Amsterdam flowers

On our last day in Amsterdam, we went out of the city again to visit some of my mom's friends from a long time ago when she used to live in the Netherlands. On the way there, we visited the Alsmeer flower market, where they sell millions of flowers every day by auction.

This is a huge building where they auction around 20 million flowers each day!

All the buyers sit in a room (there are several different rooms), and bid on the flowers for their suppliers.

The Dutch way of auctioning is to start the price high and go down from there. The buyers push a button at their table to buy the flowers, and the one who bids first at the highest price gets first pick.

The flowers are then lined up by buyer, and shipped off the same day in order to stay fresh.

Amsterdam museums

We also went to several museums/tours while we were in Amsterdam. Some places we could not take pictures, so there are only pictures of the outside.

The first was the Rijks Museum, which displayed some of Rembrant's paintings.

We also went to an exhibit that had digitally remastered all of Rembrant's paintings for one exhibit. It was interesting to see all of his works in one place. One of the things I found interesting to look at was his use of shadow and intense light and dark colors, which this remastered copy shows clearly.

The Stedelijk Museum was a modern art museum.

We also went to the Hermitage, where Van Gogh's paintings are currently located. Another place we visited was a canal house museum.

We also went on a canal tour. Notice all the bridges!

Amsterdam windmills

One day we went out of Amsterdam in order to see some currently working windmills. It was really neat to see all the things Dutch could do with just stones, wood, and one of their natural resources - wind!

We were able to go inside several different windmills - this one was crushing chalk.

on top of one

This windmill was rebuilt by hand in 2007, and is still working today.

They have made a market out of custom-size pieces of wood, and we got to see how the whole process works - from soaking the wood in the canal to sawing it into planks for sale.

Several in a row - a typical Dutch scene

Amsterdam food

I and my parents have safely returned to our respective countries, and I now have a little bit of time to post for the first time about my Spring Break trip to Amsterdam. The first installment is about one of the most important parts of any trip: food!

The first night, we went to an Indonesian restaurant, and had a rice dish with lots of different toppings (meats, spicy eggs, chips, etc). Indonesia was once a Dutch colony, so there are quite a few different Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam.

Another favorite thing we ate was called "Pannekoeken" which is a really big flat pancake with something cooked inside. This is my dad eating a pancake with bacon and pineapple for breakfast one morning - yum!

One last favorite was of course the "patat frites" or french fries with mayonnaise or some other topping. There were lots of small shops that sold these to passersby.

the last week

A few activities from this week: bowling, a baby shower, and dancing!

bowling with the Student Life team

thanks for the picture, Susie!

To collect money for presents for a baby shower, Vaida and I went around and asked the faculty/staff women for donations. I stuffed a pillow under my dress, and the sign read "Money for the baby, please?"
This picture is in Susie's office - thanks for the picture, Susie! :)

Once again, Susie the photographer snapped this shot of Alisha and I serving punch at the baby shower. (Behind is a stork and baby that Alisha painted).

All the ladies at the shower. Olena who is holding the stuffed duck on her lap, is a member of our Student Life team, and is due in late April.

On Thursday nights, I sometimes go with other faculty/staff friends to the Ethnoculture Center to learn and dance traditional Lithuanian dances. I had no idea anyone was taking pictures last night, but this morning I found one on Facebook of me!
(I'm in the red shirt on the left).

And last but not least, a picture of our beautiful Klaipeda port (taken from Facebook). I will be leaving in a few hours for Amsterdam - the next week is Spring Break! I will miss Klaipeda, but am also excited to get away for a while. And, my parents will also meet me in Amsterdam, and then they will come back to LCC with me! I will also not be posting over break, but be assured there will be lots of pictures when I return next Saturday! 

Pancakes

Right before mid-terms and finals, the RAs of each dorm make pancakes and/or coffee for their residents. Enns hosted our pancake night on Saturday evening, and we made probably about 300 pancakes! We had fun hanging out together, watching a futbol match online, and of course cooking pancakes.

Ira with a big tray of pancakes

Ausrius working hard

pouring was our preferred method

so many pancakes!!!

Kirill eating a big one!

Gaming

On Wednesday evening, one of my Student Life colleagues organized a faculty/staff vs. students game. The LCC Moose (basketball) team played futbol (soccer) and the LCC Kicks (futbol) team played basketball. Somehow, I was roped into playing in the futbol game! We actually had a lot of fun though!

trying to play defense

the three RDs afterwards... thanks for the picture, Susie!

I am pointing to my eye because I actually got hit with the ball right in the face! There was no bruise, but Susie helped me the next morning to put make-up on, and I walked around all day like that - some people thought it was real!