The Last Month...

Am I really writing this? Has the year gone by this fast? Here I am, 8 days left in the Netherlands, wondering where all that time went. First getting here, it seemed like ten months were going to be a lifetime... but all that changed when I actually lived those months, woke up every morning only to suddenly find that another day had gone by. I was told hundreds of time how fast time goes, how you have to make the most of everything coming your way, and yet I'm still amazed at how quickly all of this has happened.

Today was my last day at Twickel, my school here. I can't say I was heartbroken, there were some rocky moments in there I wasn't particularly sad to end. However, in saying goodbye to my classmates, I found myself getting hugs and questions and email addresses for people I thought hadn't actually noticed my being there. I realized (over the course of this year, but overwhelmingly so today) that you always have more friends than you think... you're just usually too wrapped up in your life to notice. I wish more than anything that I had known that earlier, so I could have gotten to know more people and integrated a little more. And to be honest, ten months at Twickel taught me far more about myself and about others than ten freaking YEARS of normal school. There is definitely something to be said for tough love. I learned a language completely through trial and error, was met head-on with my biggest flaws and had to figure out how to deal with them, and now know that nothing you do happens without consequences for yourself, and others. It's a little alarming to see how much I thought I knew going into this! If anything at all, the most valuable thing I've learned that you are never, ever completely right. There are many facets to life, and to people, and to right and wrong and our job as humans is just to explore them. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, what language you speak, your background. We may be born alone and die alone, and figure things out by ourselves - but as little as we might like it, we're all connected beyond our comprehension.

On a less philosophical note, here's what I've been up to in May! It was a fantastic month - lots of sun, the world's best birthday present, and lots of tulips. So many tulips. You don't even know.

My host parents know me really, really well. And they're amazing. Which must be why that one day, after getting the mail, Paula presented me with an envelope...
Paula: This is for you. Gefeliciteerd!
Me: It's... not my birthday. But thanks?
Paula: Well, what we wanted to give you had to be given early. So.
Henri: (bounces on his heels)
Me: ... a Pinkpop ticket?
...And then I passed out and they had to resuscitate me with CPR.
...Not really. But close.

You see, Pinkpop (so named because it falls around Pinksteren, or Pentecost) is the biggest music festival in Holland. This was the 41st year, and it is always awesome. I had vaguely planned to go earlier this year, but scrapped those plans when I saw ticket prices. I regretted it when I saw the Sunday lineup: The Maccabees, Kate Nash, Yeasayer, Florence + the Machine, Pixies, Gogol Bordello, The Prodigy... Henry and Paula were angels and gave me what was without question, one of the best weekends of all time. They even called up my good friend Ivy, a crazy-wonderful Kiwi whose music tastes compliment my own, so that we could go together - and what an amazing time we had!

I spent the 29th and 30th with Ivy in Helmond, where she lives, and in Langraaf, at Pinkpop. All the bands were fantastic, there were tons of people but no uncomfortable crowds or shoving, and the sun even came out for Pixies in the evening. We danced and sang and, in the case of Florence Welch with her eponymous band, stood in awe. If you click on one of those above links, click on hers. I usually hesitate at the term life-changing... but if music can change you, seeing her sing and be amazing up on stage definitely did. Plus, she's got the most brilliant red locks you've ever seen. What could be better?

(not my photo, my camera was so awed it ran out of battery)

Download:

FLVMP43GP

tulips!

It's springtime in Holland, and the tulips are in bloom! I went with Lauren, her host mom Cecille and sister Marleen to the Keukenhof, a famous Dutch garden park filled with tulips, daffodils, and myriad other flora. We had a lovely day wandering through flower beds filled with tulips of every color and shape. It was almost like the garden in Alice in Wonderland...

(for more pictures, check flickr!)

Download:

FLVMP43GP

Download:

FLVMP43GP

Motel Mozaïque

Concerts are awesome. The only thing better than a concert is a bunch of concerts together, when you have so many choices that you have to run from one to another to try and soak up as much live music by your favorite artists as you possibly can - which is why music festivals are so amazing!

My friend and fellow exchanger Caitlin Stacy hails from Ashland, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is not all we have in common - she has great taste in music, and we had been keeping on the lookout for good concerts all year. When we found out that some our favorite bands - Noah and the Whale, Band of Horses, Mumford and Sons, and Johnny Flynn were all playing at the same festival in Rotterdam... well, it was a match made in rock n' roll heaven and there was no way we were going to miss it.

Conveniently, Caitlin lives in Alphen aan de Rijn, which is just a half-hour train ride from Rotterdam, so I spent the weekend with her and her lovely host parents. It was the first nice weekend of spring and we sat in the garden for over three hours, in awe of the sunshine and the music-filled weekend ahead of us. Friday night bill: Johnny Flynn and Mumford and Sons. Johnny Flynn is a singer, poet and Shakespearean actor from England, and one of my favorite musicians... so the chance to see him only four days after I saw his former tour mate and other favorite musician Laura Marling was just cosmic.

That evening was definitely an adventure for the ages! Rotterdam isn't the easiest city to navigate, and armed with a poor map and the advice of a few (un)helpful citizens we managed to get very very lost and late for Johnny's set, eventually ending up across the street from a strip club before deciding we were probably not in the right neighborhood. Finally, after sprinting over four city blocks, we managed to get to the right venue... where we were told we had to go over to the office and exchange our tickets for wristbands before being let in. so we sprinted more, over to the office, waited in line for the most excruciating ten minutes of my existence (not an exaggeration) and ran back. sweating and breathing hard, we stepped into RoTown, a small bar with a wooden floor and raised stage. there were quite a few people there, but it wasn't so packed that we couldn't elbow our way to the front. which we did. we had deserved it, after all! and all that just to catch the last twenty minutes of his set was totally worth it.

The next evening went a lot smoother, what with us knowing where to go and what to do. we were right in front for Noah and the Whale, meeting up with another AFSer, Ivy, and her friend. Noah and the Whale are also British, and Laura Marling used to play with them. Everything is connected...

We also saw Band of Horses, a fantastic Seattle band whose live show was really energetic and fun. Ben Bridwell, the lead singer, was grinning and jumping around, and everyone on stage looked like they were having at least a good a time as the audience. One of the best, unexpected benefits of this year has been the access to great concerts - I have another music festival to look forward to at the end of the month! Pinkpop is the biggest music festival in the Netherlands, and as an early birthday present Henri and Paula gave me a ticket for Sunday the 30th - the lineup includes Kate Nash, Florence & the Machine (!!), Pixies (!!!) among many others... pure heaven. I can't wait!

Laura Marling 'Devils Spoke' from Ben Magahy on Vimeo.

update, part III

(The padlocks on the lamp post above have the names of couples written on them. Lovers lock their names onto chains and lampposts all over the city.)

When it comes to field trips, Europe has America completely busted. Along with my art class, I spent a week in Rome - wandering, taking pictures, and speaking a strange flow of Dutch, Spanish and English. Another exchange student in my school, Valeria, also came along. She's from a different program (Youth for Understanding) and comes from Ecuador, so she helped me brush up on my totally abandoned Spanish. Thinking in two languages is hard, but three is ridiculous - I have a lot of respect for kids who go on exchange to learn their third or fourth language!

The trip was fantastic, especially the first three days; We had flawless weather, in spite of the weathermens' claims of wind and rain. All that showed up on day four, when we went to the Vatican- it was like being in a hurricane! Luckily the rest of the week was milder, and we donned our zonnebril/sunglasses once again. The teachers kept us on our toes - we crossed the city time and again, past monuments, through ruins, in one cathedral door and out another. Our feet felt crippled by the end of the day, but everyone managed to walk to a little cafe for dinner every evening, a different one nearly every night. Pizza, pasta, more pasta, lots of meat... typical Italian fare. I felt no guilt eating so richly every night, with the amount of walking we were doing. Our rooms were on the fourth floor of our hotel, with eight flights of stairs leading up to them!

It really was an amazing week in all respects - I made a lot of new friends, got to see a lot of little corners of a hugely famous city, and of course see so many works of art and achitecture that I've seen pictures of all my life.

update, part II

In contrast with January, February was peaceful. Truth be told, I didn't do much - the weather was still cold and dark, and all I really wanted to do was curl up with a blanket, a book and my ipod. I did get out a little bit - I visited some friends in the south, and my friend Joss came up for a weekend baking extravaganza. We made blueberry pancakes, oatmeal raisin cookies, and to top it off, a fantastic vegan chocolate cake with decidedly non-vegan icing.

update, part I

So! Quite a lot has happened since my last post... in January... sorry everyone, I'll try to post more!

The long winter is finally over... spring has sprung in Overijssel! There's a warm breeze, daffodils are sending up shoots, and the grass is green again. I'm laughing at my poor Alaskan fellows with their meter of snow. So what if you all got snows days, for the first time in decades, because I'm wearing sunglasses and a hoodie. Thpp.

It's definitely been a busy winter/spring - a ski trip to France with my host aunt and uncle, passing my big Dutch test from AFS (yess) and a school trip to Rome just the week before last.

Juggling events has never been a skill of mine but I've survived thus far! Today is actually my 7 month mark, so I've been reflecting on how much I've done this year... I'll post updates in chapters!

My sojourn to France was fantastic - thanks to Margo, Ton, Robbert, Monique and Imke for inviting me along! We stayed in a beautiful mountain chalet just a quick walk from the lifts, complete with a gorgeous view of the French alps with the tiny village of Puy de Saint Vincent tucked in the foothills. Our first evening there, the owners of the house (Ton's niece and her husband, Illonka and Vincent) took us on a midnight snowshoe trail by the light of the moon. It was breathtaking - the stars and moon above us and pure, sparkling powder below our feet. Looking out on the tiny illuminated village below us, I felt like maybe I had found a mountain town to rival the beauty of my own home.

We spent six glorious days skiing and snowboarding there. It was so relaxing, to wake up in the morning and slip right into underarmour and ski pants, sit together for a breakfast of fresh bread, Dutch cheese, and meat, and then shoulder our skis for a morning in the mountains. Imke and Robbert are both talented snowboarders. Most of my friends at home ski, so it was fun to see the different ways we could interpret the slopes on our chosen equipment. I didn't think I'd have the chance to ski this year, so I felt really blessed to have such a great host family!

the gang!

Imke giving cousin Emmy a ride

(more on flickr soon!)

More pictures from Scotland

Scotland/Gelukkeg Kerstfeest!

Happy holidays everyone! I'm back from my sojourn to Scotland, land of tartan and thisle. Wencke, Paula and I spent three days in Glasgow, flying from Brussels, Belguim. Our flight there was precariously close to being cancelled on account of snow storms, but the wind gods were on our side and so we landed more or less on schedule at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. The tagline of which is "Pure Dead Brilliant". Which, printed in a loopy, bright purple scrawl, it is.

The first day we spent wandering the streets of central Glasgow, spending most of the morning in a gloriously large bookstore... which sold English-language books... I could barely tear myself away from the pages of a few travel books, so I bought them. I had to eat a little less that evening to compensate for the extra money I spent on books! Not the first or last time the I will have chosen books over food. No regrets, though. We capped off our day with a meal at a pub just down the street from our hotel, burgers and a pint of Scottish Christmas ale! I felt very at home right about then, and the beer was great.

Day two was more of a culture day, during which we walked the campus of the University of Glasgow, with its science department housed in a huge, beautiful piece of Gothic architecture. Lord Kelvin, discoverer of Absolute Zero among various other things, is the on campus despite his demise some hundred years ago. We visited the Kelvingrove Museum, which appears to be a natural history museum but prove to be much more! It had everything from a stuffed elephant to meteors to world culture exhibits, mummies, an Impressionist collection, and a Salvador Dali painting which, the longer you looked at, the less you understood it. I wanted to be like Claudia and Jamie in The Mixed-Up Files... sleep in the museum for a few weeks until I knew everytihng that was there. One day :) That evening we saw the local off-Broadway show of Beauty and The Beast, which was fantastic because I haven't seen the movie since I was seven or so... I think we all really enjoyed it. We took the train back to the airport the following morning, far too soon for me but I'm pretty sure it won't be the last time I find myself on Scottish soil.

Christmas in Holland was lovely, even if Borne is a little scanty with the sno w.. there is a small snowman putting up a brave fight in the garden across the street, I hope he gets to see the new year. I spent Christmas day with my family, staying cozy inside with our tree and lovely presents (mostly books - my kind of people!). Today, though, we ventured out and had brunch at the home of Paula's sister (Margo, who came for Thanksgiving). Paula's other sister and her family also came, as well as her mother. Mean (it's an old Dutch name) has been in and out of the hospital for a few months now so I was glad she was able to come and spend time with the family. Brunch was great, I got to meet 2 more of my cousins, including Imke's brother Robert. Imke herself is in South Africa now, and is heading to Thailand soon... I can't blame her seeking out a place with more sun! Although I have to say the afternoon today was beautiful.

I have to say the holidays haven't really felt quite like normal... obviously. I didn't expect it to be such a mellow experience. I wasn't nearly as homesick as I was prepared to be! Still, it's funny knowing that Christmas has come and gone, and now I have only six months left here. The time is starting to go faster already, I'm a little bewildered. I'll just have to move a little faster and put up a fight :) happy new year everyone!

Here are the promised photos from Thanksgiving...


Ton, Imke and Margo
lekker!

preparing...
Speaking of photos, I got tired of overwhelming my facebook page with all of my pictures so I moved them all to a Flickr page, which you can look at here.

Thanksgiving

And so another winter begins - my seventeenth and first without any sign of snow! I underestimated my attachment to arctic temperatures. The lawns here are still vibrant green, although the trees are mostly bare and it's dusky and chilly when I bring my bike out of the old green shed in the morning. Still, on the 20 minute ride all I need on the coldest of mornings is a pair of mittens and maybe a scarf (and not a heavy one) to keep warm. It's a bit strange and every time I walk out the door I brace myself for the biting cold... but then I realize that I live in Holland now, not Alaska, and it's 35 degrees (2 degrees C) at the least. To ease my withdrawl I made a bunch of paper snowflakes one afternoon and pinned them all over the living room. I spent that same weekend making pumpkin pie and collecting holiday music. It's sort of like nesting, but christmas-themed and without the baby names.

Thanksgiving was better than I could have hoped! Thursday evening I caught a series of trains to Gronau, Germany with a warm apple pie tagging along. My fellow American Lauren and I made Thanksgiving dinner for us and her host family at their home in Gronau - a Dutch family living 20 kilometers or so over the German border. They managed to find a turkey (not as common here) and we had zoete aardapplen (sweet potatoes) aardapplen puree (mashed potatoes) sperzeabonen (green beans) en pompoen (pumpkin). It was very cozy and fun, even without the snow :)

I was lucky enough to have yet another Thanksgiving on Saturday night, this time with my own host family. Paula and I courageously tackled our roasted chickens (free-range, natuurlijk) and a plethora of other dishes. Paula's sister, brother-in-law, and niece Imke showed up with pecan pie for dessert, which was so good that Paula sneakily slipped the (meager) remains into the fridge before handing back the pan. Goodie for us!

I do have some nice pictures which I haven't uploaded to my laptop yet. I'll post them once I get around to doing that! Happy holidays.

three months

Just a quick post to commemorate my three month mark :) It feels like the right amount of time, like time is going at a regular speed. I don't feel like the days race by, but they don't drag either. It's nice to have a good pace down, and I think that I'll be happiest if I keep myself busy and running around like I have been. I only recently began feeling the true homesickness that I'd been warned of and last week was probably the toughest I've had here. Just trying to balance school and language and the craziness in my head... all I can do is take it day by day.

This weekend has been nice so far though. Last night I went with Wencke and her friends to New Moon... no comment :) ah well as far as entertainment goes it was a fine evening. I saw a few girls that I know from local parties there, so I talked with them for a while. It's always funny running into people I know around here because I never expect to see a familiar face.

Also, Paula booked a trip for a few days before Christmas for her, Wencke and me. We're going to Glasgow, Scotland from the 20th to the 23rd - I'm really looking forward to it. Only a few weeks until break!

I LOVE being in a small country

So Tuesday night I was on MySpace and I saw that Portugal. The Man was playing Wednsday night in Nijmegen, about 2 hours away by train. It's an Alaskan band originally (one of the few good things to ever come out of Wasilla!) and I was way way stoked that they were here - the only problem was that it was the very next day. I checked out my list of AFSers in the area, and whatddya know, my Canadian friend Walker happens to live in Nijmegen... so I gave him a call, and a few minutes later we were set to go to Doornroosje the next evening!

last night I took a train to Nijmegen, leaving from Borne and switching trains a few times. I've finally gotten the hang of the train system here, the first time I did it alone I had about five panic attacks when I couldn't find the right track. I've gotten much better at it by now, thank god. Walker and his lovely hostmom Renee met me when I finally arrived, and gave us a lift to the club... the doors didn't open for about half an hour so we wandered around the neighborhood to waste time.

We went in about 8:15, waited in line with quite a few other people (typical hipster crowd, it was funny seeing all the same types here as in america). The outside of Doornroosje is really cool, covered in bright grafitti and murals. The name might sound funny but it means ' rose thorn', which is the dutch name for Sleeping Beauty. You know, Briar Rose. the inside is painted with vines of roses and thorns and various other flora. A band called The Cave Singers opened the night, I'd listened to them a little before but they played really well live. Live music feels more whole than recordings, it might have something to do with being able to feel the vibrations in your body (i love that) but a good live band makes the night that much better.

Portugal came on about 9:30, and were fantaaastiiic from beginning to end. they didn't waste time with little quips between sets, but just kept on playing one crazy amazing song after another. They did, however, ask if there were any Alaskans there and it was fun to be able to raise my hand :) The whole show was awesome though, had a good lineup of songs and they brought their own lights guy to keep everything colorful and surreal to match the music. I think they played for about an hour and a half, and I left Walker for in the club in search of an ATM... no luck, although I did team up in my search with some cool dutch guys who were looking for the same thing. Haven't laughed so hard in a long time, I wish i'd gotten their picture.

So finally we walked home.. or atempted to... got a little misguided and ended up having to call or backup (renee). collapsed on a cot in walker's room and slept for about 6 hours, got up at 7 to catch the train back to Borne. I managed to navigate the tracks with relative ease (only had to ask someone once if i was on the right train!! success), and got home in time to eat a quick breakfast and wash my face before racing off in the POURING rain to take a dutch biology test at 11:15! it's been quite a day.

in front of doornroosje

...and here i'm just a creeper

Hagelslag

So I figured because I've been so behind, I would do an extra post dedicated to one of the best Dutch foods: Hagelslag. They are chocolate sprinkles, but unlike the American ones that taste like wax, they actually taste like chocolate. Everyone here eats them, mostly for breakfast, sprinkled on buttered bread. AMAZING.

October

Ok, so I haven't updated in over a month... I'm sorry, I haven't even been that busy, but blogging hasn't really been first and foremost on my list of things to do... but today is catch-up day so here we go!

The most exciting thing I did last month was take a week and go to Italy with my host family. You see, they don't celebrate Halloween in NL, but apparently make up for it by giving us a week off in mid-October. I feel that this is a pretty good trade-off. So anyway, I took my herfstvacantie in Italy, because Paula and Henri are amazing people who in addition to feeding me and letting me live with them also bring me along on vacation.

We left on friday the 16th, and drove (and drove and drove) over the German border, which takes all of ten minutes, and then down into the German area of Ulm, where we spent the night in a little village inn.

In the morning, we ate our usual breakfast of bread rolls and various toppings (meat, cheese, jam, ....hagelslagen) and drove off once more. We soon crossed into Austria, where I annoyed more than one non-english speaking cashier and paula accidentally knocked over souvenier schnapps. We make an awesome team!

Austria, I must say, is beautiful. It reminded me of home a little, because of the pine trees and the mountainous terrain that I've been missing in the Netherlands. We kept on through a winding pass that took us through the Alps, where it began to snow. Luckily not too badly, otherwise Henri would have had a lot of trouble, but enough to look like the snow forest in the Nutcracker... Homer people know what I mean. Seriously, it looked like we were driving past the snow scene. So, so pretty.

That afternoon, we crossed the border into Italy. It was really kind of quaint stopping in a little town there and seeing that all the street signs, posters, and flyers were both in German and Italian. These Europeans make me hate myself sometimes, for knowing rudimentary Spanish and (so far) toddler's Dutch. Henri speaks fluent Dutch, English, French and German. Americans are pathetically behind here.

Our house in Italy amazed me. 350 years old, stone and wood, shutters on the windows. It was settled on a small orchard of apple, chestnut, olive and pomegranate trees, high up in the hills above Vicenza, surrounded by huge vineyards. That evening, while waiting for Angeline and her family, we sat by the wood stove, drank wine from the nearby winery and roasted chestnuts over the fire. peaceful and amazing.

We spent the next week exploring the surrounding area. Padova on Sunday, Monselice on Monday, Venice on Tuesday, Verona on Wednsday, Vicenza on Thursday, and Venice again Friday.

Of all the places we went, Venice will stay with me the most. I was amazed by the whole city, ancient and rising out or the sea. It was almost like Atlantis. We wandered around in St. Marco's Basilica for hours: the huge vaulted ceilings mosaiced in gold, and the artwork and marble statues were incredible. I never felt more surrounded by that omnescient something than when I stood there in the cathedral.

way more photos on my facebook, here's a few:

St. Mark's

venetian fish market - for dad

our orchard

little italian-german town

austria

my room in germany