Next in the queue...

Here are some pics of Prague for you to peruse until I can work on the post..

Prague

Thanks-Christmas in the States

This year I was anxious to be home for Thanksgiving - in large part because it isn't celebrated anywhere else :O) I love Thanksgiving and thanks to my cooperative family, we were able to have a large gathering all in one place - 15 for dinner at my folks place (and that's a lot of little ones running around with plenty of chaos!)

As is usual, my jet leg was ever-present and a bit unpredictable (I never know precisely when it will hit me, with what effects or for how long).

A week (just a day less than) is a very short time for such trips. I've learned that I simply can't see everyone or do everything I'd like because my body can't take the stress. Now do I not only have to rotate my US/UK family visits, but I have to spin the wheel as to who I can see or who can see me at the time.

I arrived on the Saturday prior to Turkey day and rested on Sunday and spent some quality time with my aunt Nancy. Because this would be a Christmas hybrid I had work to do on that end as well, so some shopping and wrapping was in order early in the week. I'd purchased a number of things on-line and had everything shipped to the 'rents place which worked out very well.

Nancy and I drove just a few towns away to Dedham to have lunch with my uncle Denis (who travelled from Stow to meet us and help me with my travel/time dilemma) - thanks Denis! It was a fun lunch and it was fabulous to see Denis.

I visited with my uncle Johnny and his wife Karen for a bit on the Tuesday, having some lunch with them before heading into the Mall for some last-minute errands.

Alex arrived on Wednesday evening but was ready for a full Thanksgiving day beginning the following morning - he is a travel trooper and I don't know how he does it. Lots of experience, I suppose!

Our Thanksgiving day crew included my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Joe, Brother Jeff and wife Sara, nephews Shawn and Ryan, Brother David, his wife Sara and little Dave, Dan and Hailee, as well as Joe's daughter Kristin and her wonderful hubby Tom. Also hidden in the basement were 2k and Jumbo (the cats :)

Food was enjoyed, chaos ensued, I took a nap, and then we had a mini Christmas with all the usual madness included with that activity - but it was very good fun.

Believe it or not, I did not take loads of pictures (between all the activity and the jet lag, it was just difficult), and several didn't turn out very well at all.

It wasn't long before we were back on our long journey home (overnight to London and then to Amsterdam) - and into bed for about a four hour nap at 11 a.m. Sheesh!

A couple of days to sort out where I am and need to be with the magazine and leave for Prague...next entry ... stay tuned!

Cheers and a happy belated Thanksgiving to you Americans.

More "Footie" in Holland!

Please excuse the delay - I've been very busy with the holiday season, travel and some other fun. This is the short entry, just a little local culture. Alex and I were offered tickets to go see AJAX (pronounced eye-ax), Amsterdam's home team play against Rotterdam's Spartans.

We sat in some far away seats, but they were covered so if the weather had been inclement we'd have stayed dry. It was cold, so we dressed warmly (note, include the bottoms of the Hot Chili's next time - thighs get quite chilled!)

Not only did AJAX win, but there was even a bit of what Alex would call "aggro" in the stands quite close to us. There were some Spartan fans sitting in the AJAX area and when their team scored they cheered - which spurred what looked like a bit of food throwing (flying french fries!) and some obvious verbal 'banter'. The Spartan fans were removed (as was the AJAX fan - but he was allowed back a short time later).

Anyway, it was great to see a local team play live, and they played very well.

Here are a couple of shots I was able to get.

'tis the Holiday Season

Last weekend the AWC held one if its big annual fundraisers, our Holiday Bazaar. I volunteered for food booth duty on the Sunday, and it was so much fun! I was able to practice my Dutch (I'm taking classes and love it) with lots of Dutch people and did pretty well. Keep in mind, this requires not much more than me being able to say things like "Would you like a sausage?" "That is three Euros" "Thank you" and "you're welcome"...but I did ok.

At the top here is a pic of me and my dear friend Pamela (who organized and managed the whole vent) and I, and a couple of others from the day.

The younger fella in the baseball cap on the left is Harry, husband of my friend Deb, just recently back from his tour in Afghanistan - thank you Harry for your service to our country!

The gentleman on the right (also with baseball cap) is my friend Dorsey...who was the one dressed as a woman for Halloween.

Cheers and happy holidays!

Yes, we can!

Phew! That was just AWESOME!!!

Need I say more? I think not...

Ok, well I'll say this. Yesterday I ran into a couple of friends at the grocery store. While we were chatting, a tall, older Dutch gentleman walked by, seemingly staring me down. It turned out that he was listening to my accent - and when he realized I was American he said, "Congratulations!" I said, "Excuse me, but for what?" He said, "Obama!" That was cool - especially considering that the Dutch typically don't speak to strangers, and aren't particularly warm to foreigners - but this was quite a different story.

Already the world is a bit different - and I know that it is quite something to be in the States right now. Last night on the Daily Show Stewart was doing a bit about "what is this thing people are doing - called eye contact?" What is it, the 1800's? People smiling and nodding? But what he describes is real - and it feels good to be an American right now. Really good.

I'm excited about his election, and hope, like all of us, that he does well. Hope is a beautiful thing.

A Belated Happy Halloween

Yes, Halloween is celebrated (big style, actually) in Holland, complete with trick-or-treating (well, treating anyway). Although, as it turns out, one needs to be on "the map" distributed to the kids of houses that participate. Having not known this, we had only one group of the little buggers, so we've been eating mini Kit Kats since...

Some of you may know the story of me and my fear of Halloween, which was, only in recent years, cured. But when I was six, I went out trick-or-treating with a group of kids on our street. I was dressed as a ghost that year (sheet over my head, difficult to see out of the eye holes, and tripping on the sheet...) I was having a difficult time with the costume, so I separated from the group and headed home.

Little did I know that my parents and uncles had turned our apartment into a haunted house. You need to know that Uncle Phil was a thespian, with access to professional theatre costumes and make-up, which they all used. My Uncle Denis was Quasimoto - and an excellent one at that. As I descended the hill on Patridge Street, Quasimoto appeared, hunched over and moving sideways, dragging one foot behind. I tell you, this was REALLY SCARY (especially for a six year old who didn't know that this was a costume). I cried and was absolutely terrified.

Well, Denis (those of you who know the mischevious bugger won't be surprised at all this)

was young (21 at the time) and continued with his 'act' - which caused me to get hysterical. And at that point, even though I'm sure he identified himself as Uncle Denis, I didn't recognize him. Nor did I recognize my mother, who appeared on the scene - dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West - complete with green face, long fingernails and pointy hat. Well, I got so scared that I passed out. No kidding.

He later frightened the big kids - quite a bit - so it is no surprise that a six-year-old girl would have been a bit traumatized.

So for many, many years I avoided Halloween. Until one year in my Vernon Street apartment in Norwood, my landlord (who lived upstairs) and I decided to deck the house out for Halloween, scary music pumped out the windows, dark lighting, cobwebs, headstones in the yeard, and of course, scary costumes. I got one of those black draped grim reaper things with the white ghostly scary face, and I had skeleton gloves. I sat in the front hallway with the candy bowl in my lap, hands crossed over the treats, completely still. When kids entered the house, they'd talk about this thing they saw - "Is it just a fake? A real person? It isn't moving. Should we just take some candy?" ... and when they decided "yes", I'd grab the hand in the bowl and scare the sh*t out of them! With younger kids I was less harsh - but the whole thing was very therepeutic - and Halloween no longer frightens me. I will tell you that I got a huge amount of satisfaction from scaring the teenagers!

Anyway....I digress :)

We attended a fabulous Halloween party held by Cindy and Mike Smith. Many of the expats here are in the oil business, and this party had quite a few. Parties like this are fun, in large part because one meets other expats and it is very interesting to hear where people have lived and travelled, and their expat experiences. This makes us all feel a bond to one another.

We cycled over to the Smith's, who also live in Wassenaar, Alex dressed as a construction worker and I had borrowed my friend Judy's derndel so was dressed as a little German girl.

I've included just a couple of pictures. The woman you see in the pink is not a woman at all, but my friend Dorsey. Honestly, when I arrived at the party he/she was looking at me, and I thought, "Who is that odd woman and why is she staring at me....er, why is he...??? It's Dorsey!!"

Great party. Great fun.

Doesburg

On Wednesday of this week I joined several women from the AWC on a tour of Doesburg (20 miles from Anhem, a bit more than a two-hour bus ride from Den Haag). Doesburg has been designated as an historic town, and is the home of the Martinikerk with a 94-meter-tall tower. The church is massive.

We lunched at De Waag, supposedly the oldest public place in the Netherlands. Doesburg is famous for mustard making so I brought home a jar of their finest for Alex, my mustard connaisseur. It was a lovely day, sunny but cold, and a nice way to spend the day.

Goodbye Pat!

Last week we had our last farewell to Pat Fennell, an excellent brunch hosted by Kathy Anderson. It wasn't as raucous as the dinner at Impero Romano...but a lovely morning and a fun group.

Here are a few pics from the brunch.

A Visit from Friends

On the 18th of October we welcomed our friends, Trevor and Jo, and their children, Niamh and Owen for a very nice visit. Trevor, by the way, was the best man at our wedding. It is ALWAYS a blast to spend time with the Arthur-Bevans clan, and this visit was no different.

We had an excellent visit, the highlights of which included a visits to Madurodam and Amsterdam and more than one visit to a local pannenkeukenhuis. We travelled by bus, tram and train (and a canal boat tour) which the kids really enjoyed. You'll see in some of the photos a small bear...this is Star Bear which belongs to Niamh, and Jo likes to photograph Star in all of his adventures :)

We played several games of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit - Alex teamed with Jo and I with Trevor. Alex and Jo won the first evening, and Trev and I came in strong the next night for the win.

Alex had 'won' a pair of tickets for a UEFA Champions League football game in Eindhoven at the silent auction at the Pink Ribbon Gala, so Jo and I sent our men to the game on the Wednesday evening while we made a delicious meal of slow roasted lamb and played a game of Finish Lines - also quite a bit of fun.

Niamh (6) and Owen (3) are two of the most well-behaved and charming children I know. Even when we went to Amsterdam to explore the Van Gogh museum they never whined or complained - they are simply delightful. I will say that Owen's pronunciation of my name "Lez-a-lee" and his desire to hold my hand and skip everywhere we went gave me warm fuzzies. I taught the kids to say "how you doin'" in the style of Joey Tribiani...Really it is a laugh to hear two children with British accents mimicking this famous line from Friends. Very, very funny.

It was such fun to have our dear friends visit (although the visit was simply too short) and we look forward to their return perhaps next year.