Happy days...

Well after a three week journey, I finally made it back to Groningen. The trip was just what I needed. I saw some old friends which is always refreshing and even made some new ones. Although I had an amazing few weeks, it also feels good to be back here. The second semester starts this week; I'm looking forward to starting up again.

Although I am leaving out many details and pics from my amazing trip, I thought I would add just a few for some of you out there.

My favorite part of the trip was by far Latvia. I arrived to a beautiful snow storm and a big surprise at the airport. As I was counting my change for the bus, I looked up to find a sign with 'ms. kellie holler' on it. Peter, the friend of my old roommate Sindija, surprised me at the airport; his first words - "Hi, my name is Peter, and I will be your personal driver today." What a welcome to Latvia! Sindija and her friends, Peter and Rolands, took great care of me and really showed me a wonderful time in Riga. I hope I can do the same for them some day. I even had the opportunity to go to the opera and see Alcina. Brilliant! Even the simplest things in Riga were an experience - for example, riding the bus into town from Sindija's apartment. There were so many elderly and expressionless Latvian and Russian women in their fur hats who would not dare and look me in the eye or crack a smile. It was a very different atmosphere I experienced on the trolley bus and gazing out the window which might have been interesting and exciting for a Cold War freak like me but after a while could be quite a depressing atmoshpere to live in.

To top off my time in Latvia, Peter and Roland drove me to Tallinn, Estonia! I had planned to go to Tallinn from the get-go and even bought a bus ticket but they decided that a roadtrip was more appropriate. On the way we stopped at a waterpark on the Baltic Sea. Everything felt so surreal that day, yet so normal in some ways. As Peter would say, 'happy days'.

The Art Nouveau architecture was quite impressive.

Sindija lacing up for some fun on the ice.

Riga by night

Sindija and I

Roadtrip!

Peter and Roland during a little pitstop at the Baltic Sea.

A few people had told me that Tallinn was quite a beautiful city, but beautiful was an understatement. A medieval wall with a tower gate surrounds 'Old Tallinn'. The whole city has a medieval and hansiatic feel to it. While in Tallinn, I met some really interesting people at my hostel from all over the world. Although my original plan for the trip was rest and relaxation, it became quite a social event; many late nights of great conversations and fun. It made me miss the good old days at the hostel in Minneapolis. Forgot to mention that I discovered a bar devoted entirely to Depeche Mode. I even have the DM lighter to prove it - thank you Josh.

Overview of Old Tallinn

The medieval wall surrounding Old Tallinn

Hostel fun

The last leg of the race was Helsinki, Finland which was just a short three hour ferry ride away from Tallinn. The ferry was quite the experience. Can you say farraoke? Yes, there was karaoke, a live and horrible band, slot machines everywhere, and a lot of drunk Finns. I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything quite like that before. Jen warned me though so I was a bit prepared for a trippy ride. Helsinki also revealed some amazing experiences. My favorite part happened the first day I arrived; I was sitting on a bench with a map (looking like an extreme tourist) and a little old lady sat next to me. She began to ask me where I was from. Turns out she studied at Northwestern (for those of you who are not familiar, it is a university quite close to where I grew up). She studied journalism there 60 years ago! It was really refreshing talking to someone of her age. I asked her if she could recommend anything in Helsinki and she simply said, 'I'll just show you myself!' So we spent the rest of the day touring the city. She took me to all the main sights and gave me the history as well. She was so intelligent and knew so much about the history; then again, she lived it. Once in a while she would give me an elbow and said, 'and then the Swedes took all of our money.' Too funny! I fell in love with this woman. What a cool 80 year-old! I knew that she was a writer so I looked up some of her books; ironically enough she even wrote one entitled 'Finnish Cities and Towns'. I really met the right person. She made me promise that I would write her which I indefinitely plan to do. Life is too cool sometimes.

Sunny Helsinki

Uspenski Cathedral - a Russian eye sore according to some Finns.

Forgot to mention that my home base through all of this was Berlin. It was so nice to see all my friends and even a few friends who just moved to Berlin. That place and the people always make me feel at home. I feel so lucky that it is only 5 hours away - always nice to have that in the back of my mind.

Only in Berlin can you buy literature in a vending machine...and people wonder why I love that place. Why not buy a book for a euro to go with those kinder chocolates?

The re-celebration of my birthday...thanks Karin.

Where am I?

I'm not sure if anyone is still even checking this blog, but in case there are a few who are wondering why I have not written in a while, I thought I would go ahead and update you. Since I got back to Holland, life has been a bit chaotic. I moved into a new apartment which surprisingly is already beginning to feel like home. For about a week and a half I was slaving on a computer to finish up the first semester. I did take a three night break from the school work to go to a music festival in Groningen called Eurosonic/Noorderslag, also known as my birthday present to myself. Most of the bands were relatively new so it was fun to discover some new music. The birthday was kind of a bust, but in the end it ended up okay thanks to great friends and good music. Finally, last Friday I handed everything in including a portfolio of 100 pages! I just kept scrolling up and down in disbelief. After completing that extreme challenge, the thesis does not seem so scary anymore. Since Friday I have been in shock because I actually have time to relax and think! Basically I will be floating for a few weeks because the second semester does not start until the second week of February. I am taking advantage of this break indeed - right now I am in Berlin (feels good to be 'home' although my stay has been brief) and I leave tomorrow for Latvia to visit an old roommate. From there I will head north to Estonia and Finland. After my little adventure I plan to stay in Berlin for a while to catch up with friends. When I get back to Groningen, I will definitely put some pics on the blog. I don't really know what to expect from this little trip, which is exciting, but I am definitely hoping for snow in Finland. Life is very very good indeed.

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