I have just officially turned 17 in the Netherlands, which is pretty cool! Friday was my birthday and I went into the city with a friend then went out to dinner with my host family. The Dutch language has started to get much much easier. I understand a lot more, and I am keeping up conversations. It is not so easy to write, and to be able to say everything, but there are many people in school who like to help an exchange student. This week, at my school, is test week, and on monday I took the english exam, which was a piece of cake, and I now have no other tests since I have not been able to follow the classes, due to me learning Dutch all day at school. Luckily, I have a couple days off of school, and I am going on a day trip to Amsterdam with my friend from Equador, who is also an exchange student. I will also be playing football (soccer) and working on some Dutch homework. Some of the things I still haven't gotten used to here, are the amount it rains here and the distance. It always seems to be rainy and windy, but sometimes it gets sunny and clear out. The distances are also very hard to get used to, since in America I lived so close to everything, it is still a big shock to have to take the bus places and to bike 40-50 minutes to school every day. The good things is I get tons of exercise here with biking, soccer, and some tennis, but I also have been eating lots since all of the food here is really good. Things have been good here, and I hope that things only get better!!