Sample Shots versus the Final Product...

She also sent us a few sample shots, including this one in Burberry.

There were two final shots in this Cruella de Vil dress.

Here’s two sample shots wearing Michael Kors...

...and the one final shot. 

Lastly, here’s a sample shot in Alexander McQueen...

...and the final shot.

First Job in Seoul...

Less than one week after arriving in Seoul, Ashlynn had her first job: an editorial in designer clothes with a circus theme for Noblesse Magazine, a Korean upscale lifestyle magazine. It was great that she sent us a few behind-the-scenes shots.

Here’s the final shot in this Gucci outfit.

Here she is backstage in Chanel...

...and here is the final shot.

And here is our clown backstage...

...and on the stage wearing Dior.

Unlike in Tokyo where Ashlynn went to jobs on her own, in Seoul someone from her agency went with her to every job to act as a translator. She said that because she couldn’t communicate with the crew, she really got into acting in each of the different scenarios.

So Many Goodbyes...

We didn’t have much family time together in early 2019 as Ashlynn was leaving on January 3rd and Veronica was leaving on the 4th, so on the 2nd we went out for a nice Vietnamese lunch.

 That evening Jimmy bleached Ashlynn’s eyebrows...

...and the following day we said goodbye to her at Schiphol. She had a lot of luggage on this trip as the plan was to spend eight weeks in Seoul followed by eight weeks in Sydney (although we now know that she’ll be gone much longer than those four months). Her carry-on was her computer squeezed into her DJ kit. It was very strange kissing her goodbye knowing that she was traveling to Asia on a one-way ticket; the plans for Sydney were still just tentative at the time.

The next day we borrowed my friend’s car to take Veronica to the ferry. Poor Kati was very sad once she realized that we weren’t picking someone up but rather saying goodbye to Veronica, who was heading back to UEA a few days early to finish her dissertation.

New Year’s...

While Ashlynn went to Rotterdam with her friends to dance until the wee hours, Carlin and Kent joined Jimmy, me and Veronica for dinner and a wild round of Cards Against Humanity.

Once again Voorschoten didn’t have an official fireworks show, but the neighborhood didn’t disappoint as there were plenty of big fireworks shot off in every direction.

Ashlynn stayed at Sophie’s and then joined her at Scheveningen Beach for the New Year’s Dive.

They were joined by 10,000 other crazy folks that ran into the cold North Sea to start the New Year.

Sushi Night...

Ashlynn was very excited when her upgraded DJ kit arrived the following day, in time to take along on her next big trip.

Veronica and Andrew proved that some kids never outgrow playing in boxes.

Ashlynn was very excited to play with her new deck.

It was great to have the four kids together again making another delicious sushi dinner. These family gatherings are very rare these days since David is now working in Aberdeen, Veronica and Andrew are at university in England, and Ashlynn is busy seeing the world.

Now that all four kids have flown the coop, we have started going on a monthly date night with Sally and John which is great fun.

13th Anniversary Celebration...

One month and five days late, we made our annual pilgrimage to La Lanterna in Scheveningen to celebrate the anniversary of our arrival in the Netherlands.

The restaurant had expanded since our last visit and the old familiar faces were gone, but luckily the food was still great. As always, we reflected back on the past year and made our list of highs and lows (which I posted on December 29 and January 4).

Afterwards we walked down to the beach to check out the progress on the giant bonfire being constructed for New Year’s Eve. While we had originally planned to head to the beach to see it lit on New Year’s Eve, I had second thoughts and so we skipped it. It was just as well as it nearly turned disastrous when firenados took off down the beach. Luckily no one was injured.

Christmas Lights in The Hague...

The next day we headed into The Hague for the long-overdue celebration of our 13th anniversary of living in the Netherlands. We had missed the Christmas market, but still found plenty of festive lights in town including in front of the Mauritshuis.

Loved the reflections in the ornaments of the museum and the Prime Minister’s office.

Also loved this stork I spotted above a door of a random building.

The girls were thrilled to have a chance to get oliebollen, traditional deep-fried dough dipped in powdered sugar.

The Grote Markt was also very festive with a large tree and lots of lights. In the foreground you might spot a statue of a fat man. This is Haagse Harry, a character from a local comic strip. Apparently Harry is unemployed, smokes pot all the time and is rude but has a heart of gold. Harry’s creator died before the statue was made and supposedly his ashes were incorporated into the clay.

We enjoyed the view from the rooftop terrace at Bleyenberg, but it was too cold to actually sit outside so we had our cocktails inside instead.