December 21st

Sinterklaas!

Today is Sinterklaas (or St. Nicholas Day), this is the day that is celebrated primarily as Christmas here in the Netherlands, it is a very different celebration than our's in the U.S.

Sinterklaas arrived by ship from Spain a few weeks ago, which was then followed by a parade, and since them Sinterklaas and his friends Black Peter have been walking around dutch cities greeting people, asking kids what they want for Sinterklaas, giving you a little kick if you're bad, and of course- hitting the clubs on the weekends :)

Its a fun celebration, and me and some friends watched as his boat pulled into the harbour, surrounded by Black Peters, and thousands of other viewers around us. Through out the time Sinterklaas arrives up until the 5th of December dutch childrem leave their shoes by the fireplace with drawings, snacks, etc. for Sinterklaas, his white horse, and for black Peter with hopes that their shoes will be filled with sweets and presents...

happy thanksgiving

A bit late with my thanksgiving post, but my computer is broken so I've been jumping around borrowing friends' computers, and I've finally been able to upload a few photos (mostly of food) :)

It was an AMAZING thanksgiving! The friend RoAnne is also American, so her and I rounded up all of out non-american friends to celebrate our holiday :) 10 of us in all we had a big feast and shared all of the things we are thankful for. We couldn't arrange a turkey here in the Netherlands, but we roasted 2 chickens instead...

I literally have hundreds of things to be thankful for this year, but here are the mains:

-My amazing family and friends back home who have supported me through everything.

-The chance to take this life-changing trip around Europe.

-My great new friends here in Holland (and others around Europe) who have really made my trip what its been, and have shared so many experiences with me.

-Finding a beautiful girlfriend here to share my time with, and who puts up with my dorky-ness.

-Especially my friend RoAnne who has let me stay with her for much longer than expected.

-And this great planet for all it has to offer!

Definitely a thanksgiving to remember, and a trip to remember :)

(The Aftermath)

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."

start your day with some 'hagch'

I was talking to my mom about this the other day- 'hagch' which is the way I spell the phlegm filled hack that you hear frequently in dutch.

Its everywhere... I joke that you can talk in English but throw in some 'hagch' and its Dutch haha

this song is an example of the sounds I hear all over :) (you really only have to listen to the first 15 seconds)

enjoy

psych!

All this time we all thought I was oceans away, but today I woke up and realized I must be in Portland, not Holland! Wow, all this rain... Den Haag and Portland have almost the same weather forecast- except here it's supposed to rain everyday, and Portland has a couple of 'partly cloudy'...

oh well :) as we say in Holland... ALLES GOED!

the only store i frequent..

The Albert Heijn...
funny, and so true

As of today, I've been away from home for 2 months

(feels strange)

31 Oktober 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I spent such a fun night here in the Hague for halloween... surrounded by so many amazing new friends and fun places here. Friday night we all carved pumpkins (which was a first for 2 people) and last night was the night of celebration: kicking off the night at a friends party, and then headed over to a huge club called Paard Van Troje for a giant halloween party with over 900 people!

(mine is the one with the big smile)

today at the beach

:) Scheveningen

Wien!

Thanks to GermanWings airline and their "blind booking" program, my two friends and I flew to Vienna, Austria for 4 days this last weekend!

It was such a fun little trip, we couchsurfed with a nice guy who showed us around, gave us tips, and cooked a little bit for us.

The city is beautiful, more statues than I have seen in my life, amazing architecture, and good food :) We saw things from the U.N. to old palaces, giant cathedrals and flee market, to the biggest permanent carnival in Europe!

the city where anything goes...

AMSTERDAM

wow, what an amazing city... beautiful canals fill the city and you can actually navigate all around the city via boat. Big parks, like Vondel park where literally anything goes (except probably murder). And of course: the redlight district, where you walk down tiny alley's with a pimp or two on each end; and you are face to face with prostitutes, and their suiters who look through the windows and decide who they would like to, uh... do business with...

The amazing restaurants, night life, etc. this city actually has so much to offer.