Good Mourning

It's 6 am and I've been up since 4, but I guess that's what jet lag does to you...
Well, I'm really home now, looking around at all the stuff in my room, some of it European and some of it not.
Okay, let me rewind a bit.
The week with my parents was really hectic, but it was also nice because I got to see them and some parts of the Netherlands that I hadn't already seen (De Zaanse Schaans, Volendam, the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum, the Gouda cheese market, etc). In Volendam my family and my host parents and I took a really REALLY touristic photo, which I'll put on facebook soon. During the week we managed to fill my family with all the typical Dutch foods, like Rijsttafel, herring, cheese, stroopwaffels, croquetten, fries, and yeah, just about everything. But when the week was done, I only had one more day with my host family.
We went to the "Parade" in Den Haag, which is really more like a carnival/festival thing with a couple of rides, food, and tents where they have shows you have to pay for. Mostly I just sat around talking with Jotte and her family, but I rode the swing ride with Elise, Anne-Laure, and Sebastiaan, too. Matthias and I watched a skit/rock show which was... interesting, to say the least. Haha, just kidding, it was actually really funny! In a dark, demented sort of way...... hm..... great way to end the year, I suppose.
It felt really weird packing my suitcases, because it felt like I was leaving home again, I mean, it felt the exact same way it did when I was packing to leave America, which I hadn't expected.
That night I read a story to Sebastiaan and afterwards he said, "I think it's stupid that you're leaving. You have to stay here for... forever! For 100 years!" That was really sweet. Sebastiaan is a really sweet kid.
My last breakfast was.... drumroll please.... bread! Nooo but I really liked it, actually. My last "American filet" (raw meat) and "hail hits" (chocolate sprinkles) on bread. How sad. I'll miss Dutch bread spreads.... well, I brought some sprinkles home for my dad.
After breakfast, I gave some of Carla and Matthias's stuff back, but when I handed them the house key, Carla said, "No, Emily, you belong to this house, so the key belongs to you." Aww, how nice!! I'm going to keep it on my keychain. As we were all walking to the car to take me to the airport, Elise said, "I wish it was the first day you were here again," and I said, "Yes, but then I wouldn't speak very good Dutch," but she said she didn't care, because I could just learn it again. In the car ride, Matthias said, "You know, we all agree that you're a member of our family now, so it's going to be different around here without you." All these kind words! I hope I've expressed my appreciation to these wonderful people enough, although I'm sure I haven't.
A couple of friends and my school mentor came to see me off at the airport, which was really nice of them. You know what's funny is that when I arrived in August, it was really sunny outside, which isn't typical August weather, so it was like the Netherlands was happy to see me. When I left a couple of days ago, it was cloudy and a bit rainy, which is not typical July weather, so it was like the country was sad to see me go. So deep, I know. Well, eventually I was on my way. 5 movies, 4 Americans, 3 airplanes, 2 days and 1 big shock later, I was back in California.
No but really. Culture shock is WEIRD.
Everything just hit me at once. Everyone speaking English in a whiney, drawn-out way, drinking giant iced coffees, paying with thin coins and all green papers, guys dressed in Abercrombie drinking Fiji water, Spanish on the intercoms in the airport, women chatting you up and pretending to be interested in you for a couple of seconds and then completely ignoring you, the low doorknobs and counters that would have Dutch people bent at right angles to reach, cushy carpets, cars, BIG cars, dry landscape and hot weather, mourning doves cooing in the backyard, mountains next to freeways (or just mountains, for that matter), bag fillers at the supermarkets, not a red brick house in sight, and certainly no bikes. Actually, there are a couple of roads with sections designated for bikes now, which is new, but I don't think that more people have started biking here that usual because of them. It was also so great to see my dog again!! He greeted me and then generally seemed uninterested in me until I gave him food or petted him, but I guess his idea of a good human relationship is a bit similar to mine. (Okay, so maybe I'm a little more compassionate than that.... :D )
Being in my own room is great, but it feels a bit strange. I was a different person back when this was my mini-world. I've grown up a bit. Oh, I do hope that I won't go back to the way I used to be! Well, I'm sure that when I go off to college soon I will only become even more cool and independent, so I'm looking forward to that.
You know, in a way it feels as if nothing has really changed. Like I was asleep for a long, long time and that the Netherlands is just a strange, twisted dream that I made up. Then I woke up and everything was just the way I had left it - my city, my room, my friendships - except that I've changed a bit myself.
I'm going to hang out with one of my friends today and I'm so excited!! I haven't seen her for 10 months, can you believe it, and now we'll finally be able to actually stand next to each other! The distance of a few feet versus a few thousand miles is pretty big.
This summer I'm just going to chill out, do some reading, learn some Spanish, go to Alaska with my fam, get prepared for college and do some more chilling out. Then it's back to work! I'm really interested in other cultures and languages now, so I hope to find a job that allows me to travel and speak to people from around the world, although I need to screw my head on right and get more organized if I'm going to make that dream come true.
Well, this was my last blog post. Hah. I started my blog in my bedroom and I'm ending it here, too. My first food in the Netherlands was a stroopwaffel, that was also my last food there. The first advertisement I saw in NL was one for a bank, and the first one I saw back in LA was also one for a bank. I went from a red white and blue flag to red white and blue one and back again. The only thing that doesn't come out as a perfect circle here is that I left home speaking poor Dutch and I came home speaking fluent Dutch. There's always room for improvement, though.
That's it! I'm done! And while my year abroad is over, I'll still be an exchange student, always and forever. Thanks for following me on this amazing journey. I can't wait to see what the future will hold, not just for me, but for you as well. I think it will be incredible.
So. Who's up for a cheeseburger?
Tot ziens,
Emily

Alles

Ik heb geen zin om in het Engels te typen, dus ik ga gewoon in het Nederlands typen. Van mij mogen jullie gebruik maken van een vertaler, maar als je goed Nederlands leest, dan is dat natuurlijk helemaal niet nodig....
Ik ben naar Parijs geweest! Met mijn vriendin, Jotte! Het was echt super geweldig geweest. We mogen bij Carla's broer's gezin logeren, en dat vond ik heel erg aardig van hun. Weet je wat interessant is? Toen ik in de metro zat, zei ik tegen Jotte, "De mensen hier zien hier anders uit, maar ik snap niet waarom..." en ze zei, "Ja, dat heb je overal in Europe." Raar, hè? Maar, goed, we hebben echt heel veel genoten van Parijs. Het was wel een beetje warm.... maar we hebben de Eiffeltoren geklommen, door de Notre Dam gelopen, naar de Mona Lisa gekeken, en... ja, andere dingen ook, maar ik weet de namen niet want zij waren allemaal in het Frans dus.... ze waren sowieso leuk. En mooi :) Oh! Maar ik moet absoluut zeggen dat we naar de Moulin Rouge zijn geweest! Okeee jammer dat we niet naar binnen kunnen, want dat kost veel geld, maar het bestaat echt! En ik heb het gezien! Hahaha, weet je wat ik heb ook gezien...? Heeeeeeel veeeel Amerikaners! Dat was zo ontsettend grappig. Ik wil niet meer terug gaan. Ik bedoel... was ik ook zo geweest? Zij praten over alles maar het klinkt als niks, en hun stemmen zijn bijna altijd aan het zeuren. En ik kon zien dat alle meisjes dachten, "Ohh ik ben mooi en vet cool omdat ik in Parijs ben...." Ugh, wauw, in het begin van het jaar zei ik dingen tegen Nederland, en nu zeg ik de nadelen van Amerika! Gek is dat.... Anyways...
Jotte en ik hebben verse bessen en stokbrood gekocht en gegeten in een park. Dat was gezellig... en lekker. Ik heb een nieuwe hoed gekocht. Wit. Met blauwe bloemen. Wat schattig! Nou ja, verder met het verhaal...
Sera (vanuit Japan) en ik hebben ons afscheid feest gister gegeven. Blijkbaar vinden Nederlanders 'rootbeer floats' niet lekker. Ze smaken, volgens hen, van tandpasta.... nou, behalve dat was het was mooi afgelopen, maar ik was bezig bijna de hele tijd met serveren en alles, maar Jotte en Carla en Matthias, en ja veel mensen hebben ook geholpen, dus volgens mij was het leuk voor iedereen. Ik vond het in ieder geval geweldig maar ook een beetje triest om mijn Nederlandse vrienden voor de laatste keer te zien. Nou ja, eigenlijk komen veel mensen mij uitzwaaien bij de vliegveld, en dat vind ik heel erg leuk, ik kan het gewoon niet uitleggen hoe lief dat is van hun. Ik ga zij missen.... iedereen.
Trouwens.... mijn ouders zijn hier!!! En mijn zus!! Verbazend, toch??? Nu moet ik Engels praten, en het voelt vreemd. Mijn vrienden hier zeggen dat mijn gezin vrij klein is - ik bedoel, niet lang, dus. Hahaha, neeee jullie zijn gewoon te lang!! Oh wat ben ik moe, we hebben zo veel dingen gedaan de afgelopen paar weken, het is bijna niet te geloven dat ik terug ga. Ik heb echt een leven hier opgebouwd (ja, het duurde wel eventjes, maar ik heb het toch gedaan, hoor) en nu.... terug? Hmm.... ik ga sowieso een nieuwe ervaring hebben volgend jaar met universiteit en alles, maar ik vind Europe zo leuk. Het ging super snel na januari (ja, Carla, jij had helemaal gelijk) en nu is het..... OMG!!! Ik heb minder dan een week nog! Dit kan gewoon niet, dit KAN gewoon niet! Ik moet nog dingen regelen, ik moet nog wat spullen inpakken.... ik vind het zo moeilijk om afscheid te nemen. Weet je wat een van mijn vriendinnen heeft gezegd toen ze weg ging van mijn feest? Ze zei, "Eindelijk heb ik een echt vriendin gemaakt, en nu gaat ze weg." Hoorde je dat? Ik ben een echt vriendin van iemand! Zeg, dat is wel wat! Hopelijk komen zij en haar vriendje naar mij toe volgend jaar - ja dat klopt - ze komen helemaal naar Amerika voor mij! En ja, waarschijnlijk ook voor een leuke vakantie, maar shhh laat me maar dromen dat het alleen voor mij is :)
Morgen gaan we (mijn gast ouders en mijn Amerikaanse gezin) naar Volendam. En jij weet wat dat betekent.... verschrikkelijk Nederlandse foto's!! Yayyy! Dat weet mijn gezin nog niet, maar hahahaha het gaat een verassing worden! Maak je geen zorgen daarover, ik ga de foto's op facebook zetten, hoor?
Oh, en vandaag heeft Matthias (samen met de schoon broer van Carla) een zeilen race gewonnen! Een keer waren zij de eerste, en de tweede keer waren zij de tweede! Woo-hoo!
Nou, zoals ik net heb gezegd, ik ben suuuuper moe, maar ik moest een blog post schrijven want de vorige was al een tijdtje geleden. Ik ga dus nu naar bed. Maar ik mag een ding niet vergeten. Een van mijn vrienden op school vroeg een keer aan mij, "Heb je wel eens over mij geschreven in je blog?" Ik moest eventjes nadenken, maar toen zei ik, "Ja, volgens mij zei ik een keer, 'er is een jongen in mijn klas die altijd 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' zingt." Hij zei, "Dan moet je nu schrijven dat die jongen heeft in de lucht gesprongen van blijheid van de feit dat hij een keer in je blog was." Maar ik zei, "Ik ga echt niet leigen in mijn blog." Dus, hij heeft het wel gedaan, en nu moet ik het schrijven van hem. Alsjeblieft, Milo.
Oke, hup, naar bed! (Carla, je stem zit in mijn hoofd, en nu zit hij ook op mijn blog.)
Slaap lekker,
Emily

Spelletje Spelen

Let's play a game!
....
C'mooooooon, it'll be fun! There's even a Spanish related prize in it for you if you participate.
Ready?
Okay, so this is how to play: I'll tell you a personal anecdote, like I always do in my blogs, but this time you get to choose a reaction. You can choose between WTF and LOL. So, if you read an anecdote and think it's funny, then you'd choose LOL, and if you think that it's stupid then you'd choose WTF. Remember how many times you choose each one because your prize depends on the totals.
Let's begin.
1. I went to the AFS end camp last weekend and saw all the other exchange students. It was really fun; probably the best weekend I've had so far in NL. It's funny, some of these people I've only seen twice during my year, but I still feel like we're really good friends. We did a lot of dancing. And uhh... let's just say I learned a bit more about the many "romantic" languages, particularly from Venezuela and Italy. (WTF/LOL)
2. Today I was looking to buy a new pair of shorts, and I found a really cute pair in the H&M. I tried them on but they were a little tight, so I gave them back and went to find a larger size. I couldn't for the life of me find where I had gotten them. I spent an hour walking in circles trying to find them again because they were exactly the shorts I had been looking for, but it was to no avail. Finally I just grabbed a different pair and tried them on, but they looked horrible so I gave them back. Then, I saw the old pair I had tried on earlier being carried away. So I found that pair again and realized that it was the exact same style as the one I had just tried on. Wow. I just bought the too tight version because it's not like it doesn't fit and it looked better anyways. (WTF/LOL)
3. After I bought the shorts, a guy stopped me in the street and asked if I was from the area (in English). I figured he wanted directions so I stopped to talk to him. Turns out he wanted to give me direction. He handed me a book about self-discovery and started showing me pictures in it and telling me about it. I was half being polite and half actually interested in what he was saying so I started asking him questions about it. After a while I realized that this could be a really good scam to steal someone's wallet, so I reached into my bag to make sure that nobody had come from behind and robbed me. Well, once we both realized that wallet was still there, I sort of felt obligated to give him a donation. So now I have a self-discovery book and an invitation to join a Christian group when I go back to LA. (WTF/LOL)
4. Yesterday I got to school dripping in sweat. Today I came home dripping in rain. (WTF/LOL)
5. I finally started feeling like an exchange student. Oh well, better late than never, right? (WTF/LOL)
6. I speak Dutch. (WTF/LOL)
7. I'm going back to America in 2.5 weeks. (There is only one option for this one - WTF)
8. People here actually seem to like me and tell me that they will miss me. (WTF/LOL)
9. I've got national pride for the Netherlands, but I don't think I'd like to live here (WTF/LOL)
10. I made a game on a blog post allowing the world to criticize and/or laugh at my personal life and inner thoughts. But I'm going to miss writing in my blog. I feel oh-so-very clever when I do. (WTF/LOL)
Wasn't that a fun game??? Now time for your Spanish related prize!
If you answered mostly WTF, then this is your prize:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vURjhSD-FE8
(But stop being so critical, hahaha)
If you answered mostly LOL, then THIS is your prize:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw
(I know right, my life is a joke)
If you got half/half, or just couldn't decide, then you get this, which is only funny if you speak Spanish and Dutch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swghsu7LXSs
(You're the most like me.... doesn't know how to take a joke, but won't write it off as not-funny too soon)
Thanks for playing :)
Well, anyways, I'd like to mention something before you go. We were all given a candle at the AFS end camp, and we had to say something to everyone and then blow out our candle until everyone had said something and it was totally dark. Anyways, everyone kinda liked what I said, so I'll tell you what I had to say about my exchange year:
"Okay, I guess I'll say something now, because Daniel won't stop bothering me to hurry up..... Well, this year did NOT go the way I expected it to, but it was definitely the most... human year of my life. I mean, I've seen seemingly happy people crying, I've seen grumpy people burst out laughing... my seemingly invincible Italian friend got hit by a bus - didn't see that one coming - but most of all, the people who I thought would kick me when I was down were actually the ones to help me back up, so that was really special..."
I'm told that my speech was liked second best next to one of the Canadian's, which was, "Let's make a deal: if you ever want to come to Quebec, then you pay for the plane ticket and I'll pay for the rest."
I don't mind that mine was liked second best to that. That's pure genius.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Pinkpop Enzo.

Hello again, I've been meaning to write a new post for a while. Then again, I've been meaning to do a lot of things lately...
I guess I'll start with Pinkpop.
If you don't know what that is, it's a three day music festival here in NL, which takes place on the holiday of Pinksteren (hence the name). I went with Matthias, and basically it was.........
AMAZING!!!!!!!
No, really, I mean, look at the list of artists we got to see (in order of appearance):
-Lifehouse - Simple Plan - Elbow - Coldplay - Versaemerge - Tim Knol - Cage the Elephant* - Wolfmother - Graffiti6 - White Lies - The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77* - Kings of Leon - Scouting for Girls - Plain White T's - Two Doors Cinema Club - Eliza Doolittle - Go Back to the Zoo* - Band of Horses - Kaiser Chiefs - Deadmau5* - Foo Fighters*
I put little stars to the artists that I most enjoyed listening to. Pretty cool, right? I'll now go over the details...
Okay. There are two things that could potentially kill a person at Pinkpop. The first is extended exposure to second hand smoke. The second (and more likely event) is the consumption of Matthias's breakfast sandwiches. (Just kidding, M!! They were really good!!) We basically just teased each other the entire trip. I guess we can do that because we aren't strangers, or friends, or family. Well, maybe we're sort of friends. He did save me from being mashed in a mash pit during the Death Crew show. My hero.
Anyways, can you believe I got to see Deadmau5 live??? It's like, a dream come true! But also an oxymoron if you think about it.... like Schrodinger's cat... the people standing next to me were really boring, though. They didn't really dance. They mostly just stared at me dancing. Plus there was a super friggin tall guy right in front of me, which was annoying, but I guess I should have expected that when I chose to go to a concert in the Netherlands. Note to self: next time, bring elevator shoes.
Simple Plan was really funny to watch because they tried to speak Dutch. Here is what they said:
"Hey there, Nederlaaaaaand! Are you ready to jump? Are you ready to Sprrrrrrring?! Heel ggggggggggggggggoed!"
Everyone was cracking up. Matthias thought it was kind of lame that they tried to organize the mash pits, though.
Speaking of jumping, there were these bugs on our tent late at night, and Matthias was like, "Ohh, look, these are the jumping kind! I'll bet if I poke it, it'll jump."
Me: "I don't think that will work..."
Mat: *poke* "Come, on jump!" *poke*
Me: "Uhmm...."
Mat: *POKE*
Bug: *slides off tent into grass*
Me: "It jumped alright... to its death."
Mat: *pokes the other bug, which also falls into the grass"
Don't know why I felt the need to tell you that...
Also, it was really funny, because Matthias was heating some water to make coffee with when the camp police dudes came over and were like, "So uhh... you can't cook on the field. You can only cook in the cooking area." What was so funny about it is that Matthias is good at stalling people while he argues why it should be totally acceptable for him to cook just where he was, so that by the time we were surrounded by 8 or so officer guys (who obviously had nothing better to do than to tell us we couldn't make coffee...) M said, "Well, okay, I'll turn off my cooker for you. My water has started to boil anyways." They left. I was laughing out loud in my head. We placed the cooker in a hole behind our tent from then on.
You know, there were some pretty clever people on a nearby mountain listening to the concert (because it was really, really loud, I'm sure they could hear it pretty well) I mean, there was a big group of them standing there. But there was one die hard Kings of Leon fan who I really have to commend. He is one creative guy. This guy actually hang glided over the festival square to hear a bit of the concert! If that's not clever thinking, I don't know what is.
So basically, the Foo Fighters were AWESOME! It had started to drizzle a bit when they began to play, but then halfway through a song, the singer just stopped and said, "I'd like to take a moment to point out that there's a FUCKING RAINBOW over there! *points* Look at that! This is the best fucking rock concert we've ever played at!" That was seriously so cool. I'd say they were the best act of the whole festival; they made for a really nice ending to the weekend.
Oh, and apparently I'm a little bit less than friendly to attractive male strangers.
For instance, Matthias thought it was strange that I didn't talk to/dance with the teenagers who were lurking around me at a club thing, and that I didn't stare at all the boys with no shirts on as they walked to the showers.
But to be honest, I didn't want anything to do with these guys. For 2 straight hours on the last night, guess what our ears were entreated with? Go on, guess. Well, I have no idea what you guessed, but it probably wasn't right. Imagine a chorus of 20 of these oh so very attractive young men asking the same question over and over, yet never expecting an answer. The question was this:
WAZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP??
2. Full. Hours.
Oh yes. These are the men for me.
There were actually a lot of people. No, not just a lot, an OCEAN of people. If you really want a number, it's 60,000. That means a lot of litter. I literally tripped over litter every time I tried to walk in a straight line on the festival square. But you know what was funny, when Matthias and I staggered into the house at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning, the kids were screaming and I was like, "Wow, it's really hectic here!" and Carla said, "Yes, you just came from a concert with 60,000 people, and you think my house is more hectic with 4." Hahahahaha, ja, zo is het Carla, zo is het.
Now for the "enzo. (etc.)" part.
1. I saw the new X-men film with some friends. It was really good!
2. There is a super hero on tv here and her name is Mega Mindy. Apparently she does live shows sometimes, and dad's like to go with their kids because they think she's hot. This is so, so wrong.
3. I almost forgot to mention that we got free cola at Pinkpop.
4. I told my friend that all I really wanted to was to get my big blanket from home and eat ice cream with my dog while watching a movie. She said, "Well.... I have a cat, a big blanket, ice cream and a movie. You could come to my house after school." I did. It was really nice of her.
5. So it's a tradition for kids who have just passed their last exams of high school to hang up their backpacks from the outside of the house (on a flag pole or a window or something) but so far I've only seen 3. Someone hasn't been paying enough attention.
6. I heard people talking at Pinkpop, and it's really weird to hear so many different accents from the same country! I'm so used to the Hague accent, I had forgotten that people in other cities speak differently.
Okay, but now I really have to figure some stuff out, and it's getting late and ahhh I'm kinda stressed but not really so I ain't gonna proofread this, sorry if there are mistakes, but I can't fix that right now.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Naturally Beautiful

So we went camping.
We weren't really in a forest, it was more like we were on a camping field next to a farm, but the farm was near forests and other stuff, even a town. It was a really hot weekend, but our tents were next to some nice trees, so we had good shade during the day. I met a girl who's 11 years old and already speaks three languages. Carla asked me if I would have rather spent my year abroad on a farm, and I said, "Well, I don't know. I mean, I didn't spend my year abroad on a farm so I can't say if I would have liked it better or not. You never know. And who knows, I might have been dead by now if that had happened."
Funny that you should say that, Em.
The last night on the campsite, I woke up early in the morning, probably 5 am or something. I got up to go to the bathroom, and as I was walking back to my tent, I felt a couple of drops on my forehead. I thought, "Oh, it's starting to rain. It's nice warm weather, though. Pretty clouds." Then I heard a low rumble of thunder off in the distance, and I thought, "Oh, thunder, that's nice. Thunder is cool and somehow comforting." I crawled back in my sleeping bag and listened to the rain patter on the tent, waiting for sleep to come.
Then it happened. Not only did I hear it, but I felt it, a jolting shock under my bed, and it sounded like a million whips in the hand of Zeus had slashed against the ground outside. Even with my eyes closed everything went white. Within half a second, my thinking went from, "Nice clouds" to "OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" But, when nothing else seemed to be happening, I just forgot about it and went back to sleep.
When I emerged from my flimsy yellow cave and into the hazy sunlight, there were a lot of other campers hanging out behind my tent. Someone pointed to a nearby tree about 8 feet away from my tent, and would you believe it, it had been struck by lightning!! A huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge gash had been sliced through the bark; it must have been about 13 feet long. And there was wood everywhere, all over my tent, big chunks on the ground... Matthias says he thinks he was hit by a piece of the trunk, because he was outside at the time, trying to save our stuff from getting wet in the rain.
Shade can go to hell, and it probably just did.


The one thing nobody understands is why the lightning hit where it did. It hit the tree about halfway down, right on the stub from a branch that had been cut down a couple of weeks ago.
Matthias says I attract things like this. I said, "That's because I'm naturally beautiful."
So clever of me, right?
It's a good thing I'm not religious, or I might have been a changed woman right now. I mean, it was so close! Well, maybe it really was a sign, but then for the guy who's car was parked right under the tree. His right side mirror was shattered and melted in three places.
Anyways.
Spiders like to hang out in my hair. However, they are unwelcome.
On a happier note, the BBQ we ate at the campsite was seriously out of this world. We bought the meat at a special farm, where the lady was really really nice.
Camping is nice because everything smells good. Even the misfortunate tree smelled good. And I love nature, so just wandering around was nice. Oh, and I'm past page 100 in East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and it's so good! I totally recommend it!
I like my new oxford shoes, because they make a clikketty-clakketty sound when I walk, making me feel important.
Tot ziens,
Emily
PS: Going a bit back in time, there was a summer party at Elise and Sebastiaan's school, and the theme was "World Children". Matthias was chosen to be Berlusconi, and I had to play Ruby. So world children friendly. (That's supposed to be Obama in between us, but I must say it's not the best mask I've ever seen.)

cOnFuSiOn

I've just been so confused lately, I don't even know what to write.
I mean, I'm going home in like, 5 weeks.
How crazy.
I get the feeling that I just figured out how to be a good exchange student and now it's basically over.
It's like...
Leaving is going to be hard because of a lot of things.
My friends here are amazing, and I love my host family, and I feel like I still have unfinished business to attend to. Like going out more often or something like that. But Matthias says that looking back and regretting things won't help, because people are who they are and do what they do. He said that if I think I can improve or do better, then I can start tomorrow. "Not right now," he said, "because it's getting kind of late." Hahahaha.
People keep telling me that they're proud of me, and they give me reasons, but I still can't seem to grasp why. I don't feel particularly proud or unproud. I just sort of feel normal.
It's incredible the amount of emotions that have been stuffed into the last 9 months. I've felt depressed, lonely, afraid, worthless, tired, stressed, hopeless, stupid, angry, ashamed, embarrassed, ugly, mean, frustrated, misunderstood, blank, lazy, ignorant, jealous, jittery, powerless, reckless, defeated, homesick, bored, philosophical, enlightened, deep, better, free, powerful, excited, ecstatic, on top of the world, content, unique, strong, happy, peaceful, awesome, pretty, loved, understood, alive, helpful, changed, giddy, inspired, trusted, comfortable, accepting and accepted.
The worst feeling was when I thought life wasn't worth living anymore.
The best feeling was when the people who I thought would leave me didn't.
I've learned to stand up for myself and take charge of my own life.
I've learned that showing compassion is just as wonderful and meaningful as receiving it.
I guess life is just an ongoing process.
Gotta learn, learn, learn, learn, learn and don't ever let your lessons go to waste.
Tot ziens,
Emily

10 Little Things

1. When I bike to school, there are sometimes trucks on the bike path in the shopping center. They're kind of annoying, but I mean I understand and I deal with it. But today, a GIANT car was driving RIGHT behind me on a bike path where normal cars don't even fit, and that was scary!!
2. There's this kid who sings out, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" almost every day in class. It's basically awesome.
3. A girl told me a secret yesterday and I'm glad she trusts me.
4. I told a group of friends something personal today and they said they're glad that I trust them.
5. It was a sunny day today so I sat outside petting the neighbors cat (who thinks that our backyard is his house).
6. Someone next door was practicing flute, which provided for a nice ambiance.
7. I actually put on make-up today and I think I will do that more often.
8. This girl was talking about a play she wants to see this fall, and she was like, "Oh my gosh, we should go together! .... Oh wait.... you won't be here anymore. Nooo! I don't like it that you're going to leave!" That made me feel good and bad at the same time.
9. The school in this music video is the school I go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDl9NJapz8
10. Somehow, lots of Dutch kids haven't discovered chocolate covered stroopwaffels yet (which are on the top shelf of the cookie aisle in the Albert Heijn, in case you wanted to know). How is this possible!?! They're the most delicious thing ever! My American friend told me about them, and I mean, wow. Well, leave it to the Americans to take a treasured Dutch treat and dip it in chocolate. But seriously - if you live near an Albert Heijn, go try these, you won't regret it.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Really Quick

Okay, so I know that I wrote a blog post earlier today, but I just wanted to say that my bad mood went away.
Also, Go Ask Alice is apparently fictitious, which is really a disappointment... still a good book though. I just don't like being tricked.
I taught Elise how to do vertical addition this evening.
12 +
24 =
36
She gets it, too, which is awesome. I taught someone math! Imagine that.
Which reminds me, someone tutored me in math the other day, and let's just say, learning math never looked better.
Well, I guess that's it for today.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Hello, World

Emily here.
I read a book. It was called Go Ask Alice and it is the real diary of a girl who got involved with drugs when she was 15. It's really good, I mean she is an amazing writer. I almost started crying because of the epilog.
Anyway.
I'm going to read East of Eden pretty soon because I chose that for my philosophy project.
It's like I have so many projects and homework right now but they're all really difficult. I just want to sleep or something.
I got some new shoes. Oxfords. Nice.
I saw a guy today who kinda freaked me out, because he was driving and I was on my bike and it's not like he almost hit me but it was one of those things where we both had to stop and look at each other. Then he did the thing with his hands that means "go ahead" but he also gave me the creepiest look ever, plus he looked like the guy from American Psycho, which didn't really help.
There are baby ducks and stuff hanging out by the lake where I bike by every day on my way to school.
I saw a blue felt tip pen on the ground, which reminded me of my dad.
So my sister is in Ireland right now, helping out on a farm, which is basically AWESOME.
I want to work on a farm.
Uhhh okay so I don't know what I'm supposed to be writing about, because it feels like I just talk about what I do all day, but that's really not very interesting so I'm sort of confused........It's not even like I can tell you everything because this is after all on the internet for everyone to see, so unfortunately you'll never get the whole picture.
My weekend was good. The sleepover with my friends was of course amazing because my friends are amazing, and we ate hamburgers. Disney film night was good, we watched Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King, and Bambi. We're having a few other film nights soon. Elise's birthday party was also really nice, her friends are pretty cool and it was good weather for playing outside.
What should I do with my few hours before dinner? Watch a movie? Shop online? Read something? Work on a project? Sit and do nothing?
The opportunities are boundless.
Except now I have to clean the kitchen.
By the way I'm not even below sea level because I live near the coast, so really this blog should be called "10 Months at a Fairly Average Height", but that somehow doesn't have the same ring to it.
I sure have been feeling pretty low lately, although that shouldn't really be a big surprise.
7 and a half weeks and I'll be back in Cali.
Until then,
Emmy
Aw crap, that was depressing. Here's something to make up for it:

Bye now.

Uneyedentified Flying Objects

It. Is. HOT.
So I've been biking a lot. Biking is fun. Except when you can't see where you're going. Lately there have been strange things in the air, and my eye is like a magnet for all of them. Leaves, dust, flies - you name it, it's been in my eyes. Sometimes both eyes at once. That really sucks, because you have to blink a lot and then it looks like you're crying, but I'm not about to shout out to the concerned passerby, "It's okay, I'm not upset, there's just about 25 bugs filling every orifice of my face right now."
So someone did something nice for me today. My economy teacher asked me if I understood anything from the lesson and I answered him honestly. So he kept me in during lunch and gave the entire lesson again in English. Then I understood everything, which was awesome, it feels so good to know what's going on!
I took an online quiz about what I should major in in college and it said a foreign language. Just sayin.
Speaking of college, a couple of days ago someone told me that I should be aware of how I act so that I won't drive my roommate crazy. Later that day, one of my friends said that she was talking to some girls and they had agreed that I would be perfect roommate material.
......................
I think I'll just be myself.
She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene.
^ That's from a song. It's playing on my computer right now.
Wow I have like, nothing to say.
Uhm.... I've been doing a lot of online shopping lately. It's my guilty pleasure. That and eating all of Matthias' chocolates. Actually I don't feel guilty about that, so I guess it's still just online shopping. But it's so expensive, so if you know a good clothing company that's sort of cheap, can you send me a link? Thanks. I want to look a little bit nice at college during the winter, but I don't have a pretty coat.
Ooooh it's the 10th. That means that in exactly 2 months I will be back in the sometimes beautiful Los Angeles county!!
This weekend will be fun. Friday I'm hanging out with the two girls who I was with all of last week, then Saturday evening I'm going to a Disney film night with kids from school, and Sunday is Elise's birthday party. I'll give more details about these events later.
Some news that I just received: my sister will also be coming to visit me in July! Cool, the fam and the host fam all in one country. Except for my dog. Who got a really weird haircut, by the way.
I'm hungry and I have to take a shower and clean the kitchen and .... actually not much else, so I'll let you get on with your life now.
Tot ziens,
Em

Keepin' You in the Know

Okay, so I know my blog posts have been less frequent lately, but here is what has been going on...
I have to make this short because I'm at a friend's house right now.
Actually, my school is on vacation right now, and I was sort of planning on going to Paris for a few days, but that didn't work out so actually I've just spent the week chillin with one of my American friends and with the Dutch girl whose house I'm at right now. Basically Queen's Day wasn't all it's cracked up to be. Yes, there was a lot of orange and lots of drunk people, and Amsterdam was super crowded. There were also a ton of people selling stuff on the side of the road. But really, it wasn't like, amazing or something. My friends and I ended up just sitting on the sidewalk talking about our futures. That was after we pushed through masses of people to find a quiet place. Oh, I think I was on the national radio or something like that, because a woman came up to me and was like:
Woman: Can I interview you for the national radio?
Me: Yeah, of course!
Friends: No way.
Woman: Okay, so did you go to Amsterdam for Queen's Day?
Me: Yes.
Woman: What did you do?
Me: Not much, just walked around and saw a lot of things.
Woman: Uh huh. And what was the strangest thing you saw?
Me: Everyone just peeing in public.
Woman: Where are you from?
Me: Los Angeles.
Woman: And people don't do that there?
Me: No way!
Woman: So you're waiting for a train right now?
Me: Yes.
Woman: What time is your train?
Me: 9 o'clock.
Woman: Is it on time?
Me: I hope so.
Woman: Okay, well, thanks. *takes microphone and box thingy with her*
Best. Interview. Ever! Right?
No, not really, but whatever maybe I'm on the radio. In Dutch. Hehehehe.
Uhhh anyways, so one of my American friends was supposed to just spend the night at my house, but it turned into a week long hang out with our other friend where we basically just ate, biked, and watched tv. Which is a pretty awesome week, if you ask me. My friends can cook really well. I can't. Which is why I was the DJ. I set the moooooood y'know? The... cooking .. moood.... whatever. I was important.
*Not really*
But yeah... it was fun. We watched a lot of Modern Family. Like, a lot.
But this weekend I have to do work for school. I have a couple of projects due soon.
Not to mention stuff for college! You'd be surprised at how difficult the roommate questionaires are.
"Which temperature do you prefer? a. cold. b. fairly cold. c. fairly warm. d. warm"
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........
(I know, if I think these questions are hard, I'll never graduate. Boo hoo.)
Anyways, like I said I have to keep this short. We're going to watch some more Modern Family. And eat calamari. Oh yeah. Best. Week. EVER.
Tot ziens,
Emily
PS I biked in my pajamas, which was awesome.

Proofreading This Was... Long

Hello all!
I haven't written for a while, because I was busy with my Russian. Isn't that cool? An exchange student hosting another exchange student? It was really fun, but really tiring. I had a Russian boy who was apparently very well liked by Russian girls, hahaha. It was such a busy week, oh my gosh, seriously, busy the whole time. Hm... let me think, what did we do exactly?...
Wednesday they came, and the first thing my Russian did was give me a big hug and say, "Emily! You are very beautiful! I am liking it!" Best.... introduction... EVER! So then mijn Rus and I just chilled at home and ate Dutch food with Carla (fries, croquette...)
Thursday I had to go to school, but he went to Leerdam to see a glassworks shop and other stuff, then he came back and I took him on a bike ride to my favorite place (a nice park). At night there was a school party, which was alright, you know, dancing with friends is always fun.
Friday we all went to Amsterdam to see the Rijksmuseum, (where the famous and impressive Rembrandt Night Watch is hanging). Then we just walked around and then ate at a Turkish restaurant where we were only allowed to order pizza or pasta (??) haha because it was cheaper (but I got a Turkish pizza, so, yeah). Then we went to a Dutch SOCCER GAME! My first soccer game ever, and it was pretty fun. I mean, the game itself was kind of boring, but it was funny to listen to the crowd get worked up over nothing... like: "ah.........aaahh.....AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH........awww." hahahahhaha. And I sat next to this awesome girl so we just chatted the whole time and tried to catch the little puffy things that were floating around.
Saturday was Mauritshuis, where the famous but not very impressive painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring is hanging. I missed it last time I went, so I made sure to see it this time. It's so small, jeez, no wonder I didn't see it before. Then we went to the Gemeentemuseum (uhh... the city council museum??) which was weird but cool at the same time. After that we went to the Omniversm to watch a film about tornado chasers on a surround imax screen. I was really looking forward to it, because the screen was awesome and I like to learn about natural disasters, but I fell asleep!! Jammerrrrrrrrr...
Anyways, then we packed the 7 of us into the car to go to Belgium. We celebrated Easter there with Carla's parents and sister's family.
Sunday: Matthias, my Russian and I visited Antwerp, which is always fun. A Russian, an American, and a Dutch guy wandering the streets of Belgium. Interesting sight. But I had a cold!!! So I couldn't eat much of the yum BBQ that we had for dinner. I could just lay on the couch. In the evening we drove back, and Matthias laughed because I knew the chorus to "Ik Ga Hard", which was playing on the radio. I went with my guest to a beach party, but left early because I had a cold. He stayed later, and I saw him again on....
Monday: I still felt sick, so I couldn't eat much breakfast, and I forgot to pack a lunch. So you won't be surprised when I say I literally almost blacked out getting onto the tram. But I asked one of my friends for some food, and I was better after the apple. We went to the beach to go surfing, which I didn't want to do because I was sick, but I would have gone swimming if I hadn't fallen asleep..... hahaha but at least it was nice and warm. Then I was supposed to go to my friend's house for dinner, but there was this weird miscommunication so I just went home and ate with the fam. Then headed over to the carnival, rode this intense ride where it feels like you're flying and just being super awesome, then took my Russian back home.
On Tuesday we went to Delft to see the Royal Delft uhhh thing. Yeah, they make famous Dutch pottery there, which is ridiculously expensive. Which is why I bought some "fake" Delft blue things at a souvenir shop :] and I bought a Miffy keychain!! Cute!!!! And I bought blue bubblegum ice cream, which would make anyone happy... Well, maybe not lactose intolerant people.... or people who don't like bubblegum..... or a lot of people, actually. Anyway, then we climbed the church tower which was PAINFUL but the view from the top was pretty incredible. Then we went into the actual church, which I've done before, but it's still nice. There's this awesome grave in there with scary, mean looking babies holding giant candles on it. I don't know why I remember that especially. They're probably to scare away grave robbers or something. They would sure scare me away, I tell you. Then I went "shopping" with a few friends (basically just waited outside the store talking with the kids who didn't want to buy anything), then went to school for the farewell "party". If by party you mean sitting at tables eating potato salad and wondering what to do. Nahhh I kid, it was nice, everyone was there in a confined space, so I could see everyone for the last time. Then a lot of us headed over to a bar/club thing, which was basically empty when we came in, so it was cool to have it to ourselves. Had a really good conversation with some girls. It's nice to know they trust me enough now to say personal things to me. Took my Russian back home, enjoyed the last of our many shared late night pizzas together, then went to bed.
Wednesday was when the exchange week ended, so I took my Russian back to Schipol Aiport. When we said goodbye, he said, "I will you to miss." Aww.... he was such a sweetie. Really. His English wasn't perfect, but I understand because I've been there... learning Dutch was hard. But when he did know how to say something, he was actually really funny. Example:
*Walking to tram halt, I duck under a spider web that's in a tree*
Russian: Why did you do that?
Me: There was a spider web.
Russian: Are you afraid of spiders?
Me: No. I just don't want them in my hair.
Russian: So....you're not afraid of spiders, but you're afraid of spiders.
Hahahaha see what I mean?
Anyway. He's gone now. I think he had a good time, well, he said it was a "perfect week" so I guess he did. Speaking of the Russians, I thought they would be really big, fur coat and Davy Crockett raccoon hat wearing, dark haired and bearded intense people, but they were pretty normal, in a good way.
Oh yeah, back to the timeline.
After we all said goodbye, my friends and I went to Starbucks. Starbucks? In the Netherlands? At the airport, yes. One girl was like, "Of course you knew what to order, Emily, you've been here so often," and I was like, "Uh, I just looked at the poster over there and ordered that," hahaha. It was pretty good, though. Ohh I like the song that's playing on my itunes right now :]
Then I was going to go home and sleep, but when I got to the tram halt, my tram had literally just left, and my friend's tram had literally just arrived, so I impulsively got on with her. She said it was going to be a long ride, but I didn't mind, because, remember, I used to have to ride the tram for 24 halts when I went to my old school. She lives in a different city, on the beach, called Monster. (Ahh!) But no, really, it's a really nice place. We drank juice. Damn that was good juice, I want some morrrrre. Then we went back to school to go to a poetry reading/debate at this apparently very exclusive place. A lot of kids didn't show up though, which sucked because the school kinda paid for all of us to get in. And I didn't really enjoy it because I was SUPER FREAKING TIRED and still sick and it was in this really difficult Dutch and it went on four hours and hours and hoursandhoursnadhoursandhours so I was just glad when it was over. I got really snappy and mad at people, which hasn't ever really happened to me before, but I had a really turbulent/stressful week, so my emotions were like, all over the place (not because I'm a female, just because a lot of stuff was going through my head), but then I kinda calmed down on the bus ride and had a good conversation with my Japanese friend. She told me a lot of stuff about her life in Japan, which was really interesting and made me realize how complicated we all are. Then I finally got home and went to sleep. I would have gone to school today, because the Dutch, unlike Americans, don't really care if you have a cold, you go to school anyways. Luckily I have a non-Dutch host mother, so when I was almost out the door she sent me right back up to my room. Good thing, too. I'm feeling a bit better, but that's after a nap, a bowl of choco-pops, and 2 rolls of toilet paper (used as tissues). When I'm done writing this I'll take a bath with sinus clearing things.
You know, I feel really bad for people who are sick and can't do anything about it. I mean, if they still have to work, or don't have medicine or a bed or a blanket or something. I mean, that would really suck. I'm really going to become a volunteer in a lot of poor countries, because I think that's important. I need to help people, because it's like, I think I have all these problems in my life when really there are people with problems I don't even want to think about.
Hmm.... speaking of things I never want to think about.... ever since I was little, I've been creeped out by things that I knew shouldn't be creeping me out, especially things like certain kinds of corals or pictures of the internal structures of plant stems. I thought I was the only one who experienced this weird phenomenon, but as it turns out, there are others with this condition. It's called "trypophobia", and it is a strange fear of holes, especially holes with things lodged into them. This picture, for example, is very disturbing to people like me:

Also other things, like small parasites very close to one another on other animals, bumps or holes for veins in meat, porous rocks.... I know, it might sound crazy, but it turns out a lot of people are affected by this. Now that I've "diagnosed" myself with it, I guess I'm glad to know finally, but at the same time, now that I'm aware, I'm afraid I'll just intensify it. But now I've finally rationalized with myself, and identified why it makes my skin crawl and my head feel stuffy. I think it's because I subconsciously affiliate this kind of thing with holes in flesh, and anything that reminds humans of physical vulnerability usually makes us pretty queasy, because we don't like to think about wounds or death.
Uh.
I'm probably forgetting to say a ton of stuff, but um I don't remember if I'm forgetting.
OH YEAH duh, I chose a college!
This fall I will be attending......
drumroll please.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t925JwYXhVA
The oh so very beautiful, KENYON COLLEGE located in Gambier, Ohio!!
I'm sooooooooooosososososososo super excited! I can take control of my own life, how awesome!
Ughhhhhhh it's already 10:30 and I need to take a bath before I go to sleep. I might have to go to school tomorrow, but we'll see. Oh yeah, if I'm feeling well enough I'll go back to the carnival on Friday to hear some nice music with my host dad, and Saturday it's KONINGINNEDAG!! (Queen's Day) So I'll be going to Amsterdam with two of my American gal pals where it will be a crazy crowded sea of orange wearing Dutchy awesomeness.
My style has changed a lot here, but I haven't bought enough clothes to really show it, but when I come back to America I'll wear different clothes than I used to, I think. I like plaid. A lot.
Oh, and one last really random thing, there's this really, I mean REALLY popular song right now called Mr. Saxobeat, and I told my dad it was about him hahahah Mr. Saxe-o-beat. I think he thought that was funny. This one time he bought some Axe, then drew a really cool "S" on the bottle with white-out and said, "Hey look Emily! I have my own scent!"

-_____________________________________________________-

My dad is the coolest, hahaha.
My mom is also the coolest.
I just have the coolest family, basically.
Even if my dog doesn't understand the concept of the game "fetch".
Tot ziens,
Emily

If Looks Could Kill...

I would have been murdered.
This girl thought I was going to take "her" chair at the library (which I wasn't going to do) and she got mad at me and gave me this death-filled glare. Needless to say, I "let" her sit in the chair.... then someone threw a chocolate at my head.
Whatever.
I had a good weekend. On Friday my host family and I went to a restaurant to celebrate Carla's birthday, then my host parents and I watched a movie and ate ice cream. Saturday morning I made American pancakes again for everyone, then we went to a park/land that used to be owned by a rich guy with a mansion thing, which was nice. The purple plastic octopus figurine in a tree was the highlight of my day. I fed a cookie crumb to a duck. Then I tested it to see if it would try to eat my drinking glass, which it did. It even jumped off the ground and tried to pull it out of my hand. Carla told me I should stop teasing the duck or else it would bite off my toe. I figured that was some pretty good reasoning, so I stopped. After that I headed over to Delft to celebrate a couple of girls' birthdays. Some other kids from school were there, and we just played Wii, hung out on the porch over the water, and ate typical Dutch "cook it yourself" food. Then a few of us ended up running around on a playground, which was definitely one of the best moments of my year - no really, it was. My friends said I was hardcore 'cause I was barefoot. When we were done there we went into the city to get drinks, then went to a club to go dancing. In the morning I tried to find the station but instead ended up just plain old lost. Again. Finally found it, then went to Keukenhof with my host fam and Sera (my friend from Japan, weet je nog?) which is right now one of the most popular places in the Netherlands, for the Dutch and the non-Dutch alike. Why? Because it's full of tulips!! It was so beautiful! That was really nice. You'd be surprised by how many different kinds of tulips there are. We took a great family portrait there, which I'll put online asap. Anyways, on the car ride back, Matthias, Carla and I rocked out to K3 songs. Yes, you'd better believe we turned it all the way up and busted out our most awesome dance moves while singing along to Belgian children's music....
"Wie is de leukste van het land,
Spiegeltje, Spiegeltje aan de wand.
Dit is de allermooiste avond van mijn hele leven."
That's how cool we are.
Then I went to a friend's house to paint nails and watch movies. I made purple happy faces on my nails, but A.) I'm no artist, and, B.) I'm no skilled manicurist, so my sad excuses for smileys are sort of falling apart. But hey, you know, it was a fun, girly get together. Matthias actually laughed when I told him I was going somewhere to paint my nails, but okay. (Matthias, you are awesome and sorry for the misunderstanding today.... my only "problem" with you is that you are too cool for me.)
Soooo I got home at 11 pm or something, took a shower, came up to my room and typed this up. That was my weekend, basically. Oh but by the way, I didn't have a jacket on the entire weekend! I didn't need one. It's like, HOT can you believe it? I have to keep my window open at night, otherwise it's just too hot to sleep.
This is random, but now that I think about it I ate really Dutch food today. Meaning I didn't eat vegetables. Breakfast was a roll with butter and chocolate flakes, plus orange juice. Lunch was ice cream and a herring sandwich with onions - oh, I guess onions are vegetables - plus a bite of someone's waffle. Dinner was just random party snacking, like chips and fried cheese. I don't know, it just feels so...... Netherlandish.
Wow I can't believe my spellcheck didn't underline "Netherlandish".
But speaking of culture....
A Russian boy is going to be staying with us for a week. It's an exchange program through my school. In October (while I was still at my first school), some kids from my class went to Russia for a week, and now those kids are coming here. One guy couldn't take his partner in his house, so I offered to take him in instead. I'm looking forward to it, we made really good plans to show them around (which is nice for me, too). They're coming on Wednesday.
Ugh, I have so many projects for school to do and just tasks in general that have to get done! Oh well, I think I'll manage.
Pshh, what am I saying, of COURSE I'll manage! I'm Emily Saxe! I can do anything!
Tot ziens,
Moi

Procrastinating

I don't know why I feel like writing a post right now, but it might have something to do with my recent consumption of pizza and the white wine.
I took a 2 hour bike ride today. I know what your question is, and the answer is yes, I was lost for approximately half the time. However, I didn't worry about it too much, because I am lost and I always will be lost. When I realized I was in Delft, though, I did start to worry a bit.
Too much pizza and too much wine are both supposedly linked to heart disease.
I read a book. It was another one by Safran Foer, but I liked this one a lot better than the last one I read. This one was called Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I liked it because I understood it and could relate to it (in a small, small way).
A few days ago, my English teacher told me to ask my classmates for help if I needed it. My classmates thought that was pretty interesting. Apparently I didn't do so well on a reading test. Oh well, what can you do? My English has gotten worse since I've been here.
I heard something said by a Belgium woman in Belgium that I thought sounded like something Belgians think American people would say. She said, "Finish your fries, dear, then you can have some more cola." .... Literally never heard that in the states before.....
Been going to the gym more often. I like it. But there's a TV that you're sort of forced to look at, because it's right there in front of you. They usually play weird things, like MTV or Discovery Channel. Sometimes it's Animal Planet, and sometimes they show videos of kangaroos giving live birth.
Kangaroos.
Are.
Disgusting.
I used to think it was kind of cute that the little joeys could sit inside their mommys' pouches and chill there until they were ready to hop around merrily in the big, scary world on their own.
Well, maybe that's all fine and well for Joey Jr., but I really didn't need to know the details, thank you very much.
This is how I lose weight.
Oh, I don't know what to say, except that Anne-Laure tricked me into giving her a sticker she didn't deserve.
I'm tired.
Tot kijk,
Emily

Shocking News

1. Elise saw an advertisement for beer which claimed that the more you drink, the more cheerful you become. She then said, "I think Daddy should drink more beer. That way he'd be happier." Carla thought it was funny. Matthias did not.
2. Shutter Island is not a scary movie.
3. Wearing a skirt on a bike is not a good idea. Unless you can bike with one hand.
4. The stove wouldn't light all week. So Matthias climbed under it to look at the cables. One had been Chu'd through. Mystery solved: Chu never had cancer, he'd just been electrocuted. Oof........
5. Too bad the Euro is worth more than the Dollar, I really want to buy new clothes.
6. My parents are going to visit me in June for a week.
7. I don't like cities. Too crowded. Too lonely.
8. I have acquired a taste for beer. (I don't get drunk or something, I just like it now and then. Which sucks because I can't drink in America.)
9. I can't wait to go to college.
10. I think I might be talented, I'm just too lazy to find out.
11. I really miss my dog, Lucky. Here is his picture:

Tot ziens,
Emily

Exasperation+Fun=Madness

So I'll get right to it: Chu is still alive. We decided to let him live because he still seems to enjoy life. And now the tumor is gone (???). In it's place is this weird hole in his lip but he seems to be alright, just tired a lot.
Oh, so I forgot to tell a pretty funny story. The largest panorama in the world is right here in Den Haag, and it's called the Panorama Mesdag. It was made in the 1880s. I went to go see it, but my travel card broke in half on the bus. I was playing with the two halves while admiring this important, historic piece of art, when one of the halves of my card leapt from my hand and into the sand surrounding the painting! A little piece of 2010, defacing this 19th century masterpiece. As punishment, my host dad made me watch a video describing the painting's restoration. I didn't really mind that part.... except then I had to go buy a new travel card and the guy asked my host dad if I had been punished yet for breaking the first one. Great.
The word for daffodil in Dutch is narcis. Hahaha. Like the guy..... and the water and the flower and yeah.
Oh! I beat a personal record! I got to level 23 in Tetris! .......................................................
Which, now that I think about it, isn't that great of an accomplishment. :(
Mean Girls is on TV right now. Hahahahahahaha. So this is how Dutch kids get their ideas about America.
Hm.... what else?
I've narrowed down my college choice to two really outstanding choices. But I'm not ready to make a decision yet.
Aughh... just remembered I have to clean my room! Noooooooooooo the horror! Oh well.
Grrr there is so much to be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't even begin to write it all down here so I'm just not even going to try.
Tot ziens,
Emily

For Chu

You remember Chu, our hamster? The most clever, curious, adventurous, cheerful hamster ever?
Unfortunately, he has a tumor in his mouth, making eating pretty difficult.
He just isn't happy anymore and he's probably starving, so tomorrow we will put him to sleep.
It's sad, but it will end his suffering. He was only 1 year old.
Chu, you were awesome, and I don't want you to hurt anymore. It breaks my heart to see you so down. We all learned a lot from you.
Rest in Peace.

...

Okay, here is some more news:
I just spent the last five and a half hours making sushi with my friends. We'll sell it tomorrow at school. It's sure to be a big success! (We ate the sushis that fell apart - trust me, people will want seconds!)
Oh, today I gave a presentation in history class. It's always sort of embarrassing speaking Dutch in front of a lot of people. Everyone always pays reaaaaaaaally good attention to me when I give presentations. This one was about the history of Berlin from 1945-1949. But oh well, I got an 8, which is like the equivalent of a B in America. Nice!
I remember what I forgot to mention in my last blog. I went to the Efteling (amusement park) with some AFS friends. It was fun. Haha, that was it.
It's finally spring! I've traded my gloves for sunglasses on the bike. I can even eat when I'm biking now (although I only do that when I'm almost late for school) oh, and I eat bread again, although not a lot. It's sort of necessary for survival here....
Can't think of anything else, except that kids at school keep quizzing me about where countries are in the world. Geography was never my best subject so I must seem a little ignorant to them. But I like the kids at school, they're really nice and fun to hang out with. I guess I'll be going now.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Ongelooflijk: Mijn Vijftigste Post!

Wow I haven't written one of these for a while... here's what's been going on:
I went to Belgium. It was really nice! I stayed with Carla's parents and hung out with my Italian friend (who, by the way, broke his collar bone when he hit a bus while riding his bike). He's better now. Anyways, we went to Antwerp, Brussels, and Brugge. Brugge was definitely the most beautiful city I have ever encountered, and Brussels was really interesting and cool. I didn't see a whole lot of Antwerp, but it seemed alright, I guess like any city but then with yummy waffles and lots of fashion shops. Carla's dad made us these delicious mussels for lunch one day, which I really enjoyed. And I didn't used to like beer, but Belgian beer is amazing! Davide realized (as many people already have) that I get lost pretty easily and told me that I have the "orientation of a spoon". I'm not sure what that means and he doesn't either but I suppose it seems appropriate...
Oh yes, my pancake party! That was fun. My American friend Jenny helped me make all the pancakes. We made a recipe for 60 but it only came out to be 30 which was disappointing. But everyone who showed up before 9pm got at least one. I made a game called "Do you know me?" where there were two groups with the same questions about my life. But both teams got two answers wrong, so nobody actually won....both teams thought that I took the schoolbus to school every day, haha! We watched Zoolander, one of my favorite films, and everyone liked it.
I also did some gallivanting about the Netherlands. I went to Den Bosch and Gouda with a Japanese friend. There was a festival in Den Bosch and that was really cool. Everyone was dressed up crazy-like and there were tons of bands playing on the streets. There's a famous dessert there called the Bossche bal and it's basically an obese eclair (aka: lekker). The stroopwaffel was invented in Gouda, so we got one of those when we went. Basically a fun and sugar-filled day.
I also visited Jenny in her village near Leiden. We were biking and this dog walked right in front of me and then stopped. I accidentally tapped it............ he wasn't hurt, but I was sort of like.... uhh...... that reminds me, I almost hit a car while biking, too. We both had the green light and he didn't see me as he was turning and I didn't have time to slow down. But nothing happened. Just have to go slower next time...aside from those two events, I really love my bike. This one time, I was going pretty fast 'cause I like going fast, and I heard this guy on the sidewalk say, "Wow, what a speed!" That was pretty awesome. But I'll slow down now.... at least when crossing the street. And when dogs obliviously stand right in front of me.
THE WEATHER IS SO AMAZING RIGHT NOW I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT
When it was 3 degrees Celsius (about 36 degrees Fahrenheit) I was practically jumping for joy. So now that it's 11 C (53 F) I'm thinking, 'How could I have ever been COLD in this weather in California????'
I got an A+ on my English final. Hooray, I speak my own language!
These last few months have gone by really fast, it's incredible. Probably because I've been more busy and have been enjoying things more. It was so great, I had a heated discussion with a boy in my class about whether or not a film could be better than the book version - in Dutch. I didn't win the argument (I said it wasn't possible, but how could I compete with someone's opinion?) but it was still cool to be able to debate in another language. The reason we were talking about it in the first place was that my teacher gave out free tickets to see Frankenstein in the theater. It was actually a filmed play, which was quite excellent, but still, the book was better.
Next Friday I'm going to be selling sushi at school during the breaks with my Japanese friend. It was her idea, but we're working together, along with the help of some other friends at school. She's worried about Japan right now, because of everything that has happened. All the money we earn will be sent to the Red Cross to help in the relief effort. I like doing it, I feel like I'm helping both her and her country.
Wow, college decisions come out soon. I'm really curious to find out where I get accepted. When I know for sure where I will be going in the fall, I'll post it on here.
I'm probably forgetting to write something, but it's time for bed now. It's 1:53 am, just so you know. I have two projects due on Monday - 1 for history class and 1 for Dutch class. I went to Delft today with the other AFSer's from South Holland, and tomorrow evening I'm going to a friend's house for a small movie party, so I actually need to sleep so I can work a bit tomorrow.
I'll get back to writing more often. But just know that since I haven't been writing so much, I've actually been doing more. And that's a good thing, right? Right.
Nou, tot ziens,
Emily

Television

Not that I have a whole lot to say, but here goes:
I have received my first college acceptance letter. That means that I'm for sure moving on to a higher education in America. Yippee!
By the way, the school gala was AMAZING! Better than my American prom, really. Just danced the night away. Got a lot of compliments on my dress - it was blue, most of the other girls were wearing black. :]
I stayed up until 5:30 am last night watching The Big Bang Theory. Then I slept until 12:00 pm, then watched another 4 hours of it, and have now decided to do something useful with my life (not sure if this counts). But later I will shower, clean the kitchen, finish reading my (Dutch) book, then work on an essay. Maybe I should exercise, too....
Hm.... This isn't the first time I've spent so long watching TV. I don't even like TV.
Right now I'm listening to some dubstep. Nice.
Bass, bass, bass.
Don't be scared, turn it up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUGzY-ihqWc

\m/ (>.<) \m/

(That's a guy rocking out.)
Tomorrow I'm going to Belgium. Staying for a few days.
I made some good eggs this morning.
Oh yeah, I'm on vacation from school. That's why I'm just sort of............chilling.
Remember when I said I was planning something? Well, yesterday I sent out an invitation for an American pancake party at my house to my friends at school. I hope it's fun, it's for March 12th.
I've been feeling bored lately. Like every day is the same.
My favorite poem is by Ezra Pound. I discovered it in the summer before 11th grade. It goes like this:

IN A STATION OF THE METRO
The apparition of these faces in the crowd ;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Did you know that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a novel in 6 words, something that would really tell a story? He succeeded. Here it is:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Deep.
That is all that I wanted to say.
Tot ziens,
Emily
PS: Take care of yourself.

What's Up?

I'm glad you asked. Aside from rubbing lotion into my sandpapery chapped lips, I just wanted to tell you something important:
I've been here for over half a year.
Thaaaat's right, today marks the 6 months, 1 day point on my journey! Celebration!

In other news, I rode my bike back home from the station. You know, even though I was only without it for a little while, I was really happy to be back on. But I do have a new rule for biking: always bring gloves. We don't want a repetition of today's little epidemic when I could hardly open the front door because my hands were frozen into bike handle position. And then I had to submerge my handsickles into luke warm water for a few minutes to get some feeling back into them, other than pain. Not fun.
But actually, I'm glad I didn't start riding my bike until now. It's not that windy anymore, and it stopped raining so often a while ago. One of my American friends who has been biking all year told me during the windy season:
"Whenever I bike to school, the wind is ALWAYS blowing against me. So I'm struggling to get somewhere that should only be taking me ten minutes, while old men are passing me on foot." Ouch.
Plus, riding the tram is a totally different experience, which is also part of the culture.
Oh, so today this guy came into our Dutch class and read some poems to us. Then he told us to write our own poems. I chose to write about a childhood experience. Lizzy, you'll remember this from our baby videos.

Lunch van een Twee Jaar Oud Meisje

Ik zit tegenover mijn oudere zus,
spaghetti aan het eten.
Ik ga langzaam, netjes met mijn vork
met een ernstig zekerheid.
Tegelijk lacht mijn zus,
haar gezicht helemaal rood met saus.
Zij lacht.

Stel je voor dat als ik zo groot word,
dat ik het niet zo grappig zal vinden?


The guy (who didn't know I wasn't Dutch, by the way) liked my poem and he read it to the class. The other students told me it was good. Some were even impressed (ehm, I like to gloat sometimes, hehe). But I heard a couple of other kids' poems, and they were actually pretty outstanding, especially considering our time limit.
Sad that so much art/literary talent is discovered/appreciated after the artist has died.
I guess that's all I really had to say. I had a nice day today. Oh yes.... I am planning something, but that is for a later post.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Yarp.

Soooooo I rode my bike to and from school for a whole week! Cool, huh? But I have to take the tram to school tomorrow, because I left my bike at the train station on Saturday. I went to Aalsmeer to visit an Indonesian AFSer for her birthday party. It was really fun to see some of the other girls again, and she made some really delicious traditional Indonesian food for us. But I can't say I like Aalsmeer. I was lost for an hour. It was 5 pm on a Saturday and I was the only one on the street, except for some other lonely wanderers. Luckily my nice host dad went onto Google Maps to tell me how to get to the party. Took a Metro back to the station... first time on a Dutch metro. Anyways, my bike is still there because it was too late at night to bike back home, so I took the tram.
...
My host dad just waved his hands to the music, looked at me and said:
"You're just writing to write. There's no.... inner inspiration."
*Waves hands again. Makes guitar sounds. Whistles.*
...
We just watched this movie called Eight Below, about some sled dogs that were left alone for almost 200 days. Sad. There was also a scary seal living inside an orca carcass. Ew, gross.
You know the movie Spirited Away? Remember "No Face" and how he throws up everything he had eaten? I think Miyazaki got that idea by studying hamsters. Today, Chu filled his little hamster cheeks with seeds and hamster food, then proceeded to push them all back out in a nice safe corner of his cage. It was pretty friggin gross. The wonders of nature.
Oh my gosh, I really do have nothing to write about......
Carla made some yummy waffles today. Thank you for those.
Jotte came over today just to talk. Little did she know I would use her as one of my chow mein puzzle minions! Mwahahahahah! I put together like, 4 more pieces. Yay!
Oh, but you know.... I was talking to the Chinese girl at the party, and it turns out she's only 15 years old! I couldn't believe it.... she's so young and she went on a year abroad, away from her parents, and she speaks English and Dutch. Wow. And, she told me that in her home city, she goes to school from 8 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, with a one hour lunch break and two hour dinner break. Then it's homework until 11 pm, then bed. She even has school Sunday mornings. WHAT??? So she just looooves school here because it's so much freedom.
Oh, and someone said something... interesting to me. Apparently, in a lot of countries, the kids who want to do AFS have to take a test to qualify, because more people want to do an exchange than there are host families available. When I told someone that Americans don't have to take a test and AFS tries really hard to recruit us, she said, "Yeah, but you're Americans. Everything just gets handed to you." I don't know, it just left me thinking.
Eh. I guess I should sleep now, its 12 am. Why is it that I never want to sleep at night, but I never want to get up in the morning?
Oh. The title. Ever seen Hot Fuzz? No? Go rent it. Right now.
Tot ziens,
Emily

3 Bs

Birthday
I forgot to mention that it was Matthias' birthday on the 9th. We ate at an Indian restaurant. Het was wel gezellig, en het eten was lekker. I gave him two big red candles and a card. The candles were a sort of inside joke.

Bikes
After we ate, we rode bikes home. Except only Matthias and Carla had their bikes with them. That meant that Carla, Anne-Laure, and I sat on one, while Matthias, Elise, and Sebastiaan sat on the other. Zes mensen op twee fietsen? Belachelijk!
As promised, I finally rode my bike to school by myself today. It was .... scary. I don't like biking through the city. Gotta watch out for other bikers, pedestrians, cars, busses, trams.... the trams are the scariest. Especially when you have to cross 6 intersecting tracks at once. And get your wheel gets caught in the tracks. And you have to jump off your bike...
........................
Zo is mijn leven.
Not giving up, though. It should become easier as I continue to work on it.

Bread
I. Cannot. Bring myself. To consume. One. More. Boterham. I just can't. The thought of bread disgusts me. I don't even want the things you put on bread. Ik wil helemaal geen hagelslags, of pindakaas, of appelstroop. Please, no more appelstroop. Been eating a lot of fruit lately. And cereal. Cereal I can handle. But that fluffy stuff used to keep your fingers clean while eating a slice of meat? Uh-uh. I'm sorry John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, but I cannot appreciate or enjoy your bold invention any longer.

Well, that's all I wanted to mention right now. Oh, I finished reading a Dutch novel. It was alright. Some guy died in the end, but he was the bad guy. Actually, it was filled with a lot of drama. I'm going to find something to eat, then turn on some music and try to put together my chow mein puzzle.
Tot ziens,
Emily

ZZZzzzz

I can't believe it's still crummy weather. My lips are really chapped. I bought some lip balm but it didn't help.
I'm going to start (really start) biking to school on Monday. I finally learned the way I have to go.
Some AFS kids are going to hang out in Amsterdam tonight. I seriously considered going, but now I'd just rather stay home and work on my English homework so I can actually graduate American high school. I didn't have a totally fantastic time in Amsterdam last time I went, so I'd just as soon save some money, time, and a night in the cold to do something productive. Sounds pretty antisocial, I guess, but I just don't really feel like going anywhere. Plus, like I mentioned, it's not exactly good walking-around-the-city weather.
I was really happy after a conversation I had with my host dad last night. We had a guest over and she told me to clean up the kitchen, which I thought was kind of weird because, well, she doesn't live with me and I always help clean up after dinner anyways. When I said something to Matthias, he said to me:
M: Just don't listen to her.
E: Yeah.... I'm not going to.
M: Kind of like how you never listen to us, huh?
E: What?! I always listen to you!
M: Uh huh.
E: No really! I listen to you guys all the time, I always do what you tell me to do, I --
M: I know. To be honest, you are a fantastic host daughter.
E: Yayyyy!
I even got a hug from him, which is not a very Matthias thing to do.
M: Stop it with all the hugging! I'm not a natural hugger.
Good thing Carla likes hugs [almost] as much as I do.
Things are going well at my school. We played badminton yesterday, which was really fun. I gave a presentation (in English, upon request) about cities in America. A section of my Geography book was about them, so I gave a summary of that and then talked about my own experience living in LA. A lot of kids talk to me at school, too, which is nice. In two weeks the school is having a dance at some banquet hall. I'm planning on going. Here's hoping the dress I brought with me still fits...
I bought the most amazing puzzle ever. It's a 400 piece, circular one that looks like chow mein. You have NO idea how difficult it is. It all looks like noodles. I had finally picked out all the edge pieces, and even put a couple together, and then the cleaning lady put them all back in the box so she could vacuum. Zo is mijn leven.
I bought 3 new shirts. They are all men's shirts. I like shirts for men because they are so easy and so comfy.
I just watched something on Youtube about African grey parrots. Apparently they are pretty smart.
Yawn. I'm tired.
Well anyways, I guess I'll go work on my English homework now.
Tot ziens,
Emily

Get a Grip, Marshall

Many Dutch people use a very artificial, slightly obnoxious, British accent when they speak English. I usually don't say anything, because I think this is how they have learned to speak English. But I had to laugh today, because a boy was talking to my English teacher today during study time, and someone shouted from the back of the class, "You're not British!" Hahaha.
But I can't laugh too hard, because I get laughed at at school as well. I wore two braids once, and I heard some guys say, "Oh, look, it's a real-life Pippy Long Stockings," which reminded my of 8th grade. Another day, some kids tried to trip me in the hall. And someone put a sandwich on my chair, but luckily I didn't sit on it.
You know what makes me feel awkward? When I'm talking to someone, and another person is blatantly eavesdropping. As in, staring directly at me, silently, and even if I stare back, they don't stop. Also, when someone is eating, and nobody else is eating, so they eat it slow and in little bites so that it's not awkward or messy, 'cause they know everyone is staring at them eating. I say, just scarf it down, you're going to eat it all anyways, why try to pretend to be dainty about it? Society.....
Something else weird... I'm pretty sure central heating doesn't exist here in NL. People are forced to huddle by the radiator when it's cold. Why? Can't the whole room be warm? And why, WHY is the radiator always directly under the window? You can't have a warm and fresh room at the same time, I'm sorry.
Did you know there aren't any bears in the Netherlands? Makes camping a lot easier.
I love the English language. I really do.
Speaking of which, I've been listening to a lot of music recently. Which is weird for me, because I used to think music wasn't very interesting. But... yeah, Youtube makes it pretty easy. Lately Eminem and P!nk.
Oh! So I took a Dutch language test with the rest of the AFSers last weekend, and I just got my grade: 70 out of 83! That means I was excellent. Joepie!! :)
Erghh, can't think, host parents are watching Evita and it's really loud. By 'watching' I mean listening to while looking through television manuals. This is how we bond, you see. We sit on the couch and multitask, not really paying attention to the TV, but if someone talks, my host dad says, "Hey, I can't hear the program!"
Just another modern family, I guess.
"But when you act, you take us away from the squalor of the real world."
Some dude just sung that. What does 'squalor' even mean?
Squalid: adjective. Extremely dirty and unpleasant; showing a contemptible lack of moral standards. (From Ninjawords.com)
Uhm. These people just met and they're already in love. And they won't stop singing about it.
....
Would it be sad if I told you I just realized this was an opera? Probably. So I won't say it.
You know what I would really like? A longggggggggg bike path that doesn't go anywhere in particular, with nobody on it, just me, nothing else. I just want to bike, or run, or even walk, just to get away from this city and be alone. Not that I don't like the people here - I do - but not so many of them and not all the time.
By the way, since someone is going to ask, the title of this post is a line from Eminem's song, "Kim". I feel like I need to get a grip sometimes. But my name is Emily. Not Marshall.
Just clarifying.
Tot ziens,
....Oh. I just told you my name. That's awkward.

Average.

Shouldn't be writing now. Should be sleeping.
Came home at 2 pm.
Forgot to turn on the lights.
Realized I was sitting in the dark at about 5:30.
Didn't do anything about it.
Reading a book about Americans in the Second World War.
It's good.
So bored...

^ Mmmm, kroket. Lekker. ^
Learning French online.
Bonjour.
Need to work on online English class.
Need to do grocery shopping.
Need to go to the gym.
Dropped my tweezers in the toilet.
Retrieved/washed them.
Watched the end of a dumb romantic comedy.
Ate some Pringles.
Need to wash my sweater.
A cute baby drooled on it.
And other stuff.
A few days ago I was running down a sand dune really fast.
Too fast.
Fell face first into the sand, then did a flip.
With my face.
Never going on a slope again.
De dagelijkse sleur.
Sick of Youtube.
Sick of facebook.
Sick of my computer.
It costs 12 cents to take the tram from the station to my school.
It costs 90 cents to take the tram from my school to the station.
What?
I'm just going to walk.
Going to Delft with some girls Friday.
'Girl' in French is 'fille'.
New hobby: making little men out of aluminum foil.
Many people here think everyone in America is religious and owns a swimming pool.
Apparently, I am not a typical American.
I do not understand people with a British accent.
Law and Order England Edition?
Thank you, Dutch subtitles.
Dutch test Sunday.
...
I don't hate anything.
I dislike some things.
I'm afraid of some things.
I don't understand everything.
But I don't hate anything.
I've been afraid of beauty since as long as I can remember.
When I was little, I would start to tear up if I heard a word that was a connotation of beauty, like 'heart'.
I ride the tram 10 times a week.
And who's that person sitting next to me?
I've never met them.
I don't know their name.
I don't know what they ate for breakfast, or if they even did.
I don't know of their regrets and I don't know of their accomplishments.
I don't know if they're late for work.
I don't know who they love the most,
and I don't know if I'll ever see them again.
So many people, so many things.
What am I going to do with my life?
Maybe I should learn to dance.
Tot ziens,
Emily

The First and LAST Time

I thought I'd just tell you about my day, because it was pretty eventful.
Woke up, did the usual routine. As I was leaving the house, Matthias told me to text him if the kids at school didn't want to play with me. Anne-Laure climbed behind the curtain to wave to me from the window. Took the tram / walked to school. Went to geology, then economy, nothing special. Talked to some friends. Ate an orange.
Then I went to gym, which was actually pretty fun today. We played dodgeball, then soccer, and then.... well....
We had to jump over a mat. I mean, four people held this thick gymnastic mat straight up, and the rest of us had to get a running start, jump, grab the top, then hoist ourselves over it and land on the mats on the ground. I was just thinking, "Oh no, I'll never make it over that!!" But when it was my turn, I thought, "Okay, it's now or never!" I started running, gained some speed, and when I was almost to the the mat, someone shouted, "JUMP!" So I jumped. Face first, into the mat, with my arms over my head. I looked like a pannenkoek. Everyone laughed, but not in a mean way. I think it just looked sort of... well, hilarious. Tried again. Didn't make it.
Anyways, I got back in line to attempt another time, and this time I did make it! Sort of. Well, I made it to the mats on the other side, anyways. But when I jumped and hoisted myself, the people holding it lost their grip and it all sort of fell down. Nice...
One of the boys told the mat holders to tilt it the long way, and a few kids actually made it over. I was pretty impressed, but not exactly inspired to try it myself.
Ate a sandwich. At lunch I was told that there would be a student demonstration on a nearby field that I had always thought was just abandoned. The demonstration was at 2:00pm, so I had to ask my English teacher if I could leave. She told me that I shouldn't be asking to leave school for a protest, because that's what you're supposed to do for a protest. But she made me and the other kids stay, just to explain that if we left, we'd miss a chance to raise our grade, but that it was our choice. Since I've received nothing but A's in English class, I decided to leave.
I followed a couple of boys to the field, and when they saw me they said,
"Emily, YOU'RE going to the demonstration???"
Me:"Yes."
Them: "Why?"
Me: "For fun."
Boy 1: "We just said we were going so that we could go home from school. Just go home. Sit on the couch and eat chips."
Me: "....Huh?"
Boy 1: "This protest isn't going to be a fun thing. There are going to be three kinds of people there: those who really are against the 3,000 euro cost for spending an extra year at university, those who just go for fun, and those who just want to screw around. There are going to be policemen there, too."
Me: "Why policemen?"
Boy 1: "In case the crowd gets out of hand. Don't you know about these things? It happens all the time. People get hurt at protests."
Me: "By the police?"
Boy 1: "Yeah, sometimes. I mean, they have sticks with them, to hit people. Say, if someone has a gun or something. But, well, probably nobody will have a gun here."
Me: "So is this.... dangerous?"
Boy 1: "Yeah, it's pretty dangerous. I mean, say someone tries to run away, and then a stampede happens and people get trampled."
Boy 2: "Well jeez, don't scare her..."
*Field comes into view, along with parked police cars and an ambulance*
Boy 1: "See, I told you. There's already an ambulance. So this is your last chance to walk away."
*They walk towards the crowd on the field, even though they told me they were going home, which I found strange.*
Me: *Seriously considers leaving. Sees two girls from school heading towards crowds. Follows them.*
Me: "Hey!"
Girls: "Hey!"
Me: "Is this dangerous?"
Girls: "No."
Me: "Why is there an ambulance?"
Girls: "Well, look at how many people there are. If something happens, they're already here."
Me: "Boy 1 said it was dangerous."
*We walk over to some other kids from school. The Boys 1 and 2 are there.*
Girls: "Boy 1, what have you been telling her???"
Boy 1: "Uhhh..."
Teacher: "Emily, never listen to Boy 1."
Me: "Okay."
*Girls pull me deeper into crowd.*
Some guy on the stage taught us a song that went something like this:
"3,000 euros, is that really necessary?
Here are students standing in the cold.
Hey, policemen, take a look at yourselves,
It's a new 2011."
People weren't so happy when some guy who supported the student costs came out to talk. Imagine thousands and thousands of Dutch people droning, "blaaaaah blaaaaaaaah blaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh" and doing the hand motion, too, while he talked.


GIFSoup

It was pretty fun there on that not-so-abandoned field. There were people from all over the country there, young and old, with huge signs, whistles, bullhorns, and a couple of people had sparklers with them. There was a giant stage and also enormous screens so everyone could see what was going on. I did hear an ambulance siren at one point, but saw no stampede and no policemen with sticks.
However, I did see the police take down a guy as I was walking back to Central Station. He was doing something weird though... I'm not sure what, but I could see he wasn't acting normal. The police just kind of grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. I wanted to get out of there, so I ducked down to get past some people and ended up getting elbowed in the head. But I got home fine.
Did some grocery shopping. This is one of the many "Hamster Weeks" at the Albert Heijn, so 50 items are 2 for 1. Carla told me to buy some herring, because she knows how much I love it. Today marks the first and last time I buy it from there. It just wasn't very fun to eat. Full of bones... ouch.
My toe hurts. It has for like, a week or something.
Sooo anyways, after putting the food away I went to my room, started writing this post, got interrupted by the door bell, went down both flights of stairs, opened the door, took the package, went back up, wrote some more, got interrupted again, went back downstairs, opened the door, let my host family in, then told them I'd be right back. So now I have to go back.
Tot ziens,
Emily