Amsterdam - Day One

I have stepped into an alternate universe where everyone is smoking weed, eating mushrooms, and doing prostitutes. HELLO AMSTERDAM!

I never realized how scandalous those Dutch really are.

I am actually really enjoying the atmosphere, way more then I thought I would. At first you're like, "woah, those are boobs and they are for sale," and then you're like, "look at all these creepy middle aged men looking at the boobs!" and finally you're like, "This is kinda neat."

In that order.

At first, it seems wrong and dirty but that's only at first glance. Then you realize, this is the culture here. Yes, the men staring in the window at the almost naked woman straddling the stool are still creepy. However, right next to these creepy men and pornographic images is a really cute little froyo place with a happy older couple eating ice cream outside enjoying the sun. Neither parties seem the least bit bothered by the other. It's a completely new dynamic.

What's also interesting is that they are trying to close off this whole red light district to tourists, which seems counter intuitive to me considering the fact that they are a huge source of revenue. But walking around, gawking at all the shops, I realize that I don't fit in. I am kind of ruining the vibe. (Not that that's stopping me, by any means.) But we are going to be among the last groups of students with this opportunity. So I am soaking it all in!

For the rest of the week, because we are here for my Human Trafficking and Prostitution class, we are attending various lectures and visiting non-profits to learn about the different aspects of prostitution here in Amsterdam. I am really interested to understand why they have taken such a different approach then most of the world.

Keep ya posted.

XO
K

2 Weeks Left

I have been abroad for over a month now and I don't feel how I thought I would. Sometimes I miss home. I miss the mountains and American food. I miss Starbucks and Chipotle. I miss having a normal sized bed to sleep in. I miss my friends and my family. But, when I leave, I am going to miss just as much about here as I do about home. It's strange, because I have never really moved to a new place before, how quickly somewhere can start to feel like home. I don't speak Danish and I don't have a bike, but Copenhagen has become pretty familiar. I hate the weather (haven't seen the sun in weeks, get ready for some blinding whiteness when I'm home) and I hate that I can't eat anything for less then $15. But, I can tell you where the closest grocery store is, where the best coffee is, how to get to the airport, where to shop, where to lay out (haha jokes), I can name every 7-11 in a five mile radius, and my feet have finally become accustom to the cobblestone. I didn't realize it until after it happened, but I feel like I live here.

The Czech Republic

Well, this past weekend, I ventured to Prague in the Czech Republic to visit some friends and see the sights. My journey began at the crack of dawn when I hoped on the metro and headed, unnecessarily early to the airport. This was huge for me. Traveling from one foreign country to another, super proud.

Anyway, I didn't realize that I was going to be at the airport SO embarrassingly early because in America, it takes a million years to check-in, go through security, get patted down, and yada yada yada. However, in foreign countries apparently, if you have a passport, you can keep your shoes on through security and stroll right on up to your gate. They didn't even make me take out my liquids, shocker.

I finally made it to Prague and met my dear friend Erin in the airport. She had traveled from Florence, Italy to meet me and our friends Erin and DJ who are studying in Prague.

Here are my thoughts on the Czech Republic:

1.) Their food is nasty (Goulash and dumplings...not my thing.)
2.) The Czech Republic makes you bloat.
3.) The people don't know how to smile. (And I was cracking lots of jokes)
4.) The night life is insane.
5.) Asian tourists love Prague.
6.) It's so perfect for my friends.

Our weekend was very successful, so successful in fact, that I am now ill and have not left my bed in for about 24 hours.

1/2 done with study abroad! AHH!

XO
K

Christiania

There is a town in Copenhagen called Christiania. This is a free town, which means that it is independent from the rest of Copenhagen. They basically get all of the perks, like free healthcare and free education for life, with none of the responsibilities. They sell marijuana and all hash products to pay for their livelihoods and have become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Denmark.

Obviously, as a tourist and for educational purposes, I had to investigate. We went on a walking tour of Christiania which meant an old hippie who chain smokes cigarettes, biked ahead of us and told us about the 40 year old town, which he had lived in for the last 35 years. Living in a hash-smoking, revolutionary town, with blurred moral and legal lines, he was a character. He was rocking neon Crocks, need I say more?

This town is like nothing I have ever seen. They forbid pictures because after all, selling pot is still illegal. But imagine a jumble of old German, World War barracks, scattered randomly around near a stream. Now imagine them covered in graffiti and some eccentric artwork. Or stop imagining and just google "Christiania," duh.

The people are all men, who are either too drunk or too high to do anything productive.  So they sit around and listen to reggae music and chain smoke joints. It was awesome, when I wasn't scared.

Among the smelly stoned men, there are groups of Asian tourists getting yelled at for whipping out cameras and a few walking tours of rich older white folks who are glaring at the stoners from afar. And then there was us. A bunch of American kids staring greedily at the piles of marijuana. We may have looked the most touristy of them all.

Last weekend we went to Berlin. Pictures will be up soon.

xoxo,
K

Sweden Adventure Trip

Hello! Already 2 weeks in to my 6 week study abroad. (followed by 1 week of travel with my dear daddy)

This last weekend I went on a school organized trip to Sweden. We went to the coast in a city called something that starts with a "K" where we canoed on the Rhone River, rappelled on the coast, and hiked everywhere. I am pooped to say the least.

This is about how it panned out:

We met at the bus at 7:20 am on Saturday. This sounds simple but I made the poor choice to go out Friday night and the little amount of sleep was not conducive to happy go lucky Katie. But I made it just in time. We then took a giant charter bus to the northern coast of Denmark Where the entire bus drove into a ferry and we journeyed the short 15 minute ferry ride to Sweden. Crazy.

The ferry reminded me of my families last cruise to Alaska. I was reminded of that intense need to puke because of motion sickness. Cheers.

Finally we get off the bus and head straight for the river. With absolutely no instruction, they put three of us in each canoe and send us on our way.

I was shocked. I figured we would hear some safety lesson and maybe they'd tell me how to steer, considering I have never canoed before, but to my disappointment, they did no such thing.

This is a common theme in Denmark I've noticed. It's a very much "sink or swim" mentality. There is less instruction and concern but everyone learns by doing.

This starts at a young age. We went to a daycare center one day for class to see how the children of Denmark are raised. These children were making themselves lunch. What this means here is that each 4 year old (no exaggeration) is given a 4-6 inch knife to chop up chucks of broccoli that is the size of my head. Excuse me Denmark!!? Giving a 4 year old a giant fucking knife to cut up raw, hard broccoli? This is a trip to the hospital and 10 stitches in the making. But no, they chopped happily away, unsupervised and no blood was drawn. I wanted to look away as I witnessed this impending accident and was completely shocked but the success.

This is how the Danes work. They expect you to be successful and don't see a need to hold your hand to get there.

Back to canoeing; no instruction necessary. So we road for 3 hours down the river. My whole body is sore and I'm still cold from the rain. Oh yeah did I mention? It poured fridged rain on us as we paddled hopelessly down the river.

Then we went to the hostel and ate some kind of stew. Apparently it was beef, but as far as I know it was rabbit or squirrel. I didn't care. I was freezing and tired and had beer tasted anything so delicious in all my life.

We continued to hike the rest of the day (3-4 hours) and then come back to the hostel and pass out immediately. 

The next morning we ate a Danish breakfast of lunch meets and muselie. Delish. And then went to rappel down a cliff followed by another hike. I am exhausted just thinking about how exhausted I was, that's exhausting.

The last leg of our journey involved eating and sipping tea at the King of Sweden's favorite restaurant. We ate his favorite pastries in this fancy little tea house. The whole place looked like it had been taken over by you g hobos for we were all wins blown, tired and I showered. A good look for me I'm sure.

And that was that. A wonderful weekend adventure. It was actually such a great time and I'd highly recommend the same trip to anyone else. 

Here's some pictures from the adventure: MORE TO COME!

xoxo, K