At Kinderdijk, Netherlands, on Christmas day 2010.
My favorite Dutch word of this last week has been jaarwisseling (yar-VIS-sel-ing):
jaar = year; wisseling = changing...and thus, changing of the year.
Changing, rotating, turning...crossing over? Perhaps, like at this Kinderdijk bridge.
I pray all of you have had a great jaarwisseling!
My favorite Dutch word of this last week has been jaarwisseling (yar-VIS-sel-ing):
jaar = year; wisseling = changing...and thus, changing of the year.
Changing, rotating, turning...crossing over? Perhaps, like at this Kinderdijk bridge.
I pray all of you have had a great jaarwisseling!
While out-n-about the last days of 2010, I loved seeing Gorinchem, our city, in the snow. While we had a tad of snow the previous year, it wasn't anything like this:
For a country that has the highest population of bikes per capita, models are everywhere.
All of these were within a block from our apartment.
A year ago I took the top photo of this art sculpture on our nearby Melkstraat (Milk Street).
Look at how it has changed with a bit of snow a year later.
You know what you get when you mix milk and snow, right? I recall friends making ice cream in the old churn when I was a wee girl, adding in fresh snow. Memories that stick like snow wads on the wall.
Our city's Stadhuis (City Hall) is where I registered a year ago to become officially part of Gorinchem by getting my equivalent of a Dutch social security number (BSN). From there I was able to start my resident-permit application for staying in Holland. This is also where Astrid and I were married on 5 February last year. Everything is now coming back full circle...with snow added, as frosting on the cake.
Twice a month I walk back-n-forth to the bank where I take money out of my stateside account and deposit it into my Dutch account. I'm not always happy with the conversion rate (right now €1 = $1.34) but when I first came a year ago, it was horrendous, at €1 = $1.56. I just grit my teeth and bear it. I pass these willows every time and breath a bit deeper. In the total scheme of things, I have much for which to be thankful!
All of these were within a block from our apartment.
A year ago I took the top photo of this art sculpture on our nearby Melkstraat (Milk Street).
Look at how it has changed with a bit of snow a year later.
You know what you get when you mix milk and snow, right? I recall friends making ice cream in the old churn when I was a wee girl, adding in fresh snow. Memories that stick like snow wads on the wall.
Our city's Stadhuis (City Hall) is where I registered a year ago to become officially part of Gorinchem by getting my equivalent of a Dutch social security number (BSN). From there I was able to start my resident-permit application for staying in Holland. This is also where Astrid and I were married on 5 February last year. Everything is now coming back full circle...with snow added, as frosting on the cake.
Twice a month I walk back-n-forth to the bank where I take money out of my stateside account and deposit it into my Dutch account. I'm not always happy with the conversion rate (right now €1 = $1.34) but when I first came a year ago, it was horrendous, at €1 = $1.56. I just grit my teeth and bear it. I pass these willows every time and breath a bit deeper. In the total scheme of things, I have much for which to be thankful!
We did indeed bring in the New Year with our fellow senior neighbors here at our living complex. We were in bed by 1 a.m. because of getting up the next day to drive to Den Bosch for a day with The Girlfriends. As we went to get our car out of the garage, look what we saw: both self-service parking-ticket machines were boarded up. Astrid says they do that on New Year's Eve so no one will tape fireworks to them and blow them up. It so happens that New Year's Eve is the one day of the year here in Holland, during very specific hours, when both public AND private displays of fireworks can be set off. Mailbox openings are closed, anything into which a firecracker can be tossed...everything possible is secured.
What a mess! Now the clean-up begins.
As I recall from last year, it took several weeks before all the residue was gone.
What a mess! Now the clean-up begins.
As I recall from last year, it took several weeks before all the residue was gone.
Speaking of gone, after several days of above-freezing temps, all our snow is now gone. At least we had a White Christmas! But winter is not over yet. Astrid says the hardest winter days are typically the end of January and the beginning of February...even though we've seen many fresh molehills. Doesn't that mean spring will be early?
Don't you love how the whole year is now before us once again and the sky is the limit! The jaarwisseling is full of pomp and circumstance...full of promise. Let's all grab it by the tail and see where it takes us, one day at a time.
Don't you love how the whole year is now before us once again and the sky is the limit! The jaarwisseling is full of pomp and circumstance...full of promise. Let's all grab it by the tail and see where it takes us, one day at a time.
Good-Bye 2010. Hello 2011
