Six

How is it that this is my second to last week here, in Holland? The saying, “time flies when you’re having fun” has never felt more realistic. I had a very busy week with a lot to look forward to. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!... During school this week, we focused on the story “The Three Little Pigs”. The kids had a great time acting the story out! Of course, their favorite thing to do was blow down the buildings but we also had fun singing the song of the three little pigs. If you haven’t heard it, “The Three Little Pigs by Debbie and Friends” on YouTube… I highly recommend it. Although, I must warn you- It is pretty catchy and may become the next “Baby Shark”. With one of the classes, I read the story of, “Cinderella” and did a memory activity with them. I placed familiar objects from the story onto a table and covered them with a towel. When I counted to three we all said, “Abra Cadabra!” after the magic words were said, something from under the towel disappeared and they had to guess what it was. I have been having fun and will miss these sweet kids when I go back home. After school this week I was busy with spending time with my host family… I’m trying to spend as much time as possible with them because I know I will miss them to the extreme. Especially the kids. (By the way—Valentijn has been giving me hugs! AND the other day, Jasmijn spoke a complete English sentence to me!) Talk about your heart melting… These kids are absolutely amazing, and are so special to me. Back to my after school activities- From going to an Essential oil party on Monday, to Almere on Tuesday and Utrecht on Thursday it was a fun filled week! This weekend the family and I went to Zealand. (Ootsburg to be exact)… This is where Mark was born and raised, it is a very small town but is also close to the North Sea and Belgium! So, when you’re 15 minutes from a beautiful sea and 30 minutes away from another country, what do you do?... I think the answer to that is obvious. On Saturday we went to the sea, the beach was gorgeous, and I am not exaggerating when I said I saw 20 freight boats carrying different cargo from here to there. It was incredible. The sand was soft, the water was a bit cold but also perfect at the same time. As we were sitting on the beach, the water started to come closer. Mark explained that every six hours the water level changes, it will rise and then 6 hours later will lower again. (I think it has something to do with the equator and the moon?) Mark’s sister works at the beach restaurant so that’s where we had dinner… It was very nice to meet his sister and see where he came from! Oddly enough, parts of Ootsburg resemble Ohio so that was neat. Sunday we drove to Belgium, we walked around Brugge and had lunch in the center of the city. This weekend get-away with the family is one that I will cherish forever. Although we have gotten close over the past six weeks of my being here, we really got to know each other out of our daily school/work lives and just enjoy being in each others company. I think it’s safe to say that Mark, Maartje, Valentijn and Jasmijn are my family and I will always hold them super close to my heart. Next week is my last week… Emotional you may ask?... Do cows moo? The answer to that is yes by the way. Greetings from The Netherlands!