Hey everybody!
I'm taking a little break from writing on here as I'm pretty tired and have to get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Today was a calm day as I helped Amy some more with the move of her work, and watched CeCe's lacrosse game.
Sorry for the lack of details! I'll be back on the writing track tomorrow.
Xx
Eva
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
A day out in the sun with Jock
To say that I was ecstatic to finally have some really cool photos to show the homefront would be an understatement. I've been wanting to take more photos last week as well, but for some reason it just felt strange doing it! Honestly, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not really here as a tourist. I mean, I am. Just differently... So taking photos all the time kind of feels strange and a violation of people's privacy and comfort zone. It might all just be in my head, but it is how I've experienced it so far. Until today. I kept my camera in hand, or at least in short reach of my hands, at all times. Today was the day I joined Jock, DeWitts father, on his regular Tuesday.
I got up early, before the clock had even stricken 6 AM, because he would be there to pick me up at 7. So that's what he did! At first we went to fill up on some gas for his car and after that we stopped by at Dunkin' Donuts across the street. The slogan states, "America runs on Dunkin'", and that probably couldn't be more true. People stop by the shop every morning to get their correct dose of coffee and donuts. (or bagels, they have those, too!) Anyway, I got a small (much to their surprise) hot chocolate. Which, put shortly, tasted like heaven in a cup. Jock picked six donuts in 3 different flavours and then we were all set to go.
Our first destination that day would be "Plum Island", which is a nature reserve near the Atlantic Ocean. Jock is part of a volunteering-group there that spend their time catching birds in nets as they come in from different places around the world on their migration. These birds would then be given a small ring, and they will keep a database with all kinds of information they can detect from this bird, before it is put back into nature. Sadly, however, I didn't get to see this part happening today. The day started out very cold and windy, making it very unlikely for any bird to enter the nets. They're basically nets that are so thin, I couldn't even see them! Yet because of the wind you could see them more easily as they flared up, which would make it less attractive, to say the least, for the birds to fly into. So I didn't get to see that process, alas. However I may give it another try Thursday morning.
After birding we went out to the head-building of this bird-reserving institution. Jock showed me around in all the classrooms they have in there for children to learn more about nature, and especially nature on Plum Island, at that. After showing me around I took a couple of pictures, saw a squirrel, and we headed out for lunch. At Starboard Galley, which I figured out the name of the restaurant was, (As Jock kind of pronounced it as a mumbled "Starbrd" and I kept thinking we were going to Starbucks) we met Nancy, who is his wife, and we ordered some seafood for lunch. I had pasta that was so greasy it wouldn't stay on my fork, but it was good though! For dessert Jock suggested I should try Key Lime Pie, which is a 'very American' dessert according to him. I tried it and I liked it very much! Mum, if you're reading this, it's kind of like the lemon cheesecake you make, only a bit stronger. You'd like it!
When lunch was done we drove to Newburyport, which is where he and his wife live, and took me to see the oldest, still-active boathouse in the country. Right next to his house. It was a beautiful boatshop. Absolutely beautiful! I guess I have a new favourite aesthetic, sun that shines through windows on unedited wood. Something about it was just breathtaking! They were actually busy creating a boat when we came in there, and we saw some other current projects as well. It's amazing what they can create with wood. The people working in there were all very young, to my surprise. But thinking about it for a little while, I reasoned that it is exactly the place to find young people. With fresh visions on how to develop new types of boats in a boatshop that is so old. One of the boats they were currently working on was a very large rowing boat, which would be able to carry an entire class of kids for example. It was still in the making, but they'd already decided that they were going to oil it instead of painting it, so that they would be able to have it used in things like movies in a different time setting as well. Which I thought was very interesting! Downstairs in the shop was a small museum with some of the very old boats that were made there, as well as a model ship of which the real one had been built in there, donated to them by DeWitts mother. She was the previous owner of that model. It was so pretty! I took advantage of the great weather and spammed my camera with photos of the little yellow boat floating out on the giant Merrymack River. I'm so glad with how they turned out!
Back at Jock's house we relaxed for a bit on his deck. Wow, does he have a house with a view! It was stunning! When he told me how the sun sets right above the river where he could perfectly see, I could definitely imagine what that would look like. I told him there, that if I had a view like that... I probably wouldn't ever be inside.
At the end of the day I joined him to an Ethics Committee that he's voluntarily a part of. It's basically what we always talked about in Science & Society class. They had me sign a confidentiality contract, though, and as I didn't entirely read it I think it's best if I don't mention anything other than that. ;)
So, to sum up, I had a terrific day! How was yours?
Xxx
Eva
I got up early, before the clock had even stricken 6 AM, because he would be there to pick me up at 7. So that's what he did! At first we went to fill up on some gas for his car and after that we stopped by at Dunkin' Donuts across the street. The slogan states, "America runs on Dunkin'", and that probably couldn't be more true. People stop by the shop every morning to get their correct dose of coffee and donuts. (or bagels, they have those, too!) Anyway, I got a small (much to their surprise) hot chocolate. Which, put shortly, tasted like heaven in a cup. Jock picked six donuts in 3 different flavours and then we were all set to go.
Our first destination that day would be "Plum Island", which is a nature reserve near the Atlantic Ocean. Jock is part of a volunteering-group there that spend their time catching birds in nets as they come in from different places around the world on their migration. These birds would then be given a small ring, and they will keep a database with all kinds of information they can detect from this bird, before it is put back into nature. Sadly, however, I didn't get to see this part happening today. The day started out very cold and windy, making it very unlikely for any bird to enter the nets. They're basically nets that are so thin, I couldn't even see them! Yet because of the wind you could see them more easily as they flared up, which would make it less attractive, to say the least, for the birds to fly into. So I didn't get to see that process, alas. However I may give it another try Thursday morning.
After birding we went out to the head-building of this bird-reserving institution. Jock showed me around in all the classrooms they have in there for children to learn more about nature, and especially nature on Plum Island, at that. After showing me around I took a couple of pictures, saw a squirrel, and we headed out for lunch. At Starboard Galley, which I figured out the name of the restaurant was, (As Jock kind of pronounced it as a mumbled "Starbrd" and I kept thinking we were going to Starbucks) we met Nancy, who is his wife, and we ordered some seafood for lunch. I had pasta that was so greasy it wouldn't stay on my fork, but it was good though! For dessert Jock suggested I should try Key Lime Pie, which is a 'very American' dessert according to him. I tried it and I liked it very much! Mum, if you're reading this, it's kind of like the lemon cheesecake you make, only a bit stronger. You'd like it!
When lunch was done we drove to Newburyport, which is where he and his wife live, and took me to see the oldest, still-active boathouse in the country. Right next to his house. It was a beautiful boatshop. Absolutely beautiful! I guess I have a new favourite aesthetic, sun that shines through windows on unedited wood. Something about it was just breathtaking! They were actually busy creating a boat when we came in there, and we saw some other current projects as well. It's amazing what they can create with wood. The people working in there were all very young, to my surprise. But thinking about it for a little while, I reasoned that it is exactly the place to find young people. With fresh visions on how to develop new types of boats in a boatshop that is so old. One of the boats they were currently working on was a very large rowing boat, which would be able to carry an entire class of kids for example. It was still in the making, but they'd already decided that they were going to oil it instead of painting it, so that they would be able to have it used in things like movies in a different time setting as well. Which I thought was very interesting! Downstairs in the shop was a small museum with some of the very old boats that were made there, as well as a model ship of which the real one had been built in there, donated to them by DeWitts mother. She was the previous owner of that model. It was so pretty! I took advantage of the great weather and spammed my camera with photos of the little yellow boat floating out on the giant Merrymack River. I'm so glad with how they turned out!
Back at Jock's house we relaxed for a bit on his deck. Wow, does he have a house with a view! It was stunning! When he told me how the sun sets right above the river where he could perfectly see, I could definitely imagine what that would look like. I told him there, that if I had a view like that... I probably wouldn't ever be inside.
At the end of the day I joined him to an Ethics Committee that he's voluntarily a part of. It's basically what we always talked about in Science & Society class. They had me sign a confidentiality contract, though, and as I didn't entirely read it I think it's best if I don't mention anything other than that. ;)
So, to sum up, I had a terrific day! How was yours?
Xxx
Eva
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Kingsday from afar
Happy Kingsday Dutchies! Or, actually... I'm writing this when it's no-longer April the 27th over there... Anyway, I hope you all had a good one!
I must say that I hadn't really missed home until I saw all the photos and videos from Kingsday on Snapchat. Do you know that feeling you get when you know people are having fun without you? I kind of had that, which is strange because I never truly celebrated King's- or Queen's day before. I guess that, once you're abroad, you start thinking of your own country in a very different way. At this point, I don't even remember most of the school things that I was worrying about only a couple of weeks ago. Right now all I'm thinking is, I can't wait for all the sunny days in the Netherlands this summer! Genuinely, I am already making plans in my head for when I get back. I hope I can keep up that positive feeling towards the home-front once I get back into the school-rhythm... But enough about that for now! I'm still in the United States, so let's focus on that so long as my trip still lasts. :)
Today I had less healthy cereal for breakfast, Carson's favourite, and boy was it good! Like a sugary cinnamon taste on cornflakes. Yum! I just realised how varied my breakfast has been this past week. Like, in the Netherlands I would have the same everyday. Bread with cheese. For breakfast and lunch. Here I've had something different every day! And lunch is mostly warm, which I really enjoy. Again, I'm standing behind my statement that we should have warm food for lunch at our school as well. I would be so much more capable of staying awake during my last periods, not even joking!
So yeah, then I had breakfast and joined DeWitt to his office where I helped him with another database task. What I'm doing there is basically helping him get ready for sales and marketing, so updating his databases in e-mail- and post addresses. Today I learned just about all the states of America by having to look up what the abbreviations meant. I feel a whole lot wiser on that front, I guess the next step would be to figure out where to find each.. ;)
For lunch we popped into Crosby's and I got a turkey wrap with swiss cheese. We ate that at home as we refuelled for the rest of the afternoon. So back to work we went until around 4-5'ish, when we went to go pick up Deuce from school. We hung out for a while in the living room, watching Drake & Josh on TV and I caught up on what my friends had been up to. For dinner we had chicken from the grill, rice, garlic bread and asparagus. And then for dessert it was time to celebrate the King's birthday. So Amy stuck some candles in the left-over carrot cake from the night before, and we had our own little King's Day in Georgetown.
Tomorrow I have to get up early and leave the house at 7, because I'm joining DeWitt's father with some volunteer-work that he's into. It has something to do with birds coming in from a different place and they are given a ring here by these volunteers. That should be really interesting! He's taking me out for the entire day, even for lunch! He might also show me one of the oldest boathouses in the country, that still creates wooden boats, which he lives almost next-door to.
I also heard that later this week, on Friday, Donna is going to take me out to Cambridge with her so that I can see some sights and visit the Harvard area! That's so cool! And I might join her daughter to some dance classes as well later this week. Overall, I'm really excited!
Goodnight everybody!
xxx
I must say that I hadn't really missed home until I saw all the photos and videos from Kingsday on Snapchat. Do you know that feeling you get when you know people are having fun without you? I kind of had that, which is strange because I never truly celebrated King's- or Queen's day before. I guess that, once you're abroad, you start thinking of your own country in a very different way. At this point, I don't even remember most of the school things that I was worrying about only a couple of weeks ago. Right now all I'm thinking is, I can't wait for all the sunny days in the Netherlands this summer! Genuinely, I am already making plans in my head for when I get back. I hope I can keep up that positive feeling towards the home-front once I get back into the school-rhythm... But enough about that for now! I'm still in the United States, so let's focus on that so long as my trip still lasts. :)
Today I had less healthy cereal for breakfast, Carson's favourite, and boy was it good! Like a sugary cinnamon taste on cornflakes. Yum! I just realised how varied my breakfast has been this past week. Like, in the Netherlands I would have the same everyday. Bread with cheese. For breakfast and lunch. Here I've had something different every day! And lunch is mostly warm, which I really enjoy. Again, I'm standing behind my statement that we should have warm food for lunch at our school as well. I would be so much more capable of staying awake during my last periods, not even joking!
So yeah, then I had breakfast and joined DeWitt to his office where I helped him with another database task. What I'm doing there is basically helping him get ready for sales and marketing, so updating his databases in e-mail- and post addresses. Today I learned just about all the states of America by having to look up what the abbreviations meant. I feel a whole lot wiser on that front, I guess the next step would be to figure out where to find each.. ;)
For lunch we popped into Crosby's and I got a turkey wrap with swiss cheese. We ate that at home as we refuelled for the rest of the afternoon. So back to work we went until around 4-5'ish, when we went to go pick up Deuce from school. We hung out for a while in the living room, watching Drake & Josh on TV and I caught up on what my friends had been up to. For dinner we had chicken from the grill, rice, garlic bread and asparagus. And then for dessert it was time to celebrate the King's birthday. So Amy stuck some candles in the left-over carrot cake from the night before, and we had our own little King's Day in Georgetown.
Tomorrow I have to get up early and leave the house at 7, because I'm joining DeWitt's father with some volunteer-work that he's into. It has something to do with birds coming in from a different place and they are given a ring here by these volunteers. That should be really interesting! He's taking me out for the entire day, even for lunch! He might also show me one of the oldest boathouses in the country, that still creates wooden boats, which he lives almost next-door to.
I also heard that later this week, on Friday, Donna is going to take me out to Cambridge with her so that I can see some sights and visit the Harvard area! That's so cool! And I might join her daughter to some dance classes as well later this week. Overall, I'm really excited!
Goodnight everybody!
xxx
