Posts Tagged With: Christmas

Photos from a work Christmas party (Or: Oh – THOSE are crackers?)

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Niki

A few weeks back Marco and I attended a Christmas party for my work.

A look at the table we were sitting at

The red and white tubes are actually Christmas “crackers”, although all of these are broken open already. It’s basically a tube which two people pull apart to make a noise like a firecracker (“cracker”), apparently with a witty saying inside. Mine was something like “The things you dream about can’t keep you awake at night” or similar.

Ever since I moved to the Netherlands I thought these items were actually crackers – that is, food. Imagine my surprise when a coworker said we should take turns pulling them apart. Haha!

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Categories: Holidays, Working & Volunteering | Tags: Christmas | Leave a comment

Four year in the Netherlands! (Or: Another oliebollen photo)

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Niki

Much like my 3 years in the Netherlands anniversary post last year, I will post another oliebol themed photo:

oliebollen-pop-up-store-the-hague-2016

This is a photo of a pop-up store near the Grote Markt. Here’s an article about it in Dutch – Pop-up oliebollenfabriek opent deuren in Den Haag. I confess I hadn’t quite understood the concept until reading the article. Alongside the traditional oliebollen and appelbeignets, they also sell champagne oliebollen. Except that it’s just in the name – there’s no actual champagne inside. The difference is in the sugar that they use. Some examples of the types of sugar they use include limoncello, salted caramel and chocolate sugar. In total there are 10 different types of sugar you can choose from and some samples for you to taste.

I can’t believe it – four years in the Netherlands already!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Christmas, Oliebollen | 2 Comments

Coca-cola truck (Or: Christmas time in The Hague)

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Niki

A few days ago a coworker of mine showed me a few pictures she had taken around The Hague. As she comes from a warmer climate, she loves to see how Christmas is celebrated here — not that The Hague is that cold. Her favourite pastime seems to be visiting Christmas markets, which is pretty cool.

The first picture she took was of the holidays Coca-cola truck in the city centre:

coca-cola-christmas-trunk-in-the-hague-2016

And the other one she took was an awesome picture of the holiday lights at the Plein. I just love the hazy moon:

plein-in-the-hague-christmas-2016

In the middle, to the left of the Christmas tree, you can just make out the statue of Willem the Silent, which I previously blogged about.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Christmas, Statues | Leave a comment

Sinterklaas! (Or: 5 December)

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Niki

Today is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands (Wikipedia: Dutch | English). Mostly celebrated by kids who receive small trinkets in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Everything culminates in tonight – Pakjesavond, or “Evening of presents” as a loose translation. It’s no secret that Sinterklaas is bigger than Christmas for kids, but it’s still weird to realise this coming from the US.

But – one tradition that you’re supposed to adhere to is not putting up the Christmas tree until the day after Sinterklaas leaves.

Erhm.

christmas-ornament-gold-ball

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Categories: Holidays | Tags: Christmas | Leave a comment

Bijenkorf (Or: A look at Bijenkorf’s 2016 Christmas selection)

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Niki

I am officially posting on my brand new computer! I picked it up on Wednesday night and it looks gorgeous. I have missed being able to easily make blog posts, and now it is even easier – turn on Bluetooth between my iPhone and MacBook, and I can transfer photos without any extra cables! Of course, the move to a Mac has been an interesting one, but that’s what I have Siri for, right? At least she knows where to find various settings…

(Speaking of which, it was very disconcerting to hear a male Siri! That was one of the first things I switched…)

I recently went into Bijenkorf (rather than just staring at their pretty Christmas trees outside) to have a look at their holiday section.

Very contemplative…

Below is a look at some of the Christmas trees on offer. This year (maybe for the first time since I moved here?, they did not have the large Christmas tree near the front of the store). In its place was a Piet hanging from the ceiling. I was not able to get a picture of it, unfortunately.

Say hello to the party tree!

Bijenkorf does like to colour-coordinate their Christmas trees!

A bit too pastel for my tastes, but I can see how others would like it.

Christmas items for purchase at Bijenkorf, The Hague

Until next time!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas | 1 Comment

Holidays at the Grote Markt (Or: Colorful decorations)

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Niki

Last week I took some photos of the Christmas trees by the Bijenkorf (a department store). This week I was able to take a few photos of the lights along the Grote Markt street:

christmas-lights-at-bijenkorf-the-hague-2016

The new tear-shaped lights the city put in earlier this year look really nice!

Lights by the entrance:

christmas-lights-at-bijenkorf-entrance-the-hague-2016

And a look at the lights in the other direction, towards the movie theater and Primark:

christmas-lights-at-the-grote-markt-the-hague-2016

Oh, and today a coworker brought in 12 oliebollen (sorta doughnut-y pastry that is usually made with raisins inside and covered in powdered sugar). They started selling those on November 1st… It is always something to look forward to!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas, Desserts, Oliebollen | Leave a comment

Here we go (Or: Christmas at Bijenkorf)

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Niki

Last week Bijenkorf (an upscale department store) put up their Christmas decorations. See for yourself:

They also put the lights up outside of the building (here is a photo from 2013).

In other news – I finally ordered a new computer! As you can see from this photo of a library book, I am switching from PC to Mac.

"Van PC naar Mac" library book
If you ignore that one semester in college using a Mac and QuarkXPress for a student job, it will be my first time using a Mac. And yes, it might be geeky but the book has been helpful explaining the differences in keys and in the dock at the bottom of the screen where all the program icons can be found.

Although I have a few more weeks to wait, the computer can’t come soon enough. I wanted to write this blog post on my netbook, but Chrome errored when I tried to open it. I restarted my computer but it has been stuck on a blue screen which says “getting Windows ready – don’t turn off your computer”. For a half hour. Heh…

Update: it came back after 45 minutes, although Chrome is still erroring. Oh well! That is a problem for another day.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas | Leave a comment

2015 holiday decorations in The Hague (Or: ‘t Goude Hooft)

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Niki

Earlier in the month I was walking around the Grote Kerk area in The Hague when I came across holiday decorations at one of The Hague’s more popular restaurants, ‘t Goude Hooft. (Full disclosure: I’ve never been to this restaurant. I only know it as the restaurant where all of the outside seats face outwards, to view the trams and people walking past. It’s slightly eerie.)

You know you’re in The Hague (or the Netherlands in general) when you have advertisements at the bottom of the photo imploring bicyclists keep the entrance to buildings free/accessible. It is quite crowded in that area.

Categories: Food, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: 't goude hooft, Christmas, Restaurants | Leave a comment

Elaborate things (Or: Christmas cards and desserts)

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Niki

Merry Christmas all!

To celebrate the holidays, here is a photo of the card that Marco’s dad and his wife made and gave us:

(We’ve had it for a while but on the off chance that another relative reading this blog would get a copy, I decided to hold off on posting it.) At the bottom of the photo you can also see the box it came in.

Another Christmas-y photo – Roger made a tiramisu dessert in a wine glass for his family’s Christmas dinner. Here is the yummy result:

I can say Marco and I had the pleasure of being guinea pigs twice for this dessert so he could get it just-right for today’s big unveiling.

Categories: Holidays | Tags: Christmas, Desserts | Leave a comment

Christmas eve (Or: Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree)

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Niki

Today I briefly visited Bijenkorf, a department store, to take a picture of the tree they always have. This isn’t any tree… it stands 4 floors tall, with the base actually above the ground floor (so you could peek under the tree, technically). This was this year’s design:

And a close up of the design (the gold items are large, round boxes):

I must admit it does not really feel like Christmas eve. I think it has to do with the fact that I even worked today. Just a half day, though. I am not completely insane.

Fijne kerstdagen!