2 dayzzzzz

EuroTour in 2 days!! I cannot even contain my excitment:D. Guess what else, after I get back they are doing exams...that I dont ahve to do, so I'm finished school on friday! yaya.

Last weekend was Hemelvaart, not really sure what it is, but it was a long weekend! So I went to Sara's house in Wasennaar for 4 days and hung out. Now I'm packing and getting ready for Europa Tour. Time sure flies.

I haven't been getting comments:(:(, it makes me feel unloved. So if you read my blog, please posr a comment! It makes my day.

Love all of you!

Doei!

Jayden

:)

Long time!

My family is gone. The went home last sunday. I was amazing to have them here, and be able to show them around the country I've grown to love. In total, we saw: Den Haag, Movie Park Germany, Arnhem, Hengelo, Enschede, Friesland and Amsterdam.

After they left it was back to school for me:( haha.

Last weekend I went wadlopen (where you walk in the sea when the tide goes out) with some of the other exchange students. It was a lot of fun. We unfortunally didn't walk all the way to an island, but it was really great...and muddy. Here are the pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90348&id=519280565&l=0de296370d

This weekend is a four day weekend:). I'm going to go to visit Sara, another exchange student for the weekend. Should be a lot of fun.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

So I was going to talk about Maastricht (en een "hartestikke bedankt!" te aardig trein mensen). But then some other things happened.

So, Monday, I came home and thought, "Today I'll write my blog about my weekend." Then I got busy.

Tuesday, I thought, "Today, I have to update my blog." Then I didn't.

Wednesday, "Today I'll do it." Then I ate supper and went to Fencing.

Thursday, "Ok, I have to do it today." Then I went to Rotary.

So here I am today, finally write my blog.

Last weekend I went to Maastricht to visit a friend of mine that lives there. I started my adventure on friday where, I boarded the train. Going to Deventer the tickets checkers, no problem, here's my ticket. He looks at me and then the ticket, and then me, "Can I see your discount card?" "Of course." He looks at it, stamps my card, starts to hand it back, then takes another look at it. "Um, weekend retour is only valid after 7 o'clock. Oops. Thank goodness he was a nice person, sat down, told me that in Deventer, I need to ask the next ticket checker if I could ride on this ticket, wrote and explained to the other ticket checker. I couldn't, but atleaste he didn't fine me. :)

So that was what I wrote friday, and then I went to a birthday party, then Saturday my internet stopped working annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd....My family came!!!!!!

So Maastricht was good, got to see a wall that was made in the Roman Times, went shopping, saw some frieds, had fun. I was going to write more, but my families here, and I'm tried, and that was two weeks ago.

On a different note, my family is here!! Hoorah!

They came Saturday, we hung out. Sunday we toured around Twente. Monday we went on a bike ride (37 km) and saw my school, Hengelo, a castle and my first family. Tuesday we went to Enschede for the market. Wednesday we went to the market in Hengelo and saw my host family's work. Thurday was Queens Day, unfortuatly, during the Parade the Royal Family was in in Appeldoorn, a man tried to run into the bus they were on, but his window was broken and he couldnt see and missed, fortuatly. It was a downer on Queens day though. Friday we headed to Den Haag till Sunday and saw the cities sites. Today we went to Movie Park in Germany (like a small Disneyland). In the evening it was dodenherdenking which is the Dutch Rememberance Day, so we went to the mass in my town.

I dont feel like writing more.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Happy Easter!

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone had a good easter (and a great time in europe/new york for those reading.)

Easter sunday in The Netherlands people make these great big bonfires, and have bonfire paries, which was alot of fun. The fires were really big and in some towns, the entire town would help build the fire, those ones turned out HUGE.

Easter Monday I visited my host mom and dad's family. My host dad's parents live on a bird farm, they have black swans, turkeys, ducks, geese, chickens, partriges, and quails. Jasper, Laura and I got to help collect eggs to eat that day. I ate turkey, duck, goose and ostrich eggs.

Funny conversation:

"Welke soort van ei is het?" (what kind of egg is it?) -Me
"Gans" (Goose) -Host Opa
"Wat is dat?" (What is that?) -Me
"Umm...Goat?" -Host Opa
"Goat?" -Me
"Goose" - Host mom
"Ohhh."

Haha
Thats all!
Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

To The Zoo!

Last weekend I went to the "Venice of Holland", Giethoorn. It's a beautiful city, where almost and the houses boarder on a canal. My host family, along with my first, my couselors family and another rotarian's family took me to the city and we took a boat tour through the city and then went to and island for a picnic. Lovely Day.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72599&id=519280565&l=b6902111bc

Yesterday I wen to the zoo with my friend Lotte. Burger Zoo (Lovely name eh? "burger" is citizen in dutch), although quite small, was a very nice zoo. The best part was a aqurium, with many different colors and fish, it was very well done. It even had a part where the walls and ceiling were made out of glass, so you could see the fish from every direction.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87725&id=519280565&l=f5b22b97a6
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87730&id=519280565&l=7d09830f9d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87738&id=519280565&l=1dca3e15fd

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Hey

So I promise that I'll be updating this thing more in the upcoming months. I have alot of stuff coming up, all for which I extremely excited for.

April 17,18,19 I'm in Maastricht visiting a Rotarian's daughters for the weekend. I'm really excited for that because it the oldest city in The Netherlands, and it is apparently extremely beautiful.

April 26-May 11 My family's coming! Super excited for that. The plan is that we are going to see Twente (the area I'm in.), see madurodam (miniture version of famous things in The Netherlands), scheveningen (Beach) and keukenhof (Tulips) in Den Haag, see the museum in Arnhem, the planetarium and go sailing in Friesland, and see the Anne Frank House, Madam Tusauds (wax museum) and the other things in Amsterdam. Fun eh? I'm super excited for it.

The weekend after my parents leave, May 16-17, I'm going wadlopen in Friesland with Rotary. It's where you walk to the Dutch Islands when the tide goes out.

May 30-June 15 is EuroTour! I am super excited for that. On the tour we are seeing Weimar (DL), Prague (CZ), Vienna (AT), Lido Di Jesolo (IT), Venice (IT), Murano (IT), Verona (IT), Florence (IT), Sienna (IT), Rome (IT), Vatican City (IT), Barcelona (ES), EuroDisney (FR), and Paris (FR). I simply cannot contain my excitement! haha. Also, every person needs to make a presentation on one place (in Dutch) while we are in that place, kind of like a tour guide. I got Florence, I have been researching it a lot, and it's such an interesting place! I'm going to have a terrible time deciding what to say to get the presentation down to 5 mintues. So make sure you watch out for the blog post/s after the tour!

After EuroTour, I have 2 weekends here, then I'm back on a plane, jet back to Canada, which I have to say, I'm not nearly as excited about. So now that everybody know what's coming up for me, I should probably tell you what I've been doing... The weekend after the football game, I had a Rotex weekend, which would have been fun, if it wasn't so freaking cold! We were sleeping in tents, and it was so cold that no one slept and everyone was insanely grumpy, so we went home Saturday night instead of Sunday. It kind of bummed me out, but it was fun none the less. I got to meet the new Southie in-bounds (People from south of the Equator who exchange winter-winter instead of summer-summer like me) and they are pretty cool. We also got to see the Palace in Apeldoorn that had absolutly amazing gardens.

This weekend I just kind of chilled, ate herring (which you'll see later). The weekend was nice and relaxing. I read some of the book I'm reading for Nederlands, De Jongen in de Gestriped Pyjama (The Boy In The Striped Pajama's), it's in Dutch! And I understand it! I am so happy about that. For thoses who have never seen a Dutch person eat a herring...It's quite the experience, and a must try when you come to the Netherlands. It looks something like this...



Thats all!
Lovee,
Doei!

J

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Voetbal

So, if you didn't catch that, it says football. (As in soccer)

I have finally seen a football game in Europe! I went and saw Almelo vs. People in Orange, it wasn't the big football league in The Netherlands, this was like the WHL, where the big one is the NHL, but it was fun none the less.

When I first got there, my first thought was "Holy crap, lots of refs.", then Gert (new host dad) tells me that the people in the black and white stripes is the team we’re cheering for. Oops.

It surprised me how much I enjoyed the game. Since I have gotten here, I have wanted to see a football game, just because when your in Europe, you need to go to a football game, its like a rule. But I didn't think I would be that into it, I really had a lot of fun, and I learned quite a bit about football. And the players are hottJ. Seriously, the extra players warmed up right in front of where I was sitting, it was very nice.

Did you know that football only has 2 halves, I thought it had 4. And they can tie? It was 1-1 when the game ended, and they went into overtime, played for three minutes, then every one got up and walked away. I was like, "No one scored yet! Where are you going?!" Silly North American.

I have also come to the conclusion that football players are wimps. I mean, I don't watch a lot of hockey (as in ijs hockey not field hockey for the Dutch people), but from what I've seen, the hockey player don’t fall down and call for a doctor every time someone hits them, they get up and keep going. Then again, football players are quite scandalously clad for sports men, if you catch my drift, but still, please, every single time you are hit? Is that really necessary? Although, I have to admit, every time the doctor went out, I started to get excited, I really wanted someone to get carried out. Or someone to get in a fight. Does that make me a bad person?

I gotta say though, it was just like going to a Tigers game back home, pretty much the same size, same cheering when our team scores, same booing when the other team does. It's funny how something’s never change, no matter where you are. I really hope that before I leave, I will get to see FC Twente play (the NHL-like team from our area.)

--------------------------------

Italy was great. New family is great, can't believe I've been here for a week already! (and the flowers are coming up! SPRING IS IN THE AIR)
Ü < German Happy Face
Ö < German Surprised FaceDoei!
Lovee

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

p.p.s. I didn't talk about Italy for a reason, You'll hear about it later

Amsterdam

Hey All!

I should really update this thing more, sorry about that.

So guess where I was two weekends ago?? Amsterdam!! I know exciting right, finally I have seen it! I went with it was with Michiel, Anne Noor and Jan Dirk.

Amsterdam is now the #1 city on my favourite cities list, over taking Paris, Seattle and Vancouver (and we all know how much I love Seattle). Amsterdam is absolutely beautiful, and, I found, much safer, and cleaner than Paris. It is a city know for it's -ahem- party atmosphere, don't worry I stayed out of trouble, but I found that as well as the coffee shops (which are as frequent as the Starbucks's in Seattle), you can find just about anything in Amsterdam.

In fact, the only real rare commodity in Amsterdam is space. Small roads, small houses, small stores, small restaurants, LOTS of people. The house we stayed in was 5 stories high, which doesn't sound that small, until you consider the fact that each story was one room, and the room gets crowded with any more than 2 people. In restaurants, waitresses have to shift tables and chairs to have enough room to move, and separate parties will often have to share tables.

We arrived in Amsterdam Saturday around noon, dropped our stuff at the house, and went out for lunch. With the endless amount of canals, bikes, and architecturally cool buildings, I could walk through Amsterdam forever without getting bored. After lunch we took a canal tour through the city, seeing all the great sites in Amsterdam, the St. Nicholas Church, Crazy Jack Tower, Western Church, the Harbor, Mayor's House, the Skinny Bridge and some other things.

When the canal tour was finished, we went for a walk, seeing some of the great sites of Amsterdam that you can't see from the boats. We saw the Vodka Museum (didn't get to go in:( ), the Palace in Amsterdam, the WW2 monument, and the Holy Inspiration Church/Gallery. We decided the Church might be cool to see so we went in; the artwork in there was pretty cool, what nude women and random blobs of canvas have to do with religion I'll never know, but that’s modern art for you. Also, it is of my personal belief that Amsterdam is the only place in the entire world where you would be able to buy books on Islam and Hinduism, and mini Buddha statues, in a Christian Church gift shop, love it :). Dinner on Saturday we went out for pizza at an Italian restaurant by the house. Really tasty, but the Dutch each order a full pizza for themselves (and they think the North Americans eat a lot!), I was stuffed.

Sunday we went for breakfast in a small café by the house, really really good orange juice. After that we went over to Michiel friend’s house and we chilled out for a bit and then went to the park. Did you know that Amsterdam has bright green parrots living in their park? I sure didn't. Apparently someone let their Parrots free and they took up residence in the park, quickly adapting to the cold climate, unfortunately I didn't get a picture, but it quite the sight to see, frozen lake, frost over everything, a light dusting of snow, some parrots sitting in the trees... ahah Amsterdam.

So that was my trip to Amsterdam, I hope you enjoyed reading about it almost as much as I enjoyed being there.

Last weekend, was Anne Noor's birthday and she had a birthday party Friday, then Saturday it was one of my host parents friends birthday (the people that we are going skiing with) so we went over there, they have a 19 year old au pair from Germany, so I'm not going to be totally lonely. And Sunday I went flying with Michiel to the German city of Hamm.

Next week I have off, and I'm going skiing in Italy :). Super excited. Look for that blog post sometime after the 22nd.

That’s all for Now!
Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! I love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

P.P.S. here are the links to my pictures, make sure to check them out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51979&id=519280565&l=16821 <- Random Photo’s
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72554&id=519280565&l=ed812 <- Random Photo's 2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72590&id=519280565&l=bcecb <- Random Photo's 3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72599&id=519280565&l=b6902 <- Random Photo's 4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72634&id=519280565&l=47431 <- Flying
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76689&id=519280565&l=52b4b <- Amsterdam
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76768&id=519280565&l=ea756 <- Amsterdam con't
Don’t worry if you're not on f/b, they will still work!

...

Hey everyone (if any one is even still reading this thing)

My host family got back last week, and life is back to normal here. Just thought I would give you an update of what is to come.

February vacation I am going to Italy to go skiing. I am so excited!! Two weeks after that I move to my third and last host family. And a month after that my family comes from Canada:). And three weeks after that is Euro tour. Then three weeks(ish) after that I come home.

It really doesn't seem like I have enough time here, and I'm sure any exchange student will tell you the same thing. Especally for all the stuff I want to see and do, I still need to go to Amsterdam, and Rotterdam, and Den Haag again. I want to go wadlopen (walking to the northern islands when the tide goes out) and eat the pickled harring. I want to go down to Maastricht and up to Groningen to visit friends.

Ahh so much to do, so little time!

So theres my little rant.
Doei!
Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

:)

Hey everyone!

So I'll pick you where I last left off at Christmas.

December 27 my host family left to Curacao for two weeks, so I am currently staying at my first host families house.

Everyone here buys firecrackers and set them off day and night for two straight days before New Years, symbolizing "shooting the last year away". New Years eve I went to my friends Sophieke's house. At 12 o'clock, people start shooting off the fireworks that I imagine cost them a small fortune, and I don't mean 40 mile roman candle fireworks, I mean real, Canada Day fireworks, so any way you turn the sky it being lit up by the fireworks. It is soo cool, and very loud! On New Years the Dutch eat something called Oliebollen, which is flour, eggs, yeast, milk, and baking powder put in a deep fryer and covered in powdered sugar. So tasty, and soo bad for you, I was feeling a bit sick by the end though!

New Years day I went skating with Sophieke and her family. It wasn't on a canal, but it was outdoors, so close enough. Skates in Holland at different from the ones in Canada, they are very short, only reaching to below your ankle, providing NO support, with a very long blade, not to mention that no one owns new pairs of skates, the box mine came in said, "Made in Czechoslovakia." So I know by now all my friends are laughing, thinking I must have been a disaster on ice, considering I can't right side up on ice without skates on. I'll have you know however, that I was skating a total of 4 hours, did not fall once! That’s right, be proud.

A couple days ago, my departure date was set, July 5, which I am having mixed feelings about. On one hand, I get to see all you guys again! On the other, I have to leave Holland. It is really scary to think that I am already 5 months in, and if these 5 months have gone as fast as they have, I can imagine that the last six are going to go even faster! But, I cant let that bug me, I just need to savour every moment!

That’s All For Now
I hope everyone had a good New Years and I wish you the best for 2009!
Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Merry Xmas!!

Hello everyone!
It's been a while, my apologies, I really have not been in the mood for writing, but my mom has been bugging me for a blog post, so I figured I would send one out for Christmas.

I last left you at Den Haag, so I'll give you an update of what’s been going on with me since.

November 17-December 2 nothing really exciting comes to mind, Christmas shopping, school, etc.

December 3 I went to my host sister Joanne's school to talk about life in Canada. That was a lot of fun, all the kids were very excited to meet me and they all had very good questions. My favorite question to answer is defiantly about the weather, people's eyes always get wide when I tell them it can get down to -40 in winter and up to +40 in summer.

December 4 I went and saw twilight :P

December 5 was sinterklaas, which was very cool. We did a Secret Santa like thing, I had my host mother's brother Marco. All parents register their houses and then the night of December 5 Sinterklaas and a few zwarte Pete come around to each house and talk to the children. Kind of like how at the malls in Canada the kids can go sit on Santa's lap, only it's at the house. After sinterklaas left we exchanged presents. I got some very lovely wooden shoe slippers, a scarf, mittens, 2 Dutch picture books about Sint, and food.

December 6 I went to Madagascar 2 with my host family because it was my last night with them. I laughed so hard all the way through. And I think they think I’m crazy.

December 7 I moved to my current host family. I am staying with Michiel and Relinde and their two kids, Jan Dirk (11) and Anne Noor (8). They also have 3 dogs, Dribble (Springer Spaniel), Dor (Lab) and Dalka (Jack Russle) and 2 horses Tiffany and Dorief. My new host dad hunts a lot, so I have eaten many different types of meat since I have been here. Duck, pigeon, hare, deer, quail, to name a few. Again with this family I am in a small town outside of Hengelo where I go to school, it is about a 45 minute bike ride to school. I also have a whole section of the house pretty much to myself. I have a bathroom, kitchenette, living room, and my room. The living room is where the TV is, but we don’t have channels or anything so no one ever uses it. Above the living room is my bed room, which I have to use my death trap to get to (trap is staircase is Dutch - it is VERY steep) which I have also converted into a closet because I don't have one in my room.

December 11 was my birthday:), I am finally 16! And since it was a Thursday, the day my rotary club meets, they threw me a surprise party! They even bought me presents! My favorite being a bottle opener with a wooden shoe on the end:P. It was very sweet of them and I had a lot of fun.

December 18 was Kerst Schoolfeest, which in my opinion, makes any school dance in North America look like the lamest think ever. First off, it's in a club, not in the caff. Second, they serve alcohol. Third, they actually play decent music. I defiantly think schools in Canada should follow the example.

December 20-22 I went to Friesland for my Canadian friend Julianna's birthday. The party ended up being Julianna (Ontario), Duncan (Arizona), Patty (Ohio), Elizabeth (Ontario), Maeghan (New Brunswick), Sara (Washington State), Matt (New York State), Kalie (New York State), Flor (Argentina) and Me (Alberta) for the exchange students, we all stayed in Julianna's counselor’s house. So I was off to the train station where I found out that since I turned 16 my Dutch pinpas (debt card) doesn't work...so I had just enough money for the train. We were all suppose to all arrive at 1, but Patty and Duncan's train got delayed, Sara got on the wrong train and went to Groningen instead of Leeuwarden and Flor couldn’t get there of time, so it ended up the only Kalie, Matt, Maeghan, Elizabeth and Me on time. We just chilled till everyone but Flor (she was really late) got there and then we went to the Planetarium. It is the oldest working planetarium in the entire world (Constructed 1774-1781), and is extremely accurate. The entire scale model (1mm:1 trillion km) moves exactly as our solar system (What had been discovered by that time at least) and also includes the date, rise and set of the sun, and moon faze, all powered by a set of weights and many different gears (picture of Planetarium: http://www.openmonumentendag.nl/images/fotos/Eise_Eisinga_Planetariumkamer.jpg). After the Planetarium we went shopping and picked up Flor from the Train station then went back to Julianna's counselors house and had supper (Chinese). After supper Juliannas friends from school came and we ate cake. At around 11 we headed to the bus station to go the TDF (the dance factory -the discotheek). We stay at TDF till around 4 and then we headed back to where we were staying. It ended up being all 10 of us exchange students in one room - heel gezellig. Sunday I got up at 10:45 and said goodbye to everyone (I was staying till Monday) and me and Julianna cleaned up and went to her host families house, showered, and then fell asleep and slept till dinner time, got up for dinner, went on the computer for a bit, went back to bed at 9 and slept for 12 hours. On Monday we went to Leeuwarden and shopped for a bit, and then I went home.

December 21 I went to the Circus with a Rotarian and his family. Lots of fun.

December 25 (today) is Christmas!! However since we have Sinterklaas December 5, Christmas isn't really a big deal here. We had Hare stew and rice and had Relinde's brothers family over. No turkey for me:(.

So now you're all caught you on my life in Holland. I would like to thank everyone that sent me something on my birthday and Christmas, it really means a lot.

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!!
Love
Doei!!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Paris, Den Haag and a New Hair Cut!

Hello All!

I have got a new camera charger, and you know what that means! New pictures! Hurrah. I'm just going to put a few pictures up of Paris and Den Haag, so here is the sites so you can see the rest of the photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61130&l=4498d&id=519280565

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61151&l=3873d&id=519280565

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61521&l=af382&id=519280565

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61694&l=5db26&id=51928056

Here are some photos from Paris:

<- The Louvre

<- Notre Dame

<- View from the top of the Notre Dame

<- Notre Dame

<- Eiffel Tower!

Photos from Den Haag:

<- My weekend host family

<- Den Haag from the Pier

<- Sinterklaas!

<- Zwarte Piet

<- The Queen's Work Castle

<- Peace Palace

<- World Peace Flame, with Sara from Washington.

New Hair Cut!:

Last tuesday I got a haircut! (Above). My friends Lotte and Ly went and got their hair cut too, so I had someone to explain to the hairdresser exactly what I wanted in case I got stuck (Lotte is very good at english) and of course to change their hair style as well.

Last weekend I went to Den Haag (The Hague) on a rotary trip! Den Haag is the government city of Holland (Although it is not the Capital), so there was a lot to see and do there! I was there the 14th to the 16th of November, and it was a lot of fun. Here's the run down of what happened:

Friday I was suppose to leave at 4 o'clock and get there at 6:30, however, driving to the train station, I realized I forgot my phone, so we had to turn around and I missed my train. Trains leave every half an hour from the Hengelo station, meaning I got into Den Haag half an hour later than I was suppose to, and ended up missing all the other inbounds. Also, we were staying with host families for the weekend (Above), and I was suppose to be staying with the girl from Japan, unfortunatly, she cancelled last minute and I ended up staying by myself. So Friday night I went to my host families house in Wassenaar (really close to Den Haag) and ate supper, and after that I went over to Sara's (Washington State) house, because she is spending her exchange year in Wassenaar she was staying in her normal house. Elizabeth and Meaghan (Both from Canada) were staying with her, I went over there and visited them and we hung out and watched Prom Night. At 12 Frans (host dad) came and picked me up and we went home and I had nothing to do, so I went to bed.

Saturday I ate breakfast with my host family and then we were a bit early so Frans took me on a tour of the house and garden, which was beautiful, the houses in Western Holland are much more modern than the cottage-style houses of the east. The house was a large one story very modern looking house witha beautiful garden that included a huge Koi pond and 3 different dining places. After the tour of the house and garden, my host parents took me on a short tour of the area of Wassenaar and Den Haag by car and then we drove to the Museum where I was meeting the group. The Museum was called Gemeentemuseum and it showed modern art and several interactive things. It was quite strange and with many things that you could look at, make noise with, dress up in and play with. After the museum we walked to the Tram station to take a tram to the beach. On the way to the Tram, we caught the Parade for the arival of Sinterklaas in Holland (I'll explain Sinterklaas later), which was cool, because Sinterklaas is very much apart of the Dutch culture. After the Parade we went to Scheveningen (the Beach in Den Haag) where we ate lunch (Croket) and walked along the beach and on the Pier. The beach was beautiful (but slightly cold) and was being used as a Motocross track at the moment, so we watched bikers testing the track for a bit. At 5ish our host parents pick us up and we went home for dinner. Afterwards we were told we were going to a Disco, however it was actually sitting there watching an orchestra reherse and then standing in a small room with crappy music. Needless to say, most of us we pretty angry, we were all very excited to be able to finally go out together.

Sunday we all met at the train station and said goodbye to our host families. From there we took a bus tour through Den Haag, where we saw the Queens Work Palace, The Peace Palace, many of the Embassies (unfortunatly not the Canadian) and some other things.

The Queens work palace (Photo Above) is located in Den Haag and is where the Queen does her official Queen stuff. The Peace Palace (Photo also Above) was built in the early 1900's in an acted of trying to keep peace between America and Russia, unfortunatly the year it was finished, World War 1 broke out. Many countries gave something to the Palace, it's gates are from Belgium, fence from Germany, wood from Indonesia and rugs from Iran among other things. Now the Palace is used for the International Court of Justice (or World Court) and Permanent Court of Arbitration. Near the gates you can also see the World Peace Flame (Photo Above) which is a eternal flame ment to symbolize world peace.

After the Bus tour, we went to the Heart of the Government and were taught about how the Dutch government works, which is pretty much just like the Canadian, with a few small differences. And then we went to McDonalds for lunch, where Rotary reserved a table for us (All the inbounds found that pretty epic). McDolands here is surprisingly a lot better here in Holland than it is in Canada and much nicer. Following that we went to the Mauritshuis Museum where we viewed city scape paintings of the major cities in Holland. Then it was time to say our goodbyes and headed home. Fortunatly me and Kalie got to ride together half way, and I didn't miss any of my stops!

So that was my weekend, lots of fun, Den Haag is a beautiful city, if anyone is going to Holland, it is deffinatly something you have to see (along with me of course :P).

Now as promised, Sinterklaas! Sinterklaas is the dutch Santa Clause, only he's from Spain. The Sinterklaas celebration is held in The Netherland, parts of Belgium and Netherlands Antilles (A group of islands located in the Caribbean the use to be colonies of The Netherlands) and is ment to honor Saint Nicholas the Patron Saint of Children. Every year in November (normally on a Saturday) Sinterklaas comes to The Netherlands from Spain on a steamboat with his mischievous helpers, the Zwarte Piet's (Black Peter's). Then on December 5 people celebrate Sinterklaas (I'm not sure how) and eat Pepernoten, small gingerbread like cookies (which are really good), and end the night but placing their shoes (typically wooden clogs) by either the fireplace or window for Sinterklaas to leave presents in them. Then it is said that Sinterklaas goes to all the houses by night and the Zwarte Piet sneak in through the Chimney (to explain their black face and hands) and leave presents in the shoes. Small children are also told that if they are bad during the year, Zwarte Piet will leave them a bundle of sticks or some salt instead of a presents.

Thats all! Nothings really happening here right now, just busy with school and friends and fencing. However, I switch host families in 20 days, and my birthday is in 23 days:) so some fun stuff should be coming up soon.

Thats All For Now!

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

3 Months!

Hey!

So yesterday was officially the end of my third month in Holland.

Last month was a lot of fun. I went to Paris (sorry no pictures yet, I will post them ASAP, my camera battery charger is gone.). And to Friesland to visit one of the other Canaidan inbounds, Julianna for 6 days over fall break. That was a lot of fun, we went shopping and horse back riding and ate Chinese food. Those were my two major trips in October.

I also started fencing! Hurrah!!! It feels so good to be fencing again, it's like my little peice of home. Everyone in the club is very nice and welcomed me in with open arms, it was really nice to meet more people and to be the special Canadian again, because I'm not at school anymore.

For those that don't know, I have subconscience issues directing my head toward the ground, making it very difficult for me to forward roll or dive. However, Gym class a couple days ago, I learned how to forward roll! Luckily I wasn't the only one that couldn't do it, Lotte, one of the girls in my class couldn't do a forward roll either. It took the full hour and several friends, but by the end of class we were both able to do a forward roll. Go me!

I am back on my full scheldule at school. Which is difficult because I still have problems understanding some teachers, but it is a lot easier than when I left the classes a month ago. Speaking of school, I would like to tell you some more differences between it here and it in Canada. The most major difference is that almost nothing is for marks. Teachers assign questions, and people do them, but they aren't for marks. No one would learn anything if that was the case in Canada! Also there are no projects, essays etc. just the questions which aren't for marks, and tests. Teahcers don't explain anything either, we do the questions, and then while we are correcting it, they explain it, which I think is silly. Also, thy score things differently, everything is out of ten. In my Nederlands Les I got a 6 on the exam, pretty good for someone who's Dutch is niet zo goed.

In Art right now we have a project that has to do with 'Time'. There was a bunch of different things we could choose, paint a still-life, make a clock, stuff like that. I am doing the project where we were given a word or phrase, and we have to make a piece of art from it. My phrase is "Rat-Race", so I'm doing a drawing of a bunch of Rats in suits fighting their way up a ladder. It's going to be sweet, I'll take a picture of it and put it up when its done.

I think thats all.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Paris

I'm sorry, my USB for my Camera has disapeared from the face of the earth, so no pictures. I will upload them ASAP.

Paris is official my favourite city on the face of the Earth. I LOVE the city. However, that was not my first impression.

We went to Paris by train, and as the Train came into Paris, my first impression was a Graffiti filled, lower class, industrial city. Seriously, it was gross. Then, from the train station, we got on the subway, which didn't change my oppinion at all, that, too was gross.

Then we got out of the subway station, and I immediately changed my mind, I love french architecture. Zo mooi!

From the subway station we went to our youth hostel. For the band trip kids, you know the Hotel we stayed in Vancouver that we all complained about?? Thats nothing. We stayed on the 5th floor with no elevator, and the stair case was falling apart. the rooms didn't have their our toilets and the shower didn't have a curtain and you had to hold down a button to get any water, which was just a trickle. I loved it though, it was an adventure.

After droping the bags off at the Hostel, we went to the Notre Dame, which I loved. The amount of work the French have put into creating and maintaining their own, distinct culture is amazing. I think whoever disigned it was thinking, "I'm going to make a Cathidral that will one day bring in hoards of tourist." and that it did. All the steps in the place were worn down and curved in the middle from people walk up them. After the Notre Dame Cathedral, we had some from time, then we went from supper, had a canal tour, then back to the Hostel.

Tuesday we went to a the Pere-Lachaisecemetary. Which was kind of strange, but I really enjoyed it, which kind of made it more strange. The cemetary had the graves of several famous people, including the remains of Peter Abelard and Heloise (What the French consider their Romeo and Juliet - http://classiclit.about.com/cs/articles/a/aa_abelard.htm) and Jim Morrison. Thats right I saw Jim Morrison's grave, I was pretty excited. The funny thing was, compaired to most of the graves, famous people or not, Jim Morrison's seemed like the smallest and most insignificant. After the Cemetary, we had lunch and then went to a Museum (we went to A LOT of Museums, so I cant rember all of them), had supper, had some free time and went back the the Hostel.

Wednesday we went to a Museum, then had some free time. In our free time, a couple of us went to the Galeries Lafayette, which is this huge, 7 story, shopping complex. This place was no ordinary shopping mall, for one, it didn't go by store but by material, the first floor was Cosmetics and Accesories, second was underwear, third was shoes, etc. (I can't remeber the rest.). Also, everything was Gucci, Prada, Channel, Dior, D&G etc. needless to say, I didn't buy anything. However, I was walking around and I turned around and my group was know where in sight, after spending 10 minutes looking for them, I came to the conclusion that Iwasn't going to beable to find them with out getting lost, so I sat at the escalators waiting for one of them to either call me or come looking for me. Luckily, after about 15 minutes, Ann Marie called me. In that time I started to worry I that they forgot about me and I was going to die there. After shopping we went to the Architecture Museum, which was kind of borring. Then Wednesday night we went to a Ballet, it was to the story of Snow White and was really good (though I was fight off sleep through most of it).

Thursday we went to a museum, the name of which I have forgoten because it was over shadowed by the rest of the day. After the first museum we went to the Louvre, so cool! But they only gave us two hours in the Louvre, two hours!! I know i should be thankful I got to go at all, and believe me I am, but if I could choose one thing I would change about the trip, it would deffinatly be to spend more time in the Louvre. After that we went, althought to the contrary of the rest of the group, to my faviourite museum, the Pompidou. The Pompidou is modern art, from 1850 to now, my favourite kind. I love modern art, it's so much, I don't know, more free, I guess. It can be or mean anything you want it to be/mean, or it can be/mean nothing at all, as opposed to older art, where the meaning is clearer. Thats what I like about modern art. After the Pompidou we went to the Eiffel tower, which was cool, but on European tour, I'm going to take the steps, just so I can say I've climb the Eiffel tower.

Friday we had free time. I went shopping with Floor and Ann Marie. I bought a scarf and a winter coat, a pair of converse and Morgans bday present (don't think I forgot about you!). So the converse I bought have a story to them. We were walking around, looking here and there, and I spotted them, and they were really cute, so I decided to try them on. I really liked them, but decided not to buy them because I had already bought quite a few things that day, and you know how I am, I hate spending money. So I nod to the sales guy, and he interprets that as"Ï want them", and before I could correct him, he handed them to the man at the counter who started bagging them. I went over to the counter to explain I didn't acctually want them, but before I could get that out, the man asked me where I was from. After I responded that I was from Canada, he launched into a full speech about how he loved the Canadians, and how we are so nice and polite and clean(?). So after all that, not wanting to ruin our rep, I bought the shoes.

So that was my week in Paris. I now have new week off, I'm going up to Firesland to visit one of the other exchange students, Julianna, and then its back the school!

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Rotary Youth Exchange

I am very sad announce that the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat has no suitable long term exchange candidate for the 2009/2010 year. Considering that this experience is the greatest thing thats ever happened to me (and I'm only two months in), I find it a shame that the experience is going to waste. If anyone 15-17 years old with a 75% ave. is considering an exchange, I greatly recomend it.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

2 months!!!

Soooo...as of today I have been in Holland for 2 months!! Wow time moves soo fast!! It's almost mind-blowing how fast it moves, scary even. I can't believe that I'm already 1/5 in. It seems like I stepped off the plane a couple days ago, and yet, it feels like I have been here forever. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the plane ride seems like a really, REALLY long time ago. Weird.

So, what have I learned this month? Hmmm. Well, a lot of Dutch to start with. I'm no where near fluent, but I have defiantly seen an improvement over the past month. Today I was sitting in art class when Judith asked Dora if she had an eraser, Dora said she didn't have and I, with out thinking, handed Judith mine. Normally, when someone says something in Dutch, I can understand it, but it takes a minute for me to comprehend it. Today, I understood it and reacted as if she said it in English. To say the least I was quite proud of myself.

What else?? Hmmm, a couple more things I guess:
-I have learned a lot about myself, something’s good, something’s that I have to work on.
-I don't like Frikandel.
-I love Kroket.
-I enjoy drawing, it's very relaxing.

Furthermore, the other day I was reading the "You know you've been and exchange student if..." list on facebook, and it really put a smile on my face. How ever number 052 caught me -"Everyone thinks your playing the tough guy when you say you haven't called your mom yet and don't miss her too much." When people ask me if I miss my family/friends/Josh/etc. I have started to lie and say, "Yeah, but I can handle it." because I got the weirdest looks when I said, "No." Quite honestly, I don't miss home! Which sounds really weird, but it is true. Don't get me wrong, I love everyone at home, but one of the things I have learned about myself is I have a great ability to trust. I can be here and trust that everything is ok at home, and when I get home everything will be alright, which is really helping me enjoy my time here.

Doei!

Jayden.

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Bad Luck

Hello All.

I forgot to mention two week ago that me and my friend, Lotte, went to see the movie Wanted. Do not ask me how it was, because I don't know, we missed the train in Hengelo and missed the movie. This was the first time Lotte has ever missed a train.

So last night we went to see it. Her mom drove us so we would get there on time. So we got there and went to buy the tickets and were IDed, I of course wasn't carrying any. Thats right, I have gone to see this movie twice and still have not gotten in. This is the first time Lotte has ever been asked for ID at a movie. So I have been dubbed bad luck.

So instead of Wanted we went to Mamma Mia. Theaters in Holland are WAY better than in Canada. The seat are comfortable and plush with a couch-like seat in every row for couples. The theater was red with cool lights. At the beginning there was as a laser show and there is a intermission in the middle no matter how long the movie is. A very cool experience.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

Rain, Trains and the Weekend

So I will talk about the weekend I promise, but first i have to say that I am very sad. It's raining here again. boo.

And now to the weekend!

So first, the trains. Ohh the trains. I knew that Europe had great public transportation. I didn't realize that it would be so hard for me to figure it all out. On friday I left for Goes at 3:47, but since I had to go all the way across the country I had to change trains several times. I went Delden to Zutphen to Arnhem to Roosendaal to Goes. The way there was pretty good, although I did almost get off at the wrong place, one of the train people caught me before the train left. The way back was where it got complicated, I was supose to go Goes to Rotterdam to Utrect to Arnhen to Zutphen to Delden. But we all left half an hour early and went to Roosendaal then to Rotterdam, but we got in Rotterdan early so I got on a earlier train to Utrect with some of the Rotex (ex-rotary exchange students). So Esme, one of the Rotex, put me on a train to Arnhem and from there I was by myself. On the train to Arnhem there was no seats left, so I ended up sitting in the doorway on my bag. There was another girl there and she let me borrow a Cosmo mag. to keep me awake. Then I arived in Zutphen and missed my train by a minute. So I ended up having wait an hour for the next train, not very much fun. So that was my first train experience, at least I made it home in one piece!

Other than the trains the weekend was very much fun. Friday night we all sat and talked and caught up with how everyone was doing. It was really good to see everyone again. Then we went to bed, I ended up sleeping in the same bed as Patty (Ohio, USA) and Julianna (Ontario, Canada), and the other people in my room were Meaghan (New Brunswick, Canada), Haruka (Japan), Sara (Washington State, USA) and Kalie(New York, USA). It was "gezellig"...I don't know any other way to descride it. Gezellig is like cozy and warm and lots of people and lots of laughter, the Dutch pride it in being the only word that isn't translatable into any other language.

Saturday we went and saw the Deltaworks, which is a large series of dams the control all the dikes and canals in Holland. Because most of the Netherlands is below sea level, this is a very important part of the country. So we hung out there and watched a few movies on the Dams, took a boat ride to see one ofthe dam, and stuff. It was very interesting all the history and work the people in Holland have put into this.

(One of the Dams)

After Deltaworks we went back to the youth hostel we were staying at and ate supper. Then we played some games and had to present a skit on either an alternative ending or scene for a movie. After that we started up the music and danced (mostly spanish again) for a while. Then some of us went upstairs and sat in the hallway and just hungout and talked again. After a while a few people went to bed, and I realized that my bed had been stolen, so I ended up bedless. So it ended up being Charly(Mexico), Paula(Argentina), Kalie (NY, USA) and me sitting in the hallway. After a while we were joined by more people and I fell asleep in the hallway. Then me and Kalie went to bed (I ended up sharing a tiny bed with her).

Then Sunday we went sailing, but there was no wind so it ended up just kind of sitting in the boat talking. In my boat was Duncan(Arizona, USA), Raki (Brazil) and Matt (New York, USA). Then we went home.

So that was my weekend. I had a lot of fun! I already miss everyone. Life in Holland is still great!

Love everyone!

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!

p.p.s. heres the rest of the picutes:http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54036&l=93fa9&id=51928056

its been a while

Hey!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life is a lot like life in Medicine Hat...only wetter. Though we have had sunshine the past few days, so exciting:).

Yesterday I met with my Nederlands (Dutch) teacher and my new tutor, Lotte, to discuss a plan to help me learn Dutch. My Nederlands teacher bought me the book Dutch For Dummies. Also, for the month of October, I don't have to take several courses, in that time I will be putting my time to better use learning Dutch in the Library. I don't have to take, French (Thank goodness, it is sooo hard learning a language from people who aren`t speaking your language), Maatschappijleer (like social), Maatschappijwetenschappen (I still don`t know what that course is about), Levensbeschouwing (The meaning of life class) and Geschiedenis (history). So hopefully this plan will help me learn Dutch a bit faster.

I had a free class today to start my studying, and I would like to ask something. Who knows what, `The perfect tense is formed with an auxiliary plus the past participle of the verb.` (Dutch For Dummies page 38) means? I sure dont. Also, I had to take an English test other day, I spent 2 full minutes trying to remember what an irregualar verb was, man did I feel stupid. Another example, in French class I sit beside a girl who is originally from Australia, here`s one of our conversations.
Lotte: So you have to write a few sentences about the picture. (A girl in a white turtle neck)
Me: Ok so like what kind of sentences (question mark)
Lotte: Like her jumper is white. Only in French.
Me: O, Ok. Whats a Jumper?
Lotte: Her sweater. What do Canadians call them? Hoddie?
Me: Shes not wearing a hoddie.
Lotte: What do you call that?
Me: A turtle neck...
Lotte: Oh, wow thats cool... (sarcasm) So you call all sweaters turtle necks?
Me: Noo, it's not a sweater, its a shirt.
Lotte: But it doesn't have buttons.
Me: So?
Lotte: Shirts have buttons.
Me: Not all shirts. What do you call that? *Points to someones shirt*
Lotte: A top.
Me: Oh.
It went on like that for a while. I short, I think I`m learning a lot of English here, as well as Dutch.

Also, Marita (Germany) touched on the differences in groups at school in her blog. I have to agree with her, there aren`t groups here in Holland here either. Everyone in my year is friends with everyone else. It is much different than in Canada where everyone has a group of friends, and they stick with the same friends, eat lunch at the same table with that same group of friends, hang out with the same people after school. I like the Dutch way much better, this way I can get to know everyone. Oh! and happy 18th Marita!

Hm...On a side note, being an exchange student has really let me appreciate the small nice things that people do. Like, the other day in Lichamelijke Opvoeding (Gym) we were playing Ultimate Frizbee, I was tying my shoe, and one of the guys on my team stopped (with the frizbee) and waited for me to finish to resume the game. Or today, I was walking to the Library before I should have had French class, and one of the guys that I had French class stopped me to make sure I knew we had French. I guess what I`m saying that it`s nice that people are looking out for me even if I don`t know them very well. The small things like that are really the things that make me feel accepted here.

On a different note completely, I`m going down to Zeeland today for a Rotex weekend! I`m really excited to see all the inbounds again. We are going to see the big dam that controls a lot of the canals in Holland, and go sail and stuff. I will try to update with pictures and everything when I get back from that!

I think thats it.

Doei!

Jayden

p.s. remember! i love comments, so if you have something to say, or just to say hi, let me know your reading and post it!