May 15th: So...I guess I'll...go back to Portland now?

After two solid weeks of alternating action and lounging amongst the Dutch, it was time for me to return to my other life across the sea. It was sort of a pity that I didn't actually try the Hagelschlag (toast sprinkles) until the last few days. Actually, that was probably a good idea since the rest of the time my diet staples were french fries with mayonnaise, breadrolls with butter cheese and tomato, and stroopwaffel. Bottom line is that they're good. It's a great idea. And they taste best on cheap white bread rolls.

They were so delicious on warm buttered rolls, in fact, that Matthias and I decided this must be the main reason Dutch children have such happy childhoods. Toast with sprinkles comprise an acceptable breakfast food. I packed a couple rolls full for the plane, bought a bunch as gifts, and geared up for the flight. I told Matthias I didn't think I could do this again, and he said next time you'll have to marry me, and we both knew neither one was joking. As I rode westward over fertile green fields, a smoking volcano, icy expanses becoming ever less icier and approached the fertile green forests on the other side, I truly had no idea what the future held. At least I had a purse full of toast sprinkles.