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.