Weekend in the Homeland

After breaking bank on Spring Break, I decided the wisest decision was to stick around the homeland this weekend. I contacted some family I haven't seen yet and asked if I could visit them on Saturday, and then planned on spending the rest of the weekend with the family in Zwolle. 

On Friday, LaRae's entire family arrived from America. We had planned to go out with her sister on Friday night, but because jet lag set in, I ended up hanging out with my host brother and his friends. I had such a great time with them-- a very lively bunch, that's for sure. We talked about America, compared things like drivers' licenses, food, etc. We then made our way to the city. Evidently Friday nights is youngens night, so I felt really REALLY old, but I made a few new friends. Being the lone American isn't so bad, especially in a culture that caters to their foreigners (namely, they speak my language). 

Saturday around 11:30 I departed for the town of Buitenpost to visit my dad's sister and her family. I spent the afternoon drinking coffee, going for a walk with my aunt and her dog, eating delicious foods, and catching up with my family. My aunt spoke to me in Dutch a lot, which was a challenge but what better way to learn. And, since I plan to be back here next spring for 7 or 8 weeks to student teach, I figure I have to learn quite a bit of Dutch, right? What better way to learn than being forced to translate (although, she and her family did help me out a lot). 

I returned to Zwolle in the evening to show LaRae's sister what the night life of Zwolle was like-- another enjoyable evening. Then on Sunday, we all went to church and were joined by the rest of the host brothers that live in Zwolle for coffee time. It was a very crowded home at the Van Der Krieke residency, but it was so much fun. For dinner we had fries, frikendel (spelling?), and MORE FRIES, followed by ice cream. mmm mmm mmm! Because I ran that afternoon, I figured I could semi-justify my eating habits, but we did come to a very logical conclusion: I need to marry a dutchman so that the skinny genes can be inherited by my children and they don't have to feel guilty about what they eat. My kids will thank me someday for marrying a man with a strange accent. 

All in all, it was a great weekend in the homeland with beautiful weather. Hopefully it keeps up when my sister and brother-in-law arrive later this week!