This weekend was fun. Saturday was spent traveling to Delft and Den Haag. The pictures on Facebook tell that story well.
On Sunday some of our group went with Prof. Aay to the English Reformed Church. Some fun facts:
1)The church building has housed the English-speaking congregation since 1607!
2)Some English Protestants who moved to Amsterdam attended the church briefly, but then later moved to Leiden because of religious differences. You may have heard of them...they went on to sail on the Mayflower...
3)The church is in an old, somewhat hidden courtyard called the Begijnhof. A relatively unmarked door off the main street leads you to this:
The service itself was pretty long but enjoyable, and the people there were very friendly!
But, alas, it is Monday and that means time to go off to class. My class last week was packed and I didn't get a very good seat, so I thought that by showing up at 1:15 today (for a 1:30 class), I would get a good spot. I got there and only one seat was left in the FRONT ROW! I was happy to get a seat, though, since the people who came after me sat on the floor or the windowsills. I guess next week Monday I will try getting there at 1:00?!?!
I think the class is going well, even though I've only had it twice. We get a 15 minute break in the middle of the two hour class, which is nice. I spent the break today getting to know some people in my class, and we talked about some interesting things:
(I'm beginning to think I have a thing for numbered lists)
1)Guy-who-didn't-tell-me-his-name said that the housing complex that I live in, Uilenstede, means Owl City in Dutch! I knew I liked this band for a reason:
2)One girl I met, Eva, remembered from last week that I was from Seattle. I tried to teach her where Michigan is, and how it looks like a hand. This is the point in the conversation where GWDTMHN came over and revealed that he knows about Calvin. Apparently one of his favorite profs ever has taught/teaches at Hope College, and GWDTMHN knew all about the Calvin-Hope rivalry! His words: "I have looked at pictures of Hope College, and I love that place." I told him maybe he should study abroad at Hope someday!?
3)Both Eva and GWDTMHN think it's "crazy" to have Americans in a class where they talk about American politics so much. I think it's great! I love getting a different perspective on our system, and I'm constantly impressed by how much they know about our history and current events. For example, the prof threw out a reference in his lecture to Woodrow Wilson, and no one got lost. Then during our discussion time, someone brought up the recent tea party coalition! These people are on the ball!
I could talk about a thousand more little things, but I don't want to bore you too much. As always, thanks for reading!
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