Holland

Alright, I made it.
I have been in Holland for almost two weeks now and it is amazing.
Everyone is nice, the food is amazing, and the scenery is beautiful.
The first week was exhausting sitting and listening to dutch. You just sit there and think twice as hard to try and translate what everyone is talking about.. I had many headaches after those days.
This week was the Dutch Orientation Camp for all of the inbounds here. So we could learn some dutch or something...We stayed with local families of the rotary clubs, and i got to stay with my canadian. Michelle :)
But anyways there was 21 of us and they are all amazing people. I love everyone of them.
We had dutch classes every day monday- friday 9-3:30. I did learn a lot but i still dislike school. Especially when people are directing another language at you. But i learned the important things..like how to hit on guys. So i am totally set for the year.
The camp was in Leiden which has the oldest university in Holland, the town is beautiful and there are canals every where, so it reminds me of my dreams of going to venice, italy. i think i am satisfied for now with this beauty. Ill show you what i mean when i finally upload pictures. But we went on a boat tour of leiden on sunday, learned about some of the buildings, I was more entertained by being on a boat.
Monday evening, we went to a local rotary meeting, lots of dutch, lots of drinking, lots of talking. But thankfully our host mom for the week saved us from listening to the presentation and we got to go to a birthday party and hang out with children. They make you feel better about your dutch cause you can actually understand them. yay for children. Which just means i have the speaking level of a 2 year old but..oh well.
Tuesday, Four of us inbounds went to the beach, the north sea, it was really cold but gorgeous. Beaches are always amazing. Especially in Europe. Cause its just cool to say, i was at a  beach in europe. Then we all went to De Hagg, which is where all the parliament, queen, ect, are. Really pretty tall buildings. I have decided I am going to join the royal family. I just need a plan to do it. Also, all the embassies are there and the American embassy is the only one with a ridiculous amount of security. so go america. we are scared of everyone. wooohoo.
Wednesday, all of us inbounds went to a museum...which was...fun?. Then we got to go to the town hall and see everything, we got an article about us written in the paper. we are so famous. Then a group of us all went to hang out in Leiden for the night, I love the inbounds.
Thursday, 4 of us heading off to Amsterdam, it is a beautiful city. Especially at night with all the bridges lit up. But we had our own personal tour guide showing us the history of Amsterdam and I cant wait to go back, It is definitely not a city you can see all in one day. We did have some amazing Indonesian food that night though. yum. And of course we saw some of the red light district...i kinda want a red light for my window now. but just to psych everyone out. ha!
Friday, last day of school. yay. and a bunch of us hung out again after school in leiden. always fun. Then we had a BBQ with everyone, including some inbounds from January. That was really fun and sad, knowing we all became good friends this week and we are separating again. But no worries, Holland is small. it only takes 3 hours from north to south. About the same half way across Pennsylvania. Three hours from State College to Pittsburg. So i will most definitely be hanging out with all of you throughout the year plus the other orienations and fun stuff we will do.
But the last two weeks have been a lot of learning. I can say some stuff in dutch which is awesome. And i just learned that soccer (voetbal) starts this week. So i am excited for that. I still have a few weeks before school starts. And i will try and keep you posted on everything that happens. maybe.
Thanks for reading my rambling.
Love you all.
Tot Ziens.

ONE WEEK

so today marks one week until i leave. where did the time go? it seems like just yesterday i was starting this whole process. i am so excited but so nervous all at the same time.
i have started to pack....this is one of the hardest things EVER! i mean seriously...packing for an entire year. in two suitcases? are you kidding me? I think the hardest thing so far has been my shoes. They are my favorite thing in the world and also take up the most space...also I am playing soccer in Holland...so i have those shoes as well. Can't all my stuff magically appear in my room there? that would be fantastic :) but not going to happen. So as of now. i have clothes thrown all over my room and i keep trying things on to make sure 100% that i love it and will wear it. This is so hard! ha.
I am almost positive that i have everything i need. So hopefully I can spend this last week hanging out with friends and packing. So friends reading this. You should text me or email me to hang out :)
I also get to spend my 17th birthday here. One last fun thing here in America before i adventure out. Anybody know of the best restaurants that give out free desserts for birthdays? that is all i am looking for . what else are birthdays good for ...except FREE things?
I will definitely post next week when I am Holland. So keep posted. Follow my blog :) I should keep it updated on everything. Also i will start adding photos as soon as i charge my camera. ohhh electronics.
TOT ZIENS :)