AWC Going Dutch March April 2021

A Glass Half Full (cont.)
Continued from page 37
Our Floating Bathtub
by Melissa White
I also love how close shops are and how I never have to worry about parking as I go on
my bike. Shopping takes a lot less time than at an XL American supermarket. The excellent
public transportation system meant that, when we lived in Delft, I could walk to the corner
and step into a tram that brought me to the corner next to the previous AWC Clubhouse. It
works perfectly for this Clubhouse as well, by the way, but I no longer live in Delft. Now I
catch the train from Tilburg and sip tea during the 75-minute train ride to The Hague while
reading a book or writing a letter or email. I hop on a tram from the station or rent an NS
bike to get to the AWC’s front door, with no worries over traffic, navigation or parking.
Of course, the weather can be a challenge, and it is definitely a Dutch pastime to complain
about it. When my children were younger and needed to be brought to and from school, I
can remember bemoaning the rain when I looked out of the window during the day. Luckily,
I often discovered that it wasn’t actually raining when I had to head out on my bike to pick
them up. Also, when my kids got into Jr./Sr. high, they were able to bike to school themselves,
as well as to football or baseball practice, piano lessons or to a friend’s house. Many friends
in the US with kids listened enviously and told of the hours they spent taxiing their kids to
sports and other activities.
There was an article in Going Dutch in my early years that had three helpful lessons for
getting along with the Dutch weather:
1. Be honest about the weather you’ve left behind: remember not only the lovely spring
sunsets over the Arizona and Texas landscape, but the summers that are so hot you
can fry an egg on the sidewalk. You can miss the lovely spring and summers in
Minnesota and the Midwest, but don’t forget the tornados and endless snowfall in
other seasons.
2. Get appropriate clothing and dress for the weather: invest in good raingear so that
if you have to go out on a wet day, you can arrive more or less dry.
3. When the weather is nice, get out in it: If the sun is out and the weather is gorgeous,
leave your planned activities for another day (when it is gray and rainy) and go out
to enjoy the beautiful Dutch parks and terraces.
Let me close by saying something about the Dutch. They tend to be pretty straight forward
and while it can be hard to get used to initially, I have come to appreciate it. You know
what they think and since they generally don’t mean any insult or harm it’s kind of handy. I
remember an evening in my early years when we had friends for dinner and our guest commented
on the celery in the salad. He said, “We never eat celery raw, only cooked.” Then he
looked at his wife and said, “By the way, raw is really nice in a salad.” (Whew!)
People often ask me what the biggest difference is between the Netherlands and the US
and, after giving it a lot of thought, my answer is space. The Dutch need less space and are
happy with less of it. It means that people are happy with smaller houses and a smaller yard;
they can be outside in their small yard and speak quietly to not disturb or interact with their
neighbors who are also outside. The tables in restaurants are often smaller and set closer
together; the Dutch can stand closer together without feeling like someone else is “in my
space.” I think I’ve changed over the years to need less space as well and am grateful for
my new attitude. With our climate in crisis, compact is better, and I’m happy my Dutch
glass is half full.
38 GOING DUTCH
Our first rental in the Netherlands was a typical Dutch house built in 1935 on a canal
in a suburb of Leiden. It didn’t take James long to start researching buying a boat. I
reminded him that we didn’t need to own a boat, we just needed to have friends with
boats. Eventually we settled for two used Canadian canoes instead of a very expensive boat.
Our daughters, who were just eight and five when we arrived, spent a lot of time in those
canoes during that two and a half years that we were fortunate enough to live in that lovely
waterfront house.
Fast forward to a beautiful day in June 2020, when our friends brought us out on their boat
to tempt us into buying in as co-owners, as the other co-owners never used the boat and wanted
to be bought out. My main hesitation was that while I knew that boating around Leiden was
fun, I was worried that it would grow weary after a while. So I was thrilled that we quickly left
the canal ring of Leiden and headed towards Leiderdorp, even crossing over a freeway at one
point. Clearly they knew we were suckers for new adventures, so it didn’t take much convincing.
Actually, I use the word “boat” loosely, as I fondly refer to Bootjuh as our “floating bathtub.”
There’s only one seat, which is for the captain, of course; there are also two beanbag chairs,
but I broke down and brought a folding chair. It’s also missing a fuel tank and lights. Luckily
the portable fuel tank fits on the back of James’ bike; he looks quite funny when he cycles up
to a gas station for a refill. In addition to our neighbor’s spare rechargeable lamp that was easy
to strap to the front of the boat, James rigged up a Christmas decoration mounted on top of a
flashlight strapped to a pole; he’s clearly hoping
not to find out what the authorities think of his
lighting solutions.
On the negative side, our little putt-putt
motor is quite loud. On the positive side, € 2
of fuel lasts well over an hour (much longer
than € 2 of wine), which makes for pretty darn
affordable entertainment. Our timing was perfect
to be able to enjoy the amazing summer
and fall weather exploring Leiden and beyond
with other couples or on our own and giving
us yet another reason to love living in Holland.
MARCH/APRIL 2021 39