Forever later, another update. I just haven't had the motivation. This will probably be pretty straight to the point cause I just haven't had the spark to write lately, well except I oddly got the motivation at like 2:30 this morning...terrible timing. But that's a whole other matter. We shall see if I can accurately put together the last 2 weeks...Oops. (time flies)
The Friday after I last updated we did just as I said, ran errands: post office, groceries for the trip, fish for Linda's pond, etc. From there we went to the garden house to get the fish settled and I don't believe we did much else for the rest of the day. On Saturday a coworker of her's got married. The church was set up on a hill looking over surrounding fields, very pretty & very European. The wedding was nice. I mean I couldn't understand anything being said (until "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was sung [i was super excited for that of course]) but it was pretty. The pastor was apparently cracking jokes the whole time. But the wedding was basically the same as an American one, except for at the beginning the bride and groom were sitting and pastor was just speaking. After the initial ceremony the women from Linda's work held flags and roses as the bride left. I got the job of photographer. After we headed home, grabbed lunch, packed the car, and hit the road for Holland!! Luckily, on the way there, we didn't hit much traffic. The GPS got us pretty smoothly to our hotel in Germany and we only stopped like once on the way there. The hotel was super nice and pretty vacant. We curled up to watch the Eurovision finals. In case you didn't know, Lena from Germany won. She was cute. I liked the fact that she didn't expect it and was in genuine shock about it. Also, it was cool to be in Germany when it happened.
Sunday we ate breakfast at the hotel and hit the road, an interesting conversation on the way of course was necessary. :P On the way, we stopped in Wormerveer, Holland which is supposedly where my family, the "Wayboers," are originally from. It was raining so we didn't walk around for very long. Plus the one place we tried to get food, the guy was wicked rude. He clearly only spoke Dutch but instead of trying to get that across, he just turned his back to us. His loss. So we hit the road for Wim and Winnie's (pronounced Vim and Vinnie). Wim's grandmother, I believe, was my great-grandmother's sister. Hopefully I have that right. We got there a bit early but the family spoiling began. I don't think I've ever eaten so much over such few days. But we spent that night just getting to know each other, well Linda and them catching up and them getting to know me. They bought all 100% vegetarian things to cook well we were there. It was so nice of them. We drank wine and just enjoyed each other's company. It was so nice to get to know my more extended family because I haven't really felt that connection since I was little, and never with this side of the family.
On Monday I fell in love with Amsterdam. No, but really, I did. It was cloudy and I was exhausted, but none the less, I love that city. None of the atms would let me take out money, so I had to go to travelex and take out WAY more than I wanted, but other than that everything went really well. We were going to do the hop on hop off bus like Ellie and I did in Copenhagen but when we went to buy it we did a hop on hop off canal boat instead. If I ever go back I'll do the paddle boats instead of the big boats, either way, by boat is definitely a better way to see the city. First we went to the Van Gogh museum, on the way seeing the "Amsterdam" sign that I had seen in so many of my friend's pictures from when they went. The Van Gogh museum was expensive and disappointing to be honest. I would definitely recommend skipping out on it and exploring more of the other parts of the city. It just wasn't set up well and was so small for the money. I got to see where my great-grandparents (my dad's dad's parents) grew up though which was really cool. I'm learning a lot about my family by being in Denmark. We also made it to Dame's Square (I think that's what it's called) and eventually the Anne Frank house. The Anne Frank house was an experience in itself. I would put it on my top experiences in Europe. Linda said there used to be pictures of the bodies from the Holocaust, those have been removed, but I kind of wish they were still there. But still there were excerpts of her diary all through out the house and things like pictures she had put on her wall to "decorate" were there. I'm really glad we made the time to see it. Oh yeah and there is a "Homomonument" that I want to share with all of you the message for "Commemorates all women and men ever oppressed and persecuted because of their homosexuality. Supports the international lesbian and gay movements in their struggle against contempt, discrimination, and oppression. Demonstrates that we are not alone. Calls for permanent vigilance. Past, present, and future by the 3 triangles on this square" I just found it moving. And I also like the fact that this is right in the city, not hidden, they aren't afraid to show what they stand for. Though I am not homosexual, I strongly believe in the equal rights for all of us. I love the liberal mind of a lot of Europe. Anyway, when we got back to Wim & Winnie's, my cousin/their daughter Anoek was there. It was really nice getting to know a cousin my age. She is working in a cancer ward of a hospital and working on finding a job so she can live with her boyfriend. We spent this night, again, just relaxing.
We were back on the road on Tuesday. First, we stopped in to see my cousin, Tante Joke (pronounced Yoka). Her mother was my great-grandmother's sister (not the same sister as Wim's grandmother though, are you confused yet?). She was so sweet. She took us for coffee and insisted on feeding us several times, this was the day I got fed so much that I felt sick. But you just can't say no. She was darling. I don't know how else to explain it. I also met her granddaughter who happened to be working in the hair salon right by where we got coffee. After lunch, see food food food :(, we headed out to my uncle Hans', pretty sure he's really a cousin too, but "uncle" nonetheless. On the way, we stopped in Culemborg, where my dad's dad's mother's family, the deBeus's are from (i hope you understand why i'm so confused by my family). It was a quaint little town, and really nice to walk around in for a bit. When we got to Uncle Hans apartment they gave us coffee and more snacks while we chatted. It was nice talking to him because he was really curious about what I was doing and about my family. We ate dinner, again vegetarian (YESSSS) and huge btw, by this time I just wanted to go for a long run. But we went for a drive to see the area. We went through a twisting area where I had the joy of seeing a man, probably in his 50s, out for a run. Fine, right? Yeah except he remembered a shirt but managed to forget pants...& underwear. I didn't share this discovery with the rest of the car. A little bit too free-willed perhaps? Anyway, we stopped in a town called Ravenstein, which has been around for 650 years as of this year. When we parked the car it was at a small park area and I saw a girl doing a photo shoot. There is also the cool art stuff here like in Denmark, in the park was an older car, decorated, and placed in the middle of the pond. We walked around and stopped for some tea. Once we got back to their apartment they set out wine and more food to chat some more. I indulged only in the wine and a few pretzels that were stuffed with peanut butter (i miss peanut butter) before heading to bed, what a long day of socializing, and food. A good day nonetheless, however.
The next morning we had breakfast and then I FINALLY got to talk to someone back home so spent the morning doing that (sorry mom) before we packed up and hit the road. We decided to go to an Open-Air museum, which I had never really heard of. The "museum" is really an area set up to look like areas of the country years and years ago. They had schools, houses, farms, laundry houses, animals, old windmills, and more. There were also people demonstrating some of the old tasks, it was definitely a nice way to spend the afternoon. Some of the buildings were even from the areas where my family is from. After, we headed back to Wim and Winnie's for our last Holland night. It was, thankfully, beautiful out, so we sat outside basking in the sun for a while before dinner. Not long after dinner however, Linda and I were both passed out. The drive back on Thursday was NOT fun. It is supposed to take around eight hours for us to get home...thanks to traffic and construction, it took us 12. And of course it decided to be sunny, so we were baking. I felt kind of bad, because I did pass out for an hour or two of it. We finally made it back though, stopping for some groceries, ate dinner, and as far as I remember were in bed not long after. I managed to read 2 books in 4 days thanks to all the car time.
Friday through Sunday were all pretty much the same. It was absolutely beautiful outside so we went to Linda's garden house each day and she worked a lot on her gardens, I helped a little, but mostly read and laid out in the sun. I've gotten some nice color after having spent 4 months in dreary Paris...but now it's dreary Denmark so we'll see how long it lasts. It was absolutely amazing to just relax and we all know I'm slightly addicted to reading. Monday & Tuesday were not too much either. Monday morning it was raining so we went to the garden house because Linda had to drop off a key but other than that I just relaxed even after Linda went to work. Tuesday was about the same...more rain. Wednesday however was a really good day. Linda didn't have to work and it was raining so we headed to Arhus, a town about an hour from Vejle. There we went to the Aros museum. Now, if you've read this blog at all over the past 5 months then you know I've been to a LOT of museums. I must say, however, that this one, was one of my favorites. The permanent collection was pretty small, the more modern part of it being the most interesting. But they had three exhibitions as well; "I Love You," "Jacob Holdt's America," and "Adam Saks Visual Voodoo." The first floor also had the 9 dark rooms which were each set up with different installation pieces. The I love you one was beautiful...and intriguing. It had everything from love portrayed as love, to bondage, to almost abuse. It interested me that school groups were going through, I know some of it is nothing my parents would have wanted me to see at that age, another difference of culture. The Holdt's one was moving because if you don't know who he is he is a photographer who travels around the USA documenting the "real" America. There were photos of the KKK, of mass murderers teaching their children to use guns, a man that Holdt was playing pool against and the man had to step outside to murder someone, couples of all races, people dying of cancer, the rich, the poor...most of what was set up was pictures from the 70s and I really want to see more of his work. The Voodoo work was the least of my favorite but work about the devil, using water colors. The museum also has a giant boy, "The Boy," he looks like Golum (sp?) from Lord of the Rings if you ask me, but he is amazing still. I don't know what it was about the museum, but it was worth every cent. From there we went to a Bazar to buy some fresh veggies, the grocery store, and home.
Today and yesterday have been back to just relaxing, no going outside though thanks to the rain that comes and goes all day. I've been reading though, working on some applications, and enjoying having time to catch up with some people. In the past few days I have seen some good movies I'd like to share though: I Dreamed of Africa (based on a true story), Fried Green Tomatoes, MILK, and Don Juan DeMarco (with Johnny Depp). Check them out :)
An interesting thing I've learned: In European cemeteries, the families buy the allotted land for only a certain amount of time, in Denmark 20 years/Holland 100, after that time the bodies are dug up and put into a general hole. I kind of wonder if we'll run out of space in the states and this will eventually happen there too...either way...I don't like it.
I'm still loving Denmark, rain or not, and preparing myself for the readjustment back home. I have 2 1/2 weeks left. We don't have many plans, which is okay by me (more okay if the weather gets better), so I'm going to try to turn off my brain from over thinking things back home, which I had been doing really well at, and just try to relax. I'm so used to having so much to do that this whole relaxing thing is new to me.
I'll probably write in another week or so...by then I really should have started packing (AHHH!).
<3
