Life's been really, really wonderful. Despite the piles and piles of work forming in all corners of my room, I am slowly but surely getting through all of it. And thankfully, I have simultaneously been able to make time for living my last three weeks in Amsterdam to the fullest. My goal is to finish all of my work by May 28th and have my remaining week here (until June 4th) reserved for exploring and enjoying Amsterdam. I, in no way, want to spend my last days here stuck in my room or in the library... this city is the best city in the world and it deserves complete exploration and appreciation.
Some things on my to-do list are -
1. Starry Night @ the Van Gogh museum.
2. World Press Photo exhibit.
3. Indonesian one last time at Kantjil & de Tijger
4. Foam to see the new NY Perspectives exhibit. (Amsterdam discovered by NY Photographers)
5. Amsterdam Brunch Weekend @ the Supperclub.
6. Go to FEBO!! (Bitterballen and other such deliciousness... out of a vending machine? Yeah. That's right. The Dutch know what's up.)
.... and more to come.
Time for the amazing, amazing farmers market @ Noordermark.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Well then I guess we're screwed...
In all seriousness though, Judith Butler is a genius and I could read her work for hours. (Which yes, I have sort of been doing all morning.)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Queen's Day, 2009.
Yesterday made me realize that I have officially fallen in love with Amsterdam. It's my home - and I will be very, very sad to leave.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Schiermonnikoog, Music & Queens Day
Well, this past weekend as I mentioned before, CIEE took our program to the northern, west Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog. It was, to say the least, an absolutely fantastic trip. Nature, beaches, bonfires, bbqs, sunbathing, mudwalking, biking... it was perfect. Here are some pictures -
Mudflat walking at 6am -
Surrealist beach -
Beach bonfire -
Basically, Schiermonnikoog was a super Dutch version of Fire Island. So, given that Fire Island is one of my favorite places in the world, I loved Schiermonnikoog as well. (My only complaint is that it was a little too farm-y... and smelled a bit like cow shit, but hey, things could be worse.) It made me extremely nostalgic for Fire Island though. So I need to plan a trip back asap.
In other news, I have changed the topic of my religion and media paper. I was going to write about Focus on the Family but I decided against it. I figured I'd give myself a break from writing about sex/sexuality/homosexuality, etc. Because literally all of my final papers in Amsterdam thus far have been about that and I deserve to give myself a break. Sooo, I have decided to write about modern "Christian rock" music, focusing on Relient K and MxPx.
Anyway, I am going to focus on how each band uses their religion in their music, their public image, etc vis a vis lyrics, interviews, talking at shows, etc. I'm definitely very excited - and its a plus that I like both bands so I won't be annoyed listening to their music.
In other news, Thursday is Queens Day. For those of you that don't know, Queens Day (aka Koninginnedag) is a national Dutch holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. (Well, not the present Queen because her birthday is on January 31st... not exactly the best weather for a national outdoor celebration... so they celebrate it on April 30th which was the birthday of Queen Juliana.) Basically, the entire centre of Amsterdam is shut down, which includes trams, stores, etc.
Everyone wears orange (the national color), gets extraordinarily drunk and just... parties. There are tons and tons of boats on the canal ring, lots of markets, "garage" sales, live music, and apparently lots of drunk Dutch men peeing all over the place. I'm really excited for it and hopefully the weather will be nice. Yesterday is said it would be cloudy, today it says it will be sunny. So I'm praying it stays like that. We'll see.
Alright well, I have an insane amount of work to get done before Queens Day (I didn't go to class this morning so I could finish it... ha) so I better get back to that.
Basically, Schiermonnikoog was a super Dutch version of Fire Island. So, given that Fire Island is one of my favorite places in the world, I loved Schiermonnikoog as well. (My only complaint is that it was a little too farm-y... and smelled a bit like cow shit, but hey, things could be worse.) It made me extremely nostalgic for Fire Island though. So I need to plan a trip back asap.
In other news, I have changed the topic of my religion and media paper. I was going to write about Focus on the Family but I decided against it. I figured I'd give myself a break from writing about sex/sexuality/homosexuality, etc. Because literally all of my final papers in Amsterdam thus far have been about that and I deserve to give myself a break. Sooo, I have decided to write about modern "Christian rock" music, focusing on Relient K and MxPx.
Anyway, I am going to focus on how each band uses their religion in their music, their public image, etc vis a vis lyrics, interviews, talking at shows, etc. I'm definitely very excited - and its a plus that I like both bands so I won't be annoyed listening to their music.
In other news, Thursday is Queens Day. For those of you that don't know, Queens Day (aka Koninginnedag) is a national Dutch holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. (Well, not the present Queen because her birthday is on January 31st... not exactly the best weather for a national outdoor celebration... so they celebrate it on April 30th which was the birthday of Queen Juliana.) Basically, the entire centre of Amsterdam is shut down, which includes trams, stores, etc.
Everyone wears orange (the national color), gets extraordinarily drunk and just... parties. There are tons and tons of boats on the canal ring, lots of markets, "garage" sales, live music, and apparently lots of drunk Dutch men peeing all over the place. I'm really excited for it and hopefully the weather will be nice. Yesterday is said it would be cloudy, today it says it will be sunny. So I'm praying it stays like that. We'll see.
Alright well, I have an insane amount of work to get done before Queens Day (I didn't go to class this morning so I could finish it... ha) so I better get back to that.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
3 cheers for productivity!
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have (finally) reached the point in time when Anya actually enjoys going to the gym and eating healthier. I think I have had some kind of gym membership on and off for the past four years and although I always went - I never, ever could understand the benefits. Sure, it made me feel "okay" afterwards but mostly, it was miserable. And eating pizza all day and sitting on my bed seemed like the much, much better choice. But then something changed, just in the past couple of weeks.
Perhaps it's the fact that I've started to do a lot more cardio in addition to taking fewer days off... but I've actually, for the first time in my life, begun to see the difference that it's making. And it feels awesome.
In terms of eating healthier, I think it's definitely the spring weather that's given me the desire to eat fresher and "lighter" things. Why would I order a greasy and overpriced pizza when I can make this deliciously healthy meal -
Also, another development in the past week has been that my fourth class, The Meaning of Having Children in Different Cultures has begun. Although the final assignment seems as if it will be relatively easy (a 10 page paper proposal constructed in groups of 3-4 people) the work from week to week is a little bit overwhelming. We have to write 4-6 page responses on readings, each week. The good news is, I've been getting through both the reading/writing extremely quickly. In fact, between the few hours I spent on it yesterday and the hour or so more I need to spend on it today, I will be done with this weeks work for that class. Sounds good to me.
In other news, this weekend my program is taking us to a northern island in the Netherlands called Schiermonnikoog. (Pronounced as: Sceermonnikoh). We will apparently be staying on some kind of "farm-like" hostel located on the beach. We will go biking, mudwalking and make beach fires? Anyway, it sounds pretty rad to me... as long as the weather is nice.
Until next time...
Perhaps it's the fact that I've started to do a lot more cardio in addition to taking fewer days off... but I've actually, for the first time in my life, begun to see the difference that it's making. And it feels awesome.
In terms of eating healthier, I think it's definitely the spring weather that's given me the desire to eat fresher and "lighter" things. Why would I order a greasy and overpriced pizza when I can make this deliciously healthy meal -
Also, another development in the past week has been that my fourth class, The Meaning of Having Children in Different Cultures has begun. Although the final assignment seems as if it will be relatively easy (a 10 page paper proposal constructed in groups of 3-4 people) the work from week to week is a little bit overwhelming. We have to write 4-6 page responses on readings, each week. The good news is, I've been getting through both the reading/writing extremely quickly. In fact, between the few hours I spent on it yesterday and the hour or so more I need to spend on it today, I will be done with this weeks work for that class. Sounds good to me.
In other news, this weekend my program is taking us to a northern island in the Netherlands called Schiermonnikoog. (Pronounced as: Sceermonnikoh). We will apparently be staying on some kind of "farm-like" hostel located on the beach. We will go biking, mudwalking and make beach fires? Anyway, it sounds pretty rad to me... as long as the weather is nice.
Until next time...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Oh, spring.
I cannot believe that year after year, I keep forgetting how happy spring makes me feel. I am motivated to do more (ie take adventures exploring new places in amsterdam), eat better, relax more and stress out less... it feels great.
Realizing that has made me seriously consider moving permanently to a area that's warm all of the time. I mean, I like the cold weather for two reasons - 1. The snow. I think snow is beautiful... but unfortunately, I don't live in a place where it snows all the time. 2. I like that it's cold and snowy for Christmas season... but after a week of the snow and the cold it just stops being enjoyable. So really, wherever I live I can always go somewhere cold for the holidays... I don't have to live in that weather for half of the year. So where would I want to live? I'd want to pick somewhere that doesn't get too hot and doesn't get too cold. Two words: San Francisco. Done and done.
In other news, I finished a terrific book today, Inside Greek U., by Alan D. DeSantis.
I read it as research for my paper that's going to be about masculinity (and gender) in elite sororities and fraternities in America. Reading it actually made me realize I wanted to change the approach to my paper a bit because I think the point I was going to prove has already been proven, by more than one person... so I feel like I need to include at least something I "discovered" on my own. We'll see.
Oh, and I would like to include this little video I stumbled upon today that seriously annoyed me... not just because of the ridiculous woman arguing against gay marriage because it will "affect and harm everyone", but also because I don't see how educated adults still think it's practical to speak on top of one another and expect any of their points to be heard and/or understood.
First of all, Joe Solmonese is a great guy and I know he has a somewhat "political" (in the sense that he must act and answer a certain way to avoid scrutiny from the (at times, very wealthy) supporters of his organization)... but his answers and debate points sucked.
If adoption agencies refuse to let gay couples adopt from their organization and churches refuse to marry a gay couples... then I'm sorry, but if you want to be supported by the government then your "institution", whatever it may be, must coincide with the legal advances of the time. Respect for religion is completely unrelated and in fact, whether it be religion or anything else for that matter... if it leads to discrimination or reinforces a tradition of that discrimination, then it should not be an entity supported by the national Government. What if a school just said hey, sorry, we don't accept black children because our religion says it's a sin to be black and we want to run this school on the basis of our religion... then I'm sorry, but that school would not be given financial or any other kind of assistance from the government, nor should it. (Unfortunately, the government still supports institutions that I consider to be discriminatory and outdated but supporting gay marriage is, I believe, an important step needed not only in the fight for equality but also may start to be the beginning of a more world-wide awareness about the severe negative aspects surrounding religion - specifically orthodox and/or fundamental sects.)
That lady is right - gay marriage will affect everyone. Just like emancipating the slaves affected everyone, or when women were given the right to vote; when couples of mixed race were given the right to marry... etc, etc. It WILL affect everyone and it damn well should.
Realizing that has made me seriously consider moving permanently to a area that's warm all of the time. I mean, I like the cold weather for two reasons - 1. The snow. I think snow is beautiful... but unfortunately, I don't live in a place where it snows all the time. 2. I like that it's cold and snowy for Christmas season... but after a week of the snow and the cold it just stops being enjoyable. So really, wherever I live I can always go somewhere cold for the holidays... I don't have to live in that weather for half of the year. So where would I want to live? I'd want to pick somewhere that doesn't get too hot and doesn't get too cold. Two words: San Francisco. Done and done.
In other news, I finished a terrific book today, Inside Greek U., by Alan D. DeSantis.
I read it as research for my paper that's going to be about masculinity (and gender) in elite sororities and fraternities in America. Reading it actually made me realize I wanted to change the approach to my paper a bit because I think the point I was going to prove has already been proven, by more than one person... so I feel like I need to include at least something I "discovered" on my own. We'll see.
Oh, and I would like to include this little video I stumbled upon today that seriously annoyed me... not just because of the ridiculous woman arguing against gay marriage because it will "affect and harm everyone", but also because I don't see how educated adults still think it's practical to speak on top of one another and expect any of their points to be heard and/or understood.
First of all, Joe Solmonese is a great guy and I know he has a somewhat "political" (in the sense that he must act and answer a certain way to avoid scrutiny from the (at times, very wealthy) supporters of his organization)... but his answers and debate points sucked.
If adoption agencies refuse to let gay couples adopt from their organization and churches refuse to marry a gay couples... then I'm sorry, but if you want to be supported by the government then your "institution", whatever it may be, must coincide with the legal advances of the time. Respect for religion is completely unrelated and in fact, whether it be religion or anything else for that matter... if it leads to discrimination or reinforces a tradition of that discrimination, then it should not be an entity supported by the national Government. What if a school just said hey, sorry, we don't accept black children because our religion says it's a sin to be black and we want to run this school on the basis of our religion... then I'm sorry, but that school would not be given financial or any other kind of assistance from the government, nor should it. (Unfortunately, the government still supports institutions that I consider to be discriminatory and outdated but supporting gay marriage is, I believe, an important step needed not only in the fight for equality but also may start to be the beginning of a more world-wide awareness about the severe negative aspects surrounding religion - specifically orthodox and/or fundamental sects.)
That lady is right - gay marriage will affect everyone. Just like emancipating the slaves affected everyone, or when women were given the right to vote; when couples of mixed race were given the right to marry... etc, etc. It WILL affect everyone and it damn well should.
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