I haven't gone on any major trips this weekend so there is not much to talk about but I have to say not travelling big time has defiantly made me a lot more homesick than normal.
Not travelling and getting my mind off things and distracting me from Arnhem has made me miss things more than normal. Its hard being away from home and being all alone in the sense that you have no one you are familiar with in a foreign place. Its hard trying to communicate with people around you who frustrate you more than you can ever imagine (I will explain) its hard being in these classes in this environment, its hard trying to eat here, hard being out of the normal schedule, and just plain hard missing the important people in your life.
Being all alone
I cant deny I have made friends here and think they are great but in general being away from the people you have either known your whole life and can tell anything to is hard. What makes everything hardest would have to be this 6 hour time change. You try to set up Skype dates but they just don't work because their day is my night and work schedules are quite a mess.
People Here
As I have said people in the Netherlands are very nice but trying to communicate and get points across just does not work. I am not sure if its because I am in a straightforward culture on a normal basis but here everything is dallied around and you have to go through so many hoops to find out specific pieces of information. For example as I have mentioned when the trains are down no one ever tells you, or even trying to buy a train ticket. Sonya and I have bought so many train tickets now and not once has someone told us about the 2 persons day pass you can get and save ourselves 20 euros or the day pass you can buy for yourself outside of the station and save like 40 euros. As well when taking the train they will send us to a track that wont even be running the train that we need at that time. It probably has to be the most frustrating thing around. As well the other day we tried to order a meal to share, and of course the lady did not understand even when we tried to explain a little bit in dutch and she brought us 2 meals which we could not finish and we both had to pay !!
In general when you ask anybody a question here you can never get a direct answer.
Classes
I'm at that point in time, for those of you who know me and the feeling most people get I am at my I need a break from school time again because classes are just so frustrating. The difference here is I am not frustrated because I am overloaded with school work its more or less the classes are not specific enough for the way I am used to. You are not given instruction just expected, and when it comes to such things as exams in which I have next week they are not in your class time so you have to be prepared but not only that you get the scheduled like a week before they happen so how are you supposed to plan your time around that? As well I feel as if I have no idea what is going to be tested on what so ever.
Food
As much as my new found love of doners are amazing you cannot eat them all the time. Everything here when you eat out is deep fried which is very annoying trying to eat "healthier". As well since I do not have a microwave it is harder to reheat food if making leftovers. The most frustrating thing has to be the fact that I have little to no room in the fridge and when I do put stuff it gets moved so I cant find it and it goes bad or someone takes it out of the fridge and leaves it out (this happened with my mild, I was very upset). In general I miss Canadian food. I miss stir fry's and being able to reheat, wings (I know deep fried) and poutine (I know not good for you) but you get the idea things we don't have here. I miss salad dressing and making good salads. I miss more than Gouda for cheese just in general I miss convenience and space to have the food I need and want.
Schedule
I am the person that loves to keep busy works well under pressure and loves having specific things to do at specific times all the time. This is not the case here you always have to be prepared for change. Classrooms can change, days of classes can change, and your whole schedule can actually end up changing in general. I miss being able to go to the gym, setting time lines for study and school work, planning travel is hard because you have to worry about day changes and just not being able to have certain things to do at certain times all the time is very off throwing for me.
Last but not least People
Just like everyone is going to and will I miss friends and family. You look at facebook and see people hanging out being in clubs and going on with their lives and its almost like your sitting out on the sidelines.
I miss OWIMA
http://www.runforthecure.com/site/TR/RunfortheCure2012/Ontario?pg=team&fr_id=1291&team_id=24825
I miss my mom and dad- even though I don't live with them or see them that often when in school its a very different experience being across seas and not having the convenience to see and talk to them when I want.
I miss my friends- I feel like that's just a given and of course... Sarah I miss you cleaning my room (I have to do it at least 2 times a day here) and I miss you!!
I miss my boyfriend-We talk all the time and there are so many things I just wish I could tell him in person because it is never the same over the Internet or BBM but we have to deal with it for another 3 months. As well I wish I could be experiencing this with him travelling and meeting people. I miss his family as well. Going away after spending the past 7 months with him straight and a full summer with him and his family has been quite hard.
That being said of course I am home sick I think everyone is going to get it at some point how can you not being away for a long period of time after so many years in your comfort but I think what I am gaining in return is going to be priceless;
Even though I am frustrated with people and school it is teaching more than I have ever known about working and communicating with different cultures and people. This is not my country or my comfort zone and I need to adapt myself and learn their ways in order to get along better
Which is my next point I am learning to adapt-this is an intangible aspect in life being able to adapt to new situations and being flexible to whatever comes your way and still being able to get your job done
Last but not least is friends. I have met so many people from around the world and have gotten to know so many different cultures in a way you don't get in your own country being in your own comfort and not putting yourself out there. It has only been a month and I have made great life friends and made so many memories.
Even though I am homesick and I do look forward to the day I get back to my loved land Canada I am enjoying the exchange experiences and I look forward to dealing with more hardships to learn more things, and to making many more life memories...
ITS NOT ALL BAD
There are some cool things that have happened this week as well. There was a horse show and race which Brigitta and I saw horses and goats and pigs and ducks and it was SWEET!
We had a nice dinner one night as well. We all got together rode our bikes (dressed up...yes you know you live in the Netherlands when....) went to a Greek restaurant and had a very nice group dinner
As well this weekend even though I did not travel to another country I explored more of the Netherlands and we made our way to the city of Rotterdam (the modern city of the Netherlands)
IT HAS BEEN A SUNNY WEEK!!!!
I am going to leave you with my funny items....
As I said I have made friends and memories ... and well Today Sept 28th it was sunny (yes sunny in Arnhem) so we decided to enjoy the outside weather.. Sonya and Brigitta decided to do handstands in the grass.. A little bit of a failure but kind of funny (As well ... yes of course I am talking about pizza. for anyone who listens and knows me I LOVE FOOD)
As I have said I have been learning about cultures...well... there are no words for this
Brigitta and Sonya both trying to show us their cultural dances
Brigitta :)
Sonya-- WE DON'T HAVE A CANADIAN DANCE
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