AWC Going Dutch Jan Feb 2020

Letter from the Editor
by Alex Moore
So, it’s that time of year again. The time
when we put away our hideous sweaters,
store the last of our Christmas
decorations, and make resolutions we are
most likely going to break in February. The
time of year when I realize that either I’m
getting older or time is flying by faster since
another year has come and gone. Normally,
I’d worry about pending existential crises,
but I seem to get fewer of those. I guess
that’s one benefit of aging.
While I may not have any more holiday
anecdotes or fun pictures about Teddy, I
do have good news: I managed to pull off
Thanksgiving without anything exploding,
catching on fire, or breaking. My inlaws
were wonderful as well, helping me
pick up the turkey, cook and set up. It’s the
first real Thanksgiving I’ve hosted, since I
don’t count the Friendsgiving I hosted in
Korea for my friends. There was no turkey,
after all, since that would have meant going
to Itaewon to the expat store and I lived
somewhat far from that part of Seoul.
After the excitement of the holidays,
January can be a tough month. Everyone
is broke, the holidays are over, winter is in
full force. No one ever said that a Dutch
winter was easy. It’s not uncommon to feel
sad during this time of year, especially for
us expats who are far away from the creature
comforts of home. The AWC has several
upcoming events such as a Welcome
Back Coffee, Welcome Back Borrel and a
Chili Cook-Off. Events like these can help
break up the winter blues that may seem
inevitable.
With the new year and new decade, there
are some changes to our Club as well.
Some Members have repatriated, new activities
have been added and new Members
have joined. I’d like to give shout-outs to
Audrey Goodman and Suzanne MacNeil
for everything they did to make our Club
and our magazine great, and for everything
they did to help me out. Here’s to hoping
our paths cross again. I’d also like to give
another shout-out to Teresa Mahoney and
Melissa White for everything they do to
help out with Going Dutch. If it weren’t for
them, we wouldn’t have successfully published
our fall issues.
I hope that 2020 is a wonderful productive
year for all of you. I look forward to getting
to know more of you at the various activities
planned for this year. I also look forward
to many more issues of Going Dutch.
Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to
daydream about sunny places.
Happy New Year!
10 GOING DUTCH
Alex
DECEMBER 2019 11