Oost, West, Thuis, Best

As I was getting ready to go to school this morning, I heard a drumming on the roof and thought, "Oh, great. It's raining. Again. Better go grab my umbrella." But when I opened the door, I said, "HOLY --!" Because it wasn't rain at all. It was hail! The entire street, all the cars, and every house was covered with white. It was really pretty, and it's not like I get that in SoCal.

Anyways, on the way back home from home from school I almost fell asleep in the tram. I was sitting next to one of the heaters and I was soooo tired, but I forced myself to stay awake, because the last thing I wanted was to wake up in Friesland and find my backpack and money to be stolen.

Also, when I was on the tram, this girl got up so that this old man could sit next to his wife. Then his wife said to him, "There are still sweet people." I liked to hear that.

I got my report card today. My best grade was Spanish. Hmm...

BANG!!!! There are always fireworks or ... something exploding. You might hear it during math class. You might hear it while watching TV. You might hear it at 12:00 am when you're trying to sleep. Day or night, be prepared to be startled.

I feel like I had more to write.

The 4-year-old knows the word "God damn it", which is a bit surprising. He even uses it correctly: "But I don't even LIKE brussels sprouts, eww, God damn it!"

Us: O____O

Oh yeah, and Dutch people keep stating things and then expecting me to respond. Like, "She always says goodbye to me", or, "You had to hurry". Then they look at me, waiting. And I say,

"Uhm..... ja."

"Oh, do you not understand me? Don't you know what goodbye is in Dutch?"

"Ja."

"Well, she always says goodbye to me."

"Okay."

"................"

"................"

"Well, bye."

Actually, I was sort of ticked off the other day because this woman thought I didn't speak Dutch, even though everything I said to her was perfect (I know because I was doing the easiest thing ever - buying strippenkaarts for the tram - and I've memorized the correct way to do it). So I just kept responding to her English questions in Dutch, just to prove myself.

One more thing about the language... you know how in English there are words that can mean two things, like "rock" could be a stone or it could be a verb (let's rock!)? Well, there are words like that in Dutch, too, and one of my favorites is "uitsmijter" which means both a bouncer for a club, or an egg sandwich. Imagine if you didn't know that?

"We have to be careful if we're going to get by that egg sandwich."

"How do you like your bouncers? Hot or cold?"

There could be some disastrous mix-ups.

I'm giving a book report on "Catcher in the Rye" tomorrow (in English). But I still have to start. And I need to write another essay for my college applications. So I'd better go now.

Tot ziens,

Emily

PS: the title is a very Dutch saying. It means, "East, West, at home is the best". So no matter where you go, your house will always be where you want to be. Which is also very Dutch. People like to be at home. If they're at school, they'd rather be at home. If it's raining, they'd rather be at home. Instead of going out at night, they'd rather be at home (from what I've seen.... I can't speak for everyone, of course). But I would usually rather be at home too. If I'm going to watch a movie, I would rather do so at my house than in the movie theater. Gezellig.