one love | here i am

Here I Am. Am-ing. Just being, and enjoying the journey that unfolds. I love to be in the moment, but am not always comfortable not having a plan. But I am loving the process of flowing with whatever comes my way and am always so pleasantly surprised with how life twists and turns.

I have a friend here that is full of life. She is always smiling, loves her life, her kids and her husband. She is athletic and enjoys entertaining. She makes time for herself, her kids and her husband. And her eyes sparkle. I love being around her and love that she knows what it’s like to be an expat, because she was once one too. And I think because of her experience, she understands me and has reached out to me, making me feel at home here, inviting me to join her for coffee, lunch, dinner, paddling, swimming, ice skating, and today a Sunday morning tennis match. I am so thankful for our friendship and admire her and learn from her and enjoy her company. I am going to miss you, Barbara. Thank you for being my friend and kicking my ass today at tennis! Rematch?

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After coming home from tennis and sharing a cup of tea, Jeff and I went on a spontaneous date to the Trompen museum in Amsterdam. We took the tram into the city and walked through Oosterpark to the museum, holding hands. The architecture itself was gorgeous, and the artifacts from the Dutch colonies were very interesting. Afterwards, we stopped in a Biergarten for some biterballen and cold beer from the tap. We are enjoying having kids who are of the age that they can stay home alone. We were only gone for 3 hours and it was perfect! Here are some photos from the museum and around town.

Oosterpark

The Royal Tropical institute is very fascinating, highlighting the tropical areas of the world, focusing on the former colonies of the Netherlands such as Indonesia, Surinam, India, and others. I especially enjoyed seeing the different religious and philosophical influences and seeing the different artifacts. I think I would enjoy studying how they interrelate and making connections between the different beliefs. One love, one world. Namaste.

How did your Sunday flow?

Leidseplein – waiting for the 5 tram to head home.

As I finally sat down to rest at the end of the day, I poured myself a cup of tea, and plopped into my comfy old rocking chair that I brought with me from California. I sat and looked at Facebook and played Words with Friends, while I thought about what to write today and waited for my kids to settle into their beds for the night.

I thought I was going to write about the differences in experiences when visiting a doctor in the USA and the Netherlands. But I changed my mind when I read the inscription on my tea bag.

My tea bag summarizes the connection we all have to one another, despite our differing beliefs.

Today I got to enjoy pictures of my Jewish friends celebrating Passover. On Facebook, I’ve been watching the debate on gay marriage. In Dutch class, we talked about Easter and Good Friday and recognized that in India and China, most people don’t celebrate or recognize this Christian holiday, however in Holland they celebrate the feast without the religious connection. Of course this isn’t 100% true for everyone, and this blog is definitely not a debate, but what it pointed out to me (which is obvious) and more to my point, is that there are several different ways to express love and our values and way of life. We all use different means to express the good in our souls, and if we’re all practicing how to make life sweeter and more enjoyable, shouldn’t we all benefit from the synergy we create from all our goodness? Celebrate our differences. Celebrate the love we create. And celebrate each other. One love.

Namaste.