Hallo,

I have arrived in a foreign land. The Netherlands, to be exact. Well, to be more exact you could say Holland, that is what all of the people here call it. Since I have arrived in this city of Eindhoven I have done a great many things. I have gone to a library, a market and a brewery, amoung other things. The question that people usually ask is something along the lines of "is it really different?"

The answer to that question is as elusive as the Maine moose (no, not really I just wanted to sound clever). The Dutch have some strange mannerisms that I have begun to adjust to and enjoy. Number one is that they drink a lot. I am constantly plagued with the question, "would you like something to drink?" They are satisfied only when you accept the offer. If not they mutter about how it is good to drink, it is good for your health. Tea, Coffee and assorted juices are the drinks of choice. A collected effort of the students at the Dutch Orientation Course in Arnhem have come to the conclusion that drinking is essential so as to not lose your voice with all of the gaaahhhhking and the gchhhkkking that the Dutch language requires.

Even with this difference Holland is a pleasant country that I am proud to call my second home. All of the people that I meet here are so very nice. When I first arrived at the airport the shop that was first visited was Starbucks. This is a very "American" thing. So in this aspect Holland and the USA are the same. People like Starbucks...Hooray!

I have just gotten back from my Dutch Orientation Course in Arnhem which is about an

hour north of my current city. I met many nice

people from all around the world. The countries

represented were USA, Canada, Indonesia,

Thailand, Mexico, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. It was an awesome experience to meet so many different people and I made some very good friends. I also had a chance to practice my painfully limited Spanish skills as some of the spanish speaking students had a sad sad grasp of the English language. We exchanged a few words and laughed at each others terrible communication skills. As a way of learning we also sand ridiculous songs about going places and saying hello. Now the songs are playing on repeat in my head. I do hope that they fade away with time. One of the favorites was Wie ben je? (who are you). The song begins with a jolly whistled tune. The kind of tune which just makes you smile because it is so so funny yet so so ridiculous.

Before all of this insane Dutch-ness I visited Den Haag (the Hague) with my host family and host grandparents. I had a great time and walked the beautiful beach that is pictured above. It was cold and there were fireworks and a wonderful Dutch invention, the stroopwaffle. The stroopwaffle is a delightful thing. It is found in almost every Dutch home in various forms. The basic stroopwaffle is two very thin sweet waffles pasted together by soft caramel. They can be big, small, covered in chocolate. Really they can be a lot things, the most important being wonderful.

I must bring this blog post to an end. I will end it with this wonderful picture of me riding the most ridiculous bike. It was insane and awesome. Until next time, tot ziens, Julia.