The Great Twenty One

The age-related wrap up
Final post

1, Carnival

For my 21st birthday at the start of June, I held a Brazilian Carnival soiree! A lot of my favourite faces were there, as were colourful headdresses, humorous speeches, and my Father slut-dropping in the kitchen.
#hannahkah2013

2, Antwerp and Brussels 

Nina and I took a trip to the delightful Belgium city of Antwerp to buy some thrift shop garments. This was then followed by another Belgium adventure to Brussels with Kimbo and Viv - drinking even more delicious beer and speaking French/Vlaams (hoidagbonjour). I enjoyed hoping across the lowlands.

 

3, I'm nearly 25!

Over the past year I have become well on the way to my 25 aim; drinking red wine, waking up to a daily coffee, and owning a range of herbs and spices. Three fundamental rituals and practises complete.

4, The Great Gatsby
Rob, the rents, and I, went to see what all the fuss was about and indulged in some Leo action earlier in the month. Thoughts: 20s were roaring and handsome, and American Dream is crap. The book was better.

5, Postcards From Far Away

Kendall Ganesh (TWB holla!) organised a mass 'I'm so glad you were born' poster to be sent to my house - all in the form of individual postcards, sent from destinations from various corners of Europe (see below). Unfortunately, some pieces of the puzzle were missing, but the mass collective of love was overwhelming nevertheless!

6, Bicycles

If I didn't have a month longer in Holland then I'd have severe lack-of-fiets issues. Mildred made me a bicycle cake for my birthday (monumental!), Nina gave me a cycling cup, and I've been treated to two biking cushions too. Thanks everybody!! Hannah Wheelan.

7(,) weeks until Brazil!
Hopefully the protests will've calmed down by August 12th.

8, Visitors (Book)

Huge shout out and thank you to all the wonderful people who have swung by Rotts over the past academic year. My final batch of faces were Lowden, Simone, and BK. As well as exploring Rotterdam, we managed to squeeze in a slice of Amsterdam sight-seeing, befriend some nice ducklings, and the weather remained perfect throughout their whole trip (so some roof-top breakfasting was endured too).

 

9, Interning

Next Monday's Hangover, the Amsterdam concept-events company, have taken me on interning for some coming weeks. They're great! Pretty nice lads who host some pretty nice events.

Check it: http://www.nextmondayshangover.nl/

10(,) millimetres of space

Due to my move to the costly capital, I've had to re-adjust my living space. From a luxurious chamber with a sink and closet.. to a shoebox bedroom. The door doesn't fully open, and you can't stand up in case your head hits the ceiling.

11(,) months in The Netherlands

A special mention to all those international characters I've come across and the beloved Dutch individuals that I've met over my time here. Bar the people and bicycles, attempting to learn the Dutch language has been a particular highlight of my exchange. And playing 'spot the hill' when sitting on the train. Holland is just great.

 

12, Vampire Weekend

Robert is coming in 5 days! There is a countdown!

We're going to listen to some nice music and its all very exciting.

Pannekoeken time

 

13, More great Dutch stuff

- Broodje aap (Monkey sandwich; used when referring to a made-up story)

- Helaas pindakaas (Unfortunately peanut butter; you'd say it if you missed the bus)

14(1b), Chambre de parties

Living in my beloved 'Party House' has unfortunately come to an end. The international bunch from Oudedijk 141b are all going their separate ways across the globe.

In remembrance: When You Live In The Party House

15, Goodbye Rotterdam!

WATCH ME
Thank you Ragna x

16, Hello Amsterslam!

Exchange may be over, but there was time for a cheeky slam in the

capital before the majority of my friends left the country.

Shots, lads. 

17, 'How to be an Amsterdamer'

Conquering Rotts (?) has led me to new aims, and I asked some guys at work how to become an Amsterdamer. Apparently I need to befriend someone with a boat. From what I've seen on the streets, I need to hang a fantastic leather handbag over my handlebars whilst I cycle too, as all the Dutch damers do that and they look superb.

18, Hashtag Dutch problems
Following on, another remark about 'being an Amsterdamer' was made from my boss - he stated that I needed to have my bicycle stolen to be a true local. Well, in quick succession from his comment, I arrived at Centraal Station with only remnants of my lock cut up on the floor and no bicycle to be seen.
I was only away from it for a couple of nights! Damn you 'Dam

19, What's up, pussycat?
On the bright side... The best thing about living in Amsterdam (probably) is my recently returned housemate. Pus has come back to Emmastraat after being missing for two months (sight seeing?)
and is certainly the best part about living here so far. 

 

20, July's festival loving

Due to its thousands of parks, Amsterdam is host to some nice outdoor events. Nabil (steel), Jake (Valencian King), and I will be attending Pitch festival when they pop over this coming weekend! Additionally, Next Monday's Hangover are co-hosting Buiten Westen, a electronic music groove that takes place on the 20th. Every weekend there is a different audio pageant!

21, Woo UK!
August will bring gang time, Whelans, Leeds Round 3!, and driving on the left. Although I'll be leaving a unforgettable year behind, there is all too much to look forward to back in beloved England.

 

Think I'll always love these bloody flat countries though,

tot volgende keer Nederland!

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Monday is Delft day.

 

 

 Some of the Erasmus lads and I have been venturing around the country again in order to become more immersed in the culture/make the most of our exchange yada yada. We decided to go sunnying about in Delft, a small town about twenty mins north of Rotterdam.

 

Sam, Laura, and I explored the places that Chevalier mentions in her novel 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' which provided a lot more purpose to our outing. This is what we found:

Grachten, street 'Oude Langendijk', the Market Square with a large title in the middle, the Oude Kerk

Admittedly, not all that much. The rest of the time that we weren't finding places that fiction's based upon, we were eating cheese, drinking coffee, and souvenir shopping for some Delftware china and postcards for my Nana Susan. We had a jolly afternoon seeing of Delft and learnt a little too. Next time it would be handy to pick up some more on the Dutch monarchy's history though, and Vermeer himself - but you've always got to leave something for when you come back.

 

How to be French (in 19 hours)

French culture is not only fantastic, but it is incredibly renowned. For cuisine alone, Franceland is home to several stereotypical delicacies which are delicious to munch. With foie gras in mind, amongst other great French stuff like curly moustaches, but only 19 hours in Paris... I attempted to become a Frenchy.

Here's how:

Wine
Lyon-living English pal Alex Drake and I had a hearty whine after seeing The Postal Service on Tuesday evening. As they were the purpose of our venture, their performance was in need of an analysis. They were awesome! However, I went on about their colour scheme a bit, and Drake wasn't best pleased with some of their song alterations. We had a slurp of beer and a catch up after the much needed deconstruction. With only being in Paris some mere hours at this point, and time being of the essence, discussing red/white regions and which-bottle-is-the-best just couldn't be fitted in. So complaining a little whilst in Paris was the only French whining we managed.

Parisians
There was no chance in such a short space of time I could become Parisian. However, Alex introduced me to his friend Solal - a Paris born and raised cool cat, who kindly accommodated the visit. Solal had a piano in his bedroom and had been to the opera on a revision break that afternoon. He was absolutely brilliant and the closest I have ever come to a true, true Frenchy. I can only hope his ways have echoed onto me after such a short time in his presence (je te remercie beaucoup de m'avoir recu chez toi).

Stripes
After a night's rest in Solal's beautiful apartment, Alex led us from the 9th arrondissement to the Jewish quarter of the city - Le Marais. This area is home to falafel and cheap thrift shops - of which had sections dedicated to striped attire (so great/French). We made some quick decisions, and Alex quickly bagged himself a Screech-like shirt (so great/90s), and I got myself a 10eur stripy jumper by lunch time.

Baguettes
After thrift shop purchases were made, Alex said au revoir and I headed towards Gare Du Nord. With only minutes to spare before my Thalys left the station, I stumbled across a boulangerie by Rambuteau metro. I chucked three baguettes in my bag and hopped along to the train (I did pay for them. Like our Parisian garments, they were also pretty cheap). My housemates were delighted by the foreign bread I insisted them eating that evening.

Although Paris was fleeting - it was by all means worthwhile. I have returned to The Netherlands rich in Franceness and am essentially Gaultier. Merci Alex, Solal, Gibbard, and Paris. And also the Thalys train for letting me bop along three countries in two hours or so. You're also tres magnifique. 'Til next time Pareeeeeee

Dutch May(hem)

Ooooh its May, and some Erasmus lads and I went to see some of the 7 million tulips Holland has to offer in its Spring season.

Keukenhof (the land of flowers) is based slightly north of Rotterdam, near a place called 'Lisse'. It was well worth the euro, and the sky was sunny for our Saturday afternoon talking about petals and gardens like our grandparents would.

Some more Dutch stuff happened in Utrecht, home to Leeds Uni exchanger Becky (hoi!), and her fun internationals house pals. It was Becky's birthday so we went all out and spent ten hours on a boat.

 

 

It was a mass hullabaloo of fun, and Ben Skez showed up to join in the congratulations of life which was additionally fantastic and not at all irksome. For Bex' 22nd we made a cracking list of 22 things beginning with 'B' that she had to involve in her day. Words included Brunch, Bubbles, and Breezeblocks (shout out Alt-J/Leeds), most of which were ticked off by the time I departed back to Rotts mid-way through the celebrations.

 

What the 'Dam! Rotterdame!

To keep up with the Dutch related month, I had a glorious snap with Rotterdamer Erasmus on my bicycle. A while back my Dutch housemate Nadine told me I'd successfully turned into a Rotterdame..

 

 

..mission accomplished?

QUEEN'S DAY

Beautiful skies, festival delights, slamming

This year, Dutch citizens went even crazier than usual to celebrate their Queen. Beatrix has decided to give the royalty thing a rest and announced her abdication from the throne earlier in the year. Thus, passing it on to her son, Willem-Alexander. As Will is a lad, a King now rules over Holland - for the first time in 122 years. Queen's Day is a huge celebration in The Netherlands, but with it being the very last.. the festivities were even more insane than usual.

Oranjebitter Rotterdam

 

 Nina, my Dutch gal pal, some of more of her gal pals, Mat and his Brazilian pal, Stefan the German, and I had a cracking time at Oranjebitter festival. Based at Rotts' Parklaan, it was full of 'Damers soaking up the beer and sun, frolicking about to some Rotterdam-based DJs, and sporting their orange attire. We all got absolutely slammed, and it was so much fun. There was a silent disco, a lot of bunting, and lots of green grass and sunshine. Nina wore a strange orange headdress for the entire day, that was probably my favourite part.

Nina and her headdress, orange shoes, festival-ing, reppin' the Leeds ends

 

Congrats Willem!

Valencia

Last weekend I visited my good friends Jake and Nick, who have been living the Valencian dream for the past eight months. The boys seemed well, and within moments of my arrival I was pleasantly taken aback by their impressive Spanish fluency. After hearing so much about their fellow Study Abroad pals, it was great to finally meet the faces that they'd been spending their exchange with too (shout out Douglas and Kiff).

Further delight was found on our bicycles (echte Nederlands), which is how we covered a large amount of ground over the weekend. I had a fantastic time using the Valenbisi (Val's 'Boris Bike' system), and getting an insight into the various areas of Spain's third largest metropolis - Carmen, Benimaclet, and the mesmerising 'City of Arts and Sciences' to name drop a few. I picked up some cool facts about Val through Soiree, and some nice Spanish words - he had a lot of ganas regarding the city (whey?).

We did thousands of fun, and equally bizarre, things - at one point Jack, Nick, and I were consuming two main course meals each whilst being surrounded by the Spanish elderly, all of which was fairly surreal/awesome. My favourite Val experience was 'Bodega Fila'/Bodegas Labrador though. This tapas bar was a typical Valencian joint which reminded me a lot of a stock exchange. There were a lot of people in a small space, all yelling about who-knows-what, in God-knows-which dialect, either fairly cheerily or with some hectic franticity (that isn't a word). After a hunt we got ourselves a couple of stools and a surface and joined in the mayhem. It all felt very Spanish and mental. Jake, Nick, Alex (who joined us for a hearty slam from Barcelona), Joe, and I, consumed a great deal of baguette, chorizo, and vino tinto which all cost us about a cent. Then we went on our way like a company of merry parrots!

Despite the weather, which sadly wasn't sunny delight, Valencia was a chuckle! As there were two pussycats on my flight back to A-Dam, and some Slovenian DJs sleeping on Jake's chintz sofas, I found the Spanish escapade a little alarming at times too. I wasn't the worst at Brain either, which was additionally highly surprising. 'Til next time España, cheers for these unexpected occurrences, good company, the delicioso café con leches.

Het begin van het einde

The fourth and final term has begun, and our exchange endings are on the horizon. In light of this, I have been keeping up to date with my course readings and trying to scribble down dozens of Dutch local phrases to blend in with the Hollanders for our final months.

Reflecting back on the past week, along side my mandatory studies, Rotterdam has been on top form! Rather than some wordy para, here are some pleasing snaps in no particular order;

Rotterslamming in Club BED, baked goods with Scottish Sam, back-seat-bicycling, mainly the roof, Kralingen lake with the Party House gals, English custard and similar treats, live music at Roodkapje, Mat, Nina, and the sublime Dutch sunlight during the evening hours.

 

 

What the 'Dam! @hanjwhelan - I've joined Twitter, and Portico Quartet retweeted me. Hooray! After this social media achievement, I thought it was appropriate to go to BIRD and say hello to them in person.

 

Next week cool haunt BIRD is putting on 'All Eyes On: Mr Scruff', an evening in which Manchester-living DJ Mr Scruff will be performing a couple of numbers. Hopefully Mat Guzzo will come along then and take some more pleasant pictures.