Last Post (kind of)

Well, I see that there's a plane ticket I'm expected to use tomorrow. To board a plane, and leave the dream that's been realized and come back to reality. It's such a strange feeling, knowing that the thing I've been looking forward to since about sophomore year of high school is about to be over. I would be lying if I said I'm not extremely torn and emotional right now. I watched "Away We Go" last night and just started crying out of nowhere haha. But, I am so very excited to see my family, and friends. I am also excited about things like Taco Bell at 3 in the morning, and driving a car, seeing my dog, texting, things of that silly nature (Figaro is not silly, obviously). I have been so extremely blessed to have had this opportunity. I feel like I don't get to be sad about leaving because I've done more traveling in the past 4 months than most will get to do in their lifetime. I've seen things that have moved me, scared me, and challenged me. I've made stupid mistakes, and also made incredible strides. I've grown so much as a person and whether it shows or not, I don't feel like I'm the same person that stepped off that plane 4 and a half months ago. I've come to see the kids here like my family and I'm so very sad that some of us will be spending the summer apart. But I am looking forward to starting the rest of my life and make new plans as well. As I've come to think of it; it's just time to move on. I can and will come back later in my life and have a completely different experience, but it will never be like the one I'm just finishing. I can try to explain it all I want and tell stories until I'm blue in the face, but nothing I ever say will be able to explain the change I've felt within myself and how different the world looks now. I am eternally grateful for this adventure and Holland and the people in it will always have a special place in my heart.

Now, I did goof up on the blogging thing, I know that. For my own sake and for those of you who want to read it, I will be writing about things that went on here and on trips. I still want to blog about some of my classes, and of course spring break in Spain and my amazing trip to Paris. So, we all have that to look forward to, and there are always the loads and loads of pictures on facebook.

I want to thank any and all of you who read these posts, even though there weren't many of them. And I want to thank anyone who took the time to go through pictures and comment on them, or just look at them. Your support during my time here has meant so much to me and it's been good to know that you have been getting some enjoyment out of the experience as well. I can't wait to see you all when I get back (tomorrow, holy shit) and I can't wait to share my stories and pictures ( and stroop waffles if you're lucky enough!) with you. Thank you for your interest, support, and for reminding me of all the good things I have to come home to.

Amsterdam, Brugge, and italy OH MY!

So, in the time that has passed, I have been to Amsterdam, and Brugge, and Italy. So, I am a lot behind but I am going to try my best to catch up not only for the benefit of myself to remember, but also to tell the tale to all you folks across the pond.

Visiting Amsterdam for the first time was... eye opening, to say the least. I definitely feel a greater need to be on my guard than I do in Leiden. Not to say that it's more dangerous or that you need to walk with your backpack on your front the whole time... it's only kind of more dangerous and you only need to wear your backpack on your front for part of the time... haha, but really, you just need to be aware of your surroundings. It's much more busy than Leiden and there are so many people it's not even funny. It's not all that difficult to navigate either, but it's definitely helpful to have a map. We basically just walked around for most of the day, popping into shops when we felt like it. We ate lunch and dinner there and visited a coffee shop. We went into the Sex Museum. Yes, there is a Sex Museum in Amsterdam, it is a legitimate thing that lots of people visit everyday, and yes, I did pay money to go in it. All I can say is that I will definitely not be going there with my parents when they visit. They are more than welcome to, I will wait inside somewhere, far from them experiencing that.
We also went to the Red Light District. I was unaware, but it really is just a portion of town where ladies stand in the window, in a room graced with an intense red light, waiting for respectable young men to come and call at them, with poise and respect I'm sure. But really, most of these girls just looked bored, they were just standing there, some in bras and underwear, some in bathing suites, some of them just stared out the window and some were texting on their phones. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was pretty nervous on this particular part of our visit to Amsterdam. This part of town is heavily populated with peepshows, strip/night clubs, coffee shops, and of course the creepy men that go along with those places. The only time I felt the need to switch my backpack to to my front was while in the Red Light District. But, we didn't spend all that much time there so it was fine.
There were a lot of really talented street performers. We walked right past a group of older men who sounded very similar to the band Gogol Bordello, very gypsy-sounding. We stood and listened to them for a little bit, they were lovely. There were also some creepsters in the center square thing, standing on stools in these terrifying costumes like the grim reaper and other things. I didn't like them at all and kept clear of all of them.
All in all though, Amsterdam was a good time, and I will definitely be going back, there's too much to get in in just one visit.

Brugge was absolutely gorgeous! I can't even get over how pretty it was. We went on an awesome day, because while it was pretty darn cold, it was really sunny and that only added to the fairy-tale-feel of brugge. We had to make 2 connections for trains to get there, so it took us like 4 hours, and we were only there for like 5, then we had to get home, so it was a very full day, mostly spent on trains, but I got to spend it with my friends, and that was a good time. Speaking of the train rides. On the longest haul of the train-riding, Jon and I needed to find a spot on the train we were on to Antwerp. Well, we stumbled across two by these two old-looking men. When I asked if we should sit with them, they seemed a little taken aback, and I thought maybe they didn't speak english, but I guess we just startled them. What I found out is that I was sitting next to Colin the retired architect from London and his friend. We talked to them for three hours as the train hurdled on to Antwerp. We learned that they had just been to Utrecht to see an architectural marvel by Van Gogh, and when he learned that I wanted to go into documentaries, he suggested that I do one on a sport called Platongue. Platonque is a sport that is probably one of the most boring things I've ever had to hear about. He literally talked about it excitedly for about 20 minutes, explaining all the rules, and the big Olympics of Platonque called La Marceilleise. I had him write it down in my notebook, so I wouldn't forget. Jon can tell you too, it was adorable, this british guy had such a passion for this pastime that he says "keeps me from being a complete couch potato" Another one of my favorite quotes from him was "Our motto was, well thank God THAT'S over." and we had a nice little conversation about how dreadful his neighbors are. "I have the most foul neighbors".
"Really?"
"Yes, absolutely foul"
"Why?"
"well, to start out, they're a little bit stupid, and ignorant, and..." the list went on.

They are now two of my favorite people. Note, we also got Colin's email address, and I got to see pictures of his family and home. We're basically soul mates. I should have told him to say hi to Alan Rickman for me. It was a good train ride.

After we got off this train to make our second connection, we found that we were going to be late for the next train, and that we didn't really know where that train was. In our hurry to run upstairs to find the next platform, we lost one of the people in our group. ruh roh. So we're on what we think is the right train, and we're debating if we want to leave him, cause it's his own damn fault for going to the bathroom without telling anyone. So, we decide that we can't go that to the poor guy and myself and another girl went to run downstairs to yell for him in the men's bathroom. Well, halfway down the escalator, we hear our names being yelled, and we see the guy running from the other side of the station towards the right train, so we, being the Jame's Bond-type we are, run up the down escalator, dodging between people, and run to the train as well, making it in time.

Once we were actually IN Brugge, we tried to find a place to eat. We settled on a nice looking Chinese restaurant, try not to judge. The lady was really nice, I felt like I was at a friend's house and their mom was just cooking us dinner. Lots of food. Once we had our full, we went up in the bell tower, there are pictures on Facebook, it was incredible! SO pretty. We also wanted to go to a Cathedral, but by the time we were set on finding it, we realized that it was already closed. So a lot of the day was again, just walking around and going into wherever we felt like. We took lots of pictures and it was lovely. I got to heat some awesome belgium chocolate, from a place recommended by Rick Stevens himself, and a belgium waffle of course, with some Nutella on it. AWESOME. It was such a great day, and I was so happy to share it with my friends :)

I will update on another blog post about Italy, it deserves it's own section because saying that it was an epic journey is a bit of an understatement.

School is still going well, I'm working on a documentary about the gold mines in Guatemala and the injustice that's going on because of them. I'm taking more of a point of view of the consumer approach though. I still love my Art History class, and the teacher of course. We took our mid term exam last week, since it's just an 8 week class. Now I'm mostly preparing for Spring break in Spain!!! and of course for my parents and sister to visit. Most of my friends are going to Scotland this weekend, I'm so jealous but I know they will have an awesome time and I'm so happy that they get to go see it!

I'm still working on the whole postcard thing, I promise.

Also, I just wanted to mention that I appreciate all the feedback you guys give on these posts, and on Facebook. It's really nice to know that I haven't been forgotten back home and your support on this trip means more than you know. :)

Goodtimes.

This is late! but, better late than never...

So last Monday we decide to go out to a bar. It was a pretty good time. The bar’s name was something that I can’t remember but it was SO PACKED. Like, we couldn’t even really get in the back door. It was craaazy. But, we managed to all pack in there and get some beer in our hands. I checked my coat, scarf and purse and took that number as well as Sean’s and Cat’s because Sean is obviously more than capable of losing his, and Cat didn’t have pockets. The evening started off tame and fairly boring. We basically just stood around for an hour or so and listened to the music and talked to one another (and when I say talked I mean we screamed in competition with the loud music and the 60 other people that were in the same room with us). Then, good ole’ Audra and Jack decided to get on top of this black box that was randomly in the back of the bar. It was basically like an extra table or a stage even, no one knows it’s real purpose, but they used it as a surface to get their groove on. Of course, I wanted in on the fun, so I hopped on up there. It was a blast! And it didn’t even bother me that all the Dutch kids in the room were looking at us like we were crazy (they were just jealous). Well, soon all of us were trying to fit on this little surface. We started a trend, Audra and Jack got the whole place movin’ their groovy bodies. So then, Audra made a friend. His name is Justin Beiber. I shit you not, this kid looks EXACTLY like Justin Beiber, it was creepy. He had the hair, the boyish face, the sideways trucker hat thing, the whole nine. So, we got up with us for a while and danced. They were playing great music, it was a very successful night. Even when Sean decided to leave and I found that there were only 2 tags in my pocket instead of the 3 that should have been there, the guys at the coat check were super nice and let me describe my stuff and returned it to me with limited attitude.

Wednesday night we decided to go out again and check out some of the places that would have “International-Night” specials. We first decided to check out a place called Einstein’s but it was so full of people that our caravan of more than 15 wasn’t going to fit. Then, we kind of split up and a group of us headed to the bar that I described from the first night of orientation. There was an older crowed there this evening, which is fine, but we weren’t really into that until Audra heard the jazz music coming from downstairs. There is a jazz music festival going on here in Leiden until this Sunday I think and there was just this huge big band playing in the basement of this bar! It was awesome! There was no charge and me and Audra and Fatima stuck around long enough for some seats to open up. It was a great atmosphere, and some really kick-ass music. When we were heading back, Audra wanted to stop in at a place that looked like it had music in it as well. Well we head in, free again, and find that someone is doing a James Brown cover! And this crowd was dancing! It was awesome haha we stayed for the last song and got our groove on.

Classes are still going really well. I really like my documentary class, even though it meets on Monday mornings. I feel like it’s helping me think like a documentarian and making me do things out of my comfort zone, like leading a debate! I also love my art history course. Not only is the material naturally interesting to me, but the teacher is hilarious. She’s probably a little crazy, but hey, the best ones are. She wears these really cute outfits and jewelry has her hair and makeup done for class, and then you look down and you see her white tennis shoes that look like they’ve been around for a while. Some of my favorite lines from the class thus far are “Jack! I had a dog named Jack, He attacked me.”, “Oh and look, there’s baby Jesus making a bee line for Mary’s womb”, and last but not least, “That’s JOSEPH! Joseph- he was beyond being able to do anything—if you know what I mean”.

In my earnest attempt to update everyone on all the cool stuff that I’m doing, I failed to explain some little things, like my room and stuff like that. The key that I use to get in my room is this little blue tag that has a magnet in it. It’s pretty freaking cool. When I want to get into the room, I put it up against this certain part of the door and this little green light comes on, then I can unlock it. When I get inside, I put the tag in this little holder on my wall and that turns on the electricity in my room. Seriously. So, when I leave, my heat and lights turn off on their own, and everything plugged into the wall stops charging. What a way to save energy.

Also, my bathroom is about the size of a small closet, if that tells you anything about the size of the shower, which is inside it. I turn off the water with my elbow at least once every time I shower. I don’t really mind it though, I appreciate their conservation of space. I don’t really appreciate the smell of the hot water though. I don’t know if it’s just the building or if it’s all of Leiden, or Europe or what, but the hot water that comes out of the shower and both faucets smells like… I don’t know what. Like, yeast or something like it. It’s kind of sweet, but not in a good way. Does that make sense? And that really wouldn’t even be that bad if I didn’t get wiffs of it when I work out or sweat at all…whatevs.

Oh! And to any of you who wish to know or send me anything, the address to send letters to is:

Catharine Goeke

Living Learning Center

Galgewater 1 3K

2311 vz, Leiden, Netherlands

and packages to ( this one’s mostly for mom and dad)

Catharine Goeke/ Benninger

Boommarkt 1

2311 EA Leiden

The Netherlands

Den Haag

welp. We went to Den Haag on Friday. It was a pretty good time. We caught a train at about 1:00 pm and arrived about 20 minutes later. The roundtrip tickets that most of the kids got were only 4 euro and 10 cense. I, along with 3 others tried the kiosk at the train station in Leiden and got a one way ticket for 3 Euro 10 cense, which sucks because then we had to get a return ticket in Den Haag for the same price and ended up spending 2 euro more than the other guys. Whatever.

When we got to Den Haag it was cold, and rainy, and honestly just kind of miserable for the first hour we were there. I hadn't eaten all day and made the huge mistake of wearing my Toms. That was really probably one of the dumbest mistakes I've made in my young adult life. So, after eating at a Blimpies for lunch, the girls decided to go into a cheap looking shoe store. I bought a pair of grey boots with a short heel and 2 pairs of warm socks for about 15 euro, which I was pretty proud of. In the Blimpies though, we walked in and I walked up to the counter to order and the man working there asked "English?" and I said, "yes, please". He then snickered and asked me "well then, what kind of FOOTLONG can I get for you today?" psshhh... boy please. I was pretty angry. I mean, really? I can get saying that to a person in over-alls and a Southern accent, accompanied by an air of unnecessary American arrogance, but not to a girl belonging to a group of cute, trendy, and most of all POLITE young American females. But, whatever. I ordered and we all ate and were much happier because of it.

Some of the guys we were traveling with went to go find a tourist-type office where they wanted to get a map while we were eating and then they met us at the shoe store. We then ventured over to where the Parliament building was. It was GORGEOUS. Oh my, and huge. There are pictures on face book!

We then ventured on to the Rembrandt Museum where I saw too many beautiful, perfect, and very old peices of exquisite art. It really was just too much to handle. In particular, I saw the original "Girl With the Pearl Earring" by Vermeer himself. Woah. I have not seen the movie but I have read the book and it's one of my favorites. In one word, it was the shit.

When we got out of the Rembrandt Museum there was a little light left and we wanted to see the Queen's Castle, so we headed over in that direction. We saw this statue that is so very very similar to the statue right outside the Art Museum on Art Hill in Forest Park in St. Louis. I don't know what the deal is with that, if any of you know please be my guest and clue me in on the history of that statue and why there are two of them. It's really cool because I took a picture for photo one last year that ended up being one of my favorites and in my portfolio and I tried to recreate that picture. I want to see how close I got to recapturing the one I took last year haha.

We went to a pub, although I don't remember the name. It was so weird because I think we really offended the waitress by ordering mostly water along with our food, but if we're going by the sentiment from the people at Blimpies it's probably just because we were American. Again I say, whatever. The food was really really good though, I got fish and chips. A favorite of mine from when we lived in London years ago. After dinner we strolled around a bit, and stumbled upon a sweet looking hookah bar and decided to get some drinks and smoke some hookah. Twas lovely! I love my friends, they are great company and I feel really blessed to have them here with me to travel with and share experiences with. Some of our other friends had split off from us earlier in the day in the interest of traveling in smaller groups, since that's easier. Well, we saw them at the Queen's Castle and learned of their endeavor to walk to the North Sea. That's right, WALK. like what? what's wrong with them haha... Needless to say they are boys and very strong-willed. I'll be honest, I didn't expect them to make it, but alas they did. And they brought back a bottle of the North Sea with them to prove it. Brave 'gents, they are.

I have to go for now, but there is some more I'd like to update on but. I wanted to get all this our though so I wouldn't forget our very epic journey to Den Haag. Good times.

January 11

Welp, had my first two classes today and yesterday. Yesterday I had my documentary making class. Its a 3000 level video class focusing on guerilla-style documentaries and how to make them. From what I've gathered thus far, guerilla documentaries are for a cause and want to change something. They aren't usually objective and the story develops as you film it. Basically, it's badass. Right up my ally. It's kind of intimidating though, because the professor is an active documentary maker in The Netherlands and there are many older students in the class that have much more experience and knowledge of the subject than I. I am looking forward to learning from them though; we have at least one group project and the professor made sure to mix the newbies with those that have more experience.

The class that I had today was Renaissance Art History and it was really great! It's a two hour class and it went by really quickly. I really like the professor, she's very bubbly and friendly and relays the information in a way that makes it both informative and entertaining.

Some really great news: I think my sister might be able to visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is huge. Also; my aunt has made a most generous offer. To take a trip with her where she will be paying for most of the expenses. While of course her company would be more than enough, this obviously makes the experience a little less stressful, since we all know how I like to worry about money (With good reason, I think). And, I'M GOING TO SPAIN FOR SPRING BREAK! How kick-ass is that?! I am more than thrilled about this trip and it will be the longest and more expensive trip I take, so I hope that my pocket book is prepared to take a hit. There was some trouble with booking the flights though. The girls I'm going with booked the flight before I did so I had my friend Cat just set it up for me to pay for and I didn't look at the date of return, assuming that they were coming back Sunday when in fact they booked the flight for Monday. Welp, I have my first class of Experimental Video that day and if you miss the first class here, you get kicked out of the course. So then it came to the decision of whether I should switch the flight and pay 48 Euro or, talk to my professor and seeing if I could somehow make up missing the first class. I mean, I know I goofed up but really? Almost 50 Euro? I don't think so. I decided to talk to my professor, and it seemed like it would be okay with him as long as I make up whatever I miss and read the lecture he's sending on my own and don't get behind. So, first crisis: averted. Thank the lord.

We've been doing a lot of walking around lately. If there's nothing to do, we'll just go sight-seeing a bit. Everywhere you look is seriously a photo-op, though. I'm really not exaggerating, it's so pretty here. Today we went to what we thought was St Pieterskerk or St. Peters Church, when in fact we were at Hooglandse Kerk and will hopefully venture to St. Pieterskerk again soon seeing as it is a marvel. We ended up going to this old fortess of some sort, used during the War of Rhine? I wish I could give you more specifics. And, of course I didn't bring my camera so I have nothing of my own to show for us, but my friends who brought theirs took plenty of pictures if you'd like to stalk me or them on Facebook. Tonight we went to a chinese restaurant and it was lovely. Really, super nice folks working and really good food. Later apparently we're going to a bar. I haven't been out since last Tuesday and I don't have class tomorrow, so this should be fun.

It's continuing to be a blast over here! Minus all the worrying that I just love to do about money, I think I'm starting to get the hang of the laid-back, European lifestyle. I might just take it back with me. Good times.

Drinks and School and Stuff

Well, It's been a couple days since I've written. I need to try to write more, because I know that as real as everything feels right now, in four months the few first weeks which are probably some of the most important weeks will be fading in the back of my mind.

We went through orientation, which was interesting to say the least. After the first day though, some of the Orientation leaders took us out for drinks. It was a pretty bangin time I have to say. I personally went to two bars, one nearer to the dorms called De Kroeg, and another a little further away that I don't know the name of. The inside was super classy though, it kind of reminded me of the big living rooms of huge houses in Pride and Prejudice that all the balls are hosted in. The ceiling was probably about 20 feet tall and painted with peaceful clouds. Here I'm pretty sure the whole smoking policy is that smoking inside anywhere isn't permitted, even in bars, but if the owner is cool with it, they can designate a room for smoking. It's closed off from the rest of the rooms though so you don't even really notice it's there. So there was also a little smoking room off to the side with the doors closed.

On the second day of orientation they had the police come and have a talk with us about how all the drug policies work. Basically, no soft drugs are legal anywhere in The Netherlands. But here's the thing, they allow coffee shops to stay open because it helps to keep it all out in the open. I guess they know that even if they try to enforce the illegality of it, they're going to get a black market and it'll just get out of control. This way, they can keep an eye on it and just keep it under strict watch. So, coffee shops stay open and an individual can come buy some pot if they please and then go smoke it. I've heard it both ways, that in some you can't leave without smoking it there, and then some that if you light up in the shop you'll end up in the canal. I'm not sure which one is true, or if it really just depends on the shop. I myself haven't had the pleasure of exploring or taking advantage of these shops just yet. Don't worry though, that will come in time. To finish second day of orientation though, the school took us bowling. Like, I can appreciate a good game of bowling (I guess?) but, isn't that kind of an American thing? I don't know, I suppose I can't be too picky. And of course, there's the perk of free booze, so that was nice. I could get used to this whole school being associated with going out for drinks thing...

Today I slept in a lot. It was nice, and I guess my body needed it. We've been going pretty much all day every day since we arrived last monday. It's good though, I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable in the city and walking around. I love it here, I can tell that in May leaving Leiden might even be harder than it was for me to adjust being away from my family. After I showered and threw on some clothes though, Randi's roommate, Ashley, and her boyfriend took me and other Cat and Randi to Tmobile which we ended up not needing. We thought we were having issues with getting our minutes onto our phones, but Ashley's boyfriend took a look at it and figured it right out. They are two of the nicest people. Ashley is from Pennsylvania and her boyfriend is Dutch. It's nice to know that they are willing to tote us around while we're still figuring everything out. They also offered to take us to Brussels and The Haag, which are towns around Leiden.

I have passed a couple different shops that sell postcards, so for all of you who sent me your addresses, don't fret! Just be patient, I'm definitely working on buying and writing those postcards. And, if you're new to the blog, it's not too late! Send me your address and I'll write you a postcard!

This first week has gone by really quickly and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of how fast I've adjusted to the new situation. I'm not usually good with change and I think this has gone very smoothly. Of course, things like Skype and being able to watch Glee on the internet have made it a bit easier but I'm sure the amount of charm and acceptance that this town possesses has a lot to do with it too. Good times.

Welp. We got here. I cried. I freaked out. And then I kind of got over it.

Got up at 5 in the morning on the 2nd. Drove with mom and dad to the St. Louis Airport and said a teary goodbye. Got on a plane with about 8 of my friends. The first flight was a little over an hour to the St. Paul airport in Minneapolis and then we waited for a little over 3 hours for the flight to Amsterdam. Man that was a long flight. 8 hours. So, a movie, and 2 airplane meals later we landed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, at about 7 in the morning. We had some trouble finding the cabs that were arranged to pick us up, and lost the part of our group that did find them, but we finally found them and drove the 20 minutes to Leiden.

Leiden is so beautiful! My room's view is right off the canal and I the trees and boats glow with christmas lights at night. It really is breath taking. When we first got here yesterday, I was completely overwhelmed. We went to the grocery store as a huge group with Christine Benninger, the woman who is kind of in charge of us here, and we were just in everyone's way and didn't know a lick of Dutch. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing and we didn't really know how to handle the situation. But, we have all been doing our best to look up needed dutch phrases and basic words to be able to exchange polite greetings and all that.

I got to talk to my mom and dad on Skype. It was really good to not only be able to talk to them, but also see them. I'm hoping to be able to talk to my sister here pretty soon, although I know she's really busy.

I should mention that I over-packed. Arriving at the airport and immediately looking like a tourist with my 3 suitcases and struggling through the airport was a major wake up call. First goal of the trip, to come away with the ability to pack lightly, even for long journeys. So let that be advice to all of you who wish to travel. Maybe you won't be as silly as I, but I definitely should have taken my dad's advice of packing everything you want, and then taking only half of that and a lot more money.

I'm a little nervous about classes starting, but I only have 2 the first 8 weeks, so I don't think it will be too much to handle. We'll see though. I am also VERY excited to meet the other students here! Hopefully make some friends that are locals and that can show us around all the hot spots! We went to a bar last night, and I had a conversation with two British guys at the bar who told me that I was "SOO American..." well, Goal number two of the trip: learn how to act so I'm not called "American" like it's a bad thing again.

Today I went to breakfast and to the grocery store with some of the other kids who are here from Webster. I think we're going back out in a bit to get some other stuff. The major things on my list: a phone and calling card. It's been so weird not being able to just call the people we're with. I didn't realize how much I depended on my phone until we were on opposite sides of the airport from the other half of our group and had no way of seeing where the other group was. It's kind of scary, plus I want to be able to call home if I want to.

Well, I know that's a lot, but that's all I have for now. I am so glad to be feeling better about being here now that we've settled in a little bit. We've already started talking about traveling on weekends and I am sooooo excited about that as well. I can't wait to start the semester!

Aight folks, here it is. After a full day and a half of relentless packing, and then weighing, and then reconfiguring, and then re-packing, it's finally here. Tomorrow (as in like 4 hours) I'm waking up and starting a 24 hour journey to a far off land called The Netherlands. Yup. I am sad to leave my family and friends here, but I have to say that after a lot of thinking and panicking about everything that could possibly go wrong, I think I'm ready for it. Dad says that I've packed far more than I need to, but I think that it's better to be safe than sorry. So there, dad. I can't express how much I appreciate how supportive and helpful my parents have been this last week. I would be walking up the stairs and one of them would say hello in the wrong tone and I would just burst out crying. And what would they do, they sat me down and made me feel better about everything. They have set up all the insurance stuff and ticket stuff that I don't understand and when they are being this wonderful (which is all the time of course), it makes it all the more difficult to think of how I won't see them for at least 2 months before they come visit. That being said, I really need to get to sleep since I leave in about 5 hours and I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep now. More updates about the trip over to Leiden will probably come after we get settled in, but for now just send some good thoughts in our direction as we head off into the unknown!

Cat