Thurday the 10th, I woke up early and took about an hour and a half train ride to Bruxelles to be there at 8am. I met all the exchange students in the train station and then we all loaded on a Coach Bus and made a two hour trip to Delft. On the bus we watched The Girl With the Pearl Earing which I had never seen, but I really liked it and I soon found out why we watched it. After an incredibly windy walking tour of the city, where on more than one occasion I almost got run over by a cyclist (everyone in Holland has a bike, bikes have the priority, remember that or get run over...), we went to the Vermeer museum which is the artist who painted The Girl With the Pearl Earing. The museum was more about his style and life and did not hold the painting, but it was interesting to learn about his technique. After that, we loaded back on the bus and went another two hours to Amsterdam. We went directly to the hostel which was very nice, and after a few minutes to freshen up (comb out the tangles in our hair from a day of windy whip lash), we walked to the Hard Rock Café for dinner! Rotary always takes us the the Hard Rock Café for Rotary trips :) After our meal, we took the tram to the central part of the city, and with our Rotary guys we went on a walking tour of the city at night-- including the Red Light District!! Let's just say that I am going to college... after our evening on the town we came back to the hostel and all the girls gathered around to dye Mollie's hair! We are such girls :) but we had fun and were good and in bed before midnight!
It was a good thing that we were in bed early because we woke up around 7 the next morning and after breakfast we were on our way. Our first stop was the Portugese Synagogue which was really pretty, but under construction so that we couldn't see a whole lot. After that we went across the street to see the Jewish History Museum which was nice and didn't focus on WWII and the Holocaust which was a nice change because you were able to see all that the Jewish community has done for the world. Then we took the tram to the marche aux fleurs which is a place where there are tons of flower, mostly tulip, vendors lining the sides of the canals and little cafés along the streets. Mollie and I had lunch and then walked around, and then we met back up with the group and hopped on the tram towards the Jordan Quartier. There, we were split into two groups: first I went with my group on a walk around the Jordan Quartier, the sun was shining and gorgeous and we found a park and became children again, playing on the see-saw! After an hour and a half of play time, we switched with the other group, and it was our turn to see Anne Frank's House. This was what I was looking forward to the most, and was the reason I chose to go on the trip, so I loved it. It was so moving, and incredible to see where she really was. You can see all the pictures that she hung on the walls during her stay to make the dreary times brighter, and you can just imagine being locked in that confined space for two whole years, never once leaving or even looking outside! Very moving. After that, we took the bus back to our hostel where we had a chinese dinner and then at 8:00 we took a 10 minute walk to the Van Gogh museum which was one of the coolest museums I have ever been to. The atmmosphere was very relaxed, with a DJ, drinks and desserts, and you could really tell that the point was to talk about the art and enjoy openly, rather than a typical hush-hush museum. We stayed there until about 10:30 and then walked home.
Saturday we woke up early and had breakfast before loading all the luggage onto the tour bus. We walked to the Rijks Museum which was very cool, but I was hoping to see the real Girl With the Pearl Earing but she was at a different museum for the moment unfortunately :( After waiting twenty minutes for the Rotarians to find a girl who was lost in the museum, we took the tram to the central district of Amsterdam. There we took an hour long boat ride along the canals. Fun Fact: Many houses in Amsterdam lean forward because the city is built on water so often the foundation for these old houses is wet sand and after years the house begins to sink and tilt. After the boat ride we had 3 hours of free time, in which we got lunch and did some souvenir shopping, and then for the last hour, a friend Darby, Mollie, and I went to the tour information area and asked if we could rent bikes! They said yes, of course, so we took our last hour in Amsterdam riding bikes and finally having the priority! It was such a wonderful way to end a great trip :) We took the bus back 4 hours to Brussels, and then a long train ride, so I ended up getting home, exhausted, around 11pm.
I feel so lucky to have these opportunities to travel all around Europe this year! It is just a wonderful gift!
Welcome!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
"Move Like a Jellyfish, Rythm is Nothing, Ya Go With the Flow, You Don't Stop..." -Jack Johnson
Since we have last talked, this song has become my wake-up song-- I listen to "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson every morning on my 45 minute bus ride to school and this is by far my favorite quote. I think that it speaks to me so profoundly because I have really learned to go with the flow this year and just take in life as it comes. For those who know me well, I am a self-diagnosed perfectionist and someone who likes everything just so, but in these last almost 7 months, I have learned that in life, perfection matters little. I have more fun when baking cookies with friends and getting half way through before realizing that we have no baking soda nor enough sugar nor vanilla extract and going through with baking them anyway, than if I had had all the ingredients and not burnt anything. I have just as much fun spending an unexpected rainy day in a café drinking tea and eating a pastry as I do when it is sunny enough to walk around town. There is a time and a moment for all of these "imperfections". I wonder why it took coming to Beligium to teach me how to go with the flow and not stop... I am not certain, but what I can say is that I have taken the year as a reflexion year of how I am and how I would like to be and along the way I have found things here that have helped my profoundly... I want to be as passionate and fun-loving as Benoit is about farming and his cows. I want to be as genuine and caring as Nicole is towards her family. I want to laugh about difficult situations like I laugh when I miss a train or a bus with Mollie and Mallory. I just want to always see the world as I do today: beautiful including it's imperfections. I have never felt this happy in life; as cliché as it may be, I feel re-born with a whol new appreciation for everything and everyone that I have.
Now that I have explained my personal developpment, I will tell you about life over the pond since last I updated.
Since last time, I have added two new destinations to my list of adventures! The 26th of February I spent the day in Luxembourg which is about a 2 hour drive from Liege Belgium. We went to a famous brewery there, which the Belgians all just scoff at because that is not real good "Belgian beer" and smelled gross :) After that we went to a meat smoking and packaging factory which was actually quite disgusting and once again funny smelling (I was glad that we had lunch before). At that point we loaded the bus and went to the center area of Luxembourg which might have been gorgeous but we were hit with a gian rain storm and thus, all I really know is that the café in Luxembourg is nice and warm and serves great tea! Mollie and I came back to Mallory's to spend the night-- we made the most interesting chocolate cookies ever because of an extreme lack of ingrediants, but we had fun like we always do! The next morning Mal and I went on a run together; it's always nice to have a running buddy!
The following Wednesday I was looking for something in my wallet in the morning and I realized that I had neither my Belgian ID card nor my Visa card... I sent an urgent message to my dear mother and with the power of fast communication and incredible FedEx, both were returned safely to me by that same FRIDAY! Hard to imagine! But I was so very thankful :)
That same afternoon I went to a work out for the "Rheto Trophée" which is a big adventure race for all the Seniors in Belgium. Every school selected makes a team of two girls and four boys and competes in a big race filled with orientation, kayaking, rock climbing, archery and more! We had an orientation workout which was hard and gave me many splinters, but it was fun to be running on a team!
Friday was great because all of Belgium had a giant grève or strike, so no buses=no school! YAY! The vacation has started! That evening I made a quiche (my speciality) and Saturday after swimming I made an eggplant parmesan (another speciality)-- you guys should be looking forward to when I come home and get back in the kitchen!
Saturday night was the kick off to CARNAVAL! Which is the reason we have break, and basically Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, but here, we have Samedi Gras, Dimanche Gras and Lundi Gras as well (Fat Saturday, Sunday and Monday). There are tons of "cortèges" which are huge parades in cities all over Belgium! The carnavals are originally German so there are lots of German songs heard at parties and throughout the parades, but all the dances have movements to the words so that you kind of know the story that is being told :)
Saturday I went to a "soirée déguisée" which means that you have to have a costume to get in! I went as a hippie which was easy enough- and we danced the night away! I had so much fun with all my Belgian friends, learning all the German songs and dances! I didn't come home until almost 3 am, but that didn't mean I had time to rest! The next early afternoon, Mallory and her host parents picked me up from the house and took us to the parade in Malmedy which was my favorite of all! They do things there that would never happen in the states! There are the normal bands, floats, and clowns, but there is so much more too! There is an abundance of confetti thrown, there are oranges that they throw at the crowds (yes, dangerous), there are people dressed as bakers that come into the crowd and hit your hiney with a paddle, there are people with long clown arms that steal people's hats and put them on other's head's and mess up your hair, and there is this big pincher, wooden claw that catches people's ankle's and you have to kneel and say you have never and will never drink! It is hilarious! At one point, and man came and told me to help him carry a ladder, so I did, and he took me onto their float which was Marry Poppins themed, they pushed me into the "chimney" and poured a bucket of confetti on me! As if that wasn't enough, they decorated me with fake soot before letting me go to find my way back to Mallory and her parents on the side of the street! It was a hoot!
Monday, I went to a parade just on the border of Germany, with some friends from school. It was my friend Céline's birthday. We spent the whole day there, enjoying the parade which was a more typical American one, and then we went back to her house where we had dinner of a raclette and cake :) We did some karoke too! I was horrible because it was all old French songs which naturally I have never heard!
The next day, Mardi Gras, after a typical bus complication of it randomly being cancelled, I met up with Mallory and Mollie and some other friends to go to Binche which is a city about 2 hours away by train, but has a very famous Carnaval Parade. We dressed up with fun hats, tights, boas and whatnot, and we joined the massive crowd along the street! This world is small because amongst the thousands of people there, we ended up standing next to a family from Oklahoma, stationed for the moment in Belgium! The parade was very funny and not what we expected! There would be a group of 30 marching band, dressed in street clothes, nothing being taken too seriously, as they would just stop playing when they needed a cigarette or a beer, and then a group of 30 orange throwers which were dressed in funny white feather hats, and were chucking these oranges with no mercy at the crowd, then a group of 30 with backpacks who were the orange carriers... that sequence repeated many, many times! It was incredible how many people come out to get pelted with citrus! Oh well, the girls and I had a blast, and we ended up getting home around 11 that night, sleeping once again at Mallory's house.
The next morning we all got ready and went to the train station where we met up with Rotary and went to Bastogne. This is the WWII site and a very cool little city. We first stopped at a handicap employed farm animal shelter and got to see lots of sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas- it was so cute! Then we went to the WWII museum which told a lot about civilian life during the war and was extremely well done; I liked it a lot. Finally we went to a big star monument that had every state of America inscribed- thanking us for the work we did for Belgium. Then I came home and packed up for my trip with the Rotary to AMSTERDAM.......
to be continued...
Now that I have explained my personal developpment, I will tell you about life over the pond since last I updated.
Since last time, I have added two new destinations to my list of adventures! The 26th of February I spent the day in Luxembourg which is about a 2 hour drive from Liege Belgium. We went to a famous brewery there, which the Belgians all just scoff at because that is not real good "Belgian beer" and smelled gross :) After that we went to a meat smoking and packaging factory which was actually quite disgusting and once again funny smelling (I was glad that we had lunch before). At that point we loaded the bus and went to the center area of Luxembourg which might have been gorgeous but we were hit with a gian rain storm and thus, all I really know is that the café in Luxembourg is nice and warm and serves great tea! Mollie and I came back to Mallory's to spend the night-- we made the most interesting chocolate cookies ever because of an extreme lack of ingrediants, but we had fun like we always do! The next morning Mal and I went on a run together; it's always nice to have a running buddy!
The following Wednesday I was looking for something in my wallet in the morning and I realized that I had neither my Belgian ID card nor my Visa card... I sent an urgent message to my dear mother and with the power of fast communication and incredible FedEx, both were returned safely to me by that same FRIDAY! Hard to imagine! But I was so very thankful :)
That same afternoon I went to a work out for the "Rheto Trophée" which is a big adventure race for all the Seniors in Belgium. Every school selected makes a team of two girls and four boys and competes in a big race filled with orientation, kayaking, rock climbing, archery and more! We had an orientation workout which was hard and gave me many splinters, but it was fun to be running on a team!
Friday was great because all of Belgium had a giant grève or strike, so no buses=no school! YAY! The vacation has started! That evening I made a quiche (my speciality) and Saturday after swimming I made an eggplant parmesan (another speciality)-- you guys should be looking forward to when I come home and get back in the kitchen!
Saturday night was the kick off to CARNAVAL! Which is the reason we have break, and basically Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, but here, we have Samedi Gras, Dimanche Gras and Lundi Gras as well (Fat Saturday, Sunday and Monday). There are tons of "cortèges" which are huge parades in cities all over Belgium! The carnavals are originally German so there are lots of German songs heard at parties and throughout the parades, but all the dances have movements to the words so that you kind of know the story that is being told :)
Saturday I went to a "soirée déguisée" which means that you have to have a costume to get in! I went as a hippie which was easy enough- and we danced the night away! I had so much fun with all my Belgian friends, learning all the German songs and dances! I didn't come home until almost 3 am, but that didn't mean I had time to rest! The next early afternoon, Mallory and her host parents picked me up from the house and took us to the parade in Malmedy which was my favorite of all! They do things there that would never happen in the states! There are the normal bands, floats, and clowns, but there is so much more too! There is an abundance of confetti thrown, there are oranges that they throw at the crowds (yes, dangerous), there are people dressed as bakers that come into the crowd and hit your hiney with a paddle, there are people with long clown arms that steal people's hats and put them on other's head's and mess up your hair, and there is this big pincher, wooden claw that catches people's ankle's and you have to kneel and say you have never and will never drink! It is hilarious! At one point, and man came and told me to help him carry a ladder, so I did, and he took me onto their float which was Marry Poppins themed, they pushed me into the "chimney" and poured a bucket of confetti on me! As if that wasn't enough, they decorated me with fake soot before letting me go to find my way back to Mallory and her parents on the side of the street! It was a hoot!
Monday, I went to a parade just on the border of Germany, with some friends from school. It was my friend Céline's birthday. We spent the whole day there, enjoying the parade which was a more typical American one, and then we went back to her house where we had dinner of a raclette and cake :) We did some karoke too! I was horrible because it was all old French songs which naturally I have never heard!
The next day, Mardi Gras, after a typical bus complication of it randomly being cancelled, I met up with Mallory and Mollie and some other friends to go to Binche which is a city about 2 hours away by train, but has a very famous Carnaval Parade. We dressed up with fun hats, tights, boas and whatnot, and we joined the massive crowd along the street! This world is small because amongst the thousands of people there, we ended up standing next to a family from Oklahoma, stationed for the moment in Belgium! The parade was very funny and not what we expected! There would be a group of 30 marching band, dressed in street clothes, nothing being taken too seriously, as they would just stop playing when they needed a cigarette or a beer, and then a group of 30 orange throwers which were dressed in funny white feather hats, and were chucking these oranges with no mercy at the crowd, then a group of 30 with backpacks who were the orange carriers... that sequence repeated many, many times! It was incredible how many people come out to get pelted with citrus! Oh well, the girls and I had a blast, and we ended up getting home around 11 that night, sleeping once again at Mallory's house.
The next morning we all got ready and went to the train station where we met up with Rotary and went to Bastogne. This is the WWII site and a very cool little city. We first stopped at a handicap employed farm animal shelter and got to see lots of sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas- it was so cute! Then we went to the WWII museum which told a lot about civilian life during the war and was extremely well done; I liked it a lot. Finally we went to a big star monument that had every state of America inscribed- thanking us for the work we did for Belgium. Then I came home and packed up for my trip with the Rotary to AMSTERDAM.......
to be continued...
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