Last Day, Last Blog

Well, it is hard to believe that our 7 weeks are coming to an end! We have had such a wonderful experience here, and are really happy we made the trip happen. We have learned a little Dutch, perfected our knowledge of the metric system, made some/rekindled with great friends, and truely lived in another culture.

The Pamas have been the BEST hosts! Alex, Fenny, Folkert, Vernique/Arnold, Ingrid/Rob, Elka/Richard--thank you for everything! You have made us feel so comfortable here, and we appreciate your generosity and time spent with us. You are always welcome in our home in the US!

We spent our last night in Den Helder, having a meal with Fenny and Folkert (just as we spent our first night). Vernique and her children also joined. Below are a few pics..

To all of our readers: We hope you enjoyed the blog. We had a great time sharing our stories!

Mary and JR

Golf Tournament

Sunday was the golf tournament that JR had been organizing the last 6 weeks. There was a full field with 72 players. Everyone had a great time, and the event was a success!

The event was held at the Leeuwarden Pitch and Putt, a par 3 course. In the Netherlands, you have to have a golf license to play at a regular course, so this worked perfectly for beginning golfers.

I even chipped in, serving raw herring with onions on hole 1. It smelled so bad--I don't know how people ate it!

The group receiving instructions

JR after the event.

With our friend and host, Alex

Zaanse Schans

On Monday, Fenny took us to the Zannse Schans, one of the Netherland's most popular tourist attractions. It is a village on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. It is home to green wooden houses, bridges, working windmills, a wooden shoe shop, and a cheese shop (along with other shops).

The mill grinds stones into dye for fabrics and paints. We were able to go inside and see how it works--it is really small inside the mill, so pictures did not turn out well..

There was a demonstration on how to make wooden shoes as well. Who knew wooden shoes are water proof?

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Village in background