So, here I am again, almost a week later to give you this week’s roundup from Utrecht.

Monday

We had class in the morning and in the evening, another fabulous ESN-sponsored summerschool movie night. This time, the film was a bit dark–it was a Dutch film called Zwart Boek (Black Book). With the assistance of Wikipedia, I can tell you that it is a 2006 Second World War film directed by Paul Verhoeven, and starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, and Halina Reijn. The story is about a young Jewish woman in the Netherlands who becomes a spy for the resistance during World War II, when tragedy befalls her after an encounter with the Nazis. The film had its world premiere on September 1, 2006 at the Venice Film Festival and its public release on September 14, 2006 in the Netherlands.

It’s very interesting to see the foreign reactions and feelings about the War(s). I found the film to be another thought-provoking cinematic experience and I was thankful to get to go.

Tuesday

Another uneventful day at class and another International Drink Night at ‘t Weeshuis. This week it was a bit more lame than usual, so I called it an early night also in part because . . .

Wednesday

. . . was the ESN-sponsored trip to the Nederlands Openlucht Museum (Dutch Open Air Museum) and a trip to the city of Arnhem. The Open Air Museum takes the visitor through different houses and buildings that are representative of Dutch culture through different time periods. It was really fascinating. They also have people working representing each time period to get you really into the themes. You can see all the fabulous photos from the Flickr page, but here are a few samples to whet your appetite.

Deborah, Sissi, and Jess in front of the Openlucht Museum

Eating traditional Dutch pancakes for lunch. They are huge! (and that's what she said! Wow, did I really just make that joke? Yes, my friends. Yes).

Typical Dutch Landscape (and me!)

Me and the Beer Dude--a good guy to know!

Old-School Dutch Windmill

Thursday

A fairly uneventful class day but a great night out starting with some wine by the canal with Sissi and Deborah, meeting some friends at Cafe Flater, and continuing on to Tivoli, a club for drinking and dancing until the wee hours. It was really fun meeting new people and enjoying Utrecht’s night life!

Friday

Because the wee hours of the morning are, unfortunately, in the morning, it is sometimes difficult to get one’s day started. This was not an option for me Friday as I had an appointment with the American Embassy in Amsterdam at 11. When I made the appointment, 11 sounded fairly late in the day . . . little did I know how Thursday would morph into Friday and how 11 would seem so early all of a sudden!

At any rate, I made it to the Embassy on time(ish) and after various violations of my Fourth Amendment rights by the security guard (thanks, PATRIOT Act!) I managed to change my passport and get an absentee voting registration card to fill out. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, my passport is allegedly only going to take 7 to 10 days to process. I say “allegedly” because last summer, I remember waiting between two and three months to get that sucker. I didn’t want to ask too many questions so as not to jinx this purportedly quick service!

And now I have an excuse to go back to Amsterdam in a week or so when I’ll try to go to the van Gogh Museum again. My friend Megan and I went back in the day but I haven’t been back since then and I’ve sort of developed a soft spot for Vincent and his art over the last few years and I’d appreciate seeing his work again.

Speaking of trips to Amsterdam, and as if I didn’t get my fill of dancing on Thursday, Friday night my friend Saad organized a trip for us all to a swanky club in A’dam called Panama for DJ Danny Howells and Renaissance. The best part about it was instead of paying €17,50 entrance fee (um yes, outrageous), we got in for free (um yes, outstanding)! That’s enough to make anyone happy! The house music took a bit to get used to, but by the wee hours (again) of the next morning, we were all having a blast and I’m so glad I got to experience this kind of Amsterdam culture properly.

Saturday

Again because the morning hours evaporated, I got up, went for a run, and then ran some errands. Stores are closed on Sundays so it takes a bit of strategic planning ahead for groceries and other errand-running. After the chores were complete, I settled in to my first Saturday night in in the history of my time in Utrecht. I have a directed research project with Prof. Merkel that needs to be done, so I spent my Saturday evening in academia instead of Amsterdam or Utrecht mania. I made sufficient progress and made it to bed to recharge my batteries from the last few late nights out.

Sunday

Today I have been working extremely diligently on the paper to get it to rough draft form. I am happy to report that about an hour ago, I sent off the first draft of my 40-page paper to Merkel for his critique. I am happy to have that off my desk for now, but I soon must turn to studying the Dutch language. I still owe you a post about my progress in this area, but I’m not quite ready for that just yet.

Miscellaneous

Biden: What a great choice. I’m really excited. I know there are a lot of naysayers out there, but through the early stages of the Democratic Primary, I was consistently impressed with Senator Biden and continued to be so during my following of Senate Foreign Relations Committee activity. I think this is a winning ticket and am excited to read how the hype around the DNC plays out.

LLM: I am applying for a February start in the Public International Law Master’s Degree (LL.M.) here at Utrecht. The application deadline is 1 September, so I’m living dangerously as it is 24 august and I have yet to get everything together. Thanks to a wonderful effort on the part of my friends Jess, Mark, and my parents, I think I’ll receive everything (forms, letters of recommendation, and transcripts) in enough time to put it all together to submit. I should hear back by the end of October, so I’ll keep everyone posted. If accepted, I’ll start in February and be here at least another year. Cross your fingers for me!

A bit of sad news to report: my aunt (mom’s sister-in-law) passed away last week after a long battle with various health problems. Her husband, my uncle, died last March, so it’s been quite a rough year on the family, especially on their son, Jeff (and, I think, my mom). My thoughts are obviously with them but it’s so hard to not be able to catch a quick flight home. I guess I’ve identified one of the hardest things about living abroad.

Procrastinating . . . so in true Dorsey fashion, I have put off my homework successfully for another hour. I better hit the books. Leave a comment or e-mail me if you get a chance. I hope all is well with you. Good luck to my peeps starting school this week!!!