LAST (full) DAY!- Saturday January 19, 2013

Two people are missing things from last night. This truly upsets me. How can someone be so greedy?!? It just shocks me that someone can steal money, a laptop, and a cell phone while that person is in the room! I am so disappointed that we had to stay in this place! Rene told us that no one would be staying with non UMD students. It is not acceptable that we stayed in a place that costs 20 EURO per night for a whole room (or that's what I heard..). I know we all paid 4,000 to go on this trip. We should be able to stay in a hotel…or change the price to make sure the budget covers decent hotel stays.

We all hung out at the hostel until the situation was under control, and then we all decided to stay at the hostel for the second night. (PS-Thank you to Stacy for staying up and making us feel safe!!!) 

Anyway, we went into Belgium to eat some fabulous food and of course buy CHOCOLATE!! I spent like 50 EURO in chocolate. Oh goodness! I bought some for my immediate family, the four boys I babysit for, the McCormac Family, and the Ford family. I am sure they'll enjoy the gourmet chocolate. ;) The Belgium Waffles were AMAZING!!! YUMMM. Christina, Anna, Amy, and I spent the two and we were super impressed with how soft and fresh they were. DELICIOUS! I had Subway for dinner! (I was craving a very normal meal) I couldn't have any more fries! haha Anyway, we just hung out in the hostel for the last night and went to bed early, to prep for the long journey home. :) I'm excited to see my family and tell them all about my trip!!!! :D

I know that all programs had their issues, but overall it's been a wonderful trip. It's hard to write this in a positive manner because I am still in the hostel…I wish the trip didn't have to end like this. I will add onto this after I am upset. 

Looking back at all the memories from this trip, I have to say that it was such a terrific experience!! I have to thank Stacy for being a wonderful leader and always staying SO positive. ;) I would like to also thank Dirk for having a wonderful sense of humor during the good and bad times. My 'classmates' who I met on this trip have been such a blessing to me. I have made so many new friends that go to Maryland and I am so excited that we have all bonded. I am grateful to my parents who sent me on this trip. It has taught me so much- but especially to be more tolerant, more patient and respectful of others.

I wish every student at Maryland could experience what I experienced on this trip. I hate to be cliche, but it was an experience of a lifetime!! This trip will always be a wonderful memory from my senior year of college. 

Day Thirteen- Friday January 18, 2013

Today is our last breakfast at the Teaching Hotel…aka the Castle and 5 star hotel! I'm so sad to be leaving here. I believe I loved Maastracht the best! But all good things must come to an end, so let's hope Belgium is fabulous!

We visited a wonderful primary school which had students from the ages of 2 and a half to 12 years old. The principal was so proud of her school and she had the right to be! It was such a creative school that was made up of mostly low socio-economic students. She even told us that her students score better on the tests then over 'more wealthy' schools. I was so pleased to hear this. This school might have lacked technology such as smart boards and iPads, but the kids were super happy. The school focused on artsy decorations and lots of activities with reading. This last school visit is definitely one of the best primary schools we've seen in this trip. I thought it was absolutely adorable that the kids were introducing themselves to us saying… I am…(insert name)….You could tell that they were happy to see us and be a part of the conversation. I commend the principal for letting us go into nearly every classroom and interrupt the lessons. Oh, also, the kids had a lot of outdoor space, which is needed because they mostly live in small apartments with little backyards. Another thing I noticed was that the bathrooms were super open in the younger grades. The toilets did not have any coverings; it was literally ten toilets in a row. This was shocking to all of us! The differences in this school were dramatic, but it seemed like they did a wonderful job stimulating their students. We saw a wall of alumni and all of their accomplishments. This is so important for students and parents to see as hope that their children can go on to higher education, even if they are poor. I found this school incredible! The principal ordered us sandwiches and then we were on our way back on the coach bus to Brussels, Belgium. 

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The hostel is truly a disappointment. I am really upset that some UMD students are sharing a bedroom with random strangers! I am also upset that they don't provide towels for showers! Once I get to NY, I will be super dirty…OH well! As a group, we decided to stay out of the hostel as long as possible. After throwing down my suitcase and chatting with my roomies, Anna, Emilie, and Annie, we were off to Parliament. I learned how complex Parliament and how many countries have joined in recent years. I thought it was hard to make a museum that can be used by people of so many languages. I found the museum to be a little dry in some areas, but I really appreciated the computers that moved to certain places around Europe. I learned that Italy has been conserving a lot of gas by sharing cars and they've decreased their oil intake, which is fabulous.

Then as a group we went to dinner in the restaurant area, which was a long cold walk from the Parliament museum. We went to a restaurant with a prefixed menu. I got tasteless vegetable soup, chicken with fries, and a belgium waffle for dessert. It was a nice meal because we had great laughs. The food in Europe has definitely been hit and miss, but I've still had lots of good times during all of the meals! :D

Emilie, Annie, Emily, Amy, Anna, Christina, Jake, and David Clark went to a bar for a few drinks. It was tons of fun! We danced and sang karaoke! It was so fun! I had a local beer and a rum and coke, so it wasn't a crazy night. We stayed out until 12:45am and then took the short walk back to the hostel together. Anna and I stayed in another room because we didn't feel safe in our room. I slept with Christina and Anna slept with Amy. It was comforting to have someone in the bed with you when you are staying in a sketchy hostel.

I think we made the most of tonight! 

Day Twelve- Thursday January 17, 2013

Today I slept in until 10am (missing the best breakfast...)and then took a run, which was cut short due to the 20 degree weather. It was still nice to get my workout in because I've never eaten so much bread in my life. I can't wait to get back to my weekly exercise routine! I love it and I miss it! Anyway, after my run in the snow, Amy, Anna, and I put the last touches on the presentation for that afternoon. We ate our packed lunches from the hotel. I had a cheese, hard-boiled egg on famous bread. It was famous because it had pumpkin seeds on them! YUM! Then I took a nap. I was very disappointed that we didn't go into Maastricht to shop, but there wasn't any time left by the time everyone woke up. This just means I will have tons of extra money let over for Belgium chocolate! hehe

Presentations began at 4pm. I didn't feel as nervous as usual, but when I get in front of the room, I sounded so scatter-brained and it really upsets me. I prepared by reading over my slides and taking notes and I still sounded silly. I wish presenting information to an audience came naturally to me. I will try my hardest to work on this. I guess having an anxiety disorder affects my presenting skills... But overall, my group presentation was great! It turned into a discussion which was informative! It was nice to watch other presentations because it reminded me of all the fun we've had together! I'll miss this entire group so much. I sure hope we have reunions this semester. I am so happy that Stacy and Dirk lead our group.  

Our farewell dinner was next on the agenda. It was mostly seafood and because I was brought up not eating seafood, I opted for the vegetarian dish. It was delicious! The dessert was fabulous!! I was stuffed. Our table had a lot of laughs! It's so nice to grow close to a group in such a short amount of time. It's wonderful how these types of things work. After dinner, I laid down and was super sleepy but still chatted with a few people and then headed to bed. It was a relaxing day! I am looking forward to the Belgium experience in this 'decent' hostel. hehe

No photos AGAIN! I guess I weren't too eventful today! 

Day Eleven- Wednesday January 16, 2013

Today our morning secondary school visit was moved into the afternoon, so we met for lunch at 10:30am and went on the bus to the university's cafeteria. I ate a cold mozzarella and tomato sandwich, salad, and tangerine. It was good!! We ended up staying at the cafeteria for 2 hours, which was annoying because I could have exercised or slept in this morning. But because we had so much time until the school visit, I ordered a latte, which was scrumptious in this cold weather. Then Nick informed us that we had 80 EUR left so I bought a tea to keep my body warm. I've had a lot of tea on this trip!

We arrived at the Porta Mosana College in Maastricht and learned a lot about how hard teachers work and the underlying ways of getting into a secondary program. I had a delicious cherry pie! <3 We also had a tour of the school and it wasn't as eventful as usual because the students were in testing so there weren't any students in the classrooms. I saw a 3D printer for the first time in my life! It was SO cool.

After the school visit, we ended up in central station where Amy and I went shopping! I bought two infinity scarves- one for me and one for my friend Amber? I'm unsure if she'll like it! I also bought bread for my banana and peanut sandwich but ended up getting a chicken gyro from a truck. Boy was that a mistake. My stomach hurt so much! I can't handle fatty foods. I am not a food snob, but I cannot handle such rich and spicy food. Amy of course loved it and it didn't bother her stomach! haha At least I enjoyed the dinner (before I got sick)!

I was planning on going out, but then my stomach hurt so much that I just stayed in. Amy and I chatted which was nice and then we went to bed. :) 

Side Note- I've spent 180 EURO so far and 110 of that was in Paris, so I think I've done a wonderful job being smart with my money!

No photos from today! :(

Day Ten- Tuesday January 15, 2013

Happy Birthday to Suzanne Nicholson!!

Congratulations to myself- I made Dean's List! I never checked my grades from last semester because I never think I will do well, even though I have a GPA that is decent…;-) I am extremely proud of myself because I had a rough semester with getting sick so often, working a lot and just taking all 400 level classes.

Today I woke up ready to conquer the day. I enjoyed the good night's sleep I received! I just love it! Today was told to be a long day, but I think as a group, we handled everything well!

We ate our normal breakfast and went on our favorite Coach bus to go to Aachen Germany. We arrived at the EGS Annaschule which is a protestant primary school in the middle of the city of Aachen. It only has 193 students but they represent 43 different countries! This female principal was super nice, and had a warm sense about her. It was interesting to learn that most of the students in this school did not practice the protestant religion. This seems different from what I know about religious schools back in the US. If I were to go to a Catholic school, I would prefer to be Catholic. I couldn't imagine going to a Jewish high school, when I was brought up Catholic. I think this displays how open Europeans can be. Because this school is so close to the border of the Netherlands, there is 'international flair' as the principal called it.

In the classroom, we were really only put in back of the classroom to observe. The kids had a lot of free time and it seemed like the class was a little out of control. I hate to say it, but I didn't get as much out of this school visit because Christina and I were not involved in the class.

This school is having problems with low enrollment but they have a ton of extra resources that I would think is a 'selling' feature of the school. This school offers a parent coach which stays in touch with parents by telling them what the children are doing in school. This occurs every Wednesday for 2 hours. This is essential to keep parents aware of what is going on in the classroom. Because a lot of the parents did not go to school in Germany, they don't know the language and this leads to parents wanting the child to go their own thing. So therefore, this parent coach is fabulous to bridge the language barrier. One other interesting thing that the principal mentioned is that they have a partner school in Holland so Dutch teaches come over to teach Dutch one a week and their German teachers do the same thing for the students in Holland. I think this is wonderful and wish they had a Dutch teacher come in more than just once a week, but it is a great start. 

The Germany schools have central testing in the 3rd and 8th grade so there is no CITO test. But there is another exam to get into college. Apparently the universities in Germany are behind the USA. This makes me proud of our higher education system. :D 

For lunch, we walked to a pub place for sandwiches and delicious bean soup! Nick got us lost, as usual. But I know it's hard to have his job! We only had about 40 minutes in Aachen, which was not enough. I didn't even get to buy anything, but it was still enjoyable to walk around and look at all the shops. The architecture in this city was especially pretty in my opinion. ;]

Next, we went to the bus and of course lost Jake in the mean time…and once we found him, we were on our way to the Three Country Point. Wait. Did I mention it is snowing?!?! It's more like I ran to the Three Country Point and took a few photos and ran back. I was the first on the bus, embarrassing? Nope. I may be from NY but I hate the snow and that is why I went south for college. 

Next, we had the American WWII Memorial in the Netherlands. This is where Americans are resting. There are over 8,000 people buried. :( The tour guide was super great at explaining what happened during WWII. I was so cold but he told us that the soldier were even colder than us in the 1940s. I appreciated his remarked and for lack of a better phrase, sucked it up. We went into the cemetery and picked a soldier to relate to and I touched his tombstone and said a prayer and thanked him. I had Richard from New York and he died on May 21, 1945. It was sad experience but I was thankful because they fought for our freedom. 

Onto the bus we went and back to our Castle. While Anna, Christina, and Amy ordered pizza, I waited 2 and a half hours to eat my apple and peanut butter sandwich! We ended up eating at 8:30pm. I was hungry but I couldn't bring myself to eat pizza. I am so sick of Italian food! I just want some veggies, chicken breast, and red quinoa. haha I so prefer to cook my own food so I actually know what it being put into my food! I can't wait to try new recipes this semester. Okay so after dinner, Amy, Anna, and I put in a few hours into our presentation. I think we worked well together. I enjoyed the brainstorming we did and how we included a discussion session in our presentation.

I talked to my mom, dad, and brother today for the first time during the trip. It might have only been a 10 minute conversation, but it was fabulous! I have such supportive and laid-back parents. I love them so much. They are always there for me and would be happy with whatever I did with my life. I just love coming from a loving family. While we may have our issues, I think I am so independent and successful as a person because of them! :)

I went to bed pretty easily today because I just loved the full amount of sleep I received last night! <3

Day Nine- Monday January 14, 2013

It is nice to be back in Maastricht! I absolutely love the teaching hotel. The staff is so friendly and makes me feel so comfortable. I still LOVE the breakfast! I missed it while I was in France. So today, we all went to the Special Education school in Maastricht. I was really nervous about going because when I see kids that are mentally challenged by any means, it just kills me. I thought I wouldn't be able to handle the sadness that I thought was going to go along with the visit, but it seemed like the kids really enjoyed their lives. I just cannot believe how the dutch education system alienates these students by lumping them all into one school. They truly need to follow the US in mainstreaming as many as possible! 

Anyway, the vice principal gave a little introduction, and explained that this school was for the physically disabled and mentally retarded, (IQ 70-20). This school only has 92 students but a staff of 65 to help care for the students, which is a fabulous for the students. It was sad to hear that the mental age of the students is around 3 to 4 years old even though their mental age is way older. I was glad to hear about the countless services available for the students within the school. They offer education programs depending on each individuals needs, speech therapy, other types of therapies. The only downturn is that it is only offered during school hours, meaning they cannot have additional services paid for my the school. I am sure having a mentally challenged and physically challenged child is exhausting, expensive, yet rewarding. So it would be nice if extra services were available to the children. One thing that the principal said which really bothered me was "it" is handicapped…shouldn't he refer to his students as a he or a she. I think whatever he was trying to say might have gotten lost in translation. The principal redeemed himself by saying that his job is very rewarding. He loves the contact with the children and he may give a lot of himself, but when his students succeed, it truly is the best.

So after, Christina and I went into the physical therapy room and met a student who is becoming a physical therapist and doing her internship there. She also studied abroad in Boston her 2nd year of college. It was great talking with her and having her explain the specific tasks she was doing was great. I learned how much patience you need to have to work with the mentally and physically challenged. I commend all the teachers that had the 'calling' to work with these individuals. I saw how rewarding the job can be! It was also rewarding for the students when they achieved their goals. I was so happy for Dylan when he stepped onto the little step! We all clapped for him and he super excited. I just can't believe how happy and how proud he was of himself. It makes me want to have his spirit and to be more grateful for my life. Americans take so much for granted! ahhhh, it's so hard to change when everyone around you can be so greedy. Okay let me stop and get back to the school. Next, the physical therapy student had another boy come in whose right hemisphere was taken out because of severe seizures. This was strange to me because in the US, in similar circumstances they would just sever corpus callosum and not remove an entire hemisphere! Anyway, this boy had lots of issues just walking normally! I felt so bad! 

Next, we went to Ellen's room, the speech therapist's and chatted about the differences in becoming a speech therapist. It seems like it is a little less work over there and it takes less schooling. Ellen had two patients visit while we were there. One had autistic and did not talk and the other was Down syndrome. The autistic boy used hand gestures to communicate to Ellen, which was fascinating. I've always wanted to learn ASL, but Maryland only offers one class and it fills up quite fast. This boy was super shy, but I still could understand his signs because most where iconic. The next patient had the mental capacity of a 2 and a half year old and used a matching game to learn new associations of the word to a corresponding picture. Ellen had such patience and seemed to do a thorough job. I was so impressed by her! I loved the speech aspect of the school.

After we headed to Maastricht University's cafe. I ate an amazing chicken, rice, and green bean meal with a side salad. Boy was I happy about the balanced meal! It was super funny being back on a college campus! I still didn't think we fit in, but nonetheless it was still enjoyable. I sat next to Annie, Emily, and Emilie and it was nice to switch up who I chatted with! I may be closest with Christina, Anna, and Amy, but I still really enjoy being with all of the girls on the trip. It is a special bond we all have and it will be nice to see one another on campus next semester. Speaking of next semester, that is NEXT week! Oh my goodness, life is crazy! After the school, we rested a little bit and got ready for Rene's birthday party! (60th birthday party to be exact!!)

We arrived a little late to Rene's birthday party! But I find that to be best. His house was a tiny old house, but had a lot of charm. It seemed very homey with the moldings on the doors and walls. His daughter Isabella was quite the hostess. She did an amazing job setting up the party. Rene had lots of wine and beer and food out for us. Isabella even made lots of cake pops! YUM! It was a fabulous time, we all mingled and celebrated Rene's birthday. We are all so crazy about him! We bought him a nice bottle of Italian wine! It seems like he'll enjoy it because the Europeans LOVE to drink beverages. I got the chance the talk to Rene's son who was still in high school yet was 22 years old. He went back for some reason. Then I chatted with Dirk, who is such a great guy! He definitely gets a kick out of my facial expressions! ;) We all took a Taxi home and then basically fell asleep early because we are going to Germany tomorrow!

PARIS Day Six- Friday January 11, 2013- Day Eight- January 13, 2013

On Friday, I woke up at 6:50am and it was a little rough because I only slept for a little over 3 hours. I went to breakfast and then we were all off to Paris! :) The bus left at 8AM and I am pretty sure I was asleep by 8:15AM! I slept until the rest stop which was at 10:45am. I worked on my journals and relaxed by listening to music. Before I knew it, we were in Paris!! :)

Amy and I received our room way before the others, so we went up to the room and got changed for our night in Paris. We explored the city a little bit and learned the Metro system. Stacy, Dirk, Nick, Amy, Christina, Anna, and I went out to a fancy restaurant for a 3-course fixed price dinner. I enjoyed the meal but I did not feel comfortable with the French. I found that they were snobby and did not like Americans what so ever! After our super long dinner, our group went to Notre Dome and took lots of photos. We all saw the bridge with lots of locks on the fence, which was put on by couples that would lock the lock up and throw away the key in the water. Stacy saw a couple doing this, SO jealous! We walked around a lot and decided to head back to the hotel because we were exhausted and knew we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I skyped with my best friend, Amber, and she is such a fabulous friend to me. She's always there when I need her even when I am in another country! I am glad she was able to help me through a little rough patch during the trip. She made my bad mood disappear! :) Thank goodness!

Side note- Some time on Friday in the Metro, Dirk told me that I had an "air of confidence" and that he can just tell the way that I walk that I know myself very well and can be myself around others. He also mentioned that he would trust me if anything were to go wrong (vague) and that I had his back. It was very random, but it was a great compliment to receive from an adult. I sometimes doubt myself and this just assures me that I should just let myself be who I am! :) Thank you Dirk!

Saturday morning we woke up around 8am and left the hotel 9am to explore the gorgeous city of Paris. I actually spilled the chocolate cereal today! I felt so embarrassed because I can be such a mess sometimes. Nick, Stacy, and the girls went to the bus station to see an overview of the city. It was so chilly, Anna and I spent some quality time nearby the heater on the bus. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the eye, and lots of scenery of the city. We stopped into a Illy Coffee Shop, where we got a warm beverage to warm up. I treated myself to a latte macchiato, it was scrumptious! We went to a chocolate shop next where there was exquisite statues made from chocolate!! :) Everyone bought a macaroon and I bought a huge chocolate meringue cookie! We walked to the Sac Ra Cure with a million steps. We ran up them and for all that work we were greeted with a beautiful view of the city!! We shopped a little and took some of the girls to see the louvre - which holds the mona lisa! I already went 4 years ago, so I decided to skip that part of Paris. Stacy, Nick, Annie, Emily, and I finally decided on an Italian restaurant, where I finally had pasta! YUM! Then we went shopping and I actually bought some items for me! Annie, and Emily showed me three boutiques that had fabulous things!! I bought a scarf, two earrings, and two little coin purses for gifts. I need to work on buying gifts for others. (Opps!) We met the other girls back at Notre Dome and we went into the exquisite church and saw Jake! Next we took a new train branch to the Eiffel Tower, to see the exhibit at night! It was SO unbelievable and I loved the sparkling lights that went off at 9pm! I believe the lights go off on the hour for only 5 minutes. We all travelled back, safely, thankfully and made it back to the hotel! My feet never hurt so much. I think we did a ton for the first whole day in Paris. I went to bed very early and wish I could have gone out, but I was not capable of moving out of my bed. hehe

Sunday morning, I spilled the chocolate cereal, AGAIN! Now I am mortified! I just cannot believe that I could be so klutzy two days in a row!! Amy and I waited a while for the group to actually get up. Some of them even missed breakfast, but I wasn't in too much of a rush. We initially wanted to climb the Eiffel Tower, but then it was foggy again so we decided to forget that plan and go shopping. I bought these cute bangles from one of the same boutiques that I went to yesterday, and couldn't be happier with my decision! :D We continued to shop and decided to treat ourselves to a sit down dinner because we were going to be on the bus during dinnertime. I ordered a mozzarella and tomato salad, chicken with cheese and potatoes, and chocolate moose. It was great and only 12 EUR with tip! I was happy with my meal, except I was full and didn't have enough room for my crepe-so I got one to go! I ate it on the bus and the bus ride wasn't too eventful. I relaxed and reflected on all the good memories from the trip so far.