10th October 2015

We had breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning. There were so many things you could eat. You could eat yoghurt with fresh fruit, croissants, muffins, ham, cheese, apple juice, milk, tea, coffee and you could make your own pancakes. The London Eye was an hour walking from the hotel. We had a wonderful walk. There were so many people outside and there was a man who did magic tricks. First thing we did was walking to the Walkie Talkie, a buidling where you can see whole London and eat something if you want to. 

 

Walkie Talkie

 My friend and I bought a combined ticket for the London Eye, Sea Life and London Dungeons. The man behind the desk told us to make a reservation at the London Dungeons first. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. So, we decided to do the London Dungeons the next day. First, we went to Sea Life. We had a priority ticket, which meant that we didn't have to stand in the queue to pay for a ticket. Sea Life was nice to see. There were a lot of fish and other animals. There were penguins at the end. We were a bit hungry and we went to a restaurant. We saw a nice, but busy one. There was still a seat free for us. We got the menu and saw that we were in a Chinese restaurant. I didn't know what everything was. I chose for the chicken ramen. It was soup with chicken and noodles in a black bowl with a wooden spoon. I knew that I had to use the spoon for the soup, but how was I going to eat the noodles? There was a man next to us who eat the same as us. I looked at him and did the same thing as he did. My friend and I used knife and fork for the noodles. 

  After we had eaten, we walked to the London Eye. This time we had to stand in the line. Nevertheless, it took us 30 minutes. The view was so beautiful. You could see whole London. It was dark when we were on the top. Everywhere you looked, there were lights from buildings and parks.We saw the Big Ben when we were in the London Eye. Walking to clock would be the last thing we did that day.

The last picture is the view from the London Eye

9th October 2015 

 

I woke up at a quarter past six, because I would spend my weekend in London. I dressed myself and went to the living room to eat my breakfast. At 7 o'clock in the morning I walked to the couch. When I was on my way, I got a call from my friend that he missed his flight. He would be in London around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I was in London at 11 o'clock. There was a little shopping centre near the Victoria couch station. I decided to go there to look around and eat a sandwich, and texted my boyfriend for a bit. Afterwards I went back and read my book for an hour and a half. When my friend came eventually, we had to find the hotel. We walked by the London Eye and sat down for a moment. My friend bought a ticket for a boat trip. The boat trip was amazing. We saw the Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. There was a lady that told us several things about the buildings. When we went back, she told the captain that the passengers were not really interested in the story that she told. However, she didn't know that her microphone was on. Everyone on the boat could hear it. We laughed and the lady was a bit ashamed. Around 7 o'clock in the evening, we found the hotel. The hotel and our rooms were fancy. We freshened up and we ate at the restaurant in the hotel. I had a burger with fries. Around one o'clock we went to bed. 

 

26th September 2015
 
This day I went to Canterbury by train. I bought a ticket after 10 o'clock in the morning, because it's cheaper then. The trains are not the same as in The Netherlands. They smell and they're slow. It took me 15 minutes to go to Canterbury. The city centre is near the train station. When you walk to the centre, the first thing you see is the city gate. That's the sign that you enter the shopping area. The shops are nice and there are different things to eat. I went to the café in Waterstones Bookstore. They have brownies that are sooooo delicious. Then I went to Canterbury Castle. It's a really old castle and most of the castle is gone. I saw a picture of John’s Garden when I was in town. I had bought some sandwiches to eat and decided to go there. I didn't know that there was a food festival. There were a lot of people eating and drinking. I walked around to see what you could eat. For example, Pizza, hamburgers, chips, hotdogs etc. Unfortunately, there were no benches to sit on. I sat on the grass just like other people did. After that, I went to the library where a museum was as well. The museum was big and there were beautiful paintings. You don't have to pay the entrancefee. The last thing I did was walk to a park with a tree that helps 'removing' your illness and tumours when you hug the tree. Around half past four I took the train back to Broadstairs.

25th September 2015 

Today was just a normal day at work. However, I had a tea party at the end of the day. It started around 5-ish. I had to wait for an hour, because the café closes at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The tea party was in Margate. A town next to Broadstairs. I went there by bus, with a few people. There are 32 volunteers who help in the café. I didn't get to know all the people. The Cupcake Café was so cute and really girly. You had a cup of tea in a green, pink or blue cup. The cakes were tiny. They were too beautiful to eat. You could have as much as you could eat. After an hour, the manager of the café gave a speech. She told us that she was grateful for what we did and the café couldn't exist without us. The church does something for the volunteers every year from the tips that people can give. I got a ride home from a woman and her mother. She lives nearby. I was home at 6 o'clock in the evening.

15th September 2015

It was my first day working in the café of the church. I had to be there around half past nine. However, I was a bit late. There was also another volunteer that would like to work there. We had a little chat. He was originally from Africa, but he has been here for a couple years. We had an introduction from Kate. After half an hour, we were really busy in the kitchen; cutting vegetables, preparing and serving food, doing the dishes etc. The café closed at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and then the homeless people can eat some food and drink some tea if they want to. Most of them stayed till the end. The café closed at 4 o'clock. 

11th Septmeber 2015

Today I walked to Ramsgate again. However, I took the short road this time. I still had to walk for 45 minutes though. I came into town and there was a market. I bought some apples and something to drink. It was really warm. So, I made my decision to go to the beach. There was a bakery with cookies and sandwiches. I saw a sandwich with cream and strawberry jam. It was not as delicious as I thought it would be. The cream was tasteless and the bread was hard. I went to the beach to eat some chips, because I was really hunger. After the lunch I read my book: ‘Make My Wish Come True’ written by Katie Price. It’s about a journalist, Storm, who falls in love with a popstar named Nico. He finds out that she is a journalist and he hates journalists. The problem gets worse when she has to tell her boyfriend that she has fallen in love. The question is of course who will she chose. The way back took me at least an hour. The beach is still beautiful to see. Nevertheless, the air makes you really tired.

Beach in Ramsgate

5th September 2015 

 

Around 11 o’clock in the morning, I walked to St. Peter’s. This is a really small town. I saw a beautiful church with a graveyard behind it. There were a lot of old graves over there and there was a private part for rich people. There is a beautiful park behind the house where I’m staying. I was there for an hour. It’s so nice to sit there and walk around. Afterwards, I went to Ramsgate. I had to walk for an hour before I got there. First, I went to Broadstairs town and then I walked the park. A lot of people use this for walking around, but it’s also a place where you can walk from Broadstairs to Ramsgate in just a few minutes. At the end of the park, you have a beautiful view of the sea. You can walk on the beach if you want to. I had a hot dog and a slush puppy as lunch. I ate it by the sea. My host family told me that there was a bigger library in Ramsgate than in Broadstairs. The library was hard to find. So, I asked a woman for directions. She told me that it was around the corner and she walked with me to show me where to actually go. We had a conversation about where I came from, and I told her that I was from the Netherlands. She had never been in the Netherlands before.

St. Peter's

Sept. 1st 2014

Today is the day that I leave The Netherlands and will stay in England for three months. I’m so excited! You will read my story in this blog. I will try to write an article every now and then, maybe weekly. I hope you like it. The 31st of August/1st of September I arrived at my friend’s house around 11 o’clock in the evening. I had to wait for a bit, because her father drank a cup of tea. Around 12 pm we left the house. I did cry when I had to leave my family and boyfriend behind, but I knew I had to.  I slept for almost an hour in the car. We had a break around 2 am. I was really tired after the break. We arrived at Dunkirk around 4 o’clock in the morning. The boat was not really big though; it didn’t need to big necessarily, because everybody was sleeping. When we stepped off the boat, I saw the White Cliffs of Dover. It was beautiful to see. The first thing we did was search for a place to eat. We were really hungry, because we were up all night. I ate toast with strawberry jam and butter. It was a ten minute drive to my host family. The family is really nice and I hope they will take good care of me. We went to the shopping centre in the afternoon. It is a nice place to walk around. We ate some chips. I had a child’s menu, because we still had to eat with the host family. They made Indian food and it was delicious.

Here is a video that I made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BPj9mkyQ6M

Broadstairs