what a long strange trip it's (continued) [to be]

Hello! I cannot believe I haven't updated since 19 Feb!

I got carried away doing everyday things, and found ways to pass the time in London as I guess that is easy to do, primarily through starting a running program through St. James' park and Green park. I kept that up for about two weeks, but then got pretty sick as a result of it because it's so cold and wet and I'd run anyway. OOPS. The most interesting things I have done in the past month outside of typical going out and going to school include a fun birthday celebration for Caitlin's 21st,

Claire, Casey (idk if she has been introduced to the blog but she's awesome and also goes to BC!), Caitlin and me

and a free U2 concert atop the BBC building on 27 Feb.

that's the BBC building right before the show. look at all the wires!

there they are! Ha. you might have to blow this one up.

The next most exciting thing was my trip to AMSTERDAM! It was very fun, full of weirdness, and the language barrier didn't help but we made it through alive and got to enjoy ourselves! I went with Claire, Kelley, and Caitlin. We went from a Thursday-Saturday, so the first night we didn't really have any clue as to where to go. We stayed at a Christian hostel that was out of the center a bit, so we just decided to go to a bar on the same street as our hostel. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, as it turned out to be quite the local bar. There was even a dog, at the bar, chilling and drinking. The bartender named Felipe talked to us in Dutch first, then when he realized we were American kind of started messing around with us. There was another American guy there who moved from Portland years ago, claiming he was a writer. His name was Greg and so far nothing via a search from Google has checked out, but he greatly helped us figure out some sort of itinerary for the next few days. He himself was a local and was very surprised that we managed to find the bar, and told us that it had been there since 1624!

Claire & Cafe Chris.

On Greg's recommendation, we went to the Anne Frank House on Friday. It was only 300m from our hostel and altogether a moving and somewhat saddening experience. It was insane to me to stand where she stood, wrote, and ultimately got taken away.

This is what Anne Frank saw when she looked across the canal.

From there, we explored Leidsplein for some coffeeshop experience and it was on the way to the Van Gough museum.

WE ARE AMSTERDAM! Ha. it's part of the Reijks museum, which we didn't make it into but I most likely will on my way back.

Artistic Representation for your pleasure.

This was my favorite part! We got to see Starry Night on loan from the MoMA! And the museum put on a four-floor exhibit detailing the changes of influence and style through Van Gough's life. it was amazing. I saw so many really famous paintings. I couldn't believe it. Even the museum itself is cool looking!

Red Light at Night.

After our day of museumming, we decided to check out the Red Light district, much to the dismay of our Christian hostel. It was so strange to see the place you've heard about, and it truly lived up to its reputation, even at 8 PM when we went. The girls were just hanging out, literally and figuratively, in windows. After that, we finally met up with Mariel at a bar called Hole in the Wall, which was actually anything but! There was an amazing Irish singer-songwriter type playing, and it was a good atmosphere to catch up with her and her BC friends.

BFFs.

Saturday's weather was too good to pass up, so we started out the day in Dam Square. Then we went to Rembrandtplein because we heard it was really cool, which it was. First we scoped took a Canal Tour that was interesting because it gives you a completely different viewpoint of Amsterdam, followed by a run through in the famous Bloemmarkt, i think, the flower market. I found it so strange to see cannabis seeds freely roaming about, but we were after all in Amsterdam. Later on that night was our flight back to good ole' Londontown, and all in all the weekend was full of interesting experiences and good times.

they love their clogs. claire, kelley, caitlin, me

welcome to amsterdam: royal palace and a merman.

i think you all know about my fascination with alleyways. i think they reveal a lot about culture.

probably my best picture from the Canal Cruise -- so many different perspectives.

Europe's crazy architecture.

this was a model of a dutch ship from the 17th century that i saw courtesy of the canal cruise.

pretty flowers!

how is that legal? like really?

this past week i haven't done much of anything besides schoolwork. luckily, i managed to get out
last night to a club called KOKO that is "the UK's largest indie nightclub!" it was really fun to be amidst such an undeniably alive British youth, especially after my travelling. we went because we wanted to see the lead singer of Bloc Party do a DJ set, but he never showed up, so another famous british DJ played. it was a fun night.

crazy DJ's.
britain's coolest hipsters

This weekend looks to be fun, but I have a big paper due 18 March so I will be spending a bulk of it doing that. It's so annoying to have to go to school while being here, but I guess that means I'm having fun, and that's what matters, right? :) I cannot believe how fast the time is going! One of my best friends from AZ told me today that they were all saying that I've been studying abroad 'forever', and I don't know how much that is true. I mean I know I've been gone a long time - e-mails from Advisors telling me to pick a Thesis Advisor, my bank statement, and flight confirmation e-mails tell me that. But in terms of living here, day-to-day, it doesn't seem to be that fleeting. Alas. I have to go out to dinner for a friend's birthday, so I will try to update soon, provided interesting things keep happening! If not, look for another huge entry after my initial Spring Break travels: 26-31 March to Rome to visit Beth and Alex hopefully!

also, I'm going to try to upload some of the U2 videos I have taken.. we shall see if they work.
Hope all's well! MISS YOU ALL! XOXO