AWC Going Dutch March 2019
The monthly magazine of the American Women's Club of The Hague
The monthly magazine of the American Women's Club of The Hague
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one stop shop<br />
for all your beauty desires<br />
<strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
<strong>March</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
The Magazine of the<br />
American Women’s Club<br />
of The Hague<br />
Denneweg 56<br />
2514CH The Hague<br />
Tel. 0703458442<br />
www.lifestylesalonthehague.nl<br />
Winter Activities<br />
re-Building Lives Benefit<br />
Our Carbon Footprint<br />
6<br />
22<br />
31<br />
5 Officers and Chairwomen<br />
6 Winter Activities Collage<br />
8 Message from the President<br />
9 <strong>March</strong> General Meeting<br />
10 Letter from the Editor<br />
12 Membership<br />
13 Restaurant<br />
Recommendations<br />
14 Ongoing Activities<br />
20 One-of-a-Kind Activities<br />
22 re-Building Lives Benefit<br />
26 <strong>March</strong> Calendar<br />
29 <strong>AWC</strong> and the Arts<br />
30 F<strong>AWC</strong>O Corner<br />
31 2018: The Year Planet Earth<br />
Cried for Help<br />
34 Unconventional Travel:<br />
Paris and Athens<br />
38 How We Spent our Winter<br />
Vacation<br />
40 The <strong>Dutch</strong> Daily<br />
42 WWDP Christmas Party<br />
Collage<br />
44 Announcements<br />
48 Classifieds<br />
49 Index of Advertisers<br />
and Ad Rates<br />
50 Proost! Interview<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 3
Editor<br />
Audrey Goodman<br />
2018-<strong>2019</strong> <strong>AWC</strong> Officers<br />
Committee Chairs<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 43<br />
2582 NJ Den Haag<br />
Tel: 070 350 6007<br />
info@awcthehague.org<br />
www.awcthehague.org<br />
<strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> Magazine<br />
goingdutchmag@awcthehague.org<br />
Clubhouse Hours<br />
Tuesday and Thursday<br />
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.<br />
Monday, Wednesday and Friday Closed<br />
Dues (Effective 2018-<strong>2019</strong>)<br />
€ 110 per year (€ 66 after January 1)<br />
€ 90 business, professional<br />
€ 55 valid US military ID<br />
€ 35 student<br />
€ 35 Outside the Netherlands (<strong>Going</strong><br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> magazine not included)<br />
Add € 15 new member registration fee<br />
Design and Layout<br />
Teresa Mahoney<br />
Cover Photo<br />
The Plein by Melissa White<br />
Photography<br />
Mary Adams, Celeste Brown, Susan Cave,<br />
Susanne Dundas, Greetje Engelsman,<br />
Amber Gatewood, Rachel Hines, Suzanne<br />
MacNeil, Teresa Mahoney, Julie Mowat,<br />
Melissa Rider, Emily van Eerten, Michelle<br />
Voorn, Melissa White<br />
Proofreaders<br />
Celeste Brown, Jane Gulde, Diane Schaap,<br />
Debbie van Hees<br />
Advertising Manager & Invoicing<br />
Open<br />
Contributors<br />
Mary Adams, Laurie Brooks,Jane Choy,<br />
Suzanne Dundas, Greetje Engelsman, Dena<br />
Haggerty, Marsha Hagney, Eileen Harloff,<br />
Rachel Hines, Suzanne MacNeil, Julie<br />
Mowat, Melissa Rider, Holly Savoie, Anne<br />
van Oorschot, Melissa White<br />
Printer<br />
www.dwcprint.nl<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Bank Account Number<br />
IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757<br />
KvK Den Haag<br />
40409274<br />
BTW or VAT: 007408705B01<br />
Honorary President Diane Hoekstra<br />
President Suzanne MacNeil<br />
president@awcthehague.org<br />
Vice President Marsha Hagney<br />
vicepresident@awcthehague.org<br />
Treasurer Sheyla Karman<br />
treasurer@awcthehague.org<br />
Secretary Heather DeWitt<br />
secretary@awcthehague.org<br />
Club and Community Development<br />
Naya Pessoa<br />
community@awcthehague.org<br />
Clubhouse Administrator<br />
Jan Essad<br />
clubadministrator@awcthehague.org<br />
Communications Audrey Goodman<br />
communications@awcthehague.org<br />
Member-at-Large<br />
Sunita Menon<br />
Front Office<br />
Liduine Bekman, Siska Datema-Kool,<br />
Dominique Duysens, Amber Gatewood,<br />
Shanon Gonzales, Melissa Rider, Jessie<br />
Rodell, Holly Savoie<br />
Activities: Greetje Engelsman<br />
Arts: Jane Choy<br />
Assistant Treasurer: Teresa Insalaco<br />
Benefit Event: Michelle Voorn & Deana<br />
Kreitler<br />
Board Advisor: Jessie Rodell<br />
Caring Committee: Naomi Keip<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake: Suzanne Dundas<br />
eNews Amber Gatewood<br />
Evening Events: Elizabeth Zeller<br />
Events & Tours: Liduine Bekman<br />
F<strong>AWC</strong>O: Julie Mowat and Teresa<br />
Mahoney<br />
Front Office Coordinator: Open<br />
General Meeting Programs: Dena<br />
Haggerty<br />
Heart Pillow: Jan de Vries<br />
Historian/Archivist: Georgia Regnault<br />
Holiday Bazaar: Jaimie Keppel-Molenaar<br />
IT Administrator: Julie Otten<br />
Kids’ Club: Lindsey Turnau<br />
Library: Dena Haggerty<br />
Membership: Melissa Rider<br />
Newcomers: Holly Savoie, Greetje<br />
Engelsman<br />
Parliamentarian: Georgia Regnault<br />
Philanthropy: Holly Savoie<br />
Public Relations: Open<br />
Social Media: Ceci Wong and Julie Otten<br />
Tennis: Molly Boed<br />
Tours: Liduine Bekman, Sabine Crowley<br />
Volunteer Coordinator: Laurie<br />
Martecchini<br />
Webmaster: Julie Otten<br />
Women with <strong>Dutch</strong> Partners: Michelle<br />
Voorn<br />
Deadlines: Submissions are due no later than the last Monday of the month preceding the publication month.<br />
For example, for the May/June issue, submissions are due before Monday, <strong>March</strong> 25<br />
Please Note: Articles submitted to <strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> will be published subject to space limitations and editorial approval.<br />
All rights reserved; reprints only by written permission of the Editor. Please email to: goingdutchmag@<br />
awcthehague.org<br />
Legal Notice: Articles in <strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> express the views and opinions of their authors alone, and not necessarily<br />
those of the <strong>AWC</strong> of The Hague, its Members or this publication.<br />
4 GOING DUTCH<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Mission Statement<br />
The <strong>AWC</strong> is an association formed to provide social and educational activities for American<br />
women living in the Netherlands and to promote amicable relations among people of all nations,<br />
as well as acquiring funds for general public interest. Membership in the club is open<br />
to women of all nations who are friendly and welcoming to American culture. The association<br />
does not endeavor to make a profit. The <strong>AWC</strong> is a 100% volunteer organization.<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 5
Artist Spotlight<br />
Christmas<br />
Winter Activities<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> Democracy<br />
Femmes Fatales<br />
Thirsty Thursday<br />
Out to Lunch Bunch<br />
Pearl Party<br />
Sculpture
Message from the President<br />
by Suzanne MacNeil<br />
<strong>March</strong> General Meeting<br />
by Dena Haggerty<br />
I’ve been keeping tabs on some of our<br />
newest Members since we ramped up<br />
after the holidays. The Welcome Back<br />
Kickoff in early January was split into two<br />
sessions: a mimosa morning and an evening<br />
borrel for those who work. The morning session<br />
was jammed. At one point, we had almost<br />
40 women in the Clubhouse, many of<br />
whom we did not recognize. We welcomed<br />
the newcomers with open arms, warm conversation,<br />
and a chance to get to know us. The<br />
evening borrel, while not as well attended,<br />
gave one prospective Member our undivided<br />
attention. We chatted, learned a lot about<br />
her, just as she learned about what we can<br />
offer her. She joined, as did 10 others who<br />
attended the Kickoff.<br />
In early February, I took part in welcoming<br />
potential Members at this year’s Feel at<br />
Home in The Hague Fair at the Stadhuis.<br />
It’s an annual event hosted by ACCESS, a<br />
nonprofit organization that serves the expat<br />
community. You may have learned about<br />
our American Women’s Club if you worked<br />
with the staff at ACCESS when you first settled<br />
in The Hague, as it offers information<br />
and guidance to help expats make sense of<br />
living in our little neck of the <strong>Dutch</strong> woods.<br />
Some of the guests I spoke with asked what<br />
the Club offers its Members. For the first<br />
few hours of the fair, we rattled off our<br />
laundry list of opportunities to become<br />
involved, including our weekly Walkie<br />
Talkies, Chat Craft and Cake, our monthly<br />
Out to Lunch Bunch,<br />
Thirsty Thursday,<br />
Heart Pillows,<br />
the General<br />
Meetings, and<br />
then worked<br />
our way to the<br />
tours, events,<br />
activities, and<br />
discounts at<br />
Sligro, Hanos,<br />
and the American<br />
8 GOING DUTCH<br />
Book Center.<br />
Toward midday<br />
I answered<br />
the question of<br />
what we offer<br />
with a counter<br />
question; what<br />
would you like<br />
from our Club?<br />
The replies<br />
were interesting.<br />
Many of the women liked the fact<br />
that we are a social organization with philanthropy<br />
as a key part of who we are as<br />
an organization. Some of the guests even<br />
asked how they can become involved in our<br />
philanthropic activities. Melissa Rider, our<br />
Membership Chair, has contacted all the<br />
women who provided their email the day of<br />
the fair. I’m happy to report that their feedback<br />
has been positive and Melissa has supplied<br />
membership information to those who<br />
have responded to her emails.<br />
We gained more than 15 new Members in<br />
the last two months, all women who want<br />
what we all wanted when we joined: new<br />
friends, a ready-made social life, the chance<br />
to participate in a meaningful way in our<br />
community, to learn new skills, and to have<br />
fun.<br />
Who are these new additions to the Club?<br />
While we honor the privacy of Members<br />
in <strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong>, and I won’t share names,<br />
I suggest you take an opportunity to introduce<br />
yourself to these interesting women<br />
the next time you see someone new at a<br />
Club event or activity. Here’s a bit of information<br />
about some of our newest Members:<br />
• Finance professional who is an investment<br />
analyst with experience in the oil<br />
and gas industry and consumer products.<br />
• Color specialist who offers color<br />
analysis classes to empower women<br />
to feel confident in themselves. Her<br />
philosophy is that confidence >>47<br />
For our <strong>March</strong> meeting, Tetyana<br />
Benzeroual from Volunteer The<br />
Hague will be joining us. Volunteer<br />
The Hague is a non-profit project founded<br />
by the Municipality of The Hague and PEP<br />
(Participation Emancipation Professionals).<br />
The project connects internationals with<br />
meaningful volunteer opportunities at <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
non-profit organizations in The Hague area.<br />
The organization’s website hosts hundreds of<br />
volunteering vacancies especially suited for<br />
non-<strong>Dutch</strong> speakers of every age, skill-set<br />
and availability. In addition to introducing the<br />
project and the opportunities for non-<strong>Dutch</strong><br />
speakers, Tetyana will be discussing how you<br />
by Jan Essad and Sunita Menon<br />
The construction on Johan van<br />
Oldenbarneveltlaan is now just outside<br />
our front door!<br />
According to a <strong>Dutch</strong> website,<br />
works will possibly continue<br />
until July. However, we hope<br />
they will finish early. Due<br />
to this ongoing construction,<br />
parking will be limited and public<br />
transportation is recommended.<br />
Parking is available on the southside of<br />
the street and on the one-way streets off<br />
can volunteer your way into a potential job.<br />
Her presentation will discuss the value of<br />
volunteering for building relationships and<br />
career opportunities. During this presentation<br />
you will discover ways to build confidence<br />
and help the community, strategies to adopt<br />
when considering volunteer organizations,<br />
hidden career opportunities, and how to leverage<br />
volunteering for career success.<br />
Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 14<br />
10 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
Free<br />
Construction Around the <strong>AWC</strong><br />
Clubhouse<br />
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan. However,<br />
public transportation is highly encouraged.<br />
The Clubhouse is accessible<br />
via Tram #16, Tram #1, and<br />
Bus #21. Consult www.9292.nl<br />
for the best means of travelling<br />
to the Clubhouse from<br />
your area.<br />
We sincerely hope this minor inconvenience<br />
won’t keep you from<br />
coming to the Clubhouse to enjoy<br />
scheduled activities and great company.<br />
See you at the Club!<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 9
Letter from the Editor<br />
by Audrey Goodman<br />
When we first arrived in The Hague,<br />
I was worried about boredom. No<br />
full-time job, no pets, no children…<br />
What was I going to do with myself? But my<br />
worries quickly disappeared (and my calendar<br />
filled up) after I joined the American<br />
Women’s Club. There are numerous ways to<br />
become involved in the organization, and I<br />
have taken every available opportunity. I attend<br />
as many events as possible, I sit on the<br />
Board as the Communications Officer, I’m<br />
the Editor of this awesome magazine, and I<br />
recently joined the Planning Committee for<br />
our Club’s annual benefit.<br />
park, hosting thousands of miniature replicas,<br />
all representative of the Netherlands.<br />
There are 5,500 miniature trees, 4,452 cars<br />
and trucks, 338 buildings, and 4,500 kilometers<br />
of train tracks!<br />
Attendees will be invited to partake in a<br />
scavenger hunt through the park, which will<br />
remain open just for our event. The evening<br />
will also include a 50/50 cash raffle, live and<br />
silent auctions, a three-course dinner, and a<br />
variety of beverages. All proceeds, including<br />
a portion of ticket sales, go to our beneficiary.<br />
As you grow older, you will<br />
discover that you have two<br />
hands: One for helping<br />
yourself, the other for helping<br />
others.<br />
-Maya Angelou<br />
I am beyond excited for this year’s re-Building<br />
Lives Benefit. Our event will take place<br />
at Madurodam on the evening of Saturday,<br />
April 13 (please see pages 22 – 25 for more<br />
details). For those of you not familiar with<br />
Madurodam, it is a charming <strong>Dutch</strong> theme<br />
10 GOING DUTCH<br />
The beneficiary of this event is Stichting<br />
Not For Sale Nederland, a global organization<br />
with an independent operation in the<br />
Netherlands. Not For Sale helps victims of<br />
human trafficking get back on their feet and<br />
live independently. Trafficking victims receive<br />
education and training from the organization,<br />
which helps them build a new life.<br />
From the American Women’s Club’s perspective,<br />
it is important to us that we use our<br />
philanthropic ventures to help other women<br />
and the local <strong>Dutch</strong> community. We are so<br />
grateful for the hospitality we receive in our<br />
host country, and supporting other women is<br />
of upmost importance to our organization;<br />
Not For Sale is a perfect fit. I hope to see<br />
you at Madurodam!<br />
Audrey<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 11
Membership<br />
by Melissa Rider<br />
You will notice many new faces at the<br />
Clubhouse with the successful recruitment<br />
of Members at our Winter<br />
Welcome Coffee and Borrel. With new<br />
Members trying to connect with the existing<br />
membership, please make sure that your<br />
personal information is correct in our new online<br />
membership directory. With our updated<br />
website came a new online directory, which<br />
only has the Member’s name and email. Each<br />
Member needs to enter her address and phone<br />
number into the directory, by logging in to<br />
her personal <strong>AWC</strong> account.<br />
If you change your address in the membership<br />
directory, you still need to notify<br />
the Membership Coordinator, by emailing<br />
me at membership@awcthehague.org. This<br />
will ensure that you continue to receive your<br />
<strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> magazine and my membership<br />
records are correct.<br />
<strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> is Available Online<br />
Welcome New Members!<br />
Alex<br />
Amanda<br />
Anna<br />
Ashley<br />
Ellen<br />
Jenny<br />
Katy<br />
Kelly<br />
Kristine<br />
Maud<br />
Renee<br />
Shannon<br />
Theresa<br />
Taha<br />
Go to www.awcthehague.org to share the current month’s issue with friends and family. You will<br />
also find links to our annual advertisers, whose support makes this magazine possible. If you<br />
visit or contact one of our advertisers, let them know <strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> sent you!<br />
Restaurant Recommendations<br />
by Audrey Goodman<br />
Recommendations by Suzanne Dundas, Suzanne MacNeil & Jo Van Kalveen<br />
Please send your recommendations to goingdutchmag@awcthehague.org.<br />
The Trammmhuys<br />
From the chef and owners of Hooftrammm, this<br />
restaurant contains an actual tram that has been<br />
converted into an open kitchen. With three menu<br />
options to choose from, you can customize your<br />
visit to fit your time and budget.<br />
Laan ven Middenburg 1, 2275 CA, Voorburg<br />
070 406 7422<br />
Trammmhuys.nl<br />
Fusion, Vegetarian<br />
€€€€<br />
Saturday, 5:00 p.m. – Midnight<br />
Brasserie Mauritshuis<br />
Relaxed atmosphere, and a nice spot for a late<br />
afternoon glass of wine and borrel. Great before/<br />
after touring the museum, or anytime!<br />
Plein 29, 2511 CS, Den Haag<br />
070 302 3480<br />
Mauritshuis.nl<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong>, Café, European<br />
€ - €€<br />
Monday, 12:30 – 6:30 p.m.<br />
Tuesday & Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.<br />
Thursday, 9:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.<br />
Friday – Sunday, 9:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.<br />
Birthdays<br />
Due to changes in European privacy<br />
laws, and because <strong>Going</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong> will soon<br />
be posted on our external Facebook<br />
page, we won’t be sharing birthdays<br />
in print any longer. Instead, you’ll see<br />
Members’ birthdays in the weekly<br />
eNews, which is sent to your private<br />
email account and is more secure. We<br />
value our Members’ privacy. If you have<br />
any questions, please contact Melissa<br />
Rider, our Membership Coordinator, at<br />
membership@awcthehague.org.<br />
Members: eNews Distribution<br />
A weekly electronic newsletter<br />
is sent to all <strong>AWC</strong> Members.<br />
If you have not been receiving your<br />
eNews, please contact Melissa at<br />
membership@awcthehague.org.<br />
Buitenplaats Plantage<br />
Located in a converted greenhouse now filled<br />
with eclectic furniture and books, with a relaxed,<br />
gezellig vibe. The food is fresh, natural and “slow.”<br />
Lots of veggie options. And they welcome dogs!<br />
Vogelenzangseweg 49B, 2114 BB, Vogelenzang<br />
064 190 3986<br />
BuitenplaatsPlantage.nl<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong>, European, Vegetarian<br />
€€ - €€€<br />
Monday, Noon – 5 p.m.<br />
Tuesday & Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.<br />
Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.<br />
Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.<br />
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.<br />
(Kitchen closes at 4 p.m. after lunch, & 9 p.m.<br />
after dinner)<br />
12 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 13
Credit: Amazon<br />
Ongoing Activities<br />
Book Clubs<br />
The <strong>AWC</strong> Book Clubs are open to all<br />
readers, and new Members are especially<br />
welcome! There are no requirements that<br />
you must attend every meeting or lead<br />
a discussion. Snacks are provided by a<br />
different Member each month. There are<br />
two Book Clubs hosted by <strong>AWC</strong> Members:<br />
One in the daytime and one in the evening.<br />
Questions? Teresa Mahoney organizes the<br />
daytime group, and Dena Haggerty handles<br />
the evening meetings. For more information,<br />
please contact them at bookclubday@<br />
awcthehague.org or bookclubevening@<br />
awcthehague.org. Happy reading!<br />
Daytime Book Club<br />
<strong>March</strong> Selection:<br />
21 Lessons for the 21st<br />
Century by Yuval Noah<br />
Harari<br />
By the author of Sapiens,<br />
this is a probing and visionary<br />
investigation into<br />
today’s most urgent issues<br />
as we move into the<br />
uncharted territory of the<br />
future. As technology advances faster than<br />
our understanding of it, hacking becomes<br />
a tactic of war, and the world feels more<br />
polarized than ever, Harari addresses the<br />
Cancellation Policy<br />
Members may reserve a spot for an <strong>AWC</strong> tour, activity or<br />
event in advance. Payment is required within five business<br />
days of the reservation or before the deadline date (whichever<br />
is sooner) otherwise your name will be moved to a waitlist.<br />
It is the responsibility of the Member to notify the Club at<br />
awcthehague.finance@gmail.com to cancel a reservation<br />
prior to the cancellation deadline. Please note that there will<br />
be NO REFUNDS (no exceptions) after the cancellation deadline.<br />
Members may find a substitute in lieu of cancellation<br />
provided that arrangements are made with the tour, activity<br />
or event organizer. Members shall be held responsible for<br />
their guest reservations in accordance with this policy.<br />
Daytime Book Club Reading List:<br />
April 25: Who Asked You? by Terry<br />
McMillan<br />
May 23: Perfume River by Robert Olen<br />
Butler<br />
June 27: The Witch Elm by Tana French<br />
challenge of navigating life in the face of<br />
constant and disorienting change and raises<br />
the important questions we need to ask ourselves<br />
in order to survive. Harari’s unique<br />
ability to make sense of where we have come<br />
from and where we are going has captured<br />
the imaginations of millions of readers. Here<br />
he invites us to consider values, meaning,<br />
and personal engagement in a world full of<br />
noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged<br />
with irrelevant information, clarity is power.<br />
Presenting complex contemporary challenges<br />
clearly and accessibly, 21 Lessons for the<br />
21st Century is essential reading.<br />
Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 28<br />
10 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
FREE<br />
Daytime Book Club Recap – December<br />
A book with a long, hopeful title drew us in.<br />
We admitted over our annual holiday luncheon<br />
(hosted by Georgia Regnault, and<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Guest Policy<br />
Guests are welcome<br />
to participate in <strong>AWC</strong><br />
activities and tours on<br />
a limited basis. As a<br />
nonmember, a guest<br />
is limited to attend<br />
two functions per<br />
calendar year and will be<br />
charged an additional<br />
nonmember fee. Only<br />
Members are entitled to<br />
use babysitting services.<br />
as delicious and convivial as usual) the title<br />
of Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong<br />
about the World—And Why Things are<br />
Better Than You Think encouraged us. We<br />
were hoping to come away with our fears,<br />
especially about climate change, lessened<br />
and feeling buoyant and encouraged about<br />
the future. Author Hans Rosling didn’t quite<br />
get us there. What he did do was convince<br />
us data-based and reasoned thinking was<br />
necessary to solve any problem. He stressed<br />
things could be improving and still bad at<br />
the same time. He was anxious to highlight<br />
the illogic of claiming there is a huge gap between<br />
rich and poor. In fact, he claims, most<br />
people on planet earth are “in the middle” of<br />
his four income distribution categories. Fair<br />
enough. But with the richest of these middle<br />
families in the third category, living on $32<br />
dollars a day, there’s still a huge difference in<br />
wealth distribution even if you won’t call it<br />
a “gap.” (We <strong>AWC</strong>ers are firmly ensconced<br />
at the tippy top of the richest category, four.)<br />
His tone is pragmatic and hopeful, but this<br />
book is not without its flaws or its critics.<br />
Think of Rosling’s book as a guide to letting<br />
our irrational fears go and to improving our<br />
epistemological practices. Most importantly,<br />
we have to use our knowledge to inform our<br />
actions and then act.<br />
Daytime Book Club Recap – January<br />
Irish poet/playwright/novelist Sebastian<br />
Barry was our guy… until he kinda wasn’t.<br />
We chose The Secret Scripture for January<br />
because we were impressed with his<br />
Days Without End, our September selection.<br />
Unlike Days Without End, a rootin’<br />
tootin’ gay romance set in the pre-Civil<br />
War American west, The Secret Scripture<br />
takes place in modern day Ireland, where<br />
Roseanne Clear, a 100-year-old beauty, is<br />
writing the story of her achingly woeful<br />
life and hiding it under the floorboards of<br />
the mental hospital in which she has long<br />
been a patient —or prisoner, depending on<br />
one’s view. Meanwhile, hospital clinician<br />
Dr. Grene is exploring his own private and<br />
professional struggles in a commonplace<br />
book. Both transport us through the troubles<br />
of 20th century Ireland through evocative,<br />
though sometimes hazy, interludes and gorgeous<br />
prose. There’s no doubt Barry is a<br />
brilliant writer but some of his choices —or<br />
failures, depending on one’s view—flummoxed<br />
us. That’s all there is to say. No<br />
spoilers here. This book is nonetheless recommended.<br />
>> 16<br />
14 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 15
Credit: Amazon<br />
Ongoing Activities (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 15<br />
Evening Book Club<br />
<strong>March</strong> Selection:<br />
The Dinner by Herman<br />
Koch<br />
It’s a summer’s evening<br />
in Amsterdam, and two<br />
couples meet at a fashionable<br />
restaurant for dinner.<br />
Between mouthfuls of<br />
food and over the polite<br />
scrapings of cutlery, the<br />
conversation remains a gentle hum of polite<br />
discourse—the banality of work, the triviality<br />
of the holidays. But behind the empty<br />
words, terrible things need to be said, and<br />
with every forced smile and every new<br />
course, the knives are being sharpened.<br />
Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told<br />
by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner<br />
promises to be the topic of countless dinner<br />
party debates. Skewering everything from<br />
Evening Book Club Reading List:<br />
April 10: The Song of Achilles by Madeline<br />
Miller<br />
May 8: TBA<br />
parenting values to pretentious menus to<br />
political convictions, this novel reveals the<br />
dark side of genteel society and asks what<br />
each of us would do in the face of unimaginable<br />
tragedy.<br />
The location changes every month,<br />
so please contact Dena Haggerty at<br />
bookclubevening@awcthehague.org if you<br />
are interested in attending.<br />
Wednesday, <strong>March</strong> 20<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
Location TBA<br />
FREE<br />
Evening Book Club Recap – December<br />
Writing a review for A Gentleman in<br />
Moscow by Amor Towles, is difficult.<br />
Where to begin? Towles is obviously an accomplished<br />
writer and storyteller. No wonder<br />
it takes him four years to write a novel.<br />
Count Rostov is an endearing character. His<br />
charm knows no bounds. It is not ironic to<br />
name him a gentleman, because he certainly<br />
is one. He isn’t a snob, though. The secondary<br />
characters are a delight to read—even<br />
those characters who aren’t exactly delightful.<br />
Of course, Sofia is adorable. She is the<br />
perfect daughter for the perfect gentleman.<br />
But the count’s cronies steal the show whenever<br />
they arrive on stage. Towles seamlessly<br />
intermixes history into the Count’s tale. The<br />
account of the dekulakization of Ukraine is<br />
especially moving. He weaves this tidbit of<br />
history (and how misunderstood the slaughter<br />
was by the West) into the story flawlessly.<br />
This novel transforms the reader to mid-<br />
20th century Russia. You may be surprised<br />
to find you aren’t sitting in a Moscow hotel<br />
with a view of the Bolshoi. A novel not to<br />
be missed!<br />
Evening Book Club Recap – January<br />
The prose in The Only Story by Julian Barnes<br />
makes it clear why the author is an award<br />
winner. Although the story isn’t necessarily<br />
captivating and the characters aren’t exactly<br />
lovable, Barnes’ ability to weave a story<br />
will captivate readers. The protagonist Paul<br />
is not a likeable character. He is emotionally<br />
stunted, immature, and a bit of a brat. He is,<br />
however, one of the most honest characters<br />
to be found in literature. His love—his only<br />
love—Susan, isn’t a sympathetic character<br />
either. Her personality doesn’t seem to be<br />
of consequence. As this is Paul’s story, >> 18<br />
16 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 17
Ongoing Activities (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 17<br />
who the “real” Susan is is left to conjecture.<br />
The subtle social commentary throughout<br />
the novel is one of the more interesting aspects<br />
of the novel. Paul’s deep dislike of his<br />
parents’ way of life echoes the feelings of<br />
the youth of the 60s while Susan’s referral<br />
to her alcoholism as a moral disease is<br />
reminiscent of society’s views at the time.<br />
There’s also spousal abuse about which no<br />
one talks. Although Barnes does not tell us<br />
what to think of these societal values, he<br />
does bring them to the forefront and gently<br />
prods us to contemplate them. Whether you<br />
enjoy the novel or not, the story is undeniably<br />
thought-provoking.<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake<br />
Chat Craft & Cake is a weekly highlight<br />
for those who enjoy crafts and camaraderie.<br />
Whether your craft is knitting, quilting,<br />
needlepoint or simply mending your<br />
clothes, or whether you are a beginner or an<br />
expert, you are welcome to join us. Fish that<br />
UFO (Unfinished Object) out of the drawer<br />
and get going on it again. CCandCer’s are<br />
always ready with a helping hand, a lesson,<br />
or some advice. Each week, a different<br />
Member brings a cake—tried and true,<br />
or experimental. Babysitting is not available<br />
and there are lots of sharp objects<br />
about (pins, needles, scissors and wit) so<br />
we cannot accommodate children. Contact<br />
Suzanne Dundas at chatcraftcake@awcthehague.org<br />
for more information<br />
Every Tuesday<br />
10 a.m. – Noon<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
FREE<br />
Heart Pillow Project<br />
Members work together to make heartshaped<br />
pillows designed to help support<br />
the arms of recent mastectomy patients.<br />
Each pillow is made with TLC, wrapped,<br />
and comes with a note signed by an <strong>AWC</strong><br />
volunteer. No sewing skills are needed, as<br />
you can cut, stuff, or wrap the heart pillows.<br />
We are proud to provide men and women<br />
18 GOING DUTCH<br />
with something both practical and comforting,<br />
and we know our work helps because<br />
we often receive thank-you notes and emails<br />
from the patients who have received a heart<br />
pillow. For more information, please contact<br />
Jan de Vries at heartpillow@awcthehague.<br />
org.<br />
Tuesday, <strong>March</strong> 12<br />
Noon – 2 p.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
FREE<br />
Visitors Welcome<br />
Out to Lunch Bunch - Special!<br />
This month, we will take a tour of the<br />
sculptures in Westbroekpark, before<br />
having lunch at Restaurants Greens. Please<br />
contact Greetje Engelsman at activities@<br />
awcthehague.org with questions.<br />
Wednesday, <strong>March</strong> 20<br />
11 a.m.<br />
Restaurant Greens, Kapelweg 18, Den<br />
Haag<br />
www.greensinthepark.nl<br />
Registration Deadline: <strong>March</strong> 13<br />
€ 20 for lunch and art tour<br />
Maximum 15<br />
Sign up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Thirsty Thursday<br />
Join us again for our monthly gathering.<br />
Thirsty Thursday is a casual evening of<br />
companionship and good conversation – a<br />
favorite for <strong>AWC</strong> Members and prospective<br />
Members. Two soft drinks, wine or beer,<br />
plus snacks.<br />
Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 21<br />
6 – 9 p.m.<br />
Brasserie WW, Van Hogenhoucklaan 35<br />
In Tennispark WW, Benoordenhout<br />
€ 15 for two drinks and food<br />
No RSVP needed<br />
Walkie Talkies<br />
Whether you count your steps or just want<br />
to walk with friends, the Monday morning<br />
Walkie Talkies is a fun, healthy and energetic<br />
way to start the week. The group meets in<br />
front of the Clubhouse before heading out<br />
to walk to various destinations in the area,<br />
usually racking up 10,000 steps along the<br />
way. Sign up on the <strong>AWC</strong> website to receive<br />
email updates, or contact Emily van Eerten<br />
or Greetje Engelsman at walkietalkies@<br />
awcthehague.org.<br />
Mondays<br />
9:30 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
Free<br />
Sign up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Wassenaar Coffee & Conversation<br />
If you live in or north of Wassenaar, join<br />
your neighbors for coffee and conversation<br />
once-a-month without having to drive<br />
to the Clubhouse. One Member will host<br />
a casual coffee at her home at 9:30 on the<br />
first Thursday of every month. Prospective<br />
Members are welcome too. Suzanne<br />
Dundas coordinates these meetings and can<br />
be reached at chatcraftcake@awcthehague.<br />
org. Because the location changes every<br />
month, contact Suzanne if you are interested<br />
in attending or for more information.<br />
Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 7<br />
9:30 a.m.<br />
Location TBA<br />
FREE<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 19
One-of-a-Kind Activities<br />
by Marsha Hagney<br />
RSVP directly on www.awcthehague.org. Direct any questions to<br />
vicepresident@awcthehague.org<br />
Payment must be made within 5 calendar days of reserving or your name will be moved to a waitlist.<br />
Payment can be made in the Front Office by PIN, on the <strong>AWC</strong> website (www.awcthehague.org) or by bank<br />
transfer to the <strong>AWC</strong> account NL42ABNA0431421757.<br />
Humanity House Tour &<br />
“Life Stories of a Refugee<br />
Ambassador”<br />
Join us for a guided tour of the Humanity House<br />
Museum, followed by a special presentation<br />
“Life Stories of a Refugee Ambassador”<br />
which is organized in conjunction with<br />
Stichting Vluchtelingen Ambassadeur<br />
(www.vluchtelingenambassadeurs.nl). The<br />
Ambassadors are former refugees who tell<br />
their personal journey as a refugee: their<br />
country, how they fled, their experience<br />
settling in the Netherlands, and their thoughts<br />
on day-to-day life.<br />
€ 15 Members / € 20 Non-Members (All<br />
funds support Humanity House)<br />
Registration Deadline: <strong>March</strong> 4<br />
Sign Up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Erwin Olaf Tour<br />
Join us for this special exhibit of one of the<br />
Netherlands’ most famous photographers,<br />
Erwin Olaf (born 1959). This is an exhibit<br />
so unique and broad in scope that it will<br />
be presented in a rare double exhibition<br />
at the Gemeentemuseum and Fotomseum<br />
Den Haag. Monique Varma will provide<br />
another of her special tours through the<br />
turn 60 this year—a good moment to stage a<br />
major retrospective. The Hague Museum of<br />
Photography will focus on Olaf’s love of his<br />
craft and his transition from analogue photojournalist<br />
to digital image-maker and storyteller.<br />
Olaf will himself bring together some<br />
20 photographs by famous photographers<br />
of the past who have been a vital source of<br />
inspiration to him. The Gemeentemuseum<br />
will show non-commissioned work by Olaf<br />
from 2000 to his most recent series, including<br />
the work he produced in Shanghai and<br />
Palm Springs, on display for the first time.<br />
Olaf will be showing his photography in the<br />
form of installations, in combination with<br />
film, sound and sculpture.<br />
Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 28<br />
12:45 p.m.<br />
Gemeentemuseum<br />
Stadhouderslaan 41, Den Haag<br />
€ 15 Members / € 20 Non-Members<br />
Museum entrance fees not included<br />
(Member-only registration through<br />
<strong>March</strong> 14)<br />
Maximum 15<br />
Registration Deadline: <strong>March</strong> 24<br />
Cancellation Deadline: <strong>March</strong> 14<br />
Sign Up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Hidden Gems City Walk – Save<br />
the Date<br />
Monique Varma leads us on a special walking<br />
tour of hidden gem including “Hofjes”,<br />
statues, monuments, gardens and religious<br />
buildings. We start at Plein 20, De Haagsche<br />
Kluis. They will open earlier than usual<br />
(just for us!) for coffee at 10:00 and we depart<br />
from there at 10:30. Many of the places<br />
we will tour are now closed to the general<br />
public for various reasons, mostly the<br />
change in security standards over the past<br />
several years. More details will be available<br />
before the tour. A unique tour with the<br />
disclaimer that it involves covering a fairly<br />
large distance, so good walking shoes and<br />
the interest in covering much ground are<br />
required!<br />
Wednesday, April 17<br />
10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.<br />
De Haagsche Kluis, Plein 20, Den Haag<br />
€ 15 Members / € 20 Non-Members<br />
Sign Up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Humanity House was established on<br />
December 9, 2010 as an initiative of the<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> Red Cross, with support from The<br />
Municipality of The Hague and the European<br />
Fund for Regional Development of the<br />
European Commission. Humanity House<br />
raises discussion about humanitarian themes<br />
such as equal rights, a secure supply of food,<br />
freedom of speech, and migration. Through<br />
their programs, facilities and exhibits, they<br />
seek to enhance understanding and inspire<br />
people to contribute positively to a life in<br />
peace and freedom for everyone.<br />
Wednesday, <strong>March</strong> 6<br />
1:45 – 4 p.m.<br />
Humanity House<br />
Prinsegracht 8, Den Haag<br />
Gemeentemuseum portion of the show.<br />
Olaf, whose recent portraits of the royal<br />
family drew widespread admiration, will<br />
Unique products<br />
for entrepreneurs<br />
Sligro The Hague Forepark is the perfect fit for you as entrepreneur.<br />
We inspire and support you with our products and services, that will<br />
help you with your business. Our people are always there for you<br />
with professional and tailored advice.<br />
sligro.nl<br />
Linge 2, The Hague<br />
1061246<br />
20 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 21
e-Building Lives Benefit<br />
From Trafficking to Independence<br />
by Michelle Voorn<br />
Everywhere we turn, there are stories<br />
to be told and lessons to be learned.<br />
Stories about starting anew, about<br />
rebuilding, about opportunities. Within the<br />
streets of Amsterdam, among the picturesque<br />
canals and the buzz of the<br />
locals and the tourists going<br />
about their business, we<br />
found a story which captured<br />
our hearts. We knew,<br />
for many reasons, this was<br />
the story we wanted to<br />
celebrate this year at our<br />
re-Building Lives Benefit,<br />
which will take place April<br />
13 at Madurodam.<br />
From the start, our mission was clear: Find<br />
an organization focused on helping women<br />
improve their lives, local to our host<br />
country of the Netherlands, and where we<br />
could make a direct impact in someone’s<br />
life. It wasn’t long after we began our research<br />
and received many recommendations<br />
from <strong>AWC</strong> Members, that we had the<br />
honor to learn about Stichting Not For Sale<br />
Nederlands (www.wearenotforsale.nl).<br />
We sat down to speak with the Director of<br />
Not For Sale, Toos Heemskerk, about the<br />
possibility of them becoming our <strong>2019</strong> beneficiary.<br />
We joined her for lunch at one of<br />
the Dignita restaurants, which are part of the<br />
organization’s self-sustainability. We left<br />
lunch with boxes checked, joyous hearts,<br />
and renewed spirits. We found our beneficiary!<br />
Although part of an international organization<br />
that uses social enterprises to fight human<br />
trafficking, Not For Sale has been active<br />
since 2012 and operates independently.<br />
Its mission is to offer victims of human trafficking<br />
a new perspective on their future.<br />
This is done in part by providing training<br />
and education through the beautiful Dignita<br />
restaurants (www.eatwelldogood.nl). It is<br />
here where much of the experience is gained<br />
for some of the women, who are offered an<br />
opportunity for a new life, a path to employment,<br />
independence, and new-found pride.<br />
Toos spoke to us about her days as a social<br />
worker in Amsterdam and how she knew<br />
there had to be a way to not just get the<br />
women out of their current situation, but<br />
also offer them something to rely on after<br />
they were taken to safety. She knew the only<br />
answer was to provide training and employment<br />
opportunities as a long-term solution.<br />
And this thinking is what put her in the path<br />
of Not For Sale, the global organization.<br />
Through her tireless efforts, and with the<br />
help of the Regional Education Center<br />
(ROC Amsterdam), they developed a training<br />
program. After placement in a shelter in<br />
Amsterdam, the healing and training process<br />
begins. The program includes working in a<br />
professional kitchen where they learn about<br />
the many aspects of working in a restaurant.<br />
After the course, they receive a certificate of<br />
completion which is paramount to building<br />
their self-esteem, and provides the empowerment<br />
needed to make plans for their future as<br />
capable members of society. In many ways,<br />
this supports the recovery process of the victims.<br />
The story of Not For Sale is just beginning,<br />
and as of today 251 trainees have followed<br />
the basic training course at Dignita, and 53<br />
trainees have followed the training modules<br />
at the ROC. They have plans to expand to<br />
other cities in the near future, including The<br />
Hague, and they will continue to make a<br />
difference for victims of human trafficking.<br />
Many of these victims may otherwise have<br />
not have found a viable option for a chance<br />
to succeed and achieve a dignified life. Please<br />
visit www.awcbenefitevent.org for tickets<br />
and additional information. Join us for a<br />
delicious dinner and a<br />
scavenger hunt, while<br />
being a part of this<br />
amazing story!<br />
22 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 23
<strong>March</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat<br />
1 2<br />
3 4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8 9<br />
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Tennis 1 p.m.<br />
Humanity House Tour and<br />
“Life of a Refugee”<br />
1:45 p.m.<br />
Wassenaar Coffee and<br />
Conversation 9:30 a.m.<br />
10 11<br />
12 Buddy Check 12<br />
13 14<br />
15 16<br />
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.<br />
Heart Pillow Workshop<br />
Noon<br />
Coffee 10 a.m.<br />
<strong>March</strong> General Meeting<br />
10:30 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Tennis 1 p.m.<br />
17 18<br />
19<br />
20<br />
21<br />
22 23<br />
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Tennis 1 p.m.<br />
Out to Lunch Bunch<br />
11 a.m.<br />
Evening Book Club<br />
7:30 p.m.<br />
Thirsty Thursday 6 p.m.<br />
24 25<br />
26<br />
27 28<br />
29 30<br />
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m<br />
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.<br />
Daytime Book Club 10 a.m.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Tennis 1 p.m.<br />
Erwin Olaf Tour 12:45 p.m.<br />
31<br />
Save the Dates:<br />
April 3: Rembrandt Art Talk<br />
April 13: Benefit Event<br />
April 17: Hidden Gems City Walk<br />
26 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 27
The new <strong>AWC</strong> Website is now up and running!<br />
Please visit<br />
www.awcthehague.org<br />
for all of your Club-related needs:<br />
Payment of Membership dues, registration for activities and events, Membership<br />
directory, etc.<br />
If you have any questions about the website, please contact<br />
awcthehague.communications@gmail.com.<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> and the Arts<br />
Rembrandt: Bohemian or<br />
Businessman, Romantic or Rebel<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Member Jane Choy graciously opens<br />
her home and shares her knowledge once<br />
again. Holland has designated <strong>2019</strong> as<br />
Rembrandt Year commemorating 350 years<br />
since his death. This is a great opportunity<br />
to learn about Rembrandt as you experience<br />
one of the many tours and exhibits in<br />
the Netherlands through <strong>2019</strong>. Rembrandt is<br />
considered by many to be Holland’s greatest<br />
artist and the equal of Mozart, Shakespeare<br />
and Michelangelo. Unlike van Gogh, another<br />
great <strong>Dutch</strong> artist, Rembrandt has not left<br />
much written material explaining his views<br />
on art. But what he has left is a unique autobiography<br />
in his self-portraits, which he<br />
did from the time he was 20 until he died at<br />
the age of 63. This lecture will use the selfportraits<br />
as a thread through his life and with<br />
his other masterpieces explore the man and<br />
what, why, and how he painted. Was he indeed<br />
a businessman or bohemian, rebel or<br />
romantic?<br />
Wednesday, April 3<br />
Evening, specific time TBA<br />
Private home in Voorburg. Registered<br />
attendees will receive address in advance<br />
of the event.<br />
€ 15 Members / € 20 Non-Members –<br />
Includes refreshments<br />
Maximum 20<br />
Registration/Cancellation Deadline:<br />
April 3<br />
Sign Up at www.awcthehague.org<br />
Playball Netherlands is now<br />
taking bookings for <strong>2019</strong>!<br />
Want to get your little one involved?<br />
www.playballkids.com to see the fun for ages<br />
2-7 years<br />
Email kidsplayball@hotmail.com to arrange a<br />
FREE trial class<br />
www.facebook.com/PlayballNetherlands<br />
Or call Maggie on: 0627214347<br />
28 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 29
F<strong>AWC</strong>O Corner<br />
by Julie Mowat, <strong>AWC</strong> The Hague F<strong>AWC</strong>O Representative<br />
Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, a United Nations NGO with<br />
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council<br />
www.fawco.org.<br />
2018: The Year Planet Earth<br />
Cried for Help Loud Enough<br />
for Humans to Hear<br />
by Anne van Oorschot & Rena Levin (<strong>AWC</strong> Oslo), member of F<strong>AWC</strong>O’s Environment<br />
Team<br />
The upcoming biennial conference<br />
will be held this month in Edinburgh,<br />
Scotland. Several <strong>AWC</strong> Members are<br />
attending, and we look forward to sharing<br />
what we have learned when we return. A<br />
beautiful quilt has been made by members<br />
of clubs all over the world, including several<br />
panels from our own Members. It looks gorgeous!<br />
If you would like to try to win this in<br />
the raffle held at the conference (you do not<br />
need to attend, I will bring it back for you),<br />
please contact me at fawco@awcthehague.<br />
org to buy your tickets. Quilt raffle tickets<br />
are one for €5 or five for €20.<br />
Repatriating to the U.S.? FAUSA is an<br />
alumni organization for F<strong>AWC</strong>O and has<br />
chapters all over the U.S. It’s a great way<br />
to keep in contact with people who have<br />
had similar experiences. Membership is<br />
$25 a year. Please contact me or visit www.<br />
FAUSA.org for more information.<br />
F<strong>AWC</strong>O has a youth cultural volunteers<br />
program that our youth could participate<br />
in. The purpose of the program is to help<br />
youth discover volunteering, develop their<br />
cultural understanding and awareness of<br />
global issues, and create a sense of global<br />
citizenship. If you have a child aged 15 –<br />
18, they could be a part of this great experience.<br />
Last June, <strong>AWC</strong> Berlin hosted 12<br />
youth. This year’s group served refugees,<br />
homeless, disabled, and severely ill people<br />
living in Berlin through their volunteer<br />
work at multiple organizations. They also<br />
took tours, a youth in democracy workshop,<br />
a cooking evening with Syrian refugees, and<br />
a session with a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor.<br />
Please contact fawcoyouth@fawco.<br />
org if you are interested or have any questions.<br />
F<strong>AWC</strong>O offers clubs workshops and webinars<br />
on various topics including citizenship,<br />
voting, taxes and banking concerns. Go to<br />
www.fawco.org/club-workshops for more<br />
information.<br />
Credit: Arbor Day Foundation<br />
As co-Chair of F<strong>AWC</strong>O’s Environment<br />
Team, I coordinate a group of 11<br />
women, all members of F<strong>AWC</strong>O clubs<br />
around the world very much like our <strong>AWC</strong><br />
of The Hague. Each month, we publish an<br />
article about a current environmental topic to<br />
try to increase awareness among F<strong>AWC</strong>O’s<br />
members. The following article was contributed<br />
by the very knowledgeable Rena, from<br />
the <strong>AWC</strong> in Oslo.<br />
2018 may be remembered as the year planet<br />
Earth cried for help loud enough for humans<br />
to begin to hear. Devastating forest fires<br />
in California, a deadly heatwave in Japan,<br />
drought in central and northern Europe,<br />
severe flooding in Kerala, India—environmental<br />
disasters were often on the news.<br />
Though no single extreme weather event<br />
can be attributed to climate change, the increasing<br />
number and severity of them point<br />
to the reality of what scientists have been<br />
trying to tell us for years: we must reduce<br />
greenhouse gas emissions drastically and<br />
quickly.<br />
Though climate change is getting harder to<br />
ignore, understanding how you can make a<br />
difference can be challenging. If greenhouse<br />
gas emissions were tangible, than reducing<br />
them would be as easy to see as plastic collected<br />
at a beach clean-up or trash and recycling<br />
bins filling up more slowly than they<br />
used to.<br />
Carbon Footprint<br />
Everyone has a carbon footprint. Your footprint<br />
size is measured in tons of CO2 emitted<br />
to fuel things you do over the course of<br />
a year. In order to shrink your footprint, you<br />
first have to know how big it is. Thankfully,<br />
carbon footprint calculators are easy to find<br />
online. The specific questions vary a bit, but<br />
all of them focus on household energy consumption<br />
(size of residence, power source,<br />
insulation, etc.), transportation (local and<br />
long-distance), and lifestyle (consumer habits,<br />
diet, etc.). To get a sense of your footprint<br />
try:<br />
• Global Footprint Network (www.<br />
footprintcalculator.org)<br />
• UN carbon footprint calculator (www.<br />
offset.climateneutralnow.org/<br />
footprintcalc)<br />
• Myclimate (www.co2.myclimate.org/<br />
en/footprint_calculators/new)<br />
The results you will get are estimates based<br />
on your best guess of what you do. They may<br />
vary a bit and they will be imperfect.<br />
>> 32<br />
30 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 31
Planet Earth Cried for Help (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 31<br />
That’s ok. Don’t get hung up on particulars,<br />
distracted by small discrepancies in results,<br />
or immobilized by thoughts of how these<br />
calculators may not be fully accurate.<br />
Indeed, if anything the main problem with<br />
footprint calculators is their tendency<br />
to lowball estimated emissions (https://www.<br />
theguardian.com/environment/blog/2010/<br />
jun/04/carbon-footprint-definition). So<br />
don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the<br />
good. The most important thing to do is to<br />
act.<br />
Once you have a sense of how big your footprint<br />
is and what contributes most to its size,<br />
you can figure out how best to shrink it. My<br />
husband and I live in a modest two-bedroom<br />
apartment that runs on 100% renewable<br />
electricity. We don’t have a car, are not big<br />
shoppers and I am vegetarian. Nonetheless,<br />
when I calculate my emissions on the Global<br />
Footprint site the result comes back that if<br />
everyone lived like me, we would need two<br />
planet Earths. Yikes!<br />
My results on other calculators are similar<br />
and the culprit is not surprising. In a normal<br />
year, about half of my annual emissions<br />
are the result of flying. For those of<br />
us who are financially comfortable and living<br />
abroad, flying is not unusual. But from<br />
a climate change perspective, it is one of<br />
the worst things individuals do. A single<br />
roundtrip transatlantic flight from London<br />
Heathrow to New York JFK in economy<br />
class (the most fuel efficient class) emits 2.1<br />
tons of CO2 per person. That is the same<br />
total CO2 emission as one would get driving<br />
a compact gasoline car for 5,600 miles<br />
(9,000 kilometers)―roughly the distance<br />
from Anchorage, Alaska to Guatemala City.<br />
Flying may be convenient and sometimes<br />
necessary, but it is a major climate sinkhole<br />
with emissions that are hard to fathom given<br />
how quick and easy it is.<br />
Sometimes Necessary…?<br />
Note the phrase “sometimes necessary,” as<br />
32 GOING DUTCH<br />
it is an acknowledgement of life’s realities.<br />
I am cutting back on flying, but have made<br />
a few transatlantic trips this year to help my<br />
mom move into a senior community. It was<br />
a big and necessary step that she could not<br />
have managed on her own. But it has environmental<br />
consequences. This is where<br />
climate offsets come in. Reducing the size<br />
of your footprint as much as possible is top<br />
priority. Next best and very important is<br />
to compensate for unavoidable emissions<br />
by purchasing carbon offsets. Offsets fund<br />
charitable projects that reduce, avoid, or remove<br />
greenhouse gas emissions. Examples<br />
include building solar power plants in the<br />
Caribbean, supporting reforestation in<br />
Nicaragua, making affordable efficient cook<br />
stoves available in Kenya, and building<br />
wind power plants in India.<br />
Offsets are an imperfect science and<br />
should not be used as a free pass for high<br />
emission lifestyle choices, but they do<br />
help (https://www.scientificamerican.com/<br />
article/carbon-offsets-really-do-helplower-emissions/).<br />
In addition, they make<br />
more visible the hidden costs to the planet<br />
of CO2 emissions. Myclimate.org and<br />
the UN Climate Offset Platform (www.<br />
offset.climateneutralnow.org) are two<br />
places where you can purchase offsets.<br />
The Myclimate site is doubly useful. In<br />
addition to being able to buy offsets for<br />
unavoidable emissions, its carbon calculator<br />
can be used to make adjustments that reduce<br />
unavoidable emissions at the outset. For<br />
example, the calculator shows me that I can<br />
spare half a ton of CO2 by flying to DC from<br />
Oslo via Reykjavik vs. making the same trip<br />
via Frankfurt.<br />
Let’s Get to Work!<br />
The budding environmental movement of<br />
the 1970s brought us the familiar “reduce,<br />
reuse, recycle” logo. Air pollution, poor water<br />
quality, and waste management problems<br />
were key concerns and that easy to remember<br />
guidance has had a positive effect. Four<br />
decades later the overarching environmental<br />
issue is climate change. And with it comes a<br />
new imperative concerning C02, “Measure,<br />
reduce, offset.” Let’s get to work.<br />
Interested in reading more<br />
environmental articles? Check out the<br />
F<strong>AWC</strong>O website at www.fawco.org.<br />
They can be found under Global Issues<br />
– Environment – Environment articles.<br />
Did you know that any woman who speaks English is eligible to join the<br />
American Women’s Club?<br />
Invite your English-speaking friends, wherever they’re from, to join us today!<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 33<br />
Credit: climateneutralnow.org
Unconventional Travel: Paris and Athens<br />
While Ashlynn was off at castings for shows<br />
during Paris Fashion Week (although she<br />
wasn’t offered any jobs, she found the process<br />
interesting and loved the opportunity to<br />
really get to explore Paris), I took the subway<br />
across the city to La Defense, which is<br />
Europe’s largest purpose-built business district.<br />
I had found a fantastic price for a long<br />
weekend at CitizenM, which is an affordable<br />
boutique hotel chain<br />
that I highly recommend.<br />
by Melissa White<br />
While I was excited to be on my own<br />
adventure in Nepal, I was quite<br />
disappointed that I wasn’t in the<br />
Netherlands when my 18-year-old daughter<br />
Ashlynn set off for Paris to begin working as<br />
a full-time international fashion model for her<br />
gap year. I was thrilled when she invited me<br />
to visit her just a few days after my return.<br />
My window of opportunity was small because<br />
of her nearly frantic schedule of “castings”<br />
(interviews for modeling jobs), but it was an<br />
offer that I couldn’t pass up. It was definitely<br />
not a conventional trip to Paris.<br />
Last-minute train fares in mid-September<br />
were quite high, so I followed Ashlynn’s<br />
lead and booked a ticket on the Oui Bus, a<br />
French bus service serving much of Europe.<br />
I’d never been on a long-distance bus ride<br />
before, but the € 48 round-trip fare was hard<br />
to pass up. The pick-up location was around<br />
the corner from Den Haag Centraal, and the<br />
bus made just two stops—Lille and Charles<br />
de Gaulle Airport—before reaching Paris in<br />
seven hours. The bus wasn’t full and I had<br />
two seats to myself, which was handy as my<br />
carry-on wouldn’t fit in the extremely small<br />
overhead storage. It wasn’t the most exciting<br />
way to travel, especially when we got<br />
stuck in traffic, but it gave me plenty of time<br />
to write my Everest Base Camp Trekking<br />
articles and start on the related book, which<br />
is my big project for <strong>2019</strong>.<br />
I was pleasantly surprised that Ashlynn was<br />
there to greet me when I exited the bus as<br />
she’d instructed me to meet her at the studio<br />
apartment in the Latin Quarter that she’d<br />
rented from Airbnb for five weeks. She was<br />
very excited to show me her neighborhood,<br />
so we walked instead of taking public transport.<br />
After pulling my suitcase along for an<br />
hour, I was relieved that I didn’t have to<br />
carry it up to her sixth floor flat. The elevator,<br />
however, was so thin that it was difficult<br />
to maneuver both the suitcase and my body<br />
inside. It barely prepared me for how tiny<br />
the apartment was. Ashlynn was absolutely<br />
beaming when she opened the door to show<br />
me the very first place she’d ever lived on<br />
her own. It was truly compact, but quite<br />
nice with an excellent view. Unfortunately<br />
it only had a single bed, so I spent that first<br />
night on the floor since she had to work the<br />
next day and needed her beauty sleep.<br />
Ashlynn would be joining<br />
me at the hotel, so I<br />
put our bags in storage<br />
and set off to the Louis<br />
Vuitton Foundation (www.<br />
fondationlouisvuitton.fr),<br />
an art museum designed by<br />
renowned architect Frank<br />
Gehry that opened in 2014.<br />
The museum was between<br />
temporary installations and<br />
only had a few sculptures<br />
on permanent display, but<br />
offered some interesting<br />
free tours about the incredible building;<br />
the facade consists of 3,600 glass panels<br />
and 19,000 concrete panels. I was really<br />
enjoying the two-mile walk back to the hotel<br />
up until the point when the skies opened up<br />
and I got drenched.<br />
I met Ashlynn in the city center after her final<br />
casting of the day and we set off looking<br />
for dinner. Ever since Ashlynn switched to<br />
a plant-based diet three years ago, we have<br />
switched to using the Happy Cow app instead<br />
of TripAdvisor when searching for<br />
restaurants. Happy Cow allows users to<br />
filter restaurants by vegetarian-friendly,<br />
vegan-friendly, fully vegetarian or fully<br />
vegan. In an effort to keep to a strict budget,<br />
Ashlynn hadn’t been eating out much during<br />
her stay in the city. She was thrilled that<br />
I was along to foot the bill so she could try<br />
some vegan restaurants.<br />
The following day Ashlynn and I went to<br />
the Atelier des Lumieres (www.atelierlumieres.com),<br />
Paris’ first digital museum<br />
of fine art. Housed in a former 19th-century<br />
foundry, this museum features immersive<br />
art displays unlike anything you’ve ever<br />
seen before. Our tickets were time specific<br />
so that visitors arrive at appropriate times to<br />
see the entire show as artists’ paintings are<br />
projected 360 degrees around the vast space<br />
using 140 video projectors. During our visit,<br />
we saw much of Gustav Klimt’s work >> 36<br />
Travel4U@americantravelcenter.net/www.americantravelcenter.nl/tel. +3261234901<br />
“Our next holiday is<br />
a safari. They do<br />
the whole world!”<br />
“They make booking a<br />
holiday so easy. I just<br />
leave it to them!”<br />
“Every trip is<br />
customized, just for<br />
me! That’s unique!”<br />
34 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 35
Unconventional Travel (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 35<br />
projected including The Kiss, plus fellow<br />
Austrian artist Hundertwasser’s works come<br />
alive with sound and color on the 30-foot<br />
(10-meter) high walls and pillars, as well as<br />
on the ceiling and floor. It was incredible!<br />
Little did I know then that another opportunity<br />
to visit Ashlynn would present itself<br />
just six weeks later. In fact, after spending<br />
a week in England with her sister, Ashlynn<br />
was only home in Holland for five days in<br />
mid-October before flying to Athens for her<br />
next “on-stay” (when a model stays in a city<br />
for an extended time to meet local clients in<br />
the hope of securing jobs). Athens is considered<br />
a secondary fashion market and offered<br />
Ashlynn a good opportunity to expand her<br />
portfolio, which especially needed updating<br />
since her Parisian agency (her “mother<br />
agent” who scouted Ashlynn and makes all<br />
major career decisions) convinced her to<br />
bleach her blonde hair nearly white.<br />
Athens is much less expensive than Paris,<br />
so Ashlynn could afford to have more space<br />
and stay longer. This worked to my advantage<br />
as she had a double bed in a one-bedroom<br />
apartment that she was happy to share<br />
with me for five nights in mid-November. In<br />
addition, flights were relatively cheap as it<br />
was off-season in Greece. Ashlynn met me<br />
at the airport and we took the subway into<br />
the city. Her apartment was conveniently<br />
just a ten-minute walk from the station. I<br />
enjoyed visiting the bakery next door each<br />
morning for Greek breakfast goodies.<br />
While Ashlynn didn’t have any jobs while I<br />
was in town, she had several castings, so I<br />
tagged along and waited outside while she<br />
had the short interviews. Although public<br />
transportation in Greece is very affordable,<br />
she prefers to walk for the exercise and to<br />
further explore the city. On average, she<br />
walked around 12 miles (20 kilometers) per<br />
day. Our first walk together took over two<br />
hours, with half of it along a major thoroughfare,<br />
so we took the subway back.<br />
Ashlynn had the entire weekend off, so we<br />
set off on Saturday for Aegina, the closest<br />
island, via a one-hour ferry ride. We had<br />
planned to take the bus to visit the island’s<br />
ruins, but it ran too infrequently during that<br />
time of year. Instead we took a taxi across<br />
the island to see the Temple of Aphaea, dating<br />
from approximately 500 BC. After lunch<br />
at a waterfront café, we enjoyed a wander<br />
around the city of Aegina and the nearby ruins<br />
of the Temple of Apollo.<br />
It was so great that I happened to be with<br />
Ashlynn when she got the good news that<br />
her agent had arranged for her to go on-stay<br />
in Seoul for eight weeks starting in early<br />
January, likely followed by eight weeks in<br />
Sydney. While I know that I probably can’t<br />
visit her everywhere she goes, I can always<br />
try.<br />
On Sunday we met up with an American<br />
friend that I’d met in The Hague who now<br />
lives in Athens. We watched the early finishers<br />
of the Athens Marathon, running from<br />
the city of Marathon to Athens and ending<br />
within the Panathenaic Stadium. The only<br />
stadium in the world entirely built of marble,<br />
it was built in 144 AD and abandoned<br />
at the end of the 4th century. It was renovated<br />
in 1896 just in time to host the first<br />
modern Olympics. Later we watched sunset<br />
from Mount Lycabettus, the highest point in<br />
Athens at 910 feet (275 meters). Another afternoon,<br />
for even better views looking down<br />
on the Acropolis and the city, we walked up<br />
the 480-foot (145-meter) Filopappou Hill,<br />
known as the Hill of the Muses as legend<br />
has it that nine muses were buried there,.<br />
36 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 37
How We Spent our Winter Vacation<br />
by Suzanne MacNeil<br />
Disclaimer: If you have lived in any of the<br />
cities or states we’ve nixed, please don’t be<br />
offended!<br />
Flying from Schiphol in late December,<br />
crammed into an economy seat, I set<br />
off for Jacksonville, Florida to visit my<br />
mother. Unfortunately, I had to change my<br />
departure date, which meant I lost my business<br />
class spot since the new flight was almost fully<br />
booked. Fortunately, I had a window seat so<br />
I could ignore my seatmates.<br />
Staying with my mom is always interesting.<br />
She’s in an independent living facility, in a<br />
comfy one-bedroom apartment, with dinner<br />
in the community dining room each evening.<br />
I never joined a sorority in college and<br />
spending time with Mom and her friends<br />
must be the senior version of a sorority. I’m<br />
her confidant and know about her neighbors<br />
and their quirks, the mean girls, petty revenge<br />
wars, and the lovely women who have<br />
taken her into their clique. After almost a<br />
week in Jacksonville, and having laughed a<br />
lot with Mom (and eaten dinner at 4:45 most<br />
nights), I said goodbye<br />
to the ladies of<br />
The Coves and flew<br />
to San Francisco<br />
where I met up<br />
with my husband,<br />
Tim. We were off to<br />
the Nevada side of<br />
Lake Tahoe.<br />
Tim had been to Tahoe in the mid-70s and I<br />
had been there in the 80s for a work-related<br />
trip. We had equally fond memories of the<br />
area, so we decided to spend the holidays in<br />
Tahoe for 10 days. It wasn’t just a vacation,<br />
though, it was also a fact-finding mission.<br />
We are on a quest to find our forever-home<br />
city because the end of our time as expats<br />
will, sadly, end some day and we want to<br />
know where to ship all the Delft Blue vases<br />
and other souvenirs we’ve collected on our<br />
European adventures.<br />
Tahoe is a gem of an area, especially in the<br />
winter with the snow and slopes. We didn’t<br />
ski (no need to break a body part after not<br />
having snow skied in 35+ years), but we did<br />
enjoy having both my sons and one girlfriend<br />
visit. Tahoe got a thumbs-up from<br />
the boys for visitability. Max and Dylan<br />
went snowboarding and Cameron willingly<br />
went with us as we looked at homes for<br />
sale. There are so many reasons we liked<br />
Tahoe, but the nays overtook the yays. The<br />
price for houses with the amenities we<br />
want is sky high. Many of the houses in<br />
our price range overlook the lake, but driving<br />
on those hillside ice-covered roads was<br />
unsettling. And, while there’s a plethora<br />
of activities in the area, we decided Tahoe<br />
is best for an Airbnb vacation rather than<br />
year-round living.<br />
Our holiday in Tahoe wasn’t our first city<br />
search. We’ve visited Boulder, Colorado<br />
Springs, and Denver, but neither of us felt<br />
that ‘wow’ factor. I want to visit Santa Fe because<br />
it has a strong arts community, there’s<br />
also an area outside of Dallas we want to<br />
explore, and maybe Arizona. We’re not interested<br />
in Florida or any East Coast states,<br />
California is too expensive, and Oregon and<br />
Washington State are too rainy. We still own<br />
a home in Nashville, but once it’s sold, we<br />
may look for property in the area to build<br />
a house. Wherever we land once this expat<br />
ride is over, it will be open for guests with<br />
those Delft Blue vases on display!<br />
38 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 39
Credit: Sotheby’s<br />
The <strong>Dutch</strong> Daily<br />
by Eileen Harloff<br />
Rembrandt<br />
The Netherlands Tourist Bureau has designated<br />
<strong>2019</strong> the Year of Rembrandt and<br />
the Golden Age. This marks the 350th anniversary<br />
of the death of one of the country’s—and<br />
the world’s—most famous artists.<br />
There will be events in many places,<br />
including The Hague, Leiden, Leeuwarden,<br />
and Amsterdam. The year was officially<br />
opened by Princess Beatrix on January 31 at<br />
the Mauritshuis, with the opening of the museum’s<br />
Rembrandt collection. This collection<br />
was started by one of its first directors,<br />
Abraham Bredius, in the late 19th century.<br />
Over the years, some paintings which were<br />
said to have been painted by Rembrandt<br />
have turned up, only to be proven, after<br />
careful study, not to be from his hand. Some<br />
of these are owned by the museum and are<br />
on display with the authentic collection.<br />
In Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum has all its<br />
Rembrandt paintings on display, along with<br />
some 50 drawings and 520 prints. They<br />
have been arranged thematically rather than<br />
in the usual chronological fashion. The only<br />
missing painting will be The Night Watch; it<br />
will remain in its usual location, where it is<br />
to be restored—an undertaking that will be<br />
open to the public.<br />
It is interesting to note that the Mauritshuis<br />
recently purchased a painting in the US.<br />
entitled The Preaching of John the Baptist,<br />
by Pieter Lastman (1583 – 1633), who was<br />
considered to have been one of Rembrandt’s<br />
most important teachers. Although their relationship<br />
was short-lived, Lastman is said<br />
to have had a major influence on the artist’s<br />
development. The painting is also important<br />
because it depicts a story out of the Bible,<br />
and was seen as one of the highest accomplishments<br />
of a painter at that time.<br />
The Times They Are A’ Changing,<br />
Alas<br />
After months of uncertainty and unrest, the<br />
final answer has come: Bronovo Hospital<br />
will be closing. Not all at once, but for the<br />
near future no major disorders will be attended<br />
to there. Not even the fact that the<br />
three princesses were born there could<br />
change this decision based on finance, staffing<br />
and the need for updating premises and<br />
investing in medical innovations.<br />
The hospital will<br />
address only minor health<br />
issues and will be open only<br />
on weekdays until 6 p.m.<br />
There will be no emergency<br />
personnel on hand; complex<br />
and acute operations will be<br />
carried out at Westeinde<br />
Hospital, and planned operations<br />
will gradually<br />
be moved to the recently<br />
modernized Antoniushove<br />
Hospital in Leidschendam.<br />
My sympathy goes out to<br />
the residents of the Bronovo<br />
neighborhood. Some years<br />
ago, my neighborhood Red<br />
Cross hospital suffered the<br />
same fate. It was no longer<br />
Credit: Theirry Schut Credit: HMC Bronovo<br />
the local place to rush off to for emergency<br />
treatment, or to have an operation or blood<br />
tests. We have gotten used to other facilities<br />
by now, but when we drive by it, we remember<br />
how convenient it was in the good old<br />
days.<br />
Some Like Them Blue and Pink<br />
Steef van Adrichem is the owner of a nursery<br />
in Wateringen, in the Westland. Thirtyfive<br />
years ago he was in Thailand, where<br />
he saw orchids growing on the top of trees.<br />
They were blue and pink and were called<br />
Vandas. He immediately fell in love with<br />
them and decided to import and grow them<br />
in his nursery. Over the years they have become<br />
popular with flower arrangers and can<br />
be seen in many of the most luxurious hotels<br />
in the world, from Paris to Dubai and<br />
Qatar. Emirates Airline places a Vanda at<br />
every first-class seat as a welcome gesture.<br />
It was no surprise when, last December,<br />
Van Adrichem received a special order for<br />
120,000 Vandas, for the wedding of the<br />
daughter of the richest man in India. After<br />
much sweat and tears, the order was on its<br />
way to India within a week’s time. Now the<br />
grower is waiting for photos of the wedding,<br />
to see how the flowers were displayed at the<br />
ceremony and after party.<br />
In Short<br />
• It appears that <strong>Dutch</strong> Brussels sprouts<br />
are a hit abroad, with most being exported<br />
to Germany, the U.S., the U.K.<br />
and Italy. Their export value is in the<br />
millions. In the Netherlands sprouts<br />
nearly top the cultivation charts; they<br />
are second only to the winter carrot.<br />
• Hotel Des Indes in The Hague has been<br />
added to the list of the 400 most exclusive<br />
hotels in the world. All the hotels<br />
listed are renowned for their high service<br />
level and special location.<br />
• In case you may have been wondering:<br />
Kruidvat is the largest store chain in the<br />
Netherlands, topping the list with 956<br />
shops. Second is Albert Heijn with 852<br />
locations, followed by Gall and Gall<br />
with 593 stores.<br />
• Good news! Film theaters, student<br />
unions/societies, and fitness centers are<br />
now required to decrease the volume<br />
of their music, to protect their visitors’<br />
hearing. All these groups have signed an<br />
agreement to keep the sound down, as<br />
damage to one’s ears cannot be reversed.<br />
Research by the Academic Medical<br />
Center in Amsterdam has shown that<br />
a quarter of young people between the<br />
ages of 12 and 25 have hearing loss. The<br />
Hearing Foundation estimates that one<br />
million people in the Netherlands have<br />
buzzing in the ears which may well be<br />
caused by loud noises.<br />
• In the Province of Gelderland an intensive<br />
search is under way to discover<br />
if wolves have come there to live.<br />
Simultaneously, a DNA investigation<br />
is being carried out to determine if the<br />
same wolves are seen repeatedly wandering<br />
around the territory, or if there<br />
are others as well. The aim is to help<br />
people know how to deal with them,<br />
with emphasis on the possible damage<br />
they could cause. If the wolves are to<br />
settle in the province, this will have<br />
consequences for businesses and people.<br />
Based on the research results, the<br />
province will discuss measures to be<br />
taken and are willing to help finance actions<br />
to avoid damages.<br />
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MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 41
WWDP<br />
Christmas<br />
Party<br />
42 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 43
Announcements<br />
Amsterdam Boat Show<br />
From Wednesday, <strong>March</strong> 6 – Sunday, <strong>March</strong><br />
10, the HISWA Amsterdam Boat Show will<br />
be held at the Amsterdam RAI. As the largest<br />
watersport exhibition in the Netherlands<br />
with over 250 exhibitors and 40,000 visitors<br />
anticipated, it features a huge range<br />
of boats, nautical accessories, sportswear,<br />
vacations and watersports services. There<br />
is free entrance for children under 16 who<br />
will enjoy the Sport Xperience where they<br />
will find the coolest sports under one roof:<br />
surfing, sailing, skimboarding and golf.<br />
They will be able to try the activities, get<br />
tips from pros and watch spectacular demos.<br />
www.hiswarai.nl<br />
Mexico after World War II. Fascinated by<br />
mountains, desert, adobe churches and sunbleached<br />
bones, she painted constantly. This<br />
lecture by James Russell, a British writer<br />
and curator, brings to life one of America’s<br />
greatest artists in one of its most beautiful<br />
places. Non-member fee is € 13. www.<br />
theartssocietythehague.org<br />
Tuesday, <strong>March</strong> 12<br />
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.<br />
Lecture begins at 8 p.m.<br />
Cultural Centrum Warenar<br />
Kerkstraat 75, Wassenaar<br />
Social Irish Dancing Evening<br />
The Irish Club of the Netherlands invites<br />
youngest cultural night owls with activities<br />
aimed at 4- to 12-year-olds. This year’s<br />
theme is Fantasy. Every child and each parent<br />
will need their own ticket which includes<br />
entrance to all locations, participation in all<br />
activities and use of historic buses between<br />
the city center and further afield museums.<br />
Please note that the Museumkaart is not accepted<br />
for this special evening and activities<br />
will be geared towards a <strong>Dutch</strong> audience.<br />
www.museumnachtkids.nl<br />
TEFAF – The European Fine Art<br />
Fair<br />
The world’s leading art and antiques fair<br />
will be held in Maastricht from Saturday,<br />
<strong>March</strong> 16 – Sunday, <strong>March</strong> 24.<br />
St. Patrick’s Festival<br />
Wear something green and head to Grote<br />
Markt to celebrate with all things Irish for<br />
the largest celebration of St. Patrick’s Day<br />
in the Netherlands. Get ready to turn green<br />
with the best Irish dancing schools in Europe,<br />
large pints, Irish food, great music and good<br />
laughs. www.stpatricksdaydenhaag.nl<br />
Sunday, <strong>March</strong> 17<br />
Grote Markt, Den Haag<br />
1 – 11 p.m.<br />
The Arts Society Lecture –<br />
Georgia O’Keeffe<br />
This colorful lecture explores the<br />
relationship between American painter<br />
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887 – 1986) and the<br />
picturesque state of New Mexico. Having<br />
visited the mountain art colony of Taos for<br />
the first time in 1929, she moved to New<br />
the <strong>AWC</strong> to join them for an evening of<br />
social Irish dancing. No experience is<br />
needed. Dance instruction will be given.<br />
When Irish dance is mentioned, Riverdance<br />
and competitive girls in embroidered<br />
dresses usually come to mind. This is noncompetitive<br />
traditional Irish dance, danced<br />
at weddings, in community halls and for<br />
St. Patrick’s Day. Tickets are € 10 or free<br />
for children under 12. Reserve your spot by<br />
emailing irishclubnl@gmail.com.<br />
Friday, <strong>March</strong> 15<br />
6:30 – 9:30 p.m.<br />
Church of Our Saviour<br />
Koningin Marialaan 2, Den Haag<br />
Museum Night for Kids<br />
On Saturday, <strong>March</strong> 16, around 20 museums<br />
and cultural institutions in The Hague<br />
and Voorburg will open their doors for the<br />
Photo by Loraine Bodewes<br />
This massive fair features 35,000 art objects<br />
from 275 dealers from 20 countries in a<br />
space as large as 7 football fields. What sets<br />
this fair apart from others is that, despite the<br />
dealers being the world’s finest, each item<br />
is still investigated for its quality, condition<br />
and authenticity. Even contemporary works<br />
are vetted and checked against The Art Loss<br />
Register. Enjoy the stimulating atmosphere<br />
full of dealers, collectors, academics, art<br />
critics and curators from major museums<br />
around the world. Special for this year’s<br />
fair, 23 highlights from the Dresden State<br />
Art Collections will be presented. www.<br />
tefaf.com<br />
Keukenhof Opens<br />
Each year more than seven million flower<br />
bulbs are planted in the historic park<br />
>> 46<br />
44 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 45
Announcements (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 45<br />
in Lisse, which opens its doors for the<br />
spring season from <strong>March</strong> 21 through<br />
May 19. The central theme for <strong>2019</strong> is<br />
Flower Power with a 1970s vibe in honor<br />
of Keukenhof’s 70th anniversary. The<br />
strength of flowers will be evident in the<br />
flower mosaic which was planted in two<br />
layers, providing a longer flowering period<br />
in the spring, with 50,000 tulips, grape<br />
hyacinths and crocuses. Discounted tickets<br />
with a special bus option from Leiden can<br />
be purchased online. www.keukenhof.nl<br />
Movies That Matter Festival<br />
The Movies that Matter Festival, an initiative<br />
of Amnesty International, takes place<br />
Friday, <strong>March</strong> 22 – Saturday, <strong>March</strong> 30 at<br />
Filmhuis Den Haag and Theater aan het<br />
Spui in The Hague. This festival presents<br />
around 60 human rights feature films and<br />
documentaries from around the world.<br />
Many of these films will be screened for<br />
the first and only time in the Netherlands.<br />
Many film screenings are followed by an<br />
in-depth program which might be an introduction,<br />
debate or talk show. Most films<br />
are in English or subtitled. For the program<br />
and tickets, go to www.moviesthatmatter.nl<br />
The Hermitage is Ten!<br />
The tenth anniversary of the Hermitage<br />
Amsterdam begins its celebration with<br />
Treasury, the first of two anniversary<br />
46 GOING DUTCH<br />
St George Killing the Dragon by Tintoretto,<br />
State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg<br />
exhibitions, featuring a cross-section of<br />
masterpieces from the entire collection<br />
of the St Petersburg State Hermitage.<br />
Through August 25, see masterpieces<br />
ranging from Da Vinci, Van Dyck, Matisse,<br />
and Rembrandt, to outstanding works<br />
of art from cultures dating back to early<br />
prehistory (23,000 BC) and from Ancient<br />
Egypt, Classical Greece and Rome. www.<br />
hermitage.nl<br />
All the Rijksmuseum’s<br />
Rembrandts<br />
In <strong>2019</strong>, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam<br />
marks the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt’s<br />
death with the Year of Rembrandt. The celebration<br />
opens with All the Rembrandts,<br />
in which the Rijksmuseum will present<br />
for the first time an exhibition of all<br />
its 22 paintings, 60 drawings and more<br />
than 300 of Rembrandt’s prints. As well<br />
as holding the world’s largest collection<br />
of Rembrandt paintings—including The<br />
Night Watch and The Jewish Bride—the<br />
Rijksmuseum collection offers the world’s<br />
most comprehensive and representative<br />
overview of Rembrandt’s work. Given<br />
the extreme rarity and delicate state of<br />
many of the drawings and prints, this is a<br />
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore<br />
Rembrandt the artist, human, storyteller<br />
and innovator.<br />
Message from the President (cont.)<br />
Continued from page 8<br />
creates a positive effect, not only for<br />
the individual, but for those with whom<br />
she interacts with at home, socially, and<br />
at work.<br />
• We have a social worker who worked<br />
with hospitalized children.<br />
• A creative writer has joined the Club.<br />
• One of our new Members is an awardwinning<br />
documentary film director<br />
whose work has been shown at numerous<br />
international film festivals, including<br />
Sundance. She has won a Peabody<br />
award, been on the Oscar shortlist for<br />
Best Documentary, and was nominated<br />
twice for an Emmy.<br />
• A Canadian tech company has its<br />
Director of Digital Marketing and<br />
Marketing Operations working virtually<br />
from her home in The Hague, which<br />
allows her plenty of mom-time with her<br />
six-month-old daughter.<br />
You may be wondering why we push so<br />
hard to grow our membership. It’s simply<br />
because we need to, due to the fact that<br />
many of our Members are in the country<br />
for their, or their partner’s, short-term job<br />
assignment. Unlike many organizations<br />
whose members live long-term in a city, our<br />
Club is expat-focused and we experience<br />
ebbs and flows in our numbers. About 10<br />
years ago, we had 600 Members. In the last<br />
few years, we’ve lost a significant number<br />
of Members due to the economic realities of<br />
the oil and gas industry, with many of our<br />
Members having to repatriate as the industry<br />
readjusted. Today, we have more than<br />
170 Members with hopes that that number<br />
continues its healthy growth.<br />
The diversity of our membership is a sure<br />
sign that what we offer is wanted and needed<br />
by expat women. With that said, I ask<br />
you what I asked the women who stopped<br />
by our table at the Feel at Home in The<br />
Hague Fair: What do you want from our<br />
<strong>AWC</strong>? Please don’t hesitate to contact me<br />
if you have ideas or see that we’re lacking<br />
in our social or philanthropic events and activities.<br />
Your voice matters!<br />
Tot ziens,<br />
Suzanne<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 47
Classifieds<br />
Beginners Website Setup<br />
Basics Course<br />
Learn the basic requirements<br />
for setting up a new Website.<br />
Main topics: Domain names,<br />
Web hosting, and Content<br />
management systems.<br />
COST: €25, <strong>AWC</strong> Members<br />
only €15<br />
DATES: Mar 18, Apr 1, Apr 8<br />
TIME: 10 - 11:30 a.m.<br />
WHERE: <strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
Register: www.Juewels.com<br />
Coffee, tea, and cookies<br />
included!<br />
Taught by: Julie Otten (<strong>AWC</strong><br />
Webmaster)<br />
WORDPRESS Basics<br />
Workshop<br />
Learn how to install, setup,<br />
create and manage your own<br />
WordPress Website.<br />
COST: €149, <strong>AWC</strong> Members<br />
only €90<br />
DATES: Mar 4, Mar 22, Apr 5,<br />
Apr 12<br />
TIME: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.<br />
WHERE: <strong>AWC</strong> Clubhouse<br />
Register: www.Juewels.com<br />
Coffee, tea, juice, & light lunch<br />
included!<br />
Taught by: Julie Otten (<strong>AWC</strong><br />
Webmaster)<br />
Member Privacy<br />
Expat Families in Transit &<br />
Work Life Balance<br />
Ingrid offers Child & Teens<br />
Counseling, Life Work<br />
Coaching, Accountability<br />
Coaching and Workshops<br />
& Training. Experienced<br />
Bilingual Psychosocial<br />
Therapist/Counselor &<br />
Coach. Certified NFG<br />
member. Check for Coverage<br />
Health Care Insurance.<br />
Contact 0640216544. FREE<br />
30 MIN CONSULTATION.<br />
imasselinkandreas@gmail.com<br />
www.ingridmasselinkandreas.<br />
com<br />
Private Pilates Lessons in<br />
Your Own Home<br />
I am a Certified Pilates<br />
instructor offering mat<br />
Pilates—tailored to your<br />
body’s specific needs.<br />
Monday to Friday, office<br />
hours. Women only. Private<br />
one-on-one or small groups of<br />
up to three possible. Lessons<br />
in English.<br />
The Hague, Wassenaar area<br />
only.<br />
Please email christina@gikas.<br />
nl for more info.<br />
Please be reminded that the <strong>AWC</strong> Membership List is for <strong>AWC</strong> Member reference only and use of this<br />
information in any communication other than <strong>AWC</strong> official business is strictly prohibited. Members may<br />
not share the list with anyone other than another <strong>AWC</strong> Member in good standing and never to any<br />
third party.<br />
Event information, suggestions or comments<br />
for eNews?<br />
Please send all eNews information to<br />
enews@awcthehague.org<br />
no later than end of day each Friday for the following<br />
week’s eNews.<br />
The <strong>AWC</strong> takes care to protect Member information and adherence to this policy is critical to maintain<br />
Member privacy. Members are asked to report suspected misuse of the list to any <strong>AWC</strong> Board Member.<br />
Index of Advertisers<br />
ACCESS<br />
page 28<br />
American Travel<br />
Center<br />
page 35<br />
FRITSTAXI<br />
Airport Service<br />
Inside Back Cover<br />
Happy Critters<br />
page 29<br />
Playball Kids<br />
Sligro<br />
page 29<br />
page 21<br />
Wassalon<br />
Weissenbruch<br />
page 19<br />
Your Cleaning<br />
Service<br />
page 28<br />
Aveda Lifestyle<br />
Marcel<br />
VERHEY VAN<br />
Salon<br />
Vermeulen<br />
WIJK brilmode<br />
Jewelry<br />
Inside Cover<br />
page 11 page 17<br />
Frans Burgers<br />
Petros Eyewear<br />
Tapijt<br />
page 15<br />
page 11<br />
Support Fellow <strong>AWC</strong> Members<br />
The <strong>AWC</strong> is not responsible for accidents<br />
Find links to a large variety of businesses or injuries occurring at Club activities or<br />
owned by <strong>AWC</strong> Members at www.<br />
on Club property. Sports and exercise<br />
awcthehague.org/site/newcomers/<br />
instructors must carry their own liability<br />
insurance.<br />
business-links<br />
Rates<br />
Classified Mini-Ads:<br />
Deadline: In general, the 1st of the month prior to the<br />
How to Submit Your Ad:<br />
Email your ad to: goingdutchads@awcthehague.org<br />
month in which your ad will appear, although subject to<br />
change due to holiday schedule.<br />
Payment Information:<br />
Please indicate the name of your ad on your payment so that<br />
<strong>AWC</strong> Member Rates:<br />
we are able to match up your payment with your ad.<br />
For 45 Words For 25 Additional Words<br />
Per Issue € 10 € 5<br />
By Bank Transfer:<br />
Eight Issues € 70 € 30<br />
ABN-AMRO 43.14.21.757<br />
IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757<br />
Non-Member Rates:<br />
Display Ads:<br />
For 45 Words For 25 Additional Words<br />
For full, half, third or quarter page commercial display ads,<br />
Per Issue € 15 € 8<br />
email our magazine staff at<br />
Eight Issues € 110 € 55<br />
goingdutchads@awcthehague.org<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 49<br />
48 GOING DUTCH
Proost! Questionnaire<br />
Answers by Rachel Hines<br />
Why are you living in the Netherlands?<br />
After living in Asia for a few years, my husband<br />
and I thought it would also be fun to<br />
experience life in Europe. Luckily, we were<br />
able to move to The Hague with his employer.<br />
What do you enjoy most about the <strong>AWC</strong>?<br />
The breadth of interests of the women in the<br />
Club, which means Members can dabble in<br />
lots of interesting and worthwhile activities.<br />
It’s also really nice that there are women of<br />
all ages in the Club, for a variety of perspectives<br />
and life experiences.<br />
What do you consider the most overrated<br />
virtue of being an expat?<br />
Having to explain to friends that while our<br />
life is super-fun, it isn’t quite as adventurous<br />
as they may think. We still have to take out<br />
the trash, etc.!<br />
Which <strong>Dutch</strong> words or phrases do you<br />
most overuse?<br />
I’m enjoying adding “je/jes” to the end of<br />
wordjes.<br />
What is the quality you most like in a<br />
friend?<br />
Being able to really connect via talking and<br />
also doing cultural and fitness activities together.<br />
Which locations haven’t been ticked off<br />
your bucket list?<br />
So many, but right now I’m obsessed with<br />
seeing the Northern Lights.<br />
Where would you most like to live?<br />
Chasing autumn by living half the year in<br />
New York and half the year in Australia.<br />
What’s your hobby?<br />
I love listening to podcasts. Can’t miss: The<br />
Brian Lehrer Show, Invisibilia, Slow Burn,<br />
Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Nod,<br />
Planet Money, It’s Been a Minute, Radiolab,<br />
The Longest Shortest Time, She’s All Fat, By<br />
the Book, and of course This American Life.<br />
I’m breaking the Five Thirty Eight podcast<br />
habit now that the midterms are over.<br />
Which talent would you most like to have?<br />
Singing, but I do it anyway.<br />
Who are your heroes in real life?<br />
I am in awe of people who can resolve disputes<br />
while maintaining their principles in<br />
everyday life and on the wider stage.<br />
If you have pets, tell us breed, name, and<br />
why they’re the best pets ever!<br />
My fantasy pet family involves two cats and<br />
a dog who all get along. Allergies may mean<br />
that they remain fantasy pets.<br />
What is your motto?<br />
“Just do what’s next.” I lifted it from a new<br />
father quoted in the Washington Post and<br />
have found it to be very useful.<br />
What constitutes a perfect day for you?<br />
Well, it starts with coffee, a croissant, and a<br />
word puzzle . . .<br />
50 GOING DUTCH<br />
MARCH <strong>2019</strong> 51
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