"Touchdown turnaround..."

Note: all times are Amsterdam Local Time (Seattle +9 hours), so while the time stamp tells you when I wrote the post in Amsterdam, it will not be posted until the corresponding time in Seattle (nine hours later)

Mimi, Katherine, Fiona and I flew out together on the 12:55p Northwest direct flight from Seattle to Amsterdam. Direct flights are always a double-edged sword: it's wonderful in that you're not traveling for quite as long, or dealing with potentially missing connections and being stranded, but at the same time, you're stuck on the same plane for 14+ hours with a very limited range of motion. We landed in Amsterdam at 07:18 local time (22:18 Seattle time), took the train to Amsterdam Centraal station (a 12 mile journey), bought our train tickets for our weekend in Paris and parted ways. Fiona took a second train to get to her dorm on Prinsengracht, overlooking a canal, and Mimi, Katherine and I took a taxi to our dorm, on Prins Hendrikkade, which was only about a mile from the station, but almost an insurmountable distance with our luggage.

The three dormitories on Prins Hendrikkade are composed of three buildings surrounding a courtyard: the C building, where our classrooms are located and two A buildings (A1-32 and A-33-75) where Mimi and Jessica are staying, and the A building where Katherine, Clint and I are staying. The C building are split-level apartments with a bathroom, kitchenette (including mini-fridge, sink and gas stovetop) and bedroom on the bottom, then a second bedroom in the smaller loft space above the kitchen and bathroom, overlooking the second bedroom and ten foot windows facing the courtyard. The A building is also composed of two-person apartments: a bedroom facing the courtyard (like mine and Katherine's) with blue marmoleum flooring and a bright blue railed-off door opening to the courtyard below, a kitchenette and bathroom, and a second bedroom in the back.

Katherine and I ran around for a bit, found Dam Square (but not the grocery store), came back, took a nap and met up with some of the group and went out for dinner, drinks and exploring. Dam Square is monumental and absolutely bustling! Because of Amsterdam's fluid reputation and the time of year, there are throngs of tourists in the area. Dam Square is filled with street performers, gawking tourists (complete with over-sized fluorescent Hawaiian shirts and cameras hanging from their necks) and no less than three McDonalds' (in addition to a Burger King and KFC) We wandered around the side streets and alleys around Dam Square, filled with little cafes, coffeeshops, kebab and felafel stands and of course, my favorite European culinary phenomenon: Chipsy King, a fastfood chain that specializes in french fries. Served in a paper cone and 8 different kinds of sauces including garlic mayo, thai peanut, red curry and of course, ketchup.