Alkmaar rocks!...oh yeah!

On Monday I went home with Marieke to her lovely home in Alkmaar. Alkmaar is in the northwest part of the Netherlands about twenty minutes from the sea. It was so great to be in a real home for a while and, not to mention, be around a real family. It was so relaxing and refreshing. We walked through the very cozy city of Alkmaar, watched a bad 'nederhorror' film, went to the sea, and ate some junk food. IT WAS PERFECT!

Marieke and her teeny bopper bro enjoying ginormous cones full of fries.

Beautiful church in Alkmaar - I loved the trees.

First trip to the sea this year - there were purple jelly fish everywhere!

I just love this pic

Superman - I mean me

For Stannie

Greek Easter

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of celebrating yet another Greek holiday with friends. Theodora and Vicky organized a picnic to celebrate full of amazing foods, meat, great conversation, and more meat. I really want to take some of their traditions home with me. Especially their Easter egg traditions. They die the eggs naturally with onion peels and vinegar to give them a crimson red color representing the blood of Christ. The best part is the egg breaking tradition. Two people come together and hit two eggs together. As you can imagine, the egg that does not cracks is the winner. The girls even did some traditional dancing and singing. I learned one of their songs but forgot it as soon as I learned it...Greek is a tongue twister.

We ate all day and occasionally took a break to play some frisbee. Some of them had never even thrown a frisbee before so I played coach for the day. It was fun and funny to say the least. We didn't break any windows which was cool. Thanks girls for such a great day!!! Nicole and I decided that an American BBQ with smores, country music, and line dancing will be necessary in the near future:)

Me wasting the others in the egg breaking competition:) I really did win.

Nikoleta and I

Meat!

...and more meat

Lovin' Life

Time to rewind a bit and update you all. The last few weeks have been peaceful and beautiful; I've been working on my thesis like usual, enjoying spring weather, spending way too much time at a lake near my house, having fun with friends, and celebrating Greek holidays as usual:)

After some time in sunny Florida, it was a bit difficult to find the motivation to pick up the thesis again. The sun has also been making a daily appearance here, which normally doesn't facilitate writing a thesis. Surprisingly, I think the relaxed and happy atmosphere has helped me tie some thoughts together and make some advancements. In less than two weeks, I will conduct the experiment portion of my thesis. I really hope I can collect some significant data so that the rest of the thesis process is exciting rather than an explanation of what went wrong and why. Whether I'm working on the thesis or enjoying time with friends, I'm pretty much high on life 24/7.

The canal by my house. I run along this canal every weekend on my way to the lake.

Ordered pizza on a dock at MY lake with Tjerk - yes, they delivered.

Sex and the City stars Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda enjoying some icecream.

Last week a Dutch friend of mine that I met in Iceland came to visit me in Groningen. Together, Ellen and I, climbed to the top of the Martini Tower. Here's a pic of Groningen from above.

Ellen enjoying the view from the Martini Tower

The three stooges

Vanda and I

Last weekend my friends and I enjoyed some live entertainment for 'Go China' at the main market in Groningen. The tower I climbed with Ellen is on the left.

My two favorite djs in town. He plays Duran Duran for me and she takes me to places called Boogie Nights.

Family Vaca!

Yes, it was time for the annual family vaca to sunny Florida. Due to the relatively large ocean separating Holland and Florida, no one was really expecting me to take part in the annual event. It was the perfect opportunity for a surprise...and what a surprise it was. Not only were there tears at the airport, but also some screaming when I jumped out from an intertube in the swimming pool. Nothing beats family, sun, beach, seafood, and especially key-lime pie. Very good times indeed.


Nothing screams family vacation more than cards.

Paradise

Thanks again...Laura.

My favorite photo from the trip.

Road trip!...Busch Gardens baby!

Look at the fear in his eyes.

Flipper!

Getting my last fix of clam chowder.

I miss them already

Huh?

Today, the city of Groningen woke up to find not one drop of water due to problems with the water pressure system. Although I initially thought it was a conspiracy, I soon realized there was in fact a shortage. Classes were even cancelled. Yes, Monday has been a strange and smelly day in Groningen due to the lack of showers and flushing toilets, however, the water was up and running again by mid-day. The city advises to boil tap water before drinking for up to two days - hence the photo above from a bathroom at my university. Ironic that in a very developed country normally fighting water, a shortage can still occur. Although the whole thing has been a bit amusing, it was a good lesson because I really take water for granted.

Applied Linguistics on Ice

Yes, it was the moment we've all been waiting for! This past Thursday my professors invited our program to do a little ice-skating. With such an international group, you can imagine that some of us have never touched ice. I luckily was not one of them and stayed on my feet the whole time. However, there were a few of us who were either (a) glued to the wall (b) on their ass or (c) hunched over while being pulled by other classmates or the professors. Then there were some of us like Nikoleta (from Greece) who after five minutes flew past everyone. It was a pretty funny night to say the least. Afterwards, we went to Wander's house (one of my professors) for some great conversation and yummy pizza. The night made me once again realize how lucky I am to be a part of this program and how happy I am with my decision to come here this year.

Professor Kees De Bot and Theodora

Vicky and I

Marije, Nikoleta, and Professor Wander Lowie

Occasional wall huggers Vicky and her friend from Greece

Resting our legs at Lowies' place.

Spring is in the air...

Even though I am currently trapped at home in a wind storm, spring is in the air. It's been relatively warm here in Groningen (compared to home) and to my surprise the sun occasionally shines! The streets are crowded and people began to whistle on their bikes once again. Fall still remains my favorite season but I am definitely enjoying the change in atmosphere.

So Dutch

They were pretty scared of me

This one's for you mom.

Besides taking advantage of some sunny days, I began working on my thesis. My topic proposal was accepted, so since then the library has been my home for most of the week. I will investigate how text topic influences gender differences in second/foreign language reading. It might sound boring to some of you out there but this dork is enjoying it. The process of reading is one of the most researched areas in my field, but ironically the least understood. The thesis will be quite the challenge but slowly I am realizing it is indeed manageable.

This past Thursday I took a day off from the thesis due to a Greek holiday. Some of my Greek friends here invited me over for the day to eat, eat some more, and...eat. WOW! The food was incredible. We ate the entire day. They really know how to eat their meat as well. I think I need to continue celebrating foreign holidays - can't work on the thesis every day:)


Yummy!

Theodora preparing Tsatziki

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I also took advantage of an amazing concert which was needed due to some concert withdrawal (sorry Jen; I thought of you I promise). The band was called the Willowz. It was great to hear some fellow Americans rock out. Be sure to check them out (I apologize for the crappy quality).