I will try to update this blog every month or so with some pictures and stories about us, the things we do and the memories we share with you in Deerfield.
Our last week was quite emotional. And not only for Dide and Ties. We had multiple goodbye parties in our house, at work and school and in many other homes and restaurants. Thank you all so much for the warm words and present. We had a fantastic time in Deerfield and made many friends, that was sort of surprising to us as we and you knew upfront our stay was only for a limited time. But we met so many nice and great people, we will never forget that awesome time.
The last day of school was Tuesday December 7, 2010. Dide had a great surprise-goodbye party in her classroom. And also for Ties a party was organized, a day earlier.
The kids were crying when we left South Park and so were Saskia and Radboud. It was strange driving away for the last time. The days before we already said many goodbye's, but this was the hardest of all - and the last one.
Our trip home was smooth, except that the suitcases were too heavy, of course. But that could be easily solved by repacking some of them. We arrived before scheduled time and were welcomed by our parents. They drove us home as well, our house was still our house, nothing seemed to have changed. The kids, though, thought is was small (Ties: "I didn't remember it was so tiny" and he said it in English) and we had to agree. We plan on extending our house this spring.
Dide and Ties were happy to be back in their old rooms, here you see Dide's room. She has a high bed with a little desk under it, so that leaves more room to play.
Dide and Ties went to school for a week and had a good time. They are in the same classes as before, so they know all the kids. And Ties has his old teacher from kindergarten back. And after a week of Christmas celebrations and welcome-back-parties, it was winter vacation!
After a week at home and right at the start of the vacation it started snowing, which is pretty unusual for The Netherlands in December. And this time it did not melt right away, but it stayed for a good 10 days or so. The first 4 days we did not want (nor dare) to use our borrowed car, so we were almost trapped in the house. Walk to the village was the only escape. The snow was so high that even the sled disappeared under it. Dide and Ties loved it and we were happy that we bought some affordable winter clothes at TJ Maxx just before leaving back home. It helped that we did not have any obligations or plans, no work or school and no fixed appointments. It was great to have some quiet days.
Dide already talked with her Deerfield friends on Skype. Remember we are 7 hours later than Deerfield, so if you want to give it a try, your mornings are a good idea. If you send us an e-mail upfront we can make sure we have Skype running (rsdtdeerfield remains our address).
After a couple of days, the roads were more or less snow free and accessible and we started doing things and visiting people. We picked up our Mazda that was imported from the US. We had a good Christmas weekend with visits to family. Really nice and relaxed. Unfortunately, when we got home we found that somebody had broken into our house. That gives a lot of paperwork, police visits and dealing with the insurance company. It is a bad feeling that somebody has been searching through your house. We miss a couple of things that are replaceable (iPod's), but also some jewelry and Dide's backpack from the US. She was really sad, especially since many keychains that she got from her US friends and during our trips were at it. This makes you so mad! Well, we will get over it eventually. We did not have too much time to think about it, because a couple of days later the container with all of our personal goods arrived. Lots and lots of boxes to unpack. And we have our bikes back, awesome!
In the Christmas vacation we also had our little niece Lieve staying with us for a couple of nights. She had visited us twice in Deerfield and her parents had practiced a lot, so she knew our names. Ties, and especially Dide loved her staying with us. We did go to Leiden by train (2 stops), which she loved a lot. Good times and the main reason we wanted to go back home: family and friends.
New year's eve in The Netherlands is traditionally celebrated with friends. Our original plan of going to the northern part of The Netherlands (Groningen) was cancelled due to the burglary and slippery roads, but we had a great evening with local friends. Good to see everybody again! The kids did not make it till 12 AM ............
And now normal life has started again. It is amazing how quickly things are back to normal - sort of. Dide and Ties are in school again and have homework, play dates and all obligations that are part of their lives. We have unpacked most of the boxes and seen some of our friends. The agenda's are filling up with appointments, Radboud is back at work and Saskia is very busy with garages, heating maintenance, toilet replacements, home extensions and children's homework, too. Many things to take care of when you are gone for an extended period of time.
In the weekends we try to do nice things. We do have a Dutch museum card again, like we used to have, and are using it right away. Not too many pictures (not allowed inside most musea and camera was stolen), but we already visited 3 different ones since we are back. Yesterday we went to the beach. It was not too cold, but very windy. We like going there, also outside summer season. Beach here is a public place and much wider than on lake Michigan.
And today we went to panorama Mesdag, a famous painting of the coast near The Hague in which you are standing in the middle. We took the train again, which is convenient because we live really close (i.e. walking distance) to the station.
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| Panorama Mesdag, picture is not made by us, but gives an impression. |
On the way back we went to the library of The Hague to look for some English books. It is a great library and we found some. There was also a children's theatre play that just started and Dide and Ties liked it a lot. Dide was one of the happy few to get a small role in the play.
To finish for now, I would like to share a picture from Ties' room, and especially his door. Anybody recognizes some Chicago / US influences?
We miss you all a lot. Please stay in touch. Saskia is active on facebook and e-mail. I will try to regularly post some pictures on this blog. And if you happen to travel across seas: let us know and we will see where we can meet.
Radboud and Saskia, Dide and Ties.
