A Series of Unfortunate Events

What a day! We started out our day at 9:00 AM at the ABN AMBRO Bank ready to finalize out car loan. Much to our dismay, the loan officer we had done all the preliminary work with had injured his knee in a hockey game and was out for the week…he would not be able to make it to our scheduled appointment. His colleague, Christian, would be right with us. An hour and a half later, we sat down with him. He got the loan processed and we were good to go to the car dealer. UHHH, Ruurd, at the Volvo dealership wasn’t expecting us until Thursday and couldn’t possibly have the car ready today. After much cajoling, massaging and alternate possibility suggesting, we made an appointment for 1:00. Our next task, find someone who will loan us their Dutch drivers license for a few hours. Evidentially you have to have a Dutch driver’s license to register a car in Holland (despite the fact it takes close to 4 months to get one). Debbie Lands (our RS president from El Paso was nice enough to oblige). We get the car dealer and drive off with the car. Now to return the rental car…we pick up kids at the school at three different times and head to The Hague. We drop off the car and head home (my head is throbbing by this point as I have only had three crackers and a roll to eat all day). We get all the way home in rush hour traffic and realize our only house key was on the key ring for the rental car. We drive all the way back to The Hague to get our house key. Ahhh…home at last. But wait, we still have to drive back to the car dealer to return one last piece of paper. Twelve hours later, Helmut returns home and the purchase/exchange of our car is complete. I am beginning to understand why Holland is such a slow paced laid back society and it is driving me nuts!

Signing Off

I have just packed up all our stuff from the hotel and made three trips to the house with more stuff than we should own. I am not sure when I will get internet access. They say it takes 2-4 weeks and I haven't even started the process, so I am not sure when I will be able to post again. Wish me luck and sanity!

A Day of Swimming

The kids were off from school yesterday and we had a full day. In the morning Holly W. came over with her twin girls that are Sam’s age and we all went swimming. Sam loved having friends over to “her house” and they had a good time playing together. In the afternoon Holly B. came over with her boys that are 13, 11 and 10. The boys were thrilled to finally being doing something they wanted to do. I am sure that since we arrived in Holland they feel like they are constantly being dragged on one errand after another. Holly B.’s 13-year-old son is a school basketball star and a really sweet boy, so the boys love being around him. I think they may have a boy crush on him. He is a great kid so I don’t mind it too much.

We had a truly European experience yesterday. We were swimming (in the morning with Holly W. and her twins) when a group of about five Dutch women came in to use the sauna. About 20 minutes later one of the ladies came out of the sauna for a dip in the pool…sans her bikini top! Of course the boys spotted this first and it was all I could do to keep them from laughing out loud and pointing. It didn’t help that this lady was at least 65 years old. Josh’s turned to me and said, “Jeez, keep it in the sauna, lady.” I am 99% sure she didn’t hear him. Both boys got out of the pool and handed me their goggles saying they would prefer not to have underwater visibility at the moment. They both ran over to the “Pool Rules” placard and then ran back to inform me she was in direct violation of rule number seven – “Swimwear is mandatory in the swimming pool and optional in the sauna.” I assured them that I couldn’t exactly walk over there and tell her she was breaking the rules. They would have to avert their eyes and hope she left quickly. CRAZY! She left but they were still appalled for some time afterwards.

We are off today on a bazillion errands getting ready for our move in on Monday. The kids will be thrilled…

Happy Thanksgiving

Well today is Thanksgiving. Sadly it doesn’t feel much like Thanksgiving here in Holland. It is a work day as usual and since we are still in our hotel room and Helmut is in London we have had a fairly ordinary day. We got up this morning and dropped off our laundry at the Splash Washerette for the last time (knock on wood). I took the kids swimming as a celebration for Josh making the team. I met with our landlord at the house in the afternoon. She was really nice and seemed to be easy going. Hopefully that will continue throughout our relationship. We closed out the day by watching videos and picking up our laundry. We are having Thanksgiving dinner here at the hotel (they are putting on a special Thanksgiving buffet with all the fixings) with some friends I met at Sam’s class. Hopefully the kids will behave and we will all have a good time.

To reflect on this special day of the year I asked each of the kids to write down the five things they are most thankful for…

Helmut
1. Sintaklaas
2. Family
3. House
4. The Holiday Inn
5. School

Joshua
1. Books
2. A house to live in
3. Family
4. Christmas
5. My Computer

Sam
1. My Family
2. My Stuffed Animals
3. God
4. My Art Supplies
5. Toys

Mom
1. Sweet children that will sit all day in a hotel room and watch DVDs all day if needs be.
2. itunes – all the US shows I am missing for just $1.99 an episode (seems to me like a small price to pay when I am half way around the world)
3. A loving husband that works so hard for our family and still makes me laugh.
4. The opportunity to live here in Holland and travel around Europe.
5. A great extended family that makes my life more interesting and fun.

ASH Trojans Swim Team

HE MADE IT!!!!! The coaches posted the lists on the school website for the kids who made the swim team this afternoon around 3:00 PM. Josh and I were at the school and tried to look it up on the computers in the library, but they weren’t up yet. As we walked out the door to go home, a boy Josh knew told him he kinda, sorta thought he saw his name on the list. I told Josh to be cautiously optimistic and worried the boy was thinking of another Josh the whole way home. When we got home…there it was! He was so happy, jumping around doing a happy dance. It looks like that Speedo he made us go out and buy after the first day of tryouts worked (nothing like a bit of peer pressure to make you do things you never thought you would). He was one of only six 5th graders to make it on the team of 24 kids (102 tried out). He misses the Under 10 league by just 23 days and is in the Under 12 league. That puts him as the youngest on that team (that is why I was so worried he may not make it…shows you what I know). He starts practice on Monday morning at 6:00 AM. I am so happy for him. I know this will be a great opportunity to make new friends and feel a part of his school. Now let us all hope and pray that next Wednesday’s posting of the basketball roster will bring just as much “happy dancing” in our home!

Now I am going to slip into a more negative place for just a few minutes. I am so sick of this hotel! The kids are living on top of me and the food is horrible (or at least it seems horrible the 20th time you try to choke it down). Something happened today that just pushed me over the edge. Our room is on the second floor facing a huge indoor atrium (tackily named the “Holidome”). Most of it is set up with tables and chairs for the restaurant and conference center. Today they were holding some kind of conference that filled the whole place. I am not over exaggerating when I say…all 100+ participants sat in that “Holidome” and chain smoked all day long. I could smell it seeping under our door and when I opened my door to walk to the parking lot I thought I may have to crawl to keep from collapsing from smoke inhalation. I realize that Europe it known for its smoking culture and there is really no way to totally escape from it. I am just looking forward to having my own home where I can at least escape it while I sleep!

Tuesday

Sorry about no post yesterday. To be honest, I was waiting for something interesting to happen.

Josh started his swim tryouts yesterday morning bright and early. He did really well. There are about 40 kids trying out for 16 spots. He is one of the oldest boys in his age group and seemed to be keeping up with the fastest. We are crossing our fingers around here because he really seems to have his heart set on making the team.

Helmut started his basketball tryouts today after school. He felt like it went really well. He has the advantage of being one of the oldest kids in his age group so that always helps. He is also really counting on making the team, so we are hoping for the best.

We got great news today! Our house will be ready to move in by Monday. I have arranged to have some temporary rental furniture brought in Monday as well. They bring everything you need from the beds, couches and chairs down to the dishes, sheets and towels. They set it all up for you and then when you are finished with it, they come back and take it all down for you. Shell will cover the cost for us since they have no temporary housing available. We will also get our car this weekend. By Monday night we will feel almost settled in. Helmut is planning on staying in town to help out which will be nice. We have a ton of paperwork to complete at various government buildings which he obviously cannot do while he is in London all week.

Trains and Sinterklaas

Yesterday morning we hopped on the train and went to Rijswijk to pick up something from Helmut’s office. The kids loved the train ride and the countryside scenery was beautiful. We had lunch at a fun restaurant at the train station and then headed to Wassenaar for the arrival of Sinterklaas. The canal was packed with people ten deep. Sam loved it and I got some great shots. The Netherlands royalty even showed up for the affair. The crown prince, his two daughters and his wife watched the festivities about three feet from where we were standing. At first no one seemed to notice, but by the time we were ready to go, a huge crowd had gathered around. It was my first Holland celebrity sighting!

We came to an agreement on the house. If all goes well with the paperwork, we can move in on Friday. Our shipment will not arrive for a few more weeks, but I am going to look into renting furniture for the interim period. It will be nice to have some extra space again. I am a little overwhelmed at all the things I need to buy to settle into the house, but I have time to do it now that all the kids are in school.

T.G.I.F.

Today was our second day of “Understanding the Dutch.” It was still interesting and informative. The Dutch have some funny customs and mannerisms. A Russian woman told the story of receiving a gift from a neighbor. The gift was still in the grocery sack and when she opened it, it was a plunger! Evidentially they are really in to giving practical gifts, regardless of cost. Another weird thing is that it is very common for them to give a gift and put the receipt in with it. They are not offended if you tell them you already have it or would like something different. So crazy.

Helmut and I went to the Volvo dealership yet again to look at a 2002 V70. It is very gently used with low mileage. It is perfect because it has the double seat in the back that folds down for when we have guests or need to cart around more than our usual five people.

We put an offer down on the house on Deijlerweg today. We are willing to pay the asking price but offered just a little bit less along with a long list of things that needed to be finished, fixed our updated. Hopefully we will hear something soon. I am feeling more relaxed about the house situation because I know for sure we will be getting this house, it is now just a matter of coming to an agreement on the price. The living area is a little bit smallish and Helmut and I agreed that most of the furniture we shipped over for that room is too large. We are going to store it and buy furniture that is on a smaller more contemporary scale. I am not too upset about this because we all know I love to buy new furniture! We found some things we liked today.

Sam is doing great at school. Her teacher Jane told another mother that it is nice to have a new student who is already “school wise.” As we were picking her up today her teacher Scott (she is always sure to remind me, “not Mr. Scott just Scott”) told me he could not believe how perfect she was in class. I was proud, but at the same time told him she is definitely saving her best behavior for school.

Josh seems to be adjusting to Middle School. He is a little bogged down with homework at the moment. Dutch seems to be giving him a hard time since he missed the first nine weeks of instruction. Yesterday he was learning the Dutch way of telling time which was difficult since he missed the section on counting. We are contemplating getting him and Helmut a tutor to help get them caught up. Josh signed up to try out for the school swim team next week. The practices will be murder…three mornings a week from 6:00-7:15 AM. I hate getting up early, but I will do it for him. The final swim meet is in Norway in the spring, so that would be a fun family trip. I hope he makes it. It would be a good way for him to make more new friends.

Helmut is getting along well. He signed up to try out for the school basketball team next week. I hope he makes it because he told me he is very nervous about looking stupid. I am sure we can all remember Middle School and the constant fear of “looking stupid.”

Tomorrow we are taking our first train ride to Rijswijk to pick something up from Helmut’s office. The kids are very excited about it and I am too. Then, of course, we will be back in Wassenaar by 2:00 for the arrival of Sinterklaas. I hope to have lots of fun things to share from that. Happy Friday.

Humble

Yesterday, Helmut and I attended “Understanding the Dutch” class. It was not what I expected, but interesting none the less. I was hoping for a little…this is where you can buy peanut butter or real diet coke…this is who you call if your toilet backs up…this street sign means you are entering a bike lane. Instead it was more of a human behavior analysis of the Dutch and how their nation’s history (politically, religiously and otherwise) has made them the way that they are. It was interesting and I am sure it will come in handy at some point. At this point, I have actually met very few Dutch. Our realtor is Dutch, but I think she deals with enough Americans that she knows how to handle us. I think the class is most beneficial for Helmut as he is working on a daily basis with quite a few Dutch. They tend to be very straight forward, rule oriented and correct you whenever you do something wrong (which we all know Helmut loves!). My favorite factoid from the seminar was this most famous Dutch saying, “Be normal, because you are already strange enough.” Going way back to Calvinism, the Dutch feel very strongly that all people are equal, no matter the circumstance. This saying basically means to them, “I don’t care who you are or how much money you have, you are not perfect and therefore the same as me. Don’t show off your fancy car or big house or how smart you are or how fast you can run, because you are the same as me.” In other words, be modest and humble no matter how much you have. I am sure we could all learn to be more humble.

Surfing

Well, we found out this afternoon that we did not get the house we were hoping for. The owner actually replied to our withdrawal from negotiations with, “I won’t come down on the price and on second thought, I won’t be out by the middle of December.” If you ask me, he doesn’t sound like he would have been the easiest landlord to work with. The house was also at the top of our price range and we are better off with something a little cheaper. In essence, they saved us from ourselves. I am now setting my sights on the Deijlerweg house and happy with that. We have scheduled a walk through tomorrow so we can be sure to include any repairs and upgrades we want in the initial contract.

I broke down and paid the 200+ US dollars today so I could get unlimited internet access for the next month. I am not sure we will be at the hotel for that long, but it was cheaper to do it that way than by the week. I have literally been on the internet all afternoon long, and have enjoyed every minute of it. It is amazing how hard it is to be limited to only a few minutes of internet a day, but I am back on track to surfing the hours away.

Run

I had my first Holland run this morning. I dropped Sam off at school this morning (and yes she was still into this morning) and when I got back to the hotel, I realized all my excuses were gone. All the kids were in school, I didn’t have any appointment and nothing I needed to get done, so I forced myself to run. It actually ended up being a decent run. Of course it was hard and tiring since I haven’t run in close to two months, but the scenery couldn’t be beat. It was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside and a little windy. I jogged out one side of the hotel and stuck to that street so I wouldn’t get lost. This place is perfect for running. I ran for a full 45 minutes and never ran out of sidewalk. I passed some very fluffy sheep lying in an incredibly green pasture, some English style horse riders, an old grey-haired man driving a horse drawn buggy, an WWII war memorial, a old cemetery, a draw bridge, three canals, scores of houses, a few businesses, tons of cyclists (some exercising but most just going about their day) and passed under two highways.

It looks like we won’t be getting the Windlustweg house. They agreed to be out by December 11th, but would not budge on the price. Our offer was near the top of our budget, so we feel like it is best to go with the other house on Deijlerweg (pronounced dial-er-vegg). It is a great house too and probably suits our family better. It is super close to the school so the boys can hop on their bikes and be there in less than five minutes. Josh will be thrilled to not ride the bus. He came home yesterday and reported there was far to much cursing out of the high school bus riders.

Monday

I decided our hotel room needed a little pick me up, so I bought flowers at the flower stall today. They have so many beautiful arrangements and wreaths. I can’t wait to get in my house so I can take full advantage of what they have to offer. I am excited about finally living in a place where I can have a live wreath on my door and it won’t die from the heat!

Last night, Sam was having trouble falling asleep. I think she was anxious, nervous and excited about her first day of school. She jumped out of bed bright and early (6:30 AM) this morning, picked out her clothes, brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. As we walked out the door to breakfast she exclaimed, “First day of school, here I come!” When I dropped her off at the kindergarten playground, she never looked back. She had Mr. Scott (her teacher’s assistant that I am pretty certain she has a little crush on) by the hand and he was helping her make new friends.

Sam rode the bus home in the afternoon and was the last one off the bus. As you can see by the picture, she was on the bus with a driver and a bus attendant. To my surprise they were both men in their forties dressed in three piece suits (they kind of reminded me of butlers). She said they were both very nice.

After dropping Sam off this morning, I went to a meeting of the Monday Morning Networkers. This is a class that meets each Monday and discusses different subjects about Holland or settling in. Next week we are taking a trip to an Antique Shop and the next meeting we will be discussing Entertainment/Travel. Today our discussion was on Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is sort of the Dutch equivalent of our Santa Claus. The real man was a bishop of the Catholic Church in Turkey way back in the day. He was well known for his kindness towards children and generosity towards poor people. The celebration starts in early November when Sinterklaas begins his journey from Spain to Holland by boat. He will arrive in the harbor of Wassenaar this Saturday at 2:00 with a big celebration and parade. From there he will continue up to Amsterdam and onwards. After that day the kids are supposed to leave a shoe by the fireplace a few nights a week (I suppose we will use the front door since we have no fireplace) and Sinterklaas will leave a small treat inside. The big Sinterklaas celebration ends on the night of December 5th. One of Sinterklaas’s helpers (a black man named Sinter Piet – he was originally black to represent the moors that worked for the original Sinterklaas, but now the P.C. explanation is that he is black from going down so many fireplaces) drops off a jute bag full of a gift for each child. Each gift is wrapped in a special way and includes a personal poem poking good fun at the child. I think it will be fun to celebrate this Dutch holiday, but will also be a lot of work for me. Now that the kids are all in school I suppose this will give me a fun project to work on.

Helmut and I put an offer in on the house on Windlustweg today. We are just waiting to hear whether they accepted the amount and the proposed move in day. We are crossing our fingers!

8 days

When we went to meet Sam’s K1 teacher, she informed us that the children needed a pair of indoor shoes to wear around the classroom. Evidently, in an effort to keep the classroom clean, they wear their “outdoor” shoes to and from school and at recess and they wear their “indoor” shoes inside the classroom. Some kids had slip on tennis shoes, some had flip flops and some had slippers. Sam chose a modern adaptation on the classic Holland wooden clog. They have these adorable fuzzy slipper style wooden clogs at the gift shop in our hotel (which was a perfect location in my estimation). They are cute and Dutch at the same time.

The weather here has turned really cold and rainy and windy. Mom, Dad, Matt, Maria and Lucas, make sure you bring warm clothes!

Helmut and I went to look at all three houses yesterday. He hated the first one we looked at (which was the third one on my blog and the one that most of you voted for). On my second trip there, it didn’t seem as great as I had previously thought. All the ceilings were really low and the house was too chopped up. The house on Windlustweg was even better than I had thought before. The kitchen was great with a double oven (still small by American standards), six burner gas cook top, built-in frig and dishwasher and an extra frig/freezer and storage in a pantry room right off the kitchen. There is a huge balcony off the master large enough for a table and chairs (not sure why we would ever put one up there for, but it is big enough). The masterbath is incredible with one of those showers that sprays from three sides! Clearly, this one is our favorite. The only problem is that the owners are still living in it and we are not sure they can vacate it fast enough for out liking. I will talk with the realtor tomorrow and hopefully we will find out pretty quickly. We also went and looked at the house on Deijlerweg (which is way better than it looks on the internet, by the way). Helmut also liked this one. It doesn’t have as much character and details like the other one, but we could be happy with it as well. Like I told Helmut, “I will be sad if we don’t get the Windlustweg house, but I can be happy with the Deijlerweg house.

We ventured out to the Volvo dealership and in true Dutch fashion we still don’t have a car. The dealer is a low talker and seems to be in no hurry for us to buy a car. I have decided to stop worrying about it, what will happen will happen.

Helmut is off to London again tomorrow and won’t be back until Wednesday. I have nothing to say about that really, just thought you should know.

So we have been in Holland for eight days now and in some ways it seems like we have just arrived and in other ways it seems like we have been here for months. Here are a few interesting things we have learned about this new country over the past week.

Each time we went to McDonald’s they asked us how many ketchups we wanted (no self serve). It took us a few visits to realize they charge .35 euros (.46 US cents) for each packet of ketchup. How crazy is that? Even in China (were they charge you for toilet paper at some places) they didn’t charge you for ketchup. I am seriously considering writing an email to McDonald’s corporate. It’s not the money; it’s the principle of the matter.

Weird thing number two: it is pitch dark here by 5:00 PM and I hear it will get even earlier as the year nears an end. Evidently the sun stays up until around 10:30 PM in the summer. It is very hard to get used to.

Crazy thing number three: They regularly drop the “F-bomb” on television. I have finally just taken the remote control away from the kids and they are doomed to watching DVDs for the next few years.

Despite those weird things, we are adjusting and still enjoying the beautiful scenery in our new home.

Man Blog II

Working in London has been a real eye-opener. The Brits have a fundamentally different approach to the work environment. For instance, the open display of pornographic photographs in the work place is not considered de facto sexual harassment. Rather, its just good fun and only a girly boy would object. Only if someone makes a formal complaint and the employer fails to remove the offensive article does he or she have a case for a harassment charge. Another quaint custom is freaky-casual-dress-four- hour-Friday. The Brits somehow convince themselves that they work 9 hour days – trust me, Bechtel works 9 hour days in Houston, and what they do in London is nothing of the sort. So each Friday they show up at work in their trendy blue-jeans, crazy Euro-footwear and other nightclub worthy apparel and leave promptly for their weekend at noon. And this is all fine by me. I just take an early flight back to Holland and have diner with the family. However, today was a bit special. I had a late flight and could only leave the office at 2:00 pm. Needless to say I was there all by myself for several hours. I decided to have a quick bite to eat at the company canteen. The company store carries all sorts of healthy eating options as well as the traditional artery clogging British pub food. I chose a delicious looking and healthy smoked mackerel – beet root salad. Back at my desk I started to pry open the clear plastic dome that covered the salad and casually noticed that a fare bit of the crimson red beet root juice had migrated to the seam of the container where the clear plastic dome met the black plastic bowl. A fraction of a second later the seal on the bowl burst opened and spewed a not so fine mist of red beet juice all over the front of my brand new, French blue, Ralph Loren dress shirt. Argh!!!!! This was pure disaster. Desperately I stripped my shirt off and ran to the bathroom. I began furiously scrubbing the spots and eventually removed the great majority of the stain. But now my shirt was soaking wet. Lucky for me the Brits are very keen on the environment and insist on paper-saving devices like hot air blowers in the lu. So I spent the better part of the lunch hour doing my laundry over a sink in the bathroom. Lucky for me, no one was there, except the janitor who had a good chuckle when he saw me feverishly working over my shirt in the bathroom sink. He asked me what happened and I told him I was minding my own business when this bloody beet root salad attacked. The beet root salad went in the round file in the office next door. Didn’t want that mackerel stinking up my office.

Happy Birthday Jenny

Today is my big sister Jenny’s 37th birthday. In her honor, I am listing 37 things about her and our lives growing up together (some are well known, others are not).

1. She is a very good listener
2. She drove me everywhere when I was a preteen and she had her license (one of the perks of having an older sister)
3. She never hesitated to set me straight (don’t feel bad for me, I usually needed it)
4. She is a realist
5. Her favorite song at the age of twelve was “Hard Habit to Break” by Chicago (as per her Rose Prom questionnaire)
6. She was an incredible travel companion on our crazy cross country Greyhound bus trip to Idaho when she was sixteen and I was thirteen
7. She has stuck up for me on more than one occasion (i.e. Denver bus terminal snack bar)
8. She is the best big sister in the world
9. She allowed me to go to all the Stake Dances with her despite my undeniable beehive geekiness
10. She is a great soccer player and played on a select team for many years
11. She won the majority of the trophies in my childhood home (much to my chagrin)
12. She hated for my mom to dress us alike and freaked out at the age of eight when my mom bought us matching boots (I was crushed)
13. She is a “tell it like it is” kind of gal
14. We used to make tin can phones to communicate late at night when we were supposed to be asleep
15. She is a patient and loving mother of three beautiful kids
16. She gave me such a bad eyebrow job on the night before her wedding that I laughed until I peed my pants
17. She worked her way thru college (10+ years)
18. She is a laundry specialist (due to her many years of working at a dry cleaners)
19. She is a great artist
20. She plays a mean recorder (Eye of the Tiger is her most famous tune)
21. She used to iron my hair flat in high school (not with a fancy flat iron like you see these days, with a real clothes iron on the ironing board)
22. She has always supported me in my decisions
23. She was a great double date partner
24. She was kind enough to let me come and stay with her over Spring Break her freshman year in college
25. She has always had a strong testimony of the church
26. She was an expert flag twirler and officer of her squad in high school
27. She always included me at Young Womens, despite being older and cooler than I was
28. She was great about sharing all her clothes with me (even thought she usually had better ones than I did)
29. She taught me everything I know about makeup
30. She was a great Escadrille pal
31. She is a true blond
32. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education
33. She loves Mexican food
34. She is a true Texan (no matter where she lives)
35. She is a sweet wife
36. She was always a good babysitter to us kids when we were growing up (as the oldest sibling, she got this job more often than I am sure she wanted it)
37. She is a great friend

Happy Birthday Jenny, I love and miss you! I wish we didn’t live so far apart.


As for our live in Holland today, we haven’t done much. We slept in, had a late breakfast at the buffet and the kids went swimming. Tonight we have been invited to go over to a member of the wards house for pizza and then go to a Middle School play. The kids are bored, but I am enjoying some down time.

See How They Run

Well, I have solved the problem of the laundry. I finally called up the Splash Washerette and although the guy I talked to spoke very little English, I was able to communicate with him. He let me know I could drop my laundry off, have it washed, dried and folded for 7.50 euros per 5 kilos (about 10 pounds). Josh was my navigator on this trip, and having been there before; we found it with no problem. Finding a parking space was a different story. The parking “alley” right next to the washerette was full except for two VERY small parallel parking spaces. The next lot over was blocked off by a delivery truck that had no intention of moving anytime soon. We navigated our way back over two canals and down a few one way streets back to the first parking “alley.” Of course by the time we got back around both of those parallel parking spaces were gone. When I saw that the delivery truck was still blocking the lot, it was time for desperate measures. We ended up parallel parking in the back alley of the block. Easy right? These spaces were in a very narrow (no more than 15 feet wide) alley with row houses on one side and a canal with a steep 10-foot straight down drop on the other. Josh opened his door so I could see better and we managed to parallel park a mere six inches for the edge of the canal. Sam was freaking out the whole time sure we were going to fall in the water rental car, Cinnamon (her stuffed animal) and all. Once in the parking spot, I was not sure what the parking situation was…legal or not, coupon needed or not (of course I had no coupons)? We decided to sprint to the Washerette and risk it. I, of course, was not wearing shoes appropriate for a sprint down a cobblestone alley. We dropped off our laundry to a very helpful and trying-his-best-with-his-English attendant who let us know it will be done around 6:00 PM. Then we sprinted back to the car to find it ticket free. The drove home was incident free, except almost hitting a blind man in the cross walk (which Josh could not stop laughing about…I think it was a nervous laugh). I made it through this whole ordeal without one curse word passing my lips (no comment on whether they crossed my mind).

We drove over to Wassenaar to get my cell phone voice mail changed into English and I bought more minutes for my phone. (I must have a pay as you go phone until we find a house and I am able to register with the town alien police.) Then I took the kids to Bagel Alley. It was tasty, with homemade bagels, homemade baked goods and US made soda.

I went out again the look at houses with the realtor. She showed me one stand alone house near the school and Central Wassenaar and then four other houses that are in South Wassenaar. South Wassenaar is about an eight minute drive from the school (about the equivalent of driving from our house on Carols Way Drive to Del Pueblo). Helmut is not really interested in living that far away and none of the houses were really worth the location. I have narrowed it down to three houses…starting with the least expensive…(if this is too boring to read, just skip over it…it is really a list of each houses pros and cons for my own decision making sake)…click on the address for pictures on the Dutch realtor website

Deijlerweg 102 #S
This one is only a five minute bike ride from the school. It is the middle house in what is essentially a three house wide town home (I prefer not to use the term duplex). It has recently been completely redone with a new kitchen and hard wood floors on all the stories. It has a large living/dining area and space enough in the kitchen for a table and chairs. It has two large rooms on the second floor and two medium size rooms on the third floor. It has a pretty back “garden” (or in US English a back yard) and a garage and bike shed. The front and back porches have just been redone in a pretty natural stone with lots of potted plants. The only con I can see with this one is that it is stuck between two other houses. It doesn’t seem to make a big impact on the light and bright feeling on the inside of the house. Each room has a big window or two in it. At 4100 euros per month it is a great price.

Windlustweg 18 #S
This semi detached house (on the left of a two house town home) sits just one block away from the charming city center. You can actually see the town windmill from the front sidewalk. It sits right across the street from a fruit and vegetable stand and a bakery. The house has been completely redone with an amazing kitchen and roomy living area. It is also close to the school (about a ten minute bike ride). It has a largish master bedroom, one medium sized room and three small bedrooms. The finishing on the house is top notch and it is super charming. It is listed at 5500 euros per month, but they are willing to come down.

Prinses Marielaan 32 #S
This is a stand alone house on a very picturesque tree lined street (about a 10 minute bike ride from the school). The owner has it decorated to the nines. It has a great living area with a small study off to the side. The kitchen is fantastic with French doors into the dining room. It has a large master bedroom and three small bedrooms on the second and third floor. It is more expensive at 6200 euros a month and has only been on the market for three weeks, so I am not sure if they will be willing to come down on the price.

If you would like to weigh in on the choice, just leave a comment. Helmut and I are going to look at three places on Saturday morning and will make a final decision then. Wish us luck.

First Day of School 2006 - Take Two

We were up bright and early this morning for the boys’ first day of school. We had to get there 30 minutes early so they could get their schedule and get a locker assignment. The middle school follows a block schedule which seems to be a little confusing. Plus today was a short day. After talking to the Relief Society President yesterday, I figured out every Wednesday is a short day that ends at 2:45 (good thing she told me or I would have showed up 45 minutes late to pick them up). Each boy was met by an “ambassador” who was assigned to stick with them all day and help them get from class to class and to answer any questions they might have. Josh’s ambassador was Ellis, a boy from Korea, who Josh deemed a nerd that didn’t help at all. Evidently he showed Josh his own locker (which was of no use to Josh) and didn’t do anything for the rest of the day. In Josh’s defense, the boy didn’t seem that into it when I left them at the office. Helmut’s ambassador was Andy from Rome, Italy. Helmut reported he was nice and helpful.

Josh started out with a light day of Social Studies, IT (computer), lunch, P.E. (a fun hour of rock wall climbing) and then his split block of Choir and World Music. Helmut had Choir/World Music, Spanish I, lunch, Language Arts and Math. They both agreed that they like their new school better than their old school (which I see as a good sign).

I do love the stories these boys come home with. Josh said a boy came up to him during P.E. and said, “If you are scared, you aren’t the only one. I am really afraid of heights.” Then the boy started to cry. Evidently he had a previously bad experience with a rock climbing wall falling on top of him. I may have cried myself it I was him. He did however, overcome his fear and climb to the red line on the wall. Josh informed me he climbed all the way to the top “and really quickly.”

I went and looked at a few more houses this afternoon. It is the same story here as in the States. One has a great kitchen but the rooms are kind of small. The other has big bedrooms but the kitchen needs updating and the finishing is cheap. One house is great but the location is bad, the other is in bad shape but in a great location. If only you could combine them all and make the perfect house. I have a few more to see tomorrow with high hopes for one of them. It is a single dwelling home on a good size lot in a pretty and quiet part of the neighborhood. I did find out that the asking price is more negotiable than I had previously thought which is great! I am hoping to narrow the choices down considerably and then Helmut and I will go look on Saturday and hopefully make a final decision.

Helmut is out of town in London so the rest of us topped off the night with dinner at McDonald’s. The boys are going to Activity Days with Holly from the ward. They are looking forward to getting out of the hotel.

Holly also stayed at the Leiden Holiday Inn for three weeks, so I called her to find out about the expensive laundry situation. Sadly, the answer was…she did it in the bathtub and hung it out to dry around the room. As I type, I am doing my first load of whites. Helmut thinks it is ridiculous, but has offered no other viable option. He doesn’t think they will get clean enough, but I’ll show him. Fun times of living in the hotel!

Quite an Adventure

What a crazy day!

The kids and I started out this morning by going to the school to buy their school supplies. The school was having their book fair which the boys could not pass up. We walked out of there 90.00 euros later. We came back to the hotel and gathered up all our dirty clothes and set off to find the Splash Washerette. Armed with a city map and Little Helmut as my navigator, we headed towards Leiden. This place was not easy to find. The streets here are hard to “read,” is it a bus lane, or a one way street or just a small road. I cannot count how many times I turned onto a road today and thought for sure I was going the wrong way on a one way street or even worse, barreling down a bike lane. At one point Josh asked me nicely to stop cursing because he was sure Sam was going to start to copy me.

We finally found the Laundromat and found a place to park. When we walked in all of the six machines were being used by one old lady who had at least 20 bags waiting to be washed. We drove all that way for nothing. What a frustration…and our clothes are still dirty!

We salvaged the trip by stopping on the ride home and walking around. We all took pictures and enjoyed a more close up look at the village we have been living in.

In the afternoon our realtor took us to look at four houses. Three of the four were either too dingy, too small or too ugly. I did find one I thought would work. It has just been renovated with a brand new kitchen. We are going out again tomorrow to look at more places. I am feeling positive about the prospects.

ASH

What a long day…we got to the school around 10:00 AM and didn’t leave until close to 3:00 PM. I had meetings with the administrators, counselors, teachers, transportation coordinator…you name it. In the meantime, the kids were supposed to sit quietly and behave. Of course, that didn’t happen. By the time we met with the Elementary School Counselor, Josh was drawing pictures of dead stick figures surrounded by own pool of blood. I am sure he was psycho analyzing him and deeming me a horrible mother in the process. The bad news is that this Thursday and Friday there is no school due to Parent/Teacher Conferences. The boys can’t start school tomorrow because that is “short notice for the teachers.” The boys will go on Wednesday for one day. Sam on the other hand will not start school until next Monday. I am a little bummed that the kids will have to be home over the next week while Helmut is in London Wednesday thru Friday and I am trying to pick out a house and get a mobile phone and such.

Tonight we went to the Volvo dealership to look for a car. Let me just say, things here in Holland don’t move at American speed. We all know that when you enter a car dealership in America, they want to do anything they can to get you to buy a car before you leave the lot. We looked at a few cars and asked a few question of the ONE dealer before he let us know he would “work up a few proposals” and get back with us. “It may take some time and I hope to get back with you by the end of the week.” Luckily we have the rental car until the end of next week. I am hoping we can get this all sorted out by then. I am leaning towards the sporty station wagon and Helmut is leaning towards the SUV.

Tomorrow we are going back to the school to buy the kid’s school supplies. After that I am planning an exciting adventure to the “Splash Washerette” which I am hoping is a Laundromat. The hotel will do the laundry but it is crazy expensive. To launder a pair of socks costs US$2.25. Hopefully I can find the Laundromat, buy some detergent and that it will all be less expensive!

Church is the same around the world

It is already 3:45 PM and I am not even tired yet! Yeah! Last night we all went to sleep around 8:00 PM. I woke up around midnight thinking it must be morning. Sam woke up around 2:00 AM crying that she wanted to go back to Houston. I am not sure what time I was actually able to fall back asleep, but I woke up with a start at 8:45 AM. We had 45 minutes to get dressed, eat breakfast, get the address to the church and find it. We did find it and only arrived 15 minutes late (and in the process figured out that Helmut and I would not be good partners on The Amazing Race).

There were probably 60-75 people in Sacrament Meeting. It was fast and testimony meeting and although the long grey haired no shoe wearing 60 year old man didn’t get up, no one said anything too crazy. I met a few ladies who seemed pretty normal. They had lots of information to share about finding a house and living in Holland. I am definitely feeling better about being here after talking to them. Holly (one of the ladies I met) is from Kingwood and her husband also works for Shell. She has been here for about a year and a half. She seems like a possible friend candidate.

Helmut and I already received callings. I am the new nursery leader and will move up with the kids at the end of the year to be their Sunbeam teacher…yeah for me…I am trying to be positive about it. Helmut has been called to be the Primary teacher for the kids that are 4-7. That seems like a large age span to teach a lesson to, but I am sure he will figure it out. He seems really pleased with the calling and is looking forward to being Sam’s teacher.

This afternoon we went to McDonald’s for lunch (I am embarrassed to admit that is the second time we have been there in two days). Afterwards we drove around downtown Leiden and around the school. The city center is super charming with an old windmill, lots of row shops, a canal and cobblestone streets. I can’t wait until I can go back with my camera.

Right now Helmut and I are sitting in the “Jungle Club” watching Sam play. On the weekend nights from 4-8 PM it is “manned” by a nanny to play with the kids and do little art projects. I am down here to post to my blog as I get no WIFI reception in my room…bummer. If I am slow to answer your email that is why. I am looking into getting a mobile broadband account soon. Stay tuned tomorrow for our first day at ASH!

Day One

We made it!

The flight didn’t start out so well. We arrived at the airport with five people, seven pieces of carry on luggage and ten pieces of checked luggage. I am sure we looked like a motley crew. The porter was really helpful and tried to get someone to help us with our check-in, but no luck. Evidently, the Continental Business First class check-in is self serve. When we got our boarding passes, Sam was assigned to sit three rows back from everyone else. We tried to get help from three different people to sort it out, but they each told us to essentially “negotiate with the other passenger to switch seats.” Helmut was not happy with this answer at all and got pretty upset with more than one person. We finally did end up asking the passenger to switch places and he was happy to oblige. Finally the flight attendant came up to help and once he found out we had already taken care of it, he actually had the nerve to tell us we should have let him do it. “Sometimes the other business class passengers do not take kindly to being asked to move, so we prefer you give us the opportunity to take care of it.” At that point Helmut’s ugly American behavior surfaced. There was loud talking and talk of the horrible state of the airline industry in United States, I was thoroughly embarrassed. It all got worked out. The rest of the flight went great. Sam ate her dinner and then fell asleep for the rest of the flight. I tried to sleep, but didn’t have much success.

The drive from the airport to our hotel in Leiden was beautiful. The landscape reminds me a little bit of Idaho, except instead of cows there were sheep and instead of truck stops there were windmills. It was mostly farmland with a few thatched roofed houses interspersed. We saw lots of tree lined canals and streets (very much like the drive into Twin Falls). At this point, it is all so new and interesting to look at.

The Leiden Holiday Inn is living proof that you can make something look way better on the internet than it is in real life. It reeks of cigarette smoke and is kind of grungy, but it is close to the school. I have new resolve for finding a place to live with lightening speed.

We took a taxi over to The Hague to pick up our rental car and happened to pass the kids’ school on the way. On our way home we stopped by and looked around. We couldn’t do too much looking around because security was tight, but what we saw looked good. There were tons of kids out playing soccer and a fleet of charter buses from Germany here for a tournament. It seems like I will be able to get my sports fix here.

At that point it hit me…like a ton of bricks…

must.go.to.sleep!!! I had been up for over 24 hours and my body was revolting. I hate that jetlag feeling, in my opinion it is the worst thing about taking an overseas assignment.

I took an hour long nap and felt like I could make it a few more hours. We hopped in the car and drove around until we found a grocery store. When I walked into the store, I got an overwhelming feeling of dread. I had forgotten how hard it is to shop in an unfamiliar country. All the meat was in Dutch…I need to get a phrase book so I can make sure my ground beef is really ground beef (by the way I lost my Holland book somewhere in the move…ugh!).

So here I am living in two tiny hotel rooms that open up right in front of the “kids club” (very loud), paying for the internet at 35 cents a minute and eating out of a mini bar. Remind me why I thought this was a good idea…

Moving Day

Yesterday was the big day. The packers arrived around 8:00 AM (a full hour before I expected them) while I was still in my pajamas. What a crazy day. The kids went to school which simplified the process. Helmut and I were left to decide what would stay in the house, what we would pack to take on the flight, what we would send to Holland in an air shipment and what we would send to Holland in a sea shipment. Most of the things were easy to organize, but the clothes were complicated. The surveyor who came to the house a few weeks ago predicted we would get our sea shipment around the middle of December. I am hoping the sea shipment makes it in time for all the Christmas things I shipped. I suppose what ever happens, happens.

Josh had his last football game last night. They had to win to still be mathematically eligible for the playoffs. We got pretty far behind in the first quarter and then the weather turned cold and very rainy. The boys kept with it and played really hard. We won with a touchdown in the last 11 seconds! The Sampson Seahawks still have to lose their last two games for our team to make it to the playoffs, but it was a great win.

Right now I am so tired, but I still have to finish getting the house clean and pack before we go…this is too much work!