Kerstgala!

Finally, Kerstvakantie is here! Meaning that Christmas is less than four days away, New Years is soon...and that I can sleep in every day! After school, in celebration of having our last school day in 2012, Beau, Maartje, Pascale and I went to Fiona's house and watched Sex and the City (the movie)! Het was erg gezellig.

   Wednesday was the Kerstgala! My school (Wolfert Lyceum) rented out Sarbone again, the same club in Rotterdam that the Halloween party was held at. Beforehand, I got ready at Beau's house with Pascale, Fiona, Maartje and Beau. From about five in the afternoon until ten, we  were all putting on makeup, painting our nails, doing our hair, dressing, taking pictures, etc.

The party was SO much fun. Similar to "Winterball" in America, all the girls wore formal dresses and had their hair all done up, and many guys wore suits or a nice shirt. For the first hour that we were there, it was very crowded, until at 11:30pm the younger classes had to leave. After those few hundred kids (or so it seemed) left, it was a lot more spacious! The whole night was one to remember, I didn't want it to come to an end at two! However, going back to Beau's house for the night was fun, and funny...we must have stayed up until 3:30 or 4 just talking and laughing. School didn't start until 11am for us the next day though! Nonetheless I was still exhausted the next morning, but luckily I only had three classes for the day.

I'm really looking forward to this Christmas break! I have so many things to look forward to...

-Christmas, of course! Katharina (my older host sister) and her sister from Germany will also be spending Christmas here, which I think will be great! Communication with her sister might be tricky however...I speak no German, she speaks no Dutch- but some English! So we'll so how that goes. Both Christmas evening and the next evening we have 5-course meals, two of those courses I must help prepare! Looking forward to it all...and the exchange of presents with the whole family too! I think it will be a very cheerful, family oriented 24 hours! I'm interested to see just quite how it's celebrated here. So far, I think I like the Sinterklaas gift exchange better, so much more thoughtful. But we shall see!

-New Years Eve! Katharina will also come, along with close family friends. We'll play games, eat good food, set off fireworks and such! Then at midnight I will go with Fiona, Beau, Pascale and Maartje to a big party in my town. Spending the night at Pascale's afterwards!

-The New Years Dive! The next morning we'll go to a popular beach in Den Hague (Scheveningen), and jump into the freezing water along with over 10,000 other people!

-Alaine; on January 2nd, I will go to Amsterdam to meet up with Alaine Miller, a friend from Homer who has been studying in Germany and is traveling to Amsterdam for a few days with friends!

-Skating in Amsterdam! On January 6th, I will go to Amsterdam again to go skating on the canals with other AFSers in my region.

-Shopping; at some point I hope to hit the after-Christmas sales (:

Unfortunately I also have a bit of work to do...I must write a 500 word essay (in Dutch) for my Nederlands class, describing the difference in school systems from here and back home. For maatschipijleer I must write an essay describing the difference in political structure/elections between Holland and America. For IB Engels I must also complete a writing task regarding a book we've recently read...and I'll have to study for my math test! Hopefully I'll have time to fit all of this is...

For now though, SLEEP!

-Molly

Deventer, Sinterklaas, shopping!

A few weekends ago I visited Marlo, in Deventer! It was so interesting to see how a different family in Holland functions, as opposed to my own here! Her Host Family lives right in the center of Deventer, meaning if you walk outside the building you see the bars, restaurants, shopping, etc., and on Saturday looking out her living room window I could see Deventer's market! I think her location is very...convenient. Especially when going out! Deventer itself was such a cute old town, with the "gezellig" feeling of a small town, when in reality it isn't one.

Friday night Marlo and I went out to one of Deventer's local bars, and it was so great catching up with her! Many, well most, of the feelings, experiences, frustrations, realizations that we've both been going through here on exchange seem almost the same. So that was nice, to be able to relate to each other. Saturday we went out to breakfast at Bagels&Beans, and spent the rest of the day shopping and wandering the streets of Deventer. Later we went with her host family to go pick out which puppy they are going to adopt! So that was definitely a highlight as well. The whole weekend was a blast! Loved seeing a totally different part of Holland as well.

Two weeks ago I went to Papendrecht to a house of one of the AFS volunteer's, with all the other AFS kids in my region! Here we had a Sinterklaas celebration of our own, where we exchanged cadeaus, gedichten, and surprises! I got Belgian Hot Chocolate, a make-up bag, lip gloss and a bracelet in my surprise. My surprise was of course, an Igloo! I had to do the same for an AFSer (we knew in advance to whom we had to make something for) and I got Erica, a girl from Italy. So I made a typical Dutch house, filled with Spaghetti noodles! This was my attempt at combining cultures...she had to dig for her cadeau (present), which were owl earrings and a chocolate letter. The picture on the left here is of Erica with the surprise I made her, next to Isa (who made the igloo for me)! The photo below is of everyone together, with a Zwarte Piet (black pete)!

The whole celebration was so much fun, we ate lots of papernoten (specific mini-cookies eaten around Sinterklaas) and Speculaas treats.
The actual date of Sinterklaas was yesterday, December 5th. What is Sinterklaas anyways? Well, I hadn't heard of it either before I came here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas
that sums it up quite well. For my Host family, weeks before Sinterklaas names are drawn. This year, I drew Renee. This means that I had to buy a present for her (cadeau), craft a surprise that contained the present, and write a gedicht (poem "from" Sinterklaas, which often teases a bit, and hints at the cadeau and surprise). The surprise, cadeau and gedicht must be personal also. Every family member wrote a 'wish-list' to help "Sinterklaas" get them a cadeau. So I looked at Renee's list, which contained certain art kits, books, etc. For her surprise, I crafted a Clothing Store because she wants to have own of her own when she's older.

Above is her surprise I made (I stole a few of her Barbie's clothes and accessories...). The large green box is her actual cadeau wrapped. I bought her a Paint-By-Numbers kit, with an orange cat pawing in a fish bowl. We have an orange cat here named Falkor, who is always doing this at home...so it was sort of an inside joke!

Here is the gedicht I wrote her:
Lieve Renee,

Elke dag Sinterklaas dacht wat hij zou moeten krijgen voor Renee
eindelijk kwam hij met het perfecte idee...

Maar ben je al een goed meisje elke dag?
met jongens je hebt verdacht gedrag...

Sinterklaas denkt nog steeds dat je leuk geweest zijn!
en hij herinnert u wilt uw eigen kledinglijn!

Met dit idee weet hij precies wat te leveren aan,
en Zwarte Piet helpt hem met zijn baan.

Je cadeau komt me bekend voor...
het deed Sinterklaas denken aan Falkor!

Heel veel groetjes,
Sint en Piet

The gedicht must rhyme (AA,BB format) which was SO HARD for me. It must have taken me hours. The basic translation is:
Dear Renee,
Every day Sinterklaas thought what he should get for Renee
finally he came up with the perfect idea ...
But have you been a good girl every day?
with boys you have suspicious behavior ...
Sinterklaas still thinks you have been nice!
and he remembers you want your own clothing line!
With this idea he knows exactly what to create,
and Black Peter helps him with his job.
Your might gift look familiar ...
it reminded Sinterklaas of Falkor!
Many greetings,
Sint and Piet

So, it hints at her surprise as well as her cadeau. It also pokes a little fun, because lately at school she's been a little too wrapped up with boys!
Last night we exchanged surprises and Katharina came over.

The whole night was gezellig. Marijke had me, and I had to dig through some pretty nasty consistancies for my cadeautjes! My surprise(s)! Inside each tub was a cadeau! I got cute slier earrings, a 2013 Agenda planner, a bike seat cover (which was much needed in all of this rainy weather!) and a chocolate letter (M of course). The clinique tub was filled with yellow, sticky hair gel that I had to dig through! The Max Factor tub was filled with crushed papernoten (cookie crumbs basically) to look like eye shadow, that I had to dig through....and the pink tub was filled with yogurt (to look like nail polish!) that I had to dig through also! It was so funny though.

Sinterklaas also came to Wolfert Lyceum on Wednesday, and there was lots of singing, humiliation for some, and papernoten involved...I enjoyed it though!

In two weeks (the 19th I believe) is the Kerstgala, where once again the school rents out a club in Rotterdam for a party! Only this time, as opposed to the Halloween party, it's formal! So last Sunday a few friends from school and I went shopping in Rotterdam (: the theme of the party is Las Vegas, so I bought super glamorous heels to match the dress I have (from one of last years school dances).
Shopping was really fun, I met up with Nhu, Bien and Ella!

Anyways, the Christmas party is the next exciting thing coming up for me! It falls on a wednesday, and then that friday is our last day of school! For New Years eve, my friends and I bought tickets to this biiiig party Bergschenhoek throws! So stoked. The following morning we are going to do the "Holland Dive" or something...in other words, jumping in the freezing ocean in the morning?! It'll be a long 24-hours...but fun no doubt!

-Molly Bowen

Change is good!

Being in a different country, let alone continent, was so different while the Presidential election was going on! However, it was interesting to see the election from a different point of view. I was very nervous for what the final outcome would be, but was so relieved to hear that Obama won!
Since Berlin, I have moved classes. Now I am enrolled as a 5th year student, in 5V2. I have my English, Nederlands, Math, and IB (international baccalaureate) English in the 5th year, and my Politics class in the 4th year still. So far, I like being in the 5th year because the students are my age! I think it was a good change for me, and I'm already making good friends. Last friday I went out shopping with a few of them in Zoetermeer, and had a blast!
Last wednesday, the school threw a Halloween party in a club in Rotterdam. It was very crowded, but I ended up having a nice time hanging out with Tim and meeting many of his friends!

Other than that, not too much has happened. On Sunday, the whole family piled in the car and headed to Rob's sister's restaurant called Peppers. We had the BEST pannenkoeken there I've ever had! Mine was filled with apples, cinnamon and raisins, while glazed over with a sweet liquor. ZO LEKKER! The pancakes are my favorite here. Her restaurant is located in a suburb of Haarlem, and was the most beautiful place in Holland I have been to yet.

I also saw the North Sea there! First time I've seen the sea since I've been here. Reminded me of home, although at the horizon there were no mountains of course.

This weekend I head to Deventer to visit Marlo! I'm so excited to hangout with her, and to see a different family life. Also, I've heard great things about Deventer, and she lives right in the heart of it.

Sinterklaas is coming up! I still need to make a surprise, buy a gift, and write a poem for one of my family members. For AFS we are also celebrating it (but on the 24th of this month) so I also have to do that for an AFS student (we all received names). So that should keep me busy this week! I have so much spare time on my hands, for instance today I had 2nd and 3rd hour of school. So home around 10:45 for the day! Heel kort.

I've compiled my box to send home to Mom, Dad and Maddie for Christmas! It's mostly full of Dutch sweets like chocolates. Literally giving them a taste of Holland!

I'll blog again after this weekend in Deventer!

-Molly

Berlijn!

Last weekend I spent in Berlijn! Germany has got to be one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been to (so far, that is). Especially because it's Autumn, and all the leaves are a vibrant yellow or orange, scattered over the streets.

We (AFS-Holland group) left Thursday night, all 60 of us on a bus to Germany. On Friday, we broke up in small groups and toured Berlin, sightseeing the main attractions and such through a scavenger hunt.

We dined at a nice pizza joint in the city; it still feels weird to be able to order a glass of wine with dinner!

On Saturday, we visited a concentration camp called Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. That was very hard, and at many moments, disturbing. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Saturday we continued to sight see. The German bakeries were the BEST!! We also visited the Holocaust Memorial:

For dinner, I met up with Lennart! He took my friend and I out to his favorite restaurant. It was so nice being able to catch up with him, and share everything that we miss about Homer.

Sunday we visited The Jewish Museum, and continued to sightsee. I have many more photos on Facebook as well, of all the famous buildings and places we saw. Of course, the Berlin Wall was amongst those:

I had no idea parts of it are covered with art!

The whole trip was amazing. I made some great friends, and got to see a part of the world that I may never have the opportunity to see again. It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

For now, I continue with my week of vacation! Starting Monday is school again though. However, the week after Test Week, I will have two or three classes in the grade above me. I'm really excited for this, because it will be an opportunity to meet more people! I'll try to Blog again soon.

-Molly

Up to date!

Last weekend was the AFS Orientation camp held in a Youth Hostel in Soest. For the first time, I hopped on a train here! From Rotterdam Central Station to Utrecht first, and then I switched to a train headed to Soest. Finding the Hostel from there was quite difficult however, because when I got off the train it was nine o'clock and very dark out! Luckily I ran into a few other lost AFSers, and with the help of a random Dutch man on the street, we found our way...

The camp mainly focused on the Dutch culture, how to adapt, and the language. Socializing with the other AFS students and returnees was really interesting, because there were all kinds of different people from all over the world. We (about 70 kids) all watched "Freedom Writers," which was very inspiring regarding integration of races and ethnicities, as well as how writing affected them.

Seeing Kyle, Colette and Marlo (the other students from the US) was very nice. It was good to see a couple familiar faces! Hearing about their first few weeks was enlightening; some had many complaints while others seemed to have really enjoyed their first experiences here.

Staying in a Youth Hostel was completely different than what I had pictured. Somehow in my mind, "Youth Hostel" sounded...well sketchy. But it wasn't AT ALL, it was like a hotel but with one small room with bunk beds in it, a sink, a room for the toilet and a room for the shower. I was roomed with Colette, and a girl and a boy from Italy.

Being around such a large group of kids my age was eye-opening. There were people from all over the world; Chile, Portugal, Italy, Finland, Belgium, Turkey, Hungary, China, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, etc. One aspect that really stood out to me was how many of them smoked cigarettes. It seemed like one-third of the group smoked during the breaks...kids my age! That was definitely a culture shock (however, not really a Dutch culture shock). They rolled their own or had packs of Marlboro. I think I just haven't ever really been exposed to a large international group of kids my age before...and had never really thought that smoking was more so accepted in other cultures and countries. It seems like the US has tried really hard to make that habit appear disgusting and immoral. In reality, it's normal in other places for teens to do (not saying it's good, just normal).

When introducing myself, I always liked to say, "I'm from Alaska," rather than "I'm from the U.S." The U.S. includes pretty...average (and a bit boring) states, whereas as soon as I said Alaska people's eyes widened. "What language do they speak there?" "You're the first person I've ever met from Alaska!" "Is there even summer there?" "Are there trees where you live?" "Is it cold there?" No, it's always balmy...

All in all, the camp was great. Taking a train there in itself made me feel more independent. Also, with all the talk of our Berlin trip coming up, I got incredibly excited! On the Saturday that I'm there, I will hopefully get to meet up with Lennart! Plus me, Kyle, Marlo and a few other kids roughly planned a trip to Amsterdam during our fall vacation week (right after Berlin)!
Amsterdam + Youth Hostels + exploring + going out + seeing things = HAS TO BE AWESOME!
Plus, my host mom was fine with it as long as a) I wasn't alone, and b) there was at least one guy in our group! Safety reasons.

Today (Friday) I had my first two tests in school...English I know I did fine on (Dutch to English and English to Dutch translations) but with math...well we'll see. I figure, the worst I can do is fail...and from there, I can only do better, right?!

Skyping with Maddie is always a highlight, hearing about her college adventures is entertaining. I miss her more than I thought I would, because it was like always having a best friend around. The girls in my class are very nice...but also very into their studies and schoolwork. Which is fine, but that's not my focus here at all. I want to go out, experience things! Let's just say, they are no Tiyana :( miss her like a sister too.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Dennis's birthday. Family members and close friends are coming over, so that should be fun to meet everyone. Sunday, the AFS potluck for my region is happening here at the house! I am so excited for that, to get to know the kids living close to me - and hopefully plan some outings! We have to make a dish of our culture/country, so I'm doing what Marlo did at hers; banana bread! I'm hoping that's easy enough, because my cooking skills aren't exactly...impressive.

Next Thursday I have an appointment to get my Residence Permit! I get to miss school, which is nice. It's 600 euro's though! Not cheap to stay here I guess. Oh well, I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end. Like they say, it's not a year in my life, it's a life in a year ;)

I have been trying to go for walks or bike rides every once in a while, when I have spare time and the energy (which can be a rare combination). However, they often are the best parts of my day. This evening for instance after dinner, I wandered through the streets of town until dark...people watching and such. The canals are the prettiest at dawn; only the silhouettes of the ducks (and occasional swans) can be seen. Around eight, small bats will come out as well. This hour of time is a great way to clear my mind, and have the serenity of my own thoughts and nothing more. Constantly being around a new culture and hearing the Dutch language really IS exhausting.

Well, ik ben moe. The tests, along with PE (we have to cycle to another town to use the outdoor facilities), wiped me out today. Plus, it's just been a long week. So being that it's close to one in the morning here...this is it.

I will post another blog within the next week or two, when I have more to say.

-Molly

Rotterdam's Zoo today!

Home?

My breakfast:


Yes I have goats around the corner from the house...


My house!

Sailing BBQ weekend!

My night walk:






So many cows and farmland...




The harbor on the island:


Prepping for the big BBQ:

Rats, school & sailing

School is a combination of sitting in class, listening to lessons taught in Dutch. Without my Resident Permit I am not an "official" student at Wolfert Lyceum yet, so I don't have a locker nor card to scan to open them. I haven't had any textbooks either, but they have just been ordered today. No more zoning out and staring at the wall during class! Well maybe. No it's not that bad...just hard to understand! I've met many new people and made several friends in my grade so far. But the language barrier is definitely hard. In my Dutch class (their version of Language Arts), I sit and do my own Dutch lessons, which AFS provided me (I'll be tested in februari I think, maybe januari). The teacher is very nice and bluntly told me she didn't expect me to complete assignments in her class, due to the fact I know little to nothing in Dutch. She also encouraged me to ask her questions if I need assistance with translations.

I only have a few classes a day, and come home exhausted. I think the exhaustion is caused by constantly being around a language completely foreign to me, as well as that I'm sick with a cold.

This past weekend we spent preparing for and participating in the Sailing Club BBQ, which Marijke arranged. Big party tents were set up on Friday, and Marijke, Renee and I spent the night on their sailboat! I took a walk along a narrow canal that night, passing cows left and right. In the water I watched ducks float by, and then I saw something else. It appeared to be a river otter! I stopped and watched it more closely, until I noticed that it wasn't an otter at all, but a giant rat swimming. I had never seen a rat before...
Talk about disgusting!

On Saturday I went sailing for my first time with Dorris. It was beautiful out, and I manned the sails while she steered. Later in the day, all the food preparation finally paid off. Being of age, I tended the bar the whole night and got to practice my Dutch; "Wat wil jij drinken?" to all that came to the counter.

Fruit Beer was my drink of choice for the night. Sounds weird? It is...but I like it better than normal beer. It tasted of cherry, but still had the carbonated kick of beer to it. Delicious!

I played guitar at the end with a few other people, it was so much fun. Slept in the boat again, which is great EXCEPT FOR THE SPIDERS. I will never be afraid of an Alaskan spider again. They are nothing compared to the big, black hairy spiders that are
e v e r y w h e r e here.

This coming weekend, we might go back to the island and go sailing. Another idea is to go to the zoo; everything is up in the air at this point.

My travel schedule this year:
Oktober: AFS trip to Berlin
December: Skiing trip with the family to Austria
April: School trip to Cambridge!

Other than that, no definite plans have been made. Apparently Paris is only like, four hours from here. So a weekend there would be quite fun! I hope to have waffles in Belgium soon as well :)

In a few weeks, another AFS orientation is held with all AFS Nederland students from all over the world! We will stay in a youth hostile, and apparently the weekend is supposed to be incredibly fun from what I've heard! So I'm pretty stoked.

As for tomorrow, school pictures...

I love Holland so far. I especially love the chocolate sprinkles on bread and butter…to die for! My breakfasts are the best.

-Molly

School tomorrow...

I have never been so nervous for the first day of school in my life.
Today, Marijke and I had a meeting with the school counselor at one. We talked about scheduling and roughly put together what I wished to take. I am only following 5 subjects (plus PE), which for Dutch students isn't many. This is good with me though, because the Dutch language itself will give me enough difficulties in the beginning. If the scheduling works out as planned, I'll have: English, Nederlands, Chemistry (again), Social Sciences, math, and PE.

However, class times are set up differently than what I am used to. For example, I will only have two math classes in a week. Each class is about 45 minutes. Also scheduled in is "Dalton," which is study time. School days have two breaks, whereas at Homer High we had one. My schedule is very...nice and not full. I don't have class until 9:45, and get done at different times, but around 2ish average, or earlier. The counselor will be sending me my exact schedule sometime today, which I'll post and things will be clearer.

I am so nervous. I toured the building, which is shaped like a piece of pie:

When leaving Wolfert Lyceum, students were on break and all in the lunch area. They all stared...

Tomorrow I believe my first class will be English, which is really nice. I feel like making friends in that class won't be difficult... we'll see though. I believe the counselor set up that I'll have another student to show me to my classrooms and help me. All the girls there were clad in colored skinny jeans, and letter-jackets. I'm sure I'll stick out like a sore thumb in my...American attire, so I'll have to go shopping one of these days. Most of the guys have gelled hair...

This coming weekend, The Alders (Marijke, mostly) has organized a BBQ/Campout for their sailing club on an island. There will be about 40 people, and us girls of the family get to sleep on the boat! I'm looking forward to it, hope it doesn't pour.

That's it for now. We'll see how tomorrow goes...

-Molly