The Bulgarian bus adventure and Dutch birthdays

Today was a very good day. It started out a bit early. See, today is the day that the potential new au pair has arrived to stay for a week or so. She's going to see if she thinks she can do the job, and Jack and Danielle will decide if they also think she can do it. Anyway, this girl, Ralitza, is from Bulgaria and took a bus to get here. This bus was scheduled to arrive in Utrecht, a nearby city, at 4:00 this morning. That's no problem. Danielle was planning to pick up Ralitza. However, when 4:00 rolled around it seemed apparant that the Bulgarian bus was not yet in Holland, and we couldn't be sure how long Danielle would have to wait for it. I had offered to go with Danielle to keep her company the night before, and even though she said it wasn't necessary I ended up going anyway. It's not exactly wise for a woman to be hanging out around Utrecht at 4:00 in the morning, alone, and for an indefinite amount of time. So we decided that two women hanging out around Utrecht at 4:00 in the morning for an indefinite amount of time was infinitely and significantly safer (even though I am one of the two mentioned women). So away we went and arrived in Utrecht. It was dark. There were few people around. And if there were people they looked either a little scary or drunk. Needless to say, we were sure to keep the doors locked. We waited. We waited some more. We drank some ice tea, which unfortunately managed to fill our feminine bladders. The stores were all closed. We waited. Finally, at 8:00 we decided to go home. In the course of the four hours we saw 2 Polish buses, a Spanish bus, and a couple of Dutch buses. Oh, and it finally became light. But, we went home. (We were finally able to get ahold of someone who told us that the bus was late {duh!} and would be arriving at about 10:15.)

At home, I got a shower, drank coffee, dressed, rushed and went to church. After church, my friends and I had an appointment to practice a drama that we learned a month ago. We did that for a few hours. We were short on people, which made practicing quite a challenge, especailly for the part I played (an angel...suitable, eh?). But we made it through with only one disappointment on my side, which I will not write about because it's not that interesting and it's quite irrelevent to the above title. We finally finished.

After church I went to the birthday party of my friend, Oscar. He's now 24. I and four other friends rode there together. Now, Dutch birthdays are quite odd to us American girls. And even the Dutch find their traditions odd when I'm around them because then they actually start thinking about the tradition. Mainly, the oddest birthday tradition ever is the giving of congratulations. Why is this odd? This is odd because the Dutch don't only congratulate the happy birthday boy or girl. They congratulate every single person that is attending the birthday party. Why? I don't know. That's just the way it is. Everyone goes to everyone, shakes everyone's hand, and says "Gefeliciteerd", or in my language "Congratulations". So, I've been congratulated about 6 or 7 times today because Oscar turned 24 years old.

I remember my first Dutch birthday party. It was August 19th, 2004. I was visiting Holland for two weeks, and just happened to be here for my adopted little brother's birthday. I remember sitting in the kitchen, trying to play a game and understand that game at the same time, when suddenly, the doorbell rang. In came family members of my adopted little brother. I remember they came up to me and said, "Congratulations" (in English) and I remember responding, "...thank...you...". I was so confused!! However, they did tell me later what my response should have been. (It was also an important night because it was the first time I drank an alcoholic beverage, but that's besides the point...hee hee). And so, I feel compelled and honored to say "Congratulations" to all you readers because today Oscar turned 24 years old.