Because I have been so busy with my internship, trying to convince my body to sleep in, shopping, and eating giant hamburgers that have ham on them, I have no been blogging this week, and I apologize. However, I have been writing every day, in my defense, just not blogging.
On Wednesday, LaRae and I went shopping with one of the other girls on SPICE, so that was fun. I seriously love the way people dress here, especially the guys. After a bit of shopping we biked back home and then my uncle and aunt came to visit. Because I have been having a bit of trouble with my American credit card/bank account (AKA getting charged an arm and a leg to exchange euros), they brought me a Dutch debit card! So that's sweet. We had coffee together, talked a bit, and then they headed back to Friesland to feed their horses. Soon I plan to visit them there, but it was nice to get in touch with them a little bit already.
Wednesday night Katrina spent the night because we had to get to the bus station to meet our carpool date at 7:10 in the morning. What is carpool date? Well, Katrina and I figured out that it was going to be extremely expensive to travel by train every week, so we consulted our host parents to see what options were. Carpooling seemed like a great option, but where would we find someone to carpool with? Carpooldate.com, of course! Sounds a bit sketch, right? Imagine 2 girls sitting at a bus stop at 7:10am, a car pulling up and asking, "Are you Jennifer? I am here to pick you up," and then continuing on to Gronigen. The man was actually very nice and the ride wasn't awkward at all, at least not to me. Maybe he thought it was.
So Thursday Katrina and I hopped around the Gomarus school following the bilingual students, grades 7 and 8 (2 and 3 here), through History, Biology, and English grammar classes. I am so in love with this already. In history they were learning about the De Witt brothers. It's interesting to learn about another country's history because I have no idea, no bias, about anything going on. Another interesting thing we saw in history was the way the kids think words are spelled in English. For example, "revenge" was spelled "revanche." Interesting, right?
Perhaps I should explain what exactly is going on in this school. These students are taking all of their classes in English. So, they are not only learning new subjects but in a different language. I can't imagine trying to learn about my own country's history in a different language. Generally speaking, these students are the most brilliant and motivated students because they choose (or their parents choose for them) to be in this program. Usually I am not a huge fan of middle school students, but I already find myself growing quite fond of certain students.
After our day of observing, Katrina and I went shopping and then met up with some of the Dutch buddies for dinner in Gronigen before they presented something for the GH. We had a hamburger...and there really was ham on it! So strange, but so delicious. Then we got on a train and came back. When I got home I booked my Easter trip tickets-- Ireland and London-- and then LaRae and I met a few of the Dutch buddies and went out for drinks.
Friday I, again, did not have class so I slept in, and surprise-- there was snow! And not just a little bit of snow, no, it was snowing a lot of very large snowflakes. It was so pretty, but so scary to bike in. I bundled up, grabbed my bags, and headed off to school to fill out scholarship apps and check out books for my internship. After a little while, I met a few girls for coffee and Coffee United, the new place to hang out and do "homework." We then biked to the far side of town for Katrina's birthday party and finally, around 1AM, I arrived back home.
So, as you can see, I've been very, very busy the past few days, and am looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend of Harry Potter, pizza, and friends.
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