maandag 31 januari 2011

vrijdag 28 januari 2011

“My friends call me Keith, but you can call me John.”

-Keith Moon



Most people say he was naive and reckless. I kind of agree in a way, but I guess the world needs people like this. A legend never to be forgotten. :)

donderdag 27 januari 2011

Second semester kick-off

In America, a school year in divided into two semesters, which are both divided into two quarters. After a quarter you get your quarter grade but nothing much happens, but after the first semester, it is almost like a new year starting. You get final exams about all that you've learned that semester, you can change your whole schedule if you feel like it, and some people even graduate halfway through the year.

On one hand I was really excited to go in the second semester, change some classes and just do something different again. On the other hand, however, I'm freaking out. We're in the second half now, basketball season is almost over which means that we're almost switching to the third and last sports season and there are so many more things to do before I go home! It just seems to get so much closer, and the feelings I have about leaving are so double, I don't know haha.

Anyway, back to subject. I did some major schedule changing! I changed to a different photograpy class, dropped out of Drawing and got in Encore Choir. I changed Geoscience to Biology and got in a different Spanish 1 class. I'm starting off both blue and gold days with either mixed choir or encore choir now, which is so chill, and my second period is either photography or orchestra, which gives me some time to wake up. I love my new schedule!

The conditioning for track started this week and conditioning for Softball will start in February. I decided to try both and see what will happen. I really want to do softball so I can be on a time, but they're doing try-outs and I've heard they are actuallt cutting people, so if that doesn't work out I will just run in Track. I'm excited to finally do a sport again.

Well that was it for today, I guess. See you later!

x

zaterdag 22 januari 2011

Beethoven 2.0

The composition I tried to write for my Orchestra semester exam.. Got some talent huh? Nice try.

donderdag 20 januari 2011

What a day for a daydream

And even if time is passing me by a lot
I couldn't care less about the dues you say I got
Tomorrow I'll pay the dues for dropping my load
A pie in the face for being a sleepy bull toad

And you can be sure that if you're feeling right
A daydream will last long into the night
Tomorrow at breakfast you may prick up your ears
Or you may be daydreaming for a thousand years

What a day for a daydream

Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream



woensdag 19 januari 2011

maandag 17 januari 2011

Fourwheeler ride at Red rock!




Holidays

January 17th, 2011.. For some reason I feel there is something I have to say.. Oh, I remember. HAPPY NEW YEAR! And merry christmas, too. Don't you love my lazyness? It's so far away that I don't even really feel like writing about it anymore, but I guess I'll have to, and when I do so, I can finally move on with my blog again. So there we go.

CHRISTMAS was amazing. I had never really celebrated christmas and really, Dutch people, there is no reason to celebrate Sinterklaas anymore.
On christmas eve we had a family dinner. After that we sang Christmas carols and Linda took Caro and me for a ride through the valley. You should have seen it. Almost every single house was decorated with crazy lights and signs. I had never seen something like that before! Back home, almost every kind of outside decoration is kitch, and whatever would be considered 'super-kitch' back home, was 'boring' here. For a few weeks I believe this valley had more lights than Las Vegas.



The next morning when I woke up, I felt like a little kid. I was actually nervous! It was christmas day and I had no idea of what to expect. We went out in the living room and my stocking was completely filled up! Oh, almost forgot about it - stocking! I had my own sock with my name written on it. I thought that was something they only did in movies but I was wrong. On christmas day, 'Santa' had completely filled it with candy and gifts. We ate Cinamon Rolls for breakfast. After that, we got all the gifts from under the christmas tree and started opening them up. I got so much more than I thought I was going to get! One of the gifst I got was a scrapbooking kit. Now I have no excuses anymore, I'll have to start. I actually already did so people back home, get excited, I will actually have something to show when I get back!
After we opened our gifts, we went over to Richard and Jackie's to see what they got for Christmas. Soon after that we went back home and all the family came over. We had a big dinner (at lunch time) and after that we went over to Jackie and Richard's again to watch a movie. Here, there was no such thing as 2nd Christmas day. Too bad. Anyway, I simply had the best Christmas I've ever had! Thanks to everybody who made that happen!

Not a long time after Christmas it was already time to get ready for 2011. In the Netherlands, New Year's is huge. Everybody just goes through Christmas because they have to, it seems, but what they're really looking forward to is New Year's Eve. A lot of family, a lot of food, champagne, fireworks, and parties. It's the biggest celebration of the year. I've always loved it.

Here, however, people described New Year's Eve as 'just another day'. Didn't sound too exciting, so I wasn't as excited as I used to be. At 3 p.m., when it turned midnight in Europe, I skyped with my parents. They took the laptop outside and showed me the fireworks. I wished my neigbours a happy new year and I actually really missed being there. I knew I wasn't going to see any fireworks here.
Around 6, I went to Blake's, where we got dressed up as if we were in Europe, had alcohol-free champagne (but not in a popping bottle.. bummer.) and got ready for the Church dance. We decided we would just make it as much fun as possible.
We arrived at the Stake center and found everybody wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I felt extremely overdressed and took my heels of and refused to take my jacket of. There was music, but quiet enough to be able to understand each other as if you were having a normal conversation. There was dancing, but it was more tapping your foot

to the rhythm. There were people, but not quite enough to fill up the gym, so it was kind of awkward. And there were snacks, but those were cookies, orange juice, and milk. I'm not saying anything to make those people feel bad or anything, and I'm sure I would have had a lot of fun if I knew what I was expecting. I obviously didn't. The dance was fun, it was just nothing like new year's back home. And although I know that I am here to experience something NEW, it just made me feel a little homesick.
A little before twelve we went back to Blake's and watched Las Vegas' new years on TV. They had fireworks, it looked amazing. However, they didn't count down, so the whole 'happy new year' moment when you go up to everybody around you, hug and kiss, all the awkward moments when the grown ups come up to you, hold your head in both their hands and wish you 'all the best for the new year' and stuff, you know what I'm talking about if you're from Holland, got a little awkward, because everybody had to check their phones or clocks to see whether it was 2010 or 2011.. but I got a few good new years hugs after all and the rest of the night was fun.

And here I am, 2011.. Ever since it is 2011 the countown has started and it's freaking me out.

January 17th, 2011. Today, it's exactly six months ago since I left Amsterdam airport. Six months - read ; half a year! I can remember leaving as if it was yesterday and I can't believe it's going so fast. I have 5 months left and have a lot of blog-catching-up to do before I go back home.. So keep checking this out!

Peace, love, whatever they say. See you later aligator. I miss you all!
Cille