Happy Thanksgiving!

On this fourth Thursday of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand and nine, I wish my family and friends a very felicitous Thanksgiving. Today, much to my American colleague's chagrin, we have language class from 12:30-2:45 in Rotterdam. (As I return home on the train, I think some turkeys will probably begin to trot around Bresler Reservoir.) Not having experienced the delights of an American Thanksgiving, the Dutch know no better than to go about their usual daily tasks. Perhaps, they weren't too sorry to see the Strangers leave their shores nearly 400 years ago. But, in all fairness, the Dutch have plenty of other holidays to satisfy their appetite for feasts and fun.

After seeing Liesbeth off to work this morning, I sipped my tea this morning and mused over Thanksgivings past. Some of our more recent celebrations are especially memorable. Last year's competition with the socks was a real winner. As I recall, Ashton and I fought off an especially fierce onslaught from Jess, but having vanquished this particularly persnickety aunt-in-law, we made peace. Our objective had been achieved. (But as I recall, I still had both of my socks on, while Ashton lacked one ... for the record.)

I've also enjoyed singing around the piano ... in the past, we've sung "We Gather Together" and "Count Your Blessings." I suppose it'll be harder to sing this year, unless someone discovers that Grandma has a piano hidden in one of the back closets. It did seem a little strange at first to sing, but I've really gotten used to it. It's a nice way to begin the day, doing something completely together, and it also brings our minds back to the One Who for all these years has kept us together.

What a pity I never got around to writing a skit on "The Shakiest Gun of the (Mid)West"! If the weather holds out today, I'm sure the neighbors will be blessed by loud popping sounds reverberating across the fields as the Alpha's go out to prove their mettle. (The real war will be going on inside, though. I wish you all the best, Ashton, as you assail Jess's battlements. Just remember, though she's a good talker, she's likely fall apart like nothing more than a house of cards.) With all the concealed-carry licenses added to the family this year, I think metal detectors should become a regular piece of furniture for large family gatherings.

I also remember participating in some kind of gift-giving ritual. (I don't remember what it's called.) Will gifts be circulating amongst the family again? As I recall, I received a CD one year (the audio kind) that had Fur Elise on it. It is a very pretty song.

Anyone for a game of CatchPhrase this year? Or perhaps Scrabble, Huggermugger, or better yet, Quibbler? If Virginia will be around, I'm sure some word game will find it's way on to a table.

I can see Jaden some years ago playing electrician, as he would move a stool around the house, visiting every light switch, so he could turn them off and on. Esther and Janessa enjoyed playing in the rooms down the hall, that is, until Daniel and Jaden drew them into a ferocious wrestling contest with Ashton, James, Bryan, or me. Might those kids be getting a little big for wrestling?

Now that I've allowed my thoughts to wander over the other side of the Pond, I’ll consider this side, since this is the side I’m on right now. What will Liesbeth and I be doing today? She’s working today, with her colleague Rimka. They are the youngest assistants in the office (the others are 50+), so Lies and Rimka tend to have a lot of fun together. This morning, I’ll go for my walk, and then work on another chapter of Dutch homework. I had one chapter almost finished before my brother called yesterday (it was very nice to talk to you, Bub). Then, I’ll hurriedly grab a PBJ before dashing off to catch the 11:28 train to Gouda, where I’ll wait for about 5 minutes (if all is running to schedule, which it often doesn’t) before setting off on the 11:46 to Rotterdam. Then, I’ll come home and settle in for some studying for this weekend’s special meetings in Germany. This evening, we will eat dinner with Ab and Anneke. (Lies was going to make Chili con Carne, one of my favorites, so I'm rather sorry to be missing that lekkernij!) Then, return home just about the time the food drops from throats to stomachs on 1616 N. Grubb Road.

Happy digesting, and an even happier Thanksgiving!

And, to reward anyone who trekked through this lengthy post, here's a picture of me with the one I'm quite thankful for on this Thanksgiving .... A picture is worth a thousand words, I know, but I couldn't resist adding a few words beneath it, in the great tradition of American romance poetry!

Rozen zijn rood,

En violetjes blauw:
Maar niets is zo lief
Als mijn prachtige vrouw!

Undutchable?

The first week of the Intermediate Dutch classes went well. The American woman (Laurie) and I were joined by a Turkish expat. It's nice to have a small class again. It's also nice not to have class 4 days/week. It was a pretty intensive pace. Now, I'm going just twice a week, which gives me time to explore the job market some.

Last night, I met with a recruiting agency in Rotterdam. The Undutchables specializes in recruiting non-Dutch candidates for jobs in business. The lady who interviewed me is a South African expat (named Petra). I think the interview went well. (It was not an interview for a job per se, but one to gather more information about me and my background so I could be entered into the Undutchables database.) Petra gave me some additional ideas of websites to explore, and she was very positive about the steps I've been taking thus far to look for work. She was impressed with my Dutch--especially given I've not been here very long--and described it in her notes as "good." I think that will help open doors. Next week, I'll probably go to visit a Dutch Reformed School in Gouda. Our wedding photographer's husband teaches there, and he encouraged me to come by. We arranged an appointment with the director of the school so we can get acquainted. Who knows what can happen there....

Legally, I can't work yet (which is nice to remember when an application is politely rejected), but I should receive my residency permit sometime next month. At our first meeting with the IND (Immigration & Naturalization Dept), Liesbeth and I were unhappily surprised that her gross salary was too low for my request for residency to be granted. We had spoken with the IND in May/June, but on July 1, the laws changed, and the minimum income was revised upward. We were 13 euros too short (that works out to about 50 cents per day!). Fortunately, Liesbeth's employer was able to work out a solution by somehow revising the accounting relationship between vacation days and gross salary. The next week, I returned to the IND. (Since we're married, Liesbeth didn't have to go with me; if we we're simply "partners," she would.) I arrived an hour early, because there was no point in returning home from Rotterdam after my class only to leave immediately for the appointment. I was so surprised when I was led directly to an agent who looked over the papers and approved everything for processing. I didn't have to wait one minute to be seen!

This afternoon, I'm going to do some household chores, and then this evening we're off to church. Stefan and I have worked out that Friday evenings are my night to be the A/V man. The sound board isn't too hard, but sometimes song projection can be difficult, as if the songleader goes off his list, I have to find some Dutch song in the listing!

Yes, it really is a post.

Now that I have probably thoroughly trained anyone who did look at this blog not to look at it because of my very infrequent posts, I write again. Liesbeth and I are still (very much) alive, which should discount one possible explanation for the cessation of posts. Four weeks ago, I enrolled in a three-week intensive course in Rotterdam. We had classes four days *** oh my, I just had a kiss from my wife! *** from 9 to noon. Then, we had 2-3 hours of homework to do in the evening. I was quite fortunate, as there were only four students in our class: one Austrian, a Greek, and two Americans (my compatriot was a fifty-two year old woman from Connecticut whose husband had been transferred to Rotterdam). On the last day of the class, we had to give a short presentation in Dutch. I spoke for 5-10 minutes on the history of Lima. Perhaps that seems a rather mundane topic, but there are some interesting links to be made. For instance, in the year of Lima's founding, Darwin began his voyage and the Belgian Revolution ended with Belgium winning independence from the Netherlands. Lima's railroads, oil, and tank plant all make for an interesting story that can be linked to both hot and cold wars. Lost in Middle America provided a nice conclusion.
Today, I began the intermediate Dutch course, which will continue for 5 weeks (I think). Liesbeth has also been doing some studying, taking a diabetes course one evening per week. She had a busy day today at the office because hundreds of people came for the H1N1 vaccination. Not a fun day at the office. But now we are home, and all is well. The tea has steeped, and I shall now depart. But hopefully, I shall return before several weeks have again lapsed.