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