Hey, everyone!

It’s another rainy day in Utrecht. Very typical but at some points hard to get used to. It’s also started to turn a bit cold so I took advantage of the local store H&M to find a nice warm jacket for the winter months ahead. I know, shopping has always been hard for me so it was torturous to find a yummy wool coat but somehow I survived the shopping experience just fine

This week has been a bit crazy. We still don’t have the internet at our house so I’m at the library by our apartment writing this update. I started my comparative law class this week. We have a project for the class with two other students (groups of 3) to write a 15-page paper comparing a topic in two jurisdictions. My group and I chose the Netherlands and a state in the US (not quite sure which one yet) to discuss child maintenance (who pays and why). This will be a nice intro to my research project ultimately.

I am also continuing with my Dutch classes. Now I’m on level 3 and the course is going at a nice pace. It is from now until February two times a week. I’m feeling much more confident with my listening and reading skills but speaking is killing me! I don’t know what it is about Dutch, but it’s so difficult to speak!! My soccer practices, meetings, and team activities are all in Dutch though, so that is always a good way to test my skills! The website for our team is www.odysseus91.nl and we won 2-1 last weekend against a higher ranked team.

Here’s our team photo. Notice the purple–not my first choice in uniform color! Notice also that I am definitely team grandma as all of my other teammates are so young!!! But that doesn’t mean I still can’t work my magic on the field!!!

Other news of the week:

1. I got hit by a car. On my bike. No, I’m totally serious. I’m doing just fine (thankfully). I am actually really lucky that nothing happened to me, health-wise. My bike was not so fortunate but I have already found a replacement to keep wheeling on around the city. I’ll post pictures later. Too bad this bike isn’t pink, but it overall is a more solid model that will probably survive the year with me (as long as I don’t run any more red lights!).

2. I had my first American visitor this week. Jenny Calvert, a friend since middle school (is that right?!) is touring through Europe before she begins her very first adult job as a fancy lawyer in San Francisco. Her travels brought her to Amsterdam, so I joined her on the Rembrandt Square for lunch and then after my language class in the evening, she visited Utrecht. We had a nice dinner outside on a terrace and then went to a couple bars with my roommate Rachel (from England) and her friend, Jules. It was a really great visit from Jenny. All of you reading this are welcome to come anytime!!!

3. I think I had some sort of stomach virus or flu or food poisoning yesterday and today so I spent too much time being sick over the last 24 hours. I am back to feeling somewhat normal, but I think I will lay low tonight. My friend Clara and I talked about going to see the movie Into the Wild. The book was really good so I am hopeful the movie follows suit.

4. I just read the sad news about the KU football team…too bad. The last-minute heartbreaks are the worst. Perhaps it’s still early enough in the season to still make it to a quality bowl if we can manage to play well the rest of the way out. Rock Chalk!!

5. My heart goes out to all the people affected by the hurricanes. What a mess (after mess after mess) there will be to clean up. It seems like this time around, though, people are heeding the warnings and getting out of town well in advance.

6. I just received word that our internet modem should be delivered Monday. No one really knows if that will happen, though, so no promises. You just never quite know with the Dutch and the service! I owe you some photos of the new apartment and another post with more details. As soon as the internets are up and running, I’ll be able to post more.

I hope everyone’s doing well. I’d love to hear from you if you have the chance!

Tot ziens!