The New Inbounds

Hey all. I guess I told a little lie because I said that I would update again soon on my last post, but as you can see almost a month has gone buy since my last update. Anyway, I was able to meet the other exchange students that just arrived several weeks ago. They are from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and New Zealand. From what I could tell, they are a good group and I know that we are all going to have a lot of fun together. I think most of the fun, however, will be on the Europe tour in June. My exchange has officially passed the halfway point and I still can't believe it. I don't want to leave this place, but I have to. I am falling in love with this place more and more everyday. The Netherlands is one of the most beautiful places on earth in my eyes. The people are outgoing, it is rich in history, and the country is beautiful. I am sure you have all heard this before, but I feel like I can't say it enough. I really hope I don't forget this experience in the future. All I have been doing is blogging, and as you can see I don't really blog that often. I think I either need to start blogging more or begin writing in my journal again. This experience has changed me in ways that I never even thought would be possible, but I guess I was wrong. I used to be really shy and not very outgoing and now I am still shy but not too much and I think I am a much more outgoing person. I act crazy around our basketball team. If you were there at the practices you would probably notice right away. I am always smiling and messing around, but I am serious at the same time. We all get along really well, just like the rest of my friends and I. Anyway, I will get back to the weekend where I met the other exchange students. I arrived in Twello at about 8 o clock. I thought I would be on time, but than a few of us got lost. I think at the end of it all, we didn't arrive until ten. I can say one thing about exchange students (but not all). We are not very good when it comes to directions. That may be an instinct of ours. Maybe we always get lost so we can explore what is around, or maybe we do it on purpose. The world may never know, and neither will I. The get together was at a Rotarian's house. When I say house, I mean a castle (not literally). This place was absolutely huge. It was by far the biggest house I have ever been in. I would say that the house was probably around 12,000 square feet (don't know how big that is here in Europe). But hopefully that gives you all a picture of the size of the house. Anyway, I went up to every exchange and introduced myself. I kind of spoke to them in Dutch just to see how much they learned during the DOC and they were pretty good. I think they all speak Dutch pretty well for the month that they have been here. The next day was the closing ceremony. It was already time to say goodbye to the exchange students we had just met. And with my luck, the nearest one lives in Eindhoven which is about an hour away by train. But that's okay because Limburg is the best! We received a little bit more information on the Europe tour as well as far as who was going and where. We will know most of the information at the end of March. I can't wait for that trip! I know that I probably left out a lot more, but I will update again next week since I am on vacation.

London!!!!!

Like I said in my last blog post, I waited to get back from London, England to update again. I just got back on Monday. London was absolutely amazing. I am pretty sure it is the biggest city I have ever been in even though I am coming from the USA. Although, I have to admit that the British do an awesome job when it comes to organization. When going up and down an escalator in the metro station, you have to stay to the right or the left, I can't remember. But anyway if you don't want to move and you would rather just stand there to wait to get to the top/bottom then you have to stand to the side so the people that are in a hurry can get past and move up/down quicker. The great thing was that people actually read and payed attention to the signs. I don't know why I am even talking about this, but it kind of shocked me while I was there. Even though London is so big, the underground metro is really easy to use so you can go pretty much anywhere in a matter of minutes. Since my host parents have a little daughter I was walking around and sight seeing by myself most of the time. I was able to see pretty much every major tourist attraction while I was there. I think the one thing I didn't visit while I was there was St. Paul's Cathedral which I'm sure is probably beautiful. The problem occurred though when I got off the metro. I am 16 years old, so therefore my sense of direction is absolutely terrible. Most of the time I would get lost, so I would just follow a group of people and I would wind up in an awesome place. An example of that was on Monday when I followed a huge group of people to Buckingham Palace where I witnessed the changing of the guards which was pretty cool. Even the times that I didn't follow a group of people I wasn't disappointed with the outcome. London is a beautiful city, so no matter where I was, I was fascinated with what was around me. England is known for their fish and chips (I think) but I didn't have any of that. I am going to sound like I am definitely from the States right now, but I ate at McDonalds twice while I was London. I did try to find other places to eat, but I just wound up eating there instead. I guess I missed that place. Anyway, I don't want to get sidetracked when it comes to food because those of you that read this know how much I talk about food. Before leaving the subject of food though, I have to tell you one thing. Pub food in England is probably the best food I have ever had in my life. It is also pretty amazing because even though London is so big and busy, Pubs are so relaxed and quiet. Okay so I will get back to the adventures. As I said before, I visited pretty much everything. That includes Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, the Parliament Buildings, and so many other things. I walked for 4 hours or more everyday because I was so excited that I was in a city like London. My host parents and host sister along with me stayed with a great family while we were there. This world is even smaller than I thought. The people we stayed with were some of Rosanna's good friends from college. I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty cool. I really enjoyed my stay with them for the few days that we had there. I do have to say that I actually spent some money while I was there. Normally I am so cheap and I don't buy anything when I go to places like that, but I did this time and I sure am glad I did. In a few days I hit the half way mark of my exchange. It is sad to think about because I am having so much fun here and I have some awesome friends as well. These 5 months (almost 6) have gone by incredibly fast. Although, I can't wait til I am home so I can share some the European culture with everyone. I do have a lot to look forward to for the rest of my exchange though, so for now, I don't want to think about returning home just yet. I have a Rotary weekend this weekend, so maybe I won't keep all of you waiting another 3 weeks til my next update. I will try to update again soon.

Holiday Season

It took me so long to update because I wanted to wait for the holiday's to be over. I am not happy at all that they are because this time of the year is a blast especially when you are experiencing it in a place like the Netherlands. The past 3 weeks have been loaded with traveling even after that five country in one day tour. My host family took me to a little town called Thorn about 30 minutes up north. Thorn is otherwise known as the White Village. Most of the homes and buildings are white because a while back the people wanted to hide the poverty that was in the town so they decided to paint the buildings white. While we were there we went inside another awesome Church that was also white inside. Then my host family and I went out for a walk, but I am not going to talk about that. After Thorn, I met up with some exchange students in Arnhem which is a really nice city up north. We didn't spend time in the city because we decided to go to the zoo before hand. The zoo was pretty fun mostly because the exchange students and I know how to make things even more fun. My day was made even better because this time I had absolutely no trouble with NS which is the main transportation system here in the Netherlands. When all the exchange students are together it is crazy, but yet so fun. The next day one of the Rotarians in the Host Club took me to Antwerp, Belgium. I love architecture and so does he so it was an awesome day. Antwerp has some of the most beautiful architecture I have seen since I have been here in Europe. The city is filled with old buildings and beautiful Churches. I am glad we were in Antwerp because that is the Flemish speaking part of Belgium so I was actually able to understand what people were saying. I just realized that I skipped Christmas here in the Netherlands. On Christmas eve we went to my host Grandma's house where I was able to meet more of my host family's family. I have to say that it is pretty fun hanging out with all of them. Christmas morning we went over to my host dad's  mom and dad to have breakfast. Unfortunately I was feeling kind of sick on Christmas but I tried my best to not make it ruin Christmas. We didn't actually open gifts until the 26th because here in the Netherlands they kind of have two days of Christmas. The 26th I believe is referred to as boxing day but I could be wrong. In other words, Christmas isn't much different from Christmas in the USA. Surprisingly, I wasn't homesick on Christmas, but that was probably because Christmas this year didn't actually feel like Christmas. It was most likely because time has been passing by so fast that I haven't been able to catch up with it. A few days ago my host family and I went to The Hague (Den Haag). The Hague is a beautiful city just like pretty much every other city I have visited. That day was the first day that I had seen the sun in a while. Since the sun was out, my host family decided to go the beach. I have never been so cold in my life, but it was fun. As all of you know, yesterday was New Year's Eve. I spent New Year's Eve with some of my great friends that I never get tired of hanging out with because they are so great. Yesterday was sort of a rough day for me because I was quite homesick. I wasn't sure why but I think it had to do with the fact that I knew I would wake up in a new year and I wouldn't be with my family. I love my family so much back in the USA and I can always count on them. To be honest though, I have a family here that is great as well. My host family is great and my friends are like family to me. So I guess in a way, I do wake up to family every day that I am here. My friends were there yesterday to help me get over my homesickness so besides that it was a great night. I didn't want the night to end, and no one else did either. At midnight the sky lit up with fireworks so that was a cool experience. I told my friends there last night that one of my resolutions was to act like myself again. I think they may need to be prepared for the real me because I am pretty crazy, and my friends and family back at home are probably thinking the same thing. So for 3 hours last night, I was acting like myself and we were all having a great time. I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while. I didn't wind up getting home til 3:30 in the morning and even then I didn't actually go to bed. So last night was a long and fun night. It is 2012 now and I know that it is going to be another great year. My host family and I are heading off to London in 3 weeks, so I don't know if I will wait til then to update again, but we will see. Happy 2012 everyone!

Great Times

This past weekend was an absolute blast. A Rotarian took 3 of us to Luxembourg, Germany, France, and Belgium in one day! I love Europe sooooo much. It is amazing to see how the countries differ so much even though they sit right next to each other. The drive was about 300 miles, but it didn't seem that long. Our first stop was Belgium. We went to La Roche and that small city was absolutely breathtaking. I have never seen anything like that town. Our next stop was Luxembourg, the capital. I think that was my favorite city that I visited over the weekend. I definitely wasn't expecting what I saw when I went there but that is the great thing about Europe. We had lunch at a Mexican restaraunt there and me being me, I ordered a burger. I guess I am still not missing the Mexican food too much. We visited an American war cemetery while we there in Luxembourg where approximately 5000 American soldiers were buried including George Paton. While I was there, I stood still for a few minutes and looked over the graves. I realized then how truly thankful I am to be part of a country where an American soldier is willing to give his life for my freedom. Then we went to Thionville, France. We walked around there for a little and that city was beautiful as well. We got some freshly made churros while we there. I you may think it is wierd how I always talk about food on my blog, but that is just a sign of how good the food really is here. The architecture in the city of Thionville was more modern it seemed like but it still had a lot of character. Then we went to Trier, Germany. It was dark by the time we got there and everyone was out and about. We spent most of the time at the Christimas Market walking around. I could barely move because of how many people were there. It was insane! The highlight of that city I think was a building that dated back to about 120 AD. It was absolutely incredible. After that it was time to return back to my new great host family. I am pretty much completely settled in with my new host family and I am really enjoying my time here. It feels almost just like home. Yesterday I had another basketball game. We lost but it was still really fun. I really like playing on the team I am a part of because everyone is there to have fun. I like playing basketball with a team that plays for fun. I am really good friends with everyone on the team and they take good care of me. I love it here so much! Only two weeks til Christmas and I know I am going to miss home, but I am really excited to celebrate Christmas here in the Netherlands. I know this post isn't as long as it should be, but I have to get back to studying for my test tomorrow. I will update in a few weeks and reflect on the things I missed in this post.

All Moved In

I did not write the week before this, because not much was going on and I know that it is hard to believe because I am an exchange student. It wasn't because I was being lazy, it was just because nothing was really going on, but this last weekend a lot happened. On Friday it was time to pack to move in with my next host family. It is definitely like me to start packing the night I had to bring my stuff over. Amazingly it didn't take to long, but goodness, I have a lot more stuff with me then what I came here with. I had to bring two seperate bags with me just to pack everything, but that could also be because I am quite bad at packing. Friday night was my last night with my first host family. I still can not thank them enough for being a part of this opportunity and for being such a great host family. It was definitely hard to leave them, but thankfully they live about a mile away. Saturday night, all three host families came together to celebrate Thanksgiving. The food was almost exactly the same as back home in Arizona (turkey, mashed potatoes, bread, stuffing, etc) but I am in Europe so I can't expect it to be the same. It really reminded me of the holiday Thanksgiving. On Thursday I said all that I was thankful for, but on Saturday during dinner, I really thought about what I said to myself. I realized how truly blessed I actually am. I have a great family waiting for me back in Arizona/Maryland/Illinois/Pennsylvania, and the 3 host families that I have here are great. I thank God for blessing my family and I. One thing this exchange has done for me is make me realize and appreciate my surroundings even more. I have been here for almost 4 months now and I am already looking forward to the day that I get to stare my family in the eyes again, but I also know that saying goodbye to the life that I have established here is going to be extremely difficult. I am going to bring so much knowledge with me back to the USA and I can't wait for that day to come. But for now, I am going to enjoy the remainder of my time here in the Netherlands because it is going by quickly. Back to the Thanksgiving dinner....I was able to socialize with my third host family more during the dinner and I know that I am going to enjoy my time there as well. When the dinner was over, it was time to say goodbye to my first host family and move onto the next. It was hard saying goodbye to them, but I knew that the second host family was great too and I was right. I have only been with them for 2 days so far, but I really like it. We get along great, and I am really looking forward to the rest of my stay with them. On Sunday, we took my little host sister to a little Sinterklaas party (a really popular holiday here) that I found to be quite nice. I really enjoy going out and celebrating the traditions here and every time I get the opportunity to become a part of the tradition I immediately jump on the opportunity. Today was just another normal day at school, so as usual I enjoyed it. Well depending on what goes on this weekend, I might update again in another week, but I am not sure yet. Thanks for reading.

Rotary Weekend in Den Haag (The Hague)

I know I haven't update in 2 weeks but that is because last week if I wrote it would have been like a paragraph update. After this update it might be another two weeks before I update because I am moving in with my new host family on the 26th so next week is going to be a busy week because of packing and everything. Besides last weekend, not much has happened in that past 2 weeks suprisingly. Or a lot of stuff has happened but I have forgotten what I did because I am sort of having a brain fart as I am typing. Anyway, this past weekend was amazing. Friday I went to Den Haag to meet up with all the other exchange students. My luck with the Dutch transportation system hasn't been too great since I have been here. I missed both trains on the way to Den Haag so I was late to the station where everyone was standing around waiting for me. Besides the bad luck with the transportation, the rest of Friday was great. The first stop on Friday was lunch, and everyone that has been reading this blog knows that eating the food here is one of my favorite things to do. After lunch we visited the House of Europe where one of the main people gave us an introduction to how the European Union is doing economically and how the system works which I found to be quite interesting. Being an exchange student is a responsibility so I enjoy learning about what is going on in the world. We spent about and hour and a half or so at the House of Europe and then we were all greeted by the host families that we would be staying with during the weekend. I must say that my friend and I got really lucky because our host family was awesome. They told us we could visit again anytime so I am going to try and go back. Friday turned out to be a long and fun day. Saturday had more in store for us. Our first stop was a museum filled with mostly art. Downstairs however, were the wonder room where pretty much everyone spent the hour that we had there. The wonder rooms were kind of a mixture of everything ranging from a blue room to a fashion room. The museum was fun, but it was not too interactive. After the museum we walked for close to an hour to a restaraunt on the beach where we had lunch. My goodness what a good lunch it was. Everyone was given 5 euros to do a little Sinterklaas shopping (Sinterklaas is a really big holiday here in the Netherlands but I believe the real Sinterklaas day is on December 5). We all wrote down our names and what we wanted and then we all set off to buy something for whoever we chose from the drawing. I am not too good at gift giving or finding the correct thing so I was not able to get the person what she wanted but I did get her some nice Delft blue pottery that she can take home. What I got, well that is a different story and I am not going to tell. All I can say is that all the exchange students know I am a good kid and I don't really do anything bad so they got me something that I would react to but I thought it was really funny. The rest of the day was pretty much a chill day with the other exchange students which everyone always enjoys. Later in the evening we had sort of a goodbye party sort of thing to say goodbye to the exchange students that came in January. There are new exchange students coming in January again, but this group was a really awesome group and they are definitely going to be missed. So that was a really depressing moment for pretty much everyone. Later in the evening we had a music workshop with a few guys that taught us. We later had to play for Sinterklaas and the other Rotarians that were there. Everyone enjoyed that as well. Saturday in total was about a 15 hour day of doing something with everyone so it was a another long but fun day. Sunday was a good day as well. Our first step was a museum, but it was more of an interactive museum so that was cool. The museum was supposed to show us what it was like to be a refugee and I thought they did a pretty good job because I kind of felt like one during the tour. After that it was lunch time again so we stopped by McDonalds. After McDonalds we made our way to a famous art museum where a lot of famous paintings from people such as Rembrandt were on display. I am not the biggest fan of art, but when you are hanging out with other exchange students, you can make an art museum really fun. After that it was time to walk back to the train station and say possibly a final goodbye to the exchange students that came in January. I rode home with two of my good friends for most of the way because they live near me. I thought I was going to get lucky and have no problems and I would be back with no problem, but nope that didn't end up happening. They were working on the tracks so we had to go back to Roermond and wait for a bus to take us to the Sittard train station. Well like when I was traveling to Amsterdam, I think at least 500 people were waiting for a bus so I was standing there for 2 hours in 40 degree weather. That didn't help the fact that I was already exhausted and now I was standing in the cold so when I finally arrived back at my host family's house I felt like crap and I did not go to school today because I don't feel to great. Anyway besides the bad experiences with the Dutch transportation system, the weekends was awesome and I can't wait until the next one.

Vacation!

This past week I was off of school and had vacation. The vacation was a lot more busy than I anticipated, but I am glad it was because it sure was fun. On Saturday (the Saturday before last Saturday) I met up with one of my good friends who is an exchange student in Amsterdam. Getting to Amsterdam was quite an adventure to start off. I went by train, but they working on some tracks so I had to take a bus from one train station to another. Normally it takes about 2 and a half hours to get to Amsterdam and on Saturday it took about 4. At least 500 people were waiting for the busses to come by and take us to the Hertogenbosch train station. So for about an hour I was standing outside in 40 degree weather and of course me being me I was not dressed to appropriate for that weather. And to make matters worse that day, before I took the bus I was on the train and my mp3 player broke. Now it works again, but I pretty much had nothing to do for 4 hours except look out the window of the train which I find quite nice especially being in such a beautiful country. When I finally arrived in Amsterdam I met up with my friend and his sister who was visiting from Germany. I was in Amsterdam for about 6 hours before coming back. We spent about an hour in Amsterdam looking for a Turkish restaraunt which was definitely worth it after the search. After the long search and a great lunch we decided to go to a bakery. I try to make it a tradition for myself to go to a bakery every time I travel just because the food is so good. After that we went to the red light district. I don't think it is as bad as what people make it out to be. What goes on there isn't necessarily good, but I think seeing and experiencing it is a good thing. Then the next day, my counselor and his family took me to Cologne, Germany. My goodness that city is absolutely beautiful. Cologne has the oldest cathedral in Germany. It started being built about 600 years ago and since it is so old it is still being worked on constantly. I think it is so awesome that such a beautiful city in another country is only an hour away by car. I am so thankful that I have people that do these kind of things for me because it is all a great experience. Then Monday through Friday, my host family took me to Duinrell which is a holiday park near Den Haag (The Hague). Duinrell has a small but exciting amusement park and a really great indoor water park called the Tiki Bad. I am pretty sure that I went on every ride in the amusement park while I was there and almost every water slide in the waterpark. On Wednesday we went to Madurodam which is Holland in miniature size. I found it to be quite exciting and I am so glad we went because it was on my to-do list for while I am here. Now that I went there, I can add more things to my to-do list because most of the stuff that was there, I did not know of. Thursday we went to the sea and had some snacks and drinks by the sea as well. After the sea we went back to Duinrell for a few hours and then went out to eat where I had the best spare ribs I have ever had. On Friday we went to Corpus which is a really nice interactive musuem of the human body. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures during the tour of the human body, but it was really cool. On Saturday I was back from Duinrell, but the fun did not stop there. On Saturday I had a baskteball game. We didn't win but I still thought we played well as a team. Later that day I went to a party that I was invited to. It was really fun and I am glad that I have the friends that I do. Sunday was more of a rest day which I needed desperately. I will update again soon.