movienerd

It's weird how fast a month can pass...In a way it seems like it was ages ago that I came here ... in another way it feels like I just got here. Now the EILC course is over and I have my 4 ECT's and a dutch A-level. For our last day we didn't have much of a class... everyone got their certificate, we gave our teacher flowers and she was so happy then we went to a pannencoeken place..




And they had donkeys... so I just had to climb the fence and cuddle them! (Ofcourse the other girls joined in aswell)



Tomorrow I'm off to Deventer to look at a room. Fingers crossed that I get it!

As you can tell..I wasn't overly excited. They picked a poor day for this photo....(yesterday) since it was raining most of the day and I arrived at summerschool all soaked. But I guess it was a nice idea after all.... This is all the EILC people...(ie. everyone thats learning dutch and are here on an Erasmus schollarship).


Ohhh and today I did my, sorta, first dutch phonecall. Just that I didn't know it would be in dutch untill I realised that the woman didn't speak english... unfortunately the room was gone allready. But yay me!

I can't shake it... our teacher made us sing today. A very popular old dutch song.. apperantly it was quite catchy. My cellphone camera is kaputt! Or well.. there's something wrong with and ofcourse I didn't think of bringing the warranty incase it would mess up so I can't turn it in... the warranty paper is safely stored at Shurgard in Gothenburg, sweden...


Anyways.. dinner time!

That the rain in Holland is just as wet and cold as the rain in Sweden. Lesson learned, I'm gonna get me a raincoat...or raindress or whatever they call it before this week is over.

Today we had the eindexam in written/grammar dutch. Tomorrow is the oral exam and then we will get our certificates stating that we have earned 4 ECTs in Nederlandse. Another souvernie from the land of the cloggs...And tomorrow I'm heading out on adventures.. taking a 1 hour long trainride to Deventer where I'm supposed to look at a room I'm interested in.

Ofcourse now the sun comes out......

Is hard when I keep letting myself get distracted. Now I'm gonna do the last of it for today. On wedsday I'm a go and look at a room aswell as on friday. I might get lucky and get one of my own instead of having to share, I guess we'll see. Theres still 7 or so ads that I responded to today/yesterday that has yet to get back to me... well one did and I was the 14th person to respond (no kidding that people jumped at that once since it was a small appartment with your own kitchen/bathroom and it was cheap). That one did say that I could come and look at it if I wanted to but that my chances of getting the room is slim.

The one on wedsday is a furnished room, so that is good. It's tiny though. The one on friday is bigger but unfurnished - both in about the same price range. I'm still hoping to hear from the other ones aswell, I've replied to a few really good ones but ofcourse so has a ton of other people aswell I suspect.

Ah well, I better not get stuck here ... I'm gonna go try and smack my head straight with hebben en zijn, which is really simple but I still tend to mix them up now and then.

Ik heb, ik ben, je hebt en je bent of heb je en ben je. and so on.....

It was not a human falling down the stairs the other day. It was a can of fruit lemonade, the very very sticky kind. The stairs is all covered in carpet so you can imagine just how nice that is with lemonade in it. The floor below the stairs has no carpet but apperantly the person dropping the can did not think about mopping atleast that part off. No more walking barefoot downstairs for me, thats for sure.

Have a lovely sunday!

To share a house with this many people.. I think we are 7, but it might be more (just not sure where all the rooms are). Just now one of the girls ...well atleast it sounded like it.. fell down the stairs, or dropped something n cursed (kut, being the word). It was probably dropped something, whatever it was made quite alot of noise.

What's interesting however is that you learn who's walking up the stairs...or who uses the bathroom. The stairs by hearing how it sounds...my friend uses shoes inside and stamps her feet really bad in the stairs = souds like an elephant. Wendy usually runs lightly up the stairs, Pim walks normally and doesn't make that much noise and the new girl you can barely hear. I try my best to make as little noise as possible and never wear shoes inside. The bathroom you can tell if the lid is open or not. As far as I can tell I'm the only one in this house that closes it.

The kitchen you can also tell.. the girl that usually lives in the room I'm in appears to be a neatfreak, the kitchen is very tidy after her. Frouk makes a complete mess and doesn't clean up. Wendy cleans up after herself but leaves heaps of cleaned dishes to dry. I do my dishes right away and dry the bench off. And wendy always leaves the kitchen window open and then forget to close it so the kitchen is icey cold in the morning.
In a week and a half I get my own..well shared, bah, room in Zwolle. Then the real adventure begins, not that my time in Zeist and Utrecht hasn't been fantastic.

I've sleept 12 hours ... woke up wanting more. Today I'm just gonna do nothing and enjoy it royally. My head feels empty and my body feels tired....It's been a great week though, full of fun and games. Next week looks to be just as interesting with another birthday party (Izzy turns 21 on tuesday), exam - written and oral. Pannekoekenhuis, night canoeing, and I probably missed something in there. Tomorrow theres a good bye party, idiotic day to put it on so I'll see if I'll go or not. Most of the people I enjoy spending time with I'll stay in touch with even after the course is over...



We have Geraldine, me, Silvia, Marina, Izzy, Christina and Pauline on the picture above. Missing Fillipa from Portugal who was entertaining her mother yesterday.

Since I'm a sucker for old buildings and cute little gardens and what not the Zuiderzeemuseum was fantastic. I can't help it that I get superentusiastic over old houses, but they were just so cute, haha. The picture taking was a bit silly tho, since we were 7 people in a group everyone wanted their picture taken by the winmill and then everyone wanted their picture taken with someone so we were juggling cameras and switching places and taking heaps and heaps of pictures.

I'm still loving it here in dutchieland ... and i'm happy that I was right about that. I was sure even before I left here that I would have a great time and love it.. and I am feeling very at home and very allochton, but thats hardly a bad thing. I hope my room in Zwolle will have a TV so that I can watch dutch TV. Untill then I think I'm gonna download some dutch music and walk around listening to that...should be good for my dutch aswell.



Ofcourse... what is a touristy trip without atleast one tiny little souvernier? So I bougt a miiini clogg ... in pink.. just like the one above to put on my keyring. Next up is a teddy beer with "I ♥ Holland" haha.

 
  


I did go to the party last night and it was fun for the duration I spent there. Left around 10ish to go home and sleeeep. Managed to leave there and get home without getting the slightest bit wet, which was an accomplishment on a day like yesterday - a massive thunderstorm came in over this area. It was amazing to watch actually and afterwards the sky turned all pink and there was a purple rainbow...

And today... I'll write more about that tomorrow, i've had great fun atleast!


Happy weekend!

Theres a storm coming in ... temperature is insane outside right now but its brewing up for thunder and storming later on. In a way I hope it hits before I'm supposed to leave (coursemates b-day party tonight) cause then I can stay in without feeling bad about it. Everyone else that's going to the party lives in the same house as she does while I live atleast 30-45 minute walk from there... I don't mind walking but I rather not during a storm.


Last night the girl who rents the room I live in got back. Apperantly she thought it OK to knock on my door at 00:15 (are you sleeping? - wtf do you think, the light is off and I'm in bed.....sigh) to ask if she could borrow a pillow... then a few minutes later she burst into the room, not even knocking... and started to rumage through drawers and her closet.. This is not gonna be very fun coming week and a half. I can't wait till I get out of here. From now on I'm gonna lock my door from the inside in the evenings, I don't care if she wants something of hers in here, she can get in during day time...



Anyways.. before my disturbed attempt at trying to sleep ... Frouk and i went out for dinner and a walk in Utrecht. After that we went to the bowling place and met up with my classmates. Six people per lane so a few had to join another lane next to ours. We were 3 people on our side that had never bowled before, a guy that was completely out of controll (bodycontroll, hello? haha) he was great fun to watch tho and he did improve by the end. Then it was me and another girl from my course and we did pretty good. By the second round my thumb was getting sore so I tried my left hand out just 3 times or so.. Third go I did knock down the six middle ones... so I wasn't that bad on the left but switched back to my right either way. By eleven when we were supposed to leave I got to go one last time and decided I'd go lefthanded ...why not, I didn't do any strikes with the right all night anyways so...Imagine my surpise when I - on my fourth try using my left hand do a strike haha. I'm a convert to lefthandism instead I think, atleast for bowling...




Today we had a dutch lunch, everyone brought something (assigned ahead) and then we ate together. Our teacher brought her microwave so she could heat poffertjes for us. I don't know if I'd call it a lunch and my impression is that dutchies eat better than that.. but well..our lunch consisted of sugar, sugar, biscuits, poffertjes, appertaart... sugar.. butter. Sugar. Basically. The only fruit in sight was the mushed apple creem stuff in the appeltaart. It was nice though to try a few things I've never had before, I still say hagel slag (or however its spelled) should go on icecream and nowhere near bread cause thats just weird. The muisjes (rose en witte) is also icecream stuff imo. But it was quite nice on biscuits aswell.

Biked home with a classmate and stopped by the stable to say hi to these two cute little boys...




Tomorrow we have Discover Holland day.. and we're goin to Noord Holland where we'll visit a cheesefarm/cloggfactory and then go to the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen. Looking forward to it alot... and now I also reminded myself that I should charge the batterys for my camera so that I can take loads of really nerdy pictures.


over and out from a melting hot holland

I'm going to bed, but I will try and update the blogg again tomorrow....I have a few things to write down as soon as I get time for it.....

But now ...hot and sweaty as I am, pfff, i need to get some sleep before it's time to get up again.

Friday we took off on a day tripp to Zeeland to see the Delta works and go to the beach. We left Utrecht at 9:30 in the morning and came back again around 22:45, I was home about an hour later - I thought I was getting lost because my buss home just kept going and it was all dark outside so I didn't recognise where I was ... but I finally came to my street, yay.



Dutch panncakes are not like the swedish ones. They are huge. And very jummy. After a very long day of biking, walking around at Neltje Jans (Deltapark) and taking a boatride after which we got back on our buss and drove to the beack we finally got to eat at a pannekoekenhuis. It was a very tired and hungry group of students from all over europe that happilly tried to order their panncakes in dutch.

Oh and I also discovered a swede in the buss to Zeeland, I heard someone say "pennskrin" so I said "ahh, du är svensk" n then we spoke a little swedish but switched to english pretty soon. The italians/french and germans are hopeless in that way - they all hang with their countrymen and speak their own language. Kind of pointless in my opinion, if I want to meet swedes I might aswell have stayed in sweden. Never the less, it is quite nice to run into a swede now and then. But by now I'm so used to talking english (with a bit of dutch here and there) all the time and I was allready mainly thinking in english before I got here that it's a state of normality by now.



At Neltje Jans there was aguided tour... one guide for 53 people. We decided that it would be pointless and studied the map to decide where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do.



It was a great day and great fun, but the tiredness was unbelivable afterwards. Another day trip comming up on friday again! Before that theres disco bowling on wedsday that I might actually go to.. seeing as I've neveer bowled in my entire life that might be a fun experience.


I'll try and be better at updating things here, the weekend has been rather slow except for friday. Saturday I sleept in, took it really easy and then we went out for a few drinks. Watched Knowing in the middle of the night, and went to bed awfully late, or early depending on how you look at it. Today has been lovely, yes that about sums it up. A lovely sunday.. as sundayish as they get.

LOL.



The picture is so horrible it's funny. Halfway through the day yesterday and I was reaaally tired (not drunk as it looks on the pic tho.. )


And one a few hours later on a boat ride.

Het is verschrikelijk (as if I can spell that haha). The day started fairly unpleasant but it got better ... spent the afternoon watching I love you man, a very cute movie and then Frouk came home and brought a newely baked apple pie with candles on it and sang for me... haha.

So today I've had apple pie and one of these:




then we went out for dinner and i had some sorta spinage sallad with goats cheese n veggies and it was really nice. Frouk made me taste the dessert because she wouldn't order one for herself if I wouldn't taste it and then we had irish coffee and honestly, that really is not my thing.... I do like coffee, it's the whiskey. It's far much to strong for a wuss like myself.

It seems that I get to keep up my daily routine of stopping by the stable on my way home to cuddle the foal. I like that.. I need that contact with animals and horses.

Tomorrow I'm gonna get my paperwork in order so I can send in the papers to CSN and maybe get a bit of cash sometime soon. That would be really nice. Euros seems to vanish a little faster than the SEK I'm used to. I guess it's time to get to bed in a bit, have an early morning tomorrow again.

And tomorrow I turn old. Today I learned like nothing at all, which was also interesting. I probably learned something but it didn't feel like very much. I also went and cuddled foalie who put his head on my shoulder and almost resisted trying to scratch me back. It's funny how different he is now that he knows me, last week he'd be shy and move away if you went up to him, now he comes to me anticipating a nice scratch most likely.

There's more life in the house now. I'm not sure if someone else came home (upstairs) or if it's Wendys parents bringing stuff. I just know that there were people going up and down the stairs in absurdum at 7 am today. And they were still at it when I got home. So either someone went shopping an awfull lot or someone new is moving in. No idea. Would be cool to meet the rest of the people living in the house though.

I like my sundays. Sleep in, take it easy and ... just like a sunday should be. Went by the stable and cuddled foalie again, thats about it for today when it comes to movement and leaving the house.


A few pictures from yesterday.

My second weekend in Holland. I've had another great day playing tourist and getting to know the area a little bit better. Found the Zeistboschen aswell as a Natuurwinkel (Hälsokost typ fast större) and payed the centrum of Zeist a visit. It was me and the elderlies basically.

Took a lil bikeride to the stable before dinner to cuddle the foal yet again, now I've been there daily since frouk left and he seems to be getting used to me. Today he stood still for about 10 minutes as I scratched and stroke his coat and ran my hands over his neck, back, tummy and legs. The only movement he did was trying to scratch me back when I scratched in the right spot. He's a very good boy.

Tonight will be spent taking it reaally easy.. Gonna watch some true blood and relax. Tomorrow is gonna be like a normal sunday I decided, I need a bit of that. At most I'll pop out a quickie to the stable to get a little air and to cuddle the foalie a little more. Better take the chance now that I have access to horses and a stable ... dunno how that's gonna be when I get to Zwolle in a month.

So, again, happy weekend!

That I managed to get a bit lost again today on my way to the Dome/Central Museum. But on the good side, I now know where the trainstation is.



I see that sign every day when I bike back from the city. It's adorable.

Maybe now I can get a little colour again.. ahem. Pale and nice, haha. (The hair is still dark, half of it is black, the other half is some darkbrown with highlights in it.)




And a pic of Zoë - got to ride her for a whole 5 minutes sunday.

And adorable... theres plenty of little kids hanging around at the stable. With little I mean about a meter high or so. I've been there a few times by now so they've seen me and heard me talking. Today one of the smallest ones came up to us and asked in dutch, what language I spoke. Frouk said english and the little kid asked her if she speaks english and she said yes. Then the little girl turned to me and asked, in dutch, if I speak english. So, I said yes. haha...Guess I'm gonna have to try and speak dutch with them since they are to lill to know much if any english.

The dutch course is fun, theres fun people in my group and the teacher is over entusiastic about learning and such so she makes us sing silly dutch songs and what not. Tomorrow the ESN (International exchange erasmus student network) is hosting a picknik at a park, its gonna be around 30 degrees outside or something so not much point of staying inside then. And on friday we are going to get a tour of the museum and I think that I will be going up the Dome tower (300 steps of stairs or something) to get a peek at the view over the city.