I survived!!

The month of January is finally coming to a close!

I received inspiration for this week's Blog from the Rotary Club of Amstelveen where I spoke this past Tuesday. It was a lovely meeting, where I spoke in front of 35 Rotarians, who had interesting and thought provoking questions. They were happy to tell me I survived the Amstelveen Rotary Club, something that was a great feat ;)

In fact, I am not only happy to have survived the Rotary meeting but also the entire month of January.

After 10 000 words and one 3 hour exam, I am more than half way done my Masters Program in Amsterdam.

I have been relaxing over the past couple of days, relishing the fact that I didn't need to go to the library or the University. Tomorrow I start one new course but my work load will be substantially lighter and the coming months will bring thesis preparation and of course enjoying Amsterdam and the Netherlands.

It has been quite chilly over the past couple of days but dry and sunny, which is a nice change.

Friday night I went skating at an outdoor oval in Amsterdam called the Jaap Eden Baan with some Rotaract friends. The Dutch were out in force on their speed skates but I stuck to the traditional hockey skates.

Also, yesterday a couple friends and I ventured to Den Haag, where we did some touristy things. We went to see the Knights Hall, where the Queen gives the Speech from the Throne every year, of course I was interested to learn more about the Dutch political capital! We also visited Het Paleis, an old Royal Palace that was turned into a Museum and now houses an Escher exhibition. Quite amazing modern work on the differences of reality and perceptions. We finished off the day with a trip to Scheveningen, the beach town near The Hague, where I couldn't resist dipping my toes in the ice cold North Sea. Being so close to the sea we had a nice dinner of fish before returning to Amsterdam exhausted from the day of site-seeing.

Now it is time to start fresh in February and as I mentioned I am excited to celebrate Chinese New Year next week in Amsterdam. Lots of exciting things planned, first off to finish off my weekend, some flatmates and I are going to check out some Sunday afternoon Jazz.

Wishing everybody a nice and lazy Sunday.

Until next time!

Laura