Windows and Windmills: Arrival and First Weekend

Hello everyone! My first blog entry...sorry it's taken so long - the other program I had planned to use ended up not cooperating. So here I am on Blogger instead! It's Sunday night and the end of my first Dutch weekend. I have finally found the time to sit down and write. Ever since arriving at the castle, things have even better than I could have thought. Sometimes I can't believe the beauty of this place... it's got a moat that's home to birds and swans, a cobbled courtyard, grey granite roofs, ruins filled with fallen leaves, and just an incredible feeling of peace. I'm going to try to get some pictures of the grounds up soon, but I haven't had the time to take pictures when I really want to - that is, at the beginning or end of the day. Classes start tomorrow, but I will wake up extra-early to get out there with my camera.

When we first arrived at Schiphol,

we were all tired and hungry (and in my case really relieved to be away from the crying baby) and we got on our bus and most of us fell asleep. Jenna even took a wonderful picture of me with my mouth wide open, "snoring like a wildebeest." That's not getting posted. So I missed most of the bus ride, but it wasn't all that great anyway. Plus it's not like I would have known where we were going anyway.

All my energy came back as soon as we arrived - the first walk over the bridge, where you look through the archways through the two courtyards, was amazing. We got our luggage together, and then it was off for a whirlwind of meetings and tours and activities. Kate and Jenna and Lexi and I got shown to our room, which is HUGE. Here is the view out of one of our windows:

It's absolutely GORGEOUS. Especially at sundown, and sunup, and all the time... It felt a little silly having to follow this really precise schedule that they made for us. "Be here then, be there later, don't eat for too long, don't miss attendance." But it was still great to be introduced to everyone and shown around the castle, town and grounds, so I really can't complain. The first night after everything, we weren't even that tired, so we visited Under den Linden, the local pub, for the first time. The drinks are cheap, it was a beautiful night, half of Emerson was there. Mostly we sat around and talked about how surreal the whole situation was - even now, I'm not sure we all believe that we really get to be here.

On Saturday we did more meetings and stuff during the day, but then I got to go for a walk around the grounds for a while. Pictures soon, I promise!!! I even went and spent some time with the horses that live next door - two gorgeous mares that loved the attention. That night at the pub was made very interesting by the arrival the Dutch boys in a barrage of hair gel and skinny jeans. Kate and I talked to a few of them and were invited to a "carnival party." Not sure what that is. Among other things, we found out that they all really love Michael Jackson?

Today was absolutely lovely - a late breakfast, some easy academic meetings during the day, a wonderful choir from Amsterdam that my mom would have loved, dinner, and then a boat ride. This I do have pictures of, so here they are!