Amsterdam! plus this week :)

So Amsterdam has the most delcious cookies called stroopwaffles- they are 2 skinny little waffles with yummy syrup in the middle-- oooh my mouth is watering!!
It was a super short trip with several complications...
2 Other exchange students organized it. The expected 9 hour trip took 13, and our bus driver left after dropping us off at our hostel. He was supposed to take us into the city center every
morning and have a bus coming back shortly after dinner each evening. It was very frustrating.

The first morning we went to the Anne Frank House with was remarkable. It was incredibly to see where she and her family hid for so long during the war. What an amazing story she was able to share-- but it was very chilling at the same time as well to be reminded of how hate truly took over peoples lives back then. How did that happen? Its so unreal.
We walked around the city, shopped and walked around lots of fantastic markets! I loooved the markets with their homemade goodies and funky clothes and cheese stands and produce stands.

It was rainy and chilly so we took lots of mini breaks in cafes.

A huge Holland vs. Scotland soccer game was taking place so the city was FULL of kilts. I felt out of place because I didn't have one.

Our second day was really mellow- a few of us wandered around the city all day. We checked out the Red District for about 10 seconds and I still can't get over it. Women PAY money to stank naked in windows. Its unreal. I have never been to Las Vegas, but I highly doubt its even comparable. We also went on a short paddle boat ride down the canal. It was hilarious. I have no idea how we didn't crash. We were only like 2 feet away from people's house boat homes. (There are houses along the canal that people live in because the taxing is way cheaper or something.) But then the touring boats would come by us and be like 5 feet away. Thankfully my friend Ali is an excellent paddle boat driver.

We finally left town at 11 pm. I have no idea why they scheduled to do that because most of us ended up just sitting around the hostel from 7 on. But I managed to sleep almost the entire bus ride back so thats good.

Its been so lovely in Aarhus this week. Not all that sunny, but in the high 40s and not too windy so I have been riding my bike. My gear thing broke so its stuck in the highest gear... so I had to walk it up hill 2 times because my legs seriously were not strong enough. Embarassing.

Last night it was Ramon's (from Switzerland) birthday. We had a big fun dinner for him and the Danes sang the danish birthday song for him... which took forever, I swear there must be like 5 verses. And, in true danish birthday custom, Roman had to have a little mini flag in front of him all during dinner. It was a wonderful evening.

I tried watching some of the danish show that everyone watches EVERY night from 10-11, but I was tired of not knowing what was happening. Plus its the trashiest show ever--- which might be the reason its so popular. Its outrageous. A guy and a girl pair up every week and 'get together', then they switch it up the next week. Sometimes the girl gets to pick who she sleeps with that week, and sometimes a guy does if they win some competitions or something. Its wack.

Another highlight of the last few days is that I got to talk to Amy, Hayden, Sadie and grandma on skype. It was wonderful to see their faces. :) I love family.