Updates

I apologize for the lack of posts and length of time between posts lately, life has been moving at full speed. After returning from Italy, we had guests, I went to a European spa, and then started babysitting full time for these last two weeks. It's amazing how tiring working full time is when you haven't done it in a year. Which, by the way, can you believe it's been a year since I quit my job back in the States? I can't.

I'd like to take a few lines to discuss this European spa I went to with my friend Suzanne. She is a wonderful mother to two small children and deserved a break away for a night so we headed to the East of the country to relax. We had discovered prior to getting there that this was an all nude spa. Yes, NUDE. Except for Tuesdays, which was swimwear day. So, naturally, we went on Friday. :) Just kidding! It was a very cute hotel with the gigantic spa across the street. We arrived to be given robes and directions to the changing rooms. We realized that the locker rooms were co-ed and completely open to the hall. Awkward. So we went to the bathroom and changed there. When changing back to our clothes later, we just went for it because there were no guys in the locker room. Then we spent the next several hours walking around the grounds, trying out the different pools, sauna's and relaxing rooms. They literally had beds where you could just sleep(which we took advantage of). They had gigantic pools, hot and cold. Hot tubs, jacuzzi's, musical sauna's, ice sauna's and lots of lawn chairs to relax on and order food or drinks. The whole time I just kept saying, " I CANNOT believe people do all this stuff naked 6 days of the week!!" I was convinced that the next day when we checked out, we would see only a few cars in the parking lot.  Oh how wrong I was!! The next day we had to go to the spa to check out and it was packed! The parking lot was packed, there were people packing out the lobby, and it appeared even busier than the day before! They were all ages too!! It was bizarre. But a nice getaway and a relaxing time!!


Next week I start my Dutch classes. They are 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 5 weeks. It's complete immersion. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Hopefully by the end, I will have a good base of Dutch and be able to build from there.

And last but not least, today I went to Risjwik to get my residency permit! I have been waiting for my renewal for 3 months, mostly because I applied for a job with the American School and they need proof that I'm legal. This permit was supposed to be for the remaining 3 years that we'll be here. After walking out the wrong end of the train station and having no clue where I was, I finally made it to the Immigration building. They handed me my permit and I realized that it was only valid until May of 2012. Of course. So I had to go back out, get a new number and come back in and wait until I could speak with someone in information. Turns out, before you can have a 5 year residency permit, you have to have one for at least a year. I've only had mine for 5 months. I am so frustrated because this will probably doom my chances for getting this job. Ugh. But we'll see. we. will. see.

Visitors!

We had visitors a few weeks ago! Amy and Brennan Delaney came and stayed with us for a few days on their Tour De Europe! We trekked to the airport at 530am to pick them up and it was soo good to see familiar faces!! They were understandably tired after flying all night but we wanted to try and keep them awake as much as possible to help them adjust to the time difference. When we got back to Leiden, I made pancakes and eggs for breakfast and introduced them to pancake syrup, which is not like the syrup we have back home. It's disgusting. But Dan and Brennan liked it. ugh.

Anyways, we then headed out to the market in Leiden, to show them what it's like on a Saturday morning and to show them a little bit of our town. Naturally, it was raining so it was definitely a real inauguration to Holland. Finally when it really started downpouring, we headed back to the apartment for some R & R. They took a short nap and so did we (hey, we were up at 430 am!)  We then decided to head to Amsterdam to show them the city and all the craziness that is there.

We walked down the main street out of the train station, that is lined with pot shops and sex museums. We made our way to the Anne Frank house. It was really fascinating. It was my first time there as well. It was really amazing to go up into the annex and imagine what it was like for the Frank family and their friends. We saw the pictures on the wall that Anne had put up, pencil markings where they measured the girls' height, and even the bookcase that hid the entrance to their annex. It was a very somber experience. Unfortunately, they don't let you take pictures inside the house so I don't have any pictures. Guess you'll just have to come visit and see it for yourself!:)

Next we headed into some shops to look for souvenirs. There is a plethora of wooden shoes, delft blue items, and tulip things to choose from. We worked our way over to the Red Light District, just to walk through it. It's pretty much like you would imagine. Lots of sex shops, sex shows,and ladies in windows. I think Brennan described it best by saying it was kind of like being at the zoo. These women were standing in windows in lingerie, waving or reading, basically waiting for customers. It was an interesting experience but we were glad to have only walked one block of it before getting out of there.

We finally headed back to Leiden, where I cooked dinner and we all went to bed pretty early. The next morning we got up to go to church. I was excited about this because this was going to be their chance to ride bikes (we borrowed some from our friends who were out of town) and really experience the Dutch life. I think it was pretty intimidating at first, with the traffic and whatnot but they caught on quickly. It was fun to introduce them to our friends at church. Afterwards we went to lunch on a canal and sat out, enjoying the sun and the boats cruising by. That evening we made dinner and played Phase 10!! Yes, it transcends continents.

On Monday, Dan and I had to work (me in the morning) so Amy and Brennan bravely ventured the train system to get to Den Hague to see the International Court (which was not allowing tours at that time, boo!) They made it back safe and sound, although tired from all the walking. We met a few friends for dinner, out near the canal again and enjoyed time chatting. Afterwards, we went and got drinks on another barge, just to be able to hang out and talk a little more. We finished out the night with the completion of our Phase 10 game. The next morning I saw them off on the bus and they were off to Paris.

It was really nice having visitors. It was cool to be able to show them around our city and for them to be able to see how we live here and what life is like. I can't wait for our next visitors!! Any takers??

South African Braai

This past weekend, instead of celebrating the 4th of July, we cultured it up a little bit and had a South African Braai with our small group. Two of our friends are from Cape Town and helped us figure out how to have a braai. It's basically a bbq but with the focus being on the meat. The way to judge if you had a successful braai is if people get "meat sweats". Yep, it's disgusting. :) Also, there should be a rugby match on the tv (or in our case, the computer). We had a great time. I could not just let 4th of July go completely unnoticed so I made 4th of July cupcakes that Amy and Brennan had brought to me when they visited(that is for another post). I also brought baked beans that were also sent from the States.

We spent a little time jumping on a miniature trampoline in the backyard. That produced laughter like no other.While it was no 4th of July bbq (because there were fireworks and hotdogs missing) it was still a really fun time.

Holidays

People often ask me how I've adjusted to moving abroad or if I'm really happy here. The majority of the time I can say that I've adjusted really well and that I'm very happy here. It's exciting living in a different country, a different continent even!  I love the experiences that I am getting to have and the new friends that I have made. I love figuring out marriage with my husband and the attitude that it's us against the Netherlands we have to have to survive. But it never fails, every holiday that approaches, I get a little emotional.

I know that I am missing out on birthdays and easter basket hunts and 4th of July barbeques. This is cherished time with family and friends. Memories are made over games of washers and watching everybody take off running when your brothers light fireworks off in the wrong direction. It's wondering every year if the rain will hold off long enough for us to shoot fireworks but desperately wanting a little rain to cool off the 100 degree temps.

Holidays are times where differences are set aside and everyone gathers to be together. Holidays are times of traditions. People might say we are making our own traditions here and we are, to an extent. But what if you like some of your old traditions, like eating homemade mac and cheese and celebrating the 4th of July? Things you can't do here. Some of the new traditions we make here, we may not be able to re-create when we move back to the States. I'm a big holiday person and traditions are important to me.


This weekend we will head off to our South African Braai (kind of like a bbq) with our small group and I'll bring along some 4th of July cupcakes. Only half the people there will really appreciate them and there won't be any fireworks to shoot off or homemade mac and cheese to be eaten.

So eat a hot dog and write my name in sparkler lights for me. Celebrate your independence and cherish the time you are spending with family and friends. Miss you all and Happy 4th of July!!