CHANGES

Dear readers,

We are going through some changes.
We will start changing the interface in due time and a new blogger will be posting
on my blog. Thank you for your patience.

Julia

UTOPIA

This week I realized that when it comes to nationality I am a pretty strange person. I both fully belong to the Dutch and to the Americans. They call me a third culture kid, but what culture is that exactly? I don't get to meet other third culture kids, I don't see them walking down the streets or can have a cup of coffee with them. I don't know who belongs to my culture, which is something that single culture kids can. Of course we are all people and who cares how people are labeled or where their parents come from, but I live in a country where they do not even celebrate Christmas properly and the songs my parents used to wake me up are so different than their songs. How many kids in this country can say that they grew up solely with Bob Marley and the Beatles? Honestly I like my Dutch life a lot too. I mean stroopwafels, dutch cheese and my home town do certainly rock. Not to mention the fact that they have great licorice. I am totally sneaking a dozen bags of those through customs if I were to move. So if third culture kids live everywhere, why can't I? Maybe someday I'll find them and we can all bring our own foods, traditions and parties and live together. In other words, utopia.

Ciao Ciao!

Bongiorno!

I haven't been on my blog in like months. The first thing I checked was my stats and it's amazing! Thank you for reading it. I have been a little lazing. People are looking at my blog everyday. I'm astounded.

This weekend I heard I can go to this big frisbee tournament in Bruges. It's like a champions league for frisbee. That's what someone explained to me. I'm sooo excited. Here's the site if you want to check it out: http://www.eucf11.be/ We have this huge speaker we bought with the team called a block rocker and you can hear it from about 100 metres away! Every person has to email 5 pump up / warm up songs. I have three now, so if you know any, help me!

1. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5

2. Banana Boat Song - Harry Belafonte

3. Everlasting Holiday - Dazzled Kid

I'm actually going to a concert of dazzled kid at the end of the month so that sure will be fun!
I'm still looking for suggestions. So feel free to leave a comment.

I really want to go to the concert of the Kooks who are coming to Holland! Of all places, they are coming here! We are soo lucky.

Maybe some of you are wondering what I'm doing about colleges, but I'll write about that next time. That is an unclear black hole at the moment which I'm working on. Share your stories with me on your college search or anything you've read in my blog! So REPLY/COMMENT/FACEBOOK/EMAIL/TWITTER me

One of the things I'm doing with a friend is taking the lyrics of a really sad song and turn it into a really happy song, haha.

Ciaooo!

AM I STILL THE ONE

AM I STILL THE ONE

Hello to all you bloggers!

I haven't posted in ages, because I had a great idea for a post a month ago, but I thought it was way too much work. I came across a list of things on facebook recently. It's a list about what makes you a nineties kid and I did some 'research' online and there are so many people who have totally different lists! Of course, I don't know a lot of them because A. there mostly American culture and B. I was not born in 1990 so I missed a couple of these things. But all the things I can remember I'll highlight and please comment on which you remember! And reminiscent.

How many items from this list can you remember?

1. Do you remember waking up on a Saturday listening to Radio Disney?
2. Can you remember playing with your Pokemon cards or watching the television program
3. How about the endless hours feeding and looking after your Tamagotchi?
4. What about the Hip-Hop fashion all 90's kids used to wear?
5. Forget skinny jeans it was all about the wide leg jeans, fashion definitely changes!
6. Remember when the bowl cut was fashionable? How often do you see that now a days?
7. How big was your collection of Polly Pockets, do you still have them?
8. Every party played The Macarena, but can you still remember the dance?
9. Where you always plugged into your discman?
10. Can you remember listening to grunge music? Did you were the grunge clothes?
11. Can you remember the days of the claw vending machine?
12. Where you apart of Oprah's book club?
13. Can you remember getting into a car and being hit by the smell of the car freshener dangling from the rear view mirror?
14. YOU CAN SING THE RAP TO "THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR"
15. YOU REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS ACTUALLY WORTH GETTING UP ON A SATURDAY MORNING TO WATCH LIVE & KICKING OR SM:TV.
16. YOU COLLECTED P-LEAGUE FOOTBALL STICKERS AND BOUGHT THE MINITURE FIGURES FROM WOOLWORTHS WITH HUGE HEADS
17. YOU WORE LEGGING AND CROP TOPS AND THOUGHT YOU WERE COOL
18. YOU USED TO PLAY WITH "POLLY POCKETS"
19. YOU KNOW THE WORDS FROM THE "SHAKEY JAKE" ADVERTS
20. YOU HAD A HUGE FRINGE AT SOME POINT IN YOUR CHILDHOOD.
21. YOU REMEMBER READING AND WATCHING "GOOSEBUMPS"
22. YOU TOOK PLASTIC CARTOON LUNCH BOXES TO SCHOOL.
23. YOU REMEMBER THE CRAZE OF YO-YOS, TROLLS & TAMAGOTCHIS
24. YOU STILL GET THE URGE TO SAY "NOT" AFTER EVERY SENTENCE. NOT.
25. YOU KNEW THAT KIMBERLY, THE PINK RANGER, AND TOMMY, THE GREEN RANGER WERE MEANT TO BE. ♥
26. YOU COLLECTED POKEMON CARDS.
27. YOU PLAYED AND/OR COLLECTED POGS.
28. YOU HAD A WEIRD ALIEN THAT LIVED IN GOOEY STUFF IN A PLASTIC 'POD' AND THOUGHT IF YOU STUCK 2 BACK TO BACK THEY WOULD HAVE A BABY!
29. YOU WATCHED THE ORIGINAL POSTMAN PAT, FIREMAN SAM, GHOSTBUSTERS AND NINJA TURTLES.
30. YOU STILL RUB 50 PENCE COINS AND MAKING WISHES LIKE IN THE QUEENS NOSE
31. YOU WATCHED THE DEMON HEADMASTER, AND THOUGHT IF YOU STARTED AT THE SCREEN LONG ENOUGH HE WOULD EVENTUALLY HAVE CONTROL OVER YOU
32. YOU REMEMBER WHEN THE NEW BEANIE BABIES WERE ALWAYS SOLD OUT.
33. YOU OWNED THE SEGA MEGA DRIVE CONSOLE AND PLAYED SONIC THE HEDGEHOG FOR HOURS
34. YOU GOT YOUR MUM TO BUY 'BN' BISCUITS.
35. TRIO...TRIOOOO I WANNA TRIO AND I WANT ONE NOW
36. YOU USED TO WEAR THOSE STICK ON EARRINGS, NOT ONLY ON YOUR EARS BUT AT THE CORNERS OF YOUR EYES.
37. YOU KNOW THE MACERENA BY HEART.
38. KELLY KOPOWSKI FROM SAVED BY THE BELL WAS THE HOTTEST PERSON ON TV.
39. "TALK TO THE HAND" ENOUGH SAID.
40. YOU WORE ADIDAS POPPERS AND KAPPA TRACKSUITS AND THOUGHT YOU WERE COOL
41. YOU REMEMBER THE TIME BEFORE LITERACY AND NUMERACY HOUR EXISTED.
42. YOU REMEMBER A TIME BEFORE TELLITUBIES EXISTED.
43. YOU THOUGHT BRAIN FROM "PINKEY AND THE BRAIN" WOULD FINALLY TAKE OVER THE WORLD.
44. YOU REMEMBER BUM BAGS.
45. YOU REMEMBER MATTHEW CORBETT ON SOOTY AND SWEEP.
46. YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE ON FUN HOUSE.(i still want to go on fun house....the go karts at the end always looked well fun)
47. YOU COLLECTED TAZOS.
48. 2 WORDS, SPICE GIRLS.
49. YOU KNOW THAT CAROL VORDEMAN WAS COOL BY WATCHING HOW 2.
50. YOU OWNED AN ARTICLE OF CLOTHING THAT WAS LIME GREEN OR ILLUMINOUS ORANGE.
51. YOU REMEMBER WHEN SATURDAY NIGHT TV CONSISTED OF BIG BREAK AND JIM DAVIDSON'S GENERATION GAME ON BBC, GLADIATORS ON ITV, BACK TO BBC FOR NOELS HOUSE PARTY FOLLOWED BY THE LOTTERY WITHOUT ALL THE GAMESHOWS ATTACHED TO IT TODAY, CLASSIC CASUALTY, THE NEWS, THEN A FILM, USUALLY A BIG ACTION FILM LIKE TRUE LIES.
52. YOU HAD ONE OF THOSE PLASTIC MONEY POTS THAT YOU WORE ROUND YOUR NECK AND MANAGED TO CRAM YOUR COINS IN AND YOU COULD HERE THE COINS RATTLING WHEN YOU WALKED...WE WERE COOL.
53. YOU OWNED A HAIRBAND THAT HAD YOUR NAME ON IT!
54. YOU KNOW WHAT FURBIES ARE
55. YOU KNOW WHO THE BEATLES, ROLLING STONES, BOB MARLEY ARE.

I did pretty well on this! ;) haha. see how good you do. There are a couple of weird things on here, but it's worth it! And it's really fun to do. If you can think of any more, pleaase tell mee!

xxxx

AM I STILL THE ONE - DANIEL POWTER

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Hello!

I haven't posted in a while so I figured I should post again. I've had an amazing week. How can all good things happen in one week? No idea, but they did.

Our great Greek Temple

This week we had a preparation week for our Greek trip we're going on. It made me really excited, even though it's still two months away. We had lectures (which were very boring sometimes, but also interesting) and then we had to use what we learned in the lectures to build a temple out of clay or greek fighting.

We also had to give a presentation, which was really scary. With a group of four to give a presentation in front of three teachers is really frightening, but I survived and we had a really good grade! I was so relieved.

I'm also really getting into photography and I'm practicing a lot. You can see the album if you click on the link below.

CLICK HERE

A while ago I posted that I was really stressed about the BBC AWARDS with writing an essay. And I just heard this week that I got shortlisted to go to the finals! Seven out of a hundred were chosen, which is just amazing! I was so excited I couldn't sleep.

On Wednesday, my team elected me MVP of the season (most valuable player) and I was really flattered and of course flabbergasted.

I had an awesome week and I thought it was going to be the end of my week yesterday by getting my grades, but instead we walked into the class room and there was Greek food everywhere. Greek salads, greek bread, olives, ouzo. And we had a Greek lunch, such a total surprise! How can so many good things happen in a week? I don't know, but here I am. Enjoying the first sunshine of the season!
GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN - GREG LASWELL

Some pictures!

Close by my house

At school, two of my friends

Shoes!

HEARTBREAKER

I really hate shopping... It is such a tedious pastime and well.. I've started to dislike it.
Today was the first time in three months that I went shopping and I really picked the right store to get into it again. Holland is already overpopulated and we went to the busiest shop in all of Utrecht (the H&M).
It was amazingly busy. I've never seen a store so busy. You had to push your way through to get places and because it's Holland everybody pushes back. Dutch people are really pushy and when you put half of the shoppers in this city in one store I can't imagine anyone liking to be there. It gets kind of suffocating.
Well, anyway. My mom and I had a great time and I bought a lot of clothes, because if you don't buy clothes for three full months you start needing a lot. It was very fun, but I rather shop on weekdays, because this was amazing.

I'm so excited, because this week is my meeting for my trip to Greece. I'm going to Greece in about two months and I'm really looking forward to it. I've been looking forward to this trip for the past 5 years and it's one of the reasons why you endure 5 years of latin/greek. My friend, Nicole, is going to have her birthday in Greece so she's going to be very surprised. My birthday is a week later. :( I wish I had my birthday in Greece, but going to Greece is so cool as it is already.

My next relief is my essay! I got it done and my teacher sent it to the BBC Awards! She thought it was really good and I hope the jury thinks so too. I had about 8 drafts of it! It would be soo great if I got shortlisted. You can win a trip to England and you can pick a writing course.

Tonight my family and I are going to a comedy club in Amsterdam, so that should be interesting. I think we're about to leave. So I'm keeping it short.

 Julia

PS. HEARTBREAKER - MATT WERTZ

This is so genius!

I wish somebody would start playing a song...

BACK TO US - JULIA DUNN

BACK TO US

It is really time for a new post. It's been a month! At the moment I'm living and breathing my essay (obviously not now).

This week I tried out garageband for the first time in my life and it is really complex. If anyone knows how it works, please, help me. I recorded a song and this was the result:



The sound is really bad and at a certain moment you hear my dad and my sister laughing. ;) I just recorded it for fun. I think I'm going to start recording more! It's really funny and strange to hear yourself sing. I really hate my voice when I listen to it. Everybody has that though.

I was walking in the park with my dog Max two days ago and I saw a man. He was sitting on one of the benches pulling out his bag with food. He was homeless and had to eat out in the cold. Although I think the Dutch system gives people the option to live in homes, so it was a strange sight. You don't see a lot of homeless people here. I was shivering cold and I couldn't imagine eating my dinner out here. I really felt bad for him, but what could I really do for him. I've been thinking lately of doing some kind of community service, but I don't know what yet. In my next week off I  have nothing planned yet and most of my friends are going somewhere (I think). So I might do some community service or some other job. I've been looking on internet for the past 2 days and I can't really find anything that's really for someone of my age. But there is an office in the center of Utrecht so I guess they'll be able to find something for me!

I've been thinking about next summer a lot for the past week and I have half made plans. I really want to go on vacation with my friends for a week! They're going to Texel, which is an island up north. It's one of the 5/6 islands in Holland. TVTAS ('tvbag') --> Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland, Schiermonnikoog. We would go for a camping trip, but I still have to convince my parents. So I hope that after they read this they'll come running down stairs and say: 'Of course you can go on a camping trip with your friends!' I mean, I am going to be on my own in 1.5 years! And then it will only be a year! So enough reasons, I think. ;)

 I'm also thinking of doing a summer program at an American University. You can take any course you want (no credit) and the selection is so big! They have very weird courses as well. I forget, but trust me, everything under the sun! When I mentioned this to my sister, she asked me why I would want to go to school when I finally have summer vacation. That is so true, but I think there is so much more to it then that. It's probably not only studying, but also making new friends and having fun. And you are taking a course you yourself selected. So I'm really excited about that too.

Well, enough for now. Oh, and Dieske and I are going to post our own song when we've finished and recorded it!

Thank you for reading!

BACK TO US - KINA GRANNIS (FT. JULIA DUNN)

MISSING

MISSING - ELIZA DOOLITTLE

MISSING

Finally we're having a break from school. I actually believe I've got all my presents for everybody now. ;) It's coming along really well. Today I went over to a friend. We have this assignment for music class. We have to write our own song so we decided to work on it today. Of course, we first stared at the piece of paper for a while, but we actually worked really well. It took us about 2 hours.
The song's called 'Don't know, Don't care'. If you want a copy of our amazing songwriting skills, please leave a comment. It was a lot of fun and it's good to start doing these kind of things instead of always using well-known music.

This is the point where I totally got stuck yesterday. In the couple months that I've been blogging I've realized what writers feel when they get stuck. Luckily my living doesn't depend on it so it makes it easier coming back a day later to continue. It's probably pure torture for writers when they are just stuck and they have an idea, but they can't get it out there in any way. I guess it's even harder for me, because I have no sense of creative writing or good vocabulary. The one thing about blogging about your life is that it's very easy. You just write about yourself and drone on and on and on and on... - you get the point - Sometimes I wonder who really cares what I write, but I guess I care. For me, it's more than pleasing anyone who reads it. I write primarily for myself.

Anyway, today was a very boring day. So, why am I on the computer on a very boring day? I typically have no inspiration. The reason why this day is getting better is because I decided to enter a competition: The BBC AWARDS. I haven't been looking forward to writing or thinking about it. You choose either to speak, which means you talk for 5 minutes by heart and after that the jury fires difficult questions for 3 excruciating minutes. I decided against that, just because it takes a lot more work. So I've signed up for the Young Writers Award. You have to write an essay of 600 words. It has to be smart, articulate and you have to really develop a thought. The topics are very funny, because on the one hand you feel like they're very specific but on the other hand they can be interpreted in many ways. The topics are:

• Ideas that will change the world
• A multi-cultural existence: unrealistic? can different cultures really co-exist?
• Celebrities are not born, they are made
• Are comedians becoming too offensive or are we taking ourselves too seriously?
• Is life becoming more dangerous?
• Global companies, global responsibilities

I chose: Is life becoming more dangerous? I chose it because in my opinion it's the easiest one to write about. The first one also appealed to me, but I would have to fully immerse myself in news for a couple weeks and I didn't have any opinion on the others. The other reason I chose this one was because I can draw some history in it, which is really interesting to me. (and my dad chose this one, so that was the final choice). I have been spending the past hour working on it. If you think about it a lot of things have changed, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. But through it all I don't think life has become more dangerous. There have so many conflicts and natural disasters taken place on this planet. What about child labor, two world wars, disastrous world leaders, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, imperialism. Life hasn't changed a lot. We've just started getting help in the form of internet, electricity. Sure, they have brought about their problems, but in the end we're all humans. We just had to face different problems. I just think that because everybody on the planet knows what is going on on the other side of the planet it seems like life is worse/dangerous. The media is the problem, otherwise nobody would know or care. Anyway, just enough babble to develop an essay don't you think?

Now I'm going to continue enjoying my winter break and stop thinking about saving the world, because at this moment I'm missing out on all the fun I could be having. Have a great winter break!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love Julia

MISSING - ELIZA DOOLITTLE