Nearing the End

This week was the last week of legitimate classes. Everything is wrapping up, but not winding down. I've been so busy this week with playing catch-up on the homework I so conveniently put off until the end of the semester. However, this week was not limited to homework.

On the contrary, this week has been so fun! After the longest day of my life on Tuesday (back from Easter break at 10:30 in the morning, class from 12:30 til 3:30), I took a nap until dinner, did some homework, and then progressed into the evening-- maintaining my perfect attendance award for the Joffer.

Wednesday was my first Wednesday off since February. I chose to take a day off of my internship at Van Der Capellen because I knew I needed to catch up on sleep and I have a whole week with these kids this week learning about Australia! So, Wednesday I did homework with LaRae and then we made dinner... and by made dinner I mean ordered pizza from our host brother's work. Be impressed, though, I did the entire ordering process in Dutch! Obviously it wasn't very good Dutch because the lady on the other end spoke to me in English instantly.

Thursday I also had a day off internship because all of our kids from Gomerus are in Canada-- lucky them. I hear the weather is wonderful there, and Thursday the weather was much less than satisfactory in Zwolle. After our final Dutch lesson Thursday morning, I was waiting to meet up with Katrina to do some grading on our Persecution project. I entered the library to see if she was there, and instantly my ears were informed of the weather outside-- hail the size of my ego. Ok, not quite that big, but it was so loud and looked like doomsday outside. So, I lingered around the GH a bit longer, and when it finally cleared, I made my way to Coffee United to get 'er done. And that I did. I managed to catch up on most of my classes (minus the American class...oops). After that, I met up with LaRae and we biked over to Kaitlyn and Sarah's to have a sleepover.

This was a bit of a nerve racking experience for us... we had never met their family, besides their host brothers, before. We arrived at their house just in time for dinner. It was delicious and not nearly as awkward as I was expecting (until the night of my birthday got brought up). After that, we decided to bike to the store to pick up stuff to make "boyfriend brownies." When we got outside I asked LaRae if she wanted to double bike. At first she said no because her back bike tire is constantly flat, but I told her she could ride my bike and I'd sit on the back. After all, after my last double biking experience, I really felt the need to redeem myself, and who better to redeem it with than my roommate? Sarah and Kaitlyn decided to join in, and we double biked all the way to the store. As much as everyone complains about the sound of my bike, LaRae can attest to the fact that I literally have the worst bike on SPICE. Yes, it has been through the most (a few crashes into people, moving and non-moving vehicles, other bikes, and the list continues), but it started out in less than prime condition. Regardless of the shitty-ness of my bike, I know I'm gonna miss that thing when I leave here. The things we went through together will haunt my memory for the rest of my life.

We got back to Kaitlyn and Sarah's house and made brownies, ate them, and attempted to watch a movie set in Rome-- our next travel location. But, because it was so late and we had class at 9am, we decided to just call it quits and hit the sack.

Friday was portfolio... yay. Lucky us, class started an hour and 15 minutes early and lasted until 1:15. That's right, over 4 hours in the same classroom. We talked about FC Zwolle (there was a huge championship game here this weekend, which we won by the way), our feelings, and how we felt about the feelings everyone else was feeling. Because it was Marco's birthday, I didn't cock any attitudes, but I am sure glad I don't have that class anymore. I won't lie though; I'm a bit excited for the final presentation: 15 straight minutes of me talking about how great this semester has been-- kidding.

Friday night was quite the night for the city of Zwolle. Everyone was celebrating FC Zwolle becoming the champions. Naturally the dynamic duo had to see what the fuss was all about, so we headed to the Joffer to meet up with some of the guys. In case you don't remember from last time, Friday nights are dedicated to the children not even old enough to drive in America. So picture this seen: 7 Americans running around the Joffer with 16 year olds... pretty classic scene. After about 20 minutes of that, we migrated to a different side of the bar and ending up enjoying ourselves quite a bit.

The next morning, LaRae and I went to a giant garden, the Keukenhof (spelling?) near the coast with our host parents. I, of course, fell asleep in the car ride there, and woke up to tulip fields everywhere! We spent the morning walking around, snapping pictures of all the beautiful flowers, and enjoying the nice weather. We then went to the beach and walked around and then made a scenic tour (at least that's what I heard it was... I was too busy sleeping) back to Zwolle. We returned just in time for our final Saturday fry night and then headed into the city to meet up with a group of SPICE students.

Sunday we celebrated our host sister-in-laws birthday with the family and some of her relatives and friends and then slaved over some more homework and studying for our Dutch final. And by studying for our Dutch final, what I actually mean is LaRae and Lauren practiced while I made a playlist of requests for our final Joffer night all together on Tuesday. The end is nearing, and I'm not ready to say goodbye... especially to the Joffer.