Holland

This year the AYUSA Overseas Partner Experience was to the Netherlands. Wow! The week was packed full of fun and sightseeing, and I had a wonderful time. Here are the highlights:

• Flying out of North Bend created crazy connections for me, and I ended up on a red-eye flight from Portland to Chicago, followed by a 13-hour layover in Chicago before my group flight to Amsterdam. The upside was I stayed awake during my layover and was able to sleep for most of the long international flight.




• I was asked to give a presentation on finding host families to the Dutch staff. It was a fun experience.




• We stayed in a hotel for most of the week, but we did spend one night with host families. I had the incredible delight of staying with the parents of one of my current AYUSA students. So while Anne was in Coos Bay, I was sleeping in her bed in Holland.




• Anne's family took me on a tour of Amsterdam. We took a canal boat ride, visited the red light district (*gasp*), and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the city.




• All the AYUSA staff toured a Dutch school, which was fun and interesting.




• We visited the quaint, historical city of Vollendam, where we got to dress up in traditional Dutch clothing (including wooden shoes) and try some authentic Dutch apple pie, and had dinner at an authentic Dutch pancake house.




• We saw many, many windmills and had a very enjoyable tour of one.




• The Dutch staff treated us to a traditional Sinter Klaas celebration. We drew names for a gift exchange and had to write a funny, teasing poem about the person we gave a gift to. We set out our shoes to be filled with candy while we slept. And even though it was a few weeks before the usual celebration, Sinter Klaas himself managed to make an appearance for us.




• My favoriate part of the trip was the last day. We had a free day, so I went with some other AYUSA ladies to the city of Harlem and visited Corrie ten Boom's home. I read The Hiding Place on my trip to Holland, and it was amazing to be right there where it took place. Ten Boom Jewelers is still an active business on the ground floor below the home.
  

My friend Connie and I in front of a windmill in Leiding.

All decked out in traditional Dutch wear.

Corrie ten Boom's bedroom. They have knocked out part of the wall so visitors can see into the secret room where the Jews were hidden. It was accessed by sliding up a panel at the back of the bottom shelf of the linen closet.