I had been thinking that I was very remiss, as no observer of life in NL worth her salt would fail to mention the European Championships (football for the uninitiated). As it turns out, I have missed the boat as Holland are now out, having their hopes dashed by Russia.
Until 11.15pm on Saturday evening, everywhere was covered in orange, from schools, shops and offices, to cars, gardens and (usually) smart flowerpots. By the time I went out on Sunday morning, my neighbours had already removed the balloons and flags from their flag-poles (every Dutch house is built with a flag-pole holder. We keep discussing how it will go down if we one day hang out a St Andrew's flag...).
Similarly there is no sign of orange in the shops and they were literally covered in flags, orange cakes, orange beer packs... I am wondering if people had to work special shifts to obliterate orange, or if it is those mini robots on the task again.
The Boys persuaded us to buy them orange caps on Saturday (pre match). Try explaining to a three year old that, although his cap is new it is no longer acceptable to wear it. As we aren't Russian, and can't be seen to be mocking (esp as our team is Scotland, for goodness sake) I have relented and let The Musician wear his cap to school, and just had to take the sharp intakes of breath on the chin (strange phrase but it's staying).
It's all very sad, though, as the Dutch do love a party and we were looking forward to seeing how they would continue the festivities the further they got into the championship. Now we just have to turn our attention to the Brits celebrating Andy Murray...
Friday, 20 June 2008
Spick and Span
I was Googling the phrase spick and span this morning. As you do when you can't be bothered to dust or clean. Found some interesting stuff but I remained unconvinced. You see, living alongside the fastidious Dutch, I had my suspiscions, even certainties, that the word might have a Dutch derivation. I decided to go the old-fashioned route of looking up my Van Daal (= Oxford English) dictionary and there we have it: spiksplinternieuw means brand new. I am sure down the centuries spiksplinter could have metamorphed into spick and span.
The Dutch can teach us so much about tidy and clean houses that this seems wonderfully fitting. Having lived here seven years I have been hoping that I might have reached some level toward their high standards. Unfortunatley it doesn't seem to come as easily as drinking the same water or breathing the same air. So I thought it might be something in the school curriculum, but there is no mention in the school's handbook, and The Boys certainly don't seem to have grasped it in the same way they have learning to draw, prick out pictures (my mind boggles at the thought of 20 kids armed with needles: health and safety hasn't really come to NL. Not always such a bad thing, I can assure you).
I was excited one day when The Musician started singing "Wij gaan opruimen", which means "We are going to tidy up". However, he started heading for the toilet. On further investigation, I discover that, as his mini classmates dutifully opruim, he heads off to the loo. And who is going to argue with a three year old over whether he really does need to wee.
A further tactic has been to turn up at school cleaning evenings. So far I have had tips on window cleaning which was quite useful I suppose.
What I really want to get to the bottom of is how you can visit many a Dutch home unannounced and it is not only tidy but spiksplinteringly clean. And they have kids. And usually work.
One Dutch friends has a cleaning day every week with her mum. Her mum comes to her place, they clean, have a wee chat and they are bound to have a cup of coffee. Social cleaning is something I have tried to initiate amongst my international friends (not having our mums close by us), but no one seems willing to be first to cast her friends upon her house (or her house upon her friends, depending on your perspective).
Another friend, non-Dutch but has grown up here all her life, has gained two pieces of advice. First of all, have a cloth for everything. Second of all keep all that the public eye can see clean and tidy, and forget the private quarters. As I discovered the other day, public includes the side of your house. My neighbour was sweeping her wall the other day. Please can someone explain this one to me. It had never even made it to my "to do if I could be bothered list". Actually, it had never even entered my mind.
I shall continue to spy. If the truth be known, I am hoping to find they have secret mini robots so they can sit and drink coffee to their heart's content.
The Dutch can teach us so much about tidy and clean houses that this seems wonderfully fitting. Having lived here seven years I have been hoping that I might have reached some level toward their high standards. Unfortunatley it doesn't seem to come as easily as drinking the same water or breathing the same air. So I thought it might be something in the school curriculum, but there is no mention in the school's handbook, and The Boys certainly don't seem to have grasped it in the same way they have learning to draw, prick out pictures (my mind boggles at the thought of 20 kids armed with needles: health and safety hasn't really come to NL. Not always such a bad thing, I can assure you).
I was excited one day when The Musician started singing "Wij gaan opruimen", which means "We are going to tidy up". However, he started heading for the toilet. On further investigation, I discover that, as his mini classmates dutifully opruim, he heads off to the loo. And who is going to argue with a three year old over whether he really does need to wee.
A further tactic has been to turn up at school cleaning evenings. So far I have had tips on window cleaning which was quite useful I suppose.
What I really want to get to the bottom of is how you can visit many a Dutch home unannounced and it is not only tidy but spiksplinteringly clean. And they have kids. And usually work.
One Dutch friends has a cleaning day every week with her mum. Her mum comes to her place, they clean, have a wee chat and they are bound to have a cup of coffee. Social cleaning is something I have tried to initiate amongst my international friends (not having our mums close by us), but no one seems willing to be first to cast her friends upon her house (or her house upon her friends, depending on your perspective).
Another friend, non-Dutch but has grown up here all her life, has gained two pieces of advice. First of all, have a cloth for everything. Second of all keep all that the public eye can see clean and tidy, and forget the private quarters. As I discovered the other day, public includes the side of your house. My neighbour was sweeping her wall the other day. Please can someone explain this one to me. It had never even made it to my "to do if I could be bothered list". Actually, it had never even entered my mind.
I shall continue to spy. If the truth be known, I am hoping to find they have secret mini robots so they can sit and drink coffee to their heart's content.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Lang Geleden (= long ago)
It is so long since I last wrote. Those that know my uselessness at email writing would find no surprise in that. But, dear Blog, please be assured of my desperate attempts to be reunited. A mere two days after plucking up the courage to dip my toe in the ocean of blogging (how vast it seems to me, a novice), I received a VERY SERIOUS email telling me that I had perhaps been contravening T&Cs. I was, I have to admit, rather terrified and was half expecting the police to come banging on my door in the middle of the night.
A suggested reason was too many links in my blog. Well, as you can see this very untechnical blog has no links so far (I think...). All very strange and no explanation was ever given, but I am just glad to be writing this again and not, I hasten to add, from a prison cell.
As it turns out, this blog might just get a teensy bit interesting (about time, eh?!). In the interim we have been assured that The Doctor is on the point of being offered a sparklingly new job. The scary bit is we have no idea where this job many be located: Amsterdam, Paris or Dortmund. Possibly all three(!!!), so that we can stay put, neatly in the centre as Cadier en Keer, the hub of the universe, is. Well, I just continue to stand by a very special promise that was once made to me: 'For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (Jeremiah 29 verse 11) 20 years or so down the line, I have plenty of evidence that this was (is) indeed a genuine promise.
I am not great at waiting around for any outcome, so I am so glad that I just need to read a little further in my Bible to discover my role in all this: 'Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.' (verses 12-14) It really couldn't get better than that, really, could it.
Also since last writing, we have acquired a Wii. Any recommendations would be gladly received. Have just ordered Endless Ocean. Probably not quite what The Doctor had in mind when he invested in the technology, but there is going to be quite enough football around here for one girl, with the European Championships upon us (and we even live in a country that is taking part : don't ever move to the Netherlands if you are sensitive to the colour orange...)
A suggested reason was too many links in my blog. Well, as you can see this very untechnical blog has no links so far (I think...). All very strange and no explanation was ever given, but I am just glad to be writing this again and not, I hasten to add, from a prison cell.
As it turns out, this blog might just get a teensy bit interesting (about time, eh?!). In the interim we have been assured that The Doctor is on the point of being offered a sparklingly new job. The scary bit is we have no idea where this job many be located: Amsterdam, Paris or Dortmund. Possibly all three(!!!), so that we can stay put, neatly in the centre as Cadier en Keer, the hub of the universe, is. Well, I just continue to stand by a very special promise that was once made to me: 'For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (Jeremiah 29 verse 11) 20 years or so down the line, I have plenty of evidence that this was (is) indeed a genuine promise.
I am not great at waiting around for any outcome, so I am so glad that I just need to read a little further in my Bible to discover my role in all this: 'Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.' (verses 12-14) It really couldn't get better than that, really, could it.
Also since last writing, we have acquired a Wii. Any recommendations would be gladly received. Have just ordered Endless Ocean. Probably not quite what The Doctor had in mind when he invested in the technology, but there is going to be quite enough football around here for one girl, with the European Championships upon us (and we even live in a country that is taking part : don't ever move to the Netherlands if you are sensitive to the colour orange...)
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