Winter Vacation (pt.2) (:

Next, is New Years!
On New Years, I stayed home with my family and had a small party. We played tons of games and ate a really huge meal. Actually, we ate a lot that night. Fruit, chips, veggies, a huge meal with all kinds of meats. Later, we ate apple pie, ice cream and fruit dipped in chocolate. All of it was so delicious. Once it was finally the new year, we went outside and saw some small fireworks. It was a quiet evening, but still really nice.

A few days later, I went to visit a friend, Tomas. When I finally got there, we went to see a movie along with his sister and another girl. We saw the movie New Years Eve. I really liked it. It was a really cute movie and funny as well. I have to admit, I cried. The next day, we went to Maastricht. There have been some really good sales there for a months or something already, so we shopped and walked around and ate food and had a good time.                  










In the last few days of vacation, I went to the center of Sint- Truiden with a friend from school, Christina. We walked around and shopped for a little bit, then found a nice place to drink something. We both got vanilla milkshakes and were laughing so loud we annoyed everyone around us. :D


Later, I went to Hasselt to meet Nienke for a dinner and a movie. We went to a restaurant next to the cinema and had a really delicious meal. Then, we went and watched the movie The Change Up, together. I thought it was really good. It was a comedy about two guys switching lives.. kind of like Freaky Friday. Only better.

A little after the vacation, I met my AFS friends in Hasselt and we all went out for lunch together. We went to a pasta place in the city and then went back to the shops and looked around. It was a nice afternoon!

Winter Vacation (pt.1) (:

For our winter break, we had two weeks off. (But, if I count working in the kindergarten also as vacation, I had about a month off straight.) We started with Christmas, obviously, but then the Christmasy feeling died down and everyone was just excited for the new year.

I went to a market place with Roeland, Kelly and Astrid. It was too bad the weather was awful and rainy. By the afternoon, there were too many people and it had started to rain harder. We ate burgers and left to go home. On the way, we stopped at a pet store just to look at some of the animals. There was one kitten that was so cute! Turns out she was a Maine Coon Cat! There were so many puppies as well, they were all so cute and nice!

A few nights later, I met with my AFS group and we all took a train to Brussels. It was so beautiful at night with all of the Christmas lights and a big tree in the market. First, we had some Starbucks, then went out to see the Christmas Winterland Festival. It was pretty big and there was a ferris wheel and skating rink there. We went and ate some burgers and  looked at all of the little stands selling things. It was so nice to see everyone again after such a long time.

On Friday, I went with Astrid (and her friend, and friends sister) to go ice skating. It was a really beautiful indoor place that luckily wasn't too cold! It was "disco night" so there was really nice music playing the whole time we were there. It's too bad there were so many people there.. and most of them were really good skaters. I'm just glad I didn't fall on my butt (:

Kerstmis!

On Christmas Eve, Astrid and I pretty much hung out and at home. Then, in the evening, we all went to visit some family and have a nice (huge) dinner together. All of it was so delicious and I think I ate as much as I weigh. After, we all went to a big church in town for a service. It was a really beautiful church and they had a really nice choir singing. The only real downside to the service was the lady that sat down in front of Astrid and I. And what did she do? She farted.

On Christmas day, we all woke up kind of early to get ready for the party. Astrid and I made cute little cards with everyones name on them while everyone else set up the remaining chairs and tables. Most of us stayed outside and talked while we ate appetizers. All the teenagers sat together at the same table which was nice. Most of the adults were at the other two tables. After we ate, we all opened presents together. All 30 something of us! And then proceeded to play as many games as we possibly could. It was just a really nice night (:

The next day, I went over to Nienke's house and we went to her family's Christmas party. It was absolutely amazing. All the greek food was so delicious. I really wish I could cook that well!! There were 3 or 4 courses and then dessert after that. We also did a little Greek dancing. That was so cool!! It was really nice to see Nienke and her family again after seeing them in November. It was really nice to speak Dutch to all of them, too!

After, I spent the night at Nienke's house. We woke up in the morning and made real American Pancakes (: Nienke, her mom, and I all went out to go sight seeing and things. Too bad the weather wasn't so beautiful. We went and saw Mines in Genk. They were really interesting to see, but they're all closed now. Then, we walked around a super fancy street. Something like Freeport.. except SUPER expensive. (Like a really shiny-fish-like dress.. the ugliest I've ever seen.. that was $2500.00)

We went back home, ate something, slept for a few seconds, and then went out again to see a little village that is now something like a museum. It was at night and all lit up with different colored lights and folk music. It was so nice to be with them!

Almost Vacation!

The Wednesday before vacation was the last day of exams in my school. Since I've been working in a Kindergarten on the days I don't have tests, it also meant that it was my last day working there. I went to the Kindergarten for about 2 1/2 hours that morning, said goodbye to everyone there and took a bus to Hasselt (where my school is).

I met my classmates in the city where we ate fries. Everyone was pretty relieved that exams were over and vacation was coming up quickly. We all went ouside and sang in front of a huge tree that stood in the center. We sang Christmas carols and collected money for our teacher who helps under priveleged children in third world countries. We raised more than 100 Euros for her. It was pretty fun to hang out, have a drink and see my friends again. Later, I went shopping for last minute Christmas gifts with my friends Christina and Ellen.

The next day was going to be my first day going to school in a long time. But, conveniently, there was a national strike. Meaning, there were no busses or trains. Therefore, no way to get to school.

The next day, I actually did go to school. Mostly just to get my report and my exam scores. I passed every class. I also had taken two exams, Physics and English. Both went really well. English was almost a perfect score and Physics was just passing. But I studied really hard so I'm glad I didn't fail! (:
Officially Vacation!

To the Netherlands

Before vacation, I went to Maastricht with Astrid and a few of her friends. We were really lucky that the weather was nice, but there were so many people there. There was a big Christmas Market in the city with ice skating and small rides.
First, we went to an Italian restaurant that had the most amazing pizza. It was probably twice as big as my face, but somehow I ate all of it.

Then, we went shopping in a huge market place. There was a huge ferris wheel and ice skating rink in the center. We walked around all of the little shops and booths and then decided to go back to the normal stores in the city to shop.
We had a really nice time shopping, but there were so many people that we weren't able to move through stores very easily. It seemed people just stood in the doorway for 5 minutes without even noticing that we wanted to get through.

Probably the most annoying thing was the bus ride home. Nearly a 1 1/2 hour drive, and we had to stand the whole way. Anyway, none of us really found anything to buy because of the crazy amount of people, but it was still nice weather and a good time with friends.