inmates and movie trailers

Today, something interesting occurred on my commute back from Stonehill.

I found myself behind a van from the Bristol County Sherrif's Department at a red light. This van was filled with inmates emblazoned with orange jumpsuits. As I paused qat the light, one of the inmates in the back window began making lewd gestures at me. Inappropriate. I proceeded to pass the van on the right, to get away. I do feel relieved knowing the man is already incarcerated, but hey, commuting is always bizarre.

In other news, I have been meaning to post on this for a few days now, a new movie trailer caught my interest the other day. The trailer is below, and it is for the new Colin Farrel movie In Bruges. The movie opened at the Sundance Festival recently. I thought the film's scenery looked familiar not just because I went to Bruges in November, but also because the hideout scenes were filmed at the same hotel Lee and I stayed at! The scene where Colin Farrell and his costar are eating breakfast and reading the telegram from his boss, is the exact same place where Lee and I ate our breakfast each morning. I can't wait to see this film, its a great video postcard my 20th birthday trip. I am just surprised no one at the hotel told us a movie has been filmed there in the past year! and of all the locations in Europe, Bruges is a bit bizarre.







-Liz

General Life Update

I know it has been over a month since my last post. After urging from friends and family, I am now finally getting around to updating. It has been a crazy month. There was the holidays, and school started, and things are now just slowing down. I also squeezed in a short visit to see Lee somehow in there too.

I started a new semester at Stonehill, as a commuter. Dorm life is just not for me, and I do not miss it in the slightest. I get to eat my own food, take showers without flip flops, and I am no longer at risk of contracting some sort of skin eating virus through the bathroom of the dorm. Life is good.

I am taking 5 classes, and I have a very busy schedule. I am at school everyday Monday- Friday, my busiest day being Wednesday. The drive is approximately 35 minutes from Rochester to Stonehill, depending on traffic and Dunkin Donuts stops along the way. (One day I must figure out how many DD's there are between here and there, it must be an astronomical amount.) I like the hour and ten minutes I get to myself everyday. It gives me time to listen to my CD's, talk on the phone, and generally just think. It works well as a tool to ease into the day and decompress out of it. I am actually enjoying it. There is a certain zen to driving on 24 everyday, even if it does decrease my survival rate slightly on a daily basis.

I am taking three English classes this semester: Critical Theory, Early Modern Literature and Chaucer. Three very difficult required upper level courses for my major. So far the work has been manageable, and I am enjoying them for the most part. Critical Theory is my favorite, despite the often bizarre and unintelligible subject matter. Father George Piggford is a great professor, and he really makes the class much more enjoyable than it was in Dublin. Early Modern Literature, taught by Professor Duncan, is going well. The subject matter is around the contemporaries writing in the time of Shakespeare. It is refreshing to finally get a chance to read someone else coming out of the Renaissance, even if it means you just realize how unoriginal Shakespeare really was. Lastly, Chaucer is, well still the bane of my existence.

I am also taking my required Moral Reasoning class for Stonehill. I chose to take Jesus and Moral Decisions with Father Gribble. I really like Father Gribble as a professor, I had him for my introductory religious studies class Freshman year. The subject matter has been interesting so far, I will be sure to keep everyone updated on what my friends like to refer to as simply "Jesus class". To think last spring i was in Judaism. Now I am in Jesus.

Lastly, I am taking FA101 on Wednesday mornings. I love art. It's going well, even if I am slightly over qualified for the course. Yes, I took the courses backwards. I already completed the upper level drawing class. Some people are just wacky. It should be a good time.

That is the summary. I will do my best to update more frequently. Hopefully on more relevant things.

-Liz

Inventory and Snowstorms

I know I have been very delinquent on my blogging. Since my return from Amsterdam, I have been excessively busy: turning twenty, working, catching up with friends and family, and traveling to Rochester NY.

The long awaited Belgian pictures are here, sorry for the suspense.

Christmas is frighteningly around the corner, I still have some last minute gifts to buy and my schedule is filling up. 'Tis the season. I also have to coordinate my schedule with Lee's for celebrating and somehow find time to cook and bake my face off.

Last weekend, I visited Lee in the barren winter wonderland known as Rochester NY. The final 143 miles of my journey were through a snow storm at a top speed of 45 mph across an unplowed NY Thruway. The Red Roof Inn tried to throw me onto the snow covered street because of some stupid policy of me having to be 21 to check in. (I have a credit card in my name, what is the big deal?) But it was all worth it to see Lee for a few days. The highlight was a chance to see Brand New in concert at RIT. The show was amazing, and one person got carried away in a stretcher, my former fellow employee at the Tweeter Center, Hippie Dave, would not have approved. The show was really great though. This is a great cover of Neutral Milk Hotel. Enjoy!


-Liz

Chocolates and Trains

Yesterday, Lee and I returned from my birthday trip to Bruges. Last time I went to Bruges was on a high school trip years ago, and only for an afternoon. It was great to get a chance to go back there and decently explore the area. We arrived Monday evening after a long day of train going, from Amsterdam to Antwerp (where the station is completely being renovated and had no screens displaying train information), Antwerp to Ghent, Ghent to Bruges. The stop in Ghent was not planned, we had missed the proper train to Bruges due to the disarray of the Antwerp station. We got checked into the gorgeous Hotel Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce, which is right on a canal near the Markt in Brugge Centrum. It was a beautiful Medieval building, with nice details. Very pretty. We had a lovely birthday dinner at a nearby restaurant , where we were given complimentary snails. Lee and I both tried our best to eat them, both unsure of the right way, and what parts to eat. Strange. Also, Belgium is not too keen on dismantling seafood at restaurants. I asked if they could take the lobster apart for me (this was a nice restaurant mind you, in America this would be normal request) the waiter was confused and insisted it be served in the shell. Lee got the sole, and it was served practically whole, head and bones intact. Lee loved it despite this. We finished the evening with a stroll around the town. 

The next day after breakfast, we walked around a bit, and then went to a brewery tour at De Halvemaan . The tour showed the workings of the old brewery, and featured a spectacular view from the roof of the brewery. We sampled the Brugse Zot beer at the conclusion of the tour, and then wandered throughout the city going to chocolatiers and shopping at local shops. In the afternoon, we visited the Christmas Market going on in the Markt and Simonstevinplein. It was very festive, and all of Bruges is all decorated for the holidays. They had an ice skating rink, but it appeared slushy and suspect to us. We looked at the stalls and had frites instead. It took forever to find a good restaurant for dinner ( it seems all the restaurants serve the same items) and there was one waiter for the entire place. He was the most intense multitasker ever, he was doing everything in a timely fashion. It took us a while to notice that he was the only one doing all the serving, taking the orders, seating people, and clearing the tables. Intimidating. When I tried to order a waffle for dessert he informed me it would take too long because the kitchen was busy. Lame. I just wanted a waffle. 

Wednesday the epic quest to get a waffle was my final mission. I was turned down the night before, and got turned down again in the morning at a cafe, and as we left people were eating waffles. I guess she couldn't wait ten minutes to put my order in? Oh well. Lee and I found a better waffle place on the walk back to the hotel, where we were the only customers and we could have whatever we wanted. Crucial. 

The train ride home went from Bruges to Antwerp, where our Amsterdam train was running late, then the Amsterdam train terminated at Schiphol Airport instead of the central station and we had to get another train into Centraal. A tram ride, and we were home. 

I will post pictures when I return home to America on Saturday!

Cakes and Trips

Tonight was a lazy Sunday here in Amsterdam. Lee and I went to another film at the IDFA, a selection of shorter animation pieces, not really documentaries, but just thematically arranged animation program. There were a few interesting films, and a few that might not have been animation, but it was another great time at the Tuschinski. 

Today is also the eve of my 20th birthday. In celebration, Caren and Katrina made me a cake, it was pretty good. Tomorrow Lee and I are off to Bruges in Belgium until Wednesday. 

Until then...

-Liz

FIlm Festivals and Thai Food

Today Lee, Caren, Dan, Natalie, AJ and I went to see the film Note by Note  a film in the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. The festival started last night here in Amsterdam and continues into next week. Featuring hundreds of films spanning the globe, the festival is a highlight in the cultural calendar.  The film was excellent, and told the story of one piano being made at the Steinway Piano factory in Astoria, New York. The film intricately followed the piano's journey over one year from a piece of wood to a piano in the Concert Division of the Steinway Company. The film gave an insider view of the process of hand craftmanship and effort that goes into each piano. So much effort goes into each individual piano, and the people who put into that effort see the art of pianomaking as their passion. The film featured interviews with individual craftsmen, and concert pianists, and even one boy getting his first piano in his home to connect with his elderly grandfather. The story was touching and interesting, the presentation immaculate, an excellent film. 

The best part of going to the film festival was the opportunity to see a film at the Tuschinsky, a beautiful theater here in Amsterdam. Built during WWII, the builder from which the theater bears its name was unable to see it completed and perished in a Nazi death camp. Fortunately, his vision is still here for us today, and it is my favorite place in the world to see a movie. 

Lee and I also got some thai food with Caren and Katrina for dinner at a very classy restaurant called Thai Company. I just cannot escape the thai food.

-Liz

Pancakes and Turkeys

THANKSGIVING.

The best holiday of the year. I was born on a Thanksgiving, and love every minute of every Thanksgiving since then.

This year, I am in Amsterdam. Lee and I woke up leisurely, and went and got some Dutch pancakes with Katrina and Laurel. I thoroughly enjoyed my chocolate banana pancake, which is really just like a crepre, except unfolded, and like an omelet in that everything is all mixed together. It was pretty delicious. Afterwards, the true festivities began.

A quest was launched to the nearby American Book Center to procure Scrabble. Because it was Thanksgiving there was free candy and a 10 percent discount for everyone, on top of the 10 percent student discount, it was 20 percent off!

Returning to the house, Lee began the process of washing and peeling the 4 kilos of potatoes.( Truly, the potatoes and Lee are destiny at this point.) Caren was wokring on turkey and all the other yummy stuff. I was in charge of decorations. A quick trip to my bible, www.marthastewart.com, and I had my plan. Pinecone turkeys. Fabulous. Katrina and I embarked into the streets of Amsterdam with a final grocery list, and in search of pinecone turkey supplies. Pinecones were plentiful at one particular stall in the nearby flower market, and luckily all the groceries were in one Albert Heijn (typically, grocery trips require visits to more than one Albert Heijn grocery store), the feathers and pipe cleaners were acquired at a bizarre store called HEMA which apparently sells everything.

59 minutes later, a return to Boomtops for turkey creation. I assembled 12 small turkeys and one large turkey which graced the table settings. Lee handmashed the potatoes( he is dedicated). Dan made some gravy, and we were ready to eat.

After a costume change, it was dinner time. There were 10 guests in the apartment, including two of Laurels friends from school. and two of Caren's friends from Rhode Island. The dinner was excellent, everything was delicious, and there was great company. A Great Thanksgiving.

A Scrabble match of epic proportions took place after dinner. Lee and I were the victors with a total score of 163 points. I think it was all that fancy college learning.

-Liz