Let the learning begin!

The second I signed up for the TESL branch of the SPICE program I knew I would be getting myself into quite the learning experience. Today I realized just how challenging this would be and yet equally, if not more so, wonderful. The other student doing the same branch as me met with the principle at Gomerus College (the school we are interning at). At first I was not excited to go because it seemed like a waste of money and time just to sit and drink coffee with him for half an hour. Well, I was wrong.

At 2:17pm we hopped on a train to Gronigen, arrived shortly after 3pm and walked to the school. First we walked into the wrong building (there are 4 at Gomerus), but then were escorted to the right building and met the principle for coffee and discussing the program. First, he informed us that he Googled where we were both from and wanted to hear our whole life stories. It was a wonderful time to build connections with him. Instantly we could tell that international students/studying is his passion. They have international students from all over-- Canada, other European countries, looking into Australia, etc. Clearly I am in the right place for my internship. We then discussed some of the issues with the program-- travel costs, time, etc. He was very open to suggestions and wanted this to be the best it could possibly be. Then he asked what we wanted out of the program. We told him we are expected to observe about 10 hours and teach/interact with students about 80 hours. He said the staff was all excited and always welcoming to new comers-- another wonderful thing to hear.

Let me briefly explain the program-- as a TESL endorsed education major, the goal is to teach students whose first language is not English the various subjects in English. It is a challenging course and only "the most brilliant students" (in the principle's words) do the program, and are therefore usually the most motivated students. So, that is what we will be doing. I can't wait! After the meeting and a tour of the school, he drove us to the train station and we hopped back on the train to Zwolle, landing me home around 7 pm, just in time for the last part of supper.

At first I was questioning this program. Will it go smoothly? Am I going to do alright in it? What if I discover I'm not supposed to be a teacher while I'm here? But with the support of my family (biological and host), staff at Gomerus, and all the others who are so encouraging and willing to help in any way possible, I believe that this is going to be the greatest internship I could experience. After all, who knows where I will be called? Maybe I will end up teaching internationally, maybe even at Gomerus someday. What a blessing that would be!

Germany-- CHECK!

I intended to write a blog for each day I was in Germany, but quite frankly, I would be writing forever if I included every detail of one of the best weekends of my life. Yes, I realize every weekend here will probably be the best weekends of my life, but I could not have imagined a better place to start my out of Holland European adventure-- Cologne, Germany!

After class on Friday I left with 5 other SPICE students to catch a train from Zwolle to Cologne, with 3 transfers. Each train ride was about an hour long and filled with cards, coffee, and great conversations. The first transfer went smoothly, but then we arrived in Venlo and realized we had 3 minutes to get to our train. But wait, maybe that's not our train, so we slowed down our pace. Then the best old man in the world said to us, "That train leaves in 2 minutes. Are you going to Germany?" And we said yes. Then he said, "You need that train!" And so we ran, jumped on the train, and about 20 seconds later it took off. We then arrived to our last transfer and boarded the train to Cologne. The train arrived, we walked outside, and BAMB-- there was the most beautiful building I have ever seen-- the Catholic cathedral. Honestly, I can try to describe it and show you pictures of it, but words and pictures will not do this building justice. It's majestic architecture, incredible history, and extreme detail is honestly the most incredible thing my eyes have ever seen. Once we arrived we decided to walk to our apartment. We figured the walk would be between 45 minutes and an hour and were up to the challenge. We stopped at a grocery store for some necessities (food, natural water-- AKA sparkling water, etc) and then continued walking. We thought we knew where we were going, but then stopped every block for about 5 blocks to check the maps. Yep, still in Germany. Yep, the Rhine River is still to our right. After an hour and a half of wandering our apt. owner's crabby phone call, we hopped on a bus to get there quicker. We arrived in the "suburb" shortly after 8pm, unloaded our stuff and then went out to pizza. Yes, we ate pizza in Germany.

Here's the best part. We ordered a beer with our pizzas, because we can. Well, I accidentally ordered a half liter beer... oops. It was huge! But delicious and worth it. After that we just hung out in the apartment for the night and then woke up around 9:30am to explore Cologne. We took a bus to the city center and explored-- AKA more walking. We discovered numerous churches, all with beautiful interior and exterior detail. Here's a little historical fact about this city and that cathedral I mentioned earlier. In WW2, the city was bombed and basically completely destroyed, except for the cathedral. Around the city you can find random walls, buildings, arches, etc that survived the bombing, but other than that the city looks decently modern. A few of the churches we visited we reconstructed in the mid-late 1900's. It's a pretty incredibly historical and beautiful city. We made our way to the Cathedral, and like I said, words can't describe it. Everything about it is... ridiculously amazing. That's the best I've got. Here's what got me: the Cathedral was spared because of respect for the church, yet hospitals, schools, and the like were bombed mercilessly. Sure, they warned the people that they would be bombed, but it's just amazing to me to think that bombing buildings that we tend to view as "safe havens" were destroyed. Incredible.

Because we were in Germany, we felt as though we needed to visit a German pub, and so we did. We enjoyed a beer with some locals and some very interesting pictures, and then went off to find the chocolate museum. I had no idea Germans were so big into chocolate. In the museum there was a mini rain forest to show where the cocoa beans grow naturally, a complete guide to the process of making chocolate, and of course free samples-- lekker!

After a day full of walking and exploring, we decided to head back to our apartment, take a power nap, and go out to eat. Then I ordered wiener schnitzel-- which is not a glorified hot dog like I was expecting. It was however just as delicious as I would have hoped. We then went back to the apartment and got ready to enjoy German night life. It was an excellent time, let me tell you!

The next morning, Karl and I got on an earlier train than everyone else (see last blog for a bitter rambling about that), and made it back to Zwolle around 3:30 this afternoon. It was a wonderful weekend, and all the other European countries are sure going to have to step up their game to impress me. I think this weekend will be hard to top. At the end of the weekend, I am left with 200+ pictures, 2 very tired feet, and way too many memories and laughs. Leuk werk, Germany!

No pain, no gain.

When I woke up this morning the last thing I thought was that I'd be spending 7 hours of my day to book ONE train ticket. Good thing only one of our 3 professors showed up for classes today because it gave us plenty of time to discuss our weekend plans. So-- Germany it was: we found train tickets and found an apartment for about 30 euros total per person for 2 nights... sounds sweet, right?

Well, the website to book train tickets was being really selective about everything-- who got to buy tickets, when they got to buy them, and what price they paid. We all expected to pay about 72 euros for a round-trip ticket, but some how one of our travelers got one for 66 (and I booked it for him! I'm such a good Samaritan). Then we got a few others tickets, but for some reason Karl and I could not get tickets... for 7 hours. We literally spent 5 hours straight trying to book tickets and could not get them. We tried everything-- different computers, different credit cards, different websites, even tried to get people in America to help! We tried to call on the phone, but no one would answer and there was a long wait to talk to a rep! Then, at rocket speed, we biked to the train station to try and buy tickets there, only to find out they don't sell international tickets there... yay. So we biked back to my house, ate dinner, talked about the crappy service, and then attempted again. Total  it took about 12 people, 9 computers, 7 hours, 40 minutes on the phone, and a very stern and stubborn Friesan to get it all done. Finally, Karl and I had booked train tickets to get to Germany. What a day... and now I have successfully shoved a weekend's worth of clothes, makeup, passport, camera, and money in my backpack and tomorrow we leave for Germany! Pray for us: we will need it!

Taking the advice I posted earlier: packing 1/2 the clothes I intended to and twice the money.

PS-- this is it for the weekend. No internet in Germany for me! Dag!

Putting Survival Dutch into Practice

Today after class we had to put our survival Dutch into practice by heading out in Zwolle to find a few locations, ask for directions/hours of operation/ordering food, and such. Without my "I'm learning to speak Dutch" pin I'm pretty sure every person would have just started speaking English to me, and I kind of wish they would have. Speaking another language in the context of the real world is so much harder than saying, "I would like to pay" in front of your struggling Dutch class classmates. But alas, I managed to order a hot chocolate and a muffin. :)

Sorry to disappoint, but that is about as interesting as my day was today. Not every day can involve cheese and stroep waffles though. :)

Tuesday is the New Friday

Today seriously felt like a Friday all day. A piece of me is thankful it isn't though, because our first full weekend adventure to a different country is supposed to happen this weekend and we are no where near ready for it, but right now it's looking like Belgium? Who knows. Everything changed here in a blink of an eye (especially the weather). Anyways, today wasn't all that eventful at school: Survival Dutch, Cross-cultural communication, cheese sandwich for lunch, and intro to our art class. After class we biked home and looked up some more stuff for trips. Good news-- Spring break flight got booked. From Barcelona to home is 30 euros! Now we just have to get to Barcelona. This is going to be the best Spring Break yet!

For dinner we had a sort of dinner party with our parents and their Bible study group. There was lots of really, really good food (most of it had bacon in it... mmm mmm mmm). One of the ladies asked us if we've noticed differences in the cultures and what exactly we had noticed-- mostly toilets, coffee, drinking, stairs, and small driving paths. After dinner there was coffee time, of course, but this one was a bit different than usual. Coffee was served during their Bible study. Unaware that I was kind of intruding on the discussion, I grabbed a chair and my coffee and joined in. About 40 seconds later I realized what just happened but knew it was too late to walk away. So, I did what Americans do best-- ate. Probably feeling inclined to include the American, the group informed me of the discussion: the difference between grace and mercy. Then I was put on the spot: what IS the difference? I was not expecting that one... so, I thought for a second, ate a little more, sipped my coffee, and then answered. To me, grace is something that is already present. Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. Mercy, however, is something we must ask for when we repent of our sins. Maybe that's completely wrong, but that's what it seems to be to me. I'm curious: what's the difference to you, followers? There was some more discussion in Dutch, and some translation: should it be easy to accept mercy? Again, what do you think? 

At first, I felt a bit awkward entering a Dutch Bible study, but I am actually glad I "intruded" the Bible study. What a wonderful thing, to be able to participate in a Bible study with a group of people who don't speak the same language as me? Another blessing. :)

Waking Up in Zwolle

So, Monday rolls around and the weekend has finally caught up to me. I tried to tell myself to go to bed on time Sunday night, but after hanging out with my host family, putting away laundry, and skyping my sister about her trip out here (yes, she and Nate are coming!), it was almost midnight. Then it took me a bit to fall asleep and before I knew it, it was 6am and my alarm went off... I threw my phone, went back to bed and re-woke up at 7:40am. I got ready, made lunch, grabbed my bike and took off. I asked LaRae if she thought I should wear rain pants but she said it wasn't supposed to rain. So, we met Lauren and biked our way to the bridge...where it began to pour rain. Note to self: LaRae is no longer in charge of weather forecasts. We showed up to class pretty wet-- a combination of rain and sweat, and sat through 3 classes.

After class, we began looking at where we wanted to travel. Long story short, travel planning is NOT that easy. There's so many places to go, so many sites to compare prices, and in the end, you still pay an arm and a leg. However, we got some rough plans figured out and are well on our way to a wonderful semester in a lot of wonderful places. 

After dinner LaRae and I went to a friend's to watch a movie. I wasn't planning on going because I wanted to fill out scholarships but alas, I joined. Another long story short, don't watch Braveheart unless you are wide awake and have 3 hours to focus on poor acting and a lot of fake blood. It was a decent plot, but I just really am not into movies that don't include Draco Malfoy (kidding, but not). 

At 10:40pm I arrived home and will literally fall asleep in seconds... so... DAG!

Sunday Funday!

9:30am-- Breakfast with the family. 10:35am-- walk to church (in the rain, or course) with the family. 11:00am-- church in a completely foreign language. Yes, we have an English Bible. Yes, we have a translation of the sermon. Yes, our host Dad fills us in on what is going on in church, but it's just really not the same. I'm sitting there trying to follow the sermon, but I'm also trying to learn Dutch as I go, resulting in a very frustrated and tired brain. I'm closing my eyes during prayer, but all I can think about is hearing the "Amen" so I open my eyes with the rest of the congregation and don't look like I've fallen asleep. I'm seeing these 3 beautiful babies get baptized but I have no idea what the pastor is saying besides, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Part of the journey of SPICE is challenging ourselves to be submerged in a completely different culture and learn and grow from them. If I don't understand 90% of what these people are saying, how am I supposed to grow? You take what you have been given and roll with the punches. You ask questions. You appreciate the fact that you can be in a country that allows you to worship freely with others. You recognize that not everything in life is going to be easy as pie and you go with it and make the most of it. I'm not going to lie; it's a bit of a struggle mustering up the same excitement to go to a church when I know only 3 people and about 5 words. Jennifer, get over yourself. How selfish of me to think that I'm not getting anything out of a time of worship on the Lord's Day. I am so lucky to be able to study in a different country and to live with a family that comes from the same religious background as I do. Imagine how much more difficult it would be if my "Sunday fellowship" was with nonbelievers or Buddhists?

We got home from church and had coffee and cookies with the family, made a sandwich, then took a nap. After our nap, we had soup and bread and potato salad for dinner (just like home). Then we had little mini pancakes (they have a name for these like pulfergees or something like that), followed by ice cream-- my sweet tooth was more than satisfied. Then our two host brothers that live in Zwolle came over for coffee and family time. It was so fun. Seriously, this family is giving my own a run for their money. We looked for our farm on the map, but only found the "village" of Orovada and so I showed them some pictures on facebook. We then spent the next hour or so looking at pictures, telling stories, drinking coffee, and eating more sweets. We also learned a joke in Dutch, but that is something I will have to impress you all with in person. Believe me, you will not be disappointed: if it's not funny, at least be impressed by the fact that I can tell a joke adequately in Dutch.

All in all, it was a great Sunday, regardless of the rain and language barrier. That's something that's going to take adjusting and time, but that's alright with me.

My Favorite is Gouda.

You know in the movies when you see the man chasing after the train because the woman he loves just left to start her life anew somewhere else? That happened to us today. Except there were 3 women on the train and 2 men and 2 other women chasing a train. The problem was, they didn't know which train the women they were seeking were on. So, they ran toward the correct one, second guessed themselves, and then got on a different train, only to sit in the luggage cabin. Meanwhile, on the train to Den Haag at 7:46am, 3 young women sat, waiting for those pursuing them to join them... and they  never did. So they sat on a train for an hour and 20 minutes, got off in Gouda and waiting for the others to (hopefully) arrive. Finally (2 minutes later) they were joined by their fellow travelers and they continued their journey.

However, before they sought out the cheese in Gouda, we were informed that the train incident was not the first travel dilemma on the trip. One of the boys who lives about 30 minutes (biking) from the train station had his bike break 3 times before he even crossed the bridge completely. So, he chucked the bike off the trail and ran the remainder 20 minutes to the station, to make it just in time for the train, only to find out that he had to run after a train 5 minutes later again. It's a good thing they did all that exercising though, because little did we know, Gouda is where tourists go to eat. When they say, "cheese and stroep waffle capital," they aren't kidding. Every Tuesday and Saturday they have a market in many of the towns, and there is cheese EVERYWHERE-- stroep waffles as well. We stopped at a bakery, ordered some baked goods, found freshly made stroep waffles that were the size of a salad plate and ate those, too. Later in the afternoon we returned to the market and bought hunks of cheese and walked around the city eating cheese. 

Before our return to the market, we explored the city a bit more-- found the city hall, a church built in the 1400's, and a windmill with the mill-man anxiously waiting to give a tour of his mill. Luckily one of the guys we traveled with spoke enough Dutch to understand and communicate with the joyful little old man as he gave a very thorough tour of the windmill-- including turning the windmill on. We climbed halfway and got an overlook of the whole city-- gorgeous. We then climbed the ladders to the top and looked out of the small open-air windows at the city. We made our way back down, took some more pictures, and then decided to make our way back to the train station to head to Delft (you know, that city that's famous for the blue pottery stuff).

When we got there, it was pouring rain, but that didn't stop us. We found a souvenir shop, did a little shopping, and then tried to climb to the top of a church but were informed it was closed for the wind. So, our handy tour guide Karl led us around the city to an old bridge that is the oldest remnant of the city entrance. We fed some ducks, took some more pictures, and then decided to get back on the train and find a place to eat dinner. We all ended up sleeping a bit on the train ride back and decided to just head back to Zwolle and grab something to eat there. We, again, visited our host brother's pizza place and ate some really good pizza and then headed our separate ways.

All around, I'd say it was a successful first day excursion and now that we've mastered the trains, nothing stands in between us and the rest of Europe.

Week 1: DONE!

Well, today marks 1 week of being in Zwolle. Today was a very long day: 3 classes-- Survival Dutch, Cross cultural communication, and Portfolio. It was a great day though. For dinner we met our host Oma and Opa who speak basically no English. I can't wait until I know more Dutch so that I can maybe communicate a little more with them, rather than just saying numbers and "eat well" in Dutch.

Tomorrow is our first excursion. I will post more about it later either tomorrow night when we return or Sunday afternoon, but we are visiting the city of Gouda (like the cheese). This city is famous for 1) their cheese 2) the stroep waffles and 3) candles. The original plan was to visit Den Bosch, a city that was once lower but was raised for some reason and now the old canals that are nowadays below the city feature a tour of the "city" underground. The tours don't run in the winter, so now we are going to Gouda. Here is a bit of information of the city of Gouda, but I will tell you more about it later.

http://www.holland.com/global/Tourism/Cities-in-Holland/Cities-in-Holland/More-cities/Historical-Cities/gouda.htm

I am extremely tired and have to catch a 7:46 train tomorrow morning, so I am going to go to bed. Slaap lekker!

If I had my way, I'd take the rain.

Today it rained.
This morning it poured.

When I woke up, I thought I heard wind, but then I remembered I am in Holland, not Sioux Center (thank goodness!). Turns out it was pouring rain! Yesterday we had a tiny bit of rain but it wasn't bad. This morning we broke out the big guns: rain boots, rain pants, and all. LaRae's big guns are a bit more impressive than mine. Let's just put it this way: you know those ponchos you buy at California Adventure Land when you go on the water rides? It's like that, only 5 sumo wrestlers could fit in it. So, in our super cute outfits we biked to class. I am SO thankful we live the closest for one more reason: biking in the rain will be horrendous if it rains any harder than it did today. It had slowed down a bit by the time we left for school, but the people who biked from Hattem or the other side of Zwolle were miserably cold and wet (far worse than us) from the bike ride.

After 2 1/2 hours of Dutch we had lunch and then one of the professors gave us a taste of what his class will be like. Let me try to explain to you how awesome I think this class will be: he has a collapsible bike, no tests,  lots of excursions to explore Holland, and he gave us yo-yos. I wish classes at Dordt were more like this, but alas, I will have to enjoy it while I am here.

After that class we had a break and then split into groups to do a scavenger hunt around the city of Zwolle. We had to find various locations, items, and take random pictures in 90 minutes. We did what we could but still missed a few items. Tomorrow we'll find out the winners (I highly doubt it's my team, but we DID bring back the box from a McKroket. If you don't know what it is-- deep fried gravy on a McDonald's bun is the best way I can describe it).

Tonight we had pasta for dinner, talked to our host dad about places to visit, and then went to our little brother's work to surprise him. He gave us a tour of where he works and then we rode our bikes (he took his moped) home. One of my favorite things to do is race on my bike, but unfortunately my bike is not very stable and my legs are not huge fans of riding uphill after going under the bridges. When we got home, we tried some of the pizza from his work. After that, I skyped my legit little brother. Unfortunately, Dordt's internet is just as bad as before so it is difficult to understand/see him at times.

Basically, at the end of this day, all I have to say is I miss my crummy car...
but not really. I'd take a bike ride in the rain through Zwolle than walk across Dordt's campus in the tundra.

You don't like Sauerkraut?

Today was round 2 of Survival Dutch and I have to say it was a bit better. Today we learned counting, days of the week, and how to tell time. After Survival Dutch, we were pretty much free for the rest of the day until about 5pm when we had speed dating with our Dutch buddies. Even though most of them had gone out with us earlier in the week, it was fun to ask them some random questions and eat a stroep waffle. :) After that our host families joined us for a strumpel buffet with all the SPICE participants, buddies, and coordinators of the program. What is strumpel? It is a strange mix of mashed potatoes and various veggies-- one dish had mashed potatoes and carrots and onions, one with sauerkraut, and one with cabbage. We also had wurst, meatball, and "bacon," and various side veggies. I have to admit the cabbage one was not my favorite, but the other two were actually pretty good. My host family says that sauerkraut is their worst nightmare, but I grew up eating wurst, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut and love it. I guess I don't quite completely fit in with them just yet. Maybe I can be the one to win them over to sauerkraut. :)

It seemed like a lot more happened today, but really, now I am just chilling watching a movie and sipping tea with LaRae... a pretty chill night in our household, but it was a goed dag. :)

Op de fiets naar de les

(That means that I take my bike to class!)

Today was another excellent day in Zwolle. It is starting to get a bit chilly here, so biking is a littler tougher, but it's not so bad. What IS so bad is the Dutch we tried to learn today. I am so lucky I took linguistics for 2 semesters with a professor who is Dutch and uses a lot of Dutch examples. I think our professor thought "we don't speak Dutch" meant that we catch on very quickly, because for the first half hour, she didn't say a word in English. You have no idea how hard it is to find page negen when the teacher is holding up 8 fingers. Seriously though, Dutch is a very difficult language to learn, and when you are sitting there for 2 1/2 hours going over things in Survival Dutch that probably won't help you order a diet coke or find a toilet, it makes it even harder. There is just so much to learn in just 20 hours of class in 8 days. I'm sure by the end of it we will all be pros though. And if not, well, I still have a whole semester in Europe and Dutch 3 hours on Mondays to help as well.

After class, we biked to get a picture for our Dutch passports. Why we need another passport, I couldn't tell you, but what I can tell you is that the photographer sure loved 17 American students coming in to get their pictures taken. Afterwards we went off to McDonald's to have a stroep waffle McFlurry-- a must-have according to previous SPICE students. I'm not saying they aren't good, but for 2.50 and half the size of an American McFlurry (also, they used normal caramel, NOT stroep!), I can't say I'll order another anytime soon. In McDonald's we also experienced our first "pay to pee" experience. Obviously none of us cheap American students paid to use the bathroom (saving every eurocent for a better cause). Lauren, LaRae, and I stayed downtown for awhile and did some shopping. Be proud, mom; I said no to EVERYTHING-- even shoes! I am in need of a pair of dark brown boots, but I am putting that off for awhile. What I am extremely pleased to have discovered is that not ALL jeans are super expensive. Yeah, you can find jeans for 150 euros, but that's the same in the states. You can  also find jeans for 25 euros or less! Goedso! (Spelling?)

After shopping, we parted ways with Lauren and went home for dinner: the curry chicken and rice and veggies dish we had before, but then a round of "buckwheat," which is something like very  heavy oatmeal. This is how you eat it: you put it on your plate, spread it out flat (it is thicker than oatmeal, too), put butter then brown sugar and stroep on top, and eat up! Lekker! Then after that, we finished off the meal with some vla and devotions. Meals with my host family are so great, and getting better as we continue to develop connections and conversations and share various stories. I love it.

After dinner, the plan was to meet up with one of our brother's wife along with our parents and see the ice sculptures. We biked all the way downtown around 7:30pm only to find out it closed at 5. Well, since one of our brothers lives nearby, we stopped by for coffee and hung out there for awhile. When we arrived we noticed he was listening to American music. I don't know why that is so hard for me to adjust to, but everywhere you go (pubs, stores, homes, etc) you hear American music! I guess the music here is a bit interesting (their rap, for instance), but it is just so strange to hear Justin Bieber and Wiz Khalifa around.

Well, since it is a Tuesday, it is a big night in Zwolle-- The Joffer night. What is that? It's a local pub in the heart of Zwolle that is very popular, especially on Tuesdays because there is a happy hour from 11-12. We met up with a few Dutch buddies and went out for awhile. It was a lot of fun and definitely lived up to my expectations. Unfortunately the morning comes at 7:05AM so I am out of time to write for the night.

Dag!

Crash Course: Dag 1 en the GH

Like my attempt at incorporating some Dutch into the title of that blog? Well, tomorrow we start our survival Dutch lessons so I'll probably be incorporating a bit more here and there. Today, however, was kind of an overload of information about the GH and the program.

First, Lauren met us at our house and we biked to the GH. So. much. biking! I am thankful that we live the closest to school out of all the SPICE students. We arrived from the cold and joined the rest of the group and a few of the coordinators/professors of the GH for SPICE. After a short introduction, we had a coffee and muffin break. After that, we received a short greeting from Henk, the director of the SPICE stuff at the GH and then filled out immigration papers and went over a few laws in the Netherlands. We then received a tour of their library.

To me, the library is a place to study socially and to find reference books. If I spoke Dutch, I assume the latter would be true, but it was extremely quiet in their small library. Yes, everything is bigger in America, but I didn't think this applied to libraries. We were shown the English section: about 3 shelves that were probably 2 ft wide. So it looks like either I will not be reading here or I will have to learn Dutch very, very quickly.

After our library tour we had lunch-- croquet brotjes and kaas brotjes with melk. In case you are wondering what this means, I will describe it the best way I know how: deep fried gravy sticks on a bun, cheese on a bun, and milk. Don't knock it 'til you try it! The first is a bit heavy, but I actually like it-- clearly my father's daughter. Then we returned to the classroom to receive a crash course in traffic school on the bike. If you have followed my blog thus far, you know that I need that. We went over a few rules (stop at red, go at green, shark teeth mean you wait, etc). and then hit the streets in the form of a large mob of American's led by 5 locals on 4 bikes (double biking is the thing to do here I guess, but I must first master my own bike with my own body). We weaved in and out of traffic like pros for the most part and stopped to find where we can exchange our American money for way less euros than dollars as well as where to take our Dutch passport pictures. One of the locals video-taped our excursion and I'm anxious to see what we all look like on our bikes. I am also anxious to hear my bike. Yes, to hear it.

On Saturday evening someone pointed out that my bike is rather loud. That became an understatement around 2pm this afternoon. On our way back to the GH, my bike was not only rattling in the front and the back, but was also squeaking. So, if I didn't look American, I definitely drew unnecessary attention to myself as a rattled my way through town. After our biking lessons we were dismissed to roam the city or go home or whatever. A majority of the girls decided to go on our first European shopping adventure to the area that most of the girls in the group live in. We knew they had a longer bike ride than us, but we were just about to find out how much further. It took about 25 minutes to get there. We then realized the H&M we thought was there was actually downtown, so Lauren, LaRae, and I rode our bikes all the way back to our houses (about a 40 minute bike ride). When we thought about the math, at that point in the day we had biked somewhere between 10 and 12 miles. That is a lot before dinner, in case you didn't know.

For dinner we were joined by 2 host brothers we hadn't yet met and one of their wives and 5 month old baby (literally the cutest baby I have ever seen). We had some sort of Chinese or Indian type food for dinner. I'm not sure what it was called but my description would have been something like chow mein made with peanut butter, and topped with potatoes. Sounds weird, right? Again, don't knock it 'til you try it! Our host mom is a wonderful cook and for that I am very thankful! Being away from home for a few years in college has taught me that food is one of the first things you miss, and you never EVER take advantage of a good home-cooked meal when you get the chance. Food is a huge part of cultures, and to me, it's so fun to see the people here incorporate not only their own cultural foods but also cook foods from other cultures in their own homes.

At dinner, our family told stories about their traveling adventures and shared some of their miss-haps of traveling. They are such a fun family and I can't wait to spend more time with them! After dinner, we had coffee with our family and then met up with a few SPICE students for hot chocolate at a local cafe. The one we wanted to go to was closed when we got there, so a host sister led us to another place. At first, we thought it was a bit fancy for us to just hang out in, but it was really fun. We were served very fancy and delicious hot chocolate: steamed milk, chocolate on a stick that you stir into the milk, whipped cream on a side dish, and a wafer. The hot chocolate is seriously so good here. I can't get enough of it.

We had troubles paying for our bill (10 people, 35 euros, and they wouldn't split our tab for some reason!), so that was a bit frustrating. (I think) we eventually figured it out and then went our separate ways. As I was unlocking my bike, a young man spoke to me in Dutch. I told him I didn't understand, and yet he continued to speak in Dutch. Again, I said, "I'm sorry. I don't understand." He then asked where I was from and I told him America. He watched as I struggled to retrieve my bike as the rest of the group was ready to leave and asked if we had bikes in America. Embarrassed, I mounted my bike and sped away on my now-less rattly bike (my host dad is very handy with bikes, thankfully!). I really need to learn Dutch and get better with these bikes. I'm sure in a few days I will blend in just fine.

Again, it was a great day in Zwolle but after all this biking and the weather being a bit chilly, my body doesn't seem to love this town as much as my head and heart do. Once that adjusts, I'm not sure I will want to leave.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust 

First Sunday

I feel like I can start every post the first week with "First (insert name of day)," but I am more creative than that most of the time, but Sunday is a very special day and my first Sunday here couldn't have been better.

We started out the day with breakfast with the family at 9:30am. We had croissants with cheese/jelly/ham/etc and tea. We then finished getting ready for church and at 10:30 I had coffee with my parents as I uploaded my first batch of pictures to Facebook (check those out!). Wait, breakfast at 9:30 and coffee at 10:30? Did you skip church,  Jennifer? Nope! Church is at 11am for my family for the first 2 months. Evidently the congregation is about 1400 and so they split into 2 groups that are assigned a service at either 9am or 11am and then again at 4:30pm or 7pm. So at 10:40, we walked to church with our parents. Church is something I was a bit nervous about. I obviously don't speak or read Dutch. While I knew I had an English Bible, that doesn't really help much when it comes to the sermon, prayers, etc. However, one of the other host dad's that also attends our church took the liberty to translate the entire sermon into English beforehand. So on the left side, we had the Dutch and on the right, the English translation. It was hard to follow word for word, but at least it was better than just sitting there trying to look like we had a clue as to what the pastor's intonation was telling us in a language we can only understand a few phrases and words in.

Not only were we able to somewhat participate in the sermon, but we were also able to partake in the Lord's Supper. The way they do it is quite differently than what I am used to. The entire congregation gets up, one row at a time, and there are 4 elders: two holding bread, two holding wine, and then forms 2 lines, and each person takes a piece of the bread and eats it as they walk to the elder holding the wine. Then, each person takes a sip of the wine from the same cup, hands the cup back to the elder, and then returns to their seat. Meanwhile, the congregation that is seated sings hymns (obviously in touch, so we couldn't really participate). Regardless of the difference in style, it was a blessing to take communion with their congregation and be welcomed so kindly by our host family's church family.

After church we walked back home and were joined by Lauren and her host parents for coffee and lunch-- soup and brotjes (spelling?). At first, it seemed like filling so much time with conversation would be difficult, but we actually had a great time of fellowship with them. We looked through our family's photo albums of their 6 week vacation to the states to visit their various host daughters they've had thus far, got to know Lauren's parents a bit, and spent a lot of time telling stories and laughing. I love to talk and definitely did my fair share, but it's also great to just sit and listen to our hosts tell us their stories, customs, and such.

After lunch, Larae and I napped and then biked to Lauren's to join her and her parents for dinner. We had chicken, fruit salad, pears, and french fries. For dessert, we had a vanilla ice cream cake that was topped with chocolate and whipped cream. After clearing the table, we had coffee and stroep waffles and watched a movie on their 3D TV. Around 9pm, Larae and I biked back home and skyped with our families.

"We need worship for our spirit, fellowship for our soul and committed subservience for our body." --Larry Norman

All in all it was a great first Sunday and I look forward to more.

Looking Like a Local

After 8 and a half hours of blissful slumber, Larae and I took our first adventure on our bikes. I honestly could not tell you the last time I rode a bike before this morning, and let me tell you, it showed. Mounting my bike in front of my host parents was mostly successful; that is, I didn't fall of my bike. Our host family directed us towards a shopping center not far from our house and we set off. We followed their directions precisely: 2 lefts and a right down a road that doesn't look like a road... except we missed the right and ended up doing a circle around the neighborhood. Embarrassed, we took the sole right we could find and continued our quest for the shopping center, avoiding passing our house so that our host family could not see that we had failed to follow the simple directions.

We rode by what looked like a shopping district but decided to explore a little more, and I'm sure glad we did. We came across a backyard with a farm of goats, our first canal, and a lot of cute houses. We stopped for a bit to try to figure out where exactly we are. Larae pulled out her Iphone compass and we looked at the map... not much help. So we mounted our bikes again and pressed forward. Well, Larae did anyways. I had a bit of trouble re-mounting and almost fell off. Sounds like a bit of a problem, right? It gets better. Larae and I decided we wanted to cross a fairly busy street to see what was on the other side. We stopped, looked both ways, and Larae led the way. I was getting ready to follow suit, but I couldn't get my footing and ended up almost falling again. I tried again, saw some traffic in the distance, panicked, and sped across the street as quickly as possible-- dodging the traffic by what seemed a mile away. Traveling at light's speed, I kind of forgot that I had breaks on my bike and eyes on my head and before I knew it, I was headed straight for the curb. As I approached the curb, I felt led to announce: "I am jumping the curb!" Larae turned just in time to see my bike carry me inches off of the ground as I successfully jumped and landed the curb. I circled around to join Larae and realized I had a larger audience: definitely some locals observing the American idiots. After a few moments of quoting my now famous lines and a few tears from laughing so hard, we ventured to the shopping center to find a bathroom. At first I was afraid I'd have to pay to use the bathroom, but the lady in the grocery store was nice enough to let me use the employee bathroom in the back. We walked around for awhile and then decided to take on the bikes again.

When we went to unlock our bikes, we were approached by an adorable old Dutchman who clearly did not speak English. After I told him I was American and I didn't understand, he continued to speak Dutch and search for a translator. Finally, he managed to say, "open it." So I unlocked my bike; he smiled and walked away. We had no idea what he was trying to communicate to us, but we rode away only to find what we assumed was downtown. Turns out, we found the industrial part of town and had ridden to the opposite side of the city center. We attempted to find our school, but only found Fiat car company. Around 12:30pm, we found our way back home, weaving through traffic like pros now, and grabbed some lunch. Then our brother took us to the city center for our tour.

We climbed to the top of an old church tower to see the beautiful view of the town of Zwolle. 236 steps up and then again back down is a killer on the legs, especially after all of the biking we did, but it was totally worth it. Looking at the city below and knowing that it is mine to explore for the next 4 months is an incredible feeling, and being with such a great group to travel it with makes it that much better. We then spent the rest of our afternoon touring the city, stopping here and there to receive a bit of information about various aspects of the city. It was a lot to take in, but let me tell you, Zwolle is a wonderful place! At the end of the tour, we stopped at a cafe for the most delicious hot chocolate I have ever had and some Dutch appetizers. I don't know what all of them were, but one was bitterbollen, frikendel, and some sort of deep fried kaas. Mmm mmm mmm. We then ventured home with one of our brothers and mom and had Saturday's meal cooked by Dad: French fries with various sauces, frikendel, and chicken nuggets-- the perfect food for the meal before our first night on the town.

Soon after dinner, we met up with Lauren, another SPICE student, to head to a Dutch buddies' (one of the students at the GH) houses to hang out. We then went to the Flying Horse to enjoy our first European pub experience. It was a blast! Most of the SPICE students were there and lots of Dutch people to meet. We had a great time, but I must admit, we probably don't look like locals, and we definitely don't sound like them, but we are definitely giving the Dutch people a run for their money when it comes to fun! After our night out, we ventured back to our home (got there safely and it didn't even take that long), and I am now ready to call it a night before church and Sunday meals tomorrow.

"Adventure is worthwhile itself." (Amelia Earhart) And so I continue the greatest adventure of my life...

Words of Wisdom for Weary Travelers

Well, the big day of traveling is done and now comes the revival stages! Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think it will be that bad, but that might have to do with the 3 hour nap I squeezed in on my first day (FYI you're not supposed to do that).

So here's the scoop on our big day of traveling. Wednesday rolled around and I finished my packing as the snow fell and the wind blew. I began to worry about my flights getting cancelled, but some of my fellow travelers reassured me it'd be fine. Around 8:30pm we were informed our flight was cancelled and we had to get on a 1 o'clock flight. Frantically I checked the status of my flight. As the page took 920651 years to load, I began to freak out. No way can this happen! I am getting to Europe at 9:30AM on Friday morning, and that's that! Well, online it said my flight was confirmed. So I continued with my plans for the evening. At 10:30pm, I received a phone call saying it was cancelled, the 1 o'clock was full so I had to get on a 10:26am flight. Crap! So I hurried back to campus, shed a few tears of anxiety, called United and got on the flight. Phew, that was close. Well, I called my dad and told him that United's service was just not up to par these days. Who cancels flights and doesn't send out e-mails? They were going to hear a few words from me. Curious, my dad called them and found out the flight was still in operation. What? Then why did they tell other travelers it wasn't? Confused, I called the girl I was riding to Sioux Falls with to tell her the news, but we decided to stick with the 10:26AM flight, just in case.

Thus, my adventure to Europe began approximately 4 hours earlier than anticipated. At 7:50AM, I said my final goodbyes to my roommates, grabbed my 2 suitcase (54.5 lbs, 35 lbs), backpack, double checked for my passport and letter of acceptance, and met my ride by the door. Turns out flights were backed up and taking the early flight was the wisest decision, so it all worked out in the end. We arrived in Chicago around 1:15pm, grabbed some food, met a few of our fellow travelers, and eventually all 12 of us congregated at gate C18 to wait to board our 6:02 PM flight to Amsterdam. At 5:15PM, we boarded the plane, texted our last texts and envied all of the people in the first class lounges. The flight seemed to go by fairly quickly with food, drinks, movies, and sleeping, but I was so tired when I got there! Not only tired, but anxious for Customs. What if my passport isn't valid? What if they send me back? What if's every where in my weary mind! Well, customs just asked for our passports, stamped them, and sent us off to baggage.

I once read that when you're packing to travel, lay out all your clothes and money. Then, take half the clothes and twice the money you originally had out. Seriously, rule #1 of traveling to Europe: pack light. And when I say "light," I don't mean 2 suitcases. I mean pack like you're going to a hotel for one night, because trust me: if you tell yourself, "I have 2 suitcases," you WILL fill them. And you will regret it. This is why: airport carts. They are so tricky to get loose! The guys in our group seemed to get theirs out just fine, but when a few of us girls tried, we got mocked by Europeans for like 10 minutes! I finally gave up and accepted that I'd  have to haul my 2 suitcases and backpack by hand, but then my wonderful roommate figured out how to get the carts loose. Needless to say, we were quite the scene in the baggage claim. Literally every person in our group, with the exception of one boy, brought 2 bags plus backpacks and such. You could tell our Dutch buddies thought we were crazy, but alas, it is the American way. Consumerism at its finest. Also, don't forget their cars are much smaller, so cramming 4 suitcases (2 for each roommate) into one vehicle is a bit tricky. And hauling them up those steep stairs, yeah good luck with that! Needless to say, after a "day" full of cars, planes, trains, and battles with our luggage, Larae and I were exhausted and decided it was a good idea to nap for 3 hours, until our mom came and woke us for dinner-- some sort of curry chicken and rice, which was quite delicious.

After dinner, devotions, and clean up, we sat and visited for a few hours with our parents and 2 of our brothers, drank some coffee, obviously had a stroep waffle, washed our faces, and are now ready for a good, long slumber before our first adventure into the city of Zwolle. It was a long 36 or so hours, but I am safe and here and ready to begin what I am being repeatedly assured and proven to be a once in a lifetime experience I will never regret and always remember.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."  --Martin Buber
Here begins mine.