Winter Games

One of the cool things about living in another culture (or mix of cultures in the case of the UT community) is the chance to learn about the simple things that make diversity so valuable. I'm talking here about life's pleasures- food and drink, and games and sport; or how does your culture celebrate and play? We had a chance to turn a writing assignment into a rare night out for the three of us Saturday for the Chinese student's association's New Year party. 2006 is the year of the Dog (to Ghost and Keskas delight I'm sure); there was a great article in the Dutch paper last week about the New Year subtitled- 'We eat dog about as often as you eat rabbit..'
It was a great party, mostly Chinese students with a small group of int'ls- awesome food: dumplings and spring rolls, and of course an enormous screen and really loud PA with karaoke.

We've also learned a bunch of new games abroad- a few very Dutch and some random. It seems like each region here has its own particular local game- when we lived in the trailer park in Hengelo there was a group (with matching uniforms no less,) that played klootschieten. They would go throw their balls down these long country lanes and then come back and drink beer the rest of the day. Our neighbors in Enschede introduced us to sjoelen. Its this very addictive sort of indoor shuffleboard where you have to distribute little wooden disks into slots at the end of table to score points. It can get pretty vicious as the pictures indicate.
Our Canadian-Hungarian friend David introduced us to snapszer, a card game that I think has to be an ancestor of euchre. Its also pretty cutthroat but extremely social especially when paired with palinka.
Finally, Ronald and Maaike next door, recently showed us Kolonisten van Catan. I never played Risk or anything when I was growing up but I know people who became pretty crazy about it and I always thought this would be similar. I'd seen this big red box on the shelf of almost every Dutch household and always wondered what it was. We have only played once but it was quite addictive; keeping us up to the unheard of 1 am.

Jumpin'

This was taken this morning as we were starting our day. When you can only do about three things, adding another one is a BIG deal. James isn't exactly a champion jumper yet, but he seems to be getting the idea. If nothing else, hanging suspended from the door frame in the "Johnny Jump Up" is different from our other two choices of:
a. lying on our backs, or
b. sitting in the whipstoel, a.k.a. the bouncy seat

I am taking the day off after an icy-street related bike mishap yesterday (and no, this was not after happy hour). I was happily biking in to work and slid on an icy patch. First my bike and I crashed down and then it slid down the street ahead of me on its side. Fortunately it is very sturdy. I am a little less so. It was a quiet street so I had the opportunity to lie there and regroup for a little while. Just a bit sore today.

On other baby-related fronts, James has slept for 5-6 consecutive hours several times over the last few nights. That is about as exciting as it gets around here. We are thrilled!!!

Finally, I promised Pat Maier about a month ago to put my mom's onion pie recipe on the blog. So, finally, here it is:

Onion Pie (Kathie Owens)
Ingredients:
1 ready made pie crust
2 Cups thinly sliced onions
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
dash of paprika

Place pie crust in 8 inch pie plate
In a skillet sautee onions in a little olive oil or butter until transparent but not brown
Spoon them into the pie crust, and pour over them the mixture of eggs slightly beaten, milk, salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the top with cheese and a little paprika
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until a knife tested near center comes out dry
Garnish with parsley, serve hot



Now my question is, if all the Maier ladies know this recipe, what will be my contribution to family meals ??? 

Valley Guy

Well it has been way too long since we blogged on. James is doing great- finally settling into a good sleep pattern after the nightmare of jetlag.
January has been a slog in a lot of ways; the weather is not ideal at this time of year- bitter cold when it is clear and other wise gray and rainy (and cold). We are thankful to be in a house this winter with central heat though. We are both extra busy with work at the moment and in combination with getting back to a pattern, trying to figure out the 2006 Dutch laws regarding health care and taxes, dealing with the short dark days of winter and trying to clear a bunch of viruses from the computer, we haven't made enough time for blogging lately.
James is digging on the solid food- we've tried potato, carrot, apple and banana, and rice cereal to great effect. Katharine doesn't know this but I even used some of the pureed potato to thicken a fish soup recipe I tried the other night- watch out Jamie Oliver! Green beans and avocado not so much; though the avocado could just have been a reaction to an inexperienced father feeding: like an idiot I saw a chunk in his mouth and tried to prise it out with the spoon, literally gagging him with a spoon. Like, totally.

and a photo of James all dressed up for Marilyn's Feliz Navidad party in his suit, a gift from our friends Cor and Marian. 

a beautiful Gould family photo from the christening 

cousins Brad Maier, David Liotta and James D., 

 

There are two shots of the trees at Pablos lovely farm,

sunny enschede

Things are SLOWLY returning to normal. Between jetlag and what looks to be James' first tooth this week has not included the best opportunities for sleep. The tooth is not camera ready yet-- it is much too small, and James is not interested in ANYONE taking a look at it. So, we must all practice a little patience.
Here and what we think are the last of the photos from the trip home:

I know we are home because my clothes are covered in dog hair again...

We have arrived. After a long adventure in automobiles, on big and little planes, and on trains we are finally home. We have vowed NEVER to travel with so much junk again. We took a lot of luggage in the first place, then bought a stroller in the US, and Mike adopted a guitar along the way. It was ridiculous. We actually had two little old ladies help us get all our bags onto the last train.
Actually we have been back for four days now, but getting our acts together to re-enter Enschede life and a getting used to a real schedule again has taken a bit of adjusting. You will never notice the effects of jetlag so accutely unless they are played out in concert by a pair of adults and a 4 1/2 month old infant.
The dogs did great while we were gone thanks to our crack team of caregivers. I secretly thinked they were spoiled in all manner of ways- not only are they healthy and calm but Keska has actually been trained to listen better! Is this what devoted attention gets? Sorry guys, we all have to readjust; and stay away from the baby toys!
More soon but here are a few highlight photos:
-James in his KLM bassinet
-Katharine, neices Heyward,Lindsay Kate and nephew Micajah Steedley (notice the real Nederlandse clogs).
-James playing with Bammi in the south Georgia pines.