d.i.s. magazineA QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OFTHE DUTCH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

June 2002VOLUME 34, NO. 1

d.i.s. Magazine2

JA LEUK!

VOLUME 34, NO. 1.JUNE, 2002

D.I.S. MAGAZINEPublished Quarterly

Volume 34, No. 1., June, 2002

PUBLISHED BYThe Dutch International Society5370 Eastern Ave., SEGrand Rapids, MI 49508-6083

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DIS Flights .......................................................................................... 3From the Editor ................................................................................... 4DIS Board Member in Australia ........................................................... 4Australia Bound: Dutch Immigration Experiences .................................... 6The Dutch Treat I was Destined to Meet ............................................. 10Beter Nederlands ................................................................................ 18Knotjes Vertelle / To Tell a Story .......................................................... 20News in Brief ........................................................................................ 24An Overdue Thank You ........................................................................ 26Piloot ..................................................................................................... 27Letters .................................................................................................. 28Upcoming Events ............................................................................... 31

Contents

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KLM/Northwest Round Trip Rates to Amsterdam for 2002-2003

SHOULDER SEASON FARES: APRIL 1 - JUNE 13, 2002 & SEPTEMBER 6 - OCTOBER 31, 2002CHICAGO - AMSTERDAM R.T. $811.00(tax incl.)DETROIT - AMSTERDAM R.T. $842.00(tax incl.)GRAND RAPIDS - AMSTERDAM R.T. $806.00(tax incl.)

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WINTER HOLIDAY FARE - DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 25, 2002CHICAGO - AMSTERDAM R.T. $811.00(tax incl.)DETROIT - AMSTERDAM R.T. $842.00(tax incl.)GRAND RAPIDS - AMSTERDAM R.T. $806.00(tax incl.)

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d.i.s. Magazine4

From the Editor

We here in West Michigan are trying,through the rain and cold weather,to enjoy the annual Dutch heritage

extravaganza that is the Tulip Festival in Holland,Michigan. The festival showcases all that we'buitenlanders' hold as sweet images of Dutch culture —tulips, klompen dancers in traditional dress, andpannekoeken — "...druipt de nostalgie van de gevels",as Radio Netherlands reporter Lotte van Doorn wrotein a recent on-line story about the Dutch Village inHolland, Michigan.

In the meantime, across the sea, the reality is that theDutch are dealing with the assassination of Pim Fortuyn,which followed on the heels of the resignation of theDutch government because of the so-called Srebrenica-affair.

Sometimes a little 'nostalgie' isn't so bad. We try tokeep a balance in the dis magazine, a little from the olddays, and a little from the new. On the nostalgie side thistime is a wonderful (and true) Dutch/American love story.And, keeping the 'international' in the Dutch InternationalSociety, is Board Member Martin Rustenburg with thefirst in a series of articles about his research in Australia.

The DIS cannot escape reality, and your society isstill experiencing the effects of a dramatic drop-off intravel bookings — the financial mainstay of our society.The good news is that the membership seems to beholding steady and people seem to appreciate the workof the board and the benefits of their membership.

But in order to survive, the society needs your help.Consider making all your travel arrangements throughour office — every booking supports the DIS. Promotethe DIS by making your friends and family members byusing the coupon printed in front of the magazine. Supportthe faithful advertisers in the dis magazine — many haveadvertised with us for years. Consider advertising yourcompany in the dis magazine.

And let us know your ideas about how to keep theDIS alive. We appreciate your letters and comments.

Hey, DIS members get into the Dutch Village freewith their membership card on June 22nd!(www.dutchvillage.com). Ja, sometimes a little nostalgieisn't so bad.

On a recent trip to Australia, Board member, MartinRustenburg and his wife were granted an audience withthe Ambassador from the Netherlands. Martin wasresearching material for a series of articles he plans towrite about the Immigration experience from theNetherlands to Australia. As a gift from the DIS, hepresented the Ambassador with prints of Chris StofelOvervoorde's paintings of the Dutch contributions to theUnited States over it's history, from the explorers to theastronauts. The originals were presented to thenPresident Ford in commemoration of the 1974Bicentenial and are on display in the White House. Martinalso brought greetings from the "Dutch" members of theKent County (Michigan) Board of Commissioners, the"Dutch" contingent in the Michigan State Legislature, andgreetings from Michigan Congressmen Vern Ehlers andPeter Hoekstra. In addition, he presented a letter ofgreeting from Gaylen Byker, president of Calvin Collegealong with some gifts from the College AlumniAssociation.

DIS Board Member inAustralia

June 2002 5

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d.i.s. Magazine6

(Part One)

Australia is an island continent roughlythe size of the contingent 48 Statesof the United States of America, but

with a population closer to that of theNetherlands. The history of this land is asfascinating and different as the animals thatinhabit it. The Australians have historicallybeen very possessive of their culture and untilrecent years had a very restrictiveimmigration policy that made it virtuallyimpossible for non whites to immigrate. Partof the history behind this was their reaction tothe experiences in America with Africanslaves and Chinese Coolies. But that is adifferent story.

It was the Australian experience in WorldWar II that made them realize that without aninflux of people they would have a hard timemaintaining a viable military force to protecttheir land. Japanese invasion plans were astark reality and without the aid of British,

Dutch and U.S. forces, Japan would likelyhave achieved that goal. Thus the doors wereopened wider, although carefully at first,encouraging more immigration.

Dutch people were among the first, butsomewhat by default. Many Dutch escapingIndonesia ahead of the Japanese invasionsought refuge in Australia. Then after theIndonesian struggle for independence, manyDutch preferred the warmer climate ofAustralia to the cold and wet of their nativeland. Besides, the Netherlands itself was stillreeling from the ravages of war. This, amongother reasons, set off a wave of migration. Theprimary destinations considered were: SouthAfrica, South America (primarily Brazil),U.S.A., Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Inmy trip to Australia this Spring (their Autumn) Ihad the opportunity to meet and interviewseveral of these Immigrants. In addition, I did alot of reading on this immigration history. In thenext several issues of dis magazine I wouldlike to share some of what I have learned.

Klein Groningen: A Unique Experience

In 1950 a group of seven families fromGroningen formed a construction company,bought equipment, tools, supplies and aprefabricated house for each family and set offfor Australia. Their story is well known amongDutch immigrants in Australia and I havechosen to share their experience first.

Their story began during the war. Six ofthese couples were very active in theResistance. They were common folk who, asclose friends, fought valiantly against theGerman occupiers. Most had friends or familymembers who lost their lives in this struggle.They all expected to be a vital part of the

Australia Bound!Dutch Immigration Experiencesby Marten Rustenburg

The Hobart and Kingston area viewed fromMt. Wellington. This terrain is typical of theTasmanian area.

June 2002 7

rebuilding after the war. They becamedisillusioned, however, when they saw manyof the elite who had fled to safety, givenback their prewar positions. The freedomfighters were bypassed. The social classdistinctions, which had blurred and fallenaway during the war years were put back inplace. The government also becamedecidedly Socialist. Then there was theSoviet threat. They just did not have anyappetite for more war. They felt, along withthousands of other citizens, it was time toleave while they could.

Initially, one was only allowed to take200 Guilders out of the country. One wayaround that was to take possessions along, ifyou could afford the shipping cost. Well, thisgroup, already close knit, became creative.They formed a construction company. Afterconsidering the various countries that wouldaccept them, they decided on Australia astheir destination. It offered the bestopportunities in the long term. The climatewas also a deciding factor. They named thecompany the Australian BuildingCorporation. Two of the men were sentahead to scout outthe best place toestablish this firm.They ended up inTasmania becausethey had met a man inthe Netherlands whohad alreadyimmigrated there andpersuaded them thatthere was a goodfuture on that islandstate. While there,through some co-incidental meetings,

which they attributed to the Hand of God, theywere encouraged by a government employee tocome to Hobart, the state capital. Apparently thelocal building companies there were not willingto take on large projects. But, these Dutchentrepreneurs would! Perhaps they were naivebecause none of the original six men werebuilders. They persuaded another one to jointhem who was an experienced builder. So this‘advance delegation’ bought a five acre tract ofland in what is now the town of Kingston, whichis just south of Hobart, and went back to theNetherlands to help their family and friendscome to a new home.

Back in the Netherlands the preparationsbegan. They sold their assets and consolidated.Each family picked out a prefabricated house.The company also bought tools, equipment andeven vehicles. One by one they made their way.When I was in Tasmania, I talked to Mrs. DinaLaning, the only survivor of the original couples.She told me her family came in November of1950 on the Volendam, a six week journey.That detail was of special interest to mebecause my parents immigrated to Canada inMay of ‘50 on the Volendam. The facility for

clearing immigrants wasin Sydney. From therethey made their way toHobart.

The families lived intemporary places whilethey waited for theirhouses to arrive and beassembled. They calledtheir tract “KleinGroningen”. Thecompany shop andstorage yard was alsobuilt on the same tractof land. Since sewerand water connectionswere not available, theymade their own. Therewas a creek close byfrom which theypumped water into

Mrs. Dina Laning, last remainingsurvivor of the founding couples ofthe Australian BuildingCorporation.

d.i.s. Magazine8

storage tanks. Each home had a tank on stiltsso that it would flow by gravity into thehome. This worked well as long as thepumps operated. This is an indication of howmild the climate is there as there was noworry about frozen water lines. Between theclimate, the open space and the relaxedsociety, the group had a very easy timemaking the transition from the Netherlands.Mrs. Laning, when interviewed recently,made the comment that to the group, it feltlike they were on permanent vacation.

The company prospered very quickly,building public schools, achildren’s home and the firstOlympic pool in Tasmania,just to mention a few. As aninteresting aside, when thepool was demolished tomake room for an upgraded

one, there were grandchildren of the originalcompany owners involved. As the companygrew, they needed more workers and skilledlabor, so they sponsored many families, mostlyfrom Groningen. So the company became adrawing card for many additional immigrantsand a sizable community formed around it.Most of these newcomers were from theworking class and so there was initially verylittle encouragement toward higher education.Some of these eventually started their ownbusiness: plumbers, electricians, shop keepersand the like.

One of the last of their major projects wasbuilding a weather station on the top of MountWellington, which overlooks the Hobart andKingston area. The wind up there made that aformidable challenge. During that project, theman that was the unifying force of the groupdied unexpectedly. Not able to survive theleadership vacuum, the company broke up in1960 and most went off into other endeavors.The company, although under a different name,continued for some years.

Klaas Laning, (son of Dina) our host inTasmania, took us to that tract to show us thatthe houses and shop were still standing. Acrossthe street, down an embankment, the creek stillflows. All the houses, with one exception, werestill in what could be called, original shape. Theone exception was a house that had the sidingbricked over (siding is called ‘weather board’in Aussie speak). The area is now called

Our "home" on Tasmania, where we wereguests of Klaas and Corrie Laning. The housebuilt for the Laning family by the AustralianBuilding Company while Klaas' father wasstill a partner.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge. A facilitywhere many immigrants were processed,similar to Ellis Island in the United Statesand Halifax in Canada, is just on the otherside of the bridge.

June 2002 9

Firthside but the street is still named ‘Groningen’.

There was a conscious decision in this Dutchcommunity to integrate socially into Australian societyas quickly as possible. To facilitate the integration, theoriginal group resolved to leave “Little Groningen” assoon as feasible and live among the ‘native’ citizens.Therefore they decided not to start their own churchbut to join local ones. Deeply religious, they felt thattheir faith should be appealing on a broader level thanjust to Dutch immigrants. Most joined the localPresbyterian church which welcomed them warmly.Recently, a team of journalists came from theNetherlands to do a documentary. Their purpose wasto research a theory that immigrants who came fromGroningen were more likely to integrate rather thanpreserve an ethnic identity. I was able to view part ofthat documentary at the Laning home. Althoughinteresting, it was not a persuasive presentation as far

as addressing that theory. It seemed a greater effortwas made to push a political agenda.

However, at that time, for this group, the realitywas that the Presbyterian church, whose theology wasclosest to theirs, had drifted from its roots and wasdeemed by the majority to be incompatible. Those thatleft formed a congregation in Kingston which wasofficially organized in 1952. It was called theReformed Church of Kingston and was part of adeveloping denomination that was called “TheReformed Church of Australia”. The name has sincebeen changed to the Christian Reformed Church ofAustralia. The ‘Klein Groningen’ transplant groupprovided the core for this congregation.

Not all of the immigrants from the Netherlandswere of Reformed persuasion. In fact, they were aminority - and that is where I’ll pick up in my nextinstallment.

Annual Dutch Heritage DayLanddagLanddagLanddagLanddagLanddag

September 14, 2002 10 AM Till 4 PMHudsonville Fairgrounds

5235 Park Street — Hudsonville, Michigan

Free Admission

Free Admission

Free Admission

Free Admission

Free Admission

First Prize Drawing — Free Trip to the Netherlands (DIS Members Only)Door Prizes awarded all day (Registration closes at 2:00 PM sharp!)

Dutch and Indonesian Food

Master of Ceremonies: Abel Odding - DJDutch "Klompendansers" at 12 Noon

Frisian Horses Riding Demonstration at 2:00 PM

Zoute Haring

Dutch Goods and Crafts

Sjoelbak TournamentNootjes Schieten

Children's Games

d.i.s. Magazine10

Every summer I would go to mygrandmother’s house in Missouri tovisit for three weeks. This town used

to have a small army base on the outskirts oftown. After many years it was closed and thetown received the base swimming pool andofficer’s club to use as they wanted. Theofficer’s club was turned into a golf clubhouse. The pool was used for all theresidents.

One hot summer day in 1951, four of mygirlfriends and I went to the pool to swim.We did not know that the base was beingpartly reactivated to allow a certain amountof foreign students to study jet flying.

Unbeknownst to us the first of the foreign

students (the Dutch) had arrived 2 days beforeand because it was so hot six of the Dutchcadets had been allowed off base and to swimin the now public city pool. It didn’t take uslong to become acquainted because we fivegirls were fascinated by the Dutch accents intheir newly tried English. So we were having agood time. Finally we girls decided to get outof the pool and try to get a suntan. Whilechatting, giggling, and having the time of ouryoung lives, I saw this tall blonde guy in khakicome striding into the pool. I turned to mygirlfriends and said, “There’s the guy I’m goingto marry” and then, because I have alwaysbeen a cut-up, I proceeded to mimic his Dutch.He turned and looked at me like he could havekilled me, but the boys in the pool laughed andsaid to this guy, “Come meet the girls – theyare fun and nice.”

I knew I wanted to meet this fellow again.And so … I told my grandmother, mother, andmy aunt about him. It just happened that myaunt had rented out a room to one of theinstructors of the jet training school. Nowalthough the base was off limits for civilians, it

The Dutch Treat ...The Dutch Treat ...The Dutch Treat ...The Dutch Treat ...The Dutch Treat ... I was Destined I was Destined I was Destined I was Destined I was Destined

to Meet to Meet to Meet to Meet to Meetby Gloria Travaille

& edited by Adrienne Garbarino

June 2002 11

was not off limits for the instructor.A couple of days later, the instructor, my

aunt, and I drove out onto the base and thenew cadets were having a marching drill. Ispotted “Wil” and showed the instructorwhich one he was as they marched closer tothe car. Was I embarrassed? A little, but mydesire to meet this guy overcame anyembarrassment I might have had.

Of course, Willem didn’t recognize me atfirst. He was having to cope with speakingEnglish, getting used to American food,ways, heat, instructions, lessons, etc. Hedidn’t have time to remember a tall, skinnygal from the pool.

However, we exchanged names, etc.,and he seemed nice enough, and he didn’tlook as though he hated being bothered.

Well – it was not enough for me to haveseen this fascinating Dutchman just twice. Ijust had to see him again.

But,” I said to my aunt, “How in theworld am I able to see him again now thatthe base is restricted from civilians for sure. Ijust want to take him some fudge, cookies,etc. and I know that is a no-no for cadetswho are not evenallowed to have avisitor, much lesssweet treats.”

So my aunt,who knew the BaseCommander (shewas the organist ofthe church heattended, and sheknew he and hiswife from thedifferent cityfunctions theyattended) said shewould just call theBase Commanderand I could talkwith him. Now thisis where mygreatest sin began!

I started telling him that I had heard that thebase had some foreign cadets stationed therenow and I just happened to find that a pen palI had been writing to in Holland was now thereon that base. I would like to meet him and bringhim some cookies and candy. He said for me tojust come to the guard gate and ask for him, theBase Commander, and he would O.K. ourentrance and that my pen pal would be allowedto accept any sweet treats I might bring along.Now of course, that was the biggest lie I hadtold up to that time!!! My aunt just laughed, andshe took the phone and chatted with her frienda little more while I ran to the kitchen to startmaking fudge and baking chocolate chipcookies.

The next day we were on our way. Westopped at the guardhouse, and they calledfrom there to the Base Commander. Then theywaved us through and told us to go to theAdministration Building. The Base Commandercame out and chatted for a moment and told meto have a good visit with my pen pal, Willem,and that he would arrive shortly as they hadsent someone to bring him to the Ad Building.Of course, poor Willem didn’t know one thing

about all thisbackground work ofmine. He thought hewas in trouble with theBase Commander!!!

He was flooredwhen he found outthat it was this “girl”again with her auntand now even withsweets. He said hecouldn’t have them,and we told him hecould as we hadgotten permission.Well, we had a verynice visit, and he toldus some about hisfamily and his life inHolland. We decidedwe would write to one

d.i.s. Magazine12

another, and we exchanged addresses.Away I went, and away he went. He told me later

— months later — that the rest of the Dutch cadetswere shocked that here he came from the BaseCommander’s headquarters not in trouble but bearinggifts of goodies to eat, which was forbidden to anyoneelse. Needless to say, he had to share his goodies.

The next week at choir practice the minister said inpassing that he was to give a sermon at the airbasechapel and wondered if anyone would like to sing asolo. Guess who volunteered???

Now I did do solos for many churches and in highschool contests so it wasn’t a stretch of theimagination that I could do one at the chapel also. Theminister was delighted and said for me to choose anysong. I went through the hymnal and chose “I NeedThee Every Hour” sort of a hymn with a doublemessage, one religious and one for Willem! Aren’t Ipathetic?

That Sunday all the cadets marched in and sattogether. I sang my little heart out and as they marchedaway in a solid group outside ofthe church, I noticed a white pieceof paper flutter down to theground. I retrieved the note and itsaid that Willem and the cadetswere being allowed to go to thetown movie the next Sunday (mylast day at my grandmother’s) andwould I please come and be thereto explain the movie for him.

Would I? Would I? You bet Iwould. On the Sunday afternoon Iwas supposed to meet Willem atthe movies, two of my best friendswent with me. I didn’t want tostand outside the theater bymyself. Good thing they were thereas I wasn’t wearing my glasseseither as I didn’t want Willem toknow I had to wear glasses.

Two huge trucks with cadetsstanding packed in the truck bedscame around the corner. My friendsaid she was sure she had seenWillem because he kind of put hishand up in a wave. So I paid for

my ticket and went inside to wait for Willem to comein. While standing in the hall I heard one of the officersask the manager of the theater if the exact amount ofseats had been roped off in the theater. I nearly died! Ithought I had not heard correctly. I turned to thewoman standing near me and asked if all the cadetshad to sit together, and she answered “Yes.” Then shesaid “Why are you asking?” I told her that one of thecadets had asked me to come and explain the movieto him as he didn’t always understand English. Shesaid in her southern accent, “Honey, you stand righthere and I’ll be back.” Little did I know the womanwas the wife of the Base Commander. Pretty soon shereturned and she said, “You just tell me which one heis, and you two can sit anywhere in the movie house.”

So they began to file in, single file. I strained mypoor nearsighted eyes to try to discern where “my”Willem was in the line. Finally I recognized him andtold the lady and she nudged her husband. Willem waspulled from the line and told to go with me. You cannotimagine the stares of disbelief from Willem’s Dutch

friends who were still walkingtowards their appointed places.

First candy and cookies andvisits on a restricted base. Now tobe allowed to sit anywhere with agirl, while the other cadets had tosit in one roped-off section. Notonly could I hardly see the screenbecause of no glasses, it justhappened to be a movie aboutFrancis the talking mule. Now tryto explain that to a fellow from adifferent country.

At the end of the movie I toldWillem goodbye and that I hopedhe would continue our friendship bywriting to me when I was back inmy home in Illinois.

And so I went home and theletters began to flow to and fromthe base to my home and visaversa. It was all so thrilling to comehome from school and have a letterwaiting from Willem. There wasnothing real romantic in them butjust interesting news about how

June 2002 13

things were going in his studies, about his home inHolland. Actually they were a lot like pen pal letters. Itold him about my school days and the studies I wastaking, about my little brother, girlfriends. We werelearning about each other. I even shared the lettercontents with my mother who thought Willem wasextremely interesting and seemed to be a very niceguy.

My aunt called and said she had to give anotherorgan concert and wanted me to come down and singfor it. My aunt did this quite often for various churchesin cities where people knew how talented she was.She would do it as a gift and the church would take upfreewill offerings and use this money for differentprojects or missions in their church. My mother andher sister, me and my aunt’s son have always beenblessed with an ability to sing — and sing very nicely.We all have won awards and scholarships. And so,Mother said she thought we could be down there onthe weekend after Thanksgiving for me to perform inthe program.

Back to Willem, one day in lateOctober I arrived home to findthat Willem had again sent anotherletter, about the 8th one. Hestarted out by saying he reallyenjoyed writing to me, but heneeded to tell me something veryimportant — he was engaged toa girl back in his hometown. Hethought we had better stop (andhe used a word that for me had acompletely different meaning) thisintercourse. Months later heexplained that he had to look up inhis Dutch/English dictionary anEnglish word for relationship. Hisdictionary gave three or fourwords, and he thought intercoursesounded very formal and correct.I was not a worldly girl as yet, andfor me intercourse meant entirelysomething else. Well anyway, thegist of the letter was plain. Hewanted to stop writing. With abroken heart I let go of myromantic dream of a Dutchman in

my future. I had been dating a fellow from the town inwhich my grandmother lived, so I began to write tohim again to soothe my broken heart.

Now all I had to do was get ready for the concert.Going back to grandmother’s to the concert didn’tseem so thrilling. But I could always see “Bill” theother not–so–exciting guy. I had put away my dreamsand faced reality.

In November I went to my grandmother’s home toget ready for the vocal and organ concert we weregiving that weekend in a local church. It was windyand a little rainy. We now had a new dog who had tobe taken out for walks. I put on my new red coat andstarted walking the dog on the leash. I noticed a cargo past and turn the corner. I thought I had noticedsome cadets in it so, of course, I wanted to look greatto anyone who might be checking me out — so Iremoved my glasses. Was I vain? Well I had heard anold saying that men don’t make passes at girls whowear glasses. Being tall and extremely skinny — thatwas enough of a handicap without making things

utterly terrible by wearing glasses toboot!

Was that a blue car comingaround the other corner? Yes, and itwas slowing down – and someonewas jumping out, headed my way.Yes, you guessed it. It was Willem.He had remembered in one of myletters I had talked about coming tobe in a concert.

The conversation was a littlestrained as I didn’t know just whatto say but I did say, “I thought youwanted to stop writing letters toeach other.” He said, “Well nowthat you know about me and mygirlfriend, we can at least be friendswhile I am here. I want to hear yousing and hear your aunt’s organmusic. I told him at three o'clock Ihad to go to practice. He couldcome along then and listen —which he did! He seemed reallyastonished that I had such a nicetalent. My aunt told him to comethat evening and afterwards they

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would be having cake and punch.It was a wonderful concert. The whole evening

was perfect. I knew the situation of Willem’s but atleast he was going to be just a good friend. Since Ihad a steady boyfriend in that town, I wasn’t totallyleft as a poor wallflower!

As the evening was ending, my aunt and I had totake Willem back to drop him off at the base gate. Sheasked if he would like to come be with our wholefamily on Christmas Eve as her guest. He thought thatwould be very nice, so I knew I would see him againat Christmas. I went home to await the comingholidays, and the letters again began to flow betweenWillem and me.

Would Santa be good to me at Christmas and giveme something special — like a nice time with Willem?After all, I already had a date for New Year’s Evewith my steady. So this Christmas looked as though itwould be a very special one indeed.

I was no dummy! Although Willem said he wouldcome to our Christmas family celebration I wasn’t sureI should count on him. After all, had he not just writtento me two months before about his “promised,” hisfiancé?

So I kept up letter writing with Willem and with Bill— the guy I dated when at Gran’s. I was busypurchasing the small Christmas gifts I would give tofamily and to Bill. My conscience bothered me. Justwhat “if” Willem did come to our house. So I bought abottle of Old Spice shaving lotion to put under the treefor him.

Two days before Christmas our family loaded upthe car and started on the 170 mile trip to Missouri. Iarrived to spend twoevenings beforeChristmas with Bill. Wehad a good time but itjust wasn’t the same as itwas with my Dutchman.Bill did not know at allthat I was playing thefield between two guys!

Christmas Eve came,and we had our familydinner with no Willem.Just as I thought —another disappointment.

Just as well, however, as Bill came over and broughtme a musical powder box. To this day I can’tremember what the tune was that it played, but I doknow it was lavender color.

Early Christmas Day we opened our gifts and inwalked Willem. A great misunderstanding hadhappened. He and four other Dutch cadets had beeninvited for dinner at a farm about sixty miles away. Heknew how to drive, so he took the other cadets andthey had a lovely dinner with the farm family. At theclose of the evening, the farmer leaned back in hischair and said “This has been a wonderful ChristmasEve dinner.” Willem said, “What do you meanChristmas Eve dinner? This is just the night beforeChristmas, not the eve of Christmas.” The farmerexplained that Christmas Eve to an American was theevening before Christmas, not the evening ofChristmas. Willem made all the cadets jump into thecar. They drove like crazy to get back to our town.However, it was late by the time they got here and allour houses were dark because we were in bed.

We laughed at his embarrassment and told him allwas forgiven. He gave me a gold tin of Drostechocolates that his mother had actually sent to him. Hewas pleased with my gift of aftershave. We spent theday driving around. We were together the next twodays just seeing the countryside. He spent the nights atmy aunt’s because she had a spare bedroom. Heloved the Christmas carol sing–a–longs we had withmy aunt at the piano. He had never heard some of thecarols. He particularly liked “The First Noel.” (And toget ahead of myself, our third daughter has as themiddle name, Noel, all because he had such nice

memories of his firstChristmas in America.)

I was busy jugglingtime with Willem, my maininterest, and Bill, mysteady reliable boyfriendwhen I was in mygrandmother’s town.Christmas that year was avery exciting time for me.When Willem had to beon base, Bill would seemto be off work and wouldbe by and visa versa.

June 2002 15

Actually I was having the time of my life although Ididn’t know it! I was too busy worrying that the twowould be at my door at once.

When Willem and I took rides in the borrowed carof one of his instructors, the trips would be downcountry roads and through other little towns nearby.Once I was really brave and asked Willem if he coulddrive one-handed, meaning he could put his armaround me!!! He said yes and rolled down his windowand put his elbow on the window ledge. I laughedalthough I was embarrassed. He was just too smartfor not always knowing all the English I knew. He alsowould tell me to speak slowly and not to use “slang.”Well, I wasn’t sure what part of my speech was slangso I told him just to stop me if he didn’t understand aword, and I would try to explain. I found out veryquickly that he did not like for me to chew gum so thathabit was quickly kicked!!!

I found out that he had to be on base on December31 so that meant that my date to go with Bill toanother town for a New Year’s dance would be a safebet. Time flew. Now it was the night of the dance. Ihad a lovely formal to wear. It was all fluffy and withloads of tulle — it made me feel like a princess. I wasbusy putting on the last piece of jewelry when I heardmy mother and grandmother talking to someone in theother room. You guessed it! Willem. He had foundanother cadet to take his place if he paid him. So herehe was for another evening with my family and me.

I didn’t know if I should just stay in the bedroomor what. What in the world was I going to do??? Ifinally bit the bullet and waltzed out in my finery. Hewas amazed at the caterpillar who had turned into abutterfly. He asked,“Where are we going?” Iswallowed and told himthe truth. I was goingwith an old friend of mineto a dance. He asked meif I could break it. I said“No, this was plannedfor some time.” Heasked if he could wait forme. My mother andGran said yes, but itwould probably be late.Willem told my mother

that she probably would not have me for long as Iwould be captured by some man as a wife very soon.The doorbell rang!!!

Away I flew to get my coat and be out the doorbefore one Bill could meet another Will! Although thedance was nice, my heart wasn’t in it. I had noticedthat Bill was not that attentive either. Actually since Billwas already in college I thought he would probablyalready be dating someone in college besides me. I amsure he knew something was up, but he never asked.And I was not ready to tell him there was someoneelse. After all, Willem was taken.

When I let myself in at Gran’s house around 12:30,the phone was ringing. It was Willem. He was stayingin the spare bedroom of my aunt’s down the street.From his bedroom window, he watched for our car.He wanted to know how the evening was for me andjust who this Bill was, and was he serious about me? Isaid no, we were just friends. “But,” said Willem “Billhas given you a lovely, expensive Christmas gift, andthat shows seriousness.” I tried to tell him that this wasjust a gift with no strings attached. He wanted to talkto me first thing the next day at my aunt’s house.

What in the world could Willem want to talk to meabout at my aunt’s house? He had sounded sort ofserious on the phone, but then he never was one tojoke around too much. I called to make sure he wasready for me to come see him. He told me my auntwas on an errand, and he wanted to talk with me inprivate anyway. As I walked the distance to my aunt’shouse, all of a block, I tried to answer myself as towhat could he want. I guess we were getting a little

too cozy and having toomuch fun. So he wasthinking this wasn’t fair tohis girlfriend in Holland. Iguess this was going to beanother goodbye. A goodbye to Willem, friendship,and letters. Darn, andeverything had been somuch fun this Christmasholiday.

He opened the doorwhen I knocked. He saidto come sit by him on the

d.i.s. Magazine16

couch. He began by asking about my relationship withthis “Bill” I was seeing. The wonderful gift Bill hadgiven me was brought up again. I told him that actuallysince Bill was in college and far from me that the onlytime we got together was when I visited mygrandmother’s hometown. Besides I thought he wasprobably seeing someone in college as he didn’t writeas much as usual. The gift that Willem thought wassuch an expensive gift was one that, although nice, wasno more expensive than the aftershave I had given him.He then said he had a serious question for me.

Yes … I waited. “I have been thinking a lot aboutour situation,” he said. “Oh, here it comes,” I thought.“I am asking if you would wait for me if I told you Iwould come back to the States. If your answer is yes,then …(a long pause) … I want you to marry me.” Inearly fell off the couch! Did I hear right? Was Idreaming? Was this happening to me? Would I waitfor him???

I asked him about his girl in Holland. And heanswered that he never thought she really cared forhim. If he didn’t have on his uniform when in herpresence, he seemed to not matter to her. He said thathe could tell from the start that I was totally different. Icould care less if he was in sweaty service fatigues orin slacks and sweater. That I was always so glad tosee him (so he noticed, I thought) and that there wasnever anything judgmental on my part. I never askedabout what his father’s job was, what school heattended, where he lived, how wealthy were hisparents, nothing. I just accepted him as a person, withno strings attached. He assured me that the process oftelling his girlfriend was already in the works. He alsosaid it might be a long time before he could get backdue to immigration rules.I would have to bepatient and believe hewould be back.

I threw my armsaround him andexclaimed “You havemade me so happy that itis unbelievable, and yesI’ll wait.” I really didn’tthink it would be a longprocess. This showed

how naïve I was about government red tape. I’ll waitforever if need be. (What a typical high school answer,as though things will just work out if you believeenough.) “Let’s go tell Gran and my mother!”

Off we went floating on Cloud 9 to tell the greatnews!

Gran was very excited and Mom —. well Momtruly liked this well-mannered, nice Dutch boy but sheknew that we needed time before we told my dad andthe rest of the world. And after all, I was still in highschool. And — just what if — what if Willem wouldn’tcome back or couldn’t get back. Or — I am sure athousand things ran through her mind without her evenvoicing them. We agreed that this would be justbetween us and Mom, Gran, and my aunt for thepresent.

My family and I returned to my hometown, and Iwent back to school. Many, many letters and plansand frank discussions about ourselves began to flowback and forth through the mail.

When weather became too icy, foggy, or toosnowy, the cadets had free time till the weatherallowed them to fly again. This January, February, andMarch was a very bad winter, which was wonderfulfor us. Willem would come up to my home by busevery time the weather was inclement. Several timeshe would walk into my high school and wait for me inthe hall as classes were over for the day. Whatwonderful surprises! My girlfriends thought that wewere the most romantic couple they had ever laid eyeson. Gloria and her Dutchman became quite the newsthroughout the school. But I never once told of oursecret destiny — a wedding in the future.

At the end of March I received a call from Willem.He and the other cadetswere being transferred toWilliams Air Force inChandler, Arizona. I wascrushed. He didn’t knowwhen he would see meagain. And, of course,Arizona was too great adistance for us to gettogether anymore. Thiswas before flying becamean almost everydayoccurrence. In fact, it

June 2002 17

was before superhighways. Now wetruly had to rely onletters and anoccasional phonecall, because longdistance phone rateswere not cheapeither.

In April, myfamily again went toGran’s for Easter.The evening beforeEaster my auntbrought me a package and said Willem had wantedme to have it. It was wrapped in brown wrappingpaper, and I could tell by the handwriting that indeedWillem had sent it. As I began to remove thewrapping, my aunt kept taking pictures.

When I asked why all the flashbulbs and pictures,she said that Willem would want to see how I enjoyedhis gift. As the last lid was lifted, I saw a tiny little pinkplastic heart box. And in it was a diamond engagementring. The front room rang with joyous exclamationsfrom me and then I cried, Mom cried, Auntie cried,Gran cried. At the bottom of the box was a note fromWillem: “Gloria, this is for you so that you, all yourfamily, and all your friends will know I mean what Isaid. I WILL RETURN TO YOU.”

Willem called me, and we had a long chat byphone. I also told him I could now tell the world –which I did the very next morning when I went toSunday school.

My girlfriends, who were with me at the pool whenI first saw Willem, were there — even good ol’ Billwho gave me a congratulatory hug! The news of “TheRing” caused a lot of excitement. It was evenmentioned by the minister during the personal minutesin the church service: “Gloria and her cadet Dutchmanwere engaged.” He was the same minister who hadasked for a soloist at the air base chapel so manymonths before and I quickly chose to do the solo.

And so my friends, this is the end of the story ofthe capture of my Dutchman’s heart. He did go backto see his girlfriend when he got back to Holland. Hewas a person who was decent, honest, and caring sohe did not just send a Dear John letter to avoid seeing

her face to face.So began the start

of the red tape foradmittance to theUSA. We found itwould take five yearsfor his number tocome up on thewaiting list.Therefore, Canadabecame the stepping–stone in the return tothe USA. Manyletters were written to

speed up the process of reuniting us. There wereletters to the President and people in high places. AfterWillem came to Canada, the next step was for him tocome to Illinois where we would have our wedding.

Permission was finally granted when I went to ourlocal Congressman and he listened to all we had beenthrough. He sent a letter to the Canadian officialsvouching for our return to Canada on the third dayafter our marriage if Canada would allow Willem tocome on a six day pass to be married.

One of the girls who was with me at the swimmingpool that fateful day I met Willem asked me, when shereceived her wedding invitation those many monthslater, “How in the world, Gloria, did you know youwould marry Willem?” (Remember I had said to thegirls on the first day “There’s the man I’m going tomarry.”) I laughed and said I had no idea it would allcome true. It was just a silly little wish I expressed.

Now you know the beginning of our courtship thatled into a marriage. There were many difficultiesregarding legal issues and rules. A lot of work wentinto Willem’s admittance here on his way to becomingan American citizen. God has been truly good to us.AND I am here to tell you I have never, ever regrettedbeing married to my Dutch man. I really believe therewas a plan for us meeting, and it was not just chance.

Thanks for your interest in our love story. All thewords I have typed took me back into the happymemories, along with the stack of blue ribbon tiedletters I keep among my treasures. The journey hasbeen adventurous and fun, and it still continues.

d.i.s. Magazine18

Names ending in “ke”.

The list below is the result of a combinedeffort by the following contributors: (in ahaphazard order):

William Baker from Jenison who came upwith 129 names!, Anna Nolten fromLebanon, Indiana who mentioned in passingthat they came over on the Maasdam inDecember 1959, Annette Kraayeveld fromAda, Michigan who mentions friends with ababy named Talia which means dew fromHeaven, Mrs. E. Buiter from Byron Center,Michigan with way over a hundred names,Hilda Calloway-Tolsma whose long listalmost entirely consists of names of personswhom she knew personally, John Kool fromHudsonville who correctly remarks that thenames ending in “ke” are usually Frisian,Wilhelmina Veldman who cites the names ofrelatives and friends of her mother, GerryKraayeveld from Delavan, Wisconsin whoselist also consists of ladies she knewpersonally, Grace Zijlstra from Kentwoodwho really went out of her way to compile along list (over a hundred) gathered fromFrisian books, relatives, church members,neighbors, etc., Charles Vandewiele fromLambertville who mentions that all are“slanke, leuke, flinke meisjes.” intentionallyleaving out the “dikke, drukke and krankemeisjes”, although he did make one littlemistake: he meant “meiskes,” not “meisjes,”but nobody is perfect!, and first timecontributor Brenda Kragt from Kalamazoo,Michigan.

Aaike, Aafke, Afke, Aelke, Anke, Akke,Aake, Alke, Anneke, Annemieke, Annelieke,Annemarieke, Annemieke, Anske, Auke,

Aske, Beike, Byke, Beitske, Belleke, Bieke,Baike, Bouke, Boeke, Bokke, Binke,Christineke, Dieneke, Dirkske, Doefke,Doeke, Djoeke, Dieke, Dieuwke, Diewerke,Duke, Dukke, Eelke, Elke, Edske, Elske,Efke, Eefke, Emke, Eimke, Ebke, Epke,Faapke, Falke, Fokke, Feike, Femke, Finke,Frouke, Frieke, Foeke, Famke, Femke,Franske, Feitske, Feike, Gatske, Geeke,Geerke, Geeske, Gieneke, Gooitske, Guitske,Gepke, Gouke, Gauke, Gelke, Geelke,Gelske, Gemke, Gerke, Gerieke, Gerlofke,Grieteke, Hanneke, Harke, Harmke, Hepke,Heike, Hieke, Herke, Hilke, Hinke, Hikke,Hilke, Hiske, Hotske, Harke, Hielke, Ineke,Ieke, Ieteke, Ienske, Iemke, Imke, Iefke,Iepke, Jaitske, Janneke, Japke, Jilke, Jouke,Jelke, Janneke, Janke, Janske, Jifke, Jikke,Jimke, Jinke, Jiske, Jitske, Joke, Jabke, Japke,Jobke, Jouke, Jikke, Kieke, Klaske, Klaaske,Knelske, Lamke, Lemke, Lenneke, Lieke,Luke, Lutske, Lieske, Lieneke, Lolke,Lotteke, Lokke, Luwke, Louwke, Loonneke,Minke, Maaike, Marieke, Marjanke, Marijke,Mieke, Minke, Mieneke, Monske, Myke,Meike, Moyke, Nienke, Nijnke, Nelleke,Okke, Omke, Opke, Pierke, Pieteke,Pieterke, Popke, Riemke, Renske, Rieke,Riekske, Reineke, Rinske, Renske, Remke,Rinke, Romke, Riemke, Riepke, Roelfke,Siemke, Sieneke, Simke, Sipke, Symke,Sjouke, Sietske, Sapke, Sake, Saake,Saapke, Sake, Swopke, Sijke, Sijtske,Sietske, Sikke, Sjake, Sjikke, Sipke, Siske,Sjitske, Sjoeke, Sjouke, Suske, Seike, Taeke,Trieneke, Tineke, Tinneke, Tieke, Tekke,Tjitske, Tjipke, Tjibke, Tjaake, Uulke,Waalke, Wietske, Wipke, Willeke, Willemke,Wimke, Wieke, Wikke, Wiepke, Wietske,Wieteke, Wimke, Wiske, Wopke, Ymke,Ypke.

Beter Nederlands door Dr. Martinus Bakker

June 2002 19

Ziezo, dat is wel genoeg om van tekiezen! Trouwens, over namen zouden wenog lang door kunnen praten. Ik ben welgeïnteresseerd in de verengelsing vanNederlandse voor- en achternamen.Sommige voornamen zijn makkelijk: Janwordt natuurlijk John, Wim of Willem wordtWilliam en Bill. Jaap en Jacob worden Jack,Greet of Greta of Margaretha wordt Grace,Kees wordt Case of Casey, Annie wordtAnn, maar wat doen we met Joke, Gerrit enFrans? Als u interessante voorbeelden hebtvan merkwaardige verengelsingen vanNederlandse voornamen, moet u ons data.u.b. schrijven. Achternamen vormt weereen heel ander hoofdstuk. Als je in WestMichigan een De Young tegenkomt, wetenwe allemaal wel beter. Zo vermoedde ikook dat Mrs. Greenway’s voorouderswaarschijnlijk Groeneweg heetten. Zo moetje in de winkel, als je Bakker of Baker heet,altijd zeggen: with two k’s (or one k),please! Weet u hoe de familie Vandersvroeger heette? Van der Schaaf! Als u“leuke” gevallen kent, horen we dat graag.

Articles, prepositions (lidwoorden/voorzetzels), etc.

In English we go to church, in hetNederlands gaan we naar DE kerk; We goto work, maar we gaan naar ONS werk, ikga naar MIJN werk; ‘Ik ga naar werk’ isGEEN Nederlands; the English speakers(hopefully) go to heaven (or some otherplace), Nederlanders gaan naar DE hemel(of een andere plaats – niet te hopen).

Translate into Dutch:

1. Let’s go outside/ inside.2. That is in fashion3. When were you [plural] in town?4. I am not in favor of that number.5. The children are playing in the street.6. They are going by plane.7. Are you going home already?

8. Write that down, please.9. I can’t remember his name.10. Where are you going now?

Vertaal in HET Engels:

1. Hij gooit de hond met stenen.2. Hij zit al drie jaar op die school.3. Die dominee staat in Groningen.4. Zit uw zoontje al op school?5. De jongens lopen te praten.6. Woont u op het platteland ?7. Je rijdt te hard!8. Wanneer is hij ontslapen?9. Zij liep boos de kamer uit.10. Waarom ben je hier niet wat vroeger mee

begonnen?

Dutch CampDutch CampDutch CampDutch CampDutch Camp@@@@@

Calvin CollegeCalvin CollegeCalvin CollegeCalvin CollegeCalvin CollegeGrand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, Michigan

July 15-19, 2002, 1:00-3:30pmfor kids ages 7-10 (entering second through

fifth grades) Cost: $70.00Application deadline: June 14

The Calvin College Foreign Language Camp isdesigned to introduce children to languagesand cultures from around the world. Childrenwill learn some of the sounds of the languageand will become familiar with somevocabulary and grammar concepts. They willalso learn about traditional customs andcrafts of the country. Our goal is to share the beauty of God-given language with the children, and to helpthem become enthusiastic global citizens!French, German, Spanish, Japanese andSwahili Camps are also offered.

For more information:For more information:For more information:For more information:For more information:please contact Heidi Rienstra

9am-2pmTel: 957-6354

e-mail: hrienstr@calvin.edu

d.i.s. Magazine20

Deuze keer deres wet aars: KnotjesVertelle. Mijn al eens eerdergenoemde schoolvriend van de

HBS, de heer Klaas Woudt, heeft dat zogezellig gedaan. In het Zaans, de volkseigentaal die eens in de Zaanstreek gesprokenwerd.Hij had er gewoonweg een studie vangemaakt. Nadat op de schoolbanken al onstaalonderwijs erop gericht was alle streek-taaltjes uit te roeien, ging Klaas er zich optoeleggen de laatste nog gehoorde sporenvan het Zaans op te vangen, bijeen tebrengen en daarmee het oorspronkelijk in1897 door Dr. G. J. Boekenogengeschreven boekwerk “De ZaanseVolkstaal” bij te werken. Hij heeft zich zeerverdienstelijk gemaakt door een boekje teschrijven, getiteld “Zaans Voor Beginners”,waarin hij ons vertelt over het karakter vande taal, zaken zoals klankverandering,invloed van wat Klaas “sub-culturen” noemt,zoals het molen bedrijf, de visserij, hetboeren bedrijf, de Franse “gast arbeiders”die uit Frankrijk kwamen om de van daargeimporteerde molenstenen af te werken.Vooral zijn uiteenzetting over “relativiteit” inhet Zaans: het gebruik van verkleinwoordjes,en de “afvlakking” van zekerheid door hetachtervoegsel “-ig” (“-eg”) is zeerinteresant.

Na “Zaans Voor Beginners” verscheen“Zaans van A to Z”, een “bloemlezing” vancharacteristiek Zaanse woorden metverklaring. Daarna kwam “Knotjes Vertelle”.Maar laat mij nu even Klaas aan ‘t woordlaten met een uittreksel uit zijn “Anlopie”(introductie) tot het boekje:

“Et Zaans loopt op een ofsnaaier en nouis et noseleke dat der vroeger merakelswainig in onze streektaal eskreve is. Der isniet veul vastelege. As der leter nuwelekhaid

Something different, this time; tell a story.My previously mentioned highschoolfriend, Mr. Klaas Woudt, has done that

so well in the language of the Zaan region. Hehas made a study of that language. After thelanguage classes in our schools were dedicatedto stomping out all regional languages, Klaasdedicated himself to recording and collectingthe last traces of “het Zaans” and to expand thebook “The Folk Language of the Zaan”, writtenin 1897 by Dr. G. J. Boekenogen. He hasgained recognition by writing the booklet“Zaans for Beginners” in which he writes aboutthe character of the language and how it wasinfluenced by ‘sub-cultures’ such as windmill-workers, farmers, French guest laborers whocame from France to custom-finish the bigmillstones that were imported from France.

After “Zaans for Beginners”, “Zaans from Ato Z” appeared, an assortment of characteristicwords from the Zaan. A third book was“Knotjes Vertelle” (Telling Tales). But now letus have Klaas have his say (an excerpt from hisintroduction):

De Zaan language has disappeared. The sadpart of it is that in the past very little was writtenin our folk language. Not much has been putdown. If at some later time newcomers wouldcome to the Zaan, none of them will find atrace. I am hoping that my belated writings mayprevent that somewhat.

Author Woudt has given this writerpermission to present you with a sampling of his“Knotjes”:

“Doffeg{ (A bit wet)“Let me tell you about how a wedding can

turn into a cold mess. I really don’t care forparties, but we received an invitation, my wifeand I, to come to Westzaan in the eveningbecause one of her nieces was going to marryone of them ‘kroosdoikers’. Well, she got all

Knotjes Vertelle door Charles Baas

To Tell a Story by Charles Baas

June 2002 21

nee et Zaans komme zou, den zou gienmens der wet van vinde kenne. Ik heween klein hopie dat deuze achterofoppeskreve knotjes zuks een bietjevoorkomme kenne.”

Auteur Woudt heeft schrijvertoestemming gegeven u hier een van de“Knotjes”voor te leggen als voorbeeld:

“ ‘Doffeg’“Ik zel jollie deres vertelle hoe een

broiloft welderes een kouwe karremesworre ken ok. Aigentlek hou ik helegaarniet van feesies, maar me krege eenoitnodeging, me waif en ik, om seves neeWessane te gaan, waar een nichie van d’ronder de gebode sting mit zo’nkroosdoiker. Nou, ze wier d’r helegaarzenewachtigvan, me waif den, smiddeshad ze al nuwe krulle ekocht, ze zag d’rpuur froiteg mee oit or. Maar toe me vanhois gaan wouwe, zee ze iniene: ‘Ik laikme wel niet arreg lekker te voele’.

Ik zee: ‘Nou je et zegge, je ziene d’reen bietje beskete oit, gaan nog effelegge.’ Zai een krikkie neer,maar ja, toe me een hallefuurtje ewacht hadde was zenag helegaar niet op munster endeervedaan dat ik allieneg neeWessane gong met de pest inme laif en zai met een warremekroik in de klossebak.

Nou, deer gong ik, mit zo’nstaive pampiere boord an enme opgnapperspak, meongeregelde kostuum dat zenag ampart eperst had die dag,et was ok wel noselek voorder.

Gelukkeg was etgnap weer,enkeld een bietje neuzeg. In dietaid gonge me nag mit debienewage, je wazze perslot ineen hallef uurtje in Wessane, jeken et temet mit een warremepankoek belope. Nou, overdat feesie wul ik et nou niet

nervous about it, my wife. She acquired newcurls in the afternoon, she looked real pretty inthem. But as we were preparing to leave home,all at once she said: ‘I am not feeling well’ Isaid: ‘You don’t look so well, either, go to bedfor a while’ But after half an hour she still wasnot well, so I went to Westzaan by myself,annoyed, while she remained in bed with a hotwater bottle.

I took off, with a stiff paper collar aroundmy neck, wearing my best suit which she hadespecially pressed for me that day. Luckily itwas good weather, a bit of the nose-blowingkind. In those days we hoofed it, after all, youcould get there in half an hour.

I won’t talk about the party, there were a lotof people I didn’t know, and being alone Ididn’t feel at ease.

So it came to pass that at ten o’clock Ialready was on my way home. I seemed tohave very tired legs, too. And now you shouldknow that close to my house there is a bridgewith quite a steep ramp. With my stiff legs Istruggled my way up to the top to put my back

d.i.s. Magazine22

hewwe, d’r wazze allegaar loidjes die ik niet kon en asje den nag onk benne ok, den l;aik je wel niet op jeroiker te kenne weze.

Zo kwam et dat ik om tien uur al pad of op hoisofgong. Ik leek wel love biene te hewwe ok. En noumoete jullie wete datteme vlak bai me hois een breghewwe mit puur zo’n kluft. Deer skodderde ik mit mestaive koite teuge op en toe ik bove was docht ik,effies oitruste or. En ik gong mit me reg teuge de leningvan dat brechie staan. Teminste. dat docht ik.... Maard’r was gien lening weer ik sting. Deervandaan gong ikin de plomperd. Benne jollie welderes in de plomperdekukeld? Nou, dan toch zekers niet in et Wessanerveld! Deer prutte ze de slote niet oit; mense mensewet een prutproest. Onder het valle docht ik nag: ‘ jezel zwumme moete,’ maar et was der zo vlook, dersting gien halleve meter water, begraip deres!En et isgek, maar ajje in et donkers in een aar ze slootrondstunneke, den gane der evegoed raike gedachtesdeur je harses. Toe ik deer sting, met de blubberoveral anneskrookt, toe docht ik bai me aige inieneeffies aan de broigom. Hoe zou die et now hewwe,docht ik. En toe hew ik nag effies staan gnoffe ok.

Kaik es mense,ik was plat op me reg evalle ok nagen ik liep helegaar voorover van de staivegheid. Zovan koppie zait dat kontje komt. En zo skarrelde ik opme hois of, ik leek wel blaid dat gien mens meteugekwam.

Offain, perbere jollie maar deres je sleutels oit jenatte klooie te kraige. Ik sting der zo mee te oeteledet me waif de klossebak oit kwam. Ze was helegaaroppegnapt, ze begon zo teuge me te skettere dat ikervan verskoot. Nou hew ik een best waif; et is derecht niet zo ientje die op der trouwe ja zait en leterallieneg maar nee or. Maar nou sting ze te skreeuweof ze pennemesse piese most.

Blaif assieblief boite en beers niet nee binne op megnappe zail. Ben jai betoeterd!’

Nou, ik sting enkeld nag in et gangkie, maar ikskuttelde metien weer nee boite.

‘Wet hejai nou an de hand ehad?’ zee ze. En ik:‘Effies een onderwechie ehad. Ik ben een bietjedoffeg’. ‘Doffeg?’ zait ze. ‘Doffeg? Je stane tedroipe van de blubber en ze kenne je vaif hoize verluchte van die warsege proest, noem jai dat doffeg?’

Nou offain, et end was dasseme op ons achteroitmet de toinslang ovveboezeld heb.

against the railing. Or .... so I thought. I turned myback to the railing, but at that point there was norailing. So I tumbled right into the drink. Did you everfall into the drink? Well, certainly not in Westzaan.They never dredge their canals, man alive, what anugly mess. While falling, I thought to myself: ’you’regoing to have to swim’, but it was so shallow there, itwas less than 50 cm deep.

Folks, I had fallen flat on my back and I was nowbent forever. I headed for home, I was glad to notmeet anybody.

Well, anyway, you try to get your keys out of yourwet trouser pocket. I was fidgeting so much that mywife came to see what was happening. She appearedtotally recovered, she tongue-lashed me so badly, itstartled me. I have a good wife, honestly not one tosay yes at the altar and no ever after . But now shewas shouting as though she was peeing razorblades.‘Stay outside and don’t barge in onto my goodlinoleum. Are you out of your mind?’

Well, I only was in the vestibule, but I quicklymade my way back out.

‘What has happened to you’ she demanded. ‘Hada delay on route’ I answered, ‘ I am a bit wet. ‘Wet’she said. ‘Wet? You are dripping blubber and they cansmell you from five houses away. You call that ‘a bitwet’

Well, anyway, the outcome was that she gave me agood washing down with the garden hose in our backyard. To get back to my good suit: my wife washed itand then pressed it. But I can not understand whatkind of material that could have been . My wholedress-up suit had shrunk three sizes. Right size for adwarf. My sleeves came up to here, and legs came upto my calves.

At first my wife exclaimed: ‘ I feel like sobbing’.But, as I said before, she is a good wife and a bit latershe was in a stupor of laughter. We ended up with abig laugh about that wedding. We have saved theinvitation, it has been on our fireplace mantel for years.

In conclusion a few quotes from the conclusion tothe book from author Woudt: “We needn’t kidourselves: the language of the Zaan region has passedinto oblivion. Just about nothing is left of it; it is notheard anymore. I am sorry about that. Maybe someof its rich words and expressions will be around some

June 2002 23

Om nou op me gnappe kostuum trug te komme;me waif heb et ewosse en de bout derop ehad. Maarwet dut veur raar goed eweest hewwe ken, ikbegraipder geen barrel van. Me hele opgnapperspakwas in iene drie mate te klain. Goed veur eendwarregie! Me mouwe zatte tot hiero en me paipekwamme tot me koite. Et was gien smoel, ik borst erhelegaar oit.

In et eerst zee me waif toe ze et zag: ‘Ik ken weljanke’ en deer keek ze puur pen-en-inkeg bai. Maarik zee al: et is een best waif en effe leter lee ze in eenstolp van et lache, ze beskeurede der aige temet. Zohewwe me same evegoed nag ket ehad van diebroiloft” De oitnodiging hewwe me bewaard, die staatnou al jare op de skoorstienmantel.”

Tot slot nog even een paar aanhalingen uit hetbesluit van het boekje van auteur Klaas Woudt: Mehoeve mekander niks wais te maken: et Zaans isallegaande de skaitberg oppegaan. Der is temet niksvan overebleve; je hore et niet meer. Dat noost megenog. ....Meskien blaive deur main skraiveraitjes nogwet raike woorde en oitdrukkings oit de streektaalwet langer hangen. Ik mien het as ik zeg dat et Zaansaltemet raiker eweest heb as het teugeswoordegealgemien beskaafde Nederlands”. Schrijver sluit zichhierbij aan, het “noost” ook hem dat er zoveel “kleur”in de Hollandse spraak verloren gegaan is.

VOOR ELK WAT WILS

All Events held at the U.A.W. Hall3852 Buchanan SW Wyoming, Michigan

DANCES

Party dates for 2003 are April 26, October 25 andDecember 6.

October 19, 2002 - with the Middletons

December 7, 2002 - with the Nuetones

the Dutch section of the Department ofGermanic and Asian Languages

in conjunction with the

Dutch International Society

presents

Een Vorstelijk HuwelijkA video summary of the Royal Wedding

of Crown Prince Willem Alexander and MáximaZorreguieta

on 2 February 2002.

A NOS-Actueel production

Friday, September 27, 2002

7:00 p.m.

Commons Annex Lecture Hall

Calvin College

Grand Rapids, Michigan

**The film is in the Dutch language and notsubtitled.**

Free Admission

This screening made available through thecourtesy of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, Foreign Information and CommunicationDivision.

time longer because of my writings . I am serious whenI say that ‘het Zaans’ has been a richer language thanthe present ‘algemeen beschaafd Nederlands. Thewriter agrees, he too is sorry so much “color” has beenlost from the Dutch language.

d.i.s. Magazine24

Dutch Government Leans to the Right

Dutch voters gave a wide victory to themoderately conservative ChristianDemocratic Party and the new anti-immigration party founded by Pim Fortuyn inan election held in May. The leader of theChristian Democrats, Jan Peter Balkenende,is likely to become the new prime minister ofa new coalition government. The vote oustedfrom power the Labor Party and two otherparties that had held sway over Dutch politicsfor eight years. The three parties had held 97seats of the 150 seat parliament, but after theelection on May 15 was down to 54 seats.

Two key events, coupled with rising publicconcern over immigration, crime, anddeteriorating public services, led to the upset.First was the resignation of the currentadministration after the release of an officialreport that criticized its role in the 1995massacre of thousands of Muslims byBosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica. Thereport found that while the lightly armedDutch peacekeepers could not haveprevented the fall of Srebrenica, it may haveretreated too early and left 7500 Muslim menunguarded. It also found that the governmentwithheld information about its role from theDutch people.

Then, on May 6, the Netherlands wasstunned by the murder of populist partyleader Pim Fortuyn. He was gunned downoutside the studios of Radio 3, the Dutchnational Top 40 hit radio station in Hilversumwhere he had just finished giving an interview.Police took into custody a white Dutchmanand charged him with the crime. Fortuyn hadcaptured the nation's attention bycampaigning on the anti-immigration ticket,and in one comment he called for the closingof the nation's borders.

News in Briefcompiled by Rob Prince and Arend Vander Pols

"Mobilisatie-Oorlogskruis" Presented toGrand Rapids, Michigan Man

Honorary Consul Henry I. Witte, on behalf ofthe Dutch Ministry of Defense, presented Mr.A. M. Dorst with the "Mobilisatie-Oorlogskruis" (Mobilization-War Cross) inMarch of this year. The medal is awarded formilitary service during the period 1939-1945.The medal features a Dutch steel helmet and alaurel-branch and is inscribed with the legend“Den Vaderland Ghetrouwe” (Loyal to theFatherland) which is a line from the Dutchnational anthem, the Wilhelmus.

Medieval City Wall Uncovered inDeventer

Archeologists have revealed a part of theoriginal 14th century outermost city wall. Thediscovery occurred in the Houtmarkt in a placewhere new houses were being built. Therevealed piece is approximately seven meterslong and five meters deep at the base. The findmakes it possible for archeologists todetermine where the original city walls hadstood. Deventer can now claim a relativelyunique double city wall with a canal outside ofthat. The perimeter of the wall around themedieval center must have beenapproximatelyfour kilometers long.

A Milestone for Phillips Electric Razor

Phillips officially produced its 400 millionthelectric razor in April, 63 years since the firstPhillishave was made. The Phillips electricrazor was developed by professor Horowitze,who died in 1982. The first electric razor wasproduced on March 9, 1939. Five days laterthe razor was displayed to the public at abusiness exchange in Utrecht. According toPhilips, an average of 700 electric razors aresold per hour worldwide.

June 2002 25

Dutch Professor Wins Prize for RheumatismStudies

W. van Venrooij, Professor of Biochemistry at theUniversity of Nijmegen, was awarded the mostimportant prize in the field of rheumatism studies, theCarol Nachman Award, with a cash prize of E40,000. He discovered a test that can predict thedevelopment of rheumatoid arthritis ten years earlierthan any other existing test.

Back in 1996 Van Venrooij discovered that patientssuffering from rheumatism manufacture a substancethat causes a change in certain proteins in the body.This change occurs only in people who suffer fromrheumatism and has an accuracy rate of 99%. Thetest can predict if a patient will get the disease 10 to15 years ahead of time but cannot prevent it.However the advanced notice can help peopleprepare for the disease and it will now be unnecessaryfor patients to be disabled by the illness.

Dutch Continue to Struggle with InflationInflation in the Netherlands continues to grow, holdingthe country back in comparison to its neighbors. TheCentral Planning Bureau reports the continued inflationdespite a 2001 growth period that was a half percentless than the other countries of Europe.

International Criminal Court find home in TheHague

The International Criminal Court, responsible forinstituting legal proceedings related to perpetrators ofgenocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, willbe coming to The Hague July 1, 2002. Previouslyheld in temporary courts such as the Rwanda Tribunalin Arusha, the Court in The Hague was officiallyratified in April by 60 U.N. member states, theminimum necessary to set up the Court.

X Marks the SpotPatients in a Haarlem hospital have been asked tomark themselves with pencils so doctors do notaccidentally operate in the wrong place. The policywas enacted after surgeons in Vlissingen amputatedthe wrong leg from a patient.

Reportedly patients do not have a problem with thenew procedure and are comforted to know they are

helping to avoid a major mistake. The markingprocess is only being used for orthopedic surgery atthis point, but other procedures such as breastamputations may be included in the future.

Boskoop Boys Miss the TargetA primary school in Boskoop is now requiring its fourto six-year-old boys to sit down while going to thebathroom. Errant urinating and the school not beingable to afford daily custodial work have made thebathroom a very unpleasant place for the femalestudents.

According to an interview with De Telegraaf, JanDijkhuizen of the Ichttus school said, “They’re soeager to go playing they wet the floor. After a day thetoilets for the small children stink. It isn’t pleasant forthe girls who go to the same toilets.” Boys above theage of seven will be allowed to stand.

d.i.s. Magazine26

After reading the article “A CountrySilent”, by Ben Jansen in theDecember 2001 issue of d.i.s.

Magazine, I learned about the three minutesof silence observed by the Dutch people onSeptember 14, 2001, in support of theAmerican people after our national tragedyon September 11. Considering the strong tiesbetween the Dutch and the Americansthroughout history, and an act of kindnessthat lives in my personal memory, I can trulybelieve such a heartfelt gesture.

In 1955, while stationed in Baumholder,Germany, serving in the 2nd Armored Divisionof the U.S. Army, I had a seven-day furloughand bought a train ticket to Copenhagen,Denmark. I shared a cabin with an oldergentleman. Of course, at 17 years of age,everyone looked “older.” He could havebeen 40, maybe younger, maybe older, Ididn’t ask. After initial conversation Idiscovered he was from the Netherlands andspoke English very well. He asked where Iwas headed. I told him Copenhagen. Heasked if I had reservations and I told him Idid not. “Don’t you know that Copenhagenis the Venice of the north? In July,reservations are absolutely necessary!” I toldhim I would check at the Traveler’s Aidoffice and that I wasn’t worried about it. Helooked at me knowingly and nodded alright,okay.”

When the sun went down the air grewchilly in the cabin and I reached up to get myArmy Issue trench coat out of the overheadcompartment and began spreading it acrossmy shoulders as a blanket. I checked mycoat pockets and pulled out a 101stAirborne Division “Screaming Eagles” armpatch that hadn’t been sewn on yet. Thewhite head and open beak of the eagle werein full view in my hand. The stranger asked

An Overdue Thank Youby Jennie Stillman, as told by her father Robert Stillman

“Are you with that Division?” I told him that Ihad trained with that Division in Fort Jackson,South Carolina for eight weeks.

During WWII there was great cooperationand friendship between the Americanparatroopers and the Dutch underground towhich I believe this man had been a part of. Itmeant a lot to the Dutch when the Americanslanded there to help, even if we were only ableto drive the Germans out for a little while.

His attitude toward me changedconsiderably and now, with genuine interest, hebegan asking me how long I would bestationed in Germany, where I was from, whatother countries I had visited, my Armyexperience, etc. After awhile he wrote downhis name and number and told me that if I hadtrouble finding a place to stay, to call himwithout hesitation.

Once in Copenhagen, I made several callsto different hotels and checked with theTraveler’s Aid office and everything wasbooked up, just as he had tried to warn me. Ipulled out the piece of paper he had written hisnumber on from my pocket and called him. Hewas glad to hear from me and had me come tohis house immediately in a taxi. He even cameout to make sure the driver hadn’t over-charged me. He invited me inside and I met hisDanish wife and his five children. As his housewas small and his young children quite noisy, hesoon placed a telephone call to his mother-in-law who had an extra room available as herson was away on business. Getting the room ata “reduced rate,” I spent the next whole weekin a clean, comfortable room all to myself and Igot to sleep in a soft, spotless, fresh-smellingbed. The sweet woman had cake and coffeeready for me every morning and had my bedmade for me every night when I returned fromsightseeing in town. I felt perfectly at home

June 2002 27

except she didn’t speak English and I didn’tspeak Danish. What a change from thebarracks and all because of an eagle armpatch and a Dutchman with a gratefulmemory!

I want to thank the men of the 101st

Airborne Division. I would also like to thankthe Dutch gentleman whose name I cannotrecall. It has been over 45 years, but I havealways remembered his kindness andgenerosity. At a time when Americans arelooking for comfort and support from othernations, I personally know the Dutch willalways be there for us.

(Editor's note: DIS member RobertStillman lives with his wife Marcia inTinley Park, Illinois. His daughter Jenniehelped him write this story).

Iedre avond kan ik je horenIn je rokkende vliegmachineIk hoor de maatgang der motorenMaar ik kan je zelden zien

Altijd moet ik even denkenaan jouw somber ambtspilootEn een klein gebedje schenkenArme dienaar van de dood

Ook jij kunt een hoogstaand mens zijnEn een Christen zoals wijook het kan jouw liefste wens zijnWas de oorlog maar voorbij

Mogelijk zijn ook jouw gedachtenBij je vrouw en bij je kroostDie in spanning op je wachtenzonder zekerheid en troost

Vrees je nimmer te verdwalenMet je vogel in de mistOf verminkt te moeten dalenMet een kogel in je kist

Ik zou zo graag eens willen wetenWat er omgaat in je hartAls jij achter het stuur gezetenVoor je sterrenrit aan start

Dan moet ik nog even denkenarme naamloze vennootEn een klein gebedje schenkenarme dienaar van den dood

Maar ook voor die onbekendeGeef ik je mijn gebedje meeZie jij dompelt in d’ellendeIn dat land ver over zee.

PilootTony Aben en Mia Helsper

(Editor's note: This poem was written in 1944when Mia Fritsen-Helsper was a young girl.She now lives in Deerfield, Illinois).

d.i.s. Magazine28

Letters

Dear Mr. Vander Pols:dis Magazine has been great in keeping me

connected with the place of my birth. I was only threeyears old when I came with my family to the U.S.A. in1950 but the Netherlands is still an integral part of mylife. The recent article about the Dutch bicycle industrywas very interesting.

For many years I have tried to get my Americanhusband to make the trip back with me but he felt nodesire to go and sit with relatives he could notunderstand. Well, he is an avid bicyclist and a touringgroup he rides with went to the Netherlands andGermany this summer so off we went. We rode ourbicycles the entire length of the country on fantasticbike paths. Imagine riding on brick paths for miles oversand dunes along the North Sea. We saw really ancientarchitecture, gorgeous gardens, fascinating fountains,winsome windmills and much, much more. We met withabout a dozen of my relatives and they were able to

communicate with my husband pretty well. Thedelicious food provided more than enough calories tobicycle. I found my Dutch emerging from the cobwebsin my brain and enjoyed talking with the locals.

I would strongly recommend bicycling in Holland asa wonderful involved way to experience the country.We only had a half-day of rain and very pleasanttemperatures to bicycle in. Now my husband has amuch better idea of my roots and I have manymemories to cherish.

Nellie BriggsBattle Creek, Michigan

Dear Mr. Slendebroek:I loved the ideas that the committee [dis magazine

December 2001, pg. 4. "New Directions for the DIS" byMartin Rustenburg - Ed. ] is exploring and wondered if Imight be so bold as to suggest a few of my own. As avery new member please excuse any suggestions whichhave already been suggested or are already a part ofthe program, but of which I am not aware.

Once we left the East coast we lost the Dutchcommunity that we had there, then our DutchGrandmother died and was replaced with a German

June 2002 29

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stepmother, so we lost our religion too. Could you have aplace for queries in the back of the magazine, or maybethere is another venue for such searches of relatives inHolland MI. I would love to know if I have any Ooterhoutor Roosa relatives in Holland, MI today.

We don’t have the luxury that you have had to beimmersed in your heritage. Now, we can only try to buildit piece by piece. What holidays are celebrated in the oldcountry: Maartenmas (?), please tell us more about thatand how to celebrate it and what is Landdag, a summerfestival?

Stories of what life was like back in the ‘old country’,anything that would give us an insight into family life. Thisedition’s story about Henk and Saskia was great!

Well, some of this maybe beyond your scope orinterest but it may give you some insight into the breadthof your membership and it’s various needs and interests.

Happy to be a new member,Bonnie Martin Weaver

Dowagiac, Michigan

[Ms. Weaver had several other very good suggestions. Editedfor length. We encourage your letters and suggestions.]

Elim Dutch Festival Elim Christian ServicesSaturday, September 28, 2002 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.Mark your calendar for the 2002 Elim Dutch Festival on Saturday,September 28, 2002. Festivities begin with a pannekoeke (pancake)breakfast (at 7:30 a.m.) and authentic Dutch Village shops areopen from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The food court will offer suchDutch treats as ollie bollen (Dutch doughnuts), bratwurst,poffertjes (little treats), pigs-in-a-blanket, and hutspot. KidsCarnival, petting zoo, and different entertainment acts for thewhole family throughout the day. Free parking with shuttle busservice is provided. Find out more at http://www.elimcs.org, Tel:708-293-6518 or email: dvanderplaats@elimcs.org. Elim ChristianServices is located at 13020 S. Central Avenue in Palos Heights,

Illinois, 23 miles South-Southeast of downtown Chicago.

d.i.s. Magazine30

June 2002 31

Upcoming Events

ANNUAL DUTCH FEST - LANDDAGSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 200210 AM - 4PMHUDSONVILLE FAIR GROUNDS5235 Park Street - Hudsonville, Michigan

TRAVELOGUE by Don VanPolen“Byways of the British Isles”(England, Scotland & Wales)DIS members free, Nonmembers $3 per personCoffee and cookies served during intermission

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2002 - 7:30 PMHOLLAND CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL920 Ottawa Avenue - Holland, Michigan

EEN VORSTELIJK HUWELIJKA video summary of the Royal Wedding of Crown PrinceWillem Alexander and Máxima ZorreguietaThe film is in the Dutch language and not subtitledFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 - 7:00 PM.CALVIN COLLEGECommons Annex Lecture HallGrand Rapids, Michigan

TORONTO CHRISTIAN CONCERT CHOIRDirector: Leendert Kooij Organist: Andre KnevelFRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2002 - 7:30 PMCENTRAL REFORMED CHURCH10 College Ave NE - Grand Rapids MichiganFree will offering.CHOIR ALSO PERFORMS 7:30 PMSATURDAY OCTOBER 12, 2002Harderwyk Christian Reformed Church1627 West Lakewood Blvd.- HOLLAND, MICHIGANFree will offering

ROTTERDAM CHURCH CHORAL90 voice mixed choirConductor: Everhard ZwartAccompanist: Arie de Korte(Several organ solo’s by Everhard Zwart)THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2002 - 7:30 PMFIRST CHR. REF. CHURCH8360 Cottonwood Drive - Jenison Michigan.Free will offering.CHOIR ALSO PERFORMS - 8:00 PMFRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2002LANSING ILLINOISFIRST CHR. REF. CHURCH3642 Lake StreetFree will offering.

ANNUAL MEETINGFRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2002 - 7:30 PMKELLOGSVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL624 - 52nd Street SE - Grand Rapids Michigan

TRAVELOGUE by Clint Denn“SPAIN, LAND OF CONTRASTS”D.I.S. members free. Nonmembers $3 per person

Coffee and cookies served during intermissionFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2002 - 7:30 PMOTTAWA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUMCorner of Rosewood and Burton SEGrand Rapids, Michigan

SINTERKLAASFEEST for children ages 3-9SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2002 - 2:30 PMHERITAGE CHRISTIAN REFORMEDCHURCH FELLOWSHIP HALL3089 - 84th Street SWByron Center,Michigan

ANNUAL DUTCH ADVENT SERVICEMONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002 - 7:30 PMRAYBROOK MANOR CHAPEL2121 Raybrook SE - Grand Rapids Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS TRAVELOGUE DATE FOR SPRING2003 TO BE ANNOUNCED IN DECEMBER ISSUE.

The Rotterdam ChurchCorale Choir

We are in need of host families toaccomodate choir members for twonights, Wednesday October 23 andThursday October 24.

The choir will perform at the First ChristianReformed Church, 8360 Cottonwood Drivein Jenison, Michigan on October 24 - 7:30PM.

If you are willing to help in this way, pleasecontact the DIS office at (616) 531-2298.

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