Just two days to go

It's friday... and monday my exchange student will arrive.
I can't wait. She's so nice and lovely. And today I found out she's the same height as I am.
I'm not very large, the shortest kid of our year. So it's nice not to have to look up to talk to someone.

Mom bought large cusions to sit on, as we don't have enough place on the couches for everyone to sit on when the exchange students and my brothers are at home.
Plans are made and now it's cleaning and waiting.

At sunday the exchange partner of my sister arrives and on monday mine.
I'm happy for my sister she's finally been able to talk with the guy in facebook. She's finally looking forward to the exchange too.


Someone asked how many donations we've got so far.
The answer is easy: none.
That's not what we hoped for.

Bloodwork

I needed some bloodwork done, so the doctor send me to the hospital.

My mom went with me and we arrived at a time that we didn't have to wait.
Mom explained how the waitingsystem works there and then we were already called in.

The nurse was very kind and tried to distract me with talking about school and my decision to become a nurse.
Because I'm so young she asked me what I was going to do in the year between school and the nurse studies.

In het time nurses couldn't start their study before a certain age, but nowadays we can go to a school where we start preparing for our practical work immediately after we receive our schooldiploma.

The bloodwork was done rather quick, even though she needed 9 tubes. One had to go on ice.

After that we walked out of the hospital without our coat on.
What a wonderful weather!

Biology

I don't know what it is between biology and me, but somehow we haven't found the right way to deal with each other.

Today we had genetics.
I was struggling with the subject until my mom intervened and explained to me how it all works.
She just used my eyecolour to start and then showed the largest mistake made in genetics by pupils and dad took over and explained the rest.

I suddenly understood so much more.

We got far too much homework and I wasn't able to finish it all.

Just two days to go and then we'll have a completely different program at school for two weeks when the exchange partners are here. Then some normal schooldays and then we're leaving.
All in all we're away from the regular schoolprogram for a complete month.
And we have to compensate that with more work now.

Clock is ticking

Today we're one day nearer to the exchange.

Both me and my sister studied very hard and so concentrated that were were both very surprised.
Because I did very well with the former test I felt very encouraged, so I hope my tests will be OK tomorrow.

Yesterday one of my brothers had two very important exams and he passed them both well.
I feel very happy for him, because one of those tests was a much feared one.

Today my oldest brother came to make pizza. He has a shop near where he lives where they sell delicious pizzas and he brought those to us. Yummy!

We discussed how we would manage dinner with so many people at home next week.
It's either two rounds of dinner or sitting all together in the livingroom. Mom found some sitting...eh.... things in a leaflet that seemed to be great for us to sit on, losing no space and gaining a seat.
My brother said he had the same thought and he would get two of them tomorrow morning and maybe we can get some more later in the week.

Another problem solved.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy valentine's Day!

In some countries this is a very imnportant day.

Here it's a day where unknown lovers can express their love for their secret love.

So not much for me, even though I'm very romantic.

My sister got her vaccination for her exchange trip.
We, our group, don't need it as we stay in a regular european country.
I went with her to give her some support, which she didn't need.

Lazy day

Today we had a lazy day.
We all tried to sleep as much as possible, because next week is very busy.

I feel a lot better now.

From when I was a little child I needed more sleep than others. So whenever possible I take it. Sometimes I even sleep a bit when I come home from school, so I feel fit again to make homework.

We've never found out why I need more sleep than my twinsister.
Maybe it's due to the exchange transfusions I got after birth, who knows?

One of my brothers needs to sleep more too.
So I'm not alone.
Maybe we're stemming from bears and need hibernating. :)

Open dag at school

We've been so busy with schoolwork and the preparations for the exchange that I was very tired.
But I wanted to help at the open day at school anyway.
Thanks to my sister I didn't oversleep and was in time.

We have a large school, so there was enough to help before the doors opened to potential students and their parents.
They all got a guide assigned to them who had to lead them through school and answer their questions.
My sister was one of them.

We saw a few familiar faces from people we klnow from the neighbourhood. That was nice. And some younger brothers and sisters of friends.

When we went home it rained a lot.
Boy, we were so wet!

History now

It's interesting to see history develop.
Yesterday the egyptian president Mubarak told the world he wouldn't reseign and today he suddenly stepped down.

The egyptian people where very happy.
Some are still worrying because they don't know what will happen after this.

We had school and after the lessons we went to one of our group of the stage night and made decisions about clothes and such.
We had a good time and I have more confidence that we will do well at the stagenight.

It's just a week and then my exchange partner will arrive.

I can't wait!

Packing your travelbag

When you're going to travel by plane you should know how to use the available space in your bags as good as possible.

Ofcourse you shouldn't take anything with you you're not allowed to take with you.
You can find the rules on the site of every airport and on the sites of many embassies.

When you have questions, ask them, or leave the item you have questions about at home.

You should also know what you're allowed to take with you when traveling back.

Take old socks and underwear with you and when you've used them throw them away. That creates space for souvenirs.
When you plan to buy a watch or other things, don't take the old ones with you.

In your handluggage:

• ID papers
• traveltickets
• money
• medication. If possible in sealed package.
• recipe in latin of the medication you're taking with you. With stamps from doctor or pharmacy.
• chococlatebar, in case you're hungry.
• chewinggum
• glasses
• copies of your ID and other paperwork. (Also in case)
• adressbook
• handkerchief

And the best way to pack your bag is this one:

Last meeting with parents before the exchange

Yesterday we had the last meeting with parents before the exchange.

We got a timetable with all the things we're going to do during the time our exchange partners are here, and we made some plans.

We were lucky that a friend of one of my brothers was able to drive us, because that gave me still a bit of time to make my homework.

In the morning it turned out we had a dentist appointment.
Mome hadn't told us to keep us on top of things, as there's so much to do and I would certainly have taken the rest of the evening off.

My teeth were OK and I got a compliment for keeping them so clean. My sister too.

I've been tagged

I've been tageed by Russ from Grampy's World

I have to find 4 bloggers to tag, but right now I'm open for volunteers, because there's too much to do in too little time.

For those four bloggers, if you decide to participate in the survey, just copy and paste these questions, answer them, and tag another 4 bloggers.

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?
2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
3. What is the one thing most hated by you?
4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
7. What is your bedtime routine?
8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?
10. What kinds of books do you read?
11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
12. What’s your fear?
13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?
14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?
15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?
17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?


My answers:

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

I don't have pets.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

I still have many dreams and can't make a choice for just one.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

People who won't listen to what I have to say about myself and who tell others their wrong opinion.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Buy my family a house in Scotland with ground for lots of nature, create a foundation for the rest of the money and think about what to do with it next.

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Music, making fun with mt friends.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

It's being blessed in a different way.

7. What is your bedtime routine?

Do all the hygienic stuff and listen to some music.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

No

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

Someone who's a famous drawer.

10. What kinds of books do you read?

Books amout magic.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

Ask me then.

12. What’s your fear?

I won't tell tgat because it might come true.

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

Sure.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

Depends on the guy who wants to marry me.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Put the alarm of and open my eyes.

16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

Have none.

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

Don't you think mine is nice enough?

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I don't know.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

A copious dinner.
That way I can pick something sifferent every day. :)

Too much homework

Today we had too much homework.
And I had balletclass, so it was very busy, even though we had a short time at school.

Mom helped me with the german language.
When she reads it for me it seems so much easier to understand.

I hope my test goes well tomorrow.

My bro made dinner

My brother made dinner for us to celebrate his birthday.
We left early in the afternoon and took our homework with us.
My brother knows a lot of mathematics and he is very good in explaining things.

We had a nice afternoon together watching a wonderful movie: the kite flyer.

Dinner was very good and then we went home.

My parents went with my youngest brother by bus and my sister and I went with my oldest brother on bicycle. We were earlier at home than the rest, but just minutes.

So we had a good weekend.

Storm and sea

Today my oldest brother had his birthday and that made it the 25 year anniversary of my mom being a mom.

Because we needed to use up traintickets for a day to travel anywhere we wanted we went with us 4: my twinsister, my brother and mom. We've done this before and we always liked it a lot.

We never go with a good plan but just see what happens.

Mom wanted to go to the beach, my brother needed to go to Amsterdam.
When we were on the train someone mentioned an airplane in the hall of schiphol, so we went there first. Took some photos and had a look at the airplanes. We tried to find out which one would be the one we will be on to our exchange.

Our visit to Amsterdam was nice too.
We went to a couple of shops after our brother went to his appointment.
I bought a surprise package at our favorite buddhism shop and got some lovely items, like a chinese pendant and incense. And I brought a kind of chinese umbrella.
we were lucky to be there at the beginning of the sales.

Mom always said that she loved to be at sea during a storm and she was right.
Even though the sand was very hurting in the face, it was great to be there.
It was easy to escape from the sand just by walking near the sea.
Only at the end of the afternoon it started to get a bit cold, but for the rest of the time we had a good temperature.
It was magnificent to see the sea. All white with lots of waves and foam which was blown over the sand.

When we came home we all had lots of sand between our toes and we were very tired. But it was great!

Warm cardigan day

Today is warm cardigan day.
People are supposed to dress warmer so the heating can be set lower, which is more environmentally friendly and costs less.

Especially schools and governmental buildings are often too warm inside.

Our school used to be one of them.
But since the renovation it's far too cold in school.
So we're already wearing warmer clothes.

I think the heating can be down in shops. Especially those shops were they have a kind of high temperature wall.
It feels terrible to walk through that wall. And I don't think it is of a lot of use.

What do you think?

Information evening

Today we had to hurry to a school a bit outside town to be at an information evening about professions.

We sat there listening for hours and we were bored, terribly bored.

The information we got I had already seen on internet and in leaflets of the school where we have to go after our final exams.
They were just reading powerpoint presentations.
Let's say that we're taught not to read them but talk about them.

The people of my second choice were just as arrogant as those I've seen already working in the profession, so my choice is even more clear than it was before: I'll study for nurse.

Mom took me to talk with someone of maternity nursing and she was very kind.
Otherwise the evening would have been a complete waste of time.

February

It's february already. I can't believe it is.
There's so much to do and so many things are going on.

We have to work on projects for the exchange, do our normal schoolwork and on top of it we need to visit informationevents because we're doing our final exams next year and we have to make a choice for a profession.

I'm sure I want to be a nurse and I've got so much information that I feel I don't need all those special evenings, but we have to go.

Tomorrow the mother of a dear friend will pick us up, I hope , so we can go by car, which is not only much faster, but also more fun. The moms will be able to talk with each other and I can visit the stands at the information market. I hope they've got some nice pens so i won't come home emtpy handed.

What kind of travelbag?

My sister asked what kind of travelbag we need to travel to Istanbul and Spain.
You can't take a case as handluggage, so we thought that maybe a nice cotton totebag would do.

What would you advice?

The Dutch Organisation for schoolkids needs a new board

The Dutch Organisation for schoolkids, LAKS needs new members for the board.

In case you're interested in organisation, participation and representation of young people in the board, you're to one to apply.

You can read on their site what you need to have, need to do and how you can apply.

LAKS is independent and gives a voice to every pupil in the country.
So let's hear your voice.

Ballet performance

Today we had a balletperformance.

It was not from the usual classes, but from the choreography project.

That means we've made our own dance, had to find our own music, and dealt with the balletwear ourselves.

We were with a small group.
One of us has a different style and she's longer, so she did the centre-dancing.

Before today we were about third on the list to perform, but after we had the general rehearsal we were last. I didn't like that until mom told us that the best comes last. Wow!

We did very well.
I had a special place in the whole dance. When we were making it the music lasted too long and we needed to make an end to it.So I got that part. It was fun to be the only one to leave the stage with an attitude. :)

Everyone was very positive and said I clearly show talent.
So maybe I shouldn't drop ballet next year. Not at all!

If not...

I wonder what happens if exchange students can't get along.

I feel very lucky with my exchange partner. She's wonderful and we can communicate well.

Some of the girls in my group can hardly communicate with their partner.
And the same goes for my sister.
She has to bridge the gap between two completely different cultures and that between boy and girl.

It's almost as if the school assumes everyone can go along well, but we all know that even within the same culture and group there are enormous differences.

So I wonder what happens if the exchange student only uses the family to sleep and ignores his partner and walks with the boys. For instance.

Thanks.

My mom sends greetings and thank you's for sending her birthday wishes.

Today it was very cold and i don't know if it was due to that cold weather or something else, but I felt so tired all day.

I'm so happy it's weekend now.

Tomorrow I'll sleep in, because sunday we'll have a balletperformance.

That means I have to stay in the building all afternoon.
First we have spacing and a try out of all the groups, and then a wait and after that two performances.

On monday I have a test at school.

Kind of busy.

A birthday

It's my moms birthday today.
It's a pity it's not in the weekend, because that would make a real difference.

Yesterday evening we had a short celebration after dinner, because at that time most of the kids were at home.
Today it was almost a normal day, as we had to go to school.

I had invited her to come to the shopping centre after school, so we could have a few moments together and I could show her something I was not sure enough that she would like.

But the teacher I expected not to be at school was at school, so that meant I was two hours later than planned.

We have to find another day to go.

A sister comes in handy

My sister got the plans for the student exchange today so we know the dates, times, flightnumbers from the arrival and leaving of our partners and ourselves.

My sister has to be at school at 4 in the night.
We're the only people without car...

I have to be there at 6.

She returns one day later than I, so I can wait for her and welcome her home.

My class hasn't got those details, so a sister comes in handy. :)

I can't wait until we meet our exchange partners. I've got nice contact with the girl who visits here. She is able to read and write english, but not all girls from her class are able to.

I feel very lucky.

The face of my borther shows no change yet. He is very careful to take his meds in time. That's all he can do at the moment.
Thanks for the well wishes for him.

An incident

Yesterday an incident happened at school in the final class.
One would suppose that people there know right from wrong and won't play with the feelings of others beyond the usual bullying.

I hate bullying, let's be clear about that.
But it's to make clear that what happened should not have happened at all and it was bad. Really bad.

It was brought to the attention of one of the schoolleaders and he called the kid in, had it admit what it had done and told to apologise.
The kid apologised and when all closed the door behind them said: "What a fuzz. I can do what I want, when I want."

The victim was completely left alone with her feelings and I think that was not allright.

At home we talked about it and both me and my sister think the school is far too lenient with kids like that.
It's like they're afraid of telling them the facts of life and that way they're agreeing, in a way, with what these kids do.
Only when they get a complaint something is said.

We think that after this incidents the parents should have been called in, so they can help their child to become a normal human being.

What do you think?

Ballet. Yes!

Today I had a balletlesson again.
I love it!

The teacher is very sweet, but she's also very good.

It's one of the last lessons before a performance and we're looking forward to it.

I was very young when I started ballet.
When I was 2 I was already dancing in front of the radio, and when I saw my olders brother, who was studying at the ballet academy, I always tried to copy his moves.

Ballet is a great way to forget everything around me.

I'm lucky my teacher always finds wonderful music. People often ask her if she's got it on tape, so they can copy it.

My brother is taking his medication well and it seems his mouth is a bit less closed when he smiles.
I'm worried about him, but he doesn't feel ill.
Thanks for the nice comments and the well wishes. He says thanks too.

Not a quiet weekend

We were in for a quiet weekend.
I had to write an important letter and I hope I did well.

My brother was rushed to hospital last evening because he had troubles with moving his face.
It scared us all.

First he said he had been sleeping on the nerve, but if that was the case he would have been able to move his face later in the day.

But when my parents saw it got worse he was brought to hospital. They were away within 5 minutes and in that 5 minutes mom told me and my sister what was happening too.
I was very worried, but when they got back the doctor was not so worried and my brother had 4 packaged with medication. Eyedrops for the day and something for the eye for the night and some tablets.

I hope he will be OK soon, because it is so strange to see him that way.

2 brothers, 2 winners

This week a young man won a singing contest and today his brother won another one.

I love to hear things like that.
It's so interesting that certain talents run through a whole family and quality shows.

My mom comes from a family with lots of singers and balletdancers.

Her uncles even had a family choir for all the uncles and nephews, fathers and sons.
The balletdancers pop-up through the generations in families.

We're one of them.
My mom was a great ballet dancer, as were 3 of the 4 brothers and my sister and I.
Two years before my mom stopped were were all together on stage and that was very special.

In this generation there's another family in the great family where mom and children are balletdancers. It's a pity they live so far away.

Music is such a marvellous thing for people.

Student protests

Today thousands of students protested against the plans of the government to make them pay a lot extra for studying.
Especially students that need more time have to pay extra and their university have to pay too. That means that students who are on the boards and such of the university or write for the university paper get into financial problems. Some might even have to stop in the middle of their studies, because the plans are not only for new students but also for those who already studying.

Mom and dad told me that never before the university professors took part in the protest but now 1/3 of them did.

That is very impressive.

Heading towards...

It's cold again.
In the afternoon it was colder than in the morning, so maybe we are heading towards more winter.

We sure are heading to the end of the testweek.
I'm doing all I can, but I'm quite tired, so I'm happy tomorrow is the last day.

My third brother is celebrating his birthday tomorrow.
He loves apple pie, so guess what he wants?

I'm not sure if I'll be able to surprise him in the morning.
He needs to go up at 6, and I have to start rather late in the morning.
I expect we arrive at about the same time at home again, so maybe I can do something special for him then.

A months after tomorrow we'll start the student exchange.
My exchange partner will come here first.
I've been mailing with her, so we know each other a little bit.
I look forward to the exchange very much.

I can do with donations, so.... :)

Info evening

Today we had an info evening at school about choices for the right educational direction...so choices for our future.

This was the second evening and it was almost the same as the evening we had before and was told to be an introduction.

So we looked at the same slides.
Even the coffee was as bad as before.

Parnets were told we had to do this and we had to do that.
A large part of all those things I've done already.
We need to do them because we get a mark for them.

It's a complete waste of time to go through stream diagrams and answer loads of questions becuse I want to become a nurse.
It's nice for those who don't know what to do with their future.

They showed a professor who told what parents need to do.
Well, I've got perfect parents as they do the same as that guy said they should do.
With one exception.

The guy said that people of my age are not able to oversee consequences and are not able to know how teachers and other grown ups think about them.

I don't know what kind of kids he researched, but I've been taught at home to think about consequences. I've talked a lot with my mom about all sorts of professions and she showed me the pros and cons of the jobs, and also ways to grow in a job and find a way up. Which extra education is needed, what the prospects are of getting a better job.
I can become a teacher at Kindergarten and become principal.
Or I can become a nurse and grow all my life and become a nurse practitioner, or whatever I want.
I would love to work at the neonathology unit. And I know it's a very intense job, dealing with terribly ill children and dealing with their parents. Dealing with death too.

So for me this evening was wasted time.

Smoking

I don't smoke and I never will.

I think it stinks.
People who smoke don't realise how much they spread bad smell.
Their coats can be found easily within a large pile of coats because their coat smells bad.

People who smoke are a danger for the health of other people, scientists have concluded from research.
Because less people smoke now, the babies of this generation have better lungs than the children of the generation before. Immediately after ww2 people didn't know smoking was bad for people.

My parents never smoked.
They have told that my grandfather liked to smoke, but he never did when he came in our house, because he didn't want to influence our health in a bad way.

So that gives me a good feeling.

So many names

My sister got the name of her exchange student and a classmate told she had seen him on facebook.

My parents are not in favor of young girls surfing internet at places that are told to be not very safe for us, but they don't want to stay in the way of the exchange either.

So we sat down to find the exchange student of my sister and with the name she had about 50 or more people with the name popped up!

It must be a name like Jan Janssen, which is a common name here in our country.

As my sister mailed her student a few days ago, she had a close look if she did something wrong while writing the address.

Maybe resending the mail helps???

Flamenco skirt

My mom went to the attic today to tidy some things and put our iceskates there. When She came down she had a black jacket, a skirt and a pair of trousers which might fit one of us.

The jacket is for me, because it fits me.
And I tried the skirt.

It's black with a red border with white flowers on it.
It's a circle skirt, a real one.

I love it.

Mom told me she used to wear it during the flamenco lessons she had.
I can imagine here throwing all ther energy and passion in it.
I've seen her using her feet to create the flamboyant rhythm of the flamenco.
She can use them so fast that she doesn't have to flop her feet, but she can just stamp the rhythm without missing a beat. Wow!

So now the skirt is going to us.

And I'm going to Spain this year.

That makes me think...

Living behind the dykes

Living behind the dykes is not something we are aware of every day.
Only when the water in the rivers is very high and it's on the news we realise that we live in a country that has been taken from the sea.

The dykes protect us very well.

Our house is behind the dykes, but it's on a higher level than the surrounding grounds. So we won't get wet feet, as we say.
It's an old fashioned way to protect people from the water if something is happening with the dykes.

The chance something happens is very low.
The dykes can cope with high and low water.
We've only once had a bit if a stressful time because of high water. It was the only time the schools were closed. It was before we were born, but some of my brothers remember it.

It's high water now, but it's not too high for the dykes.
There is surveillance though, because water can soak the dykes so they start to leak.
Men walk past the dykes to inspect each metre very carefully, and today an F16 flew over the dykes with special equipment under it to see "through" the dyke. That way they can find out weak spots and leakage.
All was safe though.

Our school is at a higher point of town and there's absolutely no danger at all.
Our house is safe too. The lower grounds around it can collect lots of water (which never happened) and we can go easily over safe roads to the bridge over the canal to the high part of town.

New recipe

I wondered what we were going to eat and when it was time to cook my mom said we'd never had it before.
She jad tasted something cooked by a woman in one of the main grocery stores and she likes it so much she took the recipe and sause with her.

It was great!

Small baked potatoes, baked pork and fresh vegetables, with the sause.
We all loved it and even though she'd made a lot and wanted to have something left for tomorrow it was all gone.

We talked a bit about the exchange students.
Will they like a dish like this?

And the next exchange student is....

I'm very happy with my exchange student.
We mail each day and it's nive to learn about who she is and about her country.

My sister heard today who her exchange student is.
As the group she exchanges with consists almost completely of boys, her student is a boy. She doesn't mind. We've got enough brothers not to make a problem.

We tried to find out how his school looks, but it's such a large school that we don't know yet.
Children go there from the first schoolday in Kindergarten to the last day of university.

Tomorrow those students will hear about their dutch exchange partners and I think they will mail too and we'll know more after this weekend.

Rain and dark grey skies

This winter is one of extremes.
We had snow in autumn until after christmas and old-and-new, and now we have temperatures in the double digits and lots and lots of rain.

The town is still dealing with high water.
All we can hope is that the rain won't cause such a rise of the river that it gets above the safety level.

That was stupid

I was so happy to hear about the exchange student and that we got in contact that I forgot that not only kilometers are between us.
In my mind she was already far more familiar than she is so I forgot that she might read my mails different from my intention.

I told her that my brothers have autism.
I'm so familiar with them that I forgot that many people don't even know what autism is, or have a completely different picture from it than my brothers display.
Autism is just a name for such a huge variety of problems.

Oh, I feel so stupid.

On top of it: I couldn't sleep and I was so enthousiastic that I asked if she was online, far too late in the evening.
It was irresponsible. Not only to her, but to me too.

As soon as my mother saw I was online she asked me if I was nuts and made me go to bed. People in Spain thought I was nuts.

I'm so sorry I caused a problem.

As soon as I heard that the people in Spain had serious questions about it all, I explained it and apologised.

I'm very happy that everything is alright now.

I'll be blogging about autism this week, but for now I say goodbye.

She's nice!

Today I heard the name of my student and I was able to mail her and receive an answer back.

She seems to be a very nice person and I feel so happy she's my exchange student.
It's great we can talk through internet and I'm sure we'll contact each other a lot before she arrives here.

Today I aslo heard that the brother of someone I know has died of the mexican flu last month.
That's so very sad.
More and more people are afraid that the flu comes back and even worse than before.
All I can do is to try to live as healthy as possible, sleep and eat well, and stick to the rules of hygiene.
I'm happy I don't smoke or drink.

I got an 8 for biology. Wow!
I worked very hard for it and it paid off.

Homework and reading

Today I worked very hard on a paper about a book.
I'd rather read books of my own choice tha books that we have to read for school.
It's like it's less fun.

Maybe it's because there are so many questions, so the whole story needs to be pulled apart.

Well, I could work on one of the computers, so it;s nearly finished.

I have always to plan my homework well, because on mondays I have my balletclasses.

The snow is gone

Almost all snow is gone now.
It look so strange everywhere.
But it's nice to go outside without gloves and sjawls.

Today it was my father's birthday and we kept it rather sober.
He didn't want any gifts, because we're saving money for the student exchange.
With twins it's twice as expensive.

My twinsister and I made some plans to launch activities in the neighbourhood, like washing cars.

Wish someone rich would sponsor us. :)

Who will be my exchange student?

Wednesday we heard that the matching was almost done. All my classmates who participate this exchange gave some excited noises.
We have been waiting the hole holiday and this would be the final moment, but then our tutor said we had to wait until friday since they were not ready yet.

And yeah, today was the day, when we heard who where going to be our exchange students and I got home with a big smile, even when the rain was pouring down.
I came inside and heard my mom on the phone, she was talking to my dad. I didn't understand what was going on.
When mom was done phoning she asked why my tutor would call them and I was shocked, I could't remember I did something bad or wrong.

I gave a little smile and my mom smiled back, she was just fooling around.
She told me that my tutor was a little in shock since she and our other team leader found out there was another girl who participates the exchange, who they didn't know about.

Well since I don't have any place (my brother is autistic and he can't deal with other people in the house, and we have little space) for my exchange student I shared someone with one of my best friends.

But since there is another student who participates I will get my own but now my tutor has to find some place to stay for her.
I don't really want to since I've got homesickness and when I'm with someone I know, trust and who knows about my homesickness I can stand the situation better then when I'm alone.
My mom said I had to stop saying I didn't want it since we can't look in the future and we don't know how it will go in Spain. She offered to try to talk with the parents of my exchange student or write a letter in their language. She also said that these people are loving parents too and will care for me as well as they can.
I had to give in since my mom gave hole a story about how it would be for my exchange student and further. Even when I got a little irritated because she was going on and on and on, I thought what she was telling was true and I changed thinking about the fact that I got my own student. Now the only problem is that
my tutor has to find a place for my exchange student otherwise I have to stop calling the girl like that.
Furthermore I don't know anything about the girl, I know as much as my parents and the family. Nothing. I need to wait and hope that everything will be fine.
Wish us luck.
Or say: "break a leg". Which means the same as good luck. We use that in the theatre world before going on stage.
Bye, Bye.



We need to find donations and sponsoring for the exchange and I hope you will help me. Maybe you want me to send a card to you from Spain, or maybe you want me to write down something positive each day to conquer my homesickness? You can read more about donating and/or sponsoring: here

It's three kings day

It's three kings day and that's the last day of the christmasseason.

Tomorrow all the christmasornaments will be put away until the next season.

I always love the way our house looks at christmas.
Mom puts small golden ribbons in fromt of the large window of the livingroom and that gives everything a nice shine.

This year it was very special, because looking outside meant seeing golden and white and it was like every moment I could step into christmas.

It's a tradition here to honor the twelve days of christmas. These are the days between christmas and the arrival of the three kings. Not the days before christmas, as some commenrcial organisations wants us to believe.

Only today the whole christmasstory can be told, that's why this day is so important here.

Do you celebrate the three kings day?

We do it with cake with a bean. Who gets the bean doesn't have to do the dishes and can chose dinner for tomorrow.

Becoming a nurse?

After the talk I had with my mom I have been thinking a lot about becoming a nurse.

It feels good and I can imagine myself caring for people in a hospital.
I don't want to become a community nurse, but I would love to work at the children's department or neonatology.

Within a month there's an information evening, but before that I can ask people who already work as a nurse.

Maybe some of my readers are a nurse too and want to share their experiences.

Do you like your job?
What do you like best?
What did you consider most difficult to train?
.

Choice for the future

Today we got paperwork for important choices we have to make regarding our future.
It included an invitation for an information evening about professions.

I'm one of the lucky people who are interested in many subjects, but it's also something that makes a choice for the future difficult.

I would love to work with children, for instance in  Kindergarten, but I can imagine myself as a nurse too.
I'm not afraid of the more serious sides of neonatology.

So I subscribed to these two subject at the evening.
As a third choice I opted for hairdressing and make-up.

We're quite happy the information evening is at our side of town, so it will be easy to go there on bicycle.
It's not often we're that lucky.
Sometimes it takes an hour to go somewhere and an hour to go back, waitingtime for the bus not included which can count up to 45 minutes in the evening.
The school doesn't say that evening goes without homework, so we're having a real disadvantage. Classmates with a car are at home within 15 minutes.

I'm excited to make a choice for a profession.

Ill

I was ready to go to school, and already on my bicycle when I started to feel ill.
It was not good at all, so I went back home.

because I was dizzy, nauseated and looked very pale, my mom wondered if I caught the flu that friends of us have at the moment.
I was there during the vacation.

Hopefully I'm better tomorrow, because I don't want to miss school.

A good start

Today we slept in.
The last opportunity, because tomorrow we have to go to school again.
I would have loved another week of vacation.

My brother took me with him when he had to photograph some things.

We needed to go with family members to see what they have to do for their job.

So I went with my brother who had a job in ITC,
observed my mom when she worked as a journalist. She told about reserach journalism.
And saw what my brother has to do as a photographer.

It was very interesting.

Now school starts again.

Happy new year!

You can see my card for you in the former post.

We were all very OK to say goodbye to the past year. No tears, no regrets, we just didn't look back at all and stepped into 2011 with the intention to make it a good year.

My brother had a fireworkarrow, or how do you call it?, where a written wish could be put in.
So mom worte a wish for all of us and he asked us to be present when he aired it.

That was after we wished each other happy new year.

He wanted the arrow to go to the left of him, but it went up in a bow to right above our heads and there it make a poof and a wonderful coloured umbrella was over us.

That was very nice.

For the first time in years we were outside right after midnight and we walked to friends of us nearby and brought them our wishes and went to another family of friends and brought our wishes too.

Then we went home.
It was misty and we had all those firworks above us. Very strange.

None of the neightbours were at home, so we were allowed to have the music louder than usual and we danced a bit, ate some traditional food and had some 7up.

Then we went to bed.
That was a very good start of the year.