Lost in Translation: 2013

While most of my classmates are outside, playing with firework and playing with the risk of losing a hand, I'm stuck inside. Okay, I have to admit that I like it better inside, but the real reason is that I can barely walk.
Once again, I decided to run 6.4k at the Oliebollenloop.
Once again, Liselotte and I wanted to run together.
Once again, we almost died in the mosh pit that was supposed to be the start.
Once again, the wind almost blew us out of our shoes.
But once again, we made it all the way to the finish line! But not together...

Since my trainer asked me 'what the hell I was doing on the track', I decided to quit training with him. That was in September. My Dad and I make my training schedule. And since we started doing that, I've improved a lot. I came in third at the local cross country competition, in which I had to race against women who were at least ten years older than me. I ran a 6k race at the same pace I usually run 5k races (and yes, there's a huge difference between a 5k and a 6k race. 1000 meters to be exact).
So things are looking up. Today was like a final test. If I run well today, I might be able to run 5k in less than 25 minutes. I kept thinking that. I had to run well.
So when the race began, I gave it my all (after waiting for at least four seconds until the guy in front of me finally started moving...)

Liselotte stayed beside me for the first 800 meters. She was having a hard time, I heard her gasp and pant. We hadn't even reached the 2k mark when she gave up. I kept running, but this time I was all on my own. It was terrifying.
The wind was blowing from the exact same direction as last year. It was also a lot warmer. None of this made the running conditions better. Then there were other people swarming around me. I just don't like people so close around me. I mean, I already panicked when one of L.'s friends suddenly grabbed my hand because he wanted to dance.
It was a hard race, especially without Liselotte there to help me when it got tough. But we both made it.

I was 3 minutes faster than last year. If that isn't a great way to end the year and start 2014, I don't know what is.

No Fellow Ramblers

Exam week changes you. I had already seen it happen to my friends when the had exams last year. But when E. started about flipping and tripping and shaking I thought it was slightly exaggerated. I'd be fine. It wouldn't be that bad.

Well, I was a naïve junior when I wrote that. Last week I discovered that it is as bad as it seems. But when I arrived at school for my first exam, my nerves had disappeared. I was all giggly and excited. And it only got worse when right from the first second everything started to go wrong.

Exams take place in the gymnasium. There are two at my school, right next to eachother, numbered C4 and C5, though no one knows the difference between the two. And because of that, my opinion on exams changed quickly from terrible to hilarious.

I was talking to R. who would have his AP Math test today at the same time as I would have my History exam. So we both presumed that I'd have mine in C4 and he would have his in C5.

The bell rang and I went with Roos, Maze and L. into what we thought was C4 and started looking for our seats (there are nametags on the tables so we can't choose our seats). Our names were nowhere to be seen. And then R. came in. I started to doubt.. Maybe I had picked the wrong gymnasium?

A teacher helped us out. Or rather kicked us out. 'This is HAVO MATH EXAM. Vwo is in THE OTHER GYNASIUM!'

Sorry, sorry, excuse me. I didn't know that...

So we repeated our little search for seats in the other gymnasium. Were not only vwo History took place, but also AP Math for vwo and havo. It was crowded. And it struck me as very funny.

I got annoyed at the second question of the exam. You could hear nothing but silence in the gymnasium, but inside my head it was like: USE THE FREAKING SPELLING CHECK THINGY.

History has never been my favorite subject, but my second question was this: Explain these concepts in correctHuguenots.

I suppose it meant 'correct Dutch' and 'Huguenots', but please, this is an exam. Correct sentences would be the least you could do as a teacher. Within the first five questions, I found three spelling errors. That's just pathetic.

As time passed, some people's nerves started to influence their bladder. Only 30 minutes in, the first dude had to go to the toilet. After that, Maze had to go. And Maze always has to go. Doesn't matter where or when, Maze always has to go to the toilet. And because I was already having a giggling fit which I had to surpress, I snorted, which made the girl in front of me laugh.

A short ten minutes later, someone's cell phone rang. Cell phones are prohibited from the gymnasium during exams. So the teachers went and searched the entire left side of the gymnasium without finding anything while the cell phone kept doing it's little jingle.

It won't surprise you that it became impossible for me to concentrate on History. I gave up on Huguenots and watergeuzen and whatever it was that happened in 15-I-don't-know.

I handed it my exam and left the gymnasium. Just in time to have another giggling fit.

Flipping, tripping, shaking and screwing your exam up. That's how E. described it. Maybe it was like that for him. For me, it's more like: giggling, writing, giggling and giggling some more. Especially when my Latin teacher started talking to me during the exam. I mean, come on, I'm making an exam. Not very well, but that's not a reason to start talking to me. Not that I minded. It only added more surpressed giggles to my first attempt at passing exams.

It sounds weird, but I'm actually having fun. Maybe, just maybe, I'll make it through without the flipping, tripping and shaking. I'll know next week. Until then, there are seven more exams to pass - or fail if I keep having giggling fits.

No Fellow Ramblers

4 Fellow Ramblers

Dear freshmen,
Welcome to your new school! Must be exciting, after eight years of elementary school, to be in this huge building full of frightening older kids. But don't worry, you've come this far already, you'll get past all the other problems too. Within a few weeks, you'll start noticing the chewing gum under the tables, the outdated posters and annoying older students.
As long as you don't touch the chewing gum you'll be fine. And those outdated posters can easily be ignored. But the older students... I'm afraid you'll have to learn to live with those for the next couple of years. But now that you're a freshman, they'll all act as if you're an unworthy piece of **** in the worst case or ignore you in the best.
Okay, high school doesn't sound like much fun anymore now, does it?
No worries, Envy is here to help you. Just five years ago, I was a freshman of the most helpless kind. I learned the rules of high school quickly and now tha I'm a senior, I feel like it's time to pass my 'knowledge' one. Here are my four tips for surviving freshmen year!

#1: Think before you talk

Everyone says stupid things; it's in our nature. But remember that you're a freshman: everything you say can and will be used against you. So at least try to think before you talk.

A few years ago I was walking through the A-hall of my school (every hall's got a different letter, classrooms are numbered A1, A2 etc.). There was a freshman standing in front of classroom A10. He was on the edge of a panick attack and screamed to his friends: 'Guys, we're going to be late if we don't find classroom A10 real quick! Hurry, we've got to find it!'

I understand that you don't want to walk around with a map of the school in your hands, but looking around won't hurt you. Don't scream that you can't find your classroom if you're right in front of it. Using your eyes can save you from emberrasment.

#2: Learn the hallway rules

Don't run. Don't walk headfirst into another group of students. Don't play tag in the hallways.

They're unwritten laws. Learn them quick and avoid drowning in a stream of hyperactive juniors. Besides, nothing is more annoying than accidentaly dropping your sandwich on the floor because a freshman wanted to play tag and bumped into you.

Nobody likes losing their sandwich because you guys miss playtime.

(Yes, this is a case of sour grapes. Way too many of my sandwiches have met the floor because of these kids).

#3: Respect your elders

What annoys older students most about freshmen is that they're everywhere. Bouncing up and down the stairs, running through the school hall, having lunch in front of lockers...

Blocking the hallway with a group of ten is another definite no-go. But if you really want to cause a traffic jam, make sure there's still enough room skinny seniors to squeeze through so they can reach their classrooms. If you don't step aside and an older student is having a bad day, they'll knock you over like a bowling pin. Be the better person of the two and step aside.

At the lockers you'll find yourself in a similar situation. Even if you're too big to be stuffed into a locker, it's a good idea to avoid irritation with the senior whose locker's above yours. Take a small step aside and both of you will be able to reach into your locker at the same time. Besides, if you're nice to your 'neighbors', there's a fair chance of becoming friends with them. That's how my friendship with V. started when we were freshmen, so don't tell me this doesn't work (unless your neighbor is an asshole; in that case it's okay to annoy them).

#4: Keep your head up

The most important thing I've got to say: don't let them bring you down. Always remember that those mean seniors were once frightened freshmen too. The ones that call you names have been picked on the most in their freshmen year. The ones that call you dwarves are probably the smallest in their year. In the past I used to say at least ten times a year that the new freshmen are so small (I'm 5'6" and a bit), whereas T. (who's at least 6'6") syas it maybe once or twice. So ignore these remarks and you'll be fine ;)

Good luck with your freshmen year! Believe me, it won't be that bad. It's going to be awesome, but over before you've fully realized it has begun.

And when you come back next year, remember to be nice to the new freshmen. You know how hard it can be to be in their shoes.

No Fellow Ramblers

6 Fellow Ramblers

In the short 17 years of my life, I've camped on three continents: North America, Australia (or Oceania if that's what makes you happy) and ofcourse my own continent, Europe.
Of all three, Europe is the one that has caused me the most trouble. Yes, I am bored with my own continent, but that's not the reason why camping here puts me through so much trouble. So I present you: Envy's list of awful things on European campgrounds.

The Wild Animals

I was eight when I camped in the US. We were on a campground near the Grand Canyon and at night I could hear the coyotes howl. They howled loud, it sounded as if they had surrounded our tent.

I was sixteen when I camped in the Australian Outback. I woke up at night to hear something creep between our swags. The Chinese next to me woke up and began talking to his fiancee in rapid Kantonese. The only word I understood was 'Dingo!'

But the thing is: you expect these things when you go camping there. You know about the coyotes and dingoes. But in Europe, the most dangerous animal you can encounter is the campgroundowner's cat. Or at least, that's what it feels like (especially the Dutch tend to forget that the wolf has made its comeback in the Netherlands, or that bears are still living in the Pyrenees).

You don't expect 'dangerous' wild animals that might bite you, not in the safe heaven called Europe. So what happens if your tent almost gets washed away in a storm and you wake up to the sounds of a fox trying to enter your tent? You scream, fall of your air mattress and shake the entire tent until the fox leaves. That's how we handle unexpected encounters the Envy-style.

The Sanitary Buildings

I'll never forget that my tour guide in the Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, told me to check underneath the toilet seat for redbacks if I had to go to the toilet.

No such things in Europe. Cobwebs: yes. Dangerous spiders: no. Snails: everywhere. Sometimes there were snails on the bathroom walls. At least they're not dangerous, only gross. But as disgusting as that is, it's not the big problem with European sanitary buildings on campgrounds.

Then what ís the problem? They're dirty. More often than not the toilet hasn't been flushed. Don't even ask when it was cleaned for the last time, just don't. And in the really bad cases, people crap literally on the toilet seat and just leave it there. It's so disgusting.

Yes, I've seen this in Australia and the US too, but not half as often as in Europe.

And to increase the fun of going to the toilet, the French have invented those toilets which aren't much more than a hole in the ground. Missed the hole? No problem, there's a garden hose to wash it away- if you're lucky. Otherwise: run and don't look back.

The Language Barriers

With Dutch language education at a miserably low level, camping in Europe isn't as easy as it sounds. In Australia and the US English is enough, you're good to go wherever you want. But Europe is a patchwork of languages. Going to France? Make sure you speak French. Going to Germany? Better learn some German.

But the worst of it is not being able to communicate with your neigbors. Asking them to be quiet will have to be done in their language. English isn't an option, unless you start dropping F-bombs, which will only make things worse.

The Pink Toilet Paper

Sometimes you're at a campground that doesn't provide toilet paper and you'll have to get your own. Which isn't a problem. Just get the cheapest toilet paper available from the supermarket. And then you see that the cheapest toilet paper is pink.

Going to the toilet just got at least a hundred times worse. Walking to the sanitary building with toilet paper under your arm is like screaming: 'Look at me, I'm a big girl, I'm going to pee and poop all by myself already!'

The same thing with pink toilet paper is like screaming: 'Look at me, I'm going to have a Disney Princess Tea Party on the crapper!'

I can stand the noisy neigbors, I will survive the animals and dirty sanitary building. But PINK toilet paper? That's it, Europe, you've crossed a line. I'm out.

10 Fellow Ramblers

Ah, home sweet home... Nothing feels as good as taking a shower in your own shower, sleeping in your own bed and going to the toilet whenever you want without having to walk a mile to and from the toilets.
Yup, after four weeks of European-style camping, I'm back home :)

My parents love camping the way it was back in the '80s, when they were young. So this means that for four whole weeks I haven't touched a computer, tv, my crappy old Nintendo DS, not even a radio. The big exception is my crappy old digital camera, which I've barely used, but my parents are in love with it.
We don't have an RV or caravan, so we slept in a tent. It was cold, sometimes wet and always to low for me to stand up and put my pants on the proper way. In the end I gave up, walked out of the tent with my underpants for the whole wide world to see and put my pants on in front of the tent.
To give you a picture of what I'm talking about, just look at this:

Our tent, our table, our 'dinnerware'. As you can see, it's all pretty basic. And all very different from my awesome trip to Australia last year. The most exciting animal I've seen this year was a dead fox...

A always write a diary when I'm away from home, to keep the homesickness at bay. Sadly, I was too lazy this year, so it looks a bit like this:

Day 1: We've arrived at our exotic destination of this year: Spa, Belgium

Day 2: I'm not a morning person. I'm not an evening person either. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a person at all.
Day 3: It's too hot for activity, or moving or... Oh hell, it's even too hot for thinking.
Day 5: I hate ponchos. They make me look like a colored penguin.

My dad and I went to WWI trenches and
cemetary. Except for the cobwebs, it was an amazing day

Day 6: I felt like Bilbo Baggins when our guide began to mumble like Gollem during our tour through the caverns of Remouchamps. It was pretty creepy sitting in a boat with that guy.
Day 7: Ponchos that are supposed to be used once shouldn't be used twice. The ridiculous colored penguin has returned...
Day 10: Moved on to the next campground in Waxweiler, Germany.
Day 11: Acted like a 4-year-old today: I colored in a coloringbook with smurf pictures in it and ate tons of pancakes.
Day 13: Moved to a campground in the middle of nowhere in the east of France.
Day 14: We're in the middle of a thunderstorm and what do we do? Right, go to the highest peak in the area...
Day 16: History is awesome. Untile you get a cobweb in your face...
Day 18: The tent almost washed away last night. Yet again we found ourselves in the middle of a thunderstorm, tough I felt a lot safer when I was in the car. Staying in a tent in that kind of weather is totally not awesome.

Climbing rocks isn't one of my talents

Day 20: Moved to another campground near Xonrupt-Longemer, France.
Day 22: Went to an adveture park with my dad. We climbed the hard parcour. My mom thought it was fun to make pictures of the horror on my face. Let's just say it's not very charming...
Day 23: Every muscle in my body aches.
Day 26: Walking to this mountain, walking to that mountain. I haven't walked this much in years.
Day 28: Going home. Stuck in the third traffic jam since we've crossed the Dutch border. It's hot inside the car. Chocolate is melting :(

After all, I had a fun four weeks. On the last camground we had neighbors from Germany, who spoke English pretty well, so I had a chance to practice with both English and German. They had a fifteen months old daughter who loved balloons and dogs. She called everything 'wauwwauw' (the sound of a German dog barking), including my dad :P I was sad when these people left. It was nice talking to them and playing with their little girl. She woke me up every morning, because as soon as she woke up she started 'talking'. It was weird when I woke up without hearing 'Wauwwauw, Ball!' coming from their caravan.

I like being home again, though it means having to work for school again and worry about a friendship gone wrong. I thought I was making a smart move, but immediately after I did it, I knew I shouldn't have... Oh well, I've got my entire senior year to fix things :)

And just because I like dumping pictures in the internet: my two favorite pictures of this year's vacation. (Please ignore the disgusted look on my face, I didn't know my dad was taking a picture)

Me on a rock. Wasn't very
comfortable

Kangaroo shaped chips :)
Gotta love Germany

No Fellow Ramblers

So... I'm back!!! Eight days seems like nothing, but after six days you start to realize that if your friends aren't there with you, eight days can be a long, long time.
I guess it's a little too much to tell in one post, so I'm going to stalk you with my stories twice :) besides, there are some pictures that I want to show you, but M. and S. haven't sent them yet. Anyways, I present you the cultural part of our Rome trip!

On our first day, we flew to Rome. Most people didin't count it as a day, ssince we went to the airport at 2.30 pm and arrived at the monastery where we slept in Rome at 9 pm. So we didn't do anything that day except for sitting in a plane and watching A Very Potter Sequel with M. Nothing cultural so far, but I can show you the pic of the airplane, which I'm totally gonna do even though I know that no one cares.

Yay, our amazing plane :) Seriously, flying with people who've never flown before is funny.

So we arrived in Rome in the evening. It was dark, but we saw illuminated buildings and monuments everywhere. When we looked out of our window we saw something 'big and important'. After two minutes in Rome I started calling every building I saw 'a big and important building', because I had no idea what I was looking at.

The next morning we woke up to this amazing view (though my camera kinda ruined it):

It was really impressive to see those angels on top of that building emerging out of the fog. Then, after staring at this for way too long, we went to Vatican City! It was also our first encounter with Italian traffic and it was scary as shit. Literally everyone and everything tried to kill us out on those streets. It's a miracle that my entire class survived the walk to the Vatican.

Yup, that's me in front of that big and important building in Vatican City. It was our first full day in Rome and we climbed way too many stairs. We climbed the St. Peter and some staircase that Bernini made and more stairs that I don't even remember. After that we went to the Vatican Museum where we almost got kicked out because our teachers couldn't prove that we were a school group. Luckily M., S. and I had our schoolcards with us. In that museum we saw the Sixtine Chapel, which was crowded and we weren't able to enjoy it very much, because our feet hurt like hell.

On our second day we visited the Forum Romanum, which was pretty cool and way bigger than expected. On our way to the Forum we came past the big and important building we could see from our window. I still don't know what it was for, but it looked even better in daylight.

After that morning the Visiting of the Churches began and thus everything became a blur. The first church you visit will be remembered, but after a while you can't tell one from another anymore. I'm just going to skip past all those churches. They were really impressive and stuff, but if I can't even remember their names I'm not going to try to describe them, because I know I can't. Except for the Pantheon, but that's just because the Pantheon became our favorite place to hang out in the evenings.

We heard a tourguide tell a group of baffled tourists that you could draw an imaginary circle in this building. Really? You're not kidding? Is it true that you can draw a circle in a freaking dome? I honestly didn't know that interesting little fact.

So, churches and museums. I learned a lot. I learned that E. totally screwed up my brain, because I was making bad jokes about penises all the time, which I've never done before. It was kinda embarassing, but at some point I couldn't help myself. Especially not when I saw a statue of a woman with a dick, while all the male statues in the room had their man-parts removed. That's just wrong. I swear there must be a room somewhere in Rome filled with the dicks of all those statues, because it's a little too coincidental that none of the male statues had a dick.

Anyway, moving on. There were some more churches and museums and then... the Trevi fountain! We fond it by accident. There was this huge mob of people (not the mob, a mob) all trying to push forward, so we got curious and when we had pushed ourselves forward far enough, we found ourselves at the Trevi fountain.

One of the very few pictures in which I look close to normal :P

So we threw a coin in the fountain and made a wish, you know, all those cliche tourist stuff. I usually try to act like a local, but I couldn't resist acting like a tourist this time. And yes, I am wearing an 'I <3 Rome' hoodie.

The absolute highlight of the trip for me was the day we went to Pompei and the Vesuvius. I'd expected more of Pompei, but it was still awesome. The Vesuvius was down right amazing. We clinbed the volcano and M. and I wrote our names on some kind of information panel that clearly wasn't meant for people to write their names on it.

It was so amazing to be on top of that volcano and look down on clouds and... well, I guess you have to be there, since I can't properly describe it.

In the last two days we went to the Ara Pacis and some kind of castle-like thingy and... the Colosseum! I'd been looking forward to that for ages, but sadly it rained...

M. and I walked around with glum faces, but at least we walked around, most people stayed inside and didn't even look at the Colosseum. We took some pictures, but they look a little stupid since we couldn't smile anymore; we were too tired.

And then... we went back. I was glad we went back, I couldn't stay with some of those people for another minute. I even thanked all the ancient gods for giving me a chair next to strangers on the plane; I finally had some rest.

Rome was totally awesome. I definitely want to go there again. And next time, I'm going on my own, so I won't have to act as if I like people :P

2 Fellow Ramblers

5 Fellow Ramblers

2 Fellow Ramblers

I should be working on my history project, but I gave up. If I hear someone, anyone, say the word 'pope' again, I'll go insane.

Going back to school wasn't as bad as I'd expected. There was just one thing that went totally wrong: the math test...

Normal math tests aren't something I look forward to, but this one is far worse than other math tests, even though it's on the same level as the tests I got in elementary school. But if I fail this test, there's a chance I can't graduate. Teachers keep nagging about the importance of this test, but they can't explain if this one is 'for real' or not, so every time I have to face one of these tests, I'm nervous because I have to pass it.
I'm not the only one stressing, everyone is. The test had been scheduled in what usually is lunch break and would take almost three hours to finish - or so we'd been told...
I went in at 12.40, even more stressed than usual and fearing I wouldn't be able to finish it in time.
But at 14.15, I was one of the first to finish it. I walked out of the classroom, went to my locker and almost collapsed; my legs felt like jelly, and so did my brain...
I felt empty, and that's usually not a good sign. It means that I've probably failed the test. I mean, there must be a reason why I was one of the first to finish, while I've got the lowest grades in my math in my class. Somewhere something must have gone wrong. This test was way to easy and I was finished way to fast, it just can't be good.

The test was one of those digital tests, the kind that teachers like just because they don't have to grade them. I don't have a problem with making a test on a computer, but at least make the software work.
I was writing something down, next moment the screen has gone black and all the computers in the room shut down.
It took almost ten minutes to start again and by that time everyone had been telling eachother the answers.
This happened twice during the test, though I was long gone by the time everything shut down for the second time. Maybe there is something good in finishing early.

I was a little light headed after the test, so I started walking through the school. I don't even know why I did that, it just happened. Until I saw my math teacher. I'd finished the test in the middle of a period and could leave the classroom, but I guess I was supposed to go to the other class anyway, even thought it wasn't on my timetable. And as the good but boring girl that I am, I usually go to class in this kind of situation.
Not this time. I thought: 'Screw it, I'm not going.' I turned around and walked away. Minutes later Roos texted me to say that I had to come to class. My head still felt like jelly. And when my head feels like jelly, I refuse to go to class.

Finally, when everyone was finished, we still had to go to one class: Dutch. Our teacher is an idiot who spends more time next to the coffeemachine than in a classroom during our lessons, so we had plenty of time to talk about the math test.
Turns out that if i fail, I won't be the ony one. S.D. didn't know she could use a calculator until the last four questions, L. didn't have enough time to finish it properly and Maze has been crying (I'm not allowed to tell that because it's 'hurtful'), which means that she probably hasn't passed it either.
At least I've got some company if I have to go to the extra lessons, though none of us wants more math than we already have.

I don't know when I'll hear if I've passed the test or not, but if you hear someone swear very loudly or scream: 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO', then it's probably me after hearing I've failed.

2 Fellow Ramblers

#1: Think before you talk

#2: Learn the hallway rules

#3: Respect your elders

#4: Keep your head up

The Wild Animals

The Sanitary Buildings

The Language Barriers

The Pink Toilet Paper

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