Walking

Master city walker, this girl right here. I have been walking a minimum of 2 hours a day since I have been here. It takes me about 20 minutes to walk to HJS and 20 minutes back. Each day I try and take a slightly new route, adding one extra street. Today I walked around for some errands. I mailed back a huge bag worth of clothes back to Texas; turns out I packed way too much and needed to downsize. It cost a little extra dough, but I feel a huge weight off my shoulders (literally when it comes to traveling with a backpack!) Then I got an international calling card, only 20 euros on it, but it will be good for emergencies/if I make friends (which I haven't been too successful at yet, aside from my kind and cool flatmates). Whilest on this errand adventure I just kept walking and walking, taking corners, seeing new shops, churches, homes...I think I blend in, not looking too crazy or foreign, but on the inside I feel all fresh and excited.

On these walks I have discovered that Amsterdam has the coolest playgrounds EVER. A picture slideshow will soon be made a posted, revealing one of my favorite playscapes of all times. Kids here are lucky/awesome.

Martin Sonderkamp's class is fascinating and very challenging. He is very direct in pointing out out anatomy, and we are constantly grabbing deep into our sitbones and pushing thumbs into our trocanters and feeling the release and contraction of our hamstrings and deep-6's and all that jazz. It is nice to step back when training and just feel your own anatomy, and think "okay THAT'S is what I can't do this" and "maybe if I release here more, things will get easier." Very nice, very nice.