Today, Rihanna Gaga is terribly disappointed. One of the things she loved during our stay in Scheveningen was the local petting farm, a pleasant place consisting of the farm itself where she could watch animals and a playground where she could meet other children. Now, we're staying in my mother's house in Stadshagen, a suburb of the sprawling provincial town of Zwolle (Zwolle is actually the place where I was born and grew up, although Stadshagen did not exist back then). In the morning, I didn't know what to do, so I checked the internet to find out if there was a petting farm around here as well. There was, but the address I found turned out to be wrong and when we did find it, it turned out to be closed, with no adjacent playground to make up for that. Rihanna Gaga had a meltdown and then she was in a terribly bad mood.
So what, I offered, if we go to that nice restaurant where you can play with a kitchen? She accepted the deal and stopped crying and we made our way to the shopping centre of Stadshagen, the the local dependance of the nationwide Délifrance brand, a series of bland looking eateries offering French-ish breakfasts and lunches. This one has a playing corner where children can play with a toy kitchen and other things, as well as play videogames. We walked there through Stadshagen, quite a walk after having already walked for an extensive time to reach the petting farm. Stadshagen is very much at the edge of the city, meaning that it is surrounded by the typical Dutch countryside setting of 'broad rivers, slow and never ending, flowing through the lowlands'. The great thing about my mother's appartment is that it is at the fourth floor overlooking the farming grounds and a large lake at which it is situated. In the evenings, the sunsets are amazing. Rihanna Gaga is in the seventh heaven most of the time. Not only do my mother's neighbours regularly have children of her age over with whom she can play, there is also a beach at the lake where we can go whenever the sun shines so that she can play in the sand and the water. In summer, as it is now, there is so much to love about the Netherlands. In any case, it is easier to live here with a child, for instance because of the broad sidewalks that mean she can walk everywhere and the fact that there is almost always a playground within walking distance of where you live. We're planning to return: I'm very busy with job interviews these days and things are going well: I got invited for an interview for almost all the positions that I applied for and I am already preparing for several second rounds.
Once at the restaurant, Rihanna Gaga headed straight for the playing corner and I sat down at a table next to it, ordering the set Déli Brunch, which got me two petit baguettes with different dressings, vienoisserie, orange juice and a tea for €9,50. For Rihanna Gaga, I got an additional chocalate milk. While Rihanna Gaga played with the kitchen, I did some reading - or tried to, because if there is one thing that I like about living in a country of which I don't understand the language, is that it is much easier to concentrate on one's reading in public places. Here, I was constantly distracted by two young women discussing their relationship problems with each other at the table next to me.
Other children arrive and two boys almost immediately take over the playing corner. Rihanna Gaga is fine with this, enjoying their company, until one of them tries to take a small lamb, a favourite toy that she brought with her, away from her. She panicks and although I normally don't interfere, the boy is so violent towards her that I tell him to let go. He gets called away by his mum and then the two of them have to come and sit at the table while they eat. When they come back, they play nicely with Rihanna Gaga who has given the lamb to me - just to be sure, I guess.
Then, she's had enough of the restaurant and tells me she wants to go to the nearby playground to sit on the swing. Things have changed quickly: when we just arrived, she refused to sit at any swing, now she is happy to be pushed quite high.
So what, I offered, if we go to that nice restaurant where you can play with a kitchen? She accepted the deal and stopped crying and we made our way to the shopping centre of Stadshagen, the the local dependance of the nationwide Délifrance brand, a series of bland looking eateries offering French-ish breakfasts and lunches. This one has a playing corner where children can play with a toy kitchen and other things, as well as play videogames. We walked there through Stadshagen, quite a walk after having already walked for an extensive time to reach the petting farm. Stadshagen is very much at the edge of the city, meaning that it is surrounded by the typical Dutch countryside setting of 'broad rivers, slow and never ending, flowing through the lowlands'. The great thing about my mother's appartment is that it is at the fourth floor overlooking the farming grounds and a large lake at which it is situated. In the evenings, the sunsets are amazing. Rihanna Gaga is in the seventh heaven most of the time. Not only do my mother's neighbours regularly have children of her age over with whom she can play, there is also a beach at the lake where we can go whenever the sun shines so that she can play in the sand and the water. In summer, as it is now, there is so much to love about the Netherlands. In any case, it is easier to live here with a child, for instance because of the broad sidewalks that mean she can walk everywhere and the fact that there is almost always a playground within walking distance of where you live. We're planning to return: I'm very busy with job interviews these days and things are going well: I got invited for an interview for almost all the positions that I applied for and I am already preparing for several second rounds.
Once at the restaurant, Rihanna Gaga headed straight for the playing corner and I sat down at a table next to it, ordering the set Déli Brunch, which got me two petit baguettes with different dressings, vienoisserie, orange juice and a tea for €9,50. For Rihanna Gaga, I got an additional chocalate milk. While Rihanna Gaga played with the kitchen, I did some reading - or tried to, because if there is one thing that I like about living in a country of which I don't understand the language, is that it is much easier to concentrate on one's reading in public places. Here, I was constantly distracted by two young women discussing their relationship problems with each other at the table next to me.Other children arrive and two boys almost immediately take over the playing corner. Rihanna Gaga is fine with this, enjoying their company, until one of them tries to take a small lamb, a favourite toy that she brought with her, away from her. She panicks and although I normally don't interfere, the boy is so violent towards her that I tell him to let go. He gets called away by his mum and then the two of them have to come and sit at the table while they eat. When they come back, they play nicely with Rihanna Gaga who has given the lamb to me - just to be sure, I guess.
Then, she's had enough of the restaurant and tells me she wants to go to the nearby playground to sit on the swing. Things have changed quickly: when we just arrived, she refused to sit at any swing, now she is happy to be pushed quite high.
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