Author Archives: Niki

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About Niki

I run the blog http://www.lifeinthehague.com

Food mashing! (Or: It must be getting colder outside)

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Niki

From Marco…

When Niki was in the Netherlands in summer 2010, she asked if we’d have traditional Dutch food. I kind of told her no, since a lot of Dutch food is winter food.
So when she was was here in December of that year, she asked again.
And again I told her we probably shouldn’t. Though of course we did introduce her to ‘oliebollen’.

The reason of course is that one of the most typical types of Dutch food are ‘stamppot’ (mash pot) which is usually potatoes mashed with some sort of vegetable. Personally I’m not a big fan of them, and I sort of doubt if Niki is. But who knows? (Note from Niki: yeah… he knows I don’t like mixing different foods together…)

The one type of stamppot that I do like is with sauerkraut.


My mom made some this week (because it’s getting colder, so it’s time for winter food!) and brought it over yesterday. Good times!
Now, probably each family has their own little customs when it comes to these dishes. But one of the most common traditions is to put it on your plate, make a large indent in the middle, and then pour gravy in there. Also, there has to be ‘rookworst’ (smoked sausage).
Definitely got to have smoked sausage.

I’m sure at some point Niki will be introduced to these kind of Dutchie foods.
I wonder if she’s going to enjoy it….

Categories: Culture, Food | 2 Comments

Wrapping up (Or: The end of these classes)

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Niki

Today I had two classes for EN112 – College Writing and Research. Last summer, it was decided that rather than trying to introduce the students to the library during their freshman seminar, it might instead be better to introduce the them to the library during their research class. The only issue with that is some students test out of it completely, but those students also tested out for a reason.

I had two EN112s this morning – 8:15 and 9:45. My general outline for these types of classes is to go over how to search the book catalog and how to search the databases for journal articles. The basics – but at this point I’ve been searching the databases for three years, so I am able to add in some of the tricks I myself have learned along the way.

But, like all things, work seems to be a countdown these days. This many days left, this many classes left… etc. I only have 4 more classes to go (2 next Monday, 1 next Tuesday, and 1 the last Monday of October). There’s also workshops (which last until the end of November), but classes by and large are how I see most of the students.

Over the months I have expanded on some of the details I tell the students:

1. “I work Monday through Friday, 8AM to 4PM.” So don’t expect an answer Saturday night…

2. “I am a weird person who doesn’t drive, so I need to leave at 4PM sharp to catch the bus.” So don’t come in at 3:58PM (this hasn’t really happened lately).

3. And sometimes, depending on the class… “I am moving to the Netherlands at the end of the semester, so feel free to ask me any questions before that. My last day is the last day of finals.” (Usually at least a few students say “Awesome!” or similar at that.)

…Today I mentioned point #3 at the end of the class after the professor brought it up. As today’s research topic example was the therapeutic uses of marijuana (with a potential look at legalizing medical marijuana in New York), I did slip in a joke that I was not moving to the Netherlands for better access to drugs. (That got some laughs.)

It hasn’t really hit yet. Today someone from my bank called, and I realized for the 53rd time that I really need to figure out how to close my account from overseas, as I will still have direct deposit checks arriving for another month or so. Little things that I must remember… or more accurately, throw into Outlook as a reminder.

To do at some point down the line.

Categories: Moving | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Oh no (Or: Where’s my ESPN?)

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Niki

Today I woke up as normal. Got ready, made breakfast, sat down in front of the television and loaded up Google Chrome to send Marco the much anticipated morning email. But when I turned on the TV…

I was greeted with the (light) blue screen of death.

Important Information about Your Service

A digital cable box (or CableCARD) is needed to receive this channel. Please contact us at (866) 580-0535 to have a digital cable box shipped to your home FREE of charge OR visit one of our Optimum Stores.

Here is some more info: news article from NPR

I have managed to make it almost 5 years without needing a cable box, and I consider that a very good run. (For the record, in both places my landlord paid for cable as part of the rent agreement and I used their cable hookup.) Each cable box is $7.60 per month. You see above where they say it’s free? Read it closely – it really means the shipping of the box is free. They know how to get you.

I just have about 5 channels now: CBS, NBC, FOX, 9, and 11 (and 11 is some weird channel I have never heard of before). There’s another 4-5 channels that I have never watched before available as well.

I think now the plan is that I will just end up watching more TV shows on the internet, rather than trying to find a cable box for the last two months that I am here.  It did give my heart some pain to realize that meant Roger wouldn’t be able to watch Rangers games live while he is here in December… But otherwise, I am just missing out on ESPN and a few other things. Usually the TV is on mostly for the background noise.

Still – hmph.

Categories: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Hmmm (Or: Dutch health insurance)

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Niki

Next thing to work on: figuring out Dutch health insurance. Actually, I don’t have as much to figure out as I thought. I had mentioned the predicament to Marco and this morning I woke up to a PDF from Oom Verzekeringen (Oom insurance) that Marco had thoughtfully sent to me.

According to their page it seems that the best fit would be Global Visitor Insurance, since in the end this is really just short term insurance until I can secure a residence permit and find a more permanent solution. The page specifically mentions it works until you can get a residence permit, so yay. If anyone over in America is wondering, it’s illegal to not have health insurance in the Netherlands if you live there. I like not getting fined. I am not completely clear if you need it as soon as you set foot in the country, but you definitely do on the day you get your residence permit.

I still remember Marco explaining Dutch health insurance — it’s not tied to your job at all. Which is in some ways nice, since right now my work decides which health insurance is best for the college, and you only have a few tiers of coverage to choose from. There’s usually a lot of grumblings from my coworkers, but I have been lucky enough to not have been turned upside down and shaken so all my money falls out… yet… (some of the stories my coworkers tell me sound like downright highway robbery).

Mind you, I am not a user of health insurance in general. So far under this job I have not used anything from my health insurance, though I have faithfully visited the dentist every 6 months for a routine checkup (dental coverage is separate from health insurance for me).

But I am glad to see it doesn’t seem to be that difficult. Though if you’re an expat with a Dutch health insurance horror story, feel free to share!

Categories: Forms, etc. | Tags: | 7 Comments

Squares (Or: A Chicago pizza pie)

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Niki

This past Christmas, Marco and Roger came with me to meet my parents in Chicago for the first time. The very first night we were there, we ordered pizza.

It’s a family sized pizza, since we wanted leftovers the next day (of which there were plenty!). And the pizza made Marco drool. He was reminiscing about it a week or two ago, specifically that the pizza was cut into squares not slices.. If you look closely, you can see the square cuts.

Of course, I had no idea that about 36 hours later (give or take a few) I would be engaged. The proposal happened while unwrapping gifts Christmas morning. I really had no idea. Even when someone at church accidentally almost gave it away at the Christmas Eve service… I was totally clueless and said “No…? We’re not getting engaged until later in 2012.” Oh how little I knew.

As Marco mentioned, there was a lot of scheming going on. He actually called my parents a month or so prior about the upcoming engagement, and my parents actually wrapped up the ring box in a stocking for the dog. They knew I’d help unwrap the dogs present. And then of course there was also the scheming being done for my mom’s Christmas gift – a new netbook. It was very hard to concentrate on her unwrapping her gift, since I was spending too much time staring at my new ring!

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: , | 3 Comments

Procrastination (Or: Get a move on)

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Niki

The interesting thing is that the closer my move gets, the more I seem to procrastinate. Things were very frenzied in July and August, but it has become a slow simmer…

Things seem to be going slowly, but at the same time quite fast. I only have 9 weeks of work left. Soon we will start scheduling interviews for my position — of the 25 or so resumes we received, we will likely interview 5 of them. It does cause a bit of trepidation, as it does show that people are desperate to get a job and why am I leaving mine again?

But only a bit of trepidation – things will work out. They always do (after I freak out a bit and Marco rolls his eyes and tells me to calm down ;p).

The main things I have to get figured out are related to health insurance, and eventually finding a doctor (huisarts) to go to. The rest just seems to be waiting, although Marco, Roger and I have started to make plans for the December trip when they come to party in New York City and then take me back. The days are slipping past.

Categories: Moving | Tags: | 2 Comments

Jackets (Or: Statue of Liberty in October)

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Niki

The air is getting cold here. (Well, we’ll ignore the fact that it is forecast to be pretty warm Sunday, comparatively.)

I didn’t wear a jacket today. (But I definitely pondered one.)

I didn’t want to put the heat on. (But I did.)

At some point during my videochat with Marco today, I was reminded of the October 2010 trip with Marco. He visited me while I was studying at Rutgers and we went to New York City a few times. Including my first time seeing the Statue of Liberty.

Of course, I forgot how much colder it is out on the water. Marco asked me if I wanted a jacket a few times, but I said no. And then we got up on the ferry…

and yep, I sheepishly asked if I could borrow his jean jacket (and he said yes!) So I spent most of the ferry ride wearing an oversized jacket. It was nice, if I do say so myself.

And here is a view of the New York skyline from the ferry. Good times.

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: | Leave a comment

July (Or: Crowds, police, and heat)

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Niki

Lately it seems that it has gotten colder. October is definitely here. I even had to pull out my jacket once this week, as the mornings are getting rather cold. I suspect by next week I will be wearing it every day, unfortunately.

So I was looking at the July 4 pictures Marco and I took of NYC in 2009 (previous post). Heat! Warmth! …and way too many crowds.

See? I wasn’t joking about the crowds. This is part of Times Square, after the fireworks ended.

This was one police meeting area in the early afternoon of July 4. All I remember about this picture is right before that, Marco had made a joke about donuts. 😛

Categories: Holidays, Marco&Niki | Tags: | 2 Comments

Influences (Or: Pennsylvania Dutch bread)

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Niki

Similar to the post I wrote yesterday about the Dutch influence on the land (in Blauvelt, NY), I decided to share with you some pictures of the type of bread I eat. Of course both types are listed as “Pennsylvania Dutch” rather than true Dutch, but one of them states it much more clearly than the other.

Still, it was quite strange to see “Dutch” written on my bread bag.

Above is my favorite bread, and I have been eating it literally since I moved to the east coast. It was the only whole wheat bread at the deli I frequented (there really was no “grocery store” within walking distance in New Brunswick) so I ate that one. And then I lucked out because the Shoprite here in New York also has the same brand.

The bread above is a bread I have only had a few times. I only grab it from the nearby deli on the way home when I forget to get bread at Shoprite (which is about a 1 mile walk each way, so it would be too crazy to go back just for bread).

It’s actually potato bread, which I decided is okay if it’s toasted, but otherwise kind of odd. I don’t really like sweetish bread, so there you go. Also, I believe my bread should not be a pale yellow color…

Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Blauvelt, NY (Or: Dutch History)

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Niki

Dutch influence can be found all over the New York area. (Case in point – New York City used to be called New Amsterdam.)

One of the things Marco and I saw on the way to Bailey’s Smokehouse was this sign in front of a home:

You can read more by going to the Rockland Historical Society‘s page about the house. Apparently the first Dutch settler arrived in the area in 1683. Here is a quote from the page about the name “Blauvelt”:

“There are many guesses as to why the name Blauvelt was chosen. Some suggest that it is because in English, Blauvelt means blue field, this stemmed from the blue flowers which abounded in Gerritt Hendrickson’s grain fields. Another possibility is that Blauvelt originally was Gerritt’s family name when he arrived from Holland, but he just did not use it when he arrived in America. The blue field refers to the predominant color in his family’s coat of arms.” – read more

It really is all about the Dutch! At least on the east coast…

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: | 5 Comments

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