First Week in Holland's Orientation Camp.

So I've made it safely to Holland, as of right now I am sitting here with my host family watching So You Think You Can Dance, Holland version. So I guess I should start from the moment I got on the plane until this moment.
I met up with Austin, who also is an exchange student, at the airport and we went through customs and found everyone together. The plane ride was nothing special, slept, watched some movies, watched the sun set and rise. Then we landed in Amsterdam and everything started. Someone said 'tot ziens', which means goodbye, to me for the first time, so that made it very very real. The airport was massive, with Dutch everywhere, including the wooden shoes and tulips! There we met up with other students from Thailand, Brasil, Japan, and Australia. Then we all rode a bus for an hour and a half out to the camp where we would be staying for the week. We had all thought we were going to be staying in the city, where everything was happening. Unfortunately that was not the case and we had to stay at a camp, with teepees and cabins. So we all had to get to know each other there without much to do, and without our laptops. My new good friend Katie from Australia and I watched the Brasilians play 'football', soccer, and they weren't bad to look at, haha. We all just hung out and explored until the Belgiums came later in the day. After which we all started talking, or trying to talk, to each other. The Belgiums hardly knew English, so I had to learn to talk very very slowly and carefully. The Brasilians spoke very very good English, although when they wanted to piss us off they would talk very fast Portugese, so that was frustrating.
It was such an amazing thing to be in a room and hearing four different languages going on all at once. Very crazy and interesting, I enjoyed that part very much. Then we started to learn more of the Dutch culture we were going to have to live with. The first thing we found was that the Dutch eat a lot of bread, brood. For breakfast they had bread with cheese, kaas, jam, sprinkles ect. For lunch it was the same, bread with meat and more kaas, cheese. So that was very boring and repetitive, but we had to get used to that. Then at night there was always a bigger, hot meal, the only one of the day. So that's how most families go about their meals for the day. Every morning after breakfast we would have to  take three hours of Dutch lessons with Stijn just covering the basics. He was a very very funny man, his accent was the best and he had such a strange sense of humor. All the adults were very very nice and trusting, I felt as if they feel we have a more understanding of what is good and bad and that most choices were up to us. So they hardly checked on us to see if we were in the right place or sleeping ect. So of course everyone stayed up too late talking, hooking up, doing whatever they wanted. So that was fun to just get to know each other. One night we were all out dancing and walking under the stars, which are so so so beautiful, and it was just good fun.
Tuesday we got to go to a cow milking farm and ostrich farm to just check it out and see how the robots milk, and they live. That was pretty interesting, the birds were so scary, I would turn around and one would be right there in my face. The bus we took was an open wagon sort of thing, so we stood in the back and watched the beautiful landscape. On Wednesday we went to the Holland Open Air Museum where we got to see Holland in the past to future. They had a walk through old time village with wax statues explaining how the family lived and survived. We saw lots of windmills, animals, and straw roofs. We also got to try some of the beer made there at the factory, it was bitter, but interesting. On Thursday we went on a bike ride to get used to riding to town. The bikes here have a key that locks the tire, it's very interesting and I have never seen that before. The bikes are also more designed for use and not just style. The town was just filled with people on bikes everywhere, it was crazy, I had never seen that many bikes all at once! These little villages are pretty much their malls, all the main stores in the same area. Some were American, most were obviously Dutch, and I even found a fair trade store. So we spent the day there and it was very fun. The last day we had short lessons and we all just hung out. It was Carol's birthday, so we had a party and everyone sang to her in their own language, it was very interesting. That night we had so much fun I think, we just did whatever we wanted as late as we wanted, it was so fun.
And then the day came, Saturday. We were to meet our new families.....

Stary Eyes, at night.

The stary eyes lived a life of genuine enjoyment, laughter, dancing, singing, pleasuring. They lived in beat with nature. It never hurt them, only encouraged their existence. Every night the trees would mold together into a cone, and the fireflies would ignite themselves on the wood, from the tops of trees and leaves. The fire was a loud, colorful, musical substance. It whistled, sparkled, and contained much power and peace. It would shower down on the stary eyes from every angle. As soon as the magical flames would hit the skins, scales, fur of any being, it would transform into a delicious, cool nectar. The purest, sweetest drink in all the universe. The creatures would stick out their tongues, or cup their hands while dancing to obtain tas much as they could. The cone would grow and grow until it funneled and released the fireflies. And every being could rest and be at peace. A tranquil slumber full of dreams. They knew of no other way of life.

Ganesh in Chicago/DC

 In front of the Sox Stadium!

 And again.. ha.

 Welcome to DC Ganesh.

We're packing for the last time!

Last night!

It's finally here! My last night in America for five months. It's so crazy, my bags are still a mess and everything is everywhere as I'm trying to repack.

Chicago was fun, I got to see some old friends, and realize how much I didn't enjoy the humidity. As well as meet new Outlaw friends, which is always a pleasure. I almost feel as though I'm growing out of Chicago sometimes, I want to re experience it in a way that isn't just looking back, rather creating something new. Perhaps someday. Shout out to my best friends, Carlye Arden for always letting me stay, no matter how odd I become each time I visit. Also to Jake for being a total badass with his band and actually going somewhere, I'm so proud!

So now I'm in DC, where the final part of my cross country adventure closes. More Outlaws Mike and Amy showed me around the city. The White House, and all those things Americans like. It was pretty cool, but I have to say my favorite part were seeing the protesters and listening to their reasons for doing what they do. If only you could see the people with power doing the same thing, out in public. Ah well. I also met up with another student going to Holland, Austin, he was really nice and I felt quite comfortable around him, so now I'm a bit more relaxed about everything.

So the Netherlands! I fly out of DC at 530 their time, 230 for my west coast lovers. If you want to call, skype, or text me, do it before  then! Once we get there we're all staying at a hostel together. It's sort of like a hotel, just with no luxuries, at all. There we get to do some tourism stuff to get it out of our systems, get to know each other, learn the rules/laws, get over jetlag, and just chill for a bit. I won't have my laptop with me while I'm in Amsterdam, so I won't be posting to contacting for that week. After that week, my family comes and picks me up, we go home, and life starts! It's so so close, and I'm just sort of living in a dream land of undecided emotions. I love everyone who has supported me, who loves me, and who have spent time listening to me. I appreciate you all! Until next time, geode reis!

My Global Student Profile.

http://globalstudent.us/profile.asp

Ganesh's Flight.

Since I'll be traveling for a bit, my new friend Ganesh will be with me. I'll be uploading pics of him in the places that we've been. So far, he's taken his first flight, and now we're hanging out in Chicago.

Stary Eyes, the beginning.

I've been writing these little stories about creatures that live in a place that shows how I wish life could be, and how easy life is for them. They're just for fun, and my friend said it'd be a good idea to follow up every blog update with a story. They make me happy, so perhaps they'll keep my spirits up the entire journey. Thanks for reading them! 


There was once a town where human and animals lived together. They were all equal. They only ate banana slug soup. They all had eyes the color of the stars that no mortal could look at without burning their eyes out themselves. If you were to make this one of these beings, they would take you to their mother star. She would take your blinded eyes and give you new star eyes that showed you the universe. Then you would be married into the town, to everyone as once. You would make love to everyone .They would love you. You all provided and protected each other. Nothin was good or bad, just how they were. ANd they were happy, if they knew the emotion.

One week left.

Well, after months of talking about and planning this all, it's almost here. Moving to Holland came quicker than I had thought.
I'm at the point where I am starting to say, "this is the last time I....", to almost everything. When I think of it all I have emotional conflicts between being incredibly excited to take off on this adventure, between being sad and scared of leaving everyone and everything I know behind.
As the days wind down, I'm realizing that there's so many little things that I'm going to miss that I don't really see when it's not being left behind.
 Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful and excited for this whole entire thing, beyond excited. It's just having nothing familiar that's going to be hard for me.
I feel that this past year I've created relationships that I've never had before, as well as over come some bring stuff holding me back. As all that has happened I feel that it makes leaving both harder, and easier.
Harder in the way that I have built up so much more to leave. Easier being that I have almost equipped myself with valuable things for the adventure.
At the end of the day, I just understand how much I appreciate everyone that has been in my life. Good or bad, I did things I wanted to in the moment, that made me and the people around me happy. And for that I am very grateful. So as I take off to see the world, please come with me and follow everything that happens. Thanks so much for everyone's love and support, I'll be needing as much as I can get.