Holiday Season Starts...

The Amsterdam Sinterklaas Hash was on December 6, the day after Sinterklaas’ birthday and the same day he reportedly returns to Spain. I ran with Abbie, who happens to be black, and she was asked several times if she’d missed the boat.

Veronica had several holiday parties including this one at the LCR, a formal dinner with the Aye-Ayes and a group dinner in her flat.

She arrived home for the first time in three months on the 12th, just in time for the final two nights of Hanukkah. Although we’d had good intentions while she was away, we were pretty rubbish at actually lighting the candles. 

Just after the term was over for the littles (who aren’t so little anymore), we hosted Sally, John, David and Andrew for dinner. The girls talked the boys into making vegan gingerbread cookies, which were pretty good. 

Walky Barky in the Parky...

One of the AWC ladies started a dog walking group called Walky Barky. I can’t usually participate because it’s too complicated to get to where they’re meeting by public transport. However, one Monday in November they met in Wassenaar so I invited Gillian to join me (and drive us).

It was so nice walking through the woods with all the fallen leaves.

It’s always great when there’s a chance to walk Kati somewhere new. She got along with the other dogs and behaved really well.

Here she is showing off how high she can jump as Gillian gave her a treat. Our attempt to get all the dogs to cooperate for a group photo completely failed.

We Love Your Genes...

In anticipation of the one-year anniversary of IMG’s Instagram scouting campaign called We Love Your Genes, they asked all of the models scouted on Instagram to take photos and shoot a short video of themselves wearing the WLYG sweatshirt somewhere iconic in their country. Although technically Ashlynn was scouted before WLYG even existed, she is considered one of the first WLYG girls. Since she didn’t want to be by herself in a video, she asked Stella to join her in Rotterdam. Here they are at the Cube Houses...

...and at Market Hall.

While Jimmy was shooting the video, the girls were photobombed by a fellow walking past. They sent that segment to IMG and they posted it here on the WLYG Instagram account.

More Photo Shoots at UEA...

Although Veronica doesn’t take as many photos these days, this gorgeous shot taken at UEA proves that she hasn’t lost her touch in the least.

She also goes out occasionally with Chloe, one of her flatmates, to take portraits. 

She hasn’t taken any self-portraits since moving, but luckily Chloe captured some great shots of her.

Climate March in London...

Veronica participated in a protest on campus to persuade the university to stop investing in fossil fuel companies. When she found out that London was hosting one of the world’s largest Climate Marches for the COP21 Paris Conference, she was very interested in attending. When she found out that her school was providing a bus to transport the students to the march, she quickly registered.

She enjoyed marching with homemade signs with her Environmental Science friends...

...and being part of such a large movement of people concerned about what mankind is doing to the planet.

Veronica Loves Aye-Aye...

Veronica has fully embraced being part of the UEA Ultimate Frisbee Team Aye-Aye (in case you aren’t familiar, an aye-aye is a lemur with an extended middle finger which would be ideal for catching Frisbees). She had to borrow this uniform for her first Ultimate tournament which took place outside of London.

Despite not winning, she had a great time.

She also had fun participating in the naked Frisbee photo as part of the UEA team sports fundraising calendar. As great as she looks in this photo, the team decided to retake the photo using a different pose and different photographer. Instead of being in the final photo, she ended up taking it; she also photographed the tennis team.

International Award...

It’s always fun to see the kids all dressed up for an awards ceremony. Ashlynn even bought a blazer for the International Award Ceremony where she received her Bronze Award.

Proud Parents!

Ashlynn and Sophie

It was nice seeing Andrew earn his Silver Award at the same ceremony.

High Tea with Johanna...

At an AWC fundraiser last spring, Johanna bought High Tea for 12 provided by another member of the club. I was honored to be invited to this special afternoon hosted at Susan’s lovely apartment with fantastic views of The Hague. Each place was set with a different set of china that Susan talked friends into donating as we were each given our place setting as a parting gift; I was thrilled that I managed to swap mine for a lovely set from Japan.

The food was incredible and the Prosecco was flowing while the rain poured down outside.

Since Johanna’s movers were coming just a few days later, I suggested to the group that we get her a farewell gift. Georgia kindly arranged to purchase this painting of The Hague.

Red Skies at Night...

We don’t see a lot of sunsets in Holland, but one in particular in mid-November had me grabbing my camera. After taking this one from our window, I ran outside to catch a wonderful show by Mother Nature.

If the hand of God had reached out from the sky, I wouldn’t have been surprised as the sky was that dramatic.

Ladies in Red...

We had originally intended to skip the Marine Corps Ball this year to save money, but couldn’t resist when Terri offered us her tickets after her plans changed. Not only is it always a fun evening, but it was an excellent chance to spend some extra time with Johanna and Frank before they moved to Saudi Arabia. We began the evening with bubbly in their room.

We also got a room at the hotel, the posh Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk, with an excellent view of the helicopter landing pad on the beach.

It was a bit strange being there without Terri or Jan, but great to see Seanette again.

As is custom, Jimmy takes photos of the AWC ladies with the Marines. This year we were extra proud to have a female Marine front and center.

There were a lot of ladies in red on the dance floor; despite not wearing red, Roberta snuck in the photo as a big fan of the Marines.

Escaping the Zombies...

Here’s a funky shot that a friend took of the village. 

No surprise, but once we arrived back in the village, the zombies were all waiting for us.

Here is Celine (aka Start Me Up) pretending to be road kill. 

Here is Andrea (aka Best Before) outmaneuvering the fastest zombie. The three of us all managed to get to the end still alive; in fact, Opee still had his original two lives. What a great hash!

Off into the Countryside...

After a drink stop along the shore of the river, where we were temporarily safe from zombies, the trail led us out of the village. Along the way, we saw some interesting graffiti.

The trail eventually led us into the countryside. It was quite humorous because we were convinced that the zombies were waiting for us around each farmhouse, but we were wrong. Rather than waiting to ambush us, they were most likely sitting in the bar relaxing while we nervously ran about 5K around the farmfields and past the power plant.

A Zombie Hash, That Is...

We had never been to a Zombie Hash before, so weren't sure what to expect. We surely didn’t expect to meet the zombies before the hash started; they were a surprisingly friendly group. We were each given a string to put around our waist with two paper tags signifying two lives. The goal was to get to the finish with at least one life remaining.

Since there were only 6 zombies chasing about 35 hashers, the odds were actually in our favor. However, there were several tricky spots including this lot next to the church and cemetery.

Here I am just getting past one zombie, not realizing that I was heading straight into another just as the path narrowed with no way around. Although I lost one life here, my dear husband managed to earn me another as there were several life tags hidden in some of the abandoned buildings, which he quickly snatched up and gave to me and Andrea, our driver.