Recap, Reflection and Comparison

I am ashamed.  When was my last post?  Like, a month ago?  Crap.  That was NOT supposed to happen!  I've been busy with, as I like to say in German, "Zeug, Kram und Sachen."  Those are pretty much three different words for "stuff."  I may have also gotten a tad bit lazy.  Just a bit.  It's summer, after all!  And I do have to admit, I was getting a little burned-out from writing almost every day.  But yes, a month is definitely long enough of a break to take!  Since this is my last post probably EVER (gasp!) I know I should have posted sooner and gotten it done with, but instead I've left you hanging for a loooong time.

Let me begin with a recap.  I'll try to sum everything up as best I can, but I'm not promising that I'll remember everything.

Holland: A Story in Pictures

Let me just give you a brief summary of yesterday, and then I'll show you all the pictures of the past couple of days!

Yesterday we drove home, making a two-hour trip a four-hour one by stopping to look at castles and things.  We also looked at some castle where Germany's ruler lived in when he was banished from Germany.  There were a lot of bikers out, which makes me just want to tell you something that has applied to our entire stay in Holland: there are bikes here outfitted for whole families!  I've seen bikes with a tiny kid seat screwed to the bike in front of the rider (it's not a tandem), windshields for bikes, tandems with an added kid seat, and special bikes that have a big compartment in front of the wheel where you can store goods or kids. There will be some pictures of just a few varieties in the picture section of my blog. :)

And now...  what you've all been waiting for....  Picture time! :D Warning: there are a LOT of pictures.  As in 55.  They're also, unfortunately, not in order because I downloaded from my mom's camera and mine. :/ Mine are in order, and my mom's are in order (I think), but together it's kind of humble-jumble, so read the descriptions. ;)

Market and Marken

We were all very excited today when the sun showed its face.  Woohoo!  We got to wear capris!  I know, it's sad.  I've probably had a total of a week of summer so far this year because it's been rainy and cold in Germany so often, and apparently it's even colder here!  I'll only have about four or five weeks of summer this year, unfortunately. :( But, as my mom pointed out, that's four more weeks than the people here! :)

Boat Tour, Flowers and Art (Oh My!)

Today was a very long day in Amsterdam.  We left at about 10:30 by car and parked near a train station, then took a train into Amsterdam.  That took about a half hour, and we arrived in Amsterdam shortly after eleven.  We spent about five and a half hours in Amsterdam before taking the train and car back home.  As you can imagine, my feet hurt really badly by the time we made it home.

Say Cheese!

Today was awesome!  I told you yesterday we were going to Amsterdam today, but we're actually going there tomorrow.  Today we went to Gouda, home of the famous cheese market.

We drove about an hour, and then parked near a canal.  That is one thing we haven't seen in a Dutch town so far: Gouda, like Amsterdam, has a lot of canals, which I think is really cool.  A lot of the railings along the canals had flower boxes of red flowers, which really added to the quaint atmosphere created by the old buildings, cobblestone roads, the canals, and the bikes.  Unlike Nijmegen, where we were yesterday, ALL the buildings were old and adorable instead of just some.

The Dutch Adventure Begins

I am currently writing to you from the laptop in our rental in the Netherlands.  The laptop has the same keyboard as in the US, and I am having a little trouble typing. ;)

We left at about 9 this morning to drive to Naarden, the Netherlands.  We made a few stops along the way, the first being a city called Nijmegen.  We walked around and took lots of pictures.  As far as I could see so far, buildings were made up of adorable old buildings, ugly middle-old buildings, and interesting-looking new buildings.  The shopping street, however, still had old buildings and an old church.

Let's Talk About Food

Hi everyone!  Thanks for reading my blog! :) Over the past couple of weeks, I've been asked repeatedly what the food's like here.  So today, you will essentially follow me around as I eat.  Okay, I promise it will be more interesting than it sounds! ;)

Three Days, One Post

So sorry I haven't posted the past two days!  Stuff has happened, but I haven't had time to post or I just wasn't in the mood.  Mostly I just wasn't in the mood.  I also have stuff to do today, so I'll just give you a shortened version of events.

Liege!

After our nine hour long class trip to Liege, I am exhausted.  The trip, all in all, was okay.

Since I finally had my camera with me at school for once, I was able to take pictures of how many people ride their bikes to school!

Kleingärten

My cold is getting worse in that I'm coughing all the time.  But my nose isn't running anymore, so that, at least, is good.

Today has been pretty darn uneventful.  Really, all that's happened today was going on a walk and my grandparents' friends come over.  So let me tell you about those two things...

School and Rain and Shopping and Stuff

Today was...  Well, I don't really know how to sum it up in one word, so I'll just start writing about it.

Today was significantly cooler than yesterday.  Since I didn't write yesterday, I'll just tell you this: we got fifth and sixth period off because of the heat.  Yay!  Today, though, it was back to capri weather, and it rained a little off and on throughout the school day.

A Trip to the Picture Book Museum

We spent the majority of the day today in Troisdorf.  I'm not sure how you spell it.  Anyway, we went to a picture book museum there.  It was in this old building that used to be part of a fortress thingiemabob surrounded by a moat.  The moat is still there, but, unfortunately, there was no bridge that can go up and down, just a normal stone pathway across.

The Sports Events of the Past Few Days

At first I wasn't going to blog about this, but when I realized I inform you about every boring detail of my school day, I should probably tell you about this, just to keep it in proportion. :)

Friday afternoon was Basketball Night at my school.  Each class can put together a basketball team, and each team in its age group plays against each other.

Lisa and I came two hours before it even started.  I really have no idea why.  Some other kids from class were coming early too, so I guess it was to hang out with them.  But since I'm not exactly a social butterfly, two hours with your classmates and not all your friends can be a little daunting.  Most of the guys (and some of the girls) were playing basketball to practice, and the other girls were standing off to the side talking.  We also made a pyramid just for fun, and I got to be on top. :) I don't have a picture yet, but Lisa is going to send it to me at some point.

A Day in Cologne

Sorry this post is a day late.  I was exhausted yesterday and would rather read for two hours than write a blog entry. :)

Yesterday morning I biked down to Aldi, which is kind of the German equivalent of WalMart, except smaller and awesomer.  I wanted to get some scarves that their magazine displayed.  It took me a lot longer than it could have.  I found the scarves I wanted right away, but then I was sucked into being an old lady's fashion consultant. :) I had been wearing a cream and white scarf that I had gotten from Aldi last year, and an old woman asked me about it.  She was looking for a neutral scarf like it.  She kept asking me to open the scarf boxes so she could see the scarves better and also asked my opinions.  I guess I did a good deed. :)

Going Back in Time

Today my grandparents went to check out a 250-year-old house with a mill and a workshop.  It was super cool!  It's not in use anymore; it kind of functions as a museum, just minus all the boring information everywhere. :)

We drove through a really pretty, lush forest to get to the mill.  SO.  GREEN.

A Long But Great Day

Since I didn't write a blog post yesterday, I would just like to mention the random fact that I saw a kid scootering to school yesterday. :)

Anyway.  Today we went to the market again, but never fear, I have new things to tell you.  Mostly. :)

First I was given the task of unlocking the door and locking it again after we were outside.  I know, this sounds pretty darn easy.  At the beginning, I thought so too.

My Bus Adventure

Okay, so this actually happened on Thursday, and I wasn't planning on writing a blog entry about it, but I have changed my mind.  So I guess my last few posts will be a little out of order.  Whatevs. :)

On Thursday I had volleyball again.  I was originally planning on riding my bike, but it was pouring rain.  Unfortunately, I could only be driven to, and not from, volleyball because my grandpa had a Rotary meeting.  I would have to take the bus home.

Just Another School Day

Sorry, I seem to be getting in the habit of being a day behind.  But from now on I probably won't be writing daily because I'm settling into school and not as many new, exciting things are happening.

This morning Lisa and I biked to school for the first time (for me anyway) instead of walking.  Twas fun. :)

German was our first class.  First we discussed the movie we watched last time, and then we analyzed some song and speculated the different meanings of it.  I was pretty much no help with that.  I did, however, manage to do the homework about it.  I wonder how many spelling and grammar mistakes are in it...  We also did a crossword with poem and figurative language.  Of the twenty or so questions, I answered.....(Drumroll please)......

The Prettiest Walk Ever

Today will be another blog post of mostly pictures, and trust me, there will be a LOT of pictures!

As promised, my grandparents and I went on the awesome walk again today, and I brought my camera. :)  The weather started out kind of drizzly, but it got progressively better throughout the walk.  Let us begin with the pictures!  (I swear, there are about a million of them!  Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but you get the point.)

Market Day

This morning was pretty uneventful.  I woke up, got dressed, and ate brötchen.  Then my grandparents said they wanted to go down to the market to get some things, so I said I'd go with them.

On the way into town, I saw a few interesting things:

A man walking around wearing sweats and Crocs.  Nothing is cooler than sweats and Crocs!  Just kidding, jean jackets are in style here. :)

A dog that looked like a gorilla, minus the head, which was really cute.

A girl walking around the market singing to herself.