Saturday - Netherlands

All along I knew that Edna was quite a character (who wouldn't be with a face like that), but I did not expect her to have the capacity to build a conspiracy.

Let me explain. My sister Klasien loves bright colors: lovely greens and blues all flow together and there is so many pretty things to see in her home! My sister also loves parakeets: tiny little birds who live in a cage and who get to fly around the living room every now and again. Last year when I came, a parakeet by the name of Liefie (Sweety or Honey) used to fly around the house and to be honest with you, it frightened me. All the flapping and fluttering right around my head and ears made me want to flap and flutter my hands and that could have deadly consequences for a tiny bird. But, you know, I was brave and got used to Liefie, and she even accepted me in the house. Some time during last year's summer, Liefie was unfortunately chased and caught by a neighbor's cat. Yes. Very unfortunate.



Klasien decided she wanted another parakeet, or actually two: Elsje and Simon live now with her, two beautiful parakeets. Elsje is mostly green and weighs all of one and a quarter ounce and Simon is green with a little bit of blue and weighs in at exactly 1 ounce. Here is Simon on my shoulder rather peacefully.

When I arrived on Wednesday all was well. They were excited about my arrival, that's all I could see and when Klasien let them fly on Thursday, I was ok with it and dealt well with the dive bombs... Those two birds fly like torpedos! I tried not to walk in their fly zone for fear of massive collisions. Here they both are picking at my shoes and pants.

Well, some time on Friday, the tide turned on me. The excitement about my arrival died and a certain attitude surfaced in the birds... While I was making lunch in the kitchen, they started seriously interfering in my bread and cheese routine! They sat on my plate, picked at my food and had an overall very challenging look in their eyes. I tried to make them go away, but they did not follow my suggestions, they just decided to retreat a little bit and make an awful lot of noise while I finished making lunch. I got out of that kitchen as fast as I could. And that was only the start of things. In the evening I was back in the kitchen (one must eat again), and a full attack took place with Elsje being the fanatic. I stood by the counter minding my own business, when she flew in like a kamikaze pilot, landed on my right shoulder and viciously started picking at my right ear. I screamed, she flew away and landed on my right hand, bit me there, back to my ear and bit again... I was screaming and flapping my hands, but trying NOT to hit the bird as I knew that that would have devastating consequences. Klasien came to my rescue: she caught the bird, put her back in the cage and spoke reassuring words to her. After I had calmed down, we decided that it was either hormones and Elsje was in a serious state of PMS or something or she was plain jealous of all the attention I was getting.

This morning, I woke up and found Edna next to the cage. Who would have thought?!??!!!!

I knew it was time to leave. I packed my bags pronto pronto, and went with Reinie and Ab to my oldest sister Hannie and her husband Hijmen in Rotterdam for another birthday party. Together my sister and brother-in-law are 125 years old on Monday (Hannie's birthday was April 25 and Hijmen's birthday is May 3). It was really nice to see Hijmen's siblings after a very, very long time, as well as some of Hannie and Hijmen's old friends! And of course there was the bowl (same recipe as Reinie's) and this time pasta salad.

I went to bed in Rotterdam at about 10:30 pm with the reassuring knowledge that there were no birds here; only two sweet, geriatric cats. I rested my head in peace.

Thursday and Friday - Netherlands

I woke up in yet another living room on yet another couch. My sister Klasien lives in a small and tall home in a quiet street not far from the city center of Utrecht, where I was born in one of the hospitals and where I also finished my highschool years in 1979. I like Utrecht: it's lively, it's funny, it's busy, it's old and it's also in the Green Heart of Holland. My sister has lived in this street for about 17 years now and has gotten to know a whole lot of people. She has also taken care of her neighbor lady Regina, who is now in a nursing home, and Klasien still visits her at least twice a week. One of the other people who looked after Regina is Kees. Kees is an 85-year old gentleman, who used to own and run a business where people took driving lessons for cars as well as motorcycles. He is a delightful person with great stories about the good old days, and strong opinions about pretty much anything and everything. Pretty much every morning around 9:30, he comes by for a cup of coffee and conversation... and so it was this Thursday morning! He remembered me from last year and we had a good time talking, laughing and drinking coffee!

At 11 I tied my shoelaces and walked to the nearby bus stop to get on a bus to the Central Station where at 11:40 I would meet my friend Marya Sloof who lives in Friesland... She is going on vacation next week, so my initial plan to go north to visit her did not work out and she was willing to come my way. And here we were in a very busy train station, trying to find each other... it took a few minutes and some quick thinking but we did it! We figured out that we had not seen each other for 10 years if not more, and we agreed that that was way too long! I met Marya when I started going to the Foursquare church in December 1990, we lived on the same floor of an apartment building in Gorinchem for almost 3 years, and Marya was also at Coastlands for a 6 months internship from July through December 1993. During Marya's last 2 weeks as an intern I visited Coastlands for the first time and got a taste of something that I really, really, really liked! Oh how good it is to see old friends and catch up! We had a great lunch on a terrace in the middle of the city, the sun was out, the temperature was great and the food was good! At 15 minutes after 2, I made sure she was back on the right train for another almost 3 hour train ride, and I walked around the shopping center surrounding the train and bus station, reminiscing about the time when I used to walk here daily... I even found the christian bookstore which was still there after 30 years! So surprising!

I returned home by bus and bought some treats for Klasien and I for Friday, when the entire nation celebrates Queen's Day (Koninginne Dag). When I was growing up, the following events usually took place in Kockengen: all the school children came together to sing in honor of the Queen, there were games for the kids to play after the singing, and in the evening there was a parade with the local marching band up front and whoever wanted could follow, just walking or riding your bike and carrying a "lampion", which was a paper contraption, round with a flat bottom on which a real candle was burning. The paper was held together at the top by another flat piece with an opening (so you could put the candle inside and light it) and then there were small wires tied from the top of the lampion to a stick that you held in your hand while walking. Now of course, caution was needed because if your candle was not properly attached or the wind blew too hard or your friend would run into you, your lampion would go up in flames in a moment's notice... And there were also the older boys who would carry torches... I am sure you can imagine the thrill all this was causing in our little innocent souls: fire, danger and adrenaline...

However, in 2010, it's a whole different story! Now there are orange colored pastries, orange wigs, orange crazy hats and citywide flea markets going on with thousands of people partying, dancing, drinking and trying to make a little money... Thursday evening at 6pm, the Utrechtse Vrijmarkt started, and Klasien and I decided that this was the time to be part of it! Some of you may know this and some of you may not, but I am a little bit claustrofobic and that was once more confirmed this evening. Klasien drove her car a little closer to the city center, she parked and off we went into the madness. I pushed Klasien in her wheel chair (she can't walk very well or long at all) and we walked through streets and streets with people with orange hair, orange shirts, orange pants, red-white blue shirts, orange noise makers and a whole lot of other orange things (someone had even decorated their cane with orange streamers)... And so many people!!! We even gave in and bought ourselves some funny hats (I hope you like them).... Oh my goodness. I had to pull Klasien over every so often to calm down a little bit and to catch my breath - I have never seen anything like it in my life! I will just show you a few pictures... I have no idea how much time we spent there; I was so grateful to be home again and I was also happy that I had experienced the Orange Maddness up close and personal! The Vrijmarkt goes on until 6pm on Friday; Klasien and I unanimously decided that we were not going on back on Friday! We were home and sat in Klasien's backyard for a little while because it was still so nice outside and we laughed so hard about the silly hats we were wearing and the silly selfportraits Klasien tried to take with my camera that we probably woke up any early sleepers that evening!

And before Thursday was over we had thunder and lightning and a lot of rain with more to come on Friday morning! Very unwanted weather for the nation-wide celebration!

The next day, Friday April 30, is the official Queen's Day celebration. Queen Beatrix became queen exactly 30 years ago, on April 30, 1980 in Amsterdam. At that time, I was going to college in Amsterdam and I watched all the preparations taking place. And although I stayed home on April 30, I saw the whole thing on TV and watched the riots that took place! Too much excitement, for sure! Anyhow, Queen Beatrix chooses each year where she and her family will celebrate April 30, and this year they went to the province Zeeland to visit the cities Wemeldinge and Middelburg. The entire event is televised and lots of orange can be seen! Klasien and I spent Friday morning in front of the TV commenting on the bad weather (it rained most of the morning), the cute clothes the ladies were wearing, and how enthusiastic everybody who was waiting for the arrival of the royal bus was even though it was cold and wet! This day is really a special day for the Dutch people. I suspect that even the fervent crusaders against the position and history of the royal family secretly enjoy the festivities and sense of comradery and community. This time I think that was even more significant after last year's tragedy where an alone, confused and sad man ran a car through the crowd in the town where the royal family was at the time and killed 7 people. This year's celebration was great, fantastic and no crazy incidents happened...

Later in the afternoon Klasien and I went to Ikea and to McDonalds! There were so many people everywhere that I was glad to be home again... did I mention I am just a tad claustrofobic? We watched the recap of Queen's Day on TV with a cup of coffee and an orange tompouce, which is two layers of flaky crust with yellow cream in between and a layer of orange sugar stuff on top... really nice!

Wednesday - Netherlands

Today was a busy day, people!


I finally got a glimpse of Edna who had all of a sudden disappeared on Saturday and was nowhere to be found until she finally showed up on Wednesday morning all worn and ragged in the questionable company of Iron Man... I asked, begged and twisted their arms, but to no avail. They were not talking. I packed her up and left Iron Man standing; he is NOT coming with me!

At 11 o'clock, Reinie and I left Brakel in her little Fiat loaded with all my luggage and drove all the way north to the small town of Kockengen where I grew up. Every time I visit my sisters, I like to go and see if the homes I grew up in are still there, I like to visit the cemetery where both my parents are buried, and I like to have lunch and see if I recognize anybody that comes by, riding their bikes... So many years ago, and so many memories! It's great to be there with Reinie. Below are a few pictures: the second house from the right in the row of four houses is the one I grew up in, yes with the road in front where I rode my bike and the canal where I fished. When I was 14 or so, my parents sold the row of houses and built a bungalow in the backyard where there already was a road put down by the government. We lived in the bungalow for the next 10 years or so until I moved to Leiden and worked at a book publishing company. And there is also a picture of the church I went to for the first 24 years of my life... Every time I go to Kockengen, I enjoy the sights and all and I am also grateful I don't live there anymore :-)

After lunch, Reinie and I drove a little further to Kamerik where my uncle and aunt had a dairy farm and where I very often went to visit and hang out with my cousins. My uncle passed away in 2000, and every time I visit my sisters, I like to go to see my Aunt Marrigje. We sit then around the table in her living room, we have coffee and cake and we talk about life as it was and as it is. I love my aunt and am so grateful that I get to visit her! She is now 81 years old and still more or less mobile and she enjoys company very much... we talk about my mother and father, and her husband and her children and of course she wants to know what is going on with me, and Reinie and her children and so on! She is just delightful, and at the end of the visit I say again: Aunt Marrigje, "tot ziens" - until next time!

Here is a picture of her and me, as well as a picture of the dairy farm where I used to come and play...

After visiting my aunt, Reinie and I went back to Kockengen where we visited my foster brother Krijn and his family. Krijn lived with us from 1980 until sometime in 1983. He and I hung out quite a bit together and caused a lot of rumors to start in town... and honestly, we did not mind starting a few on purpose :-) He is happily married with Krijnie, and has a lovely family with two daughters and a son... We had a great time talking and laughing and hanging out in their backyard!

Next stop was my sister Klasien in Utrecht where we arrived around 7 in the evening. I hauled my luggage into her house while Reinie tried to find a parking spot close... not easy at a time when everybody is home from work. When we were all in the house we decided what we wanted for dinner, and Reinie walked over to the Chinese restaurant where she ordered and brought home some delicious Indonesian food: nasi, bami, babi-pangang, sate and loempias... That was truly a feast! Reinie left just before 9:30, Klasien and I watched a tv program about the celebration of 30 years of Queen's Days (next one coming up on Friday), and the lights were out by 11:15... It was a great day, again!

Tuesday - Netherlands

It was a rather quiet day today: I made arrangements for visits with friends for next week. Reinie and I spent some time in the kitchen in the morning to prepare for dinner later. I made my mother's recipe for a Belgian Andive casserole dish, and Reinie made an awesome Tiramisu for dessert. I am taking that recipe with me for later use! Reinie and I also went on a walk in the town and enjoyed the narrow streets with beautifully maintained small old homes. We also ran into the most colorful parade of school children... Queen's Day was celebrated 3 days early for them because of vacation starting on Wednesday... I was so sorry that I had left my camera at home because it was quite a sight to behold: adults and children in red, white and blue outfits, orange hair, orange pants, orange shirts, (did I say orange hair?), lots of orange... it was great!

I was expecting two of my girlfriends for a visit this afternoon, and they will stay for dinner. Both these women I have known for a long time... I first met Jacqueline (on the left in the picture)when her dad came to the small town where I lived as the new head master of the elementary school I went to. My dad was on the school board at the time and the new head master came to introduce his family. I was 11 and Jacqueline was 9 at the time...

The other Jacqueline (right in the picture) I met when I went to an orientation meeting for a school/college in Amsterdam. I wanted to become a book publisher and this was the only school in The Netherlands that would train young people in that particular trade. So I went to the orientation meeting with my sister Klasien and met Jacqueline who was there to check out the school with her mother. She was more interested in the bookstore aspect of the school. We talked and both of us thought: well, she could be my friend if I get admitted to this school! I was 17 at the time and she was 18.


The Jacquelines only got to know each other because I was friends with both and when Bob and I got married in January of 2006, they contacted each other and decided to come to California to celebrate with us.


It was great to see them both and catch up on each other's lives and family event. I have known these women for a long time, and I am very grateful for their friendship!

Monday - Netherlands

This morning, Ab walked out the front door of their apartment to get the newspaper downstairs and had the number "60" dancing on his head! He enjoyed the full effect of the flags and balloons in front of his house and in the elevator, and came back in the house with a very happy smile, convinced that Reinie and I had pulled off this massive trick. Well, no, we had not! It took a little bit of time and confessing that I take sleeping aids every night, and it would be rather impossible for me to get up, get my act together and put up decorations without falling all over myself and off the stairs...

After debating the possibility that the neighbors were behind it, we came to the conclusion that that was not very likely either since most of them were on Ab's side of 60 and not on our side of 60, if you get my drift. That left only one candidate: Ab and Reinie's youngest son Marijn and his wife of 1 year Corinne. They have a key to the apartment, and they would be the only lean and limber people to climb up things and get it done. And sure enough, they admitted their crime!

During the morning Reinie and I prepared all kinds of food items for the birthday party that would start that afternoon. After good tradition, we made "bowl", which is basically a salad made from fresh fruit and from canned fruit, depending on the season. Our mother Lena used to make this for each adult birthday and solely from canned fruit. I applaud the fresh fruit addition; it tastes much better! The other tradition is something you can compare with potato salad, but with a lot more ingredients... Reinie and Ab made an enormous amount of this together on Sunday (it was almost 8 kilos which comes to about 17 pounds) and on Monday morning we put it on a platter and decorated it with eggs, little sausages, lettuce, pearl onions and tomatoes.

The first visitor was my sister Klasien who lives in Utrecht (I will be with her from Thursday until Saturday), the next visitors were my sister Hannie and brother-in-law Hijmen and next their oldest son Machiel who will be leaving for the States this Thursday to go on a 3-week trip visiting Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and he will also go river rafting on the Colorado river for 5 days! I really appreciated it that he would come to visit his aunt!

By the end of the afternoon, three of four sons (Sander, Christian and Marijn - Lennart came already on Sunday) were in the house with their respective wives (Carola, Marieke and Corinne) and the four grand children (Hannah and Ruben are Sander's, Daniel and Joel are Christian's) and the mayhem was going in full force! It was delightful and eerie to see my nephews operate in their status as fathers and my sister and brother-in-law as grandma and grandpa. I guess we have moved up a generation and the grandkids love their opa and oma, and opa and oma love their grandkids!

But after drinking coffee, tea and other things, and eating birthday cake, chocolates, peanuts, chips, sausage, cheese, and then moving on to dinner with tomato vegetable soup, the potato salad, and dessert, the kids got tired and all the packing began. Klasien and I sat and watched it all happening: the crying, the bags, the car seats, the lost children, the lost parents, the high chairs, the sleeping tent. It was like a beehive of activity! And lo and behold, after a while all was quiet for 15 minutes at which time the adult party began with the arrival of two of Ab's sisters with their husbands, and Ab's brother and his wife. They all welcomed their little brother to their side of 60! And then we did it again: coffee with cake, coffee with chocolates or cookies, something to drink ("bowl" was a winner here) and lots of snacks to eat...

Well, finally all was quiet in the house again around midnight! We went to bed quite exhausted, but very satisfied: it had been a great and fabulous 60th birthday!

Saturday and Sunday - Netherlands

Saturdaywas a beautiful day in the flat lands... the first warm day in a very long time after a long and snowy winter! We enjoyed it and had our morning coffee with a "Bosche Bol" on the balcony at my sister's place after my brother-in-law and I cleaned the stairwell and landings in their apartment building... Doesn't that sound familiar? Didn't I do that last Saturday? I guess traveling does something to the brain or the truth is that all people clean their stairwell and landings every Saturday... It was fun and of course, we laughed a lot while vacuum cleaning and mopping... And as all people who clean know, within 30 minutes after we were done there were already traces of bicycles and shoes on the tiles. Such is life! And by the way, a "Bosche Bol" is a regional delicacy existing of a rather large cream puff like pastry, filled with whipped cream and covered on the top with a thick layer of chocolate. When I used to visit my sister's family, I would always at some point during my stay treat the whole family and myself to "Bosche Bollen"... it's a tradition!

We went grocery shopping the store right across the street of Reinie and Ab's apartment building and I was in charge of picking some things that I had on my list of food items to eat while in the Netherlands... Of course, I gladly obliged! "Bitterkoekjes" and "Ontbijtkoek" found their way easily into the shopping basket... I don't think I can explain what any of these items are because I don't think anything like it exists in the States. So sorry! By now the "Bitterkoekjes" are gone and the "Ontbijtkoek" is halfway; certainly delicious!
We sat some more on the balcony in the afternoon and around 4:30 we left and drove to an extraordinarily beautiful region of Holland that is close by where Reinie and Ab live. The most gorgeously blooming apple and cherry treest were proudly showing of their blossoms! Spring is really the best time of the year to visit! The grass is green, new leaves on the trees are popping up and you can see the difference in growth overnight... it is absolutely beautiful!

A little after 6 we stopped in a city by the name of "Buren" where a lot of streets and homes were already decorated with red, white, blue and orange in anticipation of the celebration of Queen Beatrix' birthday on April 30. The queen's birthday is actually in January, but that is no month to have a lot of outdoor festivities! When Beatrix became queen 30 years ago this year, she decreed that Queen's Day would continue to be celebrated on April 30, which was her mother's (Juliana) birthday... Everybody was happy about that! Anyhow, "The Pannekoekenbakker" was open and hopping with business on this first warm day of the year. The three of us chose each our favorite pancake and had fun watching throngs of people coming and going... I had my mouth set for a pancake with bacon, ham, cheese and onion, topped of with some nice syrup! Delicious and I had a bit of indigestion after, but who cares! I didn't; it was ssssoooooooo worth it!

We were back home by 8:30 and I was in bed by 10. Sunday morning I drove myself in Reinie's little Fiat to Giessenburg where Rafael Giessenlanden meets every Sunday. It was from this church that I came to Coastlands almost 16 years ago. Each time I am in the Netherlands, I like to visit and say hello to some people that are still there from when I was there between December 1990 and September 1994. Arie van Oudheusden had just returned from the Foursquare Europe Conference in Spain (just like the Swiss pastors and the Albanian Pastors) and it was great to see him!

After church I went to the home of Bertjan and Rinske Krale (yes, Bertjan is Martijn's brother) and there were also some other friends gathered: Jaap and Aartje van Vliet (they and their family were a safe and very fun place for me during the 3 years before my departure to the States and when my mother came for a visit in 1997, Aartje came with her), Rene and Annette van Straten (Mirte's parents - Mirte is now an intern at Coastlands and was about 3 years old when I left the Netherlands), and my friends Margriet van Oord and Ineke Gusseklo. All dear people who I have kept in touch with one way or another. We had a great time sitting in the backyard at Bertjan and Rinske's home, close to the water and under a large tree... I told my story and how all of this traveling came about as well as about the future that the Lord has for me, and not only for me but also for them. The Lord has always something new for us, if we allow Him to. If we decide we are done, then our growth and dependence upon the Lord comes to a screetching halt... I had such a good time!

I was back home around 4 o'clock, where my nephew Lennart had arrived. He studies History and War History in particular and is now in the process of doing research for his final thesis. It was obvious that he is ready to be done, only this last big hurdle... He also has signed up to be sort of a guinnea pig for medications. Yes, you heard that right. He goes to an office in the north of the countyr and takes a dose of whatever type of medication needs to be research. The research people take his blood and make sure they know how he is responding to the medication and then he gets paid a decent amount of euros. Depending on the researched medication, he stays at this place with room and board for a few days or two and a half weeks. The first 24 hours after he takes the dose, they check him every 15 minutes but after that he has plenty of time to s tudy. He says that so far he has had no bad experiences! A funny and amazing way to make some money, really!

Well, I was in bed again by 10... tomorrow is Ab's 60th Birthday!!!

Friday - Switzerland/Germany/Netherlands

Friday was travel day, and travel I did, alright... Fritz and Vreni brought me to the trainstation in Belp and made sure I got on the right train. I will miss these two dear people very much! They have such loving and embracing hearts, and they are such a safe place for me and a whole lot of other people... And what I really like about them is that they are obedient to the Lord above all things, and they are adventurous!

So, in Bern Haupt Bahnhof I switched trains to get on the ICE train to Frankfurt... I found my reserved seat and made myself comfortable. Fritz had insisted upon getting me train reservations for the two long stretches, because of the ash still bellowing around in Europe. The airtraffic is getting on its way, but a lot of people will not take the risk of being stranded and so they take the train instead... It was really good advice, because pretty much all the chairs in first class were taken.

In Frankfurt I switched trains again and found my seat in wagon 28 at the very end of the train. This was going to be a three and a half hour train ride (between Bern and Frankfurt was four hours), and as it turned out we arrived 20 minutes late in Utrecht, where I then missed my connection to Zaltbommel where my sister Reinie would pick me up at a quarter of six in the afternoon. The station in Utrecht has always been a beehive of activity since it is the biggest hub in the country. This Friday afternoon it was even more hectic, because earlier in the afternoon there had been a power outage which then puts the entire train schedule out of order. On top of that, there were announcements that two trains had been in collisions with "a person". Now that is never good. People were walking around trying to figure out which train at what track was going where, and the trains were like sardine cans, so full with people. Since I have not been able to get my cell phone to work, I asked a friendly looking lady if she had a mobile phone and if I maybe could call my sister to let her know that I was coming with the next train, 30 minutes later. The lady was very nice and dialed the number for me and everything. So, at 6:20pm I met Reinie at the Zaltbommel trainstation! She took me home where my brother-in-law was and one of my nephews and his wife. We had dinner, went for a walk in the neighborhood and I was in bed a little bit after 10! It is great to be back in the flat land, and being with Martijn and Ellen in Poland helped tremendously with the transition to speak Dutch...

BTW: Geneva won game 6 in the Swiss Ice Hockey championships. The last game will be played on Saturday, but I don't know if I can get you the end results because the Dutch don't care about ice hockey :-)