Octoberfest 2014!!!!!

Hey there guys!

I know this is a bit late, but I've been exhausted after Octoberfest, and needed to sleep a bit extra before I could even attempt to write anything about my experience. So lets see, we left off I explained a bit about Friday and Saturday but Sunday was when Octoberfest started for me. We chose to go from Sept 20-23 as the 20 was the opening day but I didn't go then, it just was super tired only having slept 4 hours in the bus ride.

We all ate breakfast(which was leftover dinner btw lol) and then dressed in our Dirndls before we walked 20 minutes to the train station, took the train for like 10 minutes before getting off and walking about 10 minutes to the big festival grounds. I took a TON of pictures so I'll show you a few here . 

 

My friends had gone the previous night and had scoped out the beer tents, which lemme tell you right now...the word tent is misleading. The 'tent's are like these HUGE Resturants/Assembly rooms. I The picture to the left is one of the tents, but thats not even taking in what the hell was behind me!  It's intense and a lot of people, but I did have some fun. We got slightly tipsy beforehand before we went though, where we were then served this and that glass was huge!!!

 It's a liter by the way in case you can't see. MY drink there to the right was a Radler, its like the lowest content of a alcohol in it, and it taste like a lemon soda with a slight beer taste. I HATE the taste of alcohol and beer in general so this was awesome, however  Marcy and Camilla took great pleasure in switching our glasses around, so I ended up drinking some of theres! Blech! It was so gross!   

It had alot of rides there as well, but unlike and American Carnival fair thing where you buy a wristband and can ride everything, this one(and all the ones in Europe I'm finding out!) You have to buy each one seperately which can end up costting you quite a bit of money, so I only rode one ride. Alone but not really. It amused me alot as I had literally just swallowed the last of my food before I went up to ticket booth and immediatly got on the ride. The guy gave me a worried look, but I have never gotten sick on a ride..*knocking on some serious wood right now* My stomach is strong which is why I am the perfect companion to take to a Theme Park, I will ride EVERYTHING! My friends get  motion sickness and didnt even want to ride even one. I'm not gonna go into that, but I was extremely disappointed on that front. Next time  I go to Octoberfest(and I will be back!!!) I'm going with people who want and can ride the rollercoasters. 

Now to end this post, We did go see the City of Munich but that is another blog post in itself.  I'm not a drinker but I drank for this, and had an amazng experience! I cant believe it! If you get a chance to go, go, you won't regret it I know I didnt. And I'll also let you know about my Trip to England next month, I've already booked my bus and hostel!!! Until next time, which will hopefully be very soon bye!

Octoberfest! Arrival in Munich, Germany 2014

So im writing this on my Nook, so forgive me for the typos. So lets see our adventure started at Friday when we left at 9:30pm, to Germany from the Hague. When we got on it was empty until we got to Amsterdam and then it really filled up. We Ended up sittng in front of some immature girls who I swear was still in high school. They were making fun of everyone and was kicking our seat the majority of the ride. Good thing I like keeping the piece.

So we started on our trip, i didnt sleep much maybe four hours in total. We stopped throughout the ride so we could stretch and stuff so that was good.  But then after a particular stop we got on the road only to get stuck in literally standstill traffic in Germany. I had been typing to keep my sanity as it was 2:45am to about 4:30am that we hadnt moved! And I saw a police car riding on the side of the highway so I thought their might be car accident up ahead.

Then when we finally get to the damn station the previous bus had already left! We arrived at 5:30am and we were supposed to catch the bus at 5:00am We've been waiting for two hours until finally we called their emergency line.  We got stranded with two other people, a guy and a girl travelng solo. Which is good as the guy speaks, a bit of german and every ones english here is so bad!

We were then told that on today the 20th only one bus was available..the one the other bus made us miss at 5. What the hell? The lady in the office spoke no english...and so far, the german people I've seen have been so rude. worse then the dutch people.

I'm tired and annoyed, and we were then told they may have a bus for us at 12pm but we would get there at 6pm...one whole day wasted by the damn bus! Its frustrating. Spent a few hours with these people lol, and didn't know their names. Just got their name Mako was the asian girl and the guy was dutch and named Rueben.  We were told another bus would leave at 10:30am and we would arrive at 4:00pm, but we had to pay an additional 20 euros. I think they wanted to do a carpool thing, 20 euros a person...I only have 60 euros with me. The ticket is apparently non-refundable or non endorsable.

The bus company Mein Fern had shady wifi. It sucked but Eurolines was worse. They advertised wifi and there was none! I was so bored and my neck is killing me. I got used to reading signs in dutch, however now its all in german. Lol.

We arrived about an hour ago and met up with Camilla at the place we would be staying at. They went to the festival but I stayed back I'm auper tired right now. And if I go out, I will be a grouch. That's all for now, just an update for you guys. It Saturday now around 6:30pm, and I'm going to be in an hour. Hopefully tomorrow will be fine.

Prince's Day, in the Hague 2014!

So I'm really tired right now, but I know if I don't blog about this now, I will procrastinate until a week or more has gone by so here it Is. This pass weekend the people in the Hague were gearing up for PrincjesDag, which is basically Prince's Day. 

And it is where the Royal Family comes through the town of the Hague, and walk through with their carriages and horses so you (the people) can wave and see. Kind of like a parade I suppose. It was intense because the weather was so good, so there were ALOT of people there..

On Monday we went down to to the beach to watch a show, involving the police and their horses, and Military people and their tanks. They had loud noises, so that the horses wouldn't be spooked for the next day which was Prince's day. It's only celebrated in the Hague, and not all of Holland like I originally thought..

So the next day Prince's Day, it was pretty busy, with bike lanes and streets totally closed off. And I was manuerving a bakfiets on a sidewalk, I bumped into some things lol. I've included some pictures, of the things. 

One bit that truly stood out to me, was they had 3 guys bulding sand scupltures for it. And they were magnificent, I took a picture of them, but they were in progress so I really need to get the finishing touch.. Oh well, it's still pretty  darnn awesome.

 And this below is a picture of 2 of the 3 girls in their Prince's day Mask.  

















And yes this golden Carriage at the bottom has the King and Queen in there. I know that bit was super exciting. 

Embassy Festival and getting Ready for Prince's Day

Okay so I said I would have another post super soon, and here it is!

So last week there was an Embassy Festival in the Hague, suposely to represent the different types of cultures and heritages and Nationalties that make up Den Haag. However, quite a few were missing, like the Canandian and American one. And I know a few expats from those particular country. Anyway I went with the girls, so I didn't get to try any exotic food or really do anything for myself. I found myself babysitting last Saturday. There are a few pictures below.

This weekend though, I was pretty busy. On Friday I went out with Marcy to look at the town, it's her last full weekend here in Holland. So naturally she's pretty bittersweet about it. Friday we went to Fiddler's its this British pub in the center, and it's nice if I wanted to get a drink or something.

Which we did, however Friday we had both had a busy week and worked and I had just got back from swimming class, so when we went out, we each had a pint of beer(which I managed to fnish and it was gross!) and something else, and then the next thing I know, We're kind of drunk and hungry, but also exhausted. We didn't do much, but we rode back to her house and made fries. Though while the fries were cooking we passed out on the couch and chairs respectively. Lol, we were tired, then woke up to eat then passed out again. Yeah so that was that.

Saturday we went into town and it was Open Monument Day we found out. So there were a ton of lines to go into things. We didn't get a chance to do anything but that's fine honestly. Got some pictures and stuff though. Later on that night we went out with two other Au Pair girls and checked out the tiny carnival they had there. I really miss rollercoasters, these just aren't cutting it for me. I need my adrenaline rush!

Sunday, which is now a lazy day, I decided to stay in, I turned down an invitation to go see a Castle with Marcy and her host family on account I had already seen it. Tomorow, the girls are out of school because Princesdag, which is Prince's Day in english is on Tuesday and the Queen, and King and their family will ride through Holland through in their carriages. Everyone is super excited about that. I think I would be too, if I didn’t have to baysit, But oh well. Then Octoberfest is Satturday. Can you believe it's nearly here? It's unreal. We leave Friday at around 10pm on the bus. It has wifi but I'm going to be sleeping. Until Tuesday then!

Amsterdam Again!!!!

Before I do anything, I just want to say on the 13 anniversary. It' s always somber this time of year, obviously, but here I don't feel it because they werent personally affected by what happened all those years ago. Has it really been 13 years? I think everyone will remember where they were, what they were doing, how olde they were and ho they were with (if they were old enough). This must be what the folks who got the news of D-Day felt. I was 1 2 about to be 13, and in homeroom at my Junior high. My teacher rushed in and told us all to shut up before flicking on the tv. We saw the second plane hit, images forever burned into my head. Whatever little bit of innocence we still had we lost it that day, when we saw the horror of that day. What must those people had felt and to jump...and it's intense to think about it. Let alone live it at the time.

We will never forget 9/11 and may they all rest in peace.

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So I have great news, I now have WIFI back in my room!!!! It's wired instead of Wireless so I cant use my Nook up here anymore, but you know beggers can't be choosers. I can use my laptop up here and skype(FINALLY) and watch movies, and not be bored and cut off from the world!!! My host mom called me today after the guy fixed it, to see if I was happy now..apparently she caught on to the depressive state I got into after 2 months of nothing. On the bright side, Big town Rush, and Storage wars (Canada version) found themselves, another fan lol. But I digress, a few interesting things have happened this past week, and now I can relax and blog about it, in the comfort of my living room(yes I have my own living room, more on that later)

 This past sunday, I went with Marcy to Amsterdam, and I FINALLY got to see the Anne Frank Musuem, if you haven't read the book. Read it, seeing it was amazing, the line however was so long though. But we only had to wait and hour or so. Then we saw another Musuem the Rijksmuseum where famous Dutch painter Rembrandt has artwork along with Van Gough. It was nice, but museums arent totally my thing at least it wasn't that Sunday, 

I'll post some pics that I took that. It would have been better but I was barely functioning on 4 hours of sleep... I need 5 to be my usual peppy (Hahaha) self.. So I was super exhausted then. Octoberfest is Next Saturday, and I'm getting slightly excited. I went on a shopping trip(set limits for myself and went over 10 euros!) But I was happy as I don’t have to pay the family anymore, but they're not happy, but I think my agency is finally helping me now. Whoo hoo.

Let's see on this coming Sunday, I'm finally going to see Utrecht. I know, I haven't yet been, but really I didn't know anyone there, and you can only visit so many city centre before they all look the same. At the moment, because's Prince's day is on Tuesday, they're a small carnival in town, that my oldest two seem excited for..too bad the baby who is 4, cannot go on any. Well except for the kiddie rides but she always wants someone to ride with her lol.

In other news, last week after my swimming class, I went into the changing stall and a girl had left her bag in there. Iwith her Iphone, and a ton of money and credit cards. I have morals, and I don't steal so I returned it, but I hope she thinks twice. Firm believer in Karma...I lose my camera yesterday and I got an email because everything synces together(I love technology) so he found my email in the menu. He returned it to me today. 

However, I went to find his house near Scheveningen beach and look I left at 10:40am. It's a 12 minute bike ride to his house from mine. Why did it take me 45 minutes, and I still didn't find it???? He had to come to me lol..No EFFING sense of direction. Friends, take heed. Family should already know that if you want me to meet you somewhere, you gotta give me a landmark..I.E Train station, Theater, Casino...not a street or I won't find it...ugh..and its even worse here because everything is in Dutch!!!! To the Right is Delft Glass, it's super expensive, but they have all types and it's so pretty.

This is the outside of the Anne Frank house, pictures weren't allowed inside. I understand the reasoning for it, as some people have a familial connection to the Holocaust and don't want be to be bothered by the shutters and flashes of camera. 

This Violin isn't playable, but it was so amazing to look at it, its made out of the Delft glass.                                                                                         

So I shall end this blog with two night pictures of Amsterdam. Somehow we ended up in the Red light District, but that's not here, being there embarasses me. Anyway, enjoy and until the next post, OCTOBERFEST!!!!!

       So I really forget aboout the Embassy Festival I went to on Saturday that showcased about 30 nationalities in the Hague.  I'll add to that next post, possibly tonight.              

Summer is over :)

I'm really starting to wish that I hadn't of promised my host kid that I would stay for her birthday. To be honest, I want to travel other places, but it's starting to get kind of ridiculous. It's down right depressing most days, I can't even watch a sitcom, without wanting to cry after I've laughed at a scene. It' s very tough, and I'm trying to stick it out for the rest of the year. I've forgotten almost just why I came to do this. I don't regret coming abroad, if it seems like I'm constantly complaining, I just regret doing this program. Well maybe not that far, if If regret so much I would be basically rejecting all the new friends I've made, and I don't want that. I'm not actually homesick, I just honest to god don't want to be an Au Pair in Holland anymore. I'm so over it, like you have no idea. And for all those wondering I'll stick it out, even if every day is a total struggle.

But anyway, lets go on whats been happening since my last post. School has started for the girls, which I'm extremely happy about, and though Hockey season is back, it's not as brutal as when I got here earlier in the year. Actually the ride is rather relaxing, when I don't ride the bakfiets that is. Lets see what else has been going on. I still have no wifi in my room, so I'm currently typing in the stairwell, about to skype my mom for her birthday,

I can honestly say that I'm ready for that next adventure in my life. Never will I do somehting like that. But I'm glad I took the leap, Even if it didn't turn out like I wanted it too, Once I get a job, and start saving I'm thinking school, and then Australia 2016, while I'm 27. But when I do that, it'll be on my own terms and not as an Au Pair. But let's not get ahead of myself. I need to finish out this year first. Octoberfest in 2 weeks, I'm starting to get excited too. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures I took.