Germany/Netherlands/Belgium...The triple threat

Alright...So I know I'm a complete jerk for waiting this long to update my blog, but these last weeks of my tour have been non-stop. Because I'm so far behind, and already in the Philippines, what I want to do is go through the last 3 weeks of my tour in Europe and highlight some of the most memorable moments. These places included Prenzlau, Germany; Dronten, Netherlands; and Leuven, Belgium:

Prenzlau, Germany is way northeast in what was considered the DDR during the times of the Berlin Wall and the complete separation of Germany. This was very apparent because this part of the country is completely unlike the south where I visited Zell the week before. I was roomed with Stefan from Germany, who I had already stayed with back in the states. I was glad to be with a native German speaker, and we stayed with a great family, Ines and Peter Rothmay-Vetter. They lived in a small village of only around 500 people that was 20 km outside Prenzlau. During the week, we heard from a panel of people on German/Polish immigration and relations...Prenzlau is just a few km from the Polish border. There is a situation not unlike that of the United States and Mexico, other then the fact that it’s an open border, between these two countries. Also included in the speakers was an asylum refuge from the country of Iran who is now living in Germany having escaped certain death in his country. We heard his amazing story of escaping Iran because of political disseverance, and he is actually still in hiding under the protection of the German government. The CI (Community Involvement) project I worked with during the week was related to our topic of German/Polish relations. I worked with 6 other cast members teaching a dance class to German and Polish dance students. We taught choreography from the show for two days and had the opportunity to perform with the students during a couple of moments in the show. One of the most exciting parts of our week was the day our cast spent in Berlin. Some of the most memorable sights included the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, and Berlin Wall. It was amazing to spend time at these historical sights, and especially to experience the Berlin Wall, and the division of Germany. There are even some ruins of churches and buildings left behind from the bombings of WWII to commemorate that time in Germanys history. To go back to something I talked about that week with my host dad...we discussed his experience with the division of Germany and what it was like living in the DDR, the side of Germany where people really weren't allowed to leave. He expressed to us that contrary to what most people think, or what history books might tell, his life was better off during that time of separation. He owned an auto repair shop, and because the government controlled the businesses and competition, he was the auto repair specialist in his area. He said business was good, and because he knew the right people, it wasn’t difficult to get the everyday food and supplies that he and his family needed. After the Wall fell, competition started and he lost business and fell into a worse financial situation. When I asked him if
he would rather the Wall still be up, he said that because of the pain it brought for some, he was glad it is down, but for himself, times used to be easier. I found this conversation so interesting because it is something you would never expect to hear...especially learning history in the States. Our show on Saturday was special again because Stefan and I also sang the German song we had done the week before. There were also guest performances by a local rap group and a Polish dance team. On our free day, our host mom took us to the Baltic Sea and we toured some of the cities near where she grew up.

I was so excited to spend the next week in the Netherlands because my host brother Johan, who stayed with my family for 4 weeks in Denver, was from there. I had heard so much about the country, as well as made so many jokes, that I was ready to experience it for myself. We stayed in a city called Dronten, which is on the northwest coast. Dronten was actually created around 40 years ago when the sea was pumped out of a particular area that created a new group of towns. There are dikes around this area to keep the water out, which actually makes Dronten 5 meters below sea level. We went to see these dikes, as well as the locks where water level changes so boats can enter and exit the sea. I stayed with Jeff from Taiwan and an amazing family, the Loopstra's. They had 3 sons, just the same ages as me and my brother...I fit in fast. The first things I noticed in the Netherlands is how flat it is and how many people are riding bikes. It's crazy!...you ride your bike everywhere! Every morning we would ride our bikes 20 minutes to the facility. Our house and the students being hosted in the one next door created a bike gang...south side. We beat up little kids, old people, ran anyone off the road who got in our way...not really, but we did ride together. It was a pretty funny sight to see with most of the cast arriving by bike and parking them in front of the building. We did a lot of internal time in Dronten, talking about immigration and racism among other things. Our group also visited two Muslim mosks in Dronten, one a Turkish. Let's clear up some stereotypes about Holland...#1
People in Holland wear wooden shoes...True! Our neighbor’s host dad wore wooden shoes on multiple occasions and I even tried a pair for a day. #2 There are windmills everywhere in Holland...True! Not the wooden ones like you would think, but there are large steel windmills all over the place to harvest wind power. My breakfast every morning was pretty amazing…bread with Nutella (chocolate spread) and Hagel Slag (breakfast sprinkles) on top...more like desert. I also fell in love with Vla, or Dutch Pudding. My host family gave me a carton for our travel day! We spent our regional learning day in Amsterdam. I went with a group who took a tour of the red light district. It was a shock to say the least. Our guide was an ex-prostitute who now works for a center that helps prostitutes with equal rights. It's just like you would imagine it...the women stand in small doorways and windows wearing underwear. People just walk by and if there interested then they let them in. It's totally legal and there are around 500 spaces in the red light district filled with women. Amsterdam is a beautiful city, but there are just some things including the legal prostitution and marijuana that kind of taint it for me. Our show was a great turn out and I sang a song completely in Dutch by a famous Artist from Holland named Marco Borsato. It was a really great night. Shout out to all the Dutch high school student who spent the week with us...it wouldn’t have been the same without you all! One of my host brothers worked at an indoor ski and snowboard spot in Dronten, so on Sunday we went and did some snowboarding below sea level. It was basically a rotating piece of wet carpet that mimicked a ski slope. Really fun!


The last week of our European tour was spent in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Leuven is a beutiful city and our cast was really excited because there was a lot planned and a very busy schedule of great events. Our project for the week was with two people, an artist who was building a massive "CosmoGolem" and Sister Jeanne Devos, a Nobel peace prize nominee. The "CosmoGolem" was a 5-meter high wooden sculpture that has been placed already around the world. It has a large hatch on the side and represents the safe keeper of children’s hopes and dreams who can come place them in the Golem. Sister Jeanne Devos was involved because she worked with children in India who are kept as household slaves per say, working at young ages in homes, sometimes physically and sexually abused. She saw the possibilities of this project and also helped us connect with a village in Chile where the Golem will be eventually sent. We helped to build the golem and also unveiled it on our "Day of Hope" in downtown Leuven. We performed a mini show and revealed the Golem, opening it up for the children to share their hopes and dreams with. Also within this project, my smaller group went to a children’s hospital to perform and spend time with very sick kids, most with cancer. At the end of our time, they gave us their box of wishes to place in the Golem because they were to sick to do it themselves. It was a tough day, but one that also shed a new light and showed us the strength of these young kids. I was hosted that week with Johan from Sweden. We stayed with Eric and Lieve Giskes. It was so much fun and Eric made sure that we had our opportunity to tastes the beer tour of Belgium...after all, they do have the best beer in the world. According to Eric, we had the #2 beer in all of Belgium, Westmalle Triple. Most of the best are still brewed by monks and they can only create a small amount each year. We also enjoyed famous Belgian fries (eaten with mayo), chocolate, and shrimp from the north sea. I will certainly be back to Belgium some time soon! Our show was on Thursday, and was to be the biggest of our cast’s tour. It was held in a sports arena and we had a little over 2200 people come. There was also a guest performance from the Belgium Idol runner-up Sandrine. She performed 2 songs after our intermission. We raised 20,000 Euros for a charity's...pretty unbelievable. We also visited the European Union headqurters and parliment in Brussels. We had a tour and got to see where the parliment sits. My mom was visiting a friend in the UK, and they came down to see the show. Afterwards on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I left the cast and my mom and I took a train to Paris. We stayed in a really great hotel and saw most of the famous sight on Saturday...the Arc De Triomphe, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and of course the Eiffel Tower. It was so much fun and we had a nice mother-son time in France. After saying goodbye, I joined the cast on Monday and we left the Brussels airport that evening for a new continent...ASIA!

My next blog will be coming soon because I have already spent almost 2 weeks in the Philippines...were staying in the capital of Manila...

Let me know what's going on and please leave some comments...