2009
Features
9
Student shares experience of living abroad for a year
M arleigh van A lderwerelt
F oreign C orrespondent
Hoi! Ik ben Marleigh en
ik kom uit America.
Translation: Hi! I'm
Marleigh and I'm from
America.
Almost two years ago
I made the big decision to
study abroad for my junior
year of high school. I chose
an organization that my
family had worked with
before and started the
long process of applying
to be a foreign exchange
student. After many forms,
questions, interviews and
a long period of waiting, I
was accepted by American
Field Service USA
Intercultural Programs to
spend the 2009-2010 school
year abroad.
After another couple
of months, I was notified
that I was accepted by
AFS the Netherlands, my
first country choice, and
that I had received a Merit
Scholarship to help pay
for my year. I chose the
Netherlands because my
father's family is from the
Netherlands. I received my
host family information
in May. I wrote to my new
family, enjoyed my last
few months in Oregon and
waited for my departure to
the Netherlands on Aug. 19.
Flash forward: I've now
been in the Netherlands
for almost three months.
I live in Wageningen, a
historical town known
for its university with
a population of 36,000
people, located in the center
of the country. My host
parents both work in the
government and I have
three host siblings. My
host brother is 20 and is
studying at the university in
Groningen, a big city in the
North-East of the country.
My older host sister is 17
and is currently studying
abroad in Arkansas for one
year and I won't actually
meet her until she returns
to the Netherlands in June.
My other host sister is 15
but she is in the same grade
as me at school, which is
great! I am very happy with
my host family and they
have been very helpful with
everything.
One of the main reasons
that I chose to study in
the Netherlands was to
learn Dutch. Learning
this completely new
language has been hard
differ between students. For
example, on three days of
the week I start school at
8:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
The other two days, my
first class isn't until 11 a.m.
and then I get out early,
at 1:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.
SleepLong plays original music at lunch
M arshall M iller
With over 300 friends
on Facebook, SleepLong
has taken music from
home to school. A local
acoustic band, it features
Samuel Huck, junior,
Parker Howell, senior, and
Done van Karr, junior.
Roughly eight months
after being taught how to
play the guitar, Huck and
Karr began to make music
talent of John Mayer but
from each other and the
experiences that they have
in their lives. They write
music whenever they have
spare time and whenever
they pick up their guitars.
SleepLong's self titled,
debut album, can be found
on iTunes for the cost of
$9.99. Their album was put
onto iTunes with help from
a company called Tunecore
which promotes bands and
"Never Coming Back,"
"More Than Magnets" and
"Down-To-Earth. "
"Our other name,
(Spherical) was taken, and
it sucked, Donevan never
sleeps so that leads to him
coming up with random
band names basically every
night," Huck said.
The band performs on
Friday's in Room A206,
which is usually packed full
of people, eager to hear the
together, both singing as
lets them keep 75 p ercen t of
band.
well. It was during the
summer that they started
SleepLong.
"Donevan and I
started writing some
music together, and then
Parker kind of joined.
Then we noticed that we
sounded good so we started
recording," Huck said.
Their album was recorded
through garage band. They
realized that Howell had
tremendous talent and
was good at writing music.
Their inspiration comes
not only from the musical
the royalties.
"We have made like
seven dollars at Safeway
and we don't know how
much we have made on
iTunes for another month
or so," Huck said. Some
of their songs can be
viewed on their website,
SleepLongBand.com.
They mostly play
acoustic pop/folk that has
little percussion which has
been described as a very
clean and distinct sound.
All three of them sing.
Some of their titles include,
"They always come up to
us in the halls and say how
much they like our stuff,"
Huck said. He added that
the parents also love their
music but sometimes think
that the sounds are a little
slow.
"They are a very talented
group of guys. I can see
music taking them far,"
Christian Wilson, junior,
said. To find out more,
become a fan on Facebook
or check out their live
performances on Fridays in
Room A206.
Photo by Carly Feke
SleepLong band m em bers Samuel Huck, Parker H ow ell and D onevan Karr perform live on Fridays in
Room A206. Their self titled, debut album is available on iTunes for $9.99.
Courtesy of Marleigh van Alderwerelt
M arleigh van Alderwerelt, junior, stands in front of a holocaust
mem orial in Berlin, Germany. Van Alderwerelt is spending her j unior
year abroad in the Netherlands and looks forward to traveling around
Europe and becom ing fluent in Dutch.
but it pays off when I'm
able to communicate with
my classmates and family
in their language, rather
than in English. People
always say that Dutch is
a hard language to learn
because if you try to speak
Dutch with Dutch people,
they'll respond to you in
English because they like
speaking English and it's
easier for them than trying
to understand a foreigner
attempting Dutch. I am
far from being fluent in
Dutch but every day I
learn more and find myself
understanding more.
The school I attend is
called Het Pantarijn and
it's only a six minute bike
ride from my house. The
Dutch school system is
very different from the
American school system
and WLHS. The biggest
difference is that education
is different for those who
will go to the University
after they graduate and
those that will not continue
with their education. When
Dutch students are 12 and
finished with their primary
education, they take a test
that will determine which
track they will follow.
VWO is the only track that
guarantees the University
option for students and it
is the hardest track of the
three. At my school, I attend
VWO Foreign exchange
students are rarely put into
VWO 5 or VWO 6 because
the students in these levels
are preparing for their final
exams and taking their final
exams, respectively.
Another big difference
is that rather than having
school for the same
amount of time every day,
schedules are flexible and
(depending on the day).
Classes are 70 minutes long,
with two 15 minute breaks
during the day and a 30
minute break for lunch.
I'm currently taking
math, biology, physics,
English, art, Dutch, a
leadership class (it just
started so I don't know
much about it yet) and
informatica (a computer
class), and I have gym
once a week. Physics is
my hardest class, besides
Dutch, because the science
vocabulary is a challenge
and I've never taken
Physics before. English is
my favorite class. Another
thing about school here
that is still weird for me
is that if a teacher is sick
or has something else and
can't teach the class, it's just
cancelled—often without
much notice!
A great thing about the
Netherlands, and Europe
in general, is the public
transportation and the
proximity of things. It takes
only two hours to cross
the entire country (west
to east) in a car and trains
will take you anywhere
you want to go. From the
city of Wageningen, you
can catch a train to just
about anywhere in the
country. From Wageningen,
it's an hour train ride to
Amsterdam, where you
can catch a train to almost
anywhere in Europe. The
Dutch are known for riding
bikes everywhere and it
truly is the best way to get
around in any city here.
I hope that gives you a
little insight into my life
here in the Netherlands and
I look forward to writing
and sharing more about this
wonderful country.