So, here it is, my blog. I guess I intend this to be a way for me to keep in touch with people and document my time in Amsterdam. Right now I am a little less than a month (4 weeks today!) from leaving. I am completely broke and have lots of debt to pay before I go. I am trying to look at this in a romantic, off-the-cuff, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of way, but mostly it just makes me want to curl into a fetal position and cry until someone appears to stroke my hair and give me a fat check. Also, it makes me think about filling out those mysterious online surveys that say they pay lots of money.

Things you may see on this blog include: accounts of cultural differences and the embarrassing hi-jinx that reveal them, photos and anecdotes of exciting Dutch adventures, discussions or elaborations related to classes I will take, pleas for international fashion advice, little recommendations of books or movies, pie recipes, etc.

And so, beginning four weeks before the start, this will be steady and reliable documentation of the five months I will spend this fall semester at the University of Amsterdam. Assuming I ever update again.