So... November 15th finds me still living in the Netherlands, though we have relocated from Amsterdam to Sassenheim. While this is good because we all have more space, I had about 3 months of miserable coughing and asthma-type wheezing until Ralph determined that there was years worth of mold under the bedroom floor (I'm quite allergic to mold). The mold is gone, and the floors have now been replaced. What a lot of work for a rental! We also had a minor fiasco involving a small flood of hot water on the main floor after the kitchen was renovated by the housing corporation's workmen (I'm assuming they were the cheapest bid). So most likely there is now mold growing under our "new" kitchen sink. The same (cheap) workmen are coming on Monday to redo the bathrooms and will "check out" the kitchen at that time. The painting is finally almost done (I really hate painting), and after a steroid-powder inhaler for my "hyperreactive airway" from the huisarts (general practitioner), I am finally starting to feel healthy again.
Ralph is gone most of the time working and I am moderately busy with another (my third) language course in Leiden. This course is actually a good one, and while that is a good thing in itself, it is quite depressing to learn how inadequate my courses in Amsterdam were. I am definitely now in the bottom of the class and can express myself in Dutch the poorest out of the bunch. The other students seem to feel bad for me, that poor American girl, and look at me pitifully when I try to answer the teacher's questions in Dutch. (What is wrong with our country that we don't properly become multilingual like the rest of the world?!) The rest of the time I contemplate writing a book because the longer I study Dutch the more apparent it becomes that I may never be fluent enough to be a nurse here. If I didn't miss being a nurse so much I would lament more that I had not chosen a more easily transferrable career like IT, or ... retail. But, I do miss it.
Libby came to visit the beginning of October and we had a blast. The weather was typically Dutch- mostly windy and rainy- but Libby is a trooper and we made the best of it. On one day the sun shined and we took advantage by riding the bus to the beach. We lasted about an hour in the wind until our ears (especially Max's) were too cold to take anymore. It was still nice to see the ocean.
Mom and Sue came to visit last Thursday through Monday and that also was a blast. The weather was cold, as it is now winter here, but strangely enough it didn't rain! We drank a lot of coffee (I LOVE my Senseo). It was fabulous. Max was SO happy to see Mom during her visit here. He apparently wanted to show his love and appreciation. One evening while we were playing a game of Settlers of Catan, he chewed one of his prized bones in half and disappeared upstairs. Mom and Sue discovered upon returning to their bedroom for the night that he had placed one piece under Mom's pillow and one piece under Sue's pillow. Too cute.
Mom and Sue explored Sassenheim, including the Thursday market where they found a stand that sold what looked like a hundred different kinds of drop (licorice). Mom purchased fresh Freesia and some other flowers at the market as well, and as I sit here now in the living room there are precisely 6 bouqets of fresh flowers that have lasted well beyond her visit. Unfortunately we had only one vase so the other 5 are in: a wine decanter, an empty port bottle, a wine bottle, a Heineken beer bottle, and a Heineken glass.
Leiden was the next adventure. They took a picture of a windmill, did some shopping, and drank coffee and ate carrot cake while I was in class. Then we ate dinner with Ralph at an Argentinian steakhouse. I now have to agree with him that not ALL the steak in the Netherlands is merely imitation meat-flavored rubber. Although the reason for this was clearly stated in the menu: "IMPORTED U.S. BEEF."
The last two days of their visit we had lovely lazy mornings that included Dutch pastries and coffee. We also visited the beach at Noordwijk, which because the sun was shining was beautiful, but it was quite chilly and windy. Max initially ran around comically as he usually does, but then tried repeatedly to retreat to the dunes to hide his ears from the wind. (He is too smart.) Before leaving the beach Ralph and Sue and raw herring in typical Dutch fashion. Mom and I tried not to be too cowardly and took little bites of herring before enjoying our deep fried shrimp and cod. Surprisingly, the herring didn't taste fishy at all, but the texture is just too squishy for me.
After the beach we went to Amsterdam to see the Van Gogh museum. I would highly recommend it. We then ate dinner at a Nepalese-Tibetan Sherpa restaurant in Amsterdam that was really fantastic. Amsterdam is really pretty at night. The canals have light-strings on them year-round, but now the Sinterklaas/Kerst (Saint Nicholas/Christmas) lights are up and it is extra pretty. We walked quite a bit before returning home for the night. The next day we returned to Amsterdam to see the Bloemenmarkt (flower market), to do a canal cruise, and to get some more licorice and stroopwafels before our flight to Italy in the morning.
Italy was amazing. We flew right into Florence where Libby has been studying the past few months. She had all the best stores, restaurants, gelato eateries, musea (museums in American English), and photo-op locations figured out and expertly guided us through them (while speaking the Italian she's learned!) during our stay. I didn't even feel like a tourist! We drank wine, walked a lot, laughed a lot, and the evening of Mom's birthday we went to a point overlooking the city and toasted to her and the trip before walking back down to an amazing restaurant for dinner. The food simply could have not been any more delicious, and hanging with the girls was so much fun. Italy is beautiful and I loved every minute of my visit!
Ok so that brings you up to now. I've arrived back in the Netherlands and am back to reality, trying to catch up on Dutch homework and cope with an abundance of alone time again. Mom and Sue are back in Rochester and Libby leaves Florence in two weeks. I'm trying to look forward to the unfamiliar Dutch holiday season and trying to not be too resentful that they don't have Halloween or Thanksgiving here. I'll keep you posted with how that goes...