The Night Before

As you might imagine, the count-down has continued. It's the night before my sons Caleb and Ben and I fly to the Netherlands! There's still a couple of to do's on the list - pay the utility bills, check in for the later flight, send a few overdue thank you cards... But we are doing pretty well in terms of logistical readiness.

And the boys have made big progress in the emotional readiness department now too. They don't really have much context for the adventure we are about to begin. And the unknown has a tendency to generate anxiety, even sometimes for those older than 11. 

But we have friends waiting for us over there - my host sister from my 1984 exchange in the Netherlands (plus many colleagues I'll be working with during my research). My host sister Katja and her husband Peter and their kids Balder and Ronja are hosting us for dinner the night we arrive. It's been 32 years since Katja and I have seen each other, so this is an amazing reunion. And to introduce our families, we've had FaceTime and everyone has had a chance to meet virtually and laugh with us at our very sad attempts to speak Dutch. But our language skills aside, these calls have really brought the boys around and the tension has come way down. Laughter really is the international language. 

So here we are, suit cased and almost ready to go!