Pictured above are the boats stored for the winter at the local port on the Loosdrechtse plassen (North-Holland). A stroll with Tinley this week gave for the unique photo perspective.
Sunshine has the Dutch out on every street corner and patio in Holland.
Thursday saw a return of a warm sun in the Netherlands, occasionally peaking out from between the clouds. While sitting with my laptop on WUA’s backyard patio, it dawned upon me that it might be the perfect afternoon for the company’s first boat ride of the year. A whisper about this to right person at the office, and a quick clean up of the boat got the WUA team on board. Our captain (and CEO) Klaas Kroezen was happy to have us.
This is one of those happy coincidences of me staying in Amsterdam an extra month instead of being back in California. Some friends from Berkeley were in town, and they too joined us on the boat. Sherif and I hadn’t seen each other since beginning of 2015. Nonetheless, we picked up without as much skipping a beat. For me it was good timing too, to start reigniting Bay Area friendships before I return on a more permanent basis at the end of April. Another advantage a longer stay in the Netherlands, is time to focus on building a bridge between WUA HQ and WUA USA. Marketing, research, sales, and data teams have to be integrated across the pond. To that end, I’m happy to have younger brother Ivar formally introduced to the WUA team.
Ivar will help in writing content for our blogs, emails, and other marketing activities. Having joined the WUA ski-trip and Friday evening drinks at HQ, Ivar is blending in smoothly.
Easter weekend with the family
With the work week in the pocket, Ivar and I headed to Breukelen for family time. Easter weekend’s first stop was Oma’s (grandma’s) house to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Ten of us around the dining table to do some ‘traditional’ Dutch gourmetten. This is where everyone is in charge of making their own meats and veggies on a shared hot plate. It makes for a gezellige time with family (if you want to know more, I recommend this expat-review on the subject).
My parents have always put an emphasis on eating together. Easter morning is no different. Sunday morning, eggs, both real and chocolate, were ready to go. Mamsie made freshly squeezed orange-juice and we discussed the week that was. As many Dutch do, I found out, they head for a stroll after their Easter brunch. As such, we headed to Hilversum for a walk in open land, where Tinley (pictured below) cam across some passive bulls.
Another month in Holland
In my review of the last few months in last week’s blog, I mentioned I’ll be staying a bit longer in the Netherlands. Instead of returning to brother Kaj in Concord for three weeks, it was decided I’d stick around. As I have to be in London in a couple weeks, the time is being bridged in North-Holland instead. While I’m missing my own house-warming party next weekend, I’ll make up for it in May. Meanwhile, I plan to take a trip somewhere in Europe next weekend to add a new country to the visited list. In London, I’m joining WUA to attend Tony Robbin’s seminar: ‘Unleash the Power Within’. To make sure I really don’t forget my country of birth, I’m staying around for King’s Day the last weekend of April before truly heading back to the Golden State.
