The Club House

So I vowed that I would tell a few more nice stories on my blog before I called it quits with the blogging untill my next set of adventures. One of the experiences that I will hold most dear to my heart about my stay in the Netherlands was the experiences that I had with my volunteer position at The Club House. Every Wednesday elementary school Children would have a half day at school with the intention that the children should get to spend some quality time with their families. However, not all of the Children were so fortunate to have parents who could get the time off work for this to be possible so they would come to the club house from about 1 to 4. So I guess I should start from the beginning with how I found this volunteer opportunity, so here goes.

The Beginning
I had noticed that there was a Red Cross in the main shopping area of Rotterdam, and as my course load lightened I decided that it would be nice to volunteer with the red cross for the Christmas season. However, upon my arrival at their office I was politely informed that they really only needed people with a better understanding of Dutch than mine. So I asked if they new of anyone who would take me, so they directed me to a volunteer agency CVD. The VD was very enthusiastic to find me a position, and as soon as I mentioned that I had previous experience with Children, we were off to the races. The co-ordinator found the Club House in their system, and sent me off to meet it's co-ordinator Monique who enthusiastically welcomed me to her team of Social Workers and volunteers, and all it required was a hand shake and a promise that I would try to speak Dutch, none of the usual paperwork and police checks which are so standard in Canada were necessary.

The Club House
Given my previous experiences with the Dutch population, I was overwhelmed and surprised by the enthusiasm which greeted me on my first day. There were many volunteers and workers of different ages and backgrounds who I honestly must say were some of the nicest people I have ever met. Upon being introduced, the staff and volunteers at the clubhouse were constantly encouraging me to practice my Dutch and more than happy to help whenever I had a question.

The Children
In All I only got 3 opportunities to volunteer with the children, missing out on a 4th because of my early departure. The first day I was asked to help supervise the older group who were watching a movie that day. This gave me an excellent opportunity to meet some of the Children and better get to know the workers and other volunteers. The second day was the day that Sinter Klauss came to visit the younger children, that day was indeed a test on my ability to speak Duth, as all but 2 of the Children spoke no English. However, I really enjoyed this second day because of being exposed the the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas' eve. My third day was really quite amusing. On this day I was put with the intermediate group who ranged from 6 to 9. My first job was to supervise the children in the change room before they were allowed to go into the gym. I had been warned that they found it fun to try to escape into the gym. Initially it was okay, however, one they realised that my comprehension of Dutch wasn't the greatest, one of the Children went out the door they came in and when I followed that Child 3 more of the Children escaped into the gym through the door I was blocking, but I managed to to heard them all back in to the change room, just in time to be rejoined by my colleagues. At this point I got to practice my Dutch with some of the children as we played games. My favorite moment of the afternoon was when one of the Children asked me in Dutch if I could speak French, so I replied in French that I could in fact speak French and asked if she could to. The girl then proceeded to look totally bewildered as her friend whispered in her ear that she thought that I was speaking French. The rest of the afternoon was spent having snack and making Kerstdagen (Christmas) Cards.

All in All
I am so greatful that I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Club House. Suprisingly, in the three short sessions it greatly improved my Dutch. I went from being unable to understand anything that was being said to me in Dutch to understand at least half of what was being said (if I was listening) and from knowing only single words, to be able to speaking in full sentences in a conversational setting. In addition it gave me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and it also showed me a very different way of interacting with and caring for Children. (The Dutch are surprisingly less militant than Canadians!)

Until Next Time!
Cheers

As requested

Sooo, one of the people who I randomly met in Rotterdam recently sent me a very angry msn message demanding to know why I hadn't written about him in my blog. so Ahmad, this one's for you. So an evening in early October, shortly after the housing incident which came to be known as Anonymous took place, my friend Joan and I were trying to find a legal aide office for advice about the housing incident which came to be known as Anonymous, and we weren't entirely sure where we were going so we stopped to ask a kindly young man for directions. Well this young man was Ahmad, who gave us very good directions and told us a little bit about himself, like the fact he's a Med Student at Erasmus. I never saw Ahmad again, but he'll live on forever on my msn list.

Keep reading, more planned updates coming soon, once stupid exam crap is worked out...

Return Home

Okay so I've been back on Canadian soil for 24 hours now and I'm really having quite a bit of mixed emotions. I should probably elaborate on why I left the Netherlands early, those who were in the Netherlands were aware that about a week ago Sunday one of my muggers followed me home on the tram. I was very worried about my safety at this time so I decided to go into the building across the road from mine to evade the mugger, who was not discrete about following me. At this point several of my family and friends at home indicated they thought that it was a good idea for me to return to Canada as they feared for my safety, however I was very determined to stay. With the support of Carleton and Erasmus Universities I stuck to this decision however I did decide that if I were to see the man who followed me home again, in the vicinity of my apartment building, that I would return back to Canada. Well on Friday night I was leaving my flat to visit someone else within the building when I noticed the mugger, or at least someone who appeared to be the mugger half way down the hall and he started walking towards me. I quickly went back inside and watched through my peep hole as the man came to my room, paused for a moment and then returned the way he came. I quickly called my friend and we searched the building to see if the mugger was still around but he had obviously gone. I did not phone the police as it was obvious from my previous interactions with them that they were not interested in helping me unless I was being physically attacked, although I did report the incident the next day, but as per my earlier decision, I decided that it was in my best interest to return home. So I spent the weekend packing, making arrangements and saying good bye to friends and returned back to Canada on Monday. I will add another post about my return home shortly. But what I would like to say now is that having had some time to reflect on it now, I am delighted to have had the opportunity to go on the Exchange in Rotterdam. Despite the challenges which I faced after being mugged and evicted, I am eternally greatful for the education which I recieved in the Netherlands, I had the opportunity to take courses which were not open to me at Carleton and that have really broadened my horizons. In addition I have made some wonderful new friends who I intend to remain in close contact with far into the future and to eventually visit. I am also delighted to have had the opportunity to experience a new culture and begin to learn a new language. Looking back, this has truly been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. More entries and pictures to follow...

Going Home on Monday

It is with a heavy heart that I report that I will be returning to Canada on Monday Dec. 11, 12 Days earlier than I intended as a result of further encounters with my muggers. My plane is BA 99 arriving at Pearson International Airport at 7:05 p.m. (19:05) I'm really so happy to have had the opportunity to make so many new friends here and learn so many new things. I'll miss that.

World AIDS Day

Okay I know I just posted like an hour ago but, I just realised that it was World AIDS day and I wanted to impart some knowledge that I gained here. Ask yourself if you know anyone who has died of AIDS. Probably not, right? When Prof. Hey asked my Advanced Public International Law class, of 80 international students this question, no one's hand went up. She then went on to tell us about a trip to Ghana in which she visited a highschool and was shocked to find pages In Memorial to Students who had died of AIDS in the past year. Shocked she enquired to a school official who informed her that 25% of the School's population had died that year. Why do we continue to ignore this problem when there's so much more that we could be doing to help?

3 Months

Sooooooooooooooo... I've been in Holland for 3 months! Which I guess is a little bit dissapointing because I am just starting to settle in and I have to leave again in 23 days (boo) Oh well you win some you lose some I guess... Anyway I've done a few interesting things since I talked about my room.. in my second last blog.
Sinter Klauss
So first I would like to talk about the Dutch Christmas traditions a little bit. As I think I mentioned in one of my blog entries, I now have a volunteer position with an after school program on Wednesdays as schools only have half days on Wednesdays and some children have nowhere else to go. The volunteer position is very nice and is teaching me a bit more Dutch, although it is a massive challenge to try to communicate with the children. So as the story goes, two weeks ago, Sinter Klass arrived in Holland on a boat, and an elaborate story is unfolding about how he's lost the list of the children who he should give presents to. So every night, since two Saturdays ago, Children leave their shoes by the fireplace and often wake up in the morning to find a small gift or candy in their shoe. These fesitivities culminate on Dec. 5th, St. Nicholas' eve when the children get lots of presents and family spend time together. My favorite aspect of St. Nicholas' eve is that rather than getting a lump of coal in your stocking if you're bad, you get shipped off to Spain!!! So then, what you ask, do people do on Christmas? Well they spend it with family of course, and while they do give gifts I think they must celebrate it in a little bit more of a Christian sense than we do in Canada as the festivities seem to be geared more towards the Birth o Christ rather than the comming of Santa.. (not to say that it doesn't happen that way in some families in North America just rather that there's less emphasis on Santa comming on Christmas here) So I have organized a small gathering of friends on St. Nicholas' eve, which should be nice! But WHAT? you ask, does this have to do with your volunteer job, Kirsten??? Well I'll tell you my friends, I had a very, very busy Wednesday.
Wednesday, Wednesday, WEDNESDAY!!!!
So Last Wednesday (two days ago now) Was very, very busy. To start with, Sinter Klauss came to visit the after school program, so it was essential that I be there despite my otherwise busy schedule. It really put me in the mood for Christmas though, and the Children were so happy, it was so nice!! My co-volunteers and such also decided to give me a bag of the Dutch candies which we had made for the Children as I had never had any of them before, which was also very nice!!!
So also on Wednesday I had my last essay due for advanced public international law, which was very stressful as both my partner and I for the assignment had a lot of work due around this time. But we got it done. Finally, I also had an exam in Introduction to development economics on Wednesday night. SO I had to be really super organized and ready for all three things on Wednesday, Wednesday, WEDNESDAY!
Comming Home
So I am arriving home at Pearson International Airport on December 23rd (Christmas Eve's Eve as Linus from Peanuts might say) just in time for Christmas (I'm so excited about Christmas) And of course, if you're from Canada, and you're reading my blog I FULLY expect you to be there when my plane lands at sometime around 7 pm (flight details will follow at a later date)
Other than being super excited for Christmas, I am a little bit worried about comming home. I'm sure I've changed a bit while I've been here (beyond now using Dutch Words intermingled with the French intermingled with English) and I'm afraid yall are going to find me a bit weird... or weirder than I was before anyway... Maybe I'll be so weird that I'll seem normal. Yes so I'm worried about an increase in my weirdness factor as well as jet lag and perhaps a bit of reverse culture shock. But alls well that ends well I guess.
See you Soon!
Cheers!

P.S. pictures are mainly from Rotterdam, but the one with the Christmas lights are in Den Haag

Disclaimer:If anyone has a problem with something that I've written, I don't really care.