The following was written over several days this past week. I didn’t bother to change the verb tenses.

The greenhouse effect. While Funenpark is a very pleasant place to live, with the warmer weather our flat is not so pleasant. In our flat we have two set of doors that open up to a patio except it isn’t a patio at all. It is a small space, large enough to stand in but nothing else, between the door and glass. The glass zig-zags and there are random color panels. Sure the colorful windows look cool from afar and I recently learned that they spell out Funenpark but they create a greenhouse effect when the sun is shining. The greenhouse effect exactly. In conclusion, while it has been a beautiful 76-78 degrees outside, inside it is about been about 32ºC or 92ºF in here. Not cool.

Also, people continue to mistake me for French. Why? I don’t know. I forgot but in Berlin, this woman who was definitely American, bumped into me. She started to say “Sorry” but then looked at me and apologized in French.

I also forgot that on the way back from Berlin there was a passport check. I like how I was able to go from the Netherlands to Germany without one or From Paris to Brussels to Amsterdam without one but not from Germany to Netherlands. Ayaan Hirsi Ali used the train to get into the Netherlands from Germany and then claimed asylum. I don’t think that it is a coincidence.

Also, about Germany. As we were riding the train, I noticed TONS of high-tech windmills. I also noticed numerous houses with solar panels on their roofs. So environmentally friendly.

One thing that I think is going to annoy me when I get home is restaurants. In Germany the waitresses asked us once or twice how things were and I was kind of annoyed. I have gotten so use to being left alone that when a friendly Minnesotan approaches my table at home, it won’t be good.

One of the best things about spring here is fresh produce in the grocery stores. During the winter only the markets had fresh fruit. The grocery stores only had apples, bananas, and a few other bad looking fruits.

Today I was walking through Funenpark and all the families had moved outside. My favorite couple now sits outside for hours drinking wine, talking and reading under their green umbrella. I am actually starting to wonder if they have jobs. There are new families that I hadn’t noticed before as well. I also noticed that minimalist family got some copper accents for their house.

Here Cool Ranch Doritos are called Cool American Doritos.

I would like to share something my “professor” said a few weeks ago. Someone asked about balancing a family and being a lawyer. The response: “You know, after a while you just have a kid. They only really need you for the first ten years and then they are off living their own lives.” There is just so much wrong with that.

Today I biked home in a skirt and with bags of groceries balanced on bike. I was so Dutch. I do not plan, however, on biking in a pencil skirt again without tights. Nope.

Many people here have these little carts they bring to the store. They look kind of like rolling suitcases except they have a basket or little hamper on the wheels. It’s cute because, for example, you see a young person with a really funky patterned one, or an old lady with a very plain traditional one.

What do I miss most about home? People (and Target J). I miss my family but I get to talk to them pretty often. The people I don’t get to talk to are my best friends. I miss them very much. I am ready to be entirely entertained by doing nothing. I am missing another one of my friends’ birthdays this week.

I think I also miss the communal feelings attached to places. I guess it has something to do with your socialization and the collective histories attached to the place you are raised in or something like that.

On Wednesday, we went to the Den Haag (The Hague) to visit Parliament. From about the four streets I saw of the city, I thought it was cute. We have to go back next week and are going to spend more time wandering around. The Parliament building was strange. First of all it was just a building off a square and didn’t look that special. The part attached to the old palace was cool but other parts of it looked just ordinary. The parliament has an old part and a new part from 1992. The place where we walked in connected the two and looked quite a bit like the commons of HHS. On our tour we were even told us about thee symbolism of the oceans and rain found in the floor and wall design. Also, the main room where they hold plenary session was not that cool. The carpet was a mint green, but then they had this modern red and orange art on the walls that looked like something you would see in a doctor’s office. They were debating a bill and there were only like 6 members there. It was strange. All the décor was just an odd combination of stuff. The place that parliament use to meet was in a palace. It was a small but grand room that now has ugly rainbow colored carpet.
As far as our tour and getting to meet a representative goes, well it was awkward. In general, I’d say there were two camps in our class. One that evidently didn’t know anything about how a Parliamentary system works and asked stupid questions, and then the rest of us who stood there extremely uncomfortable, awkward and embarrassed by the questions and comments coming out of the other people’s mouths. Also, apparently very few people in my class listen. I think that someone asked what party the person giving the tour was with about five times. There are other embarrassing moments from that day but I don’t want to relive them again.
Another thing I noticed when we went to Parliament was what seemed like appropriate dress for females. I only saw two women in business, skirt suits. Our tour guide, as an assistant, was wearing a skirt that was cute but was also way above her knee. The chair of parliament seemed to be wearing a suit but the other women on the floor of parliament were wearing like semi-formal but flowy and patterned skirts. I could be wrong, but I feel like in the U.S. there are more women in business suits.

I miss kosher dill pickles. They just don’t have them here.

Christy and Sarah are house sitting for one of their professors this week. Last night they had us over for a dinner party. The decor just reaffirmed my belief that the Dutch love their modern stuff. The apartment was so modern. The living room was modern to such an extent, that it was actually kind of funny.

Suddenly there seems to be all these things I still need to see here and I am trying to write my final papers. It will be a busy but good few weeks.