Fiets.

I just wanted to say how much I do not like riding my bike when it is icy out. I am not Dutch, therefore was not born on a bike, and therefore I suck at riding in these kind of conditions.


In case you're wondering, yes, I did wipe out on my bike. But luckily, only Huub and the boys saw the aftermath. Nothing is hurt...except my pride. :/

Day with the Boys.

Paul and Frank stayed home from creche (daycare) today because Frank has been sick, thus they have not been sleeping well. I thought they'd be a bit grumpy today, but so far, we've had a blast! I cut out snowflakes and we decorated them, we built with Legos, we colored pictures of horses, I built Play-Do animals and airplanes by request, and then we played house where Paul was the dad, Frank was the mom, and I was the baby. Now, after 15 minutes of "scare and tickle," whisper-reading "Go, Dog, Go!", and 5 rounds of softly singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," they boys are napping.


I really wish they would stay home like this more often. I really enjoy spending time with them and playing with them all day. Helps us bond better. I love their hugs, kisses, and snuggling. 


In other news, going out this weekend with Laura! We are finally going to see the nightlife of Hilversum together. Hopefully a guest appearance by John will also happen...we shall see!


Only 11 days until I return to the US for my short stay in NYC. Excited, but not looking forward to the actual travel process. I do get to stop in London and Madrid, though. Then I can lie and say I've been in other European countries. :)


Time to clean the kitchen...blargh.

Ponytail time.

Recently, Paul has really taken to my hair and making "staartjen" with it, which is the English equivalent of ponytails. But no, the kid really means PONYtails.


A little background:
Paul LOVES horses and ponies. Anything related to them, and he's in love. He has about 30 different horses around the house, has a huge horse lamp next to his side of the bed, and just received a very expensive Playmobil horse farm from Sinterklaas. Anytime we draw or color together, he asks me to draw a paard (horse) or eenhoorn (unicorn) so that he can color it. His favorite part is drawing on the tail and mane. He also carries around a small handkerchief (we call it a tootie) that he carries a certain way to look as though he has a horse's tail in his hand. The kid is obsessed, but it's adorable nonetheless.


So, about a week or so ago, I was leaning over Paul while he was playing, and he started to stroke my hair and mention something about a staartje, which I had conveniently just learned in my Dutch language course. I repeated the word, then said, "In English, staartje is ponytail" and his eyes lit up. He responded, "JAH, PONYTAIL, SARA!!" and so began his love of making ponytails with my hair. He never actually puts in an elastic band; he just holds them with his hands, smoothing and stroking them over and over again while saying, "mooie straatje," which translates to "beautiful ponytail." Sometimes he makes them "kleine" (small) and sometimes he makes them "grote" (big), but every time he makes sure to mention to me that they are "leuk" (nice) or "mooi". He even likes just brushing my hair, probably because he imagines it being something like brushing the mane of a pony. It really melts my heart every time he does it.


More mushy stories promised for future posts!

Watch Your Step.

Tell me why the Dutch people in general do not believe in picking up after their dogs shit on the sidewalk? 

It's not just me that notices this. It's an actual country-wide phenomenon that has many city officials scratching their heads. No one has yet to find a way to entice dog owners to clean up.

Better hurry the problem-solving along...side-stepping piles of shit is really cramping my style.

Dutch for Dummies.

At this very moment, I am attempting to upload my "Dutch for Dummies" CD (don't judge me!) so that I can practice my Dutch pronunciation...except that the CD only loads the first 50 seconds of the first lesson, which is supposed to be almost 8 minutes long, then skips on to the next. I am not a happy camper, as this is ruining my "I-will-listen-and-repeat-these-sounds-and-phrases-until-I-can-recite-them-almost-perfectly" plan for tomorrow's class. Gah, technology. Now I will be laughed at by the Czech and Ukrainian girls AGAIN!


::takes a deep breath::


Okay, on to more pleasant thoughts...


Last night, I joined Fiona and Huub at our neighbor's house for a small get-together. The German couple had invited their American friend and pianist, Lauren, to play a short piece with her daughter who plays violin. Besides the mini-concert, we enjoyed delicious sparkling white wine, as well a nice Italian red wine, along with some popular German sweets. It was actually quite nice. During my chat with Lauren, I learned that she spent a lot of her time living in San Antonio, where my brother and his family now live, when she lived in the US. Oh, what a small world! :) 


Today, Fiona and I took the boys to a giant indoor play-place (think Discovery Zone) to meet her co-worker and her children. It didn't take long before I was jumping around the bounce house, climbing with the boys to get inside the "helicopter" (just a tube with windows), and splitting my time between the bumper cars and mini-carousel. I LOVED being a kid with them again--I almost forgot what it was like to experience places like that! Plus, it was nice to spend time with the boys and interact so much with them outside of the house. We are really growing fond of each other!! 


Okay, I'm off to continue studying for class tomorrow...let's hope my CD starts shaping up, or someone is getting a phone call!


Doei doei tot later!


P.S. Laura arrives in 10 days!!!!

Let's Play Catch-Up.

Let me try to rewind and pick out the most memorable moments from the past 3 weeks of my life in the Netherlands...


Day One: 
After landing around 7:00am Amsterdam time, I was met by Fiona, my gastmoeder (host mother) with a lovely painted sign made by her and the kids the night before. From the airport to home, I realized how amazingly green--and flat--the landscape is here! It was quite beautiful. After meeting the three and a half year old twins, Paul and Frank, I was given a grand tour of the 3-story attached house. (Attached, in case you don't know, means that we have two other neighbors whose houses are attached to ours. It's very common here in the Netherlands as there are 16 million people squeezed into a land area slightly larger than Maryland.) 
Although I was thoroughly impressed and excited with my house and my host family, I was feeling the jet-lag. I took a three hour nap and felt even more terrible when I woke, but decided to take Huub, my gastvader (host father) up on his offer to show me Hilversum's city centre. To make my first day truly Dutch, Huub decided we would go by bike. I, exhausted and extremely nervous about my first bike experience here, bit the bullet and cautiously followed along. No broken bones or humiliating falls, so I considered it a success. 
The rest of the day is really a blur. I remember eating Chinese takeout for dinner (leftovers from the Sunday's traditional dinner), falling in love with stroopwafels  (see picture), hanging out with the family, then sleeping for a very long time. 


Since that was so long winded, let me just bullet-point the rest:

• Exploring the outdoor market and eating some kind of traditional Dutch fish that is raw and soaked in something that makes it slippery. Not a fan.
• First glance of Amsterdam and first train ride when I met John (amazing friend from Bloomington days) for dinner. Delicious food and drinks were had.
• Meeting Opa (grandpa) and Oma (grandma), who have now become my extended grandparents because they take care of me like their own. Love them.
• Cooking Mexican food for the family--and them loving it.
• Meeting and schmoozing with the neighbor's and friends of the family's at Fiona's 38th birthday party.
• Witnessing Paul dance around the house to girls' pop group, K3 (see below for video), pant-less and in his mom's high heels. SO cute.
• Canal cruise in Amsterdam. Fell in love with the houseboats (seriously, people live on the canals because of the lack of space) and decided that day that I will live in one at some point in my life.
• First night out in Amsterdam at Trouw, a very cool venue. Saw The Field, drank a lot of free beer (thanks to John!), mingled with some Swedes, and topped off the night with some delicious chicken shawarma. 
• Beginning my Dutch language courses with seven other au pairs from around Northern Holland. Poured down rain my entire bike ride to the train station, and so naturally, I had mascara all over my face. Old man behind the ticket counter wiped it away for me without me even asking--sweetest thing any stranger has ever done for me!
• Welcoming Sinterklass as his boat arrived on the old canal next to our neighborhood and waving to him as he rode around Hilversum on his white horse.
• Visiting Utrecht, Holland's most central city, and seeing all the beautifully old architecture. 

There's so much more to all of that...but too long of gap to explain everything! I hope to update as much blog-worthy stuff as possible in the next year, so stay tuned!

And with that...I leave you with this masterpiece:

Ik ben Sara.

Melinda, this is for you.

Just revived the old blog to help others keep up with what's going on over here in the Netherlands. Check back soon for an actual post. :)