VanderMause Family Christmas

Ho ho ho...merry Christmas! It was a merry Christmas indeed this year. I felt really fortunate to be a part of all the fun. It was Grandma's house as usual for the big event of the season. Still after all these years, she continues to make every Christmas special. Christmas Eve is the big night of presents and delicious food at Grandma's. Christmas morning is celebrated at home and then we all gather again for my grandma's tasty traditional Christmas morning bake dish - yummy. The best part about the whole event was the laughter. I don't think I have laughed that hard since I lived with Jen - my stomach still hurts. It was definitely a Christmas I won't forget.

And if you are reading this blog, it is quite probable that I was thinking of you at some point during Christmas. I hope that you all are enjoying the holiday season!



Did I mention that the VanderMause family is a large one?

Gram and I getting cozy

Typical scene on Christmas Eve

Sassy cousins

Out of control groupie going wild for the rock star and his new guitar.

Things always get a little wild. Be sure to notice James' head (the kid in the red jersey). Either he's a contortionist or I broke his neck.

Christmas is sometimes a bit too wild for a few of us.

One annoyed and tired little rock star

Winter Wonderland

My mom warned me that there was a lot of snow here but I never expected this. Good news - more tomorrow!

It's been a while since I've made a snow angel. And yes, I'm wearing teal snow pants from elementary school. It was a toss up between those and the bright pink ones.

Too much fun

The only shot of family snow; my camera died as we were finishing up the baby (far right).

Grandma's covered in icicles - a whopping 5 houses down the road

Chilling with my old friend Lucy while she snacks on some snow

Where Am I?

I have concluded that planes are the coolest but also one of the trippiest inventions. Firstly, they allow you to see your family and friends on the other side of the world for the holidays. They also make it possible to jump in and out of old lives. Planes even allow you to land on Mars (also known as Iceland) for a few hours to shop for Thristur and Opal. After listening to caroling stewardesses in Iceland, I finally realized that I was going home for Christmas. Since then, I have been living in winter wonderland full of Christmas lights, music, and snow. This journey has been quite the adventure so far. After a short stop in Iceland, Minneapolis was officially the first leg of the race. It was very refreshing to see some old friends and visit my old favorite spots.

Landing on Mars

I wasn't kidding about the stewardesses.

Forgot they existed

Brad enjoying his wheel of Dutch cheese. I felt like Santa delivering toys out of my backpack devoted entirely to Dutch goodies.

A visit to my old school was just what I needed. I miss my kids! It was nice to hear 'Frau Kellie' again. Best of all was seeing my friends (co-workers) Rebecca and Gwendolyn. I have a crush on them both.

They gave me way too much attention, but I gladly took full advantage of hugs.

It was nice to be back with the fam. Thanks again for the delicious German cookies!

A stop at the local CC club was inevitable. Some things never change thankfully. BUT I do need to file a huge complaint for the lack of Mew in the jukebox. How could they?

First Ave here I come! Two words - indie boys. No wait, two more - skinny jeans. Let's just say I'm not in Holland anymore which was very apparent Saturday night at Too Much Love. Oh, and I'm thinking about proposing to Emily.

Fiesta Fiesta!

It's official...I moved out of my apartment:( In other words I had a party! Although I am sad to leave my fabulous pad (thank you Lydia) and roommates, a party was the perfect way to say goodbye.


The boys getting down to a little Ace of Bace

Pretty bad ass

Could those two get any cuter?

The before shot...

...and after

The beautiful Greeks goddesses and I

Betty Crocker baking her usual chocolate chip cookies

Cute kids

We're getting married

Kimmy!

Sinterklaas!

I'm falling a bit behind updating the blog but I'll do my best to catch up. First of all, Sinterklaas came to town...yahoo! I went to a Sinterklaas party and it was quite the experience to say the least. After singing sinterklaas kapoentje 50 times and being harassed by some zwarte pieten, we were pleasantly greeted by Sinterklaas. He kind of reminded me of Billy Bob Thorton in the movie Bad Santa - hysterical. I overdosed on pepernoten (dutch cookies) and chocolate letters. Good times.

The one on the right was pretty feisty

What's that smell?

Near my house there is a sugar factory which has been producing the strangest smell for the last few months. A couple times every week, the whole city smells like sweet mud. It's a very peculiar but familiar sent to me now. I heard a rumor that soon the scent will end until next fall. Believe it or not I am already a bit nostalgic for the smell because it represents Groningen and I might not ever smell it again. There is also a tobacco factory in Groningen near the apartment in which I will live next semester. I feel bad for anyone attempting to quit smoking in this city. This place is kind of like the Kaukauna, WI of Holland; the only difference is that I am not gagging constantly in Groningen.


View of the sugar factory from my kitchen window

Reykjavik to Rotterdam

Saturday night I went to an Icelandic music and culture festival held in Rotterdam. Brilliant! A one night trip back to 'Iceland' was exactly what I needed. The whole night was a bit trippy because it was mixed with an amazing high from such unique music and a lot of nostalgia. I once again had the feeling that the world is unbelievably small. In fact, I recognized some people there from my time in Reykjavik. I wasn't surprised at all when I saw a girl I had spoken to in Reykjavik walk out on stage - I had no idea she was in the band! I saw four bands in total: Evil Madness, Ghostdigital, Rokkurro, and Mum. The atmosphere was phenomenal and I once again remembered that the Icelanders really know what they're doing when it comes to music.






Mum - and yes, the bass player is wearing a cape. When I saw him in Reykjavik, he was wearing a huge pink Icelandic sweater that came down to his knees. I love that guy.

They used every instrument imaginable.

He's a genius.

Evil Madness (including Johann Johannsson, Jen:) is the name of this group. Very cool experience - never been to a show with five guys sitting in front of computers creating music. I thoroughly enjoyed the images in the background because most of them were shot in Reykjavik. They are truly ahead of their time.

This was Rokkurro's first performance outside of Iceland and it definitely won't be their last. They are a young new band with so much potential. The lead singer's voice gave me chills it was so beautiful.

Arrival of Sinterklaas!

Last Saturday, the one and only Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) came to town; it was the moment I have been waiting for all year! The streets were packed with families and little tikes trying to sneak a peek at Mr. Sinterklaas himself. He arrived on a ship with all of his little helpers called Zwarte Pieten (those guys are going to give me nightmares for a month). There was a big parade in the city center with many exotic animals, pepernoten (typical Dutch ginger cookies), and singing. Sinterklaas was welcomed by the mayor and even gave a speech about his journey to Groningen. All in all, it was a pretty cool new experience, despite the lack of snow.

And there he is

How creepy are they?

Pretty impressive

The big speech

Celebration

On Friday night, my roommate Marieke turned 22. It was really fun to help celebrate her long awaited birthday. In general, birthdays are celebrated the same as in the U.S., but with a few differences. For example, if it is your birthday, you are expected to bake your own cake. Maybe I am a bit bias, or lazy, but I think I prefer the tradition at home. You are also expected to host your own party or celebration. If you take your friends out for a drink, you pay for their drinks. Another thing I thought was almost a bit strange is the tradition to congratulate not only the birthday girl, but the entire family.

Regardless of minor cultural differences, I really had a fun night with a girl who has to put up with me and my Dutch on a daily basis. Happy birthday Marieke!


Try to ignore the scary guy in the background

Note: I bought her an oven mitt because I set hers on fire the first week I moved in...oops!

BOO!

It finally dawned on me that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Even in a country that does not celebrate Halloween, it was still a blast this year. A fellow American from my program, Nicole, decided to host a Halloween party for the students in our program. What she failed to mention, is that she lives in a former hospital where coincidentally black cats roam around. It was possibly the coolest place to spend Halloween. It was really fun to celebrate Halloween with friends who have never celebrated it before. Costumes were of course required. I resorted to my emergency costume - furby.

The old hospital squat even had a trampoline Jennifer.
Martijn was a blue man (in other words - super scary). I screamed every time I looked at him. Eline is the punk face down on the tramp.

This pic reminds me why I never took up acting

Marije's costume was simply perfect

Although it was one day late, I still managed to share the tradition of pumpkin carving with Eline. I also managed to watched the film Dracula for the millionth time - amazing. Gary Oldman is hands down my favorite dracula. Keanu Reeves is the only mistake in that movie.

Jack actually turned out pretty decent

I passed!

After approximately a one year absence of exams, I had my one and only exam of the year this past week - statistics. In Holland, grades are not very important but whether you pass or fail is very important. In fact, it is quite normal to fail here. If you fail, you have the option of resitting the exam (very new concept for me but I like it). However, the results are in and it looks like a resit will not be necessary. I am so happy that I survived statistics. Some of you are probably wondering why on earth I am taking statistics. To make a long story short, I am performing various research experiments regarding second language acquisition, which involve statistics to interpret the data. It was pretty strange to hear terms like mean, median, mode, and standard deviation again but strangely it was also refreshing to take a break from so much theory and work on problems with concrete answers. I learned a lot through this experience, and I am excited to use statistics for my master thesis. In other words, I'm a huge dork.

As you can imagine, the week was a bit stressful. To cope with the stress I simply enjoyed my favorite season. There is nothing better than a good walk to clear your mind.

A pic my mom will appreciate

The pic of Eline is way cooler.

Sunrise from my window - only on exam day would I be up early enough for such an event.