So, finally, the review of the last town in the trip: Subic Bay.
As expected, this town was amazing! I mean, every city is unique, but with tropical beaches and a jungle in one, this place is simply great xD
I even got wild monkeys in the backyard one day! =D
Anyways, with this being the last week, you would think that everyone would be in this down-kind-of-mood. However, this didn’t seem to be the case, and everything looked like this whole experience would go on forever! (And although it felt like the time was coming, I would have loved for it to go on a little longer)
This week, again, I was roomed with my brother and friend Ouray from the Native American Navaho tribe! You remember him from my blogpost about Cheyenne, Wyoming, right? (If not, go read it now!) Well, we were roomed together again. Our host dad this week was Josh, also originally from Wyoming! It’s a damn small world!
He is a teacher that, like, travels around and teaches at schools all over the world. Every year (or two, three, whatever years), he moves to a new place. He lived in this house, and all his neighbors are also teachers at the same school! (Hey, place to stay was included in the job) And even better, two houses next-door was another teacher dude “sam”, who also hosted some Uppies (Dave, Anika and Marion). So, we had some half-sisters and a half-brother too!
CI this week was spent on just one site for me: Preda. This is a place where a priest (Fr. Shay Cullen) build a foundation to create a better life for children. In the Preda-house live girls that from young age have been forced to work in the prostitution, and young boys that were put in jail for no good reason. Fr. Cullen helps these kids by giving them a new life.
So, I got to spend some time in the boys-section of the house. The girls of UWP got to work in the girl-side. The first day we got to see an introduction-video about Preda and Fr Cullen. We also got a “tour” through the complex, and we discovered that they even have their own “Fairtrade”-shop. It’s really cool! You should take a look at the link I will put up under the post.
What the girls did this week was mainly painting a few walls, but with a cool design! I got to take a look at the finished work, and it looked amazing! But apart from lunch, we didn’t really see the girls.
The guys were working on a different location, uphill. So, we got to climb this steep stairway, up a hill! Wow, heavy! In the blazing sun! Aaargh!
So, once uphill we got to meet the guys. From the way they looked and acted… one would NEVER guess that these boys were put in jail! I highly doubt most of them even ever thought about stealing or whatever… Most of them were high-spirited guys that were just awesome to work and play with.
So, on the first day, we played some games and got to know them. Good kids =)
Second day that we were supposed to be in Preda was the only day during the tour that I was sick! Aaargh! Let’s skip this.
Third day. Totally cool! We offered the people from Preda to do some labor-work. So, we got to “even the ground”, since the place had a lot of hills. We did this, so the boys could start their own vegetable-kind-of-garden! You know, teaching and all!
But man, in the sun, this was some hard labor! Not normal for someone with my temperature-range… Anyway, we got to even a big part of the area, and the boys wanted to help all the time. The second you took a rest to wipe of the sweat, they would reach for the shovel and take over.
The people of Preda were amazed. Never before had volunteers worked “this hard” for them. Most of them just “walk around” for a day and leave again. For us, this was the right thing to do. It’s good to leave an impression.
The boys learned me how to crack nuts with stones, and which ones are edible. Good! Knowledge +1
The last day with the guys just was the best, best CI day we had on this entire tour! First, we got in this little bus/jeep thingie. All of us, singing songs and all!
Anyways, we were going to this neat little place in the jungle. This is the place the boys go every week to do their laundry. You expect a river, you get a waterfall!
We had such an amazing time, swimming, jumping, diving! Jumping of a waterfall from a height of a 3 story building. Oh My God! Soooo scary, but way too addicting! The waves you create when doing a “bomb” from that high are just too big! And when you hit the bottom of the lake because you went down way deeper than everyone expected, and feel the fish crawl around you, it’s such a good feeling!
It broke my heart to say goodbye.
On a side note: To get to the place, we had to take a few jeepneys and more public transport.
This week was unique in some ways. We got this “gallery” kind of activity. It was a “tour” with all important aspects of our trip in a gallery. Pictures everywhere, big posters, guidelines, everything. During this gallery, people could give “presents” to other people. But, you had to give the present to someone else. There was a requirement on each package to whom you may give it to.
I got: “This person challenged me” from Scarlet and “This person knows the true me” from Jordan. That was the time people told everyone you could only receive 1 present, so I was feeling guilty for not knowing. Anyway, I got both of them, and gave the next one “A person you shared a special moment with in Mexico” to Anthony AG, because he was the first one I got a good talk with for hours in Mexico. The other one was done (so I was the end of the line) and I got to keep the present. It was a little box with 2 chocolates in there. I gave one of them to Jordan (it was her present) and we decided to put the box in the “Time Capsule” (more info later).
Anyway, then Zach came up to me, asking if I got a present yet… I had to say “yes”, so, yeah… end of the line!
This was a good day. We got a lot of dances that day. You had to find partners in advance for song #1, #2 etc. etc. but you had no idea what song it would be. Loads of fun. I got this “sexy” dance with Vitor. Imagine that ;)
Well… almost done, I guess…
Leaves us only the final banquette.
On the last day of the tour, we got this almost-gala-like meeting, with loads of food, awards for people, etc. etc. It was a good but sad day. I was crying almost the entire time, and you know.
I have never had so many girls crying on my shoulders in one night, saying things like “You have no idea how wonderfull you are” and “You are such an amazing person”. Good for the ego, but that didn’t matter… The only thing that we all could do was cry, hope…
I have no way to describe the feeling of this moment… when you are sitting in the bus, and half of the people staying (taking another flight), running after the bus… Tears in everyone’s eyes…
Well, sad ending…
I will update this blog in the future!
Not feeling well right now… it’s still too deep…
See you later,
Thank you for following the blog.
Love,
Freddy
Promised links:
Preda Fair Trade: http://www.preda.net/
Preda Foundation: http://www.preda.org/index.htm
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Double blog III: Last US city “North Platte” and the last of Manilla!
What did you say? You haven’t heard from me in a while? Well, that’s because I got home, and some events happened to happen… So, now that things look like they’ve calmed down, I will inform you once more about all that has happened! I might be a bit off-balance, but please forgive me =D I’m just a humble servant of your time.
Let’s start off with the last city in the United States: North Platte, Nebraska! Loads of things happened! This would be the last city where we would be in the US, and of course, that all struck us like lightning! We would not be back in the US as “this group” ever again in our life… Even more bold, “this group” would never be the same again, since we had to say goodbye to some of our friends we’ve been traveling with since the beginning: Kirk (US), Catherine (Denmark) and Gwen (Switzerland) all decided to go home, instead of going to the Philippines with us. This was a hard decision for them, but it was a health-matter…
You bet, this was an emotional departure for all of us…
But, hey, that’s the end of the week, let’s start at the beginning again!
My host family this week was actually just one guy: “Chuck” (not Norris). He was an elderly guy, but with a good, strong heart. He does his own kind of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. He’s decided to host two people in his house for the benefit of his town. Also, he remembered UWP from when he was young. Really cool no?
I was roomed with redhead James “Opie” Pennington, and we got a good time with Chuck. We also met Chucks family (read: Daughter and grandchildren) and we went to this cool restaurant with them (Fort Cody, which had Dutch flags on top of it!) where you could throw the peanut-shells on the ground! Wow, I’ve never seen that in a restaurant before! Weird but cool xD
So, guess what NP is famous for? You betcha! Their railroads!
So, for “regional learning” we didn’t really go out… instead, we watched a 2 hour documentary about the “North Platte Canteen”. This canteen made NP famous, back in the days, since soldiers that would be on trains and stop here, would be welcomed, no matter what or who, with a lot of volunteer-prepared food and meals. Apparently, the soldiers would remember this canteen until their last breath, just for the hospitality that they received.
Also, for the “exploration crew” that I was selected for on the last show day went to went to the current North Platte railroad-center, thingie. Really cool, railroads as far as the eye can see! I even saw kids there I met earlier that week in their classrooms. That brings me to my next part.
This entire week, I feel like I’ve been doing Stand for Peace and “Country Introductions”. I think I’ve been in 20 schools this week (or at least 20 classes), and all of them were totally awesome. Well, that was also pretty much all the CI I did this city. So, not much to tell, although I made some cool pictures…
About pictures, I plan on making a special post full with pictures as soon as I’m done with telling everything I want to tell =)
So, this week went by in a rush. I drank the last Mountain Dew in my life (that’s what I thought at the moment), said goodbye to friends for life, and send a big box home again. (I just wonder how it’s possible that a suitcase can gain 20 pounds in 2 weeks :S And then…
The Philippines!
So, let me do the last part of Manilla!
Actually, there’s not so much to tell… I told a lot already, at least the most impressive things…
But, there’s always more. Let me see how far I can get.
So, for the last few days, someone else got roomed with me. Guess who? Colin, right! The guy I was roomed with in Culiacan! Hehe, loads of fun!
Well, guess what, our family (now it’s “our” instead of “my”) took us to a hair-barber- thingie, where the hairdudes oiled our hair. For more glow and stuff xD Yeah, we looked like damn princes! (the prince of retardia)
Ooh, the shows here involved a new song! “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling ka”. Or “I love you every rainy season”. Let me see… I can’t find the original song we practiced on, but I think I found a decent replacement. (Don’t watch the movie, it’s the song that’s good.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyR8QTA62w&feature=related
Yeah, we performed twice in Manilla. Big shows, yeah. Very emotional too, having all the people you worked with in the slums, sitting in the room, watching probably the first show in their life… Man, emotional… no words…
And that might very well be the end of these cities.
So, the only city left is Subic Bay. Again, another interesting city with loads of tears.
But that’s a bedtime story for another time!
Love,
Bubbayz!
Let’s start off with the last city in the United States: North Platte, Nebraska! Loads of things happened! This would be the last city where we would be in the US, and of course, that all struck us like lightning! We would not be back in the US as “this group” ever again in our life… Even more bold, “this group” would never be the same again, since we had to say goodbye to some of our friends we’ve been traveling with since the beginning: Kirk (US), Catherine (Denmark) and Gwen (Switzerland) all decided to go home, instead of going to the Philippines with us. This was a hard decision for them, but it was a health-matter…
You bet, this was an emotional departure for all of us…
But, hey, that’s the end of the week, let’s start at the beginning again!
My host family this week was actually just one guy: “Chuck” (not Norris). He was an elderly guy, but with a good, strong heart. He does his own kind of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. He’s decided to host two people in his house for the benefit of his town. Also, he remembered UWP from when he was young. Really cool no?
I was roomed with redhead James “Opie” Pennington, and we got a good time with Chuck. We also met Chucks family (read: Daughter and grandchildren) and we went to this cool restaurant with them (Fort Cody, which had Dutch flags on top of it!) where you could throw the peanut-shells on the ground! Wow, I’ve never seen that in a restaurant before! Weird but cool xD
So, guess what NP is famous for? You betcha! Their railroads!
So, for “regional learning” we didn’t really go out… instead, we watched a 2 hour documentary about the “North Platte Canteen”. This canteen made NP famous, back in the days, since soldiers that would be on trains and stop here, would be welcomed, no matter what or who, with a lot of volunteer-prepared food and meals. Apparently, the soldiers would remember this canteen until their last breath, just for the hospitality that they received.
Also, for the “exploration crew” that I was selected for on the last show day went to went to the current North Platte railroad-center, thingie. Really cool, railroads as far as the eye can see! I even saw kids there I met earlier that week in their classrooms. That brings me to my next part.
This entire week, I feel like I’ve been doing Stand for Peace and “Country Introductions”. I think I’ve been in 20 schools this week (or at least 20 classes), and all of them were totally awesome. Well, that was also pretty much all the CI I did this city. So, not much to tell, although I made some cool pictures…
About pictures, I plan on making a special post full with pictures as soon as I’m done with telling everything I want to tell =)
So, this week went by in a rush. I drank the last Mountain Dew in my life (that’s what I thought at the moment), said goodbye to friends for life, and send a big box home again. (I just wonder how it’s possible that a suitcase can gain 20 pounds in 2 weeks :S And then…
The Philippines!
So, let me do the last part of Manilla!
Actually, there’s not so much to tell… I told a lot already, at least the most impressive things…
But, there’s always more. Let me see how far I can get.
So, for the last few days, someone else got roomed with me. Guess who? Colin, right! The guy I was roomed with in Culiacan! Hehe, loads of fun!
Well, guess what, our family (now it’s “our” instead of “my”) took us to a hair-barber- thingie, where the hairdudes oiled our hair. For more glow and stuff xD Yeah, we looked like damn princes! (the prince of retardia)
Ooh, the shows here involved a new song! “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling ka”. Or “I love you every rainy season”. Let me see… I can’t find the original song we practiced on, but I think I found a decent replacement. (Don’t watch the movie, it’s the song that’s good.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyR8QTA62w&feature=related
Yeah, we performed twice in Manilla. Big shows, yeah. Very emotional too, having all the people you worked with in the slums, sitting in the room, watching probably the first show in their life… Man, emotional… no words…
And that might very well be the end of these cities.
So, the only city left is Subic Bay. Again, another interesting city with loads of tears.
But that’s a bedtime story for another time!
Love,
Bubbayz!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Double blog II: The Falls of Sioux and more Manilla Madness!
So, the second Double Blog is here! Hip Hip, Hurray!
…
Thanks for cheering… *Sarcastic glare*
So, anyway, let’s start with Sioux Falls, South Dakota!
That’s right, another South Dakota! This is the only state (except for Denver, which included staging), where we went to two cities to! (Remember last double blog, Aberdeen, South Dakota?)
Let me try to do all of this systematic for once:
Host Family:
I was hosted with my hostparents Dee and Larry. Besides to that, I was roomed with Laura B., another UWP student from the USoA. We had some good times! We watched some movies (Alvin and the Chipmunks, The last Assignment (or whatever it was called)), and Dee reminded me of my own grandmother from time to time. It was really a pleasure to experience that =)
Also, at the last 2 days of our stay, their granddaughter stayed with us. It was so cool to spend time with all of them!
Oooh, oooh, we went to this weird but cool cinema thingy where you practically lay down on your back in a chair, and they played the movie on the roof! It was so strange, but it was cool at the same time! We saw a little documentary about mummies. Totally cool! What was the theater called… I can’t remember… Cinedome? Cinemadome?... Hmm…
Regional Learning:
Okay, this was maybe one of the cooler Regional Learning’s of the trip. At first, we did a scavenger-hunt through the city. We found a Dutch store “Het Hoekje”, which was placed at a streetcornmer. They even sold Stroopwafels, but at such a high price… And they weren’t even that high quality (gotten a bit old)… Anyway, I didn’t buy any.
All in all, the scavenger hunt was cool, and you actually got to see a part of the city, which doesn’t happen all the time during this tour.
The second part, however, was even way and way better! We went to visit the Falls where the city was named after: The falls of the Sioux-Indians. They were so amazing! I sat near the water, staring at the fall for so long. An hour? You could totally feel the spirit and the energy of the place. So amazing! I also saw an otter or beaver, sitting on a rock and diving in the water. Peacefull place. Beautifull. No words to describe it…
The Show:
Okay, normally I wouldn’t really mention the show. However, this was a special occasion. Because… with an audience of over 2200 people, this was the biggest show of Up With People in the United States since the turn of the millennium! Good Grief! Milestone!!! XD
All in all, another successful week!
But now, it’s time to go back to the present! (Well… a little closer to the present, a blog can never be present, since it’s always about stuff that already happened… Whatever…)
What I want to say is: Let’s switch to Manilla, where I currently am!
Hmm… Let me see where I left off last time…
*reads through archive*
Ah, yes!
Well, before I start, my hostdad Joujou wants to make a disclaimer:
“Make sure to tell the people in your blog that I don’t have the waistline of Jack Black! That would be such a disgrace.”
So, today (or yesterday when I will post this blog) was the last CI-day with our Gawad Kalinga group… It was such a sad depart! Kids were crying, people were sad that we were leaving… And so were we! The energy we had was so… pure and raw! Amazing! I totally fell in love with this place.
Gawad Kalinga-Taguig. If you ever get the chance to go there: Do it! Totally, you are gonna love it. Everyone with a little heart will fall in love with the place. Everyone is so nice, the work is honorable and… sigh… I’m just glad I got to experience all that.
Maybe one of the best times in my life. =)
Aaah, so, now, some typical experiences:
Let’s start with Balut. Balut is one of the delicate food-products of the Philippines. Everyone loves it here, and it’s called “the natural Viagra”, or so I was told. (Weird, Word automatically gives the word “Viagra” a capital letter…?) Anyways. I’m not gonna tell you what it is, so if you’re really interested, try to find some info yourself.
Why I won’t tell you? Because it’s too gross to put on a blog. Okay, I ate it, like you’re supposed to, but the majority of the foreigners that come here don’t dare to take it. I got it on tape, so maybe, I’ll upload that eventually!
Next: Jollybee! “It’s not a bee, it’s a friend!”.
Jollybee is the biggest fastfood-company in the Philippines! In fact, this is the only country where MacDonalds is NOT the biggest! And why? Because the Jollybee-burgers have more taste, and they have a cooler mascot: A bee that’s Jolly!
Ronald Mac Donald: “WTF OMG, how come that bee is more popular than me?”
Jollybee Owner: “It’s not a bee, it’s a friend”
Okay, insider joke…
Hehe, something really cool! Everyone (and I say, EVERYONE) you meet greets you on the street with a highpitched “Hello sirrr”! Oh, I love that! Totally worth the trip!
Also, the polite way to enter a sentence is by finishing it with “po”. So, “thank you po” is heard quite often!
What else… Hmm… I got my first manicure and pedicure here. But hey, what do you expect with a gay-couple as your hostparents. And they’re both diva’s to top it!
Hehe, I love them (no, not that way, just in the way that they’re cool!)
I know I have so much to tell! Damn… I don’t even know where to start! But I have to quit already!
Okay, one last thing: the skyline from my room is beautifull. I totally love the view of this city, both at daytime, and at nighttime!
Now, as a finisher: I hope my grandfather is doing all right. I wish him all the strength he needs in these hard times: I love you!
So, now, wave and say goodbye!
1… 2… 3…
Bubbayz!
…
Thanks for cheering… *Sarcastic glare*
So, anyway, let’s start with Sioux Falls, South Dakota!
That’s right, another South Dakota! This is the only state (except for Denver, which included staging), where we went to two cities to! (Remember last double blog, Aberdeen, South Dakota?)
Let me try to do all of this systematic for once:
Host Family:
I was hosted with my hostparents Dee and Larry. Besides to that, I was roomed with Laura B., another UWP student from the USoA. We had some good times! We watched some movies (Alvin and the Chipmunks, The last Assignment (or whatever it was called)), and Dee reminded me of my own grandmother from time to time. It was really a pleasure to experience that =)
Also, at the last 2 days of our stay, their granddaughter stayed with us. It was so cool to spend time with all of them!
Oooh, oooh, we went to this weird but cool cinema thingy where you practically lay down on your back in a chair, and they played the movie on the roof! It was so strange, but it was cool at the same time! We saw a little documentary about mummies. Totally cool! What was the theater called… I can’t remember… Cinedome? Cinemadome?... Hmm…
Regional Learning:
Okay, this was maybe one of the cooler Regional Learning’s of the trip. At first, we did a scavenger-hunt through the city. We found a Dutch store “Het Hoekje”, which was placed at a streetcornmer. They even sold Stroopwafels, but at such a high price… And they weren’t even that high quality (gotten a bit old)… Anyway, I didn’t buy any.
All in all, the scavenger hunt was cool, and you actually got to see a part of the city, which doesn’t happen all the time during this tour.
The second part, however, was even way and way better! We went to visit the Falls where the city was named after: The falls of the Sioux-Indians. They were so amazing! I sat near the water, staring at the fall for so long. An hour? You could totally feel the spirit and the energy of the place. So amazing! I also saw an otter or beaver, sitting on a rock and diving in the water. Peacefull place. Beautifull. No words to describe it…
The Show:
Okay, normally I wouldn’t really mention the show. However, this was a special occasion. Because… with an audience of over 2200 people, this was the biggest show of Up With People in the United States since the turn of the millennium! Good Grief! Milestone!!! XD
All in all, another successful week!
But now, it’s time to go back to the present! (Well… a little closer to the present, a blog can never be present, since it’s always about stuff that already happened… Whatever…)
What I want to say is: Let’s switch to Manilla, where I currently am!
Hmm… Let me see where I left off last time…
*reads through archive*
Ah, yes!
Well, before I start, my hostdad Joujou wants to make a disclaimer:
“Make sure to tell the people in your blog that I don’t have the waistline of Jack Black! That would be such a disgrace.”
So, today (or yesterday when I will post this blog) was the last CI-day with our Gawad Kalinga group… It was such a sad depart! Kids were crying, people were sad that we were leaving… And so were we! The energy we had was so… pure and raw! Amazing! I totally fell in love with this place.
Gawad Kalinga-Taguig. If you ever get the chance to go there: Do it! Totally, you are gonna love it. Everyone with a little heart will fall in love with the place. Everyone is so nice, the work is honorable and… sigh… I’m just glad I got to experience all that.
Maybe one of the best times in my life. =)
Aaah, so, now, some typical experiences:
Let’s start with Balut. Balut is one of the delicate food-products of the Philippines. Everyone loves it here, and it’s called “the natural Viagra”, or so I was told. (Weird, Word automatically gives the word “Viagra” a capital letter…?) Anyways. I’m not gonna tell you what it is, so if you’re really interested, try to find some info yourself.
Why I won’t tell you? Because it’s too gross to put on a blog. Okay, I ate it, like you’re supposed to, but the majority of the foreigners that come here don’t dare to take it. I got it on tape, so maybe, I’ll upload that eventually!
Next: Jollybee! “It’s not a bee, it’s a friend!”.
Jollybee is the biggest fastfood-company in the Philippines! In fact, this is the only country where MacDonalds is NOT the biggest! And why? Because the Jollybee-burgers have more taste, and they have a cooler mascot: A bee that’s Jolly!
Ronald Mac Donald: “WTF OMG, how come that bee is more popular than me?”
Jollybee Owner: “It’s not a bee, it’s a friend”
Okay, insider joke…
Hehe, something really cool! Everyone (and I say, EVERYONE) you meet greets you on the street with a highpitched “Hello sirrr”! Oh, I love that! Totally worth the trip!
Also, the polite way to enter a sentence is by finishing it with “po”. So, “thank you po” is heard quite often!
What else… Hmm… I got my first manicure and pedicure here. But hey, what do you expect with a gay-couple as your hostparents. And they’re both diva’s to top it!
Hehe, I love them (no, not that way, just in the way that they’re cool!)
I know I have so much to tell! Damn… I don’t even know where to start! But I have to quit already!
Okay, one last thing: the skyline from my room is beautifull. I totally love the view of this city, both at daytime, and at nighttime!
Now, as a finisher: I hope my grandfather is doing all right. I wish him all the strength he needs in these hard times: I love you!
So, now, wave and say goodbye!
1… 2… 3…
Bubbayz!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Double blog I: Netherlands, euhm… Aberdeen & ~Manilla Alpha~
Okay, the structure is going to be a little different from now on. There are still 3 more cities in the United States that I need to blog about, but I’m also in Manilla, and I want to talk about that too. So the next three blogs, including this one are going to be “Double Blogs”. I also have to go to internet-café’s, so updates will be irregular
Let’s start with Aberdeen. In Aberdeen I was supposed to be roommates with Gabe, our showmanager. However, due to family circumstances, he wasn’t with us this entire week, what resulted in me being hosted alone. I stayed with an elderly couple. Al and Audrey.
They took me out for dinner right after they picked me up, and there was something I noticed right away: The waiters were superslow, and for the first time I ate in the USA, it reminded me of The Netherlands.
But it doesn’t stop there. The entire landscape of Aberdeen exists of cornfields and flat land! Every once in a while, you see cows in the fields. Also, the temperature is far lower than in the other places of the US I’ve been. About the same temperature as fall/winter in the Netherlands.
My entire week, I’ve been thinking about how much Aberdeen resembles my own little village.
Anyway, my hostparents were totally awesome people, and Audrey’s cooking was the best I’ve ever tasted. Every night, she would make something I didn’t knew even existed, and everything was delicious!
I also spent a lot of time with their son (Colin), who lives a few fields away with his wife (Denise) and little kid (Rayven). They were such nice people.
One day, they brought over a wii from their friends, and we all played the entire evening! Such a good time. I loved playing Mario Kart xD
One day, one of their friends, who also hosted some uppies, came over to A&A’s house, while me and Colin went to his house to fetch his Stallion “Pepper”. Then, all of us uppies got to ride Pepper. I liked it a lot. (Remember how I said my first horseride was in Cheyenne? Well, this will be the official first, since now I had to steer and accelerate and stuff myself). I managed quite well, even did a spin, whatever that was xD
And something not to be forgotten: HALLOWEEN!!!
This year was the first time I got to celebrate Halloween in my life! Hehe, one morning, we all had to bring along a “carving knife”, which we used to carve pumpkins. Me and Marianna worked together and carved a pirate skull in the pumpkin.
Another night, we had a big Halloween party with the cast. Everyone was dressed up as something (Or at least, that was the plan), and just partied along. A few people were party poopers, and didn’t dress up at all. I was a vampire (how original), but I think I managed quite well. I think it looked kinda good.
And now, maybe the most awesome thing of the week: Up With People Land. This week was all about “Immigration”, where we put up a game at the start of the week, until the end of the week. Everyone got a (fake) passport and was a citizen, immigrant, illegal etc. of some sort. The goal of the game was to have a job and housing at the end of the week.
I started as a legal citizen with a house. However, I still had to look for a job (kinda reminded me of real life). I tried to start my own business (A greenhouse where they grow Dutch “plants and vegetables”), but it didn’t get approved. It was supposed to be the cover for my masterplan: I wanted to start a mafia.
So, even without a business, I started my mafia. It mainly existed of stealing passports (Hey, people shouldn’t leave their passports lying around on the floor), and make people distrust eachother.
It went fairly well, and In the end, I had 2 companies, 3 houses and finished the game as the richest man in the group.
But the game in general was a lot of fun. We elected a mayor (Ryan, who actually loves politics a lot) and a lot of death threats and assassination attempts were done.
This makes us sound like a really bad and awfull group of people, but we all realized that this was a game. It was a way to have fun, while trying to get to a higher position in life.
I mean, come one, I even got married in the process, like so many others xD
Well, all in all, I can say this was a really good week. I loved it a lot. Everything was very good!
Next part of the double blog is Manilla!
After 2 or 3 days of traveling (I lost track with all the 12 hour long airplaneflights and switches of timezones) we arrived in the capital of the Philippines: Manilla! Even though it was 7 or 8 in the morning when we arrived, we were all tired and sleepy from the trip from the airport to our “meeting point”.
On a sidenote, we’re gonna be here for 2 weeks total.
So, my experience so far is awesome! The first thing we did was go to a Philippine restaurant with some people, before we got to lunch. I had some Philippine beer (St. Miguel’s, which originates from here!) and grilled pork. Decent portions too. Total 210 pesos (3,30 euro or 3,90 dollar). After that, me and Marylou went to a local icecreamshop. We had a local recipe “Halo-Halo”, which is basically a bunch of different stuff (Seeds, frozen water, coconut, icecream and stuff I don’t recognized) mixed together. It was surprisingly good and filling for something of just 1 euro!
As you might have noticed: things are cheap here.
Oooh, so much happened here, I don’t know where to start… Oh, well, let’s start with my hostfamily. They are so cool xD It’s a gay couple, but I don’t really know how to describe them. I though a few times that they were best described as the “Philippino, gay version of Jack Black and Kyle Gass”, but that’s not entirely true either…
Oh well, we live in an apartment on the 14th floor above a mall. It’s totally awesome, since I can see the entire city from my window. It’s so beautifull! The sea and bay, and buildings everywhere. Joujou (one of my hostdad’s) keeps saying it’s ugly though… I love it.
Oh, hehe, traffic. Well, traffic here is crazy. Cars, taxi’s, jeepneys, tricycles, motorcycles…. Everything is everywhere at every second! A pedestrian has no power, not even on the normal crossing points. The stripes on the roads are decoration, and everyone drives as if their life depends on it! The pointers in some of the taxi’s I’ve been in that indicate the speed and fuel and stuff where broken and everyone seems corrupt.
The best part are the jeepneys! They are old army vehicles that weren’t used for a while. After that, people started to use them for public transport, and now 1/3 of traffic exists of jeepneys. They are the best motorized vehicles I’ve ever seen in my life! Everyone that owns a jeepney tries to pimp it to the max, and because of that, the best pimped jeepney gets more passengers xD Such a cool concept!
Oh, there is a lot that we’ve been doing already.
Since we’re in such a big city, it’s impossible to meet the entire group every day. Because of that, our group is split in smaller group that work at different sites around the city. I’m really honored, because I got chosen to be Crew Leader again. It must mean I did a good job before. I’m so proud.
Anyway, I’m leading a group of 19 people, and we do a lot of different things: We socialize with people in the slums, we teach and play with the kids in the school, and we do light construction work to build houses for the less fortunate. It’s such an honorable thing to do! We rotate what we do. Last time, I spent time with people in the slums, next time, I’ll be in the school, and after that I’ll be doing construction. I’m looking forward to it.
The conditions in the slums are so bad. It’s so sad… The entire “river” is full with trash and doesn’t even look like water. The teeth of the kids are falling out, but still: these are the most beautifull people I’ve ever seen. They are happy too. We provide them hope and show them that the world hasn’t forgotten about them… You, reader, don’t ever dare to forget them! Get of your but and help someone!
Anyway, we are working together with a partner who has been working in Manilla for a long time already. They are building houses and give people more decent houses. They do such a great job! They provide direct help, where the local community can help them building and expanding. Their motto is to provide land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry and as a result providing dignity and peace for every Filipino. Their name: Gawad Kalinga. If everything goes well, they will have rebuild all the slums in Manilla in 5 years. It’s such an amazing achievement! I’m honored to work with them.
Our regional learning was very interesting. We saw a movie about a museum that tells us the complete history of the Philippines. (The museum is like, 5 to 10 minutes walking distance from our house, so I’m thinking of going there someday). This country seems to have a lot of war history. Almost their entire history was about war and revolution.
We also went to the “Old Manilla”, which is the beginning of the town, where you could still see the walls from old settlements and we learned some history there too.
After that we went to a place where Gawad Kalinga (GK from now on) already did a lot of work. We saw the result of what we are going to do, and it was so amazing. The place was so colorfull and the people were so happy. I played with the kids for hours and hours, made up a song with them which we performed, played tag on a constructionsite (which gives the game such a huge extra dimension) and carried Dijo (Diejo) on my shoulders for an hour or so. He just ordered me around, pointing towards someone from Up With People, who he wanted to talk to, and at the end of every conversation he asked if the “beauty”, (that’s how he called the girls xD) would give a kiss to him and me xD We had such a good time!
It broke my heart to leave them, and especially Dijo… He was crying when I left. Sigh, he actually said he loved me… I feel so bad about that now…
Well, that’s just a little bit of info, so you can understand what’s going on now. It’s an amazing experience. But there’s still so much more to talk about. “Hello sir”, “thank you po”, “Jollybee” etc. etc. However, not enough time at the moment! And I have to save cool stories for next time, right? ;)
Anyway, I love you all, and remember, try to do something good for someone else every once in a while. It makes you feel good!
Okay, I’m off,
Bubbayz!
Let’s start with Aberdeen. In Aberdeen I was supposed to be roommates with Gabe, our showmanager. However, due to family circumstances, he wasn’t with us this entire week, what resulted in me being hosted alone. I stayed with an elderly couple. Al and Audrey.
They took me out for dinner right after they picked me up, and there was something I noticed right away: The waiters were superslow, and for the first time I ate in the USA, it reminded me of The Netherlands.
But it doesn’t stop there. The entire landscape of Aberdeen exists of cornfields and flat land! Every once in a while, you see cows in the fields. Also, the temperature is far lower than in the other places of the US I’ve been. About the same temperature as fall/winter in the Netherlands.
My entire week, I’ve been thinking about how much Aberdeen resembles my own little village.
Anyway, my hostparents were totally awesome people, and Audrey’s cooking was the best I’ve ever tasted. Every night, she would make something I didn’t knew even existed, and everything was delicious!
I also spent a lot of time with their son (Colin), who lives a few fields away with his wife (Denise) and little kid (Rayven). They were such nice people.
One day, they brought over a wii from their friends, and we all played the entire evening! Such a good time. I loved playing Mario Kart xD
One day, one of their friends, who also hosted some uppies, came over to A&A’s house, while me and Colin went to his house to fetch his Stallion “Pepper”. Then, all of us uppies got to ride Pepper. I liked it a lot. (Remember how I said my first horseride was in Cheyenne? Well, this will be the official first, since now I had to steer and accelerate and stuff myself). I managed quite well, even did a spin, whatever that was xD
And something not to be forgotten: HALLOWEEN!!!
This year was the first time I got to celebrate Halloween in my life! Hehe, one morning, we all had to bring along a “carving knife”, which we used to carve pumpkins. Me and Marianna worked together and carved a pirate skull in the pumpkin.
Another night, we had a big Halloween party with the cast. Everyone was dressed up as something (Or at least, that was the plan), and just partied along. A few people were party poopers, and didn’t dress up at all. I was a vampire (how original), but I think I managed quite well. I think it looked kinda good.
And now, maybe the most awesome thing of the week: Up With People Land. This week was all about “Immigration”, where we put up a game at the start of the week, until the end of the week. Everyone got a (fake) passport and was a citizen, immigrant, illegal etc. of some sort. The goal of the game was to have a job and housing at the end of the week.
I started as a legal citizen with a house. However, I still had to look for a job (kinda reminded me of real life). I tried to start my own business (A greenhouse where they grow Dutch “plants and vegetables”), but it didn’t get approved. It was supposed to be the cover for my masterplan: I wanted to start a mafia.
So, even without a business, I started my mafia. It mainly existed of stealing passports (Hey, people shouldn’t leave their passports lying around on the floor), and make people distrust eachother.
It went fairly well, and In the end, I had 2 companies, 3 houses and finished the game as the richest man in the group.
But the game in general was a lot of fun. We elected a mayor (Ryan, who actually loves politics a lot) and a lot of death threats and assassination attempts were done.
This makes us sound like a really bad and awfull group of people, but we all realized that this was a game. It was a way to have fun, while trying to get to a higher position in life.
I mean, come one, I even got married in the process, like so many others xD
Well, all in all, I can say this was a really good week. I loved it a lot. Everything was very good!
Next part of the double blog is Manilla!
After 2 or 3 days of traveling (I lost track with all the 12 hour long airplaneflights and switches of timezones) we arrived in the capital of the Philippines: Manilla! Even though it was 7 or 8 in the morning when we arrived, we were all tired and sleepy from the trip from the airport to our “meeting point”.
On a sidenote, we’re gonna be here for 2 weeks total.
So, my experience so far is awesome! The first thing we did was go to a Philippine restaurant with some people, before we got to lunch. I had some Philippine beer (St. Miguel’s, which originates from here!) and grilled pork. Decent portions too. Total 210 pesos (3,30 euro or 3,90 dollar). After that, me and Marylou went to a local icecreamshop. We had a local recipe “Halo-Halo”, which is basically a bunch of different stuff (Seeds, frozen water, coconut, icecream and stuff I don’t recognized) mixed together. It was surprisingly good and filling for something of just 1 euro!
As you might have noticed: things are cheap here.
Oooh, so much happened here, I don’t know where to start… Oh, well, let’s start with my hostfamily. They are so cool xD It’s a gay couple, but I don’t really know how to describe them. I though a few times that they were best described as the “Philippino, gay version of Jack Black and Kyle Gass”, but that’s not entirely true either…
Oh well, we live in an apartment on the 14th floor above a mall. It’s totally awesome, since I can see the entire city from my window. It’s so beautifull! The sea and bay, and buildings everywhere. Joujou (one of my hostdad’s) keeps saying it’s ugly though… I love it.
Oh, hehe, traffic. Well, traffic here is crazy. Cars, taxi’s, jeepneys, tricycles, motorcycles…. Everything is everywhere at every second! A pedestrian has no power, not even on the normal crossing points. The stripes on the roads are decoration, and everyone drives as if their life depends on it! The pointers in some of the taxi’s I’ve been in that indicate the speed and fuel and stuff where broken and everyone seems corrupt.
The best part are the jeepneys! They are old army vehicles that weren’t used for a while. After that, people started to use them for public transport, and now 1/3 of traffic exists of jeepneys. They are the best motorized vehicles I’ve ever seen in my life! Everyone that owns a jeepney tries to pimp it to the max, and because of that, the best pimped jeepney gets more passengers xD Such a cool concept!
Oh, there is a lot that we’ve been doing already.
Since we’re in such a big city, it’s impossible to meet the entire group every day. Because of that, our group is split in smaller group that work at different sites around the city. I’m really honored, because I got chosen to be Crew Leader again. It must mean I did a good job before. I’m so proud.
Anyway, I’m leading a group of 19 people, and we do a lot of different things: We socialize with people in the slums, we teach and play with the kids in the school, and we do light construction work to build houses for the less fortunate. It’s such an honorable thing to do! We rotate what we do. Last time, I spent time with people in the slums, next time, I’ll be in the school, and after that I’ll be doing construction. I’m looking forward to it.
The conditions in the slums are so bad. It’s so sad… The entire “river” is full with trash and doesn’t even look like water. The teeth of the kids are falling out, but still: these are the most beautifull people I’ve ever seen. They are happy too. We provide them hope and show them that the world hasn’t forgotten about them… You, reader, don’t ever dare to forget them! Get of your but and help someone!
Anyway, we are working together with a partner who has been working in Manilla for a long time already. They are building houses and give people more decent houses. They do such a great job! They provide direct help, where the local community can help them building and expanding. Their motto is to provide land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry and as a result providing dignity and peace for every Filipino. Their name: Gawad Kalinga. If everything goes well, they will have rebuild all the slums in Manilla in 5 years. It’s such an amazing achievement! I’m honored to work with them.
Our regional learning was very interesting. We saw a movie about a museum that tells us the complete history of the Philippines. (The museum is like, 5 to 10 minutes walking distance from our house, so I’m thinking of going there someday). This country seems to have a lot of war history. Almost their entire history was about war and revolution.
We also went to the “Old Manilla”, which is the beginning of the town, where you could still see the walls from old settlements and we learned some history there too.
After that we went to a place where Gawad Kalinga (GK from now on) already did a lot of work. We saw the result of what we are going to do, and it was so amazing. The place was so colorfull and the people were so happy. I played with the kids for hours and hours, made up a song with them which we performed, played tag on a constructionsite (which gives the game such a huge extra dimension) and carried Dijo (Diejo) on my shoulders for an hour or so. He just ordered me around, pointing towards someone from Up With People, who he wanted to talk to, and at the end of every conversation he asked if the “beauty”, (that’s how he called the girls xD) would give a kiss to him and me xD We had such a good time!
It broke my heart to leave them, and especially Dijo… He was crying when I left. Sigh, he actually said he loved me… I feel so bad about that now…
Well, that’s just a little bit of info, so you can understand what’s going on now. It’s an amazing experience. But there’s still so much more to talk about. “Hello sir”, “thank you po”, “Jollybee” etc. etc. However, not enough time at the moment! And I have to save cool stories for next time, right? ;)
Anyway, I love you all, and remember, try to do something good for someone else every once in a while. It makes you feel good!
Okay, I’m off,
Bubbayz!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Cheyenne, my home on the prairie: cowboyland!
Yeeeehaaah cowboy! Guess what!? I’ve been in cowboyland! xD
Listen to my story!
This week, I’ve stayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is the “cowboystate”. And indeed, prairies and ranches all around my host family’s house! I stayed with this really awesome, cool hostfamily! (Lavelle and Ron) And on top of it: my hostbrother was Ouray, a native American (Navaho Indian)! You can guess: This is gonna be awesome!
So, like before, my parents were in town. They were here this whole week, and they got to meet my hostfamily too. They invited us all for diner, and everyone was very happy =) It was a good meal =)
Something else: This week was Genderweek. In this week, we discussed a lot about the roles that genders seem to have in our society. So, this complete week, everyone had to carry around an egg and take care of it, as if it was a child. Really challenging, making sure it doesn’t break.
And on top of it, on one day, we all had to show up in clothes of the opposite sex. So, almost all the girls got an overall or something really typical “manly”, together with a mustache, and a lot of guys wore dresses or skirts. Zach went the farthest, by shaving his legs… OMG!
Hehe, I have to say, this was one of my favourite cities!
Oh, there was this day that both my hostfamily and my real family and me and Ouray all went to the cowboyshop “the wranglers”. We had so much fun, trying on cowboyhats and stuff! My father, brother and me all bought a cowboyhat (If I’m not mistaken in the numbers).
Oeh, something else that was really cool this week was that my parents brought a “Sinterklaas”-costume with them. It’s a Dutch tradition to celebrate Sinterklaas, which comes along with a 3 week celebration. It’s so awesome!
So, everyone from the Netherlands did a culture presentation, which included an example of a small Sinterklaas-party! We had a lot of fun there!
Also, this week included the “expression session”. It’s a few hours where people are allowed to perform or express themselves for 3 minutes. Everyone that performed made it quite impressive.
Mayke and me did “Torn” by “Nathaly Embruglia” (or how you spell her name), where I was a mime. Never knew I could do that xD. I had make-up like the singer of KISS xD
Oh, for CI this week, we went to help out the State Law Library with their moving. They got a new building, and what I did was packing books for a few hours.
On the other day, we went to a homeless shelter, where we planted a tree, picked up trash, painted some walls and socialized with some homeless people.
Both CI’s where pretty cool!
And on the last day, my hostfamily got some pictures taken of me, dressed up as a cowboy. It was the first time I’ve ever sat on a horse xD
Guess what, when I got off, and we tried to put the horse back in the trailer, it escaped xD Hahaha, we had so much fun
This was really a great week. I loved it.
Love and greetings,
Bubbayz,
Frederik
Listen to my story!
This week, I’ve stayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is the “cowboystate”. And indeed, prairies and ranches all around my host family’s house! I stayed with this really awesome, cool hostfamily! (Lavelle and Ron) And on top of it: my hostbrother was Ouray, a native American (Navaho Indian)! You can guess: This is gonna be awesome!
So, like before, my parents were in town. They were here this whole week, and they got to meet my hostfamily too. They invited us all for diner, and everyone was very happy =) It was a good meal =)
Something else: This week was Genderweek. In this week, we discussed a lot about the roles that genders seem to have in our society. So, this complete week, everyone had to carry around an egg and take care of it, as if it was a child. Really challenging, making sure it doesn’t break.
And on top of it, on one day, we all had to show up in clothes of the opposite sex. So, almost all the girls got an overall or something really typical “manly”, together with a mustache, and a lot of guys wore dresses or skirts. Zach went the farthest, by shaving his legs… OMG!
Hehe, I have to say, this was one of my favourite cities!
Oh, there was this day that both my hostfamily and my real family and me and Ouray all went to the cowboyshop “the wranglers”. We had so much fun, trying on cowboyhats and stuff! My father, brother and me all bought a cowboyhat (If I’m not mistaken in the numbers).
Oeh, something else that was really cool this week was that my parents brought a “Sinterklaas”-costume with them. It’s a Dutch tradition to celebrate Sinterklaas, which comes along with a 3 week celebration. It’s so awesome!
So, everyone from the Netherlands did a culture presentation, which included an example of a small Sinterklaas-party! We had a lot of fun there!
Also, this week included the “expression session”. It’s a few hours where people are allowed to perform or express themselves for 3 minutes. Everyone that performed made it quite impressive.
Mayke and me did “Torn” by “Nathaly Embruglia” (or how you spell her name), where I was a mime. Never knew I could do that xD. I had make-up like the singer of KISS xD
Oh, for CI this week, we went to help out the State Law Library with their moving. They got a new building, and what I did was packing books for a few hours.
On the other day, we went to a homeless shelter, where we planted a tree, picked up trash, painted some walls and socialized with some homeless people.
Both CI’s where pretty cool!
And on the last day, my hostfamily got some pictures taken of me, dressed up as a cowboy. It was the first time I’ve ever sat on a horse xD
Guess what, when I got off, and we tried to put the horse back in the trailer, it escaped xD Hahaha, we had so much fun
This was really a great week. I loved it.
Love and greetings,
Bubbayz,
Frederik
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Salt Lake City, Mormon-Capital and good times!
We left Colorado Springs behind us and headed towards the Mormon-Capital of the world: Salt Lake City. This city holds the great Mormon temple (Which we paid a visit to, of course).
First things first: This city, I got hosted with Russ Reiter (.com) in the house of an Elderly couple. Their Son (Jerry –aka- Big J) lived just 2 blocks away, and he also hosted 2 Uppies (Javier and Franziska)! Guess what, we had so much fun!
Big J became like a second host-father to Russ and me, and it happened more than once that the five of us just stayed up till far after midnight, just playing games! (Especially Apples to Apples was popular). Also, his friend (Michael) stayed for a few nights! Loads of fun!
Aaargh, so much to tell! MY PARENTS AND MY BROTHER CAME! About halfweek in the week, a section of my family came by! I was so happy! xD I love them =) They met with Big J and everyone was at the show!
Amusement: This week, I rode my first motorcycle! xD Mwhahaha, I love burning rubber! It was way easier than I expected xD
Also, me, Big J, Russ and Michael went to one of the haunted mansion that was in town (almost Halloween!) We had so much fun! xD We were all acting like teenagers. And everytime there was a “maze”-part, we always had to wait for Russ at the end. So typical!
Apart from that, Big J and Michael and me went to watch a movie one night “The Mummy III: Tomb of the Dragon King”. Good movie! xD
Community Impact was okay this week. First day, I was working in a pumpkin-garden. Basically what I did was moving around pumpkins and plant vines.
Second day was a bit more spectacular: we went to one of the local Elder homes. It’s like a center where the elders gather and have fun together. We basically helped out the janitor by cleaning the terrace and restrooms (not the toilets themselves), and help the cook with cooking.
When we were done and finished dinner with the elders, they thought us how to squaredance! Haha, that was a lot of fun!
I love Square-dancing xD
Oh my, this was such a good week xD
I totally forget the big sleepover we had in Jerry’s livingroom xD Hehe, good times!
But now I have to leave for some business!
Love,
Bubbayz,
Freddy
First things first: This city, I got hosted with Russ Reiter (.com) in the house of an Elderly couple. Their Son (Jerry –aka- Big J) lived just 2 blocks away, and he also hosted 2 Uppies (Javier and Franziska)! Guess what, we had so much fun!
Big J became like a second host-father to Russ and me, and it happened more than once that the five of us just stayed up till far after midnight, just playing games! (Especially Apples to Apples was popular). Also, his friend (Michael) stayed for a few nights! Loads of fun!
Aaargh, so much to tell! MY PARENTS AND MY BROTHER CAME! About halfweek in the week, a section of my family came by! I was so happy! xD I love them =) They met with Big J and everyone was at the show!
Amusement: This week, I rode my first motorcycle! xD Mwhahaha, I love burning rubber! It was way easier than I expected xD
Also, me, Big J, Russ and Michael went to one of the haunted mansion that was in town (almost Halloween!) We had so much fun! xD We were all acting like teenagers. And everytime there was a “maze”-part, we always had to wait for Russ at the end. So typical!
Apart from that, Big J and Michael and me went to watch a movie one night “The Mummy III: Tomb of the Dragon King”. Good movie! xD
Community Impact was okay this week. First day, I was working in a pumpkin-garden. Basically what I did was moving around pumpkins and plant vines.
Second day was a bit more spectacular: we went to one of the local Elder homes. It’s like a center where the elders gather and have fun together. We basically helped out the janitor by cleaning the terrace and restrooms (not the toilets themselves), and help the cook with cooking.
When we were done and finished dinner with the elders, they thought us how to squaredance! Haha, that was a lot of fun!
I love Square-dancing xD
Oh my, this was such a good week xD
I totally forget the big sleepover we had in Jerry’s livingroom xD Hehe, good times!
But now I have to leave for some business!
Love,
Bubbayz,
Freddy
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Colorado Springs, Military Post coming Up (with People)
Hey, welcome back!
So, after an amazing week in Albuquerque, we came back to Colorado! However, not to the same hostfamilies as before (In Denver and Breckenridge), but in Colorado Springs!
Colorado Springs is famous for some very high peaks that lie within it’s region in the Rocky Mountains. (No, we didn’t go there) It also holds the base of an American Military Post. (Don’t say base! It’s the wrong word!)
Maybe you are wondering why Up With People would go to a place where the military is very strongly represented? Well, for one thing, it’s a totally new experience for most of us. The majority of us were hosted with military families and a lot of our time was spend at the military post. For another thing, the military is a big issue in the USA, or so I noticed. A lot of pride goes towards those who fight in the war for freedom.
In this city, we did not have a beneficiary that would normally receive the money that we get for doing a show. Instead, we let all the military families come to our show for free! The money would go towards the military anyway, so this was a good solution!
Now about my host family. I had a mom (Mary) and a dad(Bill). Mom worked as a massager, and dad was a top man who thwarts internet pirates who do child porn and stuff. He’s a good man with an honorable job. Before that, he was a policeman.
One of their kids was in the war. I did not get to meet him, but I met the other two of them (Chris and Justin), and they were awesome.
So, this week, I was hosted with the Chinese guy from our cast: Steven! Hehe, he’s such a cool host-brother! He’s a businessman in China, and you could notice it from a lot of things he did or said. Always asking questions about “the system of this”, or whatever. It wasn’t just once that I walked into his room, when he was surfing on Wikipedia, looking for business strategies that they use in other countries (I caught him on USA and Denmark, but who knows what else). Anyway, he’s a good guy!
Oh, something else! In this city, we did not do any Community Impact! Instead, we spent a lot of time (3 days) in classrooms, doing our “Stand For Peace” program! It was a lot of fun! I always get such funny classes!
We also went bowling this week! I got a low score of just 150… bummer… But we had a lot of fun! xD
So, Colorado Springs was pretty awesome! I had some good times hanging out with Steven, Justin and the rest of the family!
Before this week, I wasn’t very fond of anything that had to do with war, from whichever side. However, during this week, I talked a lot with my hostfamily about the war and the police, and it was all very interesting. I think I learned how militaries come to exist, and good or bad, they will always be there.
My lifelesson for you guys out there:
A conflict does not have a good and a bad side. It does not have a holy and an unholy side.
Instead, a conflict exists of two forces of good with different styles. Not understanding the good side of the other, one’s nature will make you believe the other is evil.
It’s like you were saying a white man and a black man cannot be of the same species. This is of course a big flaw in mankind’s thoughtprocess.
Someone’s outside does not represent the inside. It’s the differences that make us unique, but the similarities will always be there. Being unique is as good as being the same.
Price both of them. Learn to accept the differences. Appreciate it that not everyone is the same as you, and that not everyone has the same style as you. If the styles are too far apart, look for the similarities, and you are bound to find a friend in any man or woman.
Have a good rest,
Bubbayz!
So, after an amazing week in Albuquerque, we came back to Colorado! However, not to the same hostfamilies as before (In Denver and Breckenridge), but in Colorado Springs!
Colorado Springs is famous for some very high peaks that lie within it’s region in the Rocky Mountains. (No, we didn’t go there) It also holds the base of an American Military Post. (Don’t say base! It’s the wrong word!)
Maybe you are wondering why Up With People would go to a place where the military is very strongly represented? Well, for one thing, it’s a totally new experience for most of us. The majority of us were hosted with military families and a lot of our time was spend at the military post. For another thing, the military is a big issue in the USA, or so I noticed. A lot of pride goes towards those who fight in the war for freedom.
In this city, we did not have a beneficiary that would normally receive the money that we get for doing a show. Instead, we let all the military families come to our show for free! The money would go towards the military anyway, so this was a good solution!
Now about my host family. I had a mom (Mary) and a dad(Bill). Mom worked as a massager, and dad was a top man who thwarts internet pirates who do child porn and stuff. He’s a good man with an honorable job. Before that, he was a policeman.
One of their kids was in the war. I did not get to meet him, but I met the other two of them (Chris and Justin), and they were awesome.
So, this week, I was hosted with the Chinese guy from our cast: Steven! Hehe, he’s such a cool host-brother! He’s a businessman in China, and you could notice it from a lot of things he did or said. Always asking questions about “the system of this”, or whatever. It wasn’t just once that I walked into his room, when he was surfing on Wikipedia, looking for business strategies that they use in other countries (I caught him on USA and Denmark, but who knows what else). Anyway, he’s a good guy!
Oh, something else! In this city, we did not do any Community Impact! Instead, we spent a lot of time (3 days) in classrooms, doing our “Stand For Peace” program! It was a lot of fun! I always get such funny classes!
We also went bowling this week! I got a low score of just 150… bummer… But we had a lot of fun! xD
So, Colorado Springs was pretty awesome! I had some good times hanging out with Steven, Justin and the rest of the family!
Before this week, I wasn’t very fond of anything that had to do with war, from whichever side. However, during this week, I talked a lot with my hostfamily about the war and the police, and it was all very interesting. I think I learned how militaries come to exist, and good or bad, they will always be there.
My lifelesson for you guys out there:
A conflict does not have a good and a bad side. It does not have a holy and an unholy side.
Instead, a conflict exists of two forces of good with different styles. Not understanding the good side of the other, one’s nature will make you believe the other is evil.
It’s like you were saying a white man and a black man cannot be of the same species. This is of course a big flaw in mankind’s thoughtprocess.
Someone’s outside does not represent the inside. It’s the differences that make us unique, but the similarities will always be there. Being unique is as good as being the same.
Price both of them. Learn to accept the differences. Appreciate it that not everyone is the same as you, and that not everyone has the same style as you. If the styles are too far apart, look for the similarities, and you are bound to find a friend in any man or woman.
Have a good rest,
Bubbayz!
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