This week has been pretty amazing. I have officially been in the Netherlands 1 month. Of course there are good days and bad days, but so far I really haven't hit any really bad homesickness - hopefully it stays that way! The language is coming along slowly... Some days, I feel like I won't ever possibly understand what everyone is talking about, but other days I feel like when people speak slowly, I understand about 40% of what they say... I think it all depends on how fast my brain feels like working that day! I understand way more words when people talk to me than what I can speak if I am trying to respond.
Kids at school have been, for the most part, totally welcoming and very nice to me. My class has only 15 students in it, so they are all quite close with one another - it's cool to be able to see them all interact with eachother. They're really different people, but as far as I can tell they're not as worried about "cliques" as kids in Canadian highschools are. I've made a couple of really great friends already. The teachers are mostly nice to me too, especially my History teacher, who found me a book in english that covers what the class is doing now (it's so helpful when I'm trying to follow along in class!)
Last week, I went with my friend Liza to her old elementary school on what I think was something like "PTA" night, all the parents of kids who went there went on a tour of the school, and Liza and I tagged along too, so I could see what a dutch elementary school was like. It was pretty similar to a Canadian elementary school, but if I were back in 2nd grade, I would be so jealous of the kids who get to play on this playground! It was huge! And all the classrooms were decorated with art projects and stuff... very cool. Their gym was tiny, but they had a climbing apparatus and so many nice toys, it made me almost wish I was 7 again so I could play!
Then on friday night, Liza, a friend of hers, and I went to a horse show in Belgium together. The show was called "Zangershiede", and although I'm not really sure, I think it was kind of a big deal in the horse world. Liza knows lots about jumping, and there were some really famous jumpers there. There was even a Canadian competing.It was really cool to go to a big show like that! Totally different from a rodeo. :)
Saturday, my host mother took me on a trip to a park called "Drielandenpunt" which is where the borders of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium all connect. I managed to stand in 3 countries at one time! We went up in a viewing tower, then we went on a really nice walk through the woods, where we found some of my host mom's favorite mushrooms. She really likes hunting for mushrooms, and we found almost a dosen of her favorites, so that day was a good one!
Sunday, my host grandparents came over, and we all had a yummy meal together. We were talking after dinner and somehow Saskatchewan came up, and I realised how funny Canadian place names are. I mean, really : Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Nunavut, Banff?
Makes city names here, like "Esloo", and "Heer" seem more normal
Speaking of "Heer"..... Today I decided to try biking to Maastricht all by myself for the first time. It was really amazing, being able to just walk around in the city and check stuff out by myself. It went really really well, I shopped a bit and was able to deal with all the cashiers in Dutch, and park my bike in the underground bike lot, and more importantly FIND my bike in the underground bike lot afterwards - I was feeling pretty good by the time I had to go home. Then, on the bike back, I took a wrong turn somewhere, and 15 minutes later I was in a little town I had never seen before. It took another 5 minutes of scouting around to determine that this strange town was "Heer". Now, at this point, I was thinking about maybe calling my host family for directions home, but as I thought of it, I pictured the conversation going like this:
Me : Hi, I think I'm lost, could I get directions home?
Host: Sure, where are you?
Me: Heer.
Host:.... well, yes of course you're there, but do you know where you are?
Me: I'm pretty sure I'm just in Heer?
Host: In where? Are you in a building or something?
... and so on ... silly place names!!
So I just decided to turn around, go back to the modern art museum in Maastricht, and then start biking home from there. The second time, I made it! And, I finally got around to writing a decent blog post! So all in all, today was a very successful day.
'till next time,
Doei!
:)
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
First Rotary Meeting!
Tonight I had my first rotary meeting with my host club.
This post is for anyone reading from my home rotary club :) Of course, if you're not from rotary, you're still allowed to read it!
This post is for anyone reading from my home rotary club :) Of course, if you're not from rotary, you're still allowed to read it!
We met in a castle! It was very cool.
Everyone was very friendly, and several people offered to take me with them on a trip or to their workplace. Yay for Rotarians! :) Tonight I was invited to : A trip to Brussels, to learn about the European Parliament, visit a small animal veterinary clinic, visit an institution for helping people with mental health problems, meet a rotarian's daughter, and have dinner with my host councillor. (I feel like I am forgetting something)
I exchanged banners with the president of the club, and told the story of why Medicine Hat is called "Medicine Hat
". I also introduced myself to the club, and was able to speak with my host councillor. We're going to meet again on Saturday to get to know one another better.
The Esloo-Maaskant Rotary club has roughly 30 members, most of which are older men, but the club does also include women. It started around 1990. Tonight was a dinner meeting, and we all sat around tables that were pushed together to make one big rectangle. Everyone at the table had an opportunity to tell a story, or share some news at some point during the meeting. ( I think... It was hard to tell exactly what they were talking about )
I haven't made my Canada presentation yet, but I'll work out a time with the club to do that. Lots of people were interested in hearing more about Canada, so it'll be great to answer some of their questions!
In other news, some blog posts about school, friends, and more pictures are in the works! Sorry about the wait, it turns out I'm not a very motivated blogger.
'till next time,
Doei!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A Crazy Busy Week...
Hey!
Sorry it's taken so long to update this!
Let me start by explaining the places I've been this week. At this time, 7 days ago, I was walking into the Calgary Airport, crazy nervous about starting my exchange year. Yikes! A whole year? So far away? What am I thinking? Why did I apply for this again!? But then I remembered all the reasons I wanted to go, and all the good stories former exchangies had told me, and everything was Ok.
I made it through 8 or 9 hours ( I can't remember exactly) of fairly uneventful plane ride, then tackled the Frankfurt airport. Long story short, I eventually made it to my gate. Then, just a quick flight over Germany and into Amsterdam, where my host family and rotary councillor were waiting to greet me! I drove with my hosts down to Cadier en Keer, which is where I am living.
Monday, we went into Maastricht to tour around a little. It was amazing! I can't get over how beautiful and old and European everything is. I tried bitterballen (lekker!) and had some Italian food at a restaurant with my hosts ( also lekker!).
I am trying to remember Tuesday... I think we picked up groceries at the "Jumbo" and went to a pet store and I got a very nice pair of rubber boots, but that may not have been Tuesday... oh well, that happened on one of the days. It was fun.
Then on Wednesday, my host father needed eye surgery in Utrecht, so we all drove up there. He had his surgery, and we all waited in the clinic's waiting room, and I read (tried to read) comics. Donald Duck in Dutch is hilarious! I believe I actually came across the word "Zeebonk". hmm...?
Later that day we went on a canal tour through Utrecht. It was really pretty, some of my photos on my earlier post are from that tour. We had really really good food again at the hotel we stayed at, I tried some more typical dutch things. One was a Bitterballen with a rice and truffle filling, and another was very dark bread with some cheese on it. Yum!
Thursday, we drove back to Maastricht after driving around "The Green Heart" of Holland, and seeing all the mansions and the castle that belonged to the previous queen. That is the white building in my pictures. Then I got my bank account set up and my host mother and I went on a 2 hour walk through some woods that are very close to the house. There is a giant potato field on one side of the path, and woods on the other, and we walked down into the woods and saw some caves and a beautiful view of Maastricht, and all kinds of slugs and snails and frogs and other creepy crawlies. That walk is very beautiful, I'll have to do it a lot this year!
Then, Friday was just kind of a relaxed day. My host parents had to drive back up to Utrecht for another eye appointment, and my host brother was working at his school, so I had the house to myself, and just kind of slept in, read, and was lazy until they came home. I came with my host mother when she went to pick up my host bro at the school, so I got to take a little tour of it. It's bigger than my school at home, and has lots of windows! But the lockers are smaller (way smaller!) and there are some INSANE tiny spiral stairs that lead up the levels. Bandies : read scottish-castle-level stairs. They're terrifying. I'll try to get a picture of them sometime!
Then, today, I drove to Arnhem ( I probably spelled that wrong, but give me a break, I'm sleepy ) with my host parents to meet all the other exchange students and attend Dutch Orientation Camp , which will last all this week. From the look of things, this is gonna be an incredible year with some incredible people. Well, I'm off to bed!
G'night y'all.
Sorry it's taken so long to update this!
Let me start by explaining the places I've been this week. At this time, 7 days ago, I was walking into the Calgary Airport, crazy nervous about starting my exchange year. Yikes! A whole year? So far away? What am I thinking? Why did I apply for this again!? But then I remembered all the reasons I wanted to go, and all the good stories former exchangies had told me, and everything was Ok.
I made it through 8 or 9 hours ( I can't remember exactly) of fairly uneventful plane ride, then tackled the Frankfurt airport. Long story short, I eventually made it to my gate. Then, just a quick flight over Germany and into Amsterdam, where my host family and rotary councillor were waiting to greet me! I drove with my hosts down to Cadier en Keer, which is where I am living.
Monday, we went into Maastricht to tour around a little. It was amazing! I can't get over how beautiful and old and European everything is. I tried bitterballen (lekker!) and had some Italian food at a restaurant with my hosts ( also lekker!).
I am trying to remember Tuesday... I think we picked up groceries at the "Jumbo" and went to a pet store and I got a very nice pair of rubber boots, but that may not have been Tuesday... oh well, that happened on one of the days. It was fun.
Then on Wednesday, my host father needed eye surgery in Utrecht, so we all drove up there. He had his surgery, and we all waited in the clinic's waiting room, and I read (tried to read) comics. Donald Duck in Dutch is hilarious! I believe I actually came across the word "Zeebonk". hmm...?
Later that day we went on a canal tour through Utrecht. It was really pretty, some of my photos on my earlier post are from that tour. We had really really good food again at the hotel we stayed at, I tried some more typical dutch things. One was a Bitterballen with a rice and truffle filling, and another was very dark bread with some cheese on it. Yum!
Thursday, we drove back to Maastricht after driving around "The Green Heart" of Holland, and seeing all the mansions and the castle that belonged to the previous queen. That is the white building in my pictures. Then I got my bank account set up and my host mother and I went on a 2 hour walk through some woods that are very close to the house. There is a giant potato field on one side of the path, and woods on the other, and we walked down into the woods and saw some caves and a beautiful view of Maastricht, and all kinds of slugs and snails and frogs and other creepy crawlies. That walk is very beautiful, I'll have to do it a lot this year!
Then, Friday was just kind of a relaxed day. My host parents had to drive back up to Utrecht for another eye appointment, and my host brother was working at his school, so I had the house to myself, and just kind of slept in, read, and was lazy until they came home. I came with my host mother when she went to pick up my host bro at the school, so I got to take a little tour of it. It's bigger than my school at home, and has lots of windows! But the lockers are smaller (way smaller!) and there are some INSANE tiny spiral stairs that lead up the levels. Bandies : read scottish-castle-level stairs. They're terrifying. I'll try to get a picture of them sometime!
Then, today, I drove to Arnhem ( I probably spelled that wrong, but give me a break, I'm sleepy ) with my host parents to meet all the other exchange students and attend Dutch Orientation Camp , which will last all this week. From the look of things, this is gonna be an incredible year with some incredible people. Well, I'm off to bed!
G'night y'all.
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