Sorry to have been lax in my updates! I have been a busy bee with the AWC, and on September 10 we held our semi-annual Kick Off meeting - my first public event as President (and one which required a speech - argh!). Our speakers included the Mayor of Wassenaar and the new US Consul General. Not bad. And it went well. Very well.
Among other things keeping me occupied, on September 11 I attended the annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at the American School here in Wassenaar, and on Sunday, Sept 13 I attended a Gallery opening at the Club at which I unveiled a painting donated by "friend of the AWC" artist John Proctor for an auction supporting breast cancer research in the Netherlands (to be auctioned at the Oct 1 reception mentioned above).
I have also continued with my Dutch lessons and am making good progress. Hmmmm - just more than 1/2 of the way through our assignment, I can string some sentences (and even paragraphs) together. I'm reading very short stories as well, but looking up vocabulary makes this a slow process. By the time I have any real grasp on the language it'll be time to move on from Holland (where, by the way, is the only place where this bloody difficult language is of any use at all!)
I will be meeting the new U.S. Ambassador in a few weeks - but I'll post about that as it happens.
As I did last year, I attended a luncheon held by the AWC on Prinsjesdaag (the second Tuesday in September), which is the day the Queen opens parliament here in The Hague. This involves a huge procession which escorts to Queen to parliament, where she addresses the country, and her return trip. Inside the restaurant, a Dutch woman narrates for the guests (first in Dutch and then in English) what is happening, who is passing by, and she also dictates verbatim the Queen's actual address (just in Dutch :)
The luncheon is held in a wonderful Indonesian restaurant (a delicious rijstaffel buffet) which is located on the corner of the street along which military personnel (some on foot and some on horsebac), members of the Royal Family and, of course, Queen Beatrix herself pass in her golden carriage pass on their way to Parliament. Our event is held on the second floor which is perfect for bird's eye viewing without having to be on the street level trying to see around and through the elbows of some very tall Dutch folks! For a few hours the streets surrounding the area where the procession takes place are closed and thousands of people come to watch, many donning their orange hats and boas to signify their "Dutchness" :) I wore a simple, elegant orange scarf and some jewelry with orange stones - all of which were gifts from my mother-in-law - lovely and classic :o)
This year the AWC invited members of the BCH (British Club of The Hauge), the IWC (International Women's Club) and the PWC (Petroleum Wives' Club) - (yes, the Club names are approaching being outdated as neither are all wives, or even women, for that matter). The picture above is me with the current President, Patricia Hollamby.
It was a relaxing day and I took photos of everyone and made this little film. Enjoy!
The p
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