The main thing that attracted me to Amsterdam the first time I was here 3 years ago was the spontaneous, vibrant, and random artistic events. This is a perfect example:

Last weekend Brendan, Jonathan, Ewa and I rode out to Amsterdam's Westerpark for the grand finale of an outdoor festival/art presentation. A crowd gathered on a field, while a helicopter hovering over our heads dropped 9000 flowers as some sort of celebration of love. We had no idea what to expect when we headed out to the festival, and we arrived just in time for this random moment of coolness.

The black spots are flowers raining down









Me and Ewa

Saturday Sept. 9 - Day Trip To Edam

The crew of Pad22 (my roommates, the residents of Bijltjespad 22) decided to take a bike trip to the local town of Edam. It's a small town located 20km north of Amsterdam known for its cheese market, not visited by many tourists. In its heydey it was a major port town. With the country's flatness and loads of bike paths, we thought it would be a good idea. It took us 2 hours to get to Edam, with a brief stop in the town of Monnickendam to check out the St. Nicolas Church. The route was excellent and well marked, but the wind was very brutal at times. Eventhough I was the instigator of the trip, I considered dropping dead a few times en route to Edam. The trip back was much easier and took only 1.5, but we stopped at a local fair to go on a few "suicide rides". For the first time in my life, a ride made me feel sick, and afterwards my roommate Jacquie and I sat on the curb, glossy eyed and frail.

Brendan (Australian roommate) in an Edam cheese shop









Streets of Edam









A house in Edam









Town Hall













Edam's famous white bridges








The bike path ran along a dike along the coast line.
Edam's port and beach

Rijksmuseum

When I'm hungover I like to go to a museum. I find myself so dead and tired that I can stand, stare, and fully appreciate the artwork in front of me. This was alright in Toronto's ROM, but it's so much cooler here in Amsterdam. I can enjoy a Rembrandt, Monet and Van Gogh all side by side at the Rijksmuseum.

Outside the Rijksmuseum: (I have a similar photo from my visit 3 years ago; the musuem was under construction even then)













Disclaimer: I am not hungover in this picture, nor have I been during any of my visits to Amsterdam's museums thus far.

Fun fact: I've been obsessed with living in Amsterdam since I came here 3 years ago (most of you already knew this). Here's a funny entry in my LiveJournal from last year, October 4th:
penguinanna.livejournal.com

My Market

This is where I do my grocery shopping; it's the city's biggest market, located right behind the Heineken brewery.










The market entrance:

Orientation and first week of classes at UVA aka The Intellectual Meat Market

Orientation was great. Everything was an excuse to drink. In fact, Karaoke Night was only called that because the organizers couldn't call the evening "The All You Can Drink Beer Night". We all sat at long, cafeteria style tables with a pitcher of beer between four people; a pitcher of beer that was refilled 5 seconds after it was emptied by eager bar staff running around on the tables. A few frosh leaders tried to do some Karaoke, but it was pathetic, and the microphone was good only for encouraging all of us to drink.

Today we had the welcome dinner for the Graduate School's international studens, where a former student spoke and gave us practical advice about living in Amsteram. This included words of wisdom about which bars not to do heroin in (because in the black light you can't find the veins), who to buy coke from (a guy named Larry), what kind of pot to smoke (always organic, and a vapourizer is the way to go), and where to buy stolen bikes (but I'm already an expert). The dinner was great though; we each got 4 drink tokens. In Canada you're lucky to get one for tap water.

Class is also great. It is so easy compared to UofT, which was hardcore. I have two classes a week, the readings for which I already did in first year. Today I freaked because I overslept for my first class of the semester (I woke up at 9:15 for a 9am class), only to arrive at 10am and learn that the class was cancelled because the Prof never showed.

Bicycles

I love biking in Amsterdam. When on a bicycle, you are always right. For example, you can go to a bar, get trashed, bike home, cut off a vehicle, cause it to swirve, crash into an old lady and a baby, and fly into a canal, and it is still the cars fault for driving, the old lady's fault for being old, and the baby's fault for being there. When on a bicycle, nothign is ever your fault, except if you don't have a night light; then you can get a ticket. I'm not saying this is right, but it is convenient.

I have seen many intersting bikes. This one reminds me of the movie "The Fly", when Jeff Goldblooms' character transports himself in his new machine, and his DNA gets mixed up with a fly's when he gets to the other end:









Flower Power:











The multi level parking lot near Centraal Station:








The Dutch are extremely skilled cyclists. While biking, they can simultaneously roll a joint and talk on their cell phone with complete ease. They will also transport anything on their bikes. No word of a lie, when my roommates and I were enjoying a beer at our local pub (which is located in an old castle tower!), we saw a guy transport a chest with drawers on the back of his bike. We've gotten quite good at it ourselves. Here we are with bags full of new swag for our flat:









As an aside, the Smart Car originated in the Netherlands. This was taken at the Amsterdam Historic Museum:

Film MA

There are only 7 of us international students doing a Film MA, yet they had 50 applicants! I feel special.