Updates from Arnhem

The past few days Arnhem has been hit really hard with snow! If you don't have anywhere to be, it's really beautiful! I love walking around outside and seeing everything covered with snow. The downside is that a lot of my friends have been delayed trying to get home for the holidays. Many of them have been stranded in the airports for 2 to 3 days. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that right now, but I do miss my family a lot. Here are some pictures outside of my residence from yesterday morning.

I also wanted to post a picture of something I saw in the grocery store yesterday! I was so excited to see something from Wisconsin.. I never see anything here from home, so I had to take a picture. Of course, it's cranberries! It seems kind of silly, but it made me feel a little bit closer to home. :) I also got a kick out of the "Something Special from Wisconsin" logo in the right hand corner!


After walking around and running some errands yesterday, I had a dinner date with friends! A few of my friends from my Logistics class and I went out to eat downtown. We went to one of my favorite places - Ask De Chef and had all-you-can-eat sushi!! Jessie, Yuxi, Joe, Tayler, and Joe's friend Bryan all came to dinner. We had a lot of fun and so much to eat! It was delicious and we ordered three or four rounds of food. Here are some pictures from dinner.

Tomorrow I am going to Germany, I'll be sure to update you on my travels. Love you!!

XO, Sarah

Amsterdam

On Friday Lauren and I went to Amsterdam for the day to hang out before she left for India on Saturday. We left around 2 in the afternoon excited and ready for a fun day! Little did we know what was ahead of us. There was a lot of snow on Friday, (and by “a lot” I mean barely anything compared to Wisconsin) and it turns out the Dutch don’t have any clue what to do when it snows more than an inch. To be fair, it is unusual for them to have a lot of snow, but the way the city shut down you would’ve thought it was a blizzard. On our way to Amsterdam, several of the trains were delayed, and many of the trains going to Amsterdam were cancelled. We ended up having to transfer twice in Utrecht and Amersfoort, and what should have been an hour and a half ride turned into four and a half.

On the way in, several people told us they had shut down all flights at the airport and that people were stranded until early next week. There were over 100 flights cancelled and since the trains and buses weren’t running, many people had nowhere to go. The airport actually brought cots out for people to sleep in until they could find a flight. It wasn’t looking good for Lauren’s flight the next morning. But we decided to not think about that and just enjoy Amsterdam for the night.

We had planned on going on the Heineken brewery tour, but since we got there so late it wasn’t an option. Instead we walked around the city and enjoyed the scenery. Amsterdam is absolutely beautiful in the snow! There were Christmas lights everywhere and people had built snowmen all around the city. We found a “Winterland” (similar to the Christmas Market in Germany) and went in. There was an ice skating rink so we went skating too which was really great! After ice skating we started getting tired so we made our way back to the hotel. Our hotel was really beautiful and it was decorated so nicely for the holidays. Our room had a great big bath tub so I got to relax a little after our hectic day.

After a good night’s sleep, Lauren and I got up this morning to check her flight status-hoping for the best! Her flight was still on time so we made our way to the airport. Schiphol airport  was packed with very stress and angry people so it was a very hectic time again this morning. After a few hours, Lauren got to check in and we said goodbye. Even though I will see her in a few weeks, I was very sad to see Lauren go. Arnhem just isn’t the same without her! After leaving the airport I walked around Amsterdam for a few hours and came back on an afternoon train. Thankfully the trains were operating somewhat regularly so I didn’t have to wait as long as yesterday.

Even with the crazy Dutch transportation it was an excellent weekend in Amsterdam. It’s also  the last weekend I will have there! I’ll be home in less than a month :) Hope your weekend was wonderful! Love and miss you all

XO, Sarah

Done with School!

Well I am officially done with classes in Arnhem! I’m SO happy to be done especially after this week. I had 2 papers and 4 presentations due within the last 6 days – it was so much work. I ended up getting A’s in all of my classes so Mom & Dad can be proud :) Now that class is done I will be traveling for the next month. I’m going to Germany on the 22^nd to stay with friends for Christmas. After that I’m heading to Berlin for New Year’s Eve to meet up with my friends from Arnhem. Then I have to come back and take an exam for Dutch on the 3^rd. After my test I am leaving for Paris for 4 days!! I can’t wait to see the Eiffel Tower! From Paris I am flying to Morocco and staying there until the 13^th. On the 13^th I’m heading back to Arnhem and then leaving for Wisconsin on the 15^th. I’m so excited to be home!! Can’t wait to update you on my Christmas and traveling adventures. 

Love you! XO Sarah

Christmas Market in Germany

Saturday we went to a Christmas market in Oberhausen, Germany. JoDee and her boyfriend Erwin picked Lauren and I up at 9:30 and we headed to the market. Christmas markets originated in Germany, but now have spread to lots of other countries in Europe. But Germany still has the best ones! Here's a picture from the car as we were leaving the Netherlands and heading to Germany!

When we got to Germany, we walked through the shopping mall before going to the market. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas! There were hundreds of wreaths, trees, garland and lights everywhere! Once we got to the other side, we walked outside into the Christmas market. The market basically had a bunch of little stands with food or gifts in. There were ornaments, wood carvings, blown glass, and a lot more. There were also a lot of food stands. We saw tons of bratwurst of course, but also a lot of stands had grilled mushrooms.

However, our first stop was for Glühwein (mulled wine). It's a delicious hot drink that's common in Germany! Here I am drinking the Glühwein in the market. We got to keep the cute mug too :) After drinking our wine, we walked around the market for a while and looked at all the handmade products. I picked up some great ornaments to bring home. Below you can see a picture of the market and some of the stalls. It looks even more beautiful at night!




After looking around and having a bratwurst at the market, we went back into the mall and shopped there for a while. Around 3 we decided it was time to leave, and when we got outside we had a nice surprise - it was snowing! Seeing the snow really completed our perfect day in Germany and helped get me in the Christmas spirit. I'll also be spending Christmas in Germany, so I hope to visit another christmas market before I leave. I heard they're even more beautiful at night!


Hope you all had a great weekend!

XO Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! How was your Turkey day? Mine was quite interesting being in Europe for Thanksgiving instead of at home. I sure missed seeing my family and eating Mom's DELICIOUS stuffing :) Let me tell you about mine. I spent my day with my American friends (2 Canadians and 1 Australian too!) and we went over to Joe's and Tayler's to cook dinner. None of us have an oven so Turkey was out of the question.. But Tayler made a delicious pot of chili, Tad made homemade chicken soup, the girls brought mashed potatoes, and Lauren and I brought rolls and dessert!  Here Tayler is making dinner.. Thanks Tayler! :)

Here are some more pictures from the night. The first is all of the girls, the second is the chili, soup, and mashed potatoes. The third is us eating the dessert!

I had so much to be thankful for this year.  I tried uploading a video of me saying what I was thankful for, but it didn't work so I'll just write them here :). First I'm thankful for God for sending me SO many blessings this year and for keeping my friends and family in good health - as long as I have them I am happy! My parents and brother Tom, I don't think I could ever say how grateful I am to have them in my life, my best friends, my new friends, my amazing aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., Holly and Cameron for video chatting me (I love you!), and finally I am thankful for this amazing experience and all of you that helped me get here! Thanks for your support and love!

Missing you!

XO Sarah