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.

Rotterdam!

On Friday IES sponsored a day trip to Rotterdam, another city in the Netherlands. I had a lot of fun despite the on and off rain.

Here's the thing about Rotterdam. It doesn't look like Amsterdam, even though it's only about an hour and a half train ride away. See, during the Second World War, Germany sent a message to the Netherlands, demanding surrender. If the Netherlands did not surrender immediately, Germany would bomb the nation's most prosperous port city, Rotterdam. The Netherlands quickly surrendered. The thing is, Germany didn't get it until after they'd wiped the entire city center off the map through bombs and the subsequent fire.

That's why what used to look like this:

Now looks like this:

The whole city is completely devoted to modern architecture. My favorite was the cube houses. Yeah, people actually live here:

The whole city is under construction. There are still a few parts that were amazingly spared from the fires, solely because of how the winds were blowing that day. So there's some interesting contrast.

That white building was the tallest building in Europe for about 50 years. You wouldn't think so. Now it's not even the tallest in Rotterdam. 

Someone asked our tour guide, who was an architect who grew up and worked in Rotterdam his whole life, if people were bothered by the constant, overwhelming construction. 

He said they loved the sight of construction, because it meant growth and life as opposed to destruction. The whole atmosphere of the city is still directed by the bombing, and it's constantly remembered in artwork throughout the city, like this statue:

See how his heart is missing? 

So, a trip to Rotterdam. A typical Friday in my life now, I guess.