Eight months later, here I am! For those of you that see me around Arnemuiden or have spent time with me in the months I have been in Europe I must admit, the main emotion I feel most days is fear. I want people here to understand that when I am quiet and reserved, I am taking everything in_ the conversation, the routines, facial expressions and tone of voice, the food, and the surroundings. It is all very overwhelming for me. Even though I have been a part of this country's cultural differences for almost three months total now, the differences still take some getting used to.
I grew up in the small town of Woodstock, Virginia. The state of Virginia is 110,786 square kilometers in size. It has half the population as the entire country of the Netherlands (8 million compared to 16 million).The country I come from, America, has a population of 319 million. All this to say, I am used to something so much different.
Recently, the biggest cultural difference I have had to embrace is my change in transportation. If a person is seen biking alongside of the road in most parts of Virginia it means one of three things 1) He is one of those tree-hugger types, saving the earth from pollution! 2) He's a poor college age student who is too proud for public transportation. 3) He's a middle-aged man trying to get some exercise. Biking here in the Netherlands is the norm. I can bike, I am actually pretty good at it. My dad taught me how to when I was six years old. It was purely for recreational purposes and I loved biking in the backyard as a kid. But having to rely on it as my main source of getting one place to another is a little intimidating_ having to stop mid-cycle for traffic, biking through pouring down rain, or carrying large boxes and bags on the back of this small piece of metal, while impressive, is not ideal for me.
 |
| Bikes at Middelburg train station |
In the five months I was back in America this year, multiple people asked me how the weather was in the Netherlands. My response was always that it was the same in both countries. After being back here in the summertime, I can honestly say that summers here are not nearly as hot as they are in America! Arnemuiden is near the sea, so there is a nice breeze blowing through on most days. Temperatures fall in between low 60's and low 70's usually, with little to no humidity!
With the changing of seasons coming upon us, my heart begins to miss home. Back at home, autumn is spent buying back to school supplies, soaking up those last evenings of late sunshine, curling up under a wool blanket at a football game, sipping on watered down hot chocolate, and getting excited that first time you see your breath fog up in the cool night air! For me, while spring is all about new life and new beginnings, I believe that fall time is about closeness_ preparing for that long cold winter. Comfy sweaters, candles that smell as if you could eat them for dessert, crockpots full of homemade food, and baking cookies. To me, fall is about family and coming home.
 |
| Blue Ridge Mountains in the fall_ my home. |
This fall, I face a new beginning, new traditions, and new memories to be made. Pieter and I just recently began renting a small apartment in a larger village. We have gotten quite resourceful with making spaces our own and living with a little as we have gone through this experience. As September creeps in quickly I anticipate celebrating our one year wedding anniversary, I look forward to a trip to Germany and Austria (thank you Oma and Opa), and I am blessed to be with my husband for his 28th birthday! Here's to whatever else might be lying up ahead for Lydia and Pieter Tramper this coming season!
 |
| Pieter and I at a family barbecue |
.jpg)
