new home town we have suffered a couple of pretty mental rainstorms just to keep us on our toes, but as long as I know that there are 320 days of sunshine per year I don’t mind each day of rain – it just means more sun in the future!

We’re being temporarily housed in a ‘Student Hotel’ as International Students, which is one of the Residence Halls that Freshmen will be living in once they arrive. It’s a little different to what you might expect in the UK – the obvious difference being that everybody is required to share a room – and the rooms aren’t a lot larger than the average Edinburgh room, so things are a little cosy. But UCSB makes up for this inconvenience in other ways…for example the 50” flat screen television in the lounge!

This is just a temporary situation to keep us housed during Orientation, which is essentially just a lot of people talking at us about not much important but it means I’ve had a chance to mingle with and meet some other International Students who have all been pretty cool. Most of us are agreed though that it would be good to meet some Americans seeing as this is the USA! A case in point is my flat, I’ve just met all of the people that I’ll be living with once we move into our accommodation and five of us are British – two of us are from the University of Edinburgh! Strange that we travelled 4000 miles to even meet eachother…

Working…travelling…etc!

The ‘O’ week selection process took place earlier this week. It was a morning of team work orientated activities, group discussions and interviews, all of what you expect for someone trying to choose the best people for the job of organising and helping out all of those unsuspecting freshers! I couldn’t really gauge if I had done well or not, or if I displayed the characteristics they were interested in, but none the less it was a fun experience and I met some cool people, and getting to the second stage is something at least! I find out in a couple of weeks either way. It sounded like a lot of fun when they were talking about all the training and what you actually get to do during the ‘O’ week so it would be awesome to be involved, but either way ‘O’ week should be a fun-filled time for all!

I’ve been applying for jobs the past couple of weeks. With my student visa (after applying for permission to work) I can work up to 20 hours a week and full time when the semester finishes. So I’m only looking for part-time work at the moment. I’ve been able to get a job as a waitress with a company that organises functions at uni which is convenient! It’s very flexible and obviously they hire a lot of students so they work around your schedule which is perfect for me right now. I’m still on the lookout for something more permanent for the summer as it’s a long holiday and I certainly won’t be able to afford 4 months of travelling!

I have applied to a few law firms for some work experience as I am thinking about doing a conversion to Law after I graduate and wanted to get a bit of practical experience. However, this has proved fruitless so far unfortunately. It’s so competitive to get a position with a top firm in Sydney. Some of my friend’s parents who are in the business have told me how hard it will be to get offered something, so I haven’t got my hopes to high but I’m still on the lookout!

So my plan at the moment is to work part-time until the academic year finishes in November, then go into a full time position after classes have finished as I no exams (woohoo!). If I can work full time for the 6 weeks in the lead up to my family coming over then that should hold me in good stead for the last couple months of the summer.

There are just so many places that I want to visit and things I want to do. New Zealand is a big one on the agenda, with my flight home I get a free stopover in Auckland, so that works out beautifully, but it does also mean that I can’t blow all of my money before I head home! I have hopefully got some friends coming over to join me for that one which should be awesome.

There are heaps of places in this part of the world that are just screaming out to me…Figi, Bali, Thailand, Hong Kong, China…the list is endless, and whilst I doubt I will be able to visit all the places I want to, I’ll hopefully have the chance to see more of the world.

Off to the Gold Coast tomorrow for Unigames! Awoohoo.

Melbourne Vs Sydney

Having spent my GAP year in Geelong, I still think of myself as an honorary Melbourne girl, the big metropolis an hour north.  Last weekend I made a dashing visit, I was definitely in the mood for Melbs. The rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney is profound and ignites very passionate responses on both sides; I tend to keep my Melbourne fetish well hidden to avoid starting any brawls! So what’s all the fuss about? Both major Australian cities, can they be that different? The answer is a resounding YES!

Melbourne has got a completely different vibe to Sydney. It’s more cosmopolitan and European; perhaps that’s where my admiration stems from. It’s rich in boutiques and classy, quirky cafes. Even something as trivial as the way people dress is different! Granted, it doesn’t have the iconic Opera House or the epic Harbour Bridge, the typical images associated with Australia. Instead it has Federation Square and the newly finished Southern Cross Station with its impressive architectural feats. It has a giant rubrix cube outside the Melbourne Museum, complimented by the futuristic playground that really does look like something out of Futurama. It’s fresh, crisp and innovative; bolstered by the spans of parks within the city and greenery that floods the streets. A source of great pride for the locals is the tram system which never took off in Sydney and it’s a real plus.

I stayed with some friends who are in their last year of Melbourne Uni. We went for a great Indonesian meal on Victoria Street, ordered an array of different dishes and enthusiastically (and successfully I might add) made our way through the mountain of food. It all came to around $80, student friendly with budget and satisfaction! Sydney too has a big Asian influence with the restaurant scene which I really love. There are just so many places to choose from and experiment with cuisines I’ve never sampled. We then moved onto a couple of pubs and somehow ended up in a funky cocktail bar where my friend Nick used to work. Saturday was a suitably mellow affair; the day drifted by with brunch at a local bistro, a stroll through the market and topped off with an afternoon of watching Dodgeball. I was really lucky with the weather as well, it was such a lovely day on Saturday, was loving that Aussie sunshine!

On the Sunday I went back to the school I worked at for a year, Geelong Grammar. It was their big sports day so all the campuses were there, parents, students and picnics galore; a perfect opportunity to catch up with a lot of friends I hadn’t seen yet. Unfortunately, as is customary, the rains came back with vengeance at the end of the day, at which point I declared I was going back to sunny Sydney!

It was such a refreshing weekend, just what I needed as the inevitable lull of assignments and mid-semester fatigue began to set in! But just so no one gets the wrong idea, I was very happy to be returning home to Sydney and gear up for the last couple of weeks of uni before the mid-semester break!

Acclimatisation

Having been in California for about 4 days now, I’m at the stage where I was expecting to have acclimatised, enjoyed a few relaxed hours at the beach and sorted out most of the odds and ends that I hadn’t finalised before leaving. The reality is that my acclimatisation hasn’t quite gone according to plan! Being, as I am, of a fair complexion it was hours of daylight before I’d turned the colour of a ripe beetroot and I also unexpectedly developed something of a throat infection that left the glands in my throat at around the size of tennis balls. So it’s fair to say that the first couple of days out here haven’t added up to a dream start to my year abroad!

What has gone in my favour has been the decision to come out a week early and to allow my mum to come along for a week’s holiday. As a result, most administrative matters have been aptly taken on by my mum (who’s capacity for acclimatisation far exceeds my own) and I’ve lay in bed most hours of the day. This way too, my ‘acclimatisation’ will hopefully be back on track before I start ‘Orientation’ later this week – first impressions count and I don’t want anyone thinking of me as sickly…

We flew into San Diego and stayed there for a couple of days, partly to fulfill our own tourist impulses and partly because my mum had arranged to meet up with a cousin of hers that I’d never heard of before – beware potential exchange-goers, no matter where in the world you go, your mother will be able to find a relative or family friend in the surrounding area! In SD we managed to tick quite a lot of boxes, getting some shorts, sunglasses etc, enjoying the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between ‘us and them’.

For example, despite my wee ailment it became quickly apparent that whenever my mum was approaching a junction I should have my wits about me, should she decide again to drive on the left, but one of the most apparent differences any visitor will notice though, is how friendly people over here are, I’ve actually been told to ‘Have an outstanding day!’ by one shop assistant. ‘Good day’ I can understand, ‘Great day’, why not? But outstanding??? I told her to have a phenomenal weekend.

So I started to think about whether this counted as acclimatisation too. If I’m going to live here for a year as opposed to just holiday for a week, does this mean that beyond adjusting to the time zone and the climate I’ll slowly become more and more like the people around me? As my skin becomes slightly darker will my manners become more painfully obvious and my voice slightly louder? Will I get fatter?

stroopwafels and cows on ceilings.

Allow me to introduce this marvellous creation otherwise known as the stroopwafel.  Like a biscuit but oh so much more, the stroopwafel is filled with caramel and rests on top of your coffee to soften inside.  Its powers include distraction, sugar high attack and currently, invisibility.  It’s among the best things I have experienced in Amsterdam so far.

With the disappearance of the stroopwafel, I am able to begin. I arrived in Amsterdam on the 30^th August by ferry from Hull to Rotterdam.  The rest of the journey was completed in what is affectionately known as the bingo bus (red Volkswagen caravelle) .In total the journey took roughly seventeen hours but it was worth it in order to avoid the airport drama and to transport as much of my lair as possible.  My lovely boyfriend Andrew accompanied me and is much loved for his driving, exploring and organising skills.  He left yesterday afternoon and therefore can no longer stop me from calling him lovely online. Muha! The ferry crossing was relaxing and I would certainly do it again. At 8am local time, we spotted the windmills on the shore of the Netherlands.  They filled the coastline beautifully.  I don’t understand how people can call them eyesores.  On dry land we discovered that my orientation skills are awful.  Therefore we headed in the direction of Utrecht and then on to the A10 ring road that circles Amsterdam.

The first stop was the DeKey housing association office number 179 Hoogte Kadijk.  Dekey works  with the UVA to provide short stay facilities for international students.  Should you wish to apply, they organise accommodation for you before you arrive yet it is a bit of a lottery as to where you end up. We picked up the keys and signed the lease with absolutely no bother whatsoever. Thankfully all the information that I needed for courses and the lease was sent to me via email beforehand so I was clued up before I stepped foot in the city.  The international office in Amsterdam sends forms and information to prospective students before they arrive with course descriptions and registration information.

After a quick conversation with a lady from Rio, we then made our way to my new abode in Gevleweg.  It’s a multicoloured set of buildings which look a bit like Lego.  The flat inside is spacious with more than enough room to swing a multitude of cats (metaphorically speaking).

We set about exploring on foot and covered a great deal of the surroundings and the city centre. Everything I need is close at hand on spaarndammer straat, two minutes up the road.  There is a hardware store, three supermarkets, internet cafes and a bike shop.  At the very end of the street is Westerpark, a bit of green to read and relax in.  There’s even a real cruise ship fifty yards away from my front door which I think is being used for student accommodation.  The buildings nearer the centre are tall and narrow with curving features and long glass windows.  Many of these beautiful homes and offices are leaning slightly to the side or forward due to age making them even more interesting to look at.  The canals are graceful and varied.  There are hundreds of bridges both quaint and modern for cyclists and pedestrians to venture across.  Houseboats rest on the sides of the canals, often with pedal boats or crafts alongside decorated with empty wine bottles, candles and flowers. The Street art is tasteful (and at times educational) to make plodding along more enjoyable.

Further afield we met Darth Vader in Dam square.  There were street performers and art.  One chap in particular had an act similar to that belonging to the Space Cowboy who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe outside St. Giles for the last couple of years.  He had however, switched the 6ft unicycle for stilts with shoes instead. Much to my amusement, below Madame Tussauds there is a shop which has decided to hang life size black and white cows from its ceiling. In the same day I saw a Vespa  and a barge advertising Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Think it was a sign…

 The city is full of interesting sights that I can’t wait to explore but uni begins tomorrow so some things will have to put on hold till another day. I registered with the university on Friday.  It was a take-a-ticket-and-wait-in-line job but it did the trick and the lady behind the desk was wonderful, answering any questions I had.  At the same time, I was given an appointment to register my residence at city hall and a bank note to open an account.  So far the uni has been wonderfully informative. Long may it continue!  With the help of the gvb.nl website and maps I’ve spent the afternoon scouting which buses will take me where.  Google maps saves the day again. Wish me luck! x