Books, Blogs, and Bicycles: My Adventures Around the World : December 21, 2016

It’s the first day of winter and almost four months since my last blog post; I feel the need to give you an update on my life again, before the year is out. This time, I was not writing to you because I was preoccupied (and having fun)! This blog post covers some updates on my life but conveniently glosses over the elephant in the room (hints: elephant, orange, November 8). I’m posting thoughts on that separately, and they can be found in the post below, titled “A Glass Half Realistic”.

September and October flew by. I had two courses, one on current topics and methods related to neuroscience (particularly clinical research in neuroscience) and another that was aimed at teaching two self-selected more “practical” skills (which included interviewing skills and computer based cognitive studies). I also began a French conversation course; unfortunately, there was nothing at my level currently offered in the city of Amsterdam after they closed the French Institute. In the meantime, Matthieu and I are trying to progress through the rest of the material I have not covered that is in my old books.

With the start of my academic school year, the international elementary school I work at also started up again. I supervise children during their lunch and playtime for about 5 hours a week. My group of kids for this year consists of 22 (now 21) children from all over the world, aged between 7 and 8. I feel extremely lucky to be able to hang out with them an hour a day and I come away from that on most days with a smile on my face. Sometimes there are conflicts to settle and the days do not always go as planned, but it is really wonderful to watch them grow and adapt to whatever obstacles life throws up that confront an eight year old’s mission to change the world. It really adds some humor to my life to listen to an argument between 8 year olds about how to cook rice, or watch their astonishment at the fact that I am still going to school and do not yet have six children.

I got very lucky with my new neighbors, who have been a ray of light these past few months. We have a good group and eat dinner together about once a week. It’s nice to come home and be able to knock on each other’s doors. Lydia, a girl from Germany, and I both decided to take a theatre course at the arts center of the other university (Universiteit van Amsterdam). Another of the girls, Hope (from England), and I have gotten somewhat more close and made a few forays into discovering The Netherlands. We took trips to Rotterdam and Haarlem together, and even saw the workings of a windmill. I learned that windmills are very complicated but also kind of a marvel, as a result. For anyone interested in any kind of system- take the time to visit a windmill if you are in the Netherlands.

In early November, my dad visited me, and that was really lovely. I was able to show someone in my family my life in Amsterdam, and we had more than a few good talks and dinners, which I find myself missing while I’m away from my family. Skype and the Internet are marvels, but it’s really not the same as being able to just have a casual chat over dinner. My dad was very patient with my busy schedule, but I also can’t imagine he minded spending his time at the great museums that exist in Amsterdam. A new set of two courses began, in Emotion Regulation and Grant Writing. These are still ongoing, as I review and turn in my final essays.

In the meantime, I began preparing for my master’s thesis. I am already abroad, but it turns out I am going to go even more abroad for this project. The topic is bipolar disorder, risk and decision-making, and my placement is in Lancaster, UK, from mid February to mid July. My advisor and position as a visiting researcher are on track to be finalized, I’ve leased my room to someone here in Amsterdam, and all that is left is to move away from Amsterdam and find a place to live in Lancaster. It is a relief to know where I am going and what I will do- but it is also a bit frightening to see it all come together while the time just goes. Amsterdam has grown on me and it’s strange to know it won’t be my home for much longer.
Compounded with all of this, I visited Brussels and Utrecht with Matthieu, took two trips to Lyon, and attended a django girls workshop in Groningen. My 24^th birthday came and went (with a surprise, including American friends CrysAne and Seth in the very cute French town of Annecy), and I’m not sure how I feel about being one year older. Matthieu had his graduation ceremony towards the end of November, and I held a birthday party and went to two Christmas parties. In short, life has been busy and even the weekends have been full. I arrived in France this past weekend and will spend Christmas here and New Year's in Switzerland with friends. For now, with the holidays approaching, I took some time to write this up and give a sign of life to all of you out there on the other end of my Internet connection. Please see below, as usual, for some photos, and I wish everyone the happiest of seasons filled with hot chocolate and cheer!