In addition to coming back with a healthy respect for prepositions and the other assorted dangers of the Dutch language, I also brought home a tremendous case of the sick. My ultra mellow yoga like writing teacher had been getting progressively sicker and was worried that it was contagious. With typical American bluster, I assured her that I rode the trains and my immune system could certainly handle it. Well, the Wise Woman of Writing was right 🙂 And yours truly got a smack from the humility stick.

This morning I woke up covered in sweat and I was thrilled! For the past three days I have been freezing cold, wearing lots of clothes and sleeping under a comforter with four breathing heaters. And still not being warm. Sweat soaked was a big relief, wanting to kick all the blankets off and send the pets elsewhere was even more so. My end was not imminent! Today I have plans to leave the house as well. Haven’t done that since Monday morning’s banjo lesson. I basically spent this week sleeping, sneezing and not even wanting coffee. I know, that’s the worst part!

I should know this by know. Every so often there comes a point where your body says “Hey you up there, you’ve been missing the signs lately. About how I am feeling? Do you even care? Well, let me show how I can make you care”. And then I get sick. It always happens after really emotionally stressful times. I have decided to pay more attention to those signals.

One of my goals from last week was to actually use more of my vacation time this year and have at least a 2 week vacation in August. Most people go for three weeks but that’s more than I am comfortable with right now.  My cousin, Joanne, is generally a vacation house expert. She always manages to find the perfect vacation house. I asked her to share her secrets with a vacation beginner. Well, she literally takes two weeks to find the right place. That’s not going to work for me so she sent sites to look at that she has used. That saves me so much time compared to a search engine. Yesterday I started looking and sent off my first email to inquire about availability in August. I haven’t decided which country, I was just looking at the vacation houses. This first one is in Italy and if it is available, the boys and I will be headed there for two weeks in August. It is about an 800 mile drive from here which I could do over two days. I could probably do it in one but with the boys in the car, that’s not good for them (or me). So, we will see!

It is Hemelvaartsdag today or Ascension Day. Yesterday I wished a coworker a Fijne Hemelvaart (Happy Ascension) He was quite taken aback and he asked me I knew what I said. After I thought about for a minute I quickly apologized and said I definitely wasn’t hoping for him to ascend to heaven quickly. I think I gave him another entry for the list “Strange things my American coworker has said to me” . He is also the one who I wished not to be painfully cremated as opposed to painfully surprised. Poor Gerard. Aside from awkward language moments, that also means a long weekend here since most things are closed today.

This weekend is also the Rolling Kitchens weekend. That’s what you call a food truck here, a rollende keuken. They have a lot of things I don’t eat and seeing the barbecue and pig on a spit ones makes me queasy. They do have a high representation of veg/vegan though. Rollende keukens come from all corners of the Netherlands to participate. Den Haag apparently has a huge vegan business community.

I think I am not quite ready for that today. I am not hungry yet and it would be pointless to go somewhere like that when you can’t really taste food yet. Hopefully tomorrow. For now, coffee. 🙂

Even if she makes you crazy or irritates you beyond belief, hug your mom.
I would give anything at all to be able to do so again. Instead, this is what I have left to hug and talk to.

I have so many stories that are bubbling up to be told that I think I will stop thinking about the order and just share them freely. You can rearrange them as you like. I am home again and sitting directly next to my laptop is Moortje. The boys are tucked around each other in their poofy basket on the floor next to my desk. The wind is noisily making it’s way through the street and it sounds terribly dramatic. I had put the laundry out to dry last night on the terrace and this morning the racks were everywhere like someone had just picked them up and thrown them around while having a temper tantrum. Overnight it also rained which was a substantial setback for the drying process.

I need to say that if I get one more email about Mother’s Day tomorrow and the last date for guaranteed delivery of flowers, fish, whatever, I think I might scream. I would prefer to ignore that it is Mother’s Day tomorrow entirely. The question I really want to ask is can they guarantee overnight delivery to the after life?

Today is five years (also on Mother’s Day in 2010) that I lost my dragon cat, Mikha. Mikha was 18 by that time and had mellowed a bit to being likely to only remove one of your fingers instead of her whole hand with her jaws of terror. Mikha was my perfect companion in the sense that she was snarly, didn’t think much of being socialized, could carry a grudge and didn’t really want or need anyone else. We had alot in common!  Mikha chose me when I was 19 and determined to have a cat in my dorm room despite the rules to the contrary. Mikha was a New Jersey cat with all the sort of attitude that implies. I remember driving down the highway to get home over school breaks and Mikha would be howling the whole way as she was perched on top of piles of dirty laundry and school books. At the time, Ramona was my Saab. Ramona was a white 1982 four door 900 Turbo with a gypsy red interior. She was my first car. Mikha would sit on the dashboard and try to stand on the turn signal indicators so as we would be driving the left, right or hazard lights would randomly signal according to her mood.

I was Mikha’s Person to be Tolerated. I think Mikha accepted my mom as a backup for that position but further than that, she had ZERO interest in doing anything social. When Mikha was 7, I bought my tiny little house in Seattle and we moved in. She had a house and a yard. A few months later, Lientje came to live with us as a kitten. In retrospect, it was not my brightest idea ever. I do have a picture of the two of them sitting together, back to back in the nursery window frame so I do know they didn’t hate each other entirely. Other cats would cross the street to go past our house instead of walking by even if Mikha wasn’t outside sitting on the front porch. That’s how strong her reputation was in the feline community.

I miss her.She was one of the constants in all those years that I had growing up to do. Mikha and I knew each other longer than I have known anyone who wasn’t a relative. And in some cases we knew each other better than those relatives. I would like to think that Mikha and Mom have found their way to each other, with Mikha not being afraid to take a swipe at Ninja’s nose, claws out, and remind him that “cats rule and dogs drool”.

The past week gave me alot of time to think and reflect. So did the wrong way detour I took yesterday that nearly put Beatrix and I on the highway! I really need to take a crash course in understanding the Dutch method of road signage. Yesterday was not the first time that I have nearly entered the highway while on my bike! I am not sure about the depth of my thinking since my language lessons consumed a considerable amount of brain cycles. I do know that I loved being outside of the city and sitting under the sky until late (1130 but that is LATE for Vught) at night. One of my fellow students said to me Thursday evening as we crossed paths at the hotel entrance “Are you going to sit outside on the terrace again the whole night?” with a faint whiff of disapproval in her voice. To which I cheerfully replied “Absolutely! And I am going to enjoy it!”

I did exactly that, sitting outside in the dark, looking at the stars and chatting with the people who work at the manor. It was so relaxed. Someone asked me why I didn’t just move to a place like Vught if I like being outdoors with peace and quiet so much. Two reasons, I really am a city person. I like to go to the country and spend time there to recharge but I love Amsterdam. The second reason is that I think I might get very easily bored in Vught. It is very homogenous. And I am not that good at fitting in, nor do I want to be.

George was really happy to see me yesterday when I came home. Henry was playing “deeply traumatized by abandonment” for all it was worth. Which I let him do because he has to work through his own attitude adjustment. Marjo came and brought me some soup. She’s on a 30 day vegan challenge and while I can’t say how it is working for her, I can certainly say that I am benefiting from all of the kitchen experimentation she is doing! We had a long conversation over good wine and Henry made a definite point to sit in her lap and stare at me from across the way. George is George and he just curled up next to her and started snoring. As I reminded Henry, I am the only one bringing home the proverbial bacon in this household so when he is willing to make a contribution to the bills, he can certainly have more to say about my schedule 😉

The coming work week is a short one, due to Hemelvaart. My religious background is skimpy. The literal translation of Hemelvaart is Sailing to Heaven so I guess in English that is Ascension Day? Anyway, it means that the office is closed Thursday and Friday so we have another long weekend! Now if only the weather would cooperate so I can transplant my tomato seedlings and the pepper plant!

This past week, I had three excellent teachers. The way the process is works is that you have 4 sessions per day with a teacher one on one, then four periods in between of multimedia or self study. What this means is that you are doing your assignment for the next teacher led session. This is personalized for every student. They base the teacher student matching on personality, learning style, etc. When you get the chance to learn something from someone who is committed and passionate about their subject, it is a gift! I look forward to seeing them again next time. You know I am going to go back next year, right? I want to sit for the native speakers proficiency exam so I need at least one more round. I did go up a level during this week so I steadily made progress.

My second teacher of the day had given me a self drawn diagram of the Danger of Prepositions. I will call her Madame Schematica because she would illustrate every lesson and topic with a schematic (Dutch for diagram) and it helped me visualize and learn. I never thought prepositions could be dangerous. I knew I often put them in the wrong place in a sentence but how harmful could they really be? Thursday afternoon I was sitting at the lunch table with a group of the Dutch students who were learning German. I was telling a story and got the point about taking off my shoes. I said something about je moet je schoenen aftrekken (you must take off your shoes) and the entire table fell on the floor laughing. I didn’t understand what was so funny. I mean, I am funny but this was like gale force hilarity. One of the students saw my confusion and said “Do you know what you just said?” And I said “Yes, you have to take your shoes off” She said “No, you didn’t. With shoes it is uittrekken. You said something entirely different”  They couldn’t stop laughing and then I got it. I think I went way beyond red and turned maroon. Uittrekken (take out) is correct for shoes, aftrekken is otherwise known as masturbation. Yep, that’s exactly what I said “you must masturbate your shoes”.  Never a dull moment with learning a language!

Time to run some errands and go to the park before wind changes to add rain!

It is Tuesday and I am back at the manor. I am having a tremendous time. Don’t get me wrong, it is not that I am not overstuffed with rules about perfectum, imperfectum, hoofd zin en bij zin, conjunctions and spelling. I do feel that the more time I spent studying one subject, the more I forget it. However, I have faith that since these methods have worked for many more students then me, I can make it through. Today one of my writing assignments was to write my first blog post in Dutch. Never fear, despite the sweat, blisters on my thumb from the pen and the hair standing up from the amount of times I pulled my hands through my hair to make the thoughts come easier, I am not going to be publishing that one any time soon. It did take me nearly an hour to write a page and a half long hand.

So what is different this time? Mostly, me. I have stopped worrying about whether or not I will learn all the Dutch I need to by the end of the week. I have put my out of office email on with the message that says “I am studying this week. I am certainly not available by telephone”. People respect this. Whereas last year I was still trying to do my job and learn because I am just that American that letting go is difficult. I also am sitting in the massage chairs at least twice per day and have convinced the other new and nervous students to do that too. Beatrix and I make the trip in 8 minutes from the manor, which is a lovely way to start and end the day. As a matter of fact, tomorrow morning I have a bike commute date with one of my teachers from last time. I am enjoying the yummy vegan food the kitchen is going through all the trouble to prepare for me, even the snacks at the end of the day before the last study session.

Today is Liberation Day. Yesterday evening during dinner we had two minutes of silence to remember the Netherlands victims of WW II. Sitting at my table was a German man of a certain age. He didn’t understand why we were silent and thought at first we were praying. So, he was twiddling his thumbs, drinking his wine and asking me why we were doing this. After the two minutes were up, I had the slightly awkward task of explaining to a 70 year old German that we were honoring the Dutch war dead from the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He went on to whip out his iPhone and show off pictures of the hotel he is staying at, waxing on about the amazing conference facilities. Like beyond the level of the average guest. Turns out, tonight, as we sat at the same table again, I learned about his past as a paratrooper in the German army in 1965 and then his career in conference management facilities for Esso in Europe – that was his career. And hence his passion over his hotel. Listening to him was interesting. It also made me realize how very different the countries in Europe still are from each other. He’s there to learn Dutch by the way since his wife made him move here because his 91 year old mother in law refuses to give up her driver’s license and apparently terrorizes her fellow Dutch motorists frequently. I made a mental note to be careful when driving around Amersfoort, where they live!

I have collected some other little ducklings, all of whom are learning Dutch for the first time. And I have even invited two of the Amsterdam ones to the birthday party so they can meet new people. I remember how difficult it was to meet people and make friends of them when I first got here. What can I say? I think that you never know how someone might impact your life and it doesn’t cost me any effort to share my experience or make things easier for someone where I can.

I heard from home today and all the pets are doing well. The 100 Whimzee sticks I ordered for them have arrived so they are very happy. These are veggie dog sticks that I always used to get in Seattle and bring back. Ironically, they are made here but you can’t get them. I finally found a farm supply store that would sell them to me at just over wholesale sale prices. It seems that the things that used to tie me to the US are becoming less and less. I am not quite sure how I feel about that.

We had a tremendous thunderstorm here this afternoon, which dropped the temperature from 71 degrees to 61. This morning it felt like Hawaii and with the humidity to match. I could completely hear my mom making the remark about knowing that it was going to rain by looking at my hair. Which I always used to reply to her that she was just jealous of my curls.

Tomorrow is the short day. We only have class and dinner until 1945. I would like to say I would be heading out to the local disco but there isn’t actually one here. I have plans to make the most of the sunlight and ride around to the woods and see some of the historical sites. I won’t be doing homework. That reminds me that I still have some to do so I better hit the books.

Beatrix and I made it safely to Vught. Of course, it would start to rain this afternoon and it didn’t show any signs of letting up so around 1515, I had an Elvis moment and said to the boys “It’s now or never” and got out the bungee cord to secure my suitcase to her basket, with my laptop bag underneath, hoping to keep it dry. With a hat on my head so that I could see in the rain since hoods always fly off, we were off. The boys were a bit clingy all day. I tried to keep them from seeing my pack but they were having none of that.

I caught the Maastricht bound train at Amstel and there were only two train cars for bikes. With the three bikes in one car, we made it work. Forty-six minutes later and it was time to get out at s’Hertogenbosch station. The nice thing about travelling with your bike here is that people recognize how unwieldy it is to lift a heavy bike out of train car and down two steps to the platform so they hold doors for you. They don’t always do that if you don’t have a bike which proves the importance of the bike in the Dutch consciousness 😉 Here’s my girl before heading off to Vught. And if you are wondering what is in the orange bags, I carry the standard equipment of a plastic shopping bag, bungee cords, my Great Pumpkin rain cape and a couple of rags. And today a bottle of SPA.

From the station, it was about 5 km to Vught. Unfortunately, it was raining so I didn’t get a chance to take pictures. I will try on Friday when I head back because it is beautiful here and in a very different way than Amsterdam. Eventually, my rained out and no longer freshly pressed self arrived at where I am staying for the week.

However, since I am American, I am staying in the coach house where all slightly unruly guests belong in the old rooms of the grooms and the coachmen. The tiny window on the top right is my room.

Not bad digs at all! I can still smell the horses a little and all the hay from over the years. I think it is just settled into the building’s very walls and bones. It is super cute and I love the fact that the bathroom has radiant heat flooring so I can dry all my clothes from the journey. I feel certain I will crack my head against the beams at least once this week. The room is literally built into the eaves of the roof so there are not so many areas that you can actually stand up right. Maybe I should have brought some reflective tape to mark of the beams. It is completely charming.

Tomorrow morning, my day begins with a grammar lesson at 0800. We are at the school from 0800 to 2100 every night except Wednesday when we are finished at 1945. And Friday we are done at 1745. At they do not mean a minute earlier if I remember correctly from last year.

Today is the anniversary of Opa’s death. Tomorrow is Herdenking Day or Memorial Day for all of the victims of World War II. Then Tuesday is Bevrijdingsdag which commemorates the Liberation and how important it is to celebrate freedom and honor the costs of it. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands in WW II. I am sorry to be missing it because especially in my neighborhood there are places you can go to meet with the people who lived through the war and hear their stories one on one. The generation that experienced it first hand is getting progressively smaller and their stories are so important. I wish I had more of my Opa’s stories and of course, more of Mom’s.

Speaking of family events, last night was the jazz concert. My aunt has a rollator now and she is quite speedy with it. She says it helps her walk a lot easier. And we all noticed that it has a insulated cooler pack built in so we were teasing her about bringing the beer from now on. We had quite a nice time together and next month when Dylan is here for three days we will gather together again. My aunt was intrigued by my Fitbit so I might have to get her one 😉 it might motivate her to start walking more!

I went to yoga this morning, thinking it would be a nice and easy class. Okay, no, it was tough and following along in Dutch was comical. I am going to do it again though but this time I will know that it is still a workout delivered in that no nonsense Dutch style rather than hippie love and gentleness! It wasn’t a bikram class and yet I was still sweating like it was. Thank goodness I didn’t eat garlic yesterday!

Marianne and I are celebrating our birthdays on the 30th of this month. And apparently I have been slightly behind in sending out my invitations. Oops. That scheduling a month in advance thing is still hard for me. I guess I better get busy with that. Otherwise, I am sure I will get some teasing about it. I really don’t know that many people yet so perhaps I should put it on LinkedIn 😉

This is a great place to stay. I wish Mom could be here to see it. When I go to celebrate her birthday in Maastricht with the Andre Rieu concert, I am staying in a castle! I think that is one of the great things about the Netherlands, there are so many old buildings to stay in! I don’t have princess issues, I just have history issues 😉

Wish me luck this week. I hope I will meet interesting people. After all, I met Eliza here last year. I will miss the pets a little but they are in good hands.