Year of Orange (jaar van de oranje) @yearoforange-blog - Tumblr Blog

Holidays

Hoi Iedereen!

Happy May! So we've reached about the two-to-three week mark again - time for an update. Also my mom requested one (I'll be honest, this is probably the biggest reason).

Queen's Night - This is a big deal here. I think it is fair to say orange and Queen's Night/Day is to the Dutch as green and St. Patrick's Day is to the Irish. On Queen's Night, or Koninginnenach (yeah, good luck with that one), there was a big music festival in the center of The Hague. At different venues all over the city live music was playing. I met up with friends and we stopped at a couple different stages to listen from everything from reggae to alternative rock. It was pretty cool because some of the bands I had heard of before. My favorites were: Mister and Mississippi, Re:Freshed Orchestra, and Kensington (the festival headliners).

Queen's Day - This year was history in the making. On Queen's Day the Queen abdicated and the Dutch inaugurated their first king in 120+ years, Willem-Alexander (aged 46). So, this made it the last Queen's Day for a long time (Willem's oldest daughter is set to inherit, so I'm fairly certain it will be back, but it will take a while since she is only ten). King Willem-Alexander changed the national holiday for next year, making it into "King's Day" and moving it a few days earlier to fall on his actual birthday. So this year was special. I visited a typical flea market - it's the one day a year that the Dutch are allowed to sell their junk on the street without a special permit. And hundreds of them do. There are designated streets and neighborhoods were people sell the stuff they don't want any more, play music, sing, sell baked goods - it seemed like most everything was fair game. I bought a 2000 piece puzzle for one euro, that was my only purchase, a successful day. After this I went to a friends house to watch the inauguration ceremony on TV.

Vogelpark - Wednesday we went to a bird park about 30ish minutes away. It was a regular-size zoo, but only for birds. I had never seen so many different kinds of parrots/parakeets in my life. Of course the big birds were highlights, along with the birds of prey demonstration (condor!), and the huge playground!

Kinderboeken Museum - Thursday I went to a book museum for kids with the boys. It was interactive and they enjoyed it. There was very little to do with reading, or history, so I was a bit confused as to the general purpose, and everything being in Dutch didn't exactly help.

Delft - Friday we went to Delft. It was my second time, but the first time while the sun was shining. It was beautiful. We climbed the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk, all 376 steps up! The kids did great in the little tiny windy stairwell, and they handled the height really well. From the top we could see The Hague in the distance.

Today is May 5, Bevrijdingsdag, or literally "Liberation Day." Here the Dutch celebrate their liberation following the German capitulation. I think this is kind of cool since most countries just celebrate V-E Day on the 8th. It's often celebrated with music festivals, there was one here in The Hague. Yesterday was the Dodenherdenking (Remembrance of the Dead). This commemorates the civilians and members of the armed forces of the Netherlands who died in wars (or peacekeeping missions) since the start of WWII. At 8pm they hold two minutes of silence, stopping public transportation and traffic.

In other news - I had my bike stolen. A huge downer, but my host dad told me not to be to worried, and that after all it was a "national sport."

Coloring in the Lines

Today Annemoon and I were coloring a beautiful picture of Ariel, the Disney mermaid. All of the sudden she looked at me, but with "the look." Immediately I knew what was coming. She then proceeded with a four year old's version of a lecture: "kijk hier op dit. En nu kijk op wat je hebt gedaan... je moet kleur in het lines"(look at what I have colored, now look at what you've colored... you need to stay in the lines). She was just so darn cute, and worried that I was messing up her picture with my lack of dedication and sloppiness. I couldn't help but start to laugh, which then got another look, because it obviously wasn't the right response either. I just couldn't believe I had been lectured by a four year old on the topic of coloring in the lines. Apparently I really need to start putting more effort into my creative endeavors, no matter what the scale.

Adventurin'

One day in numbers:

Kilometers/Miles Traveled: 700km/435mi (approximately)

Hours on the train: 8 (approx., total travel time exceeds this estimate)

Euro Amount (versus paid): 70 euros (15 euros)

Stations w/ a stopover +20 min: 5 (Den Haag, Groningen, Winschoten, Leer, Zwolle, Utrecht)

The Story: A month or so ago a friend and I bought these discounted tickets for the trains here in The Netherlands. For fifteen euros you can ride anywhere in the country within one day. The original plan was to visit Groningen and Leeuwarden, two towns in the very north of The Netherlands. We left Den Haag at 8am, Starbucks in hand and ready for the three hour train ride. The weather was a little cloudy and foggy, but we could still see the country side around us. At one point my friend remarked that we were in "the middle of nowhere." While this statement was partially true (we were in a woodsy area), I found it amusing since even the trees had, at some point long ago, been carefully planted in rows. The Netherlands is so small that every inch has been carefully planned and accounted for, so much so that this area in the 'middle of nowhere' couldn't escape the tell-tale signs of human intervention; and besides that a few hundred meters away was a bike path. There were pedestrian paths and bike paths through what looked to be hiking/nature areas. But of course, everything is flat (when I think of hiking I always include hills/mountains in my mental picture), and randomly you'd see a bench or picnic table here or there.

When we arrived in Groningen the sun decided to shine for us. We visited the two Sunday markets and walked around the centrum. Sightseeing included: part of the university, the Martinitoren, Grote Markt, Prinsenhof, and the canal around the centrum. It was an open Sunday (meaning shops were open, contrary to normal) so the town was fairly busy. We had a nice lunch (outside!) and then decided to head back to the station. Once we arrived at the station we saw a train headed for Germany and got an idea. We talked to the man at the information desk and he said it was possible with our tickets. We hopped on the train and headed East.

We had one change/stopover at this train station called Winschoten. As we pulled into the station we both looked at each other and were like "where in the world are we?!" We had one hour, so we decided to explore. I have never been in a town so dead before. We saw a handful of people, but everything was closed (which made for some great pictures!). In the hour we had I think we saw all, if not a very large percentage of the town. We wandered around, found a holocaust memorial, a couple pretty churches, and a very nice windmill - not too shabby. Finally we got on the last train that would bring us to Germany. We were sitting there, enjoying the scenery, when we saw what we thought was ticket control coming towards us. This would be our fourth time having our tickets checked, but as they got closer, we realized they were, in fact, customs/passport control. My heart decided to rocket up into my throat. This was a spontaneous trip, and as such I did not have my passport on me. As coolly as possible I dug out my Dutch Residency card and handed it over. The officer asked if I had my passport, and I explained that no, I hadn't brought it, and that we were only planning on being in Germany for a few hours. The officers looked a little confused, but we showed them our valid-only-today tickets, and thankfully they let us continue.

We got into the station around 5pm, ran into a couple German stores before they closed at six, and then took a few pictures at the station. We were only able to stay for a little over an hour because of the train schedule, but it was still pretty cool that we made it that far! The way back took us five and a half hours. At one point we slowed down and came to a stop on the tracks. It turns out it was because the train had hit a pigeon, and somehow it got stuck just right that they thought someone had pulled the emergency brake because it had caused the train to stop. A slight delay, but we still managed to make it back to Den Haag a little after midnight. A ridiculously long but highly successful adventure.

A few things -

I spent Amsterdam in Easter with my friends the Walter's. I had a great time. We took a canal tour and then braved the freezing cold, walking around, enjoying the sunshine and the city.

Thursday morning it was snowing. Today is was 45. I went for a run today past a very busy park where I saw everything from shorts to winter parkas.

The bike paths here have those black cable traffic counters that we string across roads in the US.

#amsterdam #canal #damsqaure #annefrank #architecture #dutch #thenetherlands

Two Weeks Later

It's been two weeks since my last update so I will see what I can come up with to tell you.

First Bribe - A couple of weeks ago I used my first outright bribe with Annemoon (the four-year-old). We were walking back from the speeltuin (playground), and I was with her and one of her friends. Her friend had very generously lent Annemoon her step (like a version of the Razor scooters that were so popular a few years ago) on the way over. This step was new and big and fast, while Annemoon's model was probably one of the first ever invented, small, bulky, slow, hard to operate... you get the picture. On the way back Annemoon threw a major temper tantrum about the fact that she had to take her own step (heaven forbid). We walked four blocks with her half-riding, half-walking, complaining, crying, taking her sweet time, and screaming for her mom, since the world was obviously unjust, and her friend ever so selfish for not letting Annemoon use her step... yet again. I finally couldn't take it anymore, no amount of reason was going to win this battle. I told Annemoon that if she stopped crying and rode nicely back to the house I had a surprise for her. It worked. It worked so well it was a bit scary. I didn't even have to tell her what the surprise was. When we finally dropped her friend off and returned to the house I told her that we were going to go to the candy store and she could pick out five pieces of candy for herself. I may as well have told her that she had forgotten her birthday was tomorrow! Needless to say she thought the surprise had been worth her cooperation. So far there have been no negative repercussions from this bribe, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't change.

Flat Stanley - I currently am hosting my first visitor from the US, Flat Stanley. He's originally from Texas and came here via a colleague of my dad's in Everett. It's great because he doesn't take up much space and is always smiling and happy when I take him places. If you're not familiar with the idea of Flat Stanley he is a paper cut-out of a boy that grade school students color in and then send to friends and relatives to take pictures with in places around the world (or US). I think it's a great project and had fun making a few friends help me take pictures of Flat Stanley around the city.

Lincoln - Watched the film and loved it. I highly recommend it. They do an excellent job of portraying Lincoln and of shedding a new light on the 13th Amendment and the effort it took to pass it.

Basketball - Two weekends ago my friend who I visited in Paris for Thanksgiving made it up to The Hague with a colleague of his. They were up here because his friend's daughter was playing basketball at the American School of Paris and it was the end of season tournament, hosted by the American School of The Hague. It was wonderful to see a familiar face, catch up, and swap American-living-in-a-foreign-country stories. Friday evening we did a driving tour of The Hague (due to bad weather) and then Saturday I got to watch some basketball! It was the first basketball I had watched in at least a year and it was great. It was so nice and got me warmed up for March Madness. Even though I've been terribly out of touch with collegiate sports this year I have filled out my bracket and am planning on keeping tabs on the tournament.

"Phoned" - The other day I was Skyping with a friend, and told her that I had "phoned" someone. She started laughing and to my dismay corrected me and said, 'you mean called?' Yes, yes I did. If that's the worst thing I've done, other than reply 'nee' instead of 'no' then I think I've done fairly well keeping my English the same for seven months.

And lastly - I miss sunshine and warmth and cannot wait for another European summer!

Here is a picture of Flat Stanley touring Den Haag:

Stockholm, and March

Part 1 - The Journey

On my way to Eindhoven from Den Haag I was at the main train station when an elderly woman wandered up to the group of people that were boarding the train with me. She turned to me and asked, in Dutch, if this train went to Rotterdam, I replied that I didn't know (again in Dutch) and then she proceeded to turn to the woman standing next to me and repeated her question. The woman answered, "Dit is Rotterdam," to which I, without thinking, turned, looked straight at her, and said, "nee, dit is Den Haag." Thankfully she handled it really well, and laughed. While I was right, I was half appalled and half surprised at myself for being so matter-of-fact and answering like that, and in Dutch without hesitating. I managed the bus to the airport just fine, got checked in for my flight and started going through security. They pulled my carry-on to the side and asked if they could open it. I said 'of course.' I had packed in a hurry and probably done something regarding liquids wrong, but wasn't too worried. I showed the man my bag of liquids, and he said no, that wasn't it, but that I had a bottle or something glass. Then I remembered. Sarah had asked me to bring her Speculoos. I found the jar and handed it over. Everyone around me in line was smiling and laughing softly. I heard a couple 'lekker's' and it seemed that if the line could've taken a vote I would've been allowed to bring it, but unfortunately airport security is not a democracy, and the man walked straight to the garbage and dropped it in. My flight (2 hours) and the following bus ride (80 minutes) into Stockholm City were uneventful.

Part 2 - The City

My friends Sarah and Maddie met me at Stockholm Central Station. It was so good to see them!! We had dinner and walked to the hostel I would be staying at for the next few days. Thursday Sarah and Maddie had to work, so I explored. It was a beautiful sunny day, right around freezing. I mapped it out, and I ended up walking around 10 miles. The highlights included: watching people walk out on the frozen rivers, Old Town (Gamla Stan), catching the changing of the guards, observing that the Swedish are making up for the rest of Europe not procreating (as everywhere I looked I could see at least four baby buggies), slipping on ice and having no one see it, and visiting places that I had seen when I was in Stockholm a year and a half ago (although I would recommend going now, there's something magical about seeing a city covered in snow and frozen, and right now it's not too cold :) or busy with tourists). Friday was a little more exploring, and then just hanging out at the hostel with Maddie (she works there). Saturday all of us girls went out to a palace/home used by the royal family. We had fika, which is a Swedish coffee break, at this really cute cafe there. Then we wandered out onto a frozen lake because I really wanted to walk on natural ice. It was a first! Afterwards we did a little shopping and then drove to Maddie's house. On the way we stopped at the town church. It overlooked a lake and had an extensive cemetery as well as its very own Viking stone! Maddie's house was great. Her parents were excited to meet me because they had never hosted an American before. We watched a Swedish singing competition, talked, made (and ate) yummy Swedish treats and had an amazing time. In my opinion these types of experiences make a good trip great.

Part 3 - Miscellaneous

My return to Den Haag was fairly uneventful. I had a bit of a mix up with the trains since they were working on the track to Den Haag that day, but after a few delays and an extra stop or two I managed to make it to Delft and hopped on a tram that brought me home. When I got back to the house I dropped my suitcase, changed my shirt, and then went bowling until midnight with friends.

I would like to thank my dad for being good at fixing things, and replacing my iPod battery. I probably listened to it for 15-20 hours over the course of my trip, and it's only at 75%. Thanks dad.

March -

The Netherlands knew that my sanity couldn't handle too many more gray cloudy days, and so yesterday was a balmy 50 degrees and sunny, and today was 60 degrees and sunny. Hallelujah. I ran down by the beach today. They are setting up the cafes and restaurants for the summer season. They brought in a bunch of new sand and all the construction has drastically altered things down there. I was exploring and trying to figure out how to get to this World War II looking thing and this old construction guy starting talking to me in Dutch. After we made the switch to English he asked if I was training for a marathon, I was flattered but told him no. Maybe someday. I asked how to get to the building I had seen before and he gave me directions. It was at the edge of the dunes. I will have to bring my camera next time because the view is so unique. One side is the sea, on another you can see the city in the hazy distance, and the rest are these incredibly desolate dunes that look like they belong in a different country.

The kids are going through a huge singing phase. They like to sing the top hits that are played on the radio. The problem is 95% of the time they have no idea what they are saying. Right now the 8-year-old boy cannot stop singing the chorus of "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna. And the 10-year-old boy cannot stop singing "Hangover" by Taio Cruz. I'm in no rush to start explaining song lyrics to them.

Things have resumed a certain level of normality here in Den Haag. Which means, simply put, that nothing much has happened since my last post. It was trying to snow there for a while, and while the temperatures have still been cold the weather has been gorgeous. I've been to the beach a few times with friends - to enjoy the sun, a cup of coffee at a cafe, and the emptiness of a winter beach. I am going to go on vacation next week and am looking forward to having something exciting to write about. :)

#harbor #TheHague #DenHaag #yachts #boats #marina

This just melted my heart. Before going to bed, Pepijn came in my room to see what I was working on. I let him mess around on my computer a bit; he discovered my lists and decided to make his own sticky note. It basically says he loves me. The affirmation makes it all worth it.

I am back in The Netherlands. The place where "What Not to Wear" airs on Animal Planet and nine hours ahead means I wake up starving because I slept through two meals (I have high hopes that this second part will change soon). Regardless, exciting things are happening. Queen Beatrix is set to abdicate on Queens Day (April 30), which will render one of the most popular Dutch holidays non-existent, since the next monarch will be her 45-year-old son, King Willem-Alexander. The Queen is 75, and has reigned (more or less ceremonially) for 33 years. This is a bittersweet occurrence since I have heard much about Queens Day, and the new Kings Day won't be established until next year, however I will be in-country to witness a coronation (set to take place in Amsterdam).

Home was fantastic, and at the same time I'm glad to be back. The kids helped me unpack, loved their kadootjes (gifts), and so far, aside from the hunger and night-owl tendencies, my internal clock is slowly resetting. The insane amount of snow we had before I left has melted, which I'm kind of glad about, because this means I can bike again without worrying about falling on the ice. Tomorrow I'm excited because I get to flip the page on both of my calendars. Both my mom and aunt sent me one and they have multiple pictures of my family for each month. They spruce up my room and are nice to look at.

Brittany and I at Eaglemont Golf Club - where the wedding took place. It was beautiful, you can see all the way to the Sound. I think I started with wedding things 11a Friday, and climbed in my own bed 4a Sunday morning. It was worth every minute, and penny. I wouldn't have missed standing up for this beautiful bride for anything. I've known Brittany for 11ish years. Her wedding was great. I wore a pink dress and gave a toast, there were improv entertainers, dancing, a photobooth, delicious cake, and lots of friends.

This past weekend I went on a mini-road trip with friends to Antwerp, Belgium!

New Years Eve was insane. For the week leading up to it I could hear fireworks going off throughout the city, and the day of.... well, lets just say there were several times when I fought the urge to suddenly scream, "I'VE BEEN SHOT!" I went to a house party about 10 minutes from where I live. We all went outside for the countdown and once the clock struck midnight everyone lit their fireworks. I had never seen anything like it before. All the surrounding streets must have been just as full of residents setting of fireworks, because there was a collective roar and continuous flashes, followed by enormous smoke clouds (despite the rain). Afterwards, as things began to quite down a little, people brought out their Christmas trees to burn in the streets. At one point during all of this, the police went by on their bicycles and just waved at us.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Mine was merry, but quite different this year. I suppose I should begin with the story that explains the attached video (and yes, I realize its completely in Dutch, but you can still retain the gist of it).

In addition to Sinterklaas the Dutch celebrate Christmas as well, in fact, they have two Christmas days! But Christmas is very different, at least for my host family. The Eerste Kerstdag is more of a traditional Christmas, spending time with family and friends, only without the presents. Apparently some families make the switch from Sinterklaas to Kerst once their kids get older, but Sinterklaas is the main gift-giving holiday for now, and the focus of Kerst was relaxing and family. My host mom's side of the family came over for dinner. It was a long drawn out affair, enhanced by wine, story-telling, and an amazing dinner. The first course was scallops in an orange sauce (this was the first time I'd had scallops), then the younger kids were put to bed. The following course was a green-colored truffle soup, which was delicious. The main course consisted of brussel sprouts (yum!), a pureed vegetable (I wasn't sure which), but it tasted fine, cranberries, and hare, wrapped in a type of bacon we don't have in America, and drizzled in a chocolate-wine sauce. After the meal the older kids wanted to show everyone a video on youtube, which was followed by this Dutch "classic" which I have attached. As soon as I saw everyone sitting down at the table, I let out an, "oh nooo." Everyone looked at me and started laughing as I realized what was about to happen. After the video I couldn't help but connect the dots, and thanked my host dad for not showing me the video before we ate, since it sure felt like we had eaten Flappie.

What else have I been up to?

Amsterdam - I went for the weekend with my friend Sarah, and her friend Maddy who was visiting from Sweden. The canal areas are gorgeous, exactly what you think of when you think of Amsterdam, especially around the Anne Frank House (which I highly recommend). But maybe because it was winter and gray it did not have the appeal I thought it would. It is obviously a much bigger city and is accompanied by the corresponding tourists. I think I'd like to see it on a sunny Spring or Summer day, but once would be enough too.

Christmas Eve - During the day I went skating with the kids! There is a small ice rink near the beach, not far from our house. The boys were doing circles around me, but so were most of the children there. This was, after all, only my second time skating. Thankfully Annemoon (the 4-year-old) was also learning, so we stuck together and it worked out perfectly. Later that evening I attended a Christmas Eve service at my church. It was beautiful, everything from the organ, to contemporary music, and of course the Christmas story. Following the service I met up with some friends to see the Hobbit. My thoughts: It was sooooo long, had more humor in it than I ever would have guessed, and I also found it interesting that Voldemort has seemed to have made the cross-over to Tolkien.

Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal - For the Tweede Kerstdag (Second Christmas Day) I went with a friend to Friesland to see the, "Largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world. Opened in 1920." (Wikipedia) It was very busy, as it is only operating a few days a year, and The Netherlands is experiencing more rain than usual.

Utrecht - Right now the kids are on Christmas vacation. So yesterday I went with Quintijn to Het Spoorwegmuseum in Utrecht. This was a train museum, with trains that the Dutch Royal Family had used, and many other trains from all different time periods. The collection is housed in a former station and was all decked out for winter and Kerst, including an indoor skating rink. I tried my first Oliebol (lekker), and we went on this little roller coaster thing through different re-created scenes involving very old engines (kind of like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland). Aside from the Spoorwegmuseum, what I saw of Utrecht was very nice (from the Central station to the museum by bus), and I can't wait to go back!

This weekend I went to Dusseldorf, Germany, with my friends Sarah and Brittney. We were there on a Groupon to visit the Christmas Market, which it turns out is actually six markets spread across the downtown area. We left Den Haag Central at 830a, and bus'ed for two and a half hours through the beautiful snow-covered countryside before arriving in Dusseldorf. It was cold and clear, and the snow definitely added to the Christmas atmosphere. We wandered around looking at the over-priced booths, ate delicious food, and tried the traditional gluehwein (warm spiced wine).

Wednesday of this past week was the long-awaited Sinterklaas. I went to the school with my host dad and Annemoon to see the Sint. As we approached the school I could hear one of the more popular Sinterklaas songs getting louder and louder, along with the sound of cheering children. Upon entering the schoolyard a totally unfamiliar, chaotic, entertaining, and utterly enjoyable event began to unfold. The schoolyard was filled with Dutch flags, Zwarte Pieten, two very large speakers blasting the Sint tunes, a small stage with the schoolmaster, and a 100+ ecstatic screaming jumping children, bundled up waiting for the Sint to arrive. When he did they went even more crazy, and flocked to him, shaking his hand, and receiving candy from the Zwarte Pieten. After a few minutes the schoolmaster interviewed Sinterklaas, asking him about his journey, and the events that had unfolded on the Sinterklaas Journal (a tv broadcast that has been airing every night at 6p, it documents the Sint's journey here from Spain -- every good Sint believer faithfully tunes in for this every night) and then the kids sang a song for him and then the Sint left (however, I heard that later he went on to tour each class). School was a half day (it normally is on Wednesdays) and later that day my host family celebrated Sinterklaas with their Omi and Opi. We had a traditional dutch meal. It was a casserole type thing with layers of ground beef, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes with bananas in it, and then a thin shake'n'bake type layer on the top. It was... interesting. Not the worst thing I've had here, but probably the most unusual combination, that's for sure. After dinner Sinterklaas came. The doorbell rang at 730, and three gunny sacks filled with wrapped presents magically appeared. For the next two hours we took turns opening gifts, rolling a dice and singing a song, dancing a dance, wearing a Sint hat, or some other predetermined fate. Sinterklaas even knew where I lived and brought gifts for me!! I spent most of the evening wearing the Sint hat, but thoroughly enjoyed my first Sinterklaas!

I woke up this morning to the first snow flakes. Snow is always exciting to me, coming from the Pacific Northwest, where its rare presence grinds everything to a halt. It seems a little early for snow, but it fits the mood around here perfectly. Wednesday is Sinterklaas, new toys have already been appearing around the house, and there is a very tangible excitement as everyone gets ready for gift exchanges, and for the Sint to come.

I'm sure the snow, and winter weather, will end up taking on another dimension as I spend more time in it. I'm sure it will lend itself to many new bicycling experiences. Already I find it slightly comical to see the white misty breath trails of all the cyclists on the bike paths, and while the wind is absolutely terrible to bike into, it is one of the funnest and craziest things to have it push you along.

I spent a long Thanksgiving weekend with some very good family friends, the Walter's, in Paris. We spent long days touring around and seeing things like the Arc de Triumphe, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. I also got to experience Paris by car, which was something new for me. It was nice to be above ground and see the city, but terrifying at the same time, because the traffic rules were incredibly foreign to me (for example, street lanes seem almost non-existent, there seems to be no such thing as a four-way intersection [that would be too simple], and roundabouts seem like they should be a part of a circus show, or as part of an IQ test). My favorites sights were the gardens at Versailles (the entire grounds are over 2,000 acres - including the main palace, a summer residence [Grand Trianon], Marie Antoinette's Petite Trianon, and her private playground, an English village, as well as the immaculate gardens and canal area), Fontainebleau (which was practically empty!), and going up the towers at Notre Dame. The weather wasn't the best, but Paris is so beautiful and old that I think it's impossible for it to look bad. On Thanksgiving Day we drove out to Fontainebleau, a hunting palace, about an hour from Paris. One of the things it is most famous for is its horseshoe staircase, and the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles was modeled after its own great hall. After finishing up at the Chateau we headed out to the forest in search of some rocks. Apparently 'the Font' is a world-renown area for bouldering, and Kathleen, who's very into rock climbing and that sort of thing, had this on her list of things to do while in France. I don't think I've ever hiked with a purse before, but it was great to be out in nature again! And the boulders were impressive, as Mr. Walter said, you could just imagine the king's men riding horses around the area, escaping from the castle for a while. It started to get dark, so we headed back to the city. Arriving at 7 we began to make our delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Kathleen had marinaded some small chickens, and we made homemade stuffing, mash potatoes, green beans, fruit salad (with marshmallows in it for mom :) ), and then pumpkin pie. It was delicious. It was a great trip and a Thanksgiving I will not forget anytime soon.

This picture is from Madurodam. Madurodam is a tourist attraction here in Den Haag. It has famous buildings and sights from all over the Netherlands, all miniaturized for your viewing pleasure. I have a few more pictures from the outing posted on Facebook.

The beginning of this week marked three months. It's hard to believe. My time here has flown by. I have been learning so much, about Dutch culture, European life (in general), and myself.

Winter time is upon us. While it's still technically in the 40s, you can feel it, the freeze is coming! I'm not sure how I feel about biking around looking like Ralphie's little brother from "A Christmas Story," but I'm sure I will make it work. I have already been caught in hail twice (I think I managed to be out during two of the three hail storms we've had). Once on a run, and the second time on the bike. This is infinitely worse than being caught in the rain.

Guus has fallen out of favor. It happened after one particularly terrible lesson involving every vegetable and fruit imaginable, as well as grocery shopping habits. I suppose it could have been the material of this particular lesson, but the allure of Jack Nicholson has been replaced with Guus, a 60-something-year-old man attempting to teach us the intricacies of the Dutch language.

It is two and a half weeks until Sinterklaas, and Sint fever has set in! From what I have gathered, and had explained to me (repeatedly), Sinterklaas lives in Spain. Every year he arrives in Holland about this time, on his steamboat, with his helpers the Zwarte Piet. I'm not entirely sure what he does for the next two weeks, but on December 5th all of the children put their shoes by the fire and then Sinterklaas will fill them with things.

The Rest of October and November So Far

I apologize for the lack of updates. Here is what's going on and has been going on in my life:

The other day I was putting Annemoon to bed and she asked me to 'voor lezen.' I hesitated, and then said okay, but only a 'kleine boekje.' I then proceeded to read a book in Dutch... well I tried. It took me forever. It was something about animals going camping and they end up not sleeping in a tent and going inside the elephants house instead. I think I probably projected the wrong emotions into the animals at the wrong time... but all of this is unimportant, the cool thing was that Annemoon listen intently the entire time. She didn't laugh, she patiently waited to turn the pages, and at the end gave me a big hug. If that's what it takes I'll struggle through a Dutch book any day!

A friend showed me how to watch my American TV shows!! I have caught up on this season of The Office and Modern Family. I didn't realize how much I missed my American TV.

The weather has been terrible, record rainfall I've heard. It gives a whole new meaning to bracing yourself for the rain. The Dutch love umbrellas, they even bike with umbrellas - I think they must be made of superior materials in order for this to work. There's this weather website here that I live by. It shows the weather as a bar chart - with rainfall amounts every 5 minutes. This way you know exactly when you will get rained on and how hard the rain will fall. Sometimes I am lucky enough to plan my trips during breaks in the rain, it's great.

I will be spending Thanksgiving in Paris! I am so excited!! I purchased my train tickets and will be visiting some very good friends.

This past week was a great cooking week for me. I made my first quiche and lasagna and they both turned out! I also made a couple traditional Dutch dishes - two different stamppots, which are coarsely mashed potato dishes with random things added. One had a dried fruit mix, or 'tutti frutti' as the bag said, and the other had beets. They turned out as well, but definitely aren't my favorites.

Saturday I went to see Skyfall with a friend. Intense and good. I recommend it.

Daylight Savings Time for Europe (or at least the Dutch here) was last weekend. Growing up my dad would always change all of the house clocks the night before, or my phone would automatically change. I have a flip phone now, and had to change my own clocks this year. When I woke up at '9' I went downstairs to find the clocks said '8', utterly confused and still half asleep I turned on the computer and google'd: "what time is it in amsterdam?" My answer - 7am. I went back to bed.

Today I went to Delft with some friends. It felt like my first real Dutch town. It's like a suburb of Den Haag, only 20 minutes by tram. It poured most of our time there so we ran in and out of shops and appreciated the architecture from afar. I ended up breaking down and purchased my first umbrella from the tourist office there. Definitely worth it.

Yesterday I was picking up/dropping off kids from NSO (after school programs) and a kid on the playground said, "Mevrouw, hoe laat is het?" to which I looked at my phone and replied, "Kwart over vijf." I felt so accomplished. My first 100% successful Dutch interaction. Maybe next time it will be two sentences!

I received a care package in the mail today. The minute I answered the door and saw the USPS flat rate box, I knew. I think it may have made my week. I'm so excited to have my slippers back, and jeans, and caffeine, and my favorite kind of pens you can't buy here, and candy, and more movies that I can play on the DVD players here, did I forget anything? I'm not sure. There was also a wonderful little handwritten note from my mom, the first half she used different colored pens for each letter. Just the first half... I'm thinking that got old after a while :). Love you mom and dad.

Today was a great mail day. I also received my bank card. It's really pretty, a lovely shade of green. Bank cards here have a special chip in them so you stick them into a machine in order to be read. The machines don't work with the type of cards we have in the States that slide, so I've been using cash for the last two months.

The other day I went to the local bookstore (three blocks from the house) to check up on Quintijn who was at a book signing. Turns out it was Jeff Kinney, the writer of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books! The room was packed with kids and parents, all eagerly awaiting Jeff Kinney. He was introduced by a man speaking Dutch, and proceeded to try and read a page from his book in Dutch. Even I could tell his pronunciation was terrible, and the audience seemed to be very entertained.

I got my Dutch bank account. The process took a little over an hour and was a fairly similar process to the States. My bank account package came with this cool calculator thing that I use in order to log onto online banking. I'm really excited to use it.

I have now ridden on the back of someones bike AND driven around with someone on the back of mine. It wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, but it definitely required a lot more concentration at first.

Yesterday was a rainy Friday and Annemoon was home without a friend. So we painted nails, did mini-makeovers, colored, and 'played' a few games (she's four, and they're in Dutch, so neither of us have any idea what's supposed to be happening). Along the way she discovered my camera. I think I deleted about 50 pictures of objects in my room. Now I know why kids in the film age weren't allowed to touch cameras.

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