If I go outside when it is snowing, I turn into a snow beast because the snow all sticks to my hair… and my hat, and my coat, and everything else.
I spent all last week drooling over the pictures of snow at my parents' house. Yesterday it started snowing here and it snowed on and off through the night. Sara and Alicia were in awe at the start of it all, but now they're grumpy because it's cold outside.
The problem is that the Netherlands is a country that does not know what to do with snow. We probably got about 6 inches of snow, and it's very nice snow but it's a mess. They don't have people with machinery out at four in the morning starting to clear the roads so that people can get where they need to go when eight o'clock rolls around. Also, they can't seem to run trains in snow. I walk through Holland Spoor station every day on my way to school and today every single platform board either said that the next train stopping through was either 10-20 minutes late or not going at all. The trams and buses also take a lot longer to get where they are going because the roads are full of icy slush, so they have to drive slowly. Today I had a cultural exam resit at 9am, some of my classmates made it on time only because they left an hour earlier than they normally would have. They live only ten minutes away by bus, but this morning 10 minutes turned into 50 minutes.
None of that really bugs me because I don't have to take a train, tram or bus. What bugs me is that… Well, the sidewalks and pedestrian roads (and some of the roads for cars too) are paved with either tiles or bricks. The bricks are okay but the tiles are these fancy marble-looking tiles that are really slippery when covered with an inch of slushy snow. Given the amount of rainfall here it doesn't really make sense to pave roads and sidewalks with slippery-when-wet tiles, but I guess the fact that they are pretty is more important.
So I've been posting a lot these last few weeks. At this rate, I'm going to run out of things to say and you won't hear from me for a month or two. Today I finished my last exam, I feel pretty confident about all of them but I only have one result (out of ten) so far. I got a 7 on that, so yay for passing marks!
I have this huge fear of failure lately. I love my study, and I'd be so upset if I didn't make enough credits to continue and they kicked me out of the country. Because I also love this country, and as much as I also love the US I don't want to go back there. Not yet, not now. I need 40 credits out of a possible 80 to continue on to next year. I guess I should stop worrying, because I can definitely get 40 credits without too much of a problem. I need 60 credits out of that 80 to get my first year diploma—I believe those 60 credits come from (of course) just the first year courses because since I am in the 3-year program I have some second year courses this year as well. In order to go on exchange next year, I have to have 80 credits. I'm not sure if I have to get them all this year or if I can get some of them in the first semester of next year as well, but I think it would just be better if I can get all of the ones for this year. I really do hate failing classes… Once upon a time I would have been pretty upset if I did not pass every single class with a very high score, now I feel like I don't care just as long as I pass the majority of them. That's probably not a good change of mindset but I don't even know what to do about it.
Okay. Saturday we went out to the all-you-can-eat sushi place for my birthday, and it was actually a very interesting experience. When they say "all you can eat" they don't necessarily mean it. We were allowed 6 rounds of 5 items per person. So basically 30 items total. A lot of things were included as "items." You could order miso soup, ramen, curry or fried rice. They came in small-but-not-too-small portions, and each counted for one item. Or you could order maki rolls, which came as three rolls and each roll counted as an item. You couldn't order just one roll, if you were ordering maki it had to be three items. There was also things like teriyaki beef, fried mushrooms, fried zucchini (both of those came in a really good sauce), and other things like that which were all a single item. Then, there were spring rolls and calimari rings which came in sets of three as three items each. And all the other types of sushi, which each were just one item. We had a slip paper with 6 columns for the 6 rounds, and we would put a tally mark next to what we wanted for round one, no more than 20 items per round because there were four of us. They would take the paper, put in the order, and then scribble out the column for round one and return it to us to fill out for round two, etc. We only made it to round five. Every thing I had was very good, and even though it was 19 euros it was well worth it for a birthday lunch. I wish I had taken a picture but you'll have to do without. I was too busy stuffing my face (literally. those sushi rolls were pretty big).
Alicia went to DUWO and asked them who would be coming after Sara leaves next week. Apparently my new roommate is going to be a French girl. I do not know how to feel about this. I hope she's not a party animal… I hope she cleans up after herself… I hope she's nice! :(
Last but not least, Moon gave me a scarf for my birthday (a really pretty pashmina scarf, it's so warm) and she also brought me a scarf as a souvenir from Barcelona where she went after Christmas and before New Year's. I now have almost thirty scarves. I love scarves… I would show you but Sara would think I am crazy if I start pulling my scarves off the wall and scattering them around the floor to get a picture. Maybe I'll do that next week after she leaves.
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