Netherridic-

Having Steven here is so much fun!

Saturday:
- went to fish market at 8am and bought everything that caught our attention
- weather was super cold
- got Steven to cycle with me :)
- explored the cube houses: it's like being in a different place, it had little stores and it's just a really cute place to be - one is for sale, and we want to buy it
- Dudok: tried the famous apple pie and it was delicious! also ran into one of the teachers
- cycled back home to organize our life and drop off everything we bought from the market
- got locked out of the apartment because my key cards aren't working again
- cycled to park and beside the water - the bike ride was relaxing
- Euromast: saw Rotterdam in a complete way
- had a glass of wine and pea soup! (very yummy!)
- went home, Steven took a nap while we got ready for dinner at my mentor teacher's place
- had dinner: Indonesian food, fruits for dessert, and her son playing with words: very amusing
- Museum Night!!!!!!!! started at 10 at night until 2 in the morning: went to the photomuseum, worldmuseum, Kunsthal (where we fell asleep on the big orange pillows), architect institute (my favorite!), art museum, 3D video/game, and strolled through Witte de With!
- supposed to go to Plan C (on the list and everything) but we were too tired :(

Sunday:
- let Steven sleep in while I worked on lesson plans :)
- cooked lunch: hamburger, mushrooms, and rice (so easy to cook mushrooms, I'm super excited!)
- went to Media Markt to buy battery charger then went to H&M to go shopping!
- hopped on a train to Amsterdam: had to change trains three times!
- exchanged dollars to euros - totally charged me 60 euros to exchange :(
- walked around Amsterdam, ate at an Italian restaurant then a bar/restaurant for dessert
- rode the trams, asked for directions to Anne Frank's house, and everyone had a different answer
- finally found Anne Frank's house three hours later and explored some more
- bought a hoop earring for my nose----so exciting!
- got home at 11: had a great time hanging with Ashton and Steven when I should've been sleeping

NetherAmsterdam!

I finally went to the doctor and the diagnosis is: throat infection and fever

I am now supposed to take antibiotics 3 times a day for a whole week....and my voice will be back! Yay!

The doctor's office was in a really cool building that is shaped like a paper clip! The doctor was super nice, and I only waited five minutes! I also didn't have to pay for anything...which I thought was a little weird. I think my mentor teacher picked up my medicine for me since I was going to Amsterdam for the rest of the day.

Amsterdam - first impression: really dirty....like no one believed in taking the trash out so the trashcans are all full and trash is everywhere. :(


Ashton and I explored in the morning, bought souvenirs, saw really cool things - Amsterdam is such an awesome city. It's very touristy - and there were lots of Americans --- I thought I would be excited finally knowing what is being said, but instead I found it annoying....


We went on a free walking tour - it is known as one of the best walking tours. The weather was horrible, meaning it was cold and rainy. We went through the red light district which was not as bad as I thought it would. In the middle of the red light district is a huge church! After committing sins, you can go repent it at church. The famous windows with girls weren't very impressive. It was interesting seeing prostitution in that kind of way - and the girls weren't very pretty. They were hmm...ok to say the least. There were also tons of smart shops and coffee shops. All of the souvenir stores had marijuana things on them. It was like being in a different world. 


By the way, the ages of the prostitutes are from 18 to 73 years old! Crazy, huh? Oh yea, the tour guide was from Australia and was amusing! His accent was kinda hot. Ha. 


Then, we picked up Steven at the airport - we waited 30 minutes for him because we were early and we caught happy hour at the bar! Buy 1 drink, get 1 free! So of course, I got my wine, and Ashton got her beer. The atmosphere was great. After Steven arrived, we just sat and talked and watched people. 


On the way to Rotterdam, we accidentally got on the hispeed train and had to pay 6 euros extra. Ugh. It sucked. 


Also, I got asked out on a coffee date before I left for Amsterdam by this Dutch guy. It was flattering. :) 


Needless to say, we were hot messes for the day and night. We ate so much food....

Netherrreligious

As many of you know, I've always had a relationship with God but never really wanted anything else. I was satisfied with the fact that I believe in God, and that's all that really mattered to me. 

However, I was fortunate enough to meet people here who made me face what I've been avoiding - accepting God fully. Today, I took my first huge step towards a better relationship with God and learning how to trust in Him. It'll be a lot of work and it'll take a lot of strength but it's a journey that I'm willing to make, no matter what. 

I just hope that I don't go back to my old ways after this journey. I met some wonderful women today - ones that listened and prayed for me. I've never had so many people pray for me at once, and I just felt refreshed. It's a nice feeling. 

"Taste and see the goodness of the Lord." My mom sings this verse all of the time, and I actually never listened to it until I recognized it in the Bible. 

Anyways, I've had a rough Thursday. Very busy and frustrating, but very grateful for it. I'm exhausted as a teacher and teaching has overcome my life. I have so many things to do, but I'm not complaining because I absolutely love what I'm doing. 

I was told an hour before that I was teaching a class and coming up with a lesson plan was an awesome task for me. I've had to be creative so many times, and I absolutely loved it. I have my own master key for the school, so I do feel like a teacher. 

The students are asking for me more and more in the teachers' workroom, and the teachers are finally talking about me asking if I wanted to stay. :) I've made my mark. 

I also had to teach my 2-4pm remedial English class and we had so much fun. It's a very interesting class because there's always new faces. We had a market today, and they had to ask me questions in English when buying candy from me. I even made fake dollars for them - something that they were so excited about. :) (Hey, look at that - incorporating Mathematics with English class! Go me!)

My overseas coordinator went to Poland during the break and brought back Polish chocolate for me and Ashton! Yay! He also said that I've been doing a great job teaching and such. I really like nice compliments. 

Hm. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow, and I'm hoping that the doctor will make me gain my voice back. My overseas coordinator did tell me to over exaggerate so that they'll give me medicine for my throat. Nothing like the US - doctors give you pills for everything!

Steven gets here tomorrow. How exciting except that it's raining tomorrow...

Nethersick---again!

Today, I woke up NOT feeling like P. Diddy, unfortunately. 

I didn't have any classes today, but I do have tutoring sessions with students. I have a lot of paperwork to do, but I just haven't found the motivation to do it. I have to do it before I leave for Rome and Athens. 

I met my mentor teacher at the bank and tried to change dollars to euros and the bank told us that the only place that does that is the airport. Ridiculous. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy. I did find a place to change my money, but I would have to pay $75 just to change it. Ugh. 

Also, my mentor teacher set up a doctor's appointment for me for Friday morning. Right before Ashton and I leave for Amsterdam to explore and later pick up Stevon!

Then, I looked at my finances and BAM! I'm broke. No more money, like zero account. :( I'm a bit nervous because I have two months left and five trips to make. Eh. We'll see what happens. 

I rode my bicycle today which was awesome. I was cruising to make sure that I wouldn't dry out my throat or anything. I also did Zumba and that made my throat hurt really bad. 

I took an antibiotic with my lunch, and that's when I started feeling bad. :(

Nothing too exciting. Worried about money. The students I worked with today could tell that something was bugging me. I felt bad that I wasn't more energetic for them. 

I'm ready to get my voice back....

NetherGRRRReatday!

Today was absolutely amazing. I love this kind of days. :)

First off, I decided to dress up and look cute. I received lots of compliments from both teachers and students. At first, I thought that there might be something wrong with the way I dressed because of how the teachers all looked at me, but it was all good. I didn't break any UGA dress code or anything. I guess I was just dressed really nice. 

The first thing I did today was videotape Ashton teaching. I've never seen her teach and our teaching styles are the complete opposite. I videotaped her for 30 minutes and I also have to fill out an observation form for her. She was really nervous because I was recording. It's for her class. Maybe I should get someone to record me as well just to put on my online portfolio (coming soon!). 

I also had a meeting with two students from my 4th years. I found out that one student is great at speaking English but has troubles with writing because of dyslexia. Er. Learning disabilities aren't my specialty at all. The other one had problems with grammar. Easy enough, right? They both want to meet once a week for 30 minutes. I told them that I will be emailing them different things to look at just because I didn't feel like 30 minutes is enough.

I met with one of the teachers I worked with and exchanged stories about our breaks. She really wants me to go to Romania and I do too. The flight ticket is more than $300 though. I wouldn't have to pay for housing. I would stay for a week and teach a Kindergarten class. It would be an amazing opportunity. We'll see if I can come up with the money.

For the past two days, I haven't been riding my bike because of my throat. I can't get dehydrated or else my throat will hurt really bad. So that means no cardio for me for a while unless I have a constant stream of water going down my throat. My mentor teacher called the doctor today to set up an appointment, and the doctor called back asking if it was still necessary for me to go see him! How ridiculous! 

Anyways, I taught two classes today even though my voice is hoarse and my throat sore. Fortunately, both classes went smoothly and I had so much fun with my students. :) Since I am working with a new set of 1st years, we did a lot of getting to know you activities. With my 5th years, I got another student to teach while I gave him my notes. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lesson plan. It was great. 

Even my mentor teacher was surprised at how attentive the 5th years were at 4:30 in the afternoon. I was very excited that I actually got the students to stay focused and work on their letters! Yay! Maybe I should lose my voice more often. Ha. Not.

We also got a new microwave! The other one just stopped working, but I'm so glad our caretaker responded quickly! 

Oh yeah! I got invited to participate in this project about WWII. Oh how I love WWII! We're going to different museums and this old prison camp. I'm so excited!

I also sat and talked to an English teacher (I will be observing one of her classes on a Wednesday) and a History teacher. We just talked about everything - mostly the "American Dream" and American culture. They had lots of questions for me. Then we started talking about Latino men (the English teacher is from a Spanish background), and how awesome they are. I shared my story of dating a Puerto Rican and it was such a great conversation. 

Talking about Puerto Ricans, I emailed him today about a ticket that we credited last year. I wanted to go ahead and book my trip to Vegas and I needed the confirmation letter. And as silly as I am, I wrote on the bottom of the email that I still loved him just in case he was wondering, and if not, disregard and ignore. Ha. I just expected a forwarded email, and no message with it....but guess what? There was a message with the forwarded email. Oh, how I miss him! 


Steven gets here in three days!!! I'm so ready for him to get here already!!!

Nethernotsomuch

Eh. My weekend's been really chill. 

Friday:
1. I went to City Hall to try and get residency in Rotterdam, and I waited for an hour and a half and decided it wasn't worth it. 
2. I went grocery shopping at the big Albert Heijn, and was super thrilled to be eating on a budget again. 
3. I did work - meaning I did my lesson plans for the following week and updated my whole life since I've been gone for a week. 
4. Ashton and I had dinner at Annemarie's, and she fed us this really good and really healthy soup. It was delicious!

Saturday:
1. I did my Zumba and lifted weights. It was awesome to be back in the gym. 
2. I finally turned on my TV after days of not touching it, and watched America's Best Dance Crew all afternoon while reading and finishing off The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Great book, btw. 
3. I started on a new book, Girl with a Pearl Earring - all about The Netherlands and I'm absolutely loving it. :)

Sunday:
1. I couldn't get up because I didn't feel well so I stayed in bed until noon. I didn't get to go to church, but I did feel better after resting and drinking lots of water. 
2. Ashton and I went grocery shopping again because we've been eating nonstop since we got home. We spent a lot of money compared to what we've been spending.
3. The weather has sucked all weekend in Rotterdam. Rainy and cold - not a good combination for a sick person. 
4. However, I did cycle to the gym to get my swole on. I had to.
5. I started reading The Purpose Driven Life - the first chapter is just so hard to accept. I've committed myself to reading a chapter a day for 40 days and going to group meetings to discuss this book. Yes, it's religious, and yes, I'm doing it. There has to be something better for me, and I know God is guiding me. Now, I just have to put all of my trust in Him. 
6. Oh, and I got mail from my baby sister and a wedding invitation from Melanie! Yay for mail!


Monday:
1. Teaching yet again. I can't too much complain, it's what I'm supposed to do. 
2. I'm not sure how to manage my 4th years. It's very difficult, and I'm losing hope. :( I had this awesome verbal practice assignment for them - WAGON WHEEL but they still refused to stay on task.
3. Individual tutoring on Mondays and Tuesdays - 2 students on Mondays, 2 students on Tuesdays. 
4. My voice has gotten worse. 
5. Presentations have started for the 5th years - good luck to all of them. 
6. Paid off all of my bills. :)
7. Started an online portfolio for my experience in Rotterdam = very frustrating. 
8. Cannot wait until my bestie gets here! 
9. Oh yea, microwave is not working. Ugh. I hate my apartment. 


I miss all of my family and friends so much, but I dread going home...

Netherabsence - due to traveling!

Sorry blog readers for not keeping up with my blog while traveling. My internet time was limited. :(

Thursday:
My voice went missing, and I had a read aloud planned out. Needless to say, the read aloud was horrible due to my voice, but we did Reader's Theater leading to the students having a blast. We didn't have enough time to finish it but we will next time we meet. My 2-4 class went awesome, and some of the students stayed the entire 2 hours! That's just how much fun they had with me. I loved every minute of it except for my voice. The students did cooperate with me though. We also had more students show up which was exciting. :)

Then, we had dinner with the teachers. This day was the day for parent-teacher conference, and the school had dinner for the teachers who had conferences and had to stay at the school during dinner time. I got to eat sauerkraut, and it wasn't one of my favorites.

At 11pm, Ashton and I caught the bus to Paris - a whoping 7 hours drive! We arrived in Paris at 6 am. :)

Paris, France
1st day:
• checked in Friends Hostel
- clean, rooms are very small, 4 beds in a room
- roommates were Corny and Max (both were Germans)
- toilets clogged, showers small
- no hot water
- no breakfast, wifi is not free
- bad location/neighborhood
• Eiffel Tower!
• picked up Paris Pass (89 euros)
• bought souvenirs (should wait until the last day for cheaper souvenirs)
• Free walking tour for 4 hours!
2nd day:
• Used Paris Pass
• Montparnasse Tour
• Conciergerie
• Notre Dame
• Bateaux Parisiens (1 hr. cruise)
• Grevin Wax Museum (dropped my camera in the toilet)
• tried crepes with chocolate and whipped cream 
• Arc de Triomphe
3rd day:
• planned on going to Versailles – never made it
• Louvre – ate at McDonalds 
• Sewage Museum – poopy water!
• Dome church where Napolean’s tomb is
• Army Museum – realized that we dated our museum pass wrong
• Grande Arche
• Montmartre – where all the painters are – amazing atmosphere
• Espace Dali – where the melted clock from Alice in Wonderland is located
4th day:
• traveling
Observations:
• lots of homeless people (esp. ones that ask if you speak English, then hand you a note to read asking for money)
• went to the slums and sketchville of Paris
• lots of artists on the metro – metro makes it really easy to travel around Paris
• boys like to stare – very creepy
• people spoke English

Barcelona, Spain
1st day:
• checked in Hostel Maritima
- not very clean, rooms are ok, 8 beds in a room
- roommates were British boys and Italian couple (very loud)
- good bathrooms, scared of showers
- hot water, great breakfast, free wifi
- great location
- no heat/air
• walked around La Rambla and surrounding neighborhoods
• Barcelona pass wasn’t as great as Paris Pass – didn’t purchase
• saw one of the many cathedrals, narrow alleys, tons of stores, and happy pills!
• saw Casa Battlo
• people watched – lots of lesbian couples in Barcelona
• tapas and sangria at Ideal Restaurant
2nd day:
• grabbed a map in the room that the Italian couple left
• walked around Barcelona
• found Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triomf,
• bought souvenirs for friends – all souvenirs are priced differently and can bargain 
• tapas, paella, and sangria at Brasil Restaurant
3rd day:
• found a free walking tour by Masaar!
• learned all about the history of Barcelona
• met a family of five who is on a world tour – they plan on traveling for 8 months
• lunch at Travel Bar 
• dinner at Pollo Rico – big plate of chicken and fries (very greasy) and of course, Sangria!
• flight was cancelled because of French Civil Aviation strike – had to rebook flight
• slept in the airport 
4th day:
• traveling
Observations:
• night life is great!
• late dinners
• witnessed prostitution
• 85% chance of getting robbed
• hardly anyone spoke English