Parties, food and gender studies

The past few weeks have felt super busy which is great because I think I really am making the most of this semester. I mean even as I’m writing this, I have tabs open planning my trip to Paris next weekend (what a way to spend your 21st birthday, eh?).

First of all I have started my off-campus course on Gender, Ethnicity and Religious Practices in European Contexts, which I must say is my absolute dream course and I think everyone should have to take a similar course. It’s super interesting, all about intersectionality and appeals to my not-so-secret gender studies nerd. However, I think my favourite bit so far was when a somewhat naive (read: ignorant) American exchange threw a strop after she made an irrelevant comment in class and the teacher asked to bring it back to the main topic. She threw herself down on the table and angrily bitched to herself for a good few minutes. Uni , and especially studying abroad, makes some people really grow up, others not so much…

I also went to see Akua Naru at a jazz club in Amsterdam which was incredible! I only really knew her for her incredible spoken word, generally set to jazz, so the hip-hop was a bit of a surprise. Took a while to get used to, but I was feeling it. It was an early birthday present so thank you for that! A really wonderful evening and nice to get off campus and into the ‘real world’. Plus after this we ordered falafel and hummus pittas off the Palestinian delivery service that is run by one of my friends on campus – have I told you how much I love this place yet?

On the subject of birthdays, although this time not mine, I went out for the most incredible meal of my life for my friend Remco’s 21st birthday. I genuinely nearly cried at how good the food was, plus it was super fancy and had a wine arrangement and everything. I was just super impressed by it all, especially the salmon sashimi we had for starter. OH MY GOD, SO GOOD! I think good food is really one of my true weaknesses in life and such a luxury. That night, we went back to campus to have a super lovely party at Remco’s flat – I feel like house parties are so much smaller here but I think it’s nicer, you get to chat a lot more than you would at a Leeds house party – but then it’s a very different culture. However after this we went to a party that was probably a lot more similar to what I am used to, except it was themed like the womb. Certainly an interesting theme for a party…

I went to Carnaval the weekend after this, but I think this phenomenon really deserves it’s own post. I would not be exaggerating if I said it was my best weekend of exchange yet. I wish Carnaval could happen every weekend but then I guess I would need a lot more costumes. This is probably going to come tomorrow when I am procrastinating from the essay I ought to be writing.

Recently my friends Joey and Finn came to Amsterdam for the week and on Tuesday afternoon (just gone) they came to visit me in Utrecht. It’s so nice to be able to show people around because I really do love where I live and it’s nice to show people a bit more of the ‘real’ Netherlands than the touristy side you see in Amsterdam. We went to lunch in this lovely little cafe on the Oudegracht called Vers (which translates to fresh) and had such delicious sandwiches. I feel like I chose a good place, but having never been there before I really owe the credit to Fleur for the recommendation. After this I went against all advice of the other UCU students and climbed the Dom (which at 112m is the tallest tower in the country). Legend has it if you climb it during your studies you won’t graduate – however since I’m not graduating from UCU I decided to take the risk. 465 steps later and we were treated to some beautiful views, according to the tour guide you could see all the way to Amsterdam and on a clearer day even Rotterdam and The Hague, I was far more excited about being able to see my house though. I will probably follow this up with pictures, but I might wait until Joey uploads his as I only have a few because my phone got too cold and turned itself off.

Many more things to tell you, including all about my British themed birthday party, but since my birthday is on Tuesday I feel I might just do a birthday themed post, which quelle surprise will include more food!

So that’s it for now!

It’s a Gouda life

Except Gouda isn’t pronounced at all like good. Not one bit. “How-da” – with the trademark Dutch throat full of phlegm for the g. About 2 weeks ago now, me and some of my kids went to Gouda for the afternoon – it being only 14 minutes from Utrecht by train. Turns out there isn’t all that much to do in Gouda, which worked out well after we lost someone at the station and spent 30 minutes trying to find them – downside of having one of the biggest train stations in the country. But off we went to the home of Gouda kaas and the beloved stroopwafel. Gouda is such a quaint place – really cute back streets and canals (as ever, canals everywhere, I’m more surprised when there aren’t any). I especially liked all the footbridges over canals into people’s houses or shops, really lovely. Obviously being in Gouda though the focus was really on cheese, and oh my god did we eat a lot of cheese, I think the shop was out of samples by the time we had been in and tried every type. We did all then buy cheese though, largely out of guilt for the number of free samples we ate. I got some geitenkaas (Goats cheese) – but hard goats cheese as opposed to the soft stuff we are used to at home. I really should have bought some gouda though. Next up on our tour of Dutch delicacies was stroopwafel – we went to a cafe that specialises in them and they are easily the best ones I have ever eaten, which is saying something because even Albert Heijn own brand stroopwafels are good. I didn’t buy any though – instead favouring the stroopwafel liquer which really is the best thing I have ever drunk and am considering going back to Gouda just to buy some more. I even bought it in my best Nederlands: “Hoeveel kost het?”. It was actually a rare occasion when a shop worker replies to you in Dutch even though they know you are English. I had spoken to her in English and then as soon as I said something in Dutch she swapped the language. Makes a change from getting English responses when you have made the effort to attempt Dutch, and trying to speak another language, especially with no lessons, really does take a lot of courage particularly when your pronunciation is as bad as mine. We managed to find a little cafe in the warm since it had started snowing. Fresh mint tea is something that I think the UK really needs to get more into, every cafe here sells it and it’s wonderful. We then tried to find a restaurant, but apparently everyone in Gouda wants to go out for dinner on a Friday evening so we couldn’t get sat anywhere, then we had the great idea of going back to Utrecht. Meneer Smakers – probably my all-time favourite burger bar. It’s always so busy but the burgers are unrivalled and it’s got such a cool feel to it. I think it ties with the pancake house for my favourite place to eat in Utrecht.

Back on Campus – Introweek 2.0

After a short trip to Bussum to the home of one of my unitmates, I arrived back on campus and it was time to start preparing for introweek. This time however I got to experience it from a completely different angle – I was chosen to be a Mum which meant I got 10 of my own children (along with Sebastiaan and Fleur – my co-parents/spouses). I don’t think any of us realised quite how exhausting it was going to be, but for every tiny bit of stress and all the exhaustion it was so worth it. One of the most fun weeks I have had since getting here. This introweek was a lot smaller than the fall one as it was only halfies and exchange students. Halfies are students who start in January as opposed to August. I think this made it a much tighter knit group and was just really gezellig. To do a play-by-play account of the week would be too much, but I had something scheduled for almost every hour of the day, which included campus games (our family came second), capture the flag, ice-skating, a city tour at night, formal dinner, and parties almost every night.

My kids are great – 3 degree students and the rest exchanges – and a really international group. We had 2 Canadians, 2 Americans (one half Italian, one half Vietnamese), a Dutch-Australian girl, an Israeli girl, a romanian girl, someone from China but on exchange from Singapore, a girl from Mexico, and someone from Indonesia but an exchange from Hong Kong – plus 2 Dutch parents and one British one. My accent was mocked mercilessly during the week with an entire night spent with everyone trying to talk in their best British accents which were all shocking attempts.

I think one of my favourite activities was ice skating, I’m pretty awful, especially by Dutch standards – but it’s so much fun. Although there was one girl (not part of our huge group) who must have been about 9 who was such an incredible figure skater – needless to say we all disliked her for making us look bad. The rink was also a speed-skating rink and watching them skate in their lycra suits was absolutely hilarious, quite potentially my new favourite sport (to watch, not partake in). Surprisingly ice skating was actually warmer than our day trip to Amsterdam on the Friday.

Amsterdam was definitely the coldest day I have experienced since being here. I ended up wearing 2 pairs of gloves and still not being able to feel my fingers. This just meant constantly finding warm places to sit, have tea or eat. However due to the fact that all museums here have an admission fee, we decided to not go into any and just walk around in the cold all day which is certainly bracing if nothing else. I do miss how London museums are free though – makesgoing to them so much more appealing and accessible. If you are not sure you would be interested in a museum, why would you pay an entry fee especially €15 which seems around average for Amsterdam? Whereas free museums really allow you to just try things out and you don’t have to commit to the entire museum if it’s not to your taste. I also tried my first kapsalon whilst in Amsterdam (well a bite of someone else’s), whilst I can see the appeal of them I really am not a convert, it’s just a bit of an odd concept – Doner meat, fries, salad and cheese. No thanks, think I am more of a kroketten girl if we are discussing Dutch drunk food.

If I am being honest, I think I preferred this introweek to the one I had in August – maybe it’s just because I feel more settled now or maybe the activities suited me more. UCU definitely feels like home, and I know how to do things, I can do my shopping, sort out all the trains, I just feel far more confident than I did when I started knowing no one in August. It’s very odd to think I do have to leave here in 4/5 months – I think going back to Leeds will quite the culture-shock, but hopefully it will improve my English which has become absolutely shocking since moving here. The other day I genuinely used the phrase “what you did say” this is what comes from living in a super international enviroment, I think there are around 54 nationalities on campus and only around 600 students, it’s definitely unique and I feel very lucky to be here.