日本とオランダの大きな違いの一つ。それは家の鍵がどこもオートロック。厳密にはオートロックではないんですよね。回せるドアノブがない、なので一度閉まると鍵がかかっているわけではないのに開けられないのです。普通の人ではね。（ま、鍵かけてなかったら泥棒に入られたという話も聞くので、簡単に開けられるのかもしれませんが・・・）
One of the big differences between Japan and the Netherlands is the way houses are locked. Almost all Dutch doors are autolock. Strictly speaking they are not autolock, but there is no knob to open the door from the outside. So when the door closes, you cannot open it without the key, even though the door is not actually locked. At least not by ordinary people. (I heard some stories that someone can break into the house when the house door is not actually locked. So it can be easy to open...)
そしてそれは起こるべきして起こった（？）アクシデント。現在週4日勤務で、一日はママデーを取っている私。ママデーに朝からバタバタと動き回っておりました。その日はBoyのマフラーや手袋を買いたかったので、2時にBoyを学校に迎えに行ってからBoy、Babyと共に街に出る予定にしていたのです。
And the accident happened as you can easily imagine. Currently I am working 4 days per week and taking one mama day per week. On one of the mama days, I was busy doing things from the morning. I wanted to go buy Boy's scarf and a pair of gloves, so I picked Boy up at 2 pm at school and planned to go out to the city for shopping with Boy and Baby.
一度家に帰って荷物を置いて、するとBoyがお腹空いたと。パンやらなんやらを食べさせていると、Babyからおむつ替えのサイン。おむつを替えて捨てようとすると、なんとごみ箱がいっぱい。ゴミをまとめて庭にある大きなゴミ箱に捨てに行って。あれ？庭に出る扉の鍵が開いてない。そして自分のコートのポケットにいつも入れている鍵を使って開けて、ゴミを捨ててからまた鍵を閉める。
We came home once to drop off the school stuff. Boy started complaining he was hungry, so I gave him bread etc and I got a notification of a necessary diaper change from Baby. I changed his diaper and tried to put it in the diaper garbage bin. It was full. I emptied the bin and I tried to put a big bag of used diapers to the big garbage container standing in the garden. Oh? The back door was still locked. I took my key that I usually keep in my coat pocket out to open the door, threw the garbage bag and locked the door again.
さ、出かけるよ。とBoyとBabyに靴を履かせて上着を着せて・・・あ、荷物も送らなあかんかった。それも持って。。。さー出て出てーと子供たちを外に出して自分も外に出て、扉がパタンと閉まった瞬間嫌な予感。おそるおそるいつもカギを入れているポケットに手を入れると・・・入っていない・・・。
Let's go shopping. I put shoes and coats on Boy and Baby. Oh yes. I needed to send one package. I picked the package up. I sent children outside, put my shoes on and went out. The door closed without big force. I had a bad feeling... When I fearfully checked my pocket where I always put my key.... there was no key....
ぎぇーーー！やってしまった！
Kya----!!! I did what I shouldn't do....
そう、鍵は庭に出る扉にぶら下がったまま・・・。
Yes. My key was still hanging in the lock of the back door, inside of the house.
Boyに今起こったことを言うと、「あーあ、パパ帰ってくるまでお家は入れないね・・・。」と。しかもその日Dropはロッテルダムで先生のお仕事。その時は授業中で連絡もつかず、授業が終わるのが4時半くらい？帰ってくるの待ってたら何時になんねんー！！泣
I told Boy what happened. He said "Ah,,, we cannot go into the house until Papa is back...." On that day, Drop was in Rotterdam (2.5 hours away by train) and giving a lecture in a university at that time. I couldn't even contact him. His course ends around 4:30? And if we need to wait until he is back,,,, what time would it be---!!!
急遽予定を変更して、車で小一時間ほどの鍵を持っているDropの両親宅へ行くことに。私はあまりのショックで沈んでいたので、Boyに電話で連絡してもらい 笑 （Boy、電話で上手に状況を説明できました！）、車を走らせます。車の鍵は持っていてよかったぁ・・・。Drop両親は理由は何であれ歓迎してくれて、ショックも少し和らぎました。今後の対策を話し合って、再び来た道を帰途へ。このアクシデントを解決するまでの所要時間3時間ってか。
I needed to change my plan and decided to drive to Drop's parents who have our house key as well. I was very shocked by the fact I had made this mistake and asked Boy to call them. (Boy did a very good job explaining what had happened and what we want to do on the phone!) I started driving. I was relieved that I at least had the car key with me. Drop's parents welcomed us despite of the reason. My feeling got a bit better. We discussed the appropriate measures for the future and drove back the same route again. I took about 3 hours to solve this small accident....
私、オランダに着た直後に同じことが友人に起こっていたので、鍵にはすごく気を付けていたのです。必ず家を出る前にはポケットに鍵があるのをチェックしていたし。。でもバタバタする中の、ふとした気のゆるみでした。少なくともBabyだけ家の中に取り残されているとかいう状態にならなくって良かった・・・。まだ扉一人では開けられないしね。
I had been very careful about keys, ever since I saw this happen to my friend once, just after I came to the Netherlands. I regularly check my pocket before I step out from the house every day... But I was too busy in my mind with the two children and that allowed this accident to happen. I was lucky that at least I was together with my children. I didn't leave Baby alone in the house....that would have been a total disaster.
オランダ在住の皆様、お気を付けください。
People living in the Netherlands, please be careful.