Well I’ve been here for nearly a week now, I finally cleaned/organized/decorated my room, and the sun is trying its best, in fits and starts, to shine. So this seems like the perfect time to give you all a tour of my sousterrain. Read on for excessive pictures of my living space!

Here are the extremely vertiginous stairs down to my hobbit-hole. (That’s right, I referenced Tolkein and used the word “vertiginous” in the same sentence. Who says I would never use my English degree??) I feel like I’m taking my life in my hands every time I go downstairs. For some reason stairs are like this everywhere in Amsterdam. Have you ever been to Anne Frank’s house? Beyond the whole “hiding from the Nazis” thing, those stairs are scary as hell! Is this a cultural thing? Do all Dutch people have tiny feet? Don’t they know that steep stairs make ladies infertile? (This, allegedly, is why all the original stairs at Smith are infuriatingly shallow.)

Anyway, once you descend this deathtrap, turn the corner and go down the hall, and

Oh hello! I didn’t see you there. Please, do come in.

This is my couch, and my closet, and all the pictures of the wonderful people in my life who I miss so dearly. Basically I live inside an Anthropologie ad! I didn’t think real houses looked like this.

Here you’ll see the desk/cabinet thing where I keep my books, and the chair where I keep my coat, and my lovely windows. Fun fact: that curtain is actually just a scarf that I closed in the window. Interior decorating for poor people! Yayyyy.

And while we’re by the window, let’s look at my view! I have a cute little fountain atrium thing outside my window. It’s nice.

This is my bed, where I have been spending a lot of my time, not going to lie. Jet lag man, it’s a bitch. Also pictured: some kind of ceremonial samurai fighting outfit kind of thing? I don’t know, these people are really into Asian shit.

And that brings us back to the door! Look at that stained glass, so classy. Also more Asian shit, and pictures of people I love. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the tour! Perhaps one day I’ll show you the rest of the house and the people I live with.