Monthly Report 8: March

The first weekend on March (the last weekend of the break) my host family took me to Germany with them to go skiing. My whole host family went, including my host sister's boyfriends. That was especially nice because my eldest host sister's boyfriend is from Germany, so I got to see him in his element. He was, however, devastated to learn that we also have pretzels in the US, and that there were in no way special to me. He was also shocked to discover that we frequently eat them with cinnamon sugar in place of salt. I was surprised to learn that Germans will cut their soft pretzels in half in order to apply butter, almost like how you'd cut a bagel. So in the end we both learned things.

We went to the closest possible ski spot, which was only a three hour drive. So we got there, headed to the rental hut, and began skiing right away (this was Friday). I was surprised to see that there was no skiing lodge, so we had to leave all our stuff in the car and carry our lunches in backpacks. The "mountain" that we went to was very, very small. I think the runs were about five minutes, maybe. But that was fine, it was really more about the family bonding for me (besides, I'm going skiing in the Alps for a whole week next month). 

Eldest host sister and her boyfriend (German)

It was interesting to see how the skiing system works in Germany, or at least at this small mountain in Willingen. Instead of waffle houses in the mountains they have schnitzel houses, were many people were getting drunk. There weren't any difficult slopes, and the snow conditions were good, but I still wonder how all those drunk people got down the mountain. On some of the easier slopes (though I would say the slopes were all about the same difficulty) they even let people sled down. That made me really nervous when we had to share the space. Most people wore helmets, though I do think it was a lower percentage than in the US. My host family believes that you only need a helmet if you are a snowboarder, and that it's silly for skiers to wear them. They didn't protest however, when I insisted on renting one for myself (better safe than sorry). 

plenty of people snacking and drinking outside this schnitzel house

a random table that was at the top of the mountain?

candy!

We got their late the first day, which meant plenty of people were selling their tickets for discount prices. That was good news for me since I paid for myself on the trip. We would stop skiing at 5, go back to our rented apartment, make dinner, play cards, and go to bed. It was really nice family bonding time. On Sunday it was 32 degrees and sunny, I was skiing with just a long sleeved shirt and my jacket completely open. I broke away from the family for bit to take some of the paths in-between the trees (my host sisters and their boyfriends snowboard, so they didn't have enough of an incline to follow me) and I had a great time sitting under the pine trees. 

Overall I'd call the trip a success. I had a great time with the host siblings and got to test out the ski clothes that my host family is letting me borrow for my trip to the French Alps.

There were a couple Rotary events this month. The first of which was a tour of a local tulip farm, which bundles and sends out around 60,000 tulips every day. The entire operation is indoors, and works more like a factory than a farm. The tulips grow in boxes on conveyor belts, which move the flowers to different sections in the glass house depending on their stage of development and what they need. In this way is the farm almost completely machine operated, with a computer directing the flowers to a watering section, day light section, fertilizing section, cutting section, etc. The little hand work that is still required was performed almost completely by immigrants (mainly Polish) who either live on the farm or migrate around Europe depending on the planting season. It was interesting to see that not many Dutch people were actually involved in the production of one the Netherlands' most famous products. 

We also revisited the goat farm from our first month here, where the goat were beginning to give birth to their kids.

the lights here change colors depending on what the tulips need

The Rotary exchange students were also invited to go on a tour of Giethoorn, a small village that is also known as the "Venice of the North". So called because there are no roads in Giethoorn, only canals and narrow footpaths. Mail, ambulances, garbage pick up, etc, are all done with boats. It's a really pretty down and we got great Spring weather, even though it was cloudy the whole day. 

I'd have to say the best thing that happened this month though was when my sister came to visit. She was only here for three full days, arriving a Sunday morning and returning a Thursday morning, but ti was the only time she could come. Fortunately her spring break week was the same week as Dutch testing, so I didn't even have to miss any school. 

She arrived on Sunday and I showed her around Lelystad, not that there is much to see. We biked everywhere, of course, and I noticed something that made me laugh. When I first arrived in the Netherlands my host sister would bike with me places. I would bike behind her, and she would constantly be reminding me that I could bike next to her. I didn't really get the concept, or why it was weird to her that I was behind her. I didn't want to take up too much room, and it's how we always biked back home. However, once Alannah was here I quickly found myself doing the same thing my host sister had done to me. She kept biking behind me instead of next to me and I thought it was so weird. I was now the one constantly reminding her she could bike next to me, and she was the one who didn't get it. It was really cool to be able to see myself on two sides of a cultural experience. 

That night we took a tour of Lelystad's fire station, which was really cool. The station is really state of the art. They have an entire staging area that they can flood with smoke for training exercises. They also have two equipped divers teams. Apparently Flevoland deals with more car accidents in water than on land, which makes sense considering the geography of the area. I also learned that while the station has a pole, they don't use it. Most stations have started phasing out poles, due to related instances of ankle injuries (especially when fighters are rushing out in the middle of the night). 

On Monday we biked to my school to see if anyone was hanging out between tests, which they were. We spent a good bit of time there meeting all of my friends. One of which was even nice enough to lend Alannah his travel card, earning us a 40% discount on the train. We put that discount immediately to good use by ending the day in Utrecht, giving Alannah a proper introduction to the European shopping scene. She also came to Kung-Fu with me that night, which was also fun.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both Amsterdam days. All of our museum/attraction tickets were for Tuesday. The first thing we did when we got into the city was take the ferry to the A'dam lookout, a large building in North Amsterdam that offers a 360 view of the city. Despite it being an (obviously) cloudy day, the views were amazing. We also purchased tickets for the A'dam swing, a swing that pushes you over the edge of the building. It was cold and windy up there, but I think it was worth it. 

We had tickets to go to the Red Light Secrets Prostitution Museum, and the Anne Frank House. Since the Anne Frank House had a very specific entry time, we went to the prostitution museum first. We had a lot of questions regarding how the industry is regulated (if the girls pay taxes, if they had a union, if there were medical requirements, if they got benefits, if they were considered self-employed, etc). The museum definitely answered all of our questions, and also answered some that we didn't even know we had. It was genuinely interesting and I would recommend it to anyone who was in Amsterdam for the first time. It also helped put things in perspective when we toured the district later that night. 

For lunch we got fries, and I ordered them with my two favorite Dutch sauces: fry mayo and peanut sauce. Don't judge, they're delicious. 

We still had time between museums, so we wandered our way over to the Anne Frank House (shopping as we went, of course). Alannah was really into Amsterdam's flag, which features three white X's on a red and black field. I also really like the flag, and ended up buying one in a souvenir shop. I always love wandering though Amsterdam's streets, which aren't as busy as you'd expect and always lined with canals. Being with my favorite person made it all the better too.  

You can see the three Xs in the shield on this building

This picture is from one of the few Dunkin' Donuts in the Netherlands, which look much more like a Starbucks than your typical American 

A monument on the canal right around the corner from the Anne Frank House, directly across from Westerkerk

The Anne Frank House is obviously a must see in Amsterdam, and we were glad to have gone. It was undergoing construction but generally efficient and well organized. We didn't take any pictures, it was a pretty quiet and respectful environment. 

We walked from there to the museum square, where we cruised by some of the Netherlands' most famous museums. The city was so nice to just walk through that we didn't use the tram or metro at all the first day. The Red Light District is located very close to Amsterdam Centraal Station, ironically circling the Oude Kerk. We got some waffles and walked around while we waited for everything to light up. The lights are unironically beautiful (especially in their reflection off the canals), and it wasn't as rowdy a crowd as you might expect. It was also 7pm on a Tuesday night though. 

This is what one of the girl's rooms looked like. The standard set up for most girls seemed to be just a plastic bed and a small sink. This one had a lot more furnishings, but there didn't seem to be anyone renting it out.

The second day in Amsterdam was much more relaxed. It was for seeing the city and buying souvenirs. It was also exactly one month before our birthday, so I took Alannah to get traditional Dutch pancakes. Poffertjes and pannekoken. We had spotted a place the day before next to the Anne Frank House. It was a pretty heavy lunch, but we didn't have any regrets. 

From there we took the train to the Albert Cyup market, where we could put our carbs to better use. We walked the length of the market and explored a local park. Sadly, that was the end of our Dutch adventure. I was so glad that she was able to come and meet my friends and host family. Even just staying up late watching videos with her was a treat. Being away from family definitely makes you appreciate them more. What's crazy though is, that in just three months, I'll be back again. And I won't even be in Lelystad for a about a third of that time. The year is really approaching the end and I am so grateful for the time I've had so far. 

After test week ended I returned to school. I can participate in classes much more now than in he beginning of the year, which is great. One snag I had last week was when I lost my retainer at school. I was running late and forgot to take it out. When I realized it was still in my mouth I put it in my pocket for "safe keeping". Not surprisingly it fell out of my pocket during the day. Luckily, the custodians spotted it within a few hours. Unluckily, it was thrown out. My retainer is in two parts and I only lost one, which is a silver lining. Hopefully I'll be able to coordinate with my insurance to get a new one. And if it can't happen here then I can wait until I get back to the States. After all, I did get my braces off almost six years ago.

In the last week of March I made my last switch to my final host family. I've only been here a week, but the energy is great so far. This is the first host family to have more than one child living at home, and I really missed that sibling dynamic. The kids in this family are all boys. I didn't realize how much I missed having brothers until I came here. It makes me miss my own even more. For now though, I am content with the knowledge of seeing them again in three months. Until then I'm really enjoying building a relationship with my new brothers, two of which go to the same high school I do. Because of that some of our friend groups overlap, which is pretty cool. 

The time is speeding by and I'm trying to make the most of it. I am also managing a few things back home, as I get ready to register for my classes chose a dorm. I have a lot of events planned in April, so it should be a pretty busy month coming up. I'm so grateful for all the time I've had so far, and looking forward to the rest.