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.

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...