Departure seems closer than ever, as I read through
the "Adjustments," "Host Family Expectations,"
"Fitting in," and "School Life" in the Welcome Booklet for
the Netherlands! Discussions at the dinner table these past few weeks seem to
always end up with talk of preparation for my year abroad; what to pack, how
we'll stay in touch, acquiring high school credits, etc. It seems as if until
now, going to Europe had all been talk and excitement due to the fact departure
seemed so far away. Now, the necessities that I’ll need to pack are already
running through my head and the bittersweet reality of leaving is giving me the
jitters. I'm anxious to meet new people and experience such a vastly different
culture, but at the same time leaving my friends and family seems unreal.
My summer goals consist of completing the first
semester of a Language 11 course through BYU, and working nearly everyday to save up for spending money while I'm in the Netherlands. On the
weekends I work across the bay at the Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge (http://www.alaskawildernesslodge.com/). In fact, I
leave in less than seven hours to go across for a full workday...so I'll keep
this first post short.
Although work and my online class have been keeping
me exceedingly busy, I've somehow made time to hangout with my close friends,
knowing these next two months will be the last with them for a while. Thank
goodness for Facebook and Skype, or I wouldn't know how to cope without them
while away for so long! With one of my best friends, Tiyana Hill, she'll be graduated and
gone when I come back from Europe, so for our last summer we've created a
Summer Bucket List, with about fifty weird and adventurous things we must
complete before I leave...so far it's made for a pretty interesting summer.
I have yet to start really focusing on the Dutch
language, which is also a priority on my to-do list. Everyone I've talked to
portrays it as a very difficult language to learn and pick up, which is making
me a bit nervous. I've been researching the Dutch culture, especially that of
younger people. Tolerance is emphasized in most informative sites I've run
across so far, and from what I've read it won't be too hard for me to fit in
amongst their more common political and social views.
Earlier today in Homer, the temperature got up to
59 degrees, which was i n c r e d i b l e. I'm hoping, more like wishful
thinking, that these next two months will be filled with gorgeous days like
these. Well, seeing as my alarm will be going off in five hours, I’m going to
call it a night. Still waiting on my Host Family Information…the anticipation
is killing me!
-Molly
