What's the song played at the end of every episode of the Lawrence Welk show?

Anyway- I had my final test today for Dutch. It was sweet. And so I leave tomorrow. We have our final meeting tonight. I did my last load of laundry- and I've signed up to check out of my room tomorrow morning at 8:30.

This is all sort of surreal. I can't decide if it feels like I just got here, or if I've been here for years. Sometimes it feels like both.

I'm all too excited to be in Pella. I miss it. I always do. I'm a freak. I want to walk down the snow covered streets of Pella- look in stores, say hello to strangers on the street and end with a warm coffee at Smokey Row. Note I said warm. Sometimes the coffee isn't very hot.

It's always hot in the Netherlands. And strong. I just want a piss-poor cup of Smokey Row House Blend.

Nasty Stuff, really.

I've packed up the fifth Harry Potter book to read on the way home. I have a three hour lay over in Washington D.C. I have a couple hours in Chicago. Chicago is so big, I think it'll take me the two hours to find the place my plane leaves.

But Chicago O'Hare sucks. I've never had a plane leave that place on time domestically. Sure, they get international flights out fine- but United is always delaying flights. I think I may have some luck being on the last flight to Des Moines, but that's just more reason to get my ass there on time.

Wish me luck. This has been fun. I've met some wonderful people, and I've had some wonderful times. I'll put up more photos once I get home to my room and my lovely computer.

Ijs Skaten doen

Ha. We went ice skating last night. I was drunk. I had a nice time. I did rather well. Kyle fell trying to be a big strong man. It's funny when he does that because he's not. Ha.I'm completely amazed that I am leaving this place so soon. It's been quite the ride, but it certainly isn't over yet. Holger is taking me out tonight (the way the Dutch say goodbye, he told me). I'm excited for the good times.

I had an oral final today. I passed the final, I passed the class. It was lovely. I have a real test tomorrow. A big one. With questions, answers, and communication. It's all in Dutch, that's the thing. I hope I win. Ah well. Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands, en ik wil goed doe.

Day After Tomorrow.

Last Days in Leiden.

I leave on Thursday. How odd. I wrote my last paper today. It's nice to get that out of the way. I should do some study for my Dutch final.

Ik spreek niet goed Nederlands. Nee, niet goed.

Anyway. Here's a random picture. It's of Santa. He lives in Rotterdam. He holds an anal plug.

Only in the Netherlands.

Fog my vision

Yesterday began a lovely day. It turned very foggy as the afternoon went on. Today, though, there is not a single sign that last night was beautiful and moist. I was looking at the weather in Iowa today and it seems like there is some chance (30 per cent) of snow on Wednesday- but on Thursday it's just supposed to be cold and a partly cloudy. I got worried yesterday when I saw that an airplane slid off of a runway. I would not enjoy that on my way home. I did laundry last night to get a move on- and to begin packing my suitcase. I've got some stuff in there now, mostly boxes, and it's over half full! Yikes. I'm going to have some serious cramming issues to take care of (not the kind of cramming I would expect to do the end of the semester).

Had beer last night- after I broke into the liquor that I was going to give as a gift. Ah well. I can buy liquor in Iowa- and it takes that much room out of my suitcase. It was a gift set with cologne and face wash with the alcohol. The only reason I really bought it was that the bottle of alcohol was 20 euro- but the gift set (with the same bottle) was 14. Now I have drink the rest of my time here. Anyway- I'm starting to get bitchy. I realized it pretty early on in the drinking last night... I think I was subconsciously pushing these people away since I know the likelihood of me having great contact with any of them is rather slim. A wedding maybe- that's probably it. I stopped as soon as I figured out what I was doing- I wasn't being kind. Tonight I'll try to be better. Anyway- it's weird to think that I have pairs of underwear that I won't wear ever again in Leiden (unless I change clothes three times a day). It's little things like this that are getting to me. Oh, and interesting. Some of the people are starting to explore new bars because they felt they haven't been as 'bar-hoppy' as they could be. We went to a bar Thursday night, and Friday they said they were wanting to go back to the new Thursday bar. I found that funny.

So- let's hope for nice weather Thursday. Four days. Wow.

Week

It's a week until I leave. I had a lovely day. We had an early class (a little issue after going to the bar last night), and one of the students didn't make it to the last class! Oops. He had fun. I walked around the town. It's a lovely day. 45 degrees, sunny. Lovely. There's a festival getting set up in the center of town- and they have an ice skating rink. Looks like fun.

So soon.

I'm leaving for Pella in less than two weeks. It'll happen before I know it. Want to know what won't happen before I know it:

Second Semester. I had an email today in my inbox that contained my very first assignment for a one credit class. The professor said that it was only sent out to give us enough time to read the paper. It was 20 pages, how much time does anybody need? I could pull that out so fast. Do professors realize that if you give us a week or a year we will still do the work a day before it's due?

In other news. Wow. It's cold in Iowa. Not so cold here. We've done pretty well keeping our temperature above freezing. Today was even into the 40's! We went to Den Hague. We saw the Peace palace. I am excited for my last Hell Wednesday. I've dreaded Wednesday here. It's always sucked.

Sinterklaasdag

Happy Sinterklaasdag America! Tonight is the night that Sinterklaas brings gifts of chocolate letters, speculaas, and other sweets to the good children of the Netherlands. He rides his big white horse to the cities to present these gifts in the shoes of the kids. If the kids are naughty, however, Sinterklaas has his big black helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), stuff them into sacks. Now, America would never allow Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet has a big nose and huge red lips. Mostly Zwarte Piet is a white person wearing black makeup. I believe that's illegal in the U.S. At least on stage. However, it's wrong to say that a cultural tradition offends. I personally like it when Zwarte Piet hugs tiny children in the street- his white hands stretching around the backs of young children. It's so odd.

I think I may leave a shoe by my door- just to see if anything happens. But, when I think about my last year, I'll probably end up in a sack. Happy Sinterklaasdag, America!