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Browsing (Or: European and American shoe sized compared)

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Niki

On my last trip to the Netherlands, I quickly found out that the sneakers I bought for the trip just weren’t going to cut it. I go through shoes pretty fast, unfortunately. So Roger took me to a few shoe stores in the Hague, but not before I looked up my shoe size in European terms.

Since I wear a 7 1/2, I figured that I should probably look for a 38. After a few shoe stores, I was able to find a basic white sneaker that didn’t seem too horrible for my feet. Of course, the pair only lasted a week or two after I got back to the States, so it wasn’t the best quality in the world. But I think I only paid €15. (Incidentally, I went clothes shopping with Marco later that week, though I didn’t know my shirt size at all. I ended up with another 38! Bought the shirt at V&D in the Hague.)

Also a random fun memory from that shoe shopping trip: Roger and I went and got Burger King and brought it back to eat. It was nice and quick to order, so that won out.

But back to the shoes… I went to the mall yesterday to get new sneakers. I was pondering getting more black sneakers for my work outfits, but decided against it for now. Marco recommended that I get some new pairs and bring them over unworn to NL so I know I have something that fits. I am starting to think it’s not a bad idea at all.

For the record, I hate shoe shopping. Anything that takes more than 5 minutes of browsing and trying on shoes annoys me. But there’s really only a few styles that won’t kill my feet, so it shouldn’t take that long at all.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Friends&Family | 4 Comments

Alterations (Or: Dutch for dummies book)

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Niki

A few years ago, long before we decided that I would move to the Netherlands, Marco got me a Dutch study aid. It was from the popular “for dummies” book series.

Of course he felt a bit weird calling me a dummy, so he decided to alter the title a bit…

It makes me grin every time I see it!

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: , | 6 Comments

Handmade (Or: A Dutchie’s jigsaw puzzles)

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Niki

Back in late October 2009, when I had only lived in this current apartment for a few months, Marco had to buy a birthday gift for a friend’s young child. While searching for a gift in a store, he came across blank puzzle pieces.

On a whim, he purchased four jigsaws and drew some images and phrases on each. He then had the bright idea to mail them to me a few at a time! So it was a while before I could complete the puzzles, though not forever.

“ik ben van jou” -> I am yours.

Funny story about the phrase above – he taught me two phrases back before I really started studying Dutch at all. “ik ben van jou” – I am yours – and “jij bent van mij” – you are mine. As I had zero grounding in Dutch, he was teaching me to remember it based on memorization, so he said “jij BENT van mij”, while making a bending motion with his hands.

So for whatever reason, that phrase reminded me of driving a car, with your hands on the steering wheel. So for a long time I could only differentiate between the two (ben vs. bent) by thinking of which one was where you were driving.

And this second jigsaw puzzle is proof that we have always been counting down days until we see each other again. At the bottom you can see the “80!!’ for 80 days. That would have been the Christmas trip where they visited my new digs for the first time.

By the way – it is 28 days and about 20 hours until we see each other again.

Not that we’re counting.

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: | 5 Comments

Replacements (Or: Dutch bicycles

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Niki

Random picture of the day. Here is the replacement bike that Roger bought last month:

Here’s hoping this one doesn’t “wander off” for many, many years!

Categories: Culture | Tags: | 2 Comments

Speculoos (Or: Chopped Grill Masters)

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Niki

Earlier today I was doing some work for Avatar MUD (closing loopholes people were abusing – what else is new!), and I had Chopped Grill Masters on my TV as background noise. On Chopped, four different chefs compete each week to see who is the best. There are three rounds: appetizers, entrees, and desserts. One chef is eliminated each round. Grill Masters is a special version of that, with 4 episodes – 16 chefs competing for a spot on the finale (the 5th and final episode).

Anyway, at one point I thought I heard something, but I wasn’t sure. I glanced up from my work and listened. It was as I thought – one of the required appetizer ingredients was speculoos!

Speculoos (speculoospasta) is basically a paste made from speculaas cookies, both Dutch treats. According to Marco it was first marketed in 2007. Thankfully Marco had recently mailed me another two boxes of speculaas cookies for my coworkers and I, so I have enough to last for now.

So yes, I saw something Dutch (or Flemish, or Belgian…) on my TV today. Pretty cool.

Categories: Food | 5 Comments

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: | 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

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: | 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: | Leave a comment

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