Advanced Public International Law

So I had a sleepless night last night because I had my retake exam for Introduction to internationl law today that I had to pass in order to stay in Advanced Public International Law. I was also getting my first mark back in Advanced Public International Law and having failed the exam in the Introduction course I didn't have much hope for my mark in the advanced course. So I wrote the re-take exam and was fairly confident that I passed after being handed the answer sheet after handing in my exam. So then I went to sit through the first half of Advanced Public International Law waiting anxiously to get my paper back. At the break my partner for the paper and I found our paper and to our suprise we had scored very well at 7.5/10. While this would be okay by Canadian standards it is pretty amazing for me by Dutch standards as it is an L.L.M course and the majority of the marks seemed to be between 5 and 6.5, 5.5 being a pass. At this point my professor from the introduction course pulled me and another one of the other students who retook the exam this afternoon aside to tell us that we had both passed the retake exam, which was nice of him. And then the best part of the afternoon was at the end of the break the head professor for the course made some general comments including that most people needed to watch their spelling and grammar, and then went on to say that there was one paper which, after having heard me speak for the first time in class today, she guessed was mine, that was "So beautifully written that she spent a half an hour searching on the internet to see if it had been plagerized" And she said this to me in front of the entire class! It was really an ego boost, which I certainly needed. So today, I am happy!

Running in Rotterdam

Okay, I really should have done the last two entries in reverse order, but it's cool. Yesterday morning I woke up and went for a run, as I do sometimes, but this was a particularly eventful run so I thought I'd share about it. So as usual I climbed stairs outside in the morning, then went for my run. After running through a residential neighbourhood I generally graduate to running on the bike path as running on the cobblestone side walks tends to be bad for the ankles. Up untill now this has never really been a problem, untill yesterday when this older man comes up behind me and said something rather humorously in Dutch which I took to be him asking me to move to the side walk so I did. So he pedals up besides me and not only does he have two FULL sattle bags on his bicycle but he wwas also holding a rather hefty briefcase some distance his bike, it was quite amusing to see. (Side note: A couple of days ago I saw a guy talking on his self phone while riding his bike, he falls off, he gets up and is still talking on his cell phone, and then has the nerve to shush me when I went over to ask if he's ok. PFFT.) Anyway so I continued on my run and up ahead on the bike path was a mother and her two small children getting out of their car to go into their house and her younger boy stands at the side of the bike path and starts waving to me as I run towards him, it was really adorable and I said goed morghen to him as I passed. Then the third thing happened a little farther down the way, some really shifty guy who was walking very clumsily down the street which made me think he was on drugs, stopped on the bike path to wait for me (I don't know why) So of course not knowing his intentions I corssed the road to avoid an attempted mugging. I say attempted mugging mainly because I had nothing to steal but also a little because I intend to kick the next person who tries to mug me in the crotch. Yes So... that was running in Rotterdam.

Growing up through art

This is going to be completely random: so Today I finally got around to going to the art store which I had noticed many times which is near Blaak (the market) and I found eleventy billion things that I wanted (I should have known better than to go into the art store) so I settled for pastels, I came home an proceeded to draw. To tell you the truth, despite not being a really wondeful artist, when I have no art of any form in my life there is sort of this void, thus me buying the pastels. Now this got me to thinking. When you're young aged 3 to 10 you usually use markers to draw, then between the ages of 10 and 20 you move onto pencil crayons, to me it logically it seems that I would the progress to some higher art utencil use in my twenties, so I have now welcomed pastels into my life. I told you it was going to be random.

Kirsten goes Belgian

Belgium. Belgium. What can I say about Belgium? I started off on Friday morning, expecting to visit a country very similar to the Netherlands but with nicer architecture and a language that I can understand. But, I was in for a bit of a shock.
The first thing that I noticed when getting off the train was that all of the shops in the train station actually had halloween decorations in the windows. Here, in Holland, Halloween is a very new festivity in the Netherlands, and if it weren't approaching the end of October, I wouldn't even have known Halloween was approaching. But everywhere in Brussels there are halloween decorations and such. It was nice.
Anyway, Becca then kindly met me at the train station and accomapnied me to my accomodations at Hotel van Belle (yes that's right that's Frenderlands) ( a combination of Dutch and French) Where I was asked if I wanted to upgrade from a shared bathroom to a single bathroom so I did. Upon arriving in my room we discovered, that while the room was small and dingy I had a great view! So me being me of course I climbed out my window and took a picture. (see picture of roof Tops) Becca said that that was what she had always imagined Europe to look like. It's nice that she's finally seen Europe after being here for 2 months!
Anyway then we went to do some sightseeing, souvenir shopping, waffle eating and chocolate buying. The first place we went was a souvenir shop where this really creepy guy started to follow us around, assumably with the intention of pick pocketing us, fortunately Becca notice and kept us at a safe distance untill we were at the cashregister and she told me. The man was then loitering by the door and when Becca told me he had been following us I almost had a panic attack (really) because I was sure when we passed him on the way out he was going to grab something and run so, internally freaking out, I put my purse under the arm that was away from him and walked confidently out the door and was not robbed, again.
So anyway then we went and had Belgian waffles, mine had chocolate and creme anglaise and was absolutely delectable, we then proceeded to shop and then I spent too much money on Chocolate and other things so we retired to dinner at this neat little Italian place.
At the neat little Italian place, sitting next to us were two men who when Becca went to the washroom started to talk and flirt with me, which was suprising because I had taken them to be gay, but the one Guy kept insisting he was James Dean which sparked many amusing discussion between Becca and I and the two throughout Dinner. I eventually asked the guy to give me his authograph since he was James Dean (yeah right) and he did and then at the end of the Dinner he kissed my hand. And while I'm still convinced they were gay it was the first time a man has kissed my hand in Europe, so there.
Anyway lost for what to do Becca and I decided to go and see a movie. We ended up seeing O Jerusalem and I don't know what to say other than that it was amazing. It's a movie from France in English with French subtitles and was about the formation of the state of Isreal and was told from the perspective of those fighting on both sides for peace. It was a truly heart wrenching movie and was truly a beautiful piece of cinematography, I really hope it comes to Canada so that I can watch it with my friends. (ok Now leaving film critique mode)
Anyway I then retired to my hotel room. The next day I woke up had my complementary breakfast and proceeded to the metro station where I was supposed to get on a subway and meet Becca and go to class, but the station was several levels and I got thoroughly lost, and by the time I found myself I was already late and Becca had to go to class without me. So I had a Belgian cappucino (which by the way has whipped cream on it) and made my way to the University which I explored while waiting for Becca's class to finish. I must say that ULB truly has an amazing library, it's 9 floors and his huge with all kinds of multimedia gadgets and an extensive collections of books. Of course Becca had never been in her library before...
After her class Becca met me and we and her friends went for 2 4 1 pasta which was good, but later gave me an upset stomach (eww) Then Becca showed me her room and we did more sight seeing (I saw the royal palace and stuff) we then went to Pizza Hut for a fast cheap and easy dinner as well as a remembrance of home and we headed back to University where we met up with Becca's friends again and went to a wine bar.
I have never been to a wine bar before but I really thought that it was quite European of me and I really quite liked it. But then it was time to sleep so once again I retired to my hotel room.
The next day I once again got up and had my complementary breakfast, and checked out of my hotel and went to meet Becca and friends at the metro station so that we could browse the market. At the train station I discovered that the Belgian expo store had different Fitty Sheep merchandise than the one in Holland and I was quite dissapointed because there were some mugs and things that I would have liked to by BUT for once in my life I showed self-restraint.
Anyway, we went to the market and I caught my train at 12:35 to go back to Rotterdam. BUT the fun didn't end there! On the train there were these four really grungy men with their dogs, who Smelled terrible. Their first language was french and it seemed that the only words they new in English were Shit Fuck and Hell (Pardon my French, haha that's funny... do you get it?) So then two really funny things happened. The first thing was that a ticket collector came to collect our tickets and these guys had one of their dirty scary dogs sitting on one of the seats and so the ticket taker made them pay for a train ticket for the dog (and threatened to kick them off the train) and then insisted that the dog get off the seat. It made my day. Also the woman sitting next to me spoke Dutch, there were 3 people I had been talking to near us who were British and the smelly men were French and at one point they were all trying to talk to each other, and I got to be the translator! it was amusing. Anyway, that was Belgium, my next trip will likely be to Scotland soooo you'll be hearing about that.

Cheers!

I was Not meant to be a Bicycle Mechanic

I tell this story not because it is important, but because it is the craziest which is me.
So on Thursday I asked Jay to print out my reservation confirmation for my hotel in Brussels for the weekend and he did and subsquently decided he wanted some fresh air so he met me down between our two buildings. When there he mentioned that his bike chain kept getting caught on his back wheel. (yeah the bikes are a little old-school here) So thinking of my self as being somewhat Handy and mechanical I offered to take a look at it for him. Well at first whatever I was doing seemed to be working. But then the Bike chain fell of the gears and then Jay tried to move his Bike and the chain got tangled in his wheel. So at this point my hands are covered in Grease anyway, so I kept working and I eventually got the bike mainly back to the way I found it, though the chain was still not on the gears properly. I then mentioned that Martin knew about Bikes, so Jay came to my room and helped me open my door because my hands were black from the Grease and he got Martin's e-mail.
I was not meant to be a Bicycle Mechanic.

My Birthday

So it took me long enough to write an entry about my Birthday eh? (yes I had to say eh because I never get to say it here and I miss it. Anyway, the single picture of me, which incidently is also my msn display picture, was me on my 20th Birthday, do I look any older?
Originally on my Birthday, eleventy billion people were supposed to come with me to Den Haag, and then dropped out one by one because they had already made plans or they thought Den Haag was boring (I think they're crazy but that's ok) We were all supposed to meet at the train station on the morning of the 14th but by the 13th I was pretty sure no one was comming but I decided to show up anyway. And in fact ONE person did in fact show up. So instead of going back to Den Haag I decided I wanted to go to Gouda (phonetically pronounced Howda) as I had never been there before. Of course me being the idiot that I am I hadn't brought my camera because I was expecting no one to come, but we were off.
Gouda was a wonderful little town with many shops and historical sites. My friend Judith and I saw one of the 2 remaining Gothic City halls in the Netherlands which was built in the 1450's (pretty old eh?) we also went to St. John's Kerk (Church) which was built in the 1500's and is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of it's beautiful stained glass windows which depict stories from the Bible, stories from Dutch History and the story of St. John Babtiste's life. It was really amazing! In Gouda I also ate an apple cinnamon pancake which was exciting... really it was.
After all this We came back to Rotterdam and came back to my room so I could talk to family and get my camera, then we returned to Rotterdam Central Station to meet the next eleventy billion people for dinner. 3 more people turned up (with presents) as well as two others who came to tell me that they had to go (whatever)
So anyway, then we went for Sushi at my favorite Sushi place in the World, Happy Sushi, which isn't my favorite Sushi place because the Sushi is acceptional but because plates of sushi go around on a little conveyor belt and you can pick what you like. They also have Bubble tea. The people who came with me for Sushi were Judith, Cicek (my room mate), Hui and Henrick. We has a very good time, and as per Dutch/European tradition I bought everyone's first drink.
After sushi we walked to the Cafe/Restraunt that Henrick and I went to during the Pink Dot festival which I have learned is called Hoop and Sourgh (Which is of course Dutch for Hope and Sorrow) I really like this cafe it has a very fun atmosphere, wonderful deserts and wonderful drinks!
After Hoop and Sourgh we were joined by some of Henrick's friends as well as some more of my friends and we went to another Cafe, which wasn't nearly as nice but it would do. Overall I think it's safe to say that I enjoyed my birthday, and now I can get on with the 20 things I hope to do at 20!

Cheers!

20 things to do As a Twenty-year-old

So The clock struck midnight, but I didn't turn into a pumpkin... Before I left Canada, everytime I thought about my 20th Birthday a feeling of dread settled in the pit of my stomach. Despite being the youngest of my friends at home I never really saw the benefit of having an extra decade tacked on to my age. However, being here there arre a lot of people in the masters programs here or in their last year of study and I've begun to cringe everytime someone asks me my age because the answer is always followed up by calling me a baby or what have you, so it will be nice to join the ranks of my fellow students and friends.
I was talking to my friend Hui from China after our exam yesterday and she was telling me a very inspirational story about how she had a friend who committed the same number of good deeds on her Birthday as the age she was turning. This had inspired Hui on her 20th Birthday in March to make a list of 20 things to do at 20 and I like the Idea so I'm also going to make a list.
1. Do 20 good acts - not just little things like holding open doors but real things to better the world.
2. Make 20 New friends
3. Learn a new language (Dutch doesn't count because i started at 19)
4. Learn to whistle.
5. Learn how to bake bread.
6. Laugh more often
7. Go Scuba diving
8. Get a pet
9. Run a quarter marathon. Because a quarter of my life is assumably gone. This of course is assuming that when I'm 80 I'll be able to run a full marathon, and then die shortly afterward.
10. Go on a tour of the United Nations in NYC
11. See a musical
12. Meet someone famous
13. Become famous
14. See another province in Canada
15. Visit at least 4 new countries (because I'm in Europe anyway)
16. Tell people I love them more often
17. get a part in a play
18. Join at least 2 clubs at school.
19. Be Happy
20. Be the Change I want to see in the World. (Oh Ghandi... how I love you)

Well Here's too another year of life. For all that's happened, recently and not, thank you to everyone for your love and support, you really will never know what it means to me.

With Love

Kirsten is Not Homeless

Soooooo... The thing I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, is not the fact that there is no turkey to be found ANYWHERE but that I have a place to live. The University was kind enough to find me a room in a student residence called Casa Erasmus, where, my room isn't much bigger than my room in first year, but the furniture is nicer and my windows DO infact open. My accomodation also came equipped with a stove which I have to light with a match (we all know how much I like fire) and a really nice roomate from Turkey who is very greatful that after a month and a half she finally has a room mate. I actually really like my room, I found a Snoopy poster and it hangs on the opposite wall of my Canadian flag. I am really missing home right now and I just thought everyone should know how thankful they should be for getting to be home for Thanksgiving, and that I am thankful to all of my friends and family who are reading this.
I have an exam this week so I don't supposed I'll have too much to write about but then it is my Birthday so then I hope I'll have lots to write about.


Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
Birthday Countdown : Twenty minus 6 Days!
Cheers!

Kirsten Gets Evicted

So One day, I am going to look back on this trip, this exchange of mine and laugh hysterically at it because everything is so rediculous. 2 Days ago my Landlady asked me to find different accomodations, didn't give me a date, and then proceeded to fight with me over how much money she was going to give me back. And why did I get evicted you as? Well it seems the straw that broke the camel's back was that I wanted to serve four friends thanksgiving dinner! I know! I mean I didn't think we were best friends, but I certainly didn't expect to get kicked out for cooking turkey! Jeesh. Whatever, I'm moved out staying with a friend either till tomorrow, or till Nov. 1. Tomorrow would be a better day than Nov. 1 but Nov. 1 will cost less. so either way I won't cry.
Okay, so on top of this, I am sick, my throat hurts, at one point I had a high fever, and now, my eyes are pink and itchy and full of gunk. The doctor tells me I have a very contageous virus, and gave me eye drops. So I've decided that I am a biological weapon. Sigh. I am so very very tired.

Anyway don't forget my Birthday is in 8 Days (October 14th)
Cheers!

If all the World is a Stage, then Rotterdam is Surely the Character List

So I've been here for a month. And what a crazy and amazing month it's been! I've started classes, made loads of new friends, aclimatized to the humidity (finally), got mugged, travelled, travelled some more, done lots of shopping, felt home sick picked up a bit of Nederlands (Dutch) and ocassionally felt homesick. I am proud of one thing, that I did not get sick for the Entire first month of my living here. Though I already know that's not going to last for October... I'm already comming down with something.
I was thinking about it and I realised that the really remarkable thing about Rotterdam is it's people. Rotterdam doesn't have the same diplomatic feel or archaic buildings as Den Haag and it certainly doesn't have the tourist population and attractions like Amsterdam, it's architecture at time can be unusual like an abstract painting and it's weather at best can be described as moody, but still the remarkable thing here is the people. It seems as though many of the people here have accentuated personalities. If they are something, personality wise, they really ARE that way, and trust me in this city you will find every single personality possible. Take last night, for the first time since I was mugged, I ventured out into the night alone on my way to a party, on my way I encountered a man who may have been on drugs and would start walking towards me very aggressively and then turn away timidly. He made me nervous so I got another random person on the street to walk with me, who was more than happy to do so. He was a student from Amsterdam making his way to a party down the same street as I. But people here are like that, if you need something they help you. At my party last night of course there were exchange students, and well if you know me, you know them too... We also met some Dutch guys at the party who laughed at our inability to speak Dutch. Later on when we had left the party and gone for a club, when I stopped to get a milkshake at Burger King (don't ask) An American, and a German, who must have been in their late thirties, befriended me and asked me to go out with them, obviously I declined, but it was still nice to be asked.
Also everyone here has an opinion, and whether you ask for one or not you get it. It might be a comment on the justice minister, or ethnic tensions between the large Morrocan population and the native Dutch people. There are cab drivers who tell you how much they miss home, and there are men with puppies who inform you that you MUST learn Dutch. And the best part is there is something to be learned from all of them.

Here's to new experiences!
Cheers!!!