This past week I was lucky enough to catch two films! Dedicated readers will be use to my complaint that I haven't been seeing many movies, and I just so happened to see two of year's best (if you subscribe to the Oscar categories). A group of us went to see Slumdog Millionaire at a really old cinema in the city centre. I really enjoyed the film. While I think it might have been a bit over hyped, I thought the narrative frame was innovative and the acting superb. The other film I saw was Milk which solidified my appreciation of the work of both Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch. I thought the story was an honest and unapologetic look at the legendary figure. It's just too bad that it wasn't released before the Prop 8 vote in California.
Friday night we had a get together to welcome Jamal from Finland at Dev and Stu's place. To give some background, Dev and Stu have a two bedroom flat in one of the residences. They didn't request to live together, but it has proved to be a pretty hilarious coincidence for us in the program. Dev is from India and Stu is from England - cue the quirky sitcom music. It actually couldn't be more fitting for a cliche sitcom (something named "East meets West" for instance) since Dev is a natural clown, and Stu is more of a straight man. Seeing them cook together was a show in itself. We dined on fajitas, played some games as a bit of a throw back to Warwick, and then hit the town to show Jamal some of the Amsterdam spirit. I've said it before, but I realized again Friday night that we have a really fun group here. There hasn't been a bad night since landing in Amsterdam.
Saturday I treated myself to a sleep in before hitting up the library. The library on Valentine's Day, you say?? Well, the extra weekend work (I did a lot of it) was in preparation for Emily's arrival tonight. I wanted to clear all of my readings so that I wasn't burdened by academia while she's in town. I managed to get a draft of an assignment done that is due at the end of the month and make my way through two readings for Tuesday. I had grand plans of staying until 8 or 9 but the library closed at 6pm?! After checking the schedule, I realized the weekend hours are really short - something I miss from the Stauffer and Robarts days. Upon arrival back at home I was able to connect with a great many people back home - Mom, Dad, and Brother, Aunt and Uncle, Meg, Jess, and Erin - all of whom sent love from Canada. VDay really is about spreading the love.
Today I'm madly rushing to get everything done on my end before Emily gets here - I still have some school work to complete, grocery items to pick up, and a quick clean of the apartment to do. Also on my list is to capitalize on a lead I have on getting a bike in the city! They're actually quite expensive here (100 Euros+ for a used one), so I'm hoping that I can get my hands on this one. More on that in the next post. I'm especially excited about the party on Tuesday to celebrate Emily's birthday. The MAIPR group has heard a few stories of our escapades and I'm really excited for Em to meet the students I've been talking about these past few months. I will be meeting her at the bus station in six short hours!
Doc's Prescription of the Day: Spend some quality time with your wonderful families on Monday. I'm lucky that I'll be spending it with a member of my family of friends.
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