Dec. 25- Christmas

     I was awoken Christmas morning by Arjen’s 9-year old daughter, Marit. She and her twin brother, Cryn, were too excited to wait any longer because they had presents under the Christmas tree. They each had two presents, a book and reflectors for their bike spokes. I can’t imagine how excited they would be if they saw all the presents under a typical American Christmas tree. Children in Holland mostly get presents on December 5^th from Sinterklaas, but it is starting to change that they get presents on Christmas too. It is nowhere close to like in America though! I got karamelstroopwafels, koekreep (ginger bread), wall decals, Anouk cd, and chocolate from Holland.

     It is also a Dutch tradition that you write a poem about the person that you are giving the gift to! Here is the poem that went along with my gift:

Dear Jo,

Celebrating Xmas this year far away from your own bed….

Hopefully it doesn’t make you too sad. You know, you’re more than welcome here in Tiel, so maybe it gives you a kind of “home feel.” The presents this year are typically Dutch, okay we have to agree it’s not that much. Dutch chocolate, caramelwaffles, and gingerbread. I hope you never ever had that… You’ve heard of this Dutch singer before, maybe you like her latest release even more.

For 2012 we wish you lots of luck and all the best, great vball, good friends, health, and all the rest.

Hope we’ll meet again in 2012,

Arjen, Alletta, Marit, & Cryn

     After presents, Alletta, the kids, and myself went to church. Arjen stayed home on account that he had pneumonia. Alletta was doing the children’s church so I sat by myself for the service. As I sat there not understanding anything, I wished that I had brought my Bible with me so that I could have read Luke 2. I did recognize some of the same tunes of Christmas songs that we sing at home such as Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Hark the Herald Angel Sings, and Angels We Have Heard on High.

     We returned home for lunch. There were little breads shaped like mushrooms that we cut out the stump part to make it into a little tiny bread bowl. There was mushroom soup/gravy to go with it. We listened to Christmas music all afternoon. It amazed that Marit was able to sing along to all of the English songs, but yet she does not know English. I guess it’s equivalent to me singing Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli! I don’t think Cryn completely understood that I didn’t speak Dutch. He knew that I only spoke English, but he kept trying to talk to me still. This happens with kids in Sweden too, but at least I can tell them “jag prata engelska” (I speak English) or “jag vet inte” (I don’t know). I don’t know either of those phrases in Dutch so I was just stuck raising my hands and shoulders in the ‘huh’ look. It did make me feel good though that he continued to try to talk to me after failing over and over again.

     Arjen took me to the train station in Tiel so that I could go to Utrecht where Thijs would pick me up. I am mad at myself that during the whole time I was with Arjen, I never took a picture of the two of us. I didn’t take one with Thijs either! I guess that just means I definitely need to go back, and I will. I hung out at Thijs’ place for a while talking with him and his girlfriend, Suzanne, before we went to Suzanne’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner. We ate some delicious appetizers of garlic mushrooms, truffle cheese, salami, and smoked fish with salad. After the appetizers, I was able to go into the computer room to Skype with my family. :) It was so nice to get to talk to my parents and my brother. It didn’t completely feel like Christmas for me since I wasn’t home, but being able to see them made the day a ton better! I joined everyone else again just in time for the main course. We had pork with mashed potatoes, different veggies with bacon, and pears cooked in wine (Dutch tradition). For dessert, we had an amazing homemade cheesecake with berries on top! Yummm! I am so appreciative of Suzanne and her family for allowing me to join their family Christmas. It was she and Thijs, her parents, and her sister, husband, and child, and a random American. We had some great discussions though about the differences between Europe and American, the different stereotypes that we have of each other, and funny different things about our cultures. For example, it is still today considered rude to show up at someone’s house close to dinnertime because it is like you are inviting yourself to stay for dinner even if you are just dropping something off. I really enjoyed talking with them and again so thankful that they graciously welcomed me to join their family Christmas!

      I was able to Skype one more time with my family that evening before I went to bed. This time I also got to see my aunt, uncle, cousins, other extended family, and my nephew, Noah. It was definitely not a typical Christmas for me, but nonetheless, it was a great day!