May you live every day of your life Like it's your last!

Hallo everyone sorry that I haven’t been updating I guess I am really bad at this blog thing. Hehe but really time has been going so fast and at time it goes way to fast. So I’ am going to give a short summary for all the days that I really didn’t do anything other then go to school. And a full summary for the days that I had something exciting happen on. Ps. I have now moved to my new home and I am now comfortably living there.



Maandag 8 November-Woensdag 10 2010~I didn’t really do much other then get off on the wrong train stop so I had to wait for the next train to come so I could get to the third stop of my trip. So when I was really suppose to get home at around 11am I really got home around 11:50am. After that nothing big really happened for me. Dinsdag and Woensdag nothing really happened went to school, played hockey and got to know my new family.



Donderdag 11 November 2010 ~Today I celebrated Saint Maarten dag with my family back in De Weere. St Martin's day is celebrated in the evening of 11 November in Flanders, parts of the Netherlands – primarily the southern and north-western parts – and most areas of Germany and Austria. This is where children go from door to door carrying paper lanterns and sing traditional songs about Saint Maarten to the householders in return for sweets and goodies, a custom which can be likened somewhat to the American tradition of 'trick or treat' at Halloween. Here is a song that I had to sing on St Martins day (11 November is de dag /11 November is de dag/ dat ons lichtje, dat ons lichtje/ 11 November is de dag/ dat ons lichtje schijnen mag ) So today I had to make a lantern and dress up warm to go door to door with my first family host sister Mariëlle. The night was fun and I got a lot of candy from all the house in De Weere.



Vrijdag 12 November 2010~Today I had school till 11 then I had to go with my friends Tammy and Jessica ( who are on the same exchange program as me and their both from Canada also) to Den Haag for another Rotary weekend. So we took the train and while on the train we found that the train the was suppose to take us straight to Den Haag change and was going back to Hoorn. So we had to rush off the train and find the next train but we missed the train that was placed for the passengers of the last train so we had to wait for the next train to Den Haag. In the end we finally made it to Den Haag Round 5:40 when we were suppose to be there at 5pm but we still weren’t late. After everyone had arrived we were sorted into house mate groups their were 6 people in my group and everyone was starting to wonder on how we were going to be staying with our host family. It turned out the our host family there own a 4 story house that looked like the house from the cartoon pippy long stoking just with out the horse. After dinner we all watched a movie and then went to bed.



Zaterdag 13 November 2010~Today we woke up and walked to the museum called the Gemeente Museum. Which I must say was very strange. It’s a abstract art museum with supper strange art even for me. I usually really like art but these art piece I just could understand were the artist was coming from. Most art piece I saw either had something to with certain parts of the male and female body or they look like one thing then you look from another side you realized you really never know what it was. After the museum we went to the Sinterklaas parade which was huge but in the end I actually never saw Sinterklaas and his horse. After we had lunch and then we had to go a get gift for a person you were given. After we had dinner and then we met up at the dolfijn bowling place to open our gifts and play a couple rounds of 10 pin bowling. After everything we went home and watch another movie and went to bed.


Zonderdag 14 November 2010~  today I was super tired since I had to sleep on the grounded since one of my roommate popped my bed the night before so I really didn’t have the greatest of sleeps. Once everyone was pack the twins brought us to the back yard were they wanted us to try there zip line which ended up me crashing into a tree just like in the move Tarzan. After we met up at a restaurant and got on a bus (which was called the FUN BUS)  it was pretty fun and the bus driver like playing really old dutch music which wasn’t so bad it was more funny to listen and watch the Rotarians dance to the music. After the fun bus we had lunch and then went to the Mauritshuis Museum. Were I saw the painting The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer's after we said our goodbyes and went home by train.


Maandag November 15-Vrijdag November 19 2010~was a normal couple of days that nothing big really happened. I had school and Field hockey like normal and I went with my host mother and my two host sister to Alkmaar for shopping on Wednesday/ Woensdag. Also on Donderdag two of my friends and myself did our hippie presentation which was kind of nerve racking and I think it went well.

Zaterdag 20 November 2010~ Today I bought Roses for my third host family because of what their having to go thought at the moment and then after giving the flowers I went off to play my first Field hockey game here in Holland. The game was pretty good I still have a lot to work on but with practise I will become a better player. After the game we drove to Hoorn and then I caught the train to go home. After dinner I had a shower and then went to Hoorn again to go to a girls night out well more like in since we only watched movies and talked. After I met up with my host family and we drove home.

Zonderdag 21 November 2010~ Today we celebrated Sinterkaas at Oma Loos’s house were two black pete’s came and gave gift to all the kinds in the house we also sang songs and danced. After the fun filled day I couldn’t help but be tired so I went to bed early.

 

Zonderdag 28 November 2010~Today was a relax day Luuk , Kyllian and I went and watched a movie and then I was dropped back off at  my new home. Then I had dinner and went on my computer.

Maandag 29 November –Vijdag 3 December 2010~ This week it snowed so I didn’t have to play field hockey which was nice for a change since it’s not that fun when you have to rush back and forth from one village to a town that is a 15 min train ride away.  School was ok but still kind of boring. I also learned how to bike in the snow and on ice but it was still very slippery. On vrijdag i also sang Sinterklaas songs and put my shoe out for Sinterklaas to come.

*****(Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Suriname, Curacao, Bonaire, and Indonesia; he is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or, in Belgium, on the morning of 6 December. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sinterklaas is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States. 

Sinterklaas and his Black Pete usually carry a bag which contains candy for nice children and a roe, a chimney sweep's broom made of willow branches, used to spank naughty children. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. The Zwarte Pieten toss candy around, a tradition supposedly originating in Sint Nicolaas' story of saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their father's debts. They also climb down chimneys to fill the children's shoes with presents, this causes their skin to be black.)***************

Zaterdag 4 December 2010~ Today I felt sick and so I didn’t really do much I worked on my Surprise for Sinterklaas and finished the Article for my home town Summerland’s new paper. After all that I I felt tired and really I didn’t do anything that could really tier me out.

Zonderdag 5 December 2010 ~Today I still felt sick but not as bad as before. Today I finished my gift and had some cup of soup.  I waited till the party begain, today we celebrated Sinterklaas by give a gift to someone. The gift included a poem and a hand made gift. After everything I went to bed around midnight.

Maandag 6 December –Vrijdag 10 December 2010~This week it snowed and it was super slippery. ( for a place that bikes so much I really think they should make it a rule that everyone must have winter tires on their bikes it would save everyone the pain of falling). So since it was so slippery I ended up falling and getting caught under my bike and almost breaking my foot in the few moments that I had while falling. Once I was back up I had to walk to school since my bikes chain fell of and the bikes here the chains are really hard to put on so I had to get my schools concierge to put the chain back on. I also played Judo in school which ended with my have like a billion burses everywhere. After the school week was over I was super happy that it was the weekend. I also had dinner at one of my firends houses and we cooked beef dip and watched "The voice of Holland" and we played Rock band on the Wii.

Zaterdag  11 December 2010~ Today took a train to  Woerden the south bound Farewell Party were we listened to the Rotary District Chairman talk and we watched video on there trip. After we played some music had lunch and listen to more talking after that we went to the train station and ended up missing our train so we had to wait 30 min for the next train. Once home I had dinner and pack for my night out with Isabella. Once they arrive we went off to the Black and White in Medemblik. It was fun I didn’t drink anything but coke a cola and listen to music and watch random drunk people try to dance and do what random drunk people do. WE also played foosball and talk. We went home after the place closed for the night which was around 4 am but we didn’t arrive home time half past 4.

Zonderdag 12 December 2010~today was a slow day since I was running on 5 hours of sleep. Neils had dropped me off around 12pm.  So when I got home I cleaned my room and took a 2 hour nap. After 2 hours I woke up wondering were I was and what time it was and I though I had over slept and was late for school but really I wasn’t and it was only 5  30 pm the same day so I decided to get and go down stairs where my host mother and I went to a local snack bar and got fries and other goodie and we had dinner. After  dinner I went up stair and go ready for bed.

Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.”

Pinguinen

klein krokodil

Ijsbeer

Bokito the aap



Olifanten



At the play back show

The Farewell Dinner

Hello again everyone

Sorry for not writing in this sooner. It’s just not a lot happened the first week and the next week was a week long school holiday and then I was moving to my new home with my second host family. So I will give a small recap of what happened the week before the holidays and I will give a full recap on the other two weeks. So on to more exciting things.

Week of 18-24 of Oktober 2010 So the week before the school holidays was along and boring week. Since most of Vwo5 was away in either America or Slovakia. So while they were away, my class were either cancelled or still in progress with the normal curriculum or we just watched a movie. One of the movies I watched was “How I Killed My Mother”. It was made in Canada but spoken in French with Dutch subtitles. Throughout the movie I could only understand a little bit of it. This week I also started field hockey in Hoorn. The team I’m with is 18A-2, this team is more into playing and having fun while playing the game and not just in it to win. Which is something I like about the team. All in all the week was ok it rained whenever I was outside so that was a bad part but even with the rain the week was good.

So The Holiday Week

Maandag 25 Oktober 2010 I got to sleep in till 9:30am after waking up and getting ready I was off to Abbekerk for my Dutch language class. After that I had the rest of the off which was nice.

Dinsday 26 Oktober 2010 Was another lazy day where I slept in late and had lunch with my host Oma and Opa and Marielle and Kyllian after lunch I went on a small journey to find the Oreo cows. These cows are very cute and special since their cookie cows. My cookie cow friends are all black but a large ring of white around the middle of them. Even when they are babies they are cute and short and very chubby. Their like chubby Oreos. The only thing is you can’t dip them in milk. All in all good windy day

Woensdag 27 Oktober 2010 Today my host family the (Van Glijentebeek’s) and I went to the Anna Frank Museum, which was amazing. When you walk in you get this feeling that you can’t talk and while you go through all the old rooms you and hear the floors creek. After the Anna Frank Museum we went to the zoo in Rotterdam called Diergaarde Blijdorp which I think it was my first time going to a zoo like that. I just loved seeing all the animals. I think so far in my journey here in the Netherlands I don’t think I have ever taken so many photos as I did here at the zoo.

Donderdag 28 Oktober 2010 Today I got to rest from all that we did the day before. I also had plans to go hangout with a friend but they had to cancel so I watched Jack Ass the movie with Kyllian my host brother and his friends. The movie kind of made me think of some of my friends back home but they never did thing that crazy.

Vrijdag 29 Oktober 2010 Today I help my friends Issabelle with here Halloween party which was fun we carved pumpkins and backed cookies and what not. I do have to say having a Halloween party is not a normal thing. The Dutch people don’t really celebrate Halloween like we do back in Canada or the U.S.A. Today I also cooked for my host family here in De Weere . I cooked Poutine which went well.
Zaterdag 30 Oktober 2010 Today was the day that I Skyped with my family back in my home town Summerland. Today also was the day that the Halloween party was on. In the morning I helped with setting up and cooking. After all the cooking was done I went back home to De Weere and was able to talk to my family which was nice since I miss them and my animals. After dinner I went to the party it was fun since I don’t drink anymore I got to watch watch everyone in a different state of mind. I also met a rebound who went to Canada 2 years ago which was nice. After the party I stayed at Issabelle house to help and help clean up.

Zonderdag 31 Oktober 2010 Today I helped clean up and then went home to relax and get ready for school the next day
So this is now the week after the holidays not much happened till the weekend but it was still a good week.
Maandag 1st November 2010 Today I had one class and then I biked to Abbekerk for my Dutch Language lesson. After I went home and Started the sad and boring journey of packing my crap up to go to my next host family in Bovenkarspel-Grootebroek. My Packing job that day wasn’t a lot. He He
Dinsdag 2nd November 2010 Today was a kind of good day since French was cancelled but in Gym were starting tennis and I suck really badly at tennis so it didn’t really work out. But I did wish that we could play try to hit the climbers. Since our class was broken into 2 group one was climbing and the other was playing tennis and well I thought it would help our aim but them again not could help my aim. Well later in gym I did hit a climber but he was close to the ground when I hit him but he fell and landed on his butt. I felt so sorry but it was still entertaining.
Woensadag 3rd Novemeber 2010 Today nothing big happened it was a normal ok day. Went to school came home drew and then had dinner and had a shower.
Donderdag 4th November 2010 Today was a good day I worked on my Hippie presentation and tried a field hockey skirt but it was to small but that’s ok. Today I also went to field hockey since I didn’t go Dinsdag and it went well I met more people which is nice.
Vrijdag 5th November 2010 today was a good day I only had to be at school till 11am then I went to the old part of Hoorn and bought some stuff that I need and some candy the I really didn’t need. Today also was the play back show which was fun but really loud. The play Back show is were kids have a song and then they have to make a dance to it and then show it to the judges and see who wins.
Zaterdag 6th November 2010 Today I woke up late and had to finish packing and cleaning my room so it looks like the way went I arrived. It took most of the day to pack since I hate packing . for the cleaning part I just dusted and vacuumed which didn’t take long. After that I gave my host family here in De Weere their gift which they liked. After that we went out for a farewell dinner which was wonderful and the gifts that I received from everyone meant so much to me. After dinner Luuk , Anouk and I went to a birthday party for one of the Rotary member and it was nice but the music was to loud but other then that they played some good songs. After that we went home and went to bed.
Zonderdag 7th November 2010 today was the day that I moved to Bovenkarspel-Grootebroek to my new family. It was a sad time as well as kind of scary and nerve racking. The day went ok I got un packed and fond out how to get to school and how to get home. The day went by pretty fast it ended with us watching Mama Mia.

Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most.

So here's this weeks Post. This week had it's ups and downs which you will read. Well hope you like it and don't forget to leave me a pretty little comment.


Maandag 11 Oktober ’10

Today I had only one class and then I had to bike all the way to Abberkerk for more Nederland lessons. The lessons aren’t to bad, I’m starting to understand some stuff but then again I’m not at the same time. Later that day around 4:30pm I had to bike all the way to Twisk for dinner at Eric my counsellors house. The dinner went great, I had a lot of fun and the food we had was amazing. So all in all I had a good day even if I may be tired from biking 40 some odd km, it was still a good day.

Dinsdag 12 Oktober 10
Today I didn’t have to bike to school since my host brother Kylian was sick so Anouk my host mother drove us to our schools. I was happy not having to bike today since I had to do a running test in Gym class. The running test was that we had to run straight for 12min and see how many laps you could do. It’s like the cooper test that I wrote about but this time there was no break in the middle. In the end I ran 11 laps which is pretty good for me. Once school was over I had to bike home. All in all the day was good I may have not biked 32km like normal but I was still tired from biking 16km and running 2km.

Woensdag 13 Oktober 10


Today was another day that I didn’t have to bike to school which again was nice. Today was a somewhat good day. I got a 7 on a school project and that is pretty good. The marking system here is different then back home. How they mark everything is with a scale of 0- 10. zero being almost impossible since most teacher give a mark for your name but still its the worst type of fail you can do and then you have a ten which is amazing work. I think I’m going to leave it at that description since that scale can turn to be confusing when the teacher starts writing it in decimals or they just put plus signs with it. Also today I hung out with some friends which is a good sign that I’m making them. After school I biked home and called Eric my counsellor about when I’m going to my next host family. I found out that I will be leaving on the 7th of November. After I ended the call I felt well sad and a bit stressed and also shocked since I realized that time is going faster then I thought it would go. I also realized that I’m not getting very far on the language and I realized just how little of time I have left with my first host family here in De Weere. I also felt that I hadn’t done enough to fully show my appreciation to my host family. Its funny when I look back I wish that I was a more open person and not a person that likes to not show their feelings. In this time I was feeling that way I felt I had a song come into my head. You know the song Carrie Underwood - Temporary Home well there is a part of the song that says ("This is my temporary Home

It's not where I belong. /Windows and rooms that I'm passing' through./This was just a stop, on the way to where I'm going. /I'm not afraid because I know... this was /My temporary home." /This is our temporary home.) I think I really understand that those lyrics. Since this my be my home but this isn’t my home forever everyone moves on with life and everyone keeps going, no one can stand still forever even when that all we want to do. I may not fully understand the lyrics but this is my understanding of them.

Donderdag 14 Oktober 10
Today was another good day but it just had to try to rain which put a downer on my day. All I can say is that I’m glad its only a little bit of rain and not it raining cats and dogs. School today was long I had around 8 hours of school and three of those hours I had no classes. After school I biked home. All in all the day was a normal day nothing fully was totally new to me.

Vrijdag 15 Oktober 10
Today I had to bike to school which was a bit harder since I haven’t biked in the morning for a while. After I finished 3 hours of school I was done for the day, so I went to the old part of Hoorn and went shopping. I didn’t really buy a lot since what ever I buy I have to carry on the bike with me and I really don’t want anything that’s to heavy. After getting lost in the old part of the town I went home. Later that day my host father Luuk and I went to go pick up Kylian from school since he still is to sick to bike. Once we picked up Kylian we went and got fries from the snack store by my school. Once home we had dinner and watched Indiana Jones and the crystal skull and then went to bed.
Zaterdag 16 Oktober 10
Today I decided to go watch my host sister and brothers soccer games. Which went ok my host sister Marielle soccer game ended up with a loss but they still played well and my host brother Kylian soccer game ended up with their first win in the season which was great. After watching both games I went home and had a wonderful lunch and then tried to translate an article from the newspaper. So far I got that it’s about Breast Cancer and about this women’s life with the disease. Later that night Anouk my host mother brother and his wife came over for a visit which was ok , they are very nice people.

Zonderdag 17 Oktober 10
Today I got to sleep in well on Sunday I tend to always sleep in but I don’t sleep in to the time that I would back home I only sleep in till 10:30 or 11 am. The day was great it was nice and sunny so we decided to take a trip to the Sand Doon called the Honky tonk it was fun but tiring at the same time. After we went home and just had kinda like family time. The day end on a good note.

Experience is how life catches up with us and teaches us to love and forgive each other.

So this is for the Past two weeks that I have been here. As well as a small note on the things that I kind of miss right now and things that I don't miss right now.

The things I miss Part 1.

1. Oliver and Brutis my dogs and Voodoo my cat.
2. My family.
3. Being in good walking distance to everything.
4. Subway at any time.
5. Being able to drive.
6. Mountains

Things I don’t really miss Part 1.

1. Non paved roads with construction happening in it.
2. Having to pay for gas

Ok so here’s a small recap of the week before October.

The week was like most of the rest but I did get to try the Cooper test in Gym which I can right now rule out that I don’t think it should have ever been made up. The Cooper test is where you have to run around a soccer field for 12 minutes with One minutes of walking in the middle. It wasn’t that bad but right after the walk your body really doesn’t want to keep going. Plus add how much some people have to bike in the day you as a person just end up really tired by the end. Other than that schools slowly starting to get a bit better. I’m slowly but surely making a couple friends (I think hehe). Life here is great but sometime I feel that I’m not doing enough or that I may not be smart enough to ever get the Language but I know everything comes with time.
Friday/Vrijdag 1st Oct/ Oktober

Today I didn’t go to school since I was heading out to Zeeland for my Rotex weekend.
It took around 3 and half hours to get there due to the fact that Robbert and I kept stopping for different things like a different car, Veggies, Juices, and food for him. We finally made it to Zeeland but again we had to stop at the train station to drop me off for like 15min so that him and this other Rotex Girl could go shopping for food. After being picked up again we finally went to the place where everyone will be staying for the next 3 days. After 2 hours everyone had arrived and we could finally start the party. We all talked for a while about how are stay is so far and how our Dutch is coming and it seems that everyone is in the same place which isn’t very far in the language. After dinner two other girls and myself helped clean the dishes which was probably the grosses thing that I have ever done. Spinage is not nice to clean up. Finally after an hour and half of clean it was done and we got to join everyone in a game of cluedo which is a fun game but I don’t think people were very interested in the game. After a while my roommates and myself went to bed.
Saturday/Zaterdag 2 Oct/Oktober

Today we woke early for breakfast and at breakfast I was give a big surprise by an old friend. My friend Koen America came to visit which was great to see him and talk to him after he left Canada to go back home. Around Lunch time we headed off to see and learn about the dikes here in the Netherlands. It was pretty interesting but I was still really tired from the day before so I was kind of falling asleep as well. Then we toured around and went on a boat ride. Everything was fun except when my friend from Brazil and I were leaning against the wall when the wall started moving on us and that’s when we realized the wall that we were leaning on was no wall but a kind of door to the boat so all in all almost went for a swim. Once back on land we saw a couple different buildings that had pretty cool things like a wind tunnel, sea animals. Later we went on this slid thing and that was supper fun till was started to crash into people. All in all the day was good.
Sunday Morning

At around 3am my room was woken up by like 10 people screaming and talking and the a bed matrices went flying as well, so the excitement never seems to end here.
Sunday/Zondag 3Oct/ Oktober
Today we went sailing which was pretty cool till I got hit with the mast but other than that it was fun. We got to watch other boat with nobody on them go overboard. After that we finished parking and then sun tanned in the amazing warm sun. it was so nice to have the sun out since the day before had rained for the most part. Sadly everything has to come to an end and in which it did we all had to go our own ways . I arrived home tired and kind of hungry so I was happy for dinner that night.

there was a down side for going to this event and that was not being able to attend my annual Rotary dinner the only happens once a year. Also i missed my host sister horse computation and a textiles art gallery showing that was happening in Wognum. But if i look back I don’t think i would really change it for anything i did have a great weekend.

The next week mini recap

The next week I didn’t have school since it was test week and I don’t partake in test so I thought it would be good to go on a couple adventures. Well when it came down to it, something out there in the world had another plan for me since I came down with this horrible cold so I could do everything I wanted to do. I still went horseback riding but I think the horse felt the same way as I did well till it saw food then it was happy. I also went to a Rotary meeting were they talked about the Rotary Youth Award. Around the end of the week I started to feel a bit better and I got to go help in a village called Twist with carving pumpkins. The day was good for the most part but the morning was pretty bumpy due to the fact the I rushed myself and ended up sort bring it out on my host father. I also lost my bike key twice but I found it both times. In the end of the day I was happy that it was all over. The day was still really good and I'm glad I got to help out, even if I was happy that it was over.


"Your life feels different on you, once you greet death and understand your heart's position. You wear your life like a garment from the mission bundle sale ever after -- lightly because you realize you never paid nothing for it, cherishing because you know you won't ever come by such a bargain again."

Life is too short, so kiss slowly, laugh insacly, love truly and forgive quickly



Each windmill has its own job and all
four of them in the photo have different jobs



To Remeber the fallen

The most expensive hotel in Amsterdam

The past week has had its ups and down and i still kinda feel that i might not be able to speak the language by the end of the year, but maybe a  miracle will happen


Monday/ Maandag was kind of boring but I was also extremely tried since I didn’t sleep every well the night before. I had to go to Amsterdam for a meeting at the Immigration centre which should have only taken 30min but it took an hour since the person that was helping us didn’t really know what she was doing. Out the whole meeting I did get my time here lengthened to now march so there’s a plus and I also got to pay less then the normal amount since I’m Canadian and the Netherlands as special agreement with Canada. So instead of 331Ero I only paid 41 Eros’s.

Tuesday/ dinsdag I had to go back to school where I had Gym that day so I had to go searching for the sports fields that are like two blocks away from the school. So One of my friends here got me to ride on the back of her bike so we would make it there in time. So I also fond out that its a lot harder to ride sideways on the back of a bike, then it really looks it takes a lot of concentration and mussel to do that. Right after the very hard biking I had to run laps in the field then play baseball for 2 hrs. which wasn’t that bad but I could have done without the run. After I had French then I got to go home.

Wednesday/ Woensdag was the day that my host brother was leaving for his school camp. So I had to bike to school by myself . It wasn’t bad I actually liked it since I can go faster then I could with his friends but I did find some trouble the was a collions of bike under a bridge. It started with two people but when your biking in a bike train then a domino affect happen and like 30 people crashed in one spot. I was lucky that I didn’t get stuck in it. Once at school I had I had all my normal class.

Thursday/ Donderdag Again I biked alone today but I though I was going to be late so I biked really fast and made it to school by 8:05 which was a new record. So once at school I realized that I didn’t need to be here till later since my first class was cancelled. So me and everyone who has to either take a bus or a train or bike an hour to school was mad since we could have slept in.

Friday/ Vrijdag Today was the day my host brother was coming home. So once I was at school I fond out another class was cancelled so again I could have slept in an hour longer but I cant complain its not that bad since it gives me more time to rest before biking home around 11pm .Around 1pm my host brother came home with my host father , he looked so tired but was very happy to have gone on that trip since it was so amazing. Around 2 pm my host father and I went to the bank to see if my card actually came in which it didn’t so we kind of wasted 1hr . That night I met most of my host families which was nice since it gave me time to get to know and see how they are before I go and live in there house for a couple months. All the families seemed very nice.

Saturday/Zaterdag I got to hang out with Isabelle. We watched couple movies which were all Disney since that’s how we roll. We also worked a little bit on her Halloween party decorations. I was also attacked by her syco kitty he may have been cute with his no tale but he’s the devil in disguise.

Sunday/ Zondag My host family travelled to Amsterdam to go see Anna Frank’s Museum and some other places and go on a cannel boat ride. The Funny thing was that we only really got to go on the cannel boat ride since the Anna Frank museum was so busy that it had a line going all the way around the building and the other place said it was open but really it wasn’t. though we did eat amazing fries with mayo and I had wonderful hot chocolate. Also went into a couple cool churches and a part of Amsterdam that women can not be married they must stay single to live there. The whole day was amazing and we also had wonderful weather too.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Maria Robinson

hmm my first and second week of school is finally over and now i have been here almost a month and loving every bit of it

So i have now been here for almost a month and i have done so much and learned even more. so I have now been going to school for 2 weeks now and everything is getting better even the biking. my first week was ok i really hadn't talk to alot of people just said hi and hello and tryd to understand whats happening in  my class. most of my teacher are really nice but there is one that i dont think he really wants me there but hey i only have him for one class a week so i think i can get by on that. i still haven't really spoken any dutch i have practised with my host sister but i dont think im really improving at the rate i should. Well my second week of classes were better i started being able to talk to some of the girls in my classes and now i have been hanging out with them during break and before school. The week everything in my body hurt like i dont know what  but it hurt. i blame gym class becausei had it for 2 hrs then had a 16km bike home, so thats who i blame for my pain. other then the pain i had this week everything was great i even got my books for my classes which was even better. oh so i did horse back riding this week and it went ok i think i was doing pretty good for someone who only been on a horse 3 times in her life. well i havnt really much to say since i really dont like typing alot but i will try to write more next time and  post a new blog next sunday well bye bye.



I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in an Irish bog to see the moon when it is full.  ~Lord Dunsany

these are some of my photos of my trip so far

You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it. ~John Updike

Out side my window after one of the storms we had

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our farwell to our language course  dinner in Arnhem

10 small facts about the Netherlands

1). In the Netherlands the climate is like the United Kingdom. the average temp here in the summer is between 20- 25 degrees and sometime it hits 30 degrees and in the winter it ranges from 0-10 or in harsh winters it is between -5 and -10. It also rains 7- 8% of the time.




2). Holland has about 16,500,000 inhabitants.



3). If you are long term or short term friend you give 3 kisses (oh always start on the right or it can be akward for you.



4). Coffee is a sign sent from god. Every dutch person loves and must have coffee. Almost every dutch person in holland owes their own coffee/ cappaceano mashine.



5). you need to know how to ride a bike because that it one of the main ways of transportaion here in holland. bikes here are also a lot bigger and more old fashion here and no one wear a helmet.



6). The Dutch are very broadminded and tolerant people.



7). You can travel from one end of the Netherlands to the other side in ruffly 3 hours.



8). The Dutch are also brutaly honest with you.



9). You become ilegal here at age 18



10). The largest  cities areAmsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven

First week in Holland

So i have survived my first week of my exchange here and holland. Everything here is so different but at the same time its same. I'm sorry if my spelling is off  because my spell check right know is telling me that everything is wrounge since it at the moment only know dutch words. So heres a small recap of my time. So i arrived here last sunday at 2 pm which is around 4 or 5 in the morning in Canada so i was really tired after my 9 and half hour plane ride.once i arrived i was greeted by my host Family and Eric's fanily. After tea at a cafe in the airport we went our seperate ways  my host family and i went home while Eric's family went to find some wild deer by the airport. Once at my new home in DeWeere i unpacked and hung out with my host family. In my host family i have a host sister age 10 and a host brother age 12 they are both very nice but i can not talk much to the young girl because she cant speak any English which make me sad cuz it frustrates her that we can talk that much. the rest of the week went by pretty fast i wake up at 10 hang out with my host brother then have luch with my host sister and then go shopping with my host mother in a close by town call Hoorn. One day my host sister brought me to here school and i felt like i was in a show and i was the main entertainment for everyone to see.  after her school was done we went to see her ride a horse down at this club for horse back riding, it was some much fun playi ng with all the horse. finally the end of the week came and i had to get ready to leave for Arnhem which is two hours away from Hoorn so we had to leave early for the language camp, on the away we stopped at this gas stattion and i have never met a lady that cleans washroom for a living be so nice. she fond out that i was from Canada and she was like "Welcome to my humble washroom i clean it just for you" and that was what she did. she was amazing i made she that i gave her little extra for all her work and a hug for just being her. was i made it to the language camp i learned that there are 23 exchange student here in the Netherlands and 4 of then are from Canada which is nice to be able to have a normal comversation  since i dont have to slow down my speach with them but its still amazing being able to talk with everyone. well i will update this again talk to everyone soon zie u spoedig

5 days left in Canada

      So in 5 days i will be in the Netherlands at district 1580 or in other words Amsterdam district. I have so many different emotion going through my mind right now i don't even know were to start. all i truly can say is that there is so much that I'm going to miss here in B.C Canada.

3 weeks and counting

So i have 3 weeks before I leave and I still don't know what to feel I think I'm more nervous then anything.
There also so much left to do. I hope that everything will come together sooner or later