july 30th day 2

ther is one big church(lots of smaller ones)
one big castle
and lots of timber frame houses

I took the placement exam today i was placed in A2.2 the third beginners class I expected to get higher
but it consisted of a grammar test and even in English I suck at grammar tests.

last night at about 3:00 am I met my roommate I heard the door open I freaked out and woke up put a
shirt on then fell asleep again once I realized what was going on

this morning I woke up at 6:30 and walked around the city I ran into Maggie and we walked around for
a while then had breakfast at the Hotel Goldener Adler she went back to sleep and I went to take placement tests

I found another bike shop I would like to visit that some time today. Tonight I think there is a tour of Schwabisch Hall that will show me were all the food stores and such are. Then dinner with the central group. I had a hard enough time getting here I can't imagine how hard it will be for the people who don't speak German.

There is wifi here but you need a pass phrase and I’m not sure if it is the colleges or not

it is now noon I should try to pay the key deposit and get some lunch.

I payed the key deposit and found a super market how ever the don't care food there they just care stuff like cleaners and dog food and cosmetics

I visited the closer bike shop they have used bikes like I want starting from 120 euros I would visit the othere but I’m not sure how far it is or know how to get there also i have 2:30 hours before dinner were I plan to make up for my lack of lunch.

had dinner with the group found out the wifi is not the colleges it is somebody else’s so I will be typing this stuff on word transferring it at the college on week days

so far I have scored the best of all of the central students which I guess is pretty good I'm still not sure if
I’m in the right class but we will see tomorrow

I saw my roommate for the second time today he was going to sleep this after noon so I didn't disturb him I still don't know his name my wild guess is he is from Spain or western Europe

every one who arrived today had a much easier time getting here than I did.

I think I have adjusted to this city now. I can see my self surviving here for a while

I think I faced my greatest fear yesterday, the fear of not knowing how to do something independently. I was lost and could do nothing for myself and learned that no matter what I will survive and I have to live with things that I do and nothing can change that. some advice I gave to a girl today who was freaking out today about not having the right stuff or her phone not working is there is nothing you can do about it now, now you have to focus on the moment this is a lesson I think I will never forget don't worry about things you can't control
and also don't delude yourself into thinking that you have control when you don't

I’m tired I’m going to bed

day 1 july 28 -29

i live next to the clock tower

this is one of the traains i missed

this is the hotel i had to go to get my keys

To start today off (today being yesterday and today) I cleaned my room and got all of my affairs in order then I went for a bike ride with dad stopping at kwik trip for breakfast then we had lunch then mom and dad drove me to the airport they changed some money over for me then wish me fair well as I went through security. Security was a lot more lax than I thought it would be. I got stopped because I didn’t take my laptop out of my bag but it was no problem I had an hour to wait any how. Then I found my gate G6 and watched people we boarded the plane take off was fun and some of the scenic views from my window were so breath taking I couldn’t look away every seat had a 6-8 inch television screen in front of it and I found out I could make it continuously display the airplanes position and characteristics (speed altitude tail wind speed temp outside) it was great fun then I decided that since I wouldn’t get any sleep on the flight I started to watch the movie 300 (because that was an option in the screen) less than half way through the computer crashed and it rebooted but it didn’t want to display the movie or display the air craft stuff I also notice the big screens in front were frozen to. However I was able to manually track the airplane unfortunately the flight crew shut off the monitors before we landed so I couldn’t see the altimeter go negative. We ended up getting there ½ hour early.

After tat flight we got off the plane I looked up my gate number c-12 and headed to the gate. My father is right security at shipole is insane. They were frisking every other person luckily I didn’t set off the metal detector and was not in line to get frisked. Then I headed to my gate and sat for 2 hours. Then we boarded the plane the plane could probably hold 100-150 people there was a total of 30 of us at most what I found really amusing is that the first plane was nice and comfy were as the second plane looked like something that the pilot salvaged and he must have also found the stewardesses dresses (they were seriously the stereo typical stewardess dress of the seventies.

After we landed I followed every body else to the baggage claim to get my luggage I saw a bathroom there and thought I should go now but if I do I will leave my luggage in the open, so I got my bag and started to look for the s-bahn the main entrance had bee abandoned years ago so you had go down stairs and work a god awful machine that would only translate half of the words properly eventually I got it and got to bad constatt I figured out how to get a ticket to schwabisch hall and was waiting on platform 8 for it at 11:44 then a trained pulled up to another plat form and I thought good for them, were is my train then as the train pulled away I saw the words “S hall hessentle” I thought fine I’ll wait an hour till it comes back and then train that came at 12:44 was for Nurnberg so I didn’t get on then the next hour which was scheduled to go to schwabisch hall didn’t show up so I bought another ticket thinking that the last one I bought wouldn’t work for a transfer but the tickets were identical then after waiting two More hours to get on the train I thought I should really go to the bathroom. The bathroom at the train station has a rotating door to small for my bags to get through and it cost five Euros to get in so I figured I’d hold it at every stop I was concerned I would wet my pants finally I got to the end of the line and latterly ran to the station which happened to be entirely devoid of personnel and bathrooms so I ran next door. I never realized how good my German could be until I started to threaten/bride this man to let my use his bathroom. Then I waited for the bus but closer inspection of the schedule revealed that no bus was going to schwabish hall on Sundays so I was forced to take a cab I got in and the driver was having a fabulous time talking to me about he Goethe program and stuff then he asked were I was from and I said (ich bin von America) then all the sudden he got really quite and his breathing got really heavy I sat awquardly for several minutes till we drove over a hill displaying a panorama of the city. Then he started doing the tourist guide thing and frightened I showed as much interest as possible (I saw a bike shop on the way down) finally we got to the hotel and I got my keys, before we left he was quite insistent that he drive me to my room too but being the Dutchman I am I said no I’ll walk there. I walked the streets down by the river in a light drizzle trying to find a road that was blocked by a building and trying to find the name of a building with no doors and surrounded by a city wall then it started to rain after 10 – 20 more attempts I was wet and tired and disappointed in the ""lovely city"" that was covered in graffiti I went into a public bathroom (because I had to pee again at the time to) and just started to cry for about 5 minutes I had tried to contact the advisors but the numbers didn’t work and I had been dragging around a 55 lb suitcase on cobble stones for several hours I had not slept the night before and it just became to much.

Then I called dad who I had seen tried to call me an hour before and he got me in contact with marrie trappl she felt it was best for me to turn right and keep going straight. And it is really imperative that I turn right and keep going straight and if that doesn’t work I should ask a person at the hotel for help and she told me to turn right and keep going straight five or six more times till I just left.

I finally made it to the dorm and I was working on getting the key in the door when a girl walked up behind me, so I jumped out of the way to let her in first. I walked up to room four and found what looked to be girls clothing scattered over every thing and the notebooks on the desk had girly hand writing so I naturally assumed my roommate was a girl which I did not want (what the hell is central thinking) so I figured it might be a guy who has a girlfriend so I’ll just go get my stuff and put it in the room if it’s a girl I can sleep in the lounge for one night before we get it straightened out. When I came back with my luggage I was struggling with the key in the door if you keep rotating it nothing happens (I don’t feel secure in this place the doors are built to be broken and the locks are a joke) any way a group of 5-6 guys walked up behind me and tried to great me I immediately assumed they were my house mates so I asked them how the key works and one responded its simple you simply push all of these call buttons and the door opens and with in 20 seconds there was a guy on the other side of the door trying to open it (oohh yea there key holes on both sides) and they all thought I broke it and I know for a fact it was broke well before I have ever looked at it.

And further more the room is wired in the worst way I have every seen some plugs are 2 feet apart and others are the only plug on one side of the room. And even worse there is no either net cable hook up so I’m forced to type in work and copy it over when ever I get the capacity to get onto the internet during school days.

Now I’m even more tired so I’m going to lock up my laptop and hide it so nobody tries to steal it.

last day

today is the last full day i spent in the usa. today i did laundry, cleaned my carpet, went mountain biking. i am going to olive garten with mom and dad for dinner tonight. and now im going to ramble on about what i think is going to happen tomarrow.

tomarrow i am going to finish charging my lead acid battery, wash my sheets and do furthur cleaning of my room , double check my luagage and put the battery charger on dads tractor because he showed intrest in it to keep his battery charged and working over the winter. after mom and dad wake up i plan on going for a short bike ride then shower and shave then pack all unpacked stuff (laptop, shaver, vitamins, ect) by that time i should be entirly ready to leave.

now the fun part
mom and dad will take me to the airport and i will go through security check my lugage and wait. then i will board the plane put my laptop bag in the over head compartment and put the messenger bag under the seat infront of me and nap as much as possible. during the flight i should get a meal of some kind when i arrive in amsterdam i will get off the plane then check in for my flight after going through customs after lots of confusing stuff goes on i will get on a plane going to stuttgart i will then get off the plane and find my luogage then get on a "strassen-bahn" i think it is like the light rail in minneapolis. i will go for 6 stations then get off at bad cannstatt and i will try to find a train station. i tried to look up the location of the train station online but it does not exist much like the stradovarious workshop in italy. then i will take the regional express to a town called hessental and find a bus station then take bus #1 to schwabisch hall and go to the hotel goldener adler to get an envelope that has directions and keys to my room.

now the scary part
the next day i will have to check in at the information desk at the goethe institut to take german proficiency tests which are separated into two tests written and verbal i don't know what to expect from the written portion but i understand the verbal portion to be a informal conversation over coffee. and i should know what level i am in. then have dinner with people from the central abroad group.

then the nextday i will find out where i have to go for class
then on tuesday

you read it, you can't unread it

4 days to go

WELCOME TO MY BLOG




Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping which would explain his come back from that crash after he lost 8 minutes. which is a shame, cycling has become synominous with doping and drug use. luckily however rassmussen is still clean

day negative 6

i have sucsessfully acomplished my sleep cycle switch i started by staying up latter and later until i fell asleep at midnight yesterday i stayed up all night and went to sleep at about 4:00 pm (about 11:00 pm austrian time) i woke up at midnight today and i think after two more cycles ii should be set to austrian time.

i made corn bread this morning. I forgot to grease the pan so the bottom crust isn't on the loaf, oops.

then i reserched cheap easy food i could make in austria. i have made a starting list and a list of groceries that i will likly need to get once over there

spagehitti
grilled cheese
quesedias
baked potatos
macaroni cheese
rice ironi
breads
french
basic
stir fry

groceries
several packets yeast
olive oil
cheese
rice ironi
macaroni cheese
flour
sugar
potatos
salt
vegitables
bread
rice/rotini
eggs


i was amazed to find out how simple french bread is to make. it only has four real ingredients.

then i went fro a bike ride down to "downtown" farmington" using my realy bright headlight
whom i have decided to name day-na

i agreed to go to church with mom and dad this morning so i could give my final farwells to church people.

this week is going to be hectic as i will sleep during half the time mom and dad are awake and i will be awake half the time they are awake so i have effectivly shortend my day by half as i can't work in the garage when i wake up and i can't be to noicy in the house for the first 6-8 hours.

i don't have much left to do in the garage i want to finish the semi truck (i only have to drill two holes put in two dowels then make a fifth wheel, glue it on then poly-eurithane it)i have finished the fire truck it looks gorgious. all i have to do thn is clean the garage to the point that i can be used as a storage area. because i know dad will store lots of stuff in there.

i plan to email every one about this blog in aboout 2 days so i have to go over every post and make sure it is all G rated. and un affensive to any body.

day negative 12

today we went to the funerul. the eulogy took nearly 45 minutes and the drive to the burial sight took about 45 minutes for a very short prayer then we drove back to the church for ham buns afterwards we went to my uncles shop to look at his car and othere stuff. then we left for minnesota at 4:00 ish.

I want to finish the semi truck (just need to put on some finishing touches, and polyurethane it)
I want to clean my garage and arrange it as a storage space (because I know my father will)
clean my room to the point that I could move out (mostly the closet)
make Chicago style pizza one or two more times (I'm close to perfecting it)
give Julie my books with a price list
ride down town on a weekday so I can get use to being in a city (I would like to go on wendsday)
email everybody about my blog (mom, dad, julie, kristie, jon, joe, grampa?, grama???, others??)
develop more of a plan as to what I want to do with my life
clean my bikes and get them ready to not be used
clean Jacky (my dog)
I think thats it for personal stuff.......................................
I have to

• make budget
• pick plane seats (just one ticket left)
  
• tell check card people I'm going abroad (not sure how to do that)
  
• get credit card online account (I have to call them)
  
• tell credit card people in going abroad (not sure how to do that either)
  
• finalize packing list (i think i got it but can't be sure)
  
• research bike in Europe options, it appears it would be best to buy a cheap mountain/civilian bike and put nice tires on it
  
• get rail pass ( i think i can do this over there)

day negative 13

today was the wake for aunt Judy. we didn't go to church this morning and had portillios hot dogs with Kristie and Jim when they arrived then we went to the wake and sat for about 7 hours. I walked up to another portillios for dinner. I had Italian beef, it was delicious. now I'm back at gramas and I want to sleep

day negative 14

DAY NEGATIVE 14
14 days to go 4 days ago my aunt Judy died. I was never really close to her but I feel sorry for my cousins and am concerned. Aunt Judy was by far the most stressed out vanderwoude aunt/uncle in my family but next in line would be a toss up between my uncle rob and my father. although dad is taking measures to get back in shape so he should have a good time left.

I am now in chicago we (mom dad julie jacky and I) left Minnesota at 7:30ish and got here about 3:20 we sat with grama and aunt karen. dad and I went to menards to get lightbulbs and then went to kohls to get shorts for me but they cost $50 so we went to walmart to get them for <$10 and then had dinner (giordanos pizza) with grama and aunt carol. then we sat and did nothing for a while I played with Jacky outside and got 2 nice pictures with her. and now I'm ready to go to sleep.

In other news, I am with in one day of finishing the semi-truck then it will finally be done. I started a fire truck I rough cut the pieces years ago and I decided to complete it this week. I don't plan on making any planes unless I have lots of spare time but I
doubt I will have time in the next 2 weeks. I have to pack every
think I will need and live with out it for a while, that (I think) will
make the transition easier the plan for cycling is to go to Europe by the cheapest bike that will be a close fit for me (likely a civilian/towny bike), put slicks on it and ride that. I think it will be a good idea to do in both Germany and Austria so i would have to sell the bike back both times unless there is a way to transport it to Wien (not on the plane) like a asking a director to drive it there. I have to tell the credit/check card people I'm going abroad and stuff. tomarrow the plan is to go to church, go to wake, then go to sleep.

day negative 21

yesterday I went on a bike ride down to the high school then back up to the dentists office when I turned to come home it was getting dark out so I used my headlight. the voltage is finally getting down to the lower 11.__ volts so its about time to charge it. I am scared of charging this battery every time I have tried to charge batteries they always explode or become sentient and try to rule the world or charge backwards.

speaking of which I finally got my 12 AAA Ni-Mh batteries a few days ago I got some battery cartridges (thats the best way I know to describe them) and started to work on my small head lamp. after trying to charge the two of them started to leak. dad says the voltage was to high. unfortunately there is nobody on the internet who is willing to say what I need to do to charge batteries, every site assumes I know what I'm doing.

any way I have given up on charging them for now and am using regular AAA batteries they are working well I hope to take it out to Lebanon hills in the next few days

I didn't wake up for church this morning and my parents are concerned that I won't make the time change in europe I assured them I know what I'm doing but they still seemed concerned. so despite no body knows about this blog yet I'm going to describe my plan now. the plan is to perform a "Crazy Ivan" in which I stay up all night and threw the next day until about 4:00 pm then I block all light coming in through my window and sleep until midnight then I stay up until 4:00 pm the next day and repeat the cycle. I was planing on starting this in about 10 - 15 days but my parents concern has pushed me to push it up to this coming week end.

thats all for now , now I want to burn a cd to make sure I can do it on this laptop.

negative 24

Yesterday was the fourth of July. My parents watched my nephews all day and the family came over to eat supper at 5 o'clock. Everybody left soon afterwards except my brother who stayed to watch firefly with my parents and I. I rode up to apple valley to watch the fireworks and people watch. I rode out there with out my headlight on but on the ride back it was pitch dark. my head light worked perfectly as usual throwing out a confined beam roughly 20-30 feet and a halo of scattered light covering the immediate area in front of my bike.

the fireworks themselves were very boring I'm not sure if fireworks in Minnesota are poorly done or if I have just gotten to the point were I don't fine loud shiny things to impressive anymore. the people watching went fairly terribly as well its like watching people in a movie theater they aren't doing much so I left early. on second thought I should have stayed until till the park was empty to see how people react when trying to get through traffic but that would have been dangerous.

I have only 24 days until I leave for Germany. I have a list of stuff I want and have to get done before I go;
I want to finish the semi truck
I want to finish some airplanes
I want to clean my garage and arrange it as a storage space (because I know my father will)
clean my room to the point that I could move out (donate stuff to goodwill)
make Chicago style pizza two or three more times (I'm close to perfecting it)
box up all the stuff I want to sell at Mary Luo's craft fair so its all in one place
give Julie my books with a price list
ride down town on a weekday so I can get use to being in a city
email everybody about my blog
develop more of a plan as to what I want to do with my life
clean my bikes and get them ready to not be used
clean Jacky (my dog)
dentist apointment july 10th (need get cholohexidine gluconate)
I think thats it for personal stuff.......................................
I have to

• make budget
• pick plane seats
• tell check card people I'm going abroad (not sure how to do that)
  
• get credit card online account (I have to call them)
  
• tell credit card people in going abroad (not sure how to do that either)
  
• finalize packing list (i think i got it but can't be sure)
  
• research bike in Europe options, it appears it would be best to buy a cheap mountain/civilian bike and put nice tires on it
  
• get rail pass ( i think i can do this over there)
  

in other news, my morning glories are starting to climb on their own and my geraniums (I only have three now) are growing again slowly the two I have left in the big pot are growing faster so I think I'm going to stop caring for the one in the small pot.

thats all for now..........

my crazy plan

since the beginning of last semester I have been researching a stupid idea that will probably never happen. the plan is designed to do two things 1: avoid people 2: avoid paying off college loans

the plan starts off by working a job (probably a worthless job like the TK job) for about 5 years paying a little more than the minimum on my college loans after saving up nearly $20,000 then withdraw all of the money and move to anchorage with out notifying any one I would then find a plot of land far away from any large city (maybe 10 miles from a small town with a general store) next to a fresh water river (that salmon spawn in) on the top of a hill I would then build a log cabin live in it for the rest of my life during the first few years I would add on a green house and a cellar and maybe solar panel array and maybe a windmill water pump

the plan is to make the cabin in the first year and make it so I could survive in it. the second year I would add on the green house the next year I would add on the cellar. the next year I would add on the solar array. then the windmill

the cabin it self would be in the shape of an L (16 ft on two sides and 8 ft on 4 sides I would have a wood burning stove on the 16ft side the kitchen would be in the corner third combined with a dining/ living area the sleeping area would be on one of the outer thirds mixed with the living/dining area the other third would be the working area which would be loosely insulated from the kitchen/sleeping area during the winter. the door will be on the shop side facing the fourth quadrant under the roof. the roof will be plastic and thatch on logs covering the L shape and the hypotenuse between the two inside corners. I plan to store fire wood across the outer line of the hypotenuse from the ground up to the roof this will hold out snow and help to insulate the cabin. I am considering a larger door on the outside small edge on the shop side.

the green house would have to be internally connected to the cabin it would have to span the length of the 16 ft side of the cabin and protrude about 5-8 ft out so I can grow edible plants and other useful plants like aloe

the cellar would go from the adjacent outer wall of the door under the hypotenuse roof going under the house going down at a 22.5 degree angle it will extend past the other side of the cabin and stop at the depth that the ground is a constant temperature I will dig a well going into the cellar so I can drain it when it floods.

the solar array would be on the roof and I would like to have it power NI-MH car batteries which would go into at dc- ac converter so I could run a fridge and maybe a light.

the windmill would be on top of a tower that holds one or two 50 gallon drums. the windmill would pump water up to the top of the barrels and gravity would pull the water through a filter taking up the full diameter of the top drum. of course this would only work in the winter and during windy days but on those days i could store up to 100 gallons of clean water.

i am also considering connecting the windmill to an altinator so i can get electricity during the dark winter days. in order to do this i would have to put the diode bridge by the bearings and other moving parts to keep them from freezing up during winter.

of course there would be an outhouse


I would bring my mountain bike along with every thing I would need to keep it working for several years. so I could get to the city so I could buy supplies as needed .

I would bring a varsity of weapons ranging from small pistol crossbow to a full blown hunting crossbow along with a large caliber semi automatic handgun I would use the cross bows to hunt for food such a deer rabbits and other game I would carry the gun with me at all times in case of bear attack.

this plan hinges on the idea that i can build a log cabin in 6 months before winter sets in. a contingency plan in to build a small leanto out of logs and live in there until the cabin is capable of being lived in then the leanto would be used for storage.


the biggest concerns I have about executing this plan is that I will not be souly responsible of paying off my loans and the debt would be pushed off to my parents.

day negative 26

26 days to go before I board a plane to an airport I've never been to before to find a plane that goes to a city that I have never seen before to get on a street train that speaks a different language than I do to get to a real train to go to a small town so I can take a bus to a smaller city so I can learn German.

I'm starting to gt nervous I am concerned about the trip over and very concerned about surviving while in europe. money is another concern I have no money of my own right now, I will be completely dependent on my parents and I don't want to put that strain on them.

two days ago I went to church with my parents and after wards I road my bike to the light rail station at mall of america and took the light rail to down town Minneapolis I then rode my bike around the city so I could get use to being in a large city. I think it was a big success. I think every one leaves the city on the weekend so I plan to take a bus up there on a week day some time.

tonight I cooked pizza. I accidentally used diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions. it gave the pizza a little to much spiciness

tomorrow I think the Minnesota vanderwoude's are getting together for the fourth of July I expect we will eat grill food sit around and stare at each other and maybe watch a movie.


I am going to adjust to the european time zone before leaving so I won't have to deal with jet lag. I plan to start this process in about 15 days.

I'm still working on making stuff to sell at Mary Lou's craft fair.
I have completed 6 train engines
I have to paint some tulips
I am halfway through the semi truck
I have to start the airplanes yet
I have to start the fire truck
the jewelry boxes are done i just have to polish them up