AMSTERDAM!

Guys guys. I love Amsterdam. I haven't even been her for a day, and I can already tell. Everyone is friendly and speaks English. The canals are twisty and full of adorable antique boats. Our hotel is cozy and comfortable. There are bikes everywhere. And all the natives and tall and beautiful.


We have a list of places to visit, places to eat, and places to shop. Everything sounds fantastic. I popped up this morning at 8AM (early by my standards) because I was so excited to start the day. The only problem is the rain, and that's not really a problem. It's just like home. Although if it stays this heavy I'll have to invest in an umbrella.

And I haven't even gotten to the best part. It seems that every time I come to Europe, I'm just in time for some amazing event that I didn't know was going on until I got there. This time, it turns out we got here a day before Amsterdam's Pride weekend starts. I'm so excited! I was sad that I missed my hometown Pride when I was in Korea. Now I'll have a chance to make it up in one of the partying-est cities in the world. By the way, they have a Pride parade here too. It's on the canals. In boats. This is going to be the BEST!

This is the hotel room.

This is the weather.

And this is me caving to pressure. One time, when we were navigating an airport, my mom got tired of nagging me to keep an eye on my bag and decided to prove her point. She quietly stole my wallet out of my purse. A few minutes later, after I had noticed and freaked right out, she gave it back with severe admonishments. I told this story to my friends, and they promptly made a game out of seeing how many things they could steal out of my bag before I noticed. I was forced to learn to wear it in front, and now it's practically second nature. So yeah, okay, you guys were right, and thanks for teaching me to make myself safer from pickpockets.