Cali 2 NL

I thought I’d lay out what my days are like so everyone can get a little taste of European life. Your results may vary.

Wednesdays are my crazy day, because I have two rather intense classes to get to which are on opposide ends of town.

At around 7-8am I get up, take a shower in my “Water Closet”, which really is closet sized and includes both a shower and a toilet. Click on any of these pictures for a larger version.

I then hop on my bike and ride to a cafe in the center of town, where I get a cappuchino and a pastry of some kind. I usually spend the time there preparing for my class, or reading the paper.

Shortly ater 10am I head to my first class, Populism and Nationalism, which is a few yards (err meters) away. It’s in this beautiful building on a canal.

For a more immersive experiance, I’ve also included a shot from the other side of the canal. My bike’s here in the front, and if you look closely you can see the orange bike (from above) across the canal.

After several hours of intense debates with mostly Dutch students (and numerous cups of coffee), I head off to get some lunch. It’s 1pm, and I’ve got about 4 hours to kill, so sometimes I just ride around looking for a nice cafe I’ve never been to.

Last wednesday I sat outside, had a beer, some amazing tomato soup, and some fries. I also caught up on some reading for my next class, which is a seminar on Conflict and Negotiation.

I headed across town to Prins Hendrikade, a major street on the northmost part of town. There, in an old building, is the International School for the Humanities and Social Sciences (my faculty). The inside is suprisingly modern and is wired with all the latest technology. I kill some time in the computer lab by checking my mail and sketching an outline for a paper.

After my seminar starts (and ends) I wrap things up and bike across town to meet Alyssa at our place. I bike past central station and down some nice streets, and arrive home at about 7:30 or 8:00.