The Netherlands & My hometown

Before I start with this blog post, I want to let you know that I've got some more details about my placement! I finally heard in which state I'm going to live. But since it's not certain yet I won't tell anything about the exact place. I can only say that the state is located in the south of the USA. When I have more information I'll definitely tell it on my blog.

Especially for my foreign readers, I decided to tell something about my home country and the town where I live! I found some fun facts on a website called awesomeamsterdam.com and I think they are perfectly right, so I wanted to share them with you. These facts are all about the Netherlands and as a Dutchie myself I can say they are all true.

Beautiful Amsterdam, I love this city!

EF Workshop day

Yesterday EF organized a day especially for exchange students who are leaving this summer to the USA, Great Britain or Ireland! It was amazing to meet the other exchange students and everyone was really nice :)
The day took place at the EF office in Amsterdam, where we got workshops about Social Media for example. We also did some fun team building activities and we got a quiz with all kind of questions about our exchange year.
We got a lot of information about the customs of our host countries, what to do and what not to do during our year, cultural differences and so on. And let's just don't forget about our awesome CLASS OF '16 t-shirts!
After the workshop we had dinner in the centre of Amsterdam with a small group of exchange students which was delicious and a lot of fun.
This day made me look forward to my exchange year even more, only 3 months to go!

American Bucket List

There are a few things (almost) every exchange student wants to do, especially when they are going to the USA. And those are also the things I’m looking forward to for my exchange year. I decided to make a bucket list with things I’d love to do next year. Enjoy reading!

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Dress up for halloween
Here in the Netherlands we don’t really celebrate Halloween. Okay, there might be some Halloween movies on the television and maybe some Halloween themed parties, but it’s not celebrated as big as in the USA. We don’t decorate our houses or do ‘Trick and Treat’. So that’s something I’d love to do next year: I definitely want to dress up in some weird costume and see all those decorated houses.

Go to prom
In my opinion this is the ultimate exchange thing, haha :) In the Netherlands the school parties aren’t a big thing, at least not at my school. But in the USA prom is a really big thing, and weeks before girls are already looking for the perfect dress. I would normally never wear those, but for an occasion like that it’s really nice. When I see the beautiful pictures of current exchange students I can’t wait to experience prom myself.

The States #2

So, as promised the next post with 10 new states! Click here to read the first post where I tell you something about the states Alabama until Georgia. In each post I'll describe 10 states because I'd like to know something more about them. There's much to tell about each state so there must be some important things I don't mention. Just leave a comment if you can add something interesting!
And no, I still don't know where I'm going next year! But there's a big chance I'll hear it soon, so stay tuned :)

Tips for future exchange students #1: The application

As an exchange student myself I wanted to give you some tips, especially if you're thinking about being an exchange student too! I can't tell you how it'll be yet because I've not even left haha. But until now everything I heard about the High School Exchange Year is really positive so I can only recommend it. And since I've already been through the whole process of making this decision and finishing my application I thought it would be nice to give you some tips about that part.

TAG: Get to know me better

Because many of you liked my previous tag, the Travel TAG, I decided to fill in another tag. I picked some questions from already existing tags and made my own of it! It includes many random questions, so be prepared :) I hope you'll like to read it and to get to know me better.
Feel free to use the questions too if you like. Let me know because I'd love to read your answers.

With my sisss

Do you have siblings?

Yes, I have one sister called Nina! She is 15 and one of my best friends. We have the same interests and we almost never argue. I'm gonna miss her so much next year!

What eye color do you have?

Green. My parents and sister have blue eyes so I don't know how I ended up with this color hahaha.

What are your favorite clothes stores?

My favorite one is H&M I think, because I can always find something nice there. I also like Pull & Bear and Bershka!

The States #1

Hi everyone,
Because I'm still waiting to know the state I'm going to live in next year, I decided to make some blogposts about the different American states. In each post I will describe ten states. I don't know if I'll do all the states, because at that time I'll probably already have my host family and have other things to write about.
There's much to tell about each state so there must be some important things that I don't mention. Just leave a comment if you can add something interesting! Enjoy reading :)

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Q & A

Hi everyone,
I thought it would be a nice idea to answer some short questions about me and the expectations of my exchange year. If you have any other questions you'd like to ask me, leave a comment so I can answer them in my next post!

I can't wait for this moment!

What's the organization you're traveling with?
EF! Until now, I'm quite happy with them. At the beginning, there wasn't much contact but now it's really better. They have this special social network for exchange students called 'My EF' where you can read everything about your exchange year and get in touch with other exchange students, which I really like!
If you're also interested in an High School Year, you can take a look at my Ambassador Page. There you can order a free brochure to learn more about an exchange year.

Do you already have a host family?
No, I'm still waiting for my state and host family. And I have to say, it's really nerve-racking because I'm thinking a lot about the coming year! It's hard to imagine how it'll be because I don't know where I'll stay and how my host family will look like.
But I understand that it takes time to find a good host family. That's because many host family's wait until their kids go to college or their current exchange student leaves. So I just try to be patient even though I'm not really good at that, haha :)

Typical American things

Hi everyone,

In this post I want to tell you about some typical American things that are usually a lot different in Europe and the Netherlands. For the Americans this are just normal everyday things, but for me (and other exchange students) they are really special. I can't wait to experience all these things when I'll be living in the USA. I've only been to the USA once, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this are the most important things:

Travel TAG (been there, done that)

Hi everyone,
Because my exchange year has a lot to do with traveling, I decided to fill in the travel TAG that I translated from Dutch to English. One of the reasons I chose to go abroad is because I love seeing new places and experiencing different cultures. I'm lucky that my parents and school gave me the opportunity to already see some beautiful places in the world. But I like it just as much to travel in my own country, and I absolutely don't want to brag about the travels I made.

So, there we go!