Sometimes you just come across something a bit unexpected in the Netherlands. I would think SPAM energy drinks qualify…
The two well-known meanings of spam in America..
1. Spam: the food – who knew it was short for spiced ham? spiced-ham? That almost makes it sound edible. I know some people in this world like eating it. I think.
2. Spam: e-mails you don’t want and didn’t ask for.
And now, I guess I have to add ‘energy drink’ to the mix! It even has its own Facebook fan page.
A few weeks ago, I met up with Marco in Rijswijk to check out the carnival that was in town (for a few days around March 21ish). We were using a free “pass” we received in the mail from HTM, one of The Hague’s public transportation providers. Once you activate it (at the front of the bus or tram) you can travel for free (for that one day) on HTM buses or trams in the city, or similar. Unlimited trips and transfers.
Of course, Marco’s ddn’t scan properly, but we ended up having no further problems. The bus driver wrote the date on it, but that wasn’t that much proof. (If you get caught without paying the fare for the tram or bus, you get a fine of at least a few hundred euros, I believe. So always best to be careful.)
We also ended up going to Zoetermeer, which is an area just outside of The Hague – but in the opposite direction
Here are some pictures from the carnival…
Overview of the carnival from above.
The crazy high flying ride. It was possible to flip your cage as well, if you were (un)lucky. The group we saw as we were leaving was doing that.
Kiddie coaster. Actually slightly intricate, with the two different levels. Anytime I see coasters like this, I am reminded of a small black dragon one that I went on when I was pretty tiny. It was even simpler than this I think – just one level high, about 6-7 feet tall. I remember screaming for mom a bit when I went over that (now so tiny) hill. ;P
Skeeball! In the Netherlands. Marco was a bit surprised to see this, although he said he hadn’t been to carnivals in some years. (YouTube video – note the different point totals for each hole. The “bucket” section at the bottom gets you the least points. That’s the one where most of the balls fall just because you missed hitting the higher holes.)
A car carousel of sorts. Note the kid wearing a coat. It was windy!
And finally, we have a ride to spin you around some. Needs more Tilt-A-Whirl! (YouTube video – note: there is a wheel in the middle. The faster you turn it, the faster the entire compartment spins around the edges. That’s why some whip around faster than others.)
If Marco’s wondering why he hasn’t received an email yet from me, here’s why…
Two pages of Dutch writing…
Wait, make that three pages of Dutch writing…
They are just random exercises using the perfect (I have gone) and the imperfectum (I went). It’s starting to make a little more sense at least…
I took this picture last week (in March). Hema has already put a small store display with decorations for Koninginnedag 2013 (Queen’s Day). The last one in fact. Since Queen Beatrix is giving up the throne on that day, the following year we will have Koningsdag (King’s Day) for her son.
But really – I didn’t know people needed their decorations 5 weeks in advance!
Sorry for the lack of updates! Yesterday was April Fool’s Day, so Marco and I pulled a prank on the game that we help run. It lasted 24 hours so we logged in a lot. Most people were happy with the prank, although there were a few folks who were unhappy with how it turned out. Admittedly it was a bit serious sounding – ownership changes. But all in good fun…
Today was pretty interesting. I had a list of things to get from Albert Heijn, including tortilla wraps (we made fajitas for dinner), cookies for coffee, and coffee pads. The coffee was on sale – two bags of coffee pads for €4 instead of €6.40. But when I went into the line I was surprised that the total price was just over €9. After I left the line and was packing my items, I realized that I forgot to hand over my bonus card. Normally the cashiers prompt you for it.
So I had a dilemma – I could go back and ask the cashier what I could do, but I didn’t want to do it in English. I hate assuming that everyone knows English as it’s not always true. I also wasn’t sure what to do because I had answered “no” to whether or not I wanted a receipt so I had no proof. I usually just throw those away.
So after a few minutes I steeled myself up and went back to the line I had been in. Thankfully I only had to wait for one person to finish. I then managed to explain my predicament to the cashier in simple (simple) Dutch!
Ik heb een vraagje. Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands maar ik vergeet mijn bonuskaart en de koffie is voor aanbeiding. Ik zei “nee” voor een bonnetje. Wat kan ik doen? (may or may not be good Dutch)
I have a question. I speak a little Dutch but I forgot my bonus card and the coffee is on sale. I said “no” to a receipt. What can I do? … It wasn’t quite what I said at the time, but you get the idea. After a few more lines I had to switch back to English because I didn’t understand what she was saying, but thankfully she spoke English. She mentioned that I need to give my bonus card – I understand that. I think she thought I was blaming her for the trouble – far from it!
She explained (in English) that I could try at the customer service desk, so I thanked her and went there. Again I only had to wait for one person ahead of me in the line. I spoke in Dutch again, and actually only had a few lines in English. I even said my Dutch wasn’t that good but I was trying, and she smiled and said I was. She said her English wasn’t that good either but she was trying as well. (I am sort of paraphrasing the conversation but it was 90% Dutch.)
It went pretty well – she asked who my cashier was and pulled up my transaction. She confirmed that it was mine and then gave me some euros back (in coins). I was somewhat embarrassed about the situation in general but quite glad that if I am desperate I can survive on my own if needed. I was also glad I didn’t let the language barrier stand in my way if I wanted something.
Of course, sometimes when you’re happy about something, something else happens to shake you up a bit. 😉 When I was walking home, I stepped on a tiny branch and heard it snap. I took one more step, slightly distracted. I tripped and managed to fall. I didn’t trip over anything in particular – I just didn’t pick up my feet enough I guess!
A gentleman that had been passing by me stopped and asked if I was okay. I started talking in English as I stood up, quite embarrassed Considering I had just been proud to speak a bit of Dutch at Albert Heijn, it’s amazing to consider that in times of distress, all you have left is your native language. It is all you can remember in the heat of the moment. Though I did utter a quick Dag! (goodbye) before I turned to quickly walk home.
It wasn’t that bad of a fall, in the end. My left knee was scrapped up, but nothing a band-aid can’t fix. My right pinky is definitely sore but I can stretch it fully if needed. It hurts slightly when I curl it up too far. I figure a good night’s rest will help a lot.
So… just some of my language observations on a day I thought would be much more quiet than it ended up being. But it was overall a good day.
A few week ago I went with Marco’s mother to Zoetermeer. We went to the shopping area (Stadshart) near Zoetermeer Centrum, mostly to shop and have lunch. We ended up having lunch at Napoleon Brasserie where I had the bal gehakt, which is mainly a meatball sandwich – of sorts. It was pretty decent, although I was expecting there to be some juice alongside. But no, just the meat and the bread (and some mustard packets).
What can I say – I liked the candles!
I also took a picture of an Easter tree display in one of the stores (maybe Blokker, not sure). You can buy little birds, butterflies, and similar to hang on an Easter tree as decoration.
Now if only Spring would come for good. It snowed a little bit yesterday! Though not for long and nothing stuck.
Yesterday we made a trip to a few different places to get food for our Easter dinner – gourmetten! Definitely one of my favorite meals. We bought a collection of gourmetten meats for €10 at Albert Heijn. (Similar to this, but not quite.)
Another place I went was an Asian store in the center of The Hague. Recently I noticed they had a Hello Kitty display in the entrance of the store:
And since this is a random picture blog post, here’s a picture of a guy in gold:
Taken in the Spui shopping area in The Hague. He was quite smart – instead of getting gold on his face he decided to wear a gold helmet/mask instead.
Last night was my 6th Dutch lesson at the Volksuniversiteit in The Hague. The main topic for this lesson was learning the simple past. The title of this blog post reflects that, as Er was eens… is the beginning of a faerie tale, much like “Once upon a time” starts English faerie tales… [“was” is used for the past tense in both English and Dutch.]
I definitely felt a bit out of my element here even though I had done the homework in advance. There are rules for when you can use the perfect (I have called) and the imperfect (I called), otherwise known in English as the present perfect and the simple past.
The imperfect/simple past is used with description and a description of habits that occur over a period of time. I don’t quite grasp it yet, but you use the perfect/present perfect when you are describing a single moment in time, or a single action. Thus when you ask about someone’s vacation, the answer usually starts off in the perfect before moving to the imperfect/simple past for the description of events. One example:
– Hoe lang ben je op vakantie geweest?
Ik ben twee weken op vakantie geweest. In de eerste week ging ik naar Turkije. De eten smaakte lekker. In de tweede week ging ik naar Rome. Ik vond de stad mooi.
– How long have you been on vacation?
I have been on vacation for two weeks. In the first week I went to Turkey. The food tasted nice. In the second week I went to Rome. I found the city beautiful.
Now, I can already tell you my explanation has holes in it, so don’t think about it too much. Just do!
Some other things: there is no class next week due to the Easter holiday – pasvakantie. (Easter = Pasen). This is cool because it means I can hang out with Roger, as he usually visits on Tuesday nights. ;p
Another thing we did was mention what we heard in the news (to practice our Dutch speaking skills). One tidbit – the Netherlands is now ranked 3rd in the world for its proficiency of English as a second language. This led to the professor telling us a joke about mixing English and Dutch together in unpredictable ways, though it’s unconfirmed. Here it is, taken from Wikipedia:
One of the best quoted examples of Dunglish was said to have taken place between the Dutch foreign minister Joseph Luns (a man whose main foreign language was French, the language of diplomacy prior to World War II) and John F. Kennedy. At one point Kennedy inquired if Luns had any hobbies, to which he replied “I fok horses” (the Dutch verb fokken meaning to breed). Likely taken aback by this strangely obscene reply, Kennedy asked “Pardon?”, which Luns then mistook as the Dutch word for “horses” (“paarden”) and enthusiastically responded “Yes, paarden!”
With that craziness – until next time!
Yesterday, Marco, Roger and I ordered dinner from Warung Mini. Marco had to be on pseudo stand-by for his work for 13ish hours, which turned out to be even more annoying than he could have imagined (though it all worked out) so he definitely didn’t want to think too much about what was for dinner.
It was my third time ordering from this restaurant but my first time trying there apparently world famous (!) saoto soup, which has chicken, egg, bean sprouts, vermicelli noodles and potato bits. The bean sprouts are actually the most interesting addition to the soup since it does give it a bit of a crunchy texture.
Oh, and we mustn’t forget about all of the spices – halfway through the soup it felt like the bottom of my throat was on fire, although my mouth was fine. I went through a lot of water!
Dessert was bakabana – bakked banana. It was pretty good (even cold) but alas, I did not get a picture this time!
Last weekend Marco and I went walking around random parts of The Hague. One of the things we came across was the Ministry of Justice building. Check out the entrance:
If you like color, this is apparently the place for you! What other colorful buildings have you seen?
