exams week

28  October - 4 November

exams - can anything positive be said about them besides "at least i passed"?

after such a wonderful time in italy and visiting in london i really had to buckle down and get through a few days of serious school work.
i had a paper and an exam on monday so the rest of the weekend after traveling back from London was dedicated to those two. for the paper i had a stellar group that i've been working with all term and so that came together well. the exam was for dutch and it was oral. i was extremely nervous. even after visiting family i struggle with pronunciation and forming whole sentences on my own. for part of the exam there is a prepared 2 minute dialogue with another person. my partner was from Austria so he had a better grasp as Dutch is close to German in grammar. we had practiced our dialogue and had it down to  a few seconds so that was reassuring. for the second part of the exam the professor would ask us about 5 questions based on the chapters we had covered. i thought this would be more of a rapid fire question time but i have the best prof in the school. when we got in and sat down he asked about my visit to family and made a conversation about it. i hardly realized it was part of the exam! he did his best to put us at ease and while testing us not make it seem like he was against us. over all the test went well which was a huge relief!
however, there was no time to take it easy as i still had an accounting final the next day. so it was straight home to begin studying for that. in the evening i took a study break to enjoy a pancake dinner with my good girl friends then back to the grindstone!
the next day my test went well and to treat myself, i enjoyed a coffee date with my friend from the concert. that evening, with all my finals finished, i thought i might bring a study snack to my friends who still weren't finished. so i made my way over to their places and made sure they were happily fed.
the next day was quiet. our group received feedback on our paper and i had coffee with friends B, F, and W. (sounds like i'm on sesame street and have letters for friends.) but other than that i had borrowed The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy from a friend and if you know me, you'll know that once i have a book in my hand not much else will get done.
so thursday was also spent largely with my head burrowed in the book until the evening. by now all my friends had finished their exams as well so we got together at a friends to celebrate. after some time in her tiny room, we made our way to this great place named Fiddlers where we could chat longer. it was fun to see everyone after their trips and to catch up on what adventures they had been on. after hearing from everyone it was time to head home. but in the case of B and i it was time to head back to her place to make some late night food and watch star wars.
the next day was also a good time. in the afternoon i set off with F, W, and A to walk to the market. my bike brakes had broken at this point and i needed to get them repaired so walking it was for me. we picked up groceries for the week and then proceeded to make a yummy dinner out of what we had gotten. there was a large gathering of friends that evening as well so we joined in for the evening.
it was a fine time and a great ending to the week. the rest of the weekend was quiet and spent catching up on emails, sermons from home, and of course reading. 

finally an update!

15-19 october

monday morning i traveled back to den haag in time for my dutch class and that evening i was able to skype with my little sister! 

tuesday was more classes and then a fun night out with friends. but the best part of the night was when i came home and found this waiting for me at my desk! 

total score! thank you aunt manjo for all the fun surprises! i've been sharing and all my friends are super thankful too! 

wednesday was a day of accomplishing tasks and getting assignments turned in. in the evening we went to a film about prostitution around the world. it was interesting to learn about the different attitudes and what the women involved think. it was also sad to see how some people are so trapped that they already know it is the only way for their children to go. after the thought provoking film we went to get some very yummy chinese food for dinner which was fun. anytime we can get together is a great time! 

thursday was a fairly relaxed day then in the evening i headed over to meet up with the others in the school. our school has a bar in it! the attitude concerning drinking is very different here and that is especially apparent when you realize that it is even in the school! it was a halloween theme for the night and it was fun to meet new people there and spend time with friends. later that night we went out to a classly little place named Millers which was opened specially for students. it's great to explore new places especially when you can get in for free! 

friday morning i had a meeting for a group project then meet up with my friend M and talked with her until i had another meeting with K. wow do i just sound busy! that afternoon M and B and i wanted to bike to Delft because we knew it was within distance. we set off a little later than we had expected and got a little lost along the way. 

we ended up getting there right about closing time so unfortunately there wasn't much to see. 

the church and all the shops were closing so we walked around the square for a bit and then promising to come back again, set off for home. we needed to get some rest as our big trip to Italy was next! 

brussels, belgium

5-7 october 

Belgium. great friends. good food. what more could i ask for? 

my dear friend M would be celebrating her birthday soon and we thought why not celebrate in a grand manner? she has always wanted to see Belgium and it was close enough that we all figured why not? friday morning we all jumped on a train to Brussels with a few people planning on joining us later because they still had class. we had gotten an apartment for the weekend which was good because there ended up being 11 of total staying there! it was a very nicely decorated place near the city centre and plenty of room for all of us. 

relaxing in the living room. 

one of the first orders of business was of course food. M had a friend from home studying abroad that was able to make the weekend as well so we waited for her and then set out to find a good grocery store. because there were already so many of us we split into groups each in charge of brainstorming a different dish. wow i picked a group of great cooks! we had some yummy stuffed peppers and tortillas and just general goodness. as we were only in town for the weekend we wanted to make the most of it and whenever we asked people what we should be sure to do in Brussels we heard go to Delirium. this turned out to be a bar with hundreds of different beers. so we enjoyed dinner and then set out! 

walking the streets with my girls

when we arrived there were plenty of choices! we all tried a different kind - i picked a cherry beer which was delicious. it was a lovely evening talking and enjoying a new place with great people. 

they had a whole thick catalog to list all the different drinks available! 

packed building! it was three floors and each was this full. 

trays all stuck to the ceiling.

after a good time there we thought we might walk to another place we had heard about. our group and another large group from our school were there and we all took off in a large crowd. we didn't end up finding any place but enjoyed walking the pretty streets. 

our whole group with a couple of extras! 

we made it home safely and all crashed into bed somewhere throughout the apartment. i lucked out and scored the master bed with two of my good friends. 

the next morning we wanted to explore more of the city starting with the gardens near our apartment. it was raining but we weren't about to let that deter our fun! there was an art exhibit in this building as well that we wandered through before going out into the gardens. 

many of the flowers were already dead but the trees and shrubs were still lovely to walk through. as we walked through i could just imagine enjoying a spring day with a good book in a maze of hedges. 

there were also neat statues scattered throughout the grounds near the observatory. 

after the gardens we took off into the city and went back to the large memorial that we had passed the day before. it was dedicated to the council as well as the soliders of the two world wars. 

we also went to the amazing cathedral on our way to our apartment. it was so large and the outside incredibly intricate! 

the inside had soaring ceilings and amazing artwork of past saints, stunning stained glass, a large organ, and depictions of scenes from the Bible. 

after the beautiful cathedral we continued to make our way to a large market area where we found lovely stalls of jewelry and painting, with a statue in the center, and ringed by shops of patat, waffels, or chocolate. 

of course we had to stop and pick up some yummy belgian chocolates! we picked a few that looked tasty and each one was delicious! 

we gathered back at home to make dinner and play some card games. we had a great evening! so many laughs and general good times. there was also an event going on throughout the city that started late and kept going til 2 am. we hit up a few of the exhibits that were going on - including one where you could dance as a hologram! so i have now completed my 20 seconds of fame. 

we also began the celebration of dear M's bday! 

oh here are more photos of the city during the day. 

the next morning was clean up and a bit more walking around the city before it was time to head home. 

we found a whole park filled with funny statues dedicated to food and assorted belgian recognized things. 

it was a lovely weekend with great people! a very happy birthday to my friend, i hope it was the most memorable and fun you will every have! 

brussels was lovely and i would love to travel back someday - even if it is just for the waffels!!