A nice stroll through town! Een lekkere wandeling door de stad!

If you want to find new things, discover new places and breathe new, fresh air, I would recommend to take a nice little stroll through town. That's exactly the thing my Mum, sister and I did on the 29th of December. If you do want to take a walk through the town, city or neighbourhood you have to take your time, look around you, enjoy the sights and talk, chat or at least listen to the people you are with or around you.

When we went, I saw the high, tall and beautiful churches towering above us with their amazing bells ringing at exactly twelve o'clock. Walking past the old and historical buildings some smaller and some larger than others, some skinnier and some wider than others. Hoping that it would start snowing, as it seemed that it was about 0 degrees, we realised that we had already reached our destination. The A B C Architecture museum!!

Standing in the hall, we saw that there were two doors, so entered the one that said: Entrance. There were three ladies there, and we started to talk together. When we reached the point to say that we were going there for Stella because she wants to become an architect, their smiles fell into concentrated faces and told us that we were in the Historical museum. We excused ourselves and went through the other door. Then we started talking there. The lovely ladies there told us that the theme for the present exhibition was: What Do You Dream For Haarlem? and they let us enter. We saw amazing things. There was even a three d (3D) smaller version of Haarlem!! This is called a maquette. I went over to the next room, but Stella and Mum kept going in one of the other rooms. So, as I said, I went to the next room. And man! What did I see? Millions and Millions of pieces of lego. After a while, we left having been entertained, having let the time fly by and having built up a bit more experience of Architecture.

As a twelve year old leader, we followed Stella through the rough roads and small alleys to different types of buildings that we could gaze up and stare at. With some streets cozy and fun, but others eerie and scary, we walked past a wall covered in ivy and it reminded me tremendously of my favourite book: The Secret Garden!

What a great experience! Many things we saw that we wanted to try out or do again. But now it was time to go back to our bikes and pedal back home!!


Als u nieuwe dingen wilt vinden, nieuwe plaatsen ontdekken en nieuwe, frisse lucht inademen, zou ik aanraden om een leuke wandeling door de stad te maken. Dat is precies wat mijn moeder, zus en ik deed op 29 december. Als u een wandeling door het dorp, stad of wijk wilt maken, moet je wel jouw tijd nemen. Kijk  dan om je heen, geniet dan van de bezienswaardigheden en praten, chatten of op zijn minst luisteren naar de mensen die u met of rond zich heeft.

Toen we gingen, zag ik de hoge, lange en mooie kerken die boven ons uittorenden met hun geweldige klokken die luiden om precies 12 uur. Wandelen langs de oude en historische gebouwen enkele kleinere en enkele grotere dan anderen of wat magerder en wat breder dan anderen. In de hoop dat het zou gaan sneeuwen, want het leek erop dat het ongeveer 0 graden was, realiseerden we ons dat we al onze bestemming hadden bereikt. Het A B C Architectuur museum !!

We waren aan het staan in de hal, en zagen dat er twee deuren waren, dus gingen de ene binnen die zei: Kom hier binnen. Daar waren drie dames, en we begonnen met elkaar te praten. Wanneer we het punt bereikt hadden om te zeggen dat we er gingen voor Stella omdat ze een architect wil worden, viel hun glimlach in geconcentreerde gezichten en ze vertelden ons dat we in het Historisch Museum waren. We verontschuldigden ons en gingen door de andere deur. Daar begonnen we weer te praten. Ze vertelden ons dat het thema voor de tentoonstelling nu was: Wat zijn jouw dromen voor Haarlem? Toen lieten ze ons naar binnen. We zagen verbazingwekkende dingen. Er was zelfs een drie d (3D) kleinere versie van Haarlem!! Dat heet een maquette. Ik ging naar de volgende zaal, maar Stella en mamma bleven in een andere zaal. Dus, zoals ik al zei, ging ik naar de volgende ruimte. En Oh!! Wat zag ik? Miljoenen en miljoenen stukken van lego. Na een tijdje, vertrokken we. Wij vonden het leuk, het liet de tijd voorbij vliegen en we kregen een beetje meer ervaring met Architectuur.

Met een twaalf jaar oude leider, volgden we Stella door de hobbelige wegen en kleine steegjes om verschillende soorten gebouwen te vinden waar we naar konden kijken en staren. Met sommige straten gezellig en leuk, maar anderen angstaanjagend en eng, lliepen we langs een muur bedekt met klimop en het deed me enorm veel denken aan mijn favoriete boek: The Secret Garden!

Wat een geweldige ervaring! Veel dingen die we zagen wilden we nog eens uitproberen of opnieuw doen. Maar nu was het tijd om terug te gaan naar de fietsen en naar huis te pedalen!!

A-Z over Nederland! A-Z about the Netherlands!

A- Amsterdam
B- Bebogeen
C- Chocolade Musket Kransjes
E- Efteling
F- Fietstochten,
G- Glazen Huis,
H- Haarlem,
I- ING Bank,
J- Jeugdjournaal,
K- Klokhuis,
L- Leverworst,
M- Muisjes,
N- Noord Zee,
O- Oliebollen,
P- Pepermunt Ballen,
Q- Quiz over Anne Frank of Vincent van Gogh?,
R- Roggebrood,
S- Sneeuw,
T- Theetje Drinken,
U- Ultra mooie molens,
V- Veterdrop,
W- Winter in de Sneeuw,
X- X-tra Gekke Smurf Knisper Pasta
Y- Yoghurt
Z- Zure Haring met Roggebrood            

A- Amsterdam,
B- Bebogeen,
C- Chocolate Musket Sprockets,
D- DROP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
E- Efteling,
F- Bike rides,
G- Glass House,
H- Haarlem,
I- ING Bank,
J- Jeugdjournaal,
K- Klokhuis
L- Liver sausage,
M- Muisjes,
N- North Sea,
O- Oliebollen,                                      P- Peppermint Balls,

R- Rye,
Q- Quiz about Anne Frank or Vincent Van Gogh?,

S- Snow,

T- Tea Drinking,
U- Ultra fine mills,
V- Lace Drop,
W- Winter Snow,
X- X-tra Crazy Smurf Crinkle Pasta,
Y- Yogurt
Z- Sour Herring with Rye!

(Sorry, but because of the spelling, the English version was a bit jumbled)

Settling in the Netherlands: What I have been doing so far! Wat ik tot nu toe heb gedaan!

*I will write this in Dutch and English.                              *Ik ga dit in het Nederlands en Engels schrijven.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! I hope it is all warm in NZ because right now in the Netherlands it is quite cold!! We are having a very fun and exciting Christmas despite my cold!! Today my family and I went for a long (2 and a half hour) bike ride. We went to my new school then to a gigantic forest with bare trees (Elswout) and ended up in the dunes (Kennemerduinen) where we took a turn back home. My new school is called the Dreefschool. Here is a link to its website: /https://www.dreefschool.nl/ (it is in Dutch though. . .) We are having a lovely Christmas! We had a gingerbread house for breakfast and lunch! Although we can't put up a Christmas tree, we have two beautiful bouquets in vases instead.

So, as I said, we went on a long bike ride and had a lot of fun this morning/afternoon enjoying Christmas as a family. The time we went out to ride was reasonably early and as it is already cold in the middle of the day, our hands were absolutely FREEZING!!!! After about 10 mins my hands were already numb and I found it slightly hard to steer, but it went fine and I didn't fall off or crash into anyone or anything. When we came home at about 2 o'clock, I stepped into the lift after the others and slowly and carefully, we made our way up to the third floor where we live. Glad to have seen the route to school, I took my jacket and shoes off and served lunch. For lunch, we treated ourselves with a wall from our gingerbread house and each two chocolate fondant X-mas wreaths. (the wreaths were mouth size though!) How sweet and filling! Mmmmmmm!! Now, packed up from lunch, we work educationally untill 3:50pm. Then we will watch Brave on the TV. At the end of this post, there are some photos for you to see. Just go past the Dutch section/paragraph to see them.
Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year!!

Translation Dutch:               Vertaling Nederlands:


Vrolijk kerstfeest! Gelukkig nieuwjaar! Ik hoop dat het lekker warm in Nieuw Zeeland (NZ) is want nu in Nederland is het vrij koud!! Vandaag hebben mijn familie en ik een lange (2 en een half uur) fietstocht gemaakt. We gingen naar mijn nieuwe school, dan naar een gigantisch bos met kale bomen (Elswout) en vervolgens belandden we in de duinen (Kennemerduinen), waar we een bocht terug naar huis maakten. Mijn nieuwe school heet de Dreefschool. Hier is een link naar de website: /https://www.dreefschool.nl/ Wij hebben een fijne en leuke kerst ondanks mijn verkoudheid! We hadden een peperkoeken huis voor ontbijt en lunch! Hoewel we niet een kerstboom kunnen opzetten, hebben we twee prachtige boeketten in vazen.

Dus, zoals ik al zei, gingen we op een lange fietstocht en hadden veel plezier deze ochtend / middag. We genieten van kerst als een hele familie samen. Toen we weg gingen, was het redelijk vroeg en het is al koud op het midden van de dag, dus onze handen waren superkoud!! Na ongeveer 10 minuten waren mijn handen al gevoelloos en ik vond het een beetje moeilijk om te sturen, maar het ging prima en ik ben niet gevallen of gebotst tegen iets of iemand. Toen we thuis kwamen om ongeveer 2 uur, stapte ik in de lift na de anderen en langzaam maar zeker, maakten we onze weg naar de derde verdieping waar we wonen. Blij de route naar school te hebben gezien, trok ik mijn jas en schoenen uit en serveerde de lunch. Voor lunch trakteerden we onszelf met een muur van onze peperkoeken huis en elk mocht twee musket kransjes smikkelen. Hoe zoet en vullend! Mmmmmmm !! Nu, met lunch op en in de keuken, werken we heel educatief tot tien minuten voor 4. Dan zullen we Brave op TV kijken. Aan het einde van dit bericht, zijn er een aantal foto's voor u te zien.
Vrolijk kerstfeest!! Gelukkig nieuwjaar!!

Life changing moments

Have any of you ever had a moment in your life where you were quite heart broken, but couldn't do anything about it? Well, it's recently happened to me.

My parents thought it was time for a good change in our lives. After quite a lot of looks on the internet, there was a great job awaiting Dad, but . . .                OVERSEAS IN THE NETHERLANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Suddenly, all was rushing by and happening so fast that it was hard to keep control of ourselves. Our house getting staged, going through the process of selling our house, still working hard at school, packing boxes, packing suitcases and selling basically all of our furniture was a huge step. Then we heard that Dad had to be at work on a particular date. Mum and us children wanted to round the year off well, so Dad had to leave five and a half weeks before us!

When the day that Dad left arrived, I was much hoping that we could fly back to the past to make the day much further away, but unfortunately, I don't have powers yet. All emotional we separated from each other. Now living a few weeks as a three we started getting used to it, but sometimes we had outbursts of sadness. If that happened we would get together and cheer each other up. On the day before we left (the last day for me of my school). . .
Many hugs and tears came that day; of best friends, just friends, teachers, parents and of course ME!!!!!!! At the end of the day my two BFF's came with me and we talked, hugged, cried, laughed and tried to make decisions of when we would contact . . .

On Thursday the 17th of December at the airport we worked hard checking our baggage in, going through the customs and much more. Once all was finished, we went to the lounge and waited for our first flight to be called over the millions of speakers. In the plane . . . Trying hard to fall asleep and being amused and entertained by the little screen in front of us, we made our way through the flight. In America it was much the same again only much more serious and protective. We even had to go through metal detectors - Taking belts off, jewelry, shoes, watches and coats, put in laptops and computers, even your wallet with money in it!!! On our second flight from San - Francisco to Amsterdam, going through the same process as before; Sleeping, eating, playing and watching we arrived in the Netherlands. I do think Air New Zealand and KLM had quite a few differences.
I was fairly excited for arriving back. Some reasons to be happy, but also sad were:

Happy:
1. Seeing dad                                      
2. Finally having snow
3. Meeting new people
4. Being in my home country
5. To truly experience the dutch culture

Sad:
1. Leaving friends
2. Leaving kiwi culture
3. Missing the warmth
4. Having many stuck together houses
5. Leaving Milk Bottles and Jaffas or NZ lollies.          

So far the different foods I have tried are: Zure Haring (Sour Herring), Karnemelk (Buttermilk), Witlof (Chicory), Hagelslag met Minions (Chocolate hail with minions), Drop Sleutels (Liquorice Keys) and other dutch treats.
So far I am enjoying it here. I have sniffed the fresh salty North Sea air and I have walked a 2 hr hike through the big, calm, spacious and wide sand dunes. I am excited for school but I also miss my friends back in NZ. Here are some photos of being in the Netherlands:

Until we meet again...

Dearest Hannah,

I have really enjoyed having you in my class this year and Meadowbank School and I will miss you tremendously. You have been a star and such a role model to other students - I am sure you will continue to shine in your new school in the Netherlands.

Thank you so much for all you have done for our class and for your friends.

I hope you have a lovely Christmas holiday and the happiest 2016.

I also hope to keep reading your blog and seeing you grow - you are going to be marvelous!

Here's something to help you remember your year in Room 32:





Miss Cooper

PS: sorry for hijacking your blog. Just wanted to leave you with something to remember me.

Stop Walk Talk

Here is my group's video from our Year 5 Movie Afternoon:

 

Magical Autumn Leaves!!!!!!

On a damp autumn morning I crunched through brightly coloured leaves,

I could see rainbow starfish winking at me hanging off skinny branches,

The chewiness of my ham, lettuce and mustard sandwich roamed around my mouth,

Still crunching on the leaves under me I smelled the fresh damp morning air that welcomed me to the 

park,

The sound of wind whooshed past my body making my hair fly happily behind me,

I could feel the sloppy leaves that had been twirling and fluttering in the air just layering the gravel path,

Autumn is leaves, colour and it is a season!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the best day ever!!!!!

Our second challenge for the colouring competition was this one:

I really like what I have put up to Miss Cooper; the judge. I think I did a really good job.

Owl colouring competition

This is my owl. I worked really hard to make her beautiful to get into the class colouring competition. I think I did really well and gave her heaps of bright colours. I think I could work on colouring inside the lines. I tried to blend and that is a technique I think I am pretty good at but I still need to work on. I think I will call my owl NEON.