When I'm in the Netherlands I like to organize a party; this year my parents offered to host it at their house in Middenmeer (thank you!).

The party on Friday was great. It always feel so short, there are so many people you want to talk with and so little time, but I believe everyone had a good time.

Lots of cake.

Arne taking a break, late in the evening.

Guests included: Arne, Carel, Christianne, Diny, Ettie, Eva, Fiona, Gea, Gerben, Guus, Harm, Ivanka, Jaap, Jasper, Jean-Paul, Jerry, Luca, Marijke, Marjolein, Mieke, Oma Bosman, Peter, Richard, Rob, Steven and Tibi.

Employees of the Royal Dutch Embassy in Washington D.C. were arrested Sunday night in a bar in New York City after allegedly fighting with two police officers. They were released on bail Sunday night and face various misdemeanor charges.

According to the New York Post three Dutch Embassy employees and an American friend allegedly skipped out on a $300 tab at Arthur's Tavern. The two men in the group are charged with physically attacking the waitress who chased them down the street, and then jumping the police offers who showed up to break up the fracas -- leaving one officer with a broken finger and another with a chipped tooth. The embassy employees counter that they tried to pay the bill, but their credit card was rejected and that the waitress threw the first punch.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm the account by the New York Post, and is waiting for the result of a hearing this Friday.

More details in the Wall Street Journal.

Yesterday I traveled from the Netherlands back to Durham.

My flight was at 2.30 pm, so we didn't have to leave Middenmeer very early. After packing my bags we had coffee with a piece of pie from the party, and then left for Schiphol.

Checking in my bag took a little while, but when that was done we still had time for a visit to Starbucks. We said goodbye, and I went through security. I was a little worried if they'd check the weight of my hand luggage, but they didn't catch the fact that I was flying with so many books.

I resisted the urge to buy even more chocolate in duty-free, and had a quick sandwich while waiting for the gate to open. The security at the gate was more relaxed this time -- no interviews, only X-ray checks.

The flight to Atlanta was almost 9 hours, followed by a short 1 hour flight to Raleigh/Durham. The first flight was a code-share with KLM and the flight attendants where Dutch. I really liked the food they served -- modern versions of Dutch classics such as red cabbage, apple pie and speculaas ice cream.

My car was still there and the luggage arrived right away (although the bag suffered some damage).

It's great to be home and see Sasha; I've been away for 12 days. I missed the Zanes by a day -- they were at Amy's for Thanksgiving and visited Sasha on Saturday.

Today I'm taking a day off to unpack.

Leaving Middenmeer. In the doorway the chairs we didn't use for the party.

Speculaas ice cream.

I resisted the urge. No more shopping.

KLM plane at Schiphol airport.

Rob left around noon, and a little later Ettie and Jasper came from Wieringerwerf. Gerben was helping to break down the kitchen in his parent's house.

It was so nice to see Jasper again. I read him a Nijntje book again. He doesn't understand quite yet what's going on but he definitely enjoys being read to.

In the afternoon Jaap and I brought back the tables to Wieringerwerf and we did some shopping. After saying goodbye to the Zijlstra's I took a short nap, that was great. I spent the rest of the evening with my parents.

Tomorrow it's back to the airport again -- my flight leaves around 2.30 pm.

That was an excellent party!

Wednesday I saw my cousins Paula and Eveline.

We met at the Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam for coffee, and it was fun to see them.

Yesterday morning Jaap brought me to the train station in Hoorn. While I was waiting in line I wanted to look up the precise itinerary on my phone and then I realized I had left it in the car. Without my phone I'd have a hard time finding Joost's office in Rotterdam and it would be impossible to meet up with Paula and Eveline...

I left the station and walked downtown Hoorn to see if I could find my father. I figured he'd go to the bakery first (for some vlaai for Friday's party) but after 15 minutes I walked back to the station -- where Jaap was waiting for me!

I traveled with Fyra, the new highspeed train to Rotterdam. I spent very pleasant time in two bookstores and had an Indonesian lunch.