We are Jamie, Lotte and Danique. Three Dutch students from the Koning Willem 1 College, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, North-Brabant, The Netherlands.
We were selected to join the Honors Program Orlando on Februari 2020. Our task is to write blogs about our expiriences for everyday we are in Orlando!
Fact’s about us
Jamie: Age: 20 years old Education: graphic designer Hobby’s: drawing, reading, gaming, entertaining my dogs and listening to music Fun fact: I have a twin sister English experience: I read all my books in English and all my social media is also in English Fave food: apples Dislikes: people who are fake and sneaky I won’t leave the house without: my phone, a book and a sketchbook
Lotte: Age: 24 years old Education: graphic designer Hobby’s: writing, reading, k-pop, netflix, gaming, painting Fun fact: published 6 books English experience: lived in the UK for 6 months as an au pair Fave food: pasta Dislikes: people who complain a lot I won’t leave the house without: a book, my phone and headphones
Danique: Age: 18 years old Education: event manager Hobby’s: writing, gaming, listening to music and watching YouTube, Disney+ or Netflix Fun fact: I post stories online with one almost having 1 milion reads Fave food: quiche Dislikes: people who are really fake I won’t leave the house without: my phone, because I use it to write, watch videos and listen to music with it
Today we went to Disneyworld! And I must say: it was pretty damn awesome.
We had to wake up early because we left at 8. I got down early so I could eat and then go to an ATM but breakfast had a lot of delay so we just got food at 7-Eleven.
When it was time to leave we hopped in the car and drove towards the park. Everyone was really excited.
As we got there we went through security, got our ticket and split up in smaller groups. My group first walked towards Space Mountain, but the like was an hour already so we went to Piratas Of The Caribbean. That was a way shorter like so we waited and got in. I remember that ride from the Paris park but it still was amazing.
After that, we got in Splash Mountain. I’d say was one of the best rides. I got my ass wet, but it was a lot of fun. Even though we thought they killed a bunny for a moment, but he was okay!
We then decided to go to the other park because we wanted to see that more than this one. So we made our way over to the exit and hopped on a bus towards that park.
As we got there we got through security again and made our way over to Galaxy’s Edge. Before we got there we went inside the Star Tour and ate lunch which was a massive hot dog. That thing was expensive but I was a lot and pretty good.
We then got to Galaxy’s Edge and just walked around for a bit. It looked really beautiful and just like I was in Starwars.
We got to the end and saw the ride we all were excited for: Millennium Falcon. It was an 80 minute wait we really wanted to go so we waited. There was this couple in front of us which was really close in line and we kind of passed our time joking about them.
When we got in we got our roles assigned. I was the shooter so all I had to do was spam a button. Others had to flig and something else which also was just pressing buttons.
When we got out Lotte made a picture of a ship and an actor walked over to her and started so say she was a spy. She kind of froze up and started saying she was and then wasn’t and it was pretty funny.
We then walked around some more and left towards the Tower Of Terror.
We met up with more people and all went inside. Even some people were scared but they really liked it when they got out.
It then was time to go back we got on a bus again and went back.
We wanted to go in the Haunted Mansion so we went over there. As we got there the ride just opened up again so we didn’t have to wait at all. When we got out it already was an 80 minute wait, which was insane to me.
We went over to a tree house and walked around in it. It was from a movie I don’t know but it looked awesome. We then looked for a place to eat but just before we did that we checked the Space Mountain one more time. 100 minutes. No thank you.
We ate some food where we had live entertainment. Well, ‘live’ it was some animal playing music. Pretty cool though.
After that we had about half an hour until the fireworks so we went in more giftshops and some went to look for a spot. When they went us a picture of where they were we knew it as a mission impossible to get back to them so we looked for another spot to watch it.
It started and it was an amazing show on the castle and the fireworks always seemed to match either the movement or the song. It looked gorgeous.
When it was over all hell broke loose as we had to go to the meeting point and find the others. We found a quick path towards the exit to hop in a boat. Our wifi wasn’t working so we couldn’t communicate so we just went to the point that was set as the meeting point. We got there by boat and then our wifi came back. We were too far back than the other as they met up at where we just left. So we shared our location and waited for them to come here too.
After half an hour some people came and almost an hour later most of the other group came.
We walked back towards the cars where the last group was waiting for us.
We got back to the hotel around 10 and we all got inside to either sleep and pack our stuff. I did the last bit and was doing that until a little before 12 and then just went to sleep.
It was a lot of fun. It might have been a bit stressful at some points but I enjoyed it a lot.
On our way!
And towards the other park!
Fireworks!
Hey! it’s Jamie.
I told I was going to tell you about my day in Disney, well here we go!
I was the only one who was going to Epcot, but honestly, I didn’t really mind. Because I knew this was going to happen, so I prepared for it. Before we left, I made sure I knew how to get where I wanted to go. The time came after we went through security, everyone was going to the park they wanted to go to. And I was about to walk off alone, but then the teachers told me they were going with me. I didn’t really mind; they were good company.
When I arrived at Epcot though I was left to roam alone. I started my journey to the Frozen ride. When I got there, I took too many pictures and I was super excited because I could not believe that I was standing there. Fourteen-year-old me would not have believed me. I truly enjoyed being there. And the wait wasn’t even that long. It was perfect. After the ride, I looked around the park some more and decided to go to the Magic Kingdom because they also had rides that I wanted to see.
When I got there, I went to stand in line for Snow white’s rollercoaster. The wait was a bit long though, one hour and a half. And when I was about halfway down the line, they said it would take even longer… I wasn’t that happy about it but it’s just what it is. The ride itself was a bit short. I expected it to be longer, considering the two hour wait. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. After that I went to stand in line for the little mermaid’s ride. It was only a half hour wait, so I went to stand in line right away. But after five minutes a toddler decided to throw a temper tantrum… which made it feel like I had been standing in line for hours. But you know that happens sometimes and there is little you can do about it other than to just wait it out. The ride itself was pretty, and the animatronics were good.
Later I went to Big Thunder Mountain and several other rides. I ate a waffle with chicken on it, I didn’t even know that was possible or if it tasted good. But it did. I was amazed. When I stood in line for It’s A Small World, I came across the teachers again, so naturally, considering I was alone, I went to stand in line with them. I stayed with them and even sneaked into Pirates of the Caribbean on their fast passes. The fireworks were beautiful, but I didn’t expect Tinkerbell to be sailing from the top of the castle. That certainly surprised me.
Anyway, it was a super day and I really enjoyed it. It was truly a dream come true and the perfect ending to this exciting trip.
I started the day well rested. I had a good breakfast and was in a good mood, because today we were going to Walmart. I thought I had never seen a store that big, but that’s not true. I have seen bigger stores in France a couple of years back. So I was a bit underwhelmed, because I expected more. But it was fun shopping there nonetheless. Every one went off in their own direction, but we kept running into eachother, which was nice. I went to get some souvenirs for my parents, because I couldn’t find anything fitting for them in the places I already visited. In the end I also bought some Funko POP figures, because they are cheaper here than in The Netherlands.
After Walmart we went to a goodwill store. They sold all kinds of things, but mostly clothing. A lot of people from the group had a blast shopping there, because apparently you could find branded clothing for a really cheap price, which they could never find back at home. I don’t really like shopping altogether but I did have a nice time looking through it all.
Later we went to see a baseball game. I was super excited because I have never been to a baseball game before and it was really cool watching it all. I sort of remembered the rules but I got confused multiple times, luckily I wasn’t the only one. We went to see the Rollins against the Palm Beach Atlantic. Spoiler alert: the Rollins won the match. I didn’t see the whole match because near the end we went to another goodwill store nearby. It was nice to stretch my legs after sitting for so long. We didn’t go there for long though because we had to be back in time for our drive to dinner. While we waited outside of the baseball field for the others to arrive, we saw some really handsome young baseball players. They were really tall too! (Lotte told me to put that part in).
For dinner we went to a Mexican place called, Tijuana flats burrito co. I am not a fan of mexican food so I didn’t eat much, but the others really enjoyed themselves. We ate, we drank and we laughed and time seemed to fly by. Our waitress was really kind and helpful, because some order got switched up but everything turned out fine.
Right now we are back at the hotel and some people went for a swim and I am currently writing this blog post. After this I am going to turn in because tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for this whole trip, I even think before that. We are going to Disneyworld tomorrow! I can’t wait, I really want to see the Frozen Ever After ride at Epcot, bacause it would complete this whole trip for me. But I’ll tell you what happened tomorrow because I will be adding my opinion in tomorrows blog post.
See you tomorrow!
If you want to see some pictures of our journey, you can see those below this post.
At Walmart
Second hand store
Baseball!
Naomi trying out the guitar in the second hand store!
Hello! We had so much fun today! We did a boat tour, we went canoeing, had diner and swam in the pool!
MORNING
I woke up and went for an early breakfast. This day we were gonna go to the Leon Springs, where we had a boatride. It was a one hour drive, and the boatride took us one hour as well. We saw alligators, rare birds and turtles! I sat in the back and made myself comfortable. The sun on my face, the wind in my hair, the sound of the engine running in the background, it was heaven.
TOO MUCH PANCAKES
After the boatride we ate pancakes in the restaurant nearby. They were huge and filled my tummy up till I couldn’t eat any longer. It felt as if I was nine months pregnant. Jesus, I ate too much, but it was so good. We could bake the pancakes ourselfs and add toppings to them. We had good fun while being there.
CANOEING
Then we got back to the car and drove for one hour more. We arrived at the Wekiva Island, were we all made sure we were protected with enough sunscreen, as the sun was shining bright. Then we put ourselfs in the canoes. I teamed up with Maxe. The first part of the canoeing went smooth and we got the hang of it. Then it went horribly wrong and we crashed in plants, bushes, trees. We laughed a lot. People passed us and the other students held a race against eachoter. Suzette and her boyfriend were there as well to guide us. She sat on a paddleboard like a real pro. I admit I was impressed by her skills. She made it look so easy!
CHILLING
When we got out of the canoes, we sat by the water with a drink. Bjoern (our teacher) bought some alligator meat for us to try. It tasted like chicken. Never in my life had I thought I would try alligator. Some people went to play volleybal and other people searched for turtles. Bjoern flipped the canoe from Jamie and Valerie, splash! Good fun!
DINNER
I can’t tell you anything exciting about our diner. We went back to the cars and drove to a supermarket, but me and some others went for McDonald’s. Tasty! And come on, it’s American, don’t judge, ha ha.
HOT TUB, AGAIN?!
Back at the hotel me and some others got in the hot tub and swimming pool. I just got out. I am writing this blog still sitting in my towel, drying up. As I’m thinking about the things we did today, a smile spreads all over my face. Today was a good day, a relaxing day. I noticed I got a bit closer with the other students. I got to know them better day by day and I know one thing for sure: I am gonna miss those guys. But for now, I am gonna enjoy the last few days in Orlando.
Thanks for reading. See you soon!
If you want to see some pictures of our journey, you can see those below this post.
There was only one activity on our schedule today: ice cream social. A meet up with students from Valencia while you eat ice cream. But that’s not all we did today!
Some people went to the outlets and others went to Universal. We decided on that last night because an American, named Jeremy, got us free tickets and heavy discounts. To get the most out of our day we got up early, ate breakfast and drove to the park. Some went with Jeffrey and others got there by Uber. We went inside and he guided us around towards the Harry Potter castle since he works there and gave us discounts and such. We took pictures of the park and characters as we walked over.
Then we got there, we waited for the ride and as we waited we got our own show and I loved it. After 45 minutes we got in the ride and it was amazing! I highly recommend you go there and experience it yourself because no words can describe it. We then went to the wand experience where I got a wand you can interact with in the park.
We then waited in line for the Jurassic Park ride which broke down as we waited so we got to the next ride. After that ride we went towards the Marvel part and went in Spiderman. That one was really cool as well. We also went inside of the Hulk rollercoaster which was awesome as well. Then the Jurassic Park ride got fixed so we went in that one as well. We all got wet since it’s a water ride but some people got soaked. Luckily I didn’t got wet.
After that busy morning we had to go to campus and yet again some people drove or took an Uber there. As we got there we didn’t know where the others were, turns out we got there before them so we met up with them and made our way over to the ice cream social.
We first had a round where you had to talk to people you didn’t know and you had to answer questions about yourself like ‘what is the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?’. We did that for 6 rounds and then we got ice cream.
After ice cream we had to get in two circles and throw a ball in a selfmade pattern and keep doing it faster as you need to get ways to do it faster and faster. We then had to make groups and had to make a tower with paper and not a lot of tape. We had to think creatively for that as well. As we were done with that we hopped back in the car with 8 people this time and went back to Universal.
We went back to the Harry Potter castle because someone needed to fix things with payments and then we went to the other park. Before we went there we took a stop at the store where I got my merchandise and the things my family asked me to get.
The first thing we did in the other park was go inside of the other Harry Potter ride. After that we had only an hour left so we went inside of the Transformers ride and then the Mummy. Each ride was amazing. I highly recommend going to the park.
We then had to go back to the hotel but before we left we watched the water show. It was really cool because they added fireworks and displayed videos of their movies and series in the water. We then got back to the car. Some went through a drive through others ordered food.
Today was such an amazing day, I had so much fun and saw so much. I really recommend going to Universal because it’s absolutely amazing there. The ice cream social was fun as well, even though I kept thinking about going back to the park there.
So, yeah, you can say the day off was a big success.
If you want to see some pictures of our journey, you can see those below this post.
We boughts Wands!
The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
Jamie and Puss in Boots!
Atlantis in Universal
Sophie with her new friends!
Emily with her new friends!
That’s a big rollercoaster!
Group picture!
The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
At Ollivanders in The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!
Today I had American pancakes! I have never had them before but they tasted really good. After breakfast we went to school for our classes that day. We started with the poems we had prepared for this trip. The American students wrote the first part of the poem in their perspective and we would finish it with ours. I had a really nice time during the class, because the people were so supportive and welcoming. That lasted until I had to go stand in front of the class with some other students to perform the final poem. I was really nervous and scared that I was going to mess it up, but luckily I didn’t and I was really proud of myself for standing there and doing what had to be done.
Later we had lunch. We went to Shake Shack. Most of the people of our group went there because our teacher couldn’t stop bragging about it. So naturally we had to go there. It was a really nice lunch because we could sit outside in the sun or shadow and watch out over a lake. But more importantly: the food was great. For once it felt like it wasn’t too much, just the right amount of food. I also saw some ducklings in the waterfountain and it was cute. When we walked back to the car I also saw a little reptile on the side of the curb. That was also cute.
My next class was media art. The teacher was explaining how you make 3D shapes in Photoshop. I actually already knew that, but I didn’t know how much you could do with it, so in the end it was quite interesting. In between we also went to the campus shop to get some t-shirts or hoodies from Valencia College. I got myself a nice t-shirt because it will be a nice reminder of this trip.
After class we went to an art exhibit in the same building. It was a bit peculiar and it certainly got a reaction out of everyone, which I presume was the whole purpose of the exhibit. So that was thought out really well. After 10 minutes we got back to our room and ate pizza yet again. I don’t think I will eat pizza anymore when I get back home, at least not for a while.
After some waiting we went to the recording studio to record our poem from that morning. We first got a tour around some of the rooms in which they were recording something and later we went to sit in our own room. It was all ready prepared for us and we sat around the microphones in a circle. I again got a little nervous because when we had to speak, it was completely quiet and I again didn’t want to mess things up. But again I did right on the first try, so I was really happy about that. We even got to hear all our voices after recording which was really cool and also a bit embarrasing. They even gave us a gift. Each one of us got a vinyl record from the Valencia College itself! They recorded it when they had their 50 years anniversary!
In the end it was a day full of challenges for me and I prevailed. But also a day full of learning and good vibes.
Stay tuned for more!
If you want to see some pictures of our journey, you can see those below this post.
Hello folks! This day was different from others. For me, this trip feels like a vacation, although I know it’s an honors program. Which means we have an exchange with another school. So yeah, we have to go to school! And that’s what we did today. It felt a bit off, because we didn’t even think about going back to school, but it was so fun to take part in the activities the Valencia teachers created for us.
SO WHAT DID WE DO?
It was an early morning. Jamie and I thought we had to be ready at 7:45, but boy, were we wrong. Ah, well. We had an early breakfast which was nice. At 9:15 in the morning we were picked up by Suzette and driven to the Valencia Winterpark College. We were welcomed by Valerie (who teaches centuries humanities) and students. The tables were covered with snacks and drinks! We even had donuts, oh my! Around 10 in the morning, more students came in and joined us at the tables. Valerie gave us a presentation about the American Dream, and asked us what we thought it meant. We all agreed that the American Dream is having a family, a house, a dog, a big white fence, etc. But Valerie explained to us that this dream has changed over the years. It was very interesting. I’ve heard of it, but never knew what it ment.
We wrote down our dream and put those on a big, red paper which was put against the wall. After that, we turned the classroom into a museum. How? Well, Valerie placed papers on the walls and tabels. There were time periods printed on them. We had to form groups again with the Valencia students. And then we had to implement the time period. So for example: my time line said “the immigrants coming to America”. So we acted as if we were on a boat, seeing the statue of liberty and saying out loud that we hoped to find a job and trying to pursue the American Dream. I felt awkward, as it was out of my confortzone, but I had a good laugh and the students were so nice and fun to hang out with. A couple of teachers and students came to look at us. It was great.
TOUR AROUND CAMPUS
After that lesson, the school provided us lunch. After the lunch we went back to our fancy cars and drove to the other campus, which is new. We were guided around by the school principal. He showed us where the students follow their classes and explained to us why the school had such inspiring quotes on the walls. The buildings were big and I am sure I would get lost walking there by myself.
When the tour was finished, we went to a classroom were we listened to Professor Darden. He gave us the most inspiring lecture I have ever witnessed. Man, this man knows how to keep a class entertained. We talked about gender and racial inequality. A student from us gave him a package of stroopwafels after that. He liked that a lot. O! And he pronounced the word Noord-Brabant as if he was a Dutch person himself! Amazing!
TOUCHED BY KEYCHAINS
In the evening we had a group dinner at Ace. Some Valencia students joined us and gave us cute keychains. I was touched. It comes in handy though, my sisters complains that I need to change my keychain, so now I don’t have to go find a new one.
A GIRL NEEDS HER HOT TUB
Back at the hotel I went in the hot tub and pool with other students, while the rest of the group went to Target. They are still there while I am writing this. R.I.P. their wallets.
Okay, so that’s kinda it. I hope you like reading about our journey and the things we’ve done so far, as much as I like writing about them. Stay tuned for more!
If you want to see some pictures of the journey, you can see those below this post.
PS, we have a photo album now! You can find the link to the album on the homepage!
Walking to Campus.
At Velancia College
Our teachers working hard!
Look at this lunch!
Valerie telling us about the American Dream
There was a photobooth set up for us!
Steven with Valencia Students!
Steven (middle) together with Valencia Students!
Emily and Esmee with a Valencia student.
Our teacher Bjoern with Valerie.
Professor Darden giving us a lecture.
Having dinner at Ace. Everyone found out there was wi-fi!
Group picture inside the Valencia College with students!
The group and I met up at 8 am and ate breakfast. After breakfast, we had some time to pass and decided to go to the 7-Eleven near our hotel. We got our money and left. The weather was absolutely lovely and very pleasant. We walked back to find out we now had to hurry because we wanted to get some cash from an ATM. We got there on time and met up with the people who wanted to come. We started the walk to again and looked for on ATM one of the teachers at Valencia told us to go to, but we didn’t find out so we went back to the 7-Eleven. I was half an hour earlier and I got more money. We then walked back to our hotel to grab our stuff and leave for our next stop: The Disney Wilderness Resort.
It was about an hour’s drive. I mainly looked outside and we talked about what we saw. We saw a lot of signs about universal and Disneyworld. There was a big Waterpark as well and a pirate-themed midget golf course. It looked awesome. As I looked in the sky we saw a plane writing letters in the air. The longer we looked the more letters came and it spelled out ‘LOVE U JESUS’. More came but we passed it, which was a shame. When we arrived, we got out of the car and walked towards the buildings. We got sent to the ‘classroom’ where Zack was waiting for us. He started to tell us about how important this nature was and how they took care of it. Throughout evolution, nature got used to lighting and fire so they need that to grow. The elements they need are water and fire. So they set fire to the woods either every 3 years. After the explanation, we got on a big tour where he drove us around and walked about what we saw. We went to a beautiful lake where there were alligators, but I didn’t see any. We also saw birds you can only see there, which was cool. They called them by playing the noise of birds being rude towards them. They responded to it and even started doing it back. It was funny to see because everyone inside the buggy tried to get a picture of them. People also saw a turtle crossing the road, but I didn’t see it. After the buggy tour, Zack showed us how they started the fires and he even lighted some grass on fire. We then had lunch. We chatted about the ride and what we were going to do later as other people let out their energy.
After that cool adventure, we hopped back in the car and drove to the hotel from the movie ‘The Florida Project’. It wasn’t a smart and save idea to just get out of the car and take photos like crazy people, because people actually live there and will get mad. So only two people got out and took photos of the place. But we also took photos while driving on the road. After that, we drove towards Disney Springs to go on a shopping adventure. When we got there Brianna, a student who went to the Netherlands last year was waiting for us. Emily invited her to come. We all parted ways in multiple groups and went to look around. I went with Brianna and she knew the way so she was our guide. We first went to the big Disney store and I was excited to see the star wars merch. I saw a cute shirt and looked at the price… Oh dear god, it was so expensive. So I didn’t get anything from that store, even though there was really cute stuff. I just didn’t want to spend all my money in one night. We then went to a cheaper store where they also had Disney shirts where I got a star wars shirt for half the price of the official merch! After that, we went to more stores such as Sephora, a jewelry store, and the star wars shop. We tried to meet up with more people for dinner but that didn’t work so the group I was with and I just ate dinner ourselves. It was kind of a rushed dinner because we had an hour left and we still wanted to go to other stores. We first went to a marvel store, got some free honey, went inside more stores until we had to go back to the parking and meet up with everyone.
We said goodbye to Brianna and I met up with other people and caught up with them and chatted about what we both did as we drove back to the hotel. It was a really fun day and I learned a lot.
Okay, let’s dive straight into it. I started the day well rested. I was so relieved to have been able to sleep, that I was in a good mood. Our first group activity was to have breakfast. I really enjoyed mine even tough I thought I had a chocolate cupcake, but instead I had something else that looked like it, but not taste like it. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to make a waffle, because I saw people doing that.
After breakfast, we all went to Ron John’s Surfshop. It was a really beautiful building and big. It was really big. I went in and I was overwhelmed with all the items this shop had to offer. I spent a good 45 minutes just wandering around trying to find the right souvenir. Eventually I got a really nice bag for my sister and a little stone turtle for me, as a reminder of this already incredible trip.
Next we went to the beach! The weather wasn’t actually all that warm, in fact it was a bit chilly, but a lot people went swimming anyway. Besides, when you sat in the sun for a long time it wasn’t all that cold. I spend my time walking along the shoreline looking for little animals, but I didn’t find any except for the seagulls and pigeons that roamed the beach. Later I went to get a late lunch at McDonald’s, because we’ve heard from the local people, that the chicken nuggets in America are way better than they are in The Netherlands. So of course everyone had to try. The result was that we agreed with them, they are better here.
We also had an impact moment planned for today, but first we had to drive there, one hour and a half. I really enjoyed the car ride because they were putting on songs that everyone knew and everyone was just singing along and it felt great. I jammed right along with everyone else! But when we arrived, the music stopped and the car ride took on a more serious tone. Because we arrived at the Pulse nightclub, where, 4 years ago, a lot of people got killed because of a shooting. Two people explained exactly what happened there and it sounded horrific. When I walked across the memorial I got chills all over me. Some people even had to cry, which is understandable.
After that we went back to the hotel and got ourselves pizza which we could eat in the same room as we did with breakfast. Everyone was a bit tired and shortly after everyone ate their pizza, we were dismissed to be free to do whatever we wanted to do. Some people went back to the shops and some stayed in the hotel to prepare for the next day, like me.
Stay stuned for a new blog about our second day here in Orlando.
If you want to see some pictures of our day, you can see those below this post.
Written by: Lotte
So I wanted to say something about this day as well. It was so nice to go to the beach. I took a swim in the sea after 4 years or so. It was cold, but I got used to it and I had the time of my life. I had a moment of relieve and I noticed I felt completely zen, ha ha! It felt amazing.
It was a sunny day. The sun burning on my skin felt so nice! When I went to the Ron John’s surfshop, I did not know what to expect as I don’t surf. We don’t have a beach nearby my house back home in the Netherlands, so… yeah. But the place was amazing! It was so big and I just loved all of the clothing, the souvenirs and the atmosphere it was holding.
When we left the beach we went to downtown Orlando, to visit the Pulse nightclub, which served as a gay club. In 2016 there was a shooting there. I knew about it, because our teacher told us the story before we went to Orlando, but I didn’t expect it to be this heavy, this disturbing. One of the teachers from Valencia College, Suzette, told us the story of how the shooting went. Everyone was quiet. We felt her sadness and the weight she was carrying on her shoulders while she was telling us how she experienced the whole thing.
After her story, we talked with a security gard who was garding the Pulse, which now served as a memorial. She told us that she is guarding the place for 6 days a week. She had a story of her own and told us more about that horrific night. I am not going to go in on the details, as it is to heavy for me to write about. I am still processing the information.
After we talked with the guard, we walked around the building. The building was covered behind big walls. On those walls there were pictures. Pictures from memorials and pictures to support the whole LGBT community. I fell completely silent again while seeing those pictures. There were holes in the walls as well, showing us some snaps of the building. One hole showed us all of the names of the people who died. One showed us bullet holes inside the wall, still beeing there on this very day. It was so confrontating, so disturbing and painful to see. I just can’t believe why someone would ever do this. I am still shook.
As I am writing this, we are on our second full day in Orlando. You will read about that day in the next blog, which will be written by Danique.
I just had to write something about my thoughts on the Pulse club. Visiting this nightclub left such a big impact on me. I am glad I went to go and see it. It reminds me of how lucky I am. That I can be who I wanna be. That I was born in a gun-free country. But I still feel so sad for the victims and their family’s. And for the people in the LGBT community who are still suffering from that horrible incident till this day.
If you ever have the chance to go and see the memorial, go and see it. It will make you think. It will make you realise that even though something this bad happened, there is still good in this world.
Good evening, morning, afternoon, whatever time it is when you are reading this. Thank you for your time. My name is Lotte, I am the oldest of the group of students. In this blog I will tell you about our intense journey to Orlando. Please know that English is not my first language. So there might be grammar mistakes or weird sentences. I apologize for that in advantage.
LET’S GO!
Okay, so on the 27th of february we all gathered at ‘s-Hertogenbosch station. We took the train, picked up other students at Utrecht central station and continued our journey to Amsterdam, Schiphol airport.
Everyone was excited, carrying big suitcases with them. Some bigger than others. We were all packed and ready to go. Checking in went smoothly and when we passed the security we had some spare time for ourselves before the airplane took of.
Our flight was at 14:50 AMS time. We were supposed to fly for 9 hours and ten minutes. But halfway through, the captain told us we had to make an emergency landing. O, god. I was scared. What happened? Well, they told us that the level of oxygen in the cockpit was running low, and we needed our captain to breath to fly the plane. It took the airplane approx 40 minutes to land in Montreal, Canada. When we landed, we had to wait in the airplane for 3 hours! They kept telling us that we had to wait, because there was going to be a mechanic checking on the plane. But that mechanic didn’t have the right parts for fixing the problem. After 3 hours, the crewmembers decided we had to get off. People were getting tired, frustrated and cramped. A bus picked us up. It was freezing cold as it was snowing.
At the airport in Canada we had to go trough security. We didn’t have an ESTA for the country, so we weren’t sure if we were allowed to get in. But that wasn’t our biggest problem. One of the students had lost his passport on the plane.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
We were allowed to get in. But we had to wait again. The next plane to Orlando would be departing around 11 am in the morning. We had to wait for almost 12 hours! Oh my god. We slept on the ground, as we didn’t got a hotel because things were unsure for the boy who had lost his passport.
Time went by slowly. People got grumpy, I looked like hell, that’s for sure. The sad news came: the boy who had lost his passport and couldn’t come with us to the United States. It was such a shock. He had to go back home. A teacher decided to stay with him to make sure he would be okay.
SO MUCH LUCK!
Around 7 in the morning we were allowed to check in and go through security. Things didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped for. When we were finally on the plane, all of us were looking for the lost passport, as it was the same plane we flew with. One of us did find it! Can you believe that? We were all screaming of excitement! We called the boy to tell him one of us had found his passport. A stewart took over the phone and told the boy what to do. He promised him that he would be in Orlando the same day as us! The plane took off 2 hours after that phone call, as it had to wait for a GO. As if we had not waited long enough already. Ha ha ha.
ARRIVAL
Okay. The whole journey took us around 24 hours. So far for the direct flight. Because of this delay, we had missed our first day in Orlando, but we couldn’t care anymore. Once we were at the airport, everyone was so happy and relieved. We made it! Two of the teachers from Valencia College picked us up. We went to the car rental service and got 3 big vans. They are amazing! It felt like we were celebrities. Never in my life did I see such fancy cars.
HOTEL
We got dropped off by the hotel. Some students went out for diner with a couple of students from Valencia college. I took a shower and went straight to bed. It was a long journey. Tomorrow would be better, I promised myself.
And it was. Stay tuned for a new blog about our first day!
If you want to see some pictures of the journey, you can see those below this post.
On June 24th I attended an informational meeting about what the trip is about and how the group from last year experienced it. I knew about this trip, because my sister went on it last year and I remember being super jealous of her because she was going to America. Besides knowing about it from my sister, I also saw one poster hanging near the printer on my side of the school, it was not noticeable at all and near the teacher’s lounge.
To be honest with you, I didn’t plan on attending that meeting, because I had to go to my job almost right after. Right now, I am so thankful for going because little did I know you had to be there to sign in and it being valid. So I just did that, and they said I would get an email about what I had to do to prove myself worthy to go on the trip.
So on June 26th I got the email and read it… I had to write a motivational letter in which I had to explain the following:
my motivation to go
my contribution to this program based on your expertise
what I want to learn or want to develop more on this trip
So I started to think to myself… How will I do this? How will I stand out? My sister gave me tips and I got an idea; I will say I will do some small money-raising events to fund the trip. So I wrote my motivational letter, put it in photoshop and made it look good. I even made a quotation for those little events. This is my motivational letter, I won’t insert my quotation due to personal information.
My motivational letter
I sent it in on July 3rd at 11:51 AM and so the waiting began…
The day was September 2nd and the clock passed 10:20 AM. My sister called me asking if I got in because the list of people was known and sent out. I was playing the sims at that point and just made a deathtrap for my Sims, so you know, I was doing nothing special at all… Anyways, I closed my game and checked my mailbox… And I didn’t have an email at all. I didn’t get in? My sister told me I would get an email even if I didn’t make it. So I waited while being nervous about if I got it or not.
Three minutes after the call and refreshing my mailbox every few seconds I got an email. It was about the program. I clicked it right away and started reading it… I got in! I jumped up from my chair and ran downstairs to remember I was home alone and started running back upstairs again. Once back in my room, I called my sister and as soon as she picked up I yelled into her ear “I got in!”
She then told me she knew and that’s why she called me. The week before that one of my other teachers randomly knew about the trip and told me she had a good conversation about why I should go as well, and kind of told me I was going without knowing I didn’t know that yet. I kind of brushed that one off.
After the short call with my sister, I called my parents who were both happy for me as well.
Besides the email telling me I was in the Honors Program 2020 group, it also told us about the first and official meeting with the group and an American student would reach out to us within a week, with questions for an interview.
The first official meeting was on September 16th at 4 PM. I traveled to school for it and walked towards the location it was at. Nerves went through my body as I came closer. I’m always a little shy when it comes to meeting a new group of people and I didn’t want them to dislike me.
When I arrived I saw one of the teachers and a few other students were there. I walked over to them, introduced myself and sat down. More and more people arrived and soon everyone was there. We all introduced ourselves, and we got more information about the groups we would be working in. After that, we all started talking to each other about our ideas and what we wanted to do while being in America.
When we were done with that, we all went to Happy Italy and had dinner there. Happy Italy is an Italian restaurant known for its cheap prices and huge sized dishes. I shared a pizza with Amalia as we both can’t finish one whole pizza. While eating dinner I discussed weird laws in Florida with some people and the whole group had a laugh about one pizza tasting like soap, nasty soap.
After dinner, we went back to school and our parents came to join in. We got more information about the trip later that evening.
We texted via WhatsApp about the groups and then formed the official groups:
The blog group
The Instagram group
The vlog group
The magazine group
The after movie group
The organization group
We talked more about it at our second meeting which was a week after. We continued to have meetings every other Thursday. It was from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM or 5:30 PM. We had English classes which taught us more about the language, the culture, the politics, the history and more things. Before or after that we watched an episode of the show ‘America To Me’ which is about kids and their high school experience. I thought it was interesting but I overheard some people say they didn’t like it.
We had time to meet up as a group and make a plan about how we are going to do this.
I enjoyed going to the meetings because I got to know the people I’m going with better and they weren’t boring classes like most classes were.
I also had an interview with an American college student. Due to our busy schedules, we decided to just send the list so I could type the answers out. After doing that we also chatted a bit about our experiences at our schools and past schools. That was a lot of fun as well. Maybe I will be meeting her when I am in Orlando, but that isn’t official yet.
On January 27th we had a Skype call with people from Valencia College. Most people from our side were busy or not feeling well, because of that we had 5 students… I didn’t plan on going in the first place because I had exams that day but when I saw that not many people were able to go I decided to come.
I had to wait for about 2 hours, so I met up with an old friend and chatted with her until I had to go. When I got there I had to install Skype which was a whole process itself because I somehow had an account and had to log in. When I got in, one call already started from a teacher’s computer and there were about 25 people in that class. That meant everyone had about 5 people to talk to at once. So we all switched to separate calls and it was very chaotic. You could barely hear the people you were talking to because I could hear people in the same room as I talked and heard other callers reply. But all struggles aside it was fun and I planned to do something to do with them.
As I am writing this it’s February 5th and the trip is getting closer and closer. I am really excited to go. We have one meeting left and on the 13th we will be watching ‘The Florida Project’. I am curious to see that movie because it will shine a different light on what Disney does to Orlando. Besides that, I really can’t wait to just be in America and create a new memory with these people. This trip is really a dream coming true and I can’t wait to share my story with the people reading this.
Honors Program Orlando 2020 