Yesterday I met up with three other expat women who are living here in Rotterdam. I met them on one of my “Life in the Netherlands” type of yahoo groups when I made a post about knitting (yes, I know.. I’m obsessed with learning to knit lately). Usually when I go to these gatherings I find myself in limbo between the two groups of people. There are the young early 20’s who moved to NL to live it up a little, then there are the middle aged mommies who are here with Dutch hubbies and have their little play dates etc. I didn’t really fit into either…. I don’t party anymore, did that to death when I was younger, and I don’t have kids yet. Boo Hoo.
These women have all been here for six months or less and are approx the same age, no kids and appear to not be wild party animals. We met up at Donner, a really huuuuuge bookstore here in th city center, and gabbed for at least four hours. They have a nice cafe there on the 5th floor that is perfect for a small gathering like that. It was wonderful.. It really reminded me how much I miss having proper girlfriends. People who you can get together and do all that girlie shit with… I’m going to try to keep in touch with these girls, they seem like keepers!
One of them mentioned that she signed up for a quilting workshop recently and that really perked my interest. I’ve always wanted to do something like that but it’s not something you just .. do. I don’t know anyone who said “oh I think I’ll start a quilt today” and then just did it. You need some kind of guidance and information, so I jumped at the chance to join her. It’s once a week for 11 weeks and it’s during the day, which is great because it doesn’t cut into my time with Xander but totally cuts into my sitting around doing nothing time! So over the 11 weeks I’ll be learning how to make a quilt, follow a pattern and all that other fun stuff. So when the whole thing is over I’ll have a quilt and the knowledge of how to make another one if I want to, I hope.
I’m really excited about this. I love doing crafty things and I really need things to take up my time through the winter. They can get pretty dreary weather-wise and it affects my mood terribly, so I’m hellbent on being more active and social this winter.
One of the other girls is really interested in scrapbooking so I’ve been looking around trying to find out if there is any kind of classes in that, although I think that might be easier to do on your own than something like quilting. We’d just have to look up some tips online. Good thing about scrapbooking is that there is no shortage of supplies for it here, so I assume it’s at least fairly popular. Unlike knitting.. I’m yet to see a store stocked up with yarn and don’t have the first clue where to buy knitting needles.
I hope I like the quilting… if we are lucky enough to get pregnant I’d love to spend my fatter than ever weeble wobble time working on a nice baby quilt.
Oh, and one more thing I loved about the cafe in the bookstore. They had bagels! The Netherlands needs more bagels.
Thanks for writing about NL. My grandma’s family was Dutch and she loved to visit there. Do you go to the cafes and hang out? I guess you can order a coffee and sit there all afternoon without being hassled to give up your table to another paying customer.
The city center idea is great! Better than a stale indoor mall. My little hometown in WI has a Main St. and it really is a nice way to shop. Eat some gouda cheese for me!