For those of you that don’t know, we recently bought our house in The Netherlands and have been doing a few upgrades-both items involving a process unlike what we experience in the US.

Buying a house in The Netherlands is quite an easy process actually.  As we didn’t have to look at homes, we just went to an agent (he charged a flat rate fee since he was mostly handling paperwork which we billed us for about a month after we finalized the purchase of the house) and he assisted us with the paperwork to make an offer and directed us to someone who could help with financing.  Unlike in the US, there isn’t a need to look over all documents with a fine-tooth comb.  In The Netherlands, the government has actually designed these contracts to protect the buyer.  Our poor US-centric minds couldn’t quite accept that, so we did still review the documents as best we could (being that they were in Dutch), but in the end, I don’t think it was wholly necessary.  After that, we had an estimator come out to establish the value of the home and then established our financing which was also very straight forward and designed to protect rather than snare you unsuspectingly.  There were no inspections necessary; you could pay if you wanted to, but we were assured that since our home is newer construction, there was no need.  In fact, it seems inspections here might have more to do with structural issues due to sinking ground and water levels.  In fact, there does not appear to be any building code standards that are used as some very shady electrical and plumbing work had previously been done in the house (don’t worry, we knew there was a problem and had the previous owner pay to fix it before the sale went through).  Then at the closing, we went over the papers and signed (this took less than 1 hour) and we were Holland homeowners!

After the papers were signed, we decided to have our tile floors changed to laminate.  After searching for well-reviewed companies, we went to the store to inquire about options and pricing.  As it turns out, everything happens in the store.  Unlike in the US, no one comes out to measure the rooms and determine what extra items are needed to finish the edges or to evaluate your current flooring to determine what to lay down as an underlayer.  You give them the measurements (good thing we had floorplans with all of that), and you tell them what you want (luckily they will make some suggestions based on the information you give them or pictures you have).  Since they weren’t sure what we would like to finish the edges, they charged us for two options and told us that after we decided onsite, they would take the unused product back and refund the money.  They held true to their word, and the job was finished without complaint from us.  Our next project along those lines is to have our stairs redone, but for the life of us, we have yet to find someone who will do this work.

We also had painters come and redo the outside trim.  This was quite a lengthy process as they had to scrape all of the existing trim, prime and then hand paint everything including our front and garage doors.  During the painting process, we had to have all of the windows and doors open for hours so that the inside trim could dry.   This was a very cold process since it was well into fall here (we had tried to get the painting done months before that, but the painters were busy and couldn’t come for a month, and then it kept raining daily making painting impossible).  And the craziest part- before they knew I would be home most of the time, the painters asked for a key to the house so that they could open doors and windows as needed, which felt very weird to me.

Now, perhaps the strangest thing about all of this installation and repair work is that Dutch workers take a lot of breaks.  And often, the expectation is that you should provide hospitality during these breaks.  Being very American, I really never offer anything.  In fact, it never really occurs to me that I should, but our electrician did ask if I could make him coffee one of the days that he was here, and the painters asked if they could come in and use my kitchen table to eat their morning snack during their break (I decided to leave the room).  All of the workers used our bathroom freely or asked to come in and use it (they even made a point of coming in and using it at the end of the workday before they left-maybe normal for them, but I thought they should just hold it until they got home!).

So, you see, even things like home buying and repair can be quite strange and foreign in another land.  It’s a nice reminder that while you need to function and belong, you don’t quite belong.  But, surviving the process is also a nice reminder that, even when things feel strange and you don’t quite understand the process, you can still survive and get things done.  Here’s to another day of making it in this so-called Dutch life!

 

After one year, maybe you thought there would no longer be misadventures.  But, I am here to prove that, as an expat, there can always be misadventures!  We were very lucky in the past year and didn’t have to make any doctor or vet visits, but recently we had to jump headfirst into medical care abroad!

First off, we needed to get a longterm pain in our daughter’s elbow evaluated.  The first step in using medical care in The Netherlands begins when you first arrive.  You must pick a doctor as a primary doctor.  You can not just pick anyone though.  The doctor you choose must live near your home.  We were informed that the reason for this is that some doctors will still make housecalls if necessary, so their office needs to be near your home.  Also, for those used to things in the US, you do not pick a pediatrician for your children.  They too use the primary doctor and may be referred to a pediatrician if necessary.  And there is no need to check if a doctor is on your insurance.  While there are variations in what is covered/amounts based on the plan, insurance covers the medical expenses regardless of where they are received.

Once we knew we needed to see the doctor, we called and were able to get an appointment very quickly, even though it was holiday time here, and we were not sick or with an emergency.  The doctor listened to the symptoms and made some preliminary predictions, but suggested we go get an Xray to verify that there was nothing fractured.  We immediately went to the hospital where the radiologist is located.  Upon arriving, you have to first register at a desk in the main lobby area (you only have to do this once; if you have registered before and are in the system, you can skip this step).  After registering, we had to then find radiology and take a number.  As a side note, when we were called in, the person receiving an Xray before us was leaving, and it was quite exciting to find it was a man being escorted by four police officers!  Receiving your Xray is just like receiving one in the US except that they do not use any kind of protective vest on the patient as they would in many situations in the US (this held true for dental Xrays as well).

As soon as the Xray results were sent to the primary doctor, they decided to refer us to a pediatrician as there was nothing on the Xray that would indicate the reason for the pain.  They do work on a referral basis here in The Netherlands, so you do need to receive a referral to see most specialist doctors.  As soon as we received the referral, we called the pediatrician, whose office is located in the hospital, to make an appointment.  Again, they were able to schedule an appointment for a date within a week of the date we called.

Here is where things began to get a little different.  When we arrived for our appointment at the pediatrician, we signed in and were sent down the hall and around the corner to an office where a woman looked us up in the computer and then took height and weight measurements.  She imputed the information and then sent us back to the waiting room for the pediatrician (which was also the waiting room for a gynecologist and perhaps some other specialists as well).  When they called us, we went into a room that looked like your average room at a pediatrician’s office, but, in addition to the exam table and sink, it also had a desk with a computer and chairs as you would find in an office.  This is where we sat while the “doctor” informed us that she is actually a doctor in training and will consult with her supervisor who was not present at this time.  She asked a lot of questions and then finally asked my daughter to sit on the exam table while she did some manipulation of her arm and hands to test some things.  After this, she exited a rear door in the room to retell everything to the actual doctor and consult with her.  About 10 minutes later, she returned with the supervising doctor and they told us what they thought might be going on.  They also said, that since they are not certain, they would be consulting the next day with some rheumatologists and Xray technicians that they meet with monthly for further review of our case.  We left with a referral to a physiotherapist and a promise that they would call the next day with the results of their conversation.  The next day, they called several times, but we missed the calls and they left no information (though they did make an attempt to call after hours which was nice).  On the second day, we finally managed to speak to them in person, and they told us that they wanted us to do some bloodwork just to rule out arthritis.

The bloodwork was made very convenient.  We were able to go in the next day, they explained.  As the doctor informed us, we should just go in and tell them that we had a blood draw order, and, before leaving, we should make an appointment for one week later to receive a phone call from the doctor to receive the results.  It all seemed so simple, but as an expat, simple things are not always simple.  The lab was, of course, also located in the hospital, so we ventured back, and, since we did not know where the lab was located, we headed to the front desk to ask.  Here we had a slight language difficulty, but they sent us to the lab.  Hurdle one was out of the way.

Upon arriving at the lab, there were two people at a counter receiving patients.  We walked up and were promptly informed we needed to get a number.  We found a digital machine issuing numbers, but, of course, all options were in Dutch.  Using our very limited language skills and the power of deductive reasoning, we were able to obtain a number which was immediately (I mean within 1 second of spitting out of the machine) called to the counter.  I told the clerk that we were sent by the pediatrician to receive a blood draw.  He asked for my paper.  I did not have one.  In a rather curt manner, he informed me that we needed to go to the pediatrician’s office to obtain it.  Then he told me to get a “B” number and leave it with him so he could help us when we returned and pointed to the number machine.  Now, I had barely figured out how to get a number at all, let alone a special “B” number, and he certainly was not going to assist me as he just kept saying B number and pointing to the machine.  So, after staring at the machine for several seconds, an older Dutch woman walked up to get her own number.  I asked her how to get a B number, and she showed me what to press.  B number in hand, I returned to the counter to leave it with the clerk, and then headed up to the pediatrician’s office.  Hurdle two-done!

At the pediatrician’s office, I was met by a receptionist who first began asking for my daughter’s date of birth in Dutch, even though I had explained what we needed in English-hence she probably knew that I didn’t speak Dutch.  This is fine because maybe English is not strong for her and she prefers Dutch, so I made an attempt to understand what she was saying but wasn’t quite getting it, at which point she said it in English.  I answered, and she promptly went back to Dutch to ask for our last name.  That time I did get it, but asked, in English, to verify that I had the correct meaning.  She found us in the system, printed our lab order and said something else to me in Dutch before sending us on our way.  Now, I have no problem with people not speaking English or even expecting that I speak Dutch, but when she knew I couldn’t and she clearly could speak English, I’m not sure why she was making me struggle (especially in a medical setting where you might be having some anxieties anyway).

But, hurdle three out of the way, we headed back to the lab where we approached the clerk who had taken our B number.  He told us that his colleague would instead help us, so we moved to her counter.  She took our paperwork, said one thing, and then told us we needed to step aside.  She helped someone else and then called us back.  The chaos of what was happening was beginning to make my head spin and my daughter was also having some anxiety about having her blood drawn, so I was starting to feel the pressure.  After verifying our information, the clerk told us to watch for our number.  After a few seconds, our number came up on the screen, but I realized I didn’t really know what to do when the number appeared.  She had told us to go to an automatic door in the room when we were called, so we did.  The door admitted us into a room with several lab tech stations set up, but I didn’t know which one to go to.  Finally, the tech called us over and then began to speak in Dutch.  When my daughter said she didn’t speak Dutch, we got a very strange look and then, I believe seeing my daughter’s anxiety, she became a little friendlier and proceeded to do the draw.  As soon as it was done, we followed the exit signs.  All hurdles were complete!

It was only after we were almost back to the parking garage and my shoulders were starting to relax that I realized I had forgotten to make the appointment for our results call.  I had no idea if I was supposed to make this at the lab or with the Dutch-only receptionist in the pediatrician’s office, but I was not about to go back in to find out.  Later we had to call to schedule it, and they told us that it was no longer possible to schedule an exact time, but they would just call us some time on the following Friday.  Luckily, we were able to answer the phone when they called.  They informed us that the results were fine and that they would call back in 5 months to see how the elbow is doing.  Quite an ordeal!  I’m not sure if I breathed a bigger sigh of relief over the fact that the results were favorable or that I was done with that process.  You see, you can often fit in within the confines of your daily life as an expat, but something that is outside the norms of what you “know” in another country can be overwhelming and make you really feel how much you don’t really belong.

But, for those of you who have stuck with me through this long post and are still curious about other forms of medical interventions, we can also report on the dentist and orthodontist.  The dentist is much the same as in the US, however, when you schedule, you choose whether you would like a 15 minute, 30 minute or 45 minute cleaning session and whether or not you would like to see the dentist for an exam with your cleaning or just have the hygienist clean.  Also, you can determine how often you want to go in for a cleaning, although the insurance (at least the plan that we have) only covers one cleaning a year.  We have been informed, though, that the costs of dental care (routine items anyway) is so low, that the insurance really only saves you a few dollars and thus many Dutch people do not carry dental insurance.  The orthodontist is also similar to the US, although, one thing that I have found different, is that you don’t actually see the orthodontist each time you go in.  In fact, the assistant put the braces on and the orthodontist didn’t even check them.  Also, the time between appointments seems to be more like 6-8 weeks instead of 5-6 weeks.  The cost for orthodontics is also very inexpensive compared to the US.  We will pay about half of what we paid with insurance and a prepay discount in the US.  But, children’s orthodontics here are covered through the parent’s health insurance plan rather than a dental plan.

Finally, we can also speak to the medical care of pets here in The Netherlands as our dogs recently decided to injure one another necessitating a visit outside of the annual exam they had received a month prior.  The annual exam was similar to the one in the US in which the vet examined the animals and administered vaccinations, the difference being that some of the required/suggested vaccinations are different than US requirements/suggestions.  Also, they administered the vaccinations in a nasal spray format rather than by injection (not sure my dogs were big fans of this).  The procedure in an emergency was very similar to the US.  The most seriously injured dog received antibiotics and pain medications while the less serious received a natural cream to rub on the swollen/bitten leg as well as a pain medication.  The main difference, again, was that the costs for these treatments were a fraction of what we would have paid in the US.

Fingers crossed that this is all that I will be able to report from the medical front in The Netherlands.  In the meantime, you can rest easy knowing that we have survived a few more misadventures!

 

Yesterday was a big day for kids in their final year of school in The Netherlands.  It was the day that the results of their national exams came in.  Each student in Dutch schools that is at the end of their secondary school time takes school leaving examinations-some for the school itself and some that are national exams. Everyone that takes the national exams receives a call sometime during the day to let them know whether or not they passed their exam.  If they passed, they fly the flag of The Netherlands outside of their house and hang their backpack with the flag.  This is a celebration of their achievement and to let everyone know that they passed and have completed secondary school.  As we came home from school yesterday, it was apparent that many of our neighbors had received their call because there were several flags and backpacks dotting the street.  Just another different tradition that we have been able to learn about and witness.

Today is King’s Day or Koningsdag in The Netherlands.  This is a celebration in honor of King Willem Alexander’s birthday.  According to Wikipedia, this day was first celebrated as Princess Day in 1885 in honor of Princess Wilhelmina who would one day become queen.  It used to be celebrated in August for Wilhelmina’s birthday (and of course was called Queen’s Day), but when her daughter ascended the throne it was moved to her birthday of April 30th.  It remained on that date through both she and her daughter’s reign (because her daughter’s birthday was in January and who wants to be out on the streets celebrating then) and then was moved to the King’s birthday of April 27th in 2013 when he ascended the throne (so sensible of him to have a spring birthday).

Many people wear orange for King’s Day in honor of the ruling family being of the House of Orange-Nassau (that is the line that has been ruling The Netherlands for a long time) and orange decorations are everywhere.

There are also tons of Dutch flags being flown.

One of the biggest activities for King’s Day is the countrywide flea market.  People bring out their unwanted belongings and sell them on the street.  There are large flea markets in big cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, but all the smaller cities and districts have them as well.

There are also lots of food and drink stalls, bands and music stands and activities for kids.  In Amsterdam, there is a huge party and people go out in boats on the canals.

We decided to just stay in our district of Rotterdam, so the festivities are much smaller.  We missed the flea market as we didn’t get out early enough in the day, but there were still games for kids, food stands and music.  The most interesting kid’s activity that we saw was giant inflated balloons that kids were getting inside and floating on the canal in.

 

The kids also got to celebrate at school yesterday with breakfast and games provided by the King’s Day Foundation.  All schools that sign up receive the food supplies for the breakfast as well as sports supplies for the games.  The PTSA decorated the school in tons of orange and we had an orange-themed bake sale.

As an American who has never celebrated a king before or even really done much to honor the presidents, it feels strange to celebrate a royal, but it has been fun to get in the spirit of things.  So, Happy Birthday to the King, Go Netherlands and we’ll see you next year at Koningsdag!

 

For those who are curious about what the area around our home is like, picture a suburb on the edge of a larger city.  While we are actually considered to live in the city, we are in one of the districts outside of the main downtown center.  Just like in suburbs, we still have shopping and restaurants in our “neck of the woods” (all within a 5-10 minute bike ride), but our district has more of a suburban residential feel and is a bit more nature and recreation filled than some of the others.  We have many parks and lakes, biking and walking trails, a bowling center, paintball facility, gyms and tennis courts, a children’s farm and an outdoor amusement center.  There are also lots of fields for soccer and field hockey.

Yesterday, as the sun was shining and the temperature was warm enough for short sleeves and no jacket, lots of people were outdoors engaging in adventurous activities, and we decided to bike around the area.  Our bike ride began in the park near our home (just a 5 minute ride).  There were many people out with their dogs and several people riding horseback through the park.  Next to the park’s large, lakeside restaurant, there is a remote control car race track.  On this day, they were hosting a race and there were many racers and spectators.

We headed out of the park to bike along the street.  While it was a street, there was probably more traffic on the bike paths than the road.  We biked along a large golf course, many houses, some of which had sheep, horses and cows on their property, and an outdoor ski simulation and intertube “sledding” facility.  The skiing looked scary, but I would definitely try the sledding!

It was a very scenic bike ride with lots of wildflowers and blooming trees.

Further down the path, we reentered a section of the park and found the other side of the facility that operates the skiing and sledding.  At this side of their facility, there is an area for renting kayaks and canoes, playing some sort of water sport with nets, doing a massive climbing wall and an adventure obstacle course.  There is also a large lake and numerous mountain biking trails.  There were a couple of people out paddleboarding on the lake as well.

Finally, we ended up back at the restaurant in the park by our house.  It was packed with people (and dogs) just sitting outside enjoying some food and drink, and there were also people using a paddle boat on the lake as well as someone driving a small remote-operated boat.  There is also a sandpit, climbing areas, a playground and small swing bridge for kids near the water and restaurant and the children were out in droves putting all of it to use.

After relaxing for a bit with a snack, we headed back home through the nature trail.  It was a lovely, relaxed afternoon, and we realized that Rotterdam and it’s surrounding cities are great, and while we enjoy going into the city center for shopping, food and other activities, we are very happy with the amenities and overall feel of our district and feel fortunate that it is what we currently call home.

Food is one of my favorite things.  As I’m sure most of you have noticed from our travel posts, trying different foods makes up a large portion of our adventures.  We are always interested to see and taste the things that people eat in different countries and cultures.  So with that in mind, I thought I would share a post about the things that we enjoy eating here in The Netherlands that you might be unfamiliar with in the US.

Let’s start with the sweets.  Licorice/Anise flavored items are huge here (they are called drop), but we have not been able to bring ourselves to enjoy that so you won’t find any of that in our home.  We do however enjoy Kruidnoten.  Kruidnoten is actually a winter/Sinterklaas (that’s Santa Claus here) treat.  They are tiny hard spiced cookies.  You can find them plain or they can be coated in milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, salted caramel coating, toffee coating, etc.

Another winter sweet that we enjoy is Oliebollen, which are traditionally eaten with champagne on New Year’s Eve.  You can find them at stands all over town in the winter season or you can buy box mixes at the store and make them yourself.  They are essentially fried dough that is covered in powdered sugar.  A lot of people here eat them with raisins but we prefer them plain or with a filling.  We have had them filled with apple (very good), Nutella, and banana.

We also enjoy stroopwafels.  If your child was ever in a class with my children in elementary school, chances are they have had stroopwafels as we usually brought some from The Netherlands and shared with the class each year.  These are two thin, chewy cookies made from a batter that is cooked in a sort of waffle iron that are then sandwiched together with a type of sticky, syrup center.  You can buy these prepackaged at the store or you might find a place that makes them fresh.  You can also get these in multiple flavors (the strangest that I have seen is lavender and pepper).

They also have a product here (the consistency of creamy peanut butter) called Speculoos.  Now, I don’t know how they eat it-maybe as a breakfast spread, maybe as a dessert.  I eat it as dessert right off the spoon!  It is essentially a cookie butter made from speculoos biscuits which are a spiced shortcrust type of cookie.

While the Dutch are huge fans of apple pie (and it truly is different than American apple pie), one of my favorite things to get from the bakery is Bossche Bollen.  It is reminiscent of a cream puff as it is a hollow dough filled with a whipped cream mixture and covered in a chocolate fondant but this pastry was actually created in a town in The Netherlands.

 

Now you might think dessert on these next two but these are actually breakfast items.

 

 

On the left, you have what may look like chocolate sprinkles to you (and essentially they are) but here this is called hagelslag and you eat it on bread for breakfast (the final product also being called hagelslag).  You first butter your bread and then pour on a ton of the sprinkles.  You can also use peanut butter instead of butter.  The sprinkles come in both pure and milk chocolate as well as white and you can find different colors-pink and blue for births are very popular.

On the right, you have what looks like a slice of cheese but is actually a slice of coconut for your bread.  It must be made by mixing coconut, sugar and some type of gelatin together to form this slightly gummy coconut slice.  It is quite good.

Next is a food that is both a sweet treat (generally how the Dutch eat them) and a breakfast item (often how we eat them).  They are called poffertjes.  They are a fluffy tiny pancake that is a little spongy.  I buy them packaged at the store and warm them up for breakfast (for that we eat them plain), but we have had them as a treat with butter and powdered sugar or with caramel or chocolate sauce.  I recently bought the special skillet that you use to make them, so I’m hoping to make some from scratch soon.

One other treat that the Dutch might eat as a pastry treat and we often eat at breakfast is amandelstaaf.  This is a flaky pastry with a sugary almond paste filling.  These are typical at Christmas time and they are really delicious.

 

In terms of snacks that aren’t sweet, the Dutch, of course, do like raw or pickled herring.  We are not fans of raw fish as a snack, but there are two snacks that we like that are very similar to each other-kroketten and bitterballen.  Both consist mainly of a creamy roux type filling which often contains chopped or minced beef (although it can contain other things such as cheese or potato).  This is then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried.  They are usually served with mustard or a mustard mayonnaise combination sauce.  The most noticeable difference between the two is probably their shape with bitterballen being round and krokets/croquettes being oblong shaped and larger.  Krokets/Croquettes are often also found on lunch menus as a main dish.

Another snack is frikandel which is a firm, skinless meat sausage or minced meat hot dog that is deep fried.  It is often eaten as a snack, but you find it on the children’s menu at restaurants quite often as well.

The other beloved snack in The Netherlands are frites (better known as fries).  The main difference between fries in The Netherlands from those in the US is in how they are eaten.  The Dutch love to eat them with mayo (and tons of it).  They can often be purchased from snack stands in a paper cone with layers of fries and mayonnaise (referred to as frites sauce) or other sauces and toppings and are eaten with a little fork.  This is called a zak patat.  Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it; it’s pretty awesome!

Now, how about some healthy items.

One thing that you can find in many places across Europe, but that I have not seen in the US (at least not where we are from) is red currant berries.

Another item that is a specialty of the south of The Netherlands is white asparagus.  I haven’t tried this yet, but am hoping to soon as I just saw them at the market.  I have read that it is white because it is grown underground and never has light to produce chlorophyll which makes asparagus green.  White asparagus are supposed to be slightly sweeter and more delicate in taste; I will have to let you know.

Of course, The Netherlands is known for its love of Gouda (pronounced “How da” here).  And while we do eat that, I really love Old Rotterdam cheese.  It’s an “old” cheese meaning it has a stronger flavor, but it’s really good.  It is also a harder cheese.  If you ever have the opportunity to try some, I highly recommend it.

As far as the main dish, the Dutch like stamppot.  This is potato mashed with some other vegetable (typical choices would be spinach, kale, carrot, onion) and served with smoked sausage on top or sliced to the side.  There are many variations and different seasonings that you can do to this dish.  It’s pretty tasty and definitely hardy.

Pannenkoeken is another favorite meal.  There are both savory and sweet versions of this type of crepe and many fillings to choose from but typical fillings are cheese or bacon/ham or both.  Common sweet fillings would be sugar and whipped cream. These are generally very large (like they cover the whole plate) and they are slightly thicker than a crepe.

 

Finally, we have drinks.  I’m not sure if this is in the US or not, but here they have fruit water.  I know many people drink fruit-infused sparkling water, but that’s not what this is.  It’s still water and it tastes like drinking plain water with juice mixed in.  It comes in many different flavors like apple and berry and it’s a nice alternative for kids who want a sweet or special drink since it is made with only the natural sugars from the juice and the amount is cut down by the water.

Of course, there are all kinds of “adult beverages” here.  Gin is a specialty of The Netherlands and there is a plethora of beer as well.  But one thing that is a wholly Dutch drink is called Advocaat.  It is made from eggs, sugar and brandy forming a rich and creamy drink with a smooth, custard-like consistency.  The typical alcohol content is generally somewhere between 14% and 20%.  I have not had an occasion to try this yet, but look forward to giving it a go at some point.

Finally, in addition to coffee, the Dutch do enjoy their fresh mint or ginger teas.  Of course, you can get these teas in the US too, but they aren’t presented in quite the same way.  At a restaurant or cafe here, they will bring you a glass stuffed with mint leaves and a pot of hot water.  Pour the water in and wait and you have your tea.  The ginger tea often comes as hot water with a skewer of ginger chunks and lemon slices.  Just let your skewer soak and then drink your tea.

 

Now, I don’t know about you, but all this food has made me hungry.  Good thing I live in The Netherlands and can bike it all off!!

Bon Appetit or as the Dutch would say Eet Smakelijk!

 

***Update to the post-I have now tried both the white asparagus and advocaat. The asparagus was fine. It definitely was a different taste and texture than green asparagus. Advocaat was interesting. It was the consistency of a thick custard-we ate it with a spoon even though it is considered a drink. It was good and definitely strong. It would be interesting to try one of the cocktails made with it.

Spring appears to be here in The Netherlands.  While it’s taken a little while to convince the sun to come out and stay, it seems like we may finally be on the right track.  Unlike where we are from in the States, the grasses have stayed green here all winter, but now it’s time for the flowers to bloom and the trees and shrubs to bud out.

The flowers are blooming, not just in people’s gardens, but in parks and along roadways.  Many medians have an impressive plethora of daffodil plantings which have been brightening our days even with cloudy skies.

The trees have also been quite beautiful with their pink and white blossoms.

On a recent sunny day, we took a bike ride and came upon many signs of spring blossoming (and one giant sheep!).

Finally, the gardens are starting to come to life as well.

All of these signs of life are a welcome sight here and we can’t wait to see what the coming weeks will bring, but for now, the sun is shining and there are pretty flowers in my yard, so I’m off to enjoy it!

Here in Rotterdam, the sun is shining and the temperature has reached into the upper 50’s and that can only mean one thing: the people are out in droves.  The outdoor seating is filled with people, street musicians are out playing and the masses are stopped to listen.  Now don’t get me wrong, the Dutch were never hidden away for fear of the cold and dreary days.  Quite to the contrary, people are out walking and cycling in all sorts of weather, and, regardless of the weather, they still sit outside to dine thanks to portable heaters and blankets on every seat.  But, there were definitely more people out and the mood was definitely lighter and more celebratory on these “first sign of Spring days.”  In fact, it was almost as if everyone had stopped work early on a recent Friday just to sit around the cafes and restaurants, socialize and soak up the sun (which very well may be the case with the Dutch attitude toward personal and family time).  We were able to join the rest of the city in sitting outside for a meal and enjoying some time in the great outdoors by venturing to a park and checking out these Highland cows and their babies.

Who knows what the weather will bring before Spring and Summer are actually here but flowers are blooming, ducks are coupling up (there are going to be lots of babies soon!), people are out and about and the mood is noticeably lighter.  Bring on Spring!

 

It’s been several weeks since my last post and some of you may be wondering what we’ve been up to.  The truth of the matter is that, while we live in Europe, it’s not fun and adventure all the time.  Since New Year’s, we’ve just been in the trenches of life for the most part.  The kids have gone back to school and, consequently, we are back to homework and afterschool activities.  Post-holiday work life has resumed as well as the normal household chores.  So, basically, life abroad is just like life in the US!

But, just like I’m sure many of you are doing, we have tried to do a few things to pass the cold, dull winter days.

First, I went to the movie theater (first time here) with some friends.  There were a few things that were a little different than the theater back home.  The main one-we biked there!  It’s not like you have to bike there, but, of course, there is no parking lot at the theater; it’s good old garage or meter parking if you drive so we figured why add to the cost when we could get a little exercise in for free (added bonus-it was sunny that day so we got to enjoy the weather)!  Just like at home, we bought our tickets from a self-service machine, but (and this is my favorite part) the concessions were also self-service (I’m not sure if they always are or if they have people to assist and check you out on weekends when it would be busier).  The concessions look like a small convenience store.  There are displays with candy dispensers.  There is a refrigerated section with drinks (including alcoholic beverages).  There is a salsa bar, an ice cream machine, a bar for wine, a Starbucks counter, an Icee machine and various other snacks.  And then there is the popcorn.  There are different choices like salty, sweet and salty and deluxe as well as different sizes, but they are all already dispensed into buckets and you just open the door to a warmer section and pull out what you want.  And aside from the extra butter that I usually add at the theater back home, it tasted just the same.  After you have made your selections (what, you are having a Smirnoff Ice with your popcorn?? ), you move to a self-checkout machine, scan your items, and pay.  Now you can head to your seat.  And for those wondering, the movie was in English with Dutch subtitles.  They also have movies in Dutch.  The theater was a bit pricier than at home (no matinee pricing) but otherwise very nice.

In addition to the movie outing, our family has gone to several museums (indoor locations being preferable right now).  We went to a couple of modern art museums and a natural history museum as well as a museum focusing on William the Silent (remember when we learned about him way back in the summer and fall when we visited Delft and Dordrecht?) and a museum with works of the Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Rubens.  We really like the William the Silent museum which is called the Prisenhof.  It had some interesting history and you can see the bullet holes in the wall where William the Silent was assassinated back in the 1500s.  They also had a section on the Delft blue pottery which was nice.  The Dutch Masters museum which is called the Maurithuis was also nice.  It was small but that seemed to be just the right size for younger folks not to lose interest.  We were able to see several well-known works of art including the Girl with the Pearl Earring.

Finally, this past week, we’ve engaged in a little snow time.  There was not a lot of accumulation but enough snow on the ground for the kids to build a snowman and it was cold enough for the canals and the lake to freeze (at least on the surface).  We also had our first experience with biking in the snow.  It wasn’t too bad except for the residential streets that were basically just packed down ice.  I may or may not have taken a tumble when I had to turn the wheel to get out of a car’s way prompting us to instead walk to school the next day.  The beauty of that is that now, in addition to the time we walked in the rain, the kids can also tell their children that they had to walk to school in the snow (and there is a small portion that is uphill though we did not attempt it barefoot!).

 

So, there you have it.  Nothing too exciting, but we’re still here trying to make the most of our life in The Netherlands even amidst the humdrum days of normal life and cloudy, cold winters.  Here’s hoping Spring is just around the corner (I’ll drink a Smirnoff Ice and eat some popcorn to that)!!

*just for the record, I had coconut flavored water with my popcorn, not Smirnoff Ice-but I could have!

Our typical New Year’s Eve is pretty quiet.  We have spent many New Years doing nothing at all and some hanging out with a small group of friends who generally go home well before midnight.  This year we decided to stay home and have a private party for our family.  We decided to let the kids stay up until midnight for the first time ever as we were informed that there was no way they would be able to sleep through the multitude of explosions at midnight.

To say that the Dutch love their fireworks for New Year’s Eve would be an understatement.  Early in the day on New Year’s Eve, our neighbor came by to warn us about the evening and explain what typically happens in our area.  She said they would be moving their cars to another location as there would be a lot of fireworks in the street out front but since ours’ are in the garage, we would be fine.  Around midday, we biked to the store.  There were tons of people on the street: much more than normal as many were on holiday.  As we were biking away from the store, an explosion went off right in front of the door to the store.  Apparently, grocery storefronts are a popular area for teenage boys to set off fireworks.  After that, we stayed safe inside our house and enjoyed our family party.  We snacked on Dutch food and prepared oliebollen, a fried donut type treat, to have with champagne-a Dutch tradition for New Year.

All evening we could hear fireworks going off and we wisely decided to medicate one of our animals, but there were no scares other than when we were walking upstairs and a firework exploded right in front of our hallway window between our house and the neighbor’s.  As midnight approached, we headed upstairs to see what we could see out of our windows.  We were not disappointed!  At midnight, massive fireworks commenced all around the area.  From our windows, we had a panoramic view that was awesome!

Our animals, however, were less than thrilled.  Even the medicated one was hiding and another urinated all over himself.   We opened our window to lean out and look at the display and one of our neighbors saw us and invited us to come out front.  In the front, many of the neighbors were out walking around and wishing each other a Happy New Year.  They were also setting off large fireworks very close to all of us, the houses and cars.

At times it felt like the sparks were going to rain down on us.  Some of the people were wearing special glasses to protect their eyes from the light, but I think they might have needed protective wear for their ears as the booms and pops were nearly deafening at times.  After watching the show out front, people wandered back inside, and while we were told that there is only a twenty-minute window for setting off the fireworks, the booms continued until 1-2am.  And much like in the US, we continue to hear some each evening.  All in all, it was a festive and fun way to start the new year (dogs, cats, birds and other animals likely disagree) and one of the kids said New Year is a lot more fun here than in the US.  So here’s to bringing 2019 in with a bang (a hopefully safe one)!

Happy New Year from The Netherlands!!