One of the ladys in my group had a house-warming party on Friday night. She and her boyfriend recently bought a house in a nearby town. She also wanted to have a group party to welcome the two of us who recently arrived in the Netherlands.
Coming up to the party, we all had a very busy week. Our boss was in town from the US which meant meetings, and lunches, and dinner out. We were also interviewing several people for an open position in our group. By Friday, we were all ready for a bit of relaxing.
Dennis and I got a ride to the party with our expat neighbors, the Haywoods. The Haywoods have 3 children so just getting to the party was a bit of an adventure. All of them were vying for our attention and we were glad that it was a short drive. The three year old was all ready to party with her pink jewled tiara. At the party, there were six other children, all between 7 and 10 years old. Of course, the 3 year old was in her glory as the center of attention with all the older kids playing mommy and daddy to her.
The grown-ups sat outside on the deck overlooking the canal and had drinks and nibbles. I brought the Mounds Bar Brownies which were quite popular. I had to explain the name since they don't have Mounds Bars here. They something similar called Bounty Bars - so maybe I just need to adjust the name of my dessert for the local culture.
The canal was nice attraction for the house. The deck went right over the canal and they had a small row boat. I was surprised that there was no fence to keep people from falling into the water. The Dutch people explained that in a country with so much water, all children are taught how to swim from an early age.
While everyone at the party was able to speak English, much of the conversation was in Dutch. I know some people would think it rude of the group to speak Dutch when four of the guests do not. But it really doesn't bother me. I understand that it can be tiring to speak a foreign language and when you are relaxing at lunch or at a party, you may not want to work that hard. There are many times that someone will stop the conversation and fill me in on the topic. It's a good way for me to practice the language. I can listen and guess what they are talking about - many clues come from the body language and gestures - and then get a little confirmation at then end. I have not had the feeling they are talking about me - that seems so 7th grade!
The rest of the weekend is getting kind of boring. Dennis hurt his foot this week and can hardly walk on it. He's also getting ready to head back to the US on Monday. So, he's resting his sore foot in the hope that he'll be able to walk through the airport. We're just hanging around the house doing the laundry, cleaning, and packing.
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