Home sweet home!

I will definitely be posting the next few days as I have a few stories and pictures to share so make sure to check back.

I currently feel as if this is fake-- like I am going to be going back in a few days time. I wonder when it will actually hit me...

Omg. The weirdest thing just happened (yes, I swear I am going to stop posting and start reviewing my notes). I go to turn on my desk-lamp and the lightbulb blows out! My room knows I am leaving. 


Weird. I know. 

AHHHHHH

My final day in Utrecht. Let me breakdown the schedule for you...

11-1: Rachel and I have a final for our class "Media, Modernity, and the Arts". The make-up exam is sometime next week aka I am already back in the US aka I better pass (AHHHH I am a poet and I didn't even know it!). Unfortunate start to my day but necessary nonetheless.

1-4: (or hopefully sooner than 1 since I refuse to sit in that room for two full hours) Rachel and I will look at each other and talk about how much we are going to miss each other over a very delicious and romantic lunch in town. We are going to the same restaurant where we had our first meal in Utrecht together. I know, "Awwwwwww". 

4-4:29: I will go to the Bike King and pray he wants to buy my bike back. I feel really awkward about this. Like, am I supposed to negotiate? And, uh, like I don't really want euro so thats annoying but I guess it just means more sugar waffles for me in duty free! By the way, I am actually really emotional about selling my bike back but it hasn't hit me yet, so for now, jokes about sugar waffles it is!

4:30-5:15: I will go to the gym and express my emotions via some weight lifting, squats, and maybe some cardio if I am feeling crazy.

5:30-6:45: Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga! If only Pieter, the instructor, knew how much this class has changed me. I <3 you Pieter. 

7:20-9:20: I am going with two of my closest Australian friends to Blauw, a delicious Indonesian restaurant in town. Fun fact: the Dutch are known for their Indonesian food.

Then.... goodbyes......

and sleep..... 

I can't believe that I leave the Netherlands tomorrow-- and not to just go on a short weekend trip. I think a part of me is in shock that when I get on the plane tomorrow I will be going back to the United States and not some European country a couple of hours away. By the way, I upgraded myself to economy plus. So, while I'm not excited for an 8 hour and 15 minute plane ride, at least I get some leg room. I mean, with the long legs that I have, the average seat on a plane is just not that comfortable. I know, I'm happy for me too!

Okay, scratch my idea of packing my carry-on and putting it inside my suitcase. Even though I kind of think that it could still work, I began to think of all the things that could go wrong. In fact, as I sit here trying to study for my final that is tomorrow, I can't help but think of all the ways I could possibly miss my flight. My most recent thought: I go into the elevator in my apartment on Wednesday morning with my two huge bags-- that may or may not be over the weight limit--, my carry-on, and my backpack, and get stuck in the elevator because everything weighs so much. 


I know, I need to just concentrate and learn about media and modern art. But instead, I leave you all with the thought of me being trapped in an elevator with overweight luggage unable to get to the airport on time. I know what you are thinking. THER-A-PY! 

For the past four days in Utrecht, it will rain-- and by rain I mean POUR-- in twenty minute intervals.  I kid you not. The British man sitting next to me at the coffee shop yesterday said it was "proper rain". Proper my a** (the word rhymes with pass). It's as if the sky is having an emotional breakdown and every twenty minutes remembers it is really sad and starts crying, composes itself, and then is set off again by some emotional trigger. Like, get over yourself sky. Its getting old. 

Dear Dad,


Happy Fathers Day! I got you a very special present: a 200 dollar bill from Verizon!! "...As of 6/19/2011, Mobile Number --- ---- has incurred approx. $200 in data roaming charges." It's as if they knew exactly what you wanted!! 


Love always, Ar


note to readers: this will be the first time my dad hears of this lovely addition to all the other wonderful roaming charges I have gotten since I arrived in Utrecht on February 2nd. Lets put it this way, Verizon is going to be really sad when I leave Europe. My Dad, not so much. 

Happy Birthday to my number one fan, my mom!!!!

Oh, and happy fathers day to my second number one fan, my dad!!!

Talk about a big day in my household. I'm still trying to figure out who to call first...

STRESS-FUL!

Today is Saturday, June 18th. I go home Wednesday, June 22. Where did time go? I am still trying to figure out the answer to that one myself. I have one bag fully packed and the other one about half way packed. That is the one good thing about the rainy forecast-- it makes it easy to figure out what clothes I need to leave out. What about my carry-on you may ask...

Funny you ask! Let me backtrack here for a second. When I arrived in Schipol airport at 5 in the morning (yes, my flight came in an hour early) on February 2nd and had to manage to get two humongous bags onto a cart, plus a carry-on that was way too heavy for its own good, while simultaneously carrying my equally as ridiculously heavy backpack, I thought I was going to faint. Not to mention the fact that I had on a heavy winter coat and snow boots (no, the snow boots couldn't fit in the bags). I was having some serious hot flashes.

Hello from the sidewalk at JFK! I am still happy here because I still have my Mom to help me with all my stuff. I wasn't as happy once I had to deal with it on my own. 

Back to my amazing idea. I have decided to fill up my carry-on with clothes and then put my carry-on inside of one of the large purple duffles that you see above. GE-N-I-US. I know. But, if you are like my mom you may be wondering, "what if your bag is overweight Arielle?". Uh... Hello. If my bag is overweight, there is actually no problem at all. Instead, I will calmly remove the carry-on from the large duffel taking out most of my clothes and putting them directly into the large duffle. Wa-la. Problem Solved. And now that just means that I have a carry-on bag to fill up with stroop waffles at duty free. I am telling you, I think Travel Magazine should ask me to write a feature on smart traveling.

I tweeted the other day about how I am pretty sure that the Dutch do not have a summer. Well, I think I have at the very least confirmed the fact that whatever summer the Netherlands does claim for its own is not going to commence while I am still around. Sigh. It has been pouring the past few days, on and off, and unfortunately the weather forecast doesn't give me much hope either. For someone who never liked biking in the rain, I especially don't like biking in the rain 5 months later. You know, in the beginning it was "new" and yadda yadda yadda but I can safely say that I have 0 desire to bike in the pouring rain. Hence, why my bike is currently in town and I am not. Thank you 6:45 pm rainstorm that occurred yesterday as I walked out of yoga and stopped as I got off the bus outside my apartment. Thanks a bunch!


....how much are you going to miss me complaining?!?! Be honest.