Veronica’s First Toyota...

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.

Our 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?

Reflections on Leiden...

Tomorrow is our big moving day and I’d just like to take a moment to reflect, so bear with me.

We’ll Miss:
* The river--the beautiful view, picnics then after-dinner drinks on the dock and watching the sunset, feeding the birds (Veronica photographed these 6 signets from the dock), watching the variety of boats going by and canoeing
* Mike and Alex--we’ve really enjoyed being welcomed into their lives (above is our farewell brunch on their dock) and hope that we manage to stay in touch
* Leiden--living only 10 minutes to the quaint city center has been a blast
* The house--the size is perfect for us and we loved its quirky charm; we would have liked to buy it but the $1,000,000 price tag scared us away

We Won't Miss:
* The galley kitchen--although the new kitchen is lacking cabinet space, we can remedy that since there’s plenty of space
* The steep stairs and hitting our heads in the low basement
* The horrible Hoover combination washer/non-functioning dryer

Wonder How Many People This Affects?

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!

New Herring...

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.

Amerika: Now or Never...

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!

Loving Smoke Free Holland ...

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.)