IK BEN HIER!

Iceland is amazing. Hahaha, gotcha. But seriously, we had a layover there on our way from New York to Amsterdam and Iceland is pretty awesome. Anyways.... so it's really happening!! Honestly, it didn't exactly hit me until the last minute, when I saw the country from the the airplane window. Okay, if you have been told that the Netherlands is flat like a pancake, then you have been lied to. It is way flatter than that. Imagine a very thin turkey cold cut that's been pounded onto a board - that's about how flat it is. So it didn't really hit me that this was all coming to life until I saw the windmills. I just thought, "HOLY COW I'M IN THE NETHERLANDS!" Also, the Netherlands is not always cold. It was pretty hot when I landed.

So I'll be living with a welcome family for the first two weeks. I'm in their kitchen now. These people are so nice!! The little kids are so friendly and talkative, which is helpful, since they don't speak any English, I'm forced to speak Dutch around them. The parents are fluent in English, so that's also helpful, at least while I'm still learning. I am happy here. I'm sure I'll be happy with the main host family as well! I'm starting school soon - more on that later.

I walked around the town a bit. I went to the baker's and I saw a playground. It's interesting, all the streets in the area are named after fruits. That's so cute to me, the most similar thing I've seen in the States is streets named after numbers. Oh, and they have other familiar things here as well, particularly food. I saw a Burger King, Ben and Jerry's, and the kids ate Otter Pops after dinner (not the same brand, but the same idea). But already I have had new experiences, like riding the train and the tram, and just looking at the different style housing. In the city, the homes are very tall but not very wide, so my room is on the third floor of the house, and the houses are squished together. That's cool... and I have to start riding my bike around, but I'm scared of getting lost. I guess I'll just have to get over that, and be smart about how far I go. Well, I will write again once something new happens.

Tot ziens,

Emily