The sun shining down on the snow is making everything sparkle like crazy. The sky is huge, and this perfect bright blue color that's usually covered by clouds, and the seagulls are flying around all light and free. The temperature is perfect for winter... that right amount of cold where your cheeks get pink, you can see your breathe, and the snow crunches a little when you walk on it, but you don't freeze to death the second you go outside.
If you go running when the weather's like this you warm up after five minutes, and you feel like you could run forever, because the air goes through your lungs so easily and it supercharges your arms and legs. When you get done your skin stays cold, but your muscles are warm, and you feel so healthy all you want to eat is fruit and vegetables. Your clothes smell like outside.
If you're biking at the fitness center when it's not too busy and the weather's like this, you can pick the bike furthest to the left and then you'll be able to see quite a bit of blue sky and a few seagulls out the window. If you're an optimistic type of person and you have to work out on the elliptical machines instead of on the bike, you'll tell yourself it's okay because you get to see much more out the window. On the other hand, sometimes the seagulls fly away, and after a while the blue sky isn't so exciting anymore.
Luckily, there are friendly people who go to the fitness center, and friendly people who work there. They have all the machines there I need for my strength training and no one ever complains when I use the bike for 70 minutes. The people trying to do a relaxed workout for physical therapy don't seem to mind that I'm panting, bright red, and sweating all over the place. So, if I have to be at a fitness center and not outside running in the crisp snow, I guess I'm at a pretty good one.
Patience is a virtue, so it's good for me to try learning it. Shin splints are not a very serious injury. With a little bit of patience I'll be back with TDR before I know it. An hour of warming up with the trainers, a hard interval practice, and then a long cool down. It will feel so good! And Sunday practices in the dunes again...
It's just that 70 minutes on the stationary bike, or 40 minutes on the elliptical feels sooooooo long.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Things That Might Happen in the Netherlands if It Snows
1) It might take you four hours to go somewhere with the train that would usually take you two hours.
2) The buses might also run "a little" late.
3) Maybe the highway will also get packed up for 30 kilometers, and it might take people until 10:00 at night to get home from work.
4) The snow might melt, get rained on, refreeze, and then get snowed on again.
If this happens:
2) The buses might also run "a little" late.
3) Maybe the highway will also get packed up for 30 kilometers, and it might take people until 10:00 at night to get home from work.
4) The snow might melt, get rained on, refreeze, and then get snowed on again.
If this happens:
- It could be extremely dangerous to bike to school.
- Or to walk outside your door.
- You will see lots of people fall.
- Training gets canceled because the track is pure ice, and the bike path is ice and slush.
- There will be no more road salt left in all of Holland.
- You'll see lots of people walking with their bikes.
5) The boys who usually stand in the park and smoke might abandon smoking and throw snowballs at you when you bike by.
6) Biking might be really hard because if you look straight up the snow flies into your eyes and makes you blind.
7) When you look across the fields the only thing you see is white, and you might hardly be able to tell where the sky starts and the field stops.
8) Maybe it will be just as beautiful as it is in Wisconsin when it's just snowed and the sun shines, and there's ice on the trees- just in a different way.
9) Maybe you'll want to sit inside drinking tea, eating borenkol, sitting at the dinner table for hours, and not doing your homework.
One Little Toenail is Not That Big of a Sacrifice
Something very traumatic has been happening to me over the past week. In the second toe on my right foot I have what is, according to GoAskAlice, a subungual hematoma. If the case of subungual hematoma (something which commonly occurs in athletes) is extremely serious, it could result in a lost toenail. What happened yesterday night? My toenail fell off! GoAskAlice also says that a subungual hematoma is caused if your toes are repetedly jammed or slammed against shoes or another object. I have to conclude then, that my subungual hematoma and my lost toenail (I'm not sure if they're the same thing or if subungual hematoma is what comes before it falls off) comes from the three days I spent in Soest training with Team Distance Runners. But, let me also say, that it was worth it.
On the Tuesday before New Year's (that would have been the 29th, I think), I rode with Will (one of the coaches, remember?) and another one of the athletes to Soest which is about an hour away from where we live. The whole way there Top 2000 played on the radio. Every year starting on Christmas day and until New Year's, a radio station in the Netherlands plays the top 2000 songs in Holland, starting from the bottom of the list and working their way to the top. All the way until midnight on New Year's Eve.
We had already been organized into separate houses before we got to Soest, but when we got there, there had to be a little bit of rearranging so that none of the girls would end up all alone in a house with just boys. Our house had Will, four of the boy atheletes, and another girl in it. For the entire team we had three houses.
Almost right away after we got to Soest we had to get changed and ready for the first workout of the day. We ran along the bike path to the woods, and then spent about an hour or so running there. Actually, the woods in Soest were the first woods I've seen in Holland that aren't part of the dunes, and they were really pretty. After the first workout we ate lunch, everyone took a nap, and then we all went out for the second workout of the day. Again we went all the way to the woods, did a few series of speed ups, and ran back. Then we cooked and ate dinner, though there was a little bit of battling for the shower in between the running and eating. The next day in Soest was the same routine as the day before: eat, run, sleep, eat, run, eat. It had snowed a little bit the night before, rained a little bit the afternoon before, and then frozen, so we had to be careful running the next day, and just stayed in the woods nearby. On the second day my legs were still exhausted from training twice the day before. It was nice being outside though, eating only healthy food, and spending the whole day with athletes.
Both the nights that we spent in Soest, the athletes had to give presentations about themselves. The first night we were there the group I was in- the new athletes, had to give presentations about themselves, why we decided to run with TDR, and how we see running as a part of our future. I barely managed mine in Dutch, but it was successful. The presentations that I really found interesting came on the second night. All of the athletes who had been with TDR for a year or more had to give "self-reflection" presentations. They used points that the head trainer from TDR had given as important points for an athlete to think about in a presentation at the beginning of the year. The points are authenticity, being able to learn and ask the right questions, self reflection, passion and self-motivation, performing when it's necessary, separating the more important issues from the less important issues, pro active solving of problems, courage: daring to choose, self-esteem, surrounding yourself with the right people, criticism of your environment, and resistance. Each of the athletes had to pick five of the points, and discuss how the points were relevant to themselves in addition to writing goals for the following season.
It was first of all interesting to hear their presentations about themselves, but secondly it was interesting to hear the coaches ask questions afterwards. The coaches wanted to hear things about the athletes that they found most relevant to each athlete. Watching, you could tell that the coaches asked questions that were meant to make the athletes think about themselves and how they could be better. And, you could watch the athlete really thinking about what the coaches asked.
Before TDR I'd never done anything that had to do with mentality and running, but from being a part of TDR, I can see a little bit more how incredibly important it is. All of the athletes are strong enough mentally that it helps them during the races, and in getting through the workouts. By listening to all of their presentations I could see the things that I need to do to make myself stronger mentally... an area that I've always been fairly weak in.
The third day in Soest we had a race called the Sylvester cross. I raced in the Junioren B girls, which is girls ages 15-16, but there were all sorts of different races. For the males and females who are in about their 20's, the race is much more competetive. It is also a part of the NK series, which (I think) means Dutch Championships. Those races are fun to watch, because the runners hardly even look like they're trying; the way they run is completely effortless and perfect.
For me the race went fairly well. I finished further away from the end than I usually do here, and felt strong the entire way. It was cold, something I really don't mind, and the woods were incredibly pretty. I did struggle at the end of the race where we had to run up a hill through deep sand, but that was to be expected.
We drove home from Soest with the Top 2000 playing again, and the songs were better and better since we were getting closer to 2010.
And to sum it up? Soest was definitely worth losing my toenail, even more than one if it would have come to that.
On the Tuesday before New Year's (that would have been the 29th, I think), I rode with Will (one of the coaches, remember?) and another one of the athletes to Soest which is about an hour away from where we live. The whole way there Top 2000 played on the radio. Every year starting on Christmas day and until New Year's, a radio station in the Netherlands plays the top 2000 songs in Holland, starting from the bottom of the list and working their way to the top. All the way until midnight on New Year's Eve.
We had already been organized into separate houses before we got to Soest, but when we got there, there had to be a little bit of rearranging so that none of the girls would end up all alone in a house with just boys. Our house had Will, four of the boy atheletes, and another girl in it. For the entire team we had three houses.
Almost right away after we got to Soest we had to get changed and ready for the first workout of the day. We ran along the bike path to the woods, and then spent about an hour or so running there. Actually, the woods in Soest were the first woods I've seen in Holland that aren't part of the dunes, and they were really pretty. After the first workout we ate lunch, everyone took a nap, and then we all went out for the second workout of the day. Again we went all the way to the woods, did a few series of speed ups, and ran back. Then we cooked and ate dinner, though there was a little bit of battling for the shower in between the running and eating. The next day in Soest was the same routine as the day before: eat, run, sleep, eat, run, eat. It had snowed a little bit the night before, rained a little bit the afternoon before, and then frozen, so we had to be careful running the next day, and just stayed in the woods nearby. On the second day my legs were still exhausted from training twice the day before. It was nice being outside though, eating only healthy food, and spending the whole day with athletes.
Both the nights that we spent in Soest, the athletes had to give presentations about themselves. The first night we were there the group I was in- the new athletes, had to give presentations about themselves, why we decided to run with TDR, and how we see running as a part of our future. I barely managed mine in Dutch, but it was successful. The presentations that I really found interesting came on the second night. All of the athletes who had been with TDR for a year or more had to give "self-reflection" presentations. They used points that the head trainer from TDR had given as important points for an athlete to think about in a presentation at the beginning of the year. The points are authenticity, being able to learn and ask the right questions, self reflection, passion and self-motivation, performing when it's necessary, separating the more important issues from the less important issues, pro active solving of problems, courage: daring to choose, self-esteem, surrounding yourself with the right people, criticism of your environment, and resistance. Each of the athletes had to pick five of the points, and discuss how the points were relevant to themselves in addition to writing goals for the following season.
It was first of all interesting to hear their presentations about themselves, but secondly it was interesting to hear the coaches ask questions afterwards. The coaches wanted to hear things about the athletes that they found most relevant to each athlete. Watching, you could tell that the coaches asked questions that were meant to make the athletes think about themselves and how they could be better. And, you could watch the athlete really thinking about what the coaches asked.
Before TDR I'd never done anything that had to do with mentality and running, but from being a part of TDR, I can see a little bit more how incredibly important it is. All of the athletes are strong enough mentally that it helps them during the races, and in getting through the workouts. By listening to all of their presentations I could see the things that I need to do to make myself stronger mentally... an area that I've always been fairly weak in.
The third day in Soest we had a race called the Sylvester cross. I raced in the Junioren B girls, which is girls ages 15-16, but there were all sorts of different races. For the males and females who are in about their 20's, the race is much more competetive. It is also a part of the NK series, which (I think) means Dutch Championships. Those races are fun to watch, because the runners hardly even look like they're trying; the way they run is completely effortless and perfect.
For me the race went fairly well. I finished further away from the end than I usually do here, and felt strong the entire way. It was cold, something I really don't mind, and the woods were incredibly pretty. I did struggle at the end of the race where we had to run up a hill through deep sand, but that was to be expected.
We drove home from Soest with the Top 2000 playing again, and the songs were better and better since we were getting closer to 2010.
And to sum it up? Soest was definitely worth losing my toenail, even more than one if it would have come to that.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Three Days of Christmas
Now that Christmas and New Years, plus another half a week, are already past, I figured that it's time to write a little bit about all of the things that are going on here. Hopefully there are still a few people reading this after the ages that it's been since I wrote...
Christmas Eve: This is not one of the above "Three Days of Christmas." Most people here just go to work like normal on Christmas Eve, and then in the evening a lot of families go to church (actually, I think that's basically the only time that anyone ever goes to church here). To be honest I can't actually remember all that far back to Christmas Eve, but I think that we mostly just spent the day at home, nice and relaxed. In the evening we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire until we left for the church at 11:15. Milja's parents, a friend of hers, and all of us crammed into the car and drove to the church. There was a choir singing at the church, and lots of people from the town who all knew each other. The service officially started at midnight and was mostly singing with some talking in between. As hard as I tried (not all that hard), understanding the priest didn't work out very well at all. But the Christmas songs were nice, and reminded me of the Christmas Eve services at home.
When we came out of the church at 1:00, it was snowing. How perfect is that? In this country where it's hardly ever supposed to snow, it was snowing. And huge, perfect, white Christmas snowflakes too.
The next day counts as the First Day of Christmas. The plan had been all along to drive to Peter's families house nearby Eindhoven and celebrate it with them. There was a few inches of snow on the ground when we woke up, and the road was slippery, but Milja decided that she could drive anyway, so at 9:30 we left in the direction of Eindhoven. It took us a good two hours to get there, but I've been missing long rides in the car. You have to get used to it when you live in Spooner, right? Peter's sister's house is huge, and there were tons of people there. When we got there we made the usual round of saying hi to everyone. Here's how it works: whenever you go to a party, family gathering, or actually anything with lots of people, you have to walk around and say hi to everyone individually. Most of the time you also kiss three times. When I first got to the Netherlands, I felt really weird and awkward kissing people I didn't know (and people I did know), but I'm starting to get a little bit more used to it now. It at least doesn't make me blush anymore.
The afternoon there was spent talking to everyone and playing guitar with the other kids. Then in the evening came the food. First, everybody changed into nice clothes. Then we sat at the long table that was set with all different kinds of forks, and glasses, and plates. It took us four hours or so, and we ate a five course meal. The main course was the best, and it was the classic Thanksgiving dinner- only for Christmas. There was a huge, real American sized turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, chestnut sauce, green beans, and everything that we usually eat for Thanskgiving. Then there was dessert which was "cappucino cakes" and after the dessert coffee with little chocolates on the side.
We had already decided ahead of time that we were going to drive back late at night, so after dinner we decided to make it a little bit later and go out with Peter's nieces and nephews. We left the house around 10:30, riding on the back of their bikes. It took a while biking through the snow, the ice, and the darkness, and the entire time I was absolutely terrified. All the girls here do it so elegantly. They sit sideways, and then just sort of jump on to the back of the bike while it's moving. The problem with me is that I'm not elegant, and I definitely can't jump onto the back of a moving bike. Once I finally manage to get on, I have to focus extremely hard on staying on, and on not making the person actually biking have an accident.
Anyway, we made it to the street with all of the bars safely, and after we put our jackets in one of the bars, we went into a different one. Since Milja was going to pick us up at one o'clock, we weren't there very long, but it was fun with the music and the entire Christmas atmosphere. Milja picked us up, and then drove us all the way back to Akersloot while Taiana and I slept in the back seat. I tried to stay awake and ask her occasionally if she was still awake, but I didn't manage it very well. We were home at 3:00 in the morning, and all went exhausted to our beds.
The Second Day of Christmas was another relaxing day for us. But, in the Netherlands most people celebrate two days of Christmas. "Eeerste Kerst Dag" en "Tweede Kerst Dag." So, technically it was still a holiday. We spent the day getting ready for the Third Day of Christmas, which actually we just made up... it's not a Dutch tradition or anything. Milja's whole side of the family was going to come over to eat on the Third Day. Everybody was assigned to some sort of food that they had to bring, so we ended up not having to make very much food. We'd already done the grocery shopping and we couldn't bring the tables in yet since they'd take up the entire house. If I remember right I went for a run, watched TV, and generally did nothing.
The next day, the "Third Day of Christmas," was full of things to do.
The first big project was getting the tables to fit in the living room. Taiana and I had talked Milja into buying a huge Christmas tree (huge for the Netherlands, normal for America), and ever since then Milja had been worried that the table which had to seat 17 people wasn't going to fit. We kept assuring her that it would fit, and in the end it did. But, it did take up the entire living room. We carted one huge table over from the neighbors house, along with all of her chairs (I'm not sure where their family ate that day). Another table came out of the shed, and then some plastic lawn chairs came from Milja's parents. We connected all of them and spread white sheets over the top. Taiana and I were "officially" in charge of decorating the tables, something which it seems like people do pretty seriously here. Milja had bought all sorts of silver things for us to decorate the tables with. There were silver coasters on the table, silver candles, silver balls, silver tress, and silver snowflakes hanging over. The napkins were silver and white, and wrapped in silver ribbon.
At 4:00 all of Milja's family came, plus Anita and her daughter, which with all of us made seventeen. Again we had different courses, but it started with soup and then went on to the main course. We ate cold slices of pork, potatoes, cranberry sauce, applesauce, broccoli, pears, and lots of different vegetable dishes. Desert was creme brulee which was to die for. And then of course there was more dessert with the coffee.
Everyone stayed for a long time, sitting at the table and talking. I think this was about the time when I was supposed to get homesick, but it never really happened. I guess that's what good company does for you... and you can't really be homesick when you feel so welcome in the family you're with.
The Third Day of Christmas was a Monday, and I'm going to skip Monday since there weren't Four Day's of Christmas (we just cleaned). Tuesday is coming soon though! Tuesday I left for Soest with TDR, so there's a lot to say about Tuesday and the days that followed.
Christmas Eve: This is not one of the above "Three Days of Christmas." Most people here just go to work like normal on Christmas Eve, and then in the evening a lot of families go to church (actually, I think that's basically the only time that anyone ever goes to church here). To be honest I can't actually remember all that far back to Christmas Eve, but I think that we mostly just spent the day at home, nice and relaxed. In the evening we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire until we left for the church at 11:15. Milja's parents, a friend of hers, and all of us crammed into the car and drove to the church. There was a choir singing at the church, and lots of people from the town who all knew each other. The service officially started at midnight and was mostly singing with some talking in between. As hard as I tried (not all that hard), understanding the priest didn't work out very well at all. But the Christmas songs were nice, and reminded me of the Christmas Eve services at home.
When we came out of the church at 1:00, it was snowing. How perfect is that? In this country where it's hardly ever supposed to snow, it was snowing. And huge, perfect, white Christmas snowflakes too.
The next day counts as the First Day of Christmas. The plan had been all along to drive to Peter's families house nearby Eindhoven and celebrate it with them. There was a few inches of snow on the ground when we woke up, and the road was slippery, but Milja decided that she could drive anyway, so at 9:30 we left in the direction of Eindhoven. It took us a good two hours to get there, but I've been missing long rides in the car. You have to get used to it when you live in Spooner, right? Peter's sister's house is huge, and there were tons of people there. When we got there we made the usual round of saying hi to everyone. Here's how it works: whenever you go to a party, family gathering, or actually anything with lots of people, you have to walk around and say hi to everyone individually. Most of the time you also kiss three times. When I first got to the Netherlands, I felt really weird and awkward kissing people I didn't know (and people I did know), but I'm starting to get a little bit more used to it now. It at least doesn't make me blush anymore.
The afternoon there was spent talking to everyone and playing guitar with the other kids. Then in the evening came the food. First, everybody changed into nice clothes. Then we sat at the long table that was set with all different kinds of forks, and glasses, and plates. It took us four hours or so, and we ate a five course meal. The main course was the best, and it was the classic Thanksgiving dinner- only for Christmas. There was a huge, real American sized turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, chestnut sauce, green beans, and everything that we usually eat for Thanskgiving. Then there was dessert which was "cappucino cakes" and after the dessert coffee with little chocolates on the side.
We had already decided ahead of time that we were going to drive back late at night, so after dinner we decided to make it a little bit later and go out with Peter's nieces and nephews. We left the house around 10:30, riding on the back of their bikes. It took a while biking through the snow, the ice, and the darkness, and the entire time I was absolutely terrified. All the girls here do it so elegantly. They sit sideways, and then just sort of jump on to the back of the bike while it's moving. The problem with me is that I'm not elegant, and I definitely can't jump onto the back of a moving bike. Once I finally manage to get on, I have to focus extremely hard on staying on, and on not making the person actually biking have an accident.
Anyway, we made it to the street with all of the bars safely, and after we put our jackets in one of the bars, we went into a different one. Since Milja was going to pick us up at one o'clock, we weren't there very long, but it was fun with the music and the entire Christmas atmosphere. Milja picked us up, and then drove us all the way back to Akersloot while Taiana and I slept in the back seat. I tried to stay awake and ask her occasionally if she was still awake, but I didn't manage it very well. We were home at 3:00 in the morning, and all went exhausted to our beds.
The Second Day of Christmas was another relaxing day for us. But, in the Netherlands most people celebrate two days of Christmas. "Eeerste Kerst Dag" en "Tweede Kerst Dag." So, technically it was still a holiday. We spent the day getting ready for the Third Day of Christmas, which actually we just made up... it's not a Dutch tradition or anything. Milja's whole side of the family was going to come over to eat on the Third Day. Everybody was assigned to some sort of food that they had to bring, so we ended up not having to make very much food. We'd already done the grocery shopping and we couldn't bring the tables in yet since they'd take up the entire house. If I remember right I went for a run, watched TV, and generally did nothing.
The next day, the "Third Day of Christmas," was full of things to do.
The first big project was getting the tables to fit in the living room. Taiana and I had talked Milja into buying a huge Christmas tree (huge for the Netherlands, normal for America), and ever since then Milja had been worried that the table which had to seat 17 people wasn't going to fit. We kept assuring her that it would fit, and in the end it did. But, it did take up the entire living room. We carted one huge table over from the neighbors house, along with all of her chairs (I'm not sure where their family ate that day). Another table came out of the shed, and then some plastic lawn chairs came from Milja's parents. We connected all of them and spread white sheets over the top. Taiana and I were "officially" in charge of decorating the tables, something which it seems like people do pretty seriously here. Milja had bought all sorts of silver things for us to decorate the tables with. There were silver coasters on the table, silver candles, silver balls, silver tress, and silver snowflakes hanging over. The napkins were silver and white, and wrapped in silver ribbon.
At 4:00 all of Milja's family came, plus Anita and her daughter, which with all of us made seventeen. Again we had different courses, but it started with soup and then went on to the main course. We ate cold slices of pork, potatoes, cranberry sauce, applesauce, broccoli, pears, and lots of different vegetable dishes. Desert was creme brulee which was to die for. And then of course there was more dessert with the coffee.
Everyone stayed for a long time, sitting at the table and talking. I think this was about the time when I was supposed to get homesick, but it never really happened. I guess that's what good company does for you... and you can't really be homesick when you feel so welcome in the family you're with.
The Third Day of Christmas was a Monday, and I'm going to skip Monday since there weren't Four Day's of Christmas (we just cleaned). Tuesday is coming soon though! Tuesday I left for Soest with TDR, so there's a lot to say about Tuesday and the days that followed.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
~SWEDEN~
On Thursday morning all of us slept in.
When I was little and we were in Sweden I always used to wake up at six thirty or so and then I'd run into my grandparents room and crawl into their bed. They would always be awake already, and then at seven or so my grandpa and I would go downstairs and he would let me drink coffee.
Well, I'm not really sure what happened to us, but they're not awake at 6:30 anymore, and I'm definitely not awake at 6:30 anymore. So, coffee drinking is officially moved to after breakfast.
I love huge American breakfasts with french toast, pancakes, muffins, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. I also love Dutch breakfasts with bread with chocolate sprinkles, or nutella. And I really love Swedish breakfasts. I always eat yogurt with musli, and my grandpa puts out all these different kinds of bread with three different kinds of sausages, and caviar (the cheap kind, which is the only good kind). He puts piece of bread after piece of bread into the toaster and pours new orange juice every two minutes. Every time in Sweden breakfast is the same, my grandma always has to drink her orange juice, and we eat the same kind of bread, and the same kind of tea, and the same kind of musli.
After our long breakfast on Thursday, Milja and I drove with Mormor to Vallingby, which isn't very far from Spanga where they live. Mormor went home after a little while and then Milja and I walked around for a pretty long time and then back home in the snow. There was so much snow on the ground, and so much snow coming down on us. I finally got all of the snow that I had been wanting. Mormor had bought a prinsess tarta for us in Vallingby. Prinsess tarta is only the best thing you can ever eat. It's my number one favorite food. Ever. The frosting is made of marsipan, and there's a marsipan rose. And underneath the marsipan is this fluffy white layered cake with whipped cream and sometimes jam in between. The rest of Thursday was a relaxing day, reading, playing cards, talking. Of course Thursday in Sweden also means pea soup and pancakes for dinner. I was pretty full on Thursday night.
On Friday, Milja and I took the train into Stockholm. I found the way without any problems, because it turns out the train system in Sweden, which I remembered as being pretty complicated is way less complicated than the train system in the Netherlands. We met my aunt Karin at the big ring in the Central Station and then we walked to Riksdagen where my other aunt Anna, works. Anna and Karin are always so familiar to me. When I see them it never feels like it's been a year or two years since the last time we saw each other. That was really the nicest thing about being in Sweden... being with people who I've known for my whole life. They were the first family I'd seen in four months. Anna gave us a tour of Riksdagen (the parliament building of Sweden) and then we all went and ate lunch together. Anna had to go back to work, but Karin, Milja, and I walked around for a while. Then Karin went home and Milja and I walked around some more. After we ate dinner on Friday I went shopping again... with Maja, a friend from Spooner who lives in Sweden but was an exchange student with us for a year. Of course we talked about everyone in Spooner which was nice, because no one else really understands how important the little gossip from Spooner is.
Saturday was the official preparation for Christmas day. Karin and my cousins Pia and Sandra came over pretty early in the morning. We were all ready to help bake gingerbread houses, but Mormor had her own ideas about how she wanted to do it. Milja and Karin went out walking, and Pia and Sandra and I sat in the living room playing cards and eating candy. Later on there was a little bit of a discussion over how much candy we actually had aten. When we started the bowl was full, and later that night Mormor discovered that the bowl was almost empty. The thing is, that we really only did eat half of the bowl. So nobody knows what happened to the rest of the candy. Later in the afternoon Anna came with Goran, Frida, and Linn. Two years is always a long time, but it seemed extra long when it came to Frida and Linn. The last time I'd seen them they were still just little girls, and sure, they still are little girls, but they were little girls who seemed a lot older. We played outside, and decorated the Christmas tree, and then all of us ate dinner together. Chili and Morfar's homemade bread.
Sunday I got to see Johanna! It was only a year since the last time I saw her, but I haven't been the best at keeping in touch so seeing her was long overdue. Milja and I took the train together into Stockholm. Then Milja went to the Museum of Modern Art, and Johanna and I went shopping. First we sat in a coffee shop for a while, because the stores still weren't open. We drank hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and ate muffins, and exchanged presents. At 3 o'clock Milja and I had to be back at my grandparents house so Johanna and I didn't have very long, but it was something. Hopefully it won't be another year before we see each other again.
Right when Milja and I got back to Mormor and Morfar's house, Anna and her family came again. I had no idea, but Mormor had made a Christmas dinner just like we always have in Sweden at Christmas, and everybody had brought presents. So, I got my Christmas in Sweden even though I'm back in Holland now for when it's really Christmas. Of course, it was hard to say goodbye when Anna and her family had to leave. We couldn't just say "Bye, see you later." It had to be, "Bye. See you..." Because of course none of us know when we're going to see each other again.
On Monday, Milja and I had to take the plane back, and we had to say goodbye again, this time to my Grandma and Grandpa. I take after my dad a little bit I think... I hate saying goodbye, and maybe I don't always do it that well. Still no crisis though...
And now, we're back safe and sound in Holland on Christmas Eve. It did take a really, reeeeaallly long time to get back to Akersloot with trains because all of Holland was in chaos from the ten centimeters of snow that they'd gotten (if even). But, we made it. My excuses for how newsy and dry this blog is, but I could write for hours and never be able to do justice to what it was like in Sweden. The snow was beautiful, Christmas felt just like all those times we've celebrated it before, and I got to see my family. Every time I leave Sweden I always realize a little bit more what I'm missing there, and how sad it is that half my family lives across the ocean. I guess I'm stuck with missing places from now on. Sweden, Holland, or Wisconsin: I can't be in all three places at once.
Merry Christmas! To everyone in Sweden, and in Holland, in Missouri, California, and Wisconsin. And everywhere else too!
When I was little and we were in Sweden I always used to wake up at six thirty or so and then I'd run into my grandparents room and crawl into their bed. They would always be awake already, and then at seven or so my grandpa and I would go downstairs and he would let me drink coffee.
Well, I'm not really sure what happened to us, but they're not awake at 6:30 anymore, and I'm definitely not awake at 6:30 anymore. So, coffee drinking is officially moved to after breakfast.
I love huge American breakfasts with french toast, pancakes, muffins, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. I also love Dutch breakfasts with bread with chocolate sprinkles, or nutella. And I really love Swedish breakfasts. I always eat yogurt with musli, and my grandpa puts out all these different kinds of bread with three different kinds of sausages, and caviar (the cheap kind, which is the only good kind). He puts piece of bread after piece of bread into the toaster and pours new orange juice every two minutes. Every time in Sweden breakfast is the same, my grandma always has to drink her orange juice, and we eat the same kind of bread, and the same kind of tea, and the same kind of musli.
After our long breakfast on Thursday, Milja and I drove with Mormor to Vallingby, which isn't very far from Spanga where they live. Mormor went home after a little while and then Milja and I walked around for a pretty long time and then back home in the snow. There was so much snow on the ground, and so much snow coming down on us. I finally got all of the snow that I had been wanting. Mormor had bought a prinsess tarta for us in Vallingby. Prinsess tarta is only the best thing you can ever eat. It's my number one favorite food. Ever. The frosting is made of marsipan, and there's a marsipan rose. And underneath the marsipan is this fluffy white layered cake with whipped cream and sometimes jam in between. The rest of Thursday was a relaxing day, reading, playing cards, talking. Of course Thursday in Sweden also means pea soup and pancakes for dinner. I was pretty full on Thursday night.
On Friday, Milja and I took the train into Stockholm. I found the way without any problems, because it turns out the train system in Sweden, which I remembered as being pretty complicated is way less complicated than the train system in the Netherlands. We met my aunt Karin at the big ring in the Central Station and then we walked to Riksdagen where my other aunt Anna, works. Anna and Karin are always so familiar to me. When I see them it never feels like it's been a year or two years since the last time we saw each other. That was really the nicest thing about being in Sweden... being with people who I've known for my whole life. They were the first family I'd seen in four months. Anna gave us a tour of Riksdagen (the parliament building of Sweden) and then we all went and ate lunch together. Anna had to go back to work, but Karin, Milja, and I walked around for a while. Then Karin went home and Milja and I walked around some more. After we ate dinner on Friday I went shopping again... with Maja, a friend from Spooner who lives in Sweden but was an exchange student with us for a year. Of course we talked about everyone in Spooner which was nice, because no one else really understands how important the little gossip from Spooner is.
Saturday was the official preparation for Christmas day. Karin and my cousins Pia and Sandra came over pretty early in the morning. We were all ready to help bake gingerbread houses, but Mormor had her own ideas about how she wanted to do it. Milja and Karin went out walking, and Pia and Sandra and I sat in the living room playing cards and eating candy. Later on there was a little bit of a discussion over how much candy we actually had aten. When we started the bowl was full, and later that night Mormor discovered that the bowl was almost empty. The thing is, that we really only did eat half of the bowl. So nobody knows what happened to the rest of the candy. Later in the afternoon Anna came with Goran, Frida, and Linn. Two years is always a long time, but it seemed extra long when it came to Frida and Linn. The last time I'd seen them they were still just little girls, and sure, they still are little girls, but they were little girls who seemed a lot older. We played outside, and decorated the Christmas tree, and then all of us ate dinner together. Chili and Morfar's homemade bread.
Sunday I got to see Johanna! It was only a year since the last time I saw her, but I haven't been the best at keeping in touch so seeing her was long overdue. Milja and I took the train together into Stockholm. Then Milja went to the Museum of Modern Art, and Johanna and I went shopping. First we sat in a coffee shop for a while, because the stores still weren't open. We drank hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and ate muffins, and exchanged presents. At 3 o'clock Milja and I had to be back at my grandparents house so Johanna and I didn't have very long, but it was something. Hopefully it won't be another year before we see each other again.
Right when Milja and I got back to Mormor and Morfar's house, Anna and her family came again. I had no idea, but Mormor had made a Christmas dinner just like we always have in Sweden at Christmas, and everybody had brought presents. So, I got my Christmas in Sweden even though I'm back in Holland now for when it's really Christmas. Of course, it was hard to say goodbye when Anna and her family had to leave. We couldn't just say "Bye, see you later." It had to be, "Bye. See you..." Because of course none of us know when we're going to see each other again.
On Monday, Milja and I had to take the plane back, and we had to say goodbye again, this time to my Grandma and Grandpa. I take after my dad a little bit I think... I hate saying goodbye, and maybe I don't always do it that well. Still no crisis though...
And now, we're back safe and sound in Holland on Christmas Eve. It did take a really, reeeeaallly long time to get back to Akersloot with trains because all of Holland was in chaos from the ten centimeters of snow that they'd gotten (if even). But, we made it. My excuses for how newsy and dry this blog is, but I could write for hours and never be able to do justice to what it was like in Sweden. The snow was beautiful, Christmas felt just like all those times we've celebrated it before, and I got to see my family. Every time I leave Sweden I always realize a little bit more what I'm missing there, and how sad it is that half my family lives across the ocean. I guess I'm stuck with missing places from now on. Sweden, Holland, or Wisconsin: I can't be in all three places at once.
Merry Christmas! To everyone in Sweden, and in Holland, in Missouri, California, and Wisconsin. And everywhere else too!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Plan B
Since I'm already in Europe, it seems like a natural thing that I would want to visit the half of my family who also lives in Europe. I mean, just about all the countries in Europe are so close together that you can travel between them in only a few hours. Right?
A couple months or so ago, Milja and I decided that we would go to Sweden for a few days before Christmas. We booked our tickets with Ryan Air, a cheap flight company that flies between big cities in Europe. The only downside to our 35 euro a piece tickets were that we had to pay an extra seventy euros for the luggage and that we had to fly from Eindhoven airport to Skavsta airport. This meant that first we had to take a train for an hour and a half to get to Eindhoven and then once we got to Sweden we had to take a bus for an hour and a half to get to Stockholm. But, we figured that it was worth it, because in the end it was still a lot cheaper than flying with one of the major flight companies.
Trains really aren't that expensive, and they go really fast, so getting to Eindhoven wasn't really a problem. Until, half an hour into our train ride, they made an announcement that the train rails to one of the most central train stations in the Netherlands was broken. This basically made it impossible to get to Eindhoven with the train.
Right away after they said this Milja looks at me and goes, "We might not get there. Are you going to cry?" I sat there (not crying) well Milja called a million different people and talked to all the other people on the train trying to figure out what we were going to do. For some reason we had to take a train first from Amsterdam to another train station. On the way to this station we met a younger couple who was also going to Sweden on our same flight, and we decided to all take a taxi together to Eindhoven. At the next train station we found a taxi driver who thought he could get us to Eindhoven in time for our 3:30 flight. Of course, I really had to go to the bathroom. So while everyone else waited in the taxi, I ran back into the train station. But, I didn't have the fifty cents it took to go to the bathroom, so I ran back to the taxi, put on a brave face, and decided I would just have to hold it.
We had a pretty good taxi driver. He drove super fast (you don't want to know), and dodged most of the traffic jams. Everything was going well, and we were starting to think that we might actually make the flight. After about 45 minutes in the taxi, though, I was really suffering from the brave decision I'd made earlier. The taxi driver helped me out. "I have to go to the bathroom too," he said, and within five minutes we were pulled over. I sprinted into the gas station and sprinted back out, and we were on our way again. By this time it was starting to seem like we were definitely going to make the flight. We had plenty of time and we were still gaining extra. Then we got to Eindhoven.
After the first wrong turn it was still okay, we had enough time. Even after the second turn it was still all right. After the third wrong turn I was starting to get a little bit of a nervous feeling in my stomach again. After the fourth wrong turn, and realizing that the GPS just wasn't going to work, Milja suggested that we ask someone the way. We had one lucky moment, and the first person we asked actually knew the way there. When we finally got there the taxi driver parked illegally and we all ran out of the car and into the airport. Luckily the gate wasn't closed yet, and we made it in, we even had to wait in line for a little while before we got on the plane. There weren't any major incidents on the plane, just a minor moment when a woman had an asthma attack and they had to call for a doctor, but it seemed like she was okay in the end. When we went to pay for our tickets for the bus to Stockholm, Milja's credit card wouldn't work, and we didn't have any Swedish kroner's yet, but we paid the younger couple that we'd travelled with back in Euros and they bought us a bus ticket. Then we got on the bus and saw that that Milja's blackberry needed a pincode to turn back on, which she had never used before. And what a surprise, so did my cell phone. Eventually I remembered the pincode to my cell phone and managed to turn it on and send text messages to everyone asking for help with Milja's pincode. We managed to call my grandma and grandpa though, so that they could come get us.
When we finally got to Stockholm from the bus they were right there waiting for us. We went home with them in the car and ate keish for dinner. Their house smelled just like Sweden always smells, and there was snow all over the ground outside. And, I got to sleep in the same bed I always sleep in there.
More to come...
A couple months or so ago, Milja and I decided that we would go to Sweden for a few days before Christmas. We booked our tickets with Ryan Air, a cheap flight company that flies between big cities in Europe. The only downside to our 35 euro a piece tickets were that we had to pay an extra seventy euros for the luggage and that we had to fly from Eindhoven airport to Skavsta airport. This meant that first we had to take a train for an hour and a half to get to Eindhoven and then once we got to Sweden we had to take a bus for an hour and a half to get to Stockholm. But, we figured that it was worth it, because in the end it was still a lot cheaper than flying with one of the major flight companies.
Trains really aren't that expensive, and they go really fast, so getting to Eindhoven wasn't really a problem. Until, half an hour into our train ride, they made an announcement that the train rails to one of the most central train stations in the Netherlands was broken. This basically made it impossible to get to Eindhoven with the train.
Right away after they said this Milja looks at me and goes, "We might not get there. Are you going to cry?" I sat there (not crying) well Milja called a million different people and talked to all the other people on the train trying to figure out what we were going to do. For some reason we had to take a train first from Amsterdam to another train station. On the way to this station we met a younger couple who was also going to Sweden on our same flight, and we decided to all take a taxi together to Eindhoven. At the next train station we found a taxi driver who thought he could get us to Eindhoven in time for our 3:30 flight. Of course, I really had to go to the bathroom. So while everyone else waited in the taxi, I ran back into the train station. But, I didn't have the fifty cents it took to go to the bathroom, so I ran back to the taxi, put on a brave face, and decided I would just have to hold it.
We had a pretty good taxi driver. He drove super fast (you don't want to know), and dodged most of the traffic jams. Everything was going well, and we were starting to think that we might actually make the flight. After about 45 minutes in the taxi, though, I was really suffering from the brave decision I'd made earlier. The taxi driver helped me out. "I have to go to the bathroom too," he said, and within five minutes we were pulled over. I sprinted into the gas station and sprinted back out, and we were on our way again. By this time it was starting to seem like we were definitely going to make the flight. We had plenty of time and we were still gaining extra. Then we got to Eindhoven.
After the first wrong turn it was still okay, we had enough time. Even after the second turn it was still all right. After the third wrong turn I was starting to get a little bit of a nervous feeling in my stomach again. After the fourth wrong turn, and realizing that the GPS just wasn't going to work, Milja suggested that we ask someone the way. We had one lucky moment, and the first person we asked actually knew the way there. When we finally got there the taxi driver parked illegally and we all ran out of the car and into the airport. Luckily the gate wasn't closed yet, and we made it in, we even had to wait in line for a little while before we got on the plane. There weren't any major incidents on the plane, just a minor moment when a woman had an asthma attack and they had to call for a doctor, but it seemed like she was okay in the end. When we went to pay for our tickets for the bus to Stockholm, Milja's credit card wouldn't work, and we didn't have any Swedish kroner's yet, but we paid the younger couple that we'd travelled with back in Euros and they bought us a bus ticket. Then we got on the bus and saw that that Milja's blackberry needed a pincode to turn back on, which she had never used before. And what a surprise, so did my cell phone. Eventually I remembered the pincode to my cell phone and managed to turn it on and send text messages to everyone asking for help with Milja's pincode. We managed to call my grandma and grandpa though, so that they could come get us.
When we finally got to Stockholm from the bus they were right there waiting for us. We went home with them in the car and ate keish for dinner. Their house smelled just like Sweden always smells, and there was snow all over the ground outside. And, I got to sleep in the same bed I always sleep in there.
More to come...
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piets
Happy belated Sinterklaas.
After waiting, and waiting, and waiting Sinterklaas finally came! He did already come to Akersloot one time, but that time was just to say hi (or something). He didn't actually have presents with him. Last Saturday though, he came with presents. But, first Thursday.
I went to school... not very exciting. Then I had running practice as usual at the fitness center with strength training circuits. After the strength we always run, which we did in the rain. Did I mention that it rains a lot here? I remember when I was little, like fifth grade or something when the school didn't actually make us where snowpants anymore, but my mom did. Every day we would have this huge argument about whether or not I had to wear snowpants. Finally she decided that if it was colder than 20 degrees I had to wear snowpants, but then it always ended up being a huge discussion about whether I had to wear them or not when it was 18 degrees. I'm pretty sure this went on at least two or three winters long. The point of this story is that the issue at home was snow pants. The issue here is rain pants. Rain pants are in many ways similar to snow pants: 1) they come in horrible gray and black colors 2) they make you look fat 3) they are extremely high waisted 4) you absolutely do not want to be seen in them by anyone you know. I would say that about half the days when I bike to school it's raining, or at least drizzling a little bit, and if Milja's home she always asks me if I want to wear my rain pants and I always say no. Which means that every single one of those days I end up at school in soaking wet pants. So Thursday... it was raining, and I thought of the rain pants because I actually wore them for the first time on Thursday.
After getting rained on at practice, which isn't actually bad, it's nice to run in the rain, I went out with Taiana. I know... it was Thursday night! Usually she doesn't go out on Thursday nights, but it was "Old School Break" at the bar we went to, which means that they played only old music. Also, because the next weekend was Sinterklaas, all of the bar men were dressed up as Zwarte Piets, and there was one dressed up as Sinterklaas. Luckily, it wasn't raining on our way to the bar, or on the way home, so we stayed dry.
Friday morning (after going out) I got up at six to go to Anita's school in Amsterdam again. Fridays at my school aren't that important anyway... what happened at Anita's school on Friday was definitely important. Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands on December 5th. Friday was December 4th, which meant the day that Sinterklaas came to all of the schools. You can easily compare Sinterklaas to Santa Claus. I mean the name sounds the same, they look kind of the same, and every Dutch person will happily tell you the story about how Sinterklaas was stolen by Coca Cola and is now used in America as Santa Claus. The idea is the same too... a jolly man that brings presents. But, let me tell you, it's completely different. The kids absolutely, completely, believe that Sinterklaas is real. And it's not just a handful of kids that believe, it's practically every single one. Naturally then, when they see Sinterklaas walking towards them on their school playground they are going to go absolutely insane. They did. It was like in a movie, all of the kids screamed and charged him. There was music everywhere, and the Zwarte Piets were running around throwing papernotas and candy to everyone and all over the ground. After Sinterklaas came to the playground where everyone was waiting, all of the kids had to go back inside. This was the hard part. First they got to see Sinterklaas, and now they had to go back to the classroom and wait for him to come to them. For two hours. Anita handled it well though. She turned the Sinterklaas music up really loud, spread candy and papernotas all over the tables, and let the kids just play. When Sinterklaas finally came to our class they all had to sit in a circle, and the Zwarte Piets and Sinterklaas handed out presents to all of the kids.
I'm still not completely convinced if it's morally right to make the kids in the whole country believe that Sinterklaas is real when he actually isn't. But it's definitely a lot of fun, so maybe it's worth how completely devastated they're going to be when they finally find out he's not real.
The kids all went home around noon, and Anita and I were left with a classroom that had crushed papernoten, toys, and wrappers everywhere. We ate lunch first and then started with cleaning up. I finally had the floor all nice and swept up, and then the Zwarte Piets came by. Sinterklaas was still in the school with all of his Zwarte Piets because he had to visit all of the older kids too, and on their way to the gym they saw that our classroom was clean. Of course we ended up with papernoten all over the floor again. And again, and again, and again. Finally at the end of the day everything was clean for the last time, and then we had to decorate for Christmas. All the teachers took down the Sinterklaas decorations and started hanging Christmas things in the hall. I sat in Anita's classroom in a daze of absolute exhaustion and wrapped white paper around old toilet paper rolls to hang in the hallway (remember kindergarten? You use all sorts of cool things!). The evening ended with all of the teachers drinking beer with Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets, which was nice too.
Saturday at 4:00 the entire family came to Oma and Opa's house (remember that Oma and Opa is Grandma and Grandpa?). There were fifteen of us all together, and only one true believer left. Joleen is nine, and at the beginning of the holiday season no one really knew if she still believed in Sinterklaas, but then decided that she did. So, everything was hush hush, and we had to be oh-so-careful not to say anything that could make her suspicious. It still wasn't quite dark at 4:00, so everyone sat together eating papernoten, spekulaars, and chocolate until it was dark. Then, when it was dark everyone all of a sudden started singing all of the Sinterklaas songs. I had heard some of them at the school on Friday, but most of them I couldn't really sing a long with (mostly I just hummed... and listened).
Are you ready for the next part?......
All of a sudden there came a knock on the door. Joleen ran to the door followed by the rest of us. After a desperate struggle to get the door open, in which Opa finally had to come help, we saw that there was no one there. "Check upstairs!" someone yelled. We all sprinted up the dangerously steep stairs, and began frantically searching all of the rooms. Finally Joleen opened the door to Opa and Oma's bedroom. She shrieked loudly and we all ran over to look. On the bed was a gigantic pile of presents, and there was candy strewn all throughout the room. The window stood wide open.
So, Sinterklaas did come to us, but we missed seeing him. Everyone helped bring the presents downstairs, and then Taiana gave them out one at a time. After two hours or so we were barely halfway done, so we all ate dinner. Then there were more presents. Around ten or so all of the presents were done, and Sinterklaas was over. The way that it worked with presents was that each person had been sent a name in the mail a month before Sinterklaas. We had to buy a present for the person whose name we got, and write a poem to go with it. I didn't write my poem alone, Oma helped me, but in the end I had one. Besides that, all of the adults bought presents for all of children. The poems were really fun... I think we'll bring that to Christmas in Spooner next year. I wish I could write them here, but they're in Dutch, so it wouldn't make sense to very many people.'
My time on the library computer is running out, and it's almost time for another training at the fitness center, so this post is done for today. I promise there's more to come though... I wish I could just dictate out of my head. I could spend hours writing every night, and still never be able to explain everything that happens here.
Sweden is coming up next Wednesday. And then no more school until after New Years. I'll be in the Netherlands in 2010!
After waiting, and waiting, and waiting Sinterklaas finally came! He did already come to Akersloot one time, but that time was just to say hi (or something). He didn't actually have presents with him. Last Saturday though, he came with presents. But, first Thursday.
I went to school... not very exciting. Then I had running practice as usual at the fitness center with strength training circuits. After the strength we always run, which we did in the rain. Did I mention that it rains a lot here? I remember when I was little, like fifth grade or something when the school didn't actually make us where snowpants anymore, but my mom did. Every day we would have this huge argument about whether or not I had to wear snowpants. Finally she decided that if it was colder than 20 degrees I had to wear snowpants, but then it always ended up being a huge discussion about whether I had to wear them or not when it was 18 degrees. I'm pretty sure this went on at least two or three winters long. The point of this story is that the issue at home was snow pants. The issue here is rain pants. Rain pants are in many ways similar to snow pants: 1) they come in horrible gray and black colors 2) they make you look fat 3) they are extremely high waisted 4) you absolutely do not want to be seen in them by anyone you know. I would say that about half the days when I bike to school it's raining, or at least drizzling a little bit, and if Milja's home she always asks me if I want to wear my rain pants and I always say no. Which means that every single one of those days I end up at school in soaking wet pants. So Thursday... it was raining, and I thought of the rain pants because I actually wore them for the first time on Thursday.
After getting rained on at practice, which isn't actually bad, it's nice to run in the rain, I went out with Taiana. I know... it was Thursday night! Usually she doesn't go out on Thursday nights, but it was "Old School Break" at the bar we went to, which means that they played only old music. Also, because the next weekend was Sinterklaas, all of the bar men were dressed up as Zwarte Piets, and there was one dressed up as Sinterklaas. Luckily, it wasn't raining on our way to the bar, or on the way home, so we stayed dry.
Friday morning (after going out) I got up at six to go to Anita's school in Amsterdam again. Fridays at my school aren't that important anyway... what happened at Anita's school on Friday was definitely important. Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands on December 5th. Friday was December 4th, which meant the day that Sinterklaas came to all of the schools. You can easily compare Sinterklaas to Santa Claus. I mean the name sounds the same, they look kind of the same, and every Dutch person will happily tell you the story about how Sinterklaas was stolen by Coca Cola and is now used in America as Santa Claus. The idea is the same too... a jolly man that brings presents. But, let me tell you, it's completely different. The kids absolutely, completely, believe that Sinterklaas is real. And it's not just a handful of kids that believe, it's practically every single one. Naturally then, when they see Sinterklaas walking towards them on their school playground they are going to go absolutely insane. They did. It was like in a movie, all of the kids screamed and charged him. There was music everywhere, and the Zwarte Piets were running around throwing papernotas and candy to everyone and all over the ground. After Sinterklaas came to the playground where everyone was waiting, all of the kids had to go back inside. This was the hard part. First they got to see Sinterklaas, and now they had to go back to the classroom and wait for him to come to them. For two hours. Anita handled it well though. She turned the Sinterklaas music up really loud, spread candy and papernotas all over the tables, and let the kids just play. When Sinterklaas finally came to our class they all had to sit in a circle, and the Zwarte Piets and Sinterklaas handed out presents to all of the kids.
I'm still not completely convinced if it's morally right to make the kids in the whole country believe that Sinterklaas is real when he actually isn't. But it's definitely a lot of fun, so maybe it's worth how completely devastated they're going to be when they finally find out he's not real.
The kids all went home around noon, and Anita and I were left with a classroom that had crushed papernoten, toys, and wrappers everywhere. We ate lunch first and then started with cleaning up. I finally had the floor all nice and swept up, and then the Zwarte Piets came by. Sinterklaas was still in the school with all of his Zwarte Piets because he had to visit all of the older kids too, and on their way to the gym they saw that our classroom was clean. Of course we ended up with papernoten all over the floor again. And again, and again, and again. Finally at the end of the day everything was clean for the last time, and then we had to decorate for Christmas. All the teachers took down the Sinterklaas decorations and started hanging Christmas things in the hall. I sat in Anita's classroom in a daze of absolute exhaustion and wrapped white paper around old toilet paper rolls to hang in the hallway (remember kindergarten? You use all sorts of cool things!). The evening ended with all of the teachers drinking beer with Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets, which was nice too.
Saturday at 4:00 the entire family came to Oma and Opa's house (remember that Oma and Opa is Grandma and Grandpa?). There were fifteen of us all together, and only one true believer left. Joleen is nine, and at the beginning of the holiday season no one really knew if she still believed in Sinterklaas, but then decided that she did. So, everything was hush hush, and we had to be oh-so-careful not to say anything that could make her suspicious. It still wasn't quite dark at 4:00, so everyone sat together eating papernoten, spekulaars, and chocolate until it was dark. Then, when it was dark everyone all of a sudden started singing all of the Sinterklaas songs. I had heard some of them at the school on Friday, but most of them I couldn't really sing a long with (mostly I just hummed... and listened).
Are you ready for the next part?......
All of a sudden there came a knock on the door. Joleen ran to the door followed by the rest of us. After a desperate struggle to get the door open, in which Opa finally had to come help, we saw that there was no one there. "Check upstairs!" someone yelled. We all sprinted up the dangerously steep stairs, and began frantically searching all of the rooms. Finally Joleen opened the door to Opa and Oma's bedroom. She shrieked loudly and we all ran over to look. On the bed was a gigantic pile of presents, and there was candy strewn all throughout the room. The window stood wide open.
So, Sinterklaas did come to us, but we missed seeing him. Everyone helped bring the presents downstairs, and then Taiana gave them out one at a time. After two hours or so we were barely halfway done, so we all ate dinner. Then there were more presents. Around ten or so all of the presents were done, and Sinterklaas was over. The way that it worked with presents was that each person had been sent a name in the mail a month before Sinterklaas. We had to buy a present for the person whose name we got, and write a poem to go with it. I didn't write my poem alone, Oma helped me, but in the end I had one. Besides that, all of the adults bought presents for all of children. The poems were really fun... I think we'll bring that to Christmas in Spooner next year. I wish I could write them here, but they're in Dutch, so it wouldn't make sense to very many people.'
My time on the library computer is running out, and it's almost time for another training at the fitness center, so this post is done for today. I promise there's more to come though... I wish I could just dictate out of my head. I could spend hours writing every night, and still never be able to explain everything that happens here.
Sweden is coming up next Wednesday. And then no more school until after New Years. I'll be in the Netherlands in 2010!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
