I spent our second free weekend visiting my friend Oktober in Amsterdam.
Friday night Oktober picked me up from the train station. We dropped off my bags at her place, and went out for an evening of drinks and good conversation. Although we hadn’t seen each other in years, it felt like our friendship picked up right where it left off.
When the bars started to close, we decided to walk around the city, and Oktober took me through the infamous Red Light District. In all honesty, it was much tamer than I had expected. Sure, there were scantily clad women in windows and plenty of adult stores, but somehow I had envisioned more. The atmosphere of the place felt no different from any other late night city street full of bars and young people. If anything, the guys there paid less attention to two fully clothed girls walking down the street because they had nearly naked women to look at instead. And those women came in all shapes and sizes; some were absolutely beautiful, others not so much. I found it highly entertaining that as a man exited a building, the entire street cheered for him, as if he had just achieved some great accomplishment. If nothing else, our stroll through Amsterdam’s Red Light District was entertaining.
Saturday morning I enjoyed a luxury that I have been deprived of for most of this trip – I slept in! When I did wake up, I washed all of my laundry and snuggled with Oktober’s kitties; such mundane activities felt almost therapeutic.
In the early afternoon, Oktober had a writing workshop to attend, so I set out on my own to the Anne Frank House. The line was long, but the exhibit was worth the wait. Walking through the place where Anne Frank and her family hid for so many years, seeing pieces of her original diary, and watching recorded interviews with people who had known her was quite a moving experience.
Interestingly, the house was turned into a museum because the Frank family wanted their story to help future generations make the world a more tolerant place. So, the last room of the exhibit included several short videos of discrimination issues that the world is facing today. An optional poll after each video clip allowed people to express their opinions on such issues. I only stayed for a few of the videos, but questions such as, “Should Italian public schools be allowed to hang the crucifix in classrooms despite the fact that parents have protested against it?”, “Should Muslim girls be allowed to wear their religious head coverings in schools?”, and “Should neo-Nazi symbols, including certain color shoe laces, be banned?” I felt myself getting upset when, after each question, the answer I considered “more tolerant,” was consistently the minority answer. Despite an interest in the videos, I felt like I needed to go.
After reserving my seat on a train to Basel and grabbing a bite to eat, I met up with Oktober for a bit of shopping. When it started to rain, we headed back to her place, ordered sushi for delivery, and spent the rest of the evening discussing life, love, and music.
Overall, the weekend was fantastic. I am extremely glad that I got to catch up with Oktober, and Amsterdam may be creeping its way onto the short list of cities I would live in.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Norderney
I had been looking forward to our visit to Norderney from the beginning of this trip, and the mudhike and island did not disappoint.
First, we visited a seal rehabilitation center, which rescues hundreds of stranded baby seals from the coast every year. Because the babies get separated from their mothers in the tide, they would die without the help of the seal center. The center feeds and houses the seals until they are big enough to survive in the sea on their own, then the seals are released. The only permanent residents of the seal center are those with birth defects or other conditions that would prevent them from being able to survive in the wild.
After the seal center and a bite to eat, we headed out for our hike across the mudflats to the island of Norderney. At first the wind made the hike uncomfortably cold, but once we were out on the open sea, so to speak, I forgot the weather completely. Our guide took us through the shallowest areas, but even still, the mud often came up to my knees. We stopped to dig up a variety of sea creatures including worms, jellyfish, and crabs. Each time we stopped, our feet would sink in the mud, and moving again always proved difficult. After several hours of sloshing through mud, we made it safely to the island.
After washing up, I tagged along with Dr. Wasser and Olaf to indulge in a hard earned drink.
The next morning, the group headed out for a bike tour of the island. I, however, am not so good on a bike, and after a couple of failed attempts to even remain upright, I opted to explore the island on my own. Ultimately, I think I enjoyed the time to myself, and moving at my own pace, far more than I would have enjoyed the group tour. My walk through the city and across the beach felt peaceful, and in a way, liberating. I walked through parks, stopped for an apfelshorle, booked my train tickets, discovered historical monuments, and even asked for directions a few times in my horrible broken German. In the end, I made it to the restaurant just in time to meet up with the rest of the group, order my food, and enjoy a fantastic lunch.
While the group rode back to the harbor to return their bikes, I hopped on a bus to meet them. Unfortunately, the bus wasn’t actually supposed to go to the harbor, but I was clearly a lost confused American girl, and the driver took pity on me. I tried to tip him in thanks, but he refused.
At the harbor, I met up with the rest of the group again, we took a ferry back to the mainland, and I headed out to Amsterdam for the weekend.
First, we visited a seal rehabilitation center, which rescues hundreds of stranded baby seals from the coast every year. Because the babies get separated from their mothers in the tide, they would die without the help of the seal center. The center feeds and houses the seals until they are big enough to survive in the sea on their own, then the seals are released. The only permanent residents of the seal center are those with birth defects or other conditions that would prevent them from being able to survive in the wild.
After the seal center and a bite to eat, we headed out for our hike across the mudflats to the island of Norderney. At first the wind made the hike uncomfortably cold, but once we were out on the open sea, so to speak, I forgot the weather completely. Our guide took us through the shallowest areas, but even still, the mud often came up to my knees. We stopped to dig up a variety of sea creatures including worms, jellyfish, and crabs. Each time we stopped, our feet would sink in the mud, and moving again always proved difficult. After several hours of sloshing through mud, we made it safely to the island.
After washing up, I tagged along with Dr. Wasser and Olaf to indulge in a hard earned drink.
The next morning, the group headed out for a bike tour of the island. I, however, am not so good on a bike, and after a couple of failed attempts to even remain upright, I opted to explore the island on my own. Ultimately, I think I enjoyed the time to myself, and moving at my own pace, far more than I would have enjoyed the group tour. My walk through the city and across the beach felt peaceful, and in a way, liberating. I walked through parks, stopped for an apfelshorle, booked my train tickets, discovered historical monuments, and even asked for directions a few times in my horrible broken German. In the end, I made it to the restaurant just in time to meet up with the rest of the group, order my food, and enjoy a fantastic lunch.
While the group rode back to the harbor to return their bikes, I hopped on a bus to meet them. Unfortunately, the bus wasn’t actually supposed to go to the harbor, but I was clearly a lost confused American girl, and the driver took pity on me. I tried to tip him in thanks, but he refused.
At the harbor, I met up with the rest of the group again, we took a ferry back to the mainland, and I headed out to Amsterdam for the weekend.
It's like riding a bike...
Several of us tested the theory that you don't forget how to ride a bike while we were on the island of Norderney. We had a bike tour of the island but several of us had not ridden bikes for many years! After the first few wobbly feet, we were off!! So, it's true, you don't forget how to ride a bike!! Once I stopped watching the ground right in front of me, I had a great time! We had a great guide who took us around, stopped in good locations, and discussed things about the area/animals. This was a wonderful way to see the island and minus a little shower, the weather was nice too. Though I must say, they told us the island was flat....but biking up and down sand dunes against the wind can be quite tiring!! Especially when done the day after a hike across the mud flats!!
The hike to the island of Norderney, across the mudflats, on a "wattandderung" was really interesting to say the least!! We started out in really soft mud that at times was knee deep! I was thinking that there is no way I am going to make it the 6 or so km across!! Luckily it was only that deep and soft for a short time. Most of the time is was much easier to walk and the deepest water that we had to cross was only little more than knee deep. Mind you, it is the North Sea, its windy, overcast, and at times drizzeled a bit! A note to future mud flat walkers...wear tights or something under your shorts to help keep you warm, and dont wear short socks...you will want socks that are taller than the hightop shoes, otherwise you get nice rubs all the way around your ankles like I did!! Wear layers on your upper body to keep warm, and dont forget a rain jacket!!
We did the hike to the island the day before the bike ride and had the same guide for both, he was really good! He was really good at pointing things out and explaining things when all we could think about was how to not get sucked into the mud too deep!! And best of all, he got us safely across the mudflats before the tide came in!!
The hike to the island of Norderney, across the mudflats, on a "wattandderung" was really interesting to say the least!! We started out in really soft mud that at times was knee deep! I was thinking that there is no way I am going to make it the 6 or so km across!! Luckily it was only that deep and soft for a short time. Most of the time is was much easier to walk and the deepest water that we had to cross was only little more than knee deep. Mind you, it is the North Sea, its windy, overcast, and at times drizzeled a bit! A note to future mud flat walkers...wear tights or something under your shorts to help keep you warm, and dont wear short socks...you will want socks that are taller than the hightop shoes, otherwise you get nice rubs all the way around your ankles like I did!! Wear layers on your upper body to keep warm, and dont forget a rain jacket!!
We did the hike to the island the day before the bike ride and had the same guide for both, he was really good! He was really good at pointing things out and explaining things when all we could think about was how to not get sucked into the mud too deep!! And best of all, he got us safely across the mudflats before the tide came in!!
Bugs, bugs, and more bugs....
So today we went to Novartis in Basel, Switzerland....First of all, let me just say how awesome it is to just causally say "Hey, I'm in SWITZERLAND!!!" We arrived here last night and the Ramada I am in staying in is so fancy, my view of the mountains and city from my 14th floor room is to die for! On top of that, the weather is nice and once again, I'M IN SWITZERLAND!!
A few first impressions: Switzerland is like its own little independent nation that does its own thing, everything especially food here is VERY expensive, the mountains are gorgeous, most people speak english (yay!!), my hotel rrom view is AMAZING, the inner part of the city is very industrial-like, there is this lovely cake/pastry thing that is only made within a ten mile radius of the Novartis research lab that is a fantastic little treat, and finally the TV here is quite interesting.
We went to Novartis which by the way is another very impressive facility. It was nice to see the corporate side in person as compared to just hearing about it in school. I really enjoyed touring the research labs and demos explaining the development process but I do believe that traveling to the main research center was my favorite part! The drive there was beautiful, especially when you come out of this huge tunnel you can actually see the Swiss Alps, snow covered and everything! They were beautiful.
Once we got to the facility, I will have to say that my favorite part was the flea research with the artificial cat where they used parafin as a replacement membrane that acts as skin to eliminate the actual cat from the model to save it from the discomfort. I was also very interested in the research they were doing in arthritic dogs and force plates. All of the different aspects of research that were presented including the really grose room with maggots and cockroaches were different from what I was expecting and it defintely interested me. I didn't really know a whole lot of what goes on into making products past the chemical formulation in labs so it was interesting to see the behind the scenes. On top of all of the research, all of the people and researchers there were so friendly and very interesting to talk to and find out their story as to how they got to where they are today starting off in the veterinary profession!
A few first impressions: Switzerland is like its own little independent nation that does its own thing, everything especially food here is VERY expensive, the mountains are gorgeous, most people speak english (yay!!), my hotel rrom view is AMAZING, the inner part of the city is very industrial-like, there is this lovely cake/pastry thing that is only made within a ten mile radius of the Novartis research lab that is a fantastic little treat, and finally the TV here is quite interesting.
We went to Novartis which by the way is another very impressive facility. It was nice to see the corporate side in person as compared to just hearing about it in school. I really enjoyed touring the research labs and demos explaining the development process but I do believe that traveling to the main research center was my favorite part! The drive there was beautiful, especially when you come out of this huge tunnel you can actually see the Swiss Alps, snow covered and everything! They were beautiful.
Once we got to the facility, I will have to say that my favorite part was the flea research with the artificial cat where they used parafin as a replacement membrane that acts as skin to eliminate the actual cat from the model to save it from the discomfort. I was also very interested in the research they were doing in arthritic dogs and force plates. All of the different aspects of research that were presented including the really grose room with maggots and cockroaches were different from what I was expecting and it defintely interested me. I didn't really know a whole lot of what goes on into making products past the chemical formulation in labs so it was interesting to see the behind the scenes. On top of all of the research, all of the people and researchers there were so friendly and very interesting to talk to and find out their story as to how they got to where they are today starting off in the veterinary profession!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Hannover
For many, our visit to Hannover was the most exciting stop in our veterinary tour of Europe. I on the other hand, was sort of disappointed. Perhaps because I had spent the weekend at WGT, perhaps because I am just not interested in large animal medicine, or perhaps because we had already toured the vet school in Utrecht, I simply could not find much energy or enthusiasm for the Hannover school.
Don’t get me wrong; I think palpating cattle to check for pregnancy and collecting semen from stallions for artificial insemination, is important work that every vet student should experience. I am just far more interested in removing an animal’s ability to reproduce than I am in helping it in that task.
I did however enjoy making friends with this little calf. She was clearly skittish and ran into her little house when we approached her. While everyone else was paying attention to other things, I knelt down in front of her and reached out my hand. Slowly she started to approach me, and in the end, she tried to suckle on my hand – so cute, and so sweet.
I also had fantastic tapas dinner with a small group of students on the trip and our hosts. I enjoyed the food, drinks, company, and practicing my German. Christina, my host, was an absolute sweetheart during my stay, and it is nice to know that I have a friend in Hannover.
Don’t get me wrong; I think palpating cattle to check for pregnancy and collecting semen from stallions for artificial insemination, is important work that every vet student should experience. I am just far more interested in removing an animal’s ability to reproduce than I am in helping it in that task.
I did however enjoy making friends with this little calf. She was clearly skittish and ran into her little house when we approached her. While everyone else was paying attention to other things, I knelt down in front of her and reached out my hand. Slowly she started to approach me, and in the end, she tried to suckle on my hand – so cute, and so sweet.
I also had fantastic tapas dinner with a small group of students on the trip and our hosts. I enjoyed the food, drinks, company, and practicing my German. Christina, my host, was an absolute sweetheart during my stay, and it is nice to know that I have a friend in Hannover.
Leipzig & Wave Gotik Treffen
The journey to Leipzig was a little scary since it was my first time traveling around Europe completely alone. However, despite a train malfunction that required an unexpected train change, and then running 30 minutes behind, I managed to make all of my connections without any problems. I even managed to keep myself entertained during the ride by attempting to make sense of the German advertisements on the train.
Joseph met me at the Hbf at 1:00am, I got checked into the hotel, and after catching up, we got some much needed sleep.
The weekend at Wave Gotik Treffen was fantastic. Saturday morning, we picked up our wristbands and headed to the vendor area. I picked up a WGT 19 t-shirt, a new skirt, and a set of cyberlox hair falls. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for the Rotersand show.
The crowd for Rotersand was absolutely enormous; I find it hard to believe that just a few years ago no one knew who they were. Ironically, I commented to Joseph that I wouldn’t be surprised if Ronan Harris made a guest appearance since he was at the festival and is such good friends with the Rotersand guys. Sure enough, a song or two later they announced special guest Ronan “Effing” Harris. Ronan came out and sang Merging Oceans with them – fan-freaking-tastic! After the show, I picked up a Rotersand t-shirt from the merch booth and headed back into the vendor area.
Joseph and I walked around the vendor area for a while mostly to avoid the cold outside, but I am quite thankful that we did, because we got to meet My Friend Skeleton. They were in full-on costume, and when they noticed me having a fan-girl moment, they motioned for me to come get my picture taken with them. In very broken German I negotiated purchasing a t-shirt from them, and then Joseph and I headed back to the hotel.
On the tram ride, we met up with Gwen and Brian from New Orleans. Seeing familiar faces in a foreign country is beyond nice. We chatted for 30 minutes or so, and agreed to meet up again before the festival ended.
Sunday, we tried to catch Ronan’s DJ set at the Dark Flower, but the schedule online had the wrong time. So instead, we wandered into a reading, in German, of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher. Not quite what we were expecting, but I enjoyed it mainly because I actually picked out enough words to know what was being read. When the performer started reading Lovecraft, we decided to head out.
While walking around, we found the Xtrax store and did a bit more shopping. Then we dropped by Dark Flower a second time, but not much was happening, so we headed off to catch Mono No Aware and Modulate.
Modulate put on a fantastic show. We snagged a spot right in front, I danced my butt off, and the Modulate guys spoke in English, so we could actually understand them. The guys were very excited about playing for such a large audience; about midway through the set, they asked the crowd to put our hands up in the air so they could take a picture. They said they would post the picture on facebook and wanted everyone to tag themselves. Most of the German kids had no clue what was going on, but Joseph and I thought it was fantastic. The highlight of the show was when they broke out with their remix of Faderhead’s Dirty Girls, which resulted in much screaming, jumping, and dancing on my part.
After picking up a Modulate t-shirt, we headed back to Agra Hall for Lacrimosa and Alien Sex Fiend. There we met back up with Gwen and Brian and rocked out for a bit before calling it an early night.
Overall, WGT 19 was every bit as awesome as WGT 14. I hope it does not take another five years before we make it back again.
Joseph met me at the Hbf at 1:00am, I got checked into the hotel, and after catching up, we got some much needed sleep.
The weekend at Wave Gotik Treffen was fantastic. Saturday morning, we picked up our wristbands and headed to the vendor area. I picked up a WGT 19 t-shirt, a new skirt, and a set of cyberlox hair falls. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for the Rotersand show.
The crowd for Rotersand was absolutely enormous; I find it hard to believe that just a few years ago no one knew who they were. Ironically, I commented to Joseph that I wouldn’t be surprised if Ronan Harris made a guest appearance since he was at the festival and is such good friends with the Rotersand guys. Sure enough, a song or two later they announced special guest Ronan “Effing” Harris. Ronan came out and sang Merging Oceans with them – fan-freaking-tastic! After the show, I picked up a Rotersand t-shirt from the merch booth and headed back into the vendor area.
Joseph and I walked around the vendor area for a while mostly to avoid the cold outside, but I am quite thankful that we did, because we got to meet My Friend Skeleton. They were in full-on costume, and when they noticed me having a fan-girl moment, they motioned for me to come get my picture taken with them. In very broken German I negotiated purchasing a t-shirt from them, and then Joseph and I headed back to the hotel.
On the tram ride, we met up with Gwen and Brian from New Orleans. Seeing familiar faces in a foreign country is beyond nice. We chatted for 30 minutes or so, and agreed to meet up again before the festival ended.
Sunday, we tried to catch Ronan’s DJ set at the Dark Flower, but the schedule online had the wrong time. So instead, we wandered into a reading, in German, of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher. Not quite what we were expecting, but I enjoyed it mainly because I actually picked out enough words to know what was being read. When the performer started reading Lovecraft, we decided to head out.
While walking around, we found the Xtrax store and did a bit more shopping. Then we dropped by Dark Flower a second time, but not much was happening, so we headed off to catch Mono No Aware and Modulate.
Modulate put on a fantastic show. We snagged a spot right in front, I danced my butt off, and the Modulate guys spoke in English, so we could actually understand them. The guys were very excited about playing for such a large audience; about midway through the set, they asked the crowd to put our hands up in the air so they could take a picture. They said they would post the picture on facebook and wanted everyone to tag themselves. Most of the German kids had no clue what was going on, but Joseph and I thought it was fantastic. The highlight of the show was when they broke out with their remix of Faderhead’s Dirty Girls, which resulted in much screaming, jumping, and dancing on my part.
After picking up a Modulate t-shirt, we headed back to Agra Hall for Lacrimosa and Alien Sex Fiend. There we met back up with Gwen and Brian and rocked out for a bit before calling it an early night.
Overall, WGT 19 was every bit as awesome as WGT 14. I hope it does not take another five years before we make it back again.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Confines of the competent traveler
May 28, 2010
Henry was a wise old dog. He had traveled around the block a few times. As a stray, he learned to fend for himself. Never knowing but always anticipating where the next meal would come from, he had developed exquisite begging abilities that effectively convinced the naïve humans around him to throw him scraps regularly. His plans always worked and as a hound of the streets, Henry, surprisingly, rarely did without. Henry was keen about meeting his needs and quick to figure out new ways to do so. Henry even had spare time where he could run around the streets figuring out new paths and creating new adventures to keep him on top of his game. He often learned the most when he went on his own explorations!
However, things changed for Henry: One day a nice little old lady saw Henry and decided she would take him in. She had never owned a dog but her heart melted when she saw Henry. With the best of intentions, the little old lady took Henry in, gave him a warm fluffy new bed to sleep on, some fresh water, and heaps of food. Henry was grateful. For the first week, he loved the idea of his new owner. He played in the yard when she was gone during the day, slept on the bed when she allowed, drank and ate when she set the plates in front of him. Henry liked the idea of not having to fend for himself – and he didn’t mind not always having to have a plan. However, as time went on her schedule became more sporadic. And the once new treasure Henry became another ‘thing’ to care for and not a new Best friend. Soon enough, Henry wasn’t sure when his new owner would be home and was often left in the backyard with little room to run and alone for many hours at a time. Although, when she was home, she would occasionally forget that Henry needed to eat and, more often than not, Henry found the toilet bowl his only source of fresh water. Henry began to dream about the good old days when he was able to figure things out for himself- able to explore on his own- and meet his own needs when needed. Henry regretted giving up his freedom to the little old lady, although her intentions were never to harm Henry, she became too busy to realize Henry’s needs. Her schedule became more and more demanding and soon she forgot completely about Henry, so when he disappeared she didn’t even notice.
Once again, Henry was on the streets – living by his own means and never having to worry about someone forgetting about his needs again.
Henry was a wise old dog. He had traveled around the block a few times. As a stray, he learned to fend for himself. Never knowing but always anticipating where the next meal would come from, he had developed exquisite begging abilities that effectively convinced the naïve humans around him to throw him scraps regularly. His plans always worked and as a hound of the streets, Henry, surprisingly, rarely did without. Henry was keen about meeting his needs and quick to figure out new ways to do so. Henry even had spare time where he could run around the streets figuring out new paths and creating new adventures to keep him on top of his game. He often learned the most when he went on his own explorations!
However, things changed for Henry: One day a nice little old lady saw Henry and decided she would take him in. She had never owned a dog but her heart melted when she saw Henry. With the best of intentions, the little old lady took Henry in, gave him a warm fluffy new bed to sleep on, some fresh water, and heaps of food. Henry was grateful. For the first week, he loved the idea of his new owner. He played in the yard when she was gone during the day, slept on the bed when she allowed, drank and ate when she set the plates in front of him. Henry liked the idea of not having to fend for himself – and he didn’t mind not always having to have a plan. However, as time went on her schedule became more sporadic. And the once new treasure Henry became another ‘thing’ to care for and not a new Best friend. Soon enough, Henry wasn’t sure when his new owner would be home and was often left in the backyard with little room to run and alone for many hours at a time. Although, when she was home, she would occasionally forget that Henry needed to eat and, more often than not, Henry found the toilet bowl his only source of fresh water. Henry began to dream about the good old days when he was able to figure things out for himself- able to explore on his own- and meet his own needs when needed. Henry regretted giving up his freedom to the little old lady, although her intentions were never to harm Henry, she became too busy to realize Henry’s needs. Her schedule became more and more demanding and soon she forgot completely about Henry, so when he disappeared she didn’t even notice.
Once again, Henry was on the streets – living by his own means and never having to worry about someone forgetting about his needs again.
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