Christmas Day #1 went very well. We made it to Friesland with no problems, and walked around the village with Jan's dad while waiting for Jan's sister to arrive. The canals had seriously frozen over up there, and half the town was skating on it. It's a HUGE canal, but had a sold 5-6 inches of quality ice all the way across.
Walking on it was a bit scary at first - we don't do ice in Seattle :-P We saw dogs running along with skaters, skaters pushing strollers, and even a small three-legged dog pulled along in a moving box. There was also a little kid (5 or 6) sitting on a wooden folding chair being pushed along by his mother. Apparently kids learn to skate with a chair, to help keep their balance (and provide a ride home when their little legs get tired). The ice creates an easy way to get over the canal without taking a ferry or driving a long way, as well as a nice path to the next town.
We had a lot of fun with Jan's family, and they loved meeting my mom for the first time. They were very impressed by how much my Dutch has improved since the last time they visited us. I was able to get the gist of almost all of the Dutch conversations, and even translated for my mom :-)
On Christmas Day #2 (we get two Christmases!) we ran out of food and figured the Chinese restaurant would be open, so went there. They were serving amazing 6 course Christmas dinners. It took about 3 hours, but the food was great and it was fun and relaxing to chat for a while. We probably should have made a reservation, but they were able to squeeze us in.
Monday we drove down to Brugge in Belgium, but the GPS decided to take the scenic route, which was a bit over three hours driving. A one-lane two-way road with snow and blind corners was involved. By the time we parked and walked to the center of Brugge (all the center parking lots were full), we were past ready for lunch and ate at a really bad restaurant. We finished around 2pm and decided to save the chocolate museum for Tuesday and do a bit of sight seeing instead before heading to the hotel. Very cool old buildings every where.
The hotel was in Oostende on the west coast of Belgium, a block away from the North Sea. Nice hotel, awesome dinner, typical over-developed resort town.
We drove back to Brugge in the morning and got to the Chocolate Museum shortly after it opened. It was surprisingly crowded, but mostly enjoyable and informative. Jan took photos of me and mom standing next to a solid chocolate Barack Obama. There was also a good quick live demonstration of how to make pralines, with samples, and a shop to buy more in.
We found a great restaurant nearby for lunch, then went in search of chocolates to smuggle back across the border. We got a kilo of assorted chocolates on one of the main streets, then headed home. We decided to skip Antwerp due to having our Looking At Old Stuff quota nicely satisfied in Brugge, which turned out to be a good idea anyhow because it was raining pretty hard when driving past Antwerp. Fortunately the Dutch-Belgian border is poorly guarded (there's just a sign next to the highway saying you're in a different country now), so the chocolate-smuggling operation was easy.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
I haven't posted much lately, mostly due to being a lot busier with school. I've also had more opportunities to chat with people, so less need to chat here.
I've had about 4 weeks of classes now, and it seems to be making a huge difference. On my first inburgering visit, I couldn't say much and understand approximately no spoken Dutch. On a visit last week, my fiance, the NVA woman, and another Dutch woman were pretty impressed with how much of the conversation I could follow in Dutch, and my ability to express myself in Dutch. I still used "I don't understand" quite a few times, but at least I could say that in Dutch too :-P
That most recent meeting was for getting a local mentor to help me integrate into the community. She lives two blocks away, so that's really convenient. We speak Dutch mostly, and have done a couple shopping trips in the area. Next week I requested a library trip, since I want to get a card. Two of the branches in Amersfoort have materials for people learning Dutch, such as books for adults written using words that newbies will understand at various levels. Groovy. I could get a free card via the NVA while I'm inburgering, but it's only 40 euros for a full subscription for the year. The closest branch doesn't have the newbie Dutch materials, but the two that do are right on bus lines, not to mention close enough to ride my bike to.
I also got a year's subscription to Start!-krant, which is an almost-monthly paper with current events, written in basic Dutch. It's a higher level than I'm at, but I can understand most of it. The main thing is that it helps get me familiar with Dutch grammar and other fun stuff that comes more naturally with repetition versus memorization.
Last night I had my first dream in Dutch, which was a bit weird. I haven't started thinking in Dutch yet though, except briefly when planning what to say :-P
My mom arrived on Monday from Seattle, so we've spent most of the week exploring Amersfoort and Kattenbroek, and shopping. It's been very busy in the shopping areas, but not as crazy as the US. So far we've introduced Mom to oliebollen (doughnut balls) and stroopwafels (very thin layers of cookie-type stuff with syrup between). She likes both, though has vowed to never again have only oliebollen as dinner.
We're planning to head up to Jan's parents for Christmas dinner on Christmas day #1. We have 2 days of Christmas in the Netherlands. Sweet! Monday we're headed for northern Belgium. Jan tempted us with the description of a chocolate museum down there, complete with an unguarded 6-foot high solid milk chocolate egg. We're pretty sure it'll fit in the car. We're also going to stay in a nice hotel on the Belgian coast for one night, then hit some historical sites in Antwerp on the way back.
I've had about 4 weeks of classes now, and it seems to be making a huge difference. On my first inburgering visit, I couldn't say much and understand approximately no spoken Dutch. On a visit last week, my fiance, the NVA woman, and another Dutch woman were pretty impressed with how much of the conversation I could follow in Dutch, and my ability to express myself in Dutch. I still used "I don't understand" quite a few times, but at least I could say that in Dutch too :-P
That most recent meeting was for getting a local mentor to help me integrate into the community. She lives two blocks away, so that's really convenient. We speak Dutch mostly, and have done a couple shopping trips in the area. Next week I requested a library trip, since I want to get a card. Two of the branches in Amersfoort have materials for people learning Dutch, such as books for adults written using words that newbies will understand at various levels. Groovy. I could get a free card via the NVA while I'm inburgering, but it's only 40 euros for a full subscription for the year. The closest branch doesn't have the newbie Dutch materials, but the two that do are right on bus lines, not to mention close enough to ride my bike to.
I also got a year's subscription to Start!-krant, which is an almost-monthly paper with current events, written in basic Dutch. It's a higher level than I'm at, but I can understand most of it. The main thing is that it helps get me familiar with Dutch grammar and other fun stuff that comes more naturally with repetition versus memorization.
Last night I had my first dream in Dutch, which was a bit weird. I haven't started thinking in Dutch yet though, except briefly when planning what to say :-P
My mom arrived on Monday from Seattle, so we've spent most of the week exploring Amersfoort and Kattenbroek, and shopping. It's been very busy in the shopping areas, but not as crazy as the US. So far we've introduced Mom to oliebollen (doughnut balls) and stroopwafels (very thin layers of cookie-type stuff with syrup between). She likes both, though has vowed to never again have only oliebollen as dinner.
We're planning to head up to Jan's parents for Christmas dinner on Christmas day #1. We have 2 days of Christmas in the Netherlands. Sweet! Monday we're headed for northern Belgium. Jan tempted us with the description of a chocolate museum down there, complete with an unguarded 6-foot high solid milk chocolate egg. We're pretty sure it'll fit in the car. We're also going to stay in a nice hotel on the Belgian coast for one night, then hit some historical sites in Antwerp on the way back.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Happy Sinterklaas!
December 5th is Sinterklaas. Basically a Christmas variant prior to the usual Christmas on the 25th. But it has different traditions, some of which are well, really weird :-P
First there's Sinterklass who is basically Saint Nicholas, but might have some pagan Odin overtones. He's an old white dude with a beard and red robes, but wears a pope-type hat and carries a big shepherd's crook around. The hat and/or clothes always have a cross on them. He gives present to children.
Then there's the "Black Petes". This is white people wearing poncy 17th century clothes complete with flat velvet(ish) hat with feather, brightly colored tights, poofy velvet(ish) shorts, and a doublet. Oh yeah - they also put on blackface, red lipstick, and curly afro wigs. I think they'd get arrested if doing that in the US :-P Apparently Black Pete used to be a name for the devil, and but Sinterklaas enslaved the devils and put them to work. The current politically correct explanation is that Black Petes are black from going down chimneys. This doesn't quite explain the afro wig or lipstick.
Anyhow, we saw a Sinterklaas and a flock of Zwarte Pieten flocking around the local shopping area last month. The Black Petes seem to especially enjoy hamming it up - and at least half are women, though they all dress the same. Last week, on my bus to Utrecht, most of the neighborhood kids coming home from class for lunch were dressed as Black Pete - all of the boys and a majority of the girls. Though instead of black face, they had some of mom's concealer or spray tan on to darken their faces. Really it was more of an Orange Pete look.
We had some nice Sinterklaas Eve snow. The start of it (while at the shopping area) was damn near a blizzard. It took half an hour to get out of the parking lot: 3 entrances, 1 exit :-P We finally made it home and got a few inches of snow, which is now melting.
It was VERY cold last week so I'm glad it's finally warming up. Walking nearly a mile after sunset with a strong wind in 20 degree weather is NOT FUN. My hands were numb by the time I got on the bus, and red and wrinkly for a while afterward.
The snow was nice though ... first the canals got a layer of ice, then got covered by a layer of snow, and it was very pretty.
First there's Sinterklass who is basically Saint Nicholas, but might have some pagan Odin overtones. He's an old white dude with a beard and red robes, but wears a pope-type hat and carries a big shepherd's crook around. The hat and/or clothes always have a cross on them. He gives present to children.
Then there's the "Black Petes". This is white people wearing poncy 17th century clothes complete with flat velvet(ish) hat with feather, brightly colored tights, poofy velvet(ish) shorts, and a doublet. Oh yeah - they also put on blackface, red lipstick, and curly afro wigs. I think they'd get arrested if doing that in the US :-P Apparently Black Pete used to be a name for the devil, and but Sinterklaas enslaved the devils and put them to work. The current politically correct explanation is that Black Petes are black from going down chimneys. This doesn't quite explain the afro wig or lipstick.
Anyhow, we saw a Sinterklaas and a flock of Zwarte Pieten flocking around the local shopping area last month. The Black Petes seem to especially enjoy hamming it up - and at least half are women, though they all dress the same. Last week, on my bus to Utrecht, most of the neighborhood kids coming home from class for lunch were dressed as Black Pete - all of the boys and a majority of the girls. Though instead of black face, they had some of mom's concealer or spray tan on to darken their faces. Really it was more of an Orange Pete look.
We had some nice Sinterklaas Eve snow. The start of it (while at the shopping area) was damn near a blizzard. It took half an hour to get out of the parking lot: 3 entrances, 1 exit :-P We finally made it home and got a few inches of snow, which is now melting.
It was VERY cold last week so I'm glad it's finally warming up. Walking nearly a mile after sunset with a strong wind in 20 degree weather is NOT FUN. My hands were numb by the time I got on the bus, and red and wrinkly for a while afterward.
The snow was nice though ... first the canals got a layer of ice, then got covered by a layer of snow, and it was very pretty.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
No one celebrates it here of course. I'm going to try to make a turkey day dinner for Jan, since he's never had one. Just have to find turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin :-P
I've had three days of class so far and I'm loving it. We're starting with the basics but moving very fast. We're expected to learn the new words on our own, with a dictionary in our various languages, and then we learn how to apply them to sentences in class. We do a -lot- of listening and talking in class, which is great.
Dutch classes at JBI have 8-16 students, and ours has 10. I like small, since it makes it easy to get to know each other. 2 are from China, 1 from Egypt, 1 from Russia, 1 from Poland, 1 from Kazakhstan, 1 from South Africa, 1 from Indonesia, 1 from Colombia, and 1 from the US (me)! Everyone happens to speak passable English, so the instructors use English to explain new words or more complicated concepts. Most of the first lesson was in English, but by the third lesson most instructions were in Dutch, and understandable.
Most of us speak some Dutch already. Some have been here for several years, but were in English-language school or working at a job that didn't require Dutch. Only one showed up in class speaking no Dutch at all (from China to study communications) but is keeping up with things well enough. We all have prior university education, except for two who are learning Dutch so they can go into regular university classes.
To speak Dutch well enough for a job or university classes, we have to be at the B2 level. The JBI classes for level A, B1, and then B2 each last about 2 months, and are scheduled to start a week or two after the previous level ends. If all goes well, I'll be speaking acceptable Dutch by June 2011 :-) That's 6 months at the intensive rate, but 12 months at the normal rate. Both rates are designed for people with university education or qualified for a university education. It probably takes a lot longer with the ROC classes, but I don't know how long.
Both of the teachers for the class are very experienced and enthusiastic. One wrote the book we're using, and the other is very good at focusing on pronounciation. I've been using my electronic translator (Franklin 1870 with Dutch-English Bookman card), and it's been great so far. The only words I haven't found aren't on Google Translate either. The teachers focus on regular speech ... rarely formal, and with a lot of commonly used slang instead of too-proper terminology.
There's a big computer lab in the building, plus a separate language lab for speaking and listening. I don't have any homework to do today while waiting for class to start (got it done yesterday), so I'll check out the computer lab instead.
I've had three days of class so far and I'm loving it. We're starting with the basics but moving very fast. We're expected to learn the new words on our own, with a dictionary in our various languages, and then we learn how to apply them to sentences in class. We do a -lot- of listening and talking in class, which is great.
Dutch classes at JBI have 8-16 students, and ours has 10. I like small, since it makes it easy to get to know each other. 2 are from China, 1 from Egypt, 1 from Russia, 1 from Poland, 1 from Kazakhstan, 1 from South Africa, 1 from Indonesia, 1 from Colombia, and 1 from the US (me)! Everyone happens to speak passable English, so the instructors use English to explain new words or more complicated concepts. Most of the first lesson was in English, but by the third lesson most instructions were in Dutch, and understandable.
Most of us speak some Dutch already. Some have been here for several years, but were in English-language school or working at a job that didn't require Dutch. Only one showed up in class speaking no Dutch at all (from China to study communications) but is keeping up with things well enough. We all have prior university education, except for two who are learning Dutch so they can go into regular university classes.
To speak Dutch well enough for a job or university classes, we have to be at the B2 level. The JBI classes for level A, B1, and then B2 each last about 2 months, and are scheduled to start a week or two after the previous level ends. If all goes well, I'll be speaking acceptable Dutch by June 2011 :-) That's 6 months at the intensive rate, but 12 months at the normal rate. Both rates are designed for people with university education or qualified for a university education. It probably takes a lot longer with the ROC classes, but I don't know how long.
Both of the teachers for the class are very experienced and enthusiastic. One wrote the book we're using, and the other is very good at focusing on pronounciation. I've been using my electronic translator (Franklin 1870 with Dutch-English Bookman card), and it's been great so far. The only words I haven't found aren't on Google Translate either. The teachers focus on regular speech ... rarely formal, and with a lot of commonly used slang instead of too-proper terminology.
There's a big computer lab in the building, plus a separate language lab for speaking and listening. I don't have any homework to do today while waiting for class to start (got it done yesterday), so I'll check out the computer lab instead.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Taalcursussen (Language Classes)
Today I start language classes, in about 6 hours. Jan drove us to my bus stop near the university on Saturday, so I would recognize the stop when I got close to it. We also walked from the bus stop to the building with my class, since it's a bit of a windy path through a residential neighborhood. Most of it is alongside a canal on one side, and back yards on the other side of the path. Nice and scenic, with lots of ducks - we even saw one albino duck!
The part of campus the building is on is "only" about 100 years old. The university itself has been around since 695 A.D. As an American, the concept of buildings and institutions that old is a bit overwhelming. We just don't have the context for it back in the US. There's newer buildings too, but most of them do an acceptable job of mimicking the style of the building from 1912. For some reason there's a huge square in the middle of the buildings filled with gravel. A little weird, but Jan thinks it might be used for riding horses.
On the way home from our exploratory outing, we stopped at Blokker (a local for small home items) and bought a reusable water bottle. I should probably find something I can take for a snack, since I'll be out of the house for 6.5 hours or so. Jan has class tonight as well, lasting til 9 or so, so I'll take the bus home instead of getting a ride with him after he gets off work.
Looking forward to meeting people! It sounds like the people taking classes at the James Boswell Institute are the more educated type, with less educated folks getting classes at the local ROCs (community colleges). People posting in foreigner forums had indicated that both the students and the teachers in the ROCs are typically lacking motivation to learn or teach Dutch, and those classes make slow progress. So I guess it's lucky for me they have separate classes for the more educated, but it's disappointing that motivated but uneducated students get stuck in those ROC classes.
The part of campus the building is on is "only" about 100 years old. The university itself has been around since 695 A.D. As an American, the concept of buildings and institutions that old is a bit overwhelming. We just don't have the context for it back in the US. There's newer buildings too, but most of them do an acceptable job of mimicking the style of the building from 1912. For some reason there's a huge square in the middle of the buildings filled with gravel. A little weird, but Jan thinks it might be used for riding horses.
On the way home from our exploratory outing, we stopped at Blokker (a local for small home items) and bought a reusable water bottle. I should probably find something I can take for a snack, since I'll be out of the house for 6.5 hours or so. Jan has class tonight as well, lasting til 9 or so, so I'll take the bus home instead of getting a ride with him after he gets off work.
Looking forward to meeting people! It sounds like the people taking classes at the James Boswell Institute are the more educated type, with less educated folks getting classes at the local ROCs (community colleges). People posting in foreigner forums had indicated that both the students and the teachers in the ROCs are typically lacking motivation to learn or teach Dutch, and those classes make slow progress. So I guess it's lucky for me they have separate classes for the more educated, but it's disappointing that motivated but uneducated students get stuck in those ROC classes.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Cards!
On Thursday I recieved my bank card, OV card, and letter to get my residence card in the mail. w00t! I'm feeling extra Dutch now. The OV card is for public transport. I'll start using it Monday when Dutch classes start. The residence card is quite cool, and I can use that instead of my passport as ID. Which is nice, because ID is required if police ask for it, and passports are just a bit too clunky.
I also got my book for class on Friday. I leafed through it and could understand most of it. Fortunately it looks like a practical approach of using Dutch versus memorizing rules and such.
Now that I have my resident card we can get a refund for the cost of the language class. We emailed my inburgerer to let her know we're ready for another appointment. Still have trouble believing there's free, quality, Dutch language classes :-P Sweet.
I also got my book for class on Friday. I leafed through it and could understand most of it. Fortunately it looks like a practical approach of using Dutch versus memorizing rules and such.
Now that I have my resident card we can get a refund for the cost of the language class. We emailed my inburgerer to let her know we're ready for another appointment. Still have trouble believing there's free, quality, Dutch language classes :-P Sweet.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Birthday Partay
We had Jan's birthday party on Saturday, and his parents and sister came over. Parents came over around 2pm and we had coffee (of course!), and pie and chatted for quite a while, then got out some snacks: cheese cubes, sliced sausage, crackers, and some antipasto stuff. His mother showed me a book they had ordered with his sisters wedding pictures from a few months ago - instead of driving away in a special car after the ceremony, they rode away on a special bike, with the the husband pedaling and her sitting sideways on the rack on the back wearing a wedding a dress. Very Dutch!
One slightly different thing about the birthday party was that Jan's parents each also wished me a happy Jan's-birthday, after wishing him a happy birthday. His mother also gave me first triple cheek kiss. Right-left-right I think. She understands my American-ness and doesn't expect triple kissing in return :-P
His sister came over near 5pm, bringing a lot of food and two presents for Jan. The big one was a table-side wok set for 6 people, with a big hotplate and 6 little wok pans. Apparently this is a fairly common thing to do in the Netherlands, and was a ton of fun. The food his sister brought was stir fry ingredients, similar to the US except for the addition of potato balls. Potato balls are pretty common in the supermarkets, and are just chunks of potato that are small enough to cook quickly.
After dinner we had more coffee and chatting, and they left a bit past 8pm. I'm pretty sure Jan gets his naughtiness from his father. He's usually very reserved, but once in a while teasing his wife in silly ways.
Today I'm hoping my transit card, bank card, resident card letter, or language class book arrives. So many cool things to wait for :-)
One slightly different thing about the birthday party was that Jan's parents each also wished me a happy Jan's-birthday, after wishing him a happy birthday. His mother also gave me first triple cheek kiss. Right-left-right I think. She understands my American-ness and doesn't expect triple kissing in return :-P
His sister came over near 5pm, bringing a lot of food and two presents for Jan. The big one was a table-side wok set for 6 people, with a big hotplate and 6 little wok pans. Apparently this is a fairly common thing to do in the Netherlands, and was a ton of fun. The food his sister brought was stir fry ingredients, similar to the US except for the addition of potato balls. Potato balls are pretty common in the supermarkets, and are just chunks of potato that are small enough to cook quickly.
After dinner we had more coffee and chatting, and they left a bit past 8pm. I'm pretty sure Jan gets his naughtiness from his father. He's usually very reserved, but once in a while teasing his wife in silly ways.
Today I'm hoping my transit card, bank card, resident card letter, or language class book arrives. So many cool things to wait for :-)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Busy Days!
We had a storm come through on Thursday, which is also Saint Martin's Day here. It's the Dutch equivalent of Halloween, though the kids sing certain songs for candy instead of threatening to throw eggs. The weather was hideous though, and only one pair of children came to the door - during a brief torrential downpour with a very wet mother trying to cover all three of them with an umbrella.
Jan had his birthday, but we didn't go out to dinner as planned because I spent the same day with a stomach virus doing really awful things to me. His parents and sister are coming over today for a celebration, and have something mysterious planned for dinner. Jan picked out pie halves for his birthday - it's traditional for the birthday boy to host his own party and provide the food.
We made it to the inburgering appointment yesterday ... barely on time even though we got to the general area with half an hour to spare. Finding parking was a nightmare. Next time we're going straight to a parking lot that isn't too far away and just planning on a bit of walking :-P Anyhow, the appointment went wonderfully. First the woman explained the process (which I already understood pretty well) and suggested I take intensive classes and aim for taking the State Exam at level B1 or B2. From what I understood, the minimal level needed for inburgering, A2, isn't sufficient for getting a job or anything. Basically just survival Dutch.
Because I have no resident card, they can't pay for the classes for me yet, but she said they'd arrange a refund of the class fees as soon as my card comes in. Jan signed me up for the class online while we were there and paid a bit over 1000 euros. It's a 3 month course with 100 hours of class time scheduled. It should get me to the point where I could pass the A2 exam, but instead of taking that I'll go onto B1 and B2 classes. City funding for the classes might end in a year or so, hence it's good to do it now. It also turns out that not all cities partially fund the classes, so I'm lucky to be in a city that does :-)
We also ordered my book online. I mentioned the price to Jan (only 30 euros!) and the woman said a lot of people complain about how expensive it is. We told her what I was paying for law school books (about $2000 per year), and she was a bit appalled. The only downside to the classes is that they're in Utrecht at Utrecht University, instead of a local community college. So Jan ordered a bus pass for me, and I managed to find a decent bus route. One that goes directly from here to there with no transfers and about a 10 minute walk at each end. The only downside is that it's a route designed for commuting to work, so mostly leaves from here in the morning and leaves from there in the evening. My classes start mid-afternoon, so it'll get me there 2 hours early, but classes get out about when Jan gets done with work, so I can ride home with him :-) I can use the 2 hours to study somewhere I suppose. It's either that or take 2 buses and 1 train to get there.
The websites for the bus companies aren't the greatest. Getting a schedule for a route requires doing virtual backflips around the site for a while, and some of the times get cut off by other crap on the website and are impossible to see. Maybe they just don't like Firefox.
Anyhow, the classes start in about a week! Very fast (almost too fast), but it's either then or wait until February. I'm tired of waiting :-P
Jan had his birthday, but we didn't go out to dinner as planned because I spent the same day with a stomach virus doing really awful things to me. His parents and sister are coming over today for a celebration, and have something mysterious planned for dinner. Jan picked out pie halves for his birthday - it's traditional for the birthday boy to host his own party and provide the food.
We made it to the inburgering appointment yesterday ... barely on time even though we got to the general area with half an hour to spare. Finding parking was a nightmare. Next time we're going straight to a parking lot that isn't too far away and just planning on a bit of walking :-P Anyhow, the appointment went wonderfully. First the woman explained the process (which I already understood pretty well) and suggested I take intensive classes and aim for taking the State Exam at level B1 or B2. From what I understood, the minimal level needed for inburgering, A2, isn't sufficient for getting a job or anything. Basically just survival Dutch.
Because I have no resident card, they can't pay for the classes for me yet, but she said they'd arrange a refund of the class fees as soon as my card comes in. Jan signed me up for the class online while we were there and paid a bit over 1000 euros. It's a 3 month course with 100 hours of class time scheduled. It should get me to the point where I could pass the A2 exam, but instead of taking that I'll go onto B1 and B2 classes. City funding for the classes might end in a year or so, hence it's good to do it now. It also turns out that not all cities partially fund the classes, so I'm lucky to be in a city that does :-)
We also ordered my book online. I mentioned the price to Jan (only 30 euros!) and the woman said a lot of people complain about how expensive it is. We told her what I was paying for law school books (about $2000 per year), and she was a bit appalled. The only downside to the classes is that they're in Utrecht at Utrecht University, instead of a local community college. So Jan ordered a bus pass for me, and I managed to find a decent bus route. One that goes directly from here to there with no transfers and about a 10 minute walk at each end. The only downside is that it's a route designed for commuting to work, so mostly leaves from here in the morning and leaves from there in the evening. My classes start mid-afternoon, so it'll get me there 2 hours early, but classes get out about when Jan gets done with work, so I can ride home with him :-) I can use the 2 hours to study somewhere I suppose. It's either that or take 2 buses and 1 train to get there.
The websites for the bus companies aren't the greatest. Getting a schedule for a route requires doing virtual backflips around the site for a while, and some of the times get cut off by other crap on the website and are impossible to see. Maybe they just don't like Firefox.
Anyhow, the classes start in about a week! Very fast (almost too fast), but it's either then or wait until February. I'm tired of waiting :-P
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Inburgering Progress
Well, still no resident card. But Jan finally called IND and they said my card has been ready since Sept 9th, but the distributor hasn't gotten around to sending it to the Utrecht office for us to pick up. ETA: 4-8 weeks. Bureaucracy (in) action!
The call was triggered by another notification of an appointment with the local integration agency. The last one turned out to be largely pointless because they didn't want to proceed without my resident card, in case I was just pretending to be someone with the same name and face whose passport I'd stolen, for the devious purpose of getting integrated without being required to.
Jan then called the integration agency to let them know I'm still cardless for the foreseeable future. After much discussion, they called him back to say that bringing the acceptance letter would be sufficient, so we don't have to reschedule again and wait a couple more months.
So hopefully on Friday my Dutch abilities will be assessed and I'll be informed of where I can take classes suitable for my current Dutch abilities and past education level. Or they'll change their mind about letting me integrate before I get my resident card, and we'll get annoyed and go shopping while we're in the city center anyhow.
The call was triggered by another notification of an appointment with the local integration agency. The last one turned out to be largely pointless because they didn't want to proceed without my resident card, in case I was just pretending to be someone with the same name and face whose passport I'd stolen, for the devious purpose of getting integrated without being required to.
Jan then called the integration agency to let them know I'm still cardless for the foreseeable future. After much discussion, they called him back to say that bringing the acceptance letter would be sufficient, so we don't have to reschedule again and wait a couple more months.
So hopefully on Friday my Dutch abilities will be assessed and I'll be informed of where I can take classes suitable for my current Dutch abilities and past education level. Or they'll change their mind about letting me integrate before I get my resident card, and we'll get annoyed and go shopping while we're in the city center anyhow.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Electronic Translators
My mom and step-dad wanted to get me an electronic handheld translator (vertaalcomputer), and they sent me the Franklin Explorer 12 Language Translator FR-TJS12. While decent for traveling as a tourist, with a nice selection in the phrase book, it had a very limited vocabulary. Even very simple, basic words are missing. The FR-TJS12 is about as big as my passport, though thicker, and seems sturdy enough. It has far fewer words than my small-ish hardcopy dictionary.
I did some research, and as far as I can tell, every multi language translator has few words in it. The more languages, the fewer words per language, so one catering just to the languages you want is likeliest to be the most useful and affordable. A multi-language model would be practical for someone vacationing briefly in several places in Europe. The price is typically around $30.
Finding translators that have a lot of words in just two languages is not very easy, unless you're interested in Spanish. Finding Dutch-English ones is quite hard.
The first I looked at was the ones be Ectaco. Then I read about their customer service problems, and ran away screaming. They do look like good products on paper, but if there is a problem with anything (like the translator arriving with a dead battery), getting it replaced will be a nightmare. They also call them "talking" bilingual dictionaries, but forget to mention anywhere that some languages aren't available with that feature. Thai is one that doesn't talk, and I found a list of emails from one poor guy getting jerked around by Ectaco customer service for a couple years, saying they'd be adding an update for Thai speech. Does Dutch talk? I have no idea. I haven't been able to find a review of that particular model. Not that I care about the speech functionality, but it makes it hard to trust any of their claims. It also isn't clear if the irregular verb feature is available in both languages or just English. Prices start at the high end of the reasonable range, which is more than I want to risk.
iTravl is another one that looks good on paper and got horrible reviews everywhere I looked. Bad battery problems, bad speech, bad speech recognition, etc. And very expensive!
I finally settled on two items from Franklin that they don't sell directly from their website. The 1870 dictionary, with the BQN-2047 bookman card. The 1870 has been replaced with new dictionaries that do the same thing but cost more, according to the reviews. The one I bought (DMQ-1870) comes pre-loaded with various English language software: dictionary, thesaurus, crossword solver, idioms, quotations, etc. A slot in the back allows for the insertion of any Bookman card - so I could also get an English-French card for $20-40 in the future if I decide I want it. I like the Bookman approach, since it's expandable without paying to buy a new device. SMRT.
Dutch Bookman cards are not easy to find. In fact, I could only find the Dutch-English card at Dutch websites, and it may even be disappearing from those if/when Franklin stops making them. In fact, the first place I ordered it from, c-device.com, emailed me to let me know it was out of stock. They tried to talk me into buying their in-house product that would be available in a few weeks, but I didn't want to wait that long and was a bit wary of a product I haven't seen any reviews for. To their credit, they refunded the money very quickly once I made it clear I wanted a refund, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them in the future.
So I bought the 1870 and BQN-2047 from pcmedia.nl, a Dutch company located nearby. The 1870 is a little wider and longer than the multi-language model. The multi-language one might fit into pants' pockets when standing up, but the 1870 wouldn't. It's still small enough to fit into my coat pockets easily. It's also light weight and has a sold feel to it - not flimsy.
The screen of the 1870 is big, and has good resolution. About 12 lines of text fit in the display from top to bottom, and over thirty letters from side to side. This is much much much better than the multi-language one, which has a display for 3 lines of text under 25 letters each. The multi-language one is simply too small to get an entire definition in it, and looking up words and scrolling is VERY slow. Like 5-10 seconds every time. The 1870, on the other hand, is quite fast unless it can't find the word. When that happens, it will take a few seconds to search for similar words in case you misspelled something.
Unfortunately, the Dutch card only has conjugations of English words on it. So I can look up an infinitive form of a Dutch word (like gaan - going), but not a conjugated form (like gaat - goes). This is the biggest disappointment in the Dutch-English card for me. Looking up a conjugated word form is the best use I'd have for a dictionary, and I can't do it at all with this item. But as far as I can tell, no dictionaries have that function in Dutch. Oh, and there's no speech at all with the Dutch-English card. I'm not bothered by that really, but it's a bit weird. Perhaps Franklin will come out with improved cards some day :-)
I did some research, and as far as I can tell, every multi language translator has few words in it. The more languages, the fewer words per language, so one catering just to the languages you want is likeliest to be the most useful and affordable. A multi-language model would be practical for someone vacationing briefly in several places in Europe. The price is typically around $30.
Finding translators that have a lot of words in just two languages is not very easy, unless you're interested in Spanish. Finding Dutch-English ones is quite hard.
The first I looked at was the ones be Ectaco. Then I read about their customer service problems, and ran away screaming. They do look like good products on paper, but if there is a problem with anything (like the translator arriving with a dead battery), getting it replaced will be a nightmare. They also call them "talking" bilingual dictionaries, but forget to mention anywhere that some languages aren't available with that feature. Thai is one that doesn't talk, and I found a list of emails from one poor guy getting jerked around by Ectaco customer service for a couple years, saying they'd be adding an update for Thai speech. Does Dutch talk? I have no idea. I haven't been able to find a review of that particular model. Not that I care about the speech functionality, but it makes it hard to trust any of their claims. It also isn't clear if the irregular verb feature is available in both languages or just English. Prices start at the high end of the reasonable range, which is more than I want to risk.
iTravl is another one that looks good on paper and got horrible reviews everywhere I looked. Bad battery problems, bad speech, bad speech recognition, etc. And very expensive!
I finally settled on two items from Franklin that they don't sell directly from their website. The 1870 dictionary, with the BQN-2047 bookman card. The 1870 has been replaced with new dictionaries that do the same thing but cost more, according to the reviews. The one I bought (DMQ-1870) comes pre-loaded with various English language software: dictionary, thesaurus, crossword solver, idioms, quotations, etc. A slot in the back allows for the insertion of any Bookman card - so I could also get an English-French card for $20-40 in the future if I decide I want it. I like the Bookman approach, since it's expandable without paying to buy a new device. SMRT.
Dutch Bookman cards are not easy to find. In fact, I could only find the Dutch-English card at Dutch websites, and it may even be disappearing from those if/when Franklin stops making them. In fact, the first place I ordered it from, c-device.com, emailed me to let me know it was out of stock. They tried to talk me into buying their in-house product that would be available in a few weeks, but I didn't want to wait that long and was a bit wary of a product I haven't seen any reviews for. To their credit, they refunded the money very quickly once I made it clear I wanted a refund, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them in the future.
So I bought the 1870 and BQN-2047 from pcmedia.nl, a Dutch company located nearby. The 1870 is a little wider and longer than the multi-language model. The multi-language one might fit into pants' pockets when standing up, but the 1870 wouldn't. It's still small enough to fit into my coat pockets easily. It's also light weight and has a sold feel to it - not flimsy.
The screen of the 1870 is big, and has good resolution. About 12 lines of text fit in the display from top to bottom, and over thirty letters from side to side. This is much much much better than the multi-language one, which has a display for 3 lines of text under 25 letters each. The multi-language one is simply too small to get an entire definition in it, and looking up words and scrolling is VERY slow. Like 5-10 seconds every time. The 1870, on the other hand, is quite fast unless it can't find the word. When that happens, it will take a few seconds to search for similar words in case you misspelled something.
Unfortunately, the Dutch card only has conjugations of English words on it. So I can look up an infinitive form of a Dutch word (like gaan - going), but not a conjugated form (like gaat - goes). This is the biggest disappointment in the Dutch-English card for me. Looking up a conjugated word form is the best use I'd have for a dictionary, and I can't do it at all with this item. But as far as I can tell, no dictionaries have that function in Dutch. Oh, and there's no speech at all with the Dutch-English card. I'm not bothered by that really, but it's a bit weird. Perhaps Franklin will come out with improved cards some day :-)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Language, Education, and Tolerance
As a warning to not take anything I say too seriously, I've only been in the Netherlands for three months, and I don't get out much. I live in a quiet residential middle-income neighborhood. I'm blond-haired, blue-eyed, and pasty white. My experience may radically deviate from that of other immigrants in the Netherlands.
Today I was reading an online newspaper article from back home (Seattle) discussing the experiences of a couple families that had recently immigrated from Bhutan. It was an Uplifiting Piece, as newspapers are wont to publish when it's been a slow day. Family X moved from Bhutan 2 years ago, the teenage daughter loved having opportunities and was gaining confidence in speaking English, and her mother was regularly attending language classes.
Three people had made comments: 1) Teenage girl is hawt. 2) Fix the real problem and end the instability in Bhutan in an unspecified manner, with the implication that emigrants should fix their unstable countries instead of fleeing persecution. 3) Why's the mother taking so long to learn English? Why aren't they speaking only English at home to learn it faster?
It's comments like those that make me an apologetic American. I am an American and I'm not ashamed of being an American, but I would like to apologize for my idiotic fellow-Americans that simply do not know better, can't be arsed to educate themselves about a subject, and are convinced their first gut reaction is right regardless of any contradictory evidence with which they are presented.
Learning a language does not happen overnight, even when immersed in it. People take classes because classes help, a lot. Not all people learn at the ideal speed of gaining competence in a year. Older people immigrating from third-world countries have probably not had much experience with a formal education, and their brains are not accustomed to having a lot of info shoved at them all at once.
I had three years of Spanish classes and still don't speak it as well as I speak Dutch after 15 months of Rosetta Stone and 3 months of Dutch TV. Let's face it, most language instruction in the US follows the same formula, and doesn't work very well without a LOT of studying and rote memorization. Of course, that's the American attitude toward education in general: we've been using rote memorization for decades, and even if it doesn't work very well at least it's familiar so let's keep doing it.
So why did Idiot #3 think someone should speak sufficient English after a year or so? Probably because she has no experience learning a language and doesn't like non-European immigration and it was the only part of the article that was even vaguely vulnerable to criticism. Speaking only English at home? Give me a break! I'd go nuts if we only spoke Dutch at home. First of all, I can't communicate sufficiently for us to handle the essentials of living together. Second of all, it's enough to deal with a new country and culture and crappy TV programs without adding more stress by not being able to talk to anyone in a meaningful (or therapeutic) manner. It's probably 100 times worse for people coming from a non-western country after living in a refugee camp for a decade or two. Immigrants -want- to learn the language. We also want to adjust in a manner that doesn't sacrifice our sanity.
Based on posts I've seen both on American and Dutch sites, it's not uncommon in either country to be unhappy with immigrants that are slow about integration. But individuals' tolerance toward immigrants seems quite a bit higher in the Netherlands. For starters, the government takes proactive steps to encourage and help immigrants learn Dutch. Nearly free language classes! Integration appointments where someone talks to you about the process and what happens, and what's expected of you as an immigrant.
Both countries have the same expectations of immigrants, but they are approached very differently. In both countries, there is a widespread social expectation that immigrants will integrate to some extent. In the US, there is no official requirement that immigrants try, and no official support. There are no taxpayer funded classes available to the majority of immigrants. In the Netherlands, there is. The Netherlands provides immigrants, especially poor ones, an essential opportunity that the US does not.
What's the likely effect of these different policies? Immigrants in the Netherlands learning Dutch quickly and able to work productively. Immigrants in the US unable to speak much English after decades of living there, and maybe able to work in an ethnic restaurant or martial arts studio, but more likely living in poverty and raising their children in poverty, surrounded by poverty, and starting a cycle that is difficult to break in the so-called Land of Opportunity.
Which brings up another issue: how people treat immigrants on an everyday basis, versus rants on blogs and newspaper sites. Speaking non-English in public in the US often results in various levels of hostility, even if racism isn't a factor. Here it usually results in someone speaking English to me, or smiling politely and apologizing to me before leaving ("sorry" is the same in both English and Dutch). Worst case scenario, they keep talking to my fiance then pause so he can translate for me.
Why so different? Maybe because Dutch society is more tolerant in general. More likely because all Dutch people under the age of 60 or so and over the age of 12 were required to learn a second language in high school. And while they know it's possible to learn a second language very well, they also know that it's not easy and it takes time. Ignorance results in ignorant reactions.
Today I was reading an online newspaper article from back home (Seattle) discussing the experiences of a couple families that had recently immigrated from Bhutan. It was an Uplifiting Piece, as newspapers are wont to publish when it's been a slow day. Family X moved from Bhutan 2 years ago, the teenage daughter loved having opportunities and was gaining confidence in speaking English, and her mother was regularly attending language classes.
Three people had made comments: 1) Teenage girl is hawt. 2) Fix the real problem and end the instability in Bhutan in an unspecified manner, with the implication that emigrants should fix their unstable countries instead of fleeing persecution. 3) Why's the mother taking so long to learn English? Why aren't they speaking only English at home to learn it faster?
It's comments like those that make me an apologetic American. I am an American and I'm not ashamed of being an American, but I would like to apologize for my idiotic fellow-Americans that simply do not know better, can't be arsed to educate themselves about a subject, and are convinced their first gut reaction is right regardless of any contradictory evidence with which they are presented.
Learning a language does not happen overnight, even when immersed in it. People take classes because classes help, a lot. Not all people learn at the ideal speed of gaining competence in a year. Older people immigrating from third-world countries have probably not had much experience with a formal education, and their brains are not accustomed to having a lot of info shoved at them all at once.
I had three years of Spanish classes and still don't speak it as well as I speak Dutch after 15 months of Rosetta Stone and 3 months of Dutch TV. Let's face it, most language instruction in the US follows the same formula, and doesn't work very well without a LOT of studying and rote memorization. Of course, that's the American attitude toward education in general: we've been using rote memorization for decades, and even if it doesn't work very well at least it's familiar so let's keep doing it.
So why did Idiot #3 think someone should speak sufficient English after a year or so? Probably because she has no experience learning a language and doesn't like non-European immigration and it was the only part of the article that was even vaguely vulnerable to criticism. Speaking only English at home? Give me a break! I'd go nuts if we only spoke Dutch at home. First of all, I can't communicate sufficiently for us to handle the essentials of living together. Second of all, it's enough to deal with a new country and culture and crappy TV programs without adding more stress by not being able to talk to anyone in a meaningful (or therapeutic) manner. It's probably 100 times worse for people coming from a non-western country after living in a refugee camp for a decade or two. Immigrants -want- to learn the language. We also want to adjust in a manner that doesn't sacrifice our sanity.
Based on posts I've seen both on American and Dutch sites, it's not uncommon in either country to be unhappy with immigrants that are slow about integration. But individuals' tolerance toward immigrants seems quite a bit higher in the Netherlands. For starters, the government takes proactive steps to encourage and help immigrants learn Dutch. Nearly free language classes! Integration appointments where someone talks to you about the process and what happens, and what's expected of you as an immigrant.
Both countries have the same expectations of immigrants, but they are approached very differently. In both countries, there is a widespread social expectation that immigrants will integrate to some extent. In the US, there is no official requirement that immigrants try, and no official support. There are no taxpayer funded classes available to the majority of immigrants. In the Netherlands, there is. The Netherlands provides immigrants, especially poor ones, an essential opportunity that the US does not.
What's the likely effect of these different policies? Immigrants in the Netherlands learning Dutch quickly and able to work productively. Immigrants in the US unable to speak much English after decades of living there, and maybe able to work in an ethnic restaurant or martial arts studio, but more likely living in poverty and raising their children in poverty, surrounded by poverty, and starting a cycle that is difficult to break in the so-called Land of Opportunity.
Which brings up another issue: how people treat immigrants on an everyday basis, versus rants on blogs and newspaper sites. Speaking non-English in public in the US often results in various levels of hostility, even if racism isn't a factor. Here it usually results in someone speaking English to me, or smiling politely and apologizing to me before leaving ("sorry" is the same in both English and Dutch). Worst case scenario, they keep talking to my fiance then pause so he can translate for me.
Why so different? Maybe because Dutch society is more tolerant in general. More likely because all Dutch people under the age of 60 or so and over the age of 12 were required to learn a second language in high school. And while they know it's possible to learn a second language very well, they also know that it's not easy and it takes time. Ignorance results in ignorant reactions.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Neigborhood
Cities are divided into districts. I'm fairly sure there's voting for representatives and such based on district. I live in Cats' Pants. Well, Kattenbroek, which literally means Cats' Pants, but was probably chosen because it's someone's last name. Or possible named after a tavern in Belgium.
We're fairly far from the center of Amersfoort, and this neighborhood was only built about 20 years ago. It was an entirely pre-planned neighborhood and is set up nicely with an open-air shopping mall (winkelcentrum) on one edge. The roads are nice and wide and divided with trees in the middle, and there's never traffic problems. Well, sometimes teenagers ride their bikes side-by-side in the road where the bike lane ends, but we turn onto our street after a couple blocks so that isn't too unbearable.
Every neighborhood has multiple elementary schools, and there's usually high schools/ROCs in neighboring neighborhoods at the very farthest. The closest train station from our 'hood isn't in walking distance, but is in easy bike-riding distance. There are also bus stops in walking distance.
The page explaining the design for Kattenbroek is here. Translated to English thanks to google translate. The hype on it in pretty well-founded. The architecture is always interesting, usually in a good way. Some of the color combinations are a bit odd or dated, but never boring or dull :-P There's a lot of small parks scattered around and it's a pretty kid-dense 'hood.
It's also a nicely mixed-income neighborhood. When looking at houses, funda.nl would list the percentage of low and high income residents. Every neighborhood in the cities we looked at has a moderate low income population, but rarely a very high low-income population (usually in areas with a lot of high-rise apartments). This is significant because it helps avoid the slum problem that happens in the US. So Kattenbroek is about 1/4 high income, 1/4 low income, and 1/2 in between, which looks good both on paper and on the street.
Most people take care of their little front gardens, which is usually just a few square feet. Of course, if they get too unruly, the front door is blocked, which probably helps. All in all it's a very nice atmosphere, though sometimes it feels a little too orderly and quaint :-P
We're fairly far from the center of Amersfoort, and this neighborhood was only built about 20 years ago. It was an entirely pre-planned neighborhood and is set up nicely with an open-air shopping mall (winkelcentrum) on one edge. The roads are nice and wide and divided with trees in the middle, and there's never traffic problems. Well, sometimes teenagers ride their bikes side-by-side in the road where the bike lane ends, but we turn onto our street after a couple blocks so that isn't too unbearable.
Every neighborhood has multiple elementary schools, and there's usually high schools/ROCs in neighboring neighborhoods at the very farthest. The closest train station from our 'hood isn't in walking distance, but is in easy bike-riding distance. There are also bus stops in walking distance.
The page explaining the design for Kattenbroek is here. Translated to English thanks to google translate. The hype on it in pretty well-founded. The architecture is always interesting, usually in a good way. Some of the color combinations are a bit odd or dated, but never boring or dull :-P There's a lot of small parks scattered around and it's a pretty kid-dense 'hood.
It's also a nicely mixed-income neighborhood. When looking at houses, funda.nl would list the percentage of low and high income residents. Every neighborhood in the cities we looked at has a moderate low income population, but rarely a very high low-income population (usually in areas with a lot of high-rise apartments). This is significant because it helps avoid the slum problem that happens in the US. So Kattenbroek is about 1/4 high income, 1/4 low income, and 1/2 in between, which looks good both on paper and on the street.
Most people take care of their little front gardens, which is usually just a few square feet. Of course, if they get too unruly, the front door is blocked, which probably helps. All in all it's a very nice atmosphere, though sometimes it feels a little too orderly and quaint :-P
Friday, October 29, 2010
Language
A requirement of inburgering (integration) is learning Dutch, unless you're coming from the EU basically. It must be learned to some degree within 3.5 years of entry, and is also a requirement when applying for permanent residency or naturalization.
There are 6 CEF levels of Dutch: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, going from easiest to most difficult. The civic integration exam tests for A2, which is required to pass.
Failure to pass at A2 can mean a fine if you haven't been trying to learn the language, an extension of time to learn Dutch, or a waiver of the requirement if learning disabled and unable to learn Dutch better. No mention of people getting deported! Yay!
There's another test, the Staatsexamen NT2 (State Examination) for people that need to prove they can speak Dutch well enough to work in certain jobs or study in certain programs, and can also be used for residency purposes. Level 1 corresponds with B1 and level 2 corresponds with B2. The NT2 looks pretty similar to some aspects of college entry exams - showing that you can read and understand, explain what you read, and communicate ideas, as well as listening comprehension.
The official websites describing these tests are all in Dutch of course, except for a main page if you're really lucky. translate.google.com is your friend if you want more in-depth data. Some use frames however, which means the entire site shows the same URL for every page, and clicking on links to frames won't result in getting a translated page, making for mucho cut and paste. I hates frameses. To be even more clever in withholding useful information from non-Dutch speakers, sometimes the relevant information is contained in video clips in Dutch. Google translate doesn't help with those :-(
Dutch courses are available for very cheap. But not until after you've been accepted as a resident. There are also loans available if going to the equivalent of an accredited school, which can be used for related expenses like travel and childcare. Some of the course costs can be refunded to you when you pass the exam. Groovy!
In addition to private language companies, Dutch can be learned at most, if not all, vocational schools (called ROCs). ROCs are somewhat similar to community colleges back in the states, but in addition to providing classes and certifications for adults, also provide vocational training for children aged 12 and up on a vocational education track.
At my incomplete imburgering interview, I was informed that the location where I would be taking classes depends on my Dutch abilities and education level. So it sounds like you might not just end up taking classes at the nearest ROC. I'll find out one of these days. Or weeks. Or months.
A few sites I glanced at indicated that it takes approximately one year of regular classes (5 hours in class per week) to attain the A2 level of dutch, or a year of intensive classes (15 hours in class per week) to get B1 or B2.
I'm tempted to go for B1 or B2, since I'd like work in law eventually. I'd probably be stuck with work involving international law unless I want to go through law school again since the first time was quite horrible, but would probably need good Dutch to communicate with my overlords/employers. The problem is that intensive courses are basically full time jobs if you're studying properly, which is 1-2 hours of studying per hour spent in class. Which would make it difficult for me to work at the same time, especially in a full time job. Well, impossible with a full time job. I don't have the stamina for 13 hour days, not counting travel.
But I need to start working soon, since law school, aside from being horrible and mostly useless, left me with a lot of student loan debt. Unless being in language classes in a foreign country is sufficient to put my loans in deferment. Guess I'll find out!
There are 6 CEF levels of Dutch: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, going from easiest to most difficult. The civic integration exam tests for A2, which is required to pass.
Failure to pass at A2 can mean a fine if you haven't been trying to learn the language, an extension of time to learn Dutch, or a waiver of the requirement if learning disabled and unable to learn Dutch better. No mention of people getting deported! Yay!
There's another test, the Staatsexamen NT2 (State Examination) for people that need to prove they can speak Dutch well enough to work in certain jobs or study in certain programs, and can also be used for residency purposes. Level 1 corresponds with B1 and level 2 corresponds with B2. The NT2 looks pretty similar to some aspects of college entry exams - showing that you can read and understand, explain what you read, and communicate ideas, as well as listening comprehension.
The official websites describing these tests are all in Dutch of course, except for a main page if you're really lucky. translate.google.com is your friend if you want more in-depth data. Some use frames however, which means the entire site shows the same URL for every page, and clicking on links to frames won't result in getting a translated page, making for mucho cut and paste. I hates frameses. To be even more clever in withholding useful information from non-Dutch speakers, sometimes the relevant information is contained in video clips in Dutch. Google translate doesn't help with those :-(
Dutch courses are available for very cheap. But not until after you've been accepted as a resident. There are also loans available if going to the equivalent of an accredited school, which can be used for related expenses like travel and childcare. Some of the course costs can be refunded to you when you pass the exam. Groovy!
In addition to private language companies, Dutch can be learned at most, if not all, vocational schools (called ROCs). ROCs are somewhat similar to community colleges back in the states, but in addition to providing classes and certifications for adults, also provide vocational training for children aged 12 and up on a vocational education track.
At my incomplete imburgering interview, I was informed that the location where I would be taking classes depends on my Dutch abilities and education level. So it sounds like you might not just end up taking classes at the nearest ROC. I'll find out one of these days. Or weeks. Or months.
A few sites I glanced at indicated that it takes approximately one year of regular classes (5 hours in class per week) to attain the A2 level of dutch, or a year of intensive classes (15 hours in class per week) to get B1 or B2.
I'm tempted to go for B1 or B2, since I'd like work in law eventually. I'd probably be stuck with work involving international law unless I want to go through law school again since the first time was quite horrible, but would probably need good Dutch to communicate with my overlords/employers. The problem is that intensive courses are basically full time jobs if you're studying properly, which is 1-2 hours of studying per hour spent in class. Which would make it difficult for me to work at the same time, especially in a full time job. Well, impossible with a full time job. I don't have the stamina for 13 hour days, not counting travel.
But I need to start working soon, since law school, aside from being horrible and mostly useless, left me with a lot of student loan debt. Unless being in language classes in a foreign country is sufficient to put my loans in deferment. Guess I'll find out!
Language II
I'm breaking this into 2 parts because my super long posts look scary.
In addition to classes, there's other ways to work on Dutch. The first one I used was Rosetta Stone. This was very useful in getting basic vocabulary, tourist Dutch, and eventually understanding sentence structure quirks. I completed level 1 and 2 before moving over, and some of level 3. It's not perfect, and lacks the focus needed for inburgering versus vacationing, but it was still the best option for getting started before moving over. Somewhat expensive, but still far cheaper than classes, and I think the instructional method using photos, real dutch speakers, and repetition worked far better than the type of instruction I received in high school and college language classes. I also liked being able to do as much as I wanted, when I wanted. But I found my brain getting tired after spending more than 1 hour at a time using it.
After getting here, hearing people speak Dutch has been useful. But I can't work or take classes yet, so I don't spend a lot of time out and around Dutch people in general. When my future in-laws come over, they often speak Dutch to my fiance, but not enough to really help in learning words. Though it is a good way to see progress in my listening comprehension, when I can tell what they're talking about. I learn some words here and there when we translate them for each other.
More useful is watching television. Something I'm good at! One approach is watching an American or British program and reading the subtitles containing the Dutch translation. There are a lot of shows in English, and quite a few basic channels that only have English shows. I don't know if this would be helpful without the basic Dutch vocabulary I got from Rosetta Stone. You need to know enough Dutch to detect which subtitled word corresponds with which English word, which can be a process of elimination. So if the subtitle "Dertig jaar in de toekomst" comes up on the screen and I hear "Thirty years in the future", I can deduce that "toekomst" means "future" because I know what the other words mean already and they don't mean future.
Another way to learn is by reading Dutch things. I suggest starting out with simple things using simple language. My first attempt was a Dutch version of one of my favorite British novels, but even with a dictionary I can't keep up with the satire-filled and colorful prose, since that type of writing tends to get translated into similarly colorful Dutch prose, which can be just as abstract as it is in English, making literal translations very difficult. On the other hand, reading part of the manual for our dishwasher was easy with a dictionary. Newspapers are also pretty straight forward, not to mention more interesting that dishwasher manuals.
When being interrogated at my inburgering meeting, I realized my ability to listen to Dutch was not as good as I thought it was. I couldn't parse a basic sentence, even though I know I can read fairly complex sentences, especially if I have some time to analyze the words I don't know off-hand. So I've started listening to some Dutch television programs too. I prefer the cooking shows, since I've gotten a good food vocabulary by going to the grocery store and restaurants. That basic food vocabulary makes it easier for me to distinguish one word from another on the cooking shows, and seems to be improving my ability to understand spoken Dutch in general, even if I'm not learning new words.
I suppose I could get out and talk to people in Dutch, but I didn't even like doing that in English. Though I am looking forward to meeting people through classes or work one of these days. WHEN I GET MY STUPID RESIDENT CARD!!! Ahem.
In a few days I'll have an electronic Dutch-English dictionary as well, which should help a lot with reading things and communicating with the in-laws. I think I'll save future info about electronic dictionaries for a future post, however. It's not nearly as straightforward as it should be :-P
In addition to classes, there's other ways to work on Dutch. The first one I used was Rosetta Stone. This was very useful in getting basic vocabulary, tourist Dutch, and eventually understanding sentence structure quirks. I completed level 1 and 2 before moving over, and some of level 3. It's not perfect, and lacks the focus needed for inburgering versus vacationing, but it was still the best option for getting started before moving over. Somewhat expensive, but still far cheaper than classes, and I think the instructional method using photos, real dutch speakers, and repetition worked far better than the type of instruction I received in high school and college language classes. I also liked being able to do as much as I wanted, when I wanted. But I found my brain getting tired after spending more than 1 hour at a time using it.
After getting here, hearing people speak Dutch has been useful. But I can't work or take classes yet, so I don't spend a lot of time out and around Dutch people in general. When my future in-laws come over, they often speak Dutch to my fiance, but not enough to really help in learning words. Though it is a good way to see progress in my listening comprehension, when I can tell what they're talking about. I learn some words here and there when we translate them for each other.
More useful is watching television. Something I'm good at! One approach is watching an American or British program and reading the subtitles containing the Dutch translation. There are a lot of shows in English, and quite a few basic channels that only have English shows. I don't know if this would be helpful without the basic Dutch vocabulary I got from Rosetta Stone. You need to know enough Dutch to detect which subtitled word corresponds with which English word, which can be a process of elimination. So if the subtitle "Dertig jaar in de toekomst" comes up on the screen and I hear "Thirty years in the future", I can deduce that "toekomst" means "future" because I know what the other words mean already and they don't mean future.
Another way to learn is by reading Dutch things. I suggest starting out with simple things using simple language. My first attempt was a Dutch version of one of my favorite British novels, but even with a dictionary I can't keep up with the satire-filled and colorful prose, since that type of writing tends to get translated into similarly colorful Dutch prose, which can be just as abstract as it is in English, making literal translations very difficult. On the other hand, reading part of the manual for our dishwasher was easy with a dictionary. Newspapers are also pretty straight forward, not to mention more interesting that dishwasher manuals.
When being interrogated at my inburgering meeting, I realized my ability to listen to Dutch was not as good as I thought it was. I couldn't parse a basic sentence, even though I know I can read fairly complex sentences, especially if I have some time to analyze the words I don't know off-hand. So I've started listening to some Dutch television programs too. I prefer the cooking shows, since I've gotten a good food vocabulary by going to the grocery store and restaurants. That basic food vocabulary makes it easier for me to distinguish one word from another on the cooking shows, and seems to be improving my ability to understand spoken Dutch in general, even if I'm not learning new words.
I suppose I could get out and talk to people in Dutch, but I didn't even like doing that in English. Though I am looking forward to meeting people through classes or work one of these days. WHEN I GET MY STUPID RESIDENT CARD!!! Ahem.
In a few days I'll have an electronic Dutch-English dictionary as well, which should help a lot with reading things and communicating with the in-laws. I think I'll save future info about electronic dictionaries for a future post, however. It's not nearly as straightforward as it should be :-P
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Food
I'm a picky shopper, when it comes to food. No gluten, no MSG (E621) or its close relatives. Not much lactose. Avoiding these foods was challenging enough back home, and now I have to read labels in Dutch to avoid them.
Fortunately gluten-free foods seem fairly easy to find here. Both the Albert Heijn and the C1000 grocery stores nearby have almost half of one side of an aisle devoted to gluten free items that would traditionally have gluten. So I can get gluten free bread and pasta easily, as well as bread and pastry mixes.
MSG, however, is pretty common. And apparently unpopular enough that companies have started using the same trick I've seen for many years in the US: call MSG something (anything) else. The EU has E-codes for food additives. E620-629 are MSG and its fellow free glutamic acid co-conspirators in causing me migraines. But there's also gistextract (yeast extract) in quite a few items, which is just free glutamic acid from a different source. A pre-made salad I bought at AH had this in the salad dressing, and actually listed it as one of the ingredients from a biologisch (organic) source. ... Don't worry, I keep a supply of safe dressing at home :-P
One thing different here is that there are a lot of pre-packaged pre-seasoned/prepared meats ready to throw on the stove or in the oven. About half of them have MSG, even where it usually wouldn't in the US. So I ate a lot of MSG my first week or two. Potato salad usually has it too, which I was eating until last week. I guess I started buying it before learning MSG's E number, and once I learned it, assumed I'd checked for it on previous visits. Jan found it listed during a trip to the store :-P
I found out that brewer's yeast has free glutamic acid, which makes my current folic acid supplement pretty useless for stopping migraines because the base is brewer's yeast. Oh, and I started drinking sake a month or two before moving over, and this also uses a yeast creating glutamate. I've been drinking 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup most days.
So basically I've been making myself sick in various ways since I got here. I decided to write about food today because I spent most of yesterday in a migraine state, and am still feeling pretty funky today. On the plus side, wine is still safe (negligible glutamate) but I like sake waaaay more than wine. And I have a few bottles of sake left in the house :-(
At least eating out is less problematic. Chinese restaurants aren't addicted to it here. Any fast food restaurant that also exists in the US should be avoided if MSG is unwanted. I found out it comprises three ingredients in a Burger King crispy chicken burger. Gotta make the processed sludge taste good somehow I guess :-P
Italian food over here seems identical to back home. Though the local Italian place also does some french food (no objections here). The Chinese food is quite a bit different though. There's still sweet and sour, spicy, and a few other things, but orange or lemon sauces are uncommon, as well as breaded and fried meat chunks like you'd find in the US with a sweet and sour dish. But it's still pretty good. Instead of a hot fudge sundae, the default dessert is a "dame blanche" which I think is french for "white lady". Ice cream, chocolate fudge.
Bottled water is also a bit different. When asking for it, the waiter wants to know if you want "blauw" (blue) or "rood" (red). Blue is uncarbonated, red is carbonated. The color-coding seems pretty consistent - even in the Ikea restaurants.
Speaking of Ikea (pronounced ee-kay-uh here) "frites" are typically eaten with mayonnaise here, rather that ketchup, though both always seem to be available. The Ikea version of mayonnaise, called "fritessaus" (french fry sauce) is pretty nasty.
I've been doing a lot of cooking since arriving, since while Jan is working full time, I'm at home waiting for my resident card full time so I can work or take Dutch lessons. I've been making lean proteins and vegetables mostly, sometimes rice to go with dinner. We have a "combivent" in the kitchen, which is a combination oven and microwave. Except the microwave half doesn't work - the wiring seems to be disconnected. Jan's going to fix it One Of These Days :-P I haven't missed it much, except when reheating leftover rice on the stove.
Fortunately gluten-free foods seem fairly easy to find here. Both the Albert Heijn and the C1000 grocery stores nearby have almost half of one side of an aisle devoted to gluten free items that would traditionally have gluten. So I can get gluten free bread and pasta easily, as well as bread and pastry mixes.
MSG, however, is pretty common. And apparently unpopular enough that companies have started using the same trick I've seen for many years in the US: call MSG something (anything) else. The EU has E-codes for food additives. E620-629 are MSG and its fellow free glutamic acid co-conspirators in causing me migraines. But there's also gistextract (yeast extract) in quite a few items, which is just free glutamic acid from a different source. A pre-made salad I bought at AH had this in the salad dressing, and actually listed it as one of the ingredients from a biologisch (organic) source. ... Don't worry, I keep a supply of safe dressing at home :-P
One thing different here is that there are a lot of pre-packaged pre-seasoned/prepared meats ready to throw on the stove or in the oven. About half of them have MSG, even where it usually wouldn't in the US. So I ate a lot of MSG my first week or two. Potato salad usually has it too, which I was eating until last week. I guess I started buying it before learning MSG's E number, and once I learned it, assumed I'd checked for it on previous visits. Jan found it listed during a trip to the store :-P
I found out that brewer's yeast has free glutamic acid, which makes my current folic acid supplement pretty useless for stopping migraines because the base is brewer's yeast. Oh, and I started drinking sake a month or two before moving over, and this also uses a yeast creating glutamate. I've been drinking 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup most days.
So basically I've been making myself sick in various ways since I got here. I decided to write about food today because I spent most of yesterday in a migraine state, and am still feeling pretty funky today. On the plus side, wine is still safe (negligible glutamate) but I like sake waaaay more than wine. And I have a few bottles of sake left in the house :-(
At least eating out is less problematic. Chinese restaurants aren't addicted to it here. Any fast food restaurant that also exists in the US should be avoided if MSG is unwanted. I found out it comprises three ingredients in a Burger King crispy chicken burger. Gotta make the processed sludge taste good somehow I guess :-P
Italian food over here seems identical to back home. Though the local Italian place also does some french food (no objections here). The Chinese food is quite a bit different though. There's still sweet and sour, spicy, and a few other things, but orange or lemon sauces are uncommon, as well as breaded and fried meat chunks like you'd find in the US with a sweet and sour dish. But it's still pretty good. Instead of a hot fudge sundae, the default dessert is a "dame blanche" which I think is french for "white lady". Ice cream, chocolate fudge.
Bottled water is also a bit different. When asking for it, the waiter wants to know if you want "blauw" (blue) or "rood" (red). Blue is uncarbonated, red is carbonated. The color-coding seems pretty consistent - even in the Ikea restaurants.
Speaking of Ikea (pronounced ee-kay-uh here) "frites" are typically eaten with mayonnaise here, rather that ketchup, though both always seem to be available. The Ikea version of mayonnaise, called "fritessaus" (french fry sauce) is pretty nasty.
I've been doing a lot of cooking since arriving, since while Jan is working full time, I'm at home waiting for my resident card full time so I can work or take Dutch lessons. I've been making lean proteins and vegetables mostly, sometimes rice to go with dinner. We have a "combivent" in the kitchen, which is a combination oven and microwave. Except the microwave half doesn't work - the wiring seems to be disconnected. Jan's going to fix it One Of These Days :-P I haven't missed it much, except when reheating leftover rice on the stove.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
House: The Renovation
We've been living in the house for nearly three months now, and it's been quite an experience. First of all, houses in the Netherlands are almost always made from concrete. This is quite nice from a natural disaster (or air raid) perspective, but a little annoying for basic changes such as replacing wallpaper with paint.
There's a very good reason wallpaper is so popular in Europe. Have you ever tried painting concrete walls? We have. First you have to get rid of the wallpaper. Fortunately for me, my fiance and his parents did 90% of that before I arrived. It was peach wallpaper. Where there was painted trim, it was also peach. And the entry hallway was dark peach. There were about 6 layers of the wallpaper, adding to the fun.
One reason wallpaper is so popular is that it's addictive. Once it's up, you don't want to take it down. If you want a different color or design or it's in bad shape, the easiest solution is to throw up (BARF?) a new layer on top of the old. Wallpaper isn't just for little old ladies here. Removing wallpaper varies in difficulty depending on how well it was glued, how long ago it was glued, and how damp it's gotten. Wide swaths may come off easily, but then you get to the edges and need a moderately abrasive sponge and a thin-bladed scrapey thing. The 10% or so I scraped was enough to reaffirm my hatred of wallpaper.
Once the wallpaper is gone, there's a new problem: concrete walls have holes. Lots of small holes. A lot of them are too big to be filled or covered by a layer or two of paint. So we did some research and discovered that stucco is the recommended way to treat concrete walls. We bought the materials, mixed the first batch, and got a coarse yet watery mixture that was impossible to apply thickly enough. We reread the directions and realized the instructions on the bag failed to use its own calculations when mixing the entire bag with water. We recalculated and started over. After a week or so of attempts and patching and watching instructional youtube videos, we finally had a single wall in our living room stuccoed to our satisfaction. And swore to never stucco again.
The best way to deal with holey concrete is with a hole filler (muur vuller: http://www.stixkoopjesmarkt.nl/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Alabastine_muurv_4ad0d7b20fbcb.jpg ), the sort that comes in a little cardboard box to be mixed with water and scraped on. Basically we coated the remaining walls in this, which was Not Fun but still Way More Fun Than Stucco. Some walls got primed afterward and some didn't. It didn't seem to make much difference in the end result.
Even after hole-filling or stuccoing, the concrete wall is still somewhat irregular. So instead of using high gloss paint (or satin finish), there's a wonderful product called textured paint (structuurverf). It's vaguely reminiscent of popcorn ceilings, but less extreme. It's thicker than regular paint and is slopped on the walls with specific paint brushes than rolled with yellow plastic spongey rollers if you want a normal texture. There's other rollers for the "sandpaper" and "mountain range" textures, if you swing that way. The result is pretty normal looking walls with well-concealed flaws. It can't really be washed, but debris can be brushed off with a hand broom. It can also be covered with regular paint, which is useful if you want to get rid of the sandpaper texture, or apply a new coat of paint that isn't as absurdly expensive as the first coat.
Another Grand Adventure was dealing with the electrical wiring. When people move out of houses in the Netherlands, they take the light fixtures with them. And the light bulbs. And sometimes even the flooring and kitchen appliances and kitchen cupboards. We survived the first two months with two 7 euro floor lamps. They were fugly.
None of the lights were grounded, or the electric wall sockets, so Jan rewired all of those. Wiring in concrete houses runs through the walls inside little PVC tubes from the outlet to the electrical box in a small closet. To add newfangled things like grounding, you pull out all the wires but one, attach the new wires to the old wire, and push and pull the old wire until it's completely out of the tube and the new wires are in the tube. Then hook it all up and repeat 20 times. But it's not so simple as that. Electric outlet wires are usually routed through light outlets and light switches, which creates all sorts of lovely 90 degree angles that bundles of wires just don't like to squeeze through.
While grounding the larger bedroom, we discovered the junction point was in the bathroom light. ?!?. It had the worst angle yet, and after the wires got stuck and detached from the guide wire the first time, we resorted to using the flexible metal snake-like thing to pull the wires through. Except it still got stuck, even with all of Jan's weight on it and 90% of mine (about 400 pounds combined, or 200 kg), and the main copper wire finally broke where it had been very securely attached to the snake. I managed to get it a few centimeters farther by barely grabbing the tip of a wire with a pair of pliers and hanging from the ceiling by them while squeezing for dear life. I am not exaggerating. Then we were able to grab individual wires and pull them far enough to hook up to the grounding and other wires.
After that rather awesome upper body workout, we moved onto easy things, like wiring the entire house for fiber optic internet that was currently being installed in the neighborhood :-) We replaced the telephone lines in the living room and bedrooms with high speed networking cable, and added a second internet outlet in the living room so we wouldn't have to run the cabling halfway around the room. Seriously, who decided to put the cable outlet in the dumbest possible corner when building the house? Jan had to buy a hammer drill for this project, which seems to rate pretty highly on the list of cool man toys. Basically it's a drill wot spins but also uses a hammering motion to get through concrete. A pretty essential tool in any concrete abode.
He had to venture into the crawl space for this - a board under the nasty outdoor carpetting in the entryway opens up into a 2 foot high space lined with dirt, dead spiders, and some interesting tools that had been rotting down there for 20 years. Of course, prior owners had superglued this board to the floor (?!?), and it had to be destroyed and replaced. Jan drilled a hole into the utility closet, then into the floor near the wall where the outlet should be. Drilling up into the living room wall was not an option, even at a pretty steep angle. But at least the outlet ended up in a great location, directly under the TV cupboard, and invisible with the cupboard over it. Then he hooked up new PVC tubes down there, attaching them to the wall with his handy hammer drill and plugs designed just for the purpose of holding those tubes in place.
Unfortunately, the former owners didn't take the upstairs carpet with them. Or the carpet on the stairs. The bedroom carpet had been replaced at some point, but not the upper hallway or stairs, so in addition to the older carpet being very nasty, there were large strips of wood dividing the bedrooms from the hallway. We pulled out all of the carpet and glued down vinyl in the laundry room, and got bamboo hardwood installed in the bedrooms and upper hallway. White floor trim replaced the nasty old stuff, both upstairs and downstairs, where it had looked like a lego project gone horribly wrong. Jan's dad, over the period of a couple months, completed the Great Stair Project, removing the carpet, scraping off the crud on the stairs, and painting it with several layers of white wood paint.
Last night we finally applied the half-circles of carpeting (bought in a package at the local Karwei hardware store) to the stairs, and everything remodel-ish is done and looking pretty awesome. The other thing the hammer drill is essential for is hanging pictures. That requires hammer drilling a hole, inserting a plug, screwing a screw into the plug, then hanging the picture. We also did this for the shelf over our bed, though since it was a wall added by prior owners, in ended up needing hollow wall plugs for four of the holes and wood screws for two of the holes. Typical :-P At least we didn't hit the Hidden Junction Box Of Doom while drilling there. We know there's one, because wires are running through it to an electrical outlet. We just don't know exactly where it is, and don't want to tear down the wall to find it. So one outlet remains eternally ungrounded.
There's a very good reason wallpaper is so popular in Europe. Have you ever tried painting concrete walls? We have. First you have to get rid of the wallpaper. Fortunately for me, my fiance and his parents did 90% of that before I arrived. It was peach wallpaper. Where there was painted trim, it was also peach. And the entry hallway was dark peach. There were about 6 layers of the wallpaper, adding to the fun.
One reason wallpaper is so popular is that it's addictive. Once it's up, you don't want to take it down. If you want a different color or design or it's in bad shape, the easiest solution is to throw up (BARF?) a new layer on top of the old. Wallpaper isn't just for little old ladies here. Removing wallpaper varies in difficulty depending on how well it was glued, how long ago it was glued, and how damp it's gotten. Wide swaths may come off easily, but then you get to the edges and need a moderately abrasive sponge and a thin-bladed scrapey thing. The 10% or so I scraped was enough to reaffirm my hatred of wallpaper.
Once the wallpaper is gone, there's a new problem: concrete walls have holes. Lots of small holes. A lot of them are too big to be filled or covered by a layer or two of paint. So we did some research and discovered that stucco is the recommended way to treat concrete walls. We bought the materials, mixed the first batch, and got a coarse yet watery mixture that was impossible to apply thickly enough. We reread the directions and realized the instructions on the bag failed to use its own calculations when mixing the entire bag with water. We recalculated and started over. After a week or so of attempts and patching and watching instructional youtube videos, we finally had a single wall in our living room stuccoed to our satisfaction. And swore to never stucco again.
The best way to deal with holey concrete is with a hole filler (muur vuller: http://www.stixkoopjesmarkt.nl/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Alabastine_muurv_4ad0d7b20fbcb.jpg ), the sort that comes in a little cardboard box to be mixed with water and scraped on. Basically we coated the remaining walls in this, which was Not Fun but still Way More Fun Than Stucco. Some walls got primed afterward and some didn't. It didn't seem to make much difference in the end result.
Even after hole-filling or stuccoing, the concrete wall is still somewhat irregular. So instead of using high gloss paint (or satin finish), there's a wonderful product called textured paint (structuurverf). It's vaguely reminiscent of popcorn ceilings, but less extreme. It's thicker than regular paint and is slopped on the walls with specific paint brushes than rolled with yellow plastic spongey rollers if you want a normal texture. There's other rollers for the "sandpaper" and "mountain range" textures, if you swing that way. The result is pretty normal looking walls with well-concealed flaws. It can't really be washed, but debris can be brushed off with a hand broom. It can also be covered with regular paint, which is useful if you want to get rid of the sandpaper texture, or apply a new coat of paint that isn't as absurdly expensive as the first coat.
Another Grand Adventure was dealing with the electrical wiring. When people move out of houses in the Netherlands, they take the light fixtures with them. And the light bulbs. And sometimes even the flooring and kitchen appliances and kitchen cupboards. We survived the first two months with two 7 euro floor lamps. They were fugly.
None of the lights were grounded, or the electric wall sockets, so Jan rewired all of those. Wiring in concrete houses runs through the walls inside little PVC tubes from the outlet to the electrical box in a small closet. To add newfangled things like grounding, you pull out all the wires but one, attach the new wires to the old wire, and push and pull the old wire until it's completely out of the tube and the new wires are in the tube. Then hook it all up and repeat 20 times. But it's not so simple as that. Electric outlet wires are usually routed through light outlets and light switches, which creates all sorts of lovely 90 degree angles that bundles of wires just don't like to squeeze through.
While grounding the larger bedroom, we discovered the junction point was in the bathroom light. ?!?. It had the worst angle yet, and after the wires got stuck and detached from the guide wire the first time, we resorted to using the flexible metal snake-like thing to pull the wires through. Except it still got stuck, even with all of Jan's weight on it and 90% of mine (about 400 pounds combined, or 200 kg), and the main copper wire finally broke where it had been very securely attached to the snake. I managed to get it a few centimeters farther by barely grabbing the tip of a wire with a pair of pliers and hanging from the ceiling by them while squeezing for dear life. I am not exaggerating. Then we were able to grab individual wires and pull them far enough to hook up to the grounding and other wires.
After that rather awesome upper body workout, we moved onto easy things, like wiring the entire house for fiber optic internet that was currently being installed in the neighborhood :-) We replaced the telephone lines in the living room and bedrooms with high speed networking cable, and added a second internet outlet in the living room so we wouldn't have to run the cabling halfway around the room. Seriously, who decided to put the cable outlet in the dumbest possible corner when building the house? Jan had to buy a hammer drill for this project, which seems to rate pretty highly on the list of cool man toys. Basically it's a drill wot spins but also uses a hammering motion to get through concrete. A pretty essential tool in any concrete abode.
He had to venture into the crawl space for this - a board under the nasty outdoor carpetting in the entryway opens up into a 2 foot high space lined with dirt, dead spiders, and some interesting tools that had been rotting down there for 20 years. Of course, prior owners had superglued this board to the floor (?!?), and it had to be destroyed and replaced. Jan drilled a hole into the utility closet, then into the floor near the wall where the outlet should be. Drilling up into the living room wall was not an option, even at a pretty steep angle. But at least the outlet ended up in a great location, directly under the TV cupboard, and invisible with the cupboard over it. Then he hooked up new PVC tubes down there, attaching them to the wall with his handy hammer drill and plugs designed just for the purpose of holding those tubes in place.
Unfortunately, the former owners didn't take the upstairs carpet with them. Or the carpet on the stairs. The bedroom carpet had been replaced at some point, but not the upper hallway or stairs, so in addition to the older carpet being very nasty, there were large strips of wood dividing the bedrooms from the hallway. We pulled out all of the carpet and glued down vinyl in the laundry room, and got bamboo hardwood installed in the bedrooms and upper hallway. White floor trim replaced the nasty old stuff, both upstairs and downstairs, where it had looked like a lego project gone horribly wrong. Jan's dad, over the period of a couple months, completed the Great Stair Project, removing the carpet, scraping off the crud on the stairs, and painting it with several layers of white wood paint.
Last night we finally applied the half-circles of carpeting (bought in a package at the local Karwei hardware store) to the stairs, and everything remodel-ish is done and looking pretty awesome. The other thing the hammer drill is essential for is hanging pictures. That requires hammer drilling a hole, inserting a plug, screwing a screw into the plug, then hanging the picture. We also did this for the shelf over our bed, though since it was a wall added by prior owners, in ended up needing hollow wall plugs for four of the holes and wood screws for two of the holes. Typical :-P At least we didn't hit the Hidden Junction Box Of Doom while drilling there. We know there's one, because wires are running through it to an electrical outlet. We just don't know exactly where it is, and don't want to tear down the wall to find it. So one outlet remains eternally ungrounded.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Entering the Netherlands
Well, it wasn't quite so simple as "just" buying a house and moving over. First there was purging almost all of my worldly belongings. Then there was extensive research into the requirements to become a resident. Then there was a purging of most of the remnants of my worldly belongings. We'd been accumulating some decent furniture and electronics in Seattle over the years under the assumption that Jan would be moving there. Oh well :-P It's just stuff, even if I did feel like crying a couple times.
The requirements for residency aren't too onerous. I was applying based on family formation, and Jan had sufficient income to support us. I wasn't coming from one of -those- countries where an MVV (pre-entry visa) must be obtained before entering the country, or a basic intergration/language exam must be passed prior to entering the country to apply for residency. A rough requirement for those that have to meet it, since good Dutch lessons are in short supply around the world. I had my passport and proof of single status - an apostilled paper from the department of vital records saying a search for me in the marriage database came up empty. Jan got his work contract and payment records, and statement of single status, and statement of residence at our new house.
I arrived on Friday morning. Saturday morning, I filled out the short-term visit form online informing the Aliens' Police that I was staying in the country - this is required of everyone staying if they aren't staying in a hotel or campground. Tuesday morning we went by the local city hall to register as an inhabitant of Amersfoort - they wanted an apostilled birth certificate - had to order it from Washington. We also called IND (immigration) that day to make an appointment. The earliest available time was a few weeks ahead.
We went to the IND appointment, and were told we needed a third month's paystub and an official new copy of Jan's employment contract. We had the option of submitting an incomplete application and sending in the additional documents when we got a letter asking for them, or making another appointment to start over. It would take a few weeks to get another appointment, so we opted to submit the incomplete application. I got a very cool sticker/stamp in my passport showing I was allowed to remain for 6 months unless they decided they didn't want to make me a resident sooner. I was (finally) told that I can't work until resident status is approved - such a simple thing and NO info about it online anywhere.
One week later (on my birthday!) I received a letter in Dutch from the IND. I typed it out in google translate and it seemed to be saying I was accepted, and they'd send another letter saying where and when to pick up my resident card. My fiance confirmed that was what it said when he got home from work. Yay!
And since then ... nothing. That was over six weeks ago. The city of Amersfoort must have also been informed, since I was "invited" to an inburgering information appointment. Well, that letter started off by politiely inviting and than finished with apologetically explaining I would be fined if I missed the appointment without rescheduling it. The woman was surprised that I hadn't received my resident card yet, but said that had been happening a lot lately. She explained a few things about the inburgering process, such as that the language classes I would take depended on my current Dutch abilities -which she undercut my confidence in with a couple simple Dutch questions - and prior education level. So they have different classes available for people with no formal education, hence no experience forming study habits, and those with too much education, hence lots of experience slacking for months then cramming right before exams. But they would need to see my resident card before I could be processed (the first stage of assimilation!) Based on the timing of acceptance of my resident application and the timing of the inburgering appointment, getting my card should only have taken a couple weeks, at most. Time to call them soon, even if the letter said DO NOT CALL. WE WILL WRITE YOU.
So I'm a temporary resident (must be renewed after 1 year), but have no card. I can't get into the cheap language classes or get a job, even though I'm a legal resident and it's technically legal for me to work. Bleh!
The requirements for residency aren't too onerous. I was applying based on family formation, and Jan had sufficient income to support us. I wasn't coming from one of -those- countries where an MVV (pre-entry visa) must be obtained before entering the country, or a basic intergration/language exam must be passed prior to entering the country to apply for residency. A rough requirement for those that have to meet it, since good Dutch lessons are in short supply around the world. I had my passport and proof of single status - an apostilled paper from the department of vital records saying a search for me in the marriage database came up empty. Jan got his work contract and payment records, and statement of single status, and statement of residence at our new house.
I arrived on Friday morning. Saturday morning, I filled out the short-term visit form online informing the Aliens' Police that I was staying in the country - this is required of everyone staying if they aren't staying in a hotel or campground. Tuesday morning we went by the local city hall to register as an inhabitant of Amersfoort - they wanted an apostilled birth certificate - had to order it from Washington. We also called IND (immigration) that day to make an appointment. The earliest available time was a few weeks ahead.
We went to the IND appointment, and were told we needed a third month's paystub and an official new copy of Jan's employment contract. We had the option of submitting an incomplete application and sending in the additional documents when we got a letter asking for them, or making another appointment to start over. It would take a few weeks to get another appointment, so we opted to submit the incomplete application. I got a very cool sticker/stamp in my passport showing I was allowed to remain for 6 months unless they decided they didn't want to make me a resident sooner. I was (finally) told that I can't work until resident status is approved - such a simple thing and NO info about it online anywhere.
One week later (on my birthday!) I received a letter in Dutch from the IND. I typed it out in google translate and it seemed to be saying I was accepted, and they'd send another letter saying where and when to pick up my resident card. My fiance confirmed that was what it said when he got home from work. Yay!
And since then ... nothing. That was over six weeks ago. The city of Amersfoort must have also been informed, since I was "invited" to an inburgering information appointment. Well, that letter started off by politiely inviting and than finished with apologetically explaining I would be fined if I missed the appointment without rescheduling it. The woman was surprised that I hadn't received my resident card yet, but said that had been happening a lot lately. She explained a few things about the inburgering process, such as that the language classes I would take depended on my current Dutch abilities -which she undercut my confidence in with a couple simple Dutch questions - and prior education level. So they have different classes available for people with no formal education, hence no experience forming study habits, and those with too much education, hence lots of experience slacking for months then cramming right before exams. But they would need to see my resident card before I could be processed (the first stage of assimilation!) Based on the timing of acceptance of my resident application and the timing of the inburgering appointment, getting my card should only have taken a couple weeks, at most. Time to call them soon, even if the letter said DO NOT CALL. WE WILL WRITE YOU.
So I'm a temporary resident (must be renewed after 1 year), but have no card. I can't get into the cheap language classes or get a job, even though I'm a legal resident and it's technically legal for me to work. Bleh!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Background
So how did I end up in the city of Amersfoort, in the Netherlands? Well, it started during my senior year of high school on Maui. I was a high-achieving slacker with a lot of spare time between the end of the school day and the start of extra band practices or extra AP chemistry classes. I spent some time in the tiny computer lab, probably playing solitaire, until I noticed a fellow high-achieving AP/band slacker doing something less tedious, and was covertly given the password for network access and the telnet address for a text-based online multi-player game, collectively known as MUDs. Eventually I met my future fiance, a Dutch university student there, as well as a lot of other interesting people from exotic locations, and was soon able to say very naughty things in several languages, instead of just English and Spanish.
For a couple years, we were friends and chatted a lot, with no hint of romance. He taught me the basics of how to code on MUDs. It wasn't til I was ending a relationship with a moron (my first boyfriend) that I realized what a good boyfriend Jan would make. After many more late night chats while I pondered my feelings, I finally told him "I think I love you." He didn't proclaim the same right away, but didn't run away screaming either, so I figured that went quite well, all things considered. I guess our talks got more intimate after that, however, and eventually we agreed to meet in Amsterdam shortly before I started college for the 2nd (and not last) time.
I bought a plane ticket with some of my summer job money, and flew out of Seatac. We stayed the first couple days in Amsterdam, and hit it off right away. I still remember how weird it was, 12 years ago, meeting someone I had only talked to online. On the one hand he was different than I expected because my mind had filled in the missing blanks somewhat randomly, but on the other hand, we already knew each other very well from two years of chatting a lot. It was nice to skip the awkward dating thing, and go straight from being friends to being in a relationship.
We got engaged about a week after I arrived. I visited the Netherlands a few more times over the past 12 years, and after leaving college and starting work, he started visiting me in Seattle most Christmases, and visited me or we both went on vacations in the summer. The general plan was that he would get a couple years experience at his job (and make contacts through it) and then use that on his resume (C.V.) to get a job in the US. Well, we got to about that point, and I had finished law school and got licensed, which was just what we were waiting for, and then the economy did its famous nosedive. It did this right before I got admitted to the state bar association and could work as a lawyer. Local governments started laying off lawyers, and everyone else stopped hiring. I was not amused.
I started applying for jobs of course, but there were very few positions and the recently laid-off lawyers had the rather huge advantage of experience. I got invited to two interviews and didn't land either job, despite both jobs being located in the Washington State equivalent of Siberia (but with more drugs). I also applied for every law-related job I could find, but none wanted a lawyer, assuming the recession would end in a week or so and I would run off to do real lawyering and they'd be stuck hiring and training someone all over. I even applied for data entry and craptastic minimum-wage jobs cashiering, both of which I do have some experience with (and |33t typing skillz). Nada.
I moved in with my aunt for a very reasonable rate (with a broken-ankle discount for helping out a lot and puppy-sitting when she got back from the hospital), and my mother paying my rent and food bills. Yeah. 30 year old attorney dependent on her mummy :-P I started attending a community college to retrain as something useful to society, such a nurse. But couldn't get financial aid because I'd earned 2 (albeit useless) degrees in the past 5 years. Shortly before Jan came over for his summer visit, I did the math and realized the only way we could have two kids before I hit 35 would be if I scrapped the nursing school plans and moved to the Netherlands, since we sure as hell weren't going to find jobs in the US for a while, and they wouldn't let him over without a job or other financial support.
So we started looking for houses online, using funda.nl . That was an epic saga in its own right, but exactly one year after starting our search, we owned our first house. I flew over on August 6th, and that was that.
For a couple years, we were friends and chatted a lot, with no hint of romance. He taught me the basics of how to code on MUDs. It wasn't til I was ending a relationship with a moron (my first boyfriend) that I realized what a good boyfriend Jan would make. After many more late night chats while I pondered my feelings, I finally told him "I think I love you." He didn't proclaim the same right away, but didn't run away screaming either, so I figured that went quite well, all things considered. I guess our talks got more intimate after that, however, and eventually we agreed to meet in Amsterdam shortly before I started college for the 2nd (and not last) time.
I bought a plane ticket with some of my summer job money, and flew out of Seatac. We stayed the first couple days in Amsterdam, and hit it off right away. I still remember how weird it was, 12 years ago, meeting someone I had only talked to online. On the one hand he was different than I expected because my mind had filled in the missing blanks somewhat randomly, but on the other hand, we already knew each other very well from two years of chatting a lot. It was nice to skip the awkward dating thing, and go straight from being friends to being in a relationship.
We got engaged about a week after I arrived. I visited the Netherlands a few more times over the past 12 years, and after leaving college and starting work, he started visiting me in Seattle most Christmases, and visited me or we both went on vacations in the summer. The general plan was that he would get a couple years experience at his job (and make contacts through it) and then use that on his resume (C.V.) to get a job in the US. Well, we got to about that point, and I had finished law school and got licensed, which was just what we were waiting for, and then the economy did its famous nosedive. It did this right before I got admitted to the state bar association and could work as a lawyer. Local governments started laying off lawyers, and everyone else stopped hiring. I was not amused.
I started applying for jobs of course, but there were very few positions and the recently laid-off lawyers had the rather huge advantage of experience. I got invited to two interviews and didn't land either job, despite both jobs being located in the Washington State equivalent of Siberia (but with more drugs). I also applied for every law-related job I could find, but none wanted a lawyer, assuming the recession would end in a week or so and I would run off to do real lawyering and they'd be stuck hiring and training someone all over. I even applied for data entry and craptastic minimum-wage jobs cashiering, both of which I do have some experience with (and |33t typing skillz). Nada.
I moved in with my aunt for a very reasonable rate (with a broken-ankle discount for helping out a lot and puppy-sitting when she got back from the hospital), and my mother paying my rent and food bills. Yeah. 30 year old attorney dependent on her mummy :-P I started attending a community college to retrain as something useful to society, such a nurse. But couldn't get financial aid because I'd earned 2 (albeit useless) degrees in the past 5 years. Shortly before Jan came over for his summer visit, I did the math and realized the only way we could have two kids before I hit 35 would be if I scrapped the nursing school plans and moved to the Netherlands, since we sure as hell weren't going to find jobs in the US for a while, and they wouldn't let him over without a job or other financial support.
So we started looking for houses online, using funda.nl . That was an epic saga in its own right, but exactly one year after starting our search, we owned our first house. I flew over on August 6th, and that was that.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Inburgering. Nom nom nom.
Anything with "burger" in it must be good. In addition to being the process of integration or naturalization, inburgering refers to some specific requirements in becoming a resident of the Netherlands. All immigrants (over and under certain ages) must learn the basics about the culture, and learn to speak the language with a certain level of proficiency. These requirements are relatively recent, and exist to ensure that immigrants integrate into Dutch society instead of remaining unable to communicate with the locals and intolerant of local customs.
Unfortunately there is no exception to inburgering exams for Americans, even though 99% of the locals over 12 and under 60 speak English quite well. Dutch society is quite similar to American society as well, probably due to most of the local television programs originating in the US. But still, I WILL be assimilated.
Beyond the official requirements of being inburgered, I'm very interested in the aspects of Dutch society compared to the US. I also have personal motivations for learning Dutch, since my fiance is a native speaker and I should learn to communicate fluently with my future in-laws. Or to at least understand what they're saying about me. And I plan to have cute little Dutch children at some point and I definitely need to understand everything they're saying if I'm to have any hope of quenching revolutions before they begin.
Unfortunately there is no exception to inburgering exams for Americans, even though 99% of the locals over 12 and under 60 speak English quite well. Dutch society is quite similar to American society as well, probably due to most of the local television programs originating in the US. But still, I WILL be assimilated.
Beyond the official requirements of being inburgered, I'm very interested in the aspects of Dutch society compared to the US. I also have personal motivations for learning Dutch, since my fiance is a native speaker and I should learn to communicate fluently with my future in-laws. Or to at least understand what they're saying about me. And I plan to have cute little Dutch children at some point and I definitely need to understand everything they're saying if I'm to have any hope of quenching revolutions before they begin.
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