A Sweet Farewell

As I wrote about last year, I have been volunteering as a teacher for an English conversation course.  I just finished up my last class, and I couldn't help but share how great of an experience this ended up being.  I taught for 2 and half "semesters", with many of the same students returning each session.  Whereas at first I was apprehensive and a bit nervous before each class, by the end, I felt very comfortable.  I suppose as you get to know people, regardless of their culture, age, etc., you can't help but get close.  And my students were a special group.

I snapped a couple of photos of our classroom on my last day:

My students organized a going away lunch for me recently, and it was a very nice way to say goodbye.  The lunch was held at the beautiful home of the only male student in the class, Hans.  Hans and Marja cooked an amazing three (!) course lunch for us. Super lekker!

Here's a group pic at lunch:

So lovely! Hans, Marja, Ilse, Dineke, Jacintha, Riet, and Marianne.

Following a very sweet speech, they even were so thoughtful to present me with some gifts for Baby R!

Needless to say, it was all more than I deserved.  Teaching this class was a definite highlight of my time in Eindhoven.

This past weekend, Todd got his first experience in Delft. We were meeting up with friends there later, so we went a bit early and walked around the town. It's just too cute for Todd to miss out on seeing it.

Fresh stroopwafel from a street vendor. Still warm.

Following our jaunt around town, we headed over to a place called Race Planet.  It's an indoor go-kart racing track, but it was much more intense than go-karts I've seen before.  We met up with the group of expats and partners from EY.  Here's the group before the race:

From the reports following the race, I think it was a good thing this pregnant lady sat it out.  But it was still fun to watch everyone.  Afterwards, we all went to dinner in Rotterdam at a delicious satay bar.  It's always fun to get together with this group, and I've been impressed how often we've done it since we are scattered all around the Netherlands.