I had never been to KFC before this day. For the ones like me who were living under a rock for the past few decades: KFC is a fast food restaurant with lots of chicken. Shoutout to doing things with chicken I wasn't aware of. I decided to play it save and go for a chicken wrap. It turned out not to be entirely save because the sauce was quite spicy, I survived though. Do you know the feeling when you are absolutely filled up with food and you feel like a balloon? Well that's how I felt after our lunch, so we went to the park. There is a balloon in the middle of it which was great 'cause with that given we didn't look as fat as we felt (the balloon was slightly bigger than us, please check the picture). We napped in the sun and that felt way too good. Because we had nothing to do, besides feeling quite guilty for what we ate, we decided to play some mini golf. Real sporting to burn off that chicken-belly. Please not that Dario is a golfer so our faith was already chosen. I managed to get the ball in the ant pit in just 10 hits... I'm a true talent right!? Luckily I was not the only one who can't handle a stick with a tiny ball (I'm not fond of sports with tiny balls, they are just... so tiny). Enrico sucked just as hard as I did, which was a surprise if you think about the fact that almost every Italian inhabitant can play ALL ballgames. Seriously how do they do it? Do they get a special study on how to play ballgames or something? On our way back home we decided to walk through the cemetery. Dario was a pussy about it which was hilarious. Please keep in mind that it was still daytime so there was frankly nothing to be afraid off. When we reached the end of the cemetery we found out that the gate was closed so we had to climb over and again:... Dario was a pussy about it. He awkwardly climbed over the highest point of the fence, yes the highest point, while the others just hopped over the fence next to the gate. Italian people can't climb fences, finally we found something. Before and after dinner Fei, Marijke and I played some more card games, which you can almost call our ritual of the day. Around 20.30 we gathered at the cemetery again. This time we didn't went through. We went to the park to talk and have fun. Which always succeeded.
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Toast and jam.
That is were our breakfast mostly consisted of. If we were lucky we had some cereal, which was often tasteless. Note: Do not buy Frozen cereal. They do taste frozen, not in the cold way but in the 'you don't taste anything but a weird substance'-way. Our lessons started at 8.30 am. Fei, Alina and I walked to school and made it just in time. In class we listen to a song called 'Wheat Kings', we had to fill in the blanks. The lyrics was quite deep and beautiful. Wheat Kings Sundown in the Paris of the prairies Wheat kings have all treasures buried And all you hear are the rusty breezes Pushing around the weathervane Jesus In his Zippo lighter, he sees the killer's face maybe It's someone standing in a killer's place twenty years for nothing, well that's nothing new, besides no one's interested in something you didn't do Wheat kings an pretty things Let's just see what the morning brings There's a dream he dreams where the high school's dead and stark It's a museum and we're all locked up in it after dark Where the walls are lined all yellow, grey and sinister Hung with pictures of our parents' prime ministers Wheat kings and pretty things Wait and see what tomorrow brings Late breaking story on the CBC A nation whispers, 'We always knew that he'd go free' They add, 'You can't be fond of living in the past 'Cause if you are then there's no way that you're going to last' Wheat kings and pretty things Let's just see what tomorrow brings Wheat kings and pretty things Oh that's what tomorrow brings It's a song about a man who was send to prison for 20 years while being innocent. We met with Megan and Evelien at Flirt to have some lunch. They had to go to their lessons afterwards so Fei and I went to the beach. We almost were thrown to the ground because of the wind so we decided to walk around the park where we saw Alina, Dario and Enrico. We sat with them and they went to grab a ball, they succeeded and we played volleyball on the beach. The wind was still there so you can imagine how that goes. Five other Italian people joined us and we played an Italian game which was basically 7 times passing the ball and the 8th time smashing it to a person to get him/her out of the game. Time really flies when you're having fun, we had to go home for dinner so we did. Sandy feet cause real problems in a house where they have carpet everywhere. They also give you a pleasant feeling when you have to walk home for approximately 30 minutes... After our dinner which was less risky than the previous one we played some more card games with Marijke and Ege (a turkish student who's in England for 9 months). This night our ritual started: meeting at 8.15 pm. at the cemetery with our group (Dario, Enrico, Luca, Daño/Daniele, Fei, Evelien, Megan). We went to the beach and we almost froze, it was so cold! It was summer but it felt like the middle of winter. I really admire the girls who manage to walk around in a crop top in these weather conditions. Okay, some don't have the bodies for it and you'd rather cover them in whatever is nearby but they do survive extreme cold with almost no clothing whats however. If there is another ice time, these girls will definitely survive. Alina, Fei and I had some lunch at Gregg's after our class. Oh well Gregg's... why on earth would you name a coffee shop Gregg's? It sounds more like a take-a-way salad bar than a place to sell coffee and biscuits. When I walk around town and look at shop names, some artistic some just quite... not so artistic... I always wonder how people get their shop names. Does it just happen? Does it come to you, like a smack in the face? Or does some just don't care? We had nothing to do so we went to Kings 58 to play table tennis, which is actually an odd game. You just hit a way too small ball back and forth and it is quite hard to actually hit it the right way. If you stare at it for too long you swear it turns smaller every time. Or you just get bored, that could be it as well. Nevertheless, it was great fun and we met some people of the Kings' school. This includes a boy called Jeremie/Jeremy/Jeremé (or any other option to write this name). That boy has some serious tracking skills because the following days he always managed to find us, no matter where we were. Literally... always... He is from Marroco but he talked french, which is quite rare I think. Fairly everybody where he could talk french with was turned into his 'friend' (it was basically a one-way relationship, he thought he was your buddy while you... yeah you didn't think so). He also has a great ability to talk... and talk... and talk... which is not quite a bad thing, unless you are not feeling like listening and participating in a long-running conversation... then... good luck with him. After dinner Fei and I went to the park near Evelien and Megan's host family to play football (the game where you kick the ball with your feet, soccer/football... it's a bit confusion) with Dario, Enrico and Maxime (France). It was raining but we didn't mind, we as dutchies (dutch people) are used to it. Enrico did mind and the next day he had caught a cold. That's what you get from living in the sun. In the evening we went, like always, to the park. There were lots of students there and Kate had some lovely company. A 12-year-old looking boy tried to flirt with her and made some moves to kiss her. We laughed really hard because he was obviously drunk and he was kind of pathetic. Eventually Enrico got rid of the guy and he didn't bother us anymore during that night. Megan brought her box (a magical device where music gets produced) so we enjoyed our night under the stars with music while loudly talking. A perfect summer night, don't you think? It was quite amazing to see the differences between the students from all around the world. Morning breezes, birds chirping... alarm ringing. Okay, only an alarm ringing. We had to get up at 8 am to attend our first school day. School during your vacation. Vacation, noun, a deserved break after school NOT meant to be school. I asked myself what the hell I was thinking. We met at 9 with multiple staff leaders who send us down the road to a little church. There we handed in our ID and were we guided to a table, where other people were sitting. After a little welcome speech we had to make our 'big test' which determined your level of english. We also had to fill in a questionnaire and I absolutely love those (please note that this is absolutely not the case). They always ask you creative questions like 'what is your name and where do you live?'. Amazing right? We were forced to talk, seriously almost forced, to the students at our table. I awkwardly talked with an Italian guy in front of my called Dario, he was funny and we had a good laugh about a girl who answered 'Bournemouth' to the following question: 'What is the name of the country west to England?' Okay it's wrong to laugh at people but we couldn't help it. The boy next to me didn't seem really talk-able... so I left him alone. It was quite amazing to see the differences between the students from all around the world. From the way they dress to the way they talk, some look just so different than you. After the test we had to listen for 1,5h to a speech, a terribly long speech. Surprisingly no one had fallen asleep and after the 1,5h we were released to find some lunch. I paid way too much for a panini but it was great (it had to be because it almost cost 5 euros) . Around 2 pm were taken on a short tour to Bournemouth, nothing more then we already saw from the walk yesterday. To close the introduction we had some drinks and biscuits at a little 'bar' (it's hard to describe it that way because it was basically just a place to sit, nothing more) near the Lower Gardens. We decided to go to Tesco to buy some food in case of emergency. A elderly spanish woman joined us. Food is quite the same as in Holland, they do like to pack everything in way too much plastic (try to find a bag of chips without being split up in many other tiny bags, that's almost impossible). We had 1,5h left after our grocery shopping so we went to the park (near the balloon) to enjoy the weather. We had to be back at 5 pm to collect our results from the test earlier. Believe me, that it was not easy because there were students blocking the entire hall while being way too nervous for their results. When I finally managed to squeeze through I found out that I was in the black shift (1st week morning lessons) 7A (level 7, pre-advanced) in SPQ ( St. Peters Quarter, the new-build school in the town center). Unfortunately my travels companions (Fei, Megan, Evelien) where in different levels/shifts/schools. That turned out great afterwards. To celebrate our beginning of your school/vacation we went to Flirt, a tiny bar owned by two gay's. They have the most delicious smoothies you'll ever find. They are, as you may expect, quite expensive. It's exiting and perhaps adventures Day one: First time flying, first time in England, first time alone. A lot of firsts on one day. The best word to describe this all? Awkward. One hundred percent awkward. Coming out of your comfort zone and being literally dropped in a new environment is not to be called scary. It's exiting and perhaps adventures. So let me tell you about all this. The best moment to start; saying our goodbyes to our family and entering our airplane. Before you get on you'll have to show your ID to every person they can think of to make sure that you are you. I'm always wondering if someone will finally find out that I'm not Estelle Bouter but some kind of fugitive. Joking. You do get stared at like if you're carrying a bomb and about to kill every inhabitant of Amsterdam. Which is my plan actually. So when you finally passed every security level and you walked almost 5 km you can finally go to the shops. Yes! Tax free shopping! Now I can finally buy lots of stuff for a normal price! Well you'll get cheated on. The prices are just as high as in any other shop in your country. That was a bummer. After the huge shop disappointment we could finally enter our airplane. It was small and I wondered how people with claustrophobia'll ever survive it. The view from the airplane, when you're in the air and you feel like you are so big comparing to the small world, is truly moving though. You realize that you are so so so small which is quite disturbing and frighting. It was approximately an one hour flight. Why do the stewardesses even bother trying to sell some food and coffee. We won't starf during that one hour of our life... When we landed we were finally released from our small seats and we could finally wait (again waiting..yay) for our transfer. To get in an English car is really tempting and tricky. Their wheel is on the other side so we, of course, managed to make a fool of ourselves while trying to get in the car on the right side. English drivers. Oh god english drivers are frighting. Every second that you are in their car you'll think that you're going to die. Seriously. The host family welcomed us in a slightly British way; detached. Don't get me wrong; they were quite friendly and they offered to take us on a ride to see Bournemouth. Which we gladly attended, which was also a mistake because for the second time that day I thought I was going to die. I have to say that I've never feared my life so much before. Every car ride is better called a death ride. No surprise that you hear almost every second a sirene go off. We unpacked and went on a short walk with Marijke, the youngest daughter of the family, to see the shops that were around the corner. After that we went on our own walk to the town center. We went to the pier and walked across the gardens. Our feet started to hurt so we went back 'home' for dinner. Dinner consisted of corn. A lovely way to get each-other to know because eating corn is not only hard but also tricky; before you realize you're almost drowning your neighbor in corn-juice by taking a bite. We closed it off with a sweet treat: donuts! Before we went to bed we played card games with Marijke. She knew lots of games to play and they were fun and time-killing. We were devastated so we went to bed and slept tightly. Nervous? Not quite.
Excited? Hell yes. I've waited for this trip for several months and now the moment is finally near. Time to say goodbye to my comfort zone and to dive in the deep. This blog is created with the idea of remembering. Days pass on and you won't be able to remember your whole life, which is sad because you'll forget the good times eventually. To prevent myself from forgetting and to inspire others I started this blog and I hope my readers will support me in my journey throughout life. I'm not asking to like what I'm doing our to like me in general. I'm asking you to live your life the fullest, remember the good days and forget about the bad ones. Better said; learn from your bad days but never forget your good ones. Even though you don't know me and I don't know you; I want to wish you all the luck you can have and feel free to contact me any time. Lots of love, Estelle |
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