Entry Two (The Real One)


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Europe » Netherlands » Friesland » Leeuwarden
August 16th 2012
Published: August 16th 2012
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I did not even realize i had published a blank Entry Two so I am sorry about that.



I have been in Burgum, Friesland for five days now and I love everything about it. I am staying with the Kingma family and they are the nicest people I have ever met. When my sponsor Rotary club told me the Dutch are the happiest people in the world I didn't think too much of it until I actually got here. It is completely true, they are so kind and caring.



Some things i have experienced in the past few days:

Mosquitoes are terrible bugs and apparently they just can't get enough of me. I now have to wear bug repellant to bed, protective clothing, keep my window closed (trapping the heat in my room!), use a plug-in mosquito repellant, and a fan. This is just a small hiccup to the otherwise fantastic time that I am having.

I have met a lot of the Kingma family and they are all very nice, but very hard to understand. It is very important to sit quietly and pay attention if you are in a crowd because someone may start to talk to me and I wont know it. Also, it takes me a minute to process what they are saying because their accents are so thick that it is hard. Still, this is a great opportunity for me to learn the Dutch and Frisian language; and, though it is overwhelming and stressful, I have hope that I will learn it.



My host parents (I am staying with my second host family this week) Siska and Jaap took me to a dutch market which was a good place to see some of the dutch culture. I enjoyed it very much and tried a few new things. They are very happy that I am so open to everything and will trying anything that they ask me.



I also went to Madurodam. This is a small amusement park with a minature set up of all the popular things that Holland is known for. It was A-MAZING!!! I especially loved the little windmills, and how the birds looked about the size of the buildings and some of the trees.

Along with Madurodam, my family took me to the beach which I enjoyed very much, especially coming from the desert. The sand was really soft, but the water was pretty cold.

My host brother, Jorrit, is an exchange student to Michigan and I am very thankful that I got to spend a few days with him before his departure. He left today, and while I was very sad to see him go, I am very excited to hear all of his stories about America. I know he will be a great exchange student and am just lucky to have met him.

In general, this week has been very eventful (I didn't even realize it until now!), and it isn't even over yet. You can see all the pictures on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rejection so go check it out!

Hope you continue to follow my blog and some pictures may be posted later.

Stay excellent!!!

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