December 4th 2010

So, leaving the house today was probably the biggest mistake I ever made. Essentially because snow in large quantities + a bicycle = disaster. Though it is not entirely my fault! It wasn't snowing very badly when I left.. It was 10 minutes after I left that I was stuck in the blizzard. It was so bad that I actually had to stop and seek refuge in the Albert heijn! And for those of you in California, that's our grocery store. Kinda like albertsons? :) haha I bought a cheap 4€ umbrella an headed out shortly after despite the snow. I wanted to get to the centruum. And 5 minutes into my 10 minute journey to the centre, what happens? The snow picks up so badly that my umbrella breaks. It BROKE the umbrella.. My only form of shelter. Worst 4€ I've ever spent lol well I'm here now, at least! Sitting at the v&d with the usual coffee and tomato soup. I figured I'd be a little daring though and get a chocolate croissant today as well :) it was one of the better decisions I made all day. I ran into Eduard when I first for here! He looked at me with a confused expression and asked me what happened? What do you mean I said? And he asked if I fell, because I was covered in snow. Lol How sad! Nope. Didn't fall. It's just my luck that the one time I decide to leave my beautiful warm sunny southern Californian habitat, to move to Europe, That they have the coldest, snowiest winter they have ever had. Hahah

Today is December 4th :) which in Holland is the Sinter Klass holiday! I'm not sure if I've written about him or not, but sinter klass is a saint who hails from Spain.. And in mid November he comes to Holland on his boat with all his helpers, the Black Pietes! Who are really terrifying actually. I don't know why the kids love them so much. Well anyway.. He comes to Holland and stays until the 4th of December. And on this night everyone gets together and sometime in the evening someone comes and knocks on the door! All the kids scream because two things could happen after that; A. Sinter klass is there to come and bring you gifts! Or B. The black pietes are there to come and put you in a bag, and take you away to Spain because you have been bad. It's the Dutch equivalent to the naughty list, or getting coal in your stocking. But 1000x times more terrifying. In my household I was told I was gonna get a sponge for Christmas in my stocking if I was bad! Or get smacked with a wooden spoon... (its an Italian thing.) hahah And I thought that was horrible. But being kidnapped, put into a sack, beaten with switches or, Tree branches.. And taken away to Spain, Essentially sounds like the worst that could happen to any unsuspecting 6 year old. Lol I have a French friend who lives in Breda, he isn't too fond of Holland and we had a conversation about sinterklass recently. He said that if he was little he would be bad on purpose just so he could be taken to Spain!! Hahahah it's probably warmer there?!

They are putting the huge Christmas tree up in the center as we speak :) it's kinda exciting! A real Christmas.. My first one! Though I am kinda sad my family can't be here to experience it. Ya ever heard that saying, it's not where you go, it's who you're with? Well it's true. Holland is beautiful but it would be 100 times better if they were here. After this im gonna go make a run to h& m before all the stores close at 5! Gotta find something nice to wear :) I went boot shopping earlier, I have a pair of boots that are gonna last me a while but I just thought I'd test my luck. I was proven unsuccessful lol boots are impossible to find. And if you do find some you like, thy don't have your size, or they are 400€. FML. The biggest horse I have ever seen just walked passed the window, pulling a carriage with black pietes in it. Hahaha they are really scary. Oh my. Oh well I'm gonna finish my lunch and head out! Finish this up later! <3

Hello :) I'm quite proud of myself; Mainly because this is the second post I've done this week! And I haven't been keeping this up the way I should. I need to start writing more because this is kinda of my own way of reflecting on my time here. I can write, then two months later go and look back at what I wrote! It's cool :) it's like my journal. I have a journal but like my blogg.. It hasn't been written in in like a week hahah! Well currently it's Wednesday night. It's almost 9:20pm and I did myself sitting on a train on my way to Amsterdam. Trains aren't used very frequently by Anyone I know back home so.. Using them as my secondary form of transportation, my bike being my first, is always an adventure. I had a very strange conversation with one of the workers on the trail. I was unaware you had to get your ticket stamped. I paid for it and I flashed my discount card so I figured that was all. WRONG. Has he told me normally, he would charge an extra 40€ for a mistake like that. But because I was smiley and warm he took out his stamp and validated it. That made me think about how many people he runs into a day. How many people who run into the problem I was faced with. How many unhappy people who were having a bad day get charged an extra 40€ because they weren't in the mood to smile an be friendly. That sucks! Shortly after a girl boarded my train and sat a few sets behind me. I'm almost 100% sure she didn't know I was here. Immediately upon entry to the cabin she takes out her phone and (I'm assuming ) she was talking to a boyfriend because they started screaming at each other. I could hear him yelling through the phone all the way on the opposite end of the train. After a few tears and strained vocal cords, the phone call ended with a quick "ik hoe van je" and a sigh. I didn't think anything of it until the girl started railing lines on the nice little tables supplied to your seats. I could see her in the reflection of the window, and either she couldn't see me or she just really did not care.  Drugs and angry phone calls. What a night! Lol

I just looked out the window and saw that we were At the train station for Delft. I've never been there but my friend Meghan went a couple weeks ago and said it was cool! They're knows for their blue and white painted pottery. And there is a museum that showcases how it's made, how long it takes, all thy jazz. There's also a museum on carnival! That would be interesting. Now were in Den Haag. I've been here. That beach that I can't pronounce nor spell is here! It's a nice place. I'm on my way to Amsterdam to meet Stephanie :) from centraal, we are going to Theresa's place and staying the night! Essentially making our journey to Paris 1000x easier. I had planned on taking the 1am train to Amsterdam then hang out from like 4 am till 7 when I had to be at the station. Those plans sucked. But that was my only real option unroll spending the night at Theresa's arose! So I'm really stoked about that. Steph and i have a 6 hour bus ride to look forward to tomorrow :) haha I'm kinda excited. It shouldn't be too bad especially since were together :D I can't believe I'm going to Paris. I've always wanted to go to France. Bretagne, France primarily. I'd like to live there. On the shore. That's a dream of mine hahah retire and move to the beach in France. Sounds nice huh? Lol it still hasn't really hit me that I live in Europe. Saying thy seems weird as well because I kinda went from 0 to 60 in terms of being adjusted. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Zurich I was adjusted. This is my home now. And it's what I see as the norm. So technically going to France is like going to.. Arizona from California. It takes the same amount of time pretty much. If driving from Holland to Paris, it takes about 5 hours. So I'd say that's a good comparison.

Speaking of ARIZONA! My family is there now :) they are staying at my great grandparents house to spend the thanksgiving holiday with them. That should be nice. Glendale, Arizona <3 My grandma is babysitting my puppy Jake, and my Aunt Gina is also in Az. From New York. So they have a full house :) mmm I can see the pizellies already. Omg. I'm definitely making pizellies when I get home?! That sounds so good. Nobody makes em like Gram. I look like I'm running away hahah I can see my reflection and I have 2 carry on's. My coat and my snow jacket lol and I'm by myself. Not to mention it rained on my way to the train station so why was my beautifully done hair is now a big curly mess. Awesome. NOT! Ya know that moment where your eyes start to burn and itch and you wanna rub em but you remember you're wearing eye makeup.... :| FML. Anyway. It's 10:15 now. And I'm a few minutes from Amsterdam. So im gonna sign off. I'll be sure to write again soon <3 Good Night Holland. Good Morning California <3XOXOGINA

Long Overdue..

Why hello strangers! I'm sorry I haven't been writing recently. I've been a bit more than busy. To be honest it really just feel like one huge blurr. I've been here for 3 months now and it's really getting easier. Some days are more difficult than others; and not even in terms of the family, The work or the children.. Just getting used to my new life. My new friends. What we do when we go out now, compared to what I use to do when I went out in murrieta! Lemme tell you.. HUGE difference. Mello relaxing quiet nights are few and far between, while Late, LATE crazy nights.. And early slow mornings, are abundant and consecutive. Lol but that's what you do here. That's the life style. And it makes me glad that I'm here for a year. Because honestly i don't think another year of these parties would be too good on my sleep schedule or my mental health LMAO!As the days go on I find myself meetin more and more Americans! I met a guy from Arizona, a girl from Oregon, Arkansas, and a girl from California :) they are all pretty close to Amsterdam so I'm stoked to meet them. Arizona even lives in my town! Holland is getting colder and wetter as the weeks pass and I'm not really looking forward to it /: I need to get some boots and I need to go shopping for some warmer clothes! But I can't right now because I'm saving forrrrrr PARIS!! :D this trip is coming up on the 25th of November; the American thanksgiving, and I am traveling with Stephanie who is American as well! So were goin to have a little celebration in our hotel room. We planned for his trip for weeks and it really paid off. Bus ticket to Paris - 20€ hotel room in Paris - 110€ so in American that's about $150.00! I can't wait. Paris has been my dream, well.. One of them for a very long time. I really hope it is everything I think it will be. After that Christmas will be coming up soon! Its going to be so weird to be away from my family for the holidays : ( it's gonna be hard but I figure people do it all the time, so I can do it. And I'll be home for Christmas next year! Christmas 2011!! Woot woooottt! Haha oi vey.

Recently I went to Belgium with Esther and the boys! The city is truly beautiful. With it's classic 17th century European architecture, it's sitting right on one of the biggest harbors in Europe! Rotterdam has the first. I love going to the harbors, seeing all the boats and you can smell the seafood places as soon as you step out of the car. It's almost like being at point loma, but 200x bigger hahah. We walked around Antwerp, went to a nice little Italian restaurant, and looked at all the stores! For people who love chocolate and beer I highly recommend Antwerp :) there are beautiful chocolate shops on almost every corner, and they have very nice pubs and restaurants all over. The cathedral in the centre of the city is probably the most beautiful I have seen since I've been here. It's the largest and most intricate of the churches and we actually went inside! It was really cool. I love stuff like that. I would like to go to Brugges next. It's the opposite of Antwerp; it's in the countryside and I heard it's so nice to visit. But I wanna go when it gets warmer out. Which at this rate seems to be never. Lol you can take the girl out of California but you can't take the California out of the girl :) I wish I could still wear my flip flops! Hahah I really need to start writing these more. I really have been finding myself having more and more things to write about but not enough time to do so. I read something the other day that was written by Ernest Hemingway and it said " I find writing to be very easy, you just sit at a type writer and bleed." which couldn't be more true. I've always loved English, literature and writing.. But maybe I should turn this into something more? Who knows. All I know is art school awaits me when I return home. California awaits. San Diego awaits!! I have 250 days left here :) I've decided I want to be home around my birthday. And that's what I want as my present. To be home with my family. The longer I'm here, the more anxious I am to start my life back home. The more I see, experience and learn.. The more I wanna go home and share with Jack and Hannah! Oh oh oh I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it :D apartment shopping. Starting college.. AGAIN! Lol ugh :) can't wait. Paris is 6 days away. So is thanksgiving! Christmas is 36 days. Then.. It's new years!! Lol


I can't believe it. I really don't even know where the past couple months went. It was like we didn't even have the month of October. We just had September, Halloween then November. Lol it seems like Saturdays were diminished in the process! I can never remember where those go! Lol like today is Saturday. I woke up and got ready, an left to come to the centruum. Went shopping because I had some extra cash. (for once) got some stuff I'm gonna need for Paris :) and now I'm sitting at the cafe in the v&d eating tomato soup and an iced cappuchino <3 it's lovely. I love having time for myself to just thinks and write an breathe and SLOW DOWN. It's like my refresher to get me ready for the rest of the week :) this week is going to e especially insane. I know I'm gonna be stressing about Paris unroll the moment we walk into our hotel room. Because I'm Gina Pauling. And my anxiety gets the best of me sometimes. Lol all the Christmas lights are put up in the town, and in the evening when it's all lit up it is so beautiful. It reminds me of how home is duringg this time. There's no Christmas tree selling on the sides of the road here though like there is in Murrieta. Well, none that I've seen. And I know I know thanksgiving hasn't even come around yet. But I'm used to having everything up so early! My thanksgiving was last night :) I spent two days preparing my favorite traditional "Pauling family thanksgiving" food for Ed, Es, and the kids. Sweet potato casserole, creamed cauliflower or.. Bloemkool! Corn, masked potatoes, cornbread stuffing, and instead of turkey, we had chickens :) try don't sell turkeys in the grocery stores. If I wanted one I would have had to go shoot it, take all the feathers off then.. Well.. Behead him. Lol which I was surprisingly informed that my Mexican mom ( Mamma Manzo) could have showed me how to do that?? Hahahah!! That's rad. Lol I could never do that. I'd catch him, end up making friends with him before I even had time to do the rest. Oh well :) haha oh! I got the coolest ring today. It's big and gold and tacky. It looks like a jaguar and has little diamonds in the eyes. Very 80's. My mom would hate it!! Hahah! But it's rad it actually looks like a snake. But it's suppose to be a cat. They have the coolest Jewelry! I love stuff like this. Alright lovies, my food is gone and I just got a wiff of Christmas trees from outside. I'm gonna go see what's going on. I love you guys, and I miss you terribly. Send me your addresses so I can send you postcards from Paris! Good morning Murrieta and San Diego! Good evening Breda :) tonight gonna be a long one <3Love,

Red light, Green light.

Hellooo! Okay in know i have been terrible and haven't updated thing in forever, but I think it's better to do it with a couple days between so I always have something to write about! Well I have two things to write about this week! LolOn Wednesday of this week I went out with a couple friends! We wet and met outside of the Australian pub, then went to another bar called the speeltuin, which I really like. It has good music and it's relaxing! We were there for a while.. But then they boys left and Ana and I went out. It was about 12: 30 am and we wound up at this Dance and bar place. I digg it; it was kinda small. With lots of blue purple and pink lights. Incredibly loud music and an incredible amount o people. Lol we had a few drinks and dance and talked with people. Pretty soon It was 2 am and this place was closing. Well on the way out we got invited to ANOTHER bar .. And what did we do? We went with these people! Hahah

This last bar was called he Walk About and it was fun. Different kind of music as the last place, and
completely different atmosphere. But hey, beer is two euros and they come all night! Pretty soon 3 am rolled around and it was lookin like a good time to go home. Ana and I said good bye to our new friends and went to go get our bikes only to find my bike had been locked to about 50 other bicycles?! It's almost 4 am. I'm sitting in front of a church in the middle of town, with some Spanish kid who wouldn't leave our side, and my bike was stuck chillin with the Jesus at the church. And it was starting to rain. SOOOO... Ana has an idea to go to the police station, good idea right? Felt that it's 10 blocks away and I'm bikeless /: so i get on the back of our Spanish friends bike and follow Ana to the police station. We get there and I was completely relieved to. See that there were officers inside and the lights were on! I run to the door, ring the buzzer, try and use the speaker box and I was stoked we were gonna get my bike back. So, a few minutes go by and we realize hose officers aren't gonna be coming to help me. Estupid Dutch politie?! So plan C was to go to Ana's house, borrow her roommate's bike and head home! Which we did, and the next day we made an adventure out of getting my bike back :)))) I missed it?! But I was too tired to care at 5am /: 

 Today being Saturday, I went to Amsterdam for the first time :) I met up with my friend Stephanie who is also an Au pair, but in a town called Enkhuizen! It was awesome to meet her. I have a feeling were gonna be going on a lot more trips :)) we had to much fun. We started off our day at the Anne Frank house which was really cool. You're not supposed to take pictures but we managed to sneak a few in ;) lol it was really interesting to see the house because we learned about It in school and to actually be there in her room where her diary was written and her family was hiding. It gave me goosebumps. They had the actual journal on display! So cool. Then next we went across town a bit and got a latte then proceeded to the Van Gogh museum which seemed to take forever and a half to get to. Seriously we must have walked MILES today! The museum was nice and had all the original Van Gogh pieces on display, and they had a really nice gift shop :) I picked up a few more postcards. After that it started to rain so Steph and I took a tram back to the centre of town. We wanted to look around at the shops more and see what other kinda crazy stuff they had. We went to H &M and shopped and then.. That's when the fun started hahah Steph's birthday was on Thursday :) so, we had to go have a celebratory birthday drink! Yay! Birthday drinks!

Lol we found this little sports pub and watched a soccer match had a few drinks, hen a few more and hen the best effing fish and chips i have ever eaten. Omg so good. Also, Jeager shots were a dollar! ( Psstt .. Mom! I got you a few cool ass shot glasses!) lol from there we explored the rest of the city! It's really beautiful at
night especially when it's all lit up. We made our way to the red lift district somehow.. That was something else. Ya know it really is true about the girls in the windows! Some are just models they just stand
here and talk on the phones but INSIDE are the girls who work there.You don't get to see those ones. There's hundreds of these shops and plenty of tourists who are very excited to see the girls. We walked around some more took more. Prostitution is completely legal here in Holland. I don't know about other Europeas countries but here it is an actual occupation! The government taxes it and everything. Lol Grossss.

pictures talked to more people and then we went to the Amsterdam Centraal train station :) got our coffee, said our good byes and went to our platforms :) which leads me to where I am now. Sitting on a train on my way back home <3 It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad i met Steph and every other one of the friends i have made since I've been here. And i'm glad they are with me to enjoy all the things Europe has to offer. I was informed today that I'm going to Paris with Stephanie in November! After her year of Au pairing is up she won't be coming home to north Carolina but she will be staying in Europe or going to Canada. November is orientation for a school she is interested in and she asked me to go with her :) I couldn't pass that up! Especially not with her. So get ready Paris, I'm coming! ;) I'll write more tomorrow! It's gonna be a stay home and snuggle day Due to today's festivities! I believe I am meeting Meghan for an Irish breakfast though :) good night Breda! Good morning California! I miss and love you guys!
Skype me Gina.M.Pauling

Going Dutch!

Hellooooo! So i am sitting in the living room right now, the house is empty and quiet. The babies are asleep and Eduard and Yasmine are at a birthday party for one of Yas' friends. I got to watching Iron Man 2 which is strange because i never watch movies! The past few days since Esther has been been gone has been crazy! But good! We managed very well around here, but you can tell the babies miss her! She went to lunch with my mom and my Dama the other day! I was really excited that they got to meet up. Well i went out on Wednesday to this Australian pub to meet up with a few friends, and i met a few new people! A few girls who just so happen to be Au Pairs in Breda! One girl's name is Sabrina and she is from Brazil, the other girl is Meghan, and she is from Canada! She has been here about 3 months and Sabrina's will be going back home to Brazil in February! We went out to this little bar called the Speeltuin afterwards, they had really good music! We got drinks, and talked and it was overall a really really good night :) I was go glad i met someone from my Continent! It was wonderful to hear English English for once, and everyone else is great.

It is 2:44 pm here right now, and Richard.. who is Esther's sister's husband (He is from America also, he is from North Carolina) Came by and dropped of Lennard so i am watching the movie with him :) He's quite funny, and he doesn't really even try to be hahah he just has this quirk about him; The way he walks, the way he moves.. He's like 5 but he's cool hahah! He makes me laugh, and he only knows dutch and i don't know any dutch but a few words, so the language barrier is lame. But he gets it. I feel like an air traffic controller because i have to use hand signals so much! hahah running back and forth trying to ask him if he's hungry. It's quite the sight. Merlijn is awake now as well, and i had to change Iron man and put on Dora the Explorer.... Yay. Dora in Holland speaks in dutch and SOMETIMES in English, but Dora in America, speaks in English, and SOMETIMES in Spanish so it's funny.. Its good to watch because i am learning dutch words! It's just kinda sad to see an almost 20 year old watching a show that the 3 year olds are watching /: The mail man just came here, and i got 2 LETTERS TODAY?! YAY! :)) I loveeeee getting hand written letters, Probably more than messages on skype. they are more personal, and i really enjoy writing back. Today's letters were from Dama And Mimi! Thank you for the cards guys! I love them. They make me soo happy. Mimi said she sent me a "care package" and it should be here sometime this week! I can't wait :) lol I haven't gotten a package yet so this is exciting for me! Eduard just arrived home from the store. Yas won't be home until later. Lennard has SOOO MUCH TO SAY! and he talks to me any chance he gets, but.. i don't know what he's saying because he only speaks dutch. So, it's like i have to smile and nod! and be like Yeaaaa! woo lets go play! :D hahah and everything is cool.

Yesterday we went to the market that they have in the city on Fridays. It's like an American farmers market! It's nice. Friday they have a little one, and on Saturday's they have the biiiggg one! Before we went to the market, we went to the circus! As weird as that sounds. I don't like circus' I've decided. We didn't go see the show, because than you had to pay like $15 a person. Lame, so we went and you get to go walk around and see all the animals and pet them! It was fun, the babies LOVED it. Merlijn's favorite animal is a horse, or a "Paard"" and they had all the "LEGENDARY DUTCH HORSES" lol Not really as exciting as i thought they would be but the kids were stoked! There were camels, and monkeys, a giraffe, tigers and cows. Some Zebras, some dogs.. annnd elephants :) Those are my favorites. and we got to go see them. It makes me sad because of how they treat them. You know they aren't happy /: They looked sad. and they like any attention from anyone. Not to mention they are probably freezing their banana's off!! Lol After the circus came the farmers market! We went and walked around and got Hot fresh stroopwafels. and for those of you who don't know what they are.. You need to find out. I could eat them till the cows come home. We walked and looked at all the clothes they sell, and fabrics. Then the bread, produce, and seafood part! That was my favorite.

Since i've been cooking a lot i got excited! I was like hmm i wonder what i can get to make for this week! Some old man got caught trying to take some bread, he was trying to eat it right in front of the guy hahah It reminded me of Aladdin? We got something called Lekkerebeks. Which is fish and chips without the chips part. They were SO good. Lol Fresh and just made right in front of us! I was diggin it. Then came home and was chillin for the rest of the night :) I can't wait to write Mimi and Dama back! I'm excited. I'm gonna go get some stationary this week hopefully, and be able to write everyone in nice paper, instead of the stuff I've been using.. Which is like pages of my sketchbook, annddd anything else i can find lol i'm tired of not writing on Lined paper?! It's driving me craazzzyyyy. The rain has been pretty bad today. The past few days have been sooo beautiful. The weather has been gorgeous, and sunny and clear skies and ughh. I've been loving it. I actually got some color :) It was nice. Eduard, Yasmine, Merlijn, Morris and muself all went to the beach! I was so excited, we had to drive through Den Haag to get there and i got to see the city. It was nice! Lots of different people there, and it had a new vibe. I liked it. We went to Scheveningen which i learned was one of the most famous beaches in Holland, and it was very nice.

The water there is from the North Sea, which surrounds the UK and Ireland. It was the coldest water i have ever felt. Did that stop me from walking around in it? Nope. haha It was nice. The beaches are nothing like California beaches. The water is colder, the sand is more like dirt and sand, i can't really explain it. And there are many many many shells and rocks on the shore because the waters are so stormy. I thought it was cool! We went to this little place for lunch, and i had my first burger here in Europe, and everyone was right! The beef does taste different! They don't shoot their cows up with hormones like we do in the states. Surprisingly it kinda tasted like ham? Hence hamburger maybe? Idk. But it was really good!

I'm cooking tonight, i think I'm gonna make taquitos ;) mmmmm! So bomb lol And Spanish rice anddd guacamole! So excited :) Anyhoo. I'm gonna leave to go to the bakery! Gotta go get some bread and shtuffs. Have a good day everyone! <3

P.S... Also, you guys need to listen to Moss! Do it Do it Do it! -----------------------------------------------------> MOSS' Myspace Music page! <3 Check em out! And the new pictures i posted on facebook!

XOXOGINA 

FINNAALLLYYY!

Hello! Good morning Murrieta :) I know i haven't written one of these in a few days and i'm sorry! But there has been a lot going on! lol Esther left for California this morning, so Eduard and i are home for the week with the kids. I'm a little jealous of her i'm not gonna lie. It's almost 3 pm here right now so everyone in the 951 should be just waking up! The past few days have been cool! Wendnesday night, i went out for the first time! I went and met a few friends as t'hart van Breda! Which is a little bar in town! I hadn't ever met them before and it was really nice. There was a girl who is an Au Pair here in Breda, but she is from Colombia! And i met a girl from Equador, one from Polland, and a few from France. I got together with them because of a guy that i met here in Breda who invited me out, and i'm very glad he did. They were all wonderful, and it was awesome to go meet people in this town! We sat and talked and had drinks, then we left! Simple, easy fun night. 

I get halfway home, and i'm on my bike mind you.. And what happens? It starts raining. I am a southern California girl. Riding a bike in the middle of the night, up a hill in the dumping rain.. In my flip flops. and i still had a few km's to go?! I was like omg!! But then realized that it was kinda cool. hahah i was laughing to myself because a year ago, i would have never seen myself in that position! But i had a lovely evening, and i am supposed to go out with them again this Wednesday! This past weekend there was this music festival taking place in the park; Breda Brast 2010. I went on saturday and checked it out for a while, it was nice! Lot's of people, lots of music, lots of beer. lol There was this one band that i heard from the other side of the park and i HAD to go listen to them. They are a Dutch band, but they sing in English and they are really good! I think their name was Moss? SOO GOOD. Check em out ! ------------------------------->>>>  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL9DW0LMHzM :) So yesterday was cool! There were some American Bands there, like Dog eat Dog, who i don't really have a strong appreciation for /: But i got to walk around town, and take pictures and talk to people and it was a nice day. Then it got cold, and i was tired after like 5hours of walking around so i went home.

It was cool. The weather here has been pretty nice! Cept one day this week it rained like hell and i didn't leave the house for the entire day! Ugh it was bad. But i'm in Holland. What should i expect? hahah It's been sunny and a little chilly but i'm loving every minute of warmth that comes from the sky. I try and take in as much sun as i can, cuz in a few months i know i won't be able to find any which is gonna suck /: I've been drawing a lot more, which i good i guess. I feel rusty.. if that's possible. Like i've forgotten how my brain was supposed to draw certain things so im gonna need to work on that a lot more. I got a sketch book, but i want my mom to send my old one here so i can use that. I don't really need it though.. New town, new place, new book. Yea NVM Mom don't send it. I'm gonna fill this one up :) It's gonna be rad. Being here is making me think a lot more! About everything in general. It feels wonderful to clear my mind of stupid things, and to be able to breathe, and get my thoughts straight. I want to go to Art School when i get home. I know that for surely now. There are many wonderful schools here in Europe but every day i'm here makes me miss San Diego that much more. I have downtown as my wallpaper, and i see it as like.. a goal for me. I had a conversation with my cousin yesterday about goals, and putting your mind to something and that's mine. I want to go to school for something I want. That i feel passionate about, and that i'm good at. I don't want to go for something thats going to make me money that i'm gonna hate doing. If you like your work, it doesn't seem like work at all.. And i want to go get my degree, and start my life. Make my own money. Live on my own. and .. LIVE. Like i've always planned. The graffiti here makes me want to draw that much more. Everything is so colorful and beautiful! It's almost inspiring.

 Too bad i cant do graffiti to save my life! Lol i'm terrible at lettering /: Something to practice i guess :) I have some canvas' here and i need to figure out something to paint on them. Esther wants them in the house, so it has to be something that can go with the modern look of this place and at the same time be something rad. But i'm not a modern artist /: Agghh. I made dinner tonight, and the other night! I made them all Quesadillas, spanish rice, and guacamole and they were ecstatic. Apparently quesadillas are really expensive here... which is stupid as hell because its cheese and a tortilla! Lol Tonight i made garlic bread and angel hair with a basic red sauce. I've been cooking a lot since i've been here :) it's nice! I'm diggin it. I wanna try some of the restaurants around here. There are a few that look prime time, and i have a hankering for sea food. OMG. Linguini and clams, or real fish and chips.. I'd kill for some right now /: lol Anyway, it's like 9:15 at night here, ( i know i started writing earlier and i had to go) so i'm gonna get ready for bed, and try and get a hold of my mamma on skype! Skype me :) Gina.M.Pauling! I'll be posting more soon! Good night!

XOXOGINA

Dancing Nancies & Tripping Billies

Good Morning Murrieta and the rest of Southern California! Okay so my day started out early! i was up at 7, and got the boys and Yas ready for school! I rode on bike with Yasmine to go drop her off at school, came home showered got my stuff together read did some things around the house. I was home alone for a few hours so i had to find stuff to do. I went on a bike ride down the road to go see my cow:) She's so fricken cute. Anyway, it was nice today but just like any other day in Holland, the wind was killer. I swear it's constantly trying to make my life harder.. It'ts not a light breeze ..It's not like Murrieta, where the wind is blocked  by the mountains , hills and other things. Here? The land is F.L.A.T... Entirely. So the wind blows and it feels like a hurricane. It always seems to be blowing against me as well. Which is unfortunate. Especially when the road you need to take had the only incline for miles. So i'm going uphill, with forces pushing against me.. Ugh Spin class doesnt prepare you for this. (( TURN UP THE FANS ALANA?! Make em work!! )) Lol! So i spent some time at home and around the neighborhood  for a little then it was time to go meet Yas again so we could ride home, and what do you know.. I get to Yas's school, and i was waiting for her to get out, and i noticed my bike tires were flat... BOTH OF THEM. Why does this happen to me? That morning, and that afternoon they were perfect. So i'm thinking something had to have happened on the way to her school. Or maybe it's just because the bike is about 30 years old?

Idk. the tires looked dry rotted anyway.. But that's a  bummer for sure. I hope they were just flat and something wasn't seriously wrong /: That's my means of transportation. And i'd be sad if i couldn't use it anymore :( Bikes are exppeennssiivvee here. Yas's bike was about 600.00 euros. Which is almost $700 american dollars. But.. that would be pointless for me to buy a new bike! I'm only going to be here for a year, and if i get one what am i gonna do? Have it shipped over when i go home? Probably not. Lol It's hard enough for me to try and have anything else shipped over! Speaking of which, i bought a bunch of postcards and such that are gonna be sent out this week sometime. I need to A. Find the post office, and B. Collece the rest of your addresses! Lol So if you're reading this, take the time once your done to facebook me your address! I only know Mine, and Dama's! So DO IT!

So i was speaking with Eduard today about going to Amsterdam soon! I also have a few friends living in Amsterdam, or in the surrounding areas! so i'm going to have to learn that area sooner or later. I think we might be going soon which is going to be cool! Rotterdam was beautiful, and modern. Amsterdam is supposed to be more busy, fun and with all of the original buildings! So a lot of history will be there and i'm stoked to go explore. I am very excited about getting in contact with Stephanie! (The American Girl living in Enkhuizen) And wednesday night i get to go out with a few friends from here! So i cannot wait. Aghh! The boys are getting more and more comfortable with me as the days go on. I can see. Now, whenever Merlijn hears my name he gets excited and immediately starts looking for me. And when he comes home from the store, or from school he runs to me and has the biggest smile on his face so that's good! I was worried for a little bit :) And Morris is just the sweetest baby ever. I am in love with that boy. I do however, miss Jack and Hannah terrible :( I see things and hear things every day that remind me of them, and it makes me sad to think about. Even now! But i recieved a message on facebook from Hannah a little earlier telling me that she misses me and that made me happy :) I have already been here for 12 days and it does not feel that way at all. So i'm liking how fast time is going, i know when it comes time to go home, that i will not like it /: It's going to be like leaving home all over again. I'm going to be sad, but this is just another chapter in my life. I'm already planning my next trip! Lol I want to go to Canada and Alaska once i get home. Anyone interested? ;) Lets make it a road trip! lol Anyway, i made brownies today s oi'm going to go have some! Hahah have a good day everyone! Love and miss you all!

 XOXOGINA

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