Day 5 - Oss: Old Friends, Big Brother, and Beers

Leaving Marike and Lasslo was hard. I don't know when exactly I'll see them next. Leaving Femke was especially hard. Even though we didn't speak the same language there is a connection between her and I that started four generations ago--and we both know it.

But today was the day that I was leaving to see Leo and Carla (Marike's parents) and Stijn (her brother). So I packed up my things, kissed and hugged my goodbyes, and got on a bike with Lasslo and he took me to the Delft train station.

The train ride was fairly uneventful. The countryside was phenomenal--fields as far as the eye can see. It was fun to spot the steeples poking up among the trees that outlined the farms, signaling the towns that were nearby.

About an hour later when I arrived in Oss, I excitedly gathered my bags and rushed off to see Leo and Carla. Over the crowd exiting the station, I spotted Carla's silver hair and rushed towards them. It was almost like seeing my own grandparents after not having seen them for years (the last time I saw Leo and Carla was in 2004--I was 14). Leo and Carla spotted me as well and smiles instantly lit up there faces.

I need to put a note in about Leo and Carla. I grew up with stories about the Steenbakkers and my great grandfather. I had seen pictures, but I never met Leo and Carla until 2004. So for 14 years, I had developed these characters in my head. And they were surprisingly accurate.

I always imagined Leo as a big, wise lion. And I have to

After we had said our hellos and Carla had sufficiently examined me ("now you are not a boy! you are a man!"), we took off to go get some lunch.

On our way, we bumped into one of the "founding fathers" (as Leo put it) of the Socialist Party and his wife. We discussed the recent election very briefly, but Carla wanted to show me off and had me doing backflips for the couple.

It was very cool to meet someone who was so involved with and started the political drama that I had witnessed with the SP in Delft. The fact that I can come from the other side of the world and become completely encompassed in another countries politics for five days is one of the best experiences I've had to date.

But we left briefly after our encounter, we walked into a few stores to run some errands before bumping into the same couple again at lunch.

Lunch with Leo, Carla and their friends was great. I got to ask all sorts of questions and Leo would tell me stories about European history, politics, education and our family history. He really was this wise lion with his greying mane and hearty, genuine laugh that I had always imagined him to be when I was growing up.

Carla always had her two cents to say as well. Jokes that she has with my mother kept us in stitches (be careful when she comes to visit you, Mom. She's got some surprises for you.)

After lunch, Leo and Carla took me to their house in Heesch. There we met up with Stijn, Marike's brother and talked for a bit before he had to go back to work. So, Carla and I laid in the sun for a little bit before she made a wonderful dinner.

This dinner reminded me of dinner at home with my parents. I would always ask a question that seemed to provoke a lot of story or explanation. I love this kind of family meal. I learned more from Leo and Stijn that day than I had in any class I've taken. I think that has to do with the fact that they live life so similarly to the way that I live life in Canada, but we are also extremely different, especially when with the lenses that we see the world through.

The best part of the story time was hearing Leo tell me about how my grandfather met his family. Of course, he wasn't born at the time (I've corrected my previous post), but he's taken a great interest in preserving the connection that Max established with his family.

After dinner, I had to say my goodbyes to Leo and Carla before Stijn took me to his apartment back in Oss. That night, we talked and drank long into the night. We cracked our first beer at around 7 or 8pm and talked until 11pm about everything from relationships, school, our futures, our past. It is so interesting that I can feel so connected to this man who is 15 years older than me and lives in a different continent. I very much feel as though Stijn is like my older brother--an older brother I've met on four occasions.

The connection that we have with each other amazes all of us.

When we realized that we had been talking for hours, we got dressed to go out and Stijn took me to his favourite bars in Oss.

The first was the Groene Engel (the Green Angel). It was a fairly decent sized bar, and it wasn't very busy. But there were some great characters there. One of Stijn's friends was celebrating his 50th birthday and all of the people celebrating had been celebrating since 4pm.

Another one of Stijn's friends, Nol, tried to help me teach Stijn about the science of "gaydar."

After we had had enough people-watching at this bar, we moved on to the Lollipop. This bar was excellent. It was a grungy, dirty bar where people were allowed to smoke inside. The bartender, with his greasy long hair, had a great collection of rock music on his iTunes. He would take mine and Stijn's requests and we sit at the bar, drink, and play air guitar to The Cardigans, Guns 'n' Roses, and the Rolling Stones. We lost ourselves in this bar until 3am, when Stijn and I finally realized that I needed to catch a train at around 9 in the morning!

While it was a short visit, it was still important for me that I did get to see the Steenbakkers family. It is a connection unlike any other I've ever heard of--a second family that I value as much as my own. And the love I feel for them is definitely returned. I can feel that.