OHMIGOD YOU GUYS

Today I rowed with the Dutch. Our coxswain was also our coach, and she was pretty game for explaining everything in very broken english. But it didn't really matter, because I was SO EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING. She also stood up in the boat to demonstrate things, which was mildly terrifying.

I was kind of upset that the outboard arm rowing drill followed me all the way to the Netherlands.

There are a few differences, though.

1. I rowed in the 2 seat for the first time, which I never thought would be possible. Well, there you go. Everyone here's a giant.

2. Everything is in Dutch. In the very beginning she tried to use both languages, but I caught on to the general terms, like stop and go. Which are kind of key. I also learned what backing and sitting at the catch are. I'm not going to mangle the spelling here for you, but if I hear them, I understand them.

3. They do not have shoes in the boat. There are straps just like on an erg.

4. They never go to shoulders. I was kind of sad, because I wanted to experience the magic of being a short person carrying a boat.

5. I biked and took a tram to practice. The boathouse is right outside of the city, which is a pain but also really cool because we actually row past fields with cows and sheep and windmills. WINDMILLS. There are also house boats, and in the distance at one part you can see some stadium of some kind. I'll get back to you on what it actually is.

Can you tell I kept my head in the boat? But I rowed really well, I promise!

6. They do power 7s instead of power 10s. I do not understand this, but whatever.

7. It's a good workout but the atmosphere is way more relaxed. It's all student run, and they want you to do well, but there's not such a feeling of competition.

8. They wash the boat every time they take it out, because the Amstel is super dirty.

9. Everything is in Dutch, and 90 percent of the time I have no idea what is happening. I think I'm getting pretty good at faking it, though.

10. After our row, we were waiting around for some final words from our coach. One of the girls turns to me and says:

"We're talking about what hurts on us."

And then another adds:

"And how excited we are for dinner."

Oh, wait, did I say things were different? It turns out they're all the same.