First CI project

Okay, I haven't posted in a few days, since the last few days are very tiring, and even today is not a good moment, but I'm going to do it anyway...

So, 3 days, right?

Day 1: We talked a lot about stuff. Learning circles and Culture Shock stuff.
I think I'm in crisis-mode now, or maybe I'm just leaving it. Oh well, let's move to something more interesting:

Day 2: Yesterday, we had our first Community Impact Day! It was really awesome. Almost the whole cast went to the place where in 2002 was the biggest wildfire in all of Colorado's recorded history. Over there, we were doing a lot of stuff to restore the wild again, since it's still all to be restored. Of all the 1300 something acres that were destroyed, we managed to restore 5 acres, by planting trees, plucking threatening weeds and spreading grass all over the place. It's was so hard work, especially at this height (the altitude was killing me), but we managed to do it in a few hours. It felt so good after we finished!
When we got back, the president of UWP told us about his history with UWP and after that. Really interesting!

Day 3: today, not special. Okay, I was in a workshop today (I might be one of the singing quartet in the Love Medley) and the change is very big that I will be playing the saxophone in the show. But that's about all.
Ohyeah, we learned some Spanish today, in a spanish medley. That was cool though,

Ah well,

I'm tired, no special pictures anyway,

Okay, maybe a one:

Me looking like Chuck Norris!

I couldn't take my camera, but I got a few albums from other people,
enjoy!

Anika
Neele
Wichitra

Enjoy other people's pictures this time!
Bubbayz!

Borrorace in South Park =D

Okay, today was just awesome!

We woke up at 5 in the morning, to leave for the borrorace (A borro is a crossbreed between a donkey and a horse) in South Park, yes indeed, the one from the series! It just so happens that my hostdad, hostbrothers and me were supposed to be one of the "checkpoints" for the race. (checkpoint 8).

So we drove the 4runner up to the mountain, that high that not even trees could live there, only some moss! It was just so cool, there was still snow up there, and we were about 5 kilometers in the air, on the highest pass in the whole rocky mountains "Musquito Pass".
(It got it's name because there was a musquito smashed in the book where they record all names and stuff, and not because there were 1000000000 musquito's on the way)

So, anyways, our checkpoint was located near an old mine, and there was still some wreckage all over the place, which made some great pictures! (I'm thinking about using those as visual aid in RPG's like D&D)
Also, since we were that high in the mountains, I got some great pictures of the mountains. It's really cool, but I can't upload them all, since there will be around 300 of those...

Instead, I will post a picture of me in south park, and... well, you'll see =D

WILD WATER RAFTING!!!

Okay, first of all: a link to the pictures of yesterday (education, scavengerhunt and capital building)

So, over to other business:
Wild Water Rafting!

One word: Frigging Awesome!

We were waking up at 5 in the morning, which was bad, but after a 2,5 hour ride through the mountains (they were awesome! Beautifull!) we met with a few other UWP-people. After that, we got instructions about how to raft.

And then... on to the river!
We were dived in two groups!

This is my group,

See, I'm right behind Zach, and in front of Franziska and Birgit.
The other line was Gijs, Paulina, Jackie and the tour-guide!

Ohyeah, Ben actually fell out of the other boat!

In the end, most of us dove in the water for fun. It was very cool, the wahter was not cold or hot, just right!

Link to more pictures here

Tomorrow, pictures of the mountains, since we're going to see the burrow races, typical to Colorado!

Bubbayz!

About today

Today was completely different from normal.
We started with morning-meating as usual, which was followed by "Education Training #2". Me and Cheryssa gave a short "workshop" to the rest of the cast, and I think it was pretty educational to us too. We learned a lot about how to teach little kids. Very good.

After that: HomeTeaming! Yeah!
We are hometeam 7 (I might have said that before), and we are just the most awesome team ever. We did some fun games to tighten the bonds between our team, and we keep up with a name:
The Dark Sprinkles, where "Dark" is prounced very Dark. Sprinkles is the complete opposite of that, and is said in the most cute voice you have.
Well, we have some "Team 7 Insiders" now, which is cool.

After THAT: Pizza for lunch and then a stroll around Denver with some people. We were doing this game which I forget the name of, where you have a list of questions and objectives you need to fullfill and that is only possible by going around Denver. It has been very cool. I liked it.

Well, after that: HOME
Man, my blisters have blisters.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow: We're going wild-water-rafting!

Well, I need my sleep, so I'm off now!
Pictures will be on the hold, sorry,

Bubbayz!

Moderate day

Dread, today started soooo sloooow!
Before we had lunch, we had a 3 hour blocking-session, which took so much attention and patience, it seemed like 3 days!
Well, after that: just vocals and cast movement. (Singing and dancing)

So, next up: the interesting part of today.
Our host-family took us out to a stroll in Denver, which was really cool, since they took us out, and eventually, we went to see a movie: Mamma Mia, which I recommend to anyway who love "musical-movies". It was just awesome.

Here are some of the pictures we took on the stroll!

Oh, by the way: I just took out my strange-hair-thing. It just didn't feel right, but the Etheopian girls just kept pushing me. So, I did it, I'm done.

Bubbayz!

2 Days

Man am I tired!

10 o' clock here, but it feels like 1 in the morning.
We talked about blocking today. That means: where does everyone get on and off the stage during the show. We did the whole show twice, so that took a lot of time.

Oh, just for the matter: every wednesday will be the long day!

About the "education"-thingie I talked about earlier: I got teamed up with Cheryssa, and we get to do an activity. We got this cool game, which is great for an "ice-breaker", and let everyone get to know eachother better. We got 10 minutes, and we think it will work. =)

Well, what can I say,
I feel really bad... I miss my girlfriend a lot... I don't know what to say, but it feels like I haven't seen her for months...
I love you, sweetheart,

Now, for something completely different, which also threw me out of my comfort zone:
Meron cornrowed my hair today, and I currently look like a hip-hip senior!

Look pictures!


Anyways:
Photo Albums:
21-22 July
23 July


Bubbayz!

Today, the 21st

So, after having a good rest on Sunday, monday started early again.

What did we do?

The day started with a leadership-workshop. It compared people's definitions of leadership, and showed how different cultures descripe leadership. Very informative when you are learning about "Global Leadership", like we hare.

Next up was vocals, which I'd like to refer to as "Singing class", since all you do is sing.
I'm actually getting pretty good at Spanish songs!

After that, we were taught how to work in front of classes. You know, for when we are supposed to be teaching kids when we're on the road. I applied to help with the next "education", thingie they're about to do.
It might be a good training for when I want to do the "education coordinator"-internship.

Oh, I didn't tell about that, right?
In UWP, you have the possibility to follow certain internships. They allow you to work with a professional and it's good for your CV (A+ Rank). You are doing so much more when doing it, and it will pay off after the trip.
The two internships I'm interested in are "Education Coordinator" and "Show Manager". I will do my best to get both! (There are 3 periods in which you can apply for an internship).

After the kids' stuff, we had more dancing. We learned to dance to the spanish song we learned earlier, but I was taken away in the middle, to do some more "singing auditions" with some other guys. I hope that went good.

So, no pics today,

Oh, I've become a member on facebook.com I post ALL my pictures there, and I might put a link on this blog every once in a while. You can only see the pics when you are a member, but it's a lot easier than uploading every picture at a time.

Bubbayz!

Host family special 1 (Cearley's)

So, short yesterday: I was kinda sad, for some reason, but half of the cast went to batman, and it was really cool.

Today: Today was the first Host-family day. So I will post pictures of my host family now:

So, these is my hostfamily:

Upper row:
Steve Cearley, my host dad,
Martha Cearly, my host mom,
Mogly, the younger host-dog (the older didn't want to be on the pic)
Cathy Cearly, my host sister,

Lower row:
Zach Murphy, my host-bro and fellow castmate
Ben Cearley, my other host-bro and fellow castmate.

So, Zach and I are guests at the family Cearley. They are really sweet people, and they have two dogs: Blue and Mogly. We have some great time together. We are in really good hands. I will miss these people when I have to leave in a few weeks...

Now, more pictures!

Just a normal day... or was it?

Okay, today was actually the first "normal" day. Well, I did learn like, 7 songs and a new dance, but still: no workshops or meeting or whatever.

However, there was one thing that really touched me. Somewhere in vocal-session, Humberto, a Mexican guy, said I made his day. He heard that day that one of his friends in Mexico died, and he was pretty sad, but somehow, my positive attitude and energy helped him smile, and he thanked me for that.

That was the most important moment this trip, maybe. That made MY day.
No pictures today, I'm sorry.

I just wanted to say I was touched by Humberto's comment. I'll post a picture of us together together.

New days

Today, we woke up earlier, because Ben wanted to try a different line on the lightrail. It worked, and we met some people from the cast on the rail, so that's pretty cool.

Today's day (after morning meeting);
- We had a "workshop" about "barcodes" which was about stereotypes and all that. Really cool to hear that almost everyone thinks about The Netherlands, like; "Sex", "Marihuana", "Hookers" and that kind of stuff. Tulps, wooden shoes and windmills were less populair choices! Really interesting.
- After that, we were told things about how to hold a journal, blog, make pictures about your journey and everything else that is used to memorize your trip. Really usefull and it gave me some cool ideas. Even some things that I can use to spice up this boring blog.
- Lunch,
- Then, our first Chorus meeting. Meaning: everyone was divided in groups (soprano, alto, tenor and bariton-base) (I was the latter). We learned 2 songs completely and one song halfway (I think).
- After a fifteen minute break we got to do dancing again, which was pretty easy and cool today, since it was almost only "freestyle". 3 new dances completed today! Yeah, we're rollin' baby!
- Some people (including me) were taken out of the dancing session to go to the basement. We had our first band-meeting there, but we didn't play yet.
- We were done.

- We had a lot of fun on the lightrail today, since, like, 11 students were all going on the same train. It was so funny, making irritating noises and stuff.
- We ate pizza today
- I need shaving cream and a razor.

- I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

- I uploaded all my pics to facebook.
Link 1
Link 2

I'm still working on the video's though, sorry for the delay!

Dancing, Lunch, Dancing, Talking, Dancing... owyeah, and Culture Jam

Title says it,
see you later!

No, wait, lets just don't do that! I'll start at the top of today.

So, I woke up, took a shower, prepared and *speed forwards* when we finished morning meeting at the UWP "center", the modules started again. I only had dance modules left, so I changed clothes and prepared myself. Okay, I'm so happy nobody of you readers saw me, 'cause I looked like a baby-giraffe learning to walk... Man, that was dreadfull...

So, after that, I had, like 2 hours of free time, which I used playing random games with random people. Pretty funny, and it made me forget my horrible dancing for a bit.

Lunch was up next. I talked to two Japanese girls during the whole lunch, which was very difficult (since they are not the best English speakers in the cast), but it was really funny and I learned some Japanese and Japanese culture. (I will include a picture of the girls on the bottum)

So, after that, we all talked about how we should learn from other people's culture (which I actually did during lunch), which was kinda boring. I saw some people fall asleep, (but it wasn't THAT boring though...)

When we finished, we DIDN'T have fitness. (Hurray). Instead, we were thought how to dance (the Hurray was gone when I heard that). But it was kinda cool, actually. We learned the basics of our first dance which we will perform onstage.

So, diner after that, followed by Culture Jam. Culture Jam is, like, everybody on the cast may or may not perform something typical for their country. So me and the other Dutch people all sang our national anthem. (Pictures below again)

Oh, well: PICTURE TIME:

So, on one picture, you see me, with all the Dutch people, singin the national anthem and telling about our national colors.

On the other picture, it's me with the two Japanese girl I was having lunch with: Eriko and Ai. They are wearing their kimono's for Culture Jam here...

More next time, I'm tired now,
these long days are tiring me out... One day seems like... more days put in one!

Oh well, maybe I'll have some time Sunday, maybe I can upload a lot of pictures then.

See you next time,

Bubbayz!

(Post scriptum: this post has a delay because the video didn't want to upload. I'm sorry about that!)
(Post post scriptum: the answer to your homework was: "You don't look fat in that pants")

Second day: first auditions

So, today started with newsflashes from all around the world. Kinda handy to know what's going on.
After that, we could talk to alumni, (people who traveled before us) to ask about their experiences and that kind of things. Really funny to talk to them, and to hear that the people you are in the room with, are going to be your best friends, ever. Period. (not all of them offcourse, but at least some of them)

So, after that, learning about the "Life experience cycle", which main point was to analyze things that happen, and analyze how you can learn from something.

After that was maybe the most important part of the day: modules. (They were like auditions, in my opinion). You had to do a few things (like singing, speaking) and they would judge you, to see who's going to do what during the show.
I hope I didn't screw up...
I only need to do the dancing audition tomorrow, and then, I have, like, a lot of free time (like, 2 hours). After that, we're going to talk again, and after that... the worst thing that could happen after dancing audition:

MORE THAN 2 HOURS FITNESS... STRAIGHT!

I'm not looking forward to that... I think I'll be dead by tomorrow-evening... Just give me some mental help there, okay?

So, picture time!

This is kinda like the group with who we talked to the alumni. (Excluding me)

The one at the bottom is my room mate, actually: Zach Murphy. The girl above him is teaching me Spanish. I'm pretty good at that actually.

I can say "no te ves gorda en esos pantalones". Now, you guys guess what that means :) That's your homework for today.

Bubbayz!

First activity day!

So, today was our first activity! Wait, let me start at the beginning:

I woke up at six a clock in the morning, having to prepare for stuff and... you know, stuff.
Ben (Hostbrother and also an UWP-student) drove us to the lightrail. We took it, and walked the rest of the way to the building. Well, we arrived safe and sound and we started with "opening session" or something. You know, "today's announcements" and stuff.

Well, short break, and then we got all these cool games that were designed to break the ice and stop being embarresed.

Example: everyone was standing in a circle, and someone asked a question. If the answere on that question was Yes for you, than you had to run to the center of the circle and dance the robot. That kind of games. I really enjoyed that!

Next up was lunch, which we all needed. After that, "expectations" which was like, the rules of UWP and everything again, over again. People could answer questions and staff members answered them to you.

Last, but certainly not least: Fitness... For... 1,5... hour...
Man, it tore me appart, but somehow, I managed! Yeah, I'm cool! Really funny. The bad thing is: Wednesday, it's going to be, like 2 or 2,5 hours... Just great!

Oh well, we ate Quesedille, which is mexican food, made on an american grill. Host family is great!

Got a new picture though: everyone gathered during the break:

Welcome party!

Hi there!
So, second post on the trip! Today was very exciting, since we got to meet, like, everyone on our group! I think we have a very cool group of interesting people! There was not a single soul in the room(s) that I didn't like, and I hope it will stay like that for a while :)

So, what did we do? Well, first, we went to one of Denver's theatres (see above image) where we got an introductionshow for everyone on our cast. Ex-participants of the program showed and sang some of the songs we are going to do as well. The UWP-president spoke to all of us and welcomed us all. We got introduced to the staff and some current participants told why they joined the program.

After the introductionprogram we got some kind of a meeting-reception. It was very cool, since we all got to meet eachother!

I really enjoyed those few hours, and I'm really forward to getting to know everyone better.
Right now, I'm going to prepare for tomorrow and then I'm going to sleep.

But first:
PICTURES! (I appologize: I can't flip some of the pictures. I'll find out how to do so soon!)

About the pics:
Grouppic: The complete cast, and flags of all participating countries in the background.
The girl: She's one of the ex-participants. She sang for us today and she has the most powerfull voice ever, even though she's blind.
The man: That's our president :)




Bubbayz!

Jetlag, Homefamily

So, first post on the trip! Yeah!

Let's start at the beginning. On the morning of 11th July I left in Brussels at 11 AM. 9 hours later, I arrived in Chicago (Local time: 1 PM). The next plane should have left 2,5 hours later, but it didn't. We got, like, 1,5 hours delay, so we left at 5 PM in Chicago to go to Denver. 2,5 later, we arrived in Denver at 6,5 PM local time.

So, that was kinda roundabout for: I met my host family after being awake for 24 hours, at around 8 PM Denver time.

Okay, that's that. The flight was very cool. We traded a few places with random people on the plane, so almost all UWP-participants could sit close to eachter: very cool, very funny!

That's that. First thing I did was when we arrived was met my host family: family Cearley. My host-papa and mama are really cool. They have a daugther who also traveled with Up With People before, and now they're son is in our cast. (He's on the picture below too)

So, this are the three participants who are staying at my host-family. (fltr: Me (Frederik Derks), Zach Murphy, Ben Cearley).

We drove to their home almost immediately and I fell asleep like a block. I woke up at 3 AM in the morning (it would be 11 AM in Holland where I'm from), so I kinda had to force myself to sleep again.

Well, I kinda have this culture shock thingie now: I kinda expected kingsize meals everywhere (since my dad told me), so I kinda checked in the airports' Mc Donalds, but the quarter pounters are exactly the same. The difference is in the options: darn, way too much options. Where we have about 5 kinds of energy-drinks, here, they have houndred kinds of them! I already got my favourite: Mountain Dew.

Hmm... so, that's about it. My photocamera battery is dead at the moment but I'll upload some of the pictures I made soon. (Maybe tonight, if it all works out)