Or to put it another way, some things are just no-brainers.
Here I am, 5 months into another country with a different language than my own (Dutch is supposedly one of the 5 toughest languages in the world), and I can't carry on even the most basic of conversations...unless you count the "bedroom" Dutch I speak with Astrid.
So today, just days shy of my 65th birthday, I'm going back to school. The operative words here are just shy of 65 because I'm getting in just under the wire to save myself €5813 (approx. $7,262 in today's exchange). Dutch law requires anyone who immigrates to take an inburgerings (integration) exam within 3 years of arrival showing knowledge of Dutch society and language...up until age 65. After 65, the requirement is dropped. Technically, when I received my initial one-year residence permit in February, I became exempt from inburgerings because my 65th birthday is in this first year. So in that regard, I do not have to go back to school. I'm free to remain a dummy when it comes to Dutch!
However, if I really want to learn Dutch and not use my age as an excuse, I have the good fortune of being just shy of 65 in order to take advantage of the City Hall subsidy for the one-year Dutch course at nearby Da Vinci College. After my birthday in June, I no longer have the option of taking the €6083 course for just €270 ($337). This is what I mean by a no-brainer. With a little bit of scrambling, some assessment tests before my trip back to Atlanta last month, and meeting up with my class advisor after Atlanta, I am hot to trot...today.
I just refuse to be an Ugly American (don't even get me started)!
Astrid had kept her old bike from 22 years ago, which will be my faithful companion to and from school, 15 minutes each way. Trust me, before today I took several dry runs to make sure I had it all down pat. It's not the bike riding per se (how do you ever forget to ride a bike?) but navigating the highest-bike-population-per-capita-of-any-country-in-the-world streets of Holland alongside of car traffic. That and narrow streets! I've had to get more confidence in riding my bike to school than going back to school itself!
I know all of you will wish me lots of good luck, for which I thank you. But I've been thinking about how Life is a Journey...for ALL of us. Sometimes it's smooth sailing with a partner at our side and a wind at our backs. Sometimes it's a maze laced with crossroads and dead ends that keeps us turning this way and that. Other times it's a very bumpy road with potholes and detours of every kind. Not even our mothers told us it'd be a rose garden. Nor were we ever really promised our heart's desires...or even the slightest of indications where we'd end up after all is said and done.
That's probably why they say it's not the destination...but the journey. And I'm sure that's why some things are no-brainers when they come alongside of us, like a caravan, joining us for a season and inviting us to but latch on for a bit. You just reach out and grab on, knowing you're ready for the time of your life!
Here I am, 5 months into another country with a different language than my own (Dutch is supposedly one of the 5 toughest languages in the world), and I can't carry on even the most basic of conversations...unless you count the "bedroom" Dutch I speak with Astrid.
So today, just days shy of my 65th birthday, I'm going back to school. The operative words here are just shy of 65 because I'm getting in just under the wire to save myself €5813 (approx. $7,262 in today's exchange). Dutch law requires anyone who immigrates to take an inburgerings (integration) exam within 3 years of arrival showing knowledge of Dutch society and language...up until age 65. After 65, the requirement is dropped. Technically, when I received my initial one-year residence permit in February, I became exempt from inburgerings because my 65th birthday is in this first year. So in that regard, I do not have to go back to school. I'm free to remain a dummy when it comes to Dutch!
However, if I really want to learn Dutch and not use my age as an excuse, I have the good fortune of being just shy of 65 in order to take advantage of the City Hall subsidy for the one-year Dutch course at nearby Da Vinci College. After my birthday in June, I no longer have the option of taking the €6083 course for just €270 ($337). This is what I mean by a no-brainer. With a little bit of scrambling, some assessment tests before my trip back to Atlanta last month, and meeting up with my class advisor after Atlanta, I am hot to trot...today.
I just refuse to be an Ugly American (don't even get me started)!
Astrid had kept her old bike from 22 years ago, which will be my faithful companion to and from school, 15 minutes each way. Trust me, before today I took several dry runs to make sure I had it all down pat. It's not the bike riding per se (how do you ever forget to ride a bike?) but navigating the highest-bike-population-per-capita-of-any-country-in-the-world streets of Holland alongside of car traffic. That and narrow streets! I've had to get more confidence in riding my bike to school than going back to school itself!
I know all of you will wish me lots of good luck, for which I thank you. But I've been thinking about how Life is a Journey...for ALL of us. Sometimes it's smooth sailing with a partner at our side and a wind at our backs. Sometimes it's a maze laced with crossroads and dead ends that keeps us turning this way and that. Other times it's a very bumpy road with potholes and detours of every kind. Not even our mothers told us it'd be a rose garden. Nor were we ever really promised our heart's desires...or even the slightest of indications where we'd end up after all is said and done.
That's probably why they say it's not the destination...but the journey. And I'm sure that's why some things are no-brainers when they come alongside of us, like a caravan, joining us for a season and inviting us to but latch on for a bit. You just reach out and grab on, knowing you're ready for the time of your life!
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