| Date: | 2006-05-15 20:57 |
| Subject: | It's already half past May |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  relaxed | | Music: | Rage Against the Machine - Ashes in Fall |
A week of radiant, sun-drenched weather has elapsed into a dreary, comatose Monday, but otherwise things are brilliant. In the past month I’ve moved to my last of four host families – can you believe it? I’m very, very happy here. My host parents are both pharmacists, with two daughters close to my age (just a little younger), whom I like a lot. We also have lots of fun books to read, movies to watch, and interesting topics to discuss, so I’m sure you can tell that I’m quite a happy camper. They’ve also been to Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia, which is quite remarkable! For me, at least. I’ve actually met quite a few Dutch people who’ve visited the place, but it’s always startling to discover that someone else has stood exactly where you have and ordered ice cream from the same little shop in Chemainus, thousands of kilometers; a whole ocean plus the entire horizontal span of North America away!
The Friday after moving, a friend of mine (Susanne) threw a birthday party, which was a lot of fun, and the following Saturday (the 29th) was Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day). The holiday is usually celebrated on April 30th (the birthday of Queen Juliana), but it fell on a Sunday this year, and we couldn’t have that (festivities often continue long into the night)! When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana back in 1980, she decided to keep the holiday on April 30, as her own birthday, January 31, tends to prohibit the traditional outdoor festivities.
I went to Amsterdam that day, with a couple of Dutch friends (along with hundreds of thousands of other people). It looked as though half of the city had been painted orange: everyone wore it, as it represents the House of Orange, which is the name of the present Dutch dynasty.
Our first family trip was to spend a couple of days in the famous amusement park, de Efteling. I had so much fun, especially learning that not only could I dare to ride the rollercoasters, but that I couldn’t get enough of them! The next Wednesday we went to the Keukenhof gardens, which was just indescribably lovely. I admired everything from the most exquisite of orchids to complete fields of blazing colour, especially the incandescent purple-black Queen of the Night tulip.
Just to get some English in, I went to my friend Kacey’s house for the next weekend with our Canadian friend Beth, which was as always, a blast. I adore Texel island.
This past Friday I travelled across North Holland and over an exceptionally long dike all the way to Friesland, for Kate’s birthday. She lives in the rather picturesque albeit small city of Harlingen. Saturday morning was an early start, as we had quite far (relatively speaking) to travel – all the to a tiny little village of Warfum in Groningen, for Wadlopen. This is the practice of hiking about through the mud that’s left over after the tide washes out, more or less. I enjoyed myself It was great seeing the exchange students again (the last time was Rotex weekend), but also a startling reminder of just how staggeringly quickly the time is flying past – in just over two weeks, we’ll all be together again (for one of the last times) in a double-decker bus, travelling throughout Europe.
( pictures of tulips, and then some mud )
I'm finally back in the Netherlands again! As you may have followed in my past entries, I had made plans to visit London and Brussels for the first two weeks of the month. It was wonderful to see England in the spring time - we [a friend from home with whom I traveled, Jolie, who is living in Belgium this year as an exchange student] went to nearly all the great museums, spent devastating amounts of... time at the market and alternative shopping district, and also paid a day's visit to the famous Highgate Cemetery (where the likes of Karl Marx, George Eliot, and the lord Strathcona are buried, among others).
This was certainly a highlight for me - a beautifully untidy, rambling, verdant Victorian graveyard which in later years has become a sort of park to wander through on a sunny afternoon. You can take guided tour, which was certainly enticing (as there was a lot of history I should liked to have become acquainted with), but we chose to explore it ourselves and take lots of photographs! Another focal point for me was seeing some of my favourite masterpieces at the Tate Britain in person, including a few from Waterhouse, and other pre-Raphaelites/contemporaries.
In Brussels, we stayed with Jolie's host family, who live close to the centre of the city. A couple of days we made excursions to different parts of the country, namely Arlon (by the Luxembourg border in the Ardennes) and Leuven (somewhat north of Brussels, in Flanders). It was beautiful in the south; all rolling, forested hillside punctuated by alabaster cliffs, and rivers - so many rivers! Leuven was a gorgeous city with a lot of interesting, variegated architectural monuments to be admired, which was a good thing as it being Easter, there was nothing at all open.
My time in Jolie's hosthouse was something else, thanks to their lack of spoken English and general abhorrence for all things Dutch. They were nonetheless hospitable towards me, they just couldn't understand why I'd choose to have anything to do with that dreadful language, let alone Holland itself.
I loved the plentiful Art Nouveau of Brussels (even the modern bus stops are made in this style). I can’t really appreciate Baroque architecture on merit of physical appearance alone (as important as it is to be accustomed with it, and to understand its background and place in history of design) – especially some of the gaudier of the famously ostentatious Grand Place, so thank heavens for all the turn of the 20th century stuff in that city! We also spent time in another Walloon city, Liege, which is considered by many the capital of French culture in Belgium. I couldn’t get enough of all the statues (including one of Béla Bartok, which I have included a photo of me standing next to).
A young man of seventeen or so was stabbed to death in the central Brussels metro station for refusing to give up his MP3 player while we were there, which explains the shot of the spontaneous little memorial the people set up (in the photos below).
The night before I left, I went to a lovely museum in Amsterdam with my host family, a movie (Ice Age II, in Dutch), and then out to a decadent Italian dinner. The waiters and waitresses also happened to be trained singers who would walk about and perform opera and so on as you ate your meal. The night before that, my host mother celebrated her birthday with lots of friends and family over. I saw my first host parents there, and a number of host-relations (including a host-Oma!), so it was quite a pleasant weekend.
The few days leading up to that, Kacey and her twin sister from America stayed with me. We went to Amsterdam for the day with Dane and tia, then down to Utrecht to say goodbye to Beto (going home early for school exams). A lot of people were there and although it was sad to see to the first of our group to go home for the last time, we really enjoyed ourselves.
The week before that, a good friend of mine from school had a birthday party, which was nice as well. I hope that I'll be able to give a good and Dutch birthday party involving little circular seating arrangements, copious amounts of coffee, and a lot of hand shaking before I leave! I think it'll have to wait until sometime after my birthday, however, as I'll be so busy around that time (in fact, I won’t even be in the country).
I also had a Rotex weekend, which was great. We toured an old cheese farm and played there a round of Boerengolf - it's like regular golf, except played with small soccer balls in farming fields, and the golf club has a wooden shoe at the end. Pretty cheesy, hahaha.
Upcoming events include the Queen's day, which celebrates her birthday (despite the fact the present Queen wasn't even born in April - this is a much more pleasant time of the year to go outside). Imagine all the festivity of Canada Day, but with red, white, blue and of course, ORANGE in place of red and white. I'm going with some Dutch friends to Amsterdam that day - how fun! The day before that, another friend has a birthday party to go to, which should be fun. I hope to spend time with Kacey or the other exchangers (whom I have not really seen since the last Rotary event, nearly a month past) in the May vacation, and perhaps go to Wadlopen if circumstances allow.
Europetour is growing closer by the day, and I am so excited for that. About a week after I get back, my friend Jolie is visiting me in Holland, and we're going to go to another Opeth concert! So, I have a lot to look forward to, including even going back to Canada. I'm going to miss the Netherlands terribly, and I feel very much at home here, but I am starting to go crazy from the cold, cheerless weather Holland has been experiencing lately. I hope it turns soon.
( more photos )
Since arriving home from wintersport in Austria, I’ve lead a generally routine-driven life. I continue working on my Dutch language skills at school, I go to flute lessons with my teacher in Amsterdam, I habitually pop into the library (Bibliotheek Velsen), and I now volunteer once a week at Velserduin, which is a long-term care facility for patients suffering from both physical handicaps or psychological disorders/dementias. I’m happy to say that these are all activities I personally enjoy quite a bit.
In the February vacation I visited my friend Kacey for a few days on the charming island of Texel, which lies north of Den Helder and can be reached by a short trip on the Ferry. Every time I take that boat, I am piquantly reminded of BC Ferries from home – as little as the actual terminal or vessel itself resemble ours. The onboard safety announcements echoing in German should do something to dispel this feeling, or so you would think!
While I was visiting Kacey, my hostparents attended two speed-skating events and the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Torino. I loved seeing the video they shot from the audience’s prospective – it was especially cool to see all the Canadian supporters at the Womens’ 5,000m, of course.
Another weekend we visited the sister from my host father, who has a beautiful old house in the province of Drente, which lies in the north-east of the country. She runs a “beauty farm”; a spa right there in the former farmhouse, and we [my host sister, host mother & I] were each treated to a marvellous facial – lucky us!
Drente is a beautiful area of the Netherlands that boasts sand dunes, woods, moors and quaint homes with thatched roofs that look right out of a fairytale. I even saw some hills. There we took a walk to see the megaliths that the Dutch name “Hunebedden”. The name literally translates to ‘giant beds’, but they are now known to be ancient graves dating from over 5,000 years ago: in this flat land devoid of mountains, some of these rocks weigh up to 25,000kg, and were placed with great care and deliberation thousands of years ago.
It is understood that Approximately 200,000 years ago, during an ice-period, Holland and most of northern Europe was covered by a thick layer of ice. The huge boulders of which the hunebedden are constructed from were transported to the Netherlands by glaciers.
At 4,000 BC the hunters in the area began to develop the land. They learned to grow crops, to domesticate livestock, and to build permanent settlements - the first farmers in the region (note: This was also going on in the south of Sweden, in Denmark and the northwest of Germany). These farmers cut the woods with stone axes and cultivated the arable land. Somewhere around 3,500 BC they began to build these giant graves using the big boulders that were scattered throughout the vicinity. Why the early farming people of the area went to such great lengths as to haul and stack unimaginably heavy stones to form these mysterious graves remains a mystery, which perhaps only adds to the awe one feels to see such magnificent reminders of times long past.
This weekend my friend Beth, also from Canada, came to stay with me for a couple of days. We visited the Albert Cuyp market in Amsterdam, and later that evening went out with Tia, another exchange student, who happened to be in the city with her ‘real’ parents from home.
Today, Beth, my host sisters and my host father and I (my host mother is presently skiing in Austria) went to a beautiful castle with beautiful grounds in Utrecht, for a fascinating tour detailing its rich history through the ages.
The exchange students received their eurotour email today, which offered some idea as to just where we would be going for our two week tour through the continent this June. I was more than pleased to see that we would be in Paris for my birthday, which also happens to fall on the last full day of Eurotour. I’m excited for our upcoming travels but do not wish to leave!
( more pictures )
| Date: | 2006-02-19 18:25 |
| Subject: | I'm back |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  working | | Music: | Rasputina - Trenchmouth |
Over one month has commenced since my most recent entry, and I fear it will take some time to put this one together, as I have so much to recollect. The weekend proceeding our ski trip, Kacey and I went to Schiphol airport together to welcome the new students from the Southern Hemisphere. To our great dismay, both flights (from Brazil and Australia) were delayed until the following day, and we had to be contented to wander around and watch flights depart. The grocery store there has a Canada section, which was actually quite illuminating – all of these terribly expensive, highly authentic products native to my country that I previously knew nothing of!
After that, it was my last week by my host-family, so we went to Rotterdam for a day at Madurodam and a bit of shopping, which was pleasant. I could easily recognize and give the location for most of the iconic buildings that have a miniature counterpart in the tiny theme park there – in fact, I’d already been to most of them!
The next weekend was relatively quiet, as I moved to my following house and attuned to life here in Santpoort.
Seven days later we left for Austria, for a week of wintersport! This time I snowboarded, which was completely fantastic. Skiing in France was okay, but it really couldn’t compare at all to the feeling I get from being on a board. It was in general a lot of fun – the scenery was, of course, breathtakingly beautiful, it was cosy staying in a caravan together, and we had beautiful weather with plenty of revivifying sunshine. I also heard a dreadful amount of German.
One of the most exciting things we did was to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain, and sleigh all the way down on a special track made for sleds. You go extremely quickly, with loads of moguls in between the huge, steep slopes. Another highlight was our meal out in the village, where I met a man wearing a plaid shirt, a pair of suspenders, a bright red baseball cap (in the restaurant), and smoking a pipe – from Halifax! I heard the accent before I saw the CANADA hat.
Wednesday I’m going to go visit Kacey for a couple of days, and after that we’ll travel together with the train to Maastricht, where Sarah lives, to celebrate the Carnival there. I still don’t have any idea what my costume will be, so we’ll see how that turns out!
( click here for more pictures )
| Date: | 2006-01-17 16:54 |
| Subject: | Back! |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | accomplished | | Music: | Opeth - Reverie/Harlequin Forest |
Ski Trip was fantastic! Saturday dawned fresh and cold - the ideal Dutch winter day. Due to some construction, I was spared taking the train with my replete luggage crammed full of supernumerary ski items and heavy snow jackets. The afternoon had us wandering about Utrecht Centraal train station (which is more like a shopping mall that trains happen to run in and out of) with some spare Aussies we brought along. Lucy and the rest (all Southern Hemisphere students except for Brazilians) left for home sometime that week, so they unhappily would not be joining us on wintersport.
On way to France we met the short term Rotary students, who generally either came from Brazil or South Africa, and got to know them though the fifteen-hour drive to St. Sorlin d'Arves (including a brief stop at a gas station in Luxembourg - Cheap, cheap, cheap!). We arrived at our château at about nine in the morning, without having had a wink of sleep. It was nonetheless a principally enjoyable bus ride for myself, as we reached the Alps just as dawn broke. What an empyreal sunrise.
The first complete day there (although it still felt like Saturday), we tried on our skis and rented boots. I accidentally went up a red lift with some friends, but that all worked out (I have bruises). Our first meal - SURPRISE, it's a Dutch bar! So we had Unox sausages and that mouth-watering pot of spinach/mashed potatoes, the name for which I have unfortunately forgotten. Take note of the joyful anticipation upon my face in photograph where being served! We later found that everybody at the Dutch bar was Dutch, and they played Dutch après-ski music. Après-ski is what we call the drinking/dancing you do after a long, hard day of skiing or snowboarding down the slopes.
The subsequent days of our vacation followed generally of the same disposition - ski lessons in the morning, a free afternoon, and an evening of food and parties to wrap it up. It was a charming village, and despite that our collective knowledge of the French language was quite diminutive, we were able to go around in our free hours and enjoy the small shops and snack-bars the area offered. When the time finally came to leave, it was a little difficult to comprehend. Goodbye to the Brazilians, the short term students, and of course the beautiful Savoie region of the French Alps. I managed to sleep a little on the way back, and I had a nice quiet weekend with my host family after arriving home.
I'm glad to be back at school, as I missed my friends there, and of course little perks (such as Yoga class). I'm reading the Lord of the Rings in Dutch right now, Friday is another After Forever concert in Haarlem, and this Sunday I'm going to go to Schiphol with some friends to welcome the new students, with whom we will tour Europe this June! Here are some selected photos from Ski trip.
( a lot of pictures )
| Date: | 2006-01-01 22:46 |
| Subject: | Gelukkig Nieuwjaar |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  sleepy | | Music: | Porcupine Tree - Hatesong |
The past few weeks have been brilliant. Unobtrusively quiet, and filled with a lot of enjoyable visits. Christmas involved visiting relatives (one of whom recently returned from a bicycle trip to South Africa) and a Christmas meal with my two hostparents. The second day of Christmas involved a gourmet dinner (gourmet = cooking your own little bits and pieces over a grill in the centre of the table), a thoroughly Dutch game of Sjoelbak (sort of like shuffle-board), and several inches of snow!
The next morning dawned bleak, biting and beautiful – my favourite desolate, polarized landscape of atrophied verdure againt ashen, orchid skies and the lorn snow. It was extraordinary while it lasted, the sort of arresting beauty I so rarely find myself (someone who has only lived in two very rainy lands for most of her life) in.
A day in Amsterdam and a night in Haarlem with Kacey and Tia was also fun (although the snow had all but disappeared by that point).
For New Year I stayed with my family, SUPER GEZELLIG. I have never seen or heard so many fireworks in the span of an hour or so before if my life – Dutch people are crazy over pyrotechnics, it seems. Anyways, it’s difficult to believe that I am almost half-way finished my year here until I look back at this blog and remind myself of all the things I have done – and have coming up. I’m excited for Eurotour all ready!
( more photos )
| Date: | 2005-12-13 17:54 |
| Subject: | So, |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | relaxed | | Music: | Collide - Monochrome |
The past December has unquestionably been one of the most enjoyable months so far for me. Shortly after my trip to Limburg, I moved in with the family Bruntink. I like it here very much and feel wonderfully at home with them. My very first evening, we went to a special dinner of their sailing club, which happened to include a course of vegetarian sushi, much to my happiness. Held on a large old ship, it finished with dancing to a [nearly] all-female funk band out of Amsterdam. Since then, I have been busy on and off with school, flute lessons, exchange student activities and so forth.
We celebrated Sinterklaas on the first Saturday of the month, and that was really a special experience for me. I received lots of lovely gifts I will hang on to forever, and I especially appreciated a book about the Velsen area that included comprehensive maps illustrating the area’s bicycle paths. I also had a nice package from home in the mail, thanks Mom. My host parents made a scavenger hunt for me to find my first Sinterklaas cadeautje, which was really something different – it involved a bowl full of swamp-jelly-water, a Barbie in the bath tub, and a trip out to the post box.
The following Sunday, I went all the way to Utrecht and saw my favourite band, Opeth, play. It was fantastic – I was a bit disappointed that we were not given the opportunity to meet them later or take photos (as it was already quite late for a school evening and I had an hour on the train ahead of me), but they played quite a few of their best songs (IMO), and I did take lots of pictures from my 1/2nd row vantage point.
On the actual day of Sinterklaas (5th December) we were treated to a rather interesting display in the afternoon at school. The students changed it to ’50 Sint en P-Unit’ (as in, 50 cent), and hosted a sort of variety show in de aula, featured things I don’t think I’d ever see in a public school back home (i.e. a wet t-shirt contest featuring a few 3rd year girls). It was … curious!
This past weekend, I took the train down to Wijchen to visit Beth. We went out a little in her town, although that mostly involved eating a lot of chocolate from the Hema, and sitting in a rather murky bar to catch up. The following morning was a rather affecting afternoon lunch hosted by the Rotary club in Elst – a goodbye to the students from the Southern hemisphere. They sang some songs and so on, but I enjoyed most of all just chatting with eachother. That evening was a lengthy night out in Arnhem, which was so much fun. We went out to a cocktail place, and danced for hours at Barrio Habana, stopped for an obligatory snack and took the late train home to Tia’s. The following afternoon (that’s when we had gotten up), we watched the Lion King in Dutch (De Leeuwekoning), and I went back home for some sleep.
This upcoming weekend I’m going to Texel island for another exchange student party. One of my lovely Christmas presents was money for ski or snowboard lessons at the local indoor centre, so I look forward to starting that. I’m counting down the days until my ski trip in France: 24 to go!
( more pictures )
| Date: | 2005-11-14 00:36 |
| Subject: | |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | sleepy | | Music: | Bangs - We Want More |
It's been a couple of weeks since my past entry, so I'll do my best to recapitulate the recent happenings with me! School is going well - I have yet to actually dynamically participate in class (namely, do my homework), but I do complete regular assignments for my Dutch class, and my language lessons, of course. This week the regular students have only testing, so I have very little lesson to attend the next few days. Last weekend was quiet. I watched some movies at friends' houses, and on Sunday I went skating for my first time on Dutch skates with Susanne. It was a lot of fun, although a lot of work.
This past weekend I had a Rotary trip. The other students in my district (Noord-Holland 1580) and I went to Limburg! We left very early yesterday morning to see Sinterklaas arrive in Maastricht, and spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering the gorgeous, ancient city. Old stone age remains have been found to the west of Maastricht (between 80,000 and 250,000 years old), and at least 500 years before the Romans came, Celts lived there at a spot where the river Meuse was shallow, and therefore easy to cross.
Afterwards, we took to the St. Pietersberg hill area, and were treated to a walk through the man-made caves, which sprawl for miles underneath the Dutch earth. The caves were particularly fascinating in that they had been extensively decorated by Jesuit preists in the past century or so. They also offer a safe haven to a copious number of bats. After that, we went out for dinner, followed by a trip to the local bars. We stayed the night in the Roman town of Gulpen, and went out for a few drinks before heading back to our snug, inviting summer house, located upon the hillside overlooking the surrounding area. It was very comfortable, and it was a really nice way to spend the latter part of the evening.
Early the next morning, we visited the American war cemetery for about half an hour or so - a deja vu from this past Spring, for me. Next, we drove on to Aachen (Aken), a lovely German city. It was all decked out for the approaching holiday season, which was fun to see. We also saw de Dom, the great church of the city. After some walking around Aken, we piled back into the minivan and began to drive all the way across the country back to Noord-Holland. We stopped in a nice village on the way there for coffee, and eventually arrived back at Alkmaar Centraal around seven o'clock. I had a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing the other exchangers again next month.
( click here for the rest )
This past Saturday, I met up with Bianca, Kacey, Kate, Beth, Josh, and Josh's local friend Stefan in Amsterdam. We mostly wandered about for the day, and stopped by a Burger King "for old time's sake". We also had a go about the Rijksmuseum, which was pleasant. After Bianca took her train home, we spent an hour or so in a very small pub - gezellig.
Sunday morning, my hostmother and sister Ans and Anke and I departed Schiphol for Bournemouth! I had my first step upon English soil at about eleven in the morning. We were all three of us very tired, so the first day was relatively low-key. Ans, Inge and I took a short walk along the beach there. It was absolutely enchanting to see hills again! The public parkland and a good deal of the vegetation were strikingly similar to Victoria, British Columbia. It was a bit weird for me, actually, as the roadways, some of the buildings, and the general atmosphere of the area was very close to home. After supper, we watched a movie, and I met Inge’s boy-friend Martin.
The next morning, we made the two-hour trip to London! The countryside along the way there was very picturesque, and I enjoyed the drive. It’s been a while since I spent that much time in a car. We had a couple of hotel rooms close to Paddington station (yes, like Paddington Bear! I took a picture of the sign), and after purchasing our tickets for the Tube, we were off for a bit of sight-seeing. The weather was of emblematic London – rainy, bleak, dreary – uninviting to some, but I liked it. We walked about the downtown area for most of the afternoon. In the evening, we took a jaunt to Chinatown, and had a traditional Chinese supper there. It was delicious. After that, we went to a couple of pubs around Trafalgar square. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Canadian Pacific building there, and of course Canada House!
The following day took us on a walking tour aptly titled “Secret London”. Our guide showed us some of the lesser-known, yet all the more intriguing places of historical distinction in and around the city core. My favourite piece was a rather reticent church of diminutive, undemanding exterior appearances, and yet it commanded a great presence. It was originally constructed nearly one thousand years ago. We stood for some time in the lower chapel, which lied in its most ancient foundations. There was a malodorous, aged mustiness to it that I actually took quite a liking to.
We came across a rather sneakily placed bust of Dickens (he asked that no statue of him be erected at all proceeding his death, and there stands yet none upon public London land, however this was officially a “private” property), and took a look about the little square Samuel Johnson would stroll crossways as he frequented the local tea shop (of course during the compilation of his legendary dictionary) .
After a stop at the Starbucks (!!!), we sat upon a rather ugly, cumbrous touring boat and listened to the dry English witticisms of our guide for about an hour. That guy had something droll to say about everything (said with a good Londoner’s accent: “…and that rather dingy building on the left there, behind that pile of garbage, is a moderately known pet shop. I thought I’d buy myself a pair of goldfish, and name them One and Two. That way, if One died, there’d still be Two left. That over there is the Modern Tates. Don’t know who’d want to bother going there. Next, we’ve got the Millenium bridge. Oh, goody.”).
Our trip down the Thames ended at Greenwich, and so we hiked up the hill to see the Prime Meridian! Like the tourist I was, of course I had a photograph taken.
Feeling quite famished, we had a nice Italian dinner, and continued to drive back from London, after some lengthy subway travel. Piccadilly Circus was really something to see after dark. I was very sad to see the city go – I enjoyed myself immensely! I would love to spend more time in England. The people were friendly and polite, and I had not realized until now how much I missed our Anglophone manners: thanking the bus driver, saying please/thank you for absolutely everything, being apologized to by even the most redoubtable-looking party after being lightly bumped into, “excuse me, please, may I get through?”, friendly locals who will enthusiastically take your photo and wish you a happy evening and where are you from…, etc. I know I will learn to love the Dutch way eventually as well, but I will admit to feeling a bit homesick for basic “polite” interactions. You just don’t smile at strangers on the street here in the Netherlands!
Today I returned back to Holland, after a short day in Poole of a bit of shopping. Once more, I was momentarily arrested by the resemblance of the streetscape and residential areas to Vancouver – namely, home. But, for now, Velsen is my home, and I was also happy to arrive at Schiphol, and to hear Dutch again.
I would love to go back to the UK, and tour about the rest of it, especially Ireland.
Tomorrow evening, Jolie, a friend from home will be visiting with me for a few days, and Saturday evening is the good-bye party for our Argentinian boy – time flies!
( pictures )
| Date: | 2005-10-15 17:17 |
| Subject: | |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | tired |
I've had a relatively quiet week at school - no parties or fires to speak of. Last night was a lot of fun!
We went to Amsterdam at around 6:30 (18.30), and walked around for a little while, before meeting up with Laurie's internet friends (haha), two girls who had been waiting for quite some time. Because they were so early, we could stand at the very front of the crowd, directly in front of the stage. It wasn't too large of a venue at all, and the crowd was okay. The opening act was a bit strange, and I wasn't into their music so much, but luckily it was just the standard six songs before After Forever played!
It was a great show, and a very cool exchange-student-experience: seeing them play live after listening for years, right in their home country.
After the concert, I met with them and took some photos for reminders, and found out that Floor (singer) has an uncle in Toronto. I think everybody knows someone in Canada. I loved how tall she was - a head taller than me (although I wore heels) and I'm 5"8!
This afternoon, another friend from school, Mela, came over and we watched le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie. I love that movie, although listening to french spoken whilst reading the dutch subtitles was a bit disconcerting.
( and more... )
| Date: | 2005-10-12 06:15 |
| Subject: | So.. |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | sleepy | | Music: | Dido - Honestly OK |
I really enjoyed the school party. It was agreeable, imponderous fun, and nearly everyone who attended dressed up nicely. I was accompanied by Susanne and Lisette, both of whom I know from my maatshcappijleer and natuurkunde classes.
The subsequent morning I overslept a bit, but we [Ans, Anke and I] eventually made it to Alkmaar - a city of stunning Victorian architecture, and quaint, fanciful little neighbourhoods. We had a delicious lunch (A twist on "broodje met kaas"; Goat cheese on wholewheat, served with walnuts and a drizzling of syrup), and I bought a due winter jacket (didn’t before realize how frore the Autumn wind can be, here by the North Sea).
The party in Arnhem was alright. I love Lucy (haha), and many of the other kids in my program, but believe that from now on, I would be better off seeing the exchangers a little less often. Also, some of those present overindulged a little, leading to a big mess to clean up the next morning. We generally found this very frustrating, at this was a special treat for her birthday, and that went a little beyond the welcome. In any event, concentrating on my Dutch friends here will save me a lot on train fare!
Last night, I re-learned how to knit.
I’m looking forward to seeing After Forever with Laurie and Larissa this Friday evening.
The highlight of the weekend was taking a German train (it stopped by Arnhem) with a girl from Chile (who speaks no English), whilst sitting next to a business man from Japan, and speaking in Dutch the whole time. I found out that Igna’s really sweet and a lot of fun, and it’s nice to finally get to know her, now that we have a common language…And, the [German] train conductor mistook us for locals!
( a few more... )
| Date: | 2005-10-05 14:19 |
| Subject: | Finally... |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | productive | | Music: | Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence |
Well, where to pick up? I've been out and about a lot lately. This past weekend I travelled with Kacey, Andrea, Igna, Dane and Paco to Buren, for our Rotex weekend.
Our first day was encompassed of climbing through obstacle courses (it was held at an outdoor adventure camp), going for walks about the countryside, and catching up with eachothers’exchanges. The evening was a bit cold, as it was a bitter, clear October night (I don't know whose idea it was to sleep in tents...), but we got over it. I really loved to see the night sky, with perceptible stars again! The following morning involved a 15 kilometer canoe trip. We had a lot of fun - they were Canadian made canoes! We were Cait, Thessa, Lucy, and I. After making Lucy an honorary Canadian, it was a wholly Canuck group.
The weekend before that was rather low-key. I went to Amsterdam for the day with Ans. I really appreciated our visit to the museum, where we saw the WereldNatuurKunst (World Nature Art) exhibition.
Tonight I am going to go see Mama Mia! in Utrecht, with my host-mom and my host-mom-to-be, Jacqueline. I'm very excited, especially as the production is to be performed in Dutch.
Tomorrow evening I will go to the local theatre to see a Japanese drumming group, and Friday night is the School Gala. It's a fancy event, so I will be sure to take lots of pictures.
Saturday evening I go to Arnhem, for Lucy's giant 18th bash, and I think the next day Dane's host parents are giving him a classic Dutch afternoon Birthday party.
Yesterday I had no school, so I took the train to Assendelft for the day and visited Dane and Paco. We hung out a bit at the carnival. The Kermis (a sort of village street party) is today, but I could not go as I am attending the musical. I have now decided that my least favourite mode of transportation is riding on the back of a bicycle - Bleeegghhh. I prefer the slower, but motion sickness-free, peripatetic way of getting around.
School is going well. I am drifting around classes for some part, to see which courses in particular I like. I have switched to a physics class, which is really nice for me, and I like most of my others. English is a bit funny, although I can't say that I like the teacher so much, it's a good way to practice my Nederlands. I continue to speak in Dutch with friends from school, and am slowly inching along. It's nice to be able to chat in Dutch on MSN.
So... some pictures!
( ”here” )
| Date: | 2005-09-21 21:11 |
| Subject: | |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | sleepy |
This past week, I went to Utrecht for Rotary Netherlands and stood behind a Canada/USA booth for the afternoon, speaking with prospective exchange students to my country. I enjoyed seeing some of my exchange student friends again, and I found it really striking to meet with this year's outbounds. It's hard to believe that it has been so long since I was in their shoes. Following the Rotary day, Dane, Kacey and I went out to Amsterdam for the night. It was a lot of fun, even if we were completely ripped off going out for a drink, and I look greatly forward to my Rotex weekend.
Otherwise, my life has been rather low-key. I am still searching for a flute teacher, and I go to school each day. I convinced my dutch friends only to speak to me in nederlands today, and I think they were pleasantly suprised to see that they could do so and I would still engage in conversation. I even spoke a little, in Dutch! It's nice to be able to follow the lessons, and I'm glad that I no longer feel uncomfortable going into shops and other public places - that I can comprehend, and converse a little as well.
Ans is volgend weekend jarig en het weekend daarop is Lucy uit Australië jarig. Op 23 oktober ga ik voor vier dagen naar Londen en daar kijk ik naar uit =)
( and of course, some pictures... )
Well, school has started, and I have done a lot since my last update. this past weekend I went down all the way to Tiel, in Gelderland, with Kacey (USA) and Kate (Canada), and also to Texel Island (where Kacey lives).
Saturday dawned rainy and early as Kacey and I took the 9:15 (!) train from Driehuis to Haarlem to Utrecht to Tiel. I am amazed at the beauty of the Haarlem station - so much lovely Art Nouveau! After two hours of travelling and manuvering through Utrecht Centraal, we found our way to Tiel and found Kate, who is from Ontario. We saw a dutch pop band play, spent some time wandering about the town (although locals insisted it was a "village"), and came back in time to see Within Temptation. Taking the train, speaking in Dutch and standing about for hours with thousands of other teenagers to see a Dutch metal band really made us feel like true exchange students. We came back very tired, and went straight to bed.
The next morning took us to Texel Island, where Kacey is living for this year. I really got a kick (haha) out of seeing people actually doing daily tasks about town wearing wooden shoes, and I loved the beautiful country garden of Kacey's hostfamily's house.
Later that evening, I went to the going away party of José's friend, who is going to backpack all over the world for a year. I met with a number of people, and finally could really chat about common interests again. Het was gezellig!
School is going along comfortably. I am taking just enough courses to keep me busy, but not to overwhelm, and the kids at my school are wonderfully nice. I really appreciate going to a small school, especially a gymnasium. It grows late, so here are a few pictures.
( from Tiel to Texel )
My apologies regarding the lapse in my usually regular updates - consider it that I am having too much fun to find time to post :)
Today Paco and Dane (both living in Assendelft) came to visit me, and we have a blast. I took them to the Duinen, and it was quite an adventure. Other than Paco's bike breaking, our hilarious "unfortunate bicycling accident", and stumbling onto a nudist beach, it was nice and laid back. We had a declious supper here at my home, followed by tasty ice cream from the local parlour.
Yesterday I went to a family day from Ans' side, and met many of her nieces and nephews. It was nice just to sit and listen to the conversation, as exiguous as my compensation of Dutch is. We watched the Game (soccer - "voetbal"), and the Netherlands won 1-0 versus Armenia. I find myself actually paying attention to the action onscreen here - must be adapting!
The day before that, I went shopping with Inge in Haarlem, and then to Loek's house to help him paint. I think I did more harm than good to the baseboards, but it was fun. After that, we had a yummy pizza dinner, and Inge and I went bowling with two of her friends. My game was witheringly bad but it was a lot of fun. We went out to a bar afterwards and came home a bit late - good times.
Tomorrow I start school - I hope I can make friends there, but I'm very nervous!
So, some pictures.
( click here for the rest )
| Date: | 2005-08-29 13:07 |
| Subject: | Quick post... |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | sleepy |
The past week was wonderfully relaxed, which allowed for plenty of time to acquaint myself with Gemeente Velsen. On Saturday morning I went about with Ans on the bikes, and learned from her some local history. I discovered that I live in the vicinity of a rather recondite castle right out of the middle ages (the ruins of Brederode - 1282), a significant psychiatric hospital from Victorian times, and a pool that perhaps the Dutch mafia was involved with! Very intriguing. We were given an elucidatory tour of the local operating windmill in Santpoort, by someone apprenticing to become a miller, who kindly took us to the very highest floor. I had no idea how the whole mill rocks about when there is a good wind and the blades are turning (awww, it reminded me a little of the earthquakes from home).
After that, we spent a bit of time at the sea festival in IJmuiden.
Little Fleur from one of my other host families (also the daughter of Ans' sister) came to stay overnight, and we all went to a typical dutch birthday from another of Ans' nieces.
Sunday, with my host-brother Koen (older real-brother to Fleur), we went to Fortress IJmuiden, which is a subterrainean complex from the Napoleonic era built upon an artificial island! I was suprised to see that what at first ken appeared to be a small cluster of bunkers upon an isolated dune was actually an underground labyrinth of corridors, rooms and great chambers intended for 300 troops. I especially liked to look at the displayed diagrams of the weaponry/tools from about 1880. Although the tour guide spoke entiely in Dutch (of course), I could understand just enough to follow along the engrossing recapitulations of the stelling van Amsterdam.
This morning I accompanied Inge to the little bakery where she has worked for five years. I really, really liked sitting in the kitchen with her, the baker and two others, seeing them chat and baking cookies. It was very "real" and friendly - little moments such as that are really what make exchange great.
( some pictures )
For some history on the castle, here is a link: http://www.absofacts.com/kastelen/data/brederode.shtml
Sorry to my english audience; it is in Dutch (I recommend the babelfish translator...) =P
Today was really nice. I got up early at purchased a discount card for frequent rail travel, and then took the train to Alkmaar to meet up with some other exchange students in my province. It was really wonderful to see everybody again, and we had a lot of fun wandering about the beautiful city, and drinking coffee on the patios. Some hosts from Nickelodean Nederland were there filming a promo for the upcoming Netherlands Kids Choice awards, so I had my photo taken with them, haha. We watched the cheese market for a little while, and did some brief shopping, but mostly sat together and chatted. I was sad when we had to break up and go to our respective host cities at the end of the day, but none of us are too far apart, and it isn't so bad that we can't see eachother a couple of times a month at least. I am about half an hour on bike from Dane and Paco (not counting a quick trip over the North Sea canal by boat), so I can hang out with them without much trouble, as well.
Anyways, here are some photos from today!
( groetjes uit Alkmaar... )
So! Today I went about IJmuiden with Ans on the bike, and had tastey ice cream afterwards at a local family-owned shop. Otherwise I had a nice, low-key day, with a delicious supper and karemel vla for desert :)
With my hostparents, we went for a nice, long bicycle ride through the dunes! They were so beautiful. I took pictures, and of the wild little ponies that graze about, so this is a picture post. Also included are some other photos from the tall ships, and one of Martin, who is my exchange partner (going to Victoria!), and myself. And, a snip from an msn conversation:
Transfer of "naamloos 034.jpg" is complete.
Alexis 06-45514134 HOI! says:
can you it open?
Alexis 06-45514134 HOI! says:
OMG DUTCH GRAMMAR IS INFILTRATING MY ENGLISH
ammmyy says:
!!!
( pictures... )
| Date: | 2005-08-22 15:05 |
| Subject: | |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | busy | | Music: | the radio |
Well, picking up from last Monday!
Tuesday we toured a great castle just outside of Hengelo. A count still lives there, so we could not go inside the actual kasteel, but instead walked about the sprawling gardens. They were highly manicured, without a blade of grass out of line. Black swans swam freely about the moat, and one region of the grounds featured great whimsical sculpted shrubs worth of Edward Scissorhands. That evening we had another, previously puzzling Dutch barbeque, but this time we knew what to do with the raw meat (cook it yourself!) and veggies.
Wednesday we toured the Grolsch brewery, which was absolutely elephantine! It took us nearly two hours to briskly walk about the main sectors of the building, which was recently completed after part of their older factory was blown up (during an unfortnuate Fireworks accident). I think the current yearly productive capacity is 3.2 million hectolitres, so you can imagine what a site it was to look upon. After the tour, we were given two hours in the en suite bar, and shown a movie compliation of their commercials from the past 50 years. It was all very corporate (I don't think I'll be able to look at a photograph of Marilyn Monroe again without really, really wanting a beer), but highly enjoyable. I appreciated the information regarding the new technology employed by the brewery, and also the care they take to remain as environmentally friendly as possible.
That evening, we went to a dairy farm and spent time with the cows, which was a lot of fun. Cait had a close encounter with a calf she'd rather not now talk about, but I can say that it was possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen since being here...
The following day was more low-key, and we took a short train ride to Enschede, just to grow accustomed to traveling by rail in the Netherlands. Afterwards, eight of us girls and our gastgezinnen (hosting families) drove to the German border for a big pannekoeken meal. It was very tasty, and the resturaunt was very picturesque -- an olde-style mill from hundreds of years ago. I really, truly felt as though I was in the "old world" at that moment. Later that night, we went clubbing at the Pleintje. It was a blast, and we were having lots of fun dancing (despite the fact in any other situation, I would HATE hip-hop/R&B), until a couple of the younger students had a bit too much to drink. My evening was cut short by escorting one home, and although it was a very high-anxiety moment at the time, we were laughing over the story the next day.
Friday was our last full day of language camp, and afterwards a nice barbeque. I went for a walk with Kacey, uit Tennessee, which was lovely. It was long after sunset, the sky was purple, we walked along a dark cobblestone-road lined with great trees, and it was a very misty night. I really loved walking through the country side, and finding toads in the grass. It was truly 'frog weather' that day. I saw lots of pine trees, which reminded me with a pang of home, but I am learning to love the cultivated, idyllic landscapes here in the Netherlands.
Saturday was filled with tearful goodbyes to the other northies, and hugs of welcome from the southies (who've been here since January). I have so many pins on my blazer now (in addition to some beer coasters, mini boxes of chocolate sprinkles, key-chains, and other things) that it is growing diffciult to wear. Our next Rotex (an organization of former Dutch exchange studenten) weekend is October, and I think we may meet up in Utrecht sometime next week, so I can soon look forward to seeing my new 'family' again.
I am now at the Rolvinks' house, which is really nice. Ans (my host mother) and I rode our bikes to the north sea canal today, and watched the tall ships returning from Amsterdam after the festival they were shown at. It was moving to see all the great vessels (and I'm usually not even the seafaring type!), and I took so many photos. It has been a very nice day, although I continue to struggle with these huge Dutch bikes. We had to lower my seat by about a foot before I could actually mount the bicycle.
I think I might be going to England in a couple of months, so I am very excited for that!
| Date: | 2005-08-20 00:52 |
| Subject: | Foto post! |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | content |
I'll post an account of my experiences with inbound camp later this weekend, if I can, but until then -- pictures!
( click-click for more )
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