Getting ready to head to China!

Hi all!

I will be in Kunming (Yunnan region) from June 9 - July 23 to study public health and Chinese medicine. After that I'll be spending two days (July 23-25) in Hong Kong with family for shopping galore!

Switzerland

Tuesday 22 August 06:

0000 – arrive back at dorms

0200 – finally got to sleep

0530 – get up to cook

0615 – assemble on the bus to go to Schipol

0830 – plane leaves to Geneva, Switzerland ( - _-)zZ

1030 – train to Lausanne (~30min)

1130 – drop off bags at hostel

1200 – lunch with Kathy/Lacy at a boulangerie and wandering around Lake Geneva (plages! – aka beaches!)

1500 – back to the hostel to officially check in

1600 – grocery shopping with Aaron/Lacy/Kathy

1730 – cooking dinner at the hostel, eating in their garden

1900 – walk around the city center with Aaron/Kathy

Wednesday 23 August 06:

0000 – sleep -_-zZ

0800 – wake up, breakfast

0930 – leave with Engy/Rebecca/Lindsey/Demi/Lacy/Kathy to EASST Conference

1030 – register, found free internet

1200 – ate lunch outside

1300 – returned to the city center to go sight-seeing

1430 – return to EASST Conference to check out our sessionary room

1545 – first attended session

1800 – bus back to city center with Aaron/Lacy/Kathy

1830 – dinner (cheese fondue, crevettes, saulmon)

2100 – public singing with a band at the Notre-Dame Cathedral

2330 – finally make it back to the hostel, Julie gives us $$

Thursday 24 August 06:

0100 – finally go to sleep -_-zZ

0900 – wake up/breakfast

1000 – walk over to Olympic Museum

1230 – lunch at the Olympic Museum Restaurant

1330 – Notre-Dame Cathedral (bell tower tour, free organ concert)

1500 – shopping on the Rue de l’Ale

1645 – bus back to the conference

1745 – plenary on “queers”

2000 – dinner (take home pizza)

2200 – shower, finish up ppt

Friday 25 August 06:

0100 – sleep -_-zZ

0745 – wake up -_-zZ, make breakfast

0900 – train to Montreux,

0930 – bus to Chateau-de-Chillon

1000 – tour of Chateau-de-Chillon & the nearby beach

1230 – bus back to Montreux (flea market, mall, park)

1600 – train to Vevey (find antibiotic cream for Lacy)

1700 – train back to Lausanne

1800 – quick snack, help prepare for group BBQ

1930 – group BBQ =9

2200 – last minute run of our ppt >.<

1130 – sleep early for once -_-zZ

Saturday 26 Aug 06:

0620 – get up =_=

7000 – leave as group to conference

0830 – our session begins O_O

Latest Update

Tuesday 15 August 06:

0915 – Lacy wakes me up so we can make breakfast =_____=

0935 – late to class…but so was everybody else <(- _ - ;)

0945 – Lecture on youth culture – got the scoop on where’s the good clubs!

1130 – early lunch =9

1230 – took trams to Beijlmer – project on social housing/integration on communities

1630 – first time I tried Febo (fast food out of a vending machine) & satay fries

1700 – buy UvA sweatshirt! (so cheap – 16.50 €)

1750 – hangout at the courtyard, talk with Esmee, watch Tim make his duct tape gloves

1930 – cook dinner with Lacy and Aaron, more anime watching

2200 – planning for tomorrow meeting and research

Wednesday 16 August 06:

0900 – get up =__=

0930 – class session about youth culture

1300 – free lunch =9

1400 – group meeting with Clifford/Julie/Paul

1500 – research

1600 – visit the Hidden Catholic Church

1700 – visit the Niewe Kerk

1800 – focus group with Kathleen/Aaron

1945 – group dinner in an Indonesian restaurant

2200 – go to coffeeshop (others went to a sex show)

Thursday 17 August 06:

0030 – come home

0300 – go to sleep -_-zZ

0915 – get up =_=

0930 – class session about Dutch drug policy

1200 – free lunch =9

1400 – train to Utrecht with Shilpa

1545 – interview Guus, Diana at NIVEL

1830 – train back to Amsterdam

1915 – meet Engy/Aaron to go to concert at Concertgebouw

2015 – <3>

This was the highlight of my trip as of yet! The hall was a jaw-dropping sight to behold – ornate Western-style opera house with the name of composers about each entrance. We had great seats for a mere €7.50 where we sat direct middle and only 30-40 feet from the stage. The music sounded great with the hall’s superb acoustics although the symphony seemed a little disjointed in some passages (I can relate =/). The pianist was a prodigy <3>.^)

I was having fun seeing parallels of the concert to the previous soccer game:

• (according to …) the high-class vs. low class venue
• (audience) mostly old white couples vs. lots of drunken Brits
• (behavior) everyone remained in their own seats vs. crazy chaotic seat switching because of laziness
• (personnel) fully staffed, two suited ushers per entrance vs. few useless supervisors
• (venue) highlight of my trip! vs. relatively boring game
• (transportation) free relaxed ride on transit vs. hot uncomfortable crowded trains
• 
  

2315 – get back to the dorms

Friday 18 August 06:

0300 – get to sleep, finish looking at ppt. ( - _-)Q__

0830 – wake up =___=

0850 – meet Shilpa/Erika to go over ppt.

0930 – class presentations

1200 – last free lunch =9

1330 –free tour of Gassan’s Diamonds with Kathy/Lacy (it’s all about the Gassan 121 cut!)

1430 – free tour of Rembrandt’s house (demo of etching technique was cool)

1530 – general wander of central Amsterdam with shopping (we wandered into every central neighborhood)

1830 – cooking at my room

2000 – watching of anime, blogging, planning Utrecht day

Saturday 19 August 06:

0800 – wake up =__=

0830 – meet Kathy/Lacy/Clifford/ZT to walk to Central Station

0915 – train to Utrecht

1000 – arrive at Utrecht and find bike shop/map

1130 – went into Dom Kerk (no time to go up the tower)

1230 – biked around to find food (Turkish pizzas) while watching a protest occurring

1330 – biked around Oudegracht, shopping

1500 – ran through to Mechanical Music Museum, more shopping

1630 – kayaked through the canals

1800 – returned bike, return back to Amsterdam

1900 – cook dinner w/ Lacy, blog, watch anime

Sunday 20 August 06:

1000 – Lacy woke me up to cook breakfast

1130 – quick grocery trip to Albert Heijn

1300 – do laundry with Lacy

1500 – work on ppt presentation, wiki, podcast

1800 – cook dinner with Lacy

1900 – more research work, plan Lausanne trip, start packing

Monday 21 August 06:

0900 – wake up for presentations

0930 – presentation practice

1230 – lunch with Lacy

1330 – wandered around Jordaan and beyond with Lacy (We got lost…shhh O_o)

1800 – cooking dinner with Lacy

1900 – packing with Lacy

2100 – deliver luggage to Hilton with who? (make an educated guess…)

Lacy dressed crazy O_o

Lacy dressed crazy O_o
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Monday 14 Aug 2006

0300 – finally got to sleep
0815 – got up =_=
0900 – group bus to ‘the Cave’
1000 – cool ‘cave’ tour! O_O
1230 – bus back to dorms
1300 – yummy lunch =9
1400 – start group presentations (predict that we go to 1700)
1730 – real time we finished O(>.<)o
1800 – crazy grocery shopping with Shilpa, Lindsey at Albert Heijn
1830 – cooking dinner with Shilpa
2000 – planning what to do this week

3-day-weekend 10-13 August 2006

Friday 11 August 06:
0845 – got up to meet Kathy
915 – walked to Central Station
1015 – 15min train to Haarlem
1045 – bus to Franz Hal Museum
1230 – lunch at museum café
1400 – walk to Grotemarkt to clothes shop
1500 – snack at nearby café
1530 – went into Grotekerk
1645 – walked to Red-light district
1715 – walked to Haarlem central station
1730 – train back to Amsterdam
1815 – cook dinner, relax feet, plan tomorrow

Saturday 12 August 06:
0800 – got up to meet Kathy, Lacy
0830 – took tram 5 down to Museumplein
0900 – Audiotour of Rijksmuseum
1200 – Lunch with Kathy (Lacy left for interview)
1300 – Quick run through Van Gogh Museum (meet up with Lacy)
1500 – Quick run to Concertebouw
1530 – tram to flower market
1800 – too rainy so we bus back to dorms
1900 – buy groceries at Albert Heijn
1930 – cook quick dinner
2000 – failed attempt to eat another dinner (crocs!) with Trent et al.
2100 – watch anime with Kathy/Lacy

Sunday 13 August 06
1045 – got up late for once! ^_^
1130 – start cooking lunch with Lacy
1300 – wander to various flea markets
1430 – walked into Oudekerk
1600 – walked back to dorms to nap (Lacy had another interview)
1830 – dinner with Shilpa/Lacy
2000 – more anime watching
2200 – start working on research ppt.

Thursday 10 Aug 2006

0900 – got up but decided to skip class for research purposes
1015 – stopped by at HOED, they told me to come back later
1045 – stopped by SAG-GvK for first interview with assistant
1130 – took the bus back to dorms
1230 – cooked lunch with Lacy
1400 – took bus to HOED
1500 – 2nd interview with HOED assistants/doctor
1600 – walked through nearby flea market
1700 – bused back to dorms to nap
1830 – Kathy woke me up to start cooking dinner
2000 – spent rest of night planning for Haarlem trip

This is the first time anybody fro our group has succeeded in obtaining data! d(^_^)b

Wednesday 09 Aug 2006

0830 – got woken up by construction workers (couldn’t go back to sleep)
0900 – finally got up =___= zZ
0930 – Class session 7 – “Unfinished business”
1100 – Class session 8 – virtual cartography
1300 – free lunch
1400 – chat with Miriam about phoning hospitals/clinics/GP’s
1600 – walked to the Student Doctors facility…and inadvertently into the flower market
1800 – got back to the dorm to email further contacts
1915 – meet class for group dinner
2300 – dinner finished & initiate midnight stroll with Lacy (we were too full O_O)

Clinic 2

Clinic 2
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Clinic 1

Clinic 1
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Result of Forgeting my maps =/

Result of Forgeting my maps =/
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Lit Canals

Lit Canals
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Ominous Clouds, Peacefuly Scenery

Ominous Clouds, Peacefuly Scenery
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Nearby MaDonalds

Nearby MaDonalds
Originally uploaded by adnilebv912.

Tuesday 08 Aug 2006

0200 – finally go to sleep
0900 – get up for class =__=
0930 – class with Jan Visser on prostitution dynamics in Dutch society

I really like the idea of socially controlling the community especially when it comes to healthcare for the sex workers. It is true that if you enforce worker checkups, the ones that are the most vulnerable will not attend for the possibility of social stigmatism/loss of job. Therefore, it makes sense that if you make the healthcare available and accessible yet strictly voluntary, there is a higher chance that more of the same population will seek the care. I wonder how often they go to these checkups. =/

1215 – yummy free lunch ^.^
1300 – walk over to Prostitution Information Center for “tour”

Apparently it’s approximately twice a year that these girls go to the clinics to get checked. It would be interesting to see how hidden these clinics are from the community.

1530 – got a stadsdeelgids (not gemeentegids) T.T at Stadhuis
1630 – walked around the nearby flea market
1800 – bought groceries & cooked dinner with Lacy/Kathy

The Spar “convenient store” has food that just as cheap as the AH, but closer! ^_^

2045 – meet Trent for jazz gigue in Casablanca Bar

Here's a vid of a bass solo. The lighting was low so you can't really see anything, but it sounds good!