It's been too long...

I know, once again, it's been too long. Busy with uni, busy with just random stuff. Just busy really :) I'll try to keep it short, but I'm sure I'll fail miserably once again...

Well, so I got my driver's licence as I told you last time, and I've been trying to get as much driving in as possible since. My dad seemed kind of scared to get in the car with me driving at first, as he unconsciously hit the break a number of times on the passenger's seat :) I told him I knew how to use the break, so he wouldn't have to be scared... People behind me when I have to do a hill start had to be scared though!! Took me a while to get used to doing that with my parents' car, haha. And our garden is not what it used to be since I've been driving, as I've killed many flowers on the edge when turning off our driveway :) Once I get going it's not that bad anymore :D It's a good work-out for my arms too, as the car doesn't have power steering (my driving lessons car did, so the first few turns I made were awful and I still haven't been able to bring it down to perfection, haha...) Oh well, I'll learn. Soon I'll take it out on my own I hope, but right now I don't trust myself in that car all alone just yet...

It's been like summer (Dutch summer, around 25 degrees...) over here over the past two weeks!! It's been just gorgeous weather and I loved it!! Been working on my tan, but I'm still as white as ever unfortunately. Somehow I think I should just give up hope of ever getting a tan, but every summer I keep trying :) It was my friend Roos' birthday the other week and we had a picknick in the park to celebrate, so we were just lying in the sun with a couple of friends and it was great :)

The next day, May 5th, it was my dad's birthday, which is also "freedom day". To give you a bit of a Dutch culture lesson, May 4th is sort of our equivalent of ANZAC day, where we remember those who fought and died in World War II (and also those on peace missions after that) And then May 5th was the date in 1945 when Holland was liberated from the Germans, so that's the day we celebrate our freedom. And we celebrated my dad's birthday too :)

On that same weekend, my dad's side of the family came over for his birthday. It's a pretty big family (he's one out of 7) and it's just always so funny to watch them. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy :) I loved it eventually, though I wasn't quite in the mood for a family thing that weekend, as I had almost completely lost my voice the day before due to a heavy cold I was just getting over.

Now since two weeks I've got an extra part-time roommate by the name of Renske (my sister). She's staying with me on Wednesdays for the next few months, as she's doing her master's internship at this company in Utrecht. We both really need to work on our fitness, so we decided we're going to go running together when she's in Utrecht. We're both really good at making up excuses why not to go though :) She's been two times so far and both times we've agreed on some excuse. One of Renske's friends is moving to Utrecht too though, and she's determined to go running with us, which is kind of scary because then we can't make up excuses anymore...

Something completely different... I've been busy writing motivation letters over the past few days. One is for changing uni courses. Language & Culturestudies isn't for me, I've realised. So instead I want to get into Liberal Arts & Sciences, where you can basically choose every single subject they offer at uni. The only restriction is that you have to do two subjects out of the three different departments (arts, sciences and social sciences) in the first year, and then choose a specialisation in one of those departments. It should at least be more challenging, so I'm really hoping to get in :)

The other motivation letter I'm writing is for this really exciting project that they're starting up at uni. It's called Utrecht University Model United Nations :) You have to get through 2 selection rounds before you can be part of the project, but it sounds so awesome!!! You basically have to represent a country in a simulation of the UN with a group of 12 students. And there's heaps of preparational trainings and excursions and stuff beforehand, so you learn how to debate and all about the country you're representing and things like that. You have to organise it all yourself, but it's really coowl :) Eventually it will all lead to going to New York (!!) to visit the real UN, and then to Harvard University in Boston to take part in the Model United Nations Conference, where groups of uni students from around the world will all be representing a country of their own. I'm really excited just trying out for it!! I would so love to be part of it :D (Kim, Kyle, I'll definitely meet you guys there ;))

This brings me to last night, when my mum's three sisters came over to celebrate her birthday, which is tomorrow. Another one of those "sit back and enjoy" moments :) Families are just funny things :) The two birthdays would have given me plenty of material for the articles I used to write for the Dutch newspaper, haha.

However, this update is a long one already, so I'd better save those stories for later :) It's been too long, in more than one way... I'd love to hear from you all, so please leave a message if you want to. Hope everybody's well!! Love to you all...
-x- Carine

PS. Might be going to the Holland - Australia soccergame in June :) Don't know who I should be supporting... Any suggestions??

PPS. I'll try to be at the year 12 reunion!! Not sure if I can make it though ;) If not, I'll be thinking of you!!