What's that smell?

Near my house there is a sugar factory which has been producing the strangest smell for the last few months. A couple times every week, the whole city smells like sweet mud. It's a very peculiar but familiar sent to me now. I heard a rumor that soon the scent will end until next fall. Believe it or not I am already a bit nostalgic for the smell because it represents Groningen and I might not ever smell it again. There is also a tobacco factory in Groningen near the apartment in which I will live next semester. I feel bad for anyone attempting to quit smoking in this city. This place is kind of like the Kaukauna, WI of Holland; the only difference is that I am not gagging constantly in Groningen.


View of the sugar factory from my kitchen window

Reykjavik to Rotterdam

Saturday night I went to an Icelandic music and culture festival held in Rotterdam. Brilliant! A one night trip back to 'Iceland' was exactly what I needed. The whole night was a bit trippy because it was mixed with an amazing high from such unique music and a lot of nostalgia. I once again had the feeling that the world is unbelievably small. In fact, I recognized some people there from my time in Reykjavik. I wasn't surprised at all when I saw a girl I had spoken to in Reykjavik walk out on stage - I had no idea she was in the band! I saw four bands in total: Evil Madness, Ghostdigital, Rokkurro, and Mum. The atmosphere was phenomenal and I once again remembered that the Icelanders really know what they're doing when it comes to music.






Mum - and yes, the bass player is wearing a cape. When I saw him in Reykjavik, he was wearing a huge pink Icelandic sweater that came down to his knees. I love that guy.

They used every instrument imaginable.

He's a genius.

Evil Madness (including Johann Johannsson, Jen:) is the name of this group. Very cool experience - never been to a show with five guys sitting in front of computers creating music. I thoroughly enjoyed the images in the background because most of them were shot in Reykjavik. They are truly ahead of their time.

This was Rokkurro's first performance outside of Iceland and it definitely won't be their last. They are a young new band with so much potential. The lead singer's voice gave me chills it was so beautiful.

Arrival of Sinterklaas!

Last Saturday, the one and only Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) came to town; it was the moment I have been waiting for all year! The streets were packed with families and little tikes trying to sneak a peek at Mr. Sinterklaas himself. He arrived on a ship with all of his little helpers called Zwarte Pieten (those guys are going to give me nightmares for a month). There was a big parade in the city center with many exotic animals, pepernoten (typical Dutch ginger cookies), and singing. Sinterklaas was welcomed by the mayor and even gave a speech about his journey to Groningen. All in all, it was a pretty cool new experience, despite the lack of snow.

And there he is

How creepy are they?

Pretty impressive

The big speech

Celebration

On Friday night, my roommate Marieke turned 22. It was really fun to help celebrate her long awaited birthday. In general, birthdays are celebrated the same as in the U.S., but with a few differences. For example, if it is your birthday, you are expected to bake your own cake. Maybe I am a bit bias, or lazy, but I think I prefer the tradition at home. You are also expected to host your own party or celebration. If you take your friends out for a drink, you pay for their drinks. Another thing I thought was almost a bit strange is the tradition to congratulate not only the birthday girl, but the entire family.

Regardless of minor cultural differences, I really had a fun night with a girl who has to put up with me and my Dutch on a daily basis. Happy birthday Marieke!


Try to ignore the scary guy in the background

Note: I bought her an oven mitt because I set hers on fire the first week I moved in...oops!

BOO!

It finally dawned on me that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Even in a country that does not celebrate Halloween, it was still a blast this year. A fellow American from my program, Nicole, decided to host a Halloween party for the students in our program. What she failed to mention, is that she lives in a former hospital where coincidentally black cats roam around. It was possibly the coolest place to spend Halloween. It was really fun to celebrate Halloween with friends who have never celebrated it before. Costumes were of course required. I resorted to my emergency costume - furby.

The old hospital squat even had a trampoline Jennifer.
Martijn was a blue man (in other words - super scary). I screamed every time I looked at him. Eline is the punk face down on the tramp.

This pic reminds me why I never took up acting

Marije's costume was simply perfect

Although it was one day late, I still managed to share the tradition of pumpkin carving with Eline. I also managed to watched the film Dracula for the millionth time - amazing. Gary Oldman is hands down my favorite dracula. Keanu Reeves is the only mistake in that movie.

Jack actually turned out pretty decent

I passed!

After approximately a one year absence of exams, I had my one and only exam of the year this past week - statistics. In Holland, grades are not very important but whether you pass or fail is very important. In fact, it is quite normal to fail here. If you fail, you have the option of resitting the exam (very new concept for me but I like it). However, the results are in and it looks like a resit will not be necessary. I am so happy that I survived statistics. Some of you are probably wondering why on earth I am taking statistics. To make a long story short, I am performing various research experiments regarding second language acquisition, which involve statistics to interpret the data. It was pretty strange to hear terms like mean, median, mode, and standard deviation again but strangely it was also refreshing to take a break from so much theory and work on problems with concrete answers. I learned a lot through this experience, and I am excited to use statistics for my master thesis. In other words, I'm a huge dork.

As you can imagine, the week was a bit stressful. To cope with the stress I simply enjoyed my favorite season. There is nothing better than a good walk to clear your mind.

A pic my mom will appreciate

The pic of Eline is way cooler.

Sunrise from my window - only on exam day would I be up early enough for such an event.