The Netherlands

I'm currently staying with a Dutch family in the city of Amersfoort, and having an absolute blast. My homestay roommate from Westmont is a good friend of mine named Sarah, and having her here with me has been great. Our host family consists of host father Jan, host mother Dinie, and host sister Marika. Marika is 17 and is lots of fun to hang out with. Both of our host parents are terrific, and Jan's terrible puns remind me of my own dear old dad back home (Love you Dad!).

(L-R) Dinie, Sarah, Jan, Marika, Me

On Thursday and Friday we left our host families during the day and headed for Amsterdam, about an hour away from Amersfoort. On Thursday we saw the Resistance Museum and the Anne Frank House, and then had a guest speaker give a lecture on Dutch culture and history. Yesterday we went back to Amsterdam and saw two art museums, took yet another canal boat ride (our third so far), and walked around to take in the city.


Today was spent with our host families. It was by far one of the best yet. Our host family took us around the Netherlands to do "typical Dutch things", like seeing a windmill and looking at a cute, very touristy Dutch village. Our family had never visited this particular village, and Marika was especially happy for an excuse to go see it. Jan was less than thrilled, and joked that he would drive us to the village and then find a pub while the rest of us looked around. As it turned out, they took us to a photo shop where we all dressed up in Dutch costumes and had our photo taken. It was absolutely hilarious.

With Sarah, in full regalia

With our host family, looking very traditional

Tomorrow we'll be going to church with our family, and on Monday we're moving on to Berlin. I'll certainly be very sorry to say goodbye to our hosts!

Photos

Some highlights so far:

Trafalgar Square


Parliament and Big Ben


British Museum

After a great "field trip" to the British Museum yesterday, we went to see Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. It was absolutely wonderful. The acting was great and the play itself was thought-provoking and hilarious. I know this is only the beginning, but I'm still classifying Arcadia as a highlight.

We have the weekend free, but I'm planning to see the National Gallery, the Tate Modern Art Museum, and possibly Buckingham Palace, which is currently open for viewing. On Monday we move on to Birmingham for four days before returning to London for another ten days.

London

We've arrived in London! We're staying at a dorm at the London School of Economics, and having class in one of their buildings in the mornings. We had our first full day yesterday. Class was mainly just orientation. Once class was over, my friend Joy and I headed out to see some of the city. We walked to Trafalgar Square, over the Thames, and down to the Parliament building, Big Ben, and Westminster Abby. It was quite a walk. I'll post some photos of our outing sometime in the near future.

Today we started out our day with class and a brutal quiz, but the day should be getting considerably better. This afternoon we're going to the British Museum, and tonight we're going to see a production of Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia". I'm especially excited about "Arcadia", because Stoppard is my favorite writer!

More to come very soon!