Ik heb U lief, mijn Nee-hee-deeeerland

A title that doesn't mean anything to the non-Dutchies, and possibly not even to the Dutchies that haven't spent years and years working in nursing homes with patriotic 90-year olds. But I did, and so it has meaning to me :)

Every year on April 30th, Koninginnedag/Queen's birthday we would organise a get-together with music and lots of singing. Dutch classics about how it's the duty of every boy to dedicate his best to his motherland, and how the blond top of the dunes is shining in the glow of the sun. (I'm loosely translating here :))
We used to end the morning with the National Anthem during which people would stand up (or try hard) and wave their arms, and sing for all they're worth. I'm not ashamed to admit I'd wipe a few tears watching them. In fact, I'm wiping a few tears thinking back on it too :)

April 30th is an important day in the Netherlands, even if you don't care much for monarchies. And, like with every Dutch thing, it's more important to me now that I'm no longer there.
So, every year, I make/bake something (this year it's Oreo-truffels), stick some Dutch flags in it, put on my brightest orange shirt ... and try very hard not to be homesick.

19 Days to go.


Thanks again, so much for all the nice comments yesterday. I'm glad to be part of this community and I'm also glad I'm not usually this popular. HA! How do people reciprocate when they have 70 comments every day? It's insane! So, it's back to normal now. Though I did make a screen shot of me being first spot on the spotlight page. Couldn't help myself :)