... and will frickin' PAY for it! I'm sick of the mice in my apartment - sure they're cute, but they've broken the last straw. Over the weekend, I put a new garbage bag into my bin. Last night, I walked past and it stank to high heaven! It honestly smelled like something died in there. 2 nights ago, I came home late and when I opened the door I saw 2 mice scurry around my floor. It's just creepy and gross now!! They used to be so cute!

THE PLAN - I'm gonna borrow a friend's cat for a little while. Even if the cat sucks at hunting, then the cat-smell'll probably keep the mousies away for a lil' while. Mouse poison doesn't even work, and I hate having the stuff around. *sigh* Wish me luck!

Last weekend we visited Den Haag, and then went to Rotterdam for a HUGE AIESEC party. Both cities were so amazing - we ran into this beach party at Rotterdam, which was free. But that's not the best part - beer was cheap (1.5 Euros) and Perry Corsten was playing! I rolled a joint for Anna infront of a police man, which was a little awkward. Fantabulous architecture surrounded us - it really was worth visiting! I'm definitely planning on going back one day.

Tonight a whole bunch of us are going to the cinema to see the Fantastic Four. Some of us are skeptical about the quality of the film, and feel the need to get stoned before we watch it. Hahaha, they make me laugh

Dad and his girlfriend are coming to AMS on Friday! I have to figure out where to take him. It's gonna be a little hard, cuz he wants to do EVERYTHING imaginable. Hmmm... I'd really like to go on the road trip that some of the other interns are taking, but priorities come first I guess.

I'm not talking about the band - I'm dying from the heat wave here. It's sooo humid - I feel sooo nasty. I wanna strip, but that'd shock my coworkers. *sigh* they don't even have slurpies in this country. how can they possibly consider themselves civilized!?!?!?! ;)

There's a pancake party tonight - I *heart* pancakes. I'm bringing the maple syrup.

Man  - I've been photocopying for so long today, I doubt that I'll be able to have kids now.

My real birthday was ok last night - I went shopping (since the stores were open late) and then I had a beer, a joint, and a bath in the evening. Very relaxing. Tonight we're going to do karaoke... I feel sorry for everyone in the audience!

Today I am the big 2-3. WOO HOO! I thought that my birthday was going to be rather depressing, but it was actually a lot better than I thought it would. Last night, I went out for pancakes (typical Dutch thing) with some friends, and the president of AIESEC Amsterdam. After, we went out to a cafe for drinks. AIESEC gave me a great book on Dutch cooking! I brought 2 cakes to work with me today, and when I got here I found that they totally decorated my work station. I was touched! They don't usually do that for people here, apparently! Then they gave me a book on Dutch culture, which looks hilarious!

So yeah - life in Amsterdam looks like it's getting better, bit by bit. Even the weather is nicer. I'm getting to know a few more people, and I'm getting lost less frequently. I'm changing quite a bit too - I'm even talking differently, which is a little strange. Work is rather boring, but what can you expect from data entry? Aaah well... at least the people are nice. Tomorrow we're going out for kareoke, and then we're going out. On Saturday, I'm probs gonna check out a museum, and then we're all going to a jazz club.

OK, I have to race home to try to buy a bike now. I can't believe I don't have one already! Life's too crazy at the moment... sorry that this isn't longer. I'll have to try to find time to do this again soon.

Sandy

At last, I am finally here in AMSTERDAM. It's weird, I'm here, and I can't believe it. Honest! It feels like I'm just gonna re-appear in my room in Canada or something. It's very odd to think that I'm going to be here for a whole year!

Anyway, my trip here sucked, but it wasn't my worst flight ever. I had to carry 2 peices of carry-on, which got heavier each place I went. In London, I went to pick up my boarding pass, only to find that the company didn't have me in their system. After negotiating with Air Canada and British Midwest, they finally coughed up the card I needed to get on the plane. The worst part was when I finally arrived in my final destination, WITHOUT my luggage on the same plane! I waited around in the airport for like, 2 hours, and had to file a report for them to find it. *sigh* I was REALLY happy to see my AIESEC buddy, Emilie, in the arrivals area!

So yeah, after a beer to calm me down, we went to my apartment. My apartment's in the nicest area of Amsterdam - the Old South part. My apartment is pretty ghetto, none-the-less, but I like it! OK, so what if it didn't have a mattress - I borrowed one from Johannes down the street, and I bought an air mattress today. The apartment's pretty cool - and big too! The bath is actually in the kitchen. I can eat and wash at the same time! I took some movies and photos of the place with my digital camera, but since I can't plug my laptop in yet, I can't upload anything at the moment.

Today, I met up with Emilie again and bought a new SIM card for my cell. So yeah - get ready, here are my digits! 0649270352 *add the country code to the front if you're gonig to call - I dunno what it is for the Netherlands*

Tomorrow I'm going to take care of a lotta official stuff (like openning a bank account) and the day after is my first day of work. I'm a little nervous about the whole work thing, seeing as I haven't actually had to think for the past 2 months... pray for me, so that I don't make myself look like an idiot!

I'm really looking forward to meeting some more people here. So far, the Dutch strike me as being extremely friendly and polite, but still hard nuts to crack. We'll have to do some more investigation into this...

E-mail me sometime guys! I miss you already!

I'm grumpy. I recently received an email from this Norwegian guy I dated. It turns out that he's in the Netherlands now, without a place to stay. It sounds like he's strapped for cash, and he just wants a roof until he can leave - basically he wants me to put him up for a couple of nights.

ALRIGHT, I'd like to think of myself as a nice person, but I don't feel like being super-charitable this time. I mean, moving to a new place is a lot in of itself - I'm not gonna feel like playing hostess on my first night in a new country. Then there's the fact that we didn't exactly finish things off on a fantabulous note... although that was all a year and a half ago.

So yeah, although it's against my better sense, I guess I'm gonna lend him my floor for a couple of nights. I just told him that I'll have to ignore him, but I doubt that he minds.  I've had problems during trips before, so to deny someone shelter just seems wrong. I guess that it'll be nice to have company during my first days away, but still - why can't it be someone else? bleh - k, i'm gonna shut up now. It's only going to be for a short while, and the whole ordeal will be allllllll over.

 

Wish me luck tomorrow, guys! It's gonna be the big moving day!

Man - about 3 weeks ago, right after I got home from Montreal, I was super-stoked about leaving. Now, when it finally comes to packing, it just feels like a big pain in the rear! I have a massive pile of clothes n'stuff in the middle of my room, and it seems like it'd take too much effort to cram it all into some luggage. I admit, I'm gettin' a lil' down about having to leave the lovely Edmontonian-summer. I mean, I've been bumming around, having a great time ever since school ended, and now I'm leaving it all to go work! I'm telling myself not to be such a baby - suck it up, and take it like a lean, mean Canuck. Most of my friends are leaving anyway, so moving away shouldn't be a big dealio.

It's finally hit me - I'm actually leaving. Crap - usually I don't figure that out until I'm out of the country. It's also weird cuz an ex just e-mailed me, asking if I can put him up when I get there. I haven't seen him in a year and a half, and I only feel charitable enough to lend him my floor. *sigh* kind of an odd thing to be swung your way when you're moving to a place for a year.

It's gonna be alllllll good. Please, just put up with my complaining for now; pretty soon I'll just wanna talk about the wonders of the Netherlands

Last night was absolutely fabulous - I wouldn't have changed any part of it for anything! Thank you to all of you who came out. I was so excited that so many of you could come out; I didn't expect half that many to come! We smoked, ate, drank, danced... seeing Neil, Eric and Oscar bellydancing alone made the night worth it (I have pics which I'll hafta post later.) After Cocodi's, some of us went to Red Star, and then Steel Wheels (??) for pizza. In the end, we just sat around until past four telling stories, and I totally laughed until I felt like throwing-up. I got into bed at around 4:30, but I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get over how totally-rad the evening was. Thanks for that again, guys - that was the best going-away do ever!

I'm a little concerned. I have less than 9 days until I take off, and it feels like I should be totally freakin' out right now. Instead, I'm bored and spend more of my days lazin' around instead of being productive/making the most of things. I should also start packing, but that job seems too enormous to think about right now. (how much stuff do you need to survive for a year? what kind of things am I  forgetting that may become amazingly useful sometime? do i need to get something to make my laptop function over there?) What should i be doing right now?? i'm lost, and i haven't even left yet.

I've also been dorkin' around on some of those low cost air carriers sites and it seems that i can get almost anywhere from Amsterdam for rediculously cheap prices (round trip to london for 25 pounds!) It's like the world is my oyster!! It's almost intimidating... I have no idea where to go first. I'll definitely hafta hit up CPH... too bad my ex's on exchange, i dunno who else i can safely impose myself on there.