“I’ll take you to the coffeeshop”

When we arrived in the city our buses dropped us off at the Heineken experience. There were about 5 buses so you can imagine the herds of people getting off the buses. Amsterdam also has bike lanes because a lot of the residents choose to ride bikes everywhere rather then driving. I find this an awesome method and wish other cities would follow along. Everyone getting off the buses stood directly in the bike lanes and let me tell you, bikers on the trail do NOT stop. I’m sure multiple people got hit and or yelled at.

We began our hike to the hostel we were staying at. We continued to walk and I could tell people just wanted to get to their rooms and take showers. After an extremely and what we found to be an unnecessarily long walk we arrived at our hostel. Of course this trip was not in the best organized fashion and we stood outside in the cold

for another 45 minutes as the leaders were getting our passport numbers for the rooms. You know, because they couldn’t go ahead and get our numbers on the 14 hour bus ride. #dead

The next hour I don’t really remember due to my lack of concentration. I remember that we were in the dining area for forever and it took the leaders a while to distribute the keys. I kinda just wanted to bring my bag along as we walked around Amsterdam. I mean this was valuable time I could be spending site seeing! We finally got to our room and dropped our stuff off. Luckily I had a four person room with Kara, Keli, and Leah. I knew them all so I didn’t have to be worried about people stealing.

Naturally I was starving so we decided that we would do something historic and something fun on the first day. We all decided on just going ahead and doing the heineken experience. WE walked around and found a nice little “snack shop” and stopped there for food. Finally we headed over to the Heineken experience. I remembered this from my bestie Liz Wagstaff. She studied in Dublin over the summer and I remember hearing and seeing pictures from her Amsterdam trip. I was excited.

The tickets were 15 Euros. A bit pricey but I knew that this was something I wanted to do. We went in and of course it turned into picture land. We blew through the first parts

pretty quickly snapping photos. It was a really large brewery and museum. They even had a ride along the way. It turned you into beer. It was fun. Of course my favorite parts were at the end where we had a free sample with a funny guy. We also got wristbands that had two notches on it. You could trade them each for a beer or you could use both and learn how to pour your own pint. I am a guy, a thirsty guy so naturally I said screw the pouring I just want two beers. And that is what I did.

I dare say that were were all a bit tipsy. Just from two pints and a sample. But we were exhausted and tired so that did not help. It was now time to move on to other places. THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT!!!

If you have ever seen an Amsterdam map, it’s beautiful. It is also so hard to read. I think it was because we had in our minds our hotel at a different location then it was. Haha. Getting to the Red light district was easier said then done. We wanted to go to the RLD in order to go to an authentic coffee shop. ;) And please don’t look at me like that. I am in Amsterdam “pepsi” as the greater ones call it is perfectly legal and I am 21. :P

We finally got to one after walking into a few. Its not like any of us are that knowledgeable about buying “pepsi.” I took the lead and just went in and looked at the menu. The “pepsi” we decided to buy was entitled, “AK-47” Perfect right? I was also expecting things to be pre-rolled but thats not always the case. I had to roll my own “pepsi” in hopes of doing it right.

I was just smiling around at all the people. A lot of the people in there were in their 40s. They probably just got off work and came in to smoke a joint and relax. How amazing their lives must be. The bag of “pepsi” we bought was huge so i only rolled one. When we left I decided since I was the teacher back in the shop that I was not going to be the navigator. My head was not on right to read a map. I was only in the state of mind to put one leg in front of the other.

We got lost. The good part about getting lost, however was that we got lost in the RLD. haha. we did get to see the women in the windows and have a laugh about it. And I mean that it is really just a women in a black light window wearing a white bikini. oh my.

When we finally made it back to the hostel it was like 11pm. I know right we got back early but all of us were exhausted and (insert synonym for high) We crashed to prepare for another long day.

Sorry friends and family for this blunt blog. (get the pun??) Your little boy has grown up.

Neglected :/

Wow! Poor The Bryce is right. I have been neglecting this blog. I dont even know what happened. When I got back from Amsterdam I wrote about the bust rip there but then failed to continue my story. No worries, I will continue from here.....

"Oh my Lordy" It's the busride from Hell Amsterdam Day 1

So to be honest I had no clue when signing up for this trip that it would involve a 14 hour coach ride. yea....14 hours. I know some of you are probably like, “Well Bryce suck it up I was on a bus for 14 weeks”...and you know what? I don’t care.

Kara and I got super pumped up about the trip and were smart about packing. We packed lightly and headed to the pick up point which was the MMU student union. It was cold and we ran inside to get some snacks. I got 2 bars of healthy shit and 1.5 liters of water lol. I wanted to make sure since this was an overnight trip that I was properly hydrated.

The buses arrived there were SOOO many people waiting to get on the bus. The first bus was a double decker and here is a little sample of how it was like to get on it.....

yea it was pretty much exactly like that. I am not much for crowding and pushing so Kara, Leah, Kelly, and I all waited back to see if another bus was coming. I did fast counting in my head and knew that not all of these people could fit in the two buses that were outside getting ambushed by the hundreds of guys ready to smoke.

I was right. (Like always) Another bus pulled up, but we heard “party of four” out of the corner of our ears and of course Kara heard it and yelled “Right here!!!!” So the four of us got on the couch and found our seats. Leah and Kelly sat a couple rows behind us but we were just glad to all get seats.

They came around and checked our tickets, more like a quick glance. Soon we were off to Chesire campus to pick up some more students. I guess they saved some seats for them on purpose.

Kara and I looked around us and everyone, I mean everyone was drinking. Bottles of vodka were being passed around and beer cans were being opened and I finally remembered....’Oh yea, I forgot I was in England.” I mean any excuse to drink is used in this great country.

I was proud and fine with my 1.5 liter bottle of water. It tasted good and I knew that it would not leave me feeling like shit in the MANY hours to come. Not even two hours later, everyone on the bus was wasted. I mean screaming girls and guys screaming “oh my lordy.” It was a mess. I mean here we are driving to the cliffs of Dover in the middle of the night and everyone on this bus was wasted.

Also I should mention that on the way we stopped a million times. The smokers on the bus had to have that puff. It was quite annoying. All I wanted to do was sleep. Being Bryce is difficult though. It has always been hard for me to sleep on buses, trains, cars, anything really except for a bed. I have to be sprawled out and flat.

We got to Dover about 2:30am and mind you we had been on the bus since 6pm. We were supposed to board at like 3:15 or something so we waited on the bus a little bit longer.

Once we finally got off the bus and climbed the stairs we were settled on the ferry. It was 3:30am and naturally everyone headed to the bar. Kara and I felt like we were dying from hunger so we ran straight to the food court. It was weird because this was the same type of ferry that I took from Dover in 2008. It was exactly the same.

We waited in line and got our food. They were serving English breakfast. I wanted something else but I just needed food in my stomach. It came with scrambled eggs, toast, sausage...and I don’t know what else because I consumed it in about 14 seconds. (yes that is the exact amount of time)

After breakfast (which Leah and Kelly met up with us for) we decided to do a little exploring. We just went to the shops and such. We looked at the alcohol prices as well because we wanted to get something to pregame with before the bar crawl on Saturday night.

Looking around the boat you saw everyone passed out. The Rooms were filled with students laying on the floors and curled up next to each other in their chairs. We found a little table and sat down. I was in pain because I had inhaled my food and was bloated to the extreme. I felt like something was going to burst through my stomach and kill me. I even went to the shop to get medicine to help. I honestly just wanted sleep.

We tried to relax and bit and when we were just about to fall asleep, the announcer came us saying that we had already made it and it was time to get on our rides. Once on the bus everyone was exhausted. There was not much talking and I'm pretty sure everyone’s main goal was to sleep! Most people were now hungover. HA!

We road through France and Belgium before entering the Netherlands. I slept for about 2 hours or so but was very uncomfortable. Kara and I lent on each other and the window to try to get comfortable. It was not working. I was awake for most of the morning and got to see all the pretty countrysides and even all the windmills that we drove by.

We finally arrived in Amsterdam Friday morning about 11am. My eyes were wide open to take in the city. It was absolutely beautiful. Stunning. it would soon be time to get off the bus and explore. How lucky am I! Amsterdam for the weekend. Lets get it popping!

So I leave tonight......

Which will be a nice little break away from England. I am going to spend the weekend in Amsterdam. Check that off of my bucket list. :)

Everyone in my flat will be taking a bit of a break as well. Since coming back to Uni everyone has been partying a bit hard. Take last night for example. About 95% of the flat went out. We went to some club pretty close and all got on the guest list. I did not really feel like drinking and I was a bit moody but promised Jemma I would go out. (for various reasons ;) )

We started drinking here and I was lucky enough to get 2 bottles of wine for 5 pounds. Lucky is not the word. The wine was absolutely horrible and I had to add in apple juice to make it drinkable. I know I should have known i would be gross from the price but come on, I am on a budget here.

We got to the club and entered the wall to wall packed club. The music and atmosphere was good but I was still in a horrid mood. It was shoulder to shoulder and I do not deal well with that. I like to dance and have my room. I do not like to get shoved and poked as I walk around. I did get one drink there which was really cheap and walked around. It was a two level club and was really nice. I got lost a couple times and the drinks were just not doing me justice. About 2:30 I left and walked all the way back to all saints campus to go to Deaf institute. (a club i mentioned before)

People from the flat next to us were there. I met them and danced a bit. I soon left and just went to bed. I was tired enough and just needed rest. I should have stayed at the club though, because from all the stories and evidence in our hallway, it seemed to be quite a night.

Ellie ended up in the hospital because her and Mike fell down the stairs. Typical. I have fallen down plenty of stairs since I have been here. Kara as well. Ha! But she was so drunk that she started to breathy heavily outside. Someone called the ambulance and too her to the hospital. She ended up only having a sprained ankle. Thankfully she is fine.

When I woke up, however Ellie’s door was covered in food. I don’t know what it is but my flatmates have gotten into the habit of covering each others doors in food and other items. I mean there were beans and onions all over her door and it just smelled of trash. The kitchen as well was completely wrecked.

I love my flatmates to death, but this is a great time for me to get out for a couple days. It will give them the chance to realize how much the love me and will miss me. ;) Just kidding.

I am excited to go to Amsterdam. My first time to the Netherlands. :D I am sure it will be a great trip. Kara is going with me and I am sure we will not leave each other’s sides. I am excited to go to Anne Frank’s house and other things. I don’t think there is much to do in this city though. :P Maybe I will eat a banana out of a prostitute's vagina. HA. kidding again. just the thought of that makes me.......

.....yea one second. I need to throw up.

Just an Update.....

Yes I am still alive in well in the great city of Manchester! I am still having a blast but after the first two weeks here at MMU, things are starting to calm down just a bit. I am actually sitting on my bed at the moment reading a play for class tomorrow. I am being a good boy and reading before class. :)

The past week has been a bit crazy. I went out a couple times to new places including Factory, and 5th avenue. Factory turned out to be a great night. Most of my flat came out and half had a good night and the other didn’t. As for me, I got to drink and dance. Two of my favorite things.

Jemma and I. Start of the night. (double fisting it)

5th avenue was a complete disaster because only Jemma and I went out to celebrate Katie’s and Charlotte’s birthday. Jemma and I ended up getting way too drunk and because of my many years of practice, I was able to hold my own. As for Jemma, she was a completely different story. I literally had to drag her home. She would stop

walking every so often and just fall completely passed out on the sidewalks. This was not one of her best moments. I was getting upset because I do not like to see anyone like this. My number one concern was just getting her back to the flat safely and in her bed. After a good hour I finally managed to get her to the dorm and into her bed. I left her once on the stairs to go get her bed ready. It was a complete mess!

I should also mention that the fire extinguisher went off that night in our kitchen. It covered everything in the foam and ruined a lot of stuff. Our kitchen looked like the aftermath of 9/11. It looked as if it was covered in ash and gunk. When I heard the alarm go off I was in the flat beside us and ran into our flat. The exhaust filled the corridor with what looked like smoke. I seriously thought our flat was on fire. I grabbed Jemma’s hand and just told her it was time to go out. I just did want to deal with it.

Everything in the kitchen is now clean. Mainly because the cleaning lady came in this morning and threw EVERYTHING out on the counters away. If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that there was a lot of junk on the counters. Well it was all thrown out. Many people lost a lot of stuff. It sucked. Luckily I keep everything in my room so none of my things were thrown away.

Also, our freezer is broken. I know right, what else can go wrong?? Lots. We have two small freezers in our room to use while it is getting fixed. (wonderful!) Also my lock is broken. I can lock my room with the key but I cannot lock it whilst inside. I have reported it but if they don’t come today I’ll have to go back down tomorrow.

With all of this crazy happening, I am happy to report that I am still loving it! I have already made some great friends. I am glad to have met Kara and Caitlin on this trip as well. They are some terrific girls. :)

Lastly, I am going with Kara to AMSTERDAM this weekend. I am SOOO excited. You know there will be plenty of blog posts to cover that trip. It is going to be, whats the word?.......EPIC

Officially Official

That is all. ;)

Classes

It may come as a surprise to most of you, but I am here to take classes. I actually have three classes!! Shocker!

My Classes:

20th Century British and Irish Drama.

In this class we read british and Irish plays and discuss them. We analyze the stories and characters. What a great class! Right down my alley! I did theater in High School so I will defiantly enjoy reading British plays. I hope to do some comedy plays since the british humor is very different from American humor.

Reading and Writing Crime Stories

I was sold at the title. Who doesn’t love a great crime story!! In this class we will read crime stories and debate them. We will learn to strategize the stories and what is the basic style to writing a crime story. How interesting. I start this class this week so I will let you know how it actually goes. ;)

Novel Selves

This class will be a lot like my English classes at home. I did a ‘Intro to Narrative’ class. We will be reading novels and discussing them. WE will be reading Jane Austen to Charles Dickens. I am very excited about this class. I will have to read a novel a week but I feel like it will be worth it.

The best part of my timetable is that I have Mondays and Fridays off!! How amazing is that?? Perfect for traveling!! Any my classes are only one day a week for 3 hours. Amazing. I just need to get my life together so I can read and do the assignments.