Love long distance

The goal of this blog is to chronicle my experiences while in the Netherlands. The good, the bad, and the ridiculously embarrassing. What I am about to share with you is rather silly but it is a pretty significant part of my life here: staying connected with my friends and family. Especially the latter. It is very important for me to stay in touch with the special people in my life, even though my life has changed so much. Thanks to Skype I can talk and see them pretty frequently even though we are hundreds and hundred of miles away from each other.

Whether I'm watching while my twelve-year-old brother plays video games or listening to my mother ramble on about what she read in People magazine about The Real Housewives of New York City, it is so nice to spend time "together." Sometimes they like to tease me by enjoying a pan full of brownies between stories about their day. Holding each piece in front of the webcam just long enough to make my mouth water before they devour it. Sometimes they like to be sneaky and take screenshots of me making weird faces unknowingly and then send them to me unexpectedly.


Mother and said 12 year-old brother, Owen.

A French exchange student, Paul, has been staying with my family for the summer. In my room. I must admit it is a little weird and hard not to feel like he's filling up the space I left behind, especially since they're doing all sorts of fun things with him. Things that I've always wanted to do whenever I was home for the summer or holiday breaks. And then they took him to Harry Potter World and I contemplated giving them the silent treatment to convey how betrayed I felt. And then I noticed how perfect the whole situation actually is. Here I am living with another family in Holland. I was home barely two weeks after graduation and then I jetted off across the ocean. And there Paul is living with my family in America. It is great for my brothers to have another guy to hang out with instead of a sister who still thinks making them tag along to shop at Target is fun. And I'm sure he's a much better video game player than me.


The sign they held when they picked him up at the airport.

It is funny how things work out. Life is strange. And my family is really, really great. Excuse me for being overly sentimental but if it weren't for them I'd never have the courage and the drive to do something like live in another country. All that stuff about doing what makes you happy and following your dreams is something I totally believe in thanks to them. Especially my parents. Sorry, mom and dad, that it took me twenty-two years to figure that out.