One year anniversary

Tuesday August 27, 2019  (Dinsdag 27 Augustus)

On this Tuesday in 2018 I got off a plane at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, NL and began a brand new life.

I didn't sleep a wink during the flights (1 leg from Baltimore to Iceland and another leg from Iceland to NL) over to Europe, having spent much of the time crying, mourning the loss of the life I was leaving behind: my sons, the home I had lived in for 14 years, my friends, my job (well, not so much mourning that one 😉). But those feelings of loss were mingled with excitement about seeing my husband again who had already moved to NL 5 months prior.

So.. here I am, 1 year later and it has been a mixed blessing...

During that time hubs and I have visited 7 countries and 2 continents! (in chronological order) Portugal (Sept), Spain (Sept), Ireland (Oct - unfortunately for the funeral of one of hubs' uncles), Belgium (Nov), Morocco (Feb -- woo hoo! another continent under my belt), UK (April - England and Wales - great to have a friend from the US visiting!!!), Ireland (May - take 2) and the Czech Republic (July).

And next week we're going to spend a few days in Paris to meet friends of hubs with a stop in Belgium (Bruges and possibly Ghent) as we all drive back to our apartment.

Hubs and I have set a goal of visiting all 12 provinces of NL. So far we've visited 11. Overijssel... we haven't forgotten you!! Part of this goal included seeing the world's oldest functioning planetarium which was quite cool.

We experienced the phenomenon (and controversy) that is the arrival of Sinter Klaas and Zwarte Piet  on December 5 at the port, a much bigger deal here in NL than Christmas, which is a very subdued day spent with family and attending church services for those who are inclined.

We were fortunate enough to spend 2 weeks around the holidays back in the US. It was wonderful to see my sons again. I have resigned myself to their hesitancy to fly and that the only time I will see them is if I go back to the US. I just wish they were a little chattier over FB PM!!!

After about 7 months I received my residency permit... let's just say that bureaucrats here aren't much different than they are back in the US. "My job is to collect papers. It is *NOT* to tell you that you gave me copies that will not be accepted by the immigration services."

I've also made a friend or 2 here in NL. One I have yet to actually meet in person, but she was very kind, she saw me posting on an expat FB page and actually called to let me know she was there for me if I needed/wanted. We still interact over FB. Another lives closer and we have regular "dates" now which have been quite enjoyable.

Ik heb wat Nederlands geleerd (I have learned some Dutch). This has been very helpful as I feel less and less isolated since I can read much of what I see out on the street. And I can have basic conversations with sales clerks... just need to work on understanding them better!!

I've learned to book-end my conversations with some form of hello and goodbye... and thanks to the above item I've been able to add to my repertoire of acceptable phrases.

I have experienced the beach closing for the season (so weird to see the restaurants being boxed up and hauled away from the beach!) and the beach re-opening for the season (so weird to see all the restaurants being unboxed and put back on the beach!).

I have experienced the shortened winter days where the sun never rises any higher than about the 10am mark.

I have experienced the wonder of having the sun stay up until past 11pm.

I missed celebrating (in person) my sons' birthdays.

I've missed spending my younger son's last "free" summer with him.

I've missed seeing my younger son head off for his last year of undergrad.

I've missed many weekly coffee-dates and several Sunday breakfast outings with my older son.

I have had to adjust to the time difference... hours where my friends and family back home are still asleep and aren't available to chat. (Although... some of you seem to be experience a little insomnia which has come in handy when it's 7am here - lol!)

I've been yelled at by someone on a moped while I was biking on the bike path because I didn't get over fast enough for him.

I've been kicked in the back of my chair in the movie theater because I was looking at my phone during the previews.

I've adjusted to dates being displayed in DD-MM-YYYY format, clocks being displayed in 24 hour format, and addresses being displayed in <STREET NAME> <HOUSE#> format (e.g. instead of 123 Main St, here it is written as Main Street 123)

I've experienced the wonder that are oliebollen and the disgust that is store-made stamppot. (Seriously -- the Dutch can make some decent desserts like oliebollen and appeltaart, but haven't seem to mastered a delicious main course)

I have visited some amazing museums... I've seen Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" and Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring". Pretty much every museum hubs and I have visited has not required payment for a ticket thanks to the country's Museumkaart. I've actually visited a few museums repeatedly without paying an entrance fee. (If I wanted to I could see "Girl with the Pearl Earring" every day the museum is open and not buy a ticket. It's like the Smithsonian, but throughout the country, there is an annual fee, and it is only for museums)

I've visited at least 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites: the canals in Amsterdam, Kinderdijk (a village with 18th-century windmills), and the historic center of Prague.

I've "Dutchified" my bike with the addition of a headlight, rear tire frame and saddlebags. The saddlebags come in handy when I bike to Jumbo (pronounced "yumbo") for grocery shopping.

In Ireland I drove a right-hand drive manual car for more than 15 minutes and SURVIVED!

I've learned which stores to go to for certain items (for example, Aldi is the best place to get coffee pods for our Nespresso), and I've added the local Thursday farmer's market to my weekly grocery shopping venues.

I've become blasė about riding the tram and train to get to where I need to be.

I've gotten lost numerous times on my bike trying to find my way to Haagse Markt only to FINALLY discover I had been making it exceedingly more complicated than it needed to be.

I've learned to plan my errands around free bathrooms and to hold my nose if I absolutely had to use the facilities while on the train. (I've also learned to make sure I have tissues and hand sanitizer with me just in case neither toilet paper nor water were available in the train toilet)

I've become more adept at avoiding stepping in dog shit while walking around Scheveningen.
I have NOT learned how to pronounce Scheveningen properly.

All in all, this is has been a great experience, despite my moments of sadness and feelings of loss. Hubs and I have accrued some wonderful memories that we will be able to hold onto for the rest of our lives (or until dementia kicks in)

So... if anyone can find a way to get my sons to get over their flying issues AND make them a bit more chatty on FB PM I think I'd be ok to stay here for a couple more years - after all, we haven't visited *ALL* the EU countries 😜