Friesland!

It has been almost a week! Lots and lots to talk about. Last week for the first time I saw the sun coming up on my way to school.. normally the sun doesn't show itself all day.

Last week was our final week of introduction at the GH. On Wednesday we headed into Zwolle by ourselves and were given money to order food at a bakery and a cafe, along with some other stops along the way.. but we had to speak in Dutch the whole time. Needless to say I think it was obvious to tell we were American's! The latte I got sure was awesome though!

A few of us "matched" and attempted to take a serious picture together between classes.. epic fail.

This weekend we headed up to Friesland to visit Kristyn's family who let five of us all stay with them! We took the train up there Friday night and back again on Sunday. Their house was awesome and the food was spectacular! They did all speak Fries though.. which only a few thousand people in the world do apparently.. but they were extremely kind and also spoke great English thankfully. Saturday we biked about a kilometer to a nearby windmill. Michael and I had to share a bike.. which was interesting to say the least. Im extremely glad there is no pictures of it!  The way the Dutch manage the water is crazy.. all the canals fill up then the rivers then a lake and finally if everything is full only then does it go into the sea. The windmills are all still used to power the water through the canals.. although they run on electricity now of course! Getting to go inside a windmill was an awesome experience.

This is the way top of the windmill all the gears and such.. This windmill still works even though almost everything is made of wood. Also notice how the roof is made entirely of grass. 

They lived in a really really small town, but it still had an awesome church!

Then we headed to another farm nearby to look at their dairy. The country houses are huge because they used to be half home half dairy.. now most of them are converted into garages though.

They had some massive Fresian horses! Apparently they used to use them a lot more but now they are mainly for show.

Amanda's fascination with the calves...

They are close to the dike that divides the sea from the freshwater lake.. so this was Michael's first time seeing the "ocean"!! The massive dikes here are amazing, but when it storms people still come and watch to make sure the waves don't beat them up as the entire area is well under sea level.

A few miles away this was the fresh water lake where the water is saved unless it gets to high.


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This is a close up of where we were.. the top is salt water and the bottom is fresh, with the dike to divide them.


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To put it into a little bigger perspective where we were.

Typical Dutch town. Lots and lots of sheep across the countryside. Most of the roads are still old brick and extremely narrow.

The girls managed to get Amanda into the snow! Never a dull moment in this house. I also managed to meet a polish guy on the trip who can't even get a visa for a two week vacation to America. Crazy to listen to him talk about America! The train ride back we marveled at how flat Friesland was.. way more so than Iowa even. I am really starting to like train travel and can't wait to take one through Switzerland in May!

Today was our first day of class. I had theology and history today.. both went well! All of the excursions start next week... I think we go to Amsterdam and Leiden. Now for my big news!! After eighteen... 18!!!.. days without Mt. Dew I searched after class for the only place in Zwolle that sells it!

 I was forced to ask for directions at an "American" restaurant...Finally a few minutes later I saw the end in sight!

Finally I found the Mt. Dew.. way in the back of the store.. and it costs about $1.50 american.. So i guess this will be my one and only can of the semester! The highlight of this week was definitely getting a much needed care package from Mallory... made my week a hundred times better! Thank you!!

I think that's it for now... The first two weeks here I had to bike with my face and ears covered and was still numb by the time I got to class but today it warmed up and  I was able to bike for the first time with no gloves.. so that means a lot more being outside and seeing things is right around the corner!

Day Trip with the Host Family

Its Saturday night here in Hattem so time to update everyone on how things have been going after a whole week here in The Netherlands, yes we learned it is The Netherlands.. NOT Holland. The living room is extremely cozy, and my parents want to see a picture of the fireplace so here it is! It is a fireplace from Finland so the heat is stored in the stones and released long after the fire goes out.. in other words Michael and I run to it and put our feet against it every day as soon as we get home after our long bike ride!

We are still in the intro two weeks at the GH. Things are going well, we learned that one of our classes we have an excursion to somewhere around the country every single time we meet.. so I am not complaining about that! "Survival Dutch" is going well for most.. although I can't say that much for me. I think i'm just going to have to travel with someone who can pronounce things better than me! All in all though class is going extremely well and the entire group is growing to be great friends.

Brian working hard. 

Class truly is hard! 

You can find the American's sitting by the heaters trying to warm up during our many coffee breaks! 

We went on a scavenger hunt around Zwolle to get more acquainted with the town. Of course we found Mcdonalds!

Today Freddy and Gerda took Michael and I out for a day trip around Kampen in the car, we were thankful for the break from biking.


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Our families awesome car! We learned tonight that it would get around 54 miles to the gallon! 

 We drove through Kampen, but decided it was close enough that we could come back another day to walk around more. Today was the coldest day so far out here, and hopefully the coldest day of the year! The locals are all getting really excited because if it continues to be cold then Elfstedentocht will happen for the first time in sixteen years! Apparently if it happens school and the entire country will shut down.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfstedentocht

Our first stop was in Schokland. This used to be an island, but around WWII they built the dikes up so that the area is all now land 6 meters under sea level.

These rocks came all the way from Norway I believe? Back when there was water and ice here. 

This is the church that used to be on one end of the Island.
The barrier in front used to be for protection from the waves. 

Hard to see but this was the harbor with the lights to mark the entrance on the other side of the island. 

It was awesome to see a lighthouse way out here! First lighthouse I have photographed that wasn't close to water!

We continued to the small town of Urk, where we found another awesome light.

They have a lot of "green" power just like in Iowa, but are having conterversies about where the windmills can go because the locals don't want to ruin their skyline. 

The dike is 30 km long.. should be easy to see on the map where this was. 

An aqueduct.. the pleasure boats can go above the road so that they don't have to raise and lower a bridge continually.

The aqueduct from the top. 

They even have someone watching the dike!

Halfway across the dike we stopped for coffee at a small harbor. 

 In Lelystad we saw an old ship built in the original way, and they are working on building another one right now. We also did some shopping at a massive outlet mall before we headed back.

Next stop was our host brother Steven playing volleyball. 

That's it for now! For a class we are going to visit all of the Netherlands, and if I blog about it I don't need to do reflections so I will be posting often once classes get started ;) Trips are being planned to Rome, Paris, Berlin, and Ireland. With soccer games, castles, and lots of history I should have plenty of pictures to post! Please keep all of us in your prayers as we are still getting used to the bikes and the culture!

Here Safe and Sound!

Hey! So in order to avoid repeating myself to family and friends daily about everything that is happening I figured why not blog about it!

We flew up over Canada and then almost hit Greenland I think... ? Went over Ireland and England on the way down! Flew right over Manchester and it cleared up so we could look down and see the lights!

Looking down and seeing this from the plane flying into Amsterdam certainly set the mood!  We walked out of customs and thankfully there was out dutch "buddies" waiting for us in the crowd of people. Then we took about an hour train to Zwolle. One of the major things I noticed was how small all the cars were... I don't think I have seen an suv of any sort the entire time I have been here! trying to fit all of our luggage into the little car our host family had at the station was quite humorous!

"The Ugly Duck" This is one of our families small cars.. notice the motorcycle that is almost as big. Honestly though the cars here our crazy! They need to be to navigate the roads though. A few hours after arrival our family took us on a bike ride.. one speed.. but equipped with a sweet lock, bell, and lights!

Surprisingly, neither Michael or I fell into the water on the ride.

My Grandma Den Besten had showed me a photo album before I left, and one of the pictures was of Hattem's city wall. Imagine my surprise when I saw the spot my very first afternoon in The Netherlands! Hattem is an old city so the wall still stands with the moat from.. way back when:P

Saturday we went on a city walk in Zwolle with everyone. The first thing we did was climb the Peperbus Tower... taller than any lighthouse I have ever climbed! Originally a church? over 200 steps and 75 meters high  and we were able to walk around at the top! http://www.peperbus-zwolle.nl/index-eng.html

Ill have a lot more "nice" pictures later.. but for now this will suffice! Ill add some better ones of everything when I get time. The town is certainly not built in squares. 

The man who plays the bells.. and the bells. Pretty spectacular to watch him play that like a piano. 

 Certainly a lot of awesome buildings

 And really really really small houses built literally anywhere they can squeeze them. Noone here has to worry about mowing their lawn, as the only space they have is about a foot of the sidewalk that the city allows them to put a garden in.

Our awesome tour guide!! Telling us stories about WWII. 

Downtown Zwolle is amazing to say the least. With the markets and all the small shops.. lots of canals and boats.. apparently there is even a boat you can go and just listen to stories. 

Its extremely cold right now.. the coldest week of the year. Biking 30 miles a day.. Michael and I live a ways away from everyone.. is pretty bitter cold but we are getting in great shape. 

And its certainly safer than driving! and cheaper.. getting a license here is insanely expensive. There are biking lanes in some spots other times its right with the cars.. I have had a few close calls already with cars and buses whisking within inches but the whole group is still uninjured! 

Us practicing riding bike in the park before the buddies showed us around town. 

The amount of bikes is just astounding. 

Michael and I have to go up a long hill and cross the "red bridge" from Hattem into Zwolle every day. Its getting easier but our muscles still burn going up that hill. 

Lasko! My host families dog.. laziest dog I have ever met! 

All in all I am so blessed to have come on the trip so far. Church was a challenge with both services in Dutch.. but the group does a Bible study so that helps a lot. My host family rocks, having Steven who is also 21 is a major help. School is going well. We all feel like the foreigners but are loving it! We have an awesome group of people on SPICE. Michael and I have gotten lost more than once... because the roads here randomly change names.. but we have always found our way eventually. Im always tired from the biking but there is plenty of authentic Dutch food to keep me going. No pizza cookie dough and not even a Mt. Dew yet! I miss all of my friends more than they realize and was I admit quite a bit homesick the first few days. God is doing great things here and Im eager for the rest of the semester!