The Netherlands

Howdy from the Netherlands! I have been here over a week now and so much has happened! I have so much in my head I need to dump in a disorganized fashion. Nobody ever said I was a writer:

• 10 shows down, 7 to go (no days off this whole time!)
  
• The show isn't as hard as I remember it being. All I want is to feel exhausted beyond belief again. Never thought I would long for that feeling. I think it's because they took out some old dances and put in some new ones, and they just aren't as strenuous.
  
• We are staying in Ede, Holland for the whole time. It is the most central town in Holland so we can drive to our venue each day (anywhere from 15 min- 2 and half hours) without having to move all of our stuff.
  
• I should be working on my last finals paper which is due today! Thus, the blog post.
• We went into Amsterdam today, to the Van Gogh museum, the Hard Rock Cafe, and a (prayer) walk through the Red Light district. It was actually heart-breaking...
• Anyhow, the audiences have been fantastic here! Full houses and standing ovations, and signing afterward. The new show is great. My favorite new number is the Swing. Yup, there is a swing number in the show now! Blue polka dot skirts and everything. It's so much fun!
  
• Although the new numbers have been great, I am learning a bit everyday, getting back into it is harder than I thought. I have made so many mistakes and has been a little bit frustrating. I missed my entrance for Lenister's Lord even though I had been standing there for like 10 min. I got distracted for a second and then watched my opposite walk on the other side. And then another night, I tripped over a light backwards and had a legs up in the air, most ungraceful fall you have ever seen. Bumping into people, faking steps, trying not to give it away with my face...Fortunately, these things happen more often than you would think, so it wasn't such a big deal. I guess things just arent going as smoothly as I would have hoped.
• As if dancing a show every night wasn't enough, I am hoping to busk (street preform) at the end of the week with some others for the craic :) Paris, Venice, then San Francisco.....Amsterdam just seems like a good additon to the experience.
• One day we were at breakfast in our hotel just doing what you do at breakfast, and our Dutch promoter overheard some other people around our age speaking in Dutch, like why arent those guys noticing us, asking for our autographs etc...they must be foriegn etc. because apparently they were the final few in the Dutch version of American Idol.
  
• Another day, somebody pulled over in a van to the side of the road and started talking (in Dutch of course) to Jack and I as we were taking a wander about the town. And then we asked him to repeat in English he said to Jack, "Are those really Uggs? (Jack was wearing uggs) For Real? Oh my God..." and then drove away. We giggled.
  
• Sean and I purchased sleds like the second day we were here only to realize shortly thereafter (which is common knowledge) that holland is very flat and there is no where to sled. Whoops.
  
• I never want to see a Ham and Kaas (cheese) sandwhich ever again. Just saying.

Alright alright, enough procrastinating. Time to kill this paper. And sorry for the fragmented nature of my thoughts. 10 days till Christmas!
Love,
Laura