THE FAMILY
LEFT TO RIGHT ADRIAAN, JOSEPHINE, ELIZE, FREDERIEK
AND LAURA IN THE FRONT. PICTURE WAS TAKEN ON MARCH 2, 2002
AT PALAIS HET LOO IN APPELDORN
I ARRIVED IN HEEMSTEDE, NETHERLANDS ON
FEBRUARY 1, 2002. THE STAR ON THE MAP WILL SHOW
YOU WHERE I WILL BE LIVING FOR THE NEXT YEAR.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE
AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MAJERAN FAMILY TREE
The family I am working for are really great. Adriaan, the father, works for Elsevier publishing which is an English company so he is completely bilingual. Elize works as a project manager for health and safety, and can also speak very good English. They have been a great help to me as almost everything I get in the mail has been in Dutch and they have to translate for me. Laura, the oldest, is 7 years old (turns 8 in September) and is going to be in groep 5. Frederiek just turned 6 in March and is going to be in groep 3. Josephine is 3 years old (turns 4 in September and also starts school then). We don't have as big a problem with the language barrier as we all thought we would; they mostly understand what I am saying and I mostly understand what they are saying. They are also picking up English very well. You can see how cute they are in the pictures. We get along very well but of course we have our problems, mostly because of the lanuages.
I have finally started my Dutch course and it is going very well, fast but good. It only lasts for a month so there is a lot of learning to do in a short amount of time. I don't think I will be completely bilingual even after my year here, but at least I will be able to get by; even though most of the people speak English. As of June 12, I am officially a resident of the Netherlands; it only took 4 1/2 months. Unfortunately, I can only be a legal resident until January 30, 2003. Then my visa expires and I become one of the many illegal residents here.
The culture here is so much different from home. Everyone rides bikes; they have their own lanes and traffic lights. I have come to the conclusion that candy (snoepje) is a fifth food group here. They eat it on bread for breakfast, and many times during the day. They also eat cheese over everything, which I like; I have even started eating broccoli because of that. They are very open and warm people. It is really easy to make new friends. I really enjoy it here. .
FREDERIEK, JOSEPHINE AND LAURA LEARNING TO ROLLER BLADE.
AT THE PLAYGROUND NEAR THE HOUSE
FREDERIEK, JOSEPHINE, LAURA WITH ELIZE WATCHING THEM PLAY.
GABRIELLA(4 YEARS), CRISTEL (5 YEARS) , LAURA (7 YEARS)
FREDERIEK (6 YEARS) JOSEPHINE ( 3 YEARS)
GABRIELLA AND CRISTEL ARE FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY AND STAYED
WITH US ONE WEEK WHILE THEIR PARENTS WERE IN PERU.
PICTURES OF HEEMSTEDE
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FAMILY TREE 
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