One YearAugust 21, 2006 This month marks our one-year anniversary of being back in the United States, after a two-year stint in The Netherlands for Chris' work. When we first arrived in the US, I put together a post about the things that I ADORED about this country. I was having a big ol' love affair with America at the time, mainly because I disliked it in Holland so much. Now that twelve months have passed, I can look back at our time in Holland with a somewhat kinder eye. Living in The Netherlands wasn't easy for me, but I gave it a heck of a shot. This post is about some of the things that I am now able to remember fondly. |
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The thing I probably miss the most is my bike. Yes, I have my bike here in Houston, but I'm in Houston now. Chris and I made a promise to each other that we would think about riding our bikes instead of taking the car once we got back to the US. That hasn't really been a great option. We would die of heat exhaustion right after we were hit by a guy driving a Hummer on a cell phone. Houston isn't exactly bike-friendly. |
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Since we didn't have a car in Holland, biking was the best way to get around. |
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Biking didn't always seem like a good idea, like when it was windy and raining and I had to go out for dog food. But there were times that bad weather + biking ended up being a good time. |
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Speaking of bad weather, it wasn't always such a bad thing. (Our house was the third one down.) |
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It was always pretty. |
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Here is the same shot a few months later. This canal was just at the end of our street. We walked the dogs around it for our morning walk every day. |
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Looking at these photos and remembering back, we spent a lot of time outdoors in Holland. I guess that just isn't an option in Houston. |
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Aside from walking the dogs, we stay inside in Houston. Because it's hot, because it's humid, because of pollution and allergies, because the bugs are enormous and biting, because... ...maybe because we don't see scenes like this when we step outside. |
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Speaking of walking outside...one strange thing in Holland are these signs that mark walking paths. It's strange for two reasons. First, no one dresses like that anymore. Second, doesn't it look like the child is kinda leaning back and trying to get away? |
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There isn't much about our Dutch house that I miss, but I guess I can be a little nicer about it now. Now, it's kind of funny that this kitchen was too small to prepare a dinner for more than two people. |
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It's also kind of funny now that the stairs in our house were a spiral deathtrap. Chris, me, the dogs...we all fell down these stairs. They were really narrow and steep. Ha! I just remembered that the Dutch word for "stairs" is "trap"! Coincidence? |
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And maybe it's funny that I needed hand-written biking directions for running errands - these told me how to get to the Immigration Office. I never got good at spelling words like "Stadhoudersplantsoen" while maintaining decent handwriting. I saved a lot of silly things (like these directions) in a scrapbook. Not the crafty kind of cool scrapbook with pretty paper or anything. Just a spiral book where I pasted damn near anything... |
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...Like this bag from the green grocer in our neighborhood. The picture on the bag makes me laugh. |
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We've been back in the US for a year. I still think of myself as "new" to Houston, even though I'm feeling pretty established here now. Living in Holland was difficult for me. |
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But now that I'm twelve months removed from the day-to-day hassles of living there... |
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I don't remember it being so bad, really. |
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My email - staci@verypink.com |
Chris' email - barkless3@yahoo.com |
