Good Bye & Good Luck

As an expat you make a wide variety of friends & acquaintances in your new country, ones native to the land you live in and then of course other expats.  When I moved to The Netherland over 10 yrs ago at first I acquired friends, mostly my husbands old friends & their girlfriends.  It didn't take me long to start making my own friends though, some of which I still see.  But for the most part my friends were Dutch, and it took me a while to realize that.  It wasn't until my daughter came along and I had to start seeking out activities with kids that I started making my own expat friends.  At first the relationships seemed ideal, no obligations other than occasional play dates, this fit into my schedule well.  But of course when you're seeing someone on a weekly or bi-weekly basis you can't help but get to know them better.  And of course a few of these people actually became friends.  When they talked about the possibility of leaving The Netherlands because of their husbands jobs it all seemed so far away.  I guess I figured I knew what I was getting in to and I was o.k. with temporary friends.  But now that a couple have actually left, permanently, off to new adventures, lives, jobs, & countries, it's actually sinking in.  The first one that left went fairly easy, I was able to say goodbye, I didn't mention to my tot it was the last time, I just let her enjoy her time with the little boy she had grown so fond of.  But this last friend to move has hit a little harder.  The way our schedules worked out we didn't even get to say goodbye properly, in person.  It's making me question if I can actually handle temporary friends.  Part of me knows I have no choice, being an expat and involving your kid in international activities means contact with people that are just temporarily here.  It's something I just have to accept.  I have to remember the fun we had and be sure to stay in contact, who knows where we'll all end up in the future.  So, I guess, it's good bye & good luck, and until the next time.

Quiz Night

I've lived in Eindhoven for almost 7 years, and it wasn't until this past year that I ever heard of International Quiz Night at the Carrousel.  Now I know pubs in Utrecht host them, because my husband & his friends used to go, but now there's one nearby!  I love games, video games, board games, and especially quiz games.  I rarely win but luckily I'm not a sore loser.  When I heard about quiz night, I jumped to join in, even though I was told it's quite hard.  It's been over a decade since I graduated high school and the past couple years of my life have mostly revolved around my kid, so I was a little intimidated to participate.  I didn't let it stop me though.  Back in April I met a group of women for the 3 hour quiz, and I was shocked to see how many people were participating, there were 30 teams!  We didn't come in last, but we sure didn't come in first either.  And to be honest, I felt I contributed little.  At times I wondered if I had ever paid attention in school, and other times I questioned if these were the subjects students learned about in college.  (I only went to a couple years of community college.)  No matter what, I had fun, and it was nice to challenge myself in a new way, and clear out some of the cobwebs cluttering my brain. 

When the opportunity arose last month to go to quiz night with Mums & Toddlers, I signed up right away.  This time it was a whole new group of women, some I knew and some I didn't.  We pulled together, different ages, different backgrounds (Australian, South African, Scottish, & American) and didn't do half bad.  And this time I actually felt like a worthy member of the team; I was able to provide answers other than the ones you're given hints about the day before the quiz.  Last time I was a little embarrassed that some how every question made me think of children's movies and songs, I am a SAHM, but this this time it actually came in handy (you never know what kind of questions you might get).  I'm not going to form an official team and compete weekly, but it is a fun night out once a month.  The company, Number42, does a good job at coming up with interesting and challenging questions (in English), and the fact they host it at a restaurant gives us access to food and drinks which I can't complain about.  Something about two beers and the quiz ending after 11PM, means I am no longer capable of doing math because both times I have gone I have forgotten to pay my complete tab.  I guess by the end of the night my brain has had enough!  I highly recommend participating in a quiz night in your area, and for those of you near Eindhoven, it's at the Carrousel on Thursday nights!

Brownies-schmownies

I'll clear something up to start, schmownies is not a word, just liked the ring of it, brownies-schmownies.  So, this morning I went to a Mums & Toddlers coffee morning / play date with my daughter.  At one point I questioned if we'd ever get there, despite having a navigation system in the car I seem to always get lost.  And as so often, I'm at the brink of giving up, turning around, and going home, when I manage to find my way.  Apparently major roads and neighborhoods change often enough for the navigation to give up on me, and personally I have little sense of direction.  But needless to say I made it to the coffee morning, even though I was 30 minutes late.  The last time I attended one I arrived empty handed, I didn't want that to be the case this time, so I baked brownies.  To many of you that seems simple, but for me, it was a first.  And the bar is so high when it comes to M&T's, some of these women bake well enough they could open their own shop.  I was embarrassed to admit I struggled to make it, much less that it was a box mix.  Before you start assuming things, I do cook, I wouldn't say I'm a natural, but I'm generally capable of following a recipe.  I can even make a banana cake from scratch, but I do that about once a year.  I wouldn't say I'm handy with a mixer, especially since I'm a bit clumsy.  Things seemed to go well at first; dumping things in a bowl isn't too hard.  But then came the mixer, I was told it works best on full blast, so I stuck the beaters in the bowl and unleashed full power.  Immediately chocolate powder filled the air and splats of chocolate flung onto the counter and tiles of my kitchen.  But I didn't give up, the box said to mix for a full 3 minutes.  At one point I realized there were a lot of ingredients on the side of the bowl and I was going to need to use a spatula to push it down (because when I put the beaters on the side of the bowl things just got messier).  I was holding the spatula with my left hand, and that wasn't working out so well, apparently I'm not ambidextrous.  After managing to switch hands, while still blending, things seemed to start going smoother.  The only cake pan (silicone) I have in the house is heart shaped from the one time I made my husband a cake for Valentine's Day, the women were just going to have to deal with it... I didn't think using the silicone loaf pan that I use for meatloaf was the right alternative.  Surprisingly I managed to dump the brownie mix into the pan without a disaster, then it was time for the chocolate sprinkles.  I wouldn't say I distributed them evenly but it worked.  I baked it for the allotted time, but wasn't convinced it was finished.  I showed it to my husband (the better cook) and he said to give it 5 more minutes in the oven.  I gave it about 10 because I forgot about it; dashing to the kitchen I managed to get it out in time.  There was a back-up box just in case but I didn't feel like going through the ordeal again.  When I took it out it had risen but unevenly, how did that happen?  Oh well, at least I didn't burn it.  I wouldn't say my presentation was great either, an uneven heart shaped brownie plopped onto a leftover bunny paper plate from Easter, with chocolate icing only covering parts of it.  My parents are probably cringing, they go above and beyond when it comes to food presentation for get-togethers.  Some of the women did try it though, they were nice and said it tasted fine.  And they also said the dark soft stripe in the middle of the brownie was normal.  My daughter on the other hand spat it out.  I think next round I'll just pop over to the baker like my husband suggested, but at least I tried.