All posts by Edith Schriever

Edith Schriever

About Edith Schriever

I am a Maine-igrant from the Netherlands. While my scientist husband fell in love with the beautiful research institute here, I fell in love with Mount Desert Island. Mountains, ocean, wild life, peace and quiet! A culture change? Yes, a bit. Americans are not at all like the Jerry Springer audience I saw on TV when living in the Netherlands, well, at least not everyone. Portions are big and toilets small and low; I have learned to embrace the cultural differences.

How holding hands can be a powerful symbol

How do you show that you care? In the Netherlands this week, men showed that they cared by holding hands, women showed it by sharing the pictures and encouraging this action. Children showed it by holding hands, all together. Why? Last week a gay couple on an evening stroll was brutally attacked by a bunch […]

Avoiding making rookie mistakes this winter storm

Being a Maine-igrant I have made many rookie mistakes. Like arriving at a party at 6, when the invite says: 6-8. Six in Maine means six-ish and unless you don’t mind that awkward situation when the hostess is still in the shower and the husband is watching TV and there are no other cars in […]

The alternate facts about anytime, anywhere workouts.

I gave myself a work out DVD-set this Christmas: ultimate core and body exercises in only 18 minutes/day! Of course, I started right away, the day after Christmas. I liked the 18-minute time frame: it seems to be the magical time frame to ‘get it done’. Seriously, you can do almost anything for 18 minutes, […]

5 ways to justify Surprise me Sundays

In the summer we had ‘Smokey Sundays’: something grilled on the BBQ, charcoal fired of course (often prepared by my husband). When it got colder, we transitioned to ‘Soupy Sunday’, where our dinner consists of a home- made soup accompanied by a (usually) home-made bread and finished with a home-made pudding (and the home-made here […]

How the Dutch can be second when America comes first

It has been quite a month (or three). I’ve learned to recognize myself as a ‘slow processor’ and now finally dare to say to people: “Sorry, can I get back to you? I need to think that over.” For the past few weeks I have written many half-finished stories, blogs and articles and nothing got […]