Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Home From Vacation

I am home from a lovely three week vacation in Europe.  I spent most of the time at my daughter's new home in Leiden which is in The Netherlands.  She has taken a teaching position at the American School of The Hague.  We biked to her work some mornings, her dad and I and Serene--sometimes in the company of other newly hired American teachers.  We helped her put up bulletin boards in her classroom the week before school started, hung pictures in her apartment, unpacked her dishes when her household shipment came from her last international teaching position in Serbia, and made dinner for her at night when she was not taking us out to eat at amazing restaurants.  We have not been so involved in her daily life for well over a decade and it was fun.  She worked long and hard getting acquainted with a new school system and her dad and I played all day.  We took the amazingly convenient train to other cities like The Hague and Amsterdam. (Why don't we have a good train system in the US?)  We biked in the Centrum of Leiden, getting lost dozens of times but having fun wherever we were.  We saw windmills and canals and magificent buildings that for Americans are jaw droppingly old.  In every way it was a great vacation.  Now I am back and already percolating new ideas for games, based in part on my European Adventure. 

4 comments:

Therapeutic Threads said...

what a fabulous trip! Such a great experience for her. Welcome back!

Tahirih said...

Thank you! It is good to be back but I miss my daughter already. I always miss her more after I have recently seen her. But I am grateful to have had so much time in her new world.

Anonymous said...

I am a teacher's aid at an elementary school in lberta, Canada. I work with an autistic little boy and find your website very informative and helpful. I actually attended the American School of the Hague!!! I have great memories of my time in The Netherlands, I hope your daughter will too!

Tahirih said...

It is a small world! My daughter is loving her work and her location! I wanted to go live there too when I visited. I am happy you are finding the information useful.