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Monday, November 19, 2012

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!

school and family

8-14 october

this week was also a busy one! there is quite a large number of canadians that are on this exchange and so we celebrated canadian thanksgiving! everyone brought a dish so there was a large jumble of assorted foods that amounted to a unique, delicious meal. there were people from all over the world and it was fun to eat yummy foods like 7 layer dip next to crepes rounded out with traditional mashed potatoes then finished off with stroopwaffels and pie.

after a wonderful meal and even better friends we all headed home and i got the chance to skype with eric and my friend studying in London! A great start to the week to say the least.
i won't bore you with the remaining days of the week which all involved school and homework for a majority.
friday morning however i was able to take the train north to visit family! after 3.5 hours on the train i arrived in Groningen where oom Wim was waiting to pick me up. we stopped by the house to drop off my things and have a cup of coffee with tante Jenneka before they took me around Kornhorn. i was able to see the houses my grandparents lived as children, the church they were married in, and the house that my grandpa built. it was wonderful to hear stories and to see where they had lived. of course everything has changed since that time but it was still neat to be in touch with the past.
on saturday tante Bab came by to pick me up and we went into Groningen for the day. Annamarie came as well and we took a boat tour of the city. after the informative tour we stopped at a pub for some food. Annamarie knew all the best places to stop because she had moved there for school and simply stayed after. i could certainly see why! it was a lovely city - quieter than Den Haag but still with lots of activity and charm. we also did some walking around, shopping, picked up dinner from a delectable italian shop and also some ice cream. for dinner oom Onne and more family came over.
it was great getting to know everyone but also difficult as my dutch was still close to nil and why should everyone have to struggle with english? often i would try to listen and learn from conversations or someone would summarize for me what had been said. it was a wonderful time and i'm very glad i've had the chance to come here to meet these people. after a lovely time tante Bab and oom Onne dropped me back off at oom Wim and tante Jenneka's. oom Wim and i stopped by tante Kiki's to say hello. she is a very sweet lady in her 90's and she knew who i was! she knew that i was yvonne's daughter and told me that i should learn more dutch so we can talk when i come visit again! back at Wim and Jenneka's we watched a great music program and talked about all sorts of things. tante Jenneka even showed me all the birth announcement she had saved over the years. mom - she had yours!
the next morning i went to church with oom Wim. however it was all in dutch! i was able to understand a few of the songs because i had the words right in front of me but when it came time for the sermon - oh boy was i lost! i continued to try to find words i could recognize but it was rather difficult to do.
after church we went back home and all of grandpa Tim's brothers and their wives came over for tea.

the book of baby announcements

looking at a very old photo of family

it was lovely to finally meet all the family from this side and to try to speak dutch and hear stories. it made me realize just how incredibly lucky i am to have the chance to come visit and be in touch with so much family! after tea i went to Groningen again with oom Onne and tante Bab to cheer for the 4 mile race and to spend time with even more family.
i'm so incredibly thankful to oom Wim and tante Jenneka for opening their home to me, feeding me, working with me to speak english and teach me dutch, sharing stories, and showing me all around where grandpa and grandma grew up.
can't wait for my next trip up north!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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!