Graduated

Time flies, I just finished my classes! I improved my language skills from low advanced to advanced with a score of 91%. The next week will be a time of preparation for the TOEFL test and a lot of "saying good-byes".. I 'm really looking forward to hug my family at home and to see all of my friends, though I like my American life too and wish I could combine it somehow. Anyways, I've still 12 days to enjoy and therefore I made myself the promise to limit my study hours. My nature is aiming the highest results, always. Preferably in as little time as possible;) But this is my pitfall: I forget to live and to enjoy the day, as I only focus on that goal I want to reach. My challenge is to lower the bar;). Well, my TOEFL results at class were about 70%. That's a great score, having in mind that I had no experience with lectures or essays in Dutch, let alone in English. Now I'm reproducing lectures about astronomy, architecture, science-stuff, hydroculture or politics, etc. I don't panic anymore, I learned strategies to take notes, familiarized myself with some vocabulary by watching documentaries and I even have fun with all these subjects. I really 'd like to study more, but it's time to sit back a bit, relax, enjoy and not to make a big deal of the test. And you know what, I need a reason to come back here, so there it is:))

Man-magnet

Haha, that's what Lotte called me after I told her a story about an encounter with a man. She reminded me of first the biker, then Nash, George and yes, now I met Tony. I was talking with Nash, he just offered me a second gift. A few weeks ago I got a fancy, pricy Starbucks to-go cup, and this time, an also cool New York mug. He's so friendly. "Making you happy, makes my day" he told me. So while chatting, this Tony interrupted with "hey, I love your accent, where are you from?". Hearing the word "Netherlands" did him jump down on his feet and he went like: "now I'm gonna shock you!" continuing by summing up most big cities of our country. He explained he'd had a girl friend Ellen and he was still amazed of her and the Netherlands. He said "I'll buy you dinner, then we can talk about the Netherlands!" Well, that shocked me more than all cities so I reduced his generous offer to having a (Starbucks) coffee together:)

Selfie Challenge

Before I traveled to the States last year, my dear sister in law handed me a selfie challenge to fulfill. A long list with all kind of situations that I need to find for taking that selfie. Some are hilarious. Attached to this story, you can find some of them: Inside my fridge, with something scary, a bad hair day and with someone with bad teeth. This last one isn't hard to find since most homeless' don't see a dentist often;) 

George

Most of days he 's in a good mood but the last week he's upset. He suffers back pain which is the reason for his wheelchair, but worst is the pain of being ignored. He's angry that despite he volunteered in the Vietnam war, the government nor military passengers pay attention to him. He's angry that other people in need steal his stuff all the time, and that's true because I've seen this happening. I looked out my window, saw him sleeping in his chair, while another homeless guy approached him behind and checked his pockets. Sometimes I buy him some clothes like gloves, a hat and a scarf. But a week later it's gone. I try to cheer him up a bit and make him dinner daily. The biggest smile I get is if I bring him milk;) I know that God loves him and I pray that He will meet his need for a home. 

Before I'm leaving the US at the end of this month, I'll be writing my last blog! Have a great day, love, Marieke