Amsterdam/ Scout camp weekend/ Horse back riding/ Shadowing a vet: in Belgium

first thing's first: Amsterdam!

So... This is Amsterdam. My dream came true! The pictures say (more than) a thousand words, but here is a short and sweet explanation. I went to Amsterdam for a long weekend with my best exchange friends from all different parts of the world. I experienced all Amsterdam has to offer. Not only did I see the Anne Frank house and the museums, but I got the chance to experience Amsterdam fully. Meaning: we walked everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I love Amsterdam, I love the streets, the architecture, I hate the bikes, I hate the trams, I hate the motos... This is from the person that LITERALLY almost got hit multiple times on the trip... Anyway, It was great, if you want to know how to travel/do/experience Amsterdam to the fullest (especially in the length of 2 or 3 days) I am the right person to ask! or just ask what I did there and such, because it was awesome.

scouts

Next thing is scout camp. Scouts in Belgium and everywhere else basically besides the United States works amazingly different (if this makes sense). So there are multiple sections of scouts and each section is determined by age group, some co-ed, some not, and each age group is headed by a group of Chefs which plan the activities and try to keep the kids from killing each other (semi-literally). So one weekend a year the chefs "camp" In this case we walked like 13 kilometers to a CASTLE in a different village and stayed there where we had fun (a lot of fun) ;). We also played a game where they split us up into teams and we had to do a series of games like a world cup (my team named themselves USA) USA came out on top in the end, I don't want to say I won it for us, but I won the last relay for us which was double or nothing points and almost threw up after winning it (no joke, if you want to know why, ask!). Anyway, scout camp here is WAY DIFFERENT and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. (don't tell but I prefer this to BSA or girlscouts).

Horseback riding

I recently started going on some Wednesdays chez Bridgide to help out and ride at her barn, I guess there family is with the rotary so when my mom asked if I could come and help with the horses she was like "sure! why not?" Sweet. So I've done that a couple times and it is really fun, I love it. Especially because they ride English, so it is a perfect opportunity for me to perfect my English seat....

Shadowing a vet (in Belgium)

Just about THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so cool, one of my mom's friends (again) husband is a vet (Tony) and he nicely offered to take me with him to shadow basically whenever because it's "not a problem." Of course I accepted, I could barely hold of from jumping up and down and screaming like a fan girl. Anyway, so I went with tony to see some stuff. We ground a horse's teeth, visited some cows, a dog, a colicing horse, all very interesting. The peak part was euthanizing a cow... But it was ok, the cow was really in a lot of pain and it didn't hurt it at all really.

I also visited a farm with him where the nice dutch lady spoke English with me and happily told me all about her farm, which was really sweet (they have these fancy automatic milkers for the cows!!!!)

So that's just a little bit, I have much more to come tomorrow, so check back tomorrow or the next day and there will surely be some nice stories and adventures here for you to enjoy!!

Questions about Amsterdam? About scouting in Belgium, or a different country? Wondering what I learned shadowing a vet? Just have a question about exchange, life, food...? Be sure to ask! I will be sure to answer! (eventually!)