Summer Fun

I can safely say that is has been one of the best summers of my life. It started by graduating from grad school, a visit from my family in the Netherlands, a wonderful return home, and a great visit from Marieke and Vanda, two friends of mine from Holland. Yes, it's been great to be a recent graduate with no stress and in no rush to get a job. Although I'm excited to start working, I'm taking advantage of a great opportunity to visit my best friend Jennifer in Honduras. Jennifer has been a Peace Corps volunteer in La Ceiba for over a year. Finally I will get to see her in just a few short days. I will volunteer as an English teacher and I also enrolled in an intensive Spanish program. After living such a comfortable life in the Netherlands I just wanted to do something tangibly useful for others for a while. On the selfish side, I just want to see my best friend too and the life she has now. It's perfect!

So to do a little catch-up before I start a new adventure, I included some great moments over the past few months.

Fellow American and friend Nicole after preparing the perfect 4th of July feast. Although it's outrageously expensive in Holland, you have to have corn for the 4th.

Fireworks are illegal in Holland, but they never said sparklers. Hans getting a little wild on the 4th.

My mom and sister came to visit me in the Netherlands. They really saw it all. From Groningen, to island life in Terschelling, as well Amsterdam.

At about 5am, this wall of food would be packed with drunken students. My sister and mom had the opportunity to try a Groningen Egg Ball. Yummy?

Mom and Stacie on the never-ending hike to the beach on the island of Terschelling.

Yes, they really saw many sides of Holland, from the beaches...

...to the Red Light District...

...and A LOT of biking.

Unfortunately coming home meant a lot of goodbyes:) Although I felt ready to come home when the time came, I never felt ready to say goodbye to all the great people I met this past year.

Anniversary love birds I'm going to miss.

Home sweet home.

Stacie and I enjoying sushi my first weekend home.

She finally got her kitty.

Dr. Evil

Rockin' graduation/birthday party!

Shortly after my return, Marieke and Vanda came to visit. It was perfect. Not only did I get to show them my home, but I got to enjoy home with them. Their reactions were priceless. The pic above is of Marieke and Vanda on the 'Fort.'

One place I missed a lot.

You can't come to Wisconsin without riding a four-wheeler.

Vanda and I enjoying some music at Jazz in the Park.

We even made it to a Twins Game.

Marieke and Vanda in very good hands.

KLAAR!

For those of you who don't know freaky deaky Dutch, 'klaar' means done. I'm officially done with my MA! Hurray! Some people experience a post-graduation dip, but to be honest, I feel euphoric! Life could not be any better really. I finished my thesis not too long ago and just received the grade; I'm happy to say it was exactly what I was hoping for! It was great news and a great feeling after four months of hard work. It's still hard to believe that it's over though.

The day after I handed in my thesis, I headed to Hamburg to visit my adopted family from Berlin - Ines, Volker, and Anton. The timing was perfect. I didn't think I would be able to go, but I finished my thesis earlier than expected. It all worked out great. I stayed there with them and Volker's parents. It was possibly one of the most relaxing weekends ever spent, and they completely spoiled me the whole time. Hamburg left quite an impression on me. The old harbor was fascinating as well as the diversity of the city. You can find everything there from posh to sex shops. The best part was watching the ships pass at the harbor on the sandy beach with Ines and Volker. I finally had the feeling that summer officially started.

Could they get any cuter?

Actually maybe if I mention that they're officially getting married in one month!

Could he be any more German?

Old harbor of Hamburg. Tea and oriental rugs are stored there.

Herbert and Anton playing board games on a sunny afternoon.

While I was in Hamburg last Sunday night, Germany played against Spain in the finals for the European Soccer Championships. It was really cool to be in Germany for that game but unfortunately the boys didn't pull through. It was clear though that Spain was the better team. I had some major flashbacks of Berlin during the World Cup. The atmosphere during tournaments is crazy! And, I would safely say that the Dutch have the craziest fans! Orange everywhere! They won all three of their first matches and everyone was in such a good mood. But then, they sadly lost to Russia. The mourning stage is officially over now for the Dutch but let's just say I'm glad I was at a Germany party the night they lost rather than a Dutch one.

Out of control Dutch fan

Huh?

Almost done!!!!

Since Berlin I've been glued to my thesis. Although it hasn't been nine months, I still feel like it's my baby. In fact, it has been quite the process and like pregnancy, involved many mood swings, cravings, and fatigue. Believe it or not, I've really enjoyed the process! I had a personal puzzle for four months. In case you are curious and don't know already, I'm writing about sex differences in foreign language comprehension performance and how it relates to subject familiarity, text content, and reading processing styles. If you even finished that last sentence and actually want a copy, please let me know. I collected data at a local school here which was a really fun experience as well. It was refreshing to be back in a high school full of confused teeny-boppers. The results from the experiment were so strange and unexpected that I had the pleasure of returning a second time to discuss the results with the participants. The unexpected results really gave me something interesting to write about. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product, although a few finishing touches are still to be made. Within a week I will be completely finished with my degree!!!

Last week my program had a symposium to present and defend our theses. I was pretty nervous but it went better than I could have imagined. I got lots of encouraging feedback and simply enjoyed telling everyone what I have been working on for the last four months. After the symposium we went to my adviser's home for a farewell party. I have to admit that I became slightly nostalgic. This year has been one of the best experiences of my life. Not only have I received a great education and quite the adventure, but I also got to experience some amazing people along the way. It's strange to say goodbyes and question whether you will see these people again in life. It's a pretty international group though so I have a feeling some of our paths will cross again which is refreshing. The celebration lasted well into the evening hours. It was the perfect end to a great year with a great group of people.


Joyce and I hiding our nerves before the big presentations

Gathering afterwards at my adviser's beautiful home

A few girls I am going to miss

Nienke and I after some yummy pizza

Marijn and I dancing the night away

No, actually Paul danced the night away

Catch-up!

It's been over a month since I last updated this blog so it's time for a little catch-up. About a month ago, I took a weekend break from my thesis and went back to my home away from home - Berlin. My good friend Marieke joined me on the journey. She had never been to Berlin before so it was great to show her around and see her reaction to a city I lost my heart to already two years ago. After a bit of shock, I think she began to understand the city's strange and complex charm. On the way, my camera died but luckily we were able to borrow a camera from a friend (thank you Karin) to capture some great moments.

Berlin?

The sun shining over the Jewish Memorial

Back together again

How I felt after a few German beers, chocolate cakes, and pretzels

Marieke experienced a lot of firsts while in Berlin, but unfortunately sushi was also a last.

Right next to the wall a huge concert hall complex was recently constructed. I have a feeling that 20 years ago, no one could even imagine such a sight.

The 'hof' (courtyard) at Karin's. They are definitely something I miss about Berlin.

Shocking Asparagus

Coraline admiring a ginormous European asparagus. If my memory serves me right, I do not recall ever seeing white huge asparagus in the U.S. They're much smaller and usually green...right? Can I get fellow American to confirm that???? Even back in the day when I lived in Berlin, I was shocked by the size of these things. They're currently in season and continue to shock me.

Enjoying the holidays...

Basically there has been an endless amount of holidays over here. Nothing screams holidays more than festivals. It's really ideal when they're in your backyard too. Last week I had the pleasure of seeing bands such as Friska Viljor, Nada Surf, Vive La Fete, and Data Rock. I have to admit that it was a bit trippy seeing Nada Surf again - the lead singer has gray hair now! It seems like just yesterday that they were in their prime and gave Jen and I a drum stick when we were clueless teenyboppers. I also saw an amazing band called Black Mountain. It was like a time-warp back to 1975 or something...good stuff. Besides festivals and music, there have been a lot of bbqs and outdoor activities due to the amazing weather. No one is too sure how long this is going last, so needless to say we're taking full advantage. On Saturday I rented a kayak with my friend, Eline. It was really cool to see Groningen from the angle of the canals. I definitely want to go again. If you come visit me, it's inevitable.

Divas enjoying some really bad European house music

Finally, I threw together a pick-up game of ultimate frisbee. Great to see friends enjoying a typical American past time.

Picnic time! The intertube was genious...not to mention the jump rope.

View from the kayak

My partner in crime

A very relaxed and happy girl

Sabine leading a bike repair workshop for me. Bikes have been my biggest problem over the past few weeks; although life in Holland without a bike makes no sense, I think we can all safely say that life is pretty good when bikes are your biggest worry.

Happy Birthday Beatrix!

Yesterday was Queen's Day here in the Netherlands. Beatrix, from the royal House of Orange, celebrated 28 years of being queen. To celebrate, the entire country fills the streets and parties for 24 hours. The Dutch are nuts! Today I described the event as 'drunken orange people'. I spent the crazy day naturally in the craziest place in Holland - Amsterdam. Streets were completely filled with orange and there were djs and concerts everywhere. Queen's Day is also the one day of year that there are open markets in the streets. It was quite the experience indeed.

Beatrix herself!...on tv. The whole royal family visited two cities in Friesland for the big event.

Like I said, streets filled with 'drunken orange people'!

Party boat coming through

Lydia, me, and Marieke. Yes, even the American sported some orange...Marieke.

Forgot for a moment how fun it can be carrying your home on your back. It was great to be on the road and in a big city again. Like every big city, there were some random and surreal moments. People-watching was at its finest.

What I was pointing to in the last photo - prime example of random and surreal moment