Monday I arrived at Van Der Capellen at 8:20am and worked with my team until about 10am, when I had to leave for my Dutch exam. Together we mapped out a plan of action for our research on Australia. I was so impressed with my kids' work; not one complained about the work I expected them to have complete when I returned from my exam. Not only did my kids take interest in the project, but also in my exam. They wished me good luck and I biked away to the GH. Lucky for me, Anna decided to cut the class short and let us take the final a bit early. So, Jeremy and I started off with a conversation about ourselves-- our names, where we're from in America, what our house is like, where we'd prefer to live, etc. Then I invited him over for coffee and he agreed but needed directions from the train station to my house. It wasn't until this moment in time that I realized I really don't know the directions to my house very well, but we managed to understand each other and completely dominated that final. I biked back to Van Der Capellen where my students suddenly decided we had to speak Dutch because I passed my final. So, I told them my favorite color, what I like to eat, and my favorite country and thing to do was. I think they were quite impressed with my vocab, but my pronunciation caused a lot of extra laughing...
Tuesday the SPICE group went on our final excursion together: Kroeller Mueller (spelling again). When we got there, we all hopped on bikes painted white and never locked up, aka communal bikes. Here's the funny thing: LaRae and I decided it would be funny to see if I could fit in a child's seat on the back of her bike and double bike around. Since I managed to fit my American self into the seat, we progressed to the museum... little did we know this bike ride was over 3 miles long. My roommate is a boss for hauling me all the way there. From there, we explored the museum and park and stuff... (in case you can't tell, we've been over excursions for awhile). and besides we had other things on our mind-- it was the last Joffer night and everyone was supposed to come out. So, after the excursion, we went home, ate dinner and then proceeded to get ready for the night.
LaRae, Lauren, our host brother, and I biked over to a SPICE buddy's place to meet up with the group before the Joffer. On the way there, I decided I wanted to race our host brother (even though he didn't even know I was racing him), and suddenly there was a pop, crack, and a downfall of speed from my bike. I realized what had happened as I attempted to continue up the hill to the stoplight. When we arrived at the light, we decided to have my host brother bike my bike to the house we were headed towards and I was just hop on the back of LaRae's bike as usual. So, I hopped on but somehow managed to catch the heel of my shoe in LaRae's tiring, damaging not just one bike that night, but two. However, when we arrived a few of the guys fixed both of our bikes and we ended up having a great last night at the Joffer. It's horribly sad to think I won't be spending my Tuesdays there with the SPICE group anymore... but at least I managed to attend every single one and enjoy the nights while they lasted. I will really miss that place (sheds a tear but moves on).
Wednesday I had a long day with my kids at Van Der Capellen but I am so proud of the work they did. They created a great 3D map, travel guide, sports magazine, and skit about "then and now" life in Australia. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't attend their performances on Thursday but I had to do a littler performance of my own. First, though, Sarah and I had to finish getting ready for the Goodbye Party we planned: Chinese food, coke floats, awards, a video from Brett, verbs for each person, and of course Just Dance. It was a huge success: everyone loved the night, and even some of the host parents played Just Dance, including my dad. Planning parties is something I can do, weekend trips (as we saw in the story about Switzerland) is not. This semester taught me that it's best that I stick to my true talents: teaching and partying.
Wednesday night I planned to work very hard on my final presentation but as the wee hours of the morning approached and the conversations on Facebook didn't wind down, I realized that this presentation would just have to be from the heart, and so it was... besides, I had other things, other people, other places on my mind... like Paris in less than 48 hours and Rome in a few days as well. Nothing takes the productivity out of you like the thought of a week full of traveling. Let's just be thankful I don't have much left to do when I get back from Rome... but yes, I do have some things to do... so technically year 3 of college is not quite checked off the list, but mentally, it's been gone since about January 13.
LaRae, Lauren, our host brother, and I biked over to a SPICE buddy's place to meet up with the group before the Joffer. On the way there, I decided I wanted to race our host brother (even though he didn't even know I was racing him), and suddenly there was a pop, crack, and a downfall of speed from my bike. I realized what had happened as I attempted to continue up the hill to the stoplight. When we arrived at the light, we decided to have my host brother bike my bike to the house we were headed towards and I was just hop on the back of LaRae's bike as usual. So, I hopped on but somehow managed to catch the heel of my shoe in LaRae's tiring, damaging not just one bike that night, but two. However, when we arrived a few of the guys fixed both of our bikes and we ended up having a great last night at the Joffer. It's horribly sad to think I won't be spending my Tuesdays there with the SPICE group anymore... but at least I managed to attend every single one and enjoy the nights while they lasted. I will really miss that place (sheds a tear but moves on).
Wednesday I had a long day with my kids at Van Der Capellen but I am so proud of the work they did. They created a great 3D map, travel guide, sports magazine, and skit about "then and now" life in Australia. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't attend their performances on Thursday but I had to do a littler performance of my own. First, though, Sarah and I had to finish getting ready for the Goodbye Party we planned: Chinese food, coke floats, awards, a video from Brett, verbs for each person, and of course Just Dance. It was a huge success: everyone loved the night, and even some of the host parents played Just Dance, including my dad. Planning parties is something I can do, weekend trips (as we saw in the story about Switzerland) is not. This semester taught me that it's best that I stick to my true talents: teaching and partying.
Wednesday night I planned to work very hard on my final presentation but as the wee hours of the morning approached and the conversations on Facebook didn't wind down, I realized that this presentation would just have to be from the heart, and so it was... besides, I had other things, other people, other places on my mind... like Paris in less than 48 hours and Rome in a few days as well. Nothing takes the productivity out of you like the thought of a week full of traveling. Let's just be thankful I don't have much left to do when I get back from Rome... but yes, I do have some things to do... so technically year 3 of college is not quite checked off the list, but mentally, it's been gone since about January 13.
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