the Netherlands

**That's Korfball, a Dutch game using a ball that looks like a soccer ball, but is actually a bit lighter. It also is played like basketball, but on grass.**


After leaving Christine and her family behind, I headed to the Netherlands for a long weekend at Marlies' place. She picked me up at the train station and brought me to her home that she shares with her boyfriend, Robbie. It was a very relaxing weekend and very enjoyable. The first evening we watch 2 and 1/2 Men (which we watched every night, actually). My first full day in the Netherlands we headed to Utrecht, which is in the center of the Netherlands, with Marlies' mother. We spent the day shopping, eating and drinking at cafes, and catching up (I had stayed with Marlies for 2 weeks in August 2009, back when Marlies lived with her parents).

The next day we woke up early because Marlies was coaching a kids Korfball game. So, I ordered a toastie (toasted ham and cheese) and watched this very weird, foreign looking game. That afternoon the weather was beautiful so we went to downtown Dordrecht (the town where Marlies' parents live), to go shopping. I bought some adorable brown boots, that I look at proudly and think about how cool it is that they are from the Netherlands. On Sunday, my final full day in the Netherlands, Marlies and I went to an indoor pool. It was small and not very deep, so we left early and baked the American brownies (imported, and expensive) that I bought at the local supermarket. We didn't pay attention and they ended up burning, but dammit, for the 10 dollars I paid I ate them anyway. In the evening we went to Rotterdam and to the top of the tallest building there, the Euromast. We took cute pictures (even made a personalized postcard to send to my parents), and then left, satisfied that we had seen a nice view of the city. We then headed to Marlies' parents house. Her mom made us hamburgers and fries, and together, with Marlies' mom, dad, and brother, we all watched soccer. It was so funny to see how serious Europeans are about soccer. Her mom was for one team and the rest of the family was for the other, so there was a lot of taunting going on, all in good fun.