A Welcome to Newcomers

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor....

And that's exactly how last week Tuesday evening started...a beautiful day... when all of Gorinchem's newcomers from the past year were invited to a welcome by the Mayor, no less...wined and dined (well, cookies go with wine, right?) on a delightful river cruise to see our citadel city from a different perspective. And all for free.

Before the river cruise began, we all had a chance to walk around the different booths set up on the river bank to answer any questions we might have about our gemeente (= municipality) which is Gorinchem, population 35k. In attendance was the firemen's brigade, with trucks and ladders, giving free rides to children, 35 meters up, to see the city from on high. I stood on the ground and took pictures of one little fella in particular who, unbeknownst to me, was one of the firemen's grandson. I was immediately asked by G'pa if I'd be so kind to e-mail him the pictures (which I have since done, yes)...and from that, Astrid and I were then invited up the ladder. And this is is what we saw (before our cruise even started!):

It's a neighborly day in this beautywood,
A neighborly day for a beauty....

You can imagine the thrill it was for us to see our 'neighborhood' in this way, high above the city. We couldn't stop saying Thank You. And guess what: the city photographer even got a picture of us (which was included in Gorinchem's online newsletter) while we were on board the fire-truck ladder. Are we famous or what!

Then the river cruise began...on a perfectly clear evening during what we photographers call the Golden Hour. The Merwede River borders one side of our city where thousands of freighters are coming and going from Rotterdam to the rest of Europe, all year 'round, 24/7. And that's the river from which you can see our city in all its glory.

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you....

Even with 150 of us, the mayor (and his right-hand man) got around and spent some time talking with us about this-n-that. 1) There's apparently one woman on the city council who is not in favor of same-sex marriage and who technically could be fired, since the country legally endorses our marriage. 2) If I pass my Dutch inburgerings examen (= integration exam) next year, we will be invited back for another river-cruise welcome, at which time I will be singled out by the mayor to come forward to receive the city book and have my photo taken with him. HA! But look here...I've already taken a picture of him with Astrid.

I love this city!

In this image you can see the 4 churches of the citadel AND one of our 2 windmills.


Our windmill on the Merwede River is De Hoop (= Hope), which I have shown before here.


In this image you can see the 2 windmills on opposite sides of the citadel. I was shocked by how close they appeared to each other from the river.


On the Gorinchem side of the river, we see the church and windmill of our neighbor city, Woudrichem, across the river from us. Here she's up close and personal (sans church or windmill).


Another up-close view of Woudrichem, our neighbor on the other side of the tracks river (with windmill but sans church).

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you please,
Won't you please,
Please won't you be my neighbor?
(Mr. Roger's Neighborhood lyrics)

Speaking of integration, I have one week of Dutch classes under my belt and can't believe how much I've learned. Astrid can't believe it either. A year from now I expect to be totally shocked! :)