Wow, so I am officially a terrible blogger!! It has been a month since my last post. Obviously a lot has happened since then but I'll try to sum it up in a few paragraphs.
First of all my trip to France was amazing!! It was so beautiful and we saw so much. We took lots of day trips around the Southern area of France. We went to the Mediterranean Sea, a Roman Bridge, several really old french villages (some with city walls and castles), a cave, and lots of other little things that would take to long to write. We also had some really good food and I had my first legal drink (sip). We took lots of walks and I really never expected to be so amazed by a country's views. One in particular was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You look down into a gorge of mountains covered with trees and greens and then there is water in the middle. (I am not doing it justice). But maybe I will try to put some pictures up here later.
After we got back from France it was also back to school. School is still hard but I am starting to understand a lot more of what is going on. This is also true at home which makes life a lot easier (and more enjoyable). One thing that is not enjoyable though is this cold weather!! This past week was really cold, and it is only November. I don't know how I'm going to last the whole winter biking 26 kilometers outside every day.
Two weekends ago was a special Museum day where you could get into a lot of museums for free. My host parents took me and another exchange student, Tonhon from Thailand, to a mole (windmill) museum and the buitenplaats museum (a modern art museum with a beautiful outside garden area) to take advantage of this deal. It was a fun day and we saw a lot. We went all the way to the top of a windmill at the mole museum and also saw how traditional dutch wooden clogs are made. The buitenplaats museum was really neat, it was one big room with lots of paintings and pictures and then an upstairs area. The outside was my favorite part though, there were so many plants and flowers. After the museums we came home and made Pannekoken (dutch pancakes). Then we went to the "Nacht van de Nacht." This is a night to appreciate the stars. We took a hike in the dark to look at the stars and then went to a place with several telescopes to see even more. I was a little nervous at first (I have never liked the dark) but it was actually fun! I enjoyed looking at the stars (and Jupiter was out too).
Last weekend I slept over at my friend Makayla's house (she is also an exchange student from America.) It was fun, we went to the school dance (which was kind of boring but fun for a little while) and watched movies and stuff. The next morning I biked all the way home (almost an hour and a half) and then had the rest of the day free.
Yesterday I went to Leeuwarden to see Sinterclaus (the dutch version of Santa Claus) come in on his boat from Spain. It was a huge production, with lots of boats and music. I think the whole town was watching!! I have to say it probably topped our Santa Claus events. It was a lot of fun and afterwards we ate lunch at a really good cafe. I had an omlet with ham and cheese and it was delicious. Then we went to the Frysian museum. It was really cool, it had exhibits about silver, art, and world war II. We stayed there for an hour or two and then did a little shopping in Leeuwarden. I got all of my ski equipment for the trip to Austria in December.
Today I don't have much planned but that is always nice sometimes :) Hopefully I'll update soon but I don't make any promises.
