In other news, when I went downstairs for breakfast this morning, my host parents were sitting at the table with a gift and a cupcake. They sang the Dutch birthday song to me. That was a very nice surprise, and I don't mind eating cupcakes for breakfast, either.
There is wayyy too much stuff in my room. I didn't even pack this much stuff, it's all papers and random documents spilling from every surface. It's sort of driving me crazy, but after I finish all the paper work and permits and blahdeeblah I'll clean it up. Then my mind can be at peace. Ahhh...
My days are usually filled with really high highs and really low lows. Like, the language is killing me. I pay attention in class, but I don't understand anything. "Oh wait, he said people! Okay, write that down: m-e-n-s-e-n. Got it! Oh, damn, I missed the entire rest of that statement." I did take a math test today, and I did pretty well. Good thing it wasn't word problems! I look at the homework and I'm like: "The tea is hot. It has a temperature of 25 *C. It... uhmm... (dutch dutch dutch). How hot will it be in 10 minutes?" Uhhhhhhhh I don't know??
Anyways, one of my friends asked when my birthday was. I said today. Then my day got better, because people were like, "gefeliciteerd!" and a couple of my friends bought me a waffle. I went out to eat tonight at Howdy's Pannenkoek (pancake) restaurant. It was really fun and hilarious, although I'm not sure the waiters appreciated me reading the Dutch menu in a southern accent... but come on. My host mother predicted that if we stayed long enough, "my achey breaky heart" would start playing. She was right!
Well, I'll be honest with you. Sometimes I hate it here. I guess that's normal... right? Sometimes it's like, why the heck did I sign up for this??? This morning I asked a few kids what they do after school. They pretty much all said, "homework, eat, read, maybe exercise, play piano, shop, maybe go to a friend's house." ...Oh. If I was in America, I could be doing all the exciting senior activities with all my friends, like scooter to school day or the Catalina trip.
But I guess I have no right to complain. This is exciting as well, but for now I've just been alone a lot. It's like, wake up, go to school, come home, do something useless, eat dinner, sleep. Routine can be sort of depressing, can't it? Well, okay, it's not soooo routine. I looked through a photo album and I took a walk once. I guess I'll be doing more of that kind of thing. Someone invited me to hang out, but I don't know if I can go. I'll hope I can.
But yeah, I shouldn't be complaining because listen to this: I'm going to Barcelona for a week with my school! They have this exchange program where Spanish kids come here and Dutch kids go there to go to school for a week. We're also taking a short trip to Paris. With the AFS kids I'm going to Berlin for a week and also Belgium. My host parents might take me to Italy in 2011, and also on a weekend trip to.... well, we're not sure yet, but they said they'd take me to another country for a weekend, maybe England. So all that's exciting!
HAHAHAHHAHAHA YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT! This comedian talks about the big monopolistic grocery store in the Netherlands, Albert Hein. It's absolutely hilarious, even if you've never been to one. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXkTGiF9bU4
Well, I really have to go now, because I have to pack for my orientation camp that starts tomorrow. Plus, I want to get some sleep. Maybe clean my room.....
One last thing: I was told I would probably gain weight during my year abroad. I don't have a scale, but I think I have. I think it's the different type of food and also because I haven't been getting much exercise. But I'm planning on exercising every day, maybe running around the nearby playground or something. I guess I've just been kinda stressed out lately and haven't been doing much of anything. I'm going to change that. Right now. By packing.
Tot ziens,
Emily
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