To be Dutch...Even for One Night

A few weeks ago (first week of May), I went to the annual Orange Ball at the Hollandse Club with a few mommy friends (Matt was out of town so it's par-tay time for me!). The purpose of the event was to celebrate Queen Beatrix of Holland's birthday. (Well, not really, she's more like an excuse for her people to party - that's what I call charitable.)

After my friend Inge bought the tickets, I realized that I own literally zero clothing/accessories in the color orange, and that's a big problem when you're invited to go to a party called ORANGE Ball. Being the cheapskate that I am, I ventured out to look for inconspicuously orange objects that would have a chance for recycling (besides during Halloween) after this one-time use. So I bought a necklace with a few orange stones and a beaded orange ring (which you can't even see in the picture below). The result was an ostentatiously non-orange me standing out in a sea of orange...nevermind that I look nothing like Dutch.

Apart from my orange blunder, I was probably the most out-of-place, non-Dutch entity in the entire ballroom that night:

-I am a foot shorter than 90% of the people in the room (these guys are GIANT)

-I have no connection to anything Dutch (in my little circle of friends, Inge is Dutch, Stephanie is dating a Dutch, and Connie is married to a Dutch)

-I couldn't read the signs (they were in Dutch)

-I couldn't understand the songs (although they did play a few surprisingly patriotic American songs like "This Land is My Land" and "I want to be an American")

You may have now concluded that I didn't have fun that night, but the irony is that I actually had a great time. There were good food, lots of alcohol (though I could only take to my Virgin Screwdriver - orange juice), and very warm and friendly (tall) people who totally overlooked my non-Dutchness and made me feel very much included.

Go Dutch!