New Year's Resolutions

In November of last year I thought my "theme" for 2013 was going to be Family. I would move back to the States, get a job, and spend as much time with my family as possible, given I've been away from them for an entire year (minus two and a half weeks at Christmas). That was before I learned I would be staying in the Netherlands until May. Now I've decided that my "theme" for 2013 should be No Regrets. In the year that I've lived here I've been to three different countries and explored six different cities in the Netherlands. In twelve months that's not a lot. There have been so many weekends where I've looked back and thought "Why didn't I get out and DO something?" I have plenty of good excuses: too tired, no money, it was raining/snowing/icy, just didn't feel like it. But I would hate to move back to the States in May and have a list of regrets that equaled my list of things I was happy I had done. So here is my current list of places to see in the next four months:

• Cologne, Germany
• Venice, Italy
• Paris, France
• London, England
• Brussels, Belgium
• Luxembourg
• Various Dutch cities including Utrecht and Delft

There's No Place Like Home

Home... There's just something about it. The way it smells when you've been gone for more than a week, the way the floor creaks in particular places, the way the door frame in the kitchen is a little loose just shoulder high and only I know it because only I use that particular spot to as a handle to swing myself out into the hall. There's also the food, which is the epitome of comfort, and the people who are so happy to see me and don't mind me acting like a crazy imbecile.

The phrase I would use to describe my visit home was "Best Christmas Ever." What is it about having a baby in the house again that makes Christmas special? I got to meet my nephew in person for the first time ever, and he is... well, he defies description. Amazing, spectacular, intelligent, adorable, happy, chubby.... The adjectives go on! We were a little concerned that he would be overwhelmed by all the doting, hovering relations, but he took it like a king. There was a look on his face when they first arrived that was almost a "You look strangely familiar, and obviously you are happy to see me, so I'm just going to be OK with you holding me" look. At the beginning my sister (the Child's mother) kept saying "All these people love you" in a very reassuring voice, which helped. Oh my, the way he looked at his mother! It's like the sun, moon, stars, and earth all revolve around her! So cute.

Now it's back to work, and we've hit the ground running with a stomach bug right off. Hopefully it will be confined to the Middle One and we're finished with it!

Just Keep Breathing

I leave for the U.S. of A. in 2 days and 15 hours. It's so hard to believe it's almost here! I keep thinking it's going to feel like forever, but the days are really flying by.

I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

Lately I have been thinking about heaven. I am going home for Christmas in 16 days and the anticipation is about to give me a heart attack. There have been moments when I have been so excited that my chest hurts and my heart feels like it has stopped. Is that what it is supposed to be like to long to be with Jesus? Are we supposed to feel like that all the time? I think that would maybe just kill me, but oh, the perspective it would give. Recently when the girls have been giving me a headache I just stop and think "-- days!" and instantly my heart sings and I am able to respond cheerfully and not out of anger. Looking forward to going home has also helped me to learn to enjoy anticipation. There is something special about longing for something this way. It is a different special from the fulfillment of that longing, and they should both be enjoyed in their own way. So for now, 16 days until I get to be HOME!

Sinterklaas

How to describe Sinterklaas... I suppose the only comparison that makes sense is to Santa Clause. There are marked differences, however. Sinterklaas doesn’t live in the North Pole, he lives in Spain. He doesn’t have a sleigh pulled by reindeer, he rides a white horse named Amerigo. He doesn’t have elves or brownies that help him, he has helpers, all of whom are named Pieter (Peter). These helpers are called Zwarte Piet, or Black Piet, because they are all black, descendents of Spanish Moors. The Pieters are all very silly, and sometimes very stupid. Every night between November 20 and December 5 children leave out a shoe, a bowl of water and lump of sugar for Amerigo, and then they sing songs about Sinterklaas before they go to bed. Sinterklaas and the Pieters come every night to leave gifts and peppernoten (ginger-snap type cookies) in the children’s shoes.

During this time parents often leave notes purportedly from Sinterklaas in the children’s shoes, citing instances of disobedience or misbehavior, and encouraging good behavior. Any unwanted behavior during the day is quickly checked with the threat of Sinterklaas finding out and not visiting that night.

Today Sinterklaas visited the town where the girls go to school. He started at one end of town and ended up at the large meeting hall near the school. As he rode his (wooden) horse through the town, people joined in and walked behind, making a parade. Accompanying Sinterklaas were about forty Zwarte Piets, about twenty of whom made up a small marching band playing traditional Sinterklaas songs. The rest of the Piets ran around the crowd acting silly and passing out peppernoten and candy to everyone. They would knock on the doors of some of the houses and give peppernoten to the people inside. By the end some of the Piets didn’t even knock, they just shoved peppernoten and candy through the mail slot into the house and moved on! When the parade arrived at the meeting hall everyone went in and sang Sinterklaas songs.

It was so much fun. The girls loved it, even the Eldest, who doesn’t believe any more that Sinterklaas is real. It was a tad grating on my politically correct American sensibilities at first, being surrounded by white people in black-face, but I got over that quickly enough, and had a marvelous time.

This is a picture I found on Google of Sinterklaas and two of his Zwarte Piets:

Ruts

It's funny how even living in "exotic" places one can get into ruts consisting of daily routine. Not that this is a bad thing, but it takes a concentrated effort to shake off the rut and remember "I'm living in Europe!" long enough to go out and SEE this place. The countdown to my final departure has begun in the back of my head and I've only been to two countries other than the one in which I'm living. Conversely I've seen a lot of the Netherlands. Off the top of my head I've explored at least five different towns/villages/cities, including Amsterdam. I've been to loads of museums, figured out (sort of) how the trains work, and I vaguely understand the road signs. We'll see if I can cross any other places off my list before I finish this job.

Tip #1 for international train travel: Make sure you're on the correct train. This may sound obvious, but quite often two trains are attached for the beginning of a trip, then break off at some point during the journey and go separate directions. For instance: On my way back to the Netherlands from Salzburg this summer, my train from Munich to Utrecht was coupled with a train going to Paris. Since I had about ten seconds to make my connection I dove in the nearest open door and started through the train to find my seat. I went the wrong way (how do you get lost on a train...) and ended up on the portion of the train going to Paris. I (hastily) turned around and headed back the other direction, eventually arriving at my seat. So make sure you're on the correct train!

I love bridges, and this country has them absolutely everywhere!

Autumn Days

I really shouldn't post about what I'm going to post about in the future, it makes it easier to put it off. Nevertheless, I am compiling a list of advice for traveling by train through Europe and will hopefully post it soon, if I have any energy at the end of any day this week to do so.

Until then, some quotes from a couple of the books I've been reading lately:
"Aye, even if a deadly sin should occur... yet faith rises again and does not doubt that its sin is already gone." ~Martin Luther, A Treatise on Good Works

"'Contrast,' philosophised Lord Peter sleepily, 'is life.'"

"What luck! Here's a deep, damp ditch on the other side, which I shall now proceed to fall into."

"...to Lord Peter the world presented itself as an entertaining labyrinth of side-issues."

"'You know,' said Wimsey, 'I think there's often a great deal in what one's mother says.'"

"It's so much better to do things neatly and thoroughly--even stupid things." ~Dorothy Sayers, Clouds of Witness (a Lord Peter Wimsey novel)