A letter from the brink

Yesterday morning, I was in an airport bar with Liz and a handful of my colleagues from law school. It turns out a lot of us were on the same flight. So, we spent a couple hours drinking overpriced beer, chasing dramamine with Gin & Tonics, and then got on the flight to Philly. I'll put the flight in summary: I don't sleep well surrounded by people, the flight was overnight, it was hellish. However, we made it to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam without any major malfunctions. There were six of us, which was a good thing: we managed to put together enough thought and coherence between all of us to navigate our way to buy train tickets, obtain Euros (that's money, for you folks playing the home game), get on a train, get off a train, find a taxi, get to the place where they handed us our keys, then make it to the dorm. I do not know why they didn't just hand out the keys at our dorm. Ours not to reason why.



By this time, I had not showered in nearly 24 hours, and I stank like Satan's shit. Here is a picture of my stuff on a train. I am not in the picture, but if I was you might be able to physically see the stench rising off of me. I have a good camera, it might have picked it up.
Anyway. I've made it in, I've unpacked. Here is a picture of the Dorm they put us in. It is nicknamed the Death Star. The exterior looks very rough up close. The common areas such as the lobby, etc., also all looked really rough and poorly maintained. The pod itself, though, with our kitchen, bath, dorms, etc, is very nice. In fact, it's probably the most welcoming dormitory I've ever stayed in. So, I cannot complain about my living conditions.

Okay. I have a phone. I am going to hand out the number for it, in case of emergencies or whatever. If you think you need my phone number: email me, or leave a comment with your email address in it that requests the phone number.

Watch This Space

Welcome, everyone. I'm Nathan Easton, known online as various variations of Wyzard. So, if you're looking for my blog, you're in the right place. If I've directed you here, you probably already know what this is about. But in case you don't, we'll review.

I'm a Law Student at Washburn University School of Law. I've just finished my first year, so I guess that makes me a 2L. I have a policy of never discussing grades with my colleagues, because I think it plays into some of the worst aspects of law school society. Some of them may end up reading this. For that reason, you won't see any discussion of those matters on here. Suffice to say I'm satisfied with my grades and class rank.

Now, on to the point: Because I am a glutton for punishment, I am taking summer classes. Because I also believe in squeezing the juice out of life, I have taken a truly formidable amount of student loans and decided to take those summer courses in Europe. I'm going to be gone for seven weeks. Six of those will be spent at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, taking courses in International Law. I will have weekends, which will most likely entail some degree of adventure. The seventh week is my own; I intend to vagabond around Europe, by myself, my only companions a laptop, camera, and such kindly wireless hotspots as may aid a weary traveller on the dusty trail. I will essentially be a techno-hobo.

And you all get to watch!

This blog will be periodically (hopefully every two to three days, more often during that last stretch) be updated with posts and pictures. That is, up until I'm murdered by gypsies (that last part's for my mom.)

Anyway: I fly out of Kansas City on Thursday morning. I arrive in Utrecht on Friday morning. Coverage will be intermittent at best. I probably won't be able to post pictures of the airports, since that's a swift way to get the TSA searching your body cavities, confiscating your toothpaste, and possibly waterboarding you.

Here is a picture of me, pre-gypsy-murder: