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.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
It was the best of times; it was the opposite of the worst of times.
All day I've been writing reflections for class, and now all I want to do is reflect on the semester. So, here are some pictures of the highlights of my semester-- debriefings of the history of the pictures are included, but for more detail I guess you'll just have to go back and re-read the blogs that the pictures represent.
For your amusement and viewing pleasure, I present SPICE 2012 highlights (up until now and not in chronological order whatsoever):
For your amusement and viewing pleasure, I present SPICE 2012 highlights (up until now and not in chronological order whatsoever):
My first ever bike ride. Unfortunately my skills have not improved that much, and the state of my bike is about as good as my abilities. Currently, my light turns itself on and flashes until I either kick or slap it, and then turns back on until I kick or slap it again.
Our first night out!
The first of many Joffer nights, but one of the last times we knew for sure that Dutch buddies existed. Where have they gone?
Still in existence here in Amsterdam...
The weekend it was cold enough to go ice skating our host mom took us to her favorite place in Windesheim. We were almost the first SPICE group to experience the 11 cities skating tour in Friesland!
Our first day trip was to the city of Gouda, where we ate cheese and climbed this windmill.
Afterwards we went to our brother's work to eat pizza, the first of many this semester.
My sister and brother-in-law came to visit.
The dynamic duo at our finest in our humble domain: De Joffer.
My birthday happened to fall on a Tuesday night. What a great night!
Host siblings... plus Snarls.
This night changed my experience in the Netherlands for the best. I love making new friends.
Our first visit to another country was Germany, and this is when I accidentally ordered a giant beer. Lekker!
More pictures from Germany
The cathedral by night
but more importantly, Patrick's reaction to the cathedral at night.
Second visit to another country: Belgium!
The only girls enjoying our waffles-- gotta eat our way across Europe.
This is Sorrento, one of the most beautiful places on earth.
My ego wouldn't let me be anything less than first in the water over Spring Break, AKA the best vacation of my life.
The cheetah girls danced here.
You have to get on a gondola in Venice.
Pizza in the Pizza capital of the world-- Naples.
Elizabeth and Nate and I in front of the church my aunt and uncle got married in
I took them on a tour of Amsterdam
and we toured the Heineken brewery.
A typical afternoon in Groningen for Katrina and I
Switzerland
Hollgrotten Caves
Ireland was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been,
and their nightlife is crazy.
But finding Harry Potter locations throughout London will be hard to top.
Successful semester is an understatement.
All the memories and friends I've made are priceless. Leaving in a month is going to be one of the hardest things I do in my life. Thank goodness I'll be back!
Typical American Swag... in Ireland and London
Last Thursday 5 girls departed for the picturesque Ireland-- off to see the land young girls dream about after watching fairy tales with castles, stone fences, and green rolling pastures filled with joyful, galloping white horses. We departed the train station around 11:45am. The plan was to meet at the platform shortly before that, but at 11:40, three of us couldn't find the other two and decided to just board the train and hope they were already on it. In Utrecht, where we had to catch a connection to Eindhoven, we were reunited and continued our journey as the obnoxious Americans. It started with me telling a story in my normal speaking voice (which, as you all know, is about twice as loud as any other person's normal speaking voice) and serving brownies to my fellow travelers. Apparently this isn't socially acceptable, because the man sitting next to me got up and moved... his loss.
We arrived at Eindhoven shortly before 2 and hopped on a shuttle to the airport. Usually we fly through the airport routines, but this was the first time we may have actually needed the full two hours we plan to spend lingering in the non-priority boarding line. Alas, we made it through the airport, after having our passports checked 6 or 7 times more than usual and waited for our gate to open. At about 3:15 I got up to get a drink of water and check for our gate. When I looked at the screen, I saw something about "immigration" by our flight. That's weird... I'm not planning on moving to Ireland, just chasing men and sheep for a weekend. Then I turned the corner and saw the very large line of people we had been mocking for the past 20 minutes: Immigration-- aka another passport check. So, we got in that line, had our passports checked yet again, and then strategically located ourselves in prime position to get on the plane.
Our flight landed in Dublin around 5:15pm. We went through customs there and headed out to catch our bus-- what we presumed would be large, green, and driven by a red-head. Well, only one of these were true. The cutest little Irish man popped out of a small, white van-- speaking with the rich Irish accent and a leprechaun-like grin on his face. These were the people we came to see! We hopped on the van (after being reminded the boarding side was on the left, not the right side, of the vehicle) and headed to Paddy's Palace on our first Paddy wagon vehicle of the weekend.
Paddy's Palace, sounds interesting right? Well, this was my first hostel experience. I had been avoiding them all semester for 2 reasons: horror stories I had heard and horror stories I had created in my mind. Also, hostels aren't usually that much cheaper than hotels (especially when you book hotels the way we do), and if I can help it, I'm not sharing a bedroom with strangers. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by friendly, rich accented staff. We checked in, paid for our lockers and towels, and checked out the kitchen scene. Perfect: a place to cook for ourselves! As typical Americans, we cooked tacos (minus Sarah and her chicken salad) and drank pop. It was delicious... about the only thing from the hostel experience I really enjoyed. Even though this hostel came with the full package (cheap tours, wi-fi, kitchen, breakfast), I still don't enjoy sleeping with strangers, using showers after couples get out of them, only having 1 dinky mirror in the entire hostel, and dirtiness. Even though nothing horrible happened, I can honestly say after this weekend, I don't intend to sleep in a hostel ever again.
When we woke up Friday morning, we hopped on what we envisioned a Paddy Wagon to look like: bright green Asian-style tour bus. However, the tour guide was not what we anticipated-- he had dark/graying hair... not red. At least he still had the accent as he said, "Follow me to the Paddy Wagon, folks!" We got on board and departed to pick up the other Paddy Wagon tourists. Because we were in the middle of the bus, we didn't engage as much with this tour guide as he led us through the western part of Ireland to see various castles, abbeys, small villages, and finally-- the cliffs of Moher. We sat back, enjoyed the scenery, and got a few naps in. Words cannot describe the beauty that fell upon my eyes in the land of Ireland, but I'll try my best. That fairy tale image I mentioned at first was completely accurate. Everything was flourishing with green grass and peaceful creatures roaming the rolling hills and enjoying the weather (slightly sunny, a very nice day for the Irish). The stone walls weaved through the landscape and sheep, just like you'd see in the movies. The castles, though much smaller than I imagined, looked as though someone plucked them out of a Disney movie and dropped them into the fields we drove by. And this was just the country side.
Later in the afternoon we arrived at the cliffs of Moher. When we disembarked our bus, it was foggy, but by the time we had climbed to one side of the cliffs, the fog had lifted and we could see the waves crashing on the foot of the meters upon meters high cliffs, also topped with bright greens. As we snapped some photos from this angle, Kaitlyn and I decided to do our usual jumping pictures. Unknowingly, we were joined by some boys. Nothing screams "American" quite like jumping pictures I guess, because they asked us where in America we were from. Turns out they were from the Bay area and here for a rugby tournament. How many people can say they ran into a college rugby team from California while touring the most beautiful cliffs in the world, located in Ireland? I can't imagine very many can say that. We said goodbye to our new friends and made our way to the other side of the cliffs-- the side without a fence, where Sarah and LaRae gave the rest of us a heart attack by playing footsies over the edge. As cool as the photos would have been, knowing my lack of luck, I wouldn't have survived to tell the tale if I tried that.
We made our way back to Dublin and decided to make dinner again that night-- frozen pizzas (minus Sarah's chicken salad again). The next morning was another early tour, this time through the more "authentic" Ireland-- where the gaelic language is still spoken and the sheep roam freely across the roads. This tour bus was much smaller, and we decided we wanted to really live up to our American names-- sit in the front and interact with the tour guide as much as possible. Sarah joined the tour guide in the front seat as the rest of us filled the first 2 rows-- one of the best decisions we ever made. And by "we," I mean everyone except Sarah. Sitting in the front seat gave Tour Guide Sean the impression that our red-headed companion wanted to be his lass. And, boy, was he trying to be her knight in shining armor! Enjoying the scenery and the love story unfolding before our eyes, we made our way up to Cong and visited a ton of abbeys and places to snap photos in Asian swag: hop off the bus, take a picture, hop back on the bus-- story of our weekend.
Unfortunately for the rest of the tourists on this Paddy Wagon, the American dominated the entire tour-- we even managed to get Sean to let us DJ with country music! Sorry, Germans and Italians, but if you have music you want played you have to speak up. If you don't, I guarantee the Americans will step up. After all, it's our tour and we're going to make the most of it. And so we did. Getting us pumped for the nightlife and karaoke bar we had found earlier, Sean played us his American playlist-- complete with Don't Stop Believing and We're in Heaven.
After we got home, we ate and then got ready to hit up Dublin by night. Hopefully we would be joined by the American rugby players we met after I flagged them down to invite them to experience the insanity we expected to experience during the Irish night life. Wearing my green pants and with my Irish lucky charm Finnigen by my side, we headed to O'sheas-- an old Irish pub/restaurant. Unfortunately, this was not what we anticipated, nor was the karaoke bar. However, Temple bar was everything we could have hoped for. It was crowded, filled with Genuiss drinking people enjoying the exceptionally-talented live musicians. It was such a blast, but we realized soon that even the luck of Finnigen would not reunite us with our American rugby friends. So, we headed home and to bed to prepare for our Easter day tour of Dublin.
Sunday morning we all did our own things. Sarah and I explored some of the city while the other girls slept in a bit. Then 4 of us joined the locals for their Easter Rising parade, complete with seeing their mayor AND president, while Sarah attended a church service. Typical Easter, no. Lovely Easter, yes. The weather was a bit chilly, but the delicious Irish breakfast and company made it all the while worth it. However, after awhile we realized we had seen everything in Dublin and decided to depart for the airport... 4 hours early for our flight. We sat in our gate, browsed the internet, ate, and made sure we were the first on the plane by sitting in the line for non-priority boarding over an hour before boarding started. As they began boarding, the other 4 girls got on the plane without a problem. I, however, had left my purse out of my bag and had to compress my belongings into one bag... not an easy task when you have a famous beer glass from a famous bar and a small man in your bag. After that small delay, we disembarked for London-- the land of my fairy tale: Harry Potter.
We walked to our hostel, checked in with the assistance of the most beautiful Brit I have ever seen, and had a drink as we mapped out our tour of London led by tour guide Kaitlyn who had been to London before. This hostel was even more interesting that the last. Even though it had that great Britain vibe, the fact that I was sharing a room with 19 strangers (mostly men) and only one other person I knew, was a bit much for me. Sharing a bathroom is one thing, but when you have 20 plus people crowding in it and have to pay 5 lbs for a towel, that's where I draw the line. Free breakfast is great, but unless I'm wide awake and not concerned about my well-being, I never want to be surrounded by men in Britain like that again.
We woke up, ate breakfast and got ready to see the city of London on foot. When we departed, the bartenders told us to enjoy the rain. What would London be without a little bit of rain? Well, it would have been much more enjoyable to walk around and my first pair of shoes for the day would have made it home. Regardless, I was in heaven. We walked through Hyde Park, saw the queen's palace, and then split up for a bit. My mock Toms couldn't handle the rain any longer, so I went back to the hostel and changed into my boots and met up with the group back at Big Ben, where it was still raining. Along the way, though, I stumbled upon a few Harry Potter attractions-- cars and buses with Harry Potter tour adds on the side. The thought of being in the city of Harry Potter just makes my heart race. I've been reading these books every summer for years, seen the movies countless times, and finally-- I've landed myself in the setting of some of the most read, well-known, brilliantly written books across the world.
During our Olympic-paced sprint through London, we saw all of the must-sees in London: Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, etc. Around 2 pm the other girls left for their train, but LaRae and I had until 4am to see whatever we needed to. So, we began walking towards the Bank of England, thinking it could have been in Harry Potter... it wasn't. We then made our way to St. Paul's cathedral. It was beautiful, but our feet and bodies were getting tired and starting to lack appreciation for the beauty of this city, and I still hadn't even scratched the surface of my Harry Potter sights! Luckily we found a tourist booth that told us to get day passes to hop on and off the public transportation. This was so helpful. By 7pm we had seen everything on our list. Here's what else we all saw:
After an hour of searching-- the Leaky Cauldron
Diagon Alley
Gringotts Bank
Abbey Road
Kings Cross (and of course Platform 9 3/4)
and our attractive bartender/hostel man
We ended the day with McDonald's, a drink, sore feet, exhausted bodies, but satisfied souls. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of our traveling day. We departed for the airport at 9:30pm, arrived just before 11, and made camp in the lobby with other early morning travelers too cheap to book a hotel for 5 hours of sleep. At 4am we woke up and got in line for security, boarded our flight, arrived in Amsterdam at 8am, went through customs, and barely got on our 8:20am train back to Zwolle. As the conductor came by, I prayed Finnigen would pull through again as I knew my card hadn't clocked in because I had minimal cash left on it... but it didn't work. So, I got kicked off the train in Hilversum, put some more money on my card, and arrived in Zwolle shortly after 10, biked home in the rain, took a shower, and headed to Kees's class.
So, what did I learn from this weekend?
Ireland taught me that Irish people are insane, breakfast is obviously their most important meal, dancing is not nearly as beautiful as their accents, and fairy tales really do exist-- just look at their land.
Ireland taught me that Irish people are insane, breakfast is obviously their most important meal, dancing is not nearly as beautiful as their accents, and fairy tales really do exist-- just look at their land.
London taught me that my love for Harry Potter overcomes even the most uncomfortable walk of my life, public transportation is just as wonderful as I always thought it was, and having a roommate determined to help me see all my Harry Potter sights and accompany me for a sleepover in an airport is a blessing.
Another successful weekend of traveling-- check.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Plans A, B, and C
One more blog entry before I depart for the promise land of Ireland and London? Certainly.
This week was the shortest week ever-- Dutch class on Monday, internship until noon on Tuesday, and 45 minutes of teaching on Wednesday. Even though it was "short," there was a lot to get done... and still is before I leave tomorrow (like booking a way home from London on Monday... oops).
As I mentioned in my last blog, Monday marked the beginning of the Celebrations project. Well, today I found out my country for it! Don't tell my kids though; they're supposed to think I have no idea what country we're doing. I bet you're all a bit curious. Well, we'll be taking a mental vacation to the country of Australia! If my desires to see the world never included Australia before, I think I can rest assured they will after this project. We'll be learning so much about their country, culture, etc, I don't think I'll be able to say no. Unfortunately, after the beat down my bank account has endured this semester and will endure next spring, I think Australia will have to be added to my travel plans with my soul mate. Hopefully I'm able to find a man with the skinny genes and a pocket full of cash and a sense of adventure and the desire to see the world with a charismatic character such as myself (pray for me).
Tuesday Katrina and I spent the morning traveling to Groningen via train, walking to Gomarus, and then observing our kids give their presentations on persecution they've been slaving over since the beginning of March. Remember that project? No? Well, here's a little refresher: we split the class into 12 pairs, giving each pair a country with Christians suffering from persecution to study, write a reflection, and prepare a poster and small presentation about. It was so great to see all the work the kids put into the project (and Katrina and I put into planning it) come to life with the presentations. You could really tell it got the kids thinking on a deeper level about persecution and compassion and our responsibility as fellow Christians for those suffering abroad. After the presentations, some of the girls in the class told us how much they loved the set up of presentations, having 4 times to present to smaller groups instead of just 1 big presentation. What a great encouragement for us! On the train ride back we began grading the presentations. What a process! We got about half way done though, and even graded according to "Dutch standards," something quite a bit different for us.
The rest of Tuesday was spent working on some homework for my individual study back home, eating pancakes with LaRae, our special guest from America, and a few of their friends from Dordt and Canada and stuff, a birthday party for one of the other girls on SPICE, and a night in the Joffer. Good news: they still love me there.
Today I taught the kids at my internship in Zwolle a lesson on the different theres/yours/its, a lesson I used previously in America. Here's the thing: last week they finished so early, so I knew I had to have a plan B for this week. I was right. The kids were done so early, so I gave them plan B. Surprise: they also finished that early. So, on to plan C... wait a second, I don't have a plan C. Thinking on your feet is crucial to being a good teacher, and that I did. Because this is the class that is working on the Celebrations project, I decided to get some feedback from them about what they expect from this project-- things they're excited for, nervous about, have questions about, etc. You're welcome teachers at VDC for the favor I just did you.
After that, I met up with Kaitlyn to bake some superbowl brownies and then dye my hair: goodbye blonde! Two of our host brothers came over for me and LaRae's cooking tonight... so that was fun. Then we talked details about our trip to Paris with them in a few weeks, which will probably be a bit more fun than the food we cooked for them, especially with our "free candy" van. Other than that, it's been a pretty relaxing day-- printing tickets last minute, planning our swim route home from London, and packing everything green in sight.
Because my creative brain was spent on Plan C for my students and packing my green wardrobe for Ireland, this is about all the blogging I can handle. So, tot en klein dags. Yes, I know that's wrong, but I'm sure you can figure out what it means. If not, I'm trying to say "See you in a few days..." unless I manage to get myself arrested for harassing the queen of England's swans.
Dag!
This week was the shortest week ever-- Dutch class on Monday, internship until noon on Tuesday, and 45 minutes of teaching on Wednesday. Even though it was "short," there was a lot to get done... and still is before I leave tomorrow (like booking a way home from London on Monday... oops).
As I mentioned in my last blog, Monday marked the beginning of the Celebrations project. Well, today I found out my country for it! Don't tell my kids though; they're supposed to think I have no idea what country we're doing. I bet you're all a bit curious. Well, we'll be taking a mental vacation to the country of Australia! If my desires to see the world never included Australia before, I think I can rest assured they will after this project. We'll be learning so much about their country, culture, etc, I don't think I'll be able to say no. Unfortunately, after the beat down my bank account has endured this semester and will endure next spring, I think Australia will have to be added to my travel plans with my soul mate. Hopefully I'm able to find a man with the skinny genes and a pocket full of cash and a sense of adventure and the desire to see the world with a charismatic character such as myself (pray for me).
Tuesday Katrina and I spent the morning traveling to Groningen via train, walking to Gomarus, and then observing our kids give their presentations on persecution they've been slaving over since the beginning of March. Remember that project? No? Well, here's a little refresher: we split the class into 12 pairs, giving each pair a country with Christians suffering from persecution to study, write a reflection, and prepare a poster and small presentation about. It was so great to see all the work the kids put into the project (and Katrina and I put into planning it) come to life with the presentations. You could really tell it got the kids thinking on a deeper level about persecution and compassion and our responsibility as fellow Christians for those suffering abroad. After the presentations, some of the girls in the class told us how much they loved the set up of presentations, having 4 times to present to smaller groups instead of just 1 big presentation. What a great encouragement for us! On the train ride back we began grading the presentations. What a process! We got about half way done though, and even graded according to "Dutch standards," something quite a bit different for us.
The rest of Tuesday was spent working on some homework for my individual study back home, eating pancakes with LaRae, our special guest from America, and a few of their friends from Dordt and Canada and stuff, a birthday party for one of the other girls on SPICE, and a night in the Joffer. Good news: they still love me there.
Today I taught the kids at my internship in Zwolle a lesson on the different theres/yours/its, a lesson I used previously in America. Here's the thing: last week they finished so early, so I knew I had to have a plan B for this week. I was right. The kids were done so early, so I gave them plan B. Surprise: they also finished that early. So, on to plan C... wait a second, I don't have a plan C. Thinking on your feet is crucial to being a good teacher, and that I did. Because this is the class that is working on the Celebrations project, I decided to get some feedback from them about what they expect from this project-- things they're excited for, nervous about, have questions about, etc. You're welcome teachers at VDC for the favor I just did you.
After that, I met up with Kaitlyn to bake some superbowl brownies and then dye my hair: goodbye blonde! Two of our host brothers came over for me and LaRae's cooking tonight... so that was fun. Then we talked details about our trip to Paris with them in a few weeks, which will probably be a bit more fun than the food we cooked for them, especially with our "free candy" van. Other than that, it's been a pretty relaxing day-- printing tickets last minute, planning our swim route home from London, and packing everything green in sight.
Because my creative brain was spent on Plan C for my students and packing my green wardrobe for Ireland, this is about all the blogging I can handle. So, tot en klein dags. Yes, I know that's wrong, but I'm sure you can figure out what it means. If not, I'm trying to say "See you in a few days..." unless I manage to get myself arrested for harassing the queen of England's swans.
Dag!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Celebrate Good Times: Come on!
Today marks the beginning of a very important project at one of my internships: The Celebrations Project. What is this thing? I'm sure I've told you a bit, but I'll give you a brief summary. The 1st year class of TTO (bi-lingual) students are split into 12 groups that will each be coached by an English-speaking coach to explore the geography, history, biology, and PE (sports) of a country. They will present their findings, artifacts, and a fun celebration momentum with their classmates at the end of the week.
Today I was introduced to my group. I walked into the classroom and the students all smiled and I heard my name several times. Surprise: it's the students I've been teaching every Wednesday! Because I am the only native English-speaking coach in my class, I gave the instructions and introductions. We split into our groups, went over the basics of the project, and got further acquainted with each other. My group is so much fun and so curious about everything. Why am I here? Do I like teaching in America or Holland better? What is better about America? Why can't you ride a bike very well?
It was such a fun afternoon for a meeting I was dreading so much. After about an hour, I had the kids pack everything up, promise they would work diligently in school until the week of the Celebrations Project, and gear themselves for a week full of fun with me as their coach.
I can't wait to see what this crazy, hectic, busy, fun-filled week brings for me and these kids.
Today I was introduced to my group. I walked into the classroom and the students all smiled and I heard my name several times. Surprise: it's the students I've been teaching every Wednesday! Because I am the only native English-speaking coach in my class, I gave the instructions and introductions. We split into our groups, went over the basics of the project, and got further acquainted with each other. My group is so much fun and so curious about everything. Why am I here? Do I like teaching in America or Holland better? What is better about America? Why can't you ride a bike very well?
It was such a fun afternoon for a meeting I was dreading so much. After about an hour, I had the kids pack everything up, promise they would work diligently in school until the week of the Celebrations Project, and gear themselves for a week full of fun with me as their coach.
I can't wait to see what this crazy, hectic, busy, fun-filled week brings for me and these kids.
Switzerland: leaving holes in their cheese and in your wallets
This weekend we departed for Switzerland. What would a whirlwind weekend trip be without some train problems?
Prior to our 5:16pm department, Sarah and I contemplated grabbing an earlier train, but we decided it wasn't necessary. We had over 2 1/2 hours before our flight left-- plenty of time, right? Wrong. We arrived in Amersfort on time, but suddenly we heard voices on the overhead: never a good sign on a train. I listened closely, trying to pick out words I recognized, and these were the only two I could pick out: Schipol niet. I looked around at the faces of the other passengers: frustration, sarcastic grunts, and faces other than smiles filled the train. I asked a few of the other passengers what had been said and they informed me that there was no train to Schipol. I must have looked like I was going to be sick because they immediately offered for us to follow them to Amsterdam Centraal. Meanwhile, some lady came frantically up to us asking what to do. I informed her we had no idea what to do and we were following some locals around. Evidently she took that as, "Come on and tag along with us!"
So, waltzing from Amersfort to Utrecht, Utrecht to Amsterdam Centraal, were 3 Dutchies, 3 Americans, and 1 random lady on the verge of tears that everyone forgot was following them until she would randomly announce that she was so glad she wasn't alone. Maintaining visuals of the Dutchies the entire time was crucial to our arrival to Amsterdam Centraal, but once we got there, we were on our own. We hopped out of the train, and suddenly I heard the voice again: Schipol niet. Sarah and I realized at the same time we had to do something else. We gotta get a cab! So, there we went, sprinting out of Amsterdam Centraal, running into some friendly cops along the way who pointed us in the direction of the cabs: a line of over 100 people. Perfect. We are already late and now we'll be waiting forever for a cab. I decided to go back and ask the cops if there was another way to the airport. Nope. I turned away disappointed. "Wait," one cop said. "If you are smart, you will go to the big hotel across the street and flag down a cab there." Perfect. I ran back to the line, yelled for Sarah and Katie to join me, and there we went-- dodging traffic, stopping for nothing, and finally landing the sole cab: an additional cost no one anticipated.
Alas, we arrived at the airport and joined our other 2 companions. We boarded our flight and all seemed nice and dandy. Well, we arrived in Basel, grabbed a train to Rheinfelden and began asking for directions to our hotel. That's weird, no one has heard of that street... then someone spoke up: that's in Germany. My travel companions were not so pleased with this news. Fortunately it was only a 15 minute walk and we had a really nice room with wi-fi and breakfast included. We woke up early to catch a train to Lucerne-- the city I had been dreaming of.
Well, turns out Swiss trains are a bit more pricey than we anticipated, adding to the rapid plunge of our bank account balances, but alas, we arrived in Lucerne and toured the city on foot: the lake Lucerne, beautiful views of the Alps, climbing the city wall, the famous bridge, a small market, and a famous tree. We then traveled to Zug to get into our other hotel. We walked around that city for awhile and then found McDonalds and headed back to our hotel to hang out for the evening.
Early the next morning we woke up and headed out for the caves of Hollgrotten Baar. We were told by numerous sources we could walk there, but it would be about 40 minutes total. We were also advised to take a bus line 3 to Baar and walk from there. So, we decided to walk to Baar and figure it out from there. After a 25 minute walk, aimlessly walking through the town of Baar (observed by every bus line 3 driver in the city), and a few questions for locals, we decided to take the bus to the stop of Paradise and then walk the remaining (what we were told would be) 25 minutes to the caves. About 10 minutes into the walk, we realized it wasn't 25 minutes of walking; it would be 40 minutes of intense mountain hiking. Perfect. My cutesy boots and skinny jeans just screamed, "I'm ready to go hiking!" I'm certain the locals got a huge kick of us.
After about 15 minutes, we lost 2 men, but 3 of us pressed forward. We were going to see the caves! Alas, we arrived at our destination of the caves. However, we suddenly realized we would be crunched for time if these caves took the 4 hours we were told they would take to get through. It was now 10:35am. We had a train to catch (in Baar, a 40 minute hike and 5 minute bus ride away) at 3pm. We asked the ticket man how long it would take. A huge sigh of relief was released when he said it took an hour. We bought our tickets and entertained the caves. It was amazing! Not only were they unlike anything I'd ever seen before; they were unlike anything I'd ever touched, climbed, or jumped on before. Because we're in Europe where everything is permissible, we took the liberty to climb everything within sight-- and by "we," I mostly mean Sarah. She was scaling things left and right.
We re-surfaced from the caves covered in dust and other cave remnants and proceeded to eat lunch and walk back to the bus stop the guide informed us was 20 minutes closer and less of a hike. We began walking back, thinking we wouldn't even take 20 minutes to get there. Well, wrong again we were. Instead of a 40 minute mountain hike, we had a 15 minute straight-up inclined paved road to trek up. Nothing says "Switzerland" like climbing things and being sweaty all day.
However, at the end of the day, I have never been so proud to say I have hiked a mountain, submerged in caves, walked up a 90 degree incline, and still caught my train to Zurich to explore city #4 of our less than 48hr long weekend.
We met up with Kaitlyn and LaRae again at the airport, discussed our afternoons, waited in line for our delayed plane, grabbed Burger King back in Schipol, and finally made it home to Zwolle at 11:14pm.
What was concluded at the end of the trip:
Jennifer's planning is limited to lessons and nights on the town.
Swiss people are outdoorsy, climbing and biking everything they can.
Swiss people like everything holey-- including their tourists' wallets.
As much as I will forever complain about leaving our stomachs empty with their holey cheese, our wallets empty with their monopoly Franks, I rest assured that Switzerland did not leave my heart empty with its beautiful scenery and wonderful company. All in all, I'm glad I went and that I was accompanied by company that can laugh at my Activist personality that overlooks details... like booking hotels in different countries, and loves the sense of adventure all the same.
Prior to our 5:16pm department, Sarah and I contemplated grabbing an earlier train, but we decided it wasn't necessary. We had over 2 1/2 hours before our flight left-- plenty of time, right? Wrong. We arrived in Amersfort on time, but suddenly we heard voices on the overhead: never a good sign on a train. I listened closely, trying to pick out words I recognized, and these were the only two I could pick out: Schipol niet. I looked around at the faces of the other passengers: frustration, sarcastic grunts, and faces other than smiles filled the train. I asked a few of the other passengers what had been said and they informed me that there was no train to Schipol. I must have looked like I was going to be sick because they immediately offered for us to follow them to Amsterdam Centraal. Meanwhile, some lady came frantically up to us asking what to do. I informed her we had no idea what to do and we were following some locals around. Evidently she took that as, "Come on and tag along with us!"
So, waltzing from Amersfort to Utrecht, Utrecht to Amsterdam Centraal, were 3 Dutchies, 3 Americans, and 1 random lady on the verge of tears that everyone forgot was following them until she would randomly announce that she was so glad she wasn't alone. Maintaining visuals of the Dutchies the entire time was crucial to our arrival to Amsterdam Centraal, but once we got there, we were on our own. We hopped out of the train, and suddenly I heard the voice again: Schipol niet. Sarah and I realized at the same time we had to do something else. We gotta get a cab! So, there we went, sprinting out of Amsterdam Centraal, running into some friendly cops along the way who pointed us in the direction of the cabs: a line of over 100 people. Perfect. We are already late and now we'll be waiting forever for a cab. I decided to go back and ask the cops if there was another way to the airport. Nope. I turned away disappointed. "Wait," one cop said. "If you are smart, you will go to the big hotel across the street and flag down a cab there." Perfect. I ran back to the line, yelled for Sarah and Katie to join me, and there we went-- dodging traffic, stopping for nothing, and finally landing the sole cab: an additional cost no one anticipated.
Alas, we arrived at the airport and joined our other 2 companions. We boarded our flight and all seemed nice and dandy. Well, we arrived in Basel, grabbed a train to Rheinfelden and began asking for directions to our hotel. That's weird, no one has heard of that street... then someone spoke up: that's in Germany. My travel companions were not so pleased with this news. Fortunately it was only a 15 minute walk and we had a really nice room with wi-fi and breakfast included. We woke up early to catch a train to Lucerne-- the city I had been dreaming of.
Well, turns out Swiss trains are a bit more pricey than we anticipated, adding to the rapid plunge of our bank account balances, but alas, we arrived in Lucerne and toured the city on foot: the lake Lucerne, beautiful views of the Alps, climbing the city wall, the famous bridge, a small market, and a famous tree. We then traveled to Zug to get into our other hotel. We walked around that city for awhile and then found McDonalds and headed back to our hotel to hang out for the evening.
Early the next morning we woke up and headed out for the caves of Hollgrotten Baar. We were told by numerous sources we could walk there, but it would be about 40 minutes total. We were also advised to take a bus line 3 to Baar and walk from there. So, we decided to walk to Baar and figure it out from there. After a 25 minute walk, aimlessly walking through the town of Baar (observed by every bus line 3 driver in the city), and a few questions for locals, we decided to take the bus to the stop of Paradise and then walk the remaining (what we were told would be) 25 minutes to the caves. About 10 minutes into the walk, we realized it wasn't 25 minutes of walking; it would be 40 minutes of intense mountain hiking. Perfect. My cutesy boots and skinny jeans just screamed, "I'm ready to go hiking!" I'm certain the locals got a huge kick of us.
After about 15 minutes, we lost 2 men, but 3 of us pressed forward. We were going to see the caves! Alas, we arrived at our destination of the caves. However, we suddenly realized we would be crunched for time if these caves took the 4 hours we were told they would take to get through. It was now 10:35am. We had a train to catch (in Baar, a 40 minute hike and 5 minute bus ride away) at 3pm. We asked the ticket man how long it would take. A huge sigh of relief was released when he said it took an hour. We bought our tickets and entertained the caves. It was amazing! Not only were they unlike anything I'd ever seen before; they were unlike anything I'd ever touched, climbed, or jumped on before. Because we're in Europe where everything is permissible, we took the liberty to climb everything within sight-- and by "we," I mostly mean Sarah. She was scaling things left and right.
We re-surfaced from the caves covered in dust and other cave remnants and proceeded to eat lunch and walk back to the bus stop the guide informed us was 20 minutes closer and less of a hike. We began walking back, thinking we wouldn't even take 20 minutes to get there. Well, wrong again we were. Instead of a 40 minute mountain hike, we had a 15 minute straight-up inclined paved road to trek up. Nothing says "Switzerland" like climbing things and being sweaty all day.
However, at the end of the day, I have never been so proud to say I have hiked a mountain, submerged in caves, walked up a 90 degree incline, and still caught my train to Zurich to explore city #4 of our less than 48hr long weekend.
We met up with Kaitlyn and LaRae again at the airport, discussed our afternoons, waited in line for our delayed plane, grabbed Burger King back in Schipol, and finally made it home to Zwolle at 11:14pm.
What was concluded at the end of the trip:
Jennifer's planning is limited to lessons and nights on the town.
Swiss people are outdoorsy, climbing and biking everything they can.
Swiss people like everything holey-- including their tourists' wallets.
As much as I will forever complain about leaving our stomachs empty with their holey cheese, our wallets empty with their monopoly Franks, I rest assured that Switzerland did not leave my heart empty with its beautiful scenery and wonderful company. All in all, I'm glad I went and that I was accompanied by company that can laugh at my Activist personality that overlooks details... like booking hotels in different countries, and loves the sense of adventure all the same.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Where do I go from here?
Whoa, you are all probably thinking, "you just blogged last night. What more could you possibly have come up with to say in the past 12 hours that is remotely important or interesting?" Well, in case you have forgotten, this blog is not just a place for me to brag about my experiences in Europe while you're all stuck in America, but it's also a place for me to get out my frustrations, hash out my conflicting thoughts, express my ideas and interests, and perhaps receive some feedback. So, here goes nothing.
For those of you who attempt to keep up with my thousands of Facebook posts, you deserve some sort of award. Not only do you deserve an award, but you are also probably aware of something rather exceptional going on in my life right now: the potential of being published in a journal. Last year I wrote a paper for a colloquium in Boston, MA and was accepted to present it last March. After submitting it, I received feedback from one of the professors that observed my presentation that encouraged me to submit my paper elsewhere as well. Well, I didn't really know where else to put this. It wasn't exactly the most professional thing I've ever written and I didn't know of any other colloquiums to submit it to. So, there my paper on Canadian English/American English dialects sat, collecting dust and wasting away as I soon enough moved on from the idea. It had served it's purpose: I expressed my opinion, got to present it on a Dordt-sponsored weekend in Boston, and even got scholarship money from it. What more could I ask for from this?
Well, over Christmas break I was going through my computer, deleting old documents I didn't need anymore. That's when I stumbled upon it and read it again. I then looked through my e-mails to see if I still had the one from that professor. Deep beneath the spam mail, Dordt library over-due notices, and flight confirmations for the next year of travel, I found it. It was then that I decided to brush up my piece a bit and figure out what more I could possibly do with this. I submitted it to a few different journals, expecting none of them to respond. Low and behold, 2 months later, I received an R&R response (revise and re-submit) from one of the journals.
And that's where I am right now, frantically trying to figure out what needs revision before re-submitting. And that's where you all come in handy. Below I have included the abstract for my paper. If it all interests you, I am looking for some feedback on what could be improved. So, if you find the abstract even slightly interesting, please let me know so I can send you a copy of the real deal and you can help me in this process. Thanks!
For those of you who attempt to keep up with my thousands of Facebook posts, you deserve some sort of award. Not only do you deserve an award, but you are also probably aware of something rather exceptional going on in my life right now: the potential of being published in a journal. Last year I wrote a paper for a colloquium in Boston, MA and was accepted to present it last March. After submitting it, I received feedback from one of the professors that observed my presentation that encouraged me to submit my paper elsewhere as well. Well, I didn't really know where else to put this. It wasn't exactly the most professional thing I've ever written and I didn't know of any other colloquiums to submit it to. So, there my paper on Canadian English/American English dialects sat, collecting dust and wasting away as I soon enough moved on from the idea. It had served it's purpose: I expressed my opinion, got to present it on a Dordt-sponsored weekend in Boston, and even got scholarship money from it. What more could I ask for from this?
Well, over Christmas break I was going through my computer, deleting old documents I didn't need anymore. That's when I stumbled upon it and read it again. I then looked through my e-mails to see if I still had the one from that professor. Deep beneath the spam mail, Dordt library over-due notices, and flight confirmations for the next year of travel, I found it. It was then that I decided to brush up my piece a bit and figure out what more I could possibly do with this. I submitted it to a few different journals, expecting none of them to respond. Low and behold, 2 months later, I received an R&R response (revise and re-submit) from one of the journals.
And that's where I am right now, frantically trying to figure out what needs revision before re-submitting. And that's where you all come in handy. Below I have included the abstract for my paper. If it all interests you, I am looking for some feedback on what could be improved. So, if you find the abstract even slightly interesting, please let me know so I can send you a copy of the real deal and you can help me in this process. Thanks!
Abstract
In my English Grammar course last semester (Fall 2010), we had to do two “Show and tell” essays. The first of which I chose to do a short, grammar rant on the usage of the words “good” and “well.” For my second one, I decided to write about the use of the serial comma and whether it is correct or not. After concluding that it is not a matter of being correct but rather a clarification issue, I decided to take a personal approach on it: I always use the serial comma. As I began peer editing for friends, both from Canada and America, I began to notice a trend: Canadians tend to not use the serial comma. After discovering this colloquium from two different professors, I decided to venture further into this subject. This soon resulted in my desire to discuss more of the Canadian dialect tendencies I have noticed in my time here at Dordt College. As mentioned in this paper, I do not intend to criticize nor change the dialect of my fellow students, but rather clarify some of the ambiguous tendencies frequently noticed. These concepts, however, are not only applicable to Canadian English speakers and writers, but to all people, of all times, and of all dialects.
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