Travelin'

First of all, my roommate has finally arrived. Sadly, I don't know her name yet. She arrived while I was in Amsterdam, left, and came back with her family to unpack yesterday while I was in Leipzig. She was asleep by about 9:45PM and was gone when I woke up today. She just stepped in for a second, dumped her stuff on her bed, said, "Bis dann" and was off. Maybe this evening.
Anyway, I'm realizing that German move-ins are pretty similar to American move-ins. The parents come, and the kids bring way too much stuff. I thought it was a lot that my roommate brought a coffeemaker, a hot water maker, her own set of dishes (including pots and pans), a full-length mirror, a boombox, and a toaster. However, the girl next door brought a huge TV, a guitar, a lot of shelves and trunk-looking things, lamps, etc. I didn't see everything. It'd be even cooler if she had brought a microwave for the kitchen. We don't have that yet.

But you didn't come here to read that!
1) Amsterdam
I was really surprised that Amsterdam was amazing. I want to come back and live there someday. This was the first city in which I really, really enjoyed the museums.
First things first: I arrived at 5 am at the sketchy Amstel station then had to transfer to the even sketchier Centraal station (read: no seats anywhere and everything was wet). I soon got on the tram to my hostel...in pitch dark at 6:45am. The hostel people were super friendly. I was actually staying in a Christian hostel where all of the people working there are Christian, and no drugs or alcohol are allowed. That was a real comfort to me, just because I was a girl traveling alone. Also, the food was good, and I could go hang out in the "cafe" and read their books if I didn't want to wander the streets alone. I might like to come work there someday.
a) Sights
The Anne Frank Museum was my first stop. Really cool to be there. I bought a German "Tagebuch".
Next, I visited the Amsterdam Historical Museum. The stuff about the ancient days was boring, but the more modern exhibits were really fabulous. The last museum was the Resistance museum about WWII. The audio tour was really informative. The only creepy thing was that the lights when out during the tour. They were explaining how someone was shot and then darkness. Ssssketchy.
The next day, I visited the Rembrandt and van Gogh museums with an Australian girl I met at the hostel. Those were also pretty cool, even though I'm not that big on art.
b) Food
The milk was sweeter in the Netherlands. I tried herring, and it was actually not bad. Tabitha and I also tried some meat croquettes, which tasted like fried stuffing. Erm, I also found some spicy Indian food, which was excellent by Dresden standards. Also, not crowded at all.
c) Other
I really enjoyed going to church in Amsterdam, because much more normal and relaxed than here, where I'm always dreading church. Also, I bought some medicine and regular deoderant that is unheard of in these parts.

2) Leipzig
Only a few hours here. I went with my RA to visit her (and my) friend who studies there. First I saw the Stasi museum, which was, of course, intense. Next, I went to the Bach museum, but didn't see much, because it's closed until next year. Instead, I visited the Thomaskirche and Bach's grave (creepy). By that time, I was too lazy to look for anything else, so I just wandered into random shops, including a British shop that sold rice krispy treats, and found really good McDonald's cookies. My RA, her friend, and I ate at this Asian place. I was just happy for any type of noodles. Afterwards, I had really good Australian ice cream. Yum.