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This will be my final blog post of the year because I'm back home in Seattle! It feels really strange to be back, mostly because it seems so normal to be in this environment again, if that makes sense. I've only been back in the States for 3 days after being gone for 10 months, but the Netherlands already feels a million miles and years away. I know it's not a dream though because I have so many great memories of all my incredible experiences, and what's even better, I now have so many amazing friends that I am overwhelmingly thankful to have made.

I miss Utrecht, my friends, and my life there a lot, but I am so grateful to have had the experience of living life there for one absolutely unforgettable and life-changing year. I will never forget this or the many lessons I've learned. From Intro Week, to hitchhiking to Spain, to couchsurfing in Switzerland, to going to Efteling with my unit, to getting lost when biking to the castle outside Utrecht, to spending Christmas in Europe with my cousins, to learning to ski in the Alps, to turning 21 on a Greek island, to spending Easter in the south of France, to celebrating King's Day, to sailing in the Friesian lakes, to sitting on the beach on a Dutch island with Cassy, I'll always treasure these adventures and have so much happiness in remembering them.

And while these experiences were all super exciting, I think my favorite memories are still just all those quiet days in Utrecht, going to Janskerkhof for the flower market or walking through town along the Oudegracht and maybe stopping for some ice cream or a kroket. I miss that a lot already (everything...not just the kroketten), and most of all, I just miss being with everyone. Thank you to all my friends at UCU and beyond -- you were the most wonderful group of people to share my year abroad with, and in the end, you were what made it so special. I love you guys!!! <3

Last thing -- I had to write a reflection for my Honors Program after getting back, and I thought it captured my year well, so if you would like to read it, here it is! :)

My experience studying and living abroad in Utrecht was a thousand times more influential, more powerful, and more impactful on my growth as a student and individual than I would have ever imagined ten months ago. To begin with, the classes I took were exciting and new, and my learning was greatly enhanced by the fact that I lived in Europe. I found the art history courses I took to be very valuable and extremely fun, as we would frequently go on excursions to museums around the country, and within a half-hour train ride, we would get the chance to see the paintings we had been learning about just the day before. It was simply incredible. It was also a great experience to take Dutch language courses the whole year, as I was able to improve my language skills by simply going around town and speaking in Dutch while in supermarkets and small shops. My political science courses were also very insightful and helpful, and I found that I almost learned more from being in a classroom with students from twenty different countries than from the curriculum itself. Every comment offered up in discussions was so interesting because my classmate from Uruguay would have such a different view than my classmates from Greece and from the Netherlands, yet every opinion was valuable and relevant to the topic at hand. Simply living at UCU, in a community of students from all around the world, taught me just as much, if not more, than what I learned in the classroom. Interacting with and becoming friends with so many people of so many different cultures and backgrounds really helped me become more open-minded and easy-going, and I gained such a deeper understanding of the world. In less than one year, my idea of our world evolved from being a giant, incomprehensible place to a more comfortable and inviting community full of people I now know and love, especially after having traveled to thirteen different other countries during breaks and long weekends. Perhaps my favorite part about this experience though was fully immersing myself in the culture I lived in. Discovering that I love eating kroketten; finding it extremely "gezellig" to celebrate King's Day with my friends; spending Sunday afternoons walking along the canals of this beautiful medieval city; biking back with my friends from the nearby Albert Heijn while holding a crate of Heineken on the back of my bike -- these are the memories that I will miss most. While they are small and simple, they are the ones that truly made me realize not only that I am capable of being independent and of adapting to foreign environments, but also that I belong to a world much bigger than UW or Seattle or the US. I am a citizen of the world, and I exist as part of a larger framework and a wider network that are not limited by manmade borders. I no longer feel confined to my corner of the world, but rather inspired to explore every other corner and to experience different cultures, learn new languages, and meet and understand people who are more different than me and yet are also more similar than I would have ever thought. And while this adventure is coming to an end, I know that another one is waiting just around the corner...here's to the next one!

Granada, Spain

My final trip of the year was to Granada, Spain, to visit some old friends who used to go to my church with me in Spokane. They are a young couple with a little two-year-old son, and they are the most wonderful family ever! They are such generous and fun people, and I love every chance I get to hang out with them.

I got to the airport in Málaga on Monday afternoon and took a bus for about two hours to get to Granada. Javi and Christie met me there and brought me to walk around the city. It's a good size...not too big and not too small. It's a beautiful city, and it was so nice to be back in Spain.

Famous church...can't remember, but I think maaaybe the Granada Cathedral??

We decided that it would be nice to visit a teahouse, so we went to one owned by their friends. They were very nice, and before we could get our drinks, they invited us to go out for dinner with them. They had friends visiting as well, so besides me, there were three families with young kids. We went to get some tapas, and it was nice talking with them all.

Streets of Granada

After that, we split up, and Javi and Christie brought me to get more tapas at a lot of different places. It was really fun, and each place had a different atmosphere, so that was really nice. Things are really cheap in Granada (and in Spain in general, I think -- the economy isn't super great there right now), and tapas come free with your drink, which is like 2 euros. It's such a good deal...I loved it!

View of the Alhambra as we walked around the city

The next day, we woke up really early to go to the Alhambra. It's an amazing place. It's quite a large area and very well-preserved. I loved seeing the Islamic influence on the architecture and art; it reminded me a lot of the Aljafería in Zaragoza. Lots of geometric shapes and beautiful patterns. Interesting fact -- apparently their inscriptions usually either have to do with religious texts or with math.

Gardens in the Alhambra

On top of the Alhambra

After the Alhambra, we caught a bus back to Málaga, where we spent the whole day at the beach after going to a Brazilian steakhouse for lunch (unlimited meat...yum!!!!). It was super super hot, so we swam and played in the water a lot. The beach there was really nice! I also played in the sand with little Asher, and it was a lot of fun! For dinner, we ate outside, and I shared some delicious paella with Christie. I also love how they are very kid friendly in Spain. Asher couldn't decide what to eat at first, so the waiter personally accompanied him to the chef so that he could tell him in person what he wanted to eat. So cute! We then went to get some piña coladas and enjoyed our last night together outside -- even at night, it's still warm!

The next morning, I woke up super early to catch a cab to the airport. They woke up early to say goodbye to me, but I know it's not really goodbye because we'll see each other again someday somewhere! After all, we ran into each other at the British Museum in January accidentally...if that's not fate, I don't know what is, haha.

Hanging out on the Alhambra

Also, I forgot my phone charger this trip, and my phone had already died halfway through the first day in, so that's why I don't have many pictures!

Italy: Rome, Florence, & Venice

During the month of summer term, I didn't take any classes and instead just hung out in Utrecht instead and also took two trips. The first was a weeklong solo trip to Italy!

The first stop was Rome! I loved Rome and thought it was incredible how there were ruins everywhere you went. So much history in one place, and I can't believe people live there and just walk by ancient artifacts on the way to work! It kind of reminded me a bit of Athens since it's the same idea there. I had fun the first day seeing the Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel is here), the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain (unfortunately under renovation), Spanish Steps, the Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument, the Arch of Constantine, Trajan's Column, a church with the famous "Moses w/ Horns" in it, and much more!

Trajan's Column

Exciting selfie with the Arch of Constantine

Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument

It was suuuuuper hot and humid, so I was basically dying the whole day and took like a billion breaks, but I enjoyed it anyway. I had some gelato and had lots of fun!

I met this really nice girl from Mexico at my hostel, and we got along really well and talked for a long time. We then figured out we happened to have the exact itinerary for the next week, so we were very excited and planned to meet up in the other cities as well.

The next day, we left the hostel in the morning together to go to the Vatican once more to see St. Peter's Basilica and climb the dome (I was too late the day before). It was a very hot day again, and you have to cover up to get inside churches in Italy, so we were quite warm for the time that we pulled on our extra layers, but it was well worth it. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta inside the church, and the view from the dome was really nice.

St. Peter's Basilica...I'm in the Vatican!!!!!

View from the dome of the Basilica

We then split ways and went off to do our own sightseeing. I went to the Borghese Gallery and then to the Colosseum & the Roman Forum.

Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

I was exhausted and dying of heat after that, so I headed home around dinner time, and my friend Claudia was back as well. We took naps and then went out to find food. After making some instant noodles in the hostel (I somehow always eat instant noodles during my travels...cause it's cheap), we went out to grab a drink together. We walked for a long time, like an hour, from our hostel near the Termini Station all the way past the Pantheon and then further. But we found the nice spot we were looking for -- Campo de' Fiori! It was still very alive even though it was late at night, and we got some drinks and just enjoyed being on the square and being in that atmosphere. Some Italian guys got in a fight because one of them hit a tourist apparently, and then tons of those same guys just suddenly started crying...it was a very confusing but amusing scene.

On our way home after a fun night!

In the morning, I left really early to catch my train to Florence. The view from the train was beautiful. Florence was too! At first, I thought it was a bit overhyped when I got to the city, but after a day of exploring, I was convinced too that Florence is indeed an incredibly beautiful and enchanting city. I hung out there for two days with my unitmate Polly, who happened to be there at the same time as I was. I really enjoyed my time with her since we hadn't really actually gotten to spend that much time together in Utrecht. We saw and climbed the Duomo and the Campanile (sooo many steps for both of them...but the view was worth it in the end!), went inside the Baptistery of St. John and took pictures of the famous Ghiberti's Gates on its exterior wall, visited both the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia (with Michelangelo's David...it's HUGE and very impressive), took pictures with the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge with all these little shophouses on it), saw the Santa Croce Church (which has the tombs of many famous Italians inside, like Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli), and much more!

Duomo

View from the Campanile

Ponte Vecchio

We also tried some yummy pizza and pasta, and since it's cheaper to take away, we brought it to eat at this great little spot we found on this super expensive street (Via Tornabuoni).

Pizza!!!

We watched the sunset the second night, and it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. The sun was huge and round and orange, and it slowly set over the view of Florence with the Arno River and all the beautiful bridges passing over it. It was incredible!

Arno River

Polly and me

I also met another American girl in my hostel that night, and we took a night walk to the Piazzale Michelangelo on the other side of the river to see an amazing view of the entire city at night. It was beautiful, and we had a nice time together enjoying the view and listening to the music people were playing everywhere!

View of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo

I took the train to Venice on my fifth day in Italy, and it was the only day it rained. It wasn't that bad though, but everyone started pulling on their ponchos, haha. It was still warm and humid though, so I stayed in my shorts and t-shirt and just pulled on my sweater to have a hood. Venice was so pretty. I kind of thought all those pictures I'd seen of it were really edited and filtered, but they're not. It really looks like that. The water is really blue-green, and the entire city looks fake. There are gondolas everywhere (super expensive...like more than 100 euros per ride), and the whole city is kind of like a maze.

Gondolas

It's made up of a few islands, and there's canals and bridges EVERYWHERE. The streets are really just alleys, so you can't see anything but the houses and shops on either side of you, and when you reach the end of the street, there may or may not be a bridge or connecting street. Even if there's a bridge, sometimes there's no road when you cross it and it's just a dead end. It's so weird. It's the only city in Europe that I haven't been able to figure out navigation-wise. Usually, after the first day, I kind of have a sense of direction and can mostly walk around without a map, but in Venice, I'd get lost even with a map. It's crazy.

One of many many canals in Venice

The only public transportation are boats (because the streets are way too narrow for any form of transportation besides walking)! I lived on Guidecca, the little island to the south of the main island, so I took boats a lot. I rode it through the main canal too, and it was a nice way to see the city. I saw the Accademia there as well and lots of other famous stuff -- Piazza San Marco (and I went inside the Basilica di San Marco with Claudia), Rialto Bridge, and tons of other churches. It's not a huge city, but it's really nice to just wander around and enjoy the beautiful sights all around.

Grand Canal

Piazza San Marco

Streets of Venice

The first night, I was really hungry after getting back to my hostel, but I was on a pretty small island so there wasn't much open anymore that late. So I went to this little restaurant next to my hostel that was owned by Chinese people, and they spoke to me in Chinese. I talked to them throughout my whole meal, and at the end, they wouldn't even let me pay. They were really nice, and I enjoyed my time with them! I was supposed to meet up with Claudia for lunch the next day at a certain time and place, but before that time even came, we ran into each other!

Claudia and me!

I also ran into two Canadian guys who I'd met at my hostel in Florence there, and then I saw them like 2 or 3 more times that day, haha. It's always weird when you see a familiar face in a foreign country that you don't plan to see, but it's pretty cool! It makes you feel that the world is much smaller than you think! Claudia and I walked around all day together and found this incredible cheap take away pasta place for lunch. They make their pasta completely fresh, and we loved it so much we went back for dinner.

We then went to this park on one side of the island near the water, and it was so weird because it felt like Seattle or something, and we didn't expect those kinds of trees and plants in a place like Venice. It was really nice, and it was cool that if you looked just past the trees, you could see the water and you'd realize that you really were in Venice. We had a really nice talk and then we left to get some gelato! Right when we decided to get some, this crazy wind and rain started but just lasted for a little bit. Pretty much it ended right when we finished our gelato. Cool. But we still enjoyed it. I love the pistachio flavor! After our fun together, it was time for me to go to the airport, so Claudia brought me to my boat station, and we said our goodbyes. It was so nice to meet her and get to know her, and I hope I'll see her again someday!

Rainbow as I left the city

My trip to Italy was everything and more than I'd hoped for, and I had an incredible experience just simply being in Italy and taking in everything, as well as meeting so many wonderful people in my hostels and outside them too. I hope I can go back one day to see more of this beautiful country!

That One Time My Family Visited and We Went to Stockholm

My mom and brother Sam came to visit me just a few days after I got back from the sail trip, and we had the best week ever together! My brother documented the trip really well soooo here's a link to his blog -- read the full scoop here: http://samsonlim.blogspot.com/. I'll just do a quick summary.

Our first beers together!

I met Sam in the Schiphol airport on Wednesday, and we bussed into the city to explore Amsterdam a bit before my mom arrived. We walked around, had a kroket (I miss them already), got some beers, and just enjoyed being together for the first time in nine months. We then headed back to the airport to pick up our mom and then went to an Indonesian restaurant for her belated birthday dinner. It was a nice night of just walking around in the city and Vondelpark and taking pictures before we headed back to the hotel for some rest before we woke up early for our full day of touristy excitement. I had created an itinerary for the whole week, so we had to keep to our schedule, haha.

Cheese tasting

Thursday started with picking up some appelflappen (apple tarts) from a nearby bakery before going to line up for the Anne Frank House. It was super long line even though we got there half an hour before opening time. It was nice chatting with some Americans around us though while we waited for almost two hours. It was worth it though...the museum was very well set up and very powerful. After we left, we bussed to the Van Gogh Museum, which was also a very nice museum. We were quite quick at going through it in order to avoid museum fatigue (it's a real thing), but it was still very enjoyable. Next, we had some döners for lunch and then went to our third and final (and my favorite) museum -- the Rijksmuseum. This was like my fifth time there, but it was still just as good as every other time. Sam had fun seeing the Nightwatch in the beautiful Gallery of Honor, and then we continued walking around the city and enjoying everything and getting some dinner at a nice little cafe.

My favorite museum ever

The next day (Friday), we woke up early to catch our flight to Stockholm!!! We had close family friends there from Spokane, so we were excited to see them and stay with them. We spent about two days there with them, and they were the best hosts. It was so nice to see them again...it was really just the perfect trip! Things we did were:

• go on a boat ride to see some of the 30,000 islands Stockholm is comprised of
• eat a traditional Swedish meal of meatballs w/ lingonberry sauce and potatoes (like in Ikea...but yummier)
• visit the Vasa Museum, a museum about a ship that sank as it left the harbor a really really long time ago...it was a really cool museum, and the ship was humongous
• enjoy a bbq at our friends' house with other guests from Spokane that they were hosting
• explore the entire city with our friends
• have so much fun talking and laughing and simply enjoying being together again with our friends...miss them already! <3

On a smaller island of Stockholm

Market

Swedish meal

Vasa Museum

Gamla Stan (The Old Town)

Beautiful Stockholm 

Waiting for the bus on a very rainy day

Friends!!!

We left for Schiphol again on Sunday morning, and after arriving, we took the train straight to Utrecht. We dropped off their stuff at my unit, and we started walking into town. I always forget how long it takes to walk into town because I always bike, so we all suffered for quite a while from being super hungry...oops. But we eventually got some more döners and then saw all the main sights in the city. We walked through Janskerkhof & Neude Square, saw the Dom, walked along the Oudegracht, etc. I was their tour guide, and Sam says I am very thorough, as in perhaps a bit too thorough. I enjoyed my tour though...hope they did too, hahaha. It was a rainy day but still really nice to walk around. We (meaning Sam) made dinner at home.

Garden of Domkerk

My cute mom

My lame brother

Tea & appelbollen (literally "apple balls"...yum)

Some gourmet cooking in my high class kitchen

We went back out the next day to explore more! It was sunnier that day, and I took them off the main road to visit a windmill! Sam was excited about it, and we took lots of pictures. Utrecht is so beautiful, and we loved both walking around in the busier city center, as well as going around the smaller and quieter streets that were not in the city center. My mom and Sam both agreed with me that Utrecht is much lovelier to be in than Amsterdam. We explored the city more, going into the Dom and stuff, and then had lunch at a cute cafe on Neude that I had been before.

Windmill!!! So Dutch

One of my favorite spots in Utrecht

We had some yummy tostis (grilled cheese sandwiches) and soup and then went to the station to catch a train to the Hague!

Flags of the 12 different provinces of the Netherlands

It was my third time, and I enjoyed showing them the main sights: the Peace Palace, the Noordeinde Palace, the Binnenhof, etc. We saw the Girl with the Pearl Earring in the Mauritshuis and also did some quick shopping at Primark.

Peace Palace (houses the International Criminal Court, etc.)

"Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Jan Vermeer

After a fun day trip there, we went back to Utrecht to have dinner with Cassy at the pancake house on the Oudegracht (the canal). I was really happy they could meet! After dinner, we went to a bar that had been converted from a hidden church, but it was really full, so we just took a quick look inside and left.

Dinner at the pancake house along the Oudegracht with Cassy

The next morning, we woke up early, and we went to the airport together to send them off. I had such a fun time having them visit me and see where I'd been living for the last year!