Author Archives: Niki

About Niki

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

Little things (Or: Exchanging grocery keychains)

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Niki

After Marco wrote the blog post about the Hello Kitty keychain, I thought about a few other keychains he and I have given each other. Slightly more practical, but not really…

At one point, I thought I had lost my Shoprite card, so I went to the grocery store to ask for another one. They said they would mail me one, but it would take 4-6 weeks, and that in the meantime I could use my phone number. Sometime in those 4-6 weeks, I found the card and forgot all about the ones that were to arrive in the mail.

But arrive they did – so I had the brilliant idea to give one to Marco. I believe I did so near the end of one of the trips, probably when he was about to pack his luggage. (Though my memory is a bit faulty at times!) He was thrilled, even if it really only has a use for about 6 weeks out of the year. But it does have some use, since occasionally I am at work when Roger and him visit so they need the card if I instruct them to do the grocery shopping!

At the bottom you can also see the tip of a blue key. That’s actually a key made from a New York Rangers mold… and its one of the copies of my house key. So technically he can get in whenever he wants, if there wasn’t an ocean in between.

Shortly after I gave Marco a Shoprite card, he gave me a keychain card of my own.

An Albert Heijn bonus card. Which will probably find a lot of use in about 4 months…

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

Power lines (Or: Trimming tree branches)

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Niki

As I was walking to the post office today, I came across a service truck. The worker was in the middle of cutting down tree branches that were obstructing the power lines.

As you can see, there are power lines at the top of the image. If you’re American, this is a normal everyday sight (although one of my coworkers lives in a town where all of the lines are buried underground). But I still remember the first time Marco told me that the power lines in the Netherlands were underground.

Of course, this means they are much less likely to break when a storm hits. Like last October when most of the Northeast was out of power for a week (some places two weeks). I ended up spending the night at a coworker’s just to have a guaranteed shower and warmth. It got down in the mid 50s (Fahrenheit) in my place! There was an article written a few weeks ago about why most of the United States doesn’t bury their power lines (only 18% do). Mainly due to cost to the consumer, upkeep needed more often, and the type of rock they would have to dig into.

So just remember that the next time you see a power line. Or don’t see a power line…

Categories: Daily Dutch living | 2 Comments

Hello Niki (Or: Wait..was she somehow trying to tag me as her property?)

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Niki

From Marco…

A short time before Niki and I met, a friend of mine visited Japan.
We joked that she should bring me a Hello Kitty phone charm and that I’d attach it to my phone.
I expected her to forget but she didn’t…
Being crazy enough to be a man of my word in situations like this, I hung the charm as promised.
If I remember correctly it was a little rocker H. Kitty.

At some point in the conversations with Niki I showed the charm (possibly already at the first convention we met, but it might’ve been at another one).

Maybe to give the impression that despite being big and evil, I was not above being silly and cute 🙂
Or maybe it was just a simple and fun topic “hey look, I am crazy, I have a girlish charm on my phone”
I’m not sure if it helped to impress her, but she definitely remembered it.

Because some time later, the cord of the charm broke, so I took it off the phone. Then, not long after that, I got a gift from Niki.
A new Hello Kitty figure holding a pink heart with an even tinier little heart dangling next to it.
At this time we were still “just friends” but now I have to wonder if she wasn’t secretly claiming me already*grin*

To prevent scratching the enamel*, I put tape over the figure & heart. Though the heart has some scratches anyways..

She said I could use it to replace the other one but since it was a bit bigger than the original I decided to hang it from my key chain. (also the original was more of a small figurine, while this is more like a flat charm, I’m sure there’s an actual word for it)
It’s been on there ever since. Usually when I take my keys out of my pocket when I get home from work my fingers search for it just to make sure it’s still there.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a good luck charm or anything like it, but I got it from Niki, so obviously it’s dear to me.

* I had to look up enamel since it’s not an every-day word. Fun fact, in Dutch it’s email (or emaille in French)
Ooops. I bet not many people use it for THAT meaning these days.

Categories: Marco&Niki | 2 Comments

Mondays (Or: A break in the routine)

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Niki

As most of my friends know, I do like my routine. But this week, due to various coworkers all deciding to go on vacation during the same two weeks, there is only anti-routine. I have to work nights rather than days. Thankfully the library closes 3 hours earlier in the summer, or this would be even worse.

But it’s so hard to tell my body Sleep in past 6am. Please. You know you (don’t) want to. So I went to bed after midnight, and up by 6. Not cool at all. And if I was at work right now, I’d be enjoying a cup of tea! (We always have a tea break at 9:30 in the morning. No, I don’t live in England.) On the plus side, I answered a lot of emails, took a shower, and am writing this blog post very early in the day. And after this, it is time to study Dutch a bit before my ride comes.

Lately Marco and I have been trying a new tactic – he gives me specific sentences to study (he also found audio files online for these sentences), and then when we meet up on videochat, we go over them. Sometimes the first time he says the sentence, I have no idea what he just said. But then he slows it down a bit and I get it. But of course these sentences are full of tongue twisters and Dutch sayings which don’t translate literally, so even Google translate isn’t always a help to me. But I do feel like my speech is slowly improving, though it is definitely baby steps.

Here are some interesting blog posts that I came across today while trying desperately to catch up:

Molen van Sloten, by Ghoti Industries

Post about the only public windmill in the Netherlands which even lets you go inside. Apparently pretty close to Amsterdam. I put it into my Chrome folder for “places to visit” someday.

Een dagje naar het strand (A day at the beach), by Fronz

Some nice photos, especially the first one. It looked like a very relaxing day.

Categories: Learning Dutch | Tags: Dutch language | 3 Comments

In style (Or: Motorcycle hearses)

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Niki

On my way home today, I passed the local Catholic church. A group of bushes blocks the driveway – so I tend to peek around the corner cautiously to make sure there aren’t any cars coming.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a funeral hearse parked there. But not just any hearse – a motorcycle hearse.

http://www.riphearse.com (not my image – taken from the website)

They are based out of East Brunswick, NJ. I have been there a few times, as I did my Masters at nearby New Brunswick (Rutgers University). Surprisingly I did not see a lot of motorcycles lying in wait outside as I walked past today. There were a lot of cars though, double parked and idle while waiting for the funeral procession.

What a way to go – in style all the way.

Categories: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Cinnamon (Or: Frozen pretzels at Shoprite)

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Niki

One of the random snacks that I enjoyed as a kid was a soft pretzel which you put in the microwave for 30 seconds. They come frozen. You get six in a box, as well as a bag of pretzel salt which is a bit thicker than regular table salt. I think you are supposed to wet the pretzel a bit to help it stick. (The most amusing thing is the warning not to use the entire salt packet for one pretzel, as it’s enough for six.) But I just dump a bit of table salt on a plate and duck a bit of pretzel into it. Sometimes I dunk the pretzel in mustard.

I had mentioned to Marco a few weeks ago that I had found these things again. Recently he mentioned wanting to try them with cinnamon, which I thought was… interesting. I really couldn’t envision it.

Well, I forgot that I live in America. If you want a flavor, they’ve probably already thought of it and manufactured it for you.

During today’s trip to Shoprite I looked at the frozen pretzels and realized that they had a cinnamon flavor. Crazy! I didn’t pick up a box yet, but I will before Marco comes. I’ll report back if it’s decent or not…

Categories: Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Forms (Or: Birth certificates in the Hague)

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Niki

So today Marco went to the city hall in the Hague to get his birth certificate, in preparation for the forms we will have to fill out. He got lucky – he was able to get it printed right then and there, after a bit of waiting.

Here’s an image of the inside of the city hall, taken this morning. The artwork hanging from the ceiling is… interesting. As Marco puts it, they look like used tissues…

On my end of the world, I did receive my single status record from NY. The only annoying thing about that one is they “stapled” the pages together with a very tiny golden ring – so like a hole puncher that lays a ring around it. Not a big deal normally, as it looks pleasing to the eye, but the IND forms specifically state not to paperclip anything together. So we’ll have to figure out how to remove that without damaging the paper, probably…

My birth certificate has been more of a hassle for sure. I originally faxed it 3 weeks ago. I emailed them to confirm it arrived and they got back to me two days later – after I was already home and had vacation the next day. So I had to go back to work just to use their fax machine again, as the public library’s isn’t open to the public.

Two weeks pass, and I hear nothing. As the estimated time was 7 business days, I grew concerned. I called them yesterday and they said my credit card had been declined (not a big deal – it was a ‘new’ card that I had never used, so probably the activation did not take properly). So I had to bring my debit card in to work today and call them to give them that number. Not sure why they didn’t give me a call to let me know (!) but at least both people I spoke with were very nice about it.

So now the birth certificate is back on track, but the quoted turnaround time is still the same as it was before. Argh. But we are slowly getting there. Slowly.

Categories: Forms, etc. | 2 Comments

Tegenstellingen (Or: Heavy and light, wet and…)

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Niki

One of the more random things I have been doing lately is studying tegenstellingen, or opposites in Dutch. It has mostly been helpful.

This was one page of the 6 or so pages of notes. Some of them are easier than others. Like stroef is rough, and glad is smooth. But good luck pronouncing glad if you’re not used to speaking Dutch. It’s not easy!

Categories: Learning Dutch | Tags: Dutch language | 5 Comments

Signs (Or: Alcohol and minors in the Netherlands)

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Niki

Here is a random sign found at a bar in the Hague.

We sell no alcohol to minors under 16.

We sell no hard liquor (spirits) to minors under 18.

Other fun facts: minors can drink at home, under parental supervision. Minors can only enter a shop if are with someone over the age of 21. Supermarkets don’t sell hard liquor – only beer, wine, and similar with an alcohol content below 14 percent.

And thus ends my random Wednesday blog post. Here’s a post about the day Wednesday from Juno in Holland.

Categories: Culture | Tags: Alcohol | 4 Comments

From Marco (Or: Christmas countdowns and Zonderland’s gold)

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Niki

Niki mentioned a few times that for our various trips we’ve had countdown clocks to well..count down to the moment we’d be together again.
When she came over in December 2010 (and only Roger and I knew about her arrival) I decided to mix things up, make an advent type of calendar. Every day a new little ‘treat’, another (lower) number.

It started out as a joke, when it snowed on December 1st, and I drew the number 24 in the snow (24 more days until Christmas in NL)
Then it grew from there and I tried to come up with something new and original every day.
Often the number was either some randomly found digit, a few times I made one myself (like a 17 out of ‘hagelslag’ or a 3 out of jalapenos, or a 24 out of chicken fingers) and I even used a flyer for the pizza place across the street because it had a big seven on it.

The final picture of course, December 24 –one day till Christmas– was taken when Niki was already here (she arrived on the 23rd)
We have only two more countdowns ahead of us. Well, not true. I’m sure we’ll do more.
Counting down until the weekend, counting down to vacations, anniversaries, etcetera etcetera.

Soon of course the final countdown will start (cue the cheesy Europe song) Wooohooo.

In other news; During the Olympics we often get to watch sports we usually don’t see on tv.
Gymnastics is one of them. Today a Dutchie wrote history by winning ‘our’ first ever gymnastics medal, and it’s gold.
OMG. I know little about the high bar, but his routine was so much more spectacular than his fellow competitors.
The aerial moves he did have never been done before (in competition) as he combined 3 difficult moved into one crazy flowing display of awesomeness.

Do yourself a favor, look around for a proper video. And IF you can, watch it with the Dutch commentary.
The man goes nuts, and rightfully so. Amazing. It makes the routine even more spectacular.

[Edited to add by Niki: There’ s a proper video at nos.nl but it’s not viewable if you have an American IP address. Try this YouTube video but it might disappear at any moment.]

Categories: Holidays, Marco&Niki, Sports | Tags: Christmas | Leave a comment