But I'm getting ahead of myself. Friday afternoon I got to babysit! Two adorable grandchildren of the Macleans were over, and they had to go to a funeral so I got them all to myself! Evie is about five years old I think, and Benjamin is almost two. Benjamin was sick, so he slept for a long time, which gave Evie and I a perfect opportunity to bake cookies! She had never baked before, and didn't even know what a mixer was. Well, we had a grand time together, us two, and made some very delicious chocolate chip cookies together. Benjamin woke up just as the last batch went into the oven. Considering he wasn't feeling well, he was quite cheerful. He needed a diaper change rather urgently, but that was not problem. I've done enough of those in my lifetime that I consider myself almost an expert. And then the three of us made a fort downstairs and gave Benjamin some lunch and a bottle and had a very good time until the Macleans came home.
So that was my Friday afternoon. The evening was even more exciting because of the party! Us teenagers there played a game very similar to UNO, but with a regular deck of cards. I had my turn skipped an awful lot of times because somebody decided it was fun to do that, or make me pick up five cards at once, or change the direction right before my turn. But thankfully I managed to get him back... sometimes. I still lost. I seem to be on a loosing streak here in the Netherlands, but I don't care. I just love to play games.
Kim and I also showed the Dutchies a bunch of card tricks. They didn't know any, so they were quite impressed with our simple ones. Later on we chatted and goofed off in a mixture of Dutch and English. Sander stole Rob's hat, so then I stole the hat from Sander's head and put it on. Well, they thought that was funny so they took a picture. And then Rob called me by my most dreadful name which doesn't suit me at all, AND posted it on Facebook. Unfortunately I couldn't understand the Dutch on his phone enough to change the post. *Sigh*. Me and my lack of technological skills.
But it was a fun and exciting night indeed. I even drank a tiny bit of beer. When I say a tiny bit I mean a half inch in the bottom of a glass. (I won't say how much the guys drank, but they can handle it). This time the beer wasn't too bad. It still tasted like a bucket of bubbled weed water, but it was slightly better weed water than last time.
Oh, for those of you who don't have facebook this beer thing does require some background. Here is what I posted last week:
"Survived my first beer.
I think it's an acquired taste that I have not acquired yet."
And here is what people responded:
Marcie Thurston Flokstra That's my girl try a different kind. When you get back I will take you for one.
Kim Devries Hahaha Kim must have taken her out... (except that kim isn't a huge fan either, so don't worry too much mother:)
Valerie Flokstra Oh dear everyone, just because I had one beer doesn't mean I'm going to start drinking like a fish!
Henny Munroe No doubt...you are a very wise girl with a good head on your shoulders....trying a beer is not a bad thing...lol
Shawn Meints Valerie, fish don't drink, they breathe water, so I think your lungs would appreciate it if you stuck to your word.
Who knew one beer would cause such havock? Well, everyone can rest assured that I am quite determined that I shall not get drunk. But at the time I drank the beer I was a bit tired of drinking chocolate milk in bars with a group of people all drinking beer. It's kind of weird to think that when I go back to Canada I'll be back to underage.
Anyways, we returned from the party quite late (or should I say early in the morning?) And I tumbled into bed with a huge smile on my face and my mind swirling with lots of exciting memories of a fun evening with my fantastic new Dutch friends!
Saturday I had a lovely evening with several ladies from Zaaier (young peoples society). We got together with five of us for a ladies night. We ate a delicious dinner of bagels with mozzarella cheese, and pizza, and smoothies. The mozzarella cheese here is very different from Canada. It's more the texture of feta cheese, except even moister and softer. It was very delicious though! Better than in Canada.
After dinner we watched a movie, accompanied by a delicious smorgasbord including much chocolate.
We didn't manage to eat nearly all of it, but what we did eat was sure good. And the best part is that calories don't really matter when I do so much biking here every day!
And the best thing about the evening was that we spoke Dutch almost the entire time, and I could all of a sudden understand it! Almost everything that was said! It's one of the coolest feelings ever to all of a sudden be thinking things in Dutch and just absorbing what people say. And it was so good to just have a lovely night with ladies, watch a chick flick, and then talk about girly things like weddings and dresses and flowers and pretty things, in Dutch of course.
And then there was Sunday. After two late nights in a row it may have been rather difficult to keep from nodding off in church. I did not fall asleep, but between the Dutch and my sleepiness I probably didn't get as much out of the sermons as I should have. Oops. I will definitely try to do better next time. Maybe I should start taking notes. That always keeps me awake.
And another very nice thing happened on Sunday. Andre asked if Kim and I had been to the beach. Well, we hadn't. So plans were made that he and Rob and Kim and I would drive to Hoek van Holland to the sea! Not the ocean- the sea. I learned the hard way that there's apparently a big different. The beaches were gorgeous and included sand dunes and a pier where we could watch all the big ships coming in! We're going to go there again when it's warm enough to go swimming. I can't wait!
So that was my busy and wonderful weekend. I will admit though that I'm not very good at lasting long as a party animal. I think it took until Wednesday to catch up on sleep! Or maybe I just need more practice...
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