This blog is about random things in my life, I like to talk and I like to share my opinion (whether asked for or not) and this seems like the best place for those quirky random fleeting thoughts!
If you're not interested in reading me grumbling about crime in our area then I would skip this post over...
What's happening? When I first moved to The Netherlands over 10yrs ago it took me a long to get used to how safe it is was. It was hard for me to comprehend that I could walk down the street alone at night... that I never had to consider locking the doors of the car as we drove... that the kids hanging on the corner were still harmless, just big mouths... and that if you got into a confrontation a gun wouldn't even come to mind. But now, one of the major bonuses of living in The Netherlands is starting to change. Sure, there was always crime in the big cities or petty crime here & there in the smaller ones. But lately every time I open the local online news I'm reading of more and more serious crimes, ones comparable to where I came from in The States, ones that didn't used to be so abundant here in the past. Within the past 2 months there have been at least 2 store robberies at gun point, one was even across the street from my child's elementary! (And another in a town not so far away.) Then this evening I open the news again, and 2 gas stations within 10 minutes of our apartment were held up at knife point, then there was a 3rd across town. The Netherlands has so much to offer, a healthy living style, great health insurance for the children, clean streets & parks (of course all paid for by the extreme amount of tax people pay, but that's besides the point). Crime seems to be on the rise, guns are starting to become more prevalent despite the strict laws. And besides weapons, it seems like some of the people are changing or maybe the numbers of criminals are increasing... it seems as if they have less respect for the world around them. I hope this isn't true.
In The States, I can barely watch the news, they often use scare tactics to get viewers or get people hooked waiting for the next update. And it often seems like endless negative report after another. Maybe that's what's happening here. Maybe the crime was there all along and the media just never focused on it. But now they are, and the scare tactics are working. It makes me question the safety of Eindhoven, makes me wonder if it's still the right place for us. Everywhere has its pluses and minuses, I guess I'm just surprised as to what is happening here, somewhere I didn't expect. I try and tell myself no matter where you go in the world there is crime, just some places worse than others. I enjoyed living with little concern about crime around us, but I guess that was naïve anyway.
Sorry for the depressing post, and I promise I will get around to happy fun posts about our vacation to Florida.
Did you know that many American kids are now being adopted by foreign parents? In years past I had often heard of children being adopted from poor countries or countries with an abundance of unwanted children... but I never pictured it being the US. The first time I heard a Dutch family adopted an American child I was speechless. Should I have really been so shocked? I guess I naively thought adopted American kids stayed in the US. When I saw an article on CNN online this morning it brought back those first memories and realizations, and it made me want to share the article with my readers:
A popular thing to do in The Netherlands is to visit the "Kermis" (aka Carnival or Fair) when it rolls in to town. Luckily for me, there's a "kermis" one town over every year at my birthday. For some reason quite a few years ago I started the tradition of a b-day bbq followed up by a visit to "kermis". It must have been because of my nieces or the fact years ago we lived in the center of Best and they literally built the "kermis" around our apartment. Once our own kid came along it made the "kermis" even more special. We love watching her face as she gazes up at the large carni-rides or is overwhelmed by the endless lights, music, & food. This year was one of the first years she was old enough to actually go on multiple rides; and we can only expect even more next year. If she had her way we would have taken her on all of the roller coasters instead of the tea cups and massive slide. In order to keep her distracted we kept her busy with all of the games. Who knows how much we all spent but eventually we won her a jump rope, slinky, & toy guitar, she was over the moon. I'm sure all of you have been to a carnival or fair, so I thought you might be curious what they look like here. To be honest not much different, except they are often held in the center of town. I'm used to where I grew up and we had the Strawberry Festival, it was huge and on a lot of land in a town called Plant City. (Everything in The States seems to be bigger, there's just more land & space to work with.) The "kermis" here doesn't have cattle competitions or country music concerts like my part of the woods in Florida. But I wouldn't say I actually miss that, ha-ha! Like most fairs, you have cotton candy, baked goods, and of course rides & games. One thing I missed out on this year was the fun house & house of mirrors, I've loved those since I was a kid. Maybe next year when our nieces can join! And yes, my Wordless Wednesday was a pic of amazing waffles served at "kermis"!!! (Funnily enough, I've never been to the huge "kermis" here in Eindhoven.)
Since my computer is on a hiatus I've had to resort back to the tv at night. Generally there is nothing on (or nothing we can both agree on) but last night I some how convinced my husband to tolerate a good portion of show about extreme couponing. For those of you unfamiliar, it's when you buy in quantity, rack up a bill in the hundreds, hand over a ton of coupons, and pay barely anything. It's a dream come true! I think my husband only watched just to prove to himself how crazy it is, but I watched in admiration. Here in The Netherlands coupons aren't as popular as in The States. Sure they exist but it's not like you get the thick Sunday newspaper packed full of coupon clipping mania, I kind of miss that. Funnily enough when I was young I looked forward to my first coupon holder, you know the ones with dividers that you can store your loose coupons in until needed. My mom had one, she probably still has one. Watching the tv show last night showed me just how far people take it, I threatened my husband that if I lived in the US I would be a couponer! I would join a coupon club like those ladies, I would spend my Sunday clipping away, I would have a coupon holder (I'd probably create a database on my computer)!!! He threatened divorce, ha-ha! To him there is nothing worse than busting out a coupon, especially during meals. Me, I love saving money and see no shame in it. It's my job as a SAHM to find the sales and watch the cents. I guess lucky for us we live here, so you will not be seeing me on any future episodes of Extreme Couponing, oh well.
Another post from my phone, hope it's not too sloppy!
If you're not interested in reading me grumbling about crime in our area then I would skip this post over...
