AWC Going Dutch Nov 2019

Going Dutch 

November 2019 

The Magazine of the 

American Women’s Club 

of The Hague 

Prinsjesdag 

Thanksgiving in Leiden 

Barcelona Weekend 

6 

34 

45 

5 Officers and Chairwomen 

6 Prinsjesdag Collage 

8 Message from the President 

9 Annual General Meeting 

10 Letter from the Editor 

12 Membership 

12 Clubhouse Corner 

13 Newcomers 

14 Ongoing Activities 

19 Cologne Christmas Market 

20 One-of-a-Kind Activities 

22 Keeping Biodiversity 

Diverse 

26 Holiday Bazaar 

28 November Calendar 

31 AWC and the Arts 

32 FAWCO Corner 

33 Climate Change Collage 

34 Thanksgiving Day Service 

35 Thanksgiving Day Lunch 

36 The Dutch Daily 

37 Your Vote is Your Voice 

38 Welcome Back BBQ Collage 

40 Unconventional Travel: 

Down Under 

45 Weekend in Barcelona 

48 Announcements 

52 Classifieds 

53 Index of Advertisers 

and Ad Rates 

54 Restaurant 

Recommendations 

NOVEMBER 2019 3

Editor 

Alex Moore 

2019-2020 AWC Officers 

Committee Chairs 

AWC Clubhouse 

Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 43 

2582 NJ Den Haag 

Tel: 070 350 6007 

info@awcthehague.org 

www.awcthehague.org 

Going Dutch Magazine 

goingdutchmag@awcthehague.org 

Clubhouse Hours 

Tuesday and Thursday 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Monday, Wednesday and Friday Closed 

Dues (Effective 2019-2020) 

€ 110 per year (€ 66 after January 1) 

€ 90 business, professional 

€ 55 valid US military ID 

€ 35 student 

€ 35 Outside the Netherlands (Going 

Dutch magazine not included) 

Add € 15 new member registration fee 

Design and Layout 

Teresa Mahoney 

Cover Photo 

Foggy Morning by Melissa White 

Photography 

Greetje Engelsman, Amber Gatewood, 

Audrey Goodman, Theresa Lane, Suzanne 

MacNeil, Melissa Rider, Emily van Eerten, 

Anne van Oorshot, Melissa White 

Proofreaders 

Celeste Brown, Jane Gulde, Diane Schaap, 

Debbie van Hees, Melissa White 

Advertising Manager & Invoicing 

Theresa Lane 

Contributors 

Barbara Bookman, Mary Ellen Brennan, 

Jane Choy, Suzanne Dundas, Greetje 

Engelsman, Roberta Enschede, Jan Essad, 

Amber Gatewood, Audrey Goodman, Dena 

Haggerty, Jaimie Keppel, Suzanne MacNeil, 

Sunita Menon, Melissa Rider, Suzi Tart, Jo 

van Kalveen, Anne van Oorshot, Hilde Volle, 

Melissa White 

Printer 

www.dwcprint.nl 

AWC Bank Account Number 

IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757 

KvK Den Haag 

40409274 

BTW or VAT: 007408705B01 

Honorary President Diane Hoekstra 

President Suzanne MacNeil 

president@awcthehague.org 

Vice President Melissa Rider 

vicepresident@awcthehague.org 

Treasurer Sheyla Karman 

treasurer@awcthehague.org 

Secretary Heather DeWitt 

secretary@awcthehague.org 

Club and Community Development 

Amber Gatewood 

community@awcthehague.org 

Clubhouse Administrator 

Jan Essad 

clubadministrator@awcthehague.org 

Communications Audrey Goodman 

communications@awcthehague.org 

Member-at-Large 

Sunita Menon 

Front Office 

Liduine Bekman, Siska Datema-Kool, 

Hannah Gray, Georgia Regnault, Melissa 

Rider, Jessie Rodell 

Activities: Open 

Arts: Jane Choy 

Assistant Treasurer: Teresa Insalaco 

Assistant Membership: Liduine Bekman 

Board Advisor: Jessie Rodell 

Bookkeeper: Lore Schnebelie 

Caring Committee: Naomi Keip 

Chat, Craft & Cake: Suzanne Dundas 

eNews: Amber Gatewood 

Evening Events: Open 

FAWCO: Barbara Brookman 

Front Office Coordinator: Open 

General Meeting Programs: Open 

Heart Pillow: Jan de Vries 

Historian/Archivist: Georgia Regnault 

Holiday Bazaar: Jaimie Keppel-Molenaar 

IT Administrator: Julie Otten 

Kids’ Club: Open 

Library: Dena Haggerty 

Lunch Bunch: Greetje Engelsman 

Membership: Mary Ellen Brennan 

Movie Network: Tina Andrews 

Newcomers: Jo van Kalveen & Hilde 

Volle 

Parliamentarian: Georgia Regnault 

Philanthropy: Open 

Public Relations: Open 

Social Media: Ceci Wong & Julie Otten 

Tennis: Molly Boed 

Thirsty Thursday: Open 

Tours: Liduine Bekman 

Volunteer Coordinator: Laurie 

Martecchini 

Walkie Talkies: Emily van Eerten 

Webmaster: Julie Otten 

Women with Dutch Partners: Michelle 

Voorn 

Deadlines: Submissions are due no later than the last Monday of the month preceding the publication month. 

For example, for the January/February issue, submissions are due before Monday, November 25 

Please Note: Articles submitted to Going Dutch will be published subject to space limitations and editorial approval. 

All rights reserved; reprints only by written permission of the Editor. Please email to: goingdutchmag@ 

awcthehague.org 

Legal Notice: Articles in Going Dutch express the views and opinions of their authors alone, and not necessarily 

those of the AWC of The Hague, its Members or this publication. 

4 GOING DUTCH 

AWC Mission Statement 

The AWC is an association formed to provide social and educational activities for American 

women living in the Netherlands and to promote amicable relations among people of all nations, 

as well as acquiring funds for general public interest. Membership in the club is open 

to women of all nations who are friendly and welcoming to American culture. The association 

does not endeavor to make a profit. The AWC is a 100% volunteer organization. 


Prinsjesdag Luncheon 

6 GOING DUTCH

Message from the President 

by Suzanne MacNeil 

I 

started this month’s column in Amsterdam 

where I took part in FAWCO’s Region 

4 meeting. This was only my second 

FAWCO event as the biennial conference in 

the spring in Edinburgh was my immersion 

into the organization, which is something all 

of you belong to as a Member of our Club. 

My first FAWCO experience was overwhelming, 

to say the least. I knew very few of the 

attendees, wasn’t sure what to expect, and 

didn’t know what I was supposed to get out 

of the weekend. What I got was overwhelming. 

The energy, the confidence, the ideas, 

and the enthusiasm that emanated from the 

attendees from AWCs worldwide made me a 

true believer (aka FAWCO Fever). 

The Amsterdam conference hosted 60 

women from clubs throughout Europe, including 

Moscow, not just Region 4 which 

is comprised of our Club, Amsterdam, 

Antwerp, Brussels, and Luxembourg. When 

I walked in to the dinner the first evening it 

felt like home. So many familiar faces, big 

hugs, interesting conversation, and women 

who share their passion about issues that 

matter to them. Barbara Brookman, our 

new FAWCO Representative, (see photo!) 

also took part in the conference, along with 

Emily van Eerten, the FAWCO President, 

Mary Adams, and Laurie Brooks. Did you 

know there’s an offshoot of FAWCO called 

FAUSA, FAWCO Alumni USA? When I repatriate 

next year, I know that I’ll be able to 

continue to follow my heart on the issues 

that matter most to me. I hope that you’ll 

research how you can get involved with 

FAWCO. 

8 GOING DUTCH 

November is packed 

with choices, some 

are our regular 

monthly activities 

and others are 

one-of-a-kind. 

Our annual 

Holiday Bazaar will 

be held the weekend 

of November 

9 and 10 at the 

Marriott Hotel 

(please note this 

is a new location). 

Jaime Keppel is 

again chairing the 

Bazaar (see story 

on pages 26 – 27) 

and has rounded 

up a number of 

new vendors for 

the 2019 edition. 

If you haven’t yet volunteered to work the 

bazaar, please contact Laurie Martecchini 

(volunteercoordinator@awcthehague.org). 

Theresa Lane is chairing our bake sale, 

look for information from her on Facebook 

and eNews. The Holiday Bazaar is an 

important event as we use the money raised 

to help fund our philanthropic events and 

activities throughout the Club year and I 

hope to see you volunteering and shopping! 

If Thanksgiving is giving you the blues because 

you won’t be able to spend it with 

family, our Members are the best substitutes 

for relatives as we’re our own little family! 

We’ll celebrate with turkey, dressing, and 

all the fixings after our November Annual 

General Meeting on November 14 and if 

you have a favorite recipe for a side, don’t 

hesitate to let Jan Essad or Sunita Menon 

know (clubadministrator@awcthehague. 

org), as they’re planning the menu. Not only 

are we celebrating the holiday, the meeting is 

one of our most important as our Treasurer, 

Sheyla Karman, will review the budget for 

the current Club year and you will have the 

opportunity to ask questions, and then the 

Membership will vote to ratify the budget. 

After the vote, Anne van Oorschot, a former 

president of our Club who is now the 

co-chair of FAWCO’s Environment Team, 

will update us on how FAWCO is working 

to stem the growing climate change crisis by 

sharing every day changes that can make a 

difference (see page 22). 

>>25 

Annual General Meeting 

by Suzanne MacNeil and Anne van Oorschot 

The November General Meeting is one 

of the most important of our Club 

year. Sheyla Karman, our Treasurer, 

will present the 2019-2020 budget to the 

Membership for discussion and a vote. Should 

you want to review the budget in advance, a 

copy will be provided by emailing President@ 

awcthehague.org. In addition, your Board will 

share information about the philanthropic 

projects we’ve undertaken and funded in the 

past 18 months. It’s an impressive list! 

The Problem with Plastic 

Following the formal portion of the meeting, 

Anne van Oorschot, a former President 

of our Club who is now the Co-Chair for the 

FAWCO Environment Team, will discuss 

the problem with plastic. “Climate change 

has been called the biggest crisis humanity 

has ever faced. The causes are complicated 

and varied and include the warming of the 

planet due to increased methane and CO2, 

deforestation, human trash, and the use of 

pesticides and herbicides. While many of 

these issues are beyond the influence of the 

average person, one big component of human 

trash is plastic, and the consumption of 

plastic is within the control of the consumer, 

if we are aware of it. Learn some background 

information 

about plastic 

and the huge problem 

it has become, 

as well as some 

practical ideas that 

we as consumers 

can carry out to be 

part of the solution.” 

Potluck Lunch 

Following the 

meeting we will celebrate Thanksgiving 

with our annual Potluck Lunch. Please look 

for more information about the luncheon in 

eNews and on our Facebook page. 

Thursday, November 14 

10 a.m. Coffee and Conversation 

10:30 a.m. Club updates and news 

10:45 a.m. Budget review and vote 

11:15 a.m. Philanthropic overview 

11:30 a.m. Presentation by Anne van 

Oorschot 

Potluck Lunch following the meeting 


Guests are welcome 

Sign up on awcthehague.org 

Did you know that any woman who speaks English is eligible to join the 

American Women’s Club? 

Invite your English-speaking friends, wherever they’re from, to join us today! 


Letter from the Editor 

by Alex Moore 

I 

don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m 

surprised with how fast this year is going. 

I blinked and it was the end of February. 

I blinked again, and it was September. The 

end of 2019 is almost here which means the 

end of another decade. Normally, I’d get contemplative 

at this point in the letter, but I’ll 

save that pseudo-intellectual, semi-thoughtful 

drivel for another day. 

With the holidays around the corners, this 

is the part where many expats get homesick. 

In my experience, I have found that 

Thanksgiving is one of the hardest holidays 

to experience outside of the US. It’s such a 

uniquely American holiday rooted in tradition, 

a holiday that may have some kind of 

equivalent in other countries, but it’s not the 

same. However, I have every plan ready to 

keep Thanksgiving alive in Holland. But 

with the great sense of community that we 

share at the Club, we expats won’t be so 

lonely after all. The Ceremony in Leiden and 

the Thanksgiving Lunch are great opportunities 

to spend time with new and old Club 

Members. 

Before I get too emo, I’ll share an anecdote 

from last year’s Thanksgiving preparations. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the Great Turkey 

Pursuit of 2018. I went into Rotterdam to 

pick up a turkey from a well-known poultry 

butcher in the city. I placed my order and 

had to find the nearest ATM to get cash to 

pay for my turkey because I didn’t have a 

Dutch bank account at the time. After I paid 

and left, I walked fifteen minutes or so to 

the nearest metro station, which was Blaak. 

I boarded the metro with a six pound turkey 

in my arms during the beginning of the afternoon 

rush where it was standing room only. 

I finally got a seat with one stop left to go. 

But the saga continues. I fumbled for my 

metro card from my back pocket while trying 

not to drop the albatross of a turkey in 

my arms. I boarded a bus where I raced towards 

the first seat I found and my tired arms 

had a break. At least until I had to walk from 

the bus stop to the house, where my in-laws’ 

Irish terrier Teddy greeted me by sniffing and 

jumping on me. While I had the turkey in my 

arms. If it weren’t for my cat-like reflexes 

and quick thinking, I might have dropped it 

on her head. 

By the way, I see the irony (if that’s the right 

word) of referring to a turkey as an albatross. 

I hope no one is burdened by that detail 

and by the groaner pun I just sneaked into 

this sentence. Cooking the turkey itself was 

easier than I thought, but it was as time consuming 

as I anticipated. Especially because 

Teddy kept coming into the kitchen with her 

orange soccer ball begging me to play with 

her. I relented briefly before livestreaming 

another episode of “Alex’s Ratchet Kitchen” 

on Instagram which involved me basting the 

turkey, telling bad jokes, and moving the 

camera to show Teddy eyeing the turkey with 

her soccer ball at her paws. 

10 GOING DUTCH 

While I’ll be cooking the turkey again, I 

won’t have any dogs in the kitchen because 

sadly Teddy went to dog heaven earlier this 

year. I will, however, try to livestream again 

because that was fun. I’m hoping that this 

year doesn’t involve going over the river and 

through the concrete jungle of Rotterdam 

with a turkey in my arms. But you never 

know. 

Alex 


Membership 

by Mary Ellen Brennan 

We are very pleased with the number 

of new Members who joined and 

current Members who renewed during 

September! Our success has been in large 

part due to the great benefits of Membership. 

Prospective Members just couldn’t say no 

to the value that we provide as an organization. 

The greatest benefit of Membership is 

becoming a part of a close-knit community 

of women who are interesting, diverse, supportive, 

friendly, and enthusiastic. 

We get many new Members through our 

current Members. Please take a moment 

to think about who you might reach out to 

about our community and its benefits, and 

invite them to join us at an upcoming event. 

Remember that one doesn’t need to be an 

American to join! Membership is available 

to women who are at least 18 years of age 

and either hold a US passport, or are married 

to a US citizen, or have an affinity for 

Did you know we moved to the current 

AWC Clubhouse location in 2012 and 

our Clubhouse lease was renewed automatically 

for five years on June 21, 2017? If 

we choose to move, a one-year notice must 

be given to the Property Owners before the 

next renewal date of June 21, 2022. 

the US. Let’s keep our momentum going by 

reaching out to potential Members! 

Clubhouse Corner 

by Jan Essad & Sunita Menon 

Welcome New Members! 

Erin Baker 

Carin Elam 

Beatriz Martiniez-van Erven 

Summer Fisk 

Hanny 

Amie Hesbach 

Rachel Kuppers 

Joy Marino 

Liesbeth Tutein Nolthenius 

Newcomers 

by Jo van Kalveen & Hilde Volle 

One of the first images you think of 

when you hear the word “Delft’ 

must be the world famous blue and 

white porcelain tiles and ornaments – the 

renowned Delft Blauwe! Join Jo and Hilde 

and fellow AWC Newcomers on a trip to Delft 

where you will visit the wonderful Royal 

Delft porcelain factory. We will also use this 

visit to travel by public transport departing 

from The Hague by train and returning from 

Delft by tram so it’s a great opportunity to 

practice using your OV-chipkaart! 

Royal Delft is the only Delft manufacturer 

of Delft Blue since the 17th century, and 

to this day still uses the same methods of 

production. We will take a tour of the Royal 

Delft Experience where you learn about the 

history and production process of Royal 

Delftware, see live painting demonstrations, 

visit the Delftware museum collection, and 

walk through part of the Royal Delft factory 

itself. The tour ends with a look around the 

lovely gift store which stocks a huge range 

of Royal Delft products. We will then walk 

into the center of Delft for lunch at one of 

the many restaurants there before catching 

Tram 1 back to The Hague midafternoon. 

Wednesday, November 20 

9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Registration Deadline: November 15 

Assemble at Den Haag Centraal at 

9 a.m. by Starbucks 

Train to Delft Central Station (17 minutes) 

Walk to Royal Delft (15 to 20 minutes) 

Visit Royal Delft, audio or guided tour 

Walk into Delft for lunch, at participants 

own expense (20 minutes) 

Tram to the center of The Hague (30 

minutes) 

Museum, transportation and lunch at 

own expense. 

Museum entrance: € 14, or € 11 with 

Museumkaart. 

Train from Den Haag Centraal to Delft: 

€ 2,60 with OV-chipkaart 

Tram from Delft back to Den Haag: 

€ 2.51 with OV-chipkaart 


You may have heard we have formed an 

ad hoc committee to look into how we use 

our Clubhouse and what our future options 

may be. We love our current Clubhouse and 

want to make sure we are in the right place 

while meeting the needs of our Membership 

and our activities. Look for a survey coming 

your way and if you have any questions 

be sure to ask us, your Clubhouse 

Administrators. In the meantime, let’s enjoy 

our Clubhouse. See you at the Club! 

Clubhouse Corner 

Did you know you can use the Clubhouse for a private event or business workshop 

or meeting? Interested? Contact your Clubhouse Administrators, Sunita and Jan, at 

clubadministrator@awcthehague.org for more details. 


Credit bookspot.n 

Ongoing Activities 

Book Clubs 

The AWC Book Clubs are open to all readers, 

and new Members are especially welcome! 

There are no requirements that you 

must attend every meeting or lead a discussion. 

Snacks are provided by a different 

Member each month. There are two Book 

Clubs hosted by AWC Members: One in the 

daytime and one in the evening. Questions? 

Teresa Mahoney organizes the daytime 

group and can be reached at bookclubday@ 

awcthehague.org. Dena Haggerty handles 

the evening meetings and can be reached 

at bookclubevening@awcthehague.org. 

Happy reading! 

Daytime Book Club 

November Selection: Beloved by Toni 

Morrison 

Staring unflinchingly into 

the abyss of slavery, this 

spellbinding novel transforms 

history into a story 

as powerful as Exodus 

and as intimate as a lullaby. 

Sethe, its protagonist, 

was born a slave and 

escaped to Ohio, but 18 

years later she is still not 

free. She has too many memories of Sweet 

Home, the beautiful farm where so many 

hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new 

home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, 

who died nameless and whose tombstone is 

engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled 

with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a 

rope, Beloved is a towering achievement. 


10 a.m. 


FREE 

Daytime Book Club Recap – September 

“You don’t have to be a good girl to be a good 

person” is the marketing tagline for City of 

Girls and the theme of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 

entire novel. Vivian Morris, rich 19-yearold 

Vassar flunkout, finds that “good girl,” if 

the concept exists at all, means a completely 

Daytime Book Club Reading List: 

December TBA: An American Princess: The 

Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der 

Zijl 

January 23: A Strangeness of My Mind by 

Orphan Pamuk 

different thing among the theater folk she 

finds herself living with than it means to her 

staid WASP family. Gilbert clearly loves the 

grit and glamour and sheer fun of the 1940 

midtown NYC theater world and delights us 

with producers, dancers, showgirls and actors 

involved in stage productions, both ludicrous 

and rollicking, that you long to have 

seen. This is a book you read with a wide 

smile on your face. Even the sex scenes are 

masterfully unique and funny—a difficult 

task to pull off even for a writer of Gilbert’s 

talents. There’s an unusual through-line 

involving clothes, costumes, fabric and 

sewing that is thoroughly researched and 

thoroughly enjoyable. As she ages, Vivian 

becomes gauzily philosophical about life. 

Some of us liked this change of tone, but 

others found it bifurcated the novel and was 

a little too contrived. Regardless, we highly 

recommend this book with one caveat: we 

think it would be an unusual man who loved 

it as much as we girls did. 

Evening Book Club 

November Selection: Fleischman is in 

Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner 

Toby Fleishman thought he knew what 

to expect when he and his wife of almost 

15 years separated: 

weekends and every 

other holiday with the 

kids, some residual 

bitterness, the occasional 

moment of tension 

in their co-parenting 

negotiations. He could 

not have predicted 

that one day, in the 

middle of his summer 

Credit: Goodreads 

of sexual emancipation, Rachel would just 

drop their two children off at his place and 

simply not return. He had been working so 

hard to find equilibrium in his single life. 

As Toby tries to figure out where Rachel 

went, all while juggling his patients at the 

hospital, his never-ending parental duties, 

and his new app-assisted sexual popularity, 

his tidy narrative of the spurned husband 

with the too-ambitious wife is his sole 

consolation. But if Toby ever wants to truly 

understand what happened to Rachel and 

what happened to his marriage, he is going 

to have to consider that he might not have 

seen things all that clearly in the first place. 

The location changes every month, so 

please contact Dena at bookclubevening@ 

awcthehague.org if you are interested in 

attending. 


7:30 p.m. 

Location TBA 

FREE 

Evening Book Club Reading List: 

New date December 4: Love You Hard by 

Abby Maslin 

January: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by 

Thornton Wilder 

February: Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick 

March: The Signature of All Things by 

Elizabeth Gilbert 

Evening Book Club Recap – September 

September’s Evening Book Club was extra 

special. We read Buried Appearances, written 

by one of our own AWC Members: Dena 

Haggerty. Buried Appearances follows 

Skylar, an American with Dutch roots, >> 16 



Ongoing Activities (cont.) 

Continued from page 15 

who travels to Holland to uncover the mystery 

surrounding her grandfather’s death 

during World War II. The story line is riveting, 

and the main character is a strong (and 

very independent) woman. Those of us who 

know Dena, couldn’t help but hear a bit of 

her coming through the book. It’s recommended 

by our Book Club! 

Chat, Craft & Cake 

Chat, Craft & Cake is a weekly highlight 

for those who enjoy crafts and camaraderie. 

Whether your craft is knitting, quilting, needlepoint 

or simply mending your clothes, 

or whether you are a beginner or an expert, 

you are welcome to join us. Fish that UFO 

(Unfinished Object) out of the drawer and 

get going on it again. CCandCers are always 

ready with a helping hand, a lesson, or some 

advice. Each week, a different Member 

brings a cake―tried and true, or experimental. 

Babysitting is not available and there are 

lots of sharp objects about (pins, needles, 

scissors and wit) so we cannot accommodate 

children. Contact Suzanne Dundas at 

chatcraftcake@awcthehague.org for more 

information 

Every Tuesday 

10 a.m. – Noon 


FREE 

Heart Pillow Project 

Members work together to make heartshaped 

pillows designed to help support 

the arms of recent mastectomy patients. 

Each pillow is made with TLC, wrapped, 

and comes with a note signed by an AWC 

volunteer. No sewing skills are needed, as 

you can cut, stuff, or wrap the heart pillows. 

We are proud to provide men and women 

with something both practical and comforting, 

and we know our work helps because 

we often receive thank-you notes and emails 

from the patients who have received a heart 

pillow. For more information, please contact 

Jan de Vries at heartpillow@awcthehague. 

org. 

Tuesday, November 12 

Noon – 2 p.m. 


FREE 

Visitors Welcome 

Out to Lunch Bunch 

Restaurant Walong (www.restaurantwalong. 

nl) has been a well-known restaurant on the 

Frederik Hendriklaan for years, especially 

at lunchtime. You can enjoy the extensive 

dim sum dishes whether they are steamed, 

fried or baked. We will enjoy this special 

Chinese dim sum lunch, consisting of little 

bites. You can choose one of the two dim 

sum lunches: meat/shrimp or vegetarian. 

If you have any questions, contact Greetje 

Engelsman at activities@awcthehague.org. 


Noon 

Restaurant Walong. 

Frederik Hendriklaan 286, Den Haag 

Sign up at www.awcthehague.org 

Tennis League 

Players needed! The AWC Tennis Group 

plays doubles every Tuesday in Warmond. 

Ladies move up and down the courts according 

to a ladder system. The emphasis 

in on having fun! The League is available 

for all levels except true beginners. Contact 

Molly Boed at mollyboed@gmail.com for 

more information. 

Every Tuesday 

>> 18 



Ongoing Activities (cont.) 


Cologne Christmas Market Trip 

by Melissa Rider 

(except specific holidays TBD) 

1 – 3 p.m. 

Dekker Tennis Court 

Veerpolder 14, Warmond 

€ 275 Members / € 325 nonmembers 

Thirsty Thursday 

Join us again for our monthly gathering. 

Thirsty Thursday is a casual evening of 

companionship and good conversation – a 

favorite for AWC Members and prospective 

Members. Two soft drinks, wine or beer, 

plus snacks. 


6 – 9 p.m. 

Le Quartier 

Van Hoytemastraat 43 (Benoordenhout) 

€ 15 for two drinks and snacks 

No RSVP needed 

Walkie Talkies 

Whether you count your steps or just want 

to walk with friends, the Monday morning 

Walkie Talkies is a fun, healthy and energetic 

way to start the week. The group meets in 

front of the Clubhouse before heading out 

to walk to various destinations in the area, 

usually racking up 10,000 steps along the 

way. Please check the AWC Facebook 

page or contact Emily van Eerten at 

walkietalkies@awcthehague.org for last 

minute updates and cancellations. 

Mondays 

9:30 a.m. 


Free 


Wassenaar Coffee & 

Conversation 

If you live in or north of Wassenaar, join 

your neighbors for coffee and conversation 

once-a-month without having to drive 

to the clubhouse. One Member will host 

a casual coffee at her home at 9:30 on the 

first Thursday of every month. Prospective 

Members are welcome too. Suzanne 

Dundas coordinates these meetings and can 

be reached at chatcraftcake@awcthehague. 

org. Because the location changes every 

month, contact Suzanne if you are interested 

in attending or for more information. 


9:30 a.m. 

Location TBA 

FREE 

Christmas Market Trip 

This year’s AWC Christmas Market trip will 

be to Cologne, Germany from December 

10-11. Feel free to just come for the day or 

stay overnight, by booking your own train 

transportation and accommodation. Please 

contact Melissa Rider at vicepresident@ 

awcthehague.org for more information on 

how to book this trip so you don’t miss out 

on all of the holiday festivities. 

Dates/Times 

Tuesday, December 10: Depart Utrecht 

Centraal 8:37, arrive Koln 10:46 

Wednesday, December 11: Depart Koln Hbf 

17:46, arrive Utrecht 20:01 

NOTE: You will be on the same train as 

Liduine and Melissa if you book these 

dates/times. 

Cancellation Policy 

Members may reserve a spot for an 

AWC tour, activity or event in advance. 

Payment is required within five 

business days of the reservation or 

before the deadline date (whichever 

is sooner) otherwise your name 

will be moved to a waitlist. It is the 

responsibility of the Member to 

notify the Club at vicepresident@ 

awcthehague.org to cancel a 

reservation prior to the cancellation 

deadline. Please note that there will be 

NO REFUNDS (no exceptions) after the 

cancellation deadline. Members may 

find a substitute in lieu of cancellation 

provided that arrangements are 

made with the tour, activity or event 

organizer. Members shall be held 

responsible for their guest reservations 

in accordance with this policy. 



One-of-a-Kind Activities 

by Melissa Rider 

RSVP directly on www.awcthehague.org. Direct any questions to 

vicepresident@awcthehague.org 

Payment must be made within 5 calendar days of reserving or your name will be moved to a waitlist. 

Payment can be made in the Front Office by PIN, on the AWC website (www.awcthehague.org) or by 

bank transfer to the AWC account NL42ABNA0431421757. 

or even bio-dynamically grown grapes. She 

works with 14 grape growers who are members 

of the Vignerons Indépendants (French 

independent winegrowers association) who 

are responsible for everything during the 

production process from vineyard to sale. 

Tosca’s knowledge about wine means her 

wines are not only delicious, they’re also 

considered a responsible glass of wine. Her 

company, Joie de Vin, translates to the joy 

of wine. Tosca will share her joy of wine at 

a wine tasting event at the Clubhouse. 

Saturday, November 16 

4 – 7 p.m. 


€ 20 Members or guests 

Maximum 20 

RSVP via our online calendar 

Foodie Tour of the Haagse Markt 

Come and spend your Saturday morning 

exploring the Haagse Markt (The Hague 

Market), one of the largest multicultural 

markets in Europe. Our guide will take 

us on a two-hour culinary world tour that 

stimulates the taste buds. As we walk along 

the rows of colorful stands, we’ll stop to 

taste exotic and Dutch products from a range 

of vendors. Depending upon the season, 

each week between 35,000 to 42,000 people 

visit the market, which hosts more than 500 

stands. You can find fruits and vegetables 

from around the world and some of the 

best fresh fish in town. Before beginning 

our culinary journey, we’ll meet our guide 

for coffee at 10 a.m. at the Marketplace 

located at Hoflandplein 17 at the end of 

Herman Costerstraat on the Hoefkade side 

of the market. It’s easily accessible by tram 

11 or 12. Contact me at vicepresident@ 

awcthehague.com to confirm if there is still 

space. 



€ 18 Members / €23 Non-members 

Maximum 25 

Non-refundable 


H. Antonius Abt Church Tour 

A volunteer guide from the Friends of the 

Abbot Foundation will give us a private tour 

explaining the history, construction, and 

interior of this church now being used for 

Roman Catholic worship. While the current 

building was constructed between 1925 and 

1927, Count Willem V of Bavaria founded 

a chapel in Scheveningen in 1357 that was 

dedicated to St. Anthony the Abbot, an 

Egyptian recluse from the third century. The 

church interior has mosaics, stained glass 

windows, and bronze work. Stations of the 

Cross and Apse Mosaics is a memorial mosaic 

of more than 2,150 square feet (200 

square meters) of approximately 2 million 

pieces of Venetian glass. 



Fee is a small donation to the Friends of 

the Abbot Foundation 

Maximum 15 

Scheveningseweg 235, Den Haag 


November Lunch Bunch Outing 

Following the non-denominational 

Thanksgiving Service at the Pieterskerk in 

Leiden (see pages 34 – 35), where the Pilgrim 

story began, we will have lunch at Koetshuis 

De Burcht which sits at the base of a historic 

castle ruin built in the 11th century. For 

more information, please contact Greetje 

Engelsman at outtolunchbunch@ 

awcthehague.org. 


9:45 a.m. Meet at the Starbucks in Den 

Haag Centraal Station 

11 a.m. Ceremony begins, and then it’s a 

short walk to the restaurant afterwards 

Free ceremony 

Lunch at own expense 


Wine Tasting and Discussion 

Need a glass of wine to share with your 

partner or a friend on a Saturday? Tosca 

Winters is a graduate of the Dutch Wine 

Academy with her vinoloog (vinologist) degree. 

French wines are her specialty and she 

chooses wines that are organic and carry various 

certificates for sustainability, organic, 

Unique products 

for entrepreneurs 

Sligro The Hague Forepark is the perfect fit for you as entrepreneur. 

We inspire and support you with our products and services, that will 

help you with your business. Our people are always there for you 

with professional and tailored advice. 

sligro.nl 

Linge 2, The Hague 

AWC Guest Policy 

Guests are welcome to participate in 

AWC activities and tours on a limited 

basis. As a nonmember, a guest is 

limited to attend two functions per 

calendar year and will be charged 

an additional nonmember fee. 

Only Members are entitled to use 

babysitting services. 

1061246 



Keeping Biodiversity Diverse (and Alive!) 

by Suzi Tart (AAWE Paris) & Anne van Oorschot (AWC The Hague) 

How much do you know about biodiversity? I didn’t know much until I read this interesting 

and understandable article by Suzi Tart, a member of FAWCO’s Environment Team. 

I especially like the suggestions she gives for easy things we can do that have a positive 

effect on biodiversity. 

In the midst of the world’s sixth mass extinction, 

three birds were believed to have 

gone extinct from the wild in 2018. The 

year before, it was three lizards, plus a bat 

and a cat. Of the 96,900 species assessed for 

the IUCN’s Red List, roughly one in four are 

threatened with extinction (www.iucn.org/ 

resources/conservation-tools/iucn-red-listthreatened-species). 

This is not including the 

species that we have yet to identify. 

Unlike the past five mass extinctions which 

were the result of natural events like asteroid 

strikes and volcanic eruptions, the sixth mass 

extinction comes as a result of one species 

in particular: homo sapiens. While many species 

are witnessing their populations decline, 

humans are growing in number. Combined 

with our current lifestyle choices, we are the 

cause of the sixth mass extinction. Some of 

our more damaging activities include our 

consumption of natural resources, destruction 

of natural habitats, an introduction of 

species into non-native environments, pollution, 

and climate change. 

Why is saving biodiversity 

important? 

The circle of life recognizes that each species, 

be it an invisible microbe or a predator 

at the top of a food chain, has a role to play 

in the ecosystem. This enables us to have 

clean air and water as well as a large variety 

of crops, food, and medicines. Not only 

do healthy ecosystems have greater chances 

of surviving and recovering from natural disasters, 

but they bring strong economic benefits. 

As much as 40% of the world’s economy 

stems from biological resources and it is 

estimated that biological resources meet 80% 

of the poor’s needs (http://darwin.bio.uci. 


edu/sustain/bio65/lec06/bio-leaf.htm). If this 

isn’t convincing enough, an ironic threat of 

biodiversity loss is that although we are the 

perpetrators, we are also the victims. Given 

that each species is interconnected with other 

species, each extinction has the potential to 

set off a chain reaction that leads to one or 

more species also going extinct, thus threatening 

our very own existence. 

Many experts say that the biodiversity crisis 

looms just as large, if not larger, than climate 

change. While the world is fortunately increasingly 

turning its attention to the annual 

COP (Conference of the Parties) that is held 

in hopes of combating climate change, very 

few people are aware of the biennial COP 

for biological diversity. Halting biodiversity 

loss is of global concern. It is explicitly mentioned 

in Sustainable Development Goal 15, 

which focuses on life on land. It is also relevant 

to Sustainable Development Goal 14, 

which focuses on life below water. 

What can we do? 

Biodiversity is much more exciting when 

we’re talking about the cute (think WWF’s 

panda bear logo), the beautiful (think the 

bright blue Spix Macaw starring in the animated 

film Rio), or the exotic (think animals 

found in rarer ecosystems, such as elephants 

living on the savanna). Yet protecting biodiversity 

starts in our own backyards. Unlike 

some global challenges that are easy to become 

overwhelmed by, I strongly believe 

that halting biodiversity loss is an achievable 

goal. Just as there are many different species 

threatened, there are as many different ways 

we can make a difference. And no, you do 

not have to join a conservation club or go 

bird watching with Great Aunt Betsy, either! 

Here are just a few ways we can all contribute: 

Plant wildflowers: As pollinators, bees 

are essential for many plants to reproduce. 

According to the Food and Agriculture 

Organization, as much as 75% of the crops 

we harvest depend upon pollination (http:// 

www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/384726/ 

icode/). Declining bee populations in North 

America and Europe are therefore of concern. 

Building bee boxes for the yard is one 

way of boosting bee populations, but you 

don’t have to risk getting stung by a bee to 

make a strong impact—planting wildflowers 

can have a significant positive effect, 

with one study finding that wildflowers quadrupled 

bees’ chance of survival. 

Buy and use organic produce and products: 

This supports natural plant biodiversity 

as the crops are not genetically modified. 

It is also another easy way for us to 

help rebuild bee populations. Buying organic 

sends a signal to the market for farmers 

to adopt sustainable, long-term farming 

methods, including methods in which 

bee-harming pesticides are not used. This 

is especially important for those of us who 

do not live in countries that use policy to 

bee-friend the bees. In 2018, the EU banned 

three bee-harming pesticides, with France 

leading the way and banning all five that 

are believed to threaten the bees’ existence. 

Presumably, not all countries will follow in 

France’s footsteps, and this is where we can 

use market power to override and correct 

such policy gaps. 

Reduce your carbon footprint: Climate 

change is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. 

Reducing the number of fossil fuels 

that we consume will reduce our greenhouse 

gas emissions. This will help stop the environmental 

changes and increased natural disasters 

that are squeezing species out of their 

habitats. If you’re wondering how you can 

reduce your personal carbon footprint, there 

is an article on the FAWCO Environment 

Team website that offers several calculators 

that can help you visualize where you have 

the highest emissions: 2018: The Year the 

Planet Earth Cried for Help Loud Enough 

for Humans to Hear. (www.fawco.org/ 

global-issues/environment/environmentarticles/4008-2018-the-year-planet-earthcried-for-help-loud-enough-for-humans-tohear) 

Participate in the circular economy: If 

products get reused, repaired and upcycled, 

fewer natural resources go into making 

them. This means that fewer habitats get 

destroyed. It also results in less waste going 

into the landfill, and less pollution going 

into our streams, soil, and air. This helps to 

keep nature as pristine as possible, making 

it easier for species to thrive. 

Champion the Endangered Species Act: 

My fellow Americans, this one is on us. 

Since President Nixon signed the bipartisan 

ESA in 1973, more than 99% of the species 

listed have been kept from going extinct. 

That is a remarkable victory! It is also 

the strongest law worldwide for protect- >> 24 


Keeping Biodiversity Diverse (cont.) 


Message from the President (cont.) 


ing biological resources, according to the 

Center for Biological Diversity. Animals 

that have been saved include the bald eagle, 

American alligator, whooping crane and 

grizzly bear, as well as 223 other cool species. 

Recently there has been talk of making 

it easier to remove species from the list, and 

rolling back protections for those that are 

threatened, allowing wildlife corridors to 

be disrupted with roads and pipelines. This 

would have dire, long-lasting consequences, 

reversing progress already made. As habitat 

fragmentation (not just habitat loss) is 

a main cause of the recent decline in biodiversity, 

it’s vital that we leave space in 

which wildlife can roam freely. China did 

this, and the result was that the number of 

giant pandas increased enough that they 

were removed from the endangered section 

of the IUCN’s Red List in 2016. As plants 

and animals are unable to vote and petition 

Congress, we have an ethical obligation to 

be a voice for their cause—they simply can’t 

survive otherwise. We must make it known 

how much the ESA matters. The bald eagle 

is counting on us. 

Our November meeting isn’t the only chance 

you’ll have to celebrate Thanksgiving. Don’t 

pass up the opportunity to celebrate the holiday 

on Thanksgiving Day at the Pieterskerk 

in Leiden, the city where the original 100 

Pilgrims lived after leaving England. Read 

about the annual service in Leiden, and the 

AWC Thanksgiving Day Lunch, on pages 

34 – 35. 

Also this month, we will have a private tour 

of St. Anthony Abbot, a Catholic church 

near the Clubhouse whose origins date back 

to 1357. Many of the religious scenes depicted 

throughout the church were made using 

millions of pieces of smalti, a Venetian glass 

that is considered the material of the masters. 

We’ll visit Royal Delft on November 

20 thanks to our Newcomers Chairs, Jo 

van Kalveen and Hilde Volle. We’ve also 

added mahjong and Spanish classes on most 

Tuesdays, along with our regular events and 

activities. All this is to say that our Club has 

something for everyone. I hope you take advantage 

of at least a few of our offerings, 

whether you’re working from home, at an 

office, or looking for a way to fill your days 

and/or evenings. We are a unique group of 

women with wisdom, information, tips, and 

friendship. As always, if you have any questions, 

ideas, or just want to catch up, I’m 

available to chat either by phone or email. 

Tot ziens, 

Suzanne 

Holly and Amber's 

Farewell Lunch 

October General 

Meeting 



2019 Holiday Bazaar 

by Amber Gatewood 

Winter is coming... and with it comes the holiday season and the AWC Holiday 

Bazaar! Over two days, you can shop ‘til you drop at The Hague Marriott Hotel, 

taking care of all your gift-giving needs. We’re also going to take care of the kids 

from ages 2-8 years on both days thanks to My Gym Community Outreach. There will 

be games, relays, puppets, and much more to keep them busy while you shop! As always, 

we have a wide variety of seasoned vendors, and a few who are new to our Bazaar. Here’s 

a sampling, to get those visions of sugar plums dancing in your head: 

Textielfeest, by Marieke Mijman 

www.textielfeest.nl 

A Book in the Hand, by Susan Garrone 

org.usbornebooksathome.co.uk/bookinthehand 

ADA Jewelry, by Ada Boer 

www.adajewelry.com 

Joie de Vin organic and biological wines, by Tosca Winters 

wwwjoiedevin.nl 

Holiday Bazaar Bake Sale 

by Jaimie Keppel 

Behind the Curtain in Santa’s Kitchen – Calling All Elves 

Every year at the AWC's Holiday Bazaar, Santa's elves bake and sell a yummy assortment 

of cakes, cookies, and savory treats. Will you be one of the Bake Sale elves this year? Your 

baked goods give our guests the energy to shop ‘til they drop! Is baking not your forte? We 

still need you as one of the helpers to sell the treats at the Bazaar. 

Sign up to donate your baked good by filling out the form at www.tinyurl.com/ 

HolidayBazaar2019. You will be contacted closer to the date to confirm. Baked good 

drop-off takes place at the AWC Clubhouse 

on Friday, November 8. If you have any 

specific questions, feel free to contact me 

at holidaybazaar@awcthehague.org. 

To volunteer to work at the Bake 

Sale, contact Laurie Martecchini at 

volunteercoordinator@awcthehague.org. 

Let the Holiday Season commence and see 

you at the Holiday Bazaar! 

Quiltshop Andrea, by Andrea de Jong 

www.quiltshopandrea.nl 

Typical Dutch Art, by Peet Quintus 

www.typicaldutchart.nl 

Mees Essentials, by Ginny Mees 

www.essentialoilsforhealth.eu 

Tips From Our Own Baking Expert 

Want your Christmas cookies to be the best they can be? 

Here are some tips from our resident baking expert and 

AWC Member Julie Otten. 

First tip is not to open your eggs directly into your main 

mixing bowl. Rather, open them into a separate bowl. This 

way, if shells crack and fall into the eggs you won't have to 

go on a fishing expedition to get them out of your dough. 

See you at The Marriott! 

Saturday & Sunday, November 9 & 10 

11 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

The Hague Marriott Hotel 

Johan de Wittlaan 30, 2517JR, Den Haag 

Admission: € 2 (Children FREE) 

Tip number two is to sift your dry ingredients, such as flour, 

salt, and baking soda. This aids in the thorough mixing of 

your ingredients. 

The last tip is when making cookies, refrigerate cookie 

dough at least 30 minutes before cutting /spooning and baking. 

This prevents your cookies from spreading resulting in 

perfectly formed cookies every time. Thanks, Julie! 



November 2019 

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 

1 2 

Save the Dates: 

December 8: Nicolaes Maes Tour 

December 10 & 11: Cologne Christmas Market 

December 17: Holiday Lunch Bunch 

Foodie Tour of the Haagse 

Market 10 a.m. 

3 4 

5 

6 

7 

8 9 

Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m 

Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m. 

Spanish Conversation Noon 

Mah Jong 1 p.m. 

AWC Tennis 1 p.m. 

H. Antonius Abbott Church 

Tour 11 a.m. 

Wassenaar Coffee and 

Conversation 9:30 a.m. 

Out to Lunch Bunch Noon 

AWC Holiday Bazaar 

11 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

10 11 

12 

13 

14 

15 16 

AWC Holiday Bazaar 

11 a.m. – 5 p.m. 



Heart Pillow Workshop 

Noon 


Buddy Check 12 

Evening Book Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Coffee 10 a.m. 

Annual General Meeting 

and Thanksgiving Potluck 

10:30 a.m. 

Wine Tasting and Discussion 

4 p.m. 

17 18 

19 

20 

21 

22 23 



Spanish Conversation Noon 


Newcomers Trip to Royal 

Delft 9 a.m. 

Daytime Book Club 10 a.m. 


Thirsty Thursday 6 p.m. 

24 25 

26 

27 28 

29 30 




Pieterskerk Thanksgiving 

Ceremony and Lunch in 

Leiden 9:45 a.m. 




AWC and the Arts 

by Jane Choy -Thurlow, AWC Member and Mauritshuis Docent 

The new AWC Website is now up and running! 

Please visit 

www.awcthehague.org 

for all of your Club-related needs: 

Payment of Membership dues, registration for activities and events, 

Membership directory, etc. 

If you have any questions about the website, please contact 

communications@awcthehague.org 

Guided Tour of Nicolaes Maes - 

Rembrandt’s Versatile Pupil 

The Mauritshuis will conclude the 

Rembrandt & the Golden Age year with the 

first international retrospective exhibition 

about one of Rembrandt’s most talented students: 

Nicolaes Maes. 

With his original representations of everyday 

life, Nicolaes Maes was one of the most 

innovative painters of the Dutch Golden 

Age. His domestic scenes have been a 

source of inspiration for painters such as 

Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer. In 

his lifelike representation of emotions, Maes 

shows himself to be a fully-fledged student 

of Rembrandt. He began his career by painting 

Biblical stories, in which the influence 

of his teacher is clearly visible. Maes was 

inspired by his teacher, but at the same time 

always looked for his own, new solutions. 

In the following years, Maes painted intimate 

scenes with women engaged in 

their household duties. The 

Eavesdroppers collections is 

a favourite; representations 

of how the lady of the house 

catches her maid with a lover. 

Some beautiful ‘eavesdroppers’ 

will be on loan from 

the Dordrechts Museum, the 

Guildhall Art Gallery and the 

Wellington Museum (both 

London). Maes achieved his 

greatest success, artistically 

and financially, during his 

life as a portrait painter. His 

clients are dressed luxuriously, 

or even represented in 

fantasy costumes, and placed 

in park-like landscapes with 

antique structures and fountains. 

The Eavesdropper, 1656 

Wellington Museum, London 

RSVP for all Arts Activities directly 

on www.awcthehague.org 

Direct any questions to 

jechoy@me.com 

Save time by buying your entrance ticket 

online in advance at www.mauritshuis.nl. 

Sunday, December 8 

4:30 p.m. 

Mauritshuis Museum 

Maximum 15 / Minimum 11 

€ 10 Members / € 15 non-members 

Museum entrance is € 15.50, or free with 

Museumkaart 

Cancellation deadline: November 25 

It is possible to sign up after this date if 

there is space 




FAWCO Corner 

by Barbara Brookman, AWC the Hague FAWCO 

Representative 

Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, a United Nations NGO with 

consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council 

www.fawco.org. 

Apply Now for FAWCO 

Foundation Education Awards 

and Development Grants 

The FAWCO Foundation is the philanthropic 

arm of FAWCO. Each spring, this 

Member-supported organization awards 

yearly Education Awards and Development 

Grants. 

The 2020 Education Award and 

Development Grant information is available 

on the FAWCO Foundation website 

(www.fawcofoundation.org/programs). 

This includes eligibility requirements 

and terms of study for Education 

Awards (www.fawcofoundation.org/ 

/education-awards) and nomination requirements 

for Development Grants (www. 

.org/programs/development-grants). 

A month-by-month application timeline on 

the website provides useful advice on timely 

submission of your application. With deadlines 

in early January, it’s best to get applications 

in before the holiday rush! 

Education Awards 

The Education Awards, each for $5,000, are 

open to AWC Members and their children 

in areas of arts, sciences, humanities, dual 

cultural, and more. The application deadline 

is in January each year. Do you have a child 

who might be interested in applying for an 

Education Award, a child or grandchild who 

is dual cultural, or are YOU interested in furthering 

your studies? If you are a member of 

AWC The Hague, you and your children are 

eligible to apply. The Dual Cultural Award 

is also available to members’ grandchildren. 

Visit the Foundation website’s Education 

Awards page to learn more about Academic 


Awards for your children, Continuing 

Education Awards for you and Dual Cultural 

Awards for your children or grandchildren 

and see how you or a family member 

might qualify (www.fawcofoundation.org/ 

/education-awards). 

Development Grants 

Are you interested in applying for a 

Development Grant for a specific organization 

or project that the Club has been supporting? 

The Development Grants, each for 

$5,500, are awarded in the areas of education, 

human rights, health, and the environment. 

The deadline for application is in 

January each year. 

Visit the Foundation website’s Development 

Grants page for further information (www. 

fawcofoundation.org/programs/). 

What is the FAWCO Foundation? 

The FAWCO network is made up of three 

separate but related organizations: FAWCO, 

the FAWCO Foundation and FAUSA, 

FAWCO’s alumnae organization for people 

who have lived internationally and now live 

in North America. 

The FAWCO Foundation’s sole purpose is 

to put into action FAWCO’s stated interest 

in the global community by specifically 

aiding charitable, scientific and educational 

programs and supporting the rights of women 

and children throughout the world. 

For over 40 years, The Foundation has stayed 

true to this purpose, with 100% of donations 

going to support The Foundation’s work. 

More than $2 million has been disbursed to 

benefit FAWCO clubs, individual members 

and FAWCO-related initiatives. 

AWC Attends the Climate Change Protests 


Thanksgiving Day Service 

by Roberta Enschede, Coordinator 

Please join us at this nondenominational service on Thanksgiving morning at the historic 

Pieterskerk. There will be a Catholic priest, Protestant ministers, a rabbi, and a cantor. Our 

Dutch friends, and friends from all nations and of all faiths, are welcome. 

Thanksgiving at the Pieterskerk in Leiden is unique. In that church, the Pilgrims recorded 

their births, marriages and deaths. They lived in its surroundings from 1609 to 1620. The Koet 

family are descendants of Moses Fletcher, a Leiden Pilgrim and subsequently a signer of the 

Mayflower Compact, and still live there. They are the only non-American members of the 

Mayflower Society. 

I felt a respect and veneration upon entering the church at Leiden. 

~ Abigail Adams 

On the occasion of the first visit of a sitting American President to the Netherlands, the 

Pieterskerk was the chosen site for President George H.W. Bush to speak. The Bush family 

trace their ancestry to Francis Cooke, also a signer of the Mayflower Compact and a Leiden 

pilgrim. In fact, nine American Presidents trace their roots to Leiden. Former President Barack 

Obama traces his to the Blossom family. 

In Leiden, one feels how inextricably the values of the American nation are linked with the 

Netherlands. A group of English dissenters were welcomed there and able to live and worship 

freely, and even publish at a time when freedom of religion and the press were certainly not the 

norm. It is a Dutch story, an American story, and the story of all nations that aspire to be free. 

Thanksgiving Day Lunch 

by Greetje Engelsman 

Each year, Overseas Americans Remember (OAR) hosts a wonderful non-denominational 

Thanksgiving Ceremony at the Pieterskerk in Leiden, where our Pilgrim story began. 

Please see the article on the facing page, by Roberta Enschede, Coordinator for OAR. 

We will meet at Startbucks in Den Haag Cenraal at 9:45 a.m., to travel to Leiden Centraal 

by train (bring your OV-chipkaart). In Leiden, the group will walk from the station to the 

Pieterskerk to listen to the Thanksgiving ceremony. The church opens at 10 a.m., and the 

ceremony begins at 11 a.m. 

After the ceremony, we will have lunch at the Koetshuis de Burcht. This restaurant sits at 

the base of a historic castle ruin built in the 11th Century. It was a coach house from 1657, 

until being opened as a restaurant in 1981. For more information, please contact me at 

outtolunchbunch@awcthehague.org. 


9:45 a.m. – Meet at Starbucks in Den Haag Centraal 

11 a.m. – Ceremony begins 

FREE Ceremony (Lunch at own expense) 

Registration/Cancellation Deadline: November 26 


The congregation will sing familiar hymns. Coincidentally, one of them, We Gather Together, 

is considered by Americans to be “very American.” This is actually a Dutch hymn and familiar 

to Dutch people as Wilt Heden Nu Treden. 

The Vice Mayor of Leiden will welcome everyone and the Honorable Pete Hoekstra, US 

Ambassador to the Netherlands, will share a Thanksgiving Day message. The Choir JAKK 

and the Concert Band from the American School will be there, as well as the Scouts and “The 

Little Pilgrims.” Children are an integral 

part of the Service as they should be. 

You won’t forget Thanksgiving in 

Leiden! Join us. Bring your friends and 

neighbors. 


11 a.m. 

Pieterskerk, Leiden 

FREE 

Carpool if possible. 

Please bring some cookies for coffee 

time after the service! 

For more information, please contact Roberta at oarinnl@yahoo.com 

Sponsored by Overseas Americans Remember (OAR) 



The Dutch Daily 

by Eileen Harloff 

For the past weeks I’ve been closely 

following the decisions of the United 

Kingdom to leave the European Union 

and to go it alone. At my advanced age I have 

memories of the euphoria that followed the 

ending in 1945 of a war which had resulted 

in carnage and death throughout the world. 

International organizations were gradually 

set up to promote working together to solve 

world and regional problems and for the 

more fortunate countries to give aid for improving 

conditions in poorer nations. Now 

we live in next-generation times where former 

world wars are but a part of history, and 

the mantra is “no one else is going to tell us 

what to do, we can make it on our own”. In 

other words, the need for international cooperation 

and good will is considered to be 

a form of outside interference. I don’t know 

what the outcome of Brexit or the changes in 

international trade and other agreements of 

the US with other countries will be, so I have 

decided to go back in time when conditions 

were really wild, namely the dinosaur age. 

Who Was the Biggest Bird? 

According to the British Zoology Institute 

it was the Elephant Bird, which lived in 

Madagascar thousands of years ago, grew 

to three meters high, weighed more than 

1,700 pounds (800 kilos), and was unable 

to fly. Its fate was similar to that of the Dodo 

Bird in Mauritius, which was wiped out 

by settlers who killed it for food (it tasted 

terrible) and then for sport. The Elephant 

Bird did well in Madagascar for 60 million 

years, until man appeared on the scene and 

started to clear the forests, whereby the 

birds were killed and their eggs eaten. Due 

to the Elephant Bird’s enormous girth, the 

seeds in their defecations were spread over 

the island and when the birds disappeared 

there was a negative effect on the islands’ 

environment. The modern ancestors of the 

Elephant Bird are today’s ostrich. 

When it All Ended 

It was some 66 million years ago that a 

huge rock came out of space and crashed 

into the Yucatan Peninsula that is located 

between Mexico and Central America. The 

impact of this occurrence is estimated to 

have been equivalent to 10 billion atomic 

bombs simultaneously exploding. Due to 

the resulting dust and debris, the Earth was 

left in darkness for a long cooling period 

in which plants, animals and any other living 

things were unable to survive. Now, for 

the first time, a level of the Earth’s surface 

at the time of the “big bang” has been revealed. 

It was discovered earlier this year 

Credit: The New Yorker 

in the US state of North Dakota by paleontologist 

Robert de Palma and his team, consisting 

primarily of Dutch men and women. 

The Earth layer contains the remains of all 

kinds and sizes of animals, from microorganisms 

to insects to mammals, including 

part of the carcass of a Triceratop dinosaur. 

According to de Palma, there has been no 

other discovery on Earth where such a large 

number of animals of varying ages that all 

died simultaneously on the same day. 

P.S. A long-necked Diplodocus, whose 

bones were found in Wyoming in the 1990s, 

is currently being reconstructed in the 

Oertijd (Prehistoric) Museum in Boxtel. 

Visitors can watch the work as it progresses 

over the coming three years. 

Your Vote is Your Voice 

As a US citizen resident abroad, how do I register to vote 

and/or apply for an absentee ballot? 

Use the FPCA – the Federal Postcard Application 

The FPCA is both a Registration and Absentee Ballot Request form. It 

is standardized for use across all States and territories. 

Credit: Independent 

Credit: The New Yorker 

The FVAP – Federal Voting Assistance Program encourages 

the use of the FPCA each year. 

To download the FPCA and to locate the address of your voting 

district, go to the US government site: www.FVAP.gov 

or to: www.usvotefoundation.org. 

Remember! Mail the FPCA with Dutch stamps! "Postage Paid" 

is only valid when mailing in the USA or US territories 




Welcome Back 

BBQ

Unconventional Travel: Down Under 

by Melissa White 

In September 2018, my 18-year-old daughter 

Ashlynn started a year of working as a 

full-time international fashion model for 

her gap year, and I started writing about my 

visits with her while she was “on-stay” (when 

a model stays in a city for an extended time 

to meet local clients in the hope of securing 

jobs). I was thrilled that it worked out to visit 

her in Paris, Athens and Seoul. Two and a 

half months after hugging Ashlynn good-bye 

in Seoul, it was time to meet her in another 

foreign land. This time I would be venturing 

south of the Equator for the first time in my 

life in order to visit her in Australia. 

Luckily, I arrived at Schiphol three hours 

before my flight as it turned out that I hadn’t 

done my homework and I was denied boarding. 

It never dawned on me that my blue 

passport would encounter any road blocks, 

thus I neglected to research if I needed a 

tourist visa. Nor had Cathay Pacific mentioned 

the possibility during either the 

booking or check-in process, so I was completely 

caught off guard when I was unable 

to print my boarding passes at the airport 

kiosk. Imagine my shock when the agent 

said I needed an urgent visa. I was very fortunate 

that James had accompanied me and 

helped talk me out of having a complete 

meltdown. After much fumbling on his iPad 

and foolishly paying twice for an urgent 


visa, he sweet-talked the agent into letting 

me back into the front of the line where I 

eventually held tightly onto my invaluable 

boarding passes. Passport control was also 

a madhouse where my pretty blue passport 

was initially denied entry into the automated 

check-out lines; after a 20-minute wait, the 

same agent who had initially denied me, 

rushed me into the correct line. Fortunately, 

everything else went smoothly and 26 hours 

later I met Ashlynn at Melbourne Airport for 

the long Easter weekend. 

Multiple people had told me that Melbourne 

is Australia’s most cosmopolitan city. We 

stayed in the city center, not far from its impressive 

riverfront. Melbourne is Australia’s 

cultural capital and second largest city with 

around five million inhabitants. It is home to 

the longest continuously running Chinatown 

outside of Asia, with an incredible variety 

of Asian restaurants throughout the city; we 

had several great Thai meals and lots of delicious 

takeaway sushi. 

We walked a lot, including walking along the 

riverfront, through the botanical gardens and 

across the city to St. Kilda’s to see some of 

the area’s 1,400 fairy penguins come ashore 

at sunset. People line up along the suburb’s 

pier to witness the quick swimmers emerge 

from the water to spend the night between 

the rocks and bushes. We were fortunate to 

find a great vantage point to see magic happen 

before our eyes: one moment the smallest 

penguins in the world were swimming 

along and the next they were chattering 

away while hopping around the rocks. Due 

to their sensitive eyes and the high number 

of human observers, flash photography 

wasn’t allowed so my photos aren’t great. 

I’m not a big fan of tour buses, but I also 

had no desire to drive on the other side of 

the road, so I sought out a company offering 

small-sized tours for our biggest adventure: 

an all-day trip to Phillip Island to see 

the island’s official penguin parade. Along 

the way, we stopped at Moonlit Sanctuary 

Conservation Park where we saw rescued 

native animals, including koalas, dingoes 

and wombats. We really enjoyed the opportunity 

to feed kangaroos and wallabies who 

freely roamed the property. Then we went to 

Point Grant where we saw some beautiful 

rock formations called The Nobbies due to 

their dome shapes and saw fairy penguins 

in the burrows amongst the rocks. Our final 

stop was Phillip Island Nature Park to 

see the nightly march of the penguins from 

the waters of the Bass Strait to their burrows 

on land. I splurged on an upgrade for 

a small group tour with a park ranger who 

led us down to a viewing point above the 

beach to witness this magical event. We 

were exceptionally lucky with the weather 

as it sprinkled for just a few minutes as we 

were leaving the beach, but the skies waited 

to open up until after we were safely back in 

the Go West Tours’ mini-bus. 

On Easter Monday, Ashlynn flew back to 

Sydney and I flew onto Canberra, the capital 

of Australia, where I spent ten days with 

a friend whom I’d met in Switzerland >> 42 


Unconventional Travel: Down Under (cont.) 


but hadn’t seen in the ten years since she’d 

moved home. She was passionate about 

sharing her love for her city, so our days 

were full of visiting museums, cycling along 

the lakefront on wonderful dedicated cycle 

paths, and hiking in the nearby hills where 

I was ecstatic to spot kangaroos in the wild. 

I’m not much of a morning person, but I 

managed to wake up early enough to accompany 

my friends to the annual dawn service 

at the Australian War Memorial for Anzac 

Day, Australia and New Zealand’s National 

Day of Remembrance of all who served and 

died in wars and peacekeeping missions. 

We also went exploring further afield including 

snorkeling at the coast and hiking 

in several national parks. I was thrilled that 

it worked out for Ashlynn to join us by train 

for one day of hiking in the beautiful Blue 

Mountains outside of Sydney. 

I only had eight nights in Sydney, Australia’s 

largest city, which was definitely not 

enough. Originally, I had planned to stay 

with Ashlynn in her tiny AirBnB room, but 

in the time since I had booked my flights, 

she had made plans to move in with a friend 

and said there wouldn’t be space for me. I 

wasn’t thrilled about the change in plans 

or unexpected extra expense, but managed 

to find an affordable hotel in the Potts 

Point area of the city. With a free upgrade 

from Booking.com, there was even a fantastic 

bay view. And Ashlynn stayed with me 

for all but one of the nights. 

Like in the other cities where she was onstay 

as a model, Ashlynn’s schedule was not 

her own and was highly unpredictable. The 

advantage of her not working as often as she 

had in Seoul was that she had lots of time 

to spend with me, but we also never knew 

when something would come up at the last 

minute and throw our plans out the window. 

On Sunday just as we were just boarding a 

train to catch a ferry so we could do a coastal 

walk, she got a call about a last-minute 

“casting” (interview for a modeling job) for 

a fashion show. We ditched our plans, went 

back to the hotel to grab her heels, took a 

bus across town for an hour and then walked 

20 minutes to the casting. Thankfully she 

got that job, so it wasn’t all for nothing. 

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities 

in the world to live in, but I found public 

transportation and restaurants surprisingly 

affordable. It’s also one of the most beautiful 

cities I’ve ever visited. Although I had 

seen photos of its iconic Opera House and 

infamous Bondi Beach, I was completely 

blown away by the natural beauty of its 

breathtaking coastline consisting of 70 

beaches and miles of rocky paths. When 

Ashlynn was busy with castings or jobs, I 

wandered through several impressive museums 

as well as the botanical gardens, 

all of which had free admission, and took 

several coastal walks. I was also thrilled 

that Ashlynn joined me twice to run with 

the Sydney Thirsty Thursday Hash House 

Harriers and that she continued to run with 

them after I left. 

Overall, Ashlynn ended up staying in Sydney 

for nearly three months and thoroughly enjoyed 

her time there, whether modelling, 

taking a DJ class, exploring or hanging out 

with new friends. She also loved that she 

had the opportunity to do three photo shoots 

at various beaches. Just a few days after 

my departure, she walked in a fashion >> 44 

Travel4U@americantravelcenter.net/www.americantravelcenter.nl/tel. +3261234901 

“Our next holiday is 

a safari. They do 

the whole world!” 

“They make booking a 

holiday so easy. I just 

leave it to them!” 

“Every trip is 

customized, just for 

me! That’s unique!” 



Unconventional Travel: Down Under (cont.) 


Weekend in Barcelona 

by Alex Moore 

show with the Opera House as the backdrop, 

which I was very sad to miss. After 

such a positive experience, her next stop 

was a bitter disappointment: 

Shenzhen, China. Although 

she had planned on staying 

for two months, the agency 

there sent her home after 

just two weeks because they 

claimed she was too tall and 

too blonde, and her hips 

were too big. Luckily her 

time in China wasn’t a complete 

downer as she ended 

her visit with a weekend in 

Hong Kong where I had arranged 

for her to stay with 

one of my Hash friends. 

Surprisingly, she heard her 

name called out while walking 

through a random alley 

and ended up spending the 

rest of her trip with two 

classmates from the British 

School of the Netherlands. 

So, the end of Ashlynn’s year of being a fulltime 

model came to an end and thus also my 

year of chasing her around the globe. 

The last time I went to Barcelona was in 

2006 as part of a long trip to Spain that 

included a two-week intensive course 

in Salamanca. I was there for five weeks, 

starting in Madrid before going to places such 

as Toledo, Cordoba, Malaga, Segovia, and 

Avila. I came back rattling off Castellano like 

a pro with a Mediterranean tan to boot. Years 

later, I wasn’t an 18-year-old fresh-out-ofhigh-school 

teen ready to take on the world, 

the same one who graced the halls of El Prat 

International Airport many years before. No, 

this time I came back to meet with a friend, 

and I wondered how I would find Barcelona. 

As I walked through the airport, the first thing 

that caught my attention was that it looked 

the same as I remembered from 2006. Funny 

the things that catch your attention initially. 

I texted my friend to tell her I had arrived. 

She’d come from Granada, by some stroke 

of luck we were able to book our flights 

fairly close to each other. I wandered to the 

baggage claim to pick up the carry-on I had 

to check at Schipol at the gate. As soon as I 

went to the baggage claim, I heard “Alex!” I 

turned around to see my Korean friend Young 

waiting near the seats. I screamed, making a 

fool of myself in front of other travelers before 

giving her a big hug. 

I met Young in 2013 when I lived in New 

Zealand. I was house hunting and came 

across an ad on TradeMe, a classifieds website. 

The ad was for a room in a big house 

in Auckland. The day I went over to see the 

room and meet the landlady, Young answered 

the door. After I moved in, we played a card 

game with another housemate and shared 

some Haribo candy together. Little did I 

know that it would be the first of many memories 

we’d share together, whether it was 

backyard barbecues in a New Zealand summer, 

brunch in Auckland, eating seafood in 

Korea, karaoke in a noraebang in Busan, or a 

weekend getaway to the Coromandel. 

>> 46 



Weekend in Barcelona (cont.) 


We woke up early the next morning to go 

to Mass at La Sagrada Familia. I didn’t 

know that option existed, but this is why I 

travel with friends: they plan for trips much 

better than I do. The Mass was in English, 

Spanish, and Catalan, but because of where 

we were seated, it was hard to hear much of 

what the priest said. It didn’t matter, though. 

I found comfort in the routine of Mass, and I 

think she did too. 

This time we’d get to see more of La 

Sagrada Familia with an audio tour. I took 

as many photos as I could of the high arches, 

the ornate tile pattern on the floor, the 

architecture that makes the Sagrada Familia 

unlike anything I’d seen before. An elevator 

took us to on part of the Nativity tower 

six stories high and we climbed all the way 

down, takings pictures and video of the inside 

of the tower and city views. 

before we were 

both laughing 

together at our 

memories in 

New Zealand, 

including the 

potlucks that 

degenerated 

into dance parties, 

birthday 

dinners, and 

celebrating holidays 

together 

far from home. 

After Mass, we shared a margarita pizza 

for brunch before going to Las Ramblas. 

We wanted to go to La Boqueria, a market 

I stumbled upon in 2006. I was determined 

to enjoy it again, if not pick up a present 

or two for Diederik. Unfortunately, La 

Boqueria was closed, so we strolled up and 

down Las Ramblas. We stopped for a sangria 

before wandering off into a side street. 

We had to be back at La Sagrada Familia for 

a tour she’d booked at 3 p.m., but until then 

we had the day to ourselves. 

After our tour of La Sagrada Familia, she 

wanted to go to a hotel bar that her nephew 

recommended. He’d gone backpacking 

through Europe and spent some time 

in Barcelona, where he had a drink at a 

hotel bar where you could see La Sagrada 

Familia. Unfortunately, we made it to the 

bar when it was closed because the staff 

were switching shifts. We decided to find 

somewhere else to have a drink and some 

tapas, but not before we got someone to take 

a photo of us. 

The next day we went to La Boqueria for 

brunch before our tour of Parc Guell in 

the afternoon. I walked around this park 

in 2006, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I 

wanted to then because I’d gotten off a 12- 

hour train ride from Malaga. I was exhausted 

since I didn’t sleep much on the train; a 

friend and I stayed up too late being silly and 

taking selfies on my Motorola Razr. As I’ve 

learned the hard way, I have trouble sleeping 

on overnight trains. Especially if they 

involve overnight rides from Sighisoara to 

Budapest and Eastern European border patrols 

in each country wake everyone up for 

passport control. But I digress. 

I’m not good at saying goodbye. While this 

wasn’t the first time I had to say goodbye 

to her, it didn’t make it any easier. I don’t 

know when we’ll see each other again, but 

I hope we don’t have to wait too long. She 

left the next day for the long trip back to 

South Korea while I went back to Holland. 

We both agreed that we would come back 

once La Sagrada Familia was completely 

finished in a few years. I hope that it happens 

sooner rather than later. 

I regretted not enjoying Parc Guell as much 

as I wanted to the first time because Gaudi's 

artwork and craftsmanship are admirable. I 

hoped that one day I could come back to 

Barcelona and see it again. On a warm, 

sunny afternoon, it seems I got my wish. 

We strolled around Parc Guell, stopping to 

take pictures and enjoying the view of the 

city. We also took a break to sit in the warm 

sunshine on a curved bench, the one that 

Gaudi designed a certain way because he 

studied human anatomy. The beautiful mosaics 

seemed to reflect the afternoon sun, 

and everywhere we went there was something 

new to appreciate. 

After Parc Guell, we went to the Gothic 

Quarter to explore another cathedral and 

buy souvenirs. For dinner, we ended up 

at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant where 

we enjoyed wine and tapas. It wasn’t long 



Announcements 

Crossing Border Festival 

Ever since the first edition in 1993, Crossing 

Border has examined the frontiers of music 

and language in the city center of The Hague. 

It has expanded to become one of the most 

progressive international music and literature 

festivals in Europe featuring more than 

100 artists ranging from renowned names to 

promising upcoming talent. 

Thru November 3 

Various venues in Den Haag Centrum 

www.crossingborder.nl 

Affordable Art Fair 

This four-day event presents a wide array 

of contemporary art from a variety of galleries. 

You can find thousands of original 

paintings, prints, sculptures and photography 

all under one roof, with pieces from € 

100 to €7,500. The work of young, emerging 

artists hangs alongside some of the biggest 

household names. 

Thursday, October 31 to 

Sunday, November 3 

De Kromhouthal 

Gedempt Hamerkanaal 231, 

Amsterdam 

www.affordableartfair.com 

Leiden Film Festival 

The Leiden Film Festival (LIFF) showcases 

over 100 films that examine the border 


between art-house and mainstream cinema 

from all over the world. The festival runs 

from October 31 – November 10 in various 

locations in Leiden. www.liff.nl/en 

IamExpat Fair in The Hague 

The IamExpat Fair is designed for global 

citizens with local needs. It features stands 

from dozens of companies and organizations 

working in housing, careers, education, 

expat services, health, leisure, and 

family needs. Free workshops and presentations 

will take place throughout the day. 

Entrance is free with online registration at 

www.thehague.iamexpatfair.nl 


10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

Grote Kerk, Den Haag 

GLOW Eindhoven 

At this annual free festival, dozens of light 

artists give Eindhoven’s facades and public 

spaces in the city center an entirely new face 

as nightfall changes the colors and shapes 

on the city’s streets. The theme of GLOW 

2019 is Living Colors, to explore what happens 

when artists disassemble the spectrum 

of light. The festival starts each evening 

at 6:30 p.m. and runs from Saturday, 

November 9 through Saturday, November 

16. www.gloweindhoven.nl 

The Arts Society Lecture 

Journey of the River from Source to Sea 

Waterways have long inspired artists. This 

lecture will flow with the current of the river 

from its beginnings as a muddy puddle to its 

magnificent merging with the sea. Paintings 

by artists past and present will open our 

eyes to the beauty of the river. Lecturer 

Alexandra Drysdale brings a unique perspective 

since she is both an art historian 

and an artist. Nonmember fee is € 13. www. 

theartssocietythehague.org 

Tuesday, November 12 

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. 

Lecture begins at 8 p.m. 

Cultural Centrum Warenar 

Kerkstraat 75, Wassenaar 

Sinterklaas Arrival 

Sinterklaas arrives from Spain in the 

Netherlands every year on the second or 

third weekend in November, visiting different 

towns at various times. He will arrive 

aboard the SS Madrid in Scheveningen 

Harbor on Saturday, November 16. After 

his arrival at 10:30, he will make his way 

on his white horse, accompanied by a full 

parade of Zwarte Piets, through the streets 

of Scheveningen and the Statenkwartier into 

The Hague Centrum. Even if you don’t have 

young children, this annual event is uniquely 

Dutch and is quite a wonderful sight. 

www.sinterklaasindenhaag.nl 

International Food Fair 

The Parish of the Church of Our Saviour 

sponsors this large International Food Fair 

every November for charity. The diverse 

members of the parish community come together 

to provide entertainment and to prepare 

and sell their own national food specialties, 

wines and pastries. There are kids’ 

activities, a raffle, used book sale and flea 

market. The proceeds are donated to small 

charitable organizations for projects such 

as beekeeping, women’s support and 

>> 50 

FAWCO Handbag Auction coming early next year! 

Don't forget to save any lightly used handbags as you clean out your closets. 

If you are traveling home for the holidays, please save a little space in your 

suitcase to bring back donations from friends and relatives. 


Announcements (cont.) 


children’s education. In 2018, the fair raised 

€ 39,950 with 100% of the proceeds dispersed 

to charities around the world. www. 

parish.nl 


Noon – 6:30 p.m. 

Francois Vatel School 

Granaathorst 20, Den Haag 

Free entrance 

Antique and Art Fair 

PAN Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ premier 

art and antiques fair, is renowned for 

its high-quality, international offerings by 

110 galleries of paintings, furniture, maps, 

prints and sculptures from the 16th century 

to the present. The common denominator is 

that all the objects are vetted by a group of 

70 experts for authenticity, artistic quality 

and condition. Prices range from € 500 to 

€ 500,000. Over 40,000 visitors, from museum 

curators to private art enthusiasts, are 


attracted to this fair every year. www.pan.nl 

Sunday, November 24 through 


Amsterdam RAI Parkhal, Europaplein 

St. Andrew’s Charity Ball 

The St. Andrew’s Society hosts a yearly 

charity ball in celebration of St. Andrew’s 

Day (the feast day of St. Andrew, the patron 

saint of Scotland). A highlight will be 

Scottish dancing to live music for enthusiasts 

of all abilities. Bringing a dance partner 

is unnecessary. The € 99 ticket includes a 

four-course dinner, wine with dinner and 

dancing throughout the evening. Kilts are 

optional. If you want to practice a few dances 

before the ball, you are welcome to join 

the Reel Club which meets on Fridays in 

the British School at Saffierhorst 117 in The 

Hague from 8 – 10 p.m. www.standrewsnl. 

wordpress.com 


6:30 p.m. – 1 a.m. 

Crowne Plaza Hotel 

Van Stolkweg 1, Den Haag 

Happily Ever After, a Pantomime 

Distinctively British, a panto is a popular 

form of family entertainment incorporating 

song, dance, slapstick comedy, cross-dressing 

and audience participation. This holiday 

season, the Anglo-American Theatre Group 

(AATG) reminds us that things aren’t always 

as “happily ever after” as they seem. 

Join them to find out what happens after the 

end of a panto to see if Jack will win Jill 

back after how he’s behaved, or whether the 

dastardly new villain will crush his dreams 

instead. www.aatg.nl 

Friday, December 6 through 


Theatre aan het Spui 

Spui 187, Den Haag 

Primal Nature: Works in Textile 

Mariëlle van den Bergh uses the 

TextielMuseum in Tilburg to weave and 

knit her giant tapestries, often including every 

imaginable material: steel, glass, wicker, 

paper and ceramics. 

Her many 

travels, especially 

to remote 

areas, reinforce 

her wonder 

about existence 

and nature and 

give her images 

a metaphorical 

charge. Her 

work Oernatuur 

| Primal Nature 

was created in 

response to the inhospitable landscape of 

Australia. Free entrance with a Museumkaart. 

www.museumrijswijk.nl 

Through January 12, 2020 

Museum Rijswijk 

Herenstraat 67, Rijswijk 

Young Rembrandt 

After an extensive renovation and expansion, 

Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden 

is presenting the exhibition Young 

Rembrandt.1624-1634 in its brand new galleries. 

This will be the first major exhibition 

exclusively devoted to the early work 

of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606- 

1669), allowing visitors to look over the 

young painter’s shoulder and see how his 

talent developed. Almost 400 years after 

their creation works produced in Leiden by 

the now internationally famous master will 

return to the city of his birth. The exhibition 

consists of approximately 40 paintings, 70 

etchings and 10 drawings. In addition, there 

will also be work by Lievens, Lastman and 

Van Swanenburg. There is a €7.50 surcharge 

with a Museumkaart. www.lakenhal.nl 

Through February 9, 2020 

Museum De Lakenhal 

Oude Singel 32, Leiden 

The Abduction of Proserpina by 

Rembrandt, 1630, Gemaldegalerie Berlin 


Classifieds 

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Private Pilates Lessons in 

Your Own Home 

I am a Certified Pilates 

instructor offering mat 

Pilates—tailored to your 

body’s specific needs. 

Monday to Friday, office 

hours. Women only. Private 

one-on-one or small groups 

of up to three possible. 

Lessons in English. 

The Hague, Wassenaar area 

only. 

Please email christina@gikas. 

nl for more info. 

Members: eNews Distribution 

A weekly electronic newsletter 

is sent to all AWC Members. 

If you have not been receiving your eNews, please 

contact Mary Ellen at 

membership@awcthehague.org. 

ACCESS 

page 30 

American Travel 

Center 

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Aveda Lifestyle 

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FRITSTAXI 

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Happy Critters 

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Marcel 

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VERHEY VAN 

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Wassalon 

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page 15 

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Restaurant Recommendations 

Recommendations by Deana Kreitler & Heather DeWitt 

Please send your recommendations to goingdutchmag@awcthehague.org. 

1723 Voorburg 

Instead of an extensive menu, this restaurant 

offers one main meal each day, always different 

and always fresh. High quality food 

at an affordable price. 

Herenstraat 98, 2271CK, Voorburg 

070 201 5003 

www.1723.nl 

European, Dutch, Seafood 

€ – €€ 

Tuesday – Wednesday, 4 – 11 p.m. 

Thursday – Saturday, 4 p.m. – Midnight 

Restaurant Villa La Ruche 

The menu changes seasonally and offers 

recognizable flavors in an original presentation. 

Princess Mariannelaan 71, 2275BB, 

Voorburg 

070 386 0110 

www.villalaruche.nl 

French, Seafood, Dessert 

€€€€ 

Lunch: Friday, Noon – 2 p.m. 

Dinner: Tuesday – Saturday, 6 – 10 p.m. 

Krishna Vilas 

Authentic and memorable South Indian cuisine. 

An entirely vegetarian menu! 

Hooikade 56, 2514BK, Den Haag 

070 887 7990 

www.krishna-vilas.com 

Indian, Vegetarian 

€€ – €€€ 

Monday – Sunday, Noon – 10 p.m.

AWC Going Dutch Nov 2019

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