On my birthday it was 68 degrees out and many of us thought spring was finally here. Wrong! It feels like it is March outside and people are wearing their winter coats still. All the Dutch people I talk to say this is not normal at all for May and are wishing it would warm up already.
Saturday, I took it easy all day. I slept in, cleaned my room, and then started working on my Netherlands paper. I was writing about Dutch weddings (the process and what a typical wedding day looks like). About halfway through I got stuck and could not think of what else I should write. So I decided to watch 2 movies and go to bed.
Sneller still has a popped tire so I walked to church on Sunday. All the women in the church got roses since it was Mother’s Day. I even got a rose because they said someday I will be a mother and that I deserve a rose. Emma gave the message that morning. She talked about baptism. It was really interesting how she presented it. She compared baptism to a wedding to help people get a better understanding of it. At the end of the sermon, Emma threw a bouquet of flowers into the audience to show an example she was talking about. Surprisingly the bouquet fell right into my lap… no one tried to grab it in midair. So I felt pretty special.
After church I was determined to finish my paper. I was on the 5th page when it was time for me to go have supper with Anna and Melissa. We went out for pizza at the pizza place that I first went to this semester. It was the first restaurant I had been to where no one with me knew how to speak or read Dutch. This time around I felt way more confident in this restaurant—I know how to read some Dutch words, I can order in Dutch, and I knew how to ask for the bill. I was very proud of myself. I got the Hawaiian pizza (pineapple, peaches and bananas on it). After supper Melissa, Anna and I played a couple card games and just hung out for a while.
I called Mom to wish her a happy Mother’s day! Then I called her again when she was at Aunt Barb’s house for lunch and talked to everyone on the speaker phone. It was good to hear their voices. I finally got my Netherlands paper done at midnight. I was so happy to get it done!
Monday—Last full week of classes! I got a great surprise this morning; my new ATM card came in the mail finally! YAY! Now I can get some cash and not worry anymore. In my Netherlands class we talked about if we have had culture shock here, what we have learned (about the Dutch and American culture), and what we will miss. Then Steef and Dennis talked to us about having culture shock when we get home, what we are looking forward to or not looking forward to when we arrive in the States, etc. I am not looking forward to having culture shock at home. I don’t think I have had culture shock here really, but I could be wrong.
Around noon the second largest bike race in Europe (after Tour de France) called Giro d’Italia went through Leiden. People we lined up along the streets to see the bikers. It was pretty cool to see and apparently a big deal. After my photography class a group of us went to Jacketz for supper. The owners were sad that it was our 2nd to last Monday to eat there. I got the chili con carne bake potato, which was very good and very filling!
Like every Tuesday here, I had a long list of things to do today. I went to Central to work on my graphic design homework. The sun was out so I decided to do some window shopping before I meet some people for coffee time. My friend Andrew (from Australia) wanted to have coffee with me and Hillary because he won’t be here for the next two weeks to say goodbye to us. It was great having coffee with him and just hanging. I told him that someday I will come visit him in Australia and he can come to Iowa anytime. I took Sneller (my bike) to the bike doctor to get her back tire repaired. She is all better now…I have missed her!
Tonight Radiate met before our regular meeting time and went out to eat at a small café. It was really yummy. We then came back to my room where we took time to pray for everyone and yeah… a lot of great stuff happened tonight. God loves me! How awesome is that?!?!?!?!??!!!!!! I am going to miss everyone from Radiate! I honestly don’t know what I would do without them here! Time for bed for me! Good night everyone!
