A Date with my Schoonmoeder

Since I arrived two months ago, my schoonmoeder (mother-in-law) has made every effort to make my stay as comfortable as possible. Perhaps she worries about me being alone during the day and having difficulty adjusting to my new environment. I do appreciate the fact that Mem comes to visit me occasionally (although I get nervous at first being new to this--and hey, what do you do with your schoonmoeder?). What makes the meeting more interesting is that we have a communication problem because of the language barrier. Mem barely speaks English and we always run into difficulty in expressing what we are saying so we end up using a lot of hand and body movements. We often find ourselves consulting our dictionaries. There goes spontaneity. In fact during one of her visits, I asked her to stay for dinner and wait for my hubby. Over dinner, my hubby said "Mem said you were talking to her about meatballs?". I could barely contain my laughter because I never even discussed anything about food that day. So I just said yes, and explained to my hubby later. Mem is an easy going woman. At 71, she is still very active and full of energy. I must admit that I was very impressed with her when she gamely went to the Philippines last January to attend our wedding. She stayed for three weeks--enjoyed Pinoy food, the rural and beach areas, and was completely awed by Greenbelt 3. Yesterday, we agreed to meet up in Utrecht . We first hit the shops and I was surprised that she is very well versed with the stores. We had lunch and Mem came prepared by bringing her dictionary so we can have some conversation. After lunch, Mem wanted to bring me to the National Musuem Van Speelklok. What used to be a church, Van Speelkok was converted into a museum to house "a living collection of mechanical music". The museum is small but interesting, and offers an English guided tour as well. We hit the shops again, had coffee and said our good-byes at the Utrecht Centraal Station. I now recall when my mom used to tell me that when I get married, I should be nice to my mother-in-law. I used to reply to her that my mother-in-law should be nicer to me. At this point, I am satisfied with my relationship with my schoonmoeder and I do hope that the relationship will be even better. Is this asking too much? Oh, my schoonmoeder is now taking English lessons--something she decided that is worth investing her time and money.