We made it, oftewel, we zijn er.

Daar gaan we dan, op verzoek van een aantal mensen voor een keer op zijn Hollands.

Vreemd hoor, daar zit je dan op je porch, te wachten tot het laat genoeg is om op traditionele wijze het Laborday weekend te vieren met een cookout.
De kolibries vliegen me om de oren en de temperaturen zitten dicht tegen de dertig graden aan. Vanochtend hebben we, op zondag, de schoolspullen voor mijn zoon aangeschaft.

Het is allemaal nog een beetje onwerkelijk. Jack heeft de afgelopen week thuis gewerkt en daardoor zijn we nog niet gelijk in het diepe gegooid, het voelt toch nog een beetje als vakantie.
Alhoewel, ben al flink aan het poetsen geweest, Jack's huis is de spreekwoordelijke mannenhuishouding met alle gevolgen van dien.

Dinsdag, na Laborday zal het allemaal een beetje gaan normaliseren.
Mijn zoon gaat vanaf dan elke morgen naar grade 8. Afgelopen week hebben we een aantal bezoeken aan school gebracht en is getest of hij hulp nodig heeft als anderstalige. Maar zijn Engels bleek ruim voldoende. Alle leraren zijn ingeseind en hij krijgt een buddy om de eerste tijd te kunnen wennen aan het nieuwe systeem, maar bv ook straks als hij met de bus naar school gaat.
Hij is al blij met de meeste van zijn vakken en bv het feit dat hij volgend jaar gitaar les kan gaan krijgen. Ook zal hij straks beginnen met cross country lopen, maar eerst een lichamelijk onderzoek. Dat kan nog even op zich laten wachten, het schijnt druk te zjn.

Ook de honden hebben inmiddels hun plaats gevonden. Zal nooit iemand aanraden om de lange vlucht te maken met wat angstigere honden, hoewel ze er beide op dit moment goed over heen zijn denk ik. Op dit moment heeft enkel Cara nog last van verlatingsangst. Verder gaat het wonderbaarlijk goed tussen alle vier. Na een dagje aftasten vinden ze het nu allemaal gewoon.

Inmiddels heeft Cara ons al een doodschrik bezorgd.
Tot het moment dat de tuin afgeschermd is dachten we de honden een plezier te doen door ze mee te nemen op het deck achter als we daar zitten. Helaas iets te veel plezier voor Cara met al die konijnen in de tuin, ze wrong zich tussen de sijlen door. Nooit gedacht dat dat haar zou lukken.
Nog minder verwachtte ik dat Jack over de railing zou springen...
Tot mijn grote opluchting was er niets anders beschadigd dan zijn ego toen hij op zijn achterwerk landde. Cara kon ik in iets minder beschadigde toestand binnen 5 minuten weer invangen met de hulp van een paar hot dogs. Gelukkig was er net op dat moment geen konijn te vinden.

Gisterochtend zijn Jack en ik even naar Harrisburg gegaan waar een art festival/fair werd gehouden. Veel fotografen, handgemaakte potten en sierraden.
Gehouden naast de rivier de Susquehanna, onder de bomen was het heerlijk om er een tijdje rond te lopen. Een van de standhouders had haar toko Stijfselkissie gedoopt, dat vroeg om uitleg en ja, een van oorsprong Nederlandse antwoorden na meer dan de helft van haar leven in de VS gewoond te hebben, op zijn Hollands.
Ze vertelde dat het een van de beste dingen was de ze ooit had gedaan. Ze vind het hier heerlijk.
Precies het tegen over gestelde kreeg ik te horen van een Oostenrijker, geboren aan de Millstatter See, die het de "biggest mistake" van zijn leven vond. Maar terug kon niet, zijn Amerikaanse vrouw wilde niet weg.
Grappig om twee zo uiteenlopende ontmoetingen te hebben.

Maar goed, ik heb beloofd een boterkoek te bakken, dat ga ik dus zo maar even doen.
Vanille suiker heb ik nog niet gevonden, maar zonder gaat het ook lukken.

Dutch or English

Is this my last entry from over here? Quite possible, since from today on it will be busy, busy, busy.
I do have a question though or rather, I would like some opinions.
Up to now I wrote here in English, at least, I tried so that Jack could also read my entries and I could practice.

Sunday we will get on that plane and from than on I would like to write Dutch updates also, that way my parents can read it. Hmmm, it does mean I have to watch my language from than on.
Let me know if there are more people who would like an update in Dutch now and than.

As for the rest, I am busy packing.
Although, everything that goes with FedEx is in the boxes. It is amazing how easy you can decide on leaving things behind. Although I do find things now that I would have liked to bring, but tomorrow these 12 boxes will be picked up so they are closed now.
Keeping my fingers crossed here that the box, filled with Lego will stay in one piece and customs doesn't decide to open it up. Maybe I should have put the Lego in bags, but didn't think of that before.

Friday morning my furniture will be picked up by a second hand shop and Saturday the last stuff will be moved out.

This week I also picked up the info from our dentist, doctor and some other stuff.
Went to town hall to inform them of our immigration. And thus cutting our ties with this country.
Ever where I come they talk about how exiting it is and a huge step to start living in another country. Up to now I hadn't had that feeling yet but this week it suddenly is there.
Mainly because we had to let go of our health insurance over here and step into the US system and there we had my first culture shock.
And believe me, I am still shaking.
We will have insurance now, but not nearly the full coverage that is so normal over here and the costs are insane.
And honestly, that is the type of excitement I don't need.

Also on another item my nerves are having a hard time.
Both my dogs, will they fly with us or not, do we have to decide to leave them behind for about a month. It all depends on the temperatures this Sunday. Those need to be below 85 degrees Fahrenheit, which is around 29 degrees Celsius. And right now the temperatures fluctuates around 85 degrees, the magic number.

Ok, enough time wasted now on the computer, time to go back to packing and making decisions, LOL.
Maybe I will write another up date from here, maybe not, if so...
I'll see you from the other side.

Packing

Ok, after much consideration, we decided to use FedEx to send over most of our stuff.
It seemed insane to get a container or a moving company for the few things that we will bring and than pay around 3000 euro's for it, but slowly I am starting to wonder if it wouldn't have been worth the money just to reduce stress.
LOL, off course I can do this, but we are dealing with the Dutch and US offices right now and they are giving us conflicting information.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So, now that I let that go, it is time for coffee so I can think things through.
Already mailed back to the Dutch office that the forms they sent me are so different from what I got from the US that I am wondering if it all will be ok.
I mean, before you know it you have to pay a lot of tax when the stuff crosses the border and since we are moving, it is all my own and not for sale or something.
Now the Dutch part wants me to write down every single piece of clothing I put in there, determine what fabric it is, what color, size and men or womens clothing.

Weird, don't expect they want me to know that when I am at the border with my two suitcases.
Ma'am, what fabric are your boxershorts made off, and is it a man's boxer or a womans?
LOL, I think my coffee is working now.
So I am going to wake up my son, he can help packing and later get me some more
duct tape.

Thanks for listening...

7 months...

exactly,is how long it took to get our visa's after sending in our application.
And I guess I should be telling you everything about how the interview went, how we picked up Jack from the airport and he got to join us while we had the interview.
This even though he had to bring his suitcase and laptop, which caused him to wait outside for a bit longer while we got to go inside already.
And I should tell you about how easy it was, how friendly and helpful the people in the Consulate were. And how we now have another 'between us' joke about how we received our visa's over a Jungling beer I tasted in Gettysburg.

How we had a cook out on the Saturday after with friends, family and lots of doggies.
And how some people managed to get me all emotional over a photoalbum they made that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
How the house was decorated with the Stars and Stripes and Jack a bit worried was over how people would react to that, while I wondered what on earth he was worried about?

Or I should tell you about how Jack spent a whole morning tearing out my carpet in the living and dining room and ended up with blisters all over his hands.
Or how we went to Bourtange with my Dad and Jack got to set foot in Germany also.
And how much Jack liked the old town with its history and how I never will forget his face when I bought some zoethout and started chewing on it.
I think he thought I lost it there, chewing on the twig of a tree.

But...I am not.

Instead I am going to tell you that our flight is booked, the rent on my house is canceled and I am busy packing.
There is no way back anymore, sooooooo
ready or not, here we come!

Today is the day

In about 13 hours we have an appointment at the American Consulate in Amsterdam.
Also, around this time Jack's plane should be leaving Philadelphia and arrive around 8:30 Dutch time.

And I should be sleeping, because at 7 we have to get on the bus to go to Amsterdam to meet Jack at the airport.
But instead I am behind the pc, as usual I should say, and am talking to you guys.
It won't come as news to you when I say I am hyper, I normally am when Jack is coming over, don't like the flight, makes me nervous and I get busy with all kinds of stuff I suddenly decide needs cleaning.
This time I am just nervous about the flight, not about the cleaning, to big of a task this time.
And I will not go to bed before I see the plane left.
Right now I am nervous as hell that more will go wrong, don't they say everything comes in threes?
Well, as far as I can see we had two really bad ones this time.
Paquita needing an operation and than last Friday, the sewers in my street couldn't handle the rain. And the sewer water needed to go somewhere.
Turned out that somewhere was my kitchen sink.
days before Jack arrives, a few weeks before we move and a week before we expect around 35 guests, my living room, kitchen and dining room were flooded with the most thinkable icky water.

Instead of packing boxes to send to the US, I have been cleaning, instead of ordering drinks and food for the party, I was cleaning and on the phone with the insurance company...and the company I rent my house from... and the people in charge of the sewersystem.
The rest of the time I was praying for better weather for the time I have left here.

Talk about bad timing.
But, it took my mind of the interview, bit drastic, but it worked.

Anyway, in 12,5 hours we have an appointment.
Guess I better try to get some sleep.
According to the website, Jack's flight left on time.

I'll be ok, once I have him close and in my arms.

They want to know everything!!!

Even how I look on the inside.
So, last Wednesday my son and I took the train, and the bus, and the tram to Amsterdam.
See? We were there, took this picture at the Museumplein.

For a change, that is the only picture I took. I know, it had been almost 25 years ago I think. And I would have liked to walk around a bit more, but my 14 year old son isn't a fan of cities, not even Amsterdam.

Anyway, we were there for our physical examination and for my chest x-ray.
All in all, it went pretty well, it was mostly waiting a lot and walking a lot.
The good thing about the Internet is that you can find out exactly what tram, train or bus to take, when to be there and how much time and money it costs.
It makes traveling a lot easier, even when you go to a city you don't know.
Still, we managed to get lost a bit, 5 minutes from the place we had to be, but we were really early, so no panic.
We found it. We were even so early that we were sent out again to get my x-ray done first. Which was a 10 minute walk and 30 minutes wait.

For me it was a trip back into time, the doctors office reminded me of the time I was living in Groningen, our doctor was also in the inner city, in an old building with little space. Here it was the same. The place the x-ray was taken was more like a trailer behind a beautiful old building.

The people at the dr. office were really nice and my son got some nice compliments.
They made another hole in my skin again. A blood sample was taken to check for HIV and Syphilis, together with the x-ray and the vaccinations I had for this, I should be good for at least 10 more years I think. Jack doesn't have to worry, I bet I come with some kind of guarantee now.
We did find out that my son will need a series of 3 vaccinations for Hepatitis B once we are in the US. That is the only one the kids here don't get on the regular vaccination plan. And he is lucky that he isn't a girl, or he would have needed another series of 3.

On our way back we saw the American consulate where we have to be in a week.
Tall, black fences and security all over the place.
I am glad Jack will be there with us.
Before we go to the consulate, we will pick him up from Schiphol where he will arrive a few hours before we have to be there.

In a few weeks we will celebrate together