A month in summary form

As I commence writing there is but half an hour until my dinner date with The Usual Suspects. Laura, Dania and Thijs are coming round to my, rather bedraggled, flat and we're skyping in the absent pair (Sonja and Leonoor). It's not really enough time to write even a short post but, as I've been absent for so long I felt I should really try to do something.

So, what has happened since I last wrote here? Well, firstly, the lovely Zoë came out once again but this time aiming to explore the museums. Sadly for both of us, it was right in the middle of finals time and I couldn't really spend much time with her. I think we both enjoyed ourselves regardless. We did take time out to go to the Midwinter Fair again and, to be quite honest, that has got to be my favourite festival of the season.

With the Zoë

The evening Zoë left was another social time, this time with the normal lot as we hung around and I painted Sonja's nails. It appears that, if I drop out of university for whatever reason I have a secondary career lined up. I also got to see my delightful neighbour Robbert before I left for England for Christmas and he left to study in Singapore, on exchange. However will I manage without his faultless optimism for a whole semester!

Sonja didn't look this bored the whole time, I swear!

As for Christmas, naturally, I spent it with my parents. We actually spent this Christmas in Wales in this tiny old cottage. It was owned by someone who was from quite a historic family and had worked as a antiques dealer so, as you can imagine, it was full of little bits and bobs to fascinate me. Did I mention we had to drive over a mountain track and through several fields (sans roads) to get there? The first time I've been grateful for there not being snow at Christmas!

Christmas dinner

Actually, this was probably the best Christmas I've had in a long long time. For that matter, it was probably one of the least stressful years my family has had in a long time and I guess it showed in the festivities. It was really relaxed, really pleasant. A lot of time together, a lot of good food, a lot of painting.

As for New Year, that was lovely in quite a different way. We went spent it in a local restaurant (in England) and had a thoroughly wonderful evening. Again, there was a lot of good food, good company, a bit of dancing. My father helped the staff pour the champagne for everyone - somehow that's become a tradition at this place - and that kind of meant we ended up with almost a full magnum on our table at the end of the toast... couldn't let it go to waste!!

This photo was taken before any alcohol was consumed, in my defense!

And then it was back to Amsterdam (which is honestly starting to feel like home) and to my second German intensive period. I've got to be honest and say that I am not enjoying it. I'm naturally very shy and use my language ability to cover that up... take away my language ability through making me speak in another language and it is hell for me. Not to mention the fact that, in the six months since the last intensive I have forgotten everything. That said, i still adore the German language and I am a quarter of the way through. Just another three weeks to survive. I may not be online or blogging while I fight with speed learning but oh well, I shall get through!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my speed recount of the last month. Wow, I managed it in circa. twenty minutes. If only I could write that quickly normally!

I can safely say this is the first time I've ever 'built' a tree.

The day before Zoë and I were due to fly to England the unthinkable happened. My (artificial) Christmas tree suddenly arrived. I know... a week late! Anyway, we hurriedly arranged the troops to make good on earlier plans to meet up and decorate.

I don't have to explain to you how much I love Christmas. If you know me at all then you will know that I'm the kind of person who bounces around for months in advance, listening to Christmas music, baking Christmas food (not so much here but wait til I get home!), making things glittery. I might not celebrate it as a religious festival but it still represents most things that I love about life and about winter, in particular. There's a true emphasis on togetherness and family and warmth. It's a few days when the world is shut out and peace does seem to reign, just for a while. Of course, it's how life should be generally but I'll not get into that.

Yes, this is what trees look like nowadays, children.

So anyway, the tree arrived and, with a bit of teamwork we managed to push it, in the giant box, through the building complex from Dania's room to mine. It wasn't exactly heavy but bulky... oh it was that!

Dania left for a while to work on an essay, leaving Zoë and me to attempt to assemble the tree ready for decorating. Okay, so I had a fake tree back home that I used to put in my room (in addition to a real tree downstairs). You'd kinda stand it up, pull the branches down from the centre and you were done. Oh no, not this one. This one came with an instruction manual in quite a few different languages as well as several rather odd looking parts. Okay, so it wasn't exactly complex in the end but you have no idea how much trouble we had putting this thing together.... kinda concerning when one thinks that we're both supposed to be somewhat intelligent, Zoë studying at Oxford and all that jazz.

Serious work going on here. Highly skilled labour.

It was then time for Leonoor and Dania to join us, with pizza, and for us all to chill and bit before making my room extra sparkly. Seriously, any excuse for a bit of a social evening and some junk food!

Lights. Eep.

Okay, so the first thing I noticed is that Christmas lights here are weird. I would say that it was just the ones I bought but Leonoor insisted that they're normal so I'm guessing it's a Dutch Christmas light issue. The string that they come on is circular. I don't know why this is the case because a looped string of lights have got to be less practical - what if I wanted to put them around the edges of my room? But yeah, there's an odd, seeming, difference from back in the UK ;-)

Having fought with the lights - they were not easy to get on the tree even with four of us working at it - it was time for the baubles to go on. I went to make tea like the good host, and put some mince pies in the oven. I came back and found my poor tree groaning under the weight of nearly 100 baubles. Okay, I exaggerate, and it does look good, but I had to laugh at the way my friends managed to attack the tree in about two minutes. It's so special though because it's been decorated by some of my special people it's an extra special tree to me.

Don't want to have to take it down!

Tah-dah!

Guess what? This post is not for facebook because it's been sitting in my drafts for waaaaay too long!

Sinterklaas

Today's the 5th of December which is celebrated as the feast day of Saint Nicolas or Sinterklaas. A few weeks back I blogged about the 'Saint's arrival' and finally the big day is here.

Although, from my understanding, a children's festival generally, my Dutch friends seemed pretty keen to celebrate together. As the festival seems to be celebrated through he eating of a lot of sweets, I was not going to resist.

Chocolate letters are another common gift with this
'B' for Bethany coming from Leonoor

Historically, the poor children would leave their shoes out where the rich could leave small gifts in honour of Saint Nicolas. Now, children still leave their shoes out, in the home, in the hope that they will be filled with sweets. AUC also allowed students to leave their shoes out during classes in order to receive gifts and, although it was pretty strange to randomly leave a shoe lying around, Leonoor and my mother managed to talk me into taking part. Luckily, we didn't take part in the aspect of the tradition whereby you sing to aforementioned shoe. I don't think I could have done that ;-)

After classes we all gathered at Leonoor's where she put on a veritable sweet feast for Dania, Sonja, Thijs, Laura and myself. We all hung around and ate and chatted and celebrated in the not so traditional way with wine and beer but there we go!

This photo kinda explains itself really ;-)

Of course, the evening only got better with the arrival of one of my old friends from college, Zoë, who, after missing her original flight, finally made it to Amsterdam. She joined in the fun and spent the evening talking in French with Leonoor who decided that it was obviously the best time to practice!!

Although Zoë and I left the 'party' a little early, planning to get a decent night's sleep we managed to stay up until the very early hours of the morning chatting away. It was unbelievably good to see her again, to chat, to reminisce, to be around someone with a shared history. I love my friends here, I really do, but you cannot force the bonds that form with time and, for this reason, seeing Zoë was wonderful... but more of that later!

"Are you going to put this on your blog?"

Why yes, Zoë, I am!

I sit here with aching feet having traversed cobbles in completely inappropriate footwear, but having had an all in all lovely day.

Enjoying being a tourist in my own country :-D

It would just be my luck to choose the one day with buckets of rain to visit the city of Oxford but there we go. I should have expected it! I've only ever really visited the city with specific aims in mind, mainly to see something at one of the theatres, so I think this is the first time I've got to really look around at all. Admittedly, the weather did hamper things a little, and I rather believe Zoë was a bit disappointed that she couldn't show me more, but it was great to look around. Besides, I have an excuse to come back in better weather now ;-)

Of course, the highlight for me had to be meeting up with my friend from college as we last saw each other at Christmas. Just to sit and chat about her adventures was wonderful. Having just been to Bosnia, she made us both a cup of Bosnian style coffee and my goodness it was beautiful. Just to chat about life in a relaxed environment with a good friend felt so good! Annoyingly, because I couldn't afford the trains, I cadged a lift and had to leave quite early. Certainly have to meet up again and soon!

In other news, I have my room allocation for university and it is indeed a single. If anyone (who knows me, obviously) wants the address then message me somewhere and I can give it to you. Goodness, it all seems very real now!

Seriously not the Christmas I was expecting

Just before writing this post, I read the end of the last entry I wrote (the one of the24th as I wrote the one of the 25^th before leaving home):

“I am pleased that I get to spend it with my parents, however, and I know that I am lucky to have them here.”

There’s something slightly sickly amusing about that sentence. About two hours after I wrote it, my mother was rushed into hospital by ambulance. She was kept in overnight and, luckily, she was discharged at about midday on Christmas day. Naturally, I got no sleep that night and spent it very worried. The afternoon was a bit strange too, to say the least. In the end we decided to open gifts and just lurk with lack of intent.

Only took my little camera out so pictures weren't that great. All the same!

Today was a lot better. My parents decided, on a whim, to go into Torrington to watch the Boxing Day hunt set off. In fairness, we always try and catch one of the hunts on Boxing Day but with everything that happened yesterday I wasn’t really expecting us to go out today.

The best bit of the day, hands down, has got to be meeting up with my friend from college, Zoë. I’ve not seen the girl since June, I guess, and it was absolutely wonderful to catch up with her and her crazy cat. She also managed to put up with attempting to teach me some accordion even though I have the brain of a sieve. Now I have to make it my life’s quest to buy myself an instrument and learn it before I next see her so I don’t have to torture her ;-)

Anyway, I’m now sat at the kitchen table, cooking Christmas dinner. Yep, we had toast for dinner yesterday so going to have to make up for things today!

When I wrote this post, I was without an internet connection. It’s been uploaded onto t’interweb since!