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Going Dutch
September 2018
New Club Year: New Board of Officers!
Jordan Journey with FAWCO
6
40
44
Learn a little more about Chat, Craft and
Cake
48
Road Trip through Northern France:
Normandy and Mont Saint Michele
The Magazine of the
American Women’s Club
of The Hague
5 Officers and Chairwomen
6 May Installation of Officers
8 Message from the President
9 September Kick-Off
10 Letter from the Editor
12 Membership
13 Friendship Quilt
14 Ongoing Activities
19 One-of-a-Kind Activities
22 Summer Beach Barbeque
Benefit
28 AWC and the Arts
29 New Look Campaign
30 September Calendar
33 Kid’s Club
33 Walkie Talkies Special
Outing
34 Walkie Talkies Collage
36 A Ceremony of
Remembrance and Hope
38 FAWCO Corner
40 FAWCO Jordan
43 Fran Mainella
44 Chat, Craft and Cake
46 The Dutch Daily
48 Normandy— A Road Trip
50 Summer Activites Collage
53 Announcements
56 Classifieds
57 Index of Advertisers
57 Ad Rates
58 Proost! Interview
SEPTEMBER 2018 3
Editor
Audrey Goodman
2018-2019 AWC Officers
Committee Chairs
AWC Clubhouse
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 43
2582 NJ Den Haag
Tel: 070 350 6007
info@awcthehague.org
www.awcthehague.org
Going Dutch Magazine
goingdutchmag@gmail.com
Clubhouse Hours
Tuesday and Thursday
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday Closed
Dues (Effective 2018-2019)
€ 110 per year (€ 66 after January 1)
€ 90 business, professional
€ 55 valid US military ID
€ 35 student
€ 35 Outside the Netherlands (Going
Dutch magazine not included)
Add € 15 new member registration fee
Design and Layout
Teresa Mahoney
Cover Photo
A Giant Squid Over Scheveningen Beach by
Melissa White
Photography
Mary Adams, Jane Choy, Sabine Crowley,
Greetje Engelsman, FAWCO, Dena
Haggerty, Teresa Insalaco, Suzanne
MacNeil, Julie Mowat, Perspektief, Melissa
Rider, Anne van Oorschot, Melissa White
Proofreaders
Celeste Brown, Jane Gulde, Diane Schaap,
Debbie van Hees
Advertising Invoicing
Open
Contributors
Jane Choy, Susanne Dundas, Roberta
Enschede, Jan Essad, Heather DeWitt, Dena
Haggerty, Marsha Hagney, Eileen Harloff,
Deana Kreitler, Suzanne MacNeil, Sunita
Menon, Julie Mowat, Melissa Rider, Lindsay
Turnau, Emily van Eerten, Melissa White
Printer
www.dwcprint.nl
AWC Bank Account Number
IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757
KvK Den Haag
40409274
Honorary President Diane Hoekstra
President Suzanne MacNeil
awcthehague.president@gmail.com
Vice President Marsha Hagney
awcthehague.firstvp@gmail.com
Treasurer Sheyla Karman
awcthehague.treasurer@gmail.com
Secretary Heather DeWitt & Laura Suttles
awcthehague.secretary@gmail.com
Club and Community Development
Open
awcthehague.community@gmail.com
Clubhouse Administrator
Jan Essad & Sunita Menon
awcthehague.clubhousemgr@gmail.com
Communications Rebecca Niles-Pourier
awcthehague.communications@gmail.com
Front Office
Liduine Bekman, Siska Datema-Kool,
Dominique Duysens, Amber Gatewood,
Machelle Hollar, Paula Looijmans, Melissa
Rider, Robin Rose, Holly Savoie, Carol
Schapira, Chelsea Wald
Activities: Open
Arts: Jane Choy
Assistant Treasurer: Teresa Insalaco
Board Advisor: Jessie Rodell
Caring Committee: Naomi Keip
Chat, Craft & Cake: Suzanne Dundas
Community Service Team: Open
eNews Amber Gatewood
Evening Events: Open
FAWCO: Julie Mowat
Front Office Coordinator: Open
General Meeting Programs: Dena
Haggerty
Heart Pillow: Jan de Vries
Historian/Archivist: Open
Holiday Bazaar: Jaimie Keppel-Molenaar
Hospitality: Open
IT Administrator: Julie Otten
Kids’ Club: Lindsey Turnau
Library: Dena Haggerty
Membership: Melissa Rider
Newcomers: Holly Savoie, Greetje
Engelsman
Parliamentarian: Georgia Regnault
Philanthropy: Holly Savoie
Public Relations: Open
Social Media: Rebecca Niles-Pourier and
Julie Otten
Social Media Recruitment: Ceci Wong
Tennis: Molly Boed
Volunteer Coordinator: Laurie
Martecchini
Webmaster: Julie Otten
Women with Dutch Partners: Loren
Mealey
Deadlines: Submissions are due no later than the last Monday of the month preceding the publication month.
For example, for the October issue, submissions are due before Monday, September 24
Please Note: Articles submitted to Going Dutch will be published subject to space limitations and editorial approval.
All rights reserved; reprints only by written permission of the Editor. Please email to: goingdutchmag@
gmail.com
Legal Notice: Articles in Going Dutch express the views and opinions of their authors alone, and not necessarily
those of the AWC of The Hague, its Members or this publication.
4 GOING DUTCH
AWC Mission Statement
The AWC is an association formed to provide social and educational activities for American
women living in the Netherlands and to promote amicable relations among people of all nations,
as well as acquiring funds for general public interest. Membership in the club is open
to women of all nations who are friendly and welcoming to American culture. The association
does not endeavor to make a profit. The AWC is a 100% volunteer organization.
SEPTEMBER 2018 5
2018-2019 Board Installation
Message from the President
by Suzanne MacNeil
September Kick-Off
by Marsha Hagney
Welcome to the new Club year and
welcome back if you’ve traveled
this summer. I spent two weeks in
Ireland in June, one week for a mosaic workshop
and the other driving through the lovely
countryside with Tim. We ended our trip in
a small town outside Belfast to meet Tim’s
cousins and visit the stone house where his
grandmother and great-grandmother were
born. Then it was a week in Jacksonville
to see my mom and a week with Fran
Mainella and her husband in Amsterdam
and The Hague. Fran graciously stopped
by the Clubhouse in July to share her story
about her time as director of the National
Park Service. If you didn’t make it to Fran’s
discussion, Emily van Eerten sums it up
nicely on page 43.
In between travels, your Board met several
times during the summer and we have
events, activities, and travels already on the
books. Please be sure to check Ongoing
Activities and One-of-a-Kind Activities in
this edition of Going Dutch. If you plan to
take part in any of the activities listed, go to
the Club calendar on our website to sign up.
Our Club was founded in 1930 as a social
organization. It continues to be just that, a
fun group that offers friendship and opportunities
to dig in to our Dutch life. Without
the AWC, my time as an expat (since 2013)
would been more stressful and lonely. It is
thanks to the lovely women in the Club that
I adjusted more quickly to being far from my
family, and it’s my AWC
friends who introduced
me to the
grand world that
living abroad
offers. I hope
that you have
found a circle
of women
within the
Club who do
the same for you,
8 GOING DUTCH
and I would
hope that you
offer new expats
and women you
meet the opportunity
to join our
AWC. Growing
our membership
is fundamental
so the Club can
continue at least
another 90 years!
If you’re
looking for an opportunity to introduce
friends to the Club, be sure to bring them
to our Prinsjesdag Luncheon on Tuesday,
September 18 to watch the King, Queen, and
other royals ride along the route of the Golden
Coach. The procession leaves Noordeinde
Palace and travels to the Binnenhof where
King Willem-Alexander will address parliament.
We will have a bird’s-eye view of the
procession from an upper floor of Restaurant
Garoeda. Be sure to sign up ASAP!
Since we’re nearing our stone anniversary
(90 years), the Board is looking ahead
and we are developing a three-to-five-year
plan for the Club. Our AWC is not unlike a
business. Members are our target customers,
and the Board and committees focus on
meeting our Members’ needs. The Board is
reviewing our strengths, weaknesses, and
opportunities to ensure we can achieve our
potential and improve where necessary. Just
as businesses are always working to improve
their operations, the Board is actively looking
at ways to refine how we manage certain
aspects of the Club. One step we have taken
is the implementation of a fundraising/donation
request form that must be filled out by
Members and non-members to ensure the
Board fully understands each request and
if it meets the Club’s mission. This change,
along with other updates, and improvements
are helping the Board, and the Club, to set
priorities and remain financially sound. >>52
Morning and Evening
Events
Welcome back to Members and welcome to
new Members and friends! Join us to meet
others and learn about Club activities and
events. Sign up for scheduled events, learn
about volunteer opportunities, enjoy some
refreshments, and spend some time catching
up with friends or getting acquainted
with new and prospective Members. All
Members are encouraged to invite friends
and acquaintances who may be interested in
joining the AWC!
Thursday, September 13
Morning Session 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Evening Session 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
Heads-up: The October issue will arrive a few days late. Our fearless Design and
Layout Specialist, Teresa Mahoney, is unplugging to climb a mountain (seriously!)
and will work on the issue after her descent. But don’t worry, you can still find
important AWC news and information on Facebook and GroupSpaces.
AWC new Board Installation (see p 6 for more photos)
SEPTEMBER 2018 9
Letter from the Editor
by Audrey Goodman
Early last summer, I received a mid-day
call from my husband, “Hey, I just need
to know if you would ever consider living
overseas?” “Umm, honey. I need a little
more information. For starters, which continent
are we talking about?” He had no specifics,
except that he was pretty sure it would be
Europe. Over the next couple months, the details
started emerging: Europe… The Hague...
Early 2018... Two Years. So, here I am!
We spent the last part of 2017 making
the necessary arrangements and spending as
much time with friends and family as possible.
use various laundry detergents sorted by color,
stay out of the way of bicycles, always carry
an umbrella, and add salt to my dishwasher.
(On that note: I highly recommend attending
the Dutch Products class offered by Carol
Slootweg on Wednesday, September 25 at the
Clubhouse, if you’re new to the Netherlands.)
This Spring, after the previous editor,
Suzanne MacNeil, accepted the role as our
new Club president, I offered to take on the
editorship of Going Dutch. I swear, I only had
half a glass of wine when I made the decision!
Suzanne, Melissa White and Teresa
If you want something said, ask a man;
If you want something done, ask a woman.
Margaret Thatcher
On January 2, 2018 we left Baltimore, and it
has been an amazing whirlwind ever since.
I was introduced to the AWC by the former
president, Mary Ann Nation-Greenwall,
(at a Thirsty Thursday, of course!) and it
was the best decision I made since arriving.
I jumped right in to the activities and have
met so many wonderful and amazing women,
from all backgrounds, with very different
experiences, and with various interests. My
fear of being bored or isolated very quickly
dissolved, and I feel incredibly lucky to be
part of such a fantastic organization.
Nearly everyone speaks English in the
Netherlands, making this country seem like
“Expat for Dummies”. But it’s been the little
things that I’ve struggled with since moving
here. The day we arrived, we made our first
trip to Albert Heijn, and we also made our
first mistake. I now know that AH doesn’t
accept MasterCard, or Visa, or Discover, or
any other American credit card. After an extremely
embarrassing trip to the ATM, we had
the basic necessities for our extremely tiny
refrigerator. I’ve also learned that I need to
10 GOING DUTCH
Mahoney have been have been overwhelmingly
helpful through this transition. Melissa
is also a former Going Dutch editor, and still
contributes greatly to the magazine (check out
the Announcements section!). Teresa handles
the design and layout, making the magazine
absolutely beautiful. Countless hours and
lots of hard work go into the magazine every
month, and without these women, Going
Dutch wouldn’t exist. I have big shoes to fill,
and I hope I can live up to the reputations of
my predecessors.
As we start a new Club year, I would
like to add a new element to the magazine.
It seems everyone has a tried-and-true recipe
that I’m sure is worth sharing. So please pass
along some of your favorites to be included
in upcoming issues! And I’m certainly open
to new article ideas, so don’t hesitate to send
me an email or strike up a conversation at a
Club event. Or, better yet, let’s make plans to
discuss your idea over coffee or wine!
Audrey
SEPTEMBER 2018 11
Membership
by Melissa Rider
Welcome New Members!
Kristina Andrews
Patti Calabro
Jeanne Crandall
Naya Pessoa
2018-2019 Membership Dues
If you have not yet paid your membership
dues, please note they are due no later
than September 30 to avoid a late fee.
The best way to renew is by electronic
transfer to our bank account with IBAN:
NL42ABNA0431421757 (be sure to include
your name and Membership Dues in the
memo section). You can also pay by PIN at
the Clubhouse during office hours. Dues remain
the same as last year: € 110 for Regular
and Associate Members, € 90 for Business/
Professionals, € 55 for Military (with valid
military ID) and € 35 for Students (with valid
student ID).
Update Your Information
It is very important to keep both your
email and mailing addresses accurate, so
you receive
eNews and
Going Dutch
in a timely
fashion. If
you have
m o v e d
recently,
p l e a s e
contact me at awcthehague.membership@
gmail.com with your updated contact
information.
GDPR
The AWC, like all other businesses and organizations
in Europe, must comply with
the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR) which sets new rules for the collection
of data of those living in the EU. The
new privacy measures mean you now have
to give the AWC explicit and informed consent
for the Club to use your name and likeness
in Going Dutch, either of our Facebook
pages, and in our Membership Directory.
Birthday wishes, unfortunately, will no longer
be published in Going Dutch, as another
measure towards ensuring your privacy. We
appreciate your help as we work to make
sure we follow the rule of law.
“Tell Me A Story” – The 2019
Friendship Quilt
by Julie Mowat
Every year since 1995, FAWCO members
around the globe have worked together,
contributing to the FAWCO Friendship
Quilt. The greatly coveted product is raffled
off at the annual FAWCO Conference to raise
money for The Foundation’s programs and
charitable causes. This is a great time to start
working on your 2019 quilt squares. What
better way than a book-themed quilt to wrap
up the Target Education cycle!
Deadline: October 10
Square instructions:
www.fawcofoundation.org
Contact Suzanne Dundas at
awcthehague.crafts@gmail.com to
coordinate mailing the squares.
Going Dutch is Available Online
Go to www.awcthehague.org to share the current month’s issue with friends and family. You
will also find links to our annual advertisers, whose support makes this magazine possible. If
you visit or contact one of our advertisers, let them know
Going Dutch sent you!
Birthdays
Due to changes in European privacy laws, and because Going Dutch will soon be posted
on our external Facebook page, we won’t be sharing birthdays in print any longer.
Instead, you’ll see Members’ birthdays in the weekly eNews, which is sent to your private
email account and is more secure. We value our Members’ privacy. If you have any
questions, please contact Melissa Rider, our Membership Coordinator, at awcthehague.
membership@gmail.com.
12 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 13
Photo credit: GoodReads
Ongoing Activities
Book Clubs
The AWC Book Clubs are open to all readers,
and new Members are especially welcome!
There’s no requirement to attend every
meeting or lead a discussion. Snacks are
provided by a different Member each month.
There are two Book Clubs hosted by AWC
Members: One in the daytime and one in
the evening. Questions? Teresa Mahoney
organizes the daytime group, and Dena
Haggerty handles the evening meetings.
For more information, please contact them at
awcthehague.bookclub@gmail.com. Happy
reading!
Daytime Book Club
September Selection:
Days without End follows
the experiences of Thomas
McNulty, a teenage immigrant
from Ireland, who fled
the Great Famine for the
United States. He enlisted in
the Army in the 1850s and
served in both the Indian
Wars and the Civil War. The story follows his
struggles, heartbreak and lost youth during
the Wars. The New York Times describes this
book as “a haunting archaeology of youth …
A dreamlike Western with a different kind of
hero.”
Thursday, September 27
10 a.m.
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
Daytime Book Club Recap – April
My Absolute Darling, by Gabriel Tallent,
provided for a lively discussion during the
April meeting. The author purposefully
wrote a book full of the flora and fauna of
the northern California coast, and some of the
Members had been to a live session with him
prior to the meeting, so they knew his proclivity
for that part of the United States. The
main character, Turtle, is a young teenager
just blossoming into puberty who lives with
her father. Turtle seems to take care of herself
most of the time and has been allowed the
14 GOING DUTCH
freedom to roam the cliffs near their home,
where she exhibits an uncanny knowledge
of the plants and animals around her. Once
into the book, one is mesmerized by the language,
often sending one to the dictionary.
The main theme of the story emerges into
one of the emotional, physical, and sexual
abuse that Turtle endures by her father. Later
in the story, after a long absence, he returns
with a much younger girl who ends up going
through similar seemingly torturous trials
at the whim of the father. Was Turtle brave,
cowardly, entrapped? It was a maternal instinct
for the younger girl that finally brought
her into action to leave the situation and save
herself. The book was definitely a page-turner,
and an impossible-to-put-down selection.
Daytime Book Club Recap – May
Notes on a Foreign Country: An American
Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy
Hansen. Suzy Hansen left New York City
at the age of 25 with a grant for overseas
journalism and decided to base herself in
Istanbul. Over the next decade, she travelled
to Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, and then
to the Mississippi Delta. As time passed, she
gathered foreigners’ impressions and histories,
and began to note a change in her own
views of America: “We cannot go abroad as
Americans in the twenty-first century and not
realize that the main thing terrorizing us is
our own ignorance.” She uses the complex
histories of these countries to illuminate the
way she looks at her own country and the assumptions
of American exceptionalism that
are inculcated by our families, our schools,
and our media. This book is a travelogue
combined with a personal memoir that details
“the vertiginous distance that exists between
what America is and what it thinks of itself”.
Our Members discussed the range of important
issues raised by this book in the light of
their own personal recognition. As expats,
each of us has experienced the uncomfortable
epiphany so eloquently described by
Hansen. The group recommends this book
unanimously and would like to see its readership
widened in the United States.
Daytime Book Club Recap – June
Bernard MacLaverty’s Midwinter Break
is his first novel in 16 years. Set during a
short holiday in Amsterdam during a wintry
January, the novel explores a very mature
marriage that is in quiet difficulty. Gerry
and Stella Gilmore have reached a fork in
the road of their relationship. Gerry’s drinking
has increased in frequency and duration;
Stella desires a contemplative religious life
devoted to service during the years that remain
to her. To achieve this will involve
leaving Gerry possibly for a life in the
Begijnhof in Amsterdam. Familiar tourist
destinations, such as the Anne Frank House
and the Rijksmuseum, serve to move the plot
forward and to reveal more of the marriage,
as well as the unresolved act of violence in
their past that is the impetus for their individual
unhappiness. MacLaverty’s focus on the
poetry of the mundane, lends truthfulness to
his examination of the interior lives of his
characters. This book was well received by
the book club, but it was felt it would be best
appreciated by those in mature relationships.
Daytime Book Club Recap – July
In Revolution Song: A Story of American
Freedom, Russell Shorto weaves six personal
histories into a fascinating look at
the American Revolution. He relies on the
well-documented biographical trails of six
very different people: George Washington,
Indian leader Cornplanter, British Secretary
of State for the Colonies George Germain,
runaway child bride turned professional mistress
Margaret Coghlan, freed slave Venture
Daytime Book Club Reading List:
Thursday, September 27: Days Without
End by Sebastian Barry
Thursday, October 25: Homegoing by
Yaa Gyasi
Thursday, November 15: Educated: A
Memoir by Tara Westover
Evening Book Club Reading List:
October: TBD: see eNews for October
book and date
Smith, and Albany shoemaker turned framer
of the US Constitution Abraham Yates.
Building on the theme of personal freedom
unleashed by the Enlightenment, Shorto
masterfully tells the six tales against the
backdrop of colonies fighting for both political
and individual freedom and struggling to
construct a new nation once that freedom is
won. A colossal, timely, and endlessly fascinating
book.
Evening Book Club
September Selection:
The Italian Teacher by Tom
Rachman
What makes an artist?
In The Italian Teacher, Tom
Rachman displays a nuanced
understanding of art and its
demons. Moreover, in Pinch
he achieves a portrait of vulnerability
and frustrated talent that—with
his signature humor and humanity—challenges
the very idea of greatness.
Wednesday, September 19
7:30 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
>> 16
SEPTEMBER 2018 15
Photo credit: GoodReads
Ongoing Activities (cont.)
Continued from page 15
Chat, Craft & Cake
Chat, Craft and Cake is a weekly
highlight for those who enjoy crafts
and camaraderie. Whether your craft is
knitting, quilting, needlepoint or simply
mending your clothes, or whether you are
a beginner or an expert, you are welcome to
join us. Fish that UFO (Unfinished Object)
out of the drawer and get going on it again.
CCandCer’s are always ready with a helping
hand, a lesson, or some advice. Each week,
a different Member brings a tried and true
or experimental cake. Babysitting is not
available and there are lots of sharp objects
about (pins, needles, scissors and wit), so
we cannot accommodate children. Contact
Suzanne Dundas at awcthehague.crafts@
gmail.com for more information
Every Tuesday
10 a.m. – Noon
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
Heart Pillow Project
Members work together to make heartshaped
pillows designed to help support
the arms of recent mastectomy patients.
Each pillow is made with TLC, wrapped,
and comes with a note signed by an AWC
volunteer. No sewing skills are needed, as
you can cut, stuff, or wrap the heart pillows.
We are proud to provide women and men
with something both practical and comforting,
and we know our work helps because
we often receive thank-you notes and emails
from the patients who have received a heart
pillow. For more information, please contact
Jan de Vries at awcthehague.heartpillow@
gmail.com.
Tuesday, September 4
Noon – 2 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
Visitors Welcome
Out to Lunch Bunch: September
For a change in venue, the Lunch Bunch will
be having lunch in Leiden this month. This
restaurant, close to the train station, forms
the gateway to the old town of Leiden. It is
named after Pieter Van der Werff, a 16thcentury
mayor of Leiden, who offered his
arm to the starving city. (Info about this
later!) The atmosphere in Stadscafe Van
der Werff is similar to what you find in the
city of Leiden: sparkling and cozy. Curious?
Come and have lunch!
Stadscafe Van der Werff
Steenstraat 2, Leiden
www.stadscafevanderwerff.nl
Thursday, September 27
12:15 p.m.
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Tennis League
Players needed! The AWC Tennis
Group plays doubles every Tuesday in
Warmond. Ladies move up and down
the courts according to a ladder tennis
system. The emphasis is on having fun!
The League is available for all levels >> 18
16 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 17
Ongoing Activities (cont.)
Continued from page 17
One-of-a-Kind Activities
by Dena Haggerty
except true beginners. Contact Molly
Boed at mollyboed@gmail.com for more
information.
Tuesdays starting September 4
(except specific holidays TBD)
1 –3 p.m.
Dekker Tennis Courts
Veerpolder 14, Warmond
€275 Members / €325 Nonmembers
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Thirsty Thursday
Join us for a casual evening at our first
Thirsty Thursday of the new Club year. For
just €15, Fratelli’s Restaurant is providing
two drinks + pizza, bruschetta, and ciabatta.
Relax with AWC friends and be sure to
bring anyone you know who might be interested
in joining the Club. It’s a fun and easy
night to get back into fall.
Thursday, September 20
6–9 p.m.
Tournooiveld 1, Den Haag (Near Lange
Voorhout)
€15 for two drinks and food
No RSVP needed
Walkie Talkies
Whether you count your steps or just want
to walk with friends, the Monday morning
Walkie Talkies is a fun, healthy and energetic
way to start the week. The group meets
in front of the Clubhouse before heading out
to walk to various destinations in the area,
usually racking up 10,000 steps along the
way. Sign up on GroupSpaces to receive
email updates or contact Emily van Eerten
18 GOING DUTCH
at vaneerten@gmail.com (or Greetje
Engelsman at greetje.engelsman@gmail.
com).
Mondays
9:30 a.m.
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Wassenaar Coffee & Conversation
If you live in or north
of Wassenaar, join
your neighbors for
coffee and conversation
once-a-month
without having to
drive to the clubhouse.
One Member will host a casual coffee at her
home at 9:30 on the first Thursday of every
month. Suzanne Dundas coordinates these
gatherings, so please contact her if you are
interested in attending or for more information.
Prospective Members are always welcome
too.
Thursday, September 6
9:30 a.m.
FREE
Members: eNews Distribution
A weekly electronic newsletter is sent to
all AWC Members. If you have not been
receiving your eNews, please contact
Melissa at
awcthehague.membership@gmail.com.
RSVP directly on AWC GroupSpaces.com. Direct any questions to
awcthehague.firstvp@gmail.com.
Payment must be made within 5 calendar days of reserving or your name will be moved to
a waitlist. Payment can be made in the Front Office by PIN or by bank transfer to the AWC
account NL42ABNA0431421757.
Walk the Route of the Golden
Coach (Gouden Koets)
Although the Golden Coach is under repair,
the route the royals will follow in the
Glass Coach on their way to the Binnenhof
on Prinsjesdag to open parliament is one
and the same. Join Greetje Engelsman
(AWC Member and Dutch ex-expat ) for a
royal walk from the Noordeinde Palace to the
Ridderzaal (Knights Hall). Learn more about
Prinsjesdag (budget day), Dutch royalty and
democracy, and the buildings and institutions
along the route—their history and current
use.
Sligro The Hague Forepark is the perfect fit for you as entrepreneur.
We inspire and support you with our products and services, that will
help you with your business. Our people are always there for you
with professional and tailored advice.
sligro.nl
Linge 2, The Hague
Monday, September 17
2 – 3:30 p.m.
Meet opposite the Noordeinde Palace,
Noordeinde 68, Den Haag
Maximum 15 / FREE
Sign up on GroupSpaces >> 20
Unique products
for entrepreneurs
1061246
SEPTEMBER 2018 19
One-of-a-Kind Activities (cont.)
Continued from page 19
Prinjesdag Parade & Buffet
Luncheon
An AWC tradition! View this special, festive
day from a unique vantage point reserved
specifically for AWC Members and
friends. Sign up now to view King Willem-
Alexander and Queen Maxima’s parade as
they arrive for the King to open Parliament.
The third floor of Garoeda Restaurant is
the perfect viewing opportunity for this traditional
Nederlands event! The King and
Queen ride from the palace at Noordeinde to
the Binnenhof and back, escorted by horsemen,
bands, and horse-drawn carriages. The
pomp and circumstance make this a must
see! Price includes Indonesian rijsttafel, a
glass of wine and tea or coffee.
Cancellation Policy
Members may reserve a spot for an AWC tour, activity or
event in advance. Payment is required within five business
days of the reservation or before the deadline date (whichever
is sooner) otherwise your name will be moved to a waitlist.
It is the responsibility of the Member to notify the Club at
awcthehague.finance@gmail.com to cancel a reservation
prior to the cancellation deadline. Please note that there will
be NO REFUNDS (no exceptions) after the cancellation deadline.
Members may find a substitute in lieu of cancellation
provided that arrangements are made with the tour, activity
or event organizer. Members shall be held responsible for
their guest reservations in accordance with this policy.
20 GOING DUTCH
Tuesday, September 18
Arrive no later than 11:00 a.m.
Garoeda Restaurant
Kneuterdijk 18A, Den Haag
€50 Members (€55 non-Members)
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Cancellation deadline: September 7
AWC Guest Policy
Guests are welcome
to participate in AWC
activities and tours on
a limited basis. As a
nonmember, a guest is
limited to attend two
functions per calendar
year and will be
charged an additional
nonmember fee. Only
Members are entitled to
use babysitting services.
Nederlands Dans Theater
Invitation
Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) has invited
the AWC to watch a morning lesson. NDT
was founded in 1959 and is known for its
avant-garde aesthetic, and nonconformist
and progressive productions. The company
will hold eight world premieres this season,
including numerous original works and several
revivals.
Paul Lightfoot
has served as
the artistic director
since
2011, and says
his choices for
the season are,
“About artistic
creation, not
just choreography.”
Prior to
the start of the
lesson, there will be an introduction about
the lesson. This is a unique opportunity for
our Members to watch the talented dancers
of NDT. There are limited spots for the
lesson, and only 15 guests will be able to
attend. AWC Members will be given first
priority, so please sign up ASAP.
Wednesday, September 19
Arrive no later than 10:30 a.m.
Schedeldoekshaven 60, Den Haag
Maximum 15 / FREE
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Photo credit: © Rahi Rezvani
Dutch Products Class
AWC Member Carol Slootweg will explain
Dutch cooking and cleaning products. As
a long-time Dutch resident and cooking
instructor, Carol is an expert in using local
products and converting American recipes.
Carol and Greetje Engelsman have coauthored
a book entitled Dutch Products,
which will be offered for sale for €10.
Join us and say goodbye to that confusion
we’ve all experienced in the kitchen (and
grocery store)! If you have questions,
contact Greetje Engelsman at awcthehague.
newcomers@gmail.com.
Tuesday, September 25
10 a.m. – Noon
AWC Clubhouse
No max / FREE
Welcome Back BBQ
Fall has arrived and with it comes a new Club
year! What better way to say “Welcome
Back” than with an American BBQ? Come
one, come all and join us for this great event
for Members and their families. We’ll be
grilling hamburgers, veggie burgers and hotdogs.
Side dishes, soft drinks, beer and wine
will be provided. We’ve got the food and
drinks covered. Just bring your appetite!
Saturday, September 29
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
€10 Members or Partners
(€15 Non-Members). Children under age
of 12 are half-price.
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Cancellation deadline: September 24
Delft Blue Tile Workshop
Our day will begin at PAAUW 1651 where
we will discover how the world-famous Delft
Blue porcelain is made. A professional guide
will show us around the pottery factory and
will explain each step in the production of
Delftware.
After the tour, we will begin the tile workshop
which will take place in a painter’s room. A
professional painter will guide us through
the process of painting our own Delft tile.
Unfortunately, we will not be taking a completed
tile home with us that day. The tiles
will be collected, so that they can be glazed
and fired. After seven days, Holly Savoie will
pick up all the completed tiles. You will be
notified by email when your finished piece is
ready to be picked up at the AWC Clubhouse.
After the workshop, we will have lunch at
de Brasserij (www.brasserig.nl). Feel free
to join us after lunch as we wander the town
center of Delft, or head back on your own after
the workshop or lunch. We will be traveling
via public transportation, so please bring
your OV Chipkaart and money for lunch.
Wednesday, September 26
Meet at Starbucks in Den Haag Central:
8:50 a.m.
3 Min/35 Max / €29.50 Members
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Cancellation deadline: September 19
SEPTEMBER 2018 21
Summer Beach Barbeque Benefit
by Dena Haggerty
Thanks to all the AWC Members, their
partners and friends who came out on
June 2 with their thinking caps on, the
Summer Beach Barbeque Benefit was a great
success. The Strandpaviljoen Sport was filled
to capacity with guests coming out to benefit
Perspektief, our selected charity. The evening
began with a cocktail while everyone
perused the silent auction items. Although
the items in the silent auction were limited
in number, the items were varied enough to
pique everyone’s interest. While some items
led to bidding wars, other items were cut out
of the competition by a Member immediately
purchasing the item to lock out the competition.
It was all in good fun for a great cause!
The evening really heated up when we
began the main event of the benefit—the
trivia quiz! Twelve teams participated in
four rounds of quiz questions varying from
“What is the most common metal on earth?”
to “In which Star Wars movie did Ewoks
first appear?” to “How many men walked
on the moon?”. The competition was fierce.
At the end of four rounds, two teams were
tied leading to a tie-break round. The tie was
only broken when one team misspelled the
word Scoville (of the Scoville scale). I’m
sure the losing team won’t ever forget how
to spell Scoville again!
The evening continued with the announcement
of the winner of the raffle. There
were over 100 raffle tickets sold leading
up to the benefit and over the course of the
evening. Perspektief graciously supplied a
bench, which had been handcrafted in their
woodworking workshop for the winner of
the raffle. There were many sighs of disappointment
in the tent when the winner was
announced.
With the ‘agenda’ of the evening completed,
it was time to party! The DJ played
a variety of 80s music to ensure everyone
could get their boogie on. The night ended
with a bang when fireworks lit up the sky
over the beach.
Proceeds from the tickets (25% of the
entry cost), the raffle tickets, and the silent
auction will be used to benefit our chosen
charity: Perspektief. Barbara Berkelaar, director
of Perspektief, explained the organization
and their goals with the help of a video.
She was also on hand during the evening
to discuss the organization with attendees.
Perspektief is dedicated to supporting
and counseling victims of domestic abuse,
the homeless and other at-risk individuals.
In different areas of life, Perspektief helps
these individuals restore their lives. This
can be by providing housing, helping with
finances, providing network connections, or
teaching a trade. Our donation is earmarked
for women’s causes within the organization.
This can be to help women learn a trade
or to support domestic abuse victims, for
example.
>> 24
22 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 23
Summer Beach BBQ Benefit (cont.)
Continued from page 23
At the September Kick-Off, the donation
amount will be announced, and
Perspektief will be provided with a check
in that amount. Make sure you come along
to Kick-Off to hear how much money was
raised and for a chance to meet the women
who ensure the good work of Perspektief
continues.
None of the above would have been possible
without the support of the Members
of the AWC. Specifically, the Committee
Members worked tirelessly to ensure the
night was a success. Thanks to Audrey
Goodman, Teresa Insalaco, Rebecca Niles-
Pourier, Anna-Lena Thuren-Vogel, and
Suzanne MacNeil. Only through their hard
work was this evening possible.
24 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 25
Summer Beach BBQ Benefit (cont.)
With Deep Gratitude to Our Sponsors
26 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 27
AWC and the Arts
by Jane Choy, AWC Member and Mauritshuis Docent
“New Look Campaign” (Phase One)!
by Jan Essad and Sunita Menon
Guided Tour of Dutch Masters
from British Country Houses
This autumn there will be a special exhibit
at the Mauritshuis of Dutch 17th century
paintings that are found in National Trust
Houses. English country houses have traditionally
been the home to Dutch Golden
Age Masters. Most of these paintings were
acquired in the 18th century, the heyday
of the English country house. Although
RSVP for all Arts Activities directly on
AWC GroupSpaces.com
Direct any questions to jechoy@me.com
over time many owners were forced to
sell works to raise funds, there are still
many extraordinary paintings to be found
in country houses today. For this exhibition,
the Mauritshuis has selected the most
beautiful Dutch paintings from houses
managed by the National Trust. This will
be a first for the Mauritshuis: Never before
has such a selection been exhibited in the
Netherlands. For further information, contact
Jane Choy.
Thursday, November 1
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Mauritshuis
Museum Plein 29, The Hague
€10 Members / €15 Non-members
Museum entrance fee of €15.50 is not
included (entrance is free with Museum
Card)
Maximum 15 / Minimum 12
Cancellation deadline: October 22 (It
is possible to sign up after this date, if
there is space)
Sign up on GroupSpaces
Did you know that any woman who speaks English is eligible to join the
American Women’s Club?
What a great summer it has been here
in The Hague…sunshine, seaside
activities, travel, and vacation fun!
Ahh, but somewhere in between all that fun
our “Home Away from Home” received a
little bit of a facelift.
Since our installation, we were excitedly
planning our way to refurbishing the clubhouse.
But first things first: clean-out days!
Once we had the plan and the dates (July 10
and 11), it was truly amazing all the help we
received to make it all happen. The old cliché
“many hands make light work” is definitely
true as we found out when Dena Haggerty,
Cynthia Chung, Heather DeWitt, Krishna
Thakrar, Debbie van Hees, Deana Kreitler,
Melissa Rider, Avanti Menon, Andre Langa,
Una Mulvihill, Chelsea Wald, Anneke van
Hees, Carol Slootweg, Amber Broughton,
Teresa Insalaco, Natalie Essad, Sheyla
Karmen, and Fiona Passantino all showed
up for the first phase of our “new look” campaign.
These industrious workers were a
whirlwind: sorting books and toys, clearing
and wiping cabinets, shredding, transforming
the front office desk, and cleaning the kitchen
from top to bottom. Even the basement
got a much-needed thorough cleaning and
reorganizing. The list of tasks they accomplished
goes on and on. And where would
we have been without Georgia Regnault’s
super shredder. Thank you, Georgia. What
an enormous difference two afternoons of
cleaning can make! And of course, there was
food, drink, laughter, fun and great company.
So, in the end, it truly wasn’t like work at all.
We are so grateful to all of you who came
out and rolled up your sleeves to make this
little facelift a success. Very special thanks to
Dena Haggerty for all her work spearheading
the consolidation of our library, to Fiona
Passantino for the donation of a beautiful
Chinese credenza, to Sarah Dunn for the donation
of two lovely chairs at the front desk,
and Suzanne and Paul Dundas for taking the
time and effort to dispose of all the unwanted,
obsolete items. Together all these things created
a wonderful transformation of our space.
We hope you’ll find your Clubhouse
even more open and inviting! We have many
more plans in the works and are looking forward
to a great Club year as your Clubhouse
Administrators. We always welcome innovative
ideas and suggestions, so please don’t
hesitate to be in touch. We look forward to
hearing from you!
Invite your English-speaking friends, wherever they’re from, to join us today!
28 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 29
September 2018
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Upcoming:
Dutch Masters Mauritshuis Tour - November 1
Holiday Bazaar - November 10-11
Thanksgiving in Leiden - November 22
Jewelry/Pearl Party - December 6
1
2 3
4
5 6
7 8
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m
Chat, Crafts & Cake 10 a.m.
Heart Pillow Workshop
Noon
Wassenaar Coffee and
Conversation 9 a.m.
AWC Baord Meeting Noon
AWC Tennis 1 p.m.
9 10
11
12
13 14 15
16 17
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m
18
Chat, Crafts & Cake 10 a.m.
AWC Tennis 1 p.m.
A Ceremony of
Remembrance and Hope
5:30 p.m.
19
Walkie Talkies Special
Outing 9:30 a.m
Buddy Check 12
20
Fall Kick-Off - Daytime
Session 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Fall Kick-Off - Evening
Session 5 -8 p.m.
21 22
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m
Route of the Golden Coach
Walk 2 p.m.
Chat, Crafts & Cake 10 a.m.
Prinsjesdag Parade and
Luncheon 11 a.m.
AWC Tennis 1 p.m.
NDT Dance Rehearsal
10:30 a.m.
Evening Book Club
7:30 p.m.
Thirsty Thursday 6 p.m.
23 24
25
26
27
28 29
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m
Dutch Products Class
10 a.m.
Delft Blue Tile Workshop
8:50 a.m.
Daytime Book Club 10 a.m.
Chat, Crafts & Cake 10 a.m.
AWC Tennis 1 p.m.
Welcome Back BBQ
6 p.m.
Out to Lunch Bunch
12:15 p.m.
30
30 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 31
Kid’s Club
by Lindsay Turnau
Calling All Mamas!
The AWC Kid’s Club is gearing up for another
great year! We’re looking forward to
sponsoring great events for all the international
kids in the Den Haag area and need
your help.
Are you a mama to international kids in
the area and want to stay up to date on our
events? Let us know! Maybe your kids are
grown but you’re still interested in helping
with our monthly social events or holiday
events?
Please contact our new chair, Lindsey
Turnau, at awcthehague.kidsclub@gmail.
com. We’re looking forward to a fantastic,
fun filled year for the kids and their families.
Walkie Talkies Special Outing
by Melissa Rider
With the start of the new Club year,
the Walkie Talkies will host another
long-distance walk on Wednesday,
September 12. While this walk will be longer
in mileage than our weekly Monday walks,
all levels of walkers are welcome as the distance
can be shortened to your preference.
The group will walk through the various parks
connecting Den Haag to Wassenaar, totaling
roughly 14 km. There will be several
opportunities along the route to catch a bus
back to Den Haag Centraal, if you prefer a
shorter day hike. Further details regarding
the walk will be posted on our Facebook page
and on eNews.
Please email me to confirm your participation
in the walk or if you have questions:
awcthehague.membership@gmail.com.
Wednesday, September 12
Meet at Den Haag Centraal by the
Starbucks at 9:30 a.m.
Bus fare and lunch at your own expense
32 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 33
34 GOING DUTCH
Walkie
Talkies
A Ceremony of Remembrance and Hope
by Roberta Enschede
An elementary school child from P.S. 22 in Staten Island, New York wrote, “What the
terrorists wanted is for us to be scared, to go in our house and never come out. But
we didn’t do that. We didn’t hide in the shadows. We went in the sun.”
When we speak of 9/11 today, we remember the 2,983 people who died that blue and
golden morning, when the north and south towers of the World Trade Center crumbled, when
the Pentagon was seared and sliced, when a meadow in Shanksville, Pennsylvania burned! We
remember ordinary people, the firefighters, police, members of the military, first responders.
We remember minute details of that day and all the days that followed.
I was at the American School marking papers in the teacher’s lounge. The kids had gone
home. One of the teachers who always stayed late walked in and said, “They just bombed
the World Trade Center. Go down and see!” I couldn’t believe it so I went to the library to
check out her story. A few teachers and students were gathered in front of a small TV. A
man I didn’t know sat and stared. His legs and arms were crossed around each other like he
was isolating himself. He never said a word. Finally, he uttered, “It’s gonna fall.” Seconds
later, I watched the south tower crumble. The man was a substitute teacher and was a retired
engineer. He understood what I could not conceive, what millions could not conceive. At
9:59 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the south tower fell. At 10:28 a.m., the north tower fell.
It’s been 17 years since that day. Still,
when we say September 11th, each of us
remembers where we were and what we
were doing. We remember all the times we
talked about what happened and why. We
remember conversations with friends who lost
friends and family. We remember the stories
Tuesday, September 11
AWC Clubhouse, 5:30 p.m.
Everyone is welcome
of firefighters and policemen, and first responders, and ordinary people who did whatever
they could to save lives and those who lost their own life.
“They didn’t hide in the shadows. They went in the sun.” David Halberstam, the distinguished
American journalist wrote: “There are dates which seem to separate yesterday from
today and then from now. September 11th, 2001 is such a date.”
Etched into the stone of the 9/11 Memorial is a challenge! “Dedicated to those who fell
and those who carry on. May we never forget.”
“It was the worst day we’ve ever seen,
but it brought out the best in all of us.”
John Kerry, former Secretary of State
And so, each year, we hold A Ceremony of Remembrance and Hope. We remember former
AWC Member Rebecca Fry’s friend Barbara Olsen who died on American Airlines flight 77
when it crashed into the Pentagon. We remember firefighter Steve Blackwell, the best friend
of a former security attaché at the American Embassy, who ran into the Trade Center twice.
He didn’t come out the second time. We remember the best friend of Cameron Mitchell’s
dad, a firefighter, who Cameron is named after. We remember the men and women of Squad
One in Brooklyn. We adopted their firehouse and collected money for their Widows and
Children’s Fund. We remember names.
Zelda, an Israeli poet wrote, “Each man has a name given him by his father and mother.
Each man has a name, given him by the sea and given him by his death.” At the first ceremony
of Remembrance and Hope, we repeated that couplet in English, French, Spanish, Dutch,
Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, all the languages the students at
the American School spoke. 9/11 was not and is not an American tragedy. It was and will
always be a challenge for our common humanity.
This year, Pete Hoekstra, the American Ambassador to the Netherlands, will join us
at the ceremony. Ambassador Hoekstra was a member of Congress at the time. Jim Hines
from the NYPD will also join us. Officer Hines was at 9/11 from that day until January. U.S.
Marine Sgt. Shane Cell will share his personal thoughts. “That’s one of the reasons I joined
the Marines,” he said.
For more information please contact Roberta Enschede - OAR coordinator at 0654253650
oarinnl@yahoo.com, a.beeuwkes@xs4all.nl, mcgrewta@state.gov, jessierodell@gmail. com,
or meow00@hetnet.nl
36 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 37
FAWCO Corner
by Julie Mowat, AWC The Hague FAWCO Representative
Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, a United Nations NGO with
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council
www.fawco.org.
FAWCO Development Grant:
Creating Better Futures
Development Grant
AWC The Hague has decided to donate
$4,500 to support FAWCO’s “Creating
Better Futures” Development Grant. The
Kitchen for Rural Kenyan Catering Program
in Chepkanga, Kenya is the current recipient
of our AWC The Hague Development
Grant. The nominating club, AAWE Paris,
has been affiliated with the organization for
ten years.
The grant will provide funding to Rafiki
Ya Maisha, an NGO that raises money for
schools in Kenya. The funds will construct
At FAWCO’s General Meeting in
India in April 2017, Hope Beyond
Displacement, a program created and
run by the Collateral Report Project (CRP) in
Amman, Jordan was announced as the next
Target Project. The Target Project is a project
voted on by all the FAWCO Member Clubs.
Once selected, the FAWCO Rep brings information
about the issue to the club members
and we help raise money for the organization
for two years. The excitement was everywhere,
and this project was clearly very supported.
The Target Chair, Tricia Saur, asked to meet
with me and we began to discuss a possible
site visit. This would be a first for FAWCO.
Therese Hartwell, who is on the board of CRP
and is FAUSA President, was also very enthusiastic
and the work began. We wanted
to make sure that everyone who belongs to a
a teaching kitchen at the Sergoek Vocational
Training Center in Chepkanga. The Center
provides education and training to 126 rural
youths. The catering program is the flagship
program of the center and currently has 18
students. Programs offered at the Center
help youths, particularly girls, find employment
outside the home and break the cycle of
poverty. Construction of the Center started
in 2007 and buildings have grown as funds
become available. There are currently nine
classrooms, a small administrative building,
a makeshift corrugated iron kitchen and pit
latrines. A proper kitchen will help improve
professionalism as well as the self-esteem of
the students.
FAWCO: Hope Beyond Displacement
by Julie Mowat, AWC The Hague FAWCO Representative
38 GOING DUTCH
FAWCO Member Club would have a chance
to sign up for a potential spot on the trip. We
also wanted to make sure that club members
from as many FAWCO regions as possible
would be able to attend. Our final challenge
was to keep our numbers small enough so CRP
could accommodate our visit. A year later, 22
of us, representing 6 regions and FAUSA were
off to Jordan!
We traveled together for five days in April
2018 visiting sites of historical and cultural
importance. (Please see my Jordan article
on page 40 about the sightseeing.) We got to
know one another while learning about the
country’s history, culture, and current conditions.
We arrived at CRP comfortable with
each other and with a good understanding
of the past and recent history of the region,
including the social and economic implications
Jordan copes with, as a result of hosting
such a large number of displaced persons
in relation to their population size. With this
background, we were ready to meet the CRP
community!
CRP is based in a residential area close to the
center of Amman. It is a grassroots effort that
brings much-needed assistance to refugees
and other victims of war and conflict—those
commonly referred to as “collateral damage.”
CRP mainly serves Iraqi and Syrian refugees,
but they have now added services for
the most recent victims of war and conflict
(Yemen, Sudan and Somalia). The programs
that FAWCO supports through Hope Beyond
Displacement include Super Girls, Gender-
Based Violence, Women Empowerment,
Vocational Training, and Hope Workshop
(which makes crafts to sell).
During the three-day visit, we spoke to the
staff (mostly refugees themselves) about
their experiences and challenges; met with
the yoga kids; saw Super Girls in action;
admired the efforts of the Hope Workshop
women; heard the teen group talk about their
challenges; and listened to the men in the
Gender-Based Violence groups. We had interpreters
and learned so much. We had cooking
lessons and were “clients” for the women
who had just finished beauty training. We
made connections with people and I know I
am forever changed. Every one of us came
away humbled and inspired.
After this site visit, I can say with complete
confidence that the money our club raises for
CRP’s Hope Beyond Displacement has been,
and will be, very well spent. The programs
are very helpful for these vulnerable people
and we are helping to make a difference in
so many people’s lives. We are making a big
impact!
If you have any questions about this organizations,
please do not hesitate to ask myself
or Celeste Brown. CRP’s website is www.
collateralrepairproject.org/.
For more detailed info about our trip including agenda, participant’s thoughts, etc., please visit
www.fawco.org/global-issues/target-program/education/blog-let-s-get-schooled/3 920-site-visitpart-one
SEPTEMBER 2018 39
My Journey to Jordan
by Julie Mowat
In April 2018, a group of FAWCO women
went to visit Hope Beyond Displacement,
the program run by the Collateral Repair
Project in Amman, Jordan that is FAWCO’s
current Target Project. One of the trip’s goals
was to learn about the region to better understand
the challenges facing the refugees. So
we were tourists for a few days before visiting
the program.
One of the best trips of my life! Jordan is an
amazing country that I highly recommend
visiting. While its history is thousands of
years old, as a country it is only 100 years
old. A little over 50 years ago, 85% of the
people were nomads. Today it’s 1%. The
people were so incredibly kind, I felt very
safe, the food was delicious, and the history
was nothing short of amazing. Our tour
guide described Jordan as an open-air museum
and that was a perfect description. There
are too many experiences to write about,
so I will only mention a few. But please do
not hesitate to reach out if you want to learn
40 GOING DUTCH
more about Jordan. I would be happy to
share travel agent info, agenda, recommendations,
etc.
Our group was in Jordan during their high
season in April. Overall, however, tourism
is down. Every day, one of the local residents
thanked me for being there. Because
they do not have large amounts of natural
resources, they are dependent on tourism.
Speaking of a lack of resources, they have
a huge water shortage and only get water in
their homes one to two times a week. Most
homes have a rain collector on their roof
and it doesn’t rain often!
Anjara
Our first stop was Anjara, a quiet and unassuming
town. Tradition holds that Jesus,
Mary and some of his disciples stayed overnight
in a cave in the Ajloun Mountains
nearby during one of Jesus’ trips from
Jerusalem to Galilee. We visited Our Lady
of the Mount. In 2010, the statue of Mary
was found with tears of human blood.
Thousands go on a pilgrimage there though
we were the only ones there during our visit.
Jerash
Jerash was the perfect example of what Zaid,
our tour guide, meant when he described
Jordan as an open-air museum. The excavations
were started 75 years ago but due to
lack of money and resources, there is still so
much more to find. While walking around,
I could see 2,000-year-old pottery sticking
out of the walls. Astonishing! They recently
unearthed two human skulls that date back
to the Neolithicperiod, 7500 – 5500 B.C.
The visible ruins in Jerash include Hadrian’s
Arch, a hippodrome, temples, aqueducts, a
theater, and much more.
Dead Sea
Another wonderful stop on the journey was
the Dead Sea. It is the Earth’s lowest point
on land and is a salt lake. It was the first
health resort for King Herod and believed
to be the place of refuge to King David.
Floating in the Dead Sea watching the sunset
was a highlight!
Mosaics
Madabais known for its Byzantine-era
mosaics. The mosaic map on the floor of
St. George’s Church was beautiful. I love
how it explains so much history. Our travel
agent, Nimisha, knew how much our group
would appreciate not only seeing the mosaics,
but also the making of mosaics. She
arranged for us to visit a place where differently-abled
people were employed to make
exquisite mosaics. I fell in love with a piece
that is now home with me! >> 40
SEPTEMBER 2018 41
Jordan (cont.)
Continued from page 39
Petra
There has been so much written about Petra
(Rose City) so I will keep it brief. It is the
most popular place to visit in Jordan and I
highly recommend it. It is listed as one of the
new Seven Wonders of the World. Arab people
settled here more than 2,000 years ago
as it was a safe location among the rocks. It
became an important hub for the silk, spice,
and other trade routes. Petra
was hidden
from Western eyes for hundreds of years until
the 1800s, and became quite known when
it was featured in Indiana Jones III.
There is so much amazing history to see,
starting with the gorgeous walk in the gorge.
We were fortunate to be able to make the
walk twice, once during the day and once
at night lit by candles and the stars. Celeste
Brown and I enjoyed ourselves in the Cave
Bar, the oldest bar in the world as well as at
a cooking class of traditional foods at Petra
Kitchen.
Wadi Rum
The final day was spent in Wadi Rum. I was
especially excited to stay where they filmed
The Martian (one of my favorite books).
Wadi Rum is gorgeous. Fun experience taking
the “jeeps” (pickup trucks with benches
in back) around looking at the gorgeous nature,
including the sunset. I was amazed at
the 4,000-year-old map-carved rock, that
helped travelers know where to go. Out in
the open for anyone to damage. Again, another
reminder of how Jordan is an open-air
museum.
Traveling in Jordan with 22 FAWCO women
was an amazing experience. I learned so
much about myself, others, and our world. I
treasure this experience and the friendships
made! Highly recommend Jordan!!
Fran Mainella,
Director National Parks Service (ret.)
by Emily van Eerten
I
really enjoyed the opportunity to hear Fran Mainella, the
former (and first female) director of the National Park
Service (NPS) speak at the Clubhouse this summer and was
very happy to be able to have my daughter Silke tag along. I
was super impressed with her can-do pragmatism. Hearing
about her challenges and successes during her career, and
particularly during her stint as NPS director from 2001—2006,
I was struck by how effective a person can be when they are
issue-driven and not handicapped by partisanship.
It was great to hear how she accomplished some of her goals throughout her career and
it was also interesting to hear how her mandate shifted and evolved having assumed the NPS
director’s role in the summer before 9/11. It was a reminder that EVERYTHING changed in
the aftermath of 9/11, and the National Park
Service was no exception.
Fran is clearly a natural at understanding
the need for public and private interests to
work together to make good things happen.
She had great tips for working in a political
environment and she was genuinely inspiring
as a female role model, encouraging young
women to adopt the three Cs—courage, connections,
and communication—as a way to
keep moving forward.
42 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 43
Chat, Craft and Cake: The Culture
(Part One of a Two-Part Series)
by Suzanne Dundas
We Call it CCandC For Short
Chat, Craft and Cake meets every Tuesday
at 10 a.m. in the wonderful natural light of
our Clubhouse’s backroom. We appreciate
just how great this overhead light is because
we began meeting eight years ago in
our former, darker, Clubhouse on Nieuwe
Duinweg. We’ve enjoyed as many as 15
people around our big table but, depending
on the time of year, we number usually between
5 and 7. Being from many countries
besides the U.S., we are proud poster girls
for today’s multinational AWC.
Conversation, Craft, and Cake
The gentle clacking of knitting needles and
the scratchy scrape of a tapestry needle being
pulled through rough canvas are not the
sounds you hear when you enter our room.
In fact, it’s a good bet you’ll hear us before
you enter the room. We’re talking and we
like it. We are not silently immersed in
our handwork because, as Members of the
American Women’s Club of The Hague,
our default settings are “Interesting” and
“Interested.”
44 GOING DUTCH
We carry on a
long American
tradition of sewing
circles and
quilting bees but
with a decidedly
modern take. Our
conversations careen
from families
to travel to sports to popular culture.
Sometimes sex. Occasionally gossip. Only
under extraordinary circumstances does the
gossip involve sex.
And, in a changing world, it is a given we
discuss controversial topics. But we keep
it civil. We listen respectfully, even if we’ll
never agree on such important issues as
whether the Outlander tv series lives up to
the promise of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander
novels.
Chat, Craft, and Cooking
Originally, our group was called Chat and
Craft. Janet van der Laan, a charter
CCandC member and a former home economist
with the Netherland’s Libelle and the
U.K.’s Good Housekeeping, (she knows
Delia Smith!) suggested the group would
enjoy trying out cake recipes on each other.
And we do. We take turns baking (because
having us all bake every week would be…
let’s call it…”excessive”). We have had
some colossal successes and colossal failures.
My Bill Gerritz’s Serbian Dream Cake
was as dry as adobe.
Some of our bakers treat us to old favorites
and some experiment on us, sometimes ambitiously.
In July, Loren Mealey treated
us to the wedding cake of the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan):
Lemon and Elderflower Cake with a Swiss
Merinque Buttercream icing. Some love to
decorate their creations with sugar flowers.
Others go for bounty and not décor. And,
sometimes, our “mistress of the cake” decides
a quick stop at the French bakery suits
her schedule better this week.
So far, we’ve managed to choke everything
down. The AWC’s delicious coffee
is a great accompaniment but also a multipurpose
fix. A dousing in coffee transforms
chocolate adobe into “Interesting texture,
Suzanne.”
Chat, Creativity, and Cake
What crafts do we do in CCandC? Whatever
we want—whatever we’re good at, whatever
we want to learn, and sometimes, whatever
FAWCO or the AWC asks of us. I’ve described
the crafts separately in an adjoining
article, Chat, Craft and Cake: The Crafts.
My third article in this series will be Chat,
Craft and Cake: How Historically Accurate
is Outlander?
Our skill levels may vary but our enthusiasm,
the soothing pleasure we take in simply
keeping our hands busy, and our joy
in creating something that wasn’t there
before never wane. Many of us started
young. Beverley Bennett began knitting at
age four. I began sewing at 12, in Middle
School Home Economics class. Sonja Kelle
knitted a lot as a child in Germany and took
it up again as an adult because a group of
friends met weekly to knit.
Chat, Cooperation and Cake
We share. “Would anyone like…” is often
heard before a pattern book, extra wool, unneeded
fabric, the wrong size crochet hook
is laid out on our table. “Take what you
need.”
We ask. “Does anyone have any fabric in
soft pinks they don’t want?” Anja Knoop
was working on a quilt for a new granddaughter
and simply could not find what
she needed. We had more than enough soft
pinks in our fabric stashes.
Knowledge is freely shared too. “How do
I …?” leads to brainstorming over the solution
to a technical quilting problem. “Do
you think I should…” and a sweater the
knitter thought too plain takes on kicky
pom-poms or a lacy hem. “Can you teach
me to…?” We teach each other informally
but we have also arranged classes for all of
the AWC.
One such course was Back Basted Applique,
which Beverley Bennett taught us as a
trial run for a course she would later teach
at the traditional fabric store Den Haan en
Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. We came
away not only with a new skill, but a cute
needle holder with various appliqué needles
and a detailed instruction booklet. Beverley
came away with an understanding of how to
deal with an obtuse student or two.
Agatha Zwaan taught a nine-week Sampler
Quilt course. In a sampler quilt, each block
is a different pattern or uses a different technique.
Paula Traynor, who had never quilted,
discovered she had a flair for color, grew
to love quilting, and ended the course with a
quilt of vivid batik fabrics.
Paula has since repatriated to the U.S. and
Agatha lives in Oman, but both come back
to CCandC when they are in town. In fact,
we often welcome returning visitors to
CCandC. It always feels like they never left.
“Pat Raynolds, it is so good to see you!”
Chat, Craft, and (ex)Cursion
Some things just must be seen and occasionally
we go to see them. For instance, we
piled into a train to see the Open European
Quilt Championship and EXPO in
Veldhoven.. We’ve also driven to see something
interesting, most recently American
quilts made from feed sacks at the Textile
Research Center in Leiden.
Chat, Community, and Cake
We are a community within the AWC but
we were once individuals who decided to
check out Chat, Craft and Cake and bravely
ventured into the Clubhouse one Tuesday,
maybe toting a UFO. That’s “Unfinished
Object,” crafters slang for that project you
never got around to finishing. Crafters
slang. We’re just that cool. So, come see us.
Pull up a chair. Have a cup of coffee and a
slice of whatever. Pull out that project you
started before your child was born and begin
anew. Join us.
SEPTEMBER 2018 45
Credit: Algemeen Nederalnds Persbureau © ANP
The Dutch Daily
by Eileen Harloff
Welcome back to the Netherlands,
The Hague, and/or the American
Women’s Club if you’ve been away,
or back to the autumn-winter schedule if
you’ve braved the summer here (which you
might have thought was going to be cool and
rainy, but which surprised us all by being
sunny and just plain hot). It’s time to meet
up with old friends, welcome newcomers and
“get back to business” in this rapidly changing
world. First, a follow-up on three stories that
took our attention prior to the break, and then
on to the present and the future.
Gone, but Not Forgotten
The first follow-up story is about six-year
old Tijn Kolsteren who was mentioned in
the September 2017 issue of Going Dutch.
He was suffering from an incurable brain
cancer and wanted to raise funds for an organization
that grants wishes of sick children.
His idea was to paint people’s fingernails
for a small fee. The idea caught on
and in December 2016, all over the country
nails were being painted on young and old,
women and men, including the Dutch Prime
Minister. The end result of this initiative was
an overwhelming 2.5 million euros, and its
initiator was himself a recipient and was given
a trip to Disneyland Paris. His sunny personality,
wish to help others, and acceptance
of his illness made him a young hero, and
he was honored by having a planetoid which
circles the sun being being named after him.
He then became one of a very exclusive
group of Dutch recipients, such as the diary
writer Anne Frank and the artist Vincent van
46 GOING DUTCH
Gogh, to receive this honor. And now, a year
after Tijn’s death a monument to him has
been unveiled at the Netherlands Red Cross
Headquarters on the Anne van Saksenlaan
in The Hague: a wall of nail polishes. Due
to the large amount of money that he helped
raise, by the end of this year a new machine
for the treatment of children’s brain cancer
will be installed at the Princess Maxima
Centrum in Utrecht, and on the wall at the
Red Cross Headquarters there are three long
shelves filled with multi-colored nail polish
bottles, a simple but touching reminder of a
young hero.
American Street Musician
The next follow-up story is of a person on
the upper side of the age ladder. Chuck
Deely was a seemingly permanent fixture
on the Grote Marktstraat in The Hague city
center. He sat outside the HEMA store, playing
his guitar and singing in a somewhat
gruff voice, his dog and a small cardboard
box for donations always at his feet. People
would stop to have a chat about his music
or the world in general, and he came to be
considered as part of the local crowd. After
he died last winter, his friends and casual
acquaintances took up a collection to pay
for his funeral and to set up a competition to
choose a painting to be created on the wall
of a nearby tram tunnel with high-visibility.
And now a book about his life has been
written by author Ineke Bosman. It is based
on weekly talks she had with him when he
came to lunch with her and her American
husband. Chuck agreed to the idea saying
that he knew everyone, but no one knew
Credit: Rode Kruis (Red Cross)
Credit: Ineke Bosman
him—in fact, it was only later that it was
learned that he was of American Indian origin.
Ineke and her husband were in Africa
when Chuck died, so she was not able to
continue her talks with him. She wanted to
honor him by publishing what she knew,
which she has called Chuck Was In The
Hague, with the proceeds from the sale of
the book to be given to Operation Clear
Mind Ghana, a Ghanese organization that
gives help and support to people suffering
from alcohol addiction.
Mega Crane goes East
Our last follow-up story concerns the crane
whose designers and producers have called
“the crane that conquers the world “. Its first
overseas operation is in Malaysia, where
it will be in operation in two months’ time
unloading ship cargoes. Although it has a
volume of only 162 cubic meters, it can nevertheless
handle a 60-ton load. This is equivalent
to the weight of 85 Volkswagen Ups
which, when put in a row, would measure
almost 300 meters. Back in the Netherlands,
the designers are continuing to make ever
smaller cranes to move ever heavier loads.
Note--for those like me, who know little
about automobiles, the Volkswagen Up! is a
small family city car.
Here a Robot, There a Robot
And now, into the present and the future.
Old MacDonald certainly could have used
robots on his farm, but unfortunately he was
too early to profit from our new BFF’s (best
friends). A new BFF for the City of Delft
will be Urby, a rubbish/refuse robot who is
now in the testing phase at Delft Technical
University, being worked on by 23 students
from various colleges and schools in the
area. He/it has an enormous task ahead,
namely to encourage us, the people, to put
our trash into his open mouth instead of
dropping it on the street or in the bushes.
Urby is not expected to take over the city’s
street cleaning task but to help with it, and
particularly in times of large gatherings such
as festivals or “Shopping Sundays”. When
trash is thrown into its thirsty mouth the
thrower will be thanked with a large wink
of Urby’s eye. The inspiration for Urby’s
eye winking has come from Holle Bolle
Gijs, a paper gobbling trash can that speaks
to you at the theme park Efteling in North
Brabant, and Wall.E, the well-known trash
collector from the Pixar Animation Studios
in the U.S.
Another robot, developed by KLM, is in
its first testing stage this summer at JFK in
NYC and SFO in San Francisco. It’s called
the Care-E Trolley. This “help for travelers”
will be a robot of many tasks: helping the
traveler to find his/her gate, carrying suitcases,
making sure the traveler is on time,
announcing gate changes, etc. What a delight
these robots will be—it’s too bad that
they will not also be able to quickly steer the
traveler through check-in and luggage control;
but on the other hand, they will never
go on strike.
SEPTEMBER 2018 47
Credit: Omroep West
Normandy – A Road Trip
by Deana Kreitler
Being new expats with an interest in
the rich history and culture of the
European countries, my husband and
I took a three-day road trip to the Normandy
region of France. We found the road trip
through southern Netherlands and Belgium
not particularly scenic, and traffic can be a bit
of a bear, but luckily things got much more
interesting as we approached Normandy.
We spent a couple of days soaking up the
considerable history of beaches, battlefields,
bunkers, and museums, and paying respect
to the heroic efforts of those who sacrificed
greatly during World War II. What I found
fascinating were the personal stories from
and about real people who were there. It felt
so different than the textbook education I
received back in the United States. In Europe,
all this history includes an effort to provide an
understanding for the difficult decisions real
people had to make in such terribly difficult
times. Very moving.
We spent one night in the old fishing village
of Port-en-Bessin. We had a long lovely
dinner overlooking the harbor and then stayed
out late to celebrate Bastille Day with the locals
which included a wonderful celebratory
firework display over the harbor.
As interesting as the rest of the trip was,
our highlight was visiting Mont Saint-Michel.
We spent an amazing night on the island
where we had the unique opportunity to stay
in a modest three-star hotel, La Mère Poulard.
In spite of the lack of air conditioning and four
flights of stairs, it quickly became the favorite
of the trip. The ability to stay overnight gave
us the chance to experience the island after the
day traffic left for the day. It was incredible
to be able to explore the ramparts and views
without crowds and to watch the awesome
tide while we ate dinner.
Between low and high tides, the water
tables can vary by 64 feet. It literally transitions
from an uncovered bay area to one
that is almost completely covered by water.
Although we didn’t do it ourselves, many
people wandered around to explore the bay
during low tide. I am not sure I would have
felt safe enough to “follow in their footsteps”
as the tides were coming in, but our
evening entertainment included watching a
brave group stand right on the edge of the
incoming tide and then journey back to the
safety of the island, staying just in front
of the water. Our explorations, watching
the tide, and listening to the final cheers as
France overtook Croatia to win the World
Cup made for a very interesting and memorable
evening.
The next morning, we enjoyed a nice
breakfast at the hotel before trekking back
up the numerous steps towards the Abbey
for an early morning tour. The audio guide
provided a good overview of the long history
of this monument that exhibits an incredible
diversity of architectural styles since its construction
began in the 10th century continuing
up to 19th century restorations.
Between the tidal activity and the history
and architecture of the Abbey, we definitely
got to see first-hand why the bay around Mont
Saint-Michel has the distinction of being categorized
as one of the world’s most beautiful
bays. Both the bay and Mont Saint-Michel are
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This
weekend road trip was an experience that I
would highly recommend!
48 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 49
Fourth of July
Summer
Activities
Out to Lunch Bunch
Clubhouse Cleanup
Clubhouse Cleanup
>> 50
Van Kleef Tour
Walkie Talkies
50 GOING DUTCH
Thirsty Thursday
Van Kleef Tour
SEPTEMBER 2018 51
Message from the President (cont.)
Continued from page 8
You’ll see the early fruits of change when
you drop by the Clubhouse for Kick-Off on
Thursday, September 13. Jan Essad, our
Clubhouse Administrator, and Sunita Menon
who co-chairs with Jan, have spent the summer
cleaning and redecorating the Clubhouse.
The transformation is noticeable as soon as
you walk into the building where you’ll see
the new décor, a beautiful credenza donated
by Fiona Passatino, two new chairs for the
office donated by Sarah Dunn, and fewer
bookshelves, giving the Clubhouse more open
space. Jan and Sunita are on their way to
creating a more gezellig Clubhouse.
In addition to our social activities, philanthropy
is key. Our annual Holiday Bazaar
is the only fundraiser that directly helps the
AWC continue our work within the community.
The Holiday Bazaar returns in November
with Jaimie Keppel-Molenaar at the helm.
The big news for this year’s event is it is
moving to the Hilton Hotel. The new location
offers a much larger space for our vendors
and guests as they peruse all the items
that are perfect for your gift giving this year.
Jaimie is just one of many volunteers who
have stepped up this Club year and we could
52 GOING DUTCH
not continue without their help. My hope is
that you find a group or committee that you
want to become more involved with and will
have time to spare to volunteer.
And, speaking of volunteers, many
thanks to Lindsey Turnau who is reviving
the Kids’ Club. She has lots of ideas and
plans for parties and activities for our littlest
Members! Lindsey has also agreed to serve
with Emily van Eerten and me on an ad hoc
committee to review and revise the Club’s
Policies and Procedures Manual, Bylaws,
and Constitution. Several other Members are
needed to help on the committee, so please
consider volunteering as this is a key project
for the Club going forward.
Don’t hesitate to let me know if you
have ideas to improve the Club, are looking
for a volunteer opportunity, or just want to
schmooze! I look forward to a fun Club year
with all the fabulous women in our AWC.
Tot ziens,
Suzanne
Announcements
Embassy Festival
You can take a cultural trip around
the world at this free festival which
spotlights the many different cultures of
The Hague through music, art, dance and
culinary delights. The musical program
includes pop, jazz, folk and classical.
Activities geared towards children will
allow them to experience various cultures
and open their eyes to different ways
of playing. The international market
features global delights. The Embassy
Festival is organized in close co-operation
with the Municipality of The Hague’s
Department of International Affairs and
the city’s many embassies, spotlighting the
different cultures that reside in the Dutch
administrative capital.
Friday, August 31 and
Saturday, September 1
Lange Voorhout, Den Haag
www.embassyfestival.com
Comic Con in Amsterdam
Lovers of movies, TV shows, gaming, comics,
superheroes and pop culture can meet
their heroes and participate in a variety of
activities, such as photo shoots or signing
sessions with Hollywood stars (at additional
charge), Q&A panels, workshops, demos
and live acts. This event often sells out, so
check if there are any tickets left at www.
comiccon-europe.com.
Saturday, September 1 and
Sunday, September 2
RAI
Europaplein 2-22, Amsterdam
Food Truck Festival
Whereas once food trucks were referred to
as “roach mobiles,” they are now very trendy
and offer a wide assortment of gourmet
foods. See what all the fuss is about when
Westbroekpark is transformed into one large
attractive open-air restaurant during this festival
with free admission. In addition to a
large variety of tasty foods, there will be live
music and other entertainment.
Thursday, September 6 –
Sunday, September 9
Westbroekpark
Kapelweg, Den Haag
www.festival-trek.nl
World Port Days Rotterdam
Wereldhavendagen (World Port Days) is a
large, annual free maritime event that will
appeal to your whole family. During this festive
weekend, you can get a glimpse behind
the scenes of Europe’s busiest port through a
wide range of activities, such as ship tours,
demonstrations, excursions and exhibitions.
Port companies demonstrate exactly
what their ships and other sailing equipment
are capable of in a continuous program of
spectacular presentations with breathtaking
stunts and nautical expertise. You can experience
it all from the Erasmus Bridge or near
the grandstand on the Wilhelminakade. This
year’s theme is Energize, highlighting how
Rotterdam Port is turning to sustainable energy
to become the cleanest port in the world.
Rotterdam Europoort
Friday, September 7 through
Sunday, September 9
www.wereldhavendagen.nl
>> 54
SEPTEMBER 2018 53
Announcements (cont.)
Continued from page 53
Open Monument Days
Open Monumentendag (European Heritage
Days in the Netherlands) is designed to
bring people into historical buildings in an
effort to rally support for the preservation
of historical monuments. About 4,000 historical
buildings and sites across the country
will be open to the public free of charge.
Here’s your chance to enter some buildings
that are not normally accessible to the public.
This year’s theme is In Europe.
Saturday, September 8 and
Sunday, September 9
Countrywide
www.openmonumentendag.nl
Dahlia Flower Parade
Since 1929, Lichtenvoorde (east of Arnhem)
has hosted a parade featuring impressive
floats covered by dahlias grown in local
fields. Approximately 1,000 volunteers
participate in this impressive spectacle.
Entrance tickets are required to stand along
the 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometer) route and can
be purchased online. The parade ends at the
exhibition grounds, which charges a nominal
fee to see the floats illuminated at night.
Sunday, September 9
Lichtenvoorde Centrum
www.bloemencorso.com
The Plunge, an Audio Tour
The Plunge is an on-location cultural project
concluding on September 9, which
54 GOING DUTCH
features an audio tour that takes you on a
literary walk through Scheveningen Beach.
It centers around German composer Felix
Mendelssohn, who came to Scheveningen
in 1836 in the hope of restoring his failing
health. Novelist Marente de Moor, winner of
the EU Prize for Literature, has written two
short stories―one for grown-ups and one
for children aged six and over―inspired by
Mendelssohn’s sojourn on the Dutch coast.
The tour starts on the Pier after you rent an
MP3 player and headset. What at first seems
to be an ordinary walk, leads to three dramatic
locations designed for sitting and listening.
www.en.ohdiezee.nl
The Hague Hat Walk
On the Saturday before Prinsjesdag, which
is also the International Day of Democracy,
the first edition of The Hague Hat Walk will
take place. The walk starts and ends at the
Plein, giving you the opportunity to be a
spectator after the walk at the Prinsjes Hat
Walk, the hat design competition of the year.
Saturday, September 15
1:15 – 2:45 p.m.
Plein, Den Haag
www.prinsjesfestival.nl
Closing of Storm Surge Barrier
Once a year, the Maeslant Storm Surge
Barrier in Hoek van Holland is closed as
part of an annual test of the system in preparation
for hurricane season, which runs from
October 1 to April 15. Opened in 1997 as
part of the Delta Works to protect Rotterdam
Harbor and surrounding cities, it is one of
the largest moving structures on Earth.
Check the website for timing if you want
to witness this unique engineering marvel.
Tours in English are available; reservations
are strongly encouraged.
Saturday, September 15
Keringhuis
Maeslantkeringweg 139, Hoek van
Holland
www.keringhuis.nl
New Hague Art Festival
Masterly The Hague is a new annual festival
for Old Masters and Dutch Design. Three
magnificent historic buildings located opposite
the Hofvijver will open to the public
together for the first time presenting
the collections of Dr. Abraham Bredius,
Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, and Cornelis
Kruseman. This new festival will introduce
these historical paintings in combination
with works by contemporary designers
specially commissioned for this
event. Tickets can be purchased online at
www.masterlythehague.com.
Thursday, September 20 –
Sunday, September 23
Lange Vijverberg 14 – 16, Den Haag
40th International Kite Festival
Scheveningen is ideally situated for kite-flying
with consistent prevailing winds blowing
along the beach. During this annual free festival,
international kite builders and enthusiasts
come together to show their skills along
the beach surrounding the pier. This year’s
theme is Sea Aquarium. The skies will be
filled with Megabyte, the world’s largest flying
monster, as well as a huge variety of kites
of every shape and color including teddy
bears, dragons and fish.
Saturday, September 29 and
Sunday, September 30
Scheveningen Beach
www.vliegerfeestscheveningen.nl
Leiden Liberation Celebration
This annual Leiden event commemorates
the Spanish siege and subsequent relief of
the city in 1574. The party starts on Tuesday,
October 2 at 1 p.m. with a huge fun fair and
market that covers a large part of the city
center. On Wednesday, October 3, the official
day of liberation, Breestraat is turned into a
lively street theater with a giant parade featuring
floats, bands, and dancers starting at
1 p.m. The day concludes with fireworks at
11:30 p.m. www.3october.nl
SEPTEMBER 2018 55
Classifieds
Bijoux-dor Gold &
Silversmith
Professionally trained gold
and silversmith specializing
in handmade and custom
jewelry, and repairs. AWC
members are eligible for a
10% discount on custom work.
Visit my atelier at Noordeinde
47, 1st floor, The Hague
or call 0687598566 for an
appointment or send an email
to meriemoukil@hotmail.com.
www.meriem-dor.com
Counselling International
For professional, confidential
individual counselling or
coaching, relationship/couple
therapy or conflict mediation.
Experienced, multilingual
professional Els Barkema-Sala,
MPhil, MBACP.
Contact 071 528 2661 for FREE
initial telephone consultation
or for an appointment.
www.counsellinginternational.
com
Pippa’s Friendly Pilates
I am a certified Stott Pilates
Instructor offering private
matwork and reformer lessons
in a comfortable setting at
my home studio in central
Den Haag. Please contact
me at pippahillstrathy@gmail.
com or 06 82529931 for more
information.
Expat Families in Transit &
Work Life Balance
Ingrid offers Child & Teens
Counseling, Life Work
Coaching, Accountability
Coaching and Workshops
& Training. Experienced
Bilingual Psychosocial
Therapist/Counselor & Coach.
Certified NFG member.
Check for Coverage Health
Care Insurance. Contact
0640216544. FREE 30 MIN
CONSULTATION. www.
ingridmasselinkandreas@
gmail.com
Household Help
Young woman is searching for
a job in the household taking
care of the children and doing
light chores in the Hague.
I’m able to start on the first of
August. Please contact me at:
0625495312
Blossoming Health and
Beauty
Looking for a professional,
licensed acupuncturist?
Contact Linda Chen
at 06-37315840. With a
background in leadership
development by Shell, Linda
graduated with Cum Laude
in TCM Acupuncture. She
is a registered member of
the professional association
ZHONG.
Insurance
reimbursement of the fee is
possible.
www.blossoming-healthbeauty.
com
Index of Advertisers
ACCESS
page 32
American Travel
Center
page 41
Aveda Lifestyle
Salon
Inside Cover
Beacon Financial
Education
Back Cover
Frans Burgers
Tapijt
page 13
FRITSTAXI
Airport Service
Inside Back Cover
Happy Critters
page 15
Marcel
Vermeulen
Jewelry
page 11
Petros Eyewear
Sligro
page 11
Wassalon
Weissenbruch
page 32
Your Cleaning
Service
page 32
The AWC is not responsible for accidents or injuries occurring at
Club activities or on Club property. Sports and exercise instructors
must carry their own liability insurance.
Support Fellow AWC Members
Find links to a large variety of businesses owned by AWC Members at www.awcthehague.
org/site/newcomers/business-links
page 19
VERHEY VAN
WIJK brilmode
page 17
Event information, suggestions or comments for eNews?
***New email account***
Please send all eNews information to awcthehague.enews@gmail.com no later than end of day
each Friday for the following week’s eNews.
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Please be reminded that the AWC Membership List is for AWC Member reference only and use of this
information in any communication other than AWC official business is strictly prohibited. Members may
not share the list with anyone other than another AWC Member in good standing and never to any
third party.
The AWC takes care to protect Member information and adherence to this policy is critical to maintain
Member privacy. Members are asked to report suspected misuse of the list to any AWC Board Member.
56 GOING DUTCH
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SEPTEMBER 2018 57
Proost! Questionnaire
by Heather DeWitt
Why are you living in the Netherlands, and
when did you arrive?
I’m a trailing spouse! My husband works
for Shell, and we arrived in mid-January.
What do you love best about living here?
The experience. It’s a totally different
freedom without kids, and we’re
rediscovering our pre-kid life.
Your Home Away from Home
Tours, Activities, Philanthropy, and
Friendship!
Any English-speaking woman may
join the AWC.
Thursday, September 13
Morning Session: 11 - 2 a.m.
Evening Session: 5 - 8 p.m.
Give us a quick wrap-up of your family.
I am here with my husband, Mike, and we
have two children. Logan is 19 and a rising
sophomore at Purdue, studying Mechanical
Engineering. Skyler is 23 and will graduate
in August with her Physician’s Assistant
degree.
www.AWCTheHague.org
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 43, 2582 NJ, The Hague
Questions: AWCTheHague.Membership@gmail.com
Tell us about your pet.
Rocky is a big, sloppy chocolate lab. He’s
been a good friend, and a comfort in our
travels.
What is it about the AWC that you most
enjoy?
The comradery. We all have at least one
common thread, even though we’re all so
different.
What do you consider the most overrated
virtue of being an expat?
People have a weird connotation about
living abroad. Growing up overseas, this
has been a dream. But many people back in
the U.S. don’t understand, if they’ve never
travelled.
Which travel experience has been the
most memorable?
In 1980, my parents bought a Suburban and
had it shipped to Rotterdam. We drove it
home to Saudi Arabia.
Which locations haven’t been ticked off
your bucket list?
Spain, South Africa, and Dubai.
Where would you most like to live?
We purchased lakefront property in
Knoxville, Tennessee, for our retirement.
What’s your hobby?
Sewing, reading, and walking. I’m training
for the Santiago de Camino, which I will do
with my parents and daughter in September.
Who’s a better chef at home, you or your
partner, and why?
I’m the Cook, but Mike is the Grill Master.
Which living person do you most admire?
My mom, Linda.
What is your most treasured possession?
A bracelet my husband gave me, around the
time we got married.
What is your favorite dessert?
Grandma Ellie’s cream puffs, which are
strangely similar to the Hema cream puffs.
What is your favorite drink?
Gin and tonic.
58 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2018 59
WE’RE EXPATS TOO!
At Beacon Financial Education
we offer fundamental financial
education knowledge, as well as
tools for the sophisticated investor
looking for options in today’s
expanding global market.
Our Mission is to empower Global
Mobility through Financial Freedom
for Expats no matter where they
are, today or tomorrow.
HAVE YOU LIVED OR WORKED IN
MULTIPLE COUNTRIES?
HAVING TROUBLE INVESTING IN
THE NETHERLANDS OR EUROPE?
ARE YOU TRYING TO RESOLVE
FATCA AND PFIC ISSUES?
Contact us today for a free consultation
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wherever in the world You reSide.
www.beaconfinancialeducation.org
info@beaconfinancialeducation.org
Beacon Financial Education does not provide financial, tax or legal advice. None of the information should be considered financial, tax or legal advice.
You should consult your financial, tax or legal advisers for information concerning your own specific tax/legal situation.
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