Well I'm now in Holland and the journey has begun.

On Tuesday the 29th, I arrived at Hobby airport with my luggage and passport. I really didn't have any idea of what was to come, but I knew how much I'vé been wanting to go. So I get into line and put my luggage on the weigher. 5 pounds to heavy, I put some items into my carry on so they don't charge me. I can't believe my one suitcase alone weighs 70 pounds. Next stop is Atlanta, switch terminals and wait just a bit. I'm crossing the ocean and watching the movie Simon, which isn't all that great. I finally give up and try to get some sleep. After a few hours they turn on the lights and give us a small breakfast. I'm now in the Netherlands at the airport. All my bags arrive minus a frisbee that I had attached to the outside of my packback. The idea of luggage handlers throwing it around on the tarmac crosses my mind. It is now my responsibiltiy to learn the trains and get to Maastricht. All I can say is that I packed way too much. Carrying my luggage around got real annoying. Luckily to get around all you need to be able to do is read numbers and use a map. A met a guy from Cuba with broken English. We talked about Castro and how he really isn't that great for the country. He was a fan of Bush. The train ride was about 2 and a half hours. I tried despartely to stay awake on it, but I drifited in and out due to jet lag. Since Maastricht was the last stop I figured I'd be ok. I did see some windmills though.

Arriving at the train station, ESN (People who help the exchange students checked me in). It was a short a van ride to the Guesthouse, where we checked in for rooms. I had now met several people who all seemed friendly. I was sent into the other dorm. The other dorm hasn't'been remodeled, and compared to the other ones is quite crappy. However it is the tallest dorm, and since I''m on the 9th floor I have an incredible view of Maastricht. Without a TV it's something to look at while eating corn flakes in the morning. They gave us a short city tour that night and ended it with dinner at a pub. They then decided to have a beer drinking relay. The ones who had arrived today were tired and Americans. We didn't'want to do it at all. But after being called American Pussies, by the Europeans we decided to be a sport and have a round of it. 4 races later and losing every race, made wish I didn't participate in this event. Safe to say, I fell asleep easily that night.

The next day I went around with some people to see the town I'll be staying in. I woke up to a blizzard. Anyways we walked around saw the town squares, small winding roads, and quaint shops. We also saw there equivalent of red light district we a couple of sex shops and "'coffee shops."' That night the planned activity was a pub crawl. We went to six different pubs and had at least one drink at each one. It seems Europeans really love 80's'music. Also at the last pub, you had to pay to use the bathroom. I was a little annoyend with this, but accepted it. However I was really mad when a bouncer stopped me from leaving. Apparantely you have to pay to leave. A cover charge wold have been fine, but to pay to leave is just crazy.

More has happened, but I need to take care of some business. I have overlapping classes somehow, something I had securely prevented before leaving. School starts Monday and I'm anticipating a frustrating week.