I think I'm getting spring fever. I had so much energy today - I wanted to play a basketball game or play Ultimate Frisbee or do a buoy swim. But of course I couldn't do any of that, so I hopped on my bike and just rode... in the opposite direction from where I usually go, then made sort of a really big semicircle and went back through that new neighborhood where Lotte and I got lost with the car last time (LOL) and kept on going... I decided (just randomly) that I wanted to ride to Bilthoven, but I think my mental map of all those little towns around Utrecht is still a little off. I know that Overvecht is to the north, Zeist to the east, and Bilthoven in between, but I thought Hilversum was to the south and I was wrong; it's north. So I didn't follow the right signs and I ended up in Maarssen and Oud-Zuilen. But oh well, I rode down some pretty little avenues with trees lining the sides and even passed a couple of windmills.

Anyway, that bike ride lasted a total of three hours. I got a bit lost when I started trying to come back; I knew I would run into more signs sooner or later and be able to get my bearings, but my thighs were really getting tired. They weren't sore, and still aren't - my legs are majorly strong and can handle pretty much anything I throw at them - but I could just hear them quietly saying, "Okay, Jess, we've had about enough now." I can still feel a trace of that feeling, but at least I had a good workout. And on Sunday I'll be in Emmen again and I get to go swimming! Yay! Haven't done that for a long time, not since Tristan and David and I went to Duinrell back in January...

Anyway, so I haven't really been hungry all day. I had cereal and orange juice this morning (around 11.30 or 12; I got up late) and then went on my bike ride and came back and was sort of shaky from low blood sugar, but I didn't feel like 'really' eating, so I had some crackers with herb cream cheese, some M&Ms, and milk. Usually when I exercise I lose my appetite for an hour or two afterward and then I get ravenous, but that didn't happen today. But then I was chatting with Martin around 21.00 and collapsed into helpless giggles at an inadvertent pun in a completely normal comment he made ("ik heb [mijn gsm] verzekerd voor de zekerheid") and decided I was getting loopy and needed something whether my stomach knew it or not. So I fell back on an old trick of Mom's, tomato soup with melted cheese, and then ate some more chocolate - too much, actually, but I was watching American Beauty and not paying attention - to top it off... but oh well, I burned enough calories to be able to splurge, I guess.

So, the point is, absolutely no homework got done today. But I guess that doesn't matter. Yesterday was my last class - I have an exam on Monday for Dutch Present-Day Society and I have two translations to finish (those two translations are our exam), and I have to write one last essay for DPDS too, but I'm totally done with going to class, at least until block 4 starts. Yesterday was actually a fun class - we all brought our 'objects' that represented our views of Dutch society, so there was a lot of laughter. (A sample: high heels, a brick, Nutella, and a bicycle key.) And I got my highest score ever on one of the assignments, an 8. For those who don't know, the Dutch system is one through 10, and there's a joke that "8 is for really good students, 9 is for teachers, and 10 is for God." And Emmeline is a tough grader, but she liked my last assignment, even gave me a bonus point. Uh, maybe because it was the only interesting chapter in the entire book, which did not drone on about pillarization and policy management and blah blah blah. The information in the book is good but it needs to be better organized - the 'chunks' are far too large even for me and I'm a native English speaker! (75% of the students have other first languages.) We got to critique the book and advise whether or not to use it again, and everybody agreed with me when I made that point.

Anyway, I'm rambling. But tomorrow's going to be a homework day, and Friday too, and then Saturday afternoon I'm going to Emmen... and I'm taking my laptop along, because Martin has wireless internet at home so I can finally have WORKING internet... and he of course has a working printer too, so I can print out all these assignments that I'm going to get done in the next two days. LOL. So, working plan: translations tomorrow (and a trip to the grocery store), essay Friday, and studying for the exam on Saturday before I go (and in the trains if I'm feeling highly motivated), plus Monday before I go to class.

Sound good? Yeah, sounds good.

I get to swim on Sunday! I am way more excited about that than I should be... but it's been so long... and I really feel like exercising and playing sports now. In the winter I felt so sluggish and sleepy all the time but the past week or so I've just gotten more and more 'perky'. I am so joining a basketball league once I get home... there must be one on campus somewhere, even if I have to pretend to believe in God in order to join it, LOL! :)

And it is officially Thursday now, so only 8 days left till Spain. And yes, I've already got everything packed, at least all the things I don't need to use again before I leave. You guys know me; I love to pack and hate to unpack.

Okay, going to read for a while and then go to sleep. Ahhh, the joy of not having class! I like being busy, but I've had class every single day this block and so it's nice to have a break. In block 4 I'll have every Wednesday and Thursday free. Woohoo! (But murderous Tuesdays... oh well... there has to be a tradeoff, I guess.)

Hmm, I just figured out where Scott's been all day - at the Oranje game. He just signed on and his name, which he obviously set before he left, says "op weg naar Oranje". I thought he was in Paris again or something.

By the way, American Beauty is really a disturbing movie. Download it if you haven't seen it.

Welterusten allemaal!