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!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
...
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!
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!
Friday, January 9, 2009
:)
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!
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!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
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!
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!
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