Noorderzon

Last night was the closing night of the Noorderzon Festival here in Groningen. In other words I am finally updating my blog because I am not at a concert tonight. Some of my favorite performances were Little Cow (Budapest), Chk Chk Chk (New York), Chromeo (Montreal), C-Mon & Kypski (Holland), Jean Parlette (Holland), Herman Dune (New York), Voxtrot (Austin, TX), etc. I also went to one of the films called Children (Iceland). The festival was a perfect start to my year in Groningen. My favorite part about it was the range of people who attended; I had an amazing time simply people watching. Here are just a few pics from Noorderzon.


Me, Charlotte (my mentor), and Coraline (exchange student from France)

Pic from the show last night, C-Mon & Kypski. I take back anything I ever said about Dutch music because they were amazing!

Waffle dipped in chocolate on a stick! The Dutch really know what they're doing.

Kim (from Groningen) and my little Dutch buddy. He counted to ten in every language he could and proceeded to count to one hundred in Dutch for me.

What a show!

So basically every evening for the last week I have been going to a festival here in Groningen called Noorderzon. It's an arts festival with every type of entertainment. I have definitely been taking advantage of the free concerts every night in the park. I just got home from the best show I have seen here yet. The band was called Chk Chk Chk (from New York). They were unbelievable! I might even say that they were the most entertaining, energetic, hilarious, and fun group I have seen in my life! The stage is set up in front of a pond in the middle of the park meaning that the audience is split into two and cannot really stand in front of the stage. At some of the other shows I have felt pretty disconnected to the bands, but not tonight. The lead singer was all over the place. During the show he said that if someone would swim to the mic, they could sing a song. Of course during the last song, this Rastafarian Groningen guy named Eddie, who I met a few nights ago, dove in grabbed the mic and finished the song. Meanwhile, the lead singer jumped in the pond and went for a dip. It was quite the finale!

It's funny to think I almost did not go tonight because it was raining earlier. The rain stopped right before the band began.

Fun fun fun

Most of my stay in Berlin was spent with Kerstin and I couldn't have imagined it any other way. Her and her roommate Muna were nice enough to let me crash and trash their place for a week. Thanks again! It was so much fun! I tried to pay them with American rice crispy treats, but it still was not enough:) The week was filled with a day at the beach, dancing dancing dancing, talking all day at cafes, learning how to tango at Julian's, going to a beach bar, watching one of my favorite movies, going to the scene of the movie, going to markets, and eating delicious bread from Berlin which I missed a lot.

Kerstin and I

Finally making my way to the scene of my favorite German movie, the Legende von Paul und Paula.

You could actually read this side of the sign.

Learning to tango with Eddie and Julian (his dad is actually a real tango instructor from Argentina:)

A day at the beach with Anton and Kerstin

I'm going to miss her

Back Together Again

Another great moment in Berlin was having dinner with my old roommates. We were all together again, except for Jana who was sadly not in Berlin. Like always, we had a lot of fun and laughs. I still feel really lucky that we got a chance to live together and that I got to see them again. From the left is Kerstin, me, Eiko, Alex, Katrin (Jürgen's girlfriend), and Jürgen.

Deutsch-Amerikanisches Volkfest...jawohl!

In Berlin I stayed with Ines, Volker, and Anton for a few days. It was so nice to see them all again. Like always they spoiled me rotten and took very good care of me during my stay. To top it all off, they took me to the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Volkfest (German-American folk festival). It was hilarious! If any of you reading this are from my hometown, I felt like I was at Fortfest again. It was extremely interesting to see the interpretation of the U.S. in this little festival. I was sad to see nothing from Wisconsin or Minnesota. There was however a picture of a cornfield which represented Illinois. My favorite part was all the German cowboys wondering around. No wait, maybe it was the line-dancing; I can't really decide. Bingo topped the charts too. All in all it was a night to remember.

James Dean and Anton

Ines and I after I won the grand prize in bingo...just kidding.

Anton, the champion bull rider...yes, there was even bull riding.

Berlin still rocks!

For the last week and a half I took a little trip back to Berlin (my home away from home). I cannot describe how much I have missed that city and the people who live there. It meant so much to me to return. I questioned if I had built the city up a bit in my head over the last year, but now I can safely say that Berlin still rocks! In fact, it was almost better than I remember. I have to admit though that being back was quite nostalgic at times. Poor Karin had to listen to me in a constant state of euphoria and reminiscence on my first day back. I could not help but miss my life in Berlin as an exchange student.


It is so nice to know that this home away from home is only a five hour ride away.


The day I arrived, Karin and I went to the fleamarket at Mauerpark. The weather was beautiful and we finished the day with a film at an outdoor theater. I could not have imagined a better first day back in Berlin.

Famous t.v. tower in East Berlin

Catastrophe in Minneapolis

Although most of you are probably aware, a bridge in Minneapolis (35W) collapsed over the Mississippi River yesterday. It's one of Minneapolis' major bridges which anyone living in Minneapolis crosses, especially those living near campus. As you can imagine there are a lot of injuries and some fatalities. When I heard the news I was in disbelief as many people probably still are. It's such a strange feeling to be so far away when a catastrophe at home occurs; I have an extreme sense of disconnection to the whole event. I am very paranoid about the whereabouts of friends in Minneapolis, so if you're in Minneapolis and reading this blog though, please, let me know you're okay.


Picture of the scene that my friend Brad took last night.