"February in review" is what happens when you're a procrastinating blogger...

Time to play major catch up.. Beginning of the month began with a road trip with my friend Remon. If you've read my blogs before, then you know he's one of my CouchSurfing friends who I really enjoy spending time (he's the worlds best Netherlands tour guide and a fantastic photographer!) I met up with him at his apartment and with no real plans picked out for the day I recommended we flip a coin.. A few people know that is my method of choice when making decisions.. in fact, that was how I decided to move to Europe.. a British guy once told me, tails never fails, and it hasn't failed me yet. Our flip of the euro coin determined we were going to Northern Holland to take pictures and enjoy the day together. We jumped in the car and drove around an hour up to De Rijp where Remon's family originally lived.. walked around the canals, looking at the beautiful homes, and sitting down in a very intricate restaurant filled with antique instruments hanging from the ceiling and had a cup of tea. Then we were off to the fishing village of Enkhuizen which is a stunning location on the lake in Northern Holland.. I saw my first dyke which extends from one side of the lake to the other side, three men wearing wooden clogs (which I NEVER see) and a very cute dog in a scarf :) We walked around the center, taking pictures, and enjoying the day. Looking forward to other road trips around Holland.

Valentine's Day this year was eventful to say the least. We woke up early, went to my youngest, Jacob's girlfriend's house to drop off a dozen roses we had picked up the following weekend.. in the backseat sat Emma and Christiaan who had also brought along the video camera in sibling style. I am so thankful they did. Christiaan filmed as a very anxious and nervous Jacob ran to the front door with roses and a homemade card in hand- only to trip halfway to the door. He rang the doorbell, then we could see him hand her the roses- she was completely surprised he was at the house at 8am, and her mother ran into the living room and gave me the thumb ups sign from the window. He scored so many points! He stayed only a few minutes, running back to the car, smiling like a Cheshire cat, almost getting ran over by a biker, then jumping in the car bumping his head on the way in.. Young love at it's finest.  Even though they have been together four years, and they are only nine, this Valentine's gesture filled me with hope for men and of romance. I love, love, love the video that Christiaan filmed, and as a group in the car we decided that we would all be each others Valentines, so instead of just one- I had multiple Valentine's for the day..Following the overly sweet and hilarious morning, Kristian, a fellow au pair and myself went for lunch in Haarlem to the delicious cafe called Annie&Max's.. amazing sandwiches and tea/coffee. On the way to the restaurant, Kristian and I talked about my past Valentínes.. in 5th grade, a surprise bracelet and Tasmanian devil card in my desk from Skyler Olsen being my youngest memory, years of carnations and roses in between, and then Ben Northern with style, like a rose in a Bud Light bottle, or a small house fire with tea lights and mood music. I love that I was able to talk to him this year although we are miles and miles apart and laugh about all the past V-days we shared..  Although I believe Valentine's day to be a bit of a Halmark holiday, and the Dutch definitely aren't huge celebrators of the day(romance, what's that?) Kristian and I ended up in our favorite man cave, celebrating the typical way with a few drinks. Needless to say, even though I was miles away from home- I still had a great day with the people I care about whether currently in love or not. I will always be a romantic at heart. I'm in love with the idea of being in love.

My God. The weather is B-E-A-UUUTIFUL!

What a great mood the weather can put you in! Literally, I don't know if I ever believed in seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD-appropriate) until I moved to Holland.. Before I moved here I began taking high doses of Vitamin D for a deficiency.. My doctor recommended that I get sun, but since I'm a ginger, not too much sun, but I need the sun to help my deficiency- it was a complete roundabout. So am I suppose to get sun, or not, and definitely not from the tanning bed.. regardless, I thought I should have gone on a cruise- vacations help everyone with lack of sun and SAD. Instead I moved to Holland, which rains probably 300 out of 365 days in the year.. SAD does exist. 

 The Mayo Clinic defines SAD as being:

Seasonal affective disorder is a cyclic, seasonal condition. This means that signs and symptoms come back and go away at the same time every year. Usually, seasonal affective disorder symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer. Some people have the opposite pattern and become depressed with the onset of spring or summer. In either case, problems may start out mild and become more severe as the season progresses.

Fall and winter seasonal affective disorder (winter depression)Winter-onset seasonal affective disorder symptoms include: Depression, Hopelessness, Anxiety, Loss of energy,Social withdrawal,Oversleeping,Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed,Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates,Weight gain,Difficulty concentrating and processing information

Spring and summer seasonal affective disorder (summer depression)Summer-onset seasonal affective disorder symptoms include: Anxiety,Trouble sleeping (insomnia),Irritability,Agitation,Weight loss,Poor appetite,Increased sex drive

When to see a doctorIt's normal to have some days when you feel down. But if you feel down for days at a time and you can't seem to get motivated to do activities you normally enjoy, see your doctor. This is particularly important if you notice that your sleep patterns and appetite have changed or if you feel hopeless, think about suicide, or find yourself turning to alcohol for comfort or relaxation.

I think my favorite part of this diagnosis is under summer depression.. ha. See if you notice it too.. And should I be concerned that I find myself turning to alcohol for relaxation? Maybe I should see my doctor- along with the rest of the world. Regardless, I know personally when the weather is cold, rainy, dreary, damp, all of those disgusting things- than I usually feel dark and pissed off too. Weather like today has put me in a productive, energetic mood- I've cleaned, rearranged my room, did laundry, went shopping, grocery store all before 2:00pm, the music- MUMFORD and SONS, which is an absolutely amazing West London band...

Looking forward to heading out to Tapuit after my Nederlands lessons tonight to dance with the ever fabulous Marichen- She's the Spice to my Ginger so she says.. :)  

The Undutchables..

Lately, I've noticed I've been getting away from the concept at hand- as much as I want you all to know what I'm doing here in Holland whether it be venting or partying, I also want to tell you more about the country, things that still baffle me day to day, the dutch people.. etc. When I first arrived here, I had no idea what to expect as far as Dutch culture and the people were concerned- let's be serious, assuming that all dutch smoke pot, wear clogs and hang out at windmills is just ignorant- just like assuming that all Americans eat shit food, are overly loud, overly complimentary, and college parties are always topless and with kegs.. It's amazing the stereotypes that follow a culture from place to place.. After 5 months (TODAY) I can honestly say that I am as perplexed about the Dutch as I was the minute I walked off the plane.. Who are these people? My friend Kristian and I recently had a conversation about superiority. To my dutch friends: this is no way insulting any of you, you know I love you all- its to the random guys that I meet at bars who are arrogant, smug, and superior. But I think that is the life lesson that is instilled to the Dutch, they can be ANYTHING, they can do ANYTHING, they can go ANYWHERE.. For instance, on the T.V, the actors are mediocre at best- I see more gorgeous people walking down the street in a five minute span than any of the people on dutch shows or movies. The dutch are taught multiple languages- dutch fluently, mostly english fluently, german, french, latin, etc.. They are usually extremely active- hockey, football (soccer), rugby, etc. They are cultural- they go to Croatia, Greece and Spain on Spring Break.. One of my pet peeves is this though- I am currently "attempting" to learn dutch- and it is extremely difficult because we pronounce all of the letters different, for instance, instead of je it would sound like ye.. So when I'm asked to try to speak the language, there should be some room for a few mistakes. All night long I listen to these guys go on and on about their english, and I help them, and correct them, never making them feel bad or laughing at them. However, if I try to speak their language, and its not 100% correct- game over. It's obnixous and frustrating to be criticized when I just spent the last 2 hours listening to you screw up my lanugage without a word. As far as practicing dutch with the kids, or with my friends- I know there I won't have to feel inferior.

Another interesting topic is the Police.. not too long ago, I was driving with Kristian to Tapuit and was asked to go through a checkpoint. Those of you from America know how that can be, whether you've done something wrong or not, a feeling of dread always comes over me- "license, registration, blah, blah,blah"... So, I pull into the line, the police officer speaks in dutch, which I reply in dutch that I speak english.. he says that he wants me to blow into the machine without even asking for an ID or registration for the car. I hadn't had anything to drink, so he congratulates me on being a safe driver- and hands me a B.O.B keychain with a big smile, wishing me a pleasant evening. WTF. When is the last time the American Police gave you anything other than a slap on the wrist, a ticket, or a bunch of attitude. Likewise, I went to pick up my cousin from the airport after our Dublin fiasco.. I was asked to move to the side of the arrivals and 6 police officers come over to the car- needless to say I was a little freaked out.. they asked me to get out of the car for security purposes that they were doing random searches for drugs and weapons. At that time, I had just gotten back from Dublin- my passport was at home, NC drivers license had been stolen (lost?) in Ireland and the only other form of picture I.D that I had was my dutch gym card, and my college id.. they didn't even flinch. No drugs, no guns, no problem- have a great day! They always seem to be there just when you need them, whether it be breaking up a random fight at the end of the night in Haarlem- but they never seem to harass or bother you, simply do their job and let you go on your way.. Bravo Dutch Police.

Busy week, Eva is in the States for a conference in Sunny California while I'm in dark and dreary Holland (I'm a tad bit jealous..) My dear friend Marichen is leaving to go back to South Africa on Thursday and I will miss her terribly- one last soiree at Tapuit where we started it all on Tuesday night.. I hope we can compose ourselves without it being an overly drunk and emotional evening.. god knows we've had enough of those. Just a few more weeks and I will be in London- so excited! Planning on seeing as much of the Museums, and touristy attractions as I can- meeting up with my good friend Kaitlyn and her british boyfriend Ashley, and hopefully seeing Lucy and Thomas McAfee and the newest and coolest addition to the McAfee family, Trace. C'mon Feb. 22nd!!