Florida!

So after my stay in New York City I went on to the Young Life All Staff Conference in Florida. We stayed at the Marriott in Orlando. So there I Finally saw Caroline en Miquel (YL Nederland) again. The first 3 days we had the International pre-conference with Young Life Staff who work outside the USA. During this pre-conference we heard all the different stories and testimonies from all over the world. This was nice and small, we knew almost everyone there. When the real Conference began, almost the whole hotel was filled with Young Life staff. Almost 4000 people, it was amazing. I met so many new people, I had a great time. Every day we had what we call club and that is what we also do at the Young Life summer camps. But this was club for adults. They did crazy skits and there was great music and amazing speakers. There were also some famous people, like Jeff Foxworthy, the host of 'Are You Smarter that a 5th. grader". Jeff Foxworthy is also a volunteer leader at a wyldlife club (that is young Life for middle school kids). Can you imagine having a celebrety as your Wyldlife leader? Jeff Foxworthy also gave a stand-up comedy show and he is famous for his Redneck jokes.
Everything was focused on having a good time and being refreshed. There were workshops and prayer meetings. On Thursday we had the day off and we could go to one of the many parks. We (Caroline, Miquel and me) went to Disney World and had a great time there. That evening after Club there was a concert by Nicole C. Mullen, a Christian singer.
Saturday night we had our last club and Jack Hanna (he is a famous wildlife conservationist who appears regularly on The Late Show with David Letterman) came with some of his animal friends, a snake, an armadillo and a mountain lion (puma). It was hilarious, especially when one of the guys volunteered his wife to carry the Python and the the snake rapped itself in between her legs and its tail poked out from behind her like she had a little pigs tail.

Christmas and New Years in New York City

I am so sorry that it has been so long. Let me catch you up quickly.
So on December 19th I left for New York City to spend Christmas and New Years with my friend ZuShanna. On Christmas Eve day we went to a friend of hers who had invited a bunch of people over for brunch. Late that night we went to Zu's grandparents' where the whole family opened their presents. At first it took a while for everybody to get there and then suddenly people started handing out and opening up presents.
People were in various rooms letting others bring their presents to the person it was for. To me this didn't look like anything you see in all those American family Christmas movies they show every year. But that's OK! On Christmas Day, Zu, her boyfriend Keith and I opened up each others presents and that was a lot more fun that the night before.
On New Years Eve we went to the church Zu and Keith go to. That was a lot of fun, a big Choir, good songs and a good message. Afterwards we went back to Zu's place with a bunch of friends, we ordered Pizza, watched the ball drop on TV and I heard, what I thought was fire works, but according to my friends were gunshots. That is how Brooklyn celebrates the New Year!!!
While in New York, I also went to Central Park. It was a beautiful, but very cold day (F13/C-10). We also went to the Whitney Museum and Ice Skating in Bryant Park. As well, I had to get a dress for the formal dinner I was going to attend at the All Staff Conference. So with my friend Aisha I went to Macy's and practically put on every dress in the store that was on Sale. A bit to big, a bit to small, 'Oh sorry this one is not on sale'! So we decided to grab a bite to eat and take a little break. After resting up, we were roaming around the youth section and they had the cutest dresses there. So after putting on only one dress I was done! Now, why in the world didn't we start there?

Sinterklaas in Holland, Michigan, USA

Yeah, first they buy a Christmas tree and then they have Sinterklaas. Ok things are a bit different here in the USA. And yes I am a bit behind too. So let me catch up. In the Netherlands we think Sinterklaas goes back to Spain on December 6th, but no that is not true. He goes to Holland, Michigan to visit all the "Dutch" children there on December 7th. He rides with his horse through town and at the end talks to the children. The children sing a Dutch Sinterklaas song for him and that's about it (you can watch the video on Youtube). Some families still celebrate Sinterklaas a little and so does my hostfamily. They put their wooden shoes in front of the chimney and get a Dutch chocolate letter from Sinterklaas.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree

Christmastime sure starts early here in the USA. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to get a Christmas tree. We went with the whole family and Josh and his friend from Texas. I didn't really know what the big deal was, until we got to the farm where we were going to get our tree. I was thinking :'Where are the trees?' Well, all the trees were still in the field. We all got on the wagon behind the tractor and went to the field. There we got a saw and when we found the tree we liked we were supposed to cut it down ourselves. So we walked around to look for the perfect tree. They wanted a big one and it had to be one of those Christmas tree kinds that smell like citrus fruits. I didn't know such a kind existed. So after walking around a bit, there it was, the perfect, tall, Christmas tree. So Eric and Josh started to cut it down. By that time the tractor was back with other customers and we took our tree and all got on the tractor. We rode back to the barn and there they rapped the tree up in a net and we got some hot chocolate and candy canes. The guys put the tree on top of the car and we were off, with our huge tree. When we got home, we all worked together to make sure it was standing straight.
The next day we finished the decorating and so it is all Christmassy here. Some Radio Stations are playing Christmas songs and we have had our first snow of the season. Christmas is here and in the Netherlands they are still waiting for Sinterklaas to leave. But he'll be going back to Spain after he has delivered all his gifts to the Dutch children on December fifth. So soon it will be Christmastime everywhere.

After Thanksgiving Shopping!

So after thanksgiving apparently you HAVE to go shopping. They had told me about that weeks before thanksgiving. The stores have major sales and open at 4 or 5 am. People practically camp out in front of the stores the night before. I was thinking those Americans are crazy. But I guess I have to try and experience as much as I can while I am here. But I would only go and stand in line for something that I need and is worthwhile. So Carrie and I started looking at the ads for laptops and we found some very good deals. So I got up at 1.30 am, Carrie didn't go to bed at all. We put on our thermos and long johns, put on scarfs and hats and gloves and made some hot tea and coffee. We arrived at the store a little after 2 am and there were people with tents and the line was pretty long. But we stood in line and waited, because at 3 am the would start to hand out vouchers for all their sale items. So we waited and waited, but the only vouchers that got up to where we were in line, were for flat screen t.v.'s. At about 4 they were done with all the vouchers for laptops so we decided to go to an other store, this was more of an office supply store and would most likely not be too busy and Carrie had seen a laptop that she also liked. This store would open at 6 am so we had to wait an extra hour in the cold, but OK, we had already been waiting for a couple of hours. When we got there the line wasn't long at all and they started to hand out the vouchers for their sales just after we arrived. But of coarse the cheapest laptop was also gone before we could get one of the vouchers. There were other laptops that were on sale but they didn't hand out vouchers for those so we decided to wait and go get these. We were first in line by now, because the people who dit get vouchers had left, they could pick up their things later in the morning. At first I wasn't sure, but then I started to calculate the price in euros and they were still pretty cheap. That last half hour of waiting was the longest half hour ever. We had been out in the cold since 2 o'clock and we started to get really cold. Finally the doors opened and we went straight to the laptop aisle. So we asked about the laptop and Carrie and me were the first there, then the guy said: 'Oh, I think we only have 2 or 3 of those.' Isn't that weird, don't put it in your ads if you only have a few. But he went to get them and Carrie and I were the first ones so we got our laptops. Yes! Was it worth it? I don't know, but after all that waiting we didn't want to go home empty handed. In the Netherlands I wouldn't have been able to get this laptop for this price so, I guess it was worth it. But I am glad we don't have sales like that in the Netherlands, I don't think I will do something like that again. Unless the deal is really, really good, I mean I am Dutch, aren't I.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of those well known American Holidays and is celebrated every fourth Thursday in November and every second Monday in October in Canada. Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who had left from Delft Haven (the Netherlands) in July 1620. They made a stop in England and left Plymouth in September.They arrived in the New World, in what is now known as the state of Massachusetts, late November. They couldn't grow any crops anymore and they faced a very hard winter without fresh food. In that first winter half the people of the new colony died. But in the spring the local Indians taught them how to catch fish and grow corn. Without this help the would most likely not have survived. So after their first harvest in 1621, they held an Autumn celebration whit a lot of food and feasting and thanking God. They also invited the Indians who brought deer to roast and popcorn. This is the story of the first Thanksgiving, but earlier settlers in Virgina also had a yearly day of Thanksgiving, but it wasn't a real feast.
Now lets go back to the present. Last Thursday it was Thanksgiving day and first we went to church and after that we went to Rick's sisters' for thanksgiving dinner. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes like Turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans and mashed potatoes. I really liked the stuffing and I remember tasting something like that before. For desert there was pumpkin pie, cherry pie and raspberry pie. After dinner some took naps, to let all that food settle a bit. I played pool and later we also played Guitar Hero (cool computer game). We also looked at all the ads for the after thanksgiving sales. Strange but true of coarse our stomachs told us that we needed food again at around 6 pm. So we got some of the leftovers out and some new dishes and ate a little more. This was a good first Thanksgiving for me.

Meet Dora!

Hello everyone, I would like you to meet Dora the Explorer('96 Ford Explorer). Yes, I finally got my own car, and what a car! She is big and beautiful and she had got a name, given to here by her former owner (after the Dora the Explorer cartoon). For the car freaks out there, she is a V8 All wheel drive, nice when the snow comes! I have had her now for a little over a week and it is good to be able to go out on my own. I don't have to depend on others anymore to take me places. OK, She still needs new tires and the wheels need to get aligned but we are going to take care of that this week. So from here I would like to thank everybody who helped me with getting me this ride! THANKS!!!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Last week Wednesday it was Halloween. This is a pretty big thing here in the USA. The little kids love to go 'Trick or Treading'. Or is it just a Hallmark event? Any way on that day we went to school to be in the gym during the lunches and as you can see in the picture American kids love to dress up. During the first lunch I was asked to be a judge in the Halloween costume competition. A great way to meet kids! But it can be very hard. The kids all lined up in the back of the cafeteria and then walked by us judges. Each of the Judges were given 3 gift certificates to hand out to whomever we thought had the best costume. There was a really great transformer, but by the time I got to him one of the other judges had already given him a gift certificate. There was also a very cute flock of sheep with a cute Sheppard girl. But the were ten in all so one 5 dollar gift card didn't quite cut it. But I really liked the Charleston dress one of the girls was wearing, she was could have come straight out of one of those old 30's movie. And then there also were a lot of scary costumes, so one of my gift cards went to one of them, although I didn't really know what or who he was supposed to be. My last card I gave to a cute little penguin.

Later that day I was invited to a real Halloween party, and that meant I needed a costume as well. Well since being a real Dutch girl I decided to go as one too. My host mother Deb was a Dutch clog dancer when she was in high school so she had the costume. Of coarse it was too small for me now but nothing a few safety pins couldn't handle. The blouse was too small as well but I used one of my own, no one here would ever notice that it wasn't a real traditional one.
The Party turned out to be a bit boring. it was at the Grand Valley Campus and kids from the town would come to 'trick or treat'. But it started to rain so not that many came by. At nine Eric and Robin and I had to go to our Young Life New Leader Training and since it is at the campus we went in our costumes. There was one other person there in his costume, so we weren't the only ones. When I came in I told them all, that we still wear those clothes every day in the Netherlands, Yeah right!

Fall is the Theme!!!

Yes, it has truly become fall. The weather has changed and so have the colors. Everywhere you can see trees changing there colors and leaves are starting to fall. People are taking out their fall decorations and there are PUMPKINS everywhere!
So last Saturday I decided to join my host brother Eric to go with him to a friends house to hang out with some of his college friends. Most of whom I had already met. So I was looking forward to see what 'wild things' college kids do on a Saturday night while the parents are away for the weekend. Well let me tell you..., carving pumpkins. We had six pumpkins and there were 12 of us. So we paired up and started carving our pumpkins, of coarse being with college kids, this couldn't be done without throwing some pumpkin guts around. Considering this being my first time carving pumpkins, I did pretty good. Except for a little slip of the knife which resulted in pinning parts of the pumpkin back on with some toothpicks. After we all were finished with carving our pumpkins, we lit the candles in them and we all gave our votes as to which pumpkin was the most beautiful one. In the picture the second from the left, with the pumpkin guts coming out of its mouth, was the winner. We gathered and cleaned some of the pumpkin seeds, put some salt on them and roasted them in the oven. The rest of the evening the guys played pool in the basement and us girls had us some 'good ole' girl talk.

How do you get a young dog to swim?

The last couple of weeks I have been trying to get Buddy to swim. Josh and Eric had taken him sailing and dumped him in the water and according to the book, that is not what you should be doing. So I was afraid Buddy had gotten scared of swimming. So I took some dog treats and took him in the water and give him treats to go in deeper. But no matter what he would not go further then were he could still stand. He would even start to shiver if I kept the treat too far away from him, like he was really scarred. Last weekend it was really hot and we were all outside at the water front, so buddy would walk through the water as well. Now in that last week we had gotten company of 4 swans in the lake. And on this last Sunday they came pretty close to the house and Buddy got all worked up and excited about. He was barking at them and running back and forth in the water, and suddenly he was swimming. But then he swam back again, went in the water again and then, he just started swimming after them. The swans swam away and Buddy kept on swimming and swimming and I just went after him. He swam further and further and halfway across the lake the swans apparently had enough of this crazy dog and flew away to the next lake over. And there was Buddy in the middle of the lake not knowing what to do and where to go. I called Jenna who was kayaking and I tried to get buddy and take him to the closest shore. Rick and Eric had already taken the rowboat out and were on their way over. Buddy was pretty tired and I held on to the Kayak with buddy in my arms. When the rowboat arrived we put him in the boat and took him back to the house. And there he was sitting in the front of the boat all proud looking and still trying to see where those darn swans had gone off to!