It's getting closer and closer...

Today I hung out with my two previously mentioned, also London-bound friends, Vera and Charissa. Besides baking cupcakes and topping them with a frosting that didn't quite look like the picture did, we also went into town to see if we could find something for our host families/people from our work experience placements.

First, we went to this little shop that I actually had never been to before: I probably still wouldn't have been to it, if I hadn't accidentally walked passed it and looked inside last Friday.
It's, I believe, a shop/archive/centre with all kinds of history of our town, but they also sold some typical Dutch souvenirs (you know, with the blue/white print on them).
For instance, they had keychains and magnets looking like the wooden shoes on the side.

I ended up buying two tiny blue/white-like-the-wooden-shoes-on-the-side trays shaped like a teapot on which you can leave your used teabags, so you can use them again. I bought one for Tom and Amanda and one for Madeleine, I suppose.
Furthermore, I bought a square oven glove with an old mill on it (again in the blue/white print). Besides that, I also bought two postcards, but those are for Postcrossing (:
When we wanted to leave, the people working there also gave us two other postcards so we could show the people there what our town looks like. Unfortunately, these postcards are a little outdated and lots of the buildings that are on there are now gone/replaced or changed.
The people in the shop/archive/whateveritwas were really nice! Lovely people (:

Then we went to the bank so I could put all my piggybank-savings-for-London on my account and after some more useless walking around, we went home again.
That's when we booked our tickets to the London Eye! (we had to use a credit card, again! seriously! what's it with international financial traffic that makes it impossible to use something like iDEAL instead of a credit card?)

What I didn't mention yet, is that the plans regarding coming to London have, again, changed: my dad and I decided that it was to much of a hassle and it would be way too rushed if we travelled to London together by means of a ROADTRIP. Therefore, we decided that on Saturday May 12, he'll fly back to Amsterdam and I'll take the train from Edinburgh Waverley to London King's Cross.
So that's what we're doing!
The funny thing is, because some planes are a bit retarded and don't fly straight to Amsterdam from Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon, my dad is taking a flight which includes a transfer in... I bet you got it right: London!
His plane from London to Amsterdam takes off at about the same time my train arrives in London :P

Besides booking plane and train tickets this weekend, we also made a reservation at Calsay House, a B&B, in Stirling (yes, I decided that it would just suck for my dad to be alone while I'd be having fun in a student dorm, and I would probably feel very guilty, so I decided we should just find a place in a B&B) and we made a reservation for a rental car.

We also tried to get a room in a B&B in Dundee, but so far, we haven't been very successful, yet... It's getting a bit on my nerves, as we're leaving in 8 days!

I suppose it'll all get sorted in time and until then:

I'll keep you posted,

14 Days / 2 Weeks

I just can't decide which sounds shorter: 14 days or 2 weeks.... I actaully think it are the 14 days that sound shorter (to me of course, I don't know about you).
Tomorrow it will be only 13 more days and it sounds like a century shorter than 14 days! (notice the hyperbole?)

Today was quite a short day: re-examination, 2 hours of class (and during one of these hours I received my insurance card - school arranges an insurance for us during this work experience ^^) and then I had to go to Leiden to receive my certificate for the LAPP-top program Russian Studies, and after I came home I sat behind my laptop and ordered my Oyster Card!

Okay, to begin with: I'm really starting to dislike paying over the internet to British/American countries! They're so obsessed with creditcards!
At first I tried to order my Oyster Card via the official website, and it said you could pay with a Maestro card, so I was really happy "Yay, finally no creditcard!". But then the website claimed my card number was invalid, so I called my bank's customer service (thank you by the way for enlighting me!) and the guy on the phone said there's also a credit card version of a Maestro card and that that's the card they probably accept. "Yay! I can't pay on this website!"
Seriously, why are they so into credit cards? They're no good: what makes people think that if they can't buy something now, they later might have the money to pay it? So they get a credit card and pay back the credit later. If you don't have the money, just don't buy it or do it later!

Well, after the credit-card flop, Google quickly had ours paths cross with that of http://www.visitbritain.com/nl/NL/. Thankfully here they also offered Oyster cards ánd it was possible to pay with iDEAL ("Yay for visitbritain.com.nl!").
So I ordered my card and that's where the Oyster story ends! I really wonder how they thought that name up... "Oyster" card... What does it stand for? Guess Google will tell me someday.

Besides that, my dad also rang to Scotland, to the Student Accomodation something of Stirling uni, to be precise.
You see, we received information about accomodation from the person in Stirling organizing our visit there and it turned out it was possible to stay overnight in a student dorm! Great, right? We figured we'd do that, because it would be an amazing experience!
So as I said, my dad called to arrange it this morning, but then he was told he couldn't stay there, because he is not a possible applicant.

Which leaves me in a dillemma, there are two options:
- My dad and I stay in a B&B
- I stay in a student dorm and my dad stays in a B&B

I really do not know what to decide. I'd love to experience what it's like to sleep in such a student dorm, but it also feels so stupid to go on a trip with my dad and then stay in separate places.
My mom says that maybe I should just go for the student dorm, because who knows whether I'll even end up studying there?

What would you do? Because I really can't make up my mind and we have to decide soon. Preferably tomorrow....

I'll keep you posted,

GLOBE Workbook

Well hello lovely people from planet Earth,

Today we received the GLOBE workbook (pictured above) at school, which is a workbook in which we'll have to fill in assignments when we are abroad for our work experiences, and I find it quite an odd workbook.
I have made some photographs of my favourite quotes.

First of all, when I arrive at Michael O'Mara Books I should walk straight past Madeleine or whoever will be waiting for me, to see where the emergency exits are and what the evacuation plans are. I will not leave to say hello and introduce myself until I have studied all the exits and plans carefully and know them by heart.

I will have to know them by heart, because school is going to check up on whether we do: some pages later in the workbook it is required to fill in if I saw these safety rules and if so, what they were.





Besides that, school encourages us not to be afraid to be emotional or feeling whatever. They've even demanded that we document the feelings we have on the first day (after we had to work) and after the last day of work.





It  all comes across to me as kind of silly, but whatever. It's required to put effort into filling in the workbook because if not, you won't get a sufficient for your work experience (yes, it will get marked).
What I didn't tell you before is that we will also have to give a presentation about it on the 7th of June. To my surprise (and slight disappointment, as it is the first presentation ever I looked forward to giving) the presentation ought to be just 10 minutes. Last year we, when we were in year 4, had to listen to four presentations from people who had been on work experience, but I think those presentations were each at least 20 minutes! I don't know how you can include it all in just 10!

Well, before I go, one last "tip" from the workbook:

I'll keep you posted,

Why this blog?

Hello there!

I am Christa and at this night and in this hour, I decided to start blogging.
You're asking me why?
Well, in May 2012 I'll be going abroad to have a work experience. And I wanted to keep track of everything I will be doing when on that work experience and on the road to it, for myself and anyone else who wants to read about it.
This work experience is a part of the internationalization process that I agreed to be part of when I chose for bilingual education. Also, it is obligatory in order to take (and hopefully pass) my English A-level IB exam!

The work experience is like a two weeks internship and is ought to be in an English-speaking environment. I have to find a placement and a host family myself and I have until February 1st to do so!

The city I desire to go to: London!
I just loooove London! I've been there now three times, but when you add it all up, it was only for five days in total. So I just can't wait to spend TWO FULL WEEKS in LONDON <3

As for the work experience itself: the first thing that popped into my mind was a work experience at a book publisher. You see, I just love love love books and I also kinda love writing, so it would only be right for me to have this work experience at a book publisher!

Right now, three companies/people (out of the 18 people I mailed!) replied my emails and they sounded pretty much positive.

The first one to answer me was someone from Hackney Pirates (which isn't actually a book publisher, but more of a charity organization, I think)! That was last Tuesday. Of course, I was all happy and smiley, because she was the first one to answer me since I started emailing people in August!
The woman was actually quite positive, but she did want to call me first, and that phone call is probably going to take place somewhere in the upcoming week.

But then, totally unexpected, on Wednesday I received an answer from the publishing house of the Royal College of Nursing, which I had been able to contact because my dad has a friend who came up with this option. But they only offered one week...

THEN, I received another  reply, also on Wednesday, and this one was from Michael O'Mara Books! I had actually tried to call MOM on Monday (because in October I'd received a reply which said I should email again in November which was when they'd start scheduling work experiences, but they hadn't replied after a week, so I thought I'd give them a call), but no one answered. And BAM, Wednesday I received an email. It was from a different person though, because apparently they had some change in staff.
I actually think the email I received was a little (or actually quite much) vague. So I guess I'll have to send another reply to get some clarification, if they don't answer the other reply I sent.

And here we are now. I'm really excited to see where this all is heading and I can't wait to find out where I'll actually have my work experience in May, because right now, I have no idea where I'll end up.

I'll keep you posted,

PS. today I finally bought my OWN suitcase to travel with me :D I'm so happy ^^