Day Six of our Great American Adventure. They say that for every time zone crossed in travel, it takes one day for a person's body to adjust -- thus, the six hours of time difference between Amsterdam and the Eastern United States should translate to six days of jet lag before our bodies feel normal again. And while this seems to be true for Marci, Elliot, and Cor -- I'm not so sure how the rule-of-thumb applies to me and Olivia.  Ah well.  One of these days we should all be back to normal (and let it be said that I am eagerly anticipating that day!).  Our laptop computer's screen was damaged during travel, so I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like (somehow, writing things down in this space helps me to process the events for myself). But borrowing some time on a friend's computer is allowing me to check in here and now -- and though I can't write for very long, I thought I would share some interesting (though rather random) observations of cultural adjustment

I'm finding it difficult to train myself to not use the word WC ("vay-say") to refer to the restroom facilities.  I constantly feel tempted to ask "Where is the WC?" or to excuse myself from a room with an explanation like "I need to go use the WC."  And though I'm sure no one really cares if I use the Dutch/English word for the toilet, I find it important for myself to make the cultural adaptation (still working on it)

Elliot has "forgotten" how to speak Dutch already, less than a week into our visit to the USA.  People will ask him, "What's the Dutch word for ______?" and he will invariably reply that he can't remember.  Even when I talk to him one-on-one (initiating in Dutch), he will say that he can't or won't speak Dutch -- "because the people here can't understand it."  I'm surprised that his cultural perception is so acute.  But then again, it makes sense.  I guess he just doesn't want to be the weird European kid or some kind of performing circus monkey.  And frankly, I can completely identify with him.  So we're still figuring our way out here in our "homeland."

I always used to hear European people complaining about Americans asking "How are you?" without expecting (or even being prepared for) a sincere reply -- but I never really understood it (at least not on the felt level) until this trip to America.  Especially in the Southeast part of the United States (where we've been visiting up to this point), "How're you?" is not really a question as much as a salutation.  In a post office in Virginia I heard one person answer the "question" of "How're you?" with a response of "How're you?"  Very odd indeed.

Perhaps I will be able to add more observations later.  But for now my blogging time is up.  I'm off to the next great experience in this Great American Adventure.

Three days into our Great American Adventure, we're all hanging in there: still jet-lagging a bit (parents worse than kids, fortunately) and fighting off a communal chest cold (which preceded our travel to America but which has, unfortunately, gained the upper hand over our jet-lagged bodies)... but otherwise having a pretty good time. Our first visit to the Eastern Shore of Virginia has been very enjoyable -- and to make it even more memorable, I've finally been able to get my camera (the Canon 350D) back into action with a fully functioning lens! So I figured I'd try to post random images from our travels to each different location that we get to visit this summer. The pictures in this post are my "top six" from Virginia.

More than anything else, the greatest joy of our time in this part of the country has been the opportunity for Elliot and Olivia to play with their cousins (Marci's brother and his wife have an eight-year-old girl, a five-year-old boy, and a three-year-old boy -- so you can imagine the fun). I've probably got about 60 to 80 different shots of "cousins playing together" alone! But the top picture is one of my personal favorites.

We've also gotten to take in some of the local scenery -- with one of the highlights being our trip to Jaxon's: a general store in a nearby town with the motto, "If we don't have it, then you don't need it" (apparently, we didn't actually need post cards from the Eastern Shore!). Without a doubt, though, there was an interesting collection of items in the store which really lent itself to feeling like being back in time, in the era of the good ol' American general store). While we were there, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a snapshot of Elliot wearing an official uniform of the Boy Scouts of America. I also especially enjoyed the visit to the local drug store, where a wisened older gentleman advised me of the best way to beat my chest cold: a shot-glass full of cough expectorant with two glasses of water and a cup of black coffee (turns out his drug-store directives weren't so helpful for the chest cold but were highly effective in snapping me out of my jet-lagged stupor for my second day in America).

We also got to celebrate a six-way "cousins' birthday party" -- since we don't typically get to celebrate birthdays together. Good times... Good times...

Cor has also recently figured out how to wave! It's super-cute because he's especially proud of himself when he successfully executes a waving maneuver.

Roaming around outside in the gorgeous May weather has also been great fun. Marci's brother's family own a lovely home in the rural Eastern Shore landscape. Wheat fields come right up to the edge of the backyard -- quite a radical departure from the Amsterdam streetscape that we're used to.

We also got some lovely portraits along the Chesapeake Bay coast around sunset on Tuesday evening. The portraits turned out great, but my favorite was actually a candid shot of Marci laughing with Olivia and Cor on the beach.

So those are my top six. If you'd like you can see more images on the Family Pictures section of the website...

Next stop: Orlando, Florida.

We made it.

There is, of course, still some adjusting to do (which may be self-evident, given the fact that I'm writing this post at 5:00 in the morning, local time -- and even that's about two hours after I initially woke up!)... But all in all, things have gone about as well as can be expected.  Transportation logistics have gone very well.  The kids have been pretty manageable.  And fortunately, even though I am not sleeping so well on my first night here, Marci and the kids are (aside from a few minor moments of half-wakeful disorientation, which are always to be expected).

Within the first hour of Cor's first day on American soil, he had the privilege of driving within 150 meters of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Museum, the National Archives, and the Capitol Building -- which, I would have to say, was quite an auspicious introduction to his "native" land... Oddly enough, he didn't seem too impressed.  Ah, the fickle fancies of an 8-month-old...

By sunset, we had made it to our destination on the Eastern Shore of Virginia -- a little strip of land between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  We got to enjoy a lovely lasagna dinner with our hosts (Marci's brother and his family).  Even more meaningful than the lasagna, though, was the tall glass of A&W Root Beer, chilled with about 12 cubes of ice which signalled my true homecoming.  And as if that wasn't enough, Jacqueline had made a root beer cake (which I enjoyed very much, though I'd never had it before) and made mention of root beer floats somewhere on the menu within the next couple of days... Ah, yes.  That is indeed when I knew:

We made it. 

Well, we've had our share of pre-travel stress over the past several days (and weeks)... But it seems that we're finally near the end.  Or is it just the beginning?  In any event -- our three-month odyssey to the United States of America begins in about 14 hours.

We're all very much looking forward to the time in our homeland (though some parts more than others).  Marci and I celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary -- with a cruise to the Bahamas -- should be especially fun.  And we're really looking forward to connecting with so many various friends and family scattered throughout the North American continent.  We're especially eager to introduce Cor (now 8 months old) to everyone!  Believe it or not, I'm actually really looking forward to the prospect of fund-raising this summer, too.  To be sure, it can be intimidating to realize the huge amount of financial support that needs to be raised in just a few short months -- but we have an equally big story to tell of everything that God has been doing and is doing in Amsterdam... And I'm excited to finally move beyond the stage of thinking about it and talking about it and preparing for it -- and just start doing it.  When all of this is coupled with the opportunity to eat at so many of our favorite restaurants again and enjoy so many of our favorite summer activities again, it adds up to a much-anticipated summer that should fuel memories, images, and stories for many years to come...

I have to be honest, though, that there are a few things which will probably be more difficult for me.  I'm not looking forward to having to regularly (and frequently) spend lots of money on gasoline again (being so accustomed to pedal power in Amsterdam these days).  I'm not looking forward to "reverse culture shock" -- feeling out of touch with my own native culture (I already realized this the other day when I asked a good friend in Ohio if people in America typically send a "text message" or an "SMS" via mobile telephone -- seeing how the technology was almost unheard of five years ago when I moved to Europe, but is now quite widespread -- and hearing my friend basically reply by asking "an SM-What?").  But more than anything, I think it's going to be hard to be "living out of a suitcase" for three whole months -- especially with a family of five -- sleeping on dozens of different beds, trying to maintain order and routine when order and routine will be practically impossible.  This is probably difficult for anyone -- but I am particularly a person of routine.  I tend to feel most rested and most productive when I am operating according to some self-imposed schedule for life... And yet, I realize that the coming few months -- though rest and productivity are the two stated goals -- will provide scant opportunity for regular routine.  I'm trusting God to help me read and adjust, as I go.   But it can still be a little bit scary to think about all of this.

Suffice to say, we have a long and winding road ahead of us.  It's going to be quite an adventure! 

We come from six different countries. Our "day jobs" cover the spectrum from literature professor to student to waitress to pastor. Our creative interests vary from memoirs to film scripts to short stories. But we all have one thing in common: We like to write.

For the last six months or so, I've been getting to know a small circle of aspiring artists who -- like myself -- have long enjoyed writing as a hobby, but who are now looking to improve their skills and put their stuff "out there" a bit more. We found each other through a collective of international writers in the city of Amsterdam called wordsinhere (and through word-of-mouth, as things developed), and there are now ten of us who meet together as a "fiction critique group" every other Monday evening, in a small cafe in the Jordaan.

Last night, we met in the home of one of the members of our group, where we were treated to an Indian Tea and some wonderful homemade Indian snacks. A number of the members from our group couldn't make it yesterday (so unfortunately, they didn't make it in the pictures), but we really had a fun time together.

I'm going to miss being involved in the group this summer, while I'm gone in the United States...