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Sunday, October 19th, 2003
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11:11 am - One of those days....
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i just have a feeling that today is going to be one of those days - it started nice and way too early at 8:30 when we got an EMS call for a cardiac arrest. So, your day generally is going to start off poorly when withinn 5 minuites of being awake you are watching a guy getting defibrilated and CPR performed on the floor of his house where he collapsed afew minuites before. Life and death, it all goes so quickly and can leave at anytime - scary shit.
anyway, must try to be positive, hopefully the guy pulls through, but it doesn't do to dwell on death. So yeha, thats all i wanted to say, that today looks like a real downer,
that, and i got my $50.
current mood:  gloomy
current music: Recently - Dave & Tim - Live at Utica '97
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, September 15th, 2003
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2:57 pm - back from the dead...
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...ok, not really but i figured that i'd throw this up here, cuz, well, my grandmother wanted me to. Actually she bet me that if i wrote this, someone would see it. She bet me $50. So, if you're reading this, drop me a comment PLEASE!
as for me well, alot has changed since i last wrote a little bit. I'm going to *gasp* a Community College now. Hated UB, couldnt afford Canisius right yet - so, this is just somethin to get the GPA up. I know i included it in my info, but not in the journal yet that i joined a volunteer fire department. Main-Tranist FD to be exact (www.mtfd.com - even though i'm not listed as a member yet :-o). It's a damn good time there- between our racing season (long story, if you want to know more go to www.fdracing.com), and training it keeps me busy. plus i look damn hot in my turnout gear.
I dont think i'm going to remain an international relations major for much longer. I'm taking a psychology class this semester, and thats something that I find absolutly fascinating, so i'm not going to make any decisions right now, but i'm going to sit on it until next semester, then make the decision on changing my major. I think it will make me more prepared to accept a job right out of college as it provides actual training for a career, plus Canisius - where i already have tentative acceptace - has a strong psych program. The downside to this is that to do anything with the degree you really need a masters or doctorate, so thats a bit more school. But it seems like something that i like, so we'll see.
No new piercings, hoping to get my dutch lion tatoo with xmas money this winter :-) AND, so long as i can get around missing afew racing practices next year, I will be going back to the Netherlands for 10 days or so in late May for my host parents wedding....I'm majorly psyched for this, and, yes, i know that i've said some unkind things about my host family in the past. however, thats ancient history in my mind, and i think it was more of a product of my trying to cope with leaving than actual hate or anger. Because, i still do love them and appreciate everything that they did for me. I'm coming to realize that everyone who goes on exchange is messed up in the head in some way, self-included. Besides, if we weren't, why would we do such a thing in the first place?? lol anyway, i'm hoping that the pieces do fall into place right and i do get to go back, even if it is for just a short time.
oh, and as for the last of my news, i have an awesome girlfreind who kicks major butt.
alright kids, thats it for now, leave me a comment and i'll love ya forever.
peace
ps- saw this quote today and loved it, thought it was especially fitting...if only life were this easy....
Own only what you can carry with you;
know language, know countries, know people.
Let your memory be your travel bag.
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
current mood:  hopeful
current music: i go to extremes - billy joel
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, March 21st, 2003
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1:50 am
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Ok, so i know that i dont update this much, but hell...i felt that tonight was an appropriate time. Its funny how certin things bring back memories; for some its touch, others its taste....for me its smell.
I just opened a bottle of Grolsch that i acquired, and instantly it hit me. The funniest part of all this is that i never enjoyed Grolsch while i was in holland - it was the beer that Eddy drank that i couldnt stand yet now as i sit here and take a whif of the beer in my Hieneken glass and it smells like all things good. Mabye its just that i havent had any beer (let alone good stuff) in awhile. but man, all the sensations of holland just came rushing back to me. another sip. the smell just engulfs you and pulls you in...so delicious, so good.......
reminds me of the commercials
'je hebt bier, en je hebt Grolsch'
ik mis je nederland
current mood:  contemplative
current music: clocks - coldplay
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| Saturday, October 5th, 2002
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12:05 pm - FIN!
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Well, here I am, back in the good ol US of A and 2 months since i've returned. It seems that i've been putting off writing about my last 2 nights in holland, so, might as well do it now before i leave it for another 2 months.
My last night in Epe kicked ass. First i went over to Arnouds house, and the guys gave me a bunch of presents - one of which being a huge sign that they stole from a local construction site and all signed for me (too bad it didnt fit into my suitcase). Then, after that, we all went to the stunt for one last night. I'd invited as many people as i could tell to come to the stunt for my last night - i had over 60 coins accumulated for drinks and was determined to spend them all on givin myself a kick ass goodbye party. I did this, yet remained surprisingly sober while everyone else got drunk. It was great fun, and a perfect culmination to my year. Everyone kept hugging me, shaking my hand and wishing me good luck. At about 4 I said goodbye to Igor the bartender and everyone else for the last time and took the slow traditional bike ride home with Daan, Kevin and Anthony. I said goodbye to them, and crashed in bed, the day had taken so much outta me emotionally.
The next morning I woke up, got ready and put all my bags into the car. I said goodbye to everyone at the house, and then monique drove me to the end camp in Luntern. Luntern was the saddest place ever. All the girls were crying that they had to leave their host families, and all the guys looked really depressed. The shuffled us into a last meeting/thank you thing that Edu, my regional directir did and then the parents were informed to head out. Pat, Chase and the rest of the Groningen crew showed up shortly thereafter, at which time i said an abbreviated goodbye to Monique and went off with the guys. I was so glad to be rid of her, it was a huge weight off my shoulders and somethin that i'd looked foreward to for a very long while. After the host families left, we marched through the town to the same hostel where we had our begin orientation. Deja Vu. It was so weird- we were walkin by all these places that we'd been to once at the beginning of the year, it was as if our year had come full circle and now it was time to head home.
By the time we got settled in the hostel it was almost 4pm. We had dinner, and a little fiasco about people bringing mass quantities of weed / weed related products to camp to get trashed for the last night. I think we had a little group discussion thing then, but i dont really remember. At about 10 we had to do another talent show and the rest of the night was free to dance in the basement that they had set up for us with lights and stuff, or do whatever. I spent most of the night having people sign my flag and talking with Vodka, Rita, Claire, Luis, Andres, Mauritio and various people who wouldnt be coming to the airport with us. Everyone was so sad and depressed. I really truly hope that i will run into these people at some other point in my life. We had the best times together, and i miss them alot still today. after hours, which seemed like minuites, of talking, they told us that it was time for the americans to grab their shit and head out, cuz we were the first to go. Suddnely it was just a huge mass of hugs, and kisses. I was one of the last ones on the bus cuz i had to find everyone of the kids that meant something special to me and say goodbye individually. I think Vodka took it the hardest...she gave me a hug so tight that i thought it would crush me and a huge kiss. After i said all my goodbyes, i got on the bus, it was a horrible scene. Lisa and Emily were hystarical with tears and almost nobody was talking - just absorbed in their own thougths. When the bus pulled out, it was touching...all the remaining kids stood and waived, while we stuck our heads out the emergency exit on the roof, dispite protests from the driver. We got our baggage at the other end of town and headded to Schipol at 4am. In the back of the bus, pat, chase, sam, lucien and i pounded a bottle of Malibu and talked for awhile. part way there i went up and talked with lisa for the rest of the ride.
At schipol it was a mass of lines, and at one point we lost sam. he was heading to the cezch republic to meet his dad for vacation, but he escaped without saying goodbye to us. Chase and i decided that we werent leavin till we said bye to him, so we almost got ourselves seperated from the goup lookin for him, but we eventually found him, said bye and ran through to the ticket check gate. After only a breif wait we were on our plane to zurich. In Zurich we had something like 5 hours to kill until we could board the plane to NYC. Afew of us took showers (self included) but for the most part we just hung out in one of the lobbies - in the exact same spot we had occupied on our arrival to Zurich one year earlier. Finally we were able to have our bags and shoes searched to go through secutrity and board the plane. On the plane we discovered that we were travelling home with the afs americans that were in begium and italy. Side note- why didnt i go to italy???? the american girls that went there were SO HOT! anyway afew people slept on the plane, most of us made use of the free alcohol on international flights and were talking amongst ourselves and with the belgium and italy kids. I spent a good hour talking with this girl from Cincinatti who was in italy and forgot most of her english...it was a very interesting convo to say the least. Then pat, chase and i made our way to the back and spent a good hour talkin to the flight attendents. and before we knew it, we were in NY. In NY we all said our goodbyes and headded to different terminals. Sarahs family was there to pick her up, and that was touching to see the reunion. I was put on a bus to the jet blue terminal with a girl who was in italy and resembled brittney spears. in body form, yes, but also in dumb blonde state. needless to say that i dropped off my luggage at the gate and doubled back to ditch her. I walked all around the airport for 2 hours trying to find flowers for moms birthday, but with no luck came back to the gate to have a bite to eat, wash up and get on my plane. While waiting for the plane, i ran into Stephanie, a girl from orchard park who was just comin back from a year in spain. We talked for awhile and then got on the plane for the short ride back to buffalo.
Arrival was chaos. I got off the plane and walked to the meeting area, and there stood my family and friends. It is perhaps one of the happiest, yet bittersweet moments in my life, but its good to be home. Everyone came over to the house and hung out for awhile. Finally after being awake for 48 some odd hours i crashed in bed at 1 am. it was good to be back.
And that kids, is the story of my afs year abroad. would i do it again? in all truth, probally not. Would i give everything i have to go back and just hang out with the friends i made over the course of the year- you bet your ass i would. But to start over again with an afs year is something i dont think i'd do. Coming home is strange, i mean, ive been back 3 months and i'm still seeing people for the first time. My family has been amazing with allowing me to readjust, and so have my friends... so mabye i did say 'alstublift', 'godverdomme', 'boeie' or 'laat maar' afew times and mabye when i still listen to dutch radio on my computer they chuckle inside, but they've all been cool about it. What it all comes down to though, is that the only people who can really understand what you went through are the people who went through it along side of you. I mean, who else knows how it was to adjust to dutch culture at the same time as you are an american abroad at the time of 9/11?? nobody does. but theres also an understanding among all exchange students, even the ones in buffalo that just got here 2 months ago. its amazing, and a bond that all of us truly share. So, my advice - go for it, its the greatest experience of your life, and one i'm sooooo greatful that i did and stuck with.
current mood:  content
current music: Jay Quinn Band - I Need
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| Friday, July 5th, 2002
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11:11 pm
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Time of starting packing: 12.30pm
Time of finishing packing: 11.30pm
BOO-YEHA!
so, it took me give or take 11 hours to get all the shit done, but now 'm packed into 2 suitcases and a backpack. all went well, except for one little problem......i'm about 15lbs over jetBlue's baggage limit. whoops. i dont know what to tell ya, but theres no way that i can loose 15lbs from my baggage. i'll just have to come up with a creative way to get this by the gate people. too bad
anyhoo...today i also checked out of the country with the town hall and the police. i forgot what time the town hall offices closed, so after putting on my sad puppy face and begging (in other words, i lied and told them my plane left tomorrow morning) they sent some guy up toprocess my paperwork. i also ran acouple last errends and took rob to the fair/market that was special today in epe. then i came home and packed while sonny's whole class is preparing to camp out for the night in our backyard. so now i'm done...minus the few last things which have to wait to go in the other bags (toothbrush, etc). all done, so now i get to enjoy epop and the stunt tomorrow without worryin about the other shit. but i think i'm gonna go have a beer to celebrate the finishing of the packing
and i just realized that this very well may be my last entry before i get home. in which case i'll catch y'all on the flip side
peace
current mood:  accomplished
current music: 'All Mixed Up' - 311
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, July 1st, 2002
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10:36 pm - I am NOT your savior, and other short stories
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So heres that entry that I promised for last night. Its also the 'reflective' entry that I had promised afew of you, however dont expect it to be too insightful due to afew things; I've been too busy to be insightful lately, its still early (the best ones usually come at 4am and i'm not about to stay up that late) and I havent had anything to drink.
So only a week left you say? Tis true. Alas only a week till I'm home. Less than that until I leave. Only 6 days. Take away that I'm not going to be home on Thursday and probally most of the day on Saturday, and yikes; real whole days. The psycological aspect is starting to kick in here; I've got the dining room table reserved for the next week to serve as the HQ for my expidition into fitting a year into two suitcases and a backpack. I've had these piles of things, of papers, in my room up until this point that I was saving to bring home and use in a scrapbook, those are already gone. In a bag, first in line to board the suitcase. Going through them, and then my pictures afew hours later, brought back all the memories of this year...well, the good ones atleast. Its so hard to imagine that it has been a year already, so hard to imagine that I'm going home so soon. So weird to think that a week from today I'll be hanging out with my old friends that I've known for years, rather than the ones that I've made just in the past six months, or the past week. Speaking of friends.....
I AM NOT YOUR SAVIOR:
Heres a common thing that I seem to be seeing with all of my friends or atleast most of them. I am their problem solver, i am their end all, i am going to be their savior. Well, as much as I'd love for this to be true, i think that several will find out that its not, and they'll find out the hard way. Not to say that i'm not going to be helping people out when i get home, just that so far my supernatural powers have been contracted out for everything from solving boredom at work to helping get people back into their old circle of friends. the full list is rather exasperating really, and theres no way that I could ever do it all, everybody has their own little thing set in their mind that I'm going to do for them when i get home. First come the best friends and the closest friends, and we work out from there. But the number of people who think that their life is magically going to be better in some form or another is rather rediculous. Dont get me wrong, i love my friends and yeha, alot of em are always telling me how much they miss me, and how they look foreward to my return. But jebus, i'm gonna feel bad when some of these people have to face the reality that i'm not god, nor do i have any supernatural powers. well, i just wish that they'd see these things, its kinda frustrating at this end to see how stupid they sound. some, mind you, not all. so yeha, thats the deal with coming home to my friends. that and the fact that they want me back more than I want to be back. They just see it as leaving and coming home. Like i could just almost pack my bags and hop on the next flight at anytime that I wish. They dont see the emotions, the friendships, the bonds. they dont know what its like, i do, and thank god i do cuz i'm the better for it.
In a completly seperate category we have my family; they too are ready for me to come home, and again, are probally more anxious for my return than I am. However there is one large difference between my friends and my family: my family knows what is behind the leaving, how i am being uprooted for the second time in a year, how i have to leave some of my best friends back in holland, and how i have to watch some of my other best friends go in different directions across the US. They are not asking me to help them with their problems, but rather telling me that this is a readjustment process, and they are there to help me on the way. This is why it is so great to have such a strong family, they really are irreplacable.
ok, enough with this mushy crap...how about a more manly topic? I think that we all know that I've been talking for some time about getting a tattoo. well folks, the only thing holding me back now is a bit of cash, time and artistic ability. I think i've found the design that I want, take a peek:
its the dutch lion that is used to represent the the dutc national football team. like i said, one of the things that i'm lacking is artistic ability.....my goal is to find a way to take this design and make it part of an arm band-thingy around my bicep...still need ideas on that one though, let me know what you think....my goal is to have it done sometime this winter
got school tomorrow and for afew hours on wednesday mornin....i'm working on making myself a rememberance.....I exchanged the American flag that I brought with the Dutch one that my host parents have, and the next step is to get all of my friends and cohorts from school and AFS to sign it. I think that it will be a great rememberance, and also a great way to help cover the butt ass ugly walls in the dorms at UB...speaking of rememberances, my host mom gave me the present the other day that shes been workin on (or atleast talkin about) for ages. Its a tshirt with drawings on the front to represent all of the important things this year. its incredible, i couldnt have asked for a better gift. and, like the flag, i had all of the family sign the back of it. its not the kind of thing that would ever be worn for fear of messin it up, but its great none the less.
Lastly, i got back in touch with the guy from UB today....its lookin like come fall I'll be a International Business and World Trade major. Go me. now all I have to do is to decide wether or not i wish to pursue a language, and in all truth and after all my saying how i didnt want to take a language, i think i do. not sure what yet, but i'm between Spanish, portugeese or italian - leaning towards italian.
thats it for now, if you wanted a more reflective entry i'm sorry, thats all the reflecting i've got in me right now.
6 days till end camp
7 days till buffalo
current mood:  hyper
current music: 'Perdono'- Tiziano Ferro
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| Sunday, June 30th, 2002
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7:33 pm - Fenar travel: How to do 5 days in Parijs on $25
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step one: get $25
step two: find a school that will pay to take you with them cuz you claim to be poor
step three: have a great time and secretly laugh at the suckers who had to pay $250 for the trip
BOO YEHA!
Parijs rocked my socks. it was in-freakin-credible. well, lemme correct myself, Parijs was nothing special. yeha, you heard me. i just dissed the 'city of love' and the 'most beautifual city on earth'. and it diserved it. I personally found Paris to be rather ugly, aside from the archetecture which was amazing. but yeha, the only thing on the list of Parijs landmarks that was worth seeing was the Arc de Triomph (sp?). it blew me away with how huge it was. it just dont look that damn big in the pics. also, my next favorite thing that we did was the Louvre. I'm not into art, but i didnt realize that the musuem also has a large history section too...for example i thought the highlight was seein the code of Hammourabi (sp?) - its the ancient code that much of modern law is based on (how is it that i remember this from freshman year, but i cant remember the algebra we did last year in math??? lol)
the reason the trip was so fun was the kids. i had it all wrong from the start. I had the 5 VWO kids who were going with us confused with the 4 VWO kids, who were not. therefore, i thought we were going with a class that i didnt like rather than a class that i didnt know. well, my run of luck started when i got a seat on the bus between all the VWO kids, and away from my class. about halfway on the 8 hours to parijs, they asked us to sign up for rooms, 4 to a room. i was just figured that i'd get slapped in whatever room was left over. however one kid just signed me up for his room. it turned out to be the coolest room. I was with Steef, John and Evert-John (who goes by Evian- as in the water -for short). They are all mad cool guys, all 17 or 18, all into the same music and stuff that i am. we had the BEST time together. through them i also met a bunch of their classmates- Louise, Rebecca, Eva, Robert, Gijs, Sylvie- who were also mad cool. what i came to realize later on is that their class is very tight knit, and therefore does almost everything together, including going out and partying, which they all do where the majority of the class lives - in Heerde, thus why i never got to know them. But once you get into the group, they are all cool, and more like the kind of friends that i have back home than anyone i've met up to this point. this is exactly why i'm pissed that i have to leave (oh god), just a week from today right after getting to know these guys. At that, i already had to say goodbye to Louise and Eva cuz they left on saturday for Crete on vacation and wont be home for 2 weeks. boo to that. well, anyway, i made some good friends, and withinn an hour of being home, atleast 9 kids fromt eh class added me to their MSN buddy list. lol
back to the trip though; the teachers did a great job organizing it, especially Van der wal- my history teacher and also funniest man in holland. on the last night he was giving us the usual speach on the bus before we got off to head back to our hostel. We had some problems earlier in the week with the kids in the HAVO class not knowing their alcohol limits and puking all over. we all expecting van der wal to tell us to take it easy with the beer that last night, well, insted he said (in dutch) 'guys, i know its your last night, you want to party, and you have lots of beer.............thats why i want you to drink all of your beer tonight!!!!' we all laughed so hard....of course, this was after all 55 of us drank the 15 bottles of champagne infornt of the eiffel tower that he had bought for us. that last night was crazy- we took over the bar room that was on the ground floor of the youth hostel, turned down the lights, blasted dutch dance music and partied away until they sent us off to bed at 4am. It was the most fun ever, i spent the night talkin with the VWO kids, chillin with these american guys from Boston who just graduated high school, and, surprisingly enough, making peace and chillin with Lotte - making her one of the three HAVO kids that i talked to through the week.
the trip was incredible though, i'm super glad that i went and that i made some super good friends. i think that i'm probally closer with the kids from the 5 VWO class than i am even with all the other friends i've made this year. I mean, when you spend 5 days constantly surrounded by these guys, and the only time to yourself being when you go to shower or to the WC - you get to learn alot about the people that you are with. and it is nice to see that they all like me as much as i like them. at first i worried that they felt bad for me or were 'babysitting' me, cuz i make it obvious that i dont like the kids in my class. But i'm glad that they were not. they are all hoping that i come back to NL for school in a year or two, that i make it back next summer so that they can throw a party for me and even that possibly they can visit me back home. now its just a matter of seeing how long they keep in contact with me- but i dont think that i have to worry too much about that cuz every time i pop online they bombard me with instant messages. lol.
so yeha, that was my incredible time in parijs. i loved it. and thank god i took a whole roll of pics- and mostly pics of the kids - which i should get back by wednesday along with my spain pics :-)
today is eddys birthday party, so i think i'm gonna go back in the garden and enjoy the party as its the last time i'll be seein either sets of grandparents
prolly another entry later tonight
current mood: calm
current music: 'Inside' - Moby
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| Wednesday, June 26th, 2002
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11:51 pm
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hey
yeha, i'm in paris and surprise, i'm actually havin a good time. in all truth i'm super bitter that i have to go home to holland in just 2 days....wait, no i'm not - i'm just sad that i had to meet all the cool kids in my school a week before i go back to the states
woo for me
i think that 99% of the reason that i'm havin such a good time is that i ditched the 4 havo kids.
well, 2 more days
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| Monday, June 24th, 2002
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12:25 am
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Woo. so i decided to prove that i'm not THE biggest procrastinator in the world and actually update about what happened this past week. ok, ready:
done.
no, seriously, it was decently eventful considering that i had no school (toetsweek). Monday i went to the beach in Heerde with Monique and Robin....took the lil bugger out kyaking - i think that we both enjoyed it. Later that night i went to Daans grad party....it was pretty cool, but i couldnt drink that much cuz i had to get home and call my mama. wendsday was Arnouds birthday party- which was fun and completly entertaining like most dutch house parties. The rest of the week was spent just recovering from spain, painting the shed and doin other random stuff.
Last night however, was Chases good-bye party. Well, it was actually his host sister's (who was with afs on the yp in australia until 2 weeks ago) welcome home party, but in typical chase fashion he just made it his own party too. we had fun and i hung out with Andres and 'Panda bear' (aka Pat) alot. Andres is a really cool kid, Sams damn lucky to be livin with him now....just, like usual, i'm dissapointed that i didnt know him better earlier in the year. He's a funny kid, hes Venezuelan- but he will not speak any language other than english with us. not that its a problem though, his english is better than mine
and another first this weekend - using dutch as a common language. well, i do this with dutch people, but i was talkin to Daniel (spain) for a good while in dutch. Spanish people sound mad funny when they speak dutch, kinda like with a lisp, but we had a whole conversation and understood eachother well.
and then theres this parijs thing tomorrow....should be um, hellish. i hate my class, super young and immature, so i think i'll just have nice conversations with my cd player, books and palm pilot. yes, feel free to call me a dork. lastly, i just came to the realization that the only thing that i know how to say in french is 'Voulez vous coucher avec moi' (from the Moulin Rouge movie) - and apparently all that that means is 'will you sleep with me?' - interesting at the least
so yeha, now i have a ton of mosquito bites, laundry which needs drying and a bed that needs someone to sleep in it. i'll be back after the paris trip.....sometime late friday. by then i hope to have afew (or atleast one) of those good ol 'reflection entries' goin on. i've only been meanin to do it for the past week.......
current mood: accomplished
current music: 'Damn those eyes' - Kane
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| Wednesday, June 19th, 2002
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3:49 pm - Journal entry # 185 - Reviving the journal from the abyss, and back from Spain
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Yeha yeha yeha, i know, i'm lazy and bad at updatin. Just that the weather has been so nice here that I'm spendin alot of time workin outside and the such.....its been +85*F here for the last 3 days.
( SPANJE!!! )
current mood:  crazy
current music: Have you ever - Amsterdam Live - Incubus
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| Thursday, June 6th, 2002
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3:18 pm
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so yeha, everything is super crazy right now. at the current time i'm: cleaning my room, burning a cd, doing my laundry, packing, talkin on aol, updating this stupid thing and trying to get rid of my sore throat. We have to be at the trainstation in Zwolle tomorrow BY 6.45. then just a nice 24 hour bus ride to Spain! ugh.
so yeha, what has been goin on you ask? well, i must say that i am currently having my 15 minuites of fame in Holland. it all started when i found out on monday that Monique had set me up an interview with the Gelders Dagblad....our regional daily paper. I had the interview with the girl from the paper on monday and got some pictures taken. Well, it showed up in the paper today. Some girl i dont know just randomly walked up to me and gave me a copy of it in school, plus the one at home. Thats mad cool cuz, if that paper does cover most of gelderland, alot of people will see it....not to mention that i'm gonna take some shit from the other AFSers for it, but whatever.
I randomly saw some kid at school the other day with an old Sabres jersey on. i was shocked, but i never asked him about it cuz before i realized what i was lookin at he was already in his next class...
Go USA! that world cup game was amazing! couldnt believe stupid Agoos tho when he shot the ball into his own net....
oh, so i get a letter back from Mr Babbs. apparently i was placed in Calculus cuz 'my sat scores indicated that i could handle that type of work'. gotta love the buerocracy up there.....they just choose my classes with no input from me and expect me to be happy with em. well, he said that he could put me in a 'algebra/trig' class, but i still had to meet basic freshman course requirements, so i cant drop math all together. grrr....well i think that when i write him back i'm gonna ask how changing to the international relations program would change my classes....i think thats where i'll end up anyway.
well, i think i'm back to cleaning....moniques way of tellin me to clean my room was to come up and stamp her muddy shoes off right next to my bed. but it was needed...the place hasnt been cleaned since March or April :-D
mabye an update from spain, mabye not.....
current mood:  working
current music: 'Dancing Nancies' - Red Rocks - DMB
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| Sunday, June 2nd, 2002
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3:25 pm
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Well, last night sure was interesting...you could tell that i hadnt been to the stunt in a month....first thing that happened when i walked in was that i was jumped on by Daan, MH, Arnoud and Anthony. it probally looked really stupid, but hey, atleast i know that they missed me! And, on top of that, my favorite bartender, igor, also asked me where the hell i'd been. its so cool to really feel like you belong there.....
anyway...so yeha, i ended up wakin up at 9 to be at school for the rehersal today, and it turns out that they dont need me at all....which is good, it would take a miracle worker to make those lights look good anyways
I'm forgetting Robs party on Friday....i spent the afternoon in Groningen with Pat, Chase and Mauritio and we saw the new Star Wars movie (my verdict- some of the worst acting ever, yet the princess is a total babe and, in my opinion, the only reason to see it), then we went to the party. it was fun, just sittin around the campfires, havin a big sing-along and drinkin some beer. I was glad to see all the kids in the Groningen/Drenthe region again...havent seen most of them since before xmas. Especially good to see rob again (he's the cannadian guy who looks like Stiffler from 'American Pie')...havent seen the guy since the language camps in September....now thats a scary thought. Well, hes a damn cool guy and its sad that we're not gonna be able to chill with him at end camp. Hes goin home to make some cash, had a job offer that he couldnt pass up, in holland or not. Its sad tho, cuz hes the first one to leave...others have left, but this is different, i mean, hes leaving so close to the end that it really is like the first goodbye. lets just say that that is not something that i'm lookin foreward to having to do like 100 times over again....let alone in 6 some odd weeks. jammer. and i really just chilled with rob for like the 4th or 5th time...think about havin to say bye to the hosties (even tho i'm not considering that goodbye, cuz i plan to come back as often as i can) let alone the other exchange students. Well, best not to dwell on these things....
*INTENTIONAL CHANGE OF SUBJECT*
so, i get my schedule from UB....i feel like i'm a freshman again...I get apparently ZERO choice in my class choices. So what i have is: Transitional elem (not a clue as to what this is, but i'd bet that its some shitty course that all the freshmen get stuck with to teach us how to live away from our mommies and daddies *insert laugh here*), College calculus 1 (the prospect of taking this class scares a guy who only has 3 years of HS math, and no pre-calc, outta his freakin mind), World Civilization 1 (the only class that i'm excited about) and lastly Human Nutrition (sounds like a chessy name to trick me into taking a science class, but no outstanding complaints here). However, this course appears to have me still scheduled in the Archetecture program. I pray that when they change my major then i wont be stuck with a Calculus class as that whole math/science thing is why i'm not in archetecture in the first place. Seeing all this almost gave me a heart attack, so i compared it with Websters course schedule for a freshman and almost had another heart attack. Like i said before, the classes there just sound like so much more fun, and not a waste of my time like 'College Calculus 1' or 'Transitional elem'. Let me just state again that i hate ub...they have to give me reasons why to like it and so far they arent doin all that good at it (although the scholarship doesnt hurt any). So, yeha, i have to email a one Mr. Tommie Babbs to settle this all. Thats ok tho, i have the advantage - his name is 'Tommie Babbs', like, what the heck kind of a name is that? If i dont get my way we can always resort to some good ol elementary school name teasing tactics!!! :-P
well, enough of the bitchin, i think i hear our guests downstairs. HOPEFULLY its them, i mean, dear god they're like 2 hours late now and i'm hungry as hell...it sux to have to wait for the BBQ!
oh yeha, we have determined that mauritio speaks his own language....it is a very confusing mix of dutch / english / spanish....the language has thusly be dubbed mauritian
current mood:  blank
current music: 'Youth of the nation' - POD
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| Saturday, June 1st, 2002
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10:33 pm
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Well, believe it or not I'm back. Yeha, got kinda lazy there with postin for afew days. Anyhoo, just a brief recap of interesting things that i've missed updating on....
-It appears that Epe is pretty well-known for being such a small town....everyone always seems to know of it for one of three reasons...reason the first- its scenic location in the Veluwe. Reason the second- it played an important part in cow slaughtering during the 'Hoof in Mouth' disease scare afew years back as there is a rather large slaughterhouse about a mile from my house....and thank god that i live upwind of it...the place reeks! and lastly, reason the third - apparently there was some case here afew years back of incest that made it to 'World Famous in Holland' status. The last one is new on me, as i heard it first this weekend from two different sources....Whatever, its a nice little town with afew not so pretty claims to fame.
-Next, apparently i made it in this years yearbook back home for two things, more than ever. This is especially odd considering that i graduated last year. hmmmm.....ok. I've been told that i made it in the 'Remember When...' section in 'Remember when Fenar and Miyoko still went to school here'
and i made it in the 'Most Likely...' section under 'Most likely to make the best 3 stooges' along with Tom and Mike. Well, atleast its good to feel popular, even if it is after i left - not like that ever concerned me anyway.
-Oh, i went to Aldi (yeha, as opposed to home, Dutch people actually DO go there to shop) to buy my host dad a new bike on Wednesday to replace the one that i got broken for him ($200 tho, ouch). Anyway, the odd part was that the first guy in line for a bike (i was second) was also american, yet we only spoke dutch. I never asked him where he was from, but his accent was so plainly american that i was tempted to ask him why he was in Epe and about how his dutch became so good. Well, the obvious answer to the second question is that hes lived here for awhile, but when you have another american with whom you only speak Dutch, it is a first for me, and leads me to just be curious.
-School asked me to do lights for their musical. Apparently Monique told the director at the beginning of the year about my stage crew experience, so now that its almost showtime he wants me to help. I went to watch one rehersal, but now we have one small problem: i am in spain for the 2nd of 2 shows. the director called eddy today to say that he 'found someone else', but we dont know if he meant just for the second show or the whole thing, so i'll wake up tomorrow still drunk or partially hungover and make my way to school and find out what he meant. if he doesnt need me then it will be a nice peaceful week before vacation rather than trying to be at rehersals and pack at the same time.
well, i hate to do it, but i gotta be headdin off to the club....not that i really feel like goin after last night, but i promised i'd be there....sigh..... yeha, just hate how time sneaks up on ya like that. i can finish this tomorrow and write about robs party, actually, i think i will
current mood: indifferent
current music: 'Shimmer' - Fuel
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| Tuesday, May 28th, 2002
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2:02 pm - Proving that allergies really DO exist in holland....
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after 9 months of going without allergy meds, i am back on the dammed things. it started this weekend while i was comitting the sin of all my allergy sins: cutting the lawn. bah, oh well....im alive and almost better, but i punch myself for not bringin my inhaler....atleast it would have solved this gawd awful cough.....
anyhoo....we went to this scottish / highland games festival with eddys parents on saturday....it was pretty cool, and i actually talked with eddys dad for awhile about their upcoming trip to scottland. the coolest part about that is that if the man knows a word of english, he hasnt shown it.
I have been speaking more dutch reciently, and actually completly randomly. its kinda cool, kinda frustrating, but hell, it makes me feel good when people understand me. my biggest problem with the language is something that i didnt come onto until i read a Steven King book while in Turkey....the main character in the book, 'The Dead Zone', is trying to teach a kid reading comprehension. He discovers that the kids problem is that when he concentrates too hard, he understands less....i see the same thing happenin with myself....when i concentrate really hard on understanding something important, i usually miss half of the message and then need someone to translate for me...yet, in class when i'm only half listening, i'll somehow remember the entire lesson, and understand it all. it frustrates me like nothing else. i think that i've just got to stop trying so hard and just let it come to me....well, easier said than done i guess.
my big weekend plans, since i screwed up and soraias party is THIS upcoming weekend, ended up being two movies (Rush Hour 2 and Blow, a really kick ass movie), and getting addicted to Sim golf! yes, i know, very produtive
well, i gotta go back to school for history....watch me understand the whole lesson now.....
current mood: accomplished
current music: #36 - Live at Red Rocks - Dave Matthews Band
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| Thursday, May 23rd, 2002
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7:46 pm
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guess what i just realized? 9 months. i've been here for 9 whole freakin months. incredible. where the hell has all the time gone????? But its been a great 9 months, and i just hope to be able to finish it off - all 46 days of it - in fashion.....someone else counted it out for me, i'm not in THAT much of a rush yet to be outta here ;-) well, let me clarify that a little....tomorrow marks 9 months that i've been in Epe, the 21st was 9 months since i left home.
i had a great day today...the best in a long while. i think i mentioned afew entries back that school sucks now that all my friends (all of whom happen to be in the graduating class) no longer come to school because they are preparing for finals. thus, i have nobody to chill with except for the kids in my class who i still find immature. today was different though, i talked to a bunch of people - some in dutch some in english, enjoyed the classes, got asked not once, but twice if i was going to the club this weekend and to make it perfect, got to play baseball in gym. HA! i love the way things are going right now....and now i kind of wish that i was going to the club this weekend rather than soraias birthday party/robs goodbye party...but whatever...it doesnt matter
on a completly unrelated note i have a sorethroat from my allergies and need water....more another time.....
i'll put selected pics from turkey up soon, theres too many to put them all up, and my current addiction to the sims is keeping me from doing much in the way of productive work :-D
current mood: thoughtful
current music: 'Dichterbij dan ooit' - Blöf
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| Wednesday, May 22nd, 2002
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5:44 pm - PINKPOP2002
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Well, the festival was interesting, i'd give it that much.
we had a great time...we went Pat, Chase, Sam, todd and myself and camped out. it was alot of fun, and we learned many things about how many loaves of bread, boxes of hagelslaag, jars of choco pasta and peanut butter 5 guys can consume in a matter of days. we also learned what happens when you go 4 days without a real shower - its not nice, take my word for it. the concert was well worth the $80 it cost for 3 days, i managed to see all but one of the bands that i wanted to and we had a great time.
The planning and the setup was some of the worst i'd ever seen, at times it looked like they threw the festival together the night before, but overall it was a good time. The two biggest faults i could find were that 1.)the camp site incident and 2.) the stage setup. thing the first: the fact that they would let thousands of people over the limit into each camping area, then tell those without room to camp in that area (namely us) to wait in a 3.5 hour long line to get bracelets inorder to get out of that camping area and start the venture anew in a different camping area. this problem was avoided by meeting up with Rita and co who were only 30 minuites from the bracet recieving area. Nonetheless, it caused us to miss POD. The second problem was the stages.....first off, every other 2 stage festival that i've been to has the 2 stages facing each other, so that you can see both stages without losing your spot at one stage. here it wasnt like that....you had to walk from stage to stage, and at the stage where there was no music, they pumped in radio crap rather than the other bands that were playing - plus the grounds were sloped down from the stage, so it was a pain to view.....minor inconvienences, but things that i think should be changed....
we ended up seeing Bush, Live, Alien Ant Farm, Def P en de Beatbusters, Dropkick Murphys, Faithless, Morgan Heritage, Kane, Muse, Lenny Kravitz, System of a Down and Rammstein during the festival.
Bush= incredible, just plain incredible
Live= their old stuff rocked, but they played too much slow/new stuff
AAF= great music and the funniest stage presence that i've ever seen
Def P= incredible, just as i thought it would be
Dropkick Murphys= I'm now a fan....awesomeness
Faithless= HIGHLIGHT of the festival, they RUUUULE!!!!
Morgan Heritage= new to me, i never got into the reggae thing, but they kicked ass...i'm now a fan
Kane= not too shabby, still think they sound like bush
Muse= is it music?
Lenny Kravits= awesome, except for the 15 minuite pause he took to remind everyone to 'love each other'
SOAD= can you play music when your vocalist is way off and your guitarist blows an amp? i think not
Rammstien= I've never seen so much pyrotechnics in one place at one time...NEVER - and the music wasnt bad either.
there you have it....now i just i was here for lowlands in August - damn it all to hell. well, who knows...i mayjust have to plan a trip back here to coincide with either pinkpop or lowlands next year ;-)
current mood:  hungry
current music: 'Muhammad Ali' - Faithless
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1:16 pm
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spring in the veluwe kicks ass.
there. i said it. its so nice out, well, minus the rain today. everything is all green and cool...if you've never been here you should come.
i feel like i'm being very direct today.....
pinkpop kicked ass, but i'll write on that later....as for now i'm back off to school, i think ckv was cancelled.....should only be history.....van der wal is the coolest teacher, i love that class. i actually payed attention to the whole class last friday and understood the whole thing! not like the understanding is the important part here, but rather the paying attention part...usually i just drift off into my own world during that class......ok, back to school time.
current mood:  happy
current music: 'Insomnia'- faithless
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| Friday, May 17th, 2002
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11:16 am
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well i'm back on my feet, its all in my head now, and in the back mind you, i really dont feel like takin the time to do this but here we go about turkey.....
( Read more... )
current mood: ecstatic
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| Wednesday, May 15th, 2002
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8:52 pm
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sorry about the lack of updates, all.....i've just been quite sick the last day and a half and my one comfort in the world now is knowing that my body can hold in apple juice for more than 30 minuites at a time. but more when i feel better....right now all the energy i've saved up all day was used to write this, so i think its back downstairs to get another juice for me than off to an early bed.
current mood:  crushed
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| Thursday, May 9th, 2002
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4:32 am
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tis been a great time so far - just a quickie today cuz i dont feel like writin about the whole vacation while i could be back on the beach ,-) just as a note, everyone here (and i mean all the dutch folk - it seems like half the country relocates down here during vacation) has been shocked by the murder of one of hollands foremost polıtıcıans, Pım Fortuyn. Hes one of those love or hate kında guys as one of his biggest issues is his anti-immigration stance. personally - i liked the guy, but apparently enough he had his enemies. the reaction was large, as, being holland, stuff like this never happens....but it did - what a shame. the backwards american culture is starting to catch up. jammer. ok i,m out back to the beach to work on the tan. oh- and i recieved a message that picturetrail isnt going to let me have more than 50 or so pıcs anymore. if that is true, there will be no more photos posted...sorry
current mood: itchy itchy sunburn
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