Sponsor anyone?

On Wednesday morning, I went to the office of H.Schoonderwoerd Heftrucks BV (HSH) where Elly works. Usually I go in to say hi, workout at the gym, or eat lunch with Elly and Walter. What I didn't mention before is that HSH is also one of Fortissimo's sponsors. Walter's family has been in the business of buying and selling forklifts and other heavy movers for generations (Walter, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this). Most of their business is focused on the Eastern European countries with most of their stock coming from either England or Germany. A typical day I've observed in the office tends to be quite "international." There would be the businessmen from Greece and Serbia...and oh yeah, the late night visit from a Spanish customer. And of course there would be me...that American girl..."But she's Chinese!" How confusing! So on this particular Wednesday morning, I bought along my USA knit cap to do a trade with Walter. After some tough negotiating where I got a stupendous deal, it's time to take some pictures! It's not everyday a girl gets to take pictures with a team sponsor you know. And to make me feel more at home and get a better feel for what the business is all about, I was even allowed to drive a forklift and wear some wooden clogs :)

2 shirts and 2 packs of playing cards! I'm sure Walter is a much tougher negotiator with forklifts!

That sponsorship bought some prime real estate on the uniform :)

Rocking the HSH gear! And of course Walter is sporting the ONLY USA beanie in all of Holland!

After lunch Danielle picked me up from HSH and we went to the Amersfoort Zoo. The day was pretty chilly and rainy but the rain let up during the hour and half we were at the zoo. The zoo has a pretty diverse group of animals and most of them weren't very active due to the weather. The monkies are always entertaining to watch and the penguins were especially cute. I even learned to speak penguin just to get their attention. I thought I was pretty successful since I convinced the whole group to come closer to me from the other side of their enclosure. :) But I think the highlight for me was the playground the zoo has for the children to play in. It was very extensive with ropes, rope bridges, slides, and rope webs. If it wasn't so wet, I would have gone nuts on it!

Monkeying around in the playground :)

This is as flexible as I'm going to get!

I don't think this he's going to catch any fish...

On Thursday I borrowed Elly's car and kidnapped her younger daughter Marleen to go tour Huis Doorn, a small local "castle." The manor house was the residence of William II, the last German emperor. After WWI, the Germans blamed William II for their loss and kicked him out of Germany, thereby ending the German monarchy. William came to Holland for asylum since Holland was neutral during the war and being related to the Queen of Holland didn't hurt either. He ended up spending the last 25 years of his life here in Holland, just 10 minutes north of Cothen outside the town of Doorn. The house was filled with all of William's treasures that he brought with him from his multiple castles in Germany. Most of the furnishings were left exactly the way they were when the ex-emperor died. There was an incredible porcelain chandelier in one of the sitting rooms, unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, and our tour guide was standing right there...so no pictures of the inside of the house. But you can go to http://www.huisdoorn.nl/huisdoorn.html to see some of the rooms. One interesting fact about William II was that he couldn't use his left arm/hand due to some sort of trauma during birth. So all the food served to him was already cut into little pieces. His mother had devised a special fork for him with two regular tines and a third that was a little wider and sharpened like a knife. I was hoping the museum gift shop might have a replica, but no such luck. Oh well...

Marleen on the bridge across the moat (yes, the castle has a moat!)

This weekend is going to be pretty busy and exciting with more new places to see and people to meet! I can't wait to tell you all about it when I catch a breather so stay tuned!