Voetbal, Volendam and Vriends

Hello everyone,

The sun is shining outside, a beautiful SUnday afternoon BUT I'm home sick:( it's never nice to be sick, but especially not when it's nice weather outside. So, enjoy the spring and sun for me!

I promised to keep you updated on my football career, so I'll start with writing a couple of lines about last Monday's practice. I was well on time on the field, so I could have a couple of words with the coach. He turned out to be a man in his 50/60 years ( yeah, I know, he's not exactly like the coach in Bend it like Beckham!) and he said that the language wont be a problem.
The other girls started to come, it seemed like they were all friends from before and speaking this secret language(also known as Dutch) though standing in the same circle with them, I felt a bit out of place.
Luckily, after the practice started, I found out how fun it is to actually kick a ball around. We had different kind of ball control and passing the ball practice stuff. The girls did translate for me when needed and the coach could sometimes say a thing or two in English. Funnily enough, I often felt I understood what he said(usually thanks to the fact that he was showing it simultaneously) By the end of the football practice I did feel like a part of the team, can't wait till tomorrow!


On Friday night, Ruggero(my flatmate) inivted me to jon a dinner he was hosting in our kitchen, with some Wings people. Later in the night, some exchange students came, a couple of them live also in flats from the private market, right around the corner. I also met the first Norwegian guy here in Groningen and funnily enough, he was among the exchange students who bumped by on Friday. The people continued to a salsa party, but I made the smart decision of staying at home, since having to wake up at 7 o'clock the next morning. It was fun to see our kitchen being transferred from a quite place to a place filled with noisy people <3 I wouldn't mind having more Friday nights with visitors:)

After a miracle wake-up(can't remember the last time I had to wake up at 7!) it was time to head for Volendam. A small village north of Amsterdam, known for it's Catholic population. In our program(the trip was arranged by ESN Wings) we had a visit to a cheesefarm and smoke eel house. Oh my word, the cheesefarm was the worst "turistirysä" as we'd say in Finnish(meanign a truly touristic place) the house itself was soooo kitschy, just imagine a combination of plastic, wooden paintings and "we accept visa,mastercard,american express" signs.
The demonstration for how to make cheese and clogs(wooden shoes) took a bit over 30min. Otherwise, we could spend our time in the souvenir shop(3/4 of the house) I don't want to go back there, ever.
The village of Volendam was pretty. Houses and gardens looked so perfect. me, Axel, Lexane, Josefine and Satu ended up spendign a lot of time in the harbour, taking pics around lampposts lol. We even got the crazy idea of taking a picture in a studio, with traditonal Dutch clothing. Seriously, we look so out of place on the picture. Axel said that we look like 5 year olds, girls wearing white pilgrimhats, Satu pouring tea in a cup...me carrying buckets on my shoulders, Lxane holding tulips and Josefine with her edam cheese. Axel was in the middle playing Harmony...lol These pics with traditional clothing is not only a tourist thing, in the studio, there were many Dutch people as well.
The smoke eel house had also a short demonstration of how they smoke the fish and we got to taste the eel...have never had eel before, I didn't know people were actually eating eel (ankerias/ål) We were back in Groningen around 19:00. I just went home, 'cause I felt sick:( I knew that fever would come sneaking during the night.

I have an exam(Politics and government in the EU) coming up this Friday. Therefore, it's quite comical that it seems like all the bday parties and best parties in general will take place this upcoming week. Sara(an Italian girl) has her bday tomorrow, and Jennifer from Canada has a pink theme party for her bday on Wednesday. There's also a Fresh and fruity hiphop party on Thursday, that Axel found flyers for. I can't attend that one, it's for sure, since my exam is on 9 am in the morning. And on Wednesday, there's also a Ladies' night in Rumba with a male stripper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hmm, I need to prioritise here.

The reason why my post is called Voetbal(football),Volendam and Vriends(friends) is that I've lately been once again been reminded of the beauty of friendships. The support and amount of kind words I've recived during the week has been overwhelming.! Thank you! Don't know how you can stand to listen to me whining:)A special thanks go to Anne who is forcing me to face the facts, though I often try to avoid them in one way or another.
It feels like I'm slowly starting to get my thoughts together and being able to move on.period.

Big hugs 2 all of u,
xannax