Warning: Things are Farther Than They Appear

In The Netherlands, if someone tells you that the place you are going is "quite a walk," expect to be walking for a few hours. That's a lesson we learned while walking to the catacombs in the city of Valkenburg (about 30 minutes by bus from Maastricht). 

On Friday and Saturday, we had our Maastricht University orientation. This consisted of a walking tour of Maastricht, a few meetings about rules and activities, and a walk to the various university buildings. Since Maastricht University is only 35 years old, its buildings are scattered all around town.

On Saturday, we visited the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Seeing all of those crosses in a row is overwhelming. The stories our tour guide told us were depressing, but it was still fascinating to hear about the history.

Afterward, we headed to Valkenburg aan de Geul to explore the city and visit the catacombs. It's such a cute little city, though it was heavily bombed during the war.

The catacombs were dark and humid. We had to use candles to walk around. This catacomb was just a replica of the ones in Rome [so no dead people!] but it did have some of the frescos that were in the original catacombs. While in the catacombs, the guide made us blow out our candles and walk around the tunnels for a few minutes. It really showed us how precious sight is, and how difficult it is to be blind. Our tour guide said that in order to be a tour guide, he was given two hours to navigate in the pitch black from the entrance to the exit of the catacombs. Definitely sounds unpleasant, especially since there are bats.

Chris and I in the catacombs 

In Valkenburg

When we got back, we planned our next weekend trip. We are going to Berlin for two days and Cologne for one day. We thought about going to Munich, but we decided it would be too far for our first trip. Everything looks so close on the map but some of it is definitely a long train ride. We are going in a group of 10. We started out as a group of five, and people kept joining. It should be entertaining with such a large group. At least it made hostels cheaper!

Last night, we went out for the first time in Maastricht. We headed to Highlander, a place where a lot of people hang out. More than half of the Maastricht group ended up showing up so we had a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. 

Today, we met up with some friends and went to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that is famous for fries. It was fairly cheap (5 euros for a meal and 2 for a drink) so it was nice!

Jonathan, Misbah, and I at lunch 

Tomorrow, we start our first day of classes at Maastricht University. I will try to post tomorrow to talk about what they're like. 

For now, goodnight friends and family. Love you all. 

Olga

Mind The Gap: Our Adventures in London

Hello friends, 

I am going to try to keep this as brief as I can since it is past midnight here in Maastricht. London was amazing. I loved navigating the tube, talking to Londoners, and exploring the beautiful architecture in the city.

Some highlights of our trip were:

1) Seeing Wicked! I have seen many musicals in my life, and this one was by far the best. The singing was phenomenal, and I absolutely loved the story. Plus, we had amazing seats that were originally 90 pounds. I could go on and on about how great this experience was.

2) Bath. I loved everything about the city. The Roman baths were so fascinating, the Bath Abbey was gorgeous, and we found a great patisserie for lunch! I could definitely live in Bath.

Chris at the Roman Baths

Me at the Roman Baths

3) Going to an organ concert at the Westminster Abbey. To be honest, we were all a little tired when we went to the concert and had to leave early so we wouldn't fall asleep, but it was still a lot of fun to attend a cultural event.

4) The jewelry at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was magnificent. I wouldn't mind having that collection! Haha.

5) The Twinings Store! I had so much fun looking at all of the tea and bought a ton to bring home with me.

6) The English countryside. I was never bored on the bus ride from London to Stonehenge and Bath because the English countryside is so beautiful. Here is a photo so you can get an idea:

Things that surprised me while in England:

1) I don't know if this is just a matter of timing, but we seemed to hear just as many people speaking French as English. I guess maybe a lot of people from France visit since it is so close?

2) How quick the tube is, especially compared to New York City. I love the London tube. It is so efficient.

3) Our amazing breakfast. Our hotel had a huge breakfast buffet, definitely the best I have ever had for free. It was glorious.

4) I LOVED fish and chips. This surprised me because I don't really like fish, French fries, or anything fried.

5) We actually had two beautiful days with no rain and blue skies while in London. The sun even came out while we were at Stonehenge, though it was raining by the time we got to Bath.

6) I learned that the city of London is only one square mile. Most of the famous sites are actually in Westminster.

Things I wasn't crazy about:

1) The London Eye. I guess maybe because everyone talked it out to be amazing. I just didn't think it was worth the money. The free 4D experience show that came with it was almost cooler than the actual ride.

2) Our hotel location. It wasn't anywhere near the big sites. Hence, I grew to love the tube.

3) Billy Elliot. This was the musical we all saw as a group. The little boy's dancing was amazing. That is just about the only good thing I can say. To give you an idea, the plot is that a little boy decides he prefers ballet to boxing.

Some quintessential London tourist pictures for our families to see:

At the Tower Bridge

Chris with the Tower Bridge

Us at Stonehenge. It was really neat to see it!

In front of Big Ben

Chris and Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Me in front of Westminster Abbey

We got back yesterday and had orientation most of the day today. I will try to write about it tomorrow when the rest of orientation is over. Other than that, we are planning our first weekend trip for next weekend. As of now, we are planning on going to Berlin with a stop in Cologne. 

Love, 

Olga

Note to Self: Learn Dutch

Hello friends,

I just woke up in the middle of the night to finish packing for London, but I wanted to write a quick note to say that Chris and I have made it to beautiful Maastricht after about 14 hours of travel.

Here are a few quick observations about Maastricht and The Netherlands from my first few hours here:

1) The Dutch language really loves double letters. Chris spent the bus on the way to Maastricht counting the number of road signs without double letters. There weren't that many.

2) The Dutch idea of a "short walk" and the American idea of a "short walk" is very different. I love to walk places so it is not a problem, but the experience of walking 10 minutes with bags full of groceries will definitely be interesting.

3) Speaking of grocery stores, we went on a "practical shopping tour" this afternoon, and the place we went to was kinda like an HEB and the dollar store meets the mall. It was huge with two super markets and lots of random stores. My friends who had been to Maastricht told me that you have to bag your own groceries and bring your own bags, (you can pay 22 euro cents per bag if you want one there) but it was still an interesting experience. You have to bag them really quickly since they are already checking out someone else while you are bagging.

4) When they said that The Netherlands has more bikes per capita than any other country in the world, they weren't kidding. There are bikes EVERYWHERE. I will take a few pictures of their bike racks so that y'all can get a better idea. Apparently, the cars stop for you as a pedestrian, but the bikes don't. [sounds a lot like Baylor.]

5) Speaking of cars, all the cars here are tiny, which is interesting because Dutch people, in general, are tall. Chris told me that The Netherlands has the tallest average height in the world. Gas is really expensive though so I am guessing the tiny cars get more miles per gallon.

6) There are signs everywhere that says "100% Bop. 0% Op." I tried to google it, and it looks like an anti-drinking campaign, possibly? Everything was in Dutch so I am not entirely sure.

7) Our dorms are nice. Way bigger than I expected, and there is a stovetop.

Outline of our day:

We arrived in Amsterdam at 8 in the morning and got on a bus to Maastricht. On the way there, we stopped at the Dutch equivalent of a rest stop restaurant, but it was a slightly different experience. The food was all set out, and you could just grab whatever you wanted and head to the cashier. The problem was that everything was in Dutch, and none of the food looked familiar. Chris stuck with a sandwich because he knew what it was. I got what I thought was a pecan strudel but actually turned out to be a very good meat pie.

When we arrived to Maastricht, we validated our EurRail passes, and then it was on to Teikyo. Our dorm is interesting because it is a combination of an emergency clinic and a dorm. The bottom level has doctors offices and patient rooms, and a separate wing has dorm rooms. After we got our rooms, we went on the practical shopping tour. Chris and I bought a few essentials to hold us over until we return from London. After shopping, we unpacked and then went to dinner, where we had potatoes and chicken, which was delicious.

I passed out after dinner, but Chris went to go get our internet set up. Apparently, if you think AirBear is bad, UniMaas is way more difficult because even with help, it took an hour to get our internet set up.

I already love Maastricht. Dutch people are so nice (and I love their accents when they speak English!) I love the architecture, and the weather today was wonderful.

I will post some photos of our home for the next three months once we are back from London.

Love from The Netherlands,
Olga

In Six Days, Europe is My Playground.

Six days.

In less than a week from today, I will be on a plane to Amsterdam.

I still don’t have much packed. Pretty much wishing my suitcases would pack themselves.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Baylor in Maastricht program, Maastricht is a city in the southern tip of the Netherlands, about 30 minutes from Belgium to the west and close to Germany to the east. Our program includes a EurRail pass, which allows for train travel around Europe. We only go to school from Feb. 7 to Mar. 31, with a weeklong break for Carnival. We also don’t have classes on Fridays so we can travel during our three-day weekends.

The pink dot is Maastricht, my future home for three months!

I can’t wait to explore Europe. I have been yearning to go back to Europe since I moved to the United States. I love everything about it — the public transportation, the slower pace of life, the absolutely gorgeous cities.

Everyone keeps asking me for a detailed itinerary for my trip. Truth is, I don’t really care. I just want to explore. I want to complete immerse myself in the culture. I know I want to go back to Switzerland. It was my favorite country that I have visited, and I still remember it clearly, even though the last time I was there, I was only six.

I know I want to see Paris, visit my aunt in Poland, visit Kim in Belgium and explore Italy. Other than that, who knows? For once in my life, I am extremely excited about not having plans. I can’t wait to make Europe my playground.  

Packing: How Much Does Your Life Weigh?

Every night after I come home, I step over the empty suitcase next to my bed.

It’s no secret that I hate to pack, even for vacation. I have moved 15 times in my life, and I hate the process of packing my entire life away in boxes.

Even though I am incredibly excited to study abroad, I am not excited about trying to pack up everything I need for 90 days.

When I talked to my mom about packing, she told me not to pack much. “No one in Europe will know if you bring three shirts or 50. Pack lightly.”

It got me thinking, how much stuff is too much? When I am backpacking through Europe, how much will weigh me down?

It made me think of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) in Up in the Air, who traveled with just his backpack.

Ryan Bingham: How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life... you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV... the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home... I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office... and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.

Ryan Bingham didn’t really believe in relationships; he said they weighed a person down. I hate to say this, but I used to get it. I used to not let anyone in because the more someone knows about you; the more you are weighed down. Like Ryan Bingham, I having been working on letting people in.

With that on my mind, I am still ignoring my packing.  I will probably ignore it until a week before we leave. But I really don’t think that it should matter.

Once this adventure is over, I know I won’t remember what outfit I was wearing when I visited Paris or Rome. What I will remember is what happened during this incredible experience, and most importantly, the people with whom I will be sharing the adventures. 

Hello World!

One of my new years resolutions is to write more so today, I started two (yes, two) new blogs. This is going to be my personal blog, and pinkvalise.blogspot.com is going to be my travel rating blog.

This year is full of changes: I am studying abroad in the Netherlands for my final semester of college, and my husband and I are moving to Dallas once we graduate from Baylor University.

This is for friends and relatives to keep up with Chris and me while we are in the Netherlands and beyond.

For those who don't know me, here are a few things to take into account if you decide to read on:

I was born in Siberia- in Yakutsk, also known as the coldest habitable city in the world. I also lived in Kaliningrad, Russia. Russia is a huge part of who I am.

I live in Waco, Texas. I grew up in Plano, also known as the places where the heat sometimes makes me feel like a puddle.

I absolutely love the Lakers. I have ever since I moved here. I talk about them. a lot. I also love other sports, mostly college football and college basketball. I root for the Baylor Bears, my university, which can get interesting sometimes.

To explain my blog name, my initials were OMG before I got married so now I am OMG with a Ball added. :)

My husband Christopher of a year and a half is entertaining. Once, he broke our window by falling out of our bed. Life is never boring with him around.

I absolutely love to travel. I speak French and Russian fluently. I love people and love to immerse myself in different cultures.

I love writing and photography. I am still learning about photography and am not very good, but I will probably post some of my travel pictures on here for people to see.

I leave for the Netherlands on January 21st and will be there for 90 days. Included in the trip is a EurRail pass so I absolutely can't wait to explore Europe.

This blog is to document my next adventure.

Love,
Olga