A growing experience!
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09 April 2017 | Verenigde Staten, Houston
I want to apologize for not writing for a while, but a lot of good things happened. This blog will be about my time in Houston 3 weeks ago. I just came back from the most amazing trip of my entire life. I will tell y’all about that in my next blog!
The week after spring break was so hot, it was 30 degrees Celsius every day… I love that it is summer allllll the time in Texas! ( with a rain or thunder storm too sometimes… )
It was an important week, because on Thursday we had our play-off game. I think I already explained what this was, but I’ll tell it again just to be sure. First you play games to teams of different schools ( called district games ). The winners of the different districts then play against each other, which is called a play off. If you win, you go to the next round, but if you lose, the season is over…
On Tuesday we had a warm-up game against a school called Houston-Austin. When we arrived at the school we were literally in the middle of nowhere haha. The field was barely a soccer field and our opponent only played with 9 girls, which is obviously not a full team. We won 8-0 so it wasn’t really a warm-up but it is always fun to play a game :)
That Wednesday, the day before our big game, coach talked to us for like an hour. He had made a loooong speech about the team, the seniors and the tactics and stuff. We also got a play-off shirt. It says the year of the season and all our names ( plus coach ) on the back of the shirt! On front of the shirt, it of course says Westside :) I’m so happy with the shirt, now I really can’t forget anyone of the team.
Thursday, play-off game day! In the morning I got in trouble for the first time this year ( I am so innocent ). I wanted to wear the play off shirt for school spirit, but it was a normal Thursday, which means you can only wear uniforms…. And it was the principal who caught me….! But I used my exchange student excuse and it worked hahaha ( I’m an exchange student, I didn’t know I couldn’t wear this today I am so sorry ) Anyway, we got out of class at 12 pm that day. Coach wanted to practice penalties and we just played around for a while ‘to get focused’. After school there was pasta for the team and we left for the game at 4 pm. It was a really hot day, but the sun went down during the game so that was nice. While we were preparing for our game, more and more Westside students and other supporters came to our game. It was so great that they were all there! The team we played was called Langham Creek High School. We first got called to the center of the field, one by one. Guess who had to go first..? ME. When they called my name I had no idea what to do but I got told to run to the center and then everybody would clap and it was super nice. We did that for every girl of both teams and then we sang the national anthem, which was pretty cool. The game started and we started super good. They had some really good players. We lost 2-0 but it wasn’t a bad game at all. That we lost meant that the season is over for us… It was really sad after the game. We were all standing in a big circle and almost everybody cried. It was the worst for the seniors who won’t have a new season next year, because they go to college. Coach, of course, was super sweet and super proud and the things he said were amazing. He let every senior, including me because I’ll also leave, say something to the team. It was such a sad but beautiful moment and I’m so happy I got this opportunity and it was an amazing season! I am really going to miss the team and Coach Brown.
The Westside boys also played their play-off game, right after us. They played against Cy-falls High School and it was a great game. We were sitting in the student section and the people were going wild, I’ll post videos on Facebook haha! The score was 1-1 for a long time. Then the other team scored 2-1… In the last minute we should’ve gotten a penalty which could tie the game. The referees were really biased which was not fair at all. Since we didn’t get the penalty, the boys lost too… It was a sad day for Westside Soccer :(
Friday was a normal school day, except for 1st period. I was just sitting in Algebra doing my test you know, when suddenly the fire alarm goes off. My goodness I’ve never been so shocked. Y’all don’t know how loud Westside fire drills are. They are not this loud in The Netherlands I swear. And we get them every month! So every time after a fire drill, I’m glad I didn’t die from a heart attack lol….
After school, Mathilde, Sarah-Joy, Hope and I went to the Houston Rodeo for the last time. We were all the way in section 500, but we could see everything really good. We were a ‘little’ late, because SJ and Hope had to come from their softball game. We were just in time to see the Bull-riding, which I think is the best part of the rodeo! There was something extra this year. Apparently there are some boys and girls who take care of a steer for whole year and then at the rodeo, they get prices for the best and prettiest steer. It was super funny, I’ve honestly never seen such shiny and pretty steers hahaha.
The artist that night was Dierks Bentley. He was surprisingly good, because we didn’t know who it was :) We met Austin after the concert because he was in the stadium too. It was pouring rain outside, but we didn’t want to leave without having tried fried Oreos! Everybody talks all the time about how good the rodeo food is and especially the fried Oreos. We ran through the rain and bought them, and it was worth it!! We were still hungry so we left the rodeo to go to Whataburger to get food. Shout out to Sarah-Joy for bringing us all home safe that night! I’ve never seen weather this bad. There was rain and the highways were like swimming pools. At one moment there was an overpass on the Highway we were driving on. Because people don’t know how to drive or are scared, they literally stopped their car underneath the overpass. We didn’t realize it until we came closer and it was super dangerous! I’m still so happy SJ does know how to drive :)
On Saturday I went to the movie theatre with Josh, Austin and Mathilde. We saw the movie ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and it was such a good movie. We went out for dinner at Chopstix again. This was the restaurant Josh used to work at and the Chinese food was delicious. When we came home, Gaia came too and we watched Moana ( because we love Disney movies ). After the movie, Josh left, but Gaia stayed the night. We didn’t go to church Sunday morning, but we watched all Disney movies in the morning. Because Disney is available in most languages, we all sang the songs in our native languages. So every time there was a song, you could hear English from the tv and then Italian, Danish and Dutch from the couch hahaha. Sarah-Joy picked us up in the afternoon and the four of us tried on some prom dresses again…. I will be so happy when I finally find a dress ( that is not $500 ).
Since soccer season is over, Sarah-Joy and I need to get our exercise somewhere else. We decided to run in a park close to our houses. It was actually really hot but it was super nice :)
On a normal Monday evening, we ( Sarah-Joy and her ‘little’ brother Isaac, Austin, Gaia, Mathilde and I ) went to a big Starbucks and did home work (?!) Besides the home work, it felt like summer, because we were all sitting outside and even though it was dark it was still warm outside.
This school week was a kind of weird week. On Tuesday, the freshmen had to take a big test, called STAAR. The rest of the school had to come to school at 1 pm, because of that, which was great! I did nothing in the morning but sleeping and when we came to school the only classes I had were economics and soccer classes. We did some work during economics, but we did nothing during soccer. The only thing we did was turn in all the clothes we barrowed for the season. So yeah, it was a pretty useless day but the sleeping in part was great! :)
On Thursday, the sophomores had to take the same STAAR test. This again meant that the rest of the school could sleep all morning and be in school at 1 pm! I had a soccer class again, where we did nothing and I had English. We also didn’t do anything but talk in English, because we had a substitute. Sometimes you just need a useless day ;)
After school on Thursday, mom, Stephanie, Jake and his sons and I, went to a BIG park in the Northern part of Houston. We had a picnic first and then went for a Poké-walk all the way through the park. It was a beautiful day. There were small lakes and fountains in the park and we saw turtles!!!! There was also some crazy art stuff in the middle of the park that looked like a bunch of colored poop, you can see the picture on Facebook, it was really funny haha. After the sunset, we went home and it was a great day :)
Friday was another good day, because it was International Day at Westside. Mathilde and I ordered a Danish and Dutch flag ( because we didn’t bring one with us ). Together with Gaia and her Italian flag, we wore them as a cape the whole day in school. The funny part was that we talked about our flags in the car that morning. Mathilde said people often think her flag is from Switzerland and I said people think my flag is from France. The first thing a boy asked Mathilde when we entered school was if she was from Switzerland, it was hilarious! People even asked Mathilde if her flag was from the Red Cross even though the Danish flag had a white cross hahaha… Also multiple people during that day asked if my flag was the French flag… It was so funny, but we all had a great day. After school, Gaia and I, again went shopping for prom dresses, but we still couldn’t find anything.
That night I packed all my stuff for the trip to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and I will tell y’all everything about that trip in my next blog! :)
The week after spring break was so hot, it was 30 degrees Celsius every day… I love that it is summer allllll the time in Texas! ( with a rain or thunder storm too sometimes… )
It was an important week, because on Thursday we had our play-off game. I think I already explained what this was, but I’ll tell it again just to be sure. First you play games to teams of different schools ( called district games ). The winners of the different districts then play against each other, which is called a play off. If you win, you go to the next round, but if you lose, the season is over…
On Tuesday we had a warm-up game against a school called Houston-Austin. When we arrived at the school we were literally in the middle of nowhere haha. The field was barely a soccer field and our opponent only played with 9 girls, which is obviously not a full team. We won 8-0 so it wasn’t really a warm-up but it is always fun to play a game :)
That Wednesday, the day before our big game, coach talked to us for like an hour. He had made a loooong speech about the team, the seniors and the tactics and stuff. We also got a play-off shirt. It says the year of the season and all our names ( plus coach ) on the back of the shirt! On front of the shirt, it of course says Westside :) I’m so happy with the shirt, now I really can’t forget anyone of the team.
Thursday, play-off game day! In the morning I got in trouble for the first time this year ( I am so innocent ). I wanted to wear the play off shirt for school spirit, but it was a normal Thursday, which means you can only wear uniforms…. And it was the principal who caught me….! But I used my exchange student excuse and it worked hahaha ( I’m an exchange student, I didn’t know I couldn’t wear this today I am so sorry ) Anyway, we got out of class at 12 pm that day. Coach wanted to practice penalties and we just played around for a while ‘to get focused’. After school there was pasta for the team and we left for the game at 4 pm. It was a really hot day, but the sun went down during the game so that was nice. While we were preparing for our game, more and more Westside students and other supporters came to our game. It was so great that they were all there! The team we played was called Langham Creek High School. We first got called to the center of the field, one by one. Guess who had to go first..? ME. When they called my name I had no idea what to do but I got told to run to the center and then everybody would clap and it was super nice. We did that for every girl of both teams and then we sang the national anthem, which was pretty cool. The game started and we started super good. They had some really good players. We lost 2-0 but it wasn’t a bad game at all. That we lost meant that the season is over for us… It was really sad after the game. We were all standing in a big circle and almost everybody cried. It was the worst for the seniors who won’t have a new season next year, because they go to college. Coach, of course, was super sweet and super proud and the things he said were amazing. He let every senior, including me because I’ll also leave, say something to the team. It was such a sad but beautiful moment and I’m so happy I got this opportunity and it was an amazing season! I am really going to miss the team and Coach Brown.
The Westside boys also played their play-off game, right after us. They played against Cy-falls High School and it was a great game. We were sitting in the student section and the people were going wild, I’ll post videos on Facebook haha! The score was 1-1 for a long time. Then the other team scored 2-1… In the last minute we should’ve gotten a penalty which could tie the game. The referees were really biased which was not fair at all. Since we didn’t get the penalty, the boys lost too… It was a sad day for Westside Soccer :(
Friday was a normal school day, except for 1st period. I was just sitting in Algebra doing my test you know, when suddenly the fire alarm goes off. My goodness I’ve never been so shocked. Y’all don’t know how loud Westside fire drills are. They are not this loud in The Netherlands I swear. And we get them every month! So every time after a fire drill, I’m glad I didn’t die from a heart attack lol….
After school, Mathilde, Sarah-Joy, Hope and I went to the Houston Rodeo for the last time. We were all the way in section 500, but we could see everything really good. We were a ‘little’ late, because SJ and Hope had to come from their softball game. We were just in time to see the Bull-riding, which I think is the best part of the rodeo! There was something extra this year. Apparently there are some boys and girls who take care of a steer for whole year and then at the rodeo, they get prices for the best and prettiest steer. It was super funny, I’ve honestly never seen such shiny and pretty steers hahaha.
The artist that night was Dierks Bentley. He was surprisingly good, because we didn’t know who it was :) We met Austin after the concert because he was in the stadium too. It was pouring rain outside, but we didn’t want to leave without having tried fried Oreos! Everybody talks all the time about how good the rodeo food is and especially the fried Oreos. We ran through the rain and bought them, and it was worth it!! We were still hungry so we left the rodeo to go to Whataburger to get food. Shout out to Sarah-Joy for bringing us all home safe that night! I’ve never seen weather this bad. There was rain and the highways were like swimming pools. At one moment there was an overpass on the Highway we were driving on. Because people don’t know how to drive or are scared, they literally stopped their car underneath the overpass. We didn’t realize it until we came closer and it was super dangerous! I’m still so happy SJ does know how to drive :)
On Saturday I went to the movie theatre with Josh, Austin and Mathilde. We saw the movie ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and it was such a good movie. We went out for dinner at Chopstix again. This was the restaurant Josh used to work at and the Chinese food was delicious. When we came home, Gaia came too and we watched Moana ( because we love Disney movies ). After the movie, Josh left, but Gaia stayed the night. We didn’t go to church Sunday morning, but we watched all Disney movies in the morning. Because Disney is available in most languages, we all sang the songs in our native languages. So every time there was a song, you could hear English from the tv and then Italian, Danish and Dutch from the couch hahaha. Sarah-Joy picked us up in the afternoon and the four of us tried on some prom dresses again…. I will be so happy when I finally find a dress ( that is not $500 ).
Since soccer season is over, Sarah-Joy and I need to get our exercise somewhere else. We decided to run in a park close to our houses. It was actually really hot but it was super nice :)
On a normal Monday evening, we ( Sarah-Joy and her ‘little’ brother Isaac, Austin, Gaia, Mathilde and I ) went to a big Starbucks and did home work (?!) Besides the home work, it felt like summer, because we were all sitting outside and even though it was dark it was still warm outside.
This school week was a kind of weird week. On Tuesday, the freshmen had to take a big test, called STAAR. The rest of the school had to come to school at 1 pm, because of that, which was great! I did nothing in the morning but sleeping and when we came to school the only classes I had were economics and soccer classes. We did some work during economics, but we did nothing during soccer. The only thing we did was turn in all the clothes we barrowed for the season. So yeah, it was a pretty useless day but the sleeping in part was great! :)
On Thursday, the sophomores had to take the same STAAR test. This again meant that the rest of the school could sleep all morning and be in school at 1 pm! I had a soccer class again, where we did nothing and I had English. We also didn’t do anything but talk in English, because we had a substitute. Sometimes you just need a useless day ;)
After school on Thursday, mom, Stephanie, Jake and his sons and I, went to a BIG park in the Northern part of Houston. We had a picnic first and then went for a Poké-walk all the way through the park. It was a beautiful day. There were small lakes and fountains in the park and we saw turtles!!!! There was also some crazy art stuff in the middle of the park that looked like a bunch of colored poop, you can see the picture on Facebook, it was really funny haha. After the sunset, we went home and it was a great day :)
Friday was another good day, because it was International Day at Westside. Mathilde and I ordered a Danish and Dutch flag ( because we didn’t bring one with us ). Together with Gaia and her Italian flag, we wore them as a cape the whole day in school. The funny part was that we talked about our flags in the car that morning. Mathilde said people often think her flag is from Switzerland and I said people think my flag is from France. The first thing a boy asked Mathilde when we entered school was if she was from Switzerland, it was hilarious! People even asked Mathilde if her flag was from the Red Cross even though the Danish flag had a white cross hahaha… Also multiple people during that day asked if my flag was the French flag… It was so funny, but we all had a great day. After school, Gaia and I, again went shopping for prom dresses, but we still couldn’t find anything.
That night I packed all my stuff for the trip to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and I will tell y’all everything about that trip in my next blog! :)
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