October !

A quick summary of my October.
I turned 18 on 10 /10 / 10. It was so great! My host parents, along with some friends from school, planned a surprise party for me. I went out exploring in Maastricht with my friend Liza (from school) and exchange student friend Cindy (from Texas) in the morning, and had what I thought was the best day ever. But then, when I came home, I found out the fun was just starting because there were a bunch more of my friends from school standing in the living room! I'll always remember how cool my 18th birthday was. . . Really, who'dve thought I'd be sitting in a living room in Holland, surrounded by new friends from all over the place, eating Limburgse "rice pie" instead of birthday cake? 10/10/10 really was a perfect 10.
The next weekend I went to stay with my Rotary councellor at her house, half an hour away from Maastricht. It was great, we went to the Sittard Oktoberfeest, went exploring and found an old windmill, and she showed me a T.V program called "Ik hou van Holland" which was absolutely hilarious. I'll have to post pictures soon!
The weekend after that, I went to go stay with my friend Giuliana, who is currently living in Oldenzaal ( a 4 1/2 hour train ride north of where I live). She comes from Argentina, and she's so much fun! I went to her school with her on Friday, and we explored Oldenzaal in the weekend.
This weekend, she came to stay with me! She came to my school on Friday, and after school we went into Maastricht and checked out the Bonnefante Museum and the public library, and visited the bookstore in Maastricht. ( Anyone who's reading should google the bookstore, it's amazing) The bookstore is rated as one of the most beautiful in the world, it used to be a church. Then we went to the city center, where there was a big fabric market going on. It's so cool to see things like that! We bought ourselves dinner at the Albert Hein, (apples and gouda cheese) and wandered around looking at all the expensive fabrics and threads and fruit stalls and everything. Saturday we went on a 2 hour hike through the woods, (beautiful!) and then to a "tea party" a friend of mine had. It was so funny, we drank tea and she had made really beautiful cupcakes and things, and then we watched horror movies. :) It was hilarious when something scary would happen in the movie, and everyone on the couch was startled - with full cups of hot tea! Everyone was soaking wet and a little burned by the end, but it was so funny! Today we went to Belgium for lunch, and tried all kinds of traditionally Dutch foods, and then Giu went home, and I went with my host family to dinner at one of their friends's houses.
And that was my October, in weekends!
Happy Halloween,
Morgan