On The Last Friday Night Of Summer

I am cuddled up in my old, noisy, wooden bed, my newly dyed hair up in a messy bun, with a cup of Jasmine green tea in one hand, and Tolstoy's War and Peace in the other. While listening to the calming sounds of crickets, and of course, the background buzzing of the AC, I am reflecting upon my soon-ending summer.

This summer I have closed some important chapters of my life, and opened new ones. After officially/finally saying goodbye to my childhood home in June, I felt both sad and relieved. Sad, because growing up sucks. Relieved, because I am now able to move on from living in the past. My most difficult moments at boarding school were the moments during which I wanted to go back to my old house, and my old life. I kept thinking about things I was missing out on, and about how happy I used to be. Not knowing how self-destructive these kinds of thoughts were, I was constantly living in the past. Now that I had a good, long sobbing session in my childhood room, I am ready to be where I am: in the USA.

I had to close some other chapters as well. Chapters with certain people. As much as I wanted to believe that all of my old friends were still interested in me, that was a false hope. Of course, there are some that will stick around for the rest of my life, but the majority were just meant to make an appearance. I have discovered that because I have changed so much, I am starting to grow apart from some people. You know what, it's okay. I have met wonderful new people here as well, and whether they make an appearance or stick around, at this moment they mean a lot to me.

That is what I am learning to do: living in the moment.

Anti-Americanism

The numerous sandwich shops, excellent street artists, Ben's Cookie, free hugs, stunning architecture, and a grand historic value: Oxford was a great place to be. I went to Oxford for about two weeks for an academic and cultural program. It was a fantastic experience, however, not in the way I expected it to be.

Besides meeting great new people from all over the world (Lebanon, Panama, Spain, Algeria, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia.. and sooo many more), I think I got something completely different out of this experience: a sense of how the world views different countries, in particular: The United States of America.

It is only a coincidence that I attend boarding school in that country, but I noticed this strange obsession that a lot of people from ALL over the world have with the USA. Please try to understand the following things that I am going to tell you, and try to make sense out of it. I took three courses during the program: Medical Biology, Business Management, and Public Speaking & Debate. Funny enough, while studying in Britain, I have learned many things about American companies such as Ford Cars, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Wal-Mart, and Proctor & Gamble. I have watched an extensive movie on the American national debt & economic crisis. I learned a lot about the Food Drug Administration (FDA), an American administration FOR Americans and how bad they are. I have debated topics such as: Should the US invade Syria? Should handguns be banned? Should torture be used to fight terrorism? Should we have universal health care? Do all these topics sound like familiar problems to any Americans? I think yes. 

But it does not end here, my Public Speaking & Debate teacher showed us two speeches in class: Obama's speech in 2008 when he won over New Hampshire, and Mitt Romney's speech in 2011 when he won over New Hampshire. However, we viewed the entire Obama speech, while we only watched three minutes of Romney's speech [A short disclaimer before I continue: I do not prefer any political party over another]. Not only did this highlight, in BRIGHT yellow, the incredible biased opinion of my teacher by not letting Romney finish his speech (and we had plenty enough class time left), he forced a popular view on all of us by saying that Obama is good, and Romney is bad. While I have no opinion about either of the presidential candidates, I think it is horrible to judge a man on three minutes of his speech, while we judge another based on twelve minutes of talking. No, it does not end here either. 

While debating the before mentioned topics in class, students would come up with arguments such as: the US is not a trustworthy country, the US does everything for their own benefit. And the moment I mentioned that without the US most of us would be speaking German right now, people would stare at me and continue their US bashing without any reason. I wish these people would look at their own countries and the mess that the Eurozone, especially, is in right now. We could have debated about Greece and Spain, the Euro, the European Union, the importance of the British monarchy, British healthcare. There were so many different options, the choices that were made in a short two weeks just left me shocked.

I felt something that I had never felt before. This feeling frustrated me for a long time, until I realized something: it had been happening around me all along: Anti-Americanism. And for me, knowing what is out there in the USA and what the country has done for us, sure it also has many flaws, it makes me look differently at Europe, and at my home country. 

I was definitely not disappointed during my time in Oxford, it made me learn a lot about the world.

XO

Thank you, USA.

Hello summer. Hello Holland.

I've had one crazy, long yet short, fun-filled, stress-filled year. Not only have I made a lot of new friends, but I have also learned new things about myself and about what is important to me.



I really do have some great memories from this school year. My roommate and I made roommate-diaries, which consisted of little movies in which we talk about our lives and make a bunch of silly faces, we shared our biggest secrets, and we learned to live with each others differences (which did take some time and patience at first!). I started to enjoy little moments of the day: taking a walk to the pond, my roommate leaving a banana chocolate chip muffin in my mailbox, sniffing the New England air, going out for pizza and giggling about the waiter who looks like a Mexican popstar, watching Boy Meets World with a friend while doing crunches at the same time, my friend bringing me an iced caramel latte from Dunkin Donuts (without asking!), sleeping on the other end of my bed with my head next to the window to hear the rain falling down, finding the dorm parent's dog in my room (on my beanbag!), reading the notes left in my closet from as early as 1935, talking to our neighbors with walky-talkies at midnight, banging on the ceiling with a field hockey stick to annoy the people living above me, and curling up on my bed after a long and tiring day and getting ready to watch another episode of my favorite show: 90210.

There are always things that make me smile.
What also makes me smile is that nothing has changed back home.
The cows still look the same, the cheese still tastes the same, my friends are still the same (except taller!).


I left behind my childhood two years ago. Climbing in my window and spying on the city, pulling pranks like throwing chocolate ice cream from the roof which landed on someone's white garden chair (oops!), or tossing dog poop over the hedge into the neigbor's garden (hehe). Not having a care in the world was great, and it's weird how all of that ended after moving to the USA. I'm glad we (as in: my family and I) did though. The USA symbolizes freedom (the Statue of Liberty, for example), and I know that I have become so much more independent and self-assured because of it. Being at boarding school changes everyone. Doing your own laundry, putting together your own breakfast, cleaning your own room, having tons of responsibilities, washing your own bedding, learning how to deal with a roommate, having to motivate yourself to do schoolwork, keeping your head up when you're feeling sick (you can't just not show up for class..), and the list continues. It's been very hard, not going to lie, but it has been great (as you can tell from my other blogposts). I'm just so grateful, for this entire experience, and how it has changed my vision of the future, and I have realized that there are millions of possibilities and opportunities: all you have to do is take them! The choice is completely in your hands. 14-year-old Laura would never agree on going to Oxford University for a pre-college program SOLO! Neither would 14-year-old me ever sign up for a 3 month exchange to Cape Town, South Africa. Thanks to my school, my fantastic teachers, my very inspirational friends, my parents, and of course my 3 AWESOME sisters, I have changed in the past 2 years. I have learned so much from leaving my comfort zone, and I think everyone should do something they otherwise never would.


I'm going to challenge you right now.
Rethink everything in your life. Take chances. Do whatever you thought you would never do.



XO Laura

The Average Day of a Boarding School Girl!

Hey guys!
I haven't written a "real" blogpost in quite some time...2011? Anyone? Last year is over, and I'm ready for more adventures and experiences this year! Because most of you that read my blog do not go to boarding school, or have any private school experience (private schools are very rare in The Netherlands!), I figured that you would be interested in a weekly overview of what my life is like!

T H E  A V E R A G E  W E E K  D A Y .

7:00 Wake up!!

7:15 Breakfast

7:40 Assembly
            This is where the entire school gets together and people make announcements. E.G., teachers that are out that day, events, club meetings, etc.

8:00 Class
           At my school you take about six classes every term, right now I am taking Chemistry (natuurkunde), South African History (Zuid-Afrikaanse geschiedenis), English, French, Honors Geometry (wiskunde), and drawing. The school system is very different here. Every class is about 40 minutes long, and there are only about 10 girls in every one of my classes. Each class meets everyday, and a lot is expected of you. If you are doing particularly well in a subject, you can move up to the Honors level, and thats why I am taking Honors Geometry. I remember being very happy with a 6 or a 7 in the Netherlands. Here, they expect a lot from you, and expect you to get at least above an 8,5 (85%), which is still considered low. It may sound to you that it must be easy if you can receive grades like that, but it is not easy, you have to work very VERY hard. It is equivalent to the Dutch VWO level.
8:40 Class
10:00 Break
10:10 Class
12:00 Lunch!
1:20 Glee period
              During Glee period, many singing groups meet. Glee period is also designated time to meet with your teacher to clear up things you do not understand. I never ever understood math back at my old school, and now it is my best subject! My teachers are very friendly and helpful, I like them a lot.
2:10 Arts
              Art is very big at my school, and you can take a wide variety of classes such as drawing, oil painting, ceramics (pottenbakken), kneedle arts (breien, ja echt!), black and white photography, platinum print photo, digital photography, and most of these courses are also offered on AP level (college credits).
3:35 Sports!
              Everyone has to do a different sport every term, of which 2 have to be team sports. Fall term I am in the musical, winter term I play interscholastic squash, and spring term i play interscholastic tennis. It is a lot of fun to be part of a team, and to have games against other schools at least once a week.
5:35 Dinner time!
7:00 Study Hall
            During Study Hall all of the boarding students have to do their homework until 9:00. This is a great quiet time, during which everyone is dedicated to their work, no distractions!
9:00 End Of Study Hall
           During this time, we all hang out on corridor, visit each others room, watch tv-shows, shower, whatever. It is time with which you can do anything.
10:30 In-Room
           At this time we all have to be in our rooms with our roommates.
10:45 Lights-Out
           This is when we are supposed to turn of our lights and get ready for the next day.


WEEEEEEEEKENDSSSSS!

Saturday:

9:30 Wake up!
10:30 Art class
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Get on the bus and go to your sports game.
18:00 Get back from the game.
20:00 Go away to a dance at another school (een dance is een feest)
1:30 am Back from the dance, have a sleepover with a friend, watch movies whatever.

So this is what my weeks look like! Quite different than before, but I am definitely enjoying this experience!

Please comment below!
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