Nähtamatud jalgrattad / Invisible Bikes

Nagu ma varem juba maininud olen, on jalgratas Amsterdamis asendamatu. See väide ei tähenda muidugi seda, et ma endiselt nõustuks vihmase ilmaga ratta selga istuma. Seega, sõnastame ümber: minu jaoks on jalgratas Amsterdamis asendamatu, kui vihma parasjagu ei saja. Ja hoolimata minu (ja ka kõigi teiste rahvusvaheliste tudengite) pidevast vingumisest kehva ilma teemadel, tuleb ette ka päevi, kus vihma ei saja. Sealjuures on päris heaks abiks Hollandi pilveradar, mis näitab vihma võimalust umbes kaks tundi ette ja on seega küllaltki täpne. Seega, kui pilveradar väidab, et järgmise kahe tunni jooksul vihma ei saja, võib päris julgelt ratta välja veeretada.
Sellest, et jalgratas on Amsterdamis asendamatu, on peale rahvusvaheliste üliõpilaste ja muude tegelaste, aru saanud ka kohalikud varganäod. Seega kuulen pea iga nädal, kuidas mõne mu klassikaaslase jalgratas on pihta pandud. Kuu aja jooksul on ära varastatud juba kolm ratast ja see teeb mu tohutult ettevaatlikuks. Jah, mu ratas on igavene vana roostetanud plekihunnik, ei ole tal käike, ega midagi. Kuid ta sõidab ja see on siin kõikide varastatud rataste ühine tundemärk. Vahet pole, kui inetu on su ratas või kui roostetanud. Isegi porilaud võib täiesti viltu olla, kuid kaubaks läheb ta ikka.
Seega peab igal rattal olema siin peal vähemalt kaks lukku. Üks neist on hobuseraua kujuline ja kinnitatakse tagumise ratta külge; teine meenutab lehmaketti ja selle abil tuleb ratas mõne posti külge siduda. Kui posti parasjagu ei ole ja ei ole ka mõne sõbra ratast, mille külge oma ratas kinnitada, tuleb lihtsalt loota heale õnnele, et kellelgi ei tule pähe su ratas lihtsalt kaenlasse võtta ja minema jalutada.
Nagu ma kuulnud olen, on lukkude eemaldamine tegelikult väga lihtne. Nimelt müüakse rattalukkudega samas poes ka tange, mille abil lukke eemaldada. Kõik on ringluses ja äri õitseb, poeomaniku jaoks on see muidugi hea uudis. Tegelikult oleks minulgi mõned päevad tagasi tange peaaegu vaja läinud. Nimelt parkisin ma oma ratta kanali äärde ja hiljem lukke lahti tehes oleksin ma peaaegu ühe luku võtmed kanalisse visanud. Sellisel juhul on muidugi hea teada, et tangid töötavad. Samas ei kujuta ma ette, kuidas ma näiteks lukkude saagimise ajal mööda jalutavale politseile oma tegevust selgitanud oleksin.
Luku saagimist olen ma tegelikult ise ühel õhtul baaris istudes ka jälginud. Ratas ise oli ilus ja valge ning jäi kohe hästi silma. Korraga ilmus ei tea kust kaks seljakottidega tüüpi, kellel oli juhtumisi kaasas rauasaag. Nad pusisid lukkude kallal oma viis minutit, kuid ma ei näinud, et keegi oleks nende käest küsima läinud, mida nad teevad. Ja mina lootsin, et tegemist on lihtsalt hajameelsete tüüpidega, kes võtme koju unustasid. Mine sa tea. Igatahes on rattad Amsterdamis kõva äri (ma isegi maksin oma ratta eest 85€) ja ma ei tea, kas ma edaspidi üldse tahan oma ratast majast välja viia. Tea, mis sellega veel tehakse.

As I have already mentioned before, having a bike is a must in Amsterdam. This surely doesn’t still mean that I am willing to cycle when it rains. Therefore I should rephrase it: for me having a bike in Amsterdam is a must when it’s not raining. And despite of my (and all the international students) constant whining about the weather we do have days where it doesn’t rain. There is a website in the Netherlands that shows the possibility of rain for the next two hours and is therefore quite accurate. So if the cloud radar says that it won’t rain for the next two hours, you can take out the bike and not worry much if it’ll start raining after the next 10 meters.
The fact that a bike is a must in Amsterdam is also clear to the local thieves. Therefore I hear almost every week, that the bike of another classmate of mine got stolen. Already three bikes have been stolen during one month and this makes me very careful. Yes, my bike is old, rusty and a pile of crap; it doesn’t have gears or anything, but you can bike with it and that’s what counts here. It doesn’t mean if your bike is ugly or rusty or if it’s mudguard is crooked; until it moves, it is a potential catch for the thieves.
So, your bike must have at least two locks. One of them looks like a horseshoe and is attached to the back wheel; the other one looks like a chain for the cows and you should tie your bike to a post with it. If there aren’t any free posts available nor a bike of a friend, you just need to hope it’s your lucky day and noone tries to pick up your bike and walk away with it.
As I’ve heard, removing a lock is actually really easy. From the shops where you can buy the locks, you can also buy forceps for removing the locks. This is how the circulation works and the business is blooming. Actually, I almost would have needed those forceps myself a couple of days ago. I parked my bike next to a canal and afterwards while trying to unlock the bike, I almost threw the keys to the canal. In such a case it’s good to know that those forceps work. Then again, I have no idea how I would have explained my action to a police patrol if they would have happened to pass by at the same time when I was trying to saw the locks.
I have actually seen the sawing of a lock while having a beer at a bar. The bike itself was white and nice, a real eyecatcher. Suddenly two guys with a hacksaw showed up. It took them about 5 minutes to saw the locks but I didn’t see that someone would have gone to them to ask what they were doing. And I was hoping that they had just been absent-minded and had left their keys at home (but somehow remembered to take the saw?).
So, bikes are a big business in Amsterdam and I am not sure I really want to take my bike out from now on. Who knows what those people might try to do.

Parim riisikeetja / Best Rice Cooker

Eile otsustas Jamie, et kuna me oleme Prantsuse köögiga juba tuttavad (soolased koogid!), oleks aeg pakkuda meile midagi head ja hiinapärast. Meie olime kõik sellega muidugi väga nõus - millal tudeng enne tasuta toidust ära oleks öelnud? Igatahes jõudis Jamie oma kompsudega kohalikust Hiina linnast (või siin on see pigem Hiina tänav) koju ja asus köögis toimetama. Mõne aja pärast koputas ta mu uksele ja küsis, et kuna mina olen meie maja parim riisivalmistaja, siis kas ma võiks tal aidata riisi keeta. Kööki jõudes tuli välja, et teised olid talle juba oma abi pakkunud, kuid tema soovis resoluutselt, et mina riisi keedaks. Kompliment missugune, ja veel Singapuri hiinlaselt! Kohe alguses, kui tuli välja, et Jamie riisi keeta ei oska, olime me kõik üllatunud. Väga üllatunud. Kuni Justin tegi ettepaneku, et me peaksime oma majutusfirmale teada andma, et meile saadetud hiinlane on defektiga, tahame uut, kes riisi ka keedab. Seepeale Jamie teatas, et ta oskab riisi keeta küll, aga tal on selleks riisikeedumasinat vaja. Tundub, et eile oli Jamiel üldse üks tee-Kadrile-komplimente-päev, sest kuuldes, kui vana ma olen, ei uskunud ta mind esialgu. Tema arvas, et ma olen nii 3-4 aastat noorem. Juhhei! Tähendab, hästi säilinud!

Yesterday Jamie decided that as we have already been introduced to the French cuisine (salty cakes!), it would be nice to offer us something chinese. We of course happily agreed with the plan as a student never says no to free food. Anyway, Jamie got back with some cans and tins from the local Chinatown (or rather a Chinastreet) and started cooking in the kitchen. After a while he knocked on my door asking that as I was the best in cooking rice in our flat, could I help him with that. As I got to the kitchen, it appeared that others had already offered him their help, but he requested me to do it. What a compliment coming from a Singaporean Chinese! Quite in the beginning, when we found out that Jamie can't make rice, we were really surprised. Until Justin suggested that we should let our housing company know that the Chinese guy they sent us is defected and that we would like to get a new one who can make rice. Thereupon Jamie said that he can cook rice, but he needs a ricecooker for that. It seems that yesterday was a compliment-Kadri-day for Jamie, as when he heard how old I am, he didn't believe me at first. He thought I'm 3-4 years younger! Awesome! Apparently I'm well preserved!

Kiired ajad / Busy times

Kui mul blogimises tuleb sisse suurem paus (nagu praegu), siis ei ole see suure tõenäosusega tingitud sellest, et ma oleks mõne jalgratta alla jäänud, vaid ikka pigem sellest, et ma tegelen põhiliselt õppimisega. Ja kes sellest ikka lugeda tahab, et ma tegelen Euroopa integratsiooni uurimisega, või loen järjekordselt Edward Said'i "Orientalismi" ja üritan mitte närvi minna selle peale, et tüüp endise järjekindlusega ironiseerib selle üle, kuidas orientalistid (ehk siis üldiselt Lääne-Euroopa inimesed) on Hommikumaades elavaid inimesi oma 'teaduslikes uuringutes' näidanud. Ausalt ka, alguses võib ju olla põnev lugeda, kuidas araablased on laisad ja lapsikud ning et nende lemmiktegevus on kaamliga ringi sõitmine ja maha sülitamine, kuid lugeda sellest nii 300+ lehekülge järjest on ülimalt tüütu. Praeguseks olen ma juba peaaegu et ära harjunud sellega, et magister UvA's tähendabki hullu tööd ja seda vaid kahe aine korral. Vahel mõtlen ma heldimusega tagasi TTÜ aegadele, kus ka kolm korda rohkem aineid võttes oli ikka kolm korda rohkem aega. Nojah, see seal oli bakalaureus, aga siiski. Ja et mul kohe üldse igavaks ei läheks, tõin ma endale raamatukogust (Ja milline raamatukogu see veel oli! Marmorist sammastega, nagu loss!) veel 6 raamatut Talibani kohta, et alustada Orientalismi kursusel nõutud lõputööd. Justin hiljem küsis minult, et kas ma igaks juhuks mõne raamatu pommi valmistamise kohta ka võtsin. Nimelt oleks mind näiteks USAs vaadeldud kui võimalikku terroristi sellise suure Talibani-huvi peale. Nojah, pommiraamat oleks mind siis ilmselt juba mõneks ajaks trellide taha saatnud.

If I stop blogging for a while (like now) then it usually doesn't mean that I've been run over by a bike, but rather that I'm busy with studying. And who would really be interested in reading how I research the European integration or how I'm continuously reading Edward Said's "Orientalism" and trying not to be annoyed by the fact that the guy is STILL trying to be ironic about the ways how the Orientalists (the Westeners) have shown the people in the Orient in their 'scientific resarches'. Honestly, maybe it was a bit interesting to read at first how the Arabs are lazy and childlike and their hobbies are riding around with a camel and spitting on the ground, but reading about it for 300+ pages gets annoying. I am already almost used to the idea that a masters at UvA means a lot of work and this with only two courses. Sometimes I think back at the Tallinn Technical University times, where I took three times more classes and still had a lot more free time. Sure, it was only a bachelour, but still. And to make sure I won't get bored at all, I got myself from the library (And what a library it was!! It had marble pillars, like a castle!) 6 books about the Taliban to start with my paper for the Orientalism class. Justin asked me later if I also took some books about how to make a bomb. Apparently I would have been a suspect for the terroristhunters in USA for my weird interest in Taliban. And a book about bombmaking would have surely sent me behind the bars for some time.

Hollandi keelest / About the Dutch Language

Mulle meeldib keeli õppida, ent kui ma teada sain, et ma Amsterdami elama asun, ei olnud ma esialgu üldse kindel, kas hollandi keel ikka tasub õppimist. Muidugi ei teadnud ma sel hetkel keelest suurt midagi, kuid nii palju, kui ma seda kuulnud olin, tundus ta kole. Kõik need kurguhäälikud ja kuristamised, jube! Mingil hetkel mõtlesin ma siiski, et prooviks. Suureks toetavaks faktoriks oli muidugi ka see, et saksa keelt ma juba oskan ning hollandi keel on sellele äärmiselt sarnane. Lausa nii sarnane, et hollandikeelseid tekste nähes saan ma põhimõtteliselt aru, millest seal räägitakse. Lisaks olen ma ennegi aastaga uue keele selgeks saanud, miks mitte siis nüüd. Ehk on tulevikus vaja?
Lootsin, et saan keeletundidega alustada kohe, kui Amsterdami jõuan, ent siia jõudes pidin tunnistama, et UvA keelekursused on kõik täis ja alustada saaks alles novembris.
Sattusin sellel teemal rääkima ühe Saksa tüdrukuga ning ta soovitas mulle ühte keeltekooli, kus ta ise hollandi keelt õppima pidi hakkama. Kirjutasin siis eelmise nädala lõpus neile kirja ning nad vastasid mulle kohe: jah, meil on sulle koht olemas, saad kohe alustada. Suurepärane.
Seega jalutasin teisipäeva õhtul oma esimesse keeletundi. Leidsin õige nimega tänava ning õige numbriga maja üles ning helistasin kella. Midagi. Sel hetkel hakkas mul veidi kõhe, sest maja tundus kõige tavalisem kortermaja, mitte keeltekool. “Kurat”, mõtlesin ma omaette, “kas mulle on tünga tehtud või mis?” Helistasin keeltekooli numbril ja sattusin kõneposti. No tore, sedasi see Amsterdam mind tervitabki? Kõigepealt saan tünga arvutimehelt ja nüüd keeltekoolilt ka? Õnneks hakkas mu telefon kohe helisema ja teisel pool oli tüüp, kellega ma olin hollandi keele teemalisi e-maile vahetanud. Tuli välja, et ta oli mu telefoni jätta hunniku voicemail'e teatamaks esimese tunni ärajäämisest, kuid kuna ma neile kuidagi ei reageerinud, siis otsustas ta, et ma pole enam huvitatud ning võttis mu kursuste nimekirjast üldse maha. Tõesti, mu telefon oli üritanud mulle muudkui mingeid voicemail'e meelde tuletada, kuid ka peale suurt pusimist ei suutnud ma aru saada, kuidas neid kuulata saab. Igatahes jäi mulle natuke selgusetuks fakt, et kui ma olen mitu korda oma registreerumist e-mailiga kinnitanud ja isegi raha on üle kantud, siis kuidas saab ta mind kursuste nimekirjast maha võtta ainult sel põhjusel, et ma ei reageeri oma voicemail'ile. Peale väikest vaidlust saime kokkuleppele, et ta tõstab mu ühte teise gruppi ning asi oli lahendatud. Hollandlastele omase väikese kaose saatel nagu tavaks.
Järgmisel päeval üritasin ma taas oma esimesse hollandi keele tundi minna ja seekord kroonis mind edu. Uks oli lahti ja tund tõepoolest toimus. Kokku on meid grupis kaheksa: peale minu veel see sama Saksa tüdruk Carola, tüdrukud Ukrainast, Türgist, Iisraelist ja Indiast, poiss Inglismaalt ning keegi Itaaliast, kes ei suvatsenud esimesse tundi tulla. Loomulikult ei ole hollandi keele õppimine kokkuvõttes nii kerge, kui ma lootsin. Ei ole nii, et võtad saksakeelse sõna, hääldad seda hollani keele hääldusreeglite kohaselt ja ongi valmis. Grammatika ning lausete ülesehitus on see-eest peaaegu üks-ühele sama ning peale kogu seda vett ja vilet, mida ma saksa keelega näinud olen, saan ma nüüd ilmselt veidi kergemalt läbi. Lisaks muidugi fakt, et enamus häälikuid on mulle tuttavad, ainsaks erandiks see sama kurguhäälik. Hääldusreeglid kusjuures on naljakad, kohati lausa äärmiselt kummalised. Näiteks on sõna rustig (vaikne) häädusvorm umbes selline: rüstüh ning goedkoop (odav) hääldub kuidagi nii nagu huutkoup (ei tohi unustada kurguhäält h kohal!). Pusimist kui palju ning esialgu olen ma sunnitud kõikide sõnade ligikaudse häälduse üles kirjutama. Lisaks on mina-sina-tema absoluutselt mitte saksapärane. Ik kõlab natuke nagu ich, ent edasi tulevad jij (~jäi, sina mitteformaalne), u (~ü, sina formaalne), hij (~häi, meessoost tema) ning zij (~äi, naissoost tema).
Aga ma endiselt arvan, et hollandi keele õppimine on mu ülikooli kursuste kõrval tühiasi. Mul peab ju siin ka midagi olema, kus ma end targalt tunda saan!

I like learning languages, but when I found out that I'll be moving to Amsterdam, I wasn't sure about learning Dutch at first. Surely, I knew nothing about Dutch (and I still haven't got a clue!), but as much as I had heard it, it seemed ugly. All those throatsounds, uhh! At some point I decided to give it a try. A big supporting factor for this decision was that I already speak German and Dutch is very similar to it. So similar, that I usually get the main idea when I see texts in Dutch. Plus, I have managed to learn a language (more or less) in a year before, so why wouldn't I be able to do it now? Maybe it'll be handy in the future.
I hoped to get started with it straight away after arriving to Amsterdam, but as I got here, I found out that all the courses at UvA were full and I could only start in November. I happened to talk about it with a German girl and she suggested to check out a language school where she'll have her Dutch classes. I e-mailed the school in the end of the last week and they answered me: sure, we have space for you, you can start immediately. Perfect.
So, on Tuesday I walked to my first language class. I found the street with the right name and the building with the right number and rang the doorbell. Nothing. At this point it got a bit spooky as the building seemed like a typical apartment house, not a language school. “Damn,” I said to myself “I have been fooled or what?”. I called the number of the language school and ended up at the voicemail. Great, this is how Amsterdam greets me? First the computerguy and now this? Luckily my phone started to ring at that point and it turned out to be the guy I had exchanged e-mails with. Apparently, he had left some voicemails to my phone to let me know that the first class was cancelled, but as I didn't react, he decided that I wasn't coming and deleted me from the list. Yes, my phone had tried to tell me that I have some voicemails, but even after a lot of hassle I couldn't find out how to listen to them. Nevertheless, it was a bit hard for me to understand that after I had sent a couple of e-mails saying in each of them that I will be coming and even paid the money, he just deletes me from the course list because I don't respond to the voicemails. How about sending an e-mail? After some arguing we agreed that he'll put me to another group and all was settled. With a little chaos, as usual for the Dutch.
The next day I tried to go to my first Dutch lesson again and this time I was successful. The door was open and the class took place. Surely, learning Dutch won't be as easy as I had hoped. It doesn't really work in a way that you'll take a word in German, pronounce it following the rules of Dutch and yay, you're speaking Dutch! But the grammatics and the way the sentences are constructed are basically the same and after all that suffering with German it will be easier for me this time. It's also easier because besides that throatsound, all the other sounds are already familiar to me. The rules for pronounciation are funny and partly quite ridiculous. So, you'll have a word like 'rustig' (quiet) that should be pronounced like this [rüstüh] and 'goedkoop' (cheap) sounds something like [huutkoup] (don't forget the throatsound at h!). So at this point I am forced to mark down the approximate pronounciation for all the words. And this I-you-he-she is nothing like in German! Ik (I) sounds a bit like ich, but after that follow jij (sounds like [jäi], you informal), u ([ü], you formal), hij ([häi], he) and zij [zäi], she).
Nevertheless, I still think that it will be a piece of cake compared to the classes at UvA. I have to have something here where I can feel myself smart as well!

Jamad arvutiga / Problems with my Laptop

Selle nädala pidin ma veetma arvutita, sekeldustest kahjuks ei pääsenud. Loomulikult osutus arvuti ülesütlemine sekeldustest suurimaks, sest ilma selleta on hetkel elu mu jaoks peaaegu võimatu.
Igatahes avastasin ma eelmisel pühapäeval, et minu väike valge nunnu on otsustanud hulluks minna. Kuna pühapäeval Hollandis elu seisab, ei saanud ma kohe samal päeval midagi teha. Mõtlesin, et äkki otsustas arvuti lihtsalt vaba päeva võtta ja ehk alustab esmaspäeval jälle vana hooga tööd. Esmaspäeval üles ärgates kustus see lootus üsna kiirelt ja ma sain aru, et ilmselt tuleb arvuti ikkagi parandusse viia. Üks mu kursaõde aitas mul netist arvutiparandusi otsida ning valisime välja ühe tüübi, kes väitis, et töö kiire, korralik ja odav ning kui temalt abi ei saa, siis raha maksma ei pea.
Suurepärane. Hüppasin ratta selga ja olin poole tunni pärast kohal. Tüüp osutus kurja näoga vanameheks, kes elas suitsust kollaseks imbunud seintega koopas. Tema elutuba täitsid suur hunnik juppideks võetud arvuteid ja üks nuustikusarnane koer, kes kohe pai nuruma hakkas. Istusin siis diivanile lootes end mitte ära määrida ning ootasin. Veerand tunni pärast väitis vanamees, et kõik on korras. Suurepärane! Maksin 30€ ja mõtlesin, et ei tea mis otsast sa ta oma kodulehel väita, et see soodus on. Aga siiski, mu arvuti oli ju terve ja see oli kõige tähtsam. Tänasin teda ning väntasin kodu poole, isegi päike, mis end eelnevalt pilve taga peitis, tuli välja. Korraga märkasin tee ääres lehvivat Portugali lippu ja mõtlesin, et üks galão sobiks jamade lõppemise tähistamiseks hästi. Jalutasin kohvikusse sisse ja palusin leti taga askeldavalt mehelt ühe kohvi. Rääkisime veidi juttu ning ma otsustasin, et tegelikult kõlaks üks arroz doce (riisimagustoit) rohke kaneeliga ka suurepäraselt, kuna ma polnud tolle hetkeni veel mitte midagi söönud. Hiljem arvet küsides avastasin ma, et arroz doce oli olnud maja poolt. Ma panen selle tasuta lõuna oma suurepärase Portugali keele arvele. Selleks ajaks oli mu tuju juba äärmiselt hea ning kui ma majast välja jalutasin, peatas mind üks brasiillane, kes seina ääres viinamarju sõi. Ta haaras seinal laiutavalt viinamarjataimelt kobara ja ning ulatas mulle, ise küsides, kas ma olen Portugalist. Sellised märkused teevad mulle alati nalja, kuna esiteks ei usu ma, et ma kuigipalju ühe tumeda portugallase moode välja näeks ja teiseks ei arva ma, et mu portugali keel nii hea oleks, et kellegi ära petaks.
Koju jõudes avasin kohe arvuti, et siis avastada, et mitte midagi ei tööta. Helistasin koopas elavale tüübile ning ütlesin talle, et olen paarikümne minuti pärast seal. Kohal olles avas mees arvuti ja minu suurimaks üllatuseks töötas kõik laitmatult. Sel ajal kui mina seal seisin, suu imestusest ammuli, leidis tüüp, et oleks hea aeg mind veidi mõnitada. “Niisiis, mida sa täna suitsetanud oled?” alustas ta pilkavalt. Ja minu selgitustest hoolimata ei jäänud ta uskuma varianti 'kodus mitte midagi ei töötanud'. Selle asemel hakkas ta mulle selgitama, kuidas arvutit wifi võrku ühendada. “Nii, näed seda ikooni siin, klikid sellele hiire parema klahviga, ühe korra, siis avaneb see aken siin jne.” Sel hetkel läksin ma juba natuke tigedaks. Mismõttes ma maksan 30€ oma arvuti parandamise eest ja selle asemel, et uurida, milline on probleem, otsustab see vanamehenäss mind mõnitada! Sellegipoolest ei hoolinud ta suuremat minu selgitustest, sest selleks hetkeks olin ma ilmselt juba pururumalate tšikkide kategooriasse topitud.
Mis mul ikka üle jäi, pakkisin oma asjad kokku ja tulin tulema. Kodus oli seis muidugi sama, kuid otsustasin, et mulle aitab, selle mehe juurde ma tagasi ei lähe. Rahast olin ma muidugi ilma.
Järgmisel päeval viisin arvuti ühte suvalisse arvutipoodi parandusse. Paljulubav oli juba fakt, et kui üks sealne töötaja mu arvuti lahti tegi, käitus see täpselt samamoodi nagu kodus. Ei mingeid anomaaliad enam. Igatahes jätsin ma oma arvuti sinna ja nad lubasid selle 100€ eest korda teha. Selleks hetkeks olin ma juba piisavalt meeleheitel, et selle summaga silmagipilgutamata nõustuda. Neli päeva hiljem sain ma arvuti kätte ning koju jõudes avastasin, et kuigi nad olid Windowsi ära vahetanud (ja selle käigus mind ka MS Office'st vabastanud) ei kavatsenud mu arvuti end siiski endiselt netti logida. Seega olin ma tund aega peale arvuti kättesaamist taas Computerlandi ukse taga. Minu arvutit parandanud tüüp oli mind nähes üllatunud, end võttis mu kohe jutule. Muidugi tuli välja, et seekord olin ma lihtsalt unustanud ühele nupule vajutada, kuid see tüüp ei tulnud selle pealegi, et mind mõnitama hakata. Seletas hoopis veel paar muud asja ära ja oli niisama väga kena. Computerlandi uksest välja astudes ütlesin ma sellele tüübile, et ma tõesti loodan, et teda enam kunagi ei näe. Ja ma tõesti loodan, et ei näe, ent kui mul veel kunagi mingid arvutijamad ette peaks tulema, tean ma juba, kuhu oma murega pöörduda.
Muide, reedese päeva tegi ilusamaks veel see, et ma sain oma esimese hinde, 8 (meie mõistes 5), ühe Orientalismi koduse töö eest, mille ma olin juba ette ebaõnnestunuks lugenud ning see, et Gali otsustas mind külla kutsuda, et mulle isetehtud pelmeene pakkuda.

I had to spend this week without my laptop and I have to say that at this point my life without it seems almost impossible.
Last Sunday I discovered that my cute white laptop has decided to go crazy. As nothing happens here on Sundays, I couldn't do anything else but to wait for the new week to start. I hoped that maybe my laptop just needed to take a day off, but as I woke up on Monday, I discovered, that it's probably planning to have a longer vacation.
One of my classmates helped me to search for a place to repare my computer and we picked out a guy who said that his service is cheap and fast and if he can't fix it, I don't have to pay. Awesome. I jumped on my bike and was there in 30 minutes. The guy turned out to be a mean looking old man who lived in a house that looked like a cave (also probably because all his walls and ceilings were yellow from the cigarette smoke). His living room was filled with computerparts, but also a spongy looking dog, who was trying to make me pet him. I sat on the couch hoping not to get my clothes dirty and waited. After 15 minutes the oldie told me that everything's working perfectly. Perfect! I paid him 30€ thinking how the hell can he claim on his webpage, that his service was cheap. Nevertheless, my laptop was working again and that was the most important for me. I thanked him and cycled away enjoying the sun that suddenly decided to show itself to Amsterdam. Suddenly I saw a Portuguese flag and decided that a galão would be perfect for celebrating the moment. I walked in the cafe and asked for a coffee from a guy working behind the counter. We talked a bit and then I asked for an arroz doce (ricedessert) with lots of cinnamon as I hadn't had anything to eat until that point. Later, when I asked for the bill, I noticed that the dessert was on the house. I guess I got that “free lunch” because of my amazing Portuguese language skills. By that time my mood was already greay and as I walked out of the café, a Brazilian guy stopped me. He was enjoying the sun and eating some grapes that he was picking from the plant that was growing on the wall. He gave me a bunch of grapes and asked me if I was from Portugal. I always find those questions really entertaining as firstly I don't think that I have too much in common with Portuguese girls and secondly, my Portuguese is not so good that I could fool anyone.
As I got home, I opened my computer to discover that nothing was working. I called the oldie living in the cage to tell him that I will be there in 20 minutes. As I got there, he opened my laptop and to my biggest surprise everything was working perfectly. While I was standing there gobsmacked, he decided that it was a good time to mock me a bit. “So, have you smoked something today?” he asked me derisively. In spite of my explanations he didn't believe me when I told him that nothing worked at home. Instead, he started to explain me how to connect my laptop to the Wireless. “You see that icon here? You have to right click on it, once, and then this window opens etc.” At this moment I got angry. What the hell? I'm paying you 30€ to get my computer fixed and instead of trying to figure out what's the problem this oldie decides to mock me! I guess after this point he just decided not to listen to me any more as I was already categorized as utterly stupid.
There was nothing more left for me to do, so I just packed my stuff together and left. At home my computer still refused to co-operate with me, but I decided that enough was enough and I won't go back to this guy. Even though I felt like I had just been robbed.
The next day I took my laptop to a random computer store to get it fixed. It all started out promising as when they opened my laptop it acted the same way as it did at home. No more anomalies. So, I left it there and they promised to fix it for 100€. At this point I was already desperate enough to agree with the amount without blinking an eye. Four days later my computer was fixed and as I got home I discovered that even though they had changed the Windows (and 'released' me from MS Office in process), my laptop still refused to connect to Wireless. So, an hour after getting back my computer, I was at Computerland again. The guy who fixed my computer seemed to be surprised to see me, but found time for me straight away. Surely it appeared that this time I had just forgotten to press one button, but the guy didn't even try mocking me. He explained me a couple more things instead. As I walked out of the door, I told him that I really hope that we'll never see again. And I really hope we won't, but if I ever have any other computer related issues, I already know where to turn to.
So, Friday was altogether a very nice day that was made even better by a fact that I got my first grade, 8 (so, an A) for a paper in Orientalism that I thought was crappy and that Gali decided to invite me over to eat some home made pelmenis.

Blogi on pisikesel puhkusel, kuna arvuti otsustas otsad anda ja on hetkel paranduses.

My blog in on a short vacation as my computer decided to stop working.

Jalgrattad ja Amsterdam / Biking in Amsterdam

Amsterdamis elades ei saa ratastest üle ega ümber ning seda absoluutselt igas tähenduses. Esiteks muidugi seetõttu, et ratas on Amsterdamis A ja O ning igal endast vähegi lugupidaval Amsterdammeril on ratas. Kuigi ma ei ole just maailma suurim rattafänn (tegelikult küsivad mu siinsed sõbrad minult alati kerge pilkega hääles, et kas ma pole tõesti endiselt rattasõitmisega harjunud, kui kuhugi jalgsi liigun), oli ka minu jaoks esimeseks suureks ja oluliseks ostuks ratas. See tõi Hollandile kohaselt kaasa omajagu probleeme, ent praeguseks on mu väike roostetanud ratas mind juba kaks nädalat ausalt teeninud. Ja ma loodan, et teenib sama ausalt edasi.
Igatahes olen ka mina lõpuks aru saanud, et tegelikult pole see jalgrattasõit nii kole midagi – ei ole nii ohtlik kui ta esialgu tundus ja tänu rattale on mul siiani ühistranspordile kulunud umbes 4€ (kaks käiku IKEAsse). Lisaks veel igale naisele oluline lisaboonus: ilusad jalad. Suurepärane, eksole?
Amsterdamis on jalgratturid kuningad, kes ei pea mitte kellelegi teed andma. Hoopis autojuhid peavad vaatama, et nad oma masinaga ette ei jääks ning jalakäijad peavad muudkui silmad lahti hoidma, et neid alla ei aetaks. Tundub, et terve linna transpordisüsteem on välja ehitatud esmalt jalgrattureile mõeldes ja nii kaua kuni ma sadulas istun, kõlab see minu jaoks suurepäraselt. Rattateed on siin head ja parkimisprobleem üldjuhul puudub. Mõne posti, kuhu külge oma ratas kinnitada, leiab alati. Ma pole küll endiselt kindel, kuidas ma suhtun kombinatsiooni paduvihm ja jalgrattasõit, sest ma absoluutselt keeldun pandakaruna kooli jõudmast, juuksed veest tilkumas. Siinkohal pean ma tunnistama, et ma olen ikka liialt suur esteet, et end iial tõelise Amsterdammerina tunda.
Ratastest ei saa üle ega ümber ka selles mõttes, et kui näiteks laupäeval Heinekeni tehase taga asuvale Albert Cuyp’i turule minna ja parkida oma ratas suhteliselt pingevabalt mingi suvalise seina äärde, siis paar tundi hiljem metsiku toidukotiga tagasi jõudes järgneb suure tõenäosusega avastus, et enne minemasõitmist tuleb oma ratas välja kaevata. Jaa, muidugi räägin ma oma tänasest kogemusest. Kuna mu värske toidu varud olid otsakorral ja ilm oli suurepärane, mõtlesin ma turule minna. Albert Cuyp’i turg on selles mõttes väga lahe, et seal on kõike. Seal on metsikud juur- ja puuviljaletid, seal müüakse kõikvõimalikke mereelukaid ning umbes miljonit sorti teed, juustu, šokolaadi ja lilli. Loomulikult saab sealt soetada ka odavat kosmeetikat, pašmina salle, saapaid ja riideid – ehk siis kõike eluks vajalikku. Igatahes olin ma oma poekoti paksult kartuleid-porgandeid täis ladunud ning raske kott ei ole sugugi abistavaks teguriks, kui sa pead parasjagu mingite egoistide roostetanud jurakaid eest ära tõstma, et üldse enda rattani jõuda. Ajaloo huvides tuleb ilmselt märkida, et missioon sai õnnelikult lõpetatud ja kannatanuid (ei inimesi, rattaid ega juurvilju) ei olnud. Juurviljad said küll veidi hiljem kannatada, kui ma nad koju jõudes ära püreerisin.
Nagu ma juba mainisin, on rattateed siin head, mis muidugi ei tähenda seda, et nad ei kulgeks pidevalt keset autoteed. Esialgu on suhteliselt kummaline rattaga autode vahel ringi kimada (või mis kimada, Amsterdammerite rattahierarhias sõidan mina ilmselt sama kiirusega nagu mõni kohalik vanaema), aga õnneks on autojuhid siin ikka suhteliselt viisakad. Eestis samasugust sõitmist harrastades oleks ma ilmselt juba ammu kümme korda surma saanud. Ja kui teid huvitab, et kas kohalikud ka kiivreid kannavad, siis ei. Ma pole siin oldud kolme nädala jooksul mitte ühtegi kiivriga ratturit näinud. Isegi väikesed lapsed ei kanna siin seda.
Peale autode ja jalgrataste on siin muidugi ka suurel hulgal vespasid ning mingeid masinaid, millele ma ei oskagi nime anda. Tegemist on mingite imetillukeste kastikujuliste masinatega (kujutage ette Smarti, ent palju madalam ja natuke kandilisem), millel on luba jalgrattateedel liikuda. Ma siiani ei saa aru, kuidas sinna inimesed üldse sisse mahuvad: ma peaks end ilmselt kolmeks kokku voltima ja ka sel juhul oleksid põlved vastu rinda ja gaasipedaali vajutamine oleks täiesti võimatu. Igatahes on tegemist masinaga, mille eesmärk mulle suhteliselt ebaselgeks jääb. Peale selle, et sinna on pea võimatu midagi sisse toppida, on see ka neetult aeglane. Passisin täna oma kümme minutit ühe sellise taga, sest asjandus liikus teokiirusel ning suutis terve rattaraja täies laiuses enda alla mahutada.

Amsterdam is all about bikes and every Amsterdammer who has even a bit of self respect, has to have one. Even though I am not the biggest bike fan in the world (my friends usually ask me a bit ironically if I am still resistant to biking when I show up somewhere on foot), it was still one of the first things I bought after arriving here. It did cause me some problems initially (but causing problems already sounds such a Dutch thing!), but now my little rusty bike has served me well for 2 weeks already. And I really hope it will continue to do so. After a bit of resisting I understood that biking isn’t actually that horrible – it’s not as dangerous as it might seem at first and thanks to biking I’ve only spent about 4€ on local transport (two trips to IKEA). You can’t really forget the additional bonus that’s important for every woman: great legs. That sounds good, doesn’t it?
In Amsterdam the bikers are the kings who don’t need to give way to anyone. Actually, the drivers are the ones who have to pay attention not to block the bikers’ way and the pedestrians have to keep their eyes open not to be run over. It seems to me that the whole transport system of the city has been constructed prioritizing the bikers and as long as I’m sitting on the saddle, it sounds awesome. The bicycle paths are good and you don’t need to worry about parking. You’ll always find a post to tie your bike to. Nevertheless, I am still not sure how I like the combination of heavy showers and biking as I am totally refusing to arrive at the university looking like a panda-bear (clue: think about the eyes!) and water dripping from my hair. I guess I just need to admit that I’m too much of an aesthete to ever feel like a real Amsterdammer.
It seems to me that Amsterdammers like markets and if you happen to go to the Albert Cuyp market on a Saturday and park your bike without much hassle to a random wall you’ll probably discover a couple of hours later (equipped by a huge bag of groceries) that before you can even think about leaving, you first need to dig out your bike.
As I was running out of fresh food and the weather was great, I decided to go to the market this morning. I love Albert Cuyp market as they have everything. They have huge counters with fruits and veggies, fish (and other creatures of the sea), tea, cheese, chocolate and flowers. Of course you can also buy cheap cosmetics, pashmina scarves, shoes and clothes – everything you might need. Anyway, my shopping bag was full of potatoes and carrots and a heavy bag is not much of a help if you need to make your way (includes some serious bike lifting as well!) to your bike through a sea of rusty things that some egoists have parked on your way. I have to say that my mission was successful and there were no victims (no people, no bikes, and no veggies). The veggies suffered a bit later though when I chopped them up.
As I mentioned before, the bicycle paths here are good, which of course doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t sometimes run in the middle of the street. At first it’s a bit odd to scoot (or well, in the Amsterdam bike hierarchy I’m probably sharing the same level with some local grandmas) between the cars, but luckily the drivers are quite polite here. If I would drive like that in Estonia, I would have died already about 10 times if not more. And if you’re interested if the locals wear helmets, then no. During those 3 weeks I’ve spent here, I haven’t seen a single person wearing a helmet. Even toddlers don’t wear helmets here.
Besides the cars and bikes there are also many vespas and some weird machines driving around. Those weird machines that I can’t even name look like tiny boxes (a bit like Smarts, but lower and more facetted) that are allowed to drive on the bike paths. I have no idea how the people fit in there the first place as I would have to fold myself in three and even then would have my knees up to my chest and it would be impossible to get to the pedals. Anyway, I cannot figure out what could be the purpose of such things as besides the fact that it’s almost impossible to cram something in there, they’re also damn slow. I had to drive behind one of those things today for 10 minutes and it was horrible! I can swear I saw some snails passing us on the way.

Koolist, Orientalismist ja Allahist / About the University, Orientalism and Allah

Minu esimene koolinädal on läbi ja üle tüki aja kõlab reede tohutult hästi. Kui sul on parasjagu puhkus, on tegelikult täiesti ükskõik, mis päev parajasti on: midagi nagunii tegema ei pea. Koolis käies muutub see kõik muidugi totaalselt. Kuna TTÜs õppides oli mul igal semestril terve hunnik aineid ja ma sain nende kõigiga suurepäraselt (väike liialdus ilmselgelt) hakkama, mõtlesin ma esialgu oma siinset tunniplaani vaadates: jeeeeeerum, kaks ainet? Mismõttes? Mida ma kogu selle vaba ajaga peale hakkan? Reaalsus on muidugi hoopis teine ja hetkel olen ma superõnnelik, et ma kolme ainet võtma ei pidanud. Miks? Sest siis poleks mul ilmselt absoluutselt mingit elu peale ülikooli ja ega ma Amsterdami AINULT õppima ka ei tulnud. Sotsiaalne pool on ju ka tähtis (: Igatahes on mul sellel poolaastal kaks ainet: EL ja selle elanikud (kuigi tegelikult räägime me enamuse ajast majandusest) ning Orientalism. Ja ärge te minult jumala eest küsige, millest see orientalismi kursus ometi räägib, sest ma ei ole siiani veel aru saanud. Kerge oleks arvata, et orient = idamaad ja et me räägime terve aja Afganistanist ja Iraagist. Absoluutselt mitte, täna rääkisime me näiteks hoopis Marxist ja kommunismist. Ja kui päris aus olla, siis kohati on see isegi täitsa põnev, kuigi lugemismaterjali, mida meile igaks tunniks antakse, on palju ja lisaks on see sageli liialt filosoofiline. Niisiis tegelen ma sellel nädalavahetuselt näiteks sellega, et üritan kirjutada paarilehelist sisututvustust Orientalismi suurkuju Edward W. Said’i raamatu kohta. Hetkel loodan ma sellega muidugi kaine peaga ühele poole saada, ent kui mõte ei jookse, tuleb kasutada drastilisemaid meetmeid. Orientalismi õppejõud väitis, et kui sa istud 2 tundi ühe koha peal ja kordad muudkui „Allah, Allah“, siis võib ka sellest pilve jääda. Ilmselt oleks see tervislikum variant kui kanep. Odavam ilmselt ka.
Seega olen ma sellel nädalal äärmiselt tubli olnud ja metsikutes kogustes akadeemilisi tekste lugenud. Eelmises postituses mainitud raamatute nimekirja koostasin ma ka ning tundub, et seetõttu olen ma professor Michaeli jaoks heas nimekirjas. Vähemalt teadis ta teise tunni alguseks mu nime ilma seda küsimata ja see on ometigi hea märk.
Aga nüüd pean ma end riidesse panema ja borrelile minema, sest Hollandi (või minu puhul pigem Belgia) õllekultuur vajab ometi tutvumist.

My first week of university is successfully over and after a long time Friday is worth celebrating for me again. If you are on a long vacation (as I was) then you really couldn’t care less what day it is as you don’t have to do anything productive anyway. When you have to go to the university, Friday suddenly has a completely different meaning. When I was studying in Tallinn Technical University, I had a bunch of courses every semester and it was all rather manageable. The first time I checked my schedule here, I was quite gobsmacked: are you kidding me? Two courses? What will I do with all that free time? The reality of course is different and right now I am just incredibly glad that I didn’t have to take 3 courses. Why? Because in this case I wouldn’t have any life outside the UvA and I didn’t come here ONLY to study. The social part is important as well! Anyway, on this semester I’ll have 2 courses: EU and it’s Citizens (even though we’re discussing economics most of the time) and Orientalism. And no, I still have no idea what’s this Orientalism all about. It would somehow make sense to guess: Orient = Middle-East etc. and that we’re spending most of the time discussing Afghanistan and Iraq. Absolutely not, today for example we discussed Marx and communism. And I have to admit, this can get pretty exciting, but we have to do a lot of reading for every class and it’s often way too philosophical for me. So, this weekend I will concentrate on writing a book report about a book from one of the big names in Orientalism, Edward W. Said. At the moment I really hope that I can do that while being sober, but if my mind refuses to collaborate, drastic measures have to be used. Our Orientalism professor said that if you sit in one place for 2 hours and keep chanting „Allah, Allah“, you might get high as well. I guess it would be more healthy than smoking some weed. Cheaper as well.
So, I have been quite effective this week and chewed myself through a huge amount of academical texts. I also made a list of books for my Taliban paper and I guess this gave me some brownie points from professor Michael. At least he already knew what my name was for our second class without asking it and it seems quite a good sign for me.
But now I must hurry up and get dressed to have a borrel with some of my friends from UvA as it is about time to get acquianted to the Dutch beer culture.

Sellest, et ma olen ikka liiga viisakas vahel / How I'm Way too Polite Sometimes

Niisiis, kirjutasin oma ühele õppejõule e-maili, et talle ära saata allikate nimekiri, mida ma mõtlen oma Talibani-teemalise uuringu jaoks kasutada.

Dear dr. Michael K* (vähe puudus, et ma oleks sinna lisanud ka prof.) ning sinnajärele äärmiselt viisakas tekst. Ametlik, nii nagu ma olen harjunud Eestis õppejõududega suhtlema. Alla kirjutasin veel Best Regards (parimate soovidega), mis kõlab ka ikka täitsa viisakalt ning oma täisnimi. Täna hommikul sain vastu umbes sellise e-maili: "Hei Kadri, väga tore, et sa nii kiire oled. Arutame seda reedel klassis. Cheers, Michael".

Ja oi ma olin üllatunud. Aga samas, ma ei usu, et tahaksin siinsete professoritega liialt familiaarseks minna. Ei tea, kas tasubki. Nii et ilmselt seda nüüd küll kunagi ei juhtu, et ma peale klassi tema juurde läheks ja ütleks: "Hei Mike, äge klass, kas läheme võtame nüüd mõned õlled?"

* Täisnime ei kirjuta, sest ma ei taha, et ta kogemata oma nime guugeldades minu blogini jõuaks!

I was writing an e-mail for one of my professors to send him the list of sources I am planning to use for my Taliban research.

Dear dr. Michael K*(I was really thinking if I should also add prof. or this would be too much already!), and then everything in a very polite manner. Official, exactly how I used to communicate with my professors in Estonia. Best Regards, my full name. This morning I received a reply from him: "Hi Kadri, very nice that you're so fast. Let's discuss it after the class on Friday. Cheers, Michael".

Oh boy I was surprised. But then again, I don't think I want to get too familiar with my professors here. I am not sure you're even supposed to. So I don't think I will ever go to him after the class and say: "Hi Mike, awesome lecture today! Want to grab some beers now?"

* I did not add his full name here as I am not sure how I'd feel about him getting to my blog when googling his full name. Better be safe than sorry!

Kuidas Maud'il juhtub / How it Always Happens to Maud

Ma ei ole veel eriti pikalt peatunud teemal minu korterikaaslased, seega on vist viimane hetk seda teha. Niisiis, kokku on meid viis ja peale minu elavad siin veel sakslanna Helen, prantslanna Maud, ameeriklane Justin ja singapurlane Jamie. Nad kõik on äärmiselt toredad ja ma pean ütlema, et vähemalt hetkel on meie suhted igati harmoonilised. Mis muidugi ei tähenda seda, et kõigil meist omi kiikse poleks. Kuna eilne õhtu oli Maud’i õhtu põhjusel, et tal on täna sünnipäev, oleks igati aus temaga algust teha. Tegelikult oleks heaks põhjuseks ka see, et tundub, et tema on see, kellel ikka juhtub. Maud on see, kes kogu aeg ära kaob, kelle järgele tuleb pidevalt oodata ja kellele tuleb asju üha uuesti meelde tuletada. Ilmselt on põhjuseks lihtsalt see, et ta pea on pidevalt pilvedes (ja see ei tähenda, et ta ise oleks pilves!) ja ta lihtsalt ongi selline. Lillelaps, kes pidevalt unustab end lillekesi ja linnukesi vaatama ja seetõttu ajataju kaotab.
Kuigi ta sünnipäev on täna, pidasime me seda eile õhtul, sest 3 tema sõbrannat Prantsusmaalt olid talle külla sõitnud. Õhtusöögini läks kõik hästi, isegi peale tortillade söömist oli kõik veel suurepärane. Umbes sinnani kuni üks Maud’i sõbranna ja Jamie hakkasid šokolaadikooki tegema. Tainas oli juba eelnevalt valmis, seega tol hetkel oli vaja see vaid vormidesse panna ja ahju lükata. Mingil hetkel hakkasid nood kaks meeletult kihistama ja ma läksin uurima, mis toimub. „Kuule, proovi seda tainast!“ ütlesid nad mulle ja kuna see lõhnas päris meeliülendavalt šokolaadiselt, siis ma väga vastu ei puigelnud. Tainas aga ei maitsenud absoluutselt nii nagu ma ette olin kujutanud. See oli tulisoolane! Sel hetkel hakkas mu aju eriti kiiresti tööle. Mida ma nüüd ütlen? Äkki see peabki selline olema ja kui ma ütlen neile, et see on kohutav, solvan ma prantslasi ja kogu nende kuulsat Prantsuse kööki! Peale lühikest hämmeldunud pausi küsisin ma neilt: „Kas see peabki nii soolane olema?“ Tuli välja muidugi, et ei pidanud ja et Maud oli neile kogemata suhkru asemel soola andnud. Ma ei usu, et keegi meist ülimalt üllatunud oleks olnud, sest see on täpselt üks neid asju, mis teeb Maud’ist Maud’i. Sellised asjad lihtsalt juhtuvad temaga. Asi, millest ma aru ei saa, on muidugi see, et miks ta arvas, et zout on suhkur.
Igatahes sai nende koogikestega sel õhtul veel kõvasti nalja, sest kui sul on vaagnatäis ilusaid hästilõhnavaid koogikesi, siis peab neid ju ikka teistele pakkuma. Ja esimesed reaktsioonid, avastades, et oled hammustanud midagi tulisoolast, olid täiesti hindamatud.
Õnneks olime me eelnevalt Maudi jaoks ühe juustukoogi teinud (suhkruga!) ning seetõttu oli sünnipäev päästetud! Mis sünnipäev see ikka on, kus kooki ei saa.
Muide, õhtul läheme oma esimesele kontserdile Amsterdamis. Stars! Kohe, kui ma kuulsin, et nad siin esinevad, mõtlesin ma, et peaks minema. Sest nad on nii head.

Aga kuulake ise: Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55FMOJMhV9s

I haven’t talked too much about my flatmates yet, so I guess it’s about time to do that! So, there are five of us living in this flat and besides me a German girl Helen, a French girl Maud, an American guy Justin and a guy from Singapore, Jamie. They are all very nice and I have to say that at least for now our relationships are quite harmonic. Which surely doesn’t mean that we all don’t have our own quirks. As last night was Maud’s night (as it’s her birthday today), it would be completely honest to start with her. Another good reason would be that she is the one who always manages to create confusion. Maud is the one who we always lose when we go out, who always needs us to remind her things and who always makes us wait for her. I guess the reason is that her head is in the clouds all the time and she just is like that. A flowerchild who always forgets herself watching some flowers and birdies and therefore completely loses her track of time.
Even though her birthday is today, we celebrated (or well, started to celebrate it) last night as her three French friends were here. Everything went fine until the dinner, actually everything was great even after having some tortillas. Until Jamie and one of Maud’s friends started making a chocolate cake. The dough was already prepared, so at that point they just needed to put it in the oven. Suddenly I heard some wild giggling and went to check out what’s going on. „Heey, try this dough,“ they suggested and as it smelled nice and chocolatey, I didn’t mind trying. But it didn’t taste at all as I expected it to taste. It was salty as hell! At this point my brain started to work in full speed. What will I say now? Maybe it has to be like that and if I tell them it’s horrible, I will insult all the French and their famous cousine! After a small pause I asked them: „This cake is supposed to be salty?“ And as it appeared, sure not and that Maud had accidentally given them salt instead of sugar. I don’t think anyone of us was too surprised as that’s exactly one of the things you would expect from Maud. Things like that just happen to her! But I still don’t understand how she was so sure that zout is sugar (it sounds more like salt, doesn’t it?).
Anyway, we had a lot of fun with those cakes that evening as if you have a plate full of nice pastries that smell like heaven (and they did!), then you have to offer them to others. And the first reactions of the people as they discover that they have their mouths full of salt, are pretty priceless! Luckily we had made a cheesecake (with sugar!) for Maud already, so therefore it’s quite fair to say, her birthday was saved! It’s not a real birthday if there’s no cake.
By the way, we’ll go to our first concert in Amsterdam tonight! Stars is performing! As soon as I heard they will play here, I knew I had to go there. Because they are just that good.
But you should check it yourself. One of my favourite songs from them: Stars – Your Ex-Lover Is Dead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55FMOJMhV9s

Kiidulaul Amsterdamile (et kõik oleks tasakaalus) / Ode to Amsterdam (because you need some balance in your life)

Ma tean, et minu viimase aja sissekanded on olnud kriitilised ja jätnud ehk mulje, et ma ei suuda mõista, mis pommiauku ma sattunud olen. Tegelikult ei ole olukord muidugi üldse hull ja kui päris aus olla, siis ei ole ma siia tulekut veel kordagi kahetsenud. Jaa, ma tean, et ma võin tunduda ülikriitiline, rahulolematu või lihtsalt igavene vinguja, ent tegelikult olen ma vist lihtsalt sageli liialt otsekohene. Ma ei karda välja öelda, kui minu jaoks on midagi viltu (kuigi ma olen aru saanud, et kodurahu huvides tuleb vahel ka keelt hammaste taga hoida – juhul, kui tegemist on mõttetu pisiasjaga) ja samamoodi ei karda ma välja öelda seda, kui mulle midagi väga meeldib. Ma vähemalt loodan nii. Igatahes oleks hetkel ilmselt aus teha üks sissekanne teemal, kui tore Amsterdam tegelikult ikka on. Sest ma tõesti arvan seda (ja jätan täna pisiasjad kodurahu huvides kõrvale).
Kui Amsterdamis parasjagu vihma ei saja ja tuul juukseid peast ei vii, on tegemist üliarmsa linnaga. Ta on piisavalt suur selleks, et siin saaks tunda suurlinnahõngu, ent samas piisavalt väike selleks, et kesklinnas jalgsi ringi liigelda. Mul on küll ratas, kuid ilusa ilma puhul eelistan ma sageli siiski jalutada. Kuulan oma iPodist muusikat, uudistan aknalaudadel magavaid kiisusid ja tunnen mõnu sellest, kuidas soojad sügispäikesekiired mind paitavad. Ning enne, kui arugi saan, olen Dam’il, Kalverstraatil, koolis või täpselt seal, kuhu mul parasjagu plaanis minna oli. Eriti tore on jalutada hommikuti, täpselt enne seda aega, kui turistid ärkavad ja tänavaile voolavad. Kitsad tänavad on siis veel tühjad, kuid kuna pagaritöökojad on juba oma tööd alustanud, täidab õhku imeline saialõhn (mis veidi hiljem asendatakse juba kanepilõhnaga). Ja kanalid, muidugi. Amsterdam ei oleks midagi ilma oma kanaliteta!
Koht, kus ma elan, on samuti üsna imeline. Meie maja just mitte nii palju, ent asukoht on suurepärane. See on kesklinnale piisavalt lähedal, et iga uitmõtte ajel sinna kiiresti pääseda, kuid samas piisavalt kaugel, et pääseda lõputust turistidevoolust. Seega, kui meil kell 10 tuleb mõte, et läheks linna ja teeks ühe dringi, tähendab see seda, et umbes 15 minutit hiljem istume me juba mõnes kesklinna baaris ja tellime endale Kriek’i. (Kriek on Belgia naisteõlu, punast värvi ja mingi marjamaitsega.)
Ma olen olnud üsna kriitiline hollandlaste suhtes, ent see ei tähenda muidugi seda, et siin kõik ebaviisakad oleks. Lihtsalt, erandid jäävad alati eriti hästi silma. Loomulikult olen ma kohanud ka äärmiselt toredaid ja sõbralikke hollandlasi. Viimase paari nädala jooksul olen ma kohanud üldse metsikult suurel hulgal tohutult lahedaid inimesi ja ilmselt on see just see, mida ma siin elades kõige rohkem naudin. Kõik mu neli naabrit on eranditult äärmiselt toredad, samamoodi kõik need, kes minuga koos samal kursusel õppima hakkavad. Näiteks leidsin ma eile hommikul ärgates oma ukse eest šokolaadi kirjaga „Aitäh, et sa mu naaber oled!“. Päevad, mis niimoodi peale hakkavad, peavad lihtsalt suurepärased olema.

PS. Käisime täna hommikul ka ühel turul, mis asub Heinekeni tehase taga ja see turg läheb kindlasti sinna "mida ma Amsterdami juures armastan" nimekirja.

I know that my last posts have been really critical and have maybe left an impression that I am not quite sure in what a weird place I’ve ended up to. To be honest, my situation is not bad at all and I haven’t regretted coming here not even for a second. Yes, I know that I might seem overly critical, discontented or just a horrible whiner, but in reality I guess I am often just too straightforward. I am not afraid to say it out when something is not working for me (but I’ve also learned to bite my tongue on certain occasions, if it’s only about a minor detail), but I’m also quite willing to share if I really like something. At least I hope that is the case!
So it would be quite fair if I would just share some things I like about Amsterdam as I really like the city a lot (and leave out the details that I don’t enjoy so much).
If it’s not raining in Amsterdam and the wind is not trying to blow all the hair off your head, it is pretty easy to realize that the city is just adorable. It is large enough to feel that „big city vibe“ and small enough to get everywhere in the centre on foot. I do have a bike, but when the weather is nice (and I don’t have to go too far), I really prefer to walk. I’ll listen to the music on my iPod, check out all the cute kitties that sleep on the windowsills and just enjoy the warm sun (if it’s shining at that moment). And before I know it, I’m already on Dam, Kalverstraat, at the university or any other place I was heading to. I really prefer to walk in the mornings, exactly before the time when the tourists wake up and „occupy“ the streets. All the narrow streets are still quite empty and you can smell a sweet bouquet of scents in the air as all the small bakeries have started to sell their products already. A bit later it is replaced by the smell of weed. And the canals, I just love them! Amsterdam wouldn’t be anything without them.
The place where I’m living is pretty amazing as well. Our building not so much, but the location is just great. It’s close to the city centre so that you can get there really fast, but it’s also far enough so that the tourists don’t usually find us. So, if we think at 10pm that it’s such a nice evening and that we should have a drink at the centre, then 15 minutes later we’re already sitting at a bar and ordering ourselves some Kriek (Belgian „ladies“ beer, that tastes like some berries).
I have been quite critical about the Dutch, but it doesn’t mean that everyone here is rude. It’s just always the case that the exceptions to the rule stand out well. Surely I have also met really nice and friendly Dutch people. But during the last two weeks I’ve met so many great people from all over the world and this must be the thing about Amsterdam I’m enjoying the most. All my four neighbours are without any exceptions really nice, as well as those people who I will start studying with on Monday. For example, yesterday when I woke up, I found a chocolate at my door with a note saying „Thank you for being my neighbour!“ Days that start like that just have to be great!

PS. We went to a market this morning that is located behind the Heineken factory. And this market is going to be on my list of things I love about Amsterdam.

Amsterdam detailides / Amsterdam in details

Must ja valge / Black and White

Mõned pildid lihtsalt ei vaja värvi.

Some pictures just don't need any colour.

Jalgrattad / Bikes

Kuna Amsterdamis on ikkagi umbes 550 000 ratast, siis on raske neid mitte pildistada.

As there are about 550 000 bikes in Amsterdam, it is hard to avoid taking pictures of them.

Veel Amsterdamist / More about Amsterdam

Oma arvamust hollandlastest olen ma juba piisavalt jaganud, seega jätan nad hetkeks rahule. Siiski on Amsterdamis ka peale hollandlaste palju seda, millest ma päris hästi aru ei saa. Üheks anomaaliaks siin on tänavanumbrid. Kui ma olen näiteks maja number 162 juures ja mul on vaja minna maja number 1 juurde, siis Eestis tähendaks see ühte üsna pikka jalutuskäiku. Amsterdamis üldjuhul ei tähenda, sest tavaliselt avastad sa jalutades, et umbes 100 numbrit on vahepealt ära jäetud. Ehk siis, kui ühel pool ristmikku on maja number 120, siis on vägagi tõenäoline, et teiselpool jätkuvad numbrid alates 18. Jah, ja tänav kannab endiselt sama nime.
Teine suur anomaalia minu jaoks on ilm. Ärkan üles, vaatan aknast välja ja näen, et õues on imeilus ilm: sinine taevas ilma ühegi pilveta. Super! Käin duši all ära ja kui tagasi oma tuppa jõuan, on akna taga just parajasti sadama hakanud. Mulle tundub, et siin pole vihmasaju jaoks pilvi vajagi. Ladistab hullemat padukat, ent taevasse vaadates ei saa kohe üldse aru, kust see vihm tuleb, sest taevas on täiesti selge. Mitte just päris sinine, aga äärmiselt hele. Seega tuleb hommikul kodust lahkudes kaasa pakkida nii vihmavari kui päikeseprillid ja vaid vahel harva ei lähe neist kumbagi vaja.

I think I have already made it clear, how I feel about the Dutch so it would be only fair if I leave them alone for a moment. Nevertheless, even without talking about the Dutch, there are some things I do not understand here. One of the anomalies here are the street numbers. For example, if you stand in front of the building number 162 and need to go to the building number 1, then in Estonia it would mean a long walk. In Amsterdam it usually doesn't as you might as well discover that they have forgotten about 100 numbers inbetween. So if you are walking along the street and on one side of the intersection you have the building number 120, then it is very likely that on the other side of the intersection, the numbers go on from 18. Yes, and the street still has the same name.
Another big anomaly here is the weather. I wake up, look out of the window and see that the weather is just perfect: blue sky and no clouds. Great! When I get back to my room after taking a shower, I discover that it's raining outside. Somehow it seems to me that here you don't really need clouds for the rain. It might be raining cats and dogs, but if you look up to the sky, it's totally unclear where all that rain is coming from as the sky is really clear. Not blue, but very light. So it is quite useful to pack both the umbrella and the sunglasses to your bag as you leave your place in the morning. It happens really rarely that you won't need neither of those things.

Sellest, kuidas hollandlased mul juhtme kokku ajasid, 2. osa / A Story about how the Dutch managed to drive me crazy, part 2

Loomulikult ei saanud mu eilne kannatuste rada nii kiiresti läbi, kuid lõpuks õnnestus mul tänu Heleni abile leida üles koht UvA lehel, mis kinnitas, et üliõpilane numbriga see ja see (ehk siis mina) on registreeritud kahele kursusele. Hästi, kuna ma selleks ajaks olin juba saanud barbeque’lt koju jõudnud Heleni ja Justiniga kogu seda segadust kiruda, olin ma juba peaaegu maha rahunenud ja mõtlesin, et okei, see on siis selge. Aga muidugi oli asjal konks, sest täna hommikul oma mailbox’i lahti tehes leidsin kirja koolist, kus mulle teatati, et loengud toimuvad kahes grupis. No tõesti. Selle hetkeni olin ma arvanud, et ma hakkan kolmel päeval nädalas koolis käima, kuid kui see grupijutt on tõsi, jääb mul koolipäevi vähemaks. Korraga tekkis mul hirm suure hulga vaba aja ees, sest peale kuuekuulist puhkust tahaks ma ka vahelduseks asjalik olla. Justinil on muidugi teooria, et sel juhul on meil vaja lademeis esseesid produtseerida ja igaks loenguks kaks raamatut läbi lugeda. Siis ma muidugi enam ei kurda, et mul on igav ja teha pole midagi.
Kuna mul oli nagunii vaja koolist läbi minna, et haigekassa jaoks tõendit paluda, mõtlesin, et hüppan ka sekretariaadist läbi. Ehk on nad veidi konkreetsemad, kui ma nende ees seisan ja vastuseid nõuan? Aga nad ei olnud, sest nende sõnul ei saa nemad mitte mingit moodi järele uurida, kes millisesse gruppi kuulub ja soovitasid lihtsalt esmaspäeval kooli minna ja õppejõult järele uurida. Leppisin olukorraga, sest praeguseks tundub mulle, et hollandlaste puhul ei saagi kunagi milleski lõpuni kindel olla. Ikka peab võrrandis mõni tundmatu suurus olema, et kõiki põnevuses hoida. Vähemalt sain ma oma keeleõppe soovi ankeedile ühe sekretariaadi töötaja allkirja, mis tähendab mulle 300€ kokkuhoidu hollandi keele kursustel. Siiski ei ole ma veel päris kindel, kas ma ikka hakkan novembris keelt õppima, sest hollandlased ei oleks hollandlased, kui nad mulle midagi põnevat vahelduseks ei korraldaks.

PS. Teel koju tagasi põikasin korra Albert Heijn’i (siinne suurim toidupoodide kett) sisse ja avastasin täiesti ootamatult teiste mahlade vahelt guaavamahla! Ja nüüd ma mõtlen, et tegelikult võin ma neile hollandlastele kogu selle boheemluse ja kaose andestada, sest vähemalt mahlade suhtes on neil hea maitse!

PS2. Pildil on siis minu kool (jajah, see sama, mis asub geiklubi, coffeeshop'i ja bordelli vahel).

Of course my yesterday’s sufferings didn’t come to an end that fast, but finally thanks to Helen I managed to find a document on UvA’s webpage, that stated that I am indeed enrolled to two courses. Alright, as by that time I already had managed to share my emotions with Helen and Justin (and they weren’t much happier than I was), I was already almost done with my complete meltdown and figured that it’s almost solved. But surely there was a twist as today morning when I opened my mailbox, I found an e-mail from UvA telling me that the courses are in 2 groups. What the ...? Until that time I understood that I’ll have to go to the uni 3 days a week, but if this group-thing is true, I will have even less days of school. Suddenly I got a bit scared having way too much free time again as after my extralong vacation I would really like to be efficient for a change. Justin has a theory that in this case we need to write loads of essays and read a couple of books for every class. In this case you won’t hear me complaining that I am bored and I’ve got nothing to do!
As I anyway had to go to UvA to get a document for the Estonian Health Service Fund, I thought I should pay a visit to the secretariat. Maybe they suddenly have more answers when I’m standing there myself? But they didn’t as according to them, they have no way to check to what group I belong to and the only way for me to discover it, is just to go to the uni on Monday.
There was nothing left for me to do so I just thought to do as they suggested. It probably means that I just have to try to understand that if there are any Dutch people involved, then you just cannot be 100% sure in anything. Maybe they just need to have an unknown value in the equation to keep everyone on their toes. At least I managed to get my application for Dutch language classes signed, that means I will get a discount of €300. Nevertheless I am not completely sure if I will start with the language classes in November as the Dutch just wouldn’t be Dutch, if they wouldn’t try building some obstacles on my way.

PS. On my way home I decided to step by at Albert Heijn (a local foodstore chain) and I discovered quite accidentally that they are also selling guava juice! This of course changes the situation and I guess I can try forgiving all this caos and distress, as I have to admit – they do have a good taste when it comes to juices!

PS2. This building on the picture is my university (yes, the same that is located between a coffeeshop, a gayclub and a brothel).

Sellest, kuidas hollandlased mul juhtme kokku ajasid / A Story about how the Dutch managed to drive me crazy

Selle postituse jaoks pidin ma kõigepealt korralikult maha rahunema. Ilmselt oleks kaasa aidanud ka sajani lugemine, lõdvestavad joogaharjutused, vabastav hingamine ning kõik muud moodsad tehnikad, mis üldse välja on mõeldud. Ehk siis, oma tänast meeleolu on natuke raske selgitada – see oli kombinatsioon vihast, segadusest, üllatusest, hämmastusest ja veel umbes sajast erinevast emotsioonist. Vahepeal ajas natuke naerma ka, aga üldiselt olin ma lihtsalt üllatusest tumm. Kõlab huvitavalt, eks ole? Jaa, ma eeldan, et see on mu siinne esimene kultuurišokk. Aga alustame algusest.
Enne Amsterdami tulekut olin ma suhteliselt kindel, et hollandlased on umbes nagu sakslased. Ja sakslased on teadupärast suured korraarmastajad ja alati väga täpsed kõiges, mida nad teevad. Eks ma olen isegi kunagi ammu teinud nalja selle robotliku täpsuse üle, aga ausalt ka, ma annaks hetkel pool kuningriiki ja printsi valgel hobusel takkaotsa, kui ma leiaks mõned hollandlased, kes veidigi sakslaste moodi on! Igatahes olin ma kuulnud, et hollandlased on punktuaalsed ja et nad nad ei lepi kunagi kokku midagi ilma oma märkmikust ehk agendast järele vaatamata. See kõlab ju algatuseks hästi? Kui nad suudavad oma agenda korras hoida, siis peavad nad ju süsteemsed olema? Vale puha! Teoreetiliselt on muidugi olemas võimalus, et nende jaoks toimib kõik nagu kellavärk ja mina olen rumal, et sellisest vahvast süsteemist aru ei saa. Ja eks ta ajab ikka natuke marru, kui ei saa aru, eks?
Igatahes, täna oli meil siis lõpuks mingi teaduskonna ja hiljem ka kursuse infotund. Kõik oli selle hetkeni mulle veel suhteliselt ebaselge, kuid ma ei muretsenud eriti. Kindlasti annab European Studies’ infotund mulle piisavalt palju vajalikku infot. Õige?
Vale! Teaduskonna infotund seisnes selles, et meile näidati Powerpointi presentatsiooni kõikidest UvA veebisaitidest, kuhu me peaksime minema, et vajalik informatsioon üles leida. See, kuidas neid leida ja kust täpselt mida otsida jäi ebaselgeks. „Ah see meie leht on nii lihtne ja nii praktiline, et te leiate kõik ise üles,“ seletasid presenteerijad meile ja liikusid oma teemaga edasi. Kui meie informatiivne tund läbi sai, oli mul eelnevaga võrreldes lisandunud umbes sada küsimust. Ja mitte ükski neist ei olnud just eriti spetsiifiline, sest ma ei saanud absoluutselt millestki aru. Kuhu ma minema pean? Milliste paroolidega? Tuleb tunnistada, et mind lohutas teadmine, et ma polnud oma teadmatuses üksi. Mitte keegi teine ei saanud ka õnneks suurt midagi aru. Igatahes oli meil seejärel ette nähtud ka kursuse infotund. Hästi, see peaks ju olukorda veidi seletama? Jällegi vale! Meile oli esinema toodud meie programmi direktor ja kuigi ta oleks pidanud kõigest kõike teadma, ei olnud ta veebiteemaliste küsimustega eriti kursis. Tõsi, ta rääkis meile veidi magistritööst ja ilmselt võib neid teadmisi mingil hetkel siiski vaja minna.
Peale infotunde tulin ma koju ja lülitasin arvuti sisse, et veidi UvA kodulehel ringi vaadata ning loota, et äkki ilmuvad õiged lehed iseenesest minu ette. Miks ka mitte, vahel läheb ju õnneks? Umbes paar esimest tundi ei läinud mitte midagi õnneks ja ma ei jõudnud omadega mitte kuhugi. Puhtjuhuslikult ei aidanud see mu meeleolule just üleliia kaasa. Lõpuks, umbes siis, kui ma olin juba nõus alla andma, sattusin ma täiesti kogemata lehele, mis tutvustas mulle, millised kursused esimesel semestril plaanis on ja kus ning millal need toimuvad. Lõpp hea, kõik hea? Mitte päris, sest ma ei ole endiselt kindel, millistele kursustele mind registreeritud on. Nimelt pidi (ja rõhk sõnal pidi) ülikool esimesel semestril kõikide rahvusvaheliste üliõpilaste nimel ise kursustele registreerima. Selleks võeti minuga juulis ühendust ja küsiti, millist valikainet ma kahest võimalikust soovin. Valisin kursuse nimega The External Relations of the European Union (ehk siis Euroopa Liidu välissuhted) ja eeldasin, et sellega on korras. Päris oli. Mõne aja pärast sain ma e-maili, milles öeldi mulle, et tegelikult ma seda kursust ikka valida ei saa, aga et selle asemel registreeritakse mind mingile Oriendiga seotud kursusele. Okei, ma ei vaielnud vastu ja eeldasin, et nüüd on küll kõik korras. Päris oli! Kui ma täna oma metsikute rännakute kestel mingisse üliõpilaste intranetti jõudsin, teatas see mulle, et ma ei ole mitte ühelegi kursusele registreeritud.
Selle peale jooksis mu juhe kokku ja ma saatsin kooli sekretariaati kirja teatega, et ma ei saa enam absoluutselt aru kas ja kuhu ma registreeritud olen ja millal ma kuhugi minema pean. Las siis klaarivad seda omaette, sest õppemaks on mul juba makstud ja tore oleks, kui ma ka mõnest kursusest osa saaksin võtta.
Seega, kui keegi mulle veel kunagi väidab, et hollandlased armastavad korda ja nende elu on ilusasti ära struktureeritud, siis selle väite absoluutne mittepaikapidavus on mul omal nahal ära proovitud. Jaa, hollandlaste moto võiks olla umbes selline: kaos, segadus ja korralagedus – meie töö on siin tehtud!

I really had to calm down to write this post. I guess countring up to 100, relaxing yoga excercises, liberating breathing and all other modern techniques would have helped me a bit (but I didn’t use any of them). I guess it’s a bit hard to explain in what kind of mood I am today – it is a combination of anger, confusion, astonishment and about 100 different emotions more. At some point it also made me laugh (as it was so ridiculous), but mostly I was just gobsmacked. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Yes, I assume that’s my first Dutch culture shock, but lets start from the beginning.
Before coming to Amsterdam I was quite sure that the Dutch are more or less like the Germans. And it is well known that Germans love order and are always very punctual in everything they do. I have to admit, I myself have joked about this robotic strictness, but honestly, right now I would give half of a kingdom and a prince on a white horse if I could only find some Dutch who are even slightly like Germans! So, I had heard that the people here are punctual and that they never agree on a meeting before checking their agendas. That sounds good at first, doesn’t it? If they can manage their agendas, they must have a good system for everything? Wrong! I have to admit that theoretically there is always a possibility that everything works here like a well-oiled machine and it’s me who has a problem not getting that awesome system. And surely it makes you a bit mad if you don’t understand anything?
Anyway, today we had some informative events for our faculty and the course as well. Until that moment everything was fairly unclear for me but I didn’t worry much. Surely the event of European Studies will give me a lot of important information. Right?
Wrong! The faculty event consisted of a Powerpoint presentation that showed us all the UvA websites we should visit to get the important information. How to really find all that and where to look for was unclear. „Our webpage is sooo easy and practical. You will find everything yourself without any problems!“ told the women and moved on with the subject. As the first event was finished, I had about 100 more additional questions. And none of them was specific, because at this point I was completely in the dark. Where do I have to go? With which passwords? And where do I get those? Nevertheless, it was a bit of a relief that the others also didn’t understand much. After the faculty’s event we also had our course’s event. Alright, that should clear up some mess? Wrong again!
After those „informative“ classes I got home and switched on my computer to look around at the UvA page hoping that all the necessary information will just appear magically in front of me. Why not, you must have such luck sometimes? About the first couple of hours I didn’t have any kind of luck and I didn’t really get anywhere. It clearly didn’t help much with my mood. Finally, when I was already willing to give up, I ended quite accidentally on a page that introduced what kind of courses we’ll have on the first semester and where and when they’ll take place. All’s well that ends well? Hardly, as I am still not sure to which courses I am registered to as the UvA was supposed to (emphasis on the word „supposed to“) register all the international students on the first semester to the classes itself. To do that, they contacted me in July and asked me which of the 2 electives I would prefer. So I chose a course called The External Relations of the European Union and assumed that’s that. Sure it was! After a while they sent me another e-mail saying that actually I cannot take this course and they will register me to some Orient-course instead. Alright, I didn’t complain and presumed that must be it now. Sure it was! Today at some point I got to a studyweb during my wild research at the Internet and the page told me that I am not enrolled to any of the courses.
At this point I decided that enough is enough and sent an e-mail to the secretariat saying that I have absolutely no idea if and where I am registered to and where do I have to go when. So I’ll let them eat the soup they made, as I’ve already paid for the university and it would be cool if I could take some courses as well.
So, if anyone will try to tell me in the future that the Dutch love punctuality and their lives are very well structured, then I can say it’s wrong and I’ve seen how wrong it really is. And I guess the motto that would suit the Dutch the best could be something like: caos, disorder and distress – our work is done here.