Parade of Visitors and Their Observations

We’ve now hosted 8 people in the last 6 weeks. And there is still one more to come! Actually, this year has been wonderful, with visits from other friends as well earlier in the year. Having a baby is good for refining hospitality giftings!

Anyway, it’s been fun to listen to our visitors’ observations about what strikes them. By no means have I completely adapted to life here; I still giggle when I see mothers with three children loaded on her bike and I will never grow tired of seeing the green, green pastures. There are things I don’t notice anymore, though. Off the top of my head, here are some:

-Windows open funny. They swing like a door and they open from the top at a slight angle.
-Attic bedrooms make for great games of bonking heads.
-Yards are called gardens.
-“zuid” is pronounced “zoud”, not “zoo-eed”
-Streets are narrow.
-Can’t understand people around you, but as an English speaker, if you try you can understand a lot of the signs around. Dutch is sometimes similar to English and there are also a lot of English words mixed into the language.