The First Weekend in Zwolle.

These last couple of days have felt so packed with different activities and I have enjoyed it so much. On Saturday we started with a citywalk in Zwolle learning about various locations that have much history involved with them. Since this is the first time I have heard this information I can't say I have much I can teach you. After four months here I may be able to remember more facts about the area, etc. :)

Saturday morning I woke up late because I was not able to sleep from 1-6 am. I had a hard time getting used to the time change... I got ready for the day and met my host mom downstairs while I ate some breakfast.

We went to the center of Zwolle for some shopping and I made my first purchase with Euros. I bought conditioner. :)I looked at the cute (schattig) clothes/purses/scarves etc. and I am looking forward to going there with my host sister Gera sometime because she has very good taste.

We met up with the SPICE group at the Peperbus - a very tall tower in the center of Zwolle. We climbed to the top and took a lot of quality photos. It is a old catholic church so it is very nicely decorated and it is interesting to see all the art inside. Apparently, if we are ever lost in the city we are told to go to the Paperbus because it is easy to see and make a phone call to the GH so someone can come rescue us ;) Picture is of me on top of the Paperbus.

After the city walk we went a restaurant for coffee/drinks/appetizers. We had a lot of fun and I tried a purple soda. It was very good but full of sugar.

I then rode bike with my host parents back home for the typical Saturday night meal - fries!
My host sister came home and was quite excited to eat them - I don't blame her... they are delicious and of course "American." Yay! There was also a lot of other food after we ate the fries and then more fries after that. Needless to say, I began to ask them what they do to exercise and how they manage to stay so skinny. ;)

I can't remember the names to the food we eat but it is very different - some is very tasty and some will start to grow on me. Most importantly though is the fact that they are very generous and kind with guests here. I feel very welcomed and a part of the family. After our evening meal we chatted for a while and I told them my plans for the evening with the SPICE group.
Our SPICE group was invited to go out for the night in Zwolle with a view of the GH buddies. It was a lot of fun and I was able to see what nightlife is like here. We went to the Flying Horse Bar and rode home on the bikes together as a group.

My host family told jokingly me today they are "concerned" because no other host student of theirs has gone out on the second night in Zwolle. They like to tease me about that... and about a lot of other things... like my Dutch pronunciation.

This morning we went to church together at 11AM and I could not understand a word of course. I sang the words to the songs in Dutch though. Its great to learn that way because you can listed to the others singing and begin to hear how words should really sound. After church we came back home and sat around with chocolate cake and coffee. Dessert first everyone.
Then we played the WiiFit. I was very bad at the balancing game.
Dessert first, exercise second, then eat lunch. That is the order.
So for lunch we had soup and bread with herbs and lettuce. YUM!

Then at 2pm the 6 SPICE students that live near me came over for a progressive dinner that began with more cake ... coffee... etc. at my host families house. We visited for a while and then we made our way to Rebecca - the only SPICE student from Calvin - 's host home. There we had more dessert, coffee, tea, drinks etc. Then we went to church at 4:30 - we (SPICE students) were introduced to the congregation at that time. We had to stand up, do a little wave, and sit back down. It was cute because they translated some things in English to us during the service like the Blessing and the kids would all look back at us because they knew that because there were Americans in church that is why things were translated. After church we went to Kaitlyn and Sarah's host family house for more delicious soup. We visited with them, hopped on our bikes, and went to Katrina's house next for the main dish. The same routine continued the rest of the night as we made our way to Eline's host family for ice cream/apple pie, and finally Karl's host family's home for chocolates, tea, coffee etc.

Today has felt like a holiday with all the food, drinks, visiting, etc. but it was so fun. I am very exhausted now - ready for bed. Tomorrow we go to school. We will all be biking together. I hope we don't get lost.
Good night.