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!