Release the hounds!

Well, we are leaving 9 weeks from yesterday. Hard to believe! Our group met Sunday (minus a sick Heather and David who blew us off...haha). Hans Kok came and spoke to us about life in the Netherlands. He moved to the States in the mid-1980s, but lived in Holland until then. And yes, I mean the area known as Holland. Holland is a strip along the western coast of the Netherlands that encompasses some of the major areas such as the Hague and Amsterdam. The rest of the country is called the Netherlands. A good FYI to know.

Anyway, Hans said he used to work at a university where computer theft was a problem at night in his building. The solution? They released several Dobermans to run around the building at night. Took care of that crime problem in a hurry! I suggested it to some people here on campus, but it hasn't caught on yet. The cockroaches in the basement just aren't doing a good job in my opinion.

I learned all sorts of fun facts that I thought you'd enjoy knowing:
1. Everything is closed on Sunday
2. Employees get 7 weeks of vacation per year at least. No one works more than 40 hours per week. Coffee breaks are every day from 10-10:30, and tea is taken from 3-3:30. Don't bother calling during those times because no one is working.
3. Sales tax is already included in everything you purchase. But get this --- it's 19%! Holy cow.
4. Everyone smokes. Great.
5. I believe Hans said that 65% of the world's flowers go through the Aalsmeer flower auction, so I hope we get to visit it. Each day 19 million flowers and two million plants are sold through 13 clocks at 'Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer.' Cool.

All for now! And today's handy Dutch phrase that I hope to say later, is "Dank u voor een heerlijk diner!" Thank you for a delicious dinner!

Are the Dutch known for their pastries??

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I went to Cincinnati to the American Sign Museum. We didn't really know what to expect, but it turns out that it's a collection of signs from the early 1900s through the 1960s. The owner, Tod, has personally purchased tons of neon signs from restaurants, hotels, and other businesses, plus he knows the history of the signs and of signage in general. Super informative tour, and one that I highly recommend to anyone who will be in the Cincy area.

Anyway, I had to share the picture of this Dutch Boy Donuts sign from Denver, Colo., in 1948. The windmill "rotates," which makes it even cooler. The bottom picture is a picture of the actual bakery in Denver. If you go to the museum, make sure you check out the giant world with neon cars that revolve around it. The sign used to hang next to the LA freeway and has bullet hole entrance and exit wounds through the globe. Excellent.

Ready for our close-ups

Fame has finally caught up to our group! The Paper of Wabash County ran a very long and well-written article about our upcoming trip (see attached link, page 7). The only mistake was saying that the Wabash County Rotary Foundation is sponsoring the trip, when we're actually representing the Central Indiana Rotary District 6540. Whoops. But I emailed them the correction, so hopefully credit will go where credit is deserved. The article is still a great way to let people know about the trip and perhaps even encourage someone else to apply for it in the future.

I can't believe the trip is just about 2.5 months away. I've been working on more Dutch (De meisjes staan naast de hond "the girls stand next to the dog") was part of last night's learning. Useful phrase to know? Probably not, but still fun to learn.

I've learned a bit more about Maastricht, the city where I believe we'll spend a week or so. It is home to Maastricht University, United World College, an Academy of Dramatic Arts, and has a large international student population. It's a super-old city, receiving city rights in 1204, and has made it through many wars. The French once occupied it, the Germans occupied it during WWII, but it was the first Dutch city to be liberated by the allies in 1944.

So there's your 800-year history of a city in a nutshell. It's an hour from Brussels, an hour from Cologne, Germany, and 2.5 hours from Amsterdam. It has several museums, plenty of historical sights, and a good number of parks. Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Plein is described as a "picturesque tree-lined square with an abundance of pavement cafes." With all the piles of snow and slushy roads around, that sounds pretty nice right about now.