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I have been, for a bit over a year now, diligently searching through records, databases, piles of papers, photos, social sites, and books for clues and links between Holland and I. Just making sense of all the information I find is half the struggle. My mother is a "Full-Blood Dutch-Girl" (meaning: her father was born in Ede, Holland and immigrated to America with his family / her mother is the daughter of two Dutch born immigrants from Enkhuisen and Andijk, Holland). This makes me 50% Dutch.
My dad was never really sure of where his family came from (I am also researching his side now). He always told my brothers and I that he was Pennsylvania-Dutch...but not really. At some point (probably after a lot of pleading for a real answer) he told me he was French-Canadian and German. Then a family doing relatively extensive genealogy research contacted my dad. They had found some English roots and no German... or was it... ??? Until I find out for certain I still tell people I am 50% Dutch, 25% French-Canadian and 25% German.
The Dutch fascinate me. The determination and ingenuity of the country and people. The beautiful sounds of the language. My family and what made them leave such a beautiful place. The food... oh, the food! Everything about the Dutch just draws me in.
I have always had a curiosity about where my family came from. My first bit of Dutch knowledge came from reports I did in school. Whenever we had to do a report on another country I would always choose The Netherlands / Holland. For some reports it was required to choose the country of our families origin. Other report requirements were not as strict, but I still wanted to know more about "my people". The determination of the Dutch is remarkable. They made much of the country by blocking off the sea with huge dikes. Intuition steps in as they use canals throughout the country for transportation. Wooden shoes were / are used as they work in the fields so they do not sink into the mud. Tulips are very much loved by most of the Dutch and it makes for a wonderfully beautiful countryside in part of The Netherlands. My curiosity will, I fear, never be completely satisfied... but I can try!
The language sounded very strange to me in the beginning. My grandfather could speak a little bit of Dutch (that I know of). I thought that he was trying to clear his throat half the time he spoke it. At age 8 or 9 my grandfather taught me a few words of Dutch. He could not remember many words because it had been such a long time since he had someone to speak Dutch to. This sparked an interest in learning the language, so I made tape-recordings of Dutch language so I could learn more. A few years later I started spending more time with friends and getting into trouble so I did not retain much of the Dutch language I had learned. This will soon be rectified as I am re-learning the language and I hope find someone that I can practice with and keep my Dutch language skills going. Wish me luck!
My most recent "Dutch Obsession" started when I was planning my wedding.
I was explaining to my husband-to-be how some of my family were related to me... and then I just... well, I just got hooked. I started doing a family tree(s) to make sense of every one's relation to us both. Research-mode just took over. My husband and I decided to go to Europe for our honeymoon. I tried to find my relatives who still live in Holland (unsuccessfully - maybe) (the "maybe" is because I think I may have found one of my family but he still hasn't answered my second letter very clearly and I do not want to scare him away by persisting too much). Through the research we did, we found a monastery in Germany named after my husband's family (which sells a cure-all tonic), a town in Holland of one of my families names, and also a beach resort of another of my families names. While we were in Holland during our honeymoon, we spent most of our time in Ede. Ede is not known as a tourist destination but I felt very much "at home" while we were there. As long as a can remember, my grandfather had two small paintings of scene's in Ede; one was of a church and one was of a windmill with a house.
Both structures are still there and we had a wonderful time biking around on our search for them! We rode bikes through the forest and open fields North / North-East of Ede. It was beautiful - even with no leaves on the trees (we were there in March). One of the only things that could drive me away from this place would be "No Work". At the time of the century, that may have been the very reason why my grandfather's family immigrated.
I fell in love with the food while we were in Holland. While waiting at a train station, we ran over to an ice-cream shop for treats. They did not have ice-cream since it was only March - but they had Stroopwafels! I am now addicted to Stroopwafels (the right kind is non-existent where I live so I order them from the Caramel Cookie Waffel company in Montana, USA - they ship super fresh). In Ede, we ate at a place called Resy's. They spoke only a few words of English and I only a few words of Dutch, but the food was AMAZING! Even their fast food was good. Many of the dishes you find there are Curry (yum!), on account of the Dutch Indonesian Islands. I bought a cookbook online after we got home. I've been regularly trying dishes out of it and they are all good so far. I have yet to find a dish I do not like, although the Hot Lightning and Fish Pudding sound a bit scary (just the names sound scary - if you read the recipe they sound good)!
I'll make my conclusion very short since I've been so long winded with my first post. I will, after all be writing again soon.
I'm having a great time researching and exploring my heritage so far. I just hope to continue finding great recipes and family connections in the future.
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