The End. Or the Beginning?

Well, this is it: My last day at work was Wednesday, I've been frantically trying to cram in last minute things before I go, I packed up my room today, and tomorrow I'm on a 9am train to Paris.

I cannot believe how fast this summer went. I'm so sad to be leaving, it feels like I've been here a much shorter time, though three months is pretty short regardless. I (of course!) am thrilled to be seeing my family and friends back home again so soon, and so SO excited for my pan-Iberian trip, but in general, this goodbye has been bittersweet. I've made some really great friends here, and who knows when I'll be back? Well, it doesn't matter. Kim keeps reminding me - nothing can change the incredible experience I've had here, and if/when I do come back it probably won't be the same anyway, so just take it as the great experience it was, and keep in touch with those you like. What more can you ask for?

My trip plans are as follows: Paris (2 days), Barcelona (2 days), Granada/Sevilla (3 days), Lisboa (3 days), Madrid (3 days), Dublin (<1 day), New York (2 days), Chicago. CRAZY. If I don't get to it all, things might have to be cut or reoriented...but we'll see as I go. Greatest thing about traveling on my own - (at least so far, since really I've been pre-traveling alone, at this point) I go where and when I want! It's not selfish, I don't think, just easier.

Anyway I've got to go to bed so I can get up early, pack up the last remnants and decide whether I can handle my luggage on a bus or if I should call a cab to go to the train station. Hm. I might not have consistant access to the internet, so I will probably not be blogging for a couple of weeks, but no worries! I will be safe and send postcards and buy lots of wine to bring home. :)

Amsterdam, finally! And more stories from Den Haag

I finally made it to Amsterdam. Twice, since I last posted. I have some pictures that I will hopefully post tomorrow once I get them off my camera. It's a crazy, interesting city, but to be honest, I think I like Den haag better. And Leiden better, as well. Amsterdam is a little schizophrenic, it seems. It doesn't know whether to be a new, modern city of illicit activities, drugs, sex and graffiti, or if it should stick with its old roots, its war history, pre-war history, charming canals and interesting fusion of cultures that remain from the colonial times. I really really like the charming parts of the city - Jordaan, specifically, and the area where the Anne Frank Huis is; the area by the old Jewish quarter is nice, as well. But to get to any of that, you have to walk through either the Red Light District, or the tacky tourist areas that surround the Centraal Station. Which are rather unpleasant, I think. I mean, even if you're into that kind of thing, the Red Light District is just so...awful. I can't imagine why anyone would spend time there. And I didn't even go through at night - I went on a Sunday afternoon!

The other really strange thing is that it doesn't really feel Dutch - too much tourism. The language you hear in the Hague as you are walking down the street is usually Dutch - like, the background language that most people speak. Sure, you also hear English a LOT and French and others as well, but mostly, Dutch. In Amsterdam, there was no background language; it was a mix of everything, which is really cool - don't get me wrong. But I heard Dutch about as much as I heard Spanish or English, probably less than English for sure. It just seems like maybe it has lost some of it's Dutch culture to the hoards of tourists coming through and all the businesses that cater to them.

Anyway, so that's Amsterdam. It was great to see, fun to be there, and really nice to be back in Den Haag. I like it here.

My job has been pretty interesting the past few days. Some MAJOR organizational changes have happened, and things are kind of weird now. I suppose it will get better as people get used to the changes, but it's also sort of thrown a wrench into my tasks, actually resulting in less work for me to complete by the end of my stay. Which isn't bad, I guess, nice not to be super-pressured my last week or two, but still...it's an odd feeling in our office now. We'll see how this coming week goes.

But, I've still been really busy the last few weeks, trying to cram in all the socialization I can manage while working hard and trying to see new things every weekend. It's been exhausting! But I only have 1.5 weeks left here, and I want to make the most of it. I bought a rail pass and a plane ticket from Madrid to Dublin (where my flight back to NY leaves from), so I've pretty much set my travel plans to take me through France to the Iberian peninsula. A friend of mine here, Marta, is from Portugal so she's going to put me in touch with a friend of her's in Lisboa to show me around, which should be awesome. I also want to go to Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and as many other cities I can manage. Maybe stop in Paris on the way down. We'll see how it goes. With the rail pass, I have complete flexibility as to where and when I travel, which is great. It was a little more expensive but TOTALLY worth it, I think.

Meanwhile, I can't believe I'm leaving here so soon! It's been so amazing, and the people I've met...it's really sad to think that I probably won't see many of them at least for a long time, if ever again. I know it's bad to think that way but it's true...Everyone's from totally different places and with really international prospects for their careers, so it's unlikely that we'll all end up in Holland again. Although, I guess a few of us could end up in Brussels or something, or some city that is a hub of international organizations. Like Den Haag, come to think of it...

And the Dutch people I've met - that's tough, too. They will for sure stay here; this is where most of them have families, jobs, lives...and unless I come back, I will probably not see them. Although, of course, I've offered my couch to any of them if they ever visit Chicago. :)

Kim and I are throwing a farewell party next weekend for our last Saturday in the apartment. Unfortunately a lot of people are traveling, but it's okay if it's small because so it our flat. I think it will be really interesting to have my co-workers and hers mingle; it might produce a combination of international awareness that is just deadly, between the environmental and climate change know-how, and the international justice angle...should be good conversation at the very least.

And, for now, I'm off to bed. Monday again tomorrow, start of a new week and new adventures. I can't wait.

Monday again?!

I don't know how the time flies. It's really quite terrifying - I realized today that I have a TON of work to finish and only 3.5 weeks left at my job! How did the summer fly by so fast? I'm really going to miss it here...It's been an amazing journey and I don't want to act like it's over (after all, I still have almost 4 weeks which is almost a month...) but really, how did it go by?

Thursday night I went back to the Paard van Troje Cafe with Fabio and Aernout and a few of their friends. Kim came with me, which was really really nice. She and I get along great and we have the same sort of social understanding and expectations. She had to catch the last train home, but I have a bike so I stayed quite a bit longer; I didn't get home/to sleep until around 4:30 or 5, which, needless to say, meant I was a wreck (again) at work the following day. This happened last week, as well; I stayed out far too late just shooting the breeze with F and A, about politics and pop culture and who knows what else...Thursdays are becoming habitually late nights, but I don't mind. I really like hanging out with F and A, I just feel really at ease with them. So no complaints.

This weekend we had two days of perfect weather. Between 24 and 28C, sunny all day, not a cloud in the sky. Friday night I went dancing with some Couchsurfers, which started out awkward but ended up being really fun. I went by MYSELF! I was so proud - I knew people would be there and be friendly, but still, to walk into a social situation alone...that is so NOT me. And I pulled it off!

Saturday I went biking through the dunes by myself for some alone time, stopped on the beach for a couple of hours, and then continued on to Leiden before coming home (about 15 km away from Den Haag). Leiden is such a cute city! I had no idea...no one ever talks about it like they do Delft or Amsterdam (which I still haven't been to...I know, embarrassing!). But it's honestly my favorite city/town so far. I really like it. Unfortunately, I've pretty much stopped carrying my camera so I have no pictures. :(

Saturday night I went to the cinema with Miriam, we saw Ocean's 13, which wasn't bad! Much better than Ocean's 12, though not very much substance...it was entertaining though, so I'm not complaining. It was a nice, relaxing evening, following two really late nights.

Sunday we went back to the beach to try to find a Brazilian festival, but we ended up on the wrong end of the pier so Miriam and I just lazed around on the beach for hours, then went to a beach club for a drink when it got to be evening. The sun stayed really strong, though, so we sat in the shade and just hung out for a while until it got a little weaker so I could bike home without making my sunburn even worse. Between Saturday, biking around all day, and Sunday on the beach, I'm pretty much a tomato. But probably I'll be okay in a day or two. It already hurts less than it did last night.

After the beach, we both went home for a shower, and we met back up for drinks near Miriam's house at this cute outdoor cafe. It's so funny - the minute the weather is nice, TONS of people come out, and I totally understand that the Netherlands is the densest populated country in the world. But until it's sunny, you'd never know because everyone stays indoors.

Anyway, great weekend, all around.

There are so many people on holiday this week, that it's just me and 2 or 3 other people in the office (this is a foreign concept to me - who takes holiday for three weeks in a row?! Apparantly all of Europe.). So, instead of getting bread and spreads from the grocer for lunch like we usually do, we decided to each take a day and cook lunch. Jessica cooked today; tomorrow is my day. I bought my own little basil plant from the grocer a few days ago, so I made pesto, pasta, sundried tomatoes (though I bought them from the supermarket before I came across a turkish stand at the market in Leiden; I'm sure they would have been better from the stand but who knew I would come across it) and garbage cookies. It's so relaxing with the office so quiet! That will end by the end of next week, as people start to filter back, but for now, it's nice!

Anyway, back to cooking. More in a few days!

More pictures!

The group at Miriam's "wine and cheese" party last weekend. From L to R: Jiri, Marta, Elsa, Melissa, Miriam, Kim, Me, Lydia, ??, Laura, Matthew? Ay, I'm bad with names. The last guy all the way to the right is from DC, but we didn't really bond over both being from the States. There's definitely enough anti-US (or at least anti-Bush) sentiment that I don't really go around bragging. It's okay though, because if someone were to take two seconds to talk to me, they could immediately tell that I'm not a Bush supporter, and dare I say, not even a typical American. And if they don't take two seconds to talk to me, then what do I care about their opinion? I was told twice this evening, though, that my accent is almost unidentifiably American. YES! :)



Jiri being silly and Kim being cute. I love these two.












Melissa, Kim, Miriam and I.

Settling down.

Nothing too exciting has happened over the last few days...I'm getting into a groove here, between work and going out.

Thursday I met up with this man who used to teach in the Enviro program at my school, but now is a professor at the Institute for Social Sciences in Den Haag. I got his name from the director of the ES program, in hopes that he can help me sort out my future and figure out what the hell I'm going to do with my life after graduation. He was extremely helpful. It turns out that although in the States, it is highly recommended that you work for two years and then go back to grad school, the international arena does not work that way. Because of the diversity in undergraduate programs on a global scale, you are nearly unemployable without a masters or higher. So, if I really want to get into international environmental policy (which, at this point, it looks like I do) it would be better for me to go directly to grad school, and internationally, as well. Or I could do Peace Corps and THEN grad school, but unless I plan on staying in US domestic policy, I shouldn't bother working for a couple of years between.

And I might decide to stay in US domestic policy. Obama's campaign leaves a lot to be desired on the environmental front (actually, all the candidates' do) and I would love to work on something like that, if I could find a way to get my foot in the door. So in that case, it would make sense for me to stay in the states and work, since I probably wouldn't need a masters to be a low-level campaign researcher for Obama's environmental advisors.

Anyway, it's all very terrifying, there being so many possibilities and I have NO idea where I'll end up. But if I've learned anything so far, it's that not knowing is okay - I will be able to meet people wherever I am and make friends and handle myself all right. Which is a relief to know.

After that meeting on Thursday night, I went out with some Dutch people I met in a bike shop; we had a great time - turns out they have very similar interests as I do, and they share many things with my Chicago friends (they watched TMNT and ThunderCats growing up, they are into politics, they're nerdy but socially adept, they throw costume parties, etc etc), which meant I felt comfortable around them perhaps unjustifiably quickly. But in any case, it was a good time.

Then on Friday I went out dancing with Kim and the International Criminal Court crowd, which was a little awkward at first because I'm (obviously) not part of the ICC. Everyone who I've met from there are either lawyers or on their way to becoming a lawyer (and in Europe and other countries you can get a law degree as an undergrad, so even if they are only 25 they could have already worked as a lawyer for 2 years, and now are doing an internship at the ICC to get into Int'l law). But, I knew a few people already (Marta, Miriam and Kim) and that was enough to make me comfortable enough to meet new people. I ended up talking for a while to a girl from the States who did Teach for America; she was visiting her Kenyan boyfriend for the summer, who she met studying abroad as an undergrad, and the three of us talked about education, Obama, and Africa. It was great.

I think that's the most amazing thing about this whole trip - the people I'm meeting. And it's not because I'm travelling so much but rather because The Hague is so international to begin with, and in the Courts especially, so through Kim alone I've met so many diverse, interesting people from all over the globe. It's crazy. Everyone speaks French. Maybe I should learn?

Saturday evening I went to Miriam's place for a wine-and-cheese thing with the ICC crowd. It was really great - Jiri came with Marta and another guy from the ICC brought some non-ICC friends, so it ended up not being all ICC and me, which is how it looked at the beginning.

Saturday during the day though I was lazy, I did nothing...and I feel like that's how today will go as well. The weeks have begun to pass so quickly that I can't even believe another weekend has arrived, and I'm so exhausted to do anything during the day! And Miriam made a good point last night - when you are in school even your weekends are filled with studying and other things to do. When again will I have the opportunity to not set an alarm on the weekends? Definitely not during the year. So as long as I'm taking advantage of being abroad in some capacity, either by travelling a little or even just meeting a whole slew of diverse and interesting people who I wouldn't meet at home, I think I'm doing okay, and I shouldn't overstress myself to try and do something new every weekend or see a new city every weekend. It's too much. I'll burn out!

Enough for now. I'm off to do laundry. :)

Friends, Expats, and Winnie the Pooh

I'll start with the best topic of the three listed in the title - Winnie the Pooh. This commentary is almost entirely unrelated to anything, a bizarre train of thought sparked by one comment in the office today, but whatever. Here's the conversation that triggered it:

(MTH, MK, JW and V are all men. "The Chicks" are two visiting consultants from our Oxford office, one visiting consultant from Indonesia, and presumably, myself.)

MTH: Well, I'm taking the day off tomorrow, as well, if JW and V are gone! Ah, but then, MK gets all the chicks to himself...
MK (in the most Eeyore-like tone ever): What's new.

So, after this exchange, I could not get the idea out of my head that MK is the closest embodiment in human form to Eeyore I had ever met. A quick (ok, 10 minutes) analysis allowed me to match up nearly all my co-workers with a "Pooh" character - we definitely have a Tigger (MTH himself), a Kanga and Roo, a Piglet, a Christopher Robin, a Rabbit and an Owl...but we don't have a Pooh! I think this is why the feng shui of the office feels strange sometimes. We're all sidekicks with no main character.

Anyway, after spending 10 minutes thinking about this, I got back to work. Don't worry, I stayed 10 minutes later than I planned to because of it. It didn't cut into work. :)

Okay - now for Friends and Expats. Kim and I have seen Jiri, the guy from Prague in the photo post below, a couple of times since Friday. I hadn't realized it then, but even Marta had only just met him that night, so we're all quite new acquaintances. But Jiri is incredibly friendly and charismatic, and it's been really nice to hang out with him, Marta and Kim together.

Tonight we went to an Expat gathering that gets together once every two weeks. I met a bunch of people, from Italy, Portugal, Denmark...and New York. I admit, it was nice to meet someone with shared experiences, and she was very friendly, but the incredible thing is, we all have shared experiences. Everyone there tonight, regardless of country of origin, has (at the very least) the shared experience of moving to Den Haag as a foreigner. And everyone is so incredibly friendly and welcoming, it is constantly blowing me away. I think a lot has to do with the "traveler's mentality" (a phrase I made up, but probably not one of my more original ideas) - if you are the type to willingly pick up and start somewhere completely different, move by yourself, and face cultural and language differences, you have to be a pretty outgoing, open, friendly person in order to hold your own in that situation.

I'm also beginning to realize that 3 months in a place is definitely not long enough to learn the ins and outs. I think you'd need to be somewhere for at least a year or two to even begin to understand cultural novelties, how things are done, etc. It almost seems futile for me to try and make friends, since I'm just a 10-week blip on their radar that covers 2, 5, 10 years of living in Den Haag as an Expat. I'm not an expat; I don't even think the US gov't realizes I'm here (well, maybe, but only because I registered at the embassy to be an extra-cautious traveller). There was no paperwork, no nothing - 3 months is incredibly temporary.

But, that said, I am enjoying so much meeting all the new people. And I think part of the reason it's been so so nice to hang out with Marta and Jiri and Kim is that it provides some consistancy in meeting new people - it's not a complete constant whirlwind of new people every time I go out. Which is nice, too.

Faces with the Names

Here's to help put some faces with the names, for those of you without access to Facebook to see the whole of my trip picture collection...


Marta, Me, David and Kim. Kim is my roommate, Marta is her co-worker, and David is a German guy we met who's cycling through the Netherlands.








David, Kim, and Jiri, a guy we met from Prague.









Kim and I get the Potter Book!!













Co-Workers - Lisa (former other intern), Miguel (Lisa's BF), Michael, Daniel (Jessica's BF), Jessica, Juan and Me!