AWC Going Dutch Sept 2020

Going Dutch
September 2020
Georgia helps us get to know Jessie
much better
Anne teaches us how to navigate
Dutch cycle paths
6
See the incredible “Flat Stanley”
Board Installation created by Melissa
Rider
32
44
The Magazine of the
American Women’s Club
of The Hague
Table of Contents
5 Officers and Chairwomen
6 AWC Board Installation
8 Message from the President
9 Fall Kick Off
10 Ramblings from the Editor
12 Membership
12 Newcomers
13 9/11 Ceremony
14 Ongoing Activities
18 One-of-a-Kind Activities
20 Book Lovers
23 AWC Summer Activities
24 FAWCO Corner
25 Voting
26 Environmental Racism
28 Calendar
31 AWC and the Arts
32 Jessie Rodell: Member
Extraordinaire
SPECIAL PANDEMIC SECTION
37 Pandemic Paradox
38 Enduring Uncertainty
41 Giving Birth During a Pandemic
43 Thoughts on Travel
44 Knooppunten
46 Challenge Brings Growth
47 Experiences Thanks to COVID-19
48 Planning a Wedding
50 Appreciating Family
52 Classifieds
52 Advertising Rates
53 Index of Advertisers
54 End of the Commune
SEPTEMBER 2020 3

Editor
Melissa White
2020-2021 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
By Appointment Only
Dues (Effective 2020-2021)
€ 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
The World is Upside Down, Amsterdam Centraal
Station, January 2020
Photography
Greetje Engelsman, Mark Gatewood, Melissa
Rider, Melissa White
Proofreaders
Celeste Brown, Jane Gulde, Diane Schaap,
Debbie van Hees
Advertising Manager & Invoicing
Peggy Van Luyn
Contributors
Mary Adams, Rachel Allen, Barbara Brookman,
Jane Choy, Johanna Dishongh, Suzanne Dundas,
Greetje Engelsman, Roberta Enschede, Jenni
Franklin, Amber Gatewood, Eileen Harloff,
Georgia Regnault, Melissa Rider, Jo van Kalveen,
Suzanne MacNeil, Alex Moore, Anne van Oorshot,
Michelle Voorn
Printer
www.dwcprint.nl
AWC Bank Account Number
IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757
KvK Den Haag
40409274 BTW or VAT: 007408705B01
Deadlines: Submissions are due no later than the last Monday of the month preceding the publication month.
For example, for the November issue, submissions are due before Monday, September 28.
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
Honorary President Diane Hoekstra
President Barbara Brookman
president@awcthehague.org
Vice President Melissa Rider
vicepresident@awcthehague.org
Treasurer Sarah Dunn
treasurer@awcthehague.org
Secretary Mary Ellen Brennan
secretary@awcthehague.org
Club and Community Development
Officer
Carin Elam
community@awcthehague.org
Clubhouse Administration Officer
Open
clubadministrator@awcthehague.org
Communications Michelle Voorn
communications@awcthehague.org
Front Office
Liduine Bekman, Siska Datema-Kool,
Jan Essad, Deana Kreitler, Hannah Gray,
Georgia Regnault, Lindsey Turnau
Activities: Sarah Partridge
Arts: Jane Choy
Assistant Treasurer: Teresa Insalaco
Board Advisor: Jessie Rodell
Book Club Daytime: Teresa Mahoney
Book Club Evening: Dena Haggerty
Bookkeeper: Lori Schnebelie
Caring Committee: Naomi Keip
Chat, Craft & Cake: Suzanne Dundas
eNews: Michelle Voorn
FAWCO: Jenni Franklin
Front Office Coordinator: Hannah Gray
General Meetings Programs: Open
Heart Pillows: Jan de Vries
Historian/Archivist: Georgia Regnault
Holiday Bazaar: Georgia Regnault
IT Administrator: Julie Otten
Kids’ Club: Open
Lunch Bunch: Greetje Engelsman
Mah Jongg: Jen van Ginhoven
Membership: Heather DeWitt
Movie Network: Tina Andrews
Newcomers: Jo van Kalveen, Hilde Volle
Parliamentarian: Georgia Regnault
Philanthropy: Open
Pickleball: Barbara Brookman
Social Media Facebook and Instagram:
Michelle Voorn
Social Media LinkedIn: 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
AWC Mission Statement
The AWC is an association formed to provide social and educational activities for American
women living in the Netherlands and to promote amicable relations among people of all nations,
as well as acquiring funds for general public interest. Membership in the club is open
to women of all nations who are friendly and welcoming to American culture. The association
does not endeavor to make a profit. The AWC is a 100% volunteer organization.
SEPTEMBER 2020 5

A Board Installation Like No Other
6 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 7

Message from the President
by Barbara Brookman
Fall Kick Off
by Melissa Rider
Welcome to the start of a new Club
year in COVID-19 time. As we
socially distance and our worlds
have shrunk, the Club matters even more to
me. I hope it does to all of you. Last week,
I was fortunate to join a lunch with Jessie
Rodell and past AWC Presidents who still
live in Holland. While stories and laughter
flowed across the table and we heard from
overseas former Presidents by mail, I was
thinking about the importance of listening to
and sharing stories with the people we love.
Our lives are so much richer when we are
part of a community of people who know us.
However, sometimes stories are buried
deep and we struggle to fill in the blanks.
When my parents returned to Holland from
the Netherlands Indies after WWII, their
stories of suffering in Japanese internment
camps or the precarious struggle outside
the camps, followed by the instability of
an independence war were inconvenient
and mostly ignored. So they did what
Prime Minister Mark Rutte described during
the memorial ceremony on August 15:
they stored the past “in the attic with the
steamer trunks.” In many cases it’s too late
to unpack those steamer trunks or find the
keys to the locks, but I hope to still have
some time to listen.
Listening is truly a superpower and the
best gift we have to give precisely because
it is so diffi- cult. By opening up without
judgment and connecting
with empathy,
we move
beyond being
an observer.
This goes
well beyond
friends and
family (although
it’s
a great place
to start!) and
8 GOING DUTCH
extends to the
world around us.
Conversations
can be uncomfortable
as some
of them have to
be like the discussion
around
Black Lives
Matter, which is
so necessary to
confront us with
our privilege, or
Female Genital
Mutilation, which we’re learning so much
about thanks to the FAWCO Target Project
and needs to be eradicated. We need to listen
to these and other stories to bear witness,
learn and move to action as a way to
express our awareness, empathy and humanity.
I hope you all come back to the Club with
lots of new stories and I hope to read many
of them in this issue of Going Dutch.
Thank you for sharing and being there for
one another.
Barbara
P.S. I have 500-word limit for this column,
and I considered just writing VOTE! 500
times. But you know what to do. Vote by
email if your state allows it and return your
ballot the day you receive it (see page 25
for more information). Whatever you do,
please VOTE!
Let’s Kick Off the AWC’s 90th
Anniversary Year with Two
Celebratory Events
Fall has arrived and with it a new Club
year! What better way to kick off a year of
celebrating the American Women’s Club
of The Hague’s 90th anniversary and say
“Welcome” and “Welcome Back” to our
new, returning and prospective Members
than with two festive events to suit everyone’s
busy schedule.
Morning Kick Off Party
First, we’ll have a morning party of cake
and coffee or tea at the Strandrestaurant
Werelds (www.strandrestaurantwerelds.nl)
on the beach in Scheveningen (parking garage
directly across the street at Interparking
Boulevard at Strandweg 179). Rain or
shine, it’s a lovely spot for a social gathering.
There is lots of space to mingle and
learn about our Ongoing and One-of-a-Kind
Activities, Tours, Philanthropic Endeavors,
and Volunteer Opportunities within the
Club. Board Members and Committee
Chairs will be available to answer any questions.
Thursday, September 10
10 a.m. – Noon
Strandrestaurant Werelds
Strand Noord 54, 2586 ZZ Den Haag
FREE (1 cake + 1 coffee/tea)
Additional food and drink purchases at
own expense
RSVP required
Minimum 10 / Maximum: 30
Cancellation Deadline: September 3
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!
Evening Kick Off BBQ
For those who cannot make a morning
meeting, our second festivity will be a Sunday
evening BBQ for all to enjoy at the Tennispark
Houtrust (www.tennisparkhoutrust.nl);
parking is available on the street. For just
the price of drinks, we’ll be able to use their
facilities of clubhouse and terrace to have
a cookout. Family members are welcome
along with friends who are interested in
joining the AWC. Again, information will be
available about the upcoming activities and
events for the fall. Hamburgers, chicken and
veggie burgers will be provided by the Club.
Members are asked to bring an appetizer,
salad or dessert to share.
Sunday, September 13
5 – 8 p.m.
Tennispark Houtrust
Laan van Poot 38, 2566 EE Den Haag
Drinks MUST be purchased at the venue
Bring a side dish
RSVP required
Minimum 10 / Maximum: 30
Cancellation Deadline: September 3
Save the Date
The plans for the October General Meeting
were not finalized when we went to print,
but we will have a guest speaker. Please
keep the morning of Thursday, October 8,
open to spend with the AWC.
SEPTEMBER 2020 9

Ramblings from the Editor
by Melissa White
I’m back! For those of you keeping track, I
stepped down as Editor back in May 2017.
I hadn’t stopped loving the feeling of accomplishment
as I received each new issue
of Going Dutch in the mail, but I was burned
out after eight years. In addition, my husband
James was being laid off at the time and our
future in the Netherlands was very uncertain.
Clearly we never did move away and he is
doing his best to keep his consulting business
afloat. Sadly, our status here is still pretty shaky,
but that’s entirely our own fault for being too
stubborn to commit the time to learn Dutch; I
surely won’t be passing any inburgering exams
anytime soon with my standard response to
everything: Mijn nederlands is slecht.
After three years of offering various levels of
behind-the-scenes assistance on Going Dutch
and one pandemic later, I’ve taken back the
reins and am thrilled to be working with
Teresa Mahoney again. Please don’t regard
this as a step backwards, but a leap forwards
as we make some significant changes to our
beloved magazine.
One major change is that we have reduced
the number of issues each year from eight to
five. Thus, each issue will cover two months
with a two-month break over the summer
(September/October, November/December,
January/February, March/April and May/
June). This will result in less of a focus on our
Club’s day-to-day activities, especially during
these uncertain days when we don’t know
if or when there could be another lockdown
or further changes to current social distancing
guidelines. Between our website, eNews and
our Facebook group, there are plenty of ways
for our Members to keep apprised of the latest
updates on activities and events, many of
which are back to being held in person.
Another important change to Going Dutch is
that we will attempt to have a unifying theme
in each issue, especially in an effort to document
this unusual time in our Club’s history.
In this issue, we’re again reflecting on the
pandemic, allowing Members to share how
COVID-19 has impacted their lives. There
are a few sequels to earlier articles including
Giving Birth During a Pandemic and The End
of the Commune (as you’ll see, Members did
such a great job submitting articles for this issue
that I had to keep my sequel to The White
House Commune article relatively short). In
addition, this issue has an in-depth article by
Georgia Regnault to get to know better Jessie
Rodell, a past AWC President and current
Board Advisor who is heroically dealing with
brain cancer (see page 32).
In honor of the AWC’s upcoming 90th anniversary,
our next issue will feature former
AWC Presidents reflecting on how they
worked to overcome some of the Club’s
challenges over the years. We hope this will
be informative as well as another important
way to document our Club’s history. Other
themes being considered include reflecting
on living in Holland, and what the AWC
has meant to our Members. Please feel free
to reach out to me with suggestions on possible
other themes for future issues, or if
you’d like to discuss a possible submission,
at goingdutchmag@awcthehague.org.
Regarding the covers, we’re also going to try
something new this year. Compared to Emily
van Eerten’s incredible cover photo for the
June issue, I know that my photography efforts
could never come close to being as
dramatic or timely. However, I have always
loved taking reflection shots, so will attempt
to come up with some images to tie in with
our ambitions to reflect in this year’s issues.
Of course, we hope that you’ll embrace these
changes to Going Dutch as we work hard to
continue to produce a high-quality magazine
that we hope you look forward to reading.
Melissa
10 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 11

Membership
by Heather DeWitt
A Ceremony of Remembrance and Hope
by Roberta Enschede
2020-2021 Membership Dues
AWC Membership dues for the 2020-2021
Club Year are now payable and will be effective
until August 31, 2021. All renewals
must be received by September 30, 2020
to avoid a € 10 late fee. You can make
your payment online by electronic bank
transfer to our bank account with IBAN:
NL42ABNA0431421757 (be sure to include
your name and “Membership Dues” in the
memo) or through our website via PayPal
(additional fees apply). Dues remain the same
as last year: € 110 for Regular and Associate
Members, € 90 for Business Professionals,
€ 55 for Military (with valid military ID)
or € 35 for Student Memberships (full-time
with valid student ID), € 35 Outside the
Netherlands (Going Dutch magazine not included).
Newcomers
by Jo van Kalveen & Hilde Volle
Hello AWC Newcomers! We are Jo and
Hilde, and together we oversee Newcomer
Activities for the American Women’s Club
of The Hague. Whether you are new to the
Netherlands or just new to our Club, we’re
sure you will really enjoy being a Member
of the AWC. Aside from attending the AWC
Kick Off event in September, we will be
hosting various events for Newcomers
over the next year including coffee mornings,
workshops, museum visits and walking
tours. All of these events can help you
find out more about the Club’s other activities,
trips and charity work, and meet fellow
Newcomers, of course.
In the meantime, if you have any questions
at all, please feel free to contact us
at newcomers@awcthehague.org. Hilde
moved here from Norway 3 years ago while
Update Your Information
If you have moved or do not wish to renew
your Membership, please send email me
at membership@awcthehague.org. I am
also happy to answer questions about logging
onto our website.
AWC Guest Policy
Guests are welcome to participate in AWC
activities and tours on a limited basis. As a
non-member, a guest is limited to attend
two functions per calendar year and will be
charged an additional non-member fee.
Jo has been living in Holland for nearly 15
years, so between us we have plenty of old
and new experiences of expat life in the
Netherlands.
We look forward to meeting you soon,
Jo and Hilde
AWC Newcomers Chairs
September 11 is a day when people say,
“I know exactly where I was.” We heard
the news, watched the footage and could
not believe what we were seeing. In New
York City, the South Tower and minutes later
the North Tower of the World Trade Center
crumbled. In Washington, DC, a smoldering
massive hole pierced the Pentagon. In
Shankesville, Pennsylvania, a meadow burned.
Four planes became weapons that killed 2,976
people: 2,752 in the Trade Center, 184 in the
Pentagon and 40 in Shankesvile.
David Halberstam, the distinguished
American journalist wrote, “There are dates
which seem to separate yesterday from today
and then from now.”
For the 19th year, we will take time to
remember the men and women who lost their
lives that day and the first responders and civilians
who have since lost their lives. More
than 2,000 people who worked in the rubble
have died or will die from cancers related to
9/11. For their families too, September 11 will
never be just another day.
Many might recall the Congressional testimony
of Luis Alvarez, NYPD. Eighteen days
before his death at 53, accompanied by Jon
Stewart, he left a hospice in NYC to travel to
DC and demand that Congress replenish the
Victim’s Compensation Fund saying, “You
said, you’d never forget.” Jon Stewart followed
and challenged them, “They did their job. DO
YOURS!” Thankfully, they did.
Each year Overseas American Remember
(OAR) receives letters from a family member
or friend of those who perished. The one
constant is the profound thanks they express
because we, who live so far away, take time
to remember.
Lt. Steve Brown (ret) FDNY lost 13 comrades
from Squad One, FDNY. Theirs was
the second ladder truck to arrive at the Trade
Center because their firehouse is just across
the Brooklyn Bridge. Twenty men were on
that ladder truck. Seven returned. Steve wrote,
“When people find out I was a member of the
FDNY, the first question they ask me is: ‘Were
you there?’ Well, the answer is: Yes, I was,
and I want to talk about it. I always wonder
how the families of those we lost cope with
this every year. I realize they do it with the
help of their families and people like you. I
continue to be humbled by the outpouring of
support from people near and far―even as
far as Holland. I can’t begin to tell you what
it means to me. Thank you for remembering
that day and especially the members of Squad
One who lost their lives.”
Chris Blackwell was a member of the
FDNY’s elite Rescue Unit 3. They went up
to floors 93 – 98 in the North Tower. The entire
squad perished. His brother Steve Blackwell
wrote, “9/11 altered our lives forever. I always
saw Chris through the eyes of a younger
brother. I thought he was indestructible. That
day, it never occurred to me that I would never
see him again. No trace of Chris was ever
found, but he lives on in us. My family and I
especially want to thank those who continue to
ensure this commemoration and others like it
around the world take place every single year.
I can’t thank all of you enough for taking the
time to honor those we lost.”
September 11 will never be just another
day. Both Steve Brown and Steve Blackwell
wrote about the kindness of people everywhere.
“It was something to behold. We must
once more find that overwhelming sense of
unity and compassion for one another.”
That’s the message of the Ceremony of
Remembrance and Hope. Please join us on
Friday, September 11 at 5:30 p.m. Due to
COVID-19 space restrictions at the AWC,
please check eNews for details on the location
of the Ceremony. Sponsored by OAR. For more
information, contact me at oarinnl@yahoo.com.
12 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 13

Ongoing Activities
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.
CCandCer’s 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 as there are lots of sharp
objects about (pins, needles, scissors and
wit) so we cannot accommodate children.
Due to the coronavirus social distancing
measures, space is limited. You must
RSVP if you plan to attend using either
the WildApricot app, website calendar, or
directly with Suzanne Dundas.
Every Tuesday
10 a.m. – Noon
AWC Clubhouse
FREE
Heart Pillow Project
Members work together to make heartshaped
pillows designed to help support the
arms of recent mastectomy patients. Each
pillow is made with TLC, wrapped, and
comes with a note signed by an AWC volunteer.
No sewing skills are needed, as you
can cut, stuff or wrap the heart pillows. We
are proud to provide something both practical
and comforting, and we know our work
helps because we often receive thank-you
notes from the patients who have received a
heart pillow. Due to the coronavirus social
distancing measures, space is limited. You
must RSVP if you plan to attend via the
WildApricot app or website calendar. For
more information, please contact Jan de
Vries at info@awcthehague.org.
Tuesdays, September 8 + October 13
Noon – 2 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
Maximum12
FREE
14 GOING DUTCH
Mah Jongg
Mah Jongg is a popular tile-based game
of Chinese origin. This exciting game is
similar to the card game, rummy. We will
play the international version with 144 tiles
with no scoring. Be prepared for a game of
strategy and luck that will quickly become
addictive! All beginners and experienced
players are welcome at any time. Please join
us as this game is simply good fun. Due to
the coronavirus social distancing measures,
space is limited. You must RSVP if you
plan to attend. For more information or
to register, contact Jen van Ginhoven at
info@awcthehague.org.
Every Tuesday, except second Tuesday of
the month
1 – 4 p.m.
Location TBD
FREE
Out to Lunch Bunch
Due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19
situation, it is not currently ideal to gather
for group lunches. To stay informed about
when and where our lunches will start
again, please email Greete Engelsman at
outtolunchbunch@awcthehague.org. You
can also find updates on our AWC Facebook
group and eNews.
Pickleball
Pickleball is a sport that combines elements
from tennis, badminton and table tennis. It
is played with a paddle and light ball in a
badminton-sized court. It is a friendly sport
for all age groups and levels! Pickleball is
the fastest growing sport in the US and is exploding
in popularity internationally. AWC
Members are playing this fun and easy to
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 after the
cancellation deadline. Members may
find a substitute in lieu of cancellation
provided that arrangements are made
with the organizer. Members shall
be held responsible for their guest
reservations in accordance with this
policy.
learn game on an indoor court beginning in
September. Contact Barbara Brookman at
president@awcthehague.org to join a trial
session with the option to join for the season.
Day and time TBD
Sporthall Houtrust
Laan van Poot 22, Den Haag
Trial Session: Free
8-week Season: € 40 Members
Virtual Quiz Night
This month’s Saturday night quiz will
be created and hosted by Suzanne
Dundas. Participants will connect via a link
to a Google Meet video call. Each team will
consist of two people. You can form a team
from your home with a partner or housemate,
or play remotely with another AWC Member
(i.e. you both use Google Meet, but stay in
contact with each other by phone). Each team
should have a pen and paper for writing down
the answers and keeping track of your scores.
There will be three to four rounds with each
round having ten questions. After a round is
completed, we will review the answers
>> 16
SEPTEMBER 2020 15

Ongoing Activities (cont.)
Continued from page 15
as a group and teams will track their own
score. Once all rounds are completed, we can
determine the grand winner! In the event of
a tie, a super hard rocket scientist level question
will be used as a tiebreaker. Food and
drinks are essential to successful game play
and will be available for takeaway from your
local kitchen! Questions? Contact Melissa
Rider at vicepresident@awcthehague.org.
Saturday, September 26
7 – 9 p.m.
Comfort of Your Own Home
RSVP deadline: September 25
Walkie Talkies
Whether you count your steps or just want to
take a socially distanced walk with friends,
the Monday morning Walkie Talkies is a
fun and healthy way to start the week. The
group meets in front of the Clubhouse before
heading out promptly to walk to various
destinations in the area, usually racking up
10,000 steps along the way. Contact Hannah
Gray at walkietalkies@awcthehague.org
to be added to the WhatsApp group for last
minute updates and cancellations.
Mondays
9:30 a.m.
AWC Clubhouse
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
socially distanced coffee at her home on the
first Thursday of each month. Since the location
and capacity changes every month,
contact Suzanne Dundas directly if you are
interested in attending.
Thursdays, September 3 + October 1
9:30 a.m.
Location TBD
FREE
Virtual Women in Business
Are you a business owner? Are you thinking
about starting a business? Come to our
ongoing meetings for networking and discussion
among AWC Members about being
a business owner in the Netherlands. All
are welcome, no matter what amount of experience
you may have with owning a business.
Our September topic will be Choice
of Entity (ZZP or BV) for your business led
by Carol Schapira and Dena Haggerty,
and our October topic will be Facebook and
Amazon marketing led by Dena. Feel free
to email Mary Ellen Brennan for more information
at secretary@awcthehague.org.
Fridays, September 25 + October 23
10 – 11:30 a.m.
Virtual Meeting
FREE
Unique products
for entrepreneurs
1061246
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
16 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 17

One-of-a-Kind Activities
by Melissa Rider
RSVP directly on www.awcthehague.org or the Wild Apricot app. Payment must be made
within 5 calendar days by bank transfer to the AWC account NL42ABNA0431421757 or on
our website via PayPal (additional fees apply).
Direct any questions to vicepresident@awcthehague.org
the Netherlands and AWC Member, Carol
Slootweg, is giving another one of her
highly recommended workshops. Whether
you are new or an old-timer, there is always
something to learn about food and shopping
in the Netherlands. It could be deciphering
Sip, Swap & Shop
Like many AWC spring activities, the inaugural
AWC Sip, Swap & Shop event
had to be postponed. Furthermore, because
of COVID-19 regulations, we have had to
slightly amend our original plans. Using the
AWC WildApricot app, you can register for
a specific timeslot, limited to eight attendees
for each.
A Clothes Swap allows unworn clothes to
get a new lease on life in someone else’s
wardrobe. We had an overwhelming response
to our original request for items of
clothing, shoes and accessories. So many of
you donated such beautiful and stylish items
that it is guaranteed there will be something
for everyone! Come along to enjoy some
refreshments (the Sip part), donate your unwanted
clothes and accessories (the Swap
part), browse the rails, try things on and
hopefully return home with a few new items
of clothing for your reinvigorated wardrobe
(the Shop part). Attendees who donate
three or more items of clothing will receive
three tickets at the event which can each
be redeemed for
one item; additional
items can
be purchased
for € 5 each.
Attendees who
have not donated
any items will be
charged an entry
fee plus € 5 per
item.
Additional donations
are still
being accepted
in the drop-off
box in the AWC Front Office (check our
AWC calendar for hours). Please label your
items with your name (stickers and pens
are in the box) or email Jo van Kalveen
at newcomers@awcthehague.org with the
number and type of items you have donated.
Please also consider donating items even
if you do not plan on attending the event.
Donated items should be in a sellable condition,
i.e. clean and gently worn. We are
limiting options to ladies clothing only with
no underwear, swimwear, activewear, nightwear
or leggings. The Clothes Swap Team
reserves the right not to accept any items
they deem unsuitable. Net proceeds will be
donated towards an AWC or FAWCO supported
charity and any items remaining will
be donated to charity.
Evening Sessions:
Thursday, September 17
5 – 5:45 p.m. or 6 – 6:45 p.m.
or 7 – 7:45 p.m.
Morning Sessions:
Friday, September 18
10 – 10:45 a.m. or 11 – 11:45 a.m.
or 12 – 12:45 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
Maximum 8 per session
€ 5 entry fee or free with donations
The Impact of What You Wear
In this fun and interactive presentation, you
will learn about the impact of wearing the
right color and style of clothes, understand
why some things work for us and others
don’t, and get top tips on creating an ideal
wardrobe.
Did you know that most people only wear
15% of what is in their closet, leaving 85%
just hanging there? Why do we so often stay
in our comfort zone and choose to buy and
wear the same things? When you look good,
you feel good and this positively affects everything
you do, plus the people around you.
Find out how easy it is to get dressed every
morning and find clothes that make you feel
confident. Everyone deserves to look their
best every day, so ideally we should all own
a wardrobe full of items that fit and look
great on us. Maud Janssen, a Color and Style
Consultant, will give us tips on how to be
able to create this ideal wardrobe and have
something for every occasion. You will learn
about the impact of color and wearing clothing
that not only suits your body shape, but
also your personality. Find out how you can
dress professionally and casually with confidence,
knowing that what you wear makes
you look and feel good. Maud has been
working for House of Colour since 2013 and
offers personal style classes and color analysis
sessions for individuals and groups, having
worked with over 350 clients in London,
Tokyo and now in The Hague. She also offers
personal shopping trips and wardrobe
cleanouts for her clients. She is passionate
about empowering and teaching people how
to look good and she loves her job because
it is such a positive one. Contact Jo van
Kalveen at newcomers@awcthehague.org
for more information.
Wednesday, September 23
AWC Clubhouse
10:30 a.m. – Noon
€ 5 Members
Maximum 8
Cancellation deadline: September 21
Dutch Products Class
Calling all AWC Newcomers (and other interested
Members)! Long-term resident of
product labels or recipes, learning to use
new cuts of meat or unusual vegetables,
finding suitable cleaning products or substitutes
for your favorite ingredients. Due to
the coronavirus social distancing measures,
space is limited. You must RSVP if you
plan to attend. Questions? Contact Jo van
Kalveen at newcomers@awcthehague.org.
Friday, October 2
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
AWC Clubhouse
Free
Maximum 9
18 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 19

Book Lovers
Book Clubs
The AWC Book Clubs are FREE and 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. Due
to the coronavirus social distancing measures
you must RSVP if you plan to attend
in person. Due to limited space, there will
also be an option to attend virtually through
Google Meet. Happy reading!
Daytime Book Club
September Selection:
Girl, Woman, Other by
Bernardine Evaristo
Winner of the 2019
Booker Prize, this novel
introduces an interconnected
group of Black
British contemporary
women living vastly different
lives. There will be
plenty for us to discuss:
politics, parenthood, sexuality, racism, immigration,
domestic violence, infidelity,
friendship and love. It is also very timely as
it looks back to the legacy of Britain’s colonial
history in Africa and the Caribbean.
Thursday, September 24
10 a.m.
AWC Clubhouse
20 GOING DUTCH
October Selection: The
Reader on the 6.27 by
Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
Guylain Vignolies works
in a book pulping factory
in a job he hates.
His only pleasure in life
is reciting aloud from the
pages he has saved from
the jaws of the monstrous
pulping machine while on the 6:27
train each day. This novel, translated from
French, is a warm fable about literature’s
power to uplift even the most downtrodden
of lives.
Thursday, October 22
10 a.m.
AWC Clubhouse
Daytime Book Club Reading List:
Thursday, November 19: The Discomfort
of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
(date changed due to Thanksgiving)
Evening Book Club
September Selection:
The Other Americans by
Laila Lalami
This timely novel about
the suspicious death of a
Moroccan immigrant is
more than just a murder
mystery. It is also a family
saga, social commentary
and love story told
from the perspectives of
the victim, his immigrant family, neighbors
and police.
Wednesday, September 9
7:30 p.m.
Location TBD
October Selection: The Nickel Boys by
Colson Whitehead
Wednesday, October 14, Location TBD
Daytime Book Club Recaps
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
It’s understandable if you imagine this
is a meandering novel about heading towards
the light, but that couldn’t be farther
from the image its title conveys. The
“long bright river” is both the vein that
carries heroin into the body and the river
of bodies carried off by addiction from a
Philadelphia neighborhood decimated by
drugs and prostitution. It’s a detective story
about a series of murders, but it’s really
about a sisterly bond that persists through
decades marked by very different choices.
One sister is a thoughtful, naive police officer.
The other is an addict who struggles
through a morass of drugs and criminality,
both within her extended family and
amongst the wasted denizens of vacant
and decrepit row houses. The humanity of
all the characters shine through regardless
of their actions or situations. The author
likes and understands the neighborhood
she brought to life and, on these counts,
we agreed she is a good writer. Sometimes,
though, the motivations of her characters
didn’t make sense. The denouement of
the story was rushed and awkward. These
flaws diminished Moore’s accomplishment
greatly, to the degree that about half
of us cannot recommend the book, while
others felt it was an enjoyable read despite
its flaws.
The Club: Johnson, Boswell and the
Friends Who Shaped an Age by Leo
Damrosch
This historical non-fiction is by an academic
of lofty reputation. It features a beige cover
with a lineup of bewigged prigs. It was a
hard sell to our group, but don’t judge a book
by its cover. In late 18th-century London,
a group of middle-class men met weekly
at the Turk’s Head Tavern to talk. Many of
these men became famous for their timeless
accomplishments in literature and other
arts, but Damrosch doesn’t delve into their
genius. Instead he delves into their lives―
foibles, mental illness, immorality, poverty
and riches―and paints a vivid picture of
the club members and their lives in London.
Life wasn’t sanitary and it was rarely sober,
but it was human and fascinating. If you
are seeking to understand the political
philosophy of Edmund Burke, the economic
theory of Adam Smith, or the literary genius
of Samuel Johnson, to name just three
members of the club, this is not the book for
you. This is about the men—not their work.
James Boswell, who invented our notion of
literary biography in his The Life of Samuel
Johnson, was a failed lawyer, an exploiter
of prostitutes and a falling-down-drunk. He
was also gregarious, funny and an inveterate
chronicler of the fascinating conversations
that fueled his gift for biography. And though
none of the club members were female, >> 22
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me! That’s unique!”
SEPTEMBER 2020 21

Book Lovers (cont.)
Continued from page 21
Summer Activities at the AWC
by Melissa Rider
the women who surrounded Johnson and
the others constituted a shadow club equally
as fascinating, even as their talents were
thwarted. Johnson himself said, “The only end
of writing is to allow readers better to enjoy
life or better to endure it.” Leo Damrosch
accomplished both ends. Recommended.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
At the end of World War II, Cyril Connoy
builds a real estate empire which propels his
family from poverty to enormous wealth.
He buys the Dutch House as a surprise for
his wife Elna, a “marvel beyond what any of
them had imagined.” For Cecil, the house is
a symbol of success; for Elna it’s a prison,
shaming her with its grandeur. She flees,
leaving behind her husband and two young
children, Maeve and Danny. When Cyril
suddenly dies and leaves his entire estate to
their stepmother, the brother and sister are
evicted and left to fend for themselves, going
on to live drastically different lives than
those they had imagined. The story is told
through the eyes of Danny as he and his
self-assured sister Maeve are thrown back
into the poverty their father had escaped and
discover that all they have is each other. Set
over five decades, the novel explores the
powerful bond between siblings and the past
that will not let go in the form of the house
from their childhood. It addresses questions
of inheritance, love and forgiveness,
and how we want to see ourselves. Narrator
Danny is sometimes clearsighted and sometimes
oblivious, but it is Maeve who is the
heroine of the story, fighting foes and sacrificing
her own future to assure Danny’s
happiness. There was a lot to discuss. We
covered the often deplorable actions of the
mothers, Danny’s apparent passive acceptance
of everything that happened to him,
the role of Maeve in shaping her brother’s
future while never really being able to escape
her past and the sibling’s unshakeable
bond. We were also fascinated with the
house: what it actually looked like and the
central role it played. We generally agreed
22 GOING DUTCH
this was a wonderfully written book, rich
in nostalgia and filled with complicated and
multi-layered characters. Honorable mention
should be given to Tom Hanks, who
reads the audible version which several of
our Members said greatly enhanced their enjoyment
of the book. An engrossing read we
highly recommend.
Evening Book Club Recaps
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Set in Ireland, this novel examines a couple’s
relationship, complicated by their social and
socioeconomic divisions. Meeting as teenagers,
Connell is a shy but popular guy while
Marianne is the opposite: private, wealthy
but a loner without friends. She struggles
as a teenager because of her unhappy childhood,
finding it hard to accept “normal” relationships.
While at school, they act like
they don’t know each other―Connell is
afraid of what people will say―but outside
of school, they develop a deep connection.
They both attend the same university, but
here the tables have turned. Connell is struggling
to find his place, shy and uncertain
while Marianne is flourishing, having found
her footing and social status. A complicated
21st-century love story unfolds as they both
circle each other, straying towards other people
and possibilities while being constantly
drawn back to each other. Our group was
both fascinated and frustrated with the main
characters. Here are two people who need
each other, but are not always able to communicate
that―the main source of our frustration!
Their relationship is intense, raw, at
times heartbreaking and uncomfortable, but
also in some ways beautiful. The book resonated
with some of our readers while leaving
others thankful their teenage years were
less “complicated.” It’s a beautifully messy
love story, emotionally honest and devastatingly
perceptive that we recommend. If you
can find it, the recent BBC TV adaptation is
well worth a watch, too, with two brilliant
lead actors who gained widespread critical
acclaim for bringing the book to life.
With some lockdown restrictions easing
in mid-June and more at the beginning
of July, activities at the AWC
slowly began again with the new normal of
1.5-meter social distancing. Walkie Talkies had
a record number of participants on their first
walk of the new 2020-21 Club year on June 1.
The gorgeous weather could have been a factor,
but I think the main reason was that everyone
wanted to reconnect with friends in person.
Pickleball resumed on the outdoor basketball
court at the Laan van Poot Sports Complex
rather than indoors and most of us remembered
the rules after our three-month hiatus.
Rather than having summer office hours, the
Board decided to open the Clubhouse, by appointment
only, beginning June 15 with all reservations
for Clubhouse use being requested
via email to vicepresident@awcthehague.org.
Social distancing restrictions were put into
place, thus limiting the number of people per
room in the Clubhouse. Chat, Craft & Cake
were the first group to reserve their regular
Tuesday morning slot to enjoy each other’s
company while crafting. By using the large
conference room and opening the double
doors, they were able to accommodate everyone
in a safe manner. Both Daytime and
Evening Book Clubs and Heart Pillows all
followed suit. For those Members preferring
to remain at home, they could still participate
virtually through Google Meets. With
nice summer weather upon us, the Wassenaar
Coffee and Mah Jongg groups hosted their
gatherings in Member’s gardens.
It’s difficult to know what the fall will bring
in terms of social distancing and lockdown
protocols, but the
AWC will persevere
with a mixture of virtual
and real activities
and events. Stepping
up to this challenge, I
would like to welcome
Sarah Partridge, our
new Activities Chair,
who will be a big help
in planning a variety
of day and evening
socials in the coming
months. Sarah,
an expat from Manchester, England, joined
the AWC in January after moving here from
Manila with her Dutch husband and four
cats. They previously lived in Abu Dhabi for
15 years where she worked as a PE teacher
at a local primary school. Sarah has a Sports
Science degree and is currently working as
a sports coach for Playball NL. She enjoys
playing golf, kayaking, cooking, and socializing,
so Sarah brings a lot of enthusiasm and
energy to this volunteer position. Feel free to
contact her at activities@awcthehague.org if
you have any suggestions or questions about
activities.
For the most up-to-date information on our
activities and events as well as Clubhouse
hours, please check our online calendar via
the Wild Apricot app or by logging onto our
website at www.awcthehague.org. Facebook
and eNews will will also inform Members
of any changes and additions to events
and activities. For the time being, Thirsty
Thursday and Out to Lunch Bunch will not
be organized for the fall.
Going Dutch is Available Online
Go to www.awcthehague.org to share the current month’s issue with friends and family.
You will also find links to our annual advertisers, whose support makes this magazine
possible. If you visit or contact one of our advertisers, let them know Going Dutch sent you!
SEPTEMBER 2020 23

FAWCO Corner
by Jenni Franklin
Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, a United Nations NGO with
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council
www.fawco.org.
This September, we commemorate
five years of working toward the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
alongside our FAWCO partners as well as thousands
of other organizations around the world.
These ambitious goals were adopted in 2015
as “the blueprint to achieve a better and more
sustainable future for all” and have since been
integrated into the agendas of national governments,
school curriculums, and the community
and service work of non-governmental organizations
in 162 countries and territories. It is
ambitious, indeed, that as a global community
we hope to achieve these goals by 2030.
FAWCO’s Global Issue Team (and the projects
we support through fundraising at the
AWC) focuses on four issues: Education,
Environment, Health and Human Rights.
These issues connect specifically to the SDG
4 (Quality Education), SDG 13 (Climate
Action), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-
Being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
Take a closer look at all 17 of the goals in
the graphic and you’ll quickly realize that
because the goals are interconnected, there’s
not a single goal that our service-focused
work through FAWCO doesn’t address. For
example, our Target Project, S.A.F.E. (Safe
Alternatives for Female Genital Mutilation)
is connected to SDG 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 16.
With organizations this big focused on goals
this lofty, sometimes I get a little lost and
24 GOING DUTCH
think, “but what can I really do?” Thankfully,
the UN has given us a plethora of resources
easily accessible on their website that show
us exactly how we can get involved. Here are
three of my favorite ideas:
1) Find one goal you’re passionate about
and take steps in your daily life to address
that goal. My family has chosen Goal 2: Zero
Hunger. We are being intentional about purchasing
from local farmers, buying only the
amount of food we will eat, and using all the
parts of what we buy (we’ve made lots of
broths and smoothies!). We also financially
support a food bank in our hometown.
2) Instead of diving deep into one
goal, pick two or three that are easy and
quick changes. You’ll find a graphic at
www.UN.org/sustainabledevelopment with
each of the goals and one single step you
can take toward that goal. For example, Goal
6: Clean Water and Sanitation says, “Avoid
Wasting Water,” which you can do by simply
setting a timer and taking shorter showers.
Do you use a bike as your primary means of
transportation? You’ve already checked off
Goal 11!
3) Perhaps you want to learn more about
the goals and use them as an education project
in your family or your business? Check
out “Goal of the Month” under “News and
Media” on the website. Each month you’ll
find a basic overview of the month’s goal,
printable infographics, recent news articles
and ways to help as a business or individual.
As we mark five years of working toward realizing
these goals, I hope you’ll join me in
learning more and taking steps to address the
global challenges we face. The world will be
a better place because of it!
Your Vote is Your Voice
Overseas Americans are un-appointed ambassadors!
If you haven’t registered and requested an absentee ballot, do it today!
Go to Federal Voting Assistance Program at www.FVAP.gov to download the
Federal Postcard (FPCA) to:
1) Register to vote
2) Request an absentee ballot
Due to problems with the US Postal Service, email the FPCA, if your state permits,
and request your ballot both by mail and email. Use the ballot that arrives first.
When possible, return the ballot by email. Do not rely on the fact that in the past,
you may have received a ballot without submitting an FPCA. Overseas citizens are
advised to submit an FPCA each year.
As an overseas American, you are eligible to vote even if:
1) You do not have a residence in the US
2) You do not intend to return
3) You have lived abroad a long time
Your voting residence is the place where you last resided.
As an overseas American, you are eligible to vote in all but 11 states even if
you were born abroad and have never lived in the US. Your voting residence is
the place where your citizen parent(s) or legal guardian last resided.
If you completed and mailed or emailed a signed FPCA and do not receive
your absentee ballot 30 days before the election, immediately download:
Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) from www.FVAP.gov. Fill it out, sign
and mail or email it (if your state accepts emailed ballots). If you later receive
a ballot in the mail, fill it in and return it. Only one ballot will be counted. Use
Dutch postage! Postage paid is valid only within the US.
If you need assistance, go to www.FVAP.gov and click on your voting state. For
toll-free assistance, call the FVAP toll-free numbers: 0800.022.8213 Overseas
citizens can also contact: votinginfo@state.gov or the Voting Action Officer Kim
Richter at the Department of State at 1.202.485.6067.
SEPTEMBER 2020 25

George Floyd and Climate Change
by Anne van Oorschot
I
am originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota
and have spent the past 39 years explaining
to people in the Netherlands where that is.
Everyone knows where New York, Florida,
Texas and California are, but Minnesota is not a
place most people had heard of. After the death
of George Floyd at the hands of excessive police
force, now everyone has heard of it. While I had
never thought of my hometown as an especially
racist place, the beginnings of the racism presently
on display must have been present while
I was growing up. How disorienting to realize
that I never really saw it. I sympathize with the
baked-in racism that I now realize is in seemingly
every community in America and will
stand with others to see that situation change,
but I don’t see it as my #1 priority. My passion
is the environment and climate change.
So imagine my surprise in the past weeks of
reading articles to realize just how intertwined
racism is with the problems of climate change.
You are not alone if the connection between
racism and the climate crisis is not immediate
to you, but I do hope you will read on so I can
share with you what I have learned.
Environmental Racism at Home
The concept of environmental racism was
coined in the US in the early 1980s and refers
to any practice which leads to an unequal distribution
of environmental burdens, such as
pollution, between different groups of people
with race being the strongest determinant.
Many studies show that communities of color
26 GOING DUTCH
and poor communities are at a far greater risk
of being negatively impacted by environmental
risks. Consider the following: airports,
power plants and the busiest roads in the West
tend to be in the most disadvantaged working
class areas where a disproportional number of
Black and brown communities live. London
City Airport is located in Newham, where
40% of the population gets by on £20,000
or less per year, while the average salary of a
London City Airport passenger is £92,000 per
year. Environmental justice is the name of a
movement that evolved in response to those
findings, stressing that specific social groups
are hit harder by the environmental and climate
policies that other groups gain benefits
from.
Environmental racism not only refers to the
unequal dispersion of environmental disadvantages,
but also to the underlying systemic
structures causing those inequalities. Some industry
leaders state that they do not carry out
“intentional” discrimination; it’s all a result
of simple economic reasoning. In an attempt
to maximize profits, production costs should
be minimized, so a factory location is chosen
with the lowest land prices. This leads to industries
invading low income communities.
The pollution, which always accompanies the
industrial process, decreases the living conditions
as well as the land value. The former
motivates those who are sufficiently affluent
to move away, while the latter is a factor
leading to further impoverishment of the area.
Since industry and government try to avoid
communities which are capable of forming an
effective opposition to this sort of industrialized
process, communities of color and poor
communities are more likely to fall victim to
this negative chain of events. Due to political
underrepresentation of communities of color
and their discrimination in the white dominated
public discourse, this negative cycle
continues.
Environmental Racism on a Global
Scale
Systematic environmental racism does not
limit itself to western counties. Due to the rapid
global economic growth of capitalist economies
since World War II, economies are in
constant need of natural resources. Economic
value is prioritized over the social or biological
value of nature in the exploitation of the
necessary natural resources. This often results
in conflicts with indigenous communities on
whose land resources are found. The result
is decimated natural resources, altered infrastructures
and the compromise of traditional
ways of living that respect the environment.
Indigenous communities have been fighting
against this trend for years, but have made
little headway against huge corporations such
as Shell.
While climate change poses a threat to everyone
living on this planet, its harmful effects are
not distributed evenly among countries and
communities. Island nations and low-income
countries around the world, from the Maldives
and Haiti to Bangladesh and Madagascar, bear
the brunt of environmental destruction and
man-made and corporate-driven global warming.
What do these countries have in common?
They are all former colonies or prefectures of
major western powers. If one examines global
and transnational patterns of environmental
injustice, they clearly show that the export of
polluting industries and waste go, by far, more
often to countries that were former colonies
and are mainly populated by people of color.
A Call to Action?
Politicians, experts, commentators and activists
from the US, UK and Australia are currently
arguing in unison that their governments
should view the COVID-19 pandemic
as a wake-up call to improve their relationship
with the environment and take constructive
steps to tackle climate change. While the recipes
they offer for achieving a “green” recovery
differ in detail, they appear to share one
important feature: a tendency to ignore the
global nature of the climate crisis. They ignore
the nuanced and lived experiences of the hardhit
populations in the southern hemisphere, often
communities of color, and the countries in
the northern hemisphere’s role in creating an
unfair system that marginalizes the environmental
groups, peoples and ideas in the South.
The only way for a better, healthier and more
prosperous future for all is through a truly
global climate stabilization and resilience plan
that includes reparations to former colonies
that are struggling to withstand a crisis that
they played little role in creating.
Individual Action
While many individuals are concerned about
climate breakdown, they do not see how they
can influence something so big, abstract and
threatening. While there is much an individual
can and should do, we fall short―not because
we don’t change enough in our individual
lives, but because we don’t take collective action.
It’s up to us to demand and create broad,
structural change not only for the environment,
but also for the racial inequities at home
and abroad that contribute to it.
Sources:
https://code-rood.org/en/2020/04/08/whose-lives-whose-profits-why-climate-activism-and-antiracism-go-hand-in-hand/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit
https://twitter.com/ukblm/status/773058142133518336?utm_medium=email&utm_
source=actionkit
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/green-deal-imperial-masterplan-200603124538265.
html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit
http://www.foeeurope.org/yfoee/intersectionality-resources?utm_medium=email&utm_
source=actionkit
https://350.org/?akid=123300.788100.Kbk-2i&rd=1&t=1
SEPTEMBER 2020 27

September 2020
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2 3
4 5
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
Wassenaar Coffee &
Conversation 9:30 a.m.
6 7
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m.
8
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Heart Pillow Project Noon
9
10
Morning Kick Off at
Strandrestaurant Werelds
10 a.m. – Noon
11
12
Buddy Check 12
Evening Book Club : The
Other Americans 7:30 p.m.
Ceremony of Remembrance
(Location TBA) 5:30 p.m.
13
Evening Kick Off BBQ at
Tennispark Houtrust
5 – 8 p.m.
14
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m.
15
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
16 17
Sip, Swap, and Shop in 3
Sessions
5 – 5:45 p.m.
6 – 6:45 p.m.
7 – 7:45 p.m.
18
Sip, Swap, and Shop in 3
Sessions
10 – 10:45 a.m.
11 – 11:45 a.m.
12 – 12:45 p.m.
19
20 21
Guided Tour of
Scheveningen-Special
Walkie Talkies 10 a.m.
22
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
23
The Impact of What You
Wear with Personal Style
and Image Consultant Maud
Janssen from House of
Colour 10:30 a.m. – Noon
24
Daytime Book Club : Girl,
Woman, Other 10 a.m.
25
Virtual Meeting of Women
in Business 10 a.m.
26
Virtual Quiz Night 7 p.m.
27 28
29
30
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m. Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
October 2020
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2
3
Wassenaar Coffee &
Conversation 9:30 a.m.
Dutch Food and Shopping
Workshop 10:30 a.m.
4 5
6
7 8 9 10
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m. Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
11 12
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m.
Buddy Check 12
13
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Heart Pillow Project Noon
14
15
Conservation of Paintings
- Tour of Studio Redivivus
11 a.m.
16 17
Evening Book Club : The
Nickel Boys 7:30 p.m.
18 19
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m.
20
Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
21 22
Daytime Book Club : The
Reader on the 6.27 10 a.m.
23
Virtual Meeting of Women
in Business 10 a.m.
24
25 26
27
28 29 30 31
Walkie Talkies 9:30 a.m. Chat, Craft & Cake 10 a.m.
Mah Jongg 1 p.m.
28 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 29

AWC and the Arts
by Jane Choy-Thurlow, AWC Member and Mauritshuis Docent
Walking Tour of Old Scheveningen
Walkie Talkies regularly walks the neighborhoods
to Scheveningen, so it will be interesting
to learn a little history about the
area and its inhabitants plus see some hidden
treasures. Contrary to popular belief,
Scheveningen was never an independent municipality;
nevertheless, it has its own coat of
arms and always had a strong identity of its
own. Monique Varma, frequently our docent
during tours at the Kunstmuseum, will be our
guide on this special outing. Please be sure to
wear sensible shoes.
Monday, September 21
10 a.m. – Noon
Meet in front of the Antonius Abt. Church
Scheveningseweg 233, Den Haag
€ 10 Members (€ 15 non-members)
Minimum 10 / Maximum 12
Cancellation deadline: September 11
Tour of Studio Redivivus
Conservation of Paintings: Where
Craftmanship and Science Join
Have you ever wanted to see how artworks
are restored or preserved? Join AWC Member
Gwendolyn Boevé-Jones as she gives us a
personalized guided tour of her atelier Studio
Redivivus (www.redivivus.nl) for painting
conservation. The studio specializes in
the conservation and restoration of classic,
RSVP for all Arts Activities directly on
www.awcthehague.org
Direct any questions to
jechoy@me.com
modern and contemporary paintings.
Gwendolyn graduated as a paintings conservator
and art historian from the Institute
of Fine Arts, New York University. The following
year she was awarded the Samuel
Kress Conservation Fellowship at the Van
Gogh Museum and Kroller-Muller Museum,
going on to work at the Rijksmuseum and
eventually setting up her own studio and the
founding of Redivivus in 2010. The studio
undertakes treatments to conserve paintings
by artists such as Jan van Goyen, Anthony
van Dyck, Claude Monet, Mark Rothko and
Jean-Michel Basquiat. The conservators at
Redivivus will show us how they undertake
treatments and technical research on paintings.
With cutting edge devices for the capturing
of microscopic images, infrared and
x-ray imaging, the studio is able to document,
conserve and restore artworks of historic
and aesthetic importance from the past
and present. A second date will be offered if
the number of participants exceeds the limit.
Thursday, October 15
11 a.m. – Noon
Studio Redivivus
Wolga 16, 2491 BJ, Den Haag
€ 10 Members (€ 15 non-members)
Minimum 5 / Maximum 15
Cancellation deadline: October 1
30 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 31

Jessie Rodell: Member Extraordinaire
by Georgia Regnault
By now, most AWC Members are aware that Jessie Rodell, former President of the
AWC and now Senior Advisor for the Board, was diagnosed in May with terminal
brain cancer. While some of us have known her for many years (I, for one, since the
early ‘80s), we might not know her well. So I asked her daughter, Tiersa, if she could help
fill in the blanks of Jessie’s life.
We must start with her name. Jessie was born Susan
Jean James in December, 1945 in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
the second of four children and the only girl. A few years
later, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, which is still
considered the family’s “home base,” although during
her last three years of high school, the family lived in
Wheaton, Illinois, about 30 miles from Chicago. Besides
going to school with the journalist Bob Woodward and the
Belushi brothers, it was there that she received the nickname
“Jessie.” Apparently, there were too many Susans,
Suzannes, or a variation of such, so since she had come
from the “wild, wild west,” the name Jessie was chosen.
This nickname has stuck to this day, although her
family continued to call her Sue. Tiersa wrote, “I think
‘Jessie’ was a gift to her creative soul. I remember her
telling me that her very common name was part of the
reason why we were named Tiersa and Quinn―they
wanted beautifully unique names, that we wouldn’t have
12 friends with the same name, and that were solid ones
that couldn’t be easily altered, shortened or ‘nicknamed’.”
After high school, the family moved back to Portland,
and Jessie attended Willamette University. It was there,
studying math, that she met her husband, Michael. They
were married in 1965 and moved to Berkeley, California
to attend UC Berkeley, from which they both graduated.
Tiersa was born in Oregon in 1965, but Quinn was born
in 1968 in Olympia, Washington, where they lived for
a short time. And in 1969, the family moved to Los
Angeles, so that Michael could attend graduate school
at UCLA.
Soon after, international life began for the Rodells.
They moved to Brazil in 1972, where Michael had a teaching
job as part of his PhD in Urban Studies. However,
in order to complete his PhD, it was necessary to return
to LA. They had been bitten by the international bug,
so when the opportunity arose to take a position here in
the Netherlands, the family decided this would be their
next adventure.
32 GOING DUTCH
In July 1975, Jessie,
10-year-old Tiersa and 7-yearold
Quinn were greeted by
Michael at Schiphol. They
lived outside Rotterdam in
Krimpen aan de Lek and
were immediately exposed to
Dutch rural life: “the farms,
the cheese makers, the wooden
shoemakers, Dutch neighbors
and friends,” as Tiersa said.
Since they only expected to
stay two to three years, they
immediately immersed themselves
in Dutch life. That is, except
for schooling. Tiersa went
to the American-International
School of Rotterdam (AISR).
Jessie volunteered there and
assisted the art teacher, among
other activities.
Michael worked for the
Institute for Housing Studies,
which was connected to the
Bouwcentrum in Rotterdam.
Besides teaching students
from all over the world, he
travelled to many Third World countries helping with urban and economic development.
Although Jessie didn’t travel with Michael very often, it was an education for the whole
family to learn about the places he visited.
Since the AISR did not have a high
school in those days, the family decided to
move to The Hague in 1978, so that Tiersa
would not need to commute every day by bus
from Rotterdam. They bought the house in
the Statenkwartier where they are still living.
The story doesn’t end there, however.
Once settled in The Hague, Jessie joined the
AWC of The Hague. In 1982, she became
the Membership Chair, which was then a
Board position. The years of 1982 to 1984
(while I was President) were very eventful. In
November 1982, we began looking into the
possibility of purchasing our own Clubhouse.
It would be 18 months before we could call
Nieuwe Duinweg 25 our “home away from
home.” The finances were settled, the mortgage
signed, and my term of office finished
in May 1984. Jessie was elected
President for the term 1984 – 1985. >> 34
SEPTEMBER 2020 33

Jessie Rodell (cont.)
Continued from page 33
In the June 2020 issue of Going Dutch,
I related the story of the various Clubhouses
the AWC had, but not the work involved
in getting our 11-room house on Nieuwe
Duinweg ready for occupancy. This task fell
to Jessie and it was daunting―at least in my
eyes―as I am not one adept at renovations or
imagining a finished project. Under Jessie’s
tutelage, during the summer of 1984, the
transformation went quickly and beautifully,
so that in September 1984, we could hold our
very first Welcome Back Meeting in our new
Clubhouse. Since I had been in the US for
most of the summer, I remember distinctly
standing in the hallway and gaping at how
ideal the house had become.
This achievement was definitely Jessie’s.
She formed a House Committee; the chores
were divided up; volunteers found (including
many husbands); and additional money
and furnishings were sought from various
sponsors. We had bought the house and received
a mortgage because the Club had
sufficient funds. The purchase had used up
our financial reserves, so we needed help with furniture, curtains, lighting, kitchen appliances,
etc. The Board begged, borrowed and practically “stole” items for the house. Jessie’s
good friend, Hillary Gulliford, wrote letters to every American business in Holland, as well
as stores our Members frequented and tourist offices, asking for either some funds or their
hand-me-downs. We were proud to say in these letters that we had purchased the house with
our own money, but now needed a little help fixing it up and furnishing it.
The response from these companies was extremely gratifying. Heineken provided the
kitchen, including the crew to install it. Fluor had closed an office in England and offered to
bring everything from that office to The Hague for us, but we had to take all of it, including
around 50 desks and just as many filing cabinets and wastebaskets. When we reserved the
desks we needed, we sold the rest to Members to get the cash to buy supplies. (My kids
studied on those desks for years!) V&D, the former department store, provided carpeting
and display cases for our gift shop. (Yes, we had a gift shop then.) The Danish Tourist
Bureau gave us a beautiful teak desk for the front office. One drawer wouldn’t open, but
we could live with that! A large do-it-yourself store gave us paint and the supplies necessary
to keep the Members and husbands busy every weekend. Obviously, I could go on
and on about all the things we received and the fantastic teamwork it took to make Nieuwe
Duinweg 25 “our home.” To celebrate, we invited all of our donors to our Grand Opening
in November 1984.
Naturally, Jessie’s work was not done yet. The next very important step was to make
sure that our By-laws and Constitution reflected our new property, with very definite rules
34 GOING DUTCH
and regulations put in place to see that
this large Clubhouse was kept running
smoothly for all Members. And, of course,
this was in addition to the general running
of the AWC, which in a normal year is an
enormous task. Jessie did it all with grace
and competence.
Sadly for the AWC, but happily for
Jessie, we lost her just weeks into her second
term of office. The American School
of The Hague (ASH) had discovered that
Jessie was a very accomplished person
and hired her as the secretary to the High
School Principal. Jessie was off on another
career track. In all, she worked at
ASH from August 1985 until her retirement in July 2011, first as the High School Secretary,
soon after as Admissions Director, and lastly as Director of External Relations. During
this period, ASH moved from being a
school, spread out over three locations
in The Hague to its current campus in
Wassenaar in 1990. One past student
at ASH said recently, “Whenever I
think of Mrs. Rodell, I see her walking
through the school pointing and smiling
with either a new ASH family or
a soon-to-be new ASH family.” At the
AWC as well, Jessie was also always
greeting new Members and making
them feel welcome.
ACCESS said, Jessie was
“a true advocate for our
work in every sphere.”
She compiled an almost
complete history of the accomplishments
of ACCESS
for its 30th anniversary in
2016. And in the 1990s,
Jessie joined the Board of
the newly formed Overseas
Americans Remember
(OAR) and helped with all
of their events celebrating
or commemorating important
American holidays or
events.
>> 36
During her ASH period, Jessie also
served on the Membership Committee
of the American Chamber of Commerce
and on the Board of ACCESS from
1994 to 2016. As the Director of
SEPTEMBER 2020 35

Jessie Rodell (cont.)
Continued from page 35
And I haven’t even mentioned
Jessie’s creative and artistic side.
I hope you have been privy to her
beautiful calligraphy work. Many
an organization where she shared
her talents has benefited from this
work. Tiersa talked about her creative
and memorable Halloween
costumes and birthday cakes. Also,
besides being our greeter extraordinaire
at the AWC and helper to all,
Jessie was active in Walkie Talkies
and was an avid tennis player in
the past. Many a President and
AWC Board have benefited from
her knowledge, insight and advice, always given warmly.
Jessie's daughter, Tiersa, started a Facebook page in June and these are some of the comments
made by AWC Members (past and present):
• Your goodness, grace, and generosity
mean the world to me.
• Always ready with a smile and a
kind word.
• Your friendship and guidance
have meant so much to me and
so many.
• I remember how much you cared
for each and every person, going
above and beyond to help everyone
feel welcomed, included &
cared for.
• When Jessie’s “in the house,” you
will never feel alone.
• You were so warm and friendly to
me. It was like you were instant
family!
• You are one of the kindest and
least judgmental people I have
ever met.
• I think of Jessie as an AWC role
model to emulate in the future.
I second each and every one of
these comments. We thank you, Jessie,
for all you have done for the American
Community of The Hague.
36 GOING DUTCH
Pandemic Paradox
by Mary Adams
The pandemic has brought chaos to the global
economy, turned family life upside down,
and tested the community fabric of humanity.
By definition, a pandemic disease is an epidemic
occurring worldwide. What we didn’t expect was
that a pandemic also has the ability to shrink the
world into the size of a living room. But what if
that was a good thing?
From March until May, Jerry and I gained new
skills in ordering takeout, made new habits of constant
hand washing and gel usage, and ordered
masks. Working from home seemed normal. What
I didn’t realize was that I had an enemy growing
within me that no amount of hand gel could kill.
On a Friday morning in late May, I was taking
a shower and I felt a hard place on my left
breast. Jerry felt it. On Monday, my GP felt it. On
Wednesday, Mammacare at Ijsselland Hospital felt
it. By the end of the day, it was confirmed that I
had breast cancer. Before I knew it, the discussions I was having with the surgeon were not
about social distancing from other people, but distancing from my own breast.
During my hospital visits for additional testing about cancer type and dimensions, the
pandemic seemed to both taunt and test me. Hospital rules that you can only come alone.
Hospital rules that you can only enter the premises 10 minutes before an appointment. Hospital
rules of social distancing in the waiting rooms, opening doors with your elbows, gel rinses
for your hands. It made me feel so alone and yet so grateful at the same time. Dutch hospitals
were not overloaded with coronavirus cases. Staff were healthy. Operating rooms were ready.
I had a lumpectomy in mid-June. The pathology determined that although a mastectomy
was necessary, chemo and radiation therapy were not. Those weeks made me realize how
much I don’t know about breast cancer. The conversations I had with my surgeon and plastic
surgeon were like words dancing over my head. I knew what they were saying, but I didn’t
understand it until one word “amputation” fell down on my head with a bang. Two weeks
later, I had two-for-one surgery: a mastectomy and latissimus dorsai flap reconstruction.
Perhaps the timing of this pandemic worked to my advantage. The pandemic unwittingly
arranged 24-hour care for me. Jerry is my chauffeur, cook, housekeeper, computer
specialist, handyman and rock seven days a week, because his office remains closed until
the end of 2020.
Although the pandemic will continue to cause havoc in the outside world, my steps to
recovery are shaped like heart pillows. Living in this pandemic paradox reminds me that
people will always find a way to touch and heal your life if you are brave enough to say: “I
had breast cancer, but it is off my chest now.”
SEPTEMBER 2020 37

The Double Bump (or Enduring Uncertainty)
by Antonietta Della Prosecco
bumped from a flight can
change your life.” That’s an old
“Getting
expression this old and expressive
person just made up. It’s doubly true if one is
bumped from two flights in a row.
“It’s tacky to talk about money.” I didn’t
make that up and I’m going to ignore it. I will
talk about money. Money changes things too.
It can motivate. Just an extra $300 a month
incentivizes some US service members to
volunteer for combat. My child is motivated
by money, among other things, to stay in a
dangerous situation. Money can soothe. This
mother is soothed, somewhat, knowing her
child’s financial future will be greatly enhanced
by her adventure. Please don’t judge
me or my child too harshly. You can be certain
that my child’s financial health will mean
nothing to me if something goes wrong.
On January 4, my only child—I’ll call her
Meisje, for reasons I’ll make clear—flew
to New York City at the behest of a major
American media corporation “for a few
days.” Think back to early January. Corona
was the beer-cum-lime-wedge my husband—let’s
call him Tony—drank when
we lived in New Mexico. Tony and I were
excited for Meisje and not the least bit apprehensive.
(My next “old expression” will
mock the reliability and value of foresight.)
Along with a slew of other comedians,
Meisje was trying out for a new TV program
under development. More than six months
later, she is still not allowed to talk about her
project nor am I allowed to mention either the
corporation—hereafter called MAMC—or
the nature of the program. Evidently the intellectual
property involved is so innovative
and remarkable that a mention in the AWC
Clubhouse will result in its being stolen and
copied. Since our magazine finds its way
online, Meisje asked me to use pseudonyms
and to conceal details (including hers). I am
the soul of discretion, of course. It helps that
I’ve been told nothing about the project.
38 GOING DUTCH
Meisje was busy throughout January trying
out and performing stand-up at open mic
nights where it seems the only audience
members were other comedians. We only
got the occasional text. “Made it to the next
round.” Good. We were happy for her. Her
midtown Manhattan hotel was paid for by
MAMC and she received a hefty per diem
for other expenses. Interestingly, all the other
comedians trying out were from NYC and
received nothing. (The year before, Meisje
had captured the attention of some MAMC
producers while performing stand-up comedy
in New York and had worked for them
on a well-known satirical news program.)
The January tryouts were a fun adventure.
Her clients—she coaches people in public
speaking and other communications
skills—understood she’d be home soon. She
continued to work remotely for a multinational
agency refining documents written in
English into better English. Her apartment
was empty and would remain so for a little
while longer. “It’s all good, Mom.” We believed.
By the end of January, the tryouts were down
to two competing groups. As the only person
in both groups, Meisje felt confident she
would be selected for the program of a secretive
nature—hereafter called TPSN. She was
right, and proud that MAMC had picked the
cast she’d deemed the better of the two. Now
she had to shoot a pilot, do publicity stills,
and glad-hand bigwigs. Just one month or
so longer. Meisje moved into the Greenwich
Village apartment of a friend who was ontour
in Asia. MAMC picked up the tab:
$5,250 per month for a small one-bedroom
apartment with a tiny kitchen and no bathtub.
I have come to understand that NYC apartments
can be expensive.
This follow-up work to the pilot finished
at the end of February. Meisje could come
home while the bigwigs she’d glad-handed
would make decisions. “Can you bring me
some Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer?”
“Sure, Mom.”
MAMC booked her return flight for March
4. Meisje was bumped from that flight.
MAMC booked another flight for March 5.
Meisje was bumped from that flight as well
and pocketed $4,500 for the double bump.
Airlines paying people thousands of dollars
not to fly doesn’t seem like a good business
model to me, but I don’t have a business degree.
Mine is in philosophy, so what I know
is that I know very little.
Though I was not okay with this double
bump, the producers at MAMC were. They
said, “Stay for another week and we will pay
you $ for the week and continue to pay for
your friend’s apartment.” “I will do it for
$-times-two,” Meisje said. “Okay.” They
sent a car to the airport. She spent the next
week doing promotional work for TPSN.
And in that week all hell broke loose. More
specifically, all hell couldn’t break loose because
it had been grounded. Meisje could
no longer get a flight home out of NYC and
MAMC asked her to stay “until things settled
down.” They would pay her a generous
weekly salary and the rent on her friend’s
apartment. (Her friend had made it out of
Asia in the nick of time and was staying indefinitely,
and quite lucratively it turns out,
with family in Oregon.) I was scared. NYC
was COVID-central. However, given what
we knew at the time about infections being
spread via airplane flights, I thought it was
better for her not to fly for a week or two.
So began Meisje’s lockdown in NYC. She
was not to leave “her” apartment except
when absolutely necessary. MAMC sent her
scripts to read and evaluate using a threepage
rubric. MAMC receives a lot of scripts
written on spec. Someone has to read them
and Meisje became the designated first reader.
Anything she deemed worthy would be
kicked “upstairs.” “Mom, they are all atrocious.
If you think some of what makes it
onto TV is bad, you should see these scripts.”
She performed stand-up comedy via Zoom
and saw friends remotely every day. “I
talked with Madeline in India today.” Tony
and I talked with her every day. She ran on
the rooftop of her building and enjoyed the
views of the Hudson and East River. I tried,
but failed, to suppress my panic when I saw
the COVID-19 updates for NYC and I tried,
but failed, to take comfort in the fact that the
governor of New York was not a venal orange
moron. My kid was busy, connected,
and venturing out, masked, for groceries
only once a week. I couldn’t sleep.
After three weeks of virtual everything, she
began actual walking every day with a comedian
friend who lived nearby. “Walking?! Is
that safe?” “We socially distance. Besides,
the streets are empty.” Slowly, information
leaked that her friend has a big apartment
and he had designated one couch as Meisje’s
couch. She worked and he worked (he has
a real job in addition to being a comedian)
together, separately. Human contact, even
across what seemed to me to be an exceptionally
large NYC apartment, made her life
better.
And, presto, long-ago motherly concerns
about safe sex seemed positively
quaint. Now I had to worry about >> 40
SEPTEMBER 2020 39

The Double Bump (cont.)
Continued from page 39
COVID-couches. At the time, the concern
was the virus being spread from surfaces.
Try wiping down a couch with a disinfectant
wipe. It’s not effective. “Mom, I’m fine.”
Mom was not so fine.
What helped a little bit was a “safe and happy
policy” we began in 2018 when Meisje was
working on the daily TV show. She worked
late and performed all over a very large city
and we never knew if she’d made it home
safely the night before. We asked her to text
us when she got home every night and she
would text “safe and happy.” It eased our
minds when we woke up. She continued the
policy after she had returned home. She liked
knowing someone knew she’d made it home
safe.
During the COVID-couch period, Meisje had
a walking meeting with the son of another
AWC Member―small world. He’d worked
12 years in NYC as a photographer and had
connections. He’d written a script. Meisje
had some insight into scripts and some, albeit
fewer, connections. They lived one mile
apart. They’d never met before, but had a lot
to talk about as they both grew up as third culture
kids, work in the entertainment industry
and have faraway mothers who are friends.
Worry vibrated with a constant antagonizing
hum in my aging brain, but I’d grown used
to it. Then a policeman murdered a black
man named George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Nationwide demonstrations, looting and
burning followed. “I can watch the demonstrations
from my rooftop. So far I feel safe.”
And then Meisje didn’t feel safe.
Meisje reached out to family and my brother
brought her to North Carolina via a flight to
Boston with a connection to Charlotte. That
was the only thing they could arrange. Two
flights, one headed north, so she could head
south. Strangers in confined spaces, true, but
wearing masks. Okay, whatever it took to get
Meisje out of the city.
40 GOING DUTCH
Meisje spent three weeks in Charlotte, staying
in my brother’s guest house, swimming
in his pool, reading scripts and, wisely, not
fighting with her uncle. My brother owns a
huge insurance company started with the
support of venture capitalists. He owns six
houses, which stand empty until he chooses
to go to the lake, beach or mountains for the
weekend. They’re like reverse stacking dolls.
Each one is bigger than the last until you
reach the one that sleeps 26 people and has
a theater. He doesn’t believe white privilege
exists, and his voice and personality boom
even louder than mine. Meisje gets her equanimity
from her father. We were all grateful
that her visit went smoothly.
On June 23, Meisje was recalled to NYC.
MAMC planned to retool TPSN to permit
socially-distanced shooting. She was to stop
reading scripts and buy a lot of makeup. The
makeup artists of TPSN, who’d no longer be
applying makeup, could not get the supplies
they needed in NYC. MAMC sent her an exhaustive
list of makeup to buy in Charlotte.
Nothing about this made sense to me, but it
didn’t threaten her safety so I didn’t care.
On June 29, Meisje flew out of Charlotte. At
La Guardia Airport, an MAMC car picked
her up and drove her and her luggage full of
makeup directly to a COVID-19 testing site
with results in 24 hours. Her text, “COVIDfree,”
came in at 11 p.m. on June 30. A stupider
person might have credited the chlorine
in the pool. Regardless, relief.
She returned to MAMC headquarters on July
1. Now, when she enters HQ, someone aims
a temperature gun at her. I despair over the
half a billion guns in NRA USA but I’m okay
with a temperature gun. Every week, she and
her colleagues are swabbed and their saliva is
tested. They sit far away from each other in
a gigantic room. The owner of the COVIDcouch
escaped to Louisiana during the demonstrations
and has not yet returned to NYC.
I felt adequate precautions were being taken.
The fine folks producing TPSN are “brainstorming.”
“They told me to get an agent.”
“I think I’ve decided on an agent.” “I’m doing
open mics in the open air. I cover the
microphone with a plastic bag.” “I’ve been
looking at apartments with a realtor, but I
may have to live in Hoboken if I want a
bathtub.” “We’re reshooting the pilot next
week.”
I take whatever information I can get. I
don’t ask questions anymore. What would
Upon repatriating from Singapore to
Texas in late March, I was optimistic that
I was outrunning the COVID-19 pandemic
by exiting Southeast Asia. Little did I know,
my lifelong fear of childbirth would be one
of the last things on my mind throughout my
final weeks of pregnancy.
be the point? I hate that I hate my child being
in my own country, especially now that
an anonymously uniformed gestapo beholden
to a madman is in NYC, but Meisje
has no plans to come home. By all means,
Meisje, take precautions while you follow
your dreams. However, safety is an illusion.
Life can turn on an airline bump. Foresight
is blind. Sleep is a luxury. Tony and I will
see you when we see you. I’ll be the one
with Neutrogena-free bags under the eyes
brimming with relief and love for you.
Giving Birth During a Pandemic
by Amber Gatewood
Stay at home orders in Texas kicked off
my doozy of a third trimester, preventing me
from meeting my doctor in person until I was
36 weeks. At my first appointment, I waited
in the parking garage until called inside and
briefly sat in the empty waiting room in a spot
not marked with a large X to ensure social
distancing. My appointments were quick―
ten minutes tops―and my glasses were foggy
from my homemade mask. My doctor said
that at this time my husband, Mark, should be
able to accompany me in the delivery room;
my fingers remained crossed that wouldn’t
change.
Three weeks later, the big question on
my mind: What does a contraction feel like?
Well, I was soon to find out around midnight
on a Tuesday. By morning, my doctor wanted
to check my progress in her office instead
of preemptively going to the hospital due to
skyrocketing COVID-19 hospitalizations. She
said I was in pre-labor and sent me home (possibly
discounting me as a first-time mom).
If these were false contractions, I couldn’t
imagine what the real deal felt like. In a few
short (or very long) hours I was in triage
dilated to four centimeters with no available
delivery beds in sight, let alone an epidural!
Four more hours later, I was finally given a
room, an epidural, and I had a little snooze.
With the help of Mark encouraging me >> 42
SEPTEMBER 2020 41

Giving Birth During a Pandemic (cont.)
Continued from page 41
from behind his mask, we welcomed Harley Holland at
2:01 a.m., named after my grandpa and our time fondly
spent in the Netherlands.
The next day was a blur, and everything about our
stay was expedited. For example, his circumcision was
done at less than 12 hours old, making him too sleepy to
have that precious time with the lactation consultant to
correct his latch issues. In fact, I’d barely eaten my breakfast
tacos (Tex-Mex―one perk of being back in Texas!)
when we were told we were being discharged. The nurse
rapid-fired her way through her checklist on how to care
for a newborn, and we were whisked away to the car.
How could we possibly be responsible for this little
baby? Thankfully, my parents had been self-isolating,
got tested, and drove 20+ hours to lend a hand. That was
a godsend in many ways―if only to see family for the
first time in six months.
A month in and I’m learning every day. I’ve learned that it’s immensely hard having a
baby during a pandemic because of the isolation from friends and family, and not having
simple escapes like perusing the aisles at Target due to a constant fear of the virus. On the
other hand, my husband working from home is invaluable. From popping down at lunch time
to help feed a bottle to packing the sterilizer while refilling his coffee, it gives me peace of
mind knowing he’s right upstairs and not on a business trip across the globe.
From meeting my OB
last minute to hesitantly
being admitted to the hospital
to expeditiously being
discharged and having
a limited support network
around me, the thought of
giving birth during a pandemic
seemed daunting
and unthinkable. However,
we survived and baby
Harley, a.k.a. Dutch, is
happy and healthy. For us,
we couldn’t have asked for
a better experience and end
result. I look forward to the
day when we can venture
back to the Netherlands,
where we sweetly dreamed
of our baby for so many
years.
42 GOING DUTCH
Thoughts on Travel Before the Pandemic
by Alex Moore
I’ve missed
you.” It was the first
“America,
thing I said after a
long flight when I gazed at my
late lunch: Korean bulgogi nachos
with green onions, kimchi
and salsa. The portion was massive,
perfect after a seven-hour
flight; I will never complain
about America’s ability to do
Korean-Mexican fusion. Or any
other fusion for that matter. As
for my choice of food, I blame
the movie Parasite; I won’t spoil
anything, but yes, that movie is
worth the hype.
We went to America in mid-February before the travel ban was in place. I’ve thought a
lot about our trip since we don’t know when we will get to visit again. COVID-19 was
already in the news, but it was still hard to judge how bad it would be. We did a road
trip starting in Lexington, Kentucky, before heading to Nashville where we enjoyed live
music and barbecue. Before leaving Nashville, we saw former AWC President Suzanne
MacNeil over more barbecue, pulled pork, beef brisket and a variety of sauces. Our
lunch and gezelligheid provided us with the sustenance needed for the drive to Memphis,
where my parents are at the moment. I’d forgotten how much fun driving on the interstate
was.
After Tennessee, we drove to Alabama to take my grandma back to her house and see
some extended family. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Corinth, Mississippi, where I
ate a Southern breakfast complete with hash browns and biscuits. No grits for me. At this
point in our trip, we kept hearing more and more about the coronavirus. We already knew
about the bad outbreaks in New York and Seattle, but of course we had no idea how the
US would be affected yet. Or Europe.
Florida was one of the last stops on our trip, and life still looked normal. If normal is
possible in this state, what with “Florida man” and “Florida woman.” Stores still had fully
stocked aisles. No one thought of a face mask. No one was six feet apart.
We were relieved that we narrowly escaped the possibility of being stuck in America. Not
that I would have complained about being near Walmart, Chick-fil-A, Waffle House, Taco
Bell and other fast food delights. I would have, however, complained about having to do
my job at odd hours of the day or night because of time zone differences. The media never
sleeps, especially not now because more people are streaming or watching TV.
I think about this trip, especially since we’ve been following the Dutch government’s
guidelines. That trip now seems so symbolic because it was the last time in which things
seemed normal. The last time for a while in which travel was not so restricted. The last
time before the world was changed for good.
SEPTEMBER 2020 43

Our Pandemic Vacation: Knooppunten
by Anne van Oorschot
planner on their website (much like the train trip planner) to
plan a trip going from knooppunt to knooppunt (www.anwb.nl/
fietsroutes/fietsknooppuntenplanner). The distances are given so
you know just how long a trip you’re planning; you can make a
little circle starting and ending at the knooppunt closest to your
home or plan a multi-day trip. While the website is in Dutch,
there is a short film that explains how to use the planner, and
by following the little arrow as it moves around, it’s fairly clear
how to use it. The planned route can be printed out so you can
easily take it with you to guide you as you ride. There are also
several apps available for your smart phone by ANWB and
others, some of which are available in English.
In our case, we decided on a four-day biking trip starting from
our home in Tilburg, in the southern province of Brabant. Our
120-mile (200-kilometer) trip more or less followed the Maas
and Waal Rivers with overnight stops in three small fortified cities: Ravenstein, Zaltbommel
and Woudrichem. On our last day, we also passed the beautiful fortified city of Heusden.
After planning our route, we went online, found accommodations and made reservations. Not
knowing what the coronavirus regulations would be a few weeks later when we would actually
make the trip, we also reserved dinner locations in the three cities, and we were set to go!
I
first heard about the “mystery virus” in China in January 2020, and thought, what a shame
for them. Who could have known the effect it would have on all of our lives thousands of
miles away! The summer of 2020 was going to be a big one for our family, with two of
our children getting married two weeks apart on the big front lawn of our vacation cabin in
northern Minnesota. The whole family would be there, plus in-laws and many friends from
the Netherlands. How different our summer turned out! In addition to coronavirus restrictions
in place in both countries, large gatherings were not being permitted, and the travel ban
would keep Dutch family and friends―including my son’s fiancée!―from entering America.
After canceling first one, then the second wedding, my Dutch husband and I pondered if we
would still go. While it was likely that my Dutch husband Hein would have been allowed
to enter the US, it wasn’t a certainty. Plus, what if one of us got sick? Compared to Dutch
healthcare, the system in the US does not look very attractive, certainly not in the rural area
where our cabin is located. We finally made the decision not to go to Minnesota for our usual
two months this summer, but what to do then? By that time, house rentals were almost full,
and camping didn’t seem like a corona-safe
alternative. We decided to try something we
had thought about but never got around to
doing: a vacation by bike.
Since the Dutch are such avid cyclists,
it’s no surprise they have developed a
fabulous navigation system for recreational
cycling called the Knooppunten Netwerk.
This is an intricate web of fietspadden (bike
paths) throughout the entire country, with
the intersections of different paths―the
knooppunten―being numbered. The network
was laid out by the ANWB and there is a
44 GOING DUTCH
Hein’s biking tempo is a bit faster than
mine, so I find myself continually a few meters
behind him. This makes it difficult to carry on
a conversation and that’s not ideal for either
of us. We rented a tandem bike once when
we were away with a group of friends for the
weekend―and we loved it!―so we decided to
get a used one of our own. On Monday, June
29, we headed out on our bicycle built for two
with toiletries, extra clothes and rain gear and
the day’s knooppunten marked in the holder on
my handlebar. Being in the back, I was the navigator,
so I had something to do besides pedal.
The trip was really a lot of fun! There were lots of interesting things to see, plenty
of conversation, not too much wind and a small sprinkling of rain. My favorite city was
Woudrichem, which we arrived at via a little ferry. We had to ring a bell on the shore, and on
the other side, the ferry driver came out and
boated over to fetch us. Our accommodation
was in the single small apartment of a former
ammunition storage area built into the dike
around the city and was utterly charming!
(www.zuswoudrichem.com/kazemat-zus/)
So, in spite of (or because of) the pandemic,
we had a delightful mini-vacation
and definitely plan to repeat the idea.
Whether you are in the mood for a Sunday
afternoon outing or a mini-vacation, I can
heartily recommend the Knooppunten
Network.
SEPTEMBER 2020 45

Challenge Brings Growth
by Rachel Allen
What I Have Experienced
Thanks to Coronavirus
I
think my pandemic story mirrors a lot of
others, but because it is my story, it will
continue to shape my life.
I’m an intense person. As I tell my friends,
my plans have plans. My goals have goals. I do
not know how to sit still and just enjoy things in
life. When we moved abroad for the first time
in November 2012 (FYI: worst time ever to
move to Europe from the mid-Southern US),
I couldn’t find a job as a teacher since it was
the middle of the school year. So I did what
only I would do and enrolled in a distancelearning
PhD program. During my first official
semester that following fall, I gave birth to our
first child while being an expat in the second
city I had ever lived in during my life. Were
you counting? Second city in my life, second
country in my life, PhD program, first child.
All in one year.
See? I’m intense.
But you know what? I’m learning to not be.
I had a near burnout experience this past fall
after moving our family to The Hague, getting
everyone settled, and trying to find my place
in it. I was just beginning to come back out a
little more whole when suddenly we were all
home, all the time. Husband sequestering in an
office on our first floor, toddler driving me nuts
with a fierce streak of independent spirit, and a
six-year-old that I had to work with on math,
reading and writing. It was a lot. I quickly
realized the need to adapt and find my peace
amongst this challenging situation. I didn’t
want to lose myself again after just starting to
find it. I established a routine to keep things
regular for the kids, but we also had a lot of
mornings where we ditched doing schoolwork
first thing and ran to the beach for a bit to build
sandcastles before we worked on spelling.
Over these past several months, I have
found myself relaxing more by ensuring I actually
do spend that time reading that book
I want to read. I make time to exercise. And
sometimes I just leave the dishes to sit on the
counter until the next day because I’m tired
and they can wait. I have also made several
purchases for myself, like a hanging chair.
Just for me. I started a new business making
greeting cards and I love it. It’s something I
never would have considered if we hadn’t all
been home full-time.
Basically, I’m growing up and learning to
treat myself well. I think I would have learned
this lesson eventually, but it would have been
at a slower pace without this pandemic. While
it has been a crazy, unprecedented time, I am
thankful for it.
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by Eileen Harloff
What a Wonder
For the first time in years I was walking
alone down a usually busy street, trailing
my shopping cart behind me, on my way to
my local shopping center to garner a supply
of food for the coming days. The sky was
blue, water in the canal was clear, and birds
were not yet out lustily honking and chasing
each other off their paths. No cars or bicycles
were on the street, nor was there a tram
noisily racing to its next stop. There was not
even another human in sight. I didn’t mind
that it was only 7:30 a.m. This was the time
the store dictated that “vulnerable” people
do their shopping, apparently based on the
assumption that rising early is a component
of aging. In fact, the grocery store was not
even open. And so we followers of the rules
gathered―with the proper distance between
us―awaiting the opening of the doors. I
didn’t mind the wait, though, because of the
unique experience I’d had of being alone in
the clean, cool air of an early morning. It
had been delightful.
The Bird and I
While it was pleasant at first to have a vacation
from my usual activities, by the fifth
month of the coronavirus crisis the luster
had worn off and I was sinking deeper and
deeper into doing nothing. One afternoon,
while sitting in my favorite chair in front
of the TV, I became aware of a small but
robust-looking grey baby bird sitting on my
windowsill. It was staring at me with beady
eyes and continually chirping in a pitiful
way. I could stare as well, and so I did. I
even told the baby bird that I would give it
some worms if I had any in my refrigerator;
I had nothing else to offer. Even if I had
something, I couldn’t open the window. So
it was deadlock on this subject and we each
continued what we had been doing: the bird
staring and chirping at me while I tried to
avoid its look. Where was the mother? Why
wasn’t she coming along to help her inexperienced
baby? Surely she didn’t think its
needs should be left up to a third party that
wasn’t even a bird.
The longer the situation continued, the
more concerned I became. I didn’t want to
be responsible for letting a baby bird die of
hunger before my eyes. Then I thought of
my downstairs neighbor who was always
answering my requests for information. She
suggested that I call the Animal Hospital. I
did so and a very pleasant young man patiently
explained to me that this was not an
unusual situation at this time of year and
that they would take action if the baby bird
was still staring at me on the following day.
Just as I was returning to my chair after the
phone call, I glimpsed Mother Bird sitting
on the windowsill close to her baby. Clearly,
the baby was taking a first flight and had lost
its nerve. I was sure Mother would take care
of the matter. Instead she flew off and baby
remained behind, still staring and chirping.
At this point the TV caught my attention.
When I looked back, baby bird was gone,
having gotten the courage to fly back to the
nest. I was glad for the bird, but I’m hoping
that it will come back for a visit. It was
my first windowsill contact with a feathered
guest and I hope that it won’t be the last.
46 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 47

Planning a Wedding During a Pandemic
by Suzanne MacNeil, photos by Katie Baechler
June 20, 2020. Come hell or high water, that was the date my older son, Cameron, and
his now-wife Mo (Maureen) were determined to get married. They had been engaged
more than a year when COVID-19 started its deadly sweep across the US. And, if anyone
knew the dangers of a large gathering, it was Mo, an emergency room physician at the
University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Center. They originally planned for about 100
guests at a location in Colorado Springs, the vendors had all been chosen and deposits had
been paid, the menus decided upon, and the invitations sent. By mid-March the pair started
reevaluating their plans.
As the pandemic continued its deadly rage, the state of Colorado, where Mo’s parents live,
and where the wedding was taking place, shuttered non-essential businesses in the spring.
Cameron and Mo realized the wedding they planned would look much different, and they
discussed options with the vendors, almost all of whom agreed to extend their contracts to
June 19, 2021. Only the owners of the original wedding venue would not return the hefty
deposit they required to hold the date, even though the site fell under mandated closures ordered
by the governor. Rather than dwelling on the lost deposit, the newlyweds are planning
a one-year anniversary celebration with their original invitees at a location TBD.
As June 20 neared, Cameron and Mo started considering their options. Discussions included
just the two of them with her twin brother officiating (as he’s legally able to do so), a
courthouse wedding in Boston, having the wedding at her parents’ home in Monument, and
they even considered self-solemnizing, which is legal in Colorado, and does not require any
application or witnesses to be considered legal.
The final decision was made to hold the
wedding at Mo’s family’s ranch in Pagosa
Springs, Colorado. The guest list was pared
down to just parents and siblings (10 guests).
The ranch spans more than 160 acres with
several cabins on the property, but limited
sleeping space for even the few invitees, so
within days of the decision, hotel rooms were
booked about 30 minutes away. The rehearsal
dinner was set at a restaurant sitting along a
meandering stream with plenty of outdoor
seating to allow for social distancing. On
the wedding day, Mo’s three cousins and her
aunt, with whom she’s extremely close, were
on-site, decorating the main cabin, helping to
serve food, and taking any added stress off Mo’s parents. And the makeup artist, photographer
and videographer all agreed to make the five-hour drive to/from the ranch to capture the day.
Despite the stress, forced last-minute decisions, and a global pandemic, I don’t know
that my son’s wedding could have been more perfect. The setting was spectacular and the
intimacy of the day with so few guests made it easy to mingle and connect with the newest
additions to our family, all while allowing the newlyweds meaningful moments without being
overwhelmed by a larger crowd. Fingers crossed a vaccine is developed soon that will bring
the virus to its knees. And, to make it seamless for Cameron and Mo to host their one-year
anniversary party exactly how they plan!
48 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 49

Appreciating Family
by Johanna Dishongh
I
am sure that I am not the only one who thinks 2020 will be one year which we will never
forget. Our year began on a huge high with the news that Grace (our middle daughter
who was married in October 2019) had accepted a position at Texas Children’s Hospital
in Houston, and she and her husband Jordan, would be relocating “back home” in mid-
February. After helping them settle, Frank and I jetted off to our house in Colorado to join
our youngest, Olivia, for a quick ski holiday before she began an exchange program from
the University of Edinburgh (UE) to Colorado State University (CSU) on March 1. Olivia
was a fourth-year veterinary medicine student. The two “sister vet programs” exchange five
final year students each year for a clinical rotation cycle.
We returned to Houston and I focused on preparations for the FAWCO Interim Meeting
in Luxembourg later that month. Then this thing called coronavirus or COVID-19 starting
swirling around us. There were reports of travelers being quarantined to hotels once an active
case was diagnosed. WhatsApp started blowing up with messages asking if I was still
planning to travel to Europe and I began to ponder the thought of being stuck in a hotel in
Luxembourg. At the same time, Frank struggled with an office of over 1,000 employees in
close proximity. On March 9, I received notification from FAWCO of the cancellation. On
March 12, we were notified of “lockdown” by the assisted living facility where my motherin-law
lives, thus we could no longer visit her. Within days, Olivia contacted us in a panic
about CSU calling all of their students back to the US from Edinburgh. UE was telling their
students that is was up to them: they could stay at CSU and finish their rotation, but if they
returned early, they would not be penalized. Concerned that she may be stuck in Colorado
or not allowed to return to the UK, Olivia began a zigzag journey of cancelled and rebooked
flights back to Scotland. Her last connection was through Schiphol so I felt blessed that I
could call on a posse of friends if she became stranded in Holland.
By March 25, Houston and surrounding counties went on “Stay Home, Work Safe”
orders; all except essential services were closed. While Jordan lost all hope of finding a job
in Houston, Grace continued to work. Tracy (our eldest) was fortunate to work from home,
while trying to “teach” her kindergartner daughter since school did not resume after spring
break. Her husband Shayne works in law enforcement, so he continued to work daily with
the general public. Frank closed his office and worked from home. It was quite strange having
him in the house all day and also strange how you can feel so isolated when someone
is close. We had limited contact with both girls’ families due to the exposure risk from both
Shayne and Grace. We began allowing them over in the backyard to swim and grill out on a
limited basis and then it happened. On April 17, Grace had an unprotected exposure at work.
She worked in a low-risk area, so PPE was not used on a routine basis due to short supply.
Although she tested negative after 5 days, she was required to quarantine for 14 days. Our
house was on lockdown again.
May. Unfortunately, I think this led to an impression
that we were over the worst of it.
Grace and Shayne continued to see another
side of the impact in their jobs.
Eventually UE cancelled all summer
graduations. Our family trip to Scotland and
that hard-earned graduation ceremony from
vet school would not happen. They held a
“virtual graduation” on June 18. Olivia was
given one personal log-in and one guest log-in,
so Tracy, Grace and Jordan joined us for the
7 a.m. watch party at our house. We made a
FaceTime call with Olivia toward the end and
enjoyed a virtual toast together. Not quite the
celebration we had expected, but the university did an excellent job of making the best of it.
As temperatures increased, so did the daily case count. Frank was asked to take on a new
role which has him coordinating with groups all over the country. No longer required to be in
Houston, we made the decision to “migrate” to
our house in Colorado for the summer. Grace
experienced another exposure in early July
and spent another stressful 14 days waiting
an outcome. The hospital has finally changed
procedures and every patient is now treated
as potential COVID-19 and PPE is provided
to all workers.
Our family has not been together since
Grace’s wedding in October 2019. Olivia is
in the UK and we, as US passport holders, are
currently on a travel ban. If she leaves, she
may not be able to get back in. With Grace and
Shayne’s community contact, we had very limited
family contact before coming to Colorado.
We are hoping for a family Christmas, at this
point a dream, but something to hold onto.
One positive during this time was that Jordan secured a three-month contract position.
We had been worried about him as he had moved away from his home for the first time, was
in a city where he only knew his in-laws and was completely isolated; even the dog park in
their neighborhood had been locked down.
The governor allowed the Stay-at-Home orders to expire on April 30 and began a phased
reopening of the state. Things continued to stay at a relatively low, manageable level through
50 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 51

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52 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 53

End of the Commune
by Melissa White
It is with great sadness that I must announce that The White House Commune ended after
139 days when Veronica and Brett headed back to Exeter on August 1. While technically
the entire commune only lasted for two months as Bjarne departed on May 18, Veronica
and Brett stayed for an additional two and a half months while Ashlynn popped back and
forth to Germany and Bjarne would occasionally drop in for a long weekend.
This was the most time we have been able to spend with Veronica since she moved
to England for university back in September 2015. While many parents likely dread their
grown children moving back in with them, this was a magical time for us and we’re really
missing our sweet, funny, creative and thoughtful daughter. Together, she and I took several
online kickboxing classes and completed an incredible lockdown puzzle project consisting
of 16 Dutch comical puzzles that we then laid out in an empty cul-de-sac while taking lots
of photos along with drone footage shot by Brett. In the past, saying goodbye was easier
because we always knew we’d see her again in six to eight weeks, but this time we honestly
don’t know when we’ll see her next.
While I am disappointed that Veronica and I weren’t able to celebrate our birthdays
together (they’re just four days apart in August), we thoroughly enjoyed getting to celebrate
three birthdays during lockdown, including Ashlynn’s 20th shown here. Last year she was
in Australia, but in May we were able to celebrate together the best way we know how: with
a hash running trail and a big dinner. Thanks to our neighbors, we were able to borrow extra
bikes and could finally run outside our little village of Voorschoten by going to the wilds of
Wassenaar. Other big events we celebrated together included Cinco de Mayo, King’s Day,
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
There’s no way to write about our commune without bringing up food, as it was such a
central part of our daily activities. Before lockdown, dinner for two usually consisted of a
simple stir-fry, stew or soup. With four additional mouths to feed (including two remorseless
eating machines), I was fortunate that I could share the cooking duties with Veronica and
Ashlynn, otherwise known as The Vegan Princesses on Instagram. In addition, both girls
enjoyed teaching the boys how to cook. Some of their specialties included sushi, tacos, high
tea, poke bowls, savory pancakes and pineapple sorbet. James also pitched in by making
some of his classics: paella, chili, pizza, crepes and tagine. More than once I got surprised
looks at the farmer’s market by the sheer volume of veggies I bought weekly. With the exception
of when I made real mac ‘n cheese by special request for Brett’s birthday, all of our
120+ dinners together were vegan. I am so grateful to have had this special time together!
54 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 55