up to date wit me

not much has been happening. i've done my work. by the end of the week i should be up to date. i think next weekend i'll go to germany, so i have to have all my work done by then. i've got 6 weeks left of class, and then i'm done. on saturday i went to rotterdam to see an exhibition at the nederlands architecture institute, the we went and saw Babel, with dutch subtitles over the parts in japanese and moroccan and spanish. it was interesting to see how much i could read, about 20% if i was lucky, nothing if i wasn't. the train trip to rotterdam really sucked. it was supposed to be only 45 mionutes but it took 2 1/2 hours, because someone pulled the emergency brake and the train couldn't start again. on the way back we caught the nacht trein, which travels via leiden, den hag, amsterdam and schipol, so that takes 3 hours as well. on monday i went all the way to amsterdam to see shearwater, but i forgot how punctual the dutch are with their start times, and i missed half the show. it really sucks how everything starts so early here. i'm going tyo a birthday party today, and it starts at 6 in the evening. i've got a ton of work to do for tommorrowe, and i have a feeling that i'm gonna struggle to get it done. she's going to cook for the whole class. sometimes i forget how weird this country can be. i'm starting to get thye hang of going to classes every day again, but i surely don't like it.

my advice for people going on exchange, pick a university that conducts classes specifically for international students, aopparently some universities in france do for industrial design. i makes it a lot easier, and honestly, you get a lot more out of it. i find that, even though i came all the way here to experience the nederlands, i find that i have a lot more in common with all the other exchange students who chose to come here like me, then with the students here, who are not as similar to me, that's how i validate the fact that i don't integrate very well, although i'm starting to feel like if i stayed another six months i might fit in. but i don't want to, because HKU is not a great school, i much prefer RMIT, the facilities are so much better. the week before i went to eindhoven and saw the graduate exhibition for DEsign Academy at the dutch design week. that's the standard of work i am going to aim for next year. i believe i'm capable of it, and now i know what one of the best schools in the world produces, i feel that i can really steer myself in the right direction, that's what i came here for, after all.

ardiers!