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.
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