Beach Volleyball

     On December 30^th, I went to Göteborg to play beach volleyball. Göteborg is the second biggest city in Sweden. I went with my teammate, Selma, and 2 other boys. Of course, it was indoor beach volleyball since we are in Sweden! The facility was awesome though. There were 9 indoor beach courts. There were very bright lights that made it feel like we were out in sun. All of the walls were covered with pictures of the beach. There was music playing, but you could also hear sounds of waves and birds. It really heightened my spirits playing there because I truly felt like I was back playing beach volleyball in the summer. Even though, I didn’t win until our last round (of 6 games!), I still had a great time! It was a lot of fun, and I hope to make it back there before I leave Sweden.

Dec. 27- Paris Day 2

     We awoke our second morning in Paris to find it very foggy. It was foggy the previous morning when we all had arrived, but the day cleared out to be very nice. We would not have such luck today.

     We grabbed some quick breakfast to eat on the train into the city. I think I got the world’s smallest coffee!

We went straight to the Eiffel Tower to try to go up it today.

     It was still quite foggy so we decided to go on to Versailles and hope that the sky would clear up as the day went on. The line to get into Versailles was extremely long! Also there were two very long lines. First, you had to get in line to buy tickets. Then, you had to get in a long line to get into Versailles.

     We decided to split up. Mike’s parents got in the ticket line while the rest of us got in the other line. It worked out perfectly; although, we were still only half way through our line when they rejoined us! The paintings and everything were just incredible. There really aren’t any words to describe how beautiful the palace is. I don’t think my pictures even come close to giving it the proper credit, but here is my attempt!

It was so foggy that we didn't walk around the grounds, but they are huge!

He is a math guy!

Even the doors are cool.

The ceilings are all absolutely amazing.

Hall of Mirrors.

The kids in the Hall of Mirrors.

     We grabbed some lunch again before hopping on the train. This became a very common occurrence. Mike and I got McDonald’s! I was excited because they had this awesome Easy Order station.

You need a credit card with a chip in it. I was so proud that my Swedish card has a chip so we could use it! We placed our order with no problems. I was so excited because we got to skip all the long lines. Within a minute after ordering, we saw the girl start putting our food in a bag. She got our drinks and one burger, but then she took all of it back. I asked and she said that my card didn’t work! I was so upset! So we ended up having to wait in the lines anyways.

     We were then on our way to the Louvre. We found out on our way that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays! We were disappointed, but we decided that it is still worth it just to go and see the buildings.

     We headed on to the Arc de Triomphe. It is a monument in remembrance of those who fought in the French Revolutionary war. It is in the center of the biggest round a bout I have ever seen. I think it was like 5 lines wide! We did not chance it to get out there, but I was amazed how many people were standing under it. I have no clue how they got out there through all the lanes of busy traffic.

     We grabbed some sandwiches and pizza for dinner so we could make it to the Eiffel Tower on the hour for the sparkling! It is kind of like a seizure Eiffel Tower, but it was definitely worth seeing. I think I was expecting something more like the Christmas lights that go along with the music, but instead it just twinkles.

     It was still very foggy out, but we decided that we would still try going up in the Eiffel Tower. I was excited when we bought our tickets because I was still considered a child! Ok, it was called ‘young’, but still I was excited.

     We didn’t go all the way to the top, but the second story was plenty high enough for me! Have I told you that I am terrified of heights? The elevator ride up was so scary. I did brave it out though and stood at the edge. There was caging that goes all the way up and over your head, but I was still very scared. I couldn’t get very good pictures because it was so foggy and dark, but I am very happy that we still went up in it. It was really cool!

     This next part was one of my favorite parts of the day! We went back to the train station to head back to our hotel. We had to wait a little bit for a train that was heading to where we needed to go. We noticed that there was another train a minute after this first one that was going to the same place. We also noticed it last night when we were going back. The train we took the night before had stopped at every stop. We asked some people if they knew if the second one made all the stops as well. No one knew the answer. We decided to chance it and wait for the second train! There is a board that lights up for the next train and shows all the stops that it is making. All seven of us were standing around the board crossing our fingers for an express train and saying com’on com’on! As soon as the board lite up we all started cheering like we won the lottery! We were all so excited! I wish I could have gotten a video of all of us waiting and celebrating. It would have been great.

     We took our express train back to the hotel. Mike’s sisters and grandma headed to bed. Mike, his parents, and I went to the hotel bar to have a beer. It was a great end to the trip with them, just sitting around talking and having a drink! I am so happy that it ended up working out for me to see the Milligan family. I really can’t explain how happy it made me to spend time with great friends from home!

     The following morning, they headed on to Venice, Italy. I was heading back to Sweden. I had such an amazing trip in Holland and France. I could have definitely had a longer vacation, but I was definitely refreshed and ready for the second half of my stay in Sweden!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me during this trip!!!

Dec. 26- Paris

     My train from Amsterdam to Paris left at 6:16 in the morning. I almost totally screwed it all up! When Thijs asked me if my train left from Schiphol (the airport train station), I told him yes when in reality it was leaving from Amsterdam Centraal. I mistakenly had it in my head that I was leaving from the airport because I was arriving at the airport train station in Paris! I didn’t realize my mistake until midnight. Thijs was already in bed, but I apologetically woke him up and explained the situation. We were supposed to be leaving at 5:15 so that we could make the 30-minute drive to the train station without any problems. Thijs doesn’t know how to drive to the Amsterdam Centraal station, and neither does Suzanne. It is a difficult train station to get to by car. Suzanne started looking up my different options. The only option that would work was this… I woke up at 4:15. Thijs and I left his apartment in Maarssen at 4:30 to make the 15-minute drive to Utrecht Centraal train station. I took a train leaving at 5:07 from Utrecht Centraal arriving at Amsterdam Centraal at 5:42. So I had less than 4 hours of ‘sleep’. I was too stressed out to truly sleep. It was the kind where I was kind of asleep, but I was still conscious of my surroundings the whole time. Everything ended up working out just right with my trains in the morning. I even got bumped up to 1^st class on my train from Utrecht to Amsterdam. Without any problems, I boarded my high-speed train from Amsterdam to Brussels. I thought the high-speed train was going to be a lot faster than it actually was, but I also realized that in my head I was imagining it to be like the Hogwarts Express or the Polar Express! Reality did not live up to it. Once again, I changed trains in Brussels without any problems. I feel like a professional train rider now with all the different trains I have taken in the past week.

     When I arrived in Paris, I texted Mike’s dad to see if they had landed yet. I didn’t get a response so I just headed towards the hotel thinking that I would just wait in the lobby for them. As I was walking up to the hotel, I could see through the windows and see a group of people all waving! It instantly brought tears to my eyes as it does again now thinking about it. I was so happy to see Mike and his family. Last year, I basically lived at Mike’s apartment. I became their 5^th roommate since I was there at least 3 nights a week. I can’t really tell you in words how great it was to see one of my best friends again! After I hugged everyone, Mike’s mom gave me a Christmas present from someone that she was supposed to give me as soon as she saw me. I still can’t tell you what it was, but it was the best Christmas present I have ever gotten! I really started crying when I opened it. I will tell you soon what it was! :)

     We took our bags up to our room before heading into the city. We were staying at a hotel at the airport so it was about a 30-minute train ride into the city. Mike was disappointed that we weren’t staying at the Hilton in Paris. Get it?! haha I was in charge of making sure we got on the right trains during the trip. We bought our two-day train passes and boarded the train. As we stepped outside from the train station, this was what I immediately saw!

     I officially knew I was in Paris! There was a free English tour of Notre Dame at 14:00 so we decided to walk around the city until then. We saw some amazing architecture and churches with beautiful stained glass windows.

We headed back to Notre Dame.

We were a little early so we sat on a bench. It was amazing because I could have gotten a tan sitting there. I hadn’t felt the sun that strong on my skin since I left America. I had kind of forgotten about the sun and feeling the heat of it. We headed inside the cathedral.

We walked around on our own before the tour started. There was only one little lady and probably 40-50 people wanting to hear her speak. It was such a large group that we couldn’t walk around the cathedral so we had to sit in some chairs. It was very difficult to hear her speak. Mike and I were both trying really hard to listen and learn about Notre Dame. Everyone else fell asleep! I wish I could have gotten a picture of Mike’s grandmother, parents, and two sisters all sleeping. It would have been great. After they all woke up, we decided to leave the talk early. We tried to go up into the towers of the cathedral, but the line was too long. We decided to move on to the Eiffel Tower!

     We took another train (something that we did often in Paris as well). Once again, the sight that I saw stepping above ground from getting off the train blew me away.

After walking two blocks further, I was speechless.

I knew the Eiffel Tower was big, but I was completely shocked at the sight of it. It was absolutely amazing! I think everyone should see the Eiffel Tower at some point in their life. I cannot even put into words what an amazing site it is! The line was very long here to go up in the tower so we decided to wait to go up in it. We walked around by the Eiffel Tower and through a street fair. The Milligan clan were all very tired from the flight and time change, even more tired than I was from less than 4 hours of sleep!

     We decided to find some quick dinner before heading back to the hotel. We found a nice little café that had hamburgers. I was the odd ball out who did not order a hamburger. One meal on the menu was andouillette sausage with roasted potatoes. I have had andouille cajun sausage before, and I love it. I figured that it would be something similar to that. When I ordered it, the waiter asked me “do you know what it is?” I told him I didn’t know but it’s ok. He responded with telling me that it was a very French tradition and that it was all different parts of the pig while he pointed all over his body. Again, I told him it would be all right I would eat it! It was rather interesting. I ate most of it. It wasn’t the worst thing I have had, but I don’t think I will ever eat it again. After later research, I have found out that it is pig colon and small intestine!

The best site I found about andouillette is a blog entitled “Things That Stink”. Here is the link to read the quite funny take on andouillette: http://unclestinky.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/andouillette-french-pig-colon-sausage/.

We were back to the hotel by 19:30. We all slept very well after our previous day’s travels.

Dec. 25- Christmas

     I was awoken Christmas morning by Arjen’s 9-year old daughter, Marit. She and her twin brother, Cryn, were too excited to wait any longer because they had presents under the Christmas tree. They each had two presents, a book and reflectors for their bike spokes. I can’t imagine how excited they would be if they saw all the presents under a typical American Christmas tree. Children in Holland mostly get presents on December 5^th from Sinterklaas, but it is starting to change that they get presents on Christmas too. It is nowhere close to like in America though! I got karamelstroopwafels, koekreep (ginger bread), wall decals, Anouk cd, and chocolate from Holland.

     It is also a Dutch tradition that you write a poem about the person that you are giving the gift to! Here is the poem that went along with my gift:

Dear Jo,

Celebrating Xmas this year far away from your own bed….

Hopefully it doesn’t make you too sad. You know, you’re more than welcome here in Tiel, so maybe it gives you a kind of “home feel.” The presents this year are typically Dutch, okay we have to agree it’s not that much. Dutch chocolate, caramelwaffles, and gingerbread. I hope you never ever had that… You’ve heard of this Dutch singer before, maybe you like her latest release even more.

For 2012 we wish you lots of luck and all the best, great vball, good friends, health, and all the rest.

Hope we’ll meet again in 2012,

Arjen, Alletta, Marit, & Cryn

     After presents, Alletta, the kids, and myself went to church. Arjen stayed home on account that he had pneumonia. Alletta was doing the children’s church so I sat by myself for the service. As I sat there not understanding anything, I wished that I had brought my Bible with me so that I could have read Luke 2. I did recognize some of the same tunes of Christmas songs that we sing at home such as Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Hark the Herald Angel Sings, and Angels We Have Heard on High.

     We returned home for lunch. There were little breads shaped like mushrooms that we cut out the stump part to make it into a little tiny bread bowl. There was mushroom soup/gravy to go with it. We listened to Christmas music all afternoon. It amazed that Marit was able to sing along to all of the English songs, but yet she does not know English. I guess it’s equivalent to me singing Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli! I don’t think Cryn completely understood that I didn’t speak Dutch. He knew that I only spoke English, but he kept trying to talk to me still. This happens with kids in Sweden too, but at least I can tell them “jag prata engelska” (I speak English) or “jag vet inte” (I don’t know). I don’t know either of those phrases in Dutch so I was just stuck raising my hands and shoulders in the ‘huh’ look. It did make me feel good though that he continued to try to talk to me after failing over and over again.

     Arjen took me to the train station in Tiel so that I could go to Utrecht where Thijs would pick me up. I am mad at myself that during the whole time I was with Arjen, I never took a picture of the two of us. I didn’t take one with Thijs either! I guess that just means I definitely need to go back, and I will. I hung out at Thijs’ place for a while talking with him and his girlfriend, Suzanne, before we went to Suzanne’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner. We ate some delicious appetizers of garlic mushrooms, truffle cheese, salami, and smoked fish with salad. After the appetizers, I was able to go into the computer room to Skype with my family. :) It was so nice to get to talk to my parents and my brother. It didn’t completely feel like Christmas for me since I wasn’t home, but being able to see them made the day a ton better! I joined everyone else again just in time for the main course. We had pork with mashed potatoes, different veggies with bacon, and pears cooked in wine (Dutch tradition). For dessert, we had an amazing homemade cheesecake with berries on top! Yummm! I am so appreciative of Suzanne and her family for allowing me to join their family Christmas. It was she and Thijs, her parents, and her sister, husband, and child, and a random American. We had some great discussions though about the differences between Europe and American, the different stereotypes that we have of each other, and funny different things about our cultures. For example, it is still today considered rude to show up at someone’s house close to dinnertime because it is like you are inviting yourself to stay for dinner even if you are just dropping something off. I really enjoyed talking with them and again so thankful that they graciously welcomed me to join their family Christmas!

      I was able to Skype one more time with my family that evening before I went to bed. This time I also got to see my aunt, uncle, cousins, other extended family, and my nephew, Noah. It was definitely not a typical Christmas for me, but nonetheless, it was a great day!