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We are sitting in an almost empty room, taking care of last minute preparations for our trip back to the States. It has been just over 18 months since we arrived on campus and we are only slightly nostalgic at this point. That is not to say that we will not miss Breukelen and the Netherlands in general; on the contrary, it just seems that our departure has not fully set in yet. Of course we are reminded of our impending flight when we look at bare walls and neatly packed luggage, but it will be hard to recognize short-term differences in our daily lives once we return to Virginia. I will start working again (it’s been a nice break, but I’m ready), so my days will be a bit more structured; Jenny will be teaching older kids, so her lesson plans will have slightly less play time; wherever we live, we will have a kitchen and bathroom that is separate from our bedroom. But these changes are minor - they would likely have happened whether we left or not. The most pronounced differences will take time to evolve, and probably will not be immediately noticeable. Cultural, social, and political discrepancies tend to blend into a world with which we are already acquainted, unlike our arrival here (which was immediately and obviously a very different place). That being said, there are certain things that will stand out right away. And if you know us well, I apologize in advance for discussing these things over and over:

- Paper checks should be obsolete: Online banking here uses a very safe system with which you can directly transfer money from one account to another, either business or personal. Nobody uses paper checks here and the idea of such a system is laughable to the Dutch. After being introduced to this, it took me about two days (the time between receiving my online banking ID and paying my first bill) to realize how superior it was. Catch up America.

- Public transport is awesome: I totally understand why most places in America cannot implement reliable public transit. Towns are too spaced out and populations are not sufficient to really take advantage of trains/trams/buses. Moreover, it would take a drastic shift of mindset to convince Americans anywhere to give up their cars. Nonetheless, we have really enjoyed the availability of public transit and will severely miss the countless benefits that it provides.

- Bikes are awesome too: While Jenny may not miss her 6:45 AM rides to the train station, it is so practical to have bike paths. When travelling within a couple miles here, everyone rides bikes. This makes the population somewhat healthier, cuts down on traffic, and allows children to safely commute to school and friends’ houses without a parent’s constant worry. It is sad to think that, within a couple months back in the States, I will be driving one mile to the grocery store…..

- Diversity makes life much more interesting: I recently heard that Amsterdam is the most international city in the world. The many different restaurants and specialty shops suggests this may be true, and we have enjoyed the accessibility. Yesterday we ate at a Pakistani restaurant (delicious!), Jenny listened in on a Russian phone conversation on the bus, and we drank a beer with a pilot and an aid worker from Mali. These types of experiences are not necessarily common in Richmond, and we will miss them. 

There are many more differences that I could highlight here, but I will refrain in order to keep your attention for this last point. The most important lesson that we learned in our time here is that the world is a really, really big place and we know nothing about most of it. I have learned more about the world outside of the U.S. during this 18 months than I had in the previous 25 years. And that does not just include insight into Asian or African countries and cultures. There is so much that I have learned about our neighbors (Canada and Mexico for those who are really far behind), it is embarrassing. The thing that makes our ignorance of foreign lands and people so surprising is that they know everything about us. Global politics and economics are heavily reliant on U.S. policies, so people are constantly watching our every move. Hopefully, we can remind ourselves of the ever-changing outside world long after we return…..

While we may continue writing on this blog, we hope that we have inspired you to at least visit the Netherlands, or if you are a potential student, consider attending Nyenrode. The country is amazing and the school is unique in countless ways. Though we are leaving, I assure you it is reluctantly; we will say goodbye to amazing people and a beautiful campus.

Before I begin, let me just say that I am fully aware of the injustice involved with this situation: Jenny is working very hard every day and is unable to take time off, while I have time and means (thanks to her) to travel Europe. In my defense, I no longer have time to do such, and Jenny was the one who instigated the trip….

I have been adamant about my desire to go skiing in the Alps while we live in Europe. My skiing experience is limited solely to the East Coast of the U.S., and the Alps have always seemed more a fairy tale than an actual destination. After many attempts to jump away for the weekend, I had accepted the fact that I would not capitalize on this particular activity while in the Netherlands. Then, while visiting our good friends, Harvey and Marieke, Jenny mentioned my disappointment. Marieke replied with a suggestion that Harvey take me down to their regular skiing village on the Austro-Swiss border (a very generous offer as she was concurrently offering to watch their new-born on her own). After a quick availability check at their favorite hotel, we planned a three day visit to Gargellen, a quaint village at the end of a mountain road.

We arrived after an 8 hour shot down the Autobahn, and quickly checked into our room. Harvey and Marieke’s regular skiing companions, a lively group of British and Dutch called the Croix d’ Oix, happened to be in Gargellen as well, so we surprised the the group on the first night by crashing a formal dinner, clad in tuxes. After meeting everyone and planning a proper breakfast, we tramped back to our room through heavy snow. The next morning, on our way to the slopes, we stopped at Harvey’s car:

This was clear just 12 hours before, and it was only beginning to snow…..

The skiing was obviously superb.  There were no stretches of ice or long queues - just fresh powder and open pistes. That being said, the visibility was not fantastic. I knew that I was surrounded by pristine mountains and had a view over a beautiful valley, but I could see nothing aside from faint outline, clouds, and snow. Luckily, the slopes had bright markers that kept you away from trees and rocks….

The next day, I awoke early, determined to make the most of any break in the clouds I could get. Snow was forecast for the next two days (our last two days), and I didn’t want to miss a thing. I was one of the first in the gondola and enjoyed an empty mountain full of freshly groomed pistes and deep powder off-piste. Moreover, I could actually see! This was by far the best time to ski of the available days, and I am so glad that I experienced it. Here are some photos from the slopes:

Needless to say, I had to stop and soak it in a couple times….

By the late afternoon, the snow picked up again, and wouldn’t relent before we left the next day. Luckily, it held off just enough to keep the roads open and allowing for a clean escape at our scheduled time. On the drive back we met some serious snowstorms, but arrived safely thanks to some first-class driving by Harvey (who captained the entire eleven hour return trip).

I had an incredible trip and was only financially struck by the price of gas (which is incomprehensible to an American driver); the lodging was incredibly cheap, the lift tickets were still ”off-season” (nobody told the snow that), and I borrowed Marieke’s father’s skis (thanks Bas!). It could have only been better if Jenny and Marieke were able to join us! Clear to say, I am very thankful to my wife and will have to find some way to repay her in the future…. 

Here are the rest of my pictures from the trip (as well as one with Jenny, Renske, and I on the night of the planning).

We have been silent for the past couple weeks for a couple reasons: First, there hasn’t been all that much going on. I have taken a project with my thesis company and Jenny has been working hard as always with her class. I also just got back from a mini-vacation that I will write about soon. Second, we have not been at liberty to discuss our BIG NEWS. We have decided to head back to the States, and could not make it public until Jenny’s school announced her departure (this is assuming, of course, that someone is reading this blog…..).

We will be flying over the ocean on February 25th, and after a brief stopover in Boston, we will arrive in Richmond on February 27th. Though we were open to staying in the Netherlands, my employment outlook was much better in the States. This is not to say that there were no opportunities here; it just means that none of the opportunities here were available to me! Soon after our return, I will begin a three month “internship” in the development/admissions office at a local boarding school. The diversity of work sounds very interesting and its availability was really perfect for Jenny and my situation. Similarly, Jenny will be taking over for a teacher on maternity leave at her previous school. Amazing how these things come together….

Our time here has been extremely memorable, as well as valuable. My education was first-class, Jenny’s job was challenging and enriching, and our ability to travel throughout Europe was very exciting. But most of all, we feel fortunate to have met so many great people. Our friends here are a great group and we are excited to have so many international travel targets for the future!

We will continue writing until we leave, and you never know - maybe we will continue our blogging back Stateside…..

Talking about the weather is usually a futile effort to initiate or maintain conversation when no other topic is available. However, I am by no means running out of things to write on this blog - it is just really, really cold. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that our heater does a very poor job of heating our room, so I am constantly reminded of just how cold it is.

How cold is it here? Probably no colder than it is in the warmer parts of New England. But I didn’t grow up in New England, I grew up in Virginia, where snow is a rare occurrence and frozen lakes are even rarer. So I am a little out of my element when we have had snow on the ground for a month and even the biggest lakes are attracting lrge crowds of skaters. 

[Side note: Speaking of skaters, I have been imagining a fictitious Dutch ice skate salesman, we’ll call him Johan. Johan has spent the past decade with a warehouse full of skates that nobody wants, waiting for the day that the canals froze again. His wife has left him, his dog is starving, and he heats his home by burning his remaining furniture. He nearly gives up on his dream - and then it finally freezes again. Johan can barely keep up with all the sales (especially since his last sale occurred before the age of modern computers, making all of his bookkeeping and logistics horribly outdated and slow). Being the only ice skate salesman left in the country, Johan is now a millionaire and both he and his dog are fat from champagne and lobster. The lesson here is “don’t give up on your dream”. The other lesson is ”if you get cold, tables, chairs, and bookcases make good kindling”, which may be more relevant to my situation at the moment.]

Last weekend, we braved the cold when we traveled to Volendam with Stefanie and Ruben. This is a somewhat cheesy tourist attraction that Stefanie has long proclaimed to be a fun excursion. Well, it was certainly fun, but I think that the atmosphere during the summer is slightly more upbeat; there were only a few brave groups of predominantly Dutch tourists visiting. Volendam used to be on the ocean, but now lies on a large lake due to land reclamation projects to the north. This lake is large enough to allow the wind to gain outrageous velocity, causing it to scream violently as it hurtles past you. Rounding a corner into the wind was like entering Siberia; we actually lined up as we walked, allowing most of the party to hide in the shelter of the leader (me). Regardless of the weather, we had a blast. Here are Jenny and Stefanie posing in front of the harbor:

Continuing our weekend of winter activities, Jenny and I went ice skating yesterday. It has been below freezing for quite some time here, but no one had christened the spots on campus yet. Thus, Jenny and I made the first marks through the snow on one of the larger lakes on campus, a somewhat nerve-racking experience since the recent heat wave (+1 degrees) left a ring of slush near the shore. But, as expected, the surface held gloriously and we were able to enjoy the fresh ice as long as we wished. And once we finished, our room even felt warm (in comparison)!

First, I forgot to share a video that we made in Lisbon. Jenny and Matt are the actors and I direct this fantastic short film - the last part is totally impromptu and means no disrespect to Portugal, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Here are the Kerleys showing you Lisbon from the Castle, one of the city’s best views.

For New Year’s Eve, Jenny and I travelled to Maastricht to celebrate with Hock-pun, as well as his family and friends. Previously, whenever we asked a Dutch person where to travel in the Netherlands, they almost always recommended Maastricht, so we were happy to finally visit. I guess we had not been there since it was so far away (2+ hours, a staggering travel time here). Nonetheless, we really enjoyed our time there and would have loved to spend a couple more days.

One of the most obvious differences between Maastricht and the rest of the Netherlands is the existence of topographical elevation. In other words, there are hills here. You wouldn’t think this to be exciting but when you never see them, they can be magical…. Aside from that, the city hosts many squares (one of which had a Germanesque Christmas Market with a gigantic Ferris wheel), loads of shopping streets, and a beautiful river. Moreover, since it lies directly on the border of Belgium and Germany, there is quite of variety of culture in the city. How close is Maastricht to Belgium and Germany, you ask? Well, after a ten minute drive, we arrived at Drielandenpunt (in the town of Vaalserberg), where the three countries meet at one point. Here, Jenny is in Germany and Belgium, while I am in all three countries:

This is also pretty close to the Ardennes Forest, where the vicious WWII Battle of the Bulge was fought. On the way to Drielandenpunt, there is a massive American cemetery where many of those killed in the battle are buried. Unfortunately, we were there on one of the two days out of the year that the cemetery is closed…..

After looking around Maastricht and the surrounding area, we headed to Hock-pun’s mother’s store on the main square, which has an apartment above it. There, we were fed a delicious Chinese meal, including scallops, lobster, quail, and fine wine. Evidently this is a tradition in the Lee family, and we felt extremely lucky to join in. Throughout dinner (and all day really), there were fireworks going off all over the city. Despite the fact that they are mostly illegal, it seemed that every citizens had a full cache of powerful cherry bombs, mortars, and bottle rockets. Since some had no idea how to use them (I saw one person light and then throw a bottle rocket, only to have it shoot right back at them….), it was a rather unsettling time for Jenny and I. The real fireworks came at midnight and continued for at least one hour, which we were told was an early cutoff time. While this video hardly captures the extent of the mayhem, it is all we have. We are in front of the store, and I am lighting the tamest fireworks in the entire country. The long trail of red paper is the remains of a ridiculously loud and powerful string of firecrackers that Hock-pun purchased. Had I known how earth-shaking they were, I certainly would have taken video of that… Here is a video of the fireworks during a break in the action. Like I said, this video really does not do the scene justice, as it felt like we were in a war zone for a good two hours. Nonetheless, you can see that they are coming from all directions - what you cannot see is that none of these are organized displays. Rather, teenagers just roam the streets, leaving piles of exploded paper in their wake.

Despite the overwhelming presence of armed hooligans, we managed to escape unscathed and happy to have visited. Maastricht is definitely one of our favorite spots in Holland now, and we hope to make it back someday! And now Jenny has gone back to work (only somewhat reluctantly) and I am back to the job search. I have a couple leads and the new year is sure to bring more luck, so I am not worried. Impatient yes, but not worried…. 

Here are some pictures from our trip

After a couple weeks of non-stop activity, Jenny and I are almost back to reality. It seems that this happens every year around the holidays, but our exhaustion is still a surprise every time….

Almost two weeks ago, we headed back to Bruges and Paris, this time with my mother and step-father. The trip started off a little shaky as a result of a huge snowstorm, which is apparently just as crippling here as it is in Virginia. The trains were all late, and our first two hours was spent standing amongst a huge crowd travellers in a slow regional train. Luckily, we had reservations on the following trains; this was extremely valuable on the trip from Bruges to Paris, which took twice as long as it should have! Bruges and Paris were both wonderful, but since we have already been to both places and written about the cities on this blog, I will refrain from an in-depth discussion of our activities. We saw many of the same things (though the top of the Eiffel tower was new and provided a fantastic view), ate at better restaurants than usual (thanks Kevin!), and Jenny got a fantastic new hat that she has been wearing ever since (thanks Mom!). We also meandered through the Christmas market on the Champs Elysees - it was not nearly as cool as the Oberhausen market, but we did enjoy some unique stands. Especially fun was the caviar and vodka stand:

Mom and Kevin left on Christmas morning, just as Matt Kerley’s plane arrived. We met him at the airport then headed back to campus to relax and enjoy an early dinner. We then headed back to the airport for a flight to Lisbon, where we spent the next three nights. There were so many things to like about Lisbon: the rolling hills offered spectacular views, the weather was significantly warmer and sunnier than Holland, the food was great, and the history was impressive. We started out our first morning by heading downtown and walking aimlessly to the most interesting sights, including the waterfront and the cathedral. We then consulted the map and headed towards the castle, which was supposed to provide the best views of the city. It definitely did not disappoint. We spent an hour walking around the courtyard and along the castle walls, enjoying the incredible views of the red-tiled roofs, lemon trees, and the island across the water. Though this is not the best picture of the view, it is one of the only pictures with all three of us:

Interestingly, the bridge that connects the heart of the city with the nearby island looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge. This is because it was designed by the same people and covers pretty much the exact same difference. Throw in the trams and hilly streets, and you’ve got the San Francisco of Europe!

From here, we jumped on the #28 tram, which acts much like a sightseeing tour since its path leads you by all the best sights. The trams are quite fun to ride, as they are pretty old and seem incapable of actually climbing the steep, windy roads. At the end of the line, we slowly headed back to the center of the city, while searching for a suitable restaurant. We came across a small spot that we were told had “authentic Portuguese” food, which sounded perfect to us. And while I have no idea what authentic Portuguese food really is, they served up some delicious stuff, including chorizo, calamari, cheeses, and sangria. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the place and I have no idea where we were…. We then stopped off in a square to listen to a street musician. He played fantastic old songs (Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, etc.), and we later found out that he was German, though we have no idea why he was in Portugal…

The next day we headed to Belem, which is a ways from the center of the city but houses many of the city’s best sights. Unlike the previous day, there were swarms of tourists there and we were unable to get to the top of the Belem Tower or the Discovery Monument, both of which looked really cool from the ground:

We were, however, able to go into the Nautical Museum, which gave insight into the very proud naval history of the Portuguese, the modern art museum, and the monastery. All were interesting, but not awe-inspiring. After trying to find an African restaurant, of which there are supposedly many in Lisbon, we decided to stop at a cheap sushi place; we had been walking endlessly for the past two days and it was catching up with us by this point.

Before our flight left the next day, we went to the Oceanarium, which was supposed to be the 2nd biggest in the world (or in Europe depending on who you ask). It was indeed impressive and we had a fantastic time there. Nonetheless, there was a heavy concentration on fish as opposed to sea-faring mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, so I did not see many species that I had expected. We did realize that our early arrival was ideal, because the line was unbelievably long when we left.

All in all, Lisbon was fantastic, and comes highly recommended from Jenny, Matt, and I! To see our pictures, click here.

And now it is almost time to get back to the job search, but not quite yet. We are heading to Maastricht tomorrow to celebrate New Year’s with Hock-pun, which should be great since we have yet to see the city (and everyone says it is beautiful). There will undoubtedly be something to write about that trip…..

Four months ago, Ryanair had deals on flights to Stockholm, Sweden. For the low price of 1 euro cent, you could fly from Eindhoven to Stockholm; the flight back cost 10 euros…. I and many of my classmates purchased tickets in order to reserve a seat, though we were not actually sure that we would go. It turned out to be a good weekend to leave campus, so six of us headed out for a quick visit. Unfortunately, Jenny had to work and was left behind. I felt bad leaving her, but I plan to make it up to her later.

We arrived in Stockholm on Thursday night and quickly headed to our hostel, which ended up being pretty nice. Alexa and Tomoko took one room, while Hock-pun, Joris, Fernando, and I squeezed into another. For 25 euros a night, it’s hard to be picky! The next day, we got an early start and first took a boat tour. Stockholm is completely covered in water, with islands making up much of the city. The boat tour took us past the Royal Palace, the harbor, the large city park (which was right next to downtown and pretty enormous), some beautiful houses from rich folks (including half of ABBA), and other interesting sights. After a delicious hot dog (evidently a popular treat, judging from all the vendors), we walked to the Royal Palace in hopes of escaping the cold. Most of the group though it would be warmer and was not properly dressed; I was not one of those people…. However, we soon found that half of the palace was closed due to the Nobel Prize dinner later that night. I would have stuck around, but they said Obama had already left Sweden. So we skipped the palace, and instead walked around the old city, looking in shops, perusing the Christmas market, and taking in the atmosphere. By 2:00, the sun was going down and we headed to the Museum of Modern Art to see the Dali exhibit. The exhibit was great and had some really famous paintings; it was certainly worth the 5 euros to get in. Everywhere in Stockholm has a really good student discount, so it was perfect for our budget. When we left the museum at 4:30, it was pitch black, and we decided to head back to the hostel and find a good (cheap) place for dinner. After a palatable (and cheap!) pizza, we went into town to visit the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar, which was a bar where everything was made of ice. Even the glasses that we drank out of were ice! Needless to say, it was very cool, so cool that you were only allowed to stay inside for 30 minutes. [Get it? ”Cool” like awesome, and “cool” like cold! I’m hilarious.] 

The next day, we visited the City Hall and took an elevator to the tower for a view of the city. The elevator cost one euro, and only once we reached the top did we see that the euro was only one way! What a scam! We walked across a platform and saw that the building connected to the tower had a stairway, so we decided to walk down the six flights…. We then meandered around old town again, before heading down the shopping district for a look into Swedish fashion. Much like any big city, the shopping district had lots of cheap trinket stores, but further down we found a sea of tents with much more interesting stuff. I bought Jenny a very warm pair of slippers, the first stage of my “making it up to her”. She has been wearing them every night, so I think she likes them….

After a late lunch, the sun was once again retreating, so we headed to the Vasa Museum, which was really fascinating. In short, the Swedes built a gigantic warship to fight the Poles around 1620. Everyone in town lined the shores to see her off on her maiden voyage, only to witness the ship flip and sink in the harbor. After 300+ years, they lifted the ship up and it was still in fantastic condition. They cleaned it up and placed it inside, along with plenty of information about Swedish history and other interesting facts. The boat was amazing and the information was really interesting - one of my favorite spots on our visit! That night, we ate some of the best Thai food any of us had tasted (including a couple of people who have travelled to Thailand). The setting was a little strange, as the other patrons were either old Swedish men or young Thai girls. There was a roped off upstairs section and the servers were all very strong men…. Nonetheless, the food was fantastic, so we brushed off any discomfort and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. A great way to end a great trip!

Sorry for the hectic writing and the lack of pictures (you can see all of my photos here). We have visitors coming this afternoon and I have much to do before they arrive!

Jenny and I had heard much about the German Christmas markets and were keen to experience one this year. So last Sunday we headed to the closest, and presumably one of the biggest, market in Oberhausen. This ended up being much more difficult than expected: First, the trains between Breukelen and Utrecht were closed for maintenance that day. We took the bus into the city, which actually didn’t take any longer than the train, but only ran once an hour (as opposed to four times an hour). So when we arrived at the station, we had a 45 minute wait. About 30 minutes into that 45 minute wait, Jenny realized that we didn’t have our passports. It is not surprising that we forgot them, as travelling to Germany barely feels like travelling to a new country (it only take 40 minutes for the train to leave the Netherlands), and they rarely check passports since the trains run every two hours. Nonetheless, we witnessed someone without a passport during a passport check on our last visit, and we really wanted to avoid that experience. We headed back to the bus and returned to Nyenrode once again, immediately turning around and catching the bus back to Utrecht. After another 45 minute wait at the train station, we finally got on the train and headed east.

We arrived in Oberhausen around 2:30, and failed to see the throngs of visitors that we expected. Assuming that everyone else had already arrived in town and were enjoying the mulled wine, handcrafted goods, and countless food vendors, we walked towards the center of the city. We hadn’t really prepared much for this trip, as we assumed it would be obvious where to go, so we ended up following a pair of older couples who seemed to know where they were going. After a ten minute walk, they led us straight to the town square, where there was indeed a “Christmas market” set up. A full block away, we could smell the sweet scent of pine, eminating from the freshly cut trees scattered around the square. We approached the “market” skeptically, as it didn’t seem to be the sprawling maze of stands that we had expected. In fact, it appeared to be a pretty sad collection of uninspired merchants with about twenty people milling about. Needless to say, Jenny and I were disappointed…..

We tried to make sense of our situation: Was this the market? Was the real market closed on Sunday? Had we made a serious error by choosing Oberhausen? Unfortunately, our disappointment, and truthfully embarassment, kept us from taking a picture of the quaint little market. The baker that we eventually asked probably gave the best description of the scene. After telling how to get the real market (jump on a tram and go four or five stops), she pointed towards in the direction from which we had just come and said “but you should go there first, it’s funny”. Funny indeed.

Getting off the tram, we saw what we had expected to see. Thousands of people, lights everywhere, music, food, revelry, Christmas spirit! Excitedly, we rushed down the platform and into the festivities. The first thing we came upon was a Wintersports area, where they had miniature snowmobiles and a sledding/tubing hill:

Despite the level of fun I knew this provided, we kept walking into the actual market, where we first purchased some of the famous gluhwhein:

We walked around with our cups, happy to finally find the scene that we had expected. Everywhere we turned, there seemed to be more stands. It took us hours to finally reach what we determined to be the end, though we may have missed another section…. It was truly massive. During our trek, we enjoyed many German treats, including mushrooms with garlic sauce, stone baked pizza bread, gigantic bratwurst, and deep-fried bread balls.

All were delicious and we could have eaten more; everywhere you turned there were amazing smells wafting from a new stand. But eventually, we had to head back to catch our return train. Ecstatic not to have wasted our time and money, we returned home to set up the one non-food/drink purchase that we made: a German Christmas Carousel, powered by burning candles. The candles haven’t actually power it yet, but we are pretty sure that if we get taller ones, it will spin…..

So, if you are in the area, we can highly recommend the Oberhausen Christmas market. And if we knew that it was not the real market, we might have enjoyed the mini-market as well. I can only imagine that the Cologne, Dusseldorf, and other markets are just as exciting!

I just wanted to post some pictures from something that happen in my classroom this week.   Our new unit is all about clothes and for the past few weeks we have been talking about weather and the seasons and how they impact what you choose to wear for the day.  However, this week we began discussing how you also have to consider what you are going to do and therefore how situations affect what you put on each morning.  The week started with a pajama day at school and we decided that PJs were soft and comfortable so we choose to wear them at night so we can sleep.  We then moved on to discussing where you might wear clothes that are fancy and we decided that these are clothes you would wear to a wedding.  So, we had a wedding!  Mr. C and Miss H were married on Wednesday and it was fantastic.  I had great help from my room parents and we openned gifts (chalk, chewing gum, chess, chicken out game, chopsticks, tickets to China) and had a really wonderful reception with chocolate cake, cherry punch, cheese and cheery cheesecake.  We even danced the Cha-Cha and Charleston. I am learning that being a KG teacher can be very fun at times!!

On another note, to help Michael and I get in the Christmas spirit we decided to watch a Christmas movie and make a gingerbread house (using some great candy sent from the US by Mom and Dad Kerley!).  Well the movie was funny and we had a good time, except the gingerbread house didn’t turn out quite as nicely as I had hoped.  Maybe our experiment with using Dutch pepernoten and making a tall, skinny style Amsterdam house wasn’t the way to go?  Anyway, Happy December!

After an extended hiatus, the Larkums are back in action! Since finishing my thesis, I have not had all that many engagements, but I feel that I have been extremely busy nonetheless. Between the job search, out-of-town visitors, and catching up on life after the weeks of inactivity that come with the thesis, I have had plenty on my plate. I will briefly go through the past couple weeks, starting with Jazznight:

Jazznight was once again fantastic. We arrived at the very beginning, therefore avoiding the unbelievably long line that snaked out of the Coach House thirty minutes into the event. There were some very fun bands, oysters, gambling, and great drinks until 4:00 in the morning. I don’t know the last time that we stayed up until four, but I think that it was probably Jazznight last year. And before that, I am pretty sure it was college…. One reason that we had so much fun is that some of the off-campus students drove in for the evening. The presence of three MBA girls made Jenny very happy:

Perhaps the biggest success of the night was the fry stand that posted itself outside of the Coach House. When the revelers left so late (early?), this was a welcome sight, and there were swarms of people pushing their way forward. Obviously, we too indulged, which postponed our return home by a good thirty minutes. Totally worth it…..

The following week, I vacuumed, did laundry, and completed other chores that had been put off for weeks. Then, I settled down and intensified my job search. I have applied to a number of jobs both in the States and in Holland, and plan to take the best (or only) one. It seems that companies are not overly interested in hiring three months out, nor are they in any particular hurry to respond to applicants. This is somewhat trying, as I had hoped to have a job far earlier than now. But I will keep fighting the good fight and hope to win over someone’s heart as soon as possible. This will probably be a recurring theme in future posts, so I will go into more detail when I have more detail. For now, I have only been rejected for one position (a very cool looking consulting firm in Richmond), so there is no reason to be discouraged yet!

Last week, we had a good friend visiting from Richmond, and we could not have had more fun with her. Unfortunately, Jenny had to work all week, which left the tour guide duties to me. That is not to say that I am reluctant to fulfill this role; in fact, I quite enjoy leading friends around familiar places. I am just not as organized as Jenny. This led to a day in The Hague in which we aimlessly wandered through shopping streets, residential neighborhoods, and random parks. I had no idea where anything was and I couldn’t really follow our map, since I refused to bring it out to often, lest I be recognized as a tourist. I am sure that fact that we walked back and forth down the same street three times in five minutes did not give me away…. Luckily, I was able to redeem myself in Amsterdam and Utrecht, which I know much better. We had a lovely dinner in Amsterdam one night; afterwards we passed a canal in which over sixty (Jenny counted) swans were congregating. It didn’t seem that anyone was feeding them and there was nothing special about the canal, but they sure liked it there:

Obviously this was more impressive in person. The darkness makes it slightly difficult to capture the scene… But it doesn’t ruin this great picture of Jenny and Katie!

After four days of relaxed touring, Katie and I settled down for some intense Thanksgiving preparations. I went to pick up the turkey that we had ordered Thursday morning while Katie slaved away in the kitchen (sorry Katie!). When we arrived at the butcher, he acted surprised to hear that someone actually wanted a turkey. He went to the back to call his partner, who told him that they had not actually ordered it. He then called his supplier and informed us that he could have one delivered by December 5th. Thanks buddy! Luckily, my driver and classmate had a membership to Sligro (similar to a Costco) and they had some turkeys available. We purchased the smallest one, which weighed in at just over 15 pounds. I really wish I had a camera, because the biggest ones were ridiculous. I am pretty sure that one of them was pushing 45 pounds, and I had trouble imagining an oven that could hold it. I then returned to campus to relieve Katie of her many chores and we actually ended up serving dinner on time! We had a good group of internationals who were very excited to enjoy their first Thanksgiving. Obviously our room was not big enough, so we set up the event in the Zolderbar:

It ended up being a huge success and we have a refrigerator full of leftovers (always the best part of Thanksgiving).

And now it is time to get back to the job hunt. Jenny is busy with report cards and planning our different upcoming trips. My family is visiting for graduation and Jenny’s brother is visiting after Christmas and we have many exciting plans for their time here! Jenny is also patiently awaiting some semblance of a plan so that she has some idea what we will be doing two months from now. Let me know if you have great job for me!