That is currently the number of photos I have taken in the Netherlands. Tomorrow, I will have some more to add from the train stations and the airports, and hopefully the views from the planes after takeoff and before landing.
Today, I didn't leave the hostel until the "walking tour" started around eight p.m. One of the hostel staff showed us the river and one of the bridges, and we walked over the "Walk of Fame." I took a few pictures of the Walk, including Ray Charles's panel, as well as Johnny Cash's and someone else's--I can't remember whose though.
Around ten, I went back to the hostel and tried to call the states using Euro coins in the pay phone, but it wouldn't let me. So I went and got my computer and called Anna via Skype before uploading the pictures from the "tour" onto Facebook. I'll put them on my portable harddrive later--I didn't feel like bringing that downstairs again too.
Tomorrow after breakfast, I will pack up and check out of the hostel. They store luggage for you if you ask, so before I head to the train station, I will have them store my luggage long enough for me to get some treats for everyone back home at the market on the corner. Then, I will put that in whichever bag it will fit before heading to Rotterdam Centraal.
From there, it'll be about an hour's train ride to Shiphol, where I will check in, check my suitcase, and go. Though I think I'll have at least a couple of hours before the flight even boards, so I will take a better look around the airport than I had on the way in. I'll also have a better look at the Keflavik airport too. I wonder if they take Euros, or some other form of currency?
. . . Nope, not Euros, Krona. If I want food or something in the airport, I'll have to go somewhere that takes American Express then. No big deal.
From there, it's just another six-hour flight back to Dulles, where I will have to go through Customs before I can get out of there. I anticipate getting home around 10 p.m.
Thank goodness I have Friday off work too.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
302
Friday, June 1, 2012
So . . . many . . . STAIRS!
I didn't go to Amsterdam today.
Tell the truth, I didn't even leave the hostel.
I'd done so much biking yesterday, that this morning, I had trouble getting back up to my room after breakfast--I was that sore, and it wasn't just my legs. Besides, it rained right after breakfast, and I'd forgotten to grab my umbrella while I was getting my suitcase out of the Bug. I'm not sure I could afford to buy one here, but I'd do it if I was caught out in the rain--and could find a place nearby to buy one.
So, what did I do instead? I caught up on some reading, of course. That seems to be the default Darcy relaxation technique, after all.
Anna had told me about the two Sookie Stackhouse novels I hadn't read yet a couple of weeks ago, and I had my Kindle with me, so I downloaded them both. I just finished the latest one a few minutes ago. I can't decide whether to a) lament the apparent death of the Sookie/Eric thing (he was sooo much cooler than Bill), or b) cheer on the Sookie/Sam thing Harris has pretty much been setting up since book one.
Talked to Anna on the phone last night, and tried to call Grandma, but I guess she was out or something, since I only got the answering machine.
I'm kind of on the fence about calling Grandma's friend in Hellevoetsluis, even though she's pretty much the only person I actually know in this country. I mean, it'd be kind of wierd, if she doesn't even know I'm here, to just all of a sudden call up a friend of my grandma's I'd only met once or twice, right?
Tomorrow though, I'll definitely go into Amsterdam, no matter how hard it is to climb the stairs back to my room. Maybe I'll walk to the train station (it's only about five blocks or so, straight north from here anyway) instead of biking there. Perhaps, if I feel the need, I can rent a bicycle when I get there--and get a map of the city, since the one I have is only for Rotterdam.
Other places to see this trip include:
- In Amsterdam
- The Dam
- The Anne Frank House
- The Rembrandt Museum
- A Canal Tour
- In the Hague - Maybe I'll just stop here on my way to Amsterdam tomorrow, get two cities done in one go.
- Madurodam
- The Arnhem Open Air Museum
- The Keukenhof
- The Delta Works in Spijkenisse - would take about an hour by bicycle, and Spijkenisse looks like it's on the way to Hellevoetsluis. I'm still not sure I'd want to bike that far though. I still can't find any information about public transportation to either of those places.
- The Arboretum Trompenburg, which is here in Rotterdam somewhere - Looks like about a 15-minute bike ride, but I think I'll wait until Tuesday, and have lunch in the tea house.
- Kinderdijk, which would take about an hour and a half, even with public transport.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Whew!
Okay, now that all the non-fiction is posted, I get get down to explaining where I've been all this time.
Scratch that. You can pretty much figure it out: school, work, Haven, etc. How about I describe my plans for the summer and next school year instead?
Oh, I've pretty much given up on listing all the books I read for the 50-Book Challenge--keeping track of them as I go is extremely tedious, so when I get around to writing the list, I can never remember all of them.
Anyway, next week, we have a new shift bid at work. Due to the nature of next Fall's school schedule (one class on Monday/Wednesday, plus two music lessons on either Monday or Tuesday, and two online courses), I'm hoping I finally have the seniority to get the shift with four ten-hour days and three days off--specifically Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. Failing that, I'll try either to get the overnight shift with any days off, since my classes are all after that shift ends, or the same shift I have now (0430-1300) with Tuesday/Wednesday or Monday/Tuesday off, which I will then ask to be split to Monday/Wednesday like last Fall, in order to accommodate my class schedule.
A week from this coming Tuesday, I will be accomplishing a goal I have had on my list for over two decades: I'm going to Holland!
I've wanted to go ever since I found out 1) What countries are, and 2) Grandma and Grandpa S. were born and raised there. In fact, I decided years ago that the first time I was able to afford to take a vacation outside the country, I would go to the Netherlands. Everywhere else could wait until after that.
I will be staying at a hostel in Rotterdam, and might go to at least say "Hi" to Grandma's friend in The Hague. I will definitely be visiting The Hague, as well as Amsterdam, the Kinderdijk, and some other places around the country. I plan to travel by train from city to city, and by bus or taxi within each city. I might rent a bicycle for in-city transportation as well, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford it.
My plane leaves around 5 p.m. on the 29th, so I will be working that day before changing clothes and going to get my luggage from the car. After that, I will check in and go back through the checkpoint. I have a layover of about an hour and a half in Rekjavik going both directions, but I figure that will only be enough time to eat, if I need to.
The return flight lands back at Dulles around 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 7th, so if I still have the a.m. shift then, I will not be able to get home in time for a shower and enough recovery time from jet lag in order to function properly at work the next morning. So, I am taking off Friday, June 8th as well, and returning to work on Saturday, June 9th, which is actually Mom's birthday.
No matter what schedule I have this bid, I should have July 4th off (or at least the day after, so I don't have to worry about going to bed on time), so I'll be able to be in the Haven's annual group picture this year. That's good, because I had to miss last year's photo.
After my vacation, I'm going to be running an RPG at the Haven, probably on Tuesdays, based on Anne McCaffrey's Pern. I'm currently tweaking the Cinematic Unisystem rules to accommodate that setting, and I hope the game goes well, because I'm extremely excited about it. It's going to be set about 500 Turns after the events in The Skies of Pern (in other words, approximately 3,000 After Landing), and I'm not going to say anymore about it, because I don't want to give any spoilers to the people who may be interested in playing.
Next Fall, my classes are as follows:
EN203 with Ted Taft (the same instructor as for EN205 in Fall 2011 and EN204 in Spring 2012): American Literature from the beginning to the Civil War. EN204 was from the Civil War to modern times. Mondays/Wednesdays 1100-1215.
LF101 with an as-yet-unnamed instructor: Introductory French - I took French in Middle and High School, but when I signed up for it, the A.P. French class was cancelled, so I could not take it for college credit. Therefore, I have to start back at the beginning for French at FCC. Online Course.
MU103 with James Hontz: Fundamentals of Music - I've been trying to take this course for ages, since it's the prerequisite for the Music Theory and Music Composition courses, but never had the time to take it when it was offered before. Online Course.
MU178A with John Pursell: First Year Brass (Trumpet) - I'm way out of practice with the trumpet, and I want to get my lip back, so I'll be taking weekly ½-hour-long lessons. Schedule unknown until August, will either be Mondays or Tuesdays.
MU184 with James Hontz: First Year Guitar - Since I only know one real song on the guitar ("Merelan" from The Masterharper of Pern Soundtrack Songbook), and can't really play it at tempo, I figured I'd get actual lessons. The class I had signed up for in senior year of high school started out with just theory, so I dropped that class in favor of Show Choir, and hadn't gotten around to getting personal lessons yet. Now, I will have. These lessons, unlike the trumpet lessons, will be hour-long sessions. Tuesdays, 1430-1530.
After next semester, I will only need two more Literature courses before I can graduate and get my A.A. degree in English/Literature. Those courses are the second half of British Literature, EN202, and the second half of World Literature, EN206. If one or both of them is not offered in the Spring of 2013, my academic advisor, Dr. K, said that we could substitute any other 200-series Literature course, though I don't know what that could be, since I've already taken all of the other 200-series Literature courses I know of.
Anyway, after I get that degree, I plan to go back to FCC and change my major to Music. I hope to later transfer to a four-year school and get my B.A, so that I can teach music. That way, if I can't find a position teaching at a school, I'll at least be able to give lessons in my spare time.
I also started writing a story back in November. It's nowhere near finished yet, and it's already over 13,000 words (48 pages, Times New Roman, 12pt, typed and double-spaced or 14 pages, Times New Roman, 6pt, typed and double-spaced). There was no way I was going to do it for Na-No-Wri-Mo though, since I have trouble writing it in anything other than fits and spurts. It doesn't have a title yet, and I'm not going to write a description of it here. I want to finish it before I send it out to the world in general, though a couple people have already read earlier parts of the story.
My original plan was to finish it and send it to the Writers of the Future Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writers Contest (which used to be judged by Anne McCaffrey, who as most of you should know was the author of the Pern series--among others--and my favorite author of all time), but they have a word limit of 17,000 words. Given that I'm maybe half-way through the story at more than 13,000 words, I'll probably be way over the limit by the time the story is finished. If that is the case, and I can do it well enough, I'll abridge the story so that it's under the limit and submit the abridged version to the contest. Then, I'll send the long version to a publisher after the contest is over, no matter whether the story gets a prize or not.
If I cannot abridge the story and still keep the major plot intact, I'll just send it to a publisher.
Lots of plans, lots of stuff to fill my time. I'm also watching my way through all of the Stargate serieses and movies. I'm currently nearing the end of Stargate: SG-1 season 9 and Stargate: Atlantis season 2.
No new knitting projects lately, but can you blame me, busy as I've been without them?
