Weekend Number One- Part 1

Excerpt from Journal Entry 9/9/05-

EGMOND STAY OK HOSTEL, NORTHERN NETHERLANDS

Today has been amazing. It's our first weekend off to travel. I certainly am a traveler. I can't think of much that I love more than seeing new places and meeting new characters. Everything is so different, I can feel my brain just growing and growing.
I woke early, at 5:45 to prepare for our trip. I met Kady, Betsy, Khristopher, Rita and Courtney before the sun had risen over the courtyard of the castle.
I love these five people so much. They were the PREFECT group to spend my first weekend out with. We are passionate, content, excited, easy going, and just generally optimistic group. They were courteous of the other cultures we encountered, and thy are all so smart and SO FUNNY. I haven't laughed this hard and this consistently in way too long. I love them.
We caught the bus, barely in time, from our town, Well, to the city of Nijmegan. It's about an hour bus trip. The buses here are so clean and luxurious. Their town-to-town buses are nicer than grayhound, which doesn't say much unless you've ridden buses like the metro for town-to-town transportation. Also, there was absolutely NO GRAFFITI on any part of the bus. Shocking. We rode the bus with about 50 middle and elementary school students from the obscure sections of the Netherlands. I assume they were headed to the train station for school. Their sense of fashion and amounts of hair gel were astounding.
America needs to get on their bikes. There were parking lots bursting with silver bikes at every stop the bus made. It made me sad for my obese country. No wonder the dutch are so gorgeous, the bike EVERYWHERE!
We took the train from Nijmegen to Alkmaar, a city in which, after moments of arriving there, I could easily see myself raising my family. It is a town whose history is steeped in delicious Gouda cheese, and though the cheese markets had ended for the season the week before, we did get to visit the cheese museum for 2 euro 50 each. Not bad. It was comical and intriguing all at once.
We ate an amazing lunch in a small cafe, did some shopping in Alkmaar, which, along with being the cheese capital of holland, is the number 2 shopping city after Amsterdam. Something I find frustrating here is that all the men appear to be gay because the fashion of straight European men is equal to or greater than the fashion of most American gay men. I get confused.
We relaxed in the city, laughing, drinking coffee and chatting. I'm so happy here. I feel more relaxed in the Netherlands than I have in a very long time. I can breathe so easily here.
In the evening we went to a festival where all the restaurants in the city, or at least a lot of the, set up tents and gave out cheap, delicious foods from their restaurant. Last week my Creative Writing teacher said there was no good food in the Netherlands. I have not heard such an incorrect statement in a long time. This was some of the best food and drink I've ever had. (Palm beer is my favorite beer, the Belgians do it right).
I've almost come to the definite conclusion that I can't stay in America. We've got it all wrong. I thought I knew this before but I never fully realized i until I left my shadowed USA world with an open mind.
We took another bus to Egmond, where we are staying at a great hostel. Here's a funny anecdote in the form of a short scene:

(Liam and company approach counter, where Ross, the man behind the counter, is waiting.)
Liam: Spraktu engles?
Ross: Yep.
Liam: We have a reservation. Some of it should be under O'Connell.
Ross: Ok, let's see. I have Parker, Mulston and Hall in one room. That's three of the girls. Then I have the O'Connell party of two staying in one room...the other name under that is Flack.
Liam: And Carnahan?
Ross: Yes...Carnahan will be staying with...some strange men.

(scene)

No Joke! He actually said I would be staying with "strange men"! But luckily, after affirming that these strange men were not cute and gay, they moved us all into one room. No strange men for me!


That night the five of us sat at the bar in the hostel. We each had one beer and chatted with a middle aged comedian who has been biking across Europe for 4 months and been traveling for 18 years.
He helped me decide that I have to go somewhere, maybe a night or two in Barcelona, by myself. I have to meet lots of people and collect them for characters later on.
The night before we left we played a game of Manhunt on the castle grounds. Terrifying and SO MUCH fun! So very Hogwarts!
Being here makes me wonder why me and my fellow Americans are so anxious and scared. Why are we constantly in a hurry? We need to take a hint from our European ancestors, stop trying to take over, and just relax!

More soon about days 2 and 3 of my AMAZING weekend!