Trains and Other Experiences

I guess I haven't written in a while. Time is starting to fly by. I have a feeling my classes are going to be pretty busy, with a whole lot of out-of-class stuff to do. But, we also have a whole lot of class excursions, so it probably won't be too bad.

This weekend I visited family. It was the first time I took the train on my own - it was a bit intimidating at first, but you need to do everything once in order for it to feel "normal" or for you to get used to it anyway. In the past 3 days I've been on five different trains, and there's definitely a difference between the trains here. The first train I went on (from Zwolle to Rotterdam) was an older train, but still fairly comfortable overall. The next was a stoptrein (or GoTrain - from Rotterdam to Maasluis) which was a bit more crowded (mostly b/c of the time of day I think), and not really as comfortable as the first - totally different interior. Next I went from Delf to Leiden. It was a two-level train, old, and extremely crowded. I had to stand for some of the ride because there were no seats left :(
From Leiden to Utrecht I just caught my train, since the one
.....(some bikes by the station)...... before that was late. It was also a two-level train, but not quite as full, and a lot newer. My train from Utrecht back to Zwolle was probably the nicest. It was quite new, comfortable and roomy. Anyway, I won't bore you any longer over talk about trains...

On to other things... I didn't only ride the trains this weekend. I also visited my family. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing things non-stop every time I go to visit. I went shopping with two of my cousins (Marije & Anniek) in Rotterdam on Friday, and afterwards we headed to their house for supper. Then I went to my Opa and Oma's. On Saturday I visited my other Opa and Oma, watched my cousin Tim's soccer game (he won 5-4), did a bit of school shopping, went to the bank, and to the Timmerwerf to look at paintings. In the evening I visited the Tante's with my Opa, and after coming back we played Mexican Train with Tante Nel, Oom Henk, Marije, and Opa en Oma. That was a whole lot of fun. I laughed so hard at times. On Sunday we went to church, and afterwards I went to my Tante Nel & Oom Wim's and taught Bart, Anne, Rinze, and Simon how to play Wizard and SkipBo. Lots of fun, but quite busy.

And now, I'm back in Zwolle again. I just came back from Dutch class, and am going to write some words about the future (in Dutch!). 'Till next time.