The girls are proud to have their first summer jobs. When their school music teacher realized that we lived around the corner, she recruited the girls to catsit while she’s on holiday in France. They go over to her house twice daily to feed, play with and let the cat in/out of the house. Their other job this summer is very unique in Holland--pool cleaning. They still have a lot to learn, but they’re getting better at it.
It may have taken me 25 long months, but the odometer on my bike finally hit 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). I know this doesn’t sound like a lot compared to my triathlete and mountain biking buddies or to Jimmy, who averages 4,500K (2,800 miles) per year riding to work (I don’t have an exact number since he doesn’t have odometer). However, considering our buddy Jim had predicted I’d only last 3 months without a car, I’m proud of my 2,000K. And the next 2,000K should go a lot faster now that we’re within biking distance of school. In fact I’ve included this photo of the girls on their last train and tram ride to school as a reminder that we won’t be running to catch the train anymore. On bad weather days, Ashlynn and I will still take a tram and Veronica will take a bus since she’s moving up to the middle school in September.
A most unusual building with a 115-foot human on the outside recently was completed along the highway near Leiden. Yesterday we had a chance to go to Corpus and find out what all the buzz was about. We spent close to an hour on a multmedia tour of the body. As we walked along gigantic body parts with our audio guides, we learned through a series of short videos and 3-D movies about human reproduction (luckily the G-rated sperm plus egg, not the X-rated kind), the brain, the senses, the heart and digestion. It was a technologically impressive and educational journey that we all enjoyed and didn’t want to end. Afterward, we wandered the interactive sections that included mountain biking simulators, computer quizzes and a chance to have your photos taken for a very cute video. Not sure how long these links will work, but check them out here: Veronica and Ashlynn (click on: Bekijk de Clip)
The 4th/5th Grade Summer Fair is always a big hit with the kids throughout the school. The older kids spend a few weeks designing, building and marketing a game for the younger kids to play. It’s a great learning experience for all the kids as they learn about handling money as either the business owner or the shopper. Veronica and three of her friends painted a map of the world then built a maze over it with the goal of getting a marble through a hole in a country where the Olympics have been held. They collected 10 cents for 3 tries with all money going to a school in Romania. Over $5,200 was raised from the various games plus the sale of food and used books and toys.
Last year, the girl’s school spent a small fortune on installing a man-made nest in an attempt to attract storks. It succeeded in attracting a pair of storks to the school yard, but they rejected the man-made nest (which was later occupied by a pair of Egyptian geese) and built their own nest in a tall tree instead. They had three babies and each day we tried to catch sight of them. This year, the PTA donated the funds to install a video camera aimed at the nest, which you can see on the bottom left of the above photo. It’s been very fun watching this year’s two babies grow over the last two months as the video is transmitted to all the classes. I was thrilled when Ashlynn’s teacher, who’s the resident expert on storks, led me up an extension ladder onto the school’s roof so I could get these photos of the babies practicing lift-off. Unfortunately, they failed to make their first flight before school was out for the summer.
While I didn’t get my first Toyota until I graduated from high school, Veronica got her first one over a month before her 11th birthday since we won’t be together for her big day. Like mine, hers is also used but unlike mine, hers is useless to get to the movies.
Since I never learned how to sew, I’m useless in helping teach her. Lucky for her, Jimmy does know how to sew and after fumbling with the bobbin for awhile, gave her a basic lesson. Hopefully she’ll learn quickly, because I’ll have several sewing jobs around the new house.
While we would have loved to have stayed in our old neighborhood, there weren’t any rentals available. Leiden Centrum would be fun, but not very practical. The girls will be in two different schools starting in September, so it made sense to search somewhere between the two so Veronica can cycle or take a bus on her own. Luckily we found something we liked right away. As you can see, we’re now in a detached house which is unusual in this area. This particular house was built in 1960 amongst what was once all greenhouses to be the greenhouse owner’s home. The photos are somewhat misleading because it looks larger than it is. The ceilings are so strongly sloped upstairs that much of each room can only be accessed by ducking. Luckily, there’s a first floor master and the girls are still short. Most importantly, the yard is fantastic and it has a two-car garage where we can store all our junk. There’s also an interesting feature that is very unique to Holland. Any guesses?
Tomorrow is our big moving day and I’d just like to take a moment to reflect, so bear with me.
In March 2008, the Dutch parliament outlawed bestiality and pornography involving animals. Sex with animals and the making of animal pornography now will carry a punishment of up to six months in jail. Previous Dutch law only forbade bestiality when animals were found to have been mistreated (apparently the definition of mistreated must have been open to debate). Animal pornography is explicitly forbidden in 80 countries and pornographers had lobbied fiercely against a Dutch ban to no avail. I’m sure the cows and sheep are relieved!
It’s always a big deal here when the new herring are first caught in the spring in the North Sea. The first bucket of herring is sold for charity and this year over $85,000 was raised. Our friends went to the big kickoff ceremony on Flag Day at Scheveningen Harbor and brought some to share for Ashlynn’s birthday party. The fish aren’t cooked, but are soaked for 5 days in a salty brine. The heads are cut off and they’re gutted, but the tails are left on and there are still small bones. While Jimmy tried one during our visit back in 2004, thus far I’d avoided having any. Peer pressure’s a powerful thing and I felt compelled to try one, but skipped rubbing it in raw onions as is traditional. Much to my surprise, I liked it! Don’t be surprised when you visit if I introduce you to this Dutch sushi.
I definitely did a double take when I walked past a Dutch travel agency and saw the entire front window filled up with Uncle Sam. Their brochures encouraged trips to New York, Orlando and the National Parks, reminding their customers that gas, Levi’s and Coke are all 50% cheaper in the States than here. Since the dollar has tanked so drastically, it’s now a bargain for Europeans to vacation and shop in the US. When we moved here 2.5 years ago, the exchange rate was 1 Euro = $1.18. It’s now over 1 Euro = $1.50, which is a fall of a third. Luckily we’re paid in Euros. Not the best news for you as a potential visitors, but remember that a free place to stay for a week would save about $1,000! Happy 4th of July!
Starting yesterday, Holland finally went smoke free as one of the last EU countries to ban smoking indoors. Not only will we welcome this change inside restaurants and bars, but inside shopping malls as well. This will especially make a nice change at the small indoor winkelcentrum near school where folks smoke while walking around, sitting on benches in the middle and in the open cafe in the center. Apparently the infamous coffeeshops are able to work around the ban since it only applies to tobacco, although there are areas of Amsterdam that banned funny little cigarettes a few years back (the above signs were being stolen regularly, so now you can buy your own.)
