14 Days / 2 Weeks

I just can't decide which sounds shorter: 14 days or 2 weeks.... I actaully think it are the 14 days that sound shorter (to me of course, I don't know about you).
Tomorrow it will be only 13 more days and it sounds like a century shorter than 14 days! (notice the hyperbole?)

Today was quite a short day: re-examination, 2 hours of class (and during one of these hours I received my insurance card - school arranges an insurance for us during this work experience ^^) and then I had to go to Leiden to receive my certificate for the LAPP-top program Russian Studies, and after I came home I sat behind my laptop and ordered my Oyster Card!

Okay, to begin with: I'm really starting to dislike paying over the internet to British/American countries! They're so obsessed with creditcards!
At first I tried to order my Oyster Card via the official website, and it said you could pay with a Maestro card, so I was really happy "Yay, finally no creditcard!". But then the website claimed my card number was invalid, so I called my bank's customer service (thank you by the way for enlighting me!) and the guy on the phone said there's also a credit card version of a Maestro card and that that's the card they probably accept. "Yay! I can't pay on this website!"
Seriously, why are they so into credit cards? They're no good: what makes people think that if they can't buy something now, they later might have the money to pay it? So they get a credit card and pay back the credit later. If you don't have the money, just don't buy it or do it later!

Well, after the credit-card flop, Google quickly had ours paths cross with that of http://www.visitbritain.com/nl/NL/. Thankfully here they also offered Oyster cards ánd it was possible to pay with iDEAL ("Yay for visitbritain.com.nl!").
So I ordered my card and that's where the Oyster story ends! I really wonder how they thought that name up... "Oyster" card... What does it stand for? Guess Google will tell me someday.

Besides that, my dad also rang to Scotland, to the Student Accomodation something of Stirling uni, to be precise.
You see, we received information about accomodation from the person in Stirling organizing our visit there and it turned out it was possible to stay overnight in a student dorm! Great, right? We figured we'd do that, because it would be an amazing experience!
So as I said, my dad called to arrange it this morning, but then he was told he couldn't stay there, because he is not a possible applicant.

Which leaves me in a dillemma, there are two options:
- My dad and I stay in a B&B
- I stay in a student dorm and my dad stays in a B&B

I really do not know what to decide. I'd love to experience what it's like to sleep in such a student dorm, but it also feels so stupid to go on a trip with my dad and then stay in separate places.
My mom says that maybe I should just go for the student dorm, because who knows whether I'll even end up studying there?

What would you do? Because I really can't make up my mind and we have to decide soon. Preferably tomorrow....

I'll keep you posted,

20 days!

Yes, you read it right: only 20 more days until take-off! So far time has been flying by and on the 10th of May I'll be doing the same!

I thought it was about time to give you another update on the process so far, so here it is!

Tonight my dad had a Skype-conversation with Amanda (Tom is currently in Toronto so he wasn't available) to talk things through about when we would be arriving in London, and so on, and so on. I don't exactly know what else they discussed.
At some point they had me come into the room as well to join the conversation because Amanda wanted to know what I usually eat for breakfast.
She actually turned out nicer than I had anticipated (in the emails she was a bit... short of words is perhaps the way to put it). So that's good!
Amanda and Tom would like us to bring a 'good-sized chunk' (I think that's how she said it :P) of Old Amsterdam (which is a cheese). Apparently it is possible to carry cheese with you for two-three days without refrigerating it. This remains a riddle to me, but if my dad says it's possible I'll just believe him (a girl's got to be able to believe her dad, right?).
But, considering I'm from the cheese-country ánd they want us to bring cheese with us, I bought this goodie for them that I found the other day. Matches the Dutch cheese, don't you think?

Think they'll appreciate it?
Well, either way, I do think it's fun to give and it looks nice (and Dutch :P).

So after the talk with Amanda our plans regarding our ROADTRIP have changed a little bit. This is what our three days will probably be like:
- Thursday 10 May: arrive at Edingburgh airport, rent a car, drive to Dundee, visit uni, take a stroll through the city, drive to Stirling to sleep at an accommodation at the campus of the uni!
- Friday 11 May: wake up lazily and take a stroll through the city, back to the uni for the tour/visit, grab things and start driving in our rental and off to London! on our way to London, we'll probably spend the night in York (my dad says it's a great and very picturesque city, and as I mentioned before, I'll just believe him if he says so).
- Saturday 12 May: continue our ROADTRIP to London, drop off the car, do something, get to Tom and Amanda, chill and relax and then in the evening my dad'll have to go back into the city to catch a plane.

So. That'll be three crazy fun days.
Our initial plan was to start driving towards London on Satuday and arrive on Sunday, but Tom won't be there that weekend and Amanda is busy that Sunday so they'd rather have us come on Saturday. Which is fine too. Means I'll have an extra day in London! Maybe I'll meet Vera so we can buy a birthday-present for Charissa (:

I don't think there's much else left to say, so in that case:

I'll keep you posted,