In the Spotlight...

When my friend Susanne asked if we would mind being interviewed for Dutch TV (a reporter had asked her if she knew any Obama fans), I assumed we’d answer a few questions and be on our way. So it came as a surprise when Arbel called and asked if he could meet us in our hotel room at 3:45am and then stayed with us for about 2 hours as we went to the election breakfast to witness Obama’s victory. Thankfully he cut out many of the truly stupid things I said and we were pleased with the finished video. Click here to check it out (warning: it lasts the 1st 5 min of the 9 min shown on the clip, but if you’re patient, we are shown multiple times.)
I had no idea when I asked friends who were visiting D.C. to pick up some Obama shirts for us that they would attract so much attention. In addition to the interview with Arbel of TVWest, we were asked for quotes by several other networks (click here to watch a short clip) and newspapers. Having our 15-minutes of fame will definitely make this historical morning even more memorable for us.

Who’s the President Breakfast...

It felt strange being outside of America for such a historic election. We’d plenty of chances to talk politics over here, but somehow it wasn’t the same. We knew we didn’t just want to watch the election results by ourselves, so we were happy to sign up for an election breakfast at the famous Kurhaus in Scheveningen. Since it started at 5am, we decided to splurge and spend the night at the hotel rather than trek across town so early. That way we could stay up all night and watch the returns in style while the girls spent the night with friends. There was something quite magical about watching McCain’s concession and Obama’s acceptance speeches on a giant screen in a ballroom built in 1885 decorated with US flags. Many of the 1,200 other people attending (the majority of which were Dutch) actually missed the big announcement since it was made at 5am, but it was clear throughout the morning that most were very happy that Obama won.

A Real Dutch Halloween...

Since I wasn’t too impressed with our Halloween experience two years ago in Wassenaar, I wasn’t too thrilled about taking the girls trick or treating in Marlot, the neighborhood where we house-sat when we first arrived in Holland. After Jimmy reminded me that Halloween wasn’t all about me, I agreed that us girls would meet him at Sherri’s house. Turns out that it was a lot of fun. The neighborhood association hired a callopie to lead a costume parade of dozens of kids (about 60% Dutch and 40% expats) winding through the streets. After the parade, the girls went trick or treating while we went back to Sherri’s for happy hour. If you’re having a tough time figuring out the girls’ costumes, Ashlynn is a mermaid and Veronica is a blonde Sarah Palin despite not having $150,000 clothing budget (just for the record, it was her idea).

Reflections on Our 3rd Year - Part 2

We’re happy that our list of highs for our 3rd year in Holland is considerably longer than our lows:

• Travel: Bosnia - hanging out in Mostar; Croatia - our tin can cruise with Darlene and Mike; Finland - above the Artic Circle in Lapland to see the Northern Lights, sleep in a glass igloo and go dog sledding; France - romantic reunion in Strasbourg and Easter with friends at the Chateau; Germany - skiing and hiking in the snow; Holland - roller coasters at Efteling; Italy - girl’s weekend in Milan; Portugal - sipping port in Porto; Slovenia - couples massage; Switzerland - first visit to the Alps, Klettersteig, ropes course and hiking; US - girls flying solo for the 1st time for an awesome visit with Grandpa and Grandma, and Jimmy seeing his sister and cousins at wedding in Jax and hanging with Marc in DC
• Jimmy returning safe and sound from his long trip
• Visitors: Best buddies - Laykos from NC; family - Buddy; and new friends - Zoe and family
• Finding a new home with a great yard
• Dutch Nash Hash with toga party and Swiss Nash Hash with amazing fireworks over Rhine Falls
• Election breakfast with a happy ending and our 15-minutes of fame
• Making new friends and connecting with old friends while travelling - Zoe and family in Switzerland, Tom and Cissa in Croatia and Bill and Nina in Germany
• Jimmy: getting a new “car”- a real mountain bike; drafting first 5 chapters of a novel and not getting completely dissed by friends reviewing; making progress on remodelling dollhouse
• Melissa: co-editing a newcomer’s book, discovering Facebook, scrapping with Darlene
• Veronica: going to middle school and remembering locker combo; MVP at Jr National Ultimate Frisbee Championships; singing duet as Bride of Frankenstein in school musical; Grandpa teaching piano; Young Americans workshops and performance
• Ashlynn: changing classes away from problem boys, Roman Day

Reflections on Our 3rd Year - Part 1

November 22nd marked our 3rd anniversary of living in Holland. I’m happy to say that it’s still true--time sure flies when we’re having fun! Our trek out to Scheveningen to go to the Italian restaurant where we dined our first night in Holland was unlike previous years since there was a wintry mix of hail and sleet falling. As part of our tradition, we reflected on the highs and lows of our 3rd year. Luckily our list of lows was short and Veronica didn’t have any personal lows:

• Missing Jimmy during his extended business trip
• Our landlord selling our house--very sad to leave Leiden and the river!
  
• Jimmy: missing our trip to Lapland and Buddy’s visit, bringing home a nasty souvenir from my trip (an intestinal ailment), no chance to paraglide (life-long goal)
  
• Melissa: not being mentally or technically prepared for all the hard work on the newcomer’s book, falling off the back of the dog sled and watching the girls fly away from me
• Ashlynn: growing pains, fantastic 3rd grade teacher hurting her neck and being away for weeks
  

Making Friends... in Switzerland?

When Ashlynn played in Switzerland this summer with Zoe (an Aussie-American living in Brussels), she had no idea if they’d see each other again. She was thrilled when Zoe’s mom Jane contacted me and said she’d like to bring her three kids to see The Hague. Having faith that my daughter didn’t make friends with ax murderers, I invited the family to stay with us for two nights as our first guests in our new house. We had a great time getting to know each other and showing them some museums, the beach and Leiden. Now we’re looking forward to visiting them in Brussels. Guess you never know when you meet someone if they’re going to be in your life for just minutes, months, years or forever.

No Mistaking this for Disney...

We’d heard good things from friends about Efteling, but still didn’t really know what to expect. We were happy to see that it wasn’t just a imitation of Disney World. It definitely had its own style and sense of humor. The above ride was called Monsieur Cannibal who sings “Come along if you dare for I will stew you until you are done.” The nude troll shown here was from the great animatronic ride Dream Flight, which mostly featured lovely fairies. We got a great laugh out of the goose parade, which consisted of a lady with a whistle, a man with a drum and a dozen real geese marching around the park. And, apparently the speaking trash bins which say “Papier hier” have been famous since 1958.