THE END!

It's been very interesting to see how "Hagelslag and other charms of Holland" has been read by people from all over the world. I've gotten several comments recently - two of which I am unable to translate into anything that makes sense using free Internet translation tools. :)

健康保寶 said...

看看blog調整心 情，又要來繼續工作，大家加油........................................

February 13, 2010 2:19 AM

天天影片 said...

閱讀您的BLOG文 章,真是件快樂的事!........................................

March 8, 2010 2:01 AM

(Hopefully these readers liked what they read!)

Having these comments show up recently reminded me (and shamed me) that I never truly did finish this blog enough to a point where I could say THE END. In fact, I did not chronicle any of my last week in Holland. I'm pretty embarrassed about that, especially since the overall experience was so important and so wonderful for me.

My memory is shaky, given that it was two years ago, but here goes nothing!

***
Wednesday, June 25 -- Anouk and I went to dinner in Haarlem with Ingrid and her husband Frank after visiting Frank's place of work, de Schalm, which is an organization/store that helps people (homeless, addicts, or who have other troubles) learn a job skill and get back on their feet. It was a very neat visit. 

***
Thursday, June 26 --After work, I went to Anouk's friend's apartment which was in the Red Light District.  It was amazing to see such a vibrant, cute group of young 20-something girls juxtaposed with the windows of the Red Light District right outside! The girls celebrated a birthday. They were very welcoming - we had lots of fun.

My last official work day at Van Luyken was Friday, June 27, 2008. That afternoon, Ingrid escorted me to the Frans Hall Museum in Haarlem. That evening, I treated the partners (Jan Hendrick, Hans, Raoul and Erik) as well as my hosts (Anne; Barbara Wiggers, Jan Hendrik's wife; and Eva Weijel, Hans' wife) to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was very fun and delicious!

The Restaurant... name escapes me now.

 The lovely group: Jan Hendrik, Barbara, me, Erik, Anne, Hans (barely pictured), Eva and Raoul.

 

What a great group of people to work for and with!

***

Saturday, June 28 -- Anne took me on a journey to Delft, the town known for its beautiful porcelain pottery.

We toured the factory and were able to see a demonstration. I bought my mom a darling bud vase in Delft, at the factory.

We also had fun enjoying the touristy parts of Delft.

I fell in love with these miniature paintings.

Then, we took the train to den Haag and met up with Anouk.

We visited the museum there, but I marveled more at the modern day sights: people crowded in a central area building a sand castle (we got a beer and watched with interest) and the parking lots full of bike after bike!

That evening, we cooked and ate dinner at Anne's and had a great time, chatting, just us girls.
***
Sunday, June 29 -- Anne and I biked around de Jordaan and had lunch, and we also went to the Anne Frank house.

*****
Monday, June 30 -- The bosses at Van Luyken asked me to come back to the office for one more Monday morning meeting. It was a very special meeting... turns out, they wanted me to be there so they could surprise me with a very dear departing gift, the book Still Life and Trade in the Dutch Golden Age, by Julie Berger Hochstrasser. It's a beautiful photo book that still has a prominent place on my bookshelf, and Jan Hendrick inscribed it beautifully, which he read out loud before presenting it to me. I finally got a hug from the stoic Dutchman. :)

That afternoon, Anne and I went to the Rijks Museum, to the Van Gogh Museum and by Vondelpark.

Tuesday, July 1 -- My last full day in Holland was reserved for shopping, which we did in da Pijp in the Albert Cuypmarkt. We had a great time! That night, we met up with Thomas, his friend, and his sister, Nancy, and had dinner.

****
Now, after nearly two long years of silence on this blog, I can finally say that my chronicles are complete. I will never forget my time in Holland and the friends I made there, and as I told one Van Luyken pal recently over e-mail, I'll always think of Amsterdam as my European home.

THE END

So, it's been a while since my last post...

So, it's been a while since my last post. I admit it - I was so thrilled to return home to America in early July and tell everyone my hagelslag tales in person that I let my darling blog fall by the wayside. Well, I am no longer going to be like this:



falling flat on my backside when it comes to my blog. There are still more charms to share from Holland! (By the way, I took this picture on the train that took me from the station near Anne's house to Schiphol Airport. I felt sure that I would meet this awful fate when trying to run down the stairs to get off at my stop!)

So let's test my memory, shall we? Stay tuned to see what else I have to say about the final days of my adventure in Holland...

Filet Americain

As my readers may recall, the Dutch like to put spreads on their bread in order to make a “sandwich.” One such spread is called Filet Americain, and from what I can figure, it’s basically some sort of raw meat concoction that looks like ground beef so finely mushed up that it’s the consistency of mashed potatoes.

SICK, right!? That’s what I said. I tried a bite upon Anne’s request (well, basically she made me) and while I somehow was able to chew it and swallow it down, the whole time I was thinking, “It’s okay. You can make it through this.” My question is how in the heck can they call something I’ve never seen in my LIFE Filet Americain? I mean, they have given this spread the name American -- which would seem to me means they think it’s quintessential American. And it’s like, so totally not American AT ALL! Duh.

Would you ever eat this?

I wouldn’t recommend it!

Where is the hagelslag?

My “steepest” apologies, Jan Hendrik and Barbara

Okay, so I caught a little grief from Jan Hendrik and Barbara, whose staircase I outed in the early days of my Holland stay as being “STEEP.”

This blog is my attempt to assure Jan Hendrik and Barbara that they should not feel singled out! In fact, I encountered many more neck-breaking stair cases throughout my stay in Holland. And not everyone was as kind as Jan Hendrik, who carried my black beast of a suitcase up and down.

My conclusion? If stair-climbing should ever be named an Olympic event, I am positive a Dutchman will win.

A few potential courses:

Heroes

On Tuesday, Anne arranged to spend the evening with a young girl she mentors, Halima. Originally from Morocco, Halima is fifteen and is approaching her exam year in school (the year that Joy and Milou just passed). Anne mentors her on a variety of subjects, including English. On this particular evening, Halima was working on a book report about the novel “Heroes.” Anne asked if I would help out since my English is passable. ;)

I include this evening on my blog not only because it was interesting to meet and spend time with Halima, but also to say WOW about the volume of work required by Dutch students learning English! “Heroes” was about an American soldier returning from war with a disfigured face (I skimmed through the book in order to help – it was uplifting, let me tell ya), and Halima had to answer 26 pages worth of intense essay questions! One question required she write a conversation about what she’d say to a rape crisis counselor if she ever needed that sort of help (like I said, the book was really uplifting). Keep in mind – English is Halima’s third language.

The key Learning here (which I have thought during my entire stay in Holland but was really brought home to me when tutoring Halima): it’s lame to speak only one language. It’s even lamer to live in a country where learning (to fluency) a second language isn’t just simply a given as part of the fabric of our education system. Boo America. I wish Halima could have answered me this hypothetical question along with her 26 others: Where are the heroes (preferably multilingual!) who can improve America’s education system!?

Rant over... here's Halima, Anne and I studying.

I Love Lunch

I thought we had a great lunch system at Jackson Spalding. Dine out when you want to at one of the many wonderful nearby restaurants. Grab a healthy sandwich at MetroFresh, or an Asian salad at Fresh2Order. Walk over to Colony Square for some Chick-fil-A. In the mood for Mexican? Head to Twisted Taco. Or bring your lunch, and eat with co-workers in Jackson Spalding's "Oasis." Too busy? Pick up Maximo’s from downstairs and eat at your desk. Errands to run? Take care of them at lunch.

That's all great, but for years to come I’m going to miss the Van Luyken lunches. Every day in Haarlem lunch is provided, and the office eats as a group. At 12:30 p.m. sharp, work stops, and everyone gathers in the lunchroom. You get in line, grab a plate, slice yourself some fresh cucumber, grab a fresh tomato or two, then sit down in front of a delicious array of Dutch “sandwich” items. Fresh, soft bread. Various meats and cheeses. Numerous spreads, like bacon/egg or gouda cheese spread. Go on, make yourself a couple of sandwiches (that means you’ve put a piece of bread down with a variety of toppings on top – the Dutch don’t use two pieces of bread for a “sandwich” like we Americans do. Also, sandwiches are eaten with a fork/knife). Don’t be shy! Get yourself some yogurt. Add fresh fruit – kiwi, anyone? Cherries? Add some honey. And don’t forget your light-as-air cracker with butter and hagelslag for dessert.

Though I teased Hans that I would simply miss the food aspect of lunch – that is not true. Almost as good as the food ;) is the camaraderie built over daily discussions. It’s the only part of the day where everyone at Van Luyken sees each other. I know that Jackson Spalding is too big to instate a lunch system like this one on a daily basis (nor would many people want to do so, I think), but I think we should consider implementing something along these lines once or twice a month, or something. And not in the form of an official meeting or presentation, but just a lunch, where we all spend time talking, exchanging ideas or even making fun of the new girl who can’t speak our language. ;) Just a joke… I don’t think my Van Luyken co-workers made fun of me (in front of me) in Dutch. Well, I don’t think they did it that much, anyway.

But they had to have snickered at me, taking all of these pictures.

Bas in line.



The fresh cucumbers and tomatoes that showed up at every lunch.


The meat and cheese trays.

The Van Luyken crew in action.

Around the table. I am about to go for thirds... seriously!

Amsterdam vs. Atlanta

I recently asked myself: “If aliens abducted all of my loved ones, including my co-workers at Jackson Spalding, would I move to Amsterdam?” Well, before I can answer this question properly, one must first know that before moving anywhere I would embark on a mission to defeat the aliens and restore order to the South and frankly, to the World. However, if that didn’t pan out, and moving was on the table, I’d have to first evaluate Amsterdam on the three non-people factors of my Atlanta life that I cannot, absolutely cannot live without:

1) Scott’s Cult… I mean, step class at Ansley Mall’s LA Fitness
2) Midtown Nails (quick and cheap mani/pedi – usually worth it)
3) Piedmont Park

I realize to some these three factors may sound frivolous and maybe even shallow, but I’m just being honest about what I enjoy. Nothing beats an Atlanta weekend that is kicked off by Scott’s 5:45 p.m. step class on Friday and includes a mani/pedi and a stroll through the park on Saturday or Sunday. Enjoying these things like I do in Atlanta, I tried to learn if Amsterdam could compete.

The verdict…

1) An advanced step aerobics class: the research on this point is somewhat weak, but what I learned is that a good advanced step class is difficult to find. Once I found a gym that even offered step classes (and called to sign up for the next class), the lady on the phone informed me that the Internet schedule was wrong and there wouldn’t be another step class until Thursday – after my Wednesday departure! Nuts! But no sweat, though. I figure it was fate that I would not be able to claim having mastered a Dutch step class – no instructor in the world could possibly be as good as Scott.* (*YES, this is an example of shameful brown nosing that BETTER earn me at least two class song dedications upon my return!)
WINNER: ATLANTA

2) An inexpensive, quick, yet good-looking mani/pedi at a place where you can get an appointment at the drop of a hat AND occasionally run into Jane Fonda: impossible to find. (This is true for many places – not just Amsterdam. Jane Fonda aside, try finding a GOOD mani/pedi equal to Midtown Nails in Columbia, SC. Laughable.) However, I couldn’t go without a pedicure after a certain point, so I broke down and gave myself one. Despite my fears and lack of experience in this area, it looked good! This feat really gave me sense of self-satisfaction (and saved me some money for more poffitjures).
WINNER: A DRAW

3) An amazing park: The most memorable day of my stay in Amsterdam was one spent at Vondelpark… the day was gorgeous, the company was nice, and I was in Holland. I don’t want to betray good old Piedmont Park, but I can’t deny who the winner is here.
WINNER: AMSTERDAM

In all of this evaluating, there was one dark horse element about Holland that I never anticipated loving like I did (and still do). LUNCH AT VAN LUYKEN.

Lunch at Van Luyken… this topic really deserves its own blog entry – it’s that amazing. So look for it to come….

And to conclude today’s exhilarating entry for any of you needless American worriers, I am not moving to Amsterdam. But I will say, all frivolity aside – the city has won my heart over forever. Amsterdam will always be my European home.

How could you not love a city where people bike everywhere?

Where kitties make cuddly window ornaments (this is fake bread, by the way)

Where there are houses this adorable and purple?

Orange Crush

NEWS FLASH! Holland is no longer in the EuroCup. I am sure those of you who care about soccer knew that already. For me, just typing the words still stings, so that's why it took me so long to post this entry.

Just for some backstory before getting into the details of the big L -- the crew and I (Anne, Anouk, Carolijn and Klaas) watched Holland defeat Romania on Tuesday, June 17 at Barcelona in da Pijp. The victory seemed to come handily, but we all knew that Saturday's game -- against Russia -- would be the next big test for our Lions.

Saturday arrived and I was pretty pumped to bust out the Blokker shirt yet again. (Surprisingly, I've come to really enjoy wearing orange...who says a redhead can't?) After a day of touring around town, Whit and I met Anne and Nienke at a cafe called De Fountein in De Nieuwmarkt ("new market" – contrary to the name, it’s one of the oldest parts of Amsterdam). Thomas and his friend Scott also took a train in from Den Haag to watch the game with us.

Our view of the TV

Things started off relatively good. We weren't playing the best soccer there is (says the American girl), but I had high hopes that we could pull it out regardless. But nothing I could do -- not even the mighty roar of my Blokker shirt -- could save the Leeuw. To borrow a real phrase from the Dutch (nope - I'm not making this up): that night, by losing to Russia like we did --
we left the Lion standing in his underpants.

Despite the Holland football players leaving the King of the Jungle decked out in nothing but his skivvies, the gang and I still went on with our night. Karaoke abounded at one of the most crowded places I've ever been in (Casablanca), as did late night Febo and Flemish-style fries (mayo and all).

"Little Bro T"and me

It was at this moment in my karaoke rendition of "One Fine Day" that I realized, "Why am I doing this?" Thomas and Whit must have realized that, too, because moments later they came to rescue me on the stage.


Anne and Whit


Even though Holland lost, it ended up being a great night in Amsterdam!