I'm Here. I'm Really Here.

And it's exhausting.

The past few days have been a whirlwind of orientation and just figuring out how to do simple things in a whole new way. There are things like:

1. I can't read what it says on the shampoo and none of it is the same. Therefore, I choose one with someone very happy on it. Hey, her hair looks good, right?

2. WE CANNOT OPEN OUR FRIDGE. Last night my roommate and I bought groceries, finally, which is an ordeal in itself. Then, our fridge was like suction closed. Luckily some friends let us store our stuff in their room.

3. Lighting our stove necessitates a lighter or match. Of which we had neither. Another success.

4. Realization? No one eats cereal in the Netherlands. So they don't really sell it anywhere. Who knew that was a thing?

5. Oh my God, you really do have to ride a bike everywhere at an extremely fast pace. Now go find one and don't get ripped off.

And much, much more.

This is normal, though. The foreign adjustment, I live in a sketchy apartment panic.

Here are the things that are flat out amazing:

1. I can literally see an old windmill (part of a brewery) from my window.

2. Everyone is tall. It was actually shocking, getting off the plane. It was like I was related to everyone.

3. And that means everything is my size. A lot of the people in the program can only see their eyes in the bathroom mirror. For me? Perfect.

5. The have wine and beer at the university cafeteria. That is awesome.

6. Yesterday morning I had Dutch coffee (best ever) and a croissant in a cute Dutch cafe for breakfast. It was kind of an out-of-body experience.

7. I successfully set up internet! Me. A wireless router. No problems. Guess I was more of a techie than I thought.

8. We wrote down a list of goals for ourselves as an activity. Number 3 for me was "be mistaken for a local." I thought this was good because it meant I didn't have a constant look of confusion on my face. I met this goal an hour after I wrote it.

9. Amsterdam is beautiful. And I live here.

Shipping Off

I called this blog Shipping Off because I started it right before I headed off to my freshman year of college. The name stayed the same, of course, as I settled in and turned the scary unknown into a place that felt like home.

The name applies again. Today, I'm shipping off to Amsterdam.

It doesn't seem real. But my bags are packed and my mom has already talked me down from my "OH MY GOD I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING I'M NOT READY I'M NOT PREPARED WHAT IF WHAT IF OH MY GOD OH MY GOD" moment. I have Euros and had my first "wow, I magically have far less money" moment.

I have one goal: take every opportunity.

Watch this page to see me follow through.

10 Things I'm Going to Miss About Ithaca

Can you tell I'm really lazy and have resorted entirely to blogging with lists?

1. Telling Ashley the weather every morning.

2. Walking into Lauren and Caity's room and not being able to tell if Caity is actually asleep under the mound of stuff on her bed.

3. Rachel's awesome stories that typically make no sense. Or make sense but are just ridiculous.

4. Riding in the front seat of Ashley's car. I feel like I have amazing amounts of power because I AUTOMATICALLY WIN SHOTGUN! (Rachel, enjoy. Just think of me every time you sit there.)


5. Hearing my crew ladies discuss food and inappropriate topics behind me between drills.

6. Lauren taking care of me...except for those times she made me eat things like wheatgrass and squid.

7. The unsubstantiated and totally untrue rumors that the Campus Center dining hall puts laxatives in the food.

8. The random protests I can stare at on the way to class.

9. Kristen's crazy dance parties.

10. The classroom arguments. If there's anything Ithaca politics students know how to do, it is argue. We will do this at an given moment, even if we completely agree. 

Things I'm Going to Miss About America

1. Family and Friends
I kind of like them. I mean, they're okay. Mostly. Okay, I am a huge emotional loser, the kind that cries when she doesn't get to see family/sister/roommate/friends for four months. Waaaahhh


2. Chipotle
I was going to put this first. I know my father would have deemed it highly appropriate and understanding, and my mother would find it highly unamusing. 


3. English
I started following my rowing club on twitter. Then, I realized ALL OF THEIR TWEETS ARE IN DUTCH. From there, I remembered that I actually understand like zero Dutch. The two things I've mastered are "Ik weet het niet" and "Ik begrijp het niet, which mean "I don't know" and "I don't understand," respectively. 


4. Microwaves
My apartment doesn't have one. I am therefore going to starve. 


5. Not riding a bike.
They love this crap in Amsterdam almost as much as my Dad likes it. We've discussed my feelings. 


6. Being the tallest, blondest one in the room. 
I mean, really. 


7. Texting
Texting is a very important part of my relationship with my sister. How will we survive without the daily wisdom we provide each other? Our daily texts are usually like, "MEEHHHHHH" or "UGGHHHHHH" or, "True story I just fell on my face."


8. Michelle Obama
I love Michelle Obama. When I tell Americans this, they roll their eyes but also nod understandably. The Dutch will probably just think I'm a creepy psychopath. 


9. Football
Real life tears sprung to my eyes while we watched a pre-season game this week, because I am basically missing the whole damn season. 


10. Thanksgiving
Apparently the Dutch don't care about this awesome day. They obviously don't like turkey or stuffing. My theory is that they totally celebrated it before, but just got sick of watching the Lions every darn time and actually did something about it. 

I May Be a Huge Slacker, But Hey

This past week was equal parts fun and heartrending. Let's start off with the fun!

I spent two days in New Jersey with one of my future apartment-mates, and got the full Garden State experience. Lauren is super Italian, and this meant DELICIOUS FOOD. This also meant, when I was asked if I like seafood, I said yes. I, the Maryland-bred, Massachusetts-raised, Swedish girl, thought, yummmm, fish, crabs, LOBSTAH!

Oh no. This meant calimari.

The pasta was amazing. And then I just kind of stabbed all the squiddy circles at once and ate them Fear Factor style. They tasted fine. I am just a wimp.

I also went to the awesome little organic market thing, and had my first wheatgrass shot. It tasted...like grass. But to balance it out, I also had the best ice cream ever.

I like New Jersey. Everyone talks about the hair poofs, never about the deliciousness.

Then we headed up to Ithaca, where I'd stay in my future apartment for exactly 24 hours. It was awesome. But it was also a huge tease, seeing this amazing place where I'll live in...five months. I know that it's for an incredibly amazing reason, but it was weird anyway. I love those girls. I love that campus. It's strange that it keeps on going without me. Yesterday was move-in for the rest of the college.

The next day I road-tripped to Massachusetts with apartment-mate Caity,  during which we had the classic summer experience of bright sunshine, loud music, and open road.

I had five glorious days at the lake. I got to hang out with Claire and soak in the last few days of summer. We ate ice cream, swam, tubed, road in boats, laid in the sun, read books, laughed hysterically. We even rowed a double together for the first time, and it was unbelievably cool. I expected disaster. Instead, I got a really neat experience. We're the exact same size and have similar habits. It was kind of exactly like this.

Which is why, when we had to say goodbye for four months yesterday, I totally cried. I'll admit it.

But goodbyes are necessary. My sister and my friends are off to take on challenging and exciting semesters. In six days, I'm off to take on the adventure of a lifetime.

10 Things You Should Know About My Roommate

1. It was her 20th birthday on Saturday, so she came on down to DC for an awesome weekend of epic activities. We fit these in in between fits of laughter and attempts to stem any potential quarter-life crises.

2. She is kind of like an Angelina Jolie character incarnated in real life. This provides her with super keen ninja/spy observation skills. She utilized these when we were eating at Good Stuff Eatery downtown, noticing all these people in suits speaking quietly, talking into the cuffs of their jackets. Some had ear pieces. She even noticed the weird kid hanging around talking into his iPod cord. That's why we hung around when someone started wanding customers. And then suddenly, big black SUVs pulled up to the curb, and out came Michelle and Malia Obama into the restaurant, and our jaws hit the floor.

3. She can actually make friends anywhere. Like the random guy at the Nationals game who contributed to our conversation about how hot the guys in Inception were. A little embarrassing, but it was really difficult for us to pretend we actually cared about baseball. I don't know if he was annoyed or extremely entertained by us.

4. She can head-bang with the best of them. Especially now that her hair is long enough for effective swirling around, Hayley Williams better watch out. She has competition. Seriously, this was Ashley's first concert, and she rocked out like a seasoned vet.

5. She could pull off a bicep tatoo. We got spray-on tatoos at the concert because we are mature adults. Ashley got hers on her bicep, and no one gave her crap about it because it actually looked legit. I, however, looked stupid and Claire made fun of me forever.

6. She is kind of a member of our family. She's got the blue eyes and everything, so I figure we could explain the whole height thing with some medical jargon Claire knows. Ashley put up with our excessive errand running and charmed my parents like nobody's business.

7. She is just as big of a nerd as I am. I knew this one already, but seriously, how many college girls have a Lord of the Rings marathon--accompanied by ice cream sundaes and running commentary by the audience-- with their roommate?

8. She drops one-liners like it's her job. I actually am unable to eat with her without endangering my life, seeing as I can't eat and laugh at the same time, effectively.

9. She is one of the sweetest and wisest people I know. I actually live with the oracle. Who knew the oracle was so damn witty?

10. I am going to miss her.

A lot.