jk, twickel! i'm going to montessori

so paula and i went to the montessori school a bit ago. it is maaaaaaaad niiiiiice. the building is big and bright and they have a huge nice cafeteria, and theres art everywhere c: i feel that it is much more welcoming than twickel. and there i can take all the classes i wanted to and none of the ones i dont. woop :D
anyway, i start school tomorrow and i have to be there at 830. theyre pairing me up with another student from 5vwo [everyone keeps saying im smart after i tell them im in that class? i didnt say i was passing 5vwo, im not even in the class yet! lol] who will take me around for the day, since they dont have my schedule yet.
also, i cant sign up for the trip to rome next week, so instead were exploring the netherlands. were going to museums and amsterdam and stuff. and she thought i would be dissapointed by this?

this is horrible take me home :I

haha so i'm really excited about that. plus it will give me a chance to meet people outside of a school setting.
p.s. montessori has a bigger duckpond than twickel.

aaaanyway, i'm really glad its all settled and i'm happy with my choice. now to decide what i'm wearing tomorrow. fffff it doesnt matter how much i buy, every time something important comes up, i always wind up hating everything i own XD
also, going to chorus tomorrow to visit :D i'm excited. not too much explanation to give, but yeah. it will be fun to listen/watch, hopefully c:


one last thing i just realized; IDK HOW TO BIKE TO SCHOOL. wish me luck! i'm just gonna wing it, i got this.

this looks right to me! onward.

yeah, i'm gonna be fiiiiine. tot ziens!

WHAT AM I DOING?

fffffffffffffffffffuuu
okay. so. until approx now i thought that tomorrow i'm going to school at twickel. which, admittedly, was freaking me out a little bit. they have great art programs, but im the only exchange student, i have to take a lot of classes, and it's mad far away from my singular friend. so i was like "urr did i make the right choice?"
WELL. paula just emailed me and said that there's a place at the montessori school for me, and i can take art, music, and math B there for 5vwo. which is great! it is the school right next to floris' so i'd probably get to see him more often too, which means at least maybe i'd have a connection to help me make friends. buuut, it's a montessori school, so there's a lot of individual work. the level of independence was really difficult for another student who went there, and i don't know if i can handle it. also, theyre art classes apparently arent as good as at twickel?
i'm getting in touch with some more exchange students who went to the montessori now, to see what they think.
this is like the hardest decision ever. i don't want to make the wrong one. cos like, i dont want to change and regret it, but i dont want to not change and regret it. i sort of wish i didn't have a choice.

brainmap of my headpaths. fffu

i'll keep you posted on which school i actually wind up going to c: wish me some serious luck, guys!

ik heb het koudddd

seriously it is ridiclous, it feels like winter here. so lemme see, whats up recently...

well. my life isn't exactly bursting with excitement :P but i like it much better that way. yesterday was a good day, i woke up at ten, ate breakfast, went back to sleep until three, and then sat on the couch with my dutch book and my ipod and the laptop for legit like six hours. cos i have a life, and friends, and i'm not a loser. natuurlijk. 

but then i went to floris'and watched movies c: so it was good. we watched the butterfly effect and the bourne identity, both stiflingly good films. duuude, the butterfly effect is sooo screwed up, but so intense! plus ashton kutcher stars in it and doesn't completely suck? i was impressed.

punk'd.

so yeah, that was a good time ^-^ it's nice to have someone to hang out with lol
aaanyway, today i am going to visit twickel and get stuff sorted out with my schedule and stuff i spose. it should be exciting, i get to see the inside of the school. i'm pretty happy to start actually, then i can meet more people. plus it's a new place, so the first day of school is probably going to be so confusing and interesting C: can't wait.
but i dont have to be there until like 330, so i kind of have a while. so bored *-* just jammin' in my jimmy-jams, you know how it is. got my nerdy thick wool socks on, to protect my poorly circulated feet from the cold lol. gonna let you in on a secret, i am totally wearing gloves right now. because it's 55 degrees out right now. YEAH, PROVIDENCE. I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR 90 DEGREE DAY. go to the beach or something :I lol. i'll just be here, drinking tea and crocheting scarves.
i've been drawing a bit too, with lined paper and pens. just like crappy doodles, but it's good practice all the same. i need to keep drawing or else i'll just suck more :P
also we were out of milk today so i totally ate my cereal with pudding in it. SHH DON'T TELL. clearly i know the key components of a balanced breakfast.

there's fruit in it, so that's good.

soo yeah, that's pretty much it for now. if anything of interest happens, i'll keep you posted :D

HI GRANDMA :D

so i wasn't going to blog today but then my grandma emailed me and i felt bad so now i am writing one.
it's been raining all day every day here haha. whiich, would be okay if i didn't have t go places!
yesterday i went over to floris' house again and we jammed and drank tea and judged each other's musical tastes :P we recorded a version of use somebody by kings of leon, which came out real good actually. i think we make a good musical team.
also, i had this kind of tea called sweet wood tea? it was ohmygod sweeter than anything else ever. but it was nice c:
after that i came home for a lil while before floris and i went to this other kid peter's house. it was superfun because we were supposed to play poker, but we wound up just watching movies instead. [i got off the hook this time. i seem to get lucky every time i would have to play poker hur hur. someday i'll have to learn].
we watched monsters inc too, which was funny. i havent seen it since i was real little, so it was a flashback lawl.

don't bother the big kids while we watch movies. we are doing grown up important things that you wouldn't understand.

i got to meet some other teenagers too, though it was kinda weird because of the obvious language barrier. i picked up a few things, though. which made me feel pretty okay about myself haha. but it was good c: they introduced me to robbie williams! which apparently it's really odd that i havent heard of him before.
also i had a bit* to drink. don't have too much more to add on the subject, but i figured i should mention it for posterity? *really not a lot at all.
anyway. floris walked me home afterwards at like 100 in the morning maybe? i love being outside at that time, it's perfect

everything is perfect and beautiful.

so that was quite a fun day, i think c:
today, i woke up with SIX BUG BITES. ON MY FACE. one on my lip. so that was not a good start. liiike really? why has this happened to me T_T
anyway, after i got over my supremely itchy face, wencke and i biked to twickel.
I LOVE IT C: they have a pond and it's just real nice and i can't wait to start school, as totally lame as that sounds. it isn't long of a ride either. but im pretty bad with my bike because i cant really stop because my breaks dont work too well and i'm too short BUT OTHERWISE i'm totally fine. seriously, i got this. i will be biking legit like 8 miles a day. are you ready for SWEET HULK THIGHS because i deff am. at least i'll be in shape! the way i eat i could use a little excersize.
SPEAKIN OF FOOD today i was introduced to the wonder that is poffertjes? they are basically little teeny pancakes and they are so good for no reason.

yes, i do live in a world of deliciousness all the time.

back to my day. after visiting twickel, we biked to hengelo to do some shopping. i got some things, most importantly a shirt for 3 euro? it's a nice shirt, i'm pleased with myself. IM SO THRIFTY :D
but by the time we were done biking, it had started raining. sooo we had to bike the way back in the rain. which wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, after getting over the initial shock of "OHMYGOD MY BUTT IS WET RIGHT NOW :C" [i think in caps lock sometimes, i'm a dedicated person.]
we were so traumatized by that that we changed into our pajamas and spent the rest of the day in the living room on our computers and eating snacks. day well spent!

anyway, that was my day. maybe going to melbuul'ndagen tomorrow or whatever? woop.
bye c:

heb ik mijn eerste vriend!

...hartelijk gefewhaaaaaat?

tonight i was brought to a birthday party of a boy named floris. i have a friend now, wonderful :D
we talked about the netherlands and america and music and stuff, and jammed a bit. he speaks fluent english, so i got off the hook with the dutch. but still, i want to learn so badly. it's just that at this point, i don't know any words so even if i did try to speak dutch i wouldn't be able to say anything at all. when i have moe to say, i'll say it c: it was good to have cotnact with someone my own age for the first time in days lol. anyway, we have plans to hang out soon, i'm pumped.
also, another first, had my first beer. it tasted like bread, and i didn't even get buzzed [maybe a little flushed?] so that's good. preeetty much nbd. haha he thought it was very funny that i'd never drank before :P not like i'll be downing shots of tequila on the daily now though lol. i just wanted to test the waters and see how i handle my alcohol. because hey, i'm a 5'2" woman who has never had alcohol before. the odds of not getting drunk are wayyyyy against me.

but yeah. having beer at a family birthday gathering feels so taboo, but it's totally okay [and legal] here.

anyway, i have one contact who isn't my family in my phone now! awesome haha

mooi haar!

soo today i painted my bike c: it is now like neon yellow like a highlighter. but the paint dried mad weird, so it's like cracked all over? yeah, it looks really... well loved. antique? and hipster-y. gonna get some of them plastic flowers, i looked in hema but they don't have any :C
to celebrate, i biked to the supermarket to pick up some raspberries and snap peas. because i constantly feel the need to be eating something, might as well not make it cookies and stroopwafels.  dutch fact of the day: raspberry in dutch is "framboos". awsesome!
on my way of the store as i was EXPERTLY MANOUVERING [about to fall off of and drop all my framboos's] my bike, this group of loitering teenagers were like "ROZE HAAAAAR" so i smiled at them and biked slowly through. then this one girl walks up and she is super friendly and we talked for a few seconds about my hair. then, this chubs little gangster boy walks up with a bag of twisty chips. [no picture i could google did this kid justice. picture, if you will, a potato shaped ten year old boy in a chavvy shiny sweatshirt and matching shiny hat, yelling at me in dutch and reaching into a bag of doritos. adorable.] and he says "IK VIND JE HAAR IS LEUK" or whatever. so i was like "dank je." and then we got onto the topic of how i don't speak dutch [gosh i wonder how they could tell?] and he turns around, points to his bum and is like "KISS MY AASS!"
i lol'd. so hard. that kid is totally amazing. kid, come live with me and be funny forever?
aaanyway, then i looked around a few costume shops and came home. my mom told me that i got accepted into twickel, the school i wanted to go to, so i'm super happy about that c: i get to take music and art <3 
so yeah. just went to the butcher with my mom, we're having pork covered in what looks like bacon covered in what looks like sweet n sour sauce? it looks like delicious smothered in heart attack, i cannot wait to eat it C: it looked soooooo goooooood.
lastly, whilst looking for pictures of that kid, i somehow stumbled upon this?

kapow! magic!

 which is better than any story i could tell you about my day. have some mullet-magician ft.butterfly.
bye!

IT IS RAINING SO HARD C:
with lightning and thunder and the works. i wish you all could see how totally beautiful it is :>

ik ben ziek

today i felt really ill. i spent most of the day lying down and trying to shift to make my stomach stop crying. it hurts soooo badly, idk. i think it's just because i REALLY miss vegetables. my diet has shifted from cereal, turkey, lettuce, and cucumbers to cookies, cake, bread, and cheese at record speed. so of course my tummy is crying. tomorrow i'll bike to the store and buy some sugar snap peas and cucumbers, and i'll eat those for snacks and lunch [since we dont really eat lunch here].
aanyway. today also i got my bike seat lowered and the gears fixed. so now i can use it! i bought some neon yellow spraypaint to paint it, it won't get stolen. it's gonna be the best bike ever!
butyeah. did some dutch, but then it broke? so tomorrow i'll do more. hopefully i can knock like 3 lessons out of the way tomorrow.
anyway. i'm fat and ill? i'll keep you guys updated c:

ik begrijp het niet.

meh so tired @_@ i feel like an idiot when i just have to look at people blankly half the time, not understanding what they say. and i'm sure they feel kinda dumb too when they have to speak reeeeal slowly for me. it helps, though c:
today i woke up way early, so i went downstairs and spent some time making my scarf and hanging out with the dog. okay so, they play crystal castles and the bloodhound gang on the radio here. yeah, it is wonderful. :>
at like 1, wencke and i walked to town to buy dinner and browse around :D we went to HEMA [<3 <3] and i finally picked up some nail polish :DDD which is good because i had to leave all mine in america. as we know, i love painting my nails. a lot. so i bought a deep purple :> then we went to the store and bought dinner stuffs.
after that, we went into the costume shop and looked around. OMG IT IS SO GOOD. they have everything you could ever want in every color. animal suits, fancy steampunk pirate coats, nurse, mermaid, SAILOR, fake traditional german dress, princesses. freaking everything. and practically everything in pink. i cant wait for a good occasion to dress up C: 'cept, everything is too big for me, so i have to buy the largest child sizes. yeah. :/ lol also, they sell slippers that look like clogs. so now i know what i am buying everyone in the states for a present. one stop shopping!

yeah, you're excited. i know i am certainly going to buy a pair.

thennn we walked home in the rain.
umnm i tried hagelslag today too. PROBS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER since it's just bread, butter, and choco sprinkles. wencke told me it's quite common to have a sandwhich with just hagelslag for lunch. which sounds really funny to my american brain, a sprinkle sandwhich. but no objections here C:
[sidenote to american parents: of course i'm eating enough health food. what are you talking about? sugar is a vegetable.]
we were bored after that so we made sugar cookies c: we cut them into shapes like hearts and bows and cocktail glasses and shoes. we ran out of ideas after like 5 shapes so they kept getting more obscure.
but then when we baked them, they all mushed together and turned into vaguely shaped blobby things? so we had fun trying to remember what they were originally haha. we also bought gingerbread cake mix to make tomorrow? c:
when mom got home she took me out to try to buy a bike because the ones they have are too big. buuuut, every bike shop in borne is closed on monday, for some reason. why knew? so i'll have to wait until tomorrow. it'll be kinda cheap though, for a bike. only like 60 euro. wencke showed me where to buy spray paint so i can decorate it C: so pumped. i'm thinking maybe teal? girls also are fond of putting plastic flowers on their bikes, which is ssssuper cute, i think. i'll buy some of those too.
here i am not able to be picky about food. in fact, i'm not picky at all. today, i ate mushrooms for the first time. as sam and my dad know, MUSHROOMS CREEP ME THE HELL OUT.

because they are creepy as hell. look at them! they obviously have something evil planned.

they're weird, and ew. just- ew. @_@ but i ate them and they were totally fine c: i didn't die and i practically didn't even notice i was eating them. [if i didn't think about it really hard.]
another thing, LIFE IS EXPENSIVE. holy crap. i came here with 120 dollars and i now have like 40 euro. i havent even gotten anything! hur dur. 
i can't wait to get my bike and go to hengelo, i want to shop real bad c:
also, can't wait to start school! i need to make some friends here, because i'm a little bit lonely. i'm pretty freaked out of the dutch youth, too. intimidated like. they are all really cool and pretty and also can talk to each other without sounding like a buttface. but i guess i just have to overcome that and make friends!:P

well, i, uh... no, it's okay, disdainful attractive teen girl. i'll just be on my way now. *gulp*

tomorrow i'm going to throw myself into my dutch learning. i decided that every other day should be SPEAK ONLY IN DUTCH day, so that i can learn. i expressed that i'm gonna sound like a total doof, misusing words and murdering grammer with my bare hands, but i need to learn somehow. and what better way to learn then to try?
so yeah, tomorrow will be a really busy, difficult day. AM I READY FOR THE CHALLENGE? we'll see.
tot ziens, until next time!

[sidenote: none of these pictures are taken by me yet, because i can't hook up the camera yet. i have several pictures of my cats stocked up. YEAH, i know you want to see them, they are cats.]

hoi, nederland!

soo it is my second day here. it's been good, if not totally overwhelming. i traveled through iceland on the plane [the airport which looks like a giant friendly ikea] and wound up here eleven hours prior to starting. i woke up at noon yesterday. me and my mom went to borne to do the grocery shopping. it's so cute here! they have strawberry [aardbei] juice, which i hadnt seen before. also, SO MUCH HAGELSLAG, which are sprinkles. people eat them on bread here for lunch and breakfast and stuff? yum, well balanced :> i am also totally in love with stroopwafels, which are like wafers full of syrup [sugar]. i got a back from AFS when i arrived, they are like heaven mixed with dreams. so, obviously, i am going to get very very fat. i've eaten six desserts today. VERY VERY FAT.

hagelslag!

stroopwafel.

after going shopping, we went to hengelo with my sister, wencke, to buy a phone and some school supplies. hengelo is pretty trendy and pretty, so i like it. there's a concert hall, and H&M, and wencke's favorite store, newyorker. also, there's an amazing store called HEMA? i got my notebooks there, it is really cheap like walmart, but wayyy better quality. it's my favorite~~ so excited to shop.
while we were walking around, a teenage boy called out to me "mooi haar!"which means ""beautiful hair"but i didn'know that, so i walked right by? and then my mom told me afetr. even so, i wasn't sure which thank you to use ["dankjewel"? "dank u"? "bedankt"? idk.] so i just smiled really big.
when we were at home later, a girl came up to the door asking for our help. i asked what happened, and wencke told me that a turtle got hit by a car and was cracked, so we were gonna call the animal ambulance. I KNOW! the netherlands is awesome like that. so we went outside, and it was so sad. it was trying to move, but it was wayyyy broken and bleeding and stuff ;o; i was like hang in there, little dude! but then the ambulance came. i hope it lived!
um also, some things you should all know about my new life!
-i live like 1 mile from ikea. yeah, i know C:
-everyone here is mad stylish. and euro. lol it makes me feel quite fat and frumpy
-everyone here is also quite tall. i'm too short for every bike we have, so i have to look on ebay! wencke called me a midget. LOL :P
-learned about "space cake"
-my room has a lava lamp, a bunk bed, and yarn from the last exchange student. score!
-WE HAVE A WII. telling my mom to ship me cooking mama from the us. sooo pumped! i thought i wouldnt be able to play :P

but duuuude. my brain hurts. i'm so so tired all the time from listening really hard to what people are saying and coming up essentially empty handed. like, i understand maybe 5% of what people say. i try to make out the words, but i don't understand any of them anyway! it's so easy just to tune everything out, but I WONT LEARN ANY DUTCH that way.
sooo ja. real tired. real happy. good times!

well UM im gonna go eat a cookie. ciao <3 <3