Sunday, October 24, 2010
Comedy about my new home!
PEED myself watching this ... perhaps it will give y'all a little insight into my world here :)
Days 83 & 84 - Lovin' the Dutch Oven
Day 83- (Sat) Pizza oven
After another scintilating saturday studying(!) it was time to revive an old tradition from home - pizza night! Armed with 1.50 euo pizzas from Jumbo('elke dag beter'- 'everyday better' proclaims the bright yellow sign of our favourite Dutch supermarket chain) we cruised round to fire up the oven. And now my favourite part of living in this guesthouse - the dinner company. As we waited for our mix of margherita, pepperoni, chicken and corn (on pizza, not a soup!) etc to crispify we sat around effectively a card table that passes for a dining table in or excuses for kitchens (have I mentioned all the units are the same, right down to the crappy furniture - in each kitchen there even seems to be the same combination of one good and one dodgy broken IKEA chair - it ends up being a game to see if you can take your chair to someone elses place for dinner and come home with a better one!) ... anywho, where was I, oh yes ...cramped kitchen conversation .... so sitting around this tiny table (or perched on the kitchen bench if ur unlucky enough to come last and no more chairs will fit in the room!) were 2 aussies, a scot and two canadians (and that's positively bland as far as multiculturalism goes here) but the conversation ranged from a crazy Dutch politician having a crack at Muslims, to the Canadian Mayoral race to the benefits of Milo versus European drinking chocolate. No matter what meal of the day, or in what language (when my Dutch girls pop round for dinner or Tess tries in vain to teach me some Korean) ... its never just "pass the salt pls" around here :)
Day 84 - (Sun) Muffin better to do than bake
In need of yet another study break I busted out the fall-back muffin recipe from home and filled our tiny unit with a smell yummy enough to entice Tess out of her room! Apparently the sight of fresh baked goods was enough to send her back in there to retrieve her camera! (For anyone who's interested, the muffins are now doing the rounds on FB, tagged as me!) Who knew two red-hot elements with a tray between them, housed in something suspiciously resembling a microwave could bring so much joy :P
Observations: Although I've just spent this blog talking mainly about food I'm now about to complain about the side effects - I calculated the other day that I ride at least 8km each day, to and from uni, sometimes more if I make multiple trips, yet my pins are no closer to being "insurably toned" nor has my waistline all but disappeared ... Belgian chocolate, you gotta lotta 'splaining to do! In fact, instead of resembling a two-wheeled goddess, most mornings (now that its getting foggy) I end up hurtling into the uni bike-park sweating like a pig and desperately searching for a tissue to wipe my running nose/dribbling eyes/damp forehead, before peeling off the layers to see steam floating into the air! Its been single-digit temperatures here (yes, already! grrr) but I still manage to work up a sweat, and going downhill too! Hrm....
Mistakes: And while I'm on the subject of bikes ... I have come to th realisation that mine is in fact a piece of crap! As much as I love the Moo Mobile (and beieve it was worth buying purely for the novelty factor!) I must admit it is rusty, with bald tyres, terrible sqeaky breaks, with portable cheap lights and a creaking seat! I'm sure its only a matter of time before the whole thing falls apart from underneath me one day! So I've resolved I must begin the search or a new bike, in earnest, after exams. But for now, let's not tell Daisy... she's still got to carry my at least 8km each day and I don't want my only mode of transport to feel unloved and take it out on me over a speed hump!
Dutch I've learned: "Ik hep geen broers of zussen maar Ik hep twee honds" = (oooh a whole fancy sentence!) means "I don't have any brothers or sisters but I have two doggies! (who I keep seeing on skype every time I talk to Mum and Dad :P)
For now though, "Doei ..." ("Byyyyyyyyyyeee")
After another scintilating saturday studying(!) it was time to revive an old tradition from home - pizza night! Armed with 1.50 euo pizzas from Jumbo('elke dag beter'- 'everyday better' proclaims the bright yellow sign of our favourite Dutch supermarket chain) we cruised round to fire up the oven. And now my favourite part of living in this guesthouse - the dinner company. As we waited for our mix of margherita, pepperoni, chicken and corn (on pizza, not a soup!) etc to crispify we sat around effectively a card table that passes for a dining table in or excuses for kitchens (have I mentioned all the units are the same, right down to the crappy furniture - in each kitchen there even seems to be the same combination of one good and one dodgy broken IKEA chair - it ends up being a game to see if you can take your chair to someone elses place for dinner and come home with a better one!) ... anywho, where was I, oh yes ...cramped kitchen conversation .... so sitting around this tiny table (or perched on the kitchen bench if ur unlucky enough to come last and no more chairs will fit in the room!) were 2 aussies, a scot and two canadians (and that's positively bland as far as multiculturalism goes here) but the conversation ranged from a crazy Dutch politician having a crack at Muslims, to the Canadian Mayoral race to the benefits of Milo versus European drinking chocolate. No matter what meal of the day, or in what language (when my Dutch girls pop round for dinner or Tess tries in vain to teach me some Korean) ... its never just "pass the salt pls" around here :)
Day 84 - (Sun) Muffin better to do than bake
In need of yet another study break I busted out the fall-back muffin recipe from home and filled our tiny unit with a smell yummy enough to entice Tess out of her room! Apparently the sight of fresh baked goods was enough to send her back in there to retrieve her camera! (For anyone who's interested, the muffins are now doing the rounds on FB, tagged as me!) Who knew two red-hot elements with a tray between them, housed in something suspiciously resembling a microwave could bring so much joy :P
Observations: Although I've just spent this blog talking mainly about food I'm now about to complain about the side effects - I calculated the other day that I ride at least 8km each day, to and from uni, sometimes more if I make multiple trips, yet my pins are no closer to being "insurably toned" nor has my waistline all but disappeared ... Belgian chocolate, you gotta lotta 'splaining to do! In fact, instead of resembling a two-wheeled goddess, most mornings (now that its getting foggy) I end up hurtling into the uni bike-park sweating like a pig and desperately searching for a tissue to wipe my running nose/dribbling eyes/damp forehead, before peeling off the layers to see steam floating into the air! Its been single-digit temperatures here (yes, already! grrr) but I still manage to work up a sweat, and going downhill too! Hrm....
Mistakes: And while I'm on the subject of bikes ... I have come to th realisation that mine is in fact a piece of crap! As much as I love the Moo Mobile (and beieve it was worth buying purely for the novelty factor!) I must admit it is rusty, with bald tyres, terrible sqeaky breaks, with portable cheap lights and a creaking seat! I'm sure its only a matter of time before the whole thing falls apart from underneath me one day! So I've resolved I must begin the search or a new bike, in earnest, after exams. But for now, let's not tell Daisy... she's still got to carry my at least 8km each day and I don't want my only mode of transport to feel unloved and take it out on me over a speed hump!
Dutch I've learned: "Ik hep geen broers of zussen maar Ik hep twee honds" = (oooh a whole fancy sentence!) means "I don't have any brothers or sisters but I have two doggies! (who I keep seeing on skype every time I talk to Mum and Dad :P)
For now though, "Doei ..." ("Byyyyyyyyyyeee")
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Days 78 to 82 - O, Beste...
Day 78 - (Mon) Happy Anniversary
Brett and my one-year anniversary today! So of course I was homesick :( But we had "brinner" together which was nice (for the uninitiated, thats BReakfast and dINNER, because of the time difference).
Also joined the Yearbook committee today, mainlu because I want to make sure I have one to take home at the end of my year here!
Finished the day attending a free lecture on Democracy in the Arab World. Was so nice to have the time to just sit and listen to an expert explain these issues that I've always wanted to know more about (in fact, feel I should know more about) and just absorb ... not have to take notes, not be tested later, just listen and learn. Only time I ever attended something like that at home was to pick out the "headline" and bolt back to the office to file!
Day 79 - (Tues) Awkward much?
So my theory that everyone here is so keen to study and enthusiastic in class suffered a blow today. Poetry class was painful. It was like being back in Oz - no one offering up anything, everyone looking at the floor, awkward silence UGH. So of course this has to be the week I get picked to be discussion leader! And on a topic I know sweet FA about. Murphy's hey!?
Day 80 - (Wed) Zuuuuummmmbaaaaaa
After a day of sleeping and studying it was time to get active. I've always seen the ads at home for this Zumba (the apparently cool-as-a-cucumber way to lose weight while becoming a salsa queen in your own living room) and discovered they offer classes at the uni gym. Arrived at the gym (already sweaty from the 25 minute cycle there! intense warm up!) to discover my Zumba-buddy Celine has done hip-hop dancing for years. I begin preparing myself to play the part of "white girl can't dance" but find after a few minutes that it really doesn't matter. Our Zumba instructor is the epitome of a Beyonce back-up dancer, complete with afro and bootay, but the rest of us are like flailing fish on a boat bottom! What's worse, our plan to stand at the back so no one could see us backfired when we realised the windows behind us were lined with macho mean headint upstairs to the weights who stop to peer in at us sticking out our butts and pumping our elbows like chickens a discotheque! But its a hoot ... half the exercise is in the abs from laughing at yourself so much. And who knew, its actually a tough work out. After one successful session Celine and I have decided to keep going, pick up some moves, and bust them out on a Maastricht D-floor sometime soon :P
After working up an appetite I cycled (no, struggled uphill) home for tasty korean beef and rice, cooked by my roomie Tess as a cheer up for my bout of homesickness and to belatedly celebrate the one-year milestone. What a sweetie :)
Day 81 - (Thurs) First (almost) all nighter
Fifth (I think) Dutch class tonight. We're starting to actually use a few words to each other in class now. Was lots of listening and practicing pronunciation this time - its what we all need most help with. And again, for some reason, the Dutch Royal Family came up in conversation (they're a favourite topic of our teacher!). Home by 9pm for an unpleasant stretch of study after letting a poetry assignment crep up on me ... took even longer because I ended up getting distracted by the cool poems in the back of my textbook!
Day 82 - (Fri) Controversy and cabbage
Somehow managed to have a debate about abortion in poetry class today... which is bad enough among native speakers but can get dangerously lost in translation among English-as-a-second-language participants! Then, in a complete change of topic, we were assigned readings on "Why Britney Spears Matters" for the next tutorial ... stay tuned for the answer to that life-altering question!
Highlight of the day: Dutch dinner at night - 3.50 euro (bout $5 AU) for three-courses of hearty Dutch cuisine. Pea soup, cheese chunks straight out of the 70s and THE DENSEST Rye bread Ive ever seen for entree, mashed potato (of course), surprisingly tasty red stewed/pcikled cabbage, meatballs, sausage (which tasted like a giant hot dog weiner) and gravy for main, and bowlfuls of pofferjes (those tiny Dutch pancakes) and licorice ('Drop' to the locals) for dessert. Bargain ... we'll be back. Capped the night off wit beer and some soccer at the international student pub ... Germany v Turkey, commentators speaking German, everyone in the bar (except for maybe two people) German .... lots of "Oh ja, Oh ja" going on in the background ... thankfully Germany won. Arrived back at the guesthouse to find half naked blokes in the room down the hall playing some sort of card/drinking game in their front kitchen ...!
Observations: Traditional Dutch food is not all that different from traditional German food ... or Belgian food for that matter.
Dutch I've learnt: "hoeveel?" = "how many?" as in "hoeveel biers?"!
"De Slegte" = "the Bad Guy" (not really sure why this came up but I thought it was funny, or as the Dutch say "grappig")
"O, Beste" = "So, so..."
Brett and my one-year anniversary today! So of course I was homesick :( But we had "brinner" together which was nice (for the uninitiated, thats BReakfast and dINNER, because of the time difference).
Also joined the Yearbook committee today, mainlu because I want to make sure I have one to take home at the end of my year here!
Finished the day attending a free lecture on Democracy in the Arab World. Was so nice to have the time to just sit and listen to an expert explain these issues that I've always wanted to know more about (in fact, feel I should know more about) and just absorb ... not have to take notes, not be tested later, just listen and learn. Only time I ever attended something like that at home was to pick out the "headline" and bolt back to the office to file!
Day 79 - (Tues) Awkward much?
So my theory that everyone here is so keen to study and enthusiastic in class suffered a blow today. Poetry class was painful. It was like being back in Oz - no one offering up anything, everyone looking at the floor, awkward silence UGH. So of course this has to be the week I get picked to be discussion leader! And on a topic I know sweet FA about. Murphy's hey!?
Day 80 - (Wed) Zuuuuummmmbaaaaaa
After a day of sleeping and studying it was time to get active. I've always seen the ads at home for this Zumba (the apparently cool-as-a-cucumber way to lose weight while becoming a salsa queen in your own living room) and discovered they offer classes at the uni gym. Arrived at the gym (already sweaty from the 25 minute cycle there! intense warm up!) to discover my Zumba-buddy Celine has done hip-hop dancing for years. I begin preparing myself to play the part of "white girl can't dance" but find after a few minutes that it really doesn't matter. Our Zumba instructor is the epitome of a Beyonce back-up dancer, complete with afro and bootay, but the rest of us are like flailing fish on a boat bottom! What's worse, our plan to stand at the back so no one could see us backfired when we realised the windows behind us were lined with macho mean headint upstairs to the weights who stop to peer in at us sticking out our butts and pumping our elbows like chickens a discotheque! But its a hoot ... half the exercise is in the abs from laughing at yourself so much. And who knew, its actually a tough work out. After one successful session Celine and I have decided to keep going, pick up some moves, and bust them out on a Maastricht D-floor sometime soon :P
After working up an appetite I cycled (no, struggled uphill) home for tasty korean beef and rice, cooked by my roomie Tess as a cheer up for my bout of homesickness and to belatedly celebrate the one-year milestone. What a sweetie :)
Day 81 - (Thurs) First (almost) all nighter
Fifth (I think) Dutch class tonight. We're starting to actually use a few words to each other in class now. Was lots of listening and practicing pronunciation this time - its what we all need most help with. And again, for some reason, the Dutch Royal Family came up in conversation (they're a favourite topic of our teacher!). Home by 9pm for an unpleasant stretch of study after letting a poetry assignment crep up on me ... took even longer because I ended up getting distracted by the cool poems in the back of my textbook!
Day 82 - (Fri) Controversy and cabbage
Somehow managed to have a debate about abortion in poetry class today... which is bad enough among native speakers but can get dangerously lost in translation among English-as-a-second-language participants! Then, in a complete change of topic, we were assigned readings on "Why Britney Spears Matters" for the next tutorial ... stay tuned for the answer to that life-altering question!
Highlight of the day: Dutch dinner at night - 3.50 euro (bout $5 AU) for three-courses of hearty Dutch cuisine. Pea soup, cheese chunks straight out of the 70s and THE DENSEST Rye bread Ive ever seen for entree, mashed potato (of course), surprisingly tasty red stewed/pcikled cabbage, meatballs, sausage (which tasted like a giant hot dog weiner) and gravy for main, and bowlfuls of pofferjes (those tiny Dutch pancakes) and licorice ('Drop' to the locals) for dessert. Bargain ... we'll be back. Capped the night off wit beer and some soccer at the international student pub ... Germany v Turkey, commentators speaking German, everyone in the bar (except for maybe two people) German .... lots of "Oh ja, Oh ja" going on in the background ... thankfully Germany won. Arrived back at the guesthouse to find half naked blokes in the room down the hall playing some sort of card/drinking game in their front kitchen ...!
Observations: Traditional Dutch food is not all that different from traditional German food ... or Belgian food for that matter.
Dutch I've learnt: "hoeveel?" = "how many?" as in "hoeveel biers?"!
"De Slegte" = "the Bad Guy" (not really sure why this came up but I thought it was funny, or as the Dutch say "grappig")
"O, Beste" = "So, so..."
Days 75 to 77 - Food, glorious fooooood!
Day 75 - (Fri) A (verbal) taste of home
Crunch time -today's the day to perform a poem in poetry class. I've chosen Mulga Bill's Bicycle by Banjo Paterson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulga_Bill's_Bicycle), about a bloke's awkward (to say the least) first bike ride, in a bid to give an Australian perspective on this country's most-loved pastime. Went down well. I'd forgotten in fact how infectious that kind of Bush poetry can be and was reminded of primary school poetry recitals :P Although, my classmates were grateful for the "actions" that came along with my performance which helped with interpreting my "thick Australian accent"!
That night, a celebration, at Nakita's "new" unit (she moved upstairs, most likely to get away from the mouse taunting her in the unit downstairs!) Twas also the debut of the mini oven - a kitchen appliance we've all been missing badly. Kita spotted one at the store up the road and now its the latest fad in the guesthouse - we've all got one of the microwave sized wonders. Yo don't realise how much you miss grilled-cheese-topped pasta bakes and fresh baked muffins until you're deprived of them for months...
Day 76 - (Sat) My very own hot-box
So of course this morning I went to the shop first thing and bought my own oven!
Day 77 - (Sun) Brunch communist-style
Was a regular Sunday morning spread. All the girls gathered at Andra's for the mst extravigant student brekkie - each bringing a few things to contribute and sharing in cooking duties. Unsurprisingly, I was in charge of pancakes. Katie brought a whole boody tropical harvest (fresh from the market - pineapple, melon, even mango mmm) and of course we had waffles with chocolate spread (for about an 18th of the price we paid in Bruges). Also, the Dutch are fond of what we Aussie's would call fair bread, for breakfast. Except their chocolate sprinkles actually taste like chocolate, bigger than ours, and more velvety mmmm
Stuffed full, I had planned to take part in a uni excursion to a professional Sand Castle competition being held about an hour away by train - but the trip was cancelled last minute :( So instead, I took myself off to the movies, solo .... bad idea ... the only flick showing was "going the distance", a movie about a couple dating long distance ... hrm. Only thing that ameliorated my depression afterwards was chuckling at the thought of the bloke sittng about 4 seats away from me, about my age, also watching this chick flick by himself!
Observations: There is too much poetry out there to ever read ... and only half of it makes any sense to me!
Mistakes: Watching a long-distance rom-com by myself while in a long-distance relationship, half way around the world!
Mini victories: Manging not to cry in said movie!
Dutch I've learnt: "Ik weet 't niet" = "I don't know" (new favourite phrase in class!)
"Kunt u mij zeggen waar de WC is?" = "Can you tell me where the toilet is?" (I should learn this one in all languages!)
Crunch time -today's the day to perform a poem in poetry class. I've chosen Mulga Bill's Bicycle by Banjo Paterson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulga_Bill's_Bicycle), about a bloke's awkward (to say the least) first bike ride, in a bid to give an Australian perspective on this country's most-loved pastime. Went down well. I'd forgotten in fact how infectious that kind of Bush poetry can be and was reminded of primary school poetry recitals :P Although, my classmates were grateful for the "actions" that came along with my performance which helped with interpreting my "thick Australian accent"!
That night, a celebration, at Nakita's "new" unit (she moved upstairs, most likely to get away from the mouse taunting her in the unit downstairs!) Twas also the debut of the mini oven - a kitchen appliance we've all been missing badly. Kita spotted one at the store up the road and now its the latest fad in the guesthouse - we've all got one of the microwave sized wonders. Yo don't realise how much you miss grilled-cheese-topped pasta bakes and fresh baked muffins until you're deprived of them for months...
Day 76 - (Sat) My very own hot-box
So of course this morning I went to the shop first thing and bought my own oven!
Day 77 - (Sun) Brunch communist-style
Was a regular Sunday morning spread. All the girls gathered at Andra's for the mst extravigant student brekkie - each bringing a few things to contribute and sharing in cooking duties. Unsurprisingly, I was in charge of pancakes. Katie brought a whole boody tropical harvest (fresh from the market - pineapple, melon, even mango mmm) and of course we had waffles with chocolate spread (for about an 18th of the price we paid in Bruges). Also, the Dutch are fond of what we Aussie's would call fair bread, for breakfast. Except their chocolate sprinkles actually taste like chocolate, bigger than ours, and more velvety mmmm
Stuffed full, I had planned to take part in a uni excursion to a professional Sand Castle competition being held about an hour away by train - but the trip was cancelled last minute :( So instead, I took myself off to the movies, solo .... bad idea ... the only flick showing was "going the distance", a movie about a couple dating long distance ... hrm. Only thing that ameliorated my depression afterwards was chuckling at the thought of the bloke sittng about 4 seats away from me, about my age, also watching this chick flick by himself!
Observations: There is too much poetry out there to ever read ... and only half of it makes any sense to me!
Mistakes: Watching a long-distance rom-com by myself while in a long-distance relationship, half way around the world!
Mini victories: Manging not to cry in said movie!
Dutch I've learnt: "Ik weet 't niet" = "I don't know" (new favourite phrase in class!)
"Kunt u mij zeggen waar de WC is?" = "Can you tell me where the toilet is?" (I should learn this one in all languages!)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
My first poem....
Had to write a poem for my Pop Songs & Poetry class and wasn't quite ready to write a deep and meaningful love sonnet so... Behold, my "Ode to Vegemite" (written around the time I may have received a replenishing jar from Mum!):
"Black tar housed in yellow and red,
Salty wonder we spread on bread,
A zing on the tongue,
Ejoyed by old and young,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right!
Now rare as gold,
Nowhere is it sold,
As addictive as 'coke',
Or the need for a smoke,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right.
A certain craving it sates,
Should be called 'vege-mate',
Can't live without the stuff,
But convincing others is tough,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right.
Mine shipped from abroad,
Stockpiles I horde,
No substitute I've found,
Searched the world round,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right."
"Black tar housed in yellow and red,
Salty wonder we spread on bread,
A zing on the tongue,
Ejoyed by old and young,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right!
Now rare as gold,
Nowhere is it sold,
As addictive as 'coke',
Or the need for a smoke,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right.
A certain craving it sates,
Should be called 'vege-mate',
Can't live without the stuff,
But convincing others is tough,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right.
Mine shipped from abroad,
Stockpiles I horde,
No substitute I've found,
Searched the world round,
Oh Vegemite, you're so right."
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Pause for reflection...
This one doesn't really fit in chronologically but after about 7 weeks here now (as of writing on October 8) I wanted to take time to reflect on a few things...
When I first arrived, the days were long and generally warmish (although it still rained occassionally). These days (apart from the positively lovely bout of sunshine we've had the past few days) it rains regularly and darkness falls at least an hour earlier - so around 7.30pm/now. Aparently we turn our clocks back one hour at the end of August. The nights are also colder now, you can really feel the chill in the air when you step outside. It's not cold inside yet but I am confident the heating will work beautifully when that becomes the case.
One positive is all the leaves are changing. All along the roadsides there are these carpets of golden maple-shaped leaves and the climbers which cling to the outside of so many of the buildings have turned from green to a striking, deep red. It's almost as if its snowing leaves as you cycle down the street - one drifted down from a branch and right into my face the other day!
On the down side - I must get a wriggle on and buy a rain coat before I get caught out again. I've found these black, thick poncho looking things, very Darth Vader-esque, with a hood and which come down to cover your legs and handle bars when you're on a bike. Although I'm afraid I'll scare little children if I ride around under something like that, so best keep looking.
I also need to get a proper warm winter coat, but that involes what I term reconaissance shopping (lots of looking around for quality and price) and I don't have the bloody time! I also consider myself a bit of a recovering shopaholic over here (after abstaining for at least 6 months before leaving home) and am loathe to go back into the shops for fear I'll relapse! So far anything I've bought here has been on sale and has replaced something that broke! But I can't avoid it forever ... apparetly last winter was an average of minus 10C or something equally ridiculous and my brought-from-home target hoodie ain't gonna cut it in that.
I suppose I feel at home here by now. I'm starting to know the shortcuts to uni and town, where I can and can't ride my bike and remembering to turn my lights on at night to avoid the 35 euro fine. I know which shops to go for which essentials (even found a place the other day that sells Milo!), when they're open (NOT Sunday, hardly any of Monday - and Business SA thinks Adelaide has it bad!) and which are the best Dutch snacks to buy at the supermarket (although I haven't quite figured out the best cheese, or found somewhere that sells houmus!!! withdrawals much?)
I've accumulated enough bits and pieces to make my room colourful but, contrary to my existence at home, I don't actually have enough possessions to create much of a mess! (I swear Mum and Dad!) It's quite the little community at our guesthouse. There's a sport park up the road, a playground out the back, you always bump into someone at the supermarket not five minutes away and you never have to eat alone - there's always group cooking going on in someone's kitchen. We even have our own facebook page dedicated to the "Countryside Guesthouse" cause we're practically out in the sticks compared to the more central guesthouse. The upside for us tho is we each get our own room and only have to share our bathroom/kitchen/laundry with one other person (except for the odd occassion when ur place gets invaded by bored and hungry exchange students bearing beer!) as opposed to up to 30 in the main guesthouse. And you can actually get some peace and quiet here - instead of trying to drown out the noise of a Germany vs Sweden beer chugging competition in the communal kitchen outside your door at the main guesthouse.
So all in all, I've settled in ok, I guess. It's about now that it starts to sink in that this is it for the next 10 months. Of course, there'll be plenty of side trips to far flung places, but for the majority of those days this is home sweet home. As long as I don't run out of Vegemite I think it just might work...!
When I first arrived, the days were long and generally warmish (although it still rained occassionally). These days (apart from the positively lovely bout of sunshine we've had the past few days) it rains regularly and darkness falls at least an hour earlier - so around 7.30pm/now. Aparently we turn our clocks back one hour at the end of August. The nights are also colder now, you can really feel the chill in the air when you step outside. It's not cold inside yet but I am confident the heating will work beautifully when that becomes the case.
One positive is all the leaves are changing. All along the roadsides there are these carpets of golden maple-shaped leaves and the climbers which cling to the outside of so many of the buildings have turned from green to a striking, deep red. It's almost as if its snowing leaves as you cycle down the street - one drifted down from a branch and right into my face the other day!
On the down side - I must get a wriggle on and buy a rain coat before I get caught out again. I've found these black, thick poncho looking things, very Darth Vader-esque, with a hood and which come down to cover your legs and handle bars when you're on a bike. Although I'm afraid I'll scare little children if I ride around under something like that, so best keep looking.
I also need to get a proper warm winter coat, but that involes what I term reconaissance shopping (lots of looking around for quality and price) and I don't have the bloody time! I also consider myself a bit of a recovering shopaholic over here (after abstaining for at least 6 months before leaving home) and am loathe to go back into the shops for fear I'll relapse! So far anything I've bought here has been on sale and has replaced something that broke! But I can't avoid it forever ... apparetly last winter was an average of minus 10C or something equally ridiculous and my brought-from-home target hoodie ain't gonna cut it in that.
I suppose I feel at home here by now. I'm starting to know the shortcuts to uni and town, where I can and can't ride my bike and remembering to turn my lights on at night to avoid the 35 euro fine. I know which shops to go for which essentials (even found a place the other day that sells Milo!), when they're open (NOT Sunday, hardly any of Monday - and Business SA thinks Adelaide has it bad!) and which are the best Dutch snacks to buy at the supermarket (although I haven't quite figured out the best cheese, or found somewhere that sells houmus!!! withdrawals much?)
I've accumulated enough bits and pieces to make my room colourful but, contrary to my existence at home, I don't actually have enough possessions to create much of a mess! (I swear Mum and Dad!) It's quite the little community at our guesthouse. There's a sport park up the road, a playground out the back, you always bump into someone at the supermarket not five minutes away and you never have to eat alone - there's always group cooking going on in someone's kitchen. We even have our own facebook page dedicated to the "Countryside Guesthouse" cause we're practically out in the sticks compared to the more central guesthouse. The upside for us tho is we each get our own room and only have to share our bathroom/kitchen/laundry with one other person (except for the odd occassion when ur place gets invaded by bored and hungry exchange students bearing beer!) as opposed to up to 30 in the main guesthouse. And you can actually get some peace and quiet here - instead of trying to drown out the noise of a Germany vs Sweden beer chugging competition in the communal kitchen outside your door at the main guesthouse.
So all in all, I've settled in ok, I guess. It's about now that it starts to sink in that this is it for the next 10 months. Of course, there'll be plenty of side trips to far flung places, but for the majority of those days this is home sweet home. As long as I don't run out of Vegemite I think it just might work...!
Days 71 to 74 - Friendly faces
Day 71 - (Mon) Blast from the past
Arrived home from uni this avo to see a friendy face popping out the side of a had-better-days van parked in our guesthouse carpark. Cruise Matty, for those of you who know him, and his mate Chris/Kris (I didn't ask how to spell it!) were winding down their european odyssey after about 5 months on the road and stopped into Maastricht for a bit on their way back to London. Was comforting to see a friendly face, swapped travel yarns and picked up some good tips for future adventures. For the boys, it was a luxury - we had pizza for tea and sat in my room drinking beer and, of all things, watching TV - they looked at it like they hadn't seen one in years! The highlight for me - being able to take advantage of the 8 for 5 euro specials at the supermarket and cart everything home in their van! Cheers fellas
Day 72 - (Tues) Home Alone
The boys sent the night in the set of bunk beds crammed into the back of their van, still in the car park. I'd offerred the floor of my room but the bunks were probably more comfortable - except for the maintenance dude with a whipper snipper at 7am! Left the guys to their own devices at the guesthouse for the day (with the permission of Tess of course) while I had 3, two-hour classes back-to-back. Came home to find the toilet seat up (a first in our house!) and to hear they'd got thoroughly lost just trying to find the centre of town. Later we headed out for 5 euro pub meals (a recent and helpful discovery) at a nearby establishment (P.S. was satay meat - that's right.... peanuts) before dessert in the form of a stroopwaffle McFlurry - only the finest Dutch cuisine for our visitors!
Day 73 - (Wed) Mix n' Mingle
Spent the day catching up on homework neglected in Belgium and while the boys were here = homework in bed :P Eventually got out of my PJs to go to a "mix n' mingle" party organised by the university. Was to be held at an old Fort and the area on the map looked like just grass so you can imagine our surprise when we rocked up to what could have been a wedding venue - complete with dancefloor area, bars, outdoor deck and quite possibly the only "view" in Maastricht, as it was atop the only hill in Maastricht. Was vaguely like an American prom - think ppl on the dancefloor way to early and all dressed to the black and white theme - but on the upside there was free food (finally tried a frikadellen - dutch sausage, kinda), cheap drinks and the chance to get to know some of my classmates and guesthouse neighbours a bit better. Also, whizzing down the hill on the bike ride home was a bonus.
Day 74 - (Thurs) When it rains it pour
Had to pay my rent today. As if handing over 450 euro in one fell swoop isn't demoralising enough, I got rained on riding to the guesthouse office. In my determination not to end up like a drowned rat AGAIN I somehow managed to tie my umbrella to my body with my scarfe and ride uphill with it precariously swaying above my head. It only blew inside out about 3 times on the 10 minute ride! After forking out the cash I thought I'd pump my tyres up with the loan pump there. Big mistake... the cap on the tyre air guage had been put on too tight by the wanky bloke who helped me last time (remember him? he bagged the moo mobile) and when I pulled at it the whole thing came off, letting down the tyre! BUT this time (Dad and Brett, you'd be proud) I managed to fix it myself by delving into the guesthouse tool box, removing the bit of the cap that was stuck with plyers (I think...) and then replacing it ... good as new :) Success! Altho I'm not too sure how long the Moo Mobile will last me once winter sets in ... rusty chain and bald tyres do not go well with wet roads. But I won't put the old girl out to pasture just yet...
Fourth Dutch lesson tonight ... was actually a bit of fun. The teacher is speaking just a tad more English and it is making a world of difference. In the process of learning to describe people we learned the phrase "lekker ding" or "hot chick". And then wouldn't you know it - on my ride home some bogan on a bike going the other way yells it at me, but I was so surprised I knew what it meant that, instead of looking disturbed, I burst out laughing. Poor bloke had no idea :P
Observations: MUST remember to close mouth when cycling. Although sunglasses act as a sort of windscreen for the eyes there is no such thing for the mouth and, consequently, I have swallowed many a bug in the past few weeks!
Dutch I've learned: "Wat bedoel (pronounced bedool) je?" = "What do you mean?" (this one gets a regular work out!)
"Ik ook (pronounced oak)" = "Me too!"
"Hoi lekker ding" = "hey ther hot stuff!"
Arrived home from uni this avo to see a friendy face popping out the side of a had-better-days van parked in our guesthouse carpark. Cruise Matty, for those of you who know him, and his mate Chris/Kris (I didn't ask how to spell it!) were winding down their european odyssey after about 5 months on the road and stopped into Maastricht for a bit on their way back to London. Was comforting to see a friendly face, swapped travel yarns and picked up some good tips for future adventures. For the boys, it was a luxury - we had pizza for tea and sat in my room drinking beer and, of all things, watching TV - they looked at it like they hadn't seen one in years! The highlight for me - being able to take advantage of the 8 for 5 euro specials at the supermarket and cart everything home in their van! Cheers fellas
Day 72 - (Tues) Home Alone
The boys sent the night in the set of bunk beds crammed into the back of their van, still in the car park. I'd offerred the floor of my room but the bunks were probably more comfortable - except for the maintenance dude with a whipper snipper at 7am! Left the guys to their own devices at the guesthouse for the day (with the permission of Tess of course) while I had 3, two-hour classes back-to-back. Came home to find the toilet seat up (a first in our house!) and to hear they'd got thoroughly lost just trying to find the centre of town. Later we headed out for 5 euro pub meals (a recent and helpful discovery) at a nearby establishment (P.S. was satay meat - that's right.... peanuts) before dessert in the form of a stroopwaffle McFlurry - only the finest Dutch cuisine for our visitors!
Day 73 - (Wed) Mix n' Mingle
Spent the day catching up on homework neglected in Belgium and while the boys were here = homework in bed :P Eventually got out of my PJs to go to a "mix n' mingle" party organised by the university. Was to be held at an old Fort and the area on the map looked like just grass so you can imagine our surprise when we rocked up to what could have been a wedding venue - complete with dancefloor area, bars, outdoor deck and quite possibly the only "view" in Maastricht, as it was atop the only hill in Maastricht. Was vaguely like an American prom - think ppl on the dancefloor way to early and all dressed to the black and white theme - but on the upside there was free food (finally tried a frikadellen - dutch sausage, kinda), cheap drinks and the chance to get to know some of my classmates and guesthouse neighbours a bit better. Also, whizzing down the hill on the bike ride home was a bonus.
Day 74 - (Thurs) When it rains it pour
Had to pay my rent today. As if handing over 450 euro in one fell swoop isn't demoralising enough, I got rained on riding to the guesthouse office. In my determination not to end up like a drowned rat AGAIN I somehow managed to tie my umbrella to my body with my scarfe and ride uphill with it precariously swaying above my head. It only blew inside out about 3 times on the 10 minute ride! After forking out the cash I thought I'd pump my tyres up with the loan pump there. Big mistake... the cap on the tyre air guage had been put on too tight by the wanky bloke who helped me last time (remember him? he bagged the moo mobile) and when I pulled at it the whole thing came off, letting down the tyre! BUT this time (Dad and Brett, you'd be proud) I managed to fix it myself by delving into the guesthouse tool box, removing the bit of the cap that was stuck with plyers (I think...) and then replacing it ... good as new :) Success! Altho I'm not too sure how long the Moo Mobile will last me once winter sets in ... rusty chain and bald tyres do not go well with wet roads. But I won't put the old girl out to pasture just yet...
Fourth Dutch lesson tonight ... was actually a bit of fun. The teacher is speaking just a tad more English and it is making a world of difference. In the process of learning to describe people we learned the phrase "lekker ding" or "hot chick". And then wouldn't you know it - on my ride home some bogan on a bike going the other way yells it at me, but I was so surprised I knew what it meant that, instead of looking disturbed, I burst out laughing. Poor bloke had no idea :P
Observations: MUST remember to close mouth when cycling. Although sunglasses act as a sort of windscreen for the eyes there is no such thing for the mouth and, consequently, I have swallowed many a bug in the past few weeks!
Dutch I've learned: "Wat bedoel (pronounced bedool) je?" = "What do you mean?" (this one gets a regular work out!)
"Ik ook (pronounced oak)" = "Me too!"
"Hoi lekker ding" = "hey ther hot stuff!"
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Days 68 to 70 - Belgian chocolate, Belgian waffles, Belgian beer ... Belgian overload!
Day 68 - (Fri) Back across the border
Started the day with a leisurely ride in the rain (Note to self: MUST buy raincoat or, at the least, an old lady poncho!). Tried a bi of Dutch out at the markets before another enlightening poetry class in which I TOTALLY missed the point of a poem - I thought it was cute, turns out it was about hidden domestic violence ... oops. Not to worry, off to Belgium at night (with Nakita, Katie, Andra and Kathleen) for a weekend of ... well food really. Caught the train from Maastricht, via Liege where we just caught the connection to Bruges (via Brussels). Interestingly, after being around European accents and foreign languages for so long, the Aussie and kiwi girls sitting next to us on the train sounded SO annoying!!! Arrived late at night - raining, just for something different - and found our hostel "Charlie Rockets". First things first, we headed straight to the nearest cafe and ordered real Belgian waffles with the works - strawberries, melted chocolate, cream and ice cream. And boy did we pay for it ... but a little splurge every now and again is alright if its to knock something off the list right? So, Belgian waffles in Belgium - tick. Back at the hostel bar we gave reading the beer menu our best shot before giving up and ordering the weirdest sounding beverages in sight.
Day 69 - (Sat) High fashion, low prices
This morning's breakfast was quite possibly the best I've had in quite some time. Thanks to a hostel tourist map we found a butcher who sold pancakes by the kilo - take away. Random, but delicious. And right next door was a shop selling the Belgian equivalent of Nutella. Result? 12 pancakes, smothered in chocolate spread, rolled in hand as we walked to the train station! Off to Antwerp (bout 1.5 hours by train) for the avo. First stip MoMu fashion musem (just 1 eur entry - woohoo) where we stared at hats for about an hour. The imagination of this exhibition is hard to describe but some of our favourites were a "finding nemo" inspired bucket hat, a pan filled with bacon and eggs perched on someone's head and a mowkawk-hat made of uturned Barbie doll legs! From browsing to buying, we found a vintage shop which solved my shoe problem (remember my broken boots?). Picked up two pairs for 80 euro - bargain! Stopped at the self-proclaimed "world's smallest waffle shop" on the way back to the station and spent almost 3 hours on a oft delayed train back to Bruges. Was worth the wait though as we headed to another tourist-map gem for dinner. A cosy little restaurant down a non-descript alley, called The Goose, which served authentic Belgian fare. For less than 10 euro we scored home-made veggie soup (but I dared not "feel it doing me good" Mum), a choice of fish with cream sauce, meatloaf in tomato sauce or melt-in your mouth pork and red wine sauce (as you can imagine, we ordered at least one of all 3 and shared) with potatoes and a side salad involving pickeld cabbage that was bright purple but surprisingly tasty. Back at "Charlie Rocket's" we washed it all down with another game of 'musical beers' - orderin 4 we'd never heard of and passing them round the table. (Editor's note: beer mixed with Coca Cola is apparently socially acceptable to order in a bar here!) Also discovered a delicious but dangerously easy to drink raspberry beer and one they sell in test-tube shaped glasses.
Day 70 - (Sun) Museums of the best kind
After a very Euro brekkie of bread, ham, cheese, croissants and tea we hit the museum trail, gastronome-style. First up, Choco-story - a museum about the history of chocolate, including a demonstration (given in Dutch, French and English, one sentence at a time, in that order!) and tastings! Lessons learned from Choco-story's wealth of knowledge - apparently chocolate doesn't make you fat, and it can be good for diabetics... who knew? Next up, Fries Museum. From the moment you walk in the door you're hit with the smell of warm, crispy potatoes mmmmm. Lessons learned: "French" fries were first made by Belgian soldiers, speaking French, who were mitaken as French soldiers. Belgians cook their fries twice for the perfect taste and texture. And it is possible to make a musical instrument out of a potatoe! After the brief interlude from the brown-drug, it was back to chocolates with a self-guided chocolate-shop crawl. At about 70c each
(AU) I tried a couple from each store - including kiwi fruit!!, a cherry liquer that would prohibit you from driving a car for some time, and a disappointing pineapple one (nothing on the Haighs pineapple fruit dark chocolate from home I must admit). Now vergin on a diabetic coma, it was time to get back on the train and settle in for 3 hours of history homework homewardbound. Slight hiccup - missed the Maastricht connection by THAT much and had to kill an hour in the Belgian equivalet of Maccas waiting for the next one.
On a side note, I returned home just before midnight on Sunday to a tale of woe. Our guesthouse had been terrorised by little punk kids who cycle around our neighbourhood bored and looking for trouble. They'd broken the main glass door at the entrance, jumped a 'security' fence and trashed lights inside our hallways, stolen my housemate's bike and thrown a wine bottle at our door! Several students reported it to police and the Guesthouse management but if it happens again I'll be using my mop for more than just housework if you catch my drift!
Started the day with a leisurely ride in the rain (Note to self: MUST buy raincoat or, at the least, an old lady poncho!). Tried a bi of Dutch out at the markets before another enlightening poetry class in which I TOTALLY missed the point of a poem - I thought it was cute, turns out it was about hidden domestic violence ... oops. Not to worry, off to Belgium at night (with Nakita, Katie, Andra and Kathleen) for a weekend of ... well food really. Caught the train from Maastricht, via Liege where we just caught the connection to Bruges (via Brussels). Interestingly, after being around European accents and foreign languages for so long, the Aussie and kiwi girls sitting next to us on the train sounded SO annoying!!! Arrived late at night - raining, just for something different - and found our hostel "Charlie Rockets". First things first, we headed straight to the nearest cafe and ordered real Belgian waffles with the works - strawberries, melted chocolate, cream and ice cream. And boy did we pay for it ... but a little splurge every now and again is alright if its to knock something off the list right? So, Belgian waffles in Belgium - tick. Back at the hostel bar we gave reading the beer menu our best shot before giving up and ordering the weirdest sounding beverages in sight.
Day 69 - (Sat) High fashion, low prices
This morning's breakfast was quite possibly the best I've had in quite some time. Thanks to a hostel tourist map we found a butcher who sold pancakes by the kilo - take away. Random, but delicious. And right next door was a shop selling the Belgian equivalent of Nutella. Result? 12 pancakes, smothered in chocolate spread, rolled in hand as we walked to the train station! Off to Antwerp (bout 1.5 hours by train) for the avo. First stip MoMu fashion musem (just 1 eur entry - woohoo) where we stared at hats for about an hour. The imagination of this exhibition is hard to describe but some of our favourites were a "finding nemo" inspired bucket hat, a pan filled with bacon and eggs perched on someone's head and a mowkawk-hat made of uturned Barbie doll legs! From browsing to buying, we found a vintage shop which solved my shoe problem (remember my broken boots?). Picked up two pairs for 80 euro - bargain! Stopped at the self-proclaimed "world's smallest waffle shop" on the way back to the station and spent almost 3 hours on a oft delayed train back to Bruges. Was worth the wait though as we headed to another tourist-map gem for dinner. A cosy little restaurant down a non-descript alley, called The Goose, which served authentic Belgian fare. For less than 10 euro we scored home-made veggie soup (but I dared not "feel it doing me good" Mum), a choice of fish with cream sauce, meatloaf in tomato sauce or melt-in your mouth pork and red wine sauce (as you can imagine, we ordered at least one of all 3 and shared) with potatoes and a side salad involving pickeld cabbage that was bright purple but surprisingly tasty. Back at "Charlie Rocket's" we washed it all down with another game of 'musical beers' - orderin 4 we'd never heard of and passing them round the table. (Editor's note: beer mixed with Coca Cola is apparently socially acceptable to order in a bar here!) Also discovered a delicious but dangerously easy to drink raspberry beer and one they sell in test-tube shaped glasses.
Day 70 - (Sun) Museums of the best kind
After a very Euro brekkie of bread, ham, cheese, croissants and tea we hit the museum trail, gastronome-style. First up, Choco-story - a museum about the history of chocolate, including a demonstration (given in Dutch, French and English, one sentence at a time, in that order!) and tastings! Lessons learned from Choco-story's wealth of knowledge - apparently chocolate doesn't make you fat, and it can be good for diabetics... who knew? Next up, Fries Museum. From the moment you walk in the door you're hit with the smell of warm, crispy potatoes mmmmm. Lessons learned: "French" fries were first made by Belgian soldiers, speaking French, who were mitaken as French soldiers. Belgians cook their fries twice for the perfect taste and texture. And it is possible to make a musical instrument out of a potatoe! After the brief interlude from the brown-drug, it was back to chocolates with a self-guided chocolate-shop crawl. At about 70c each
(AU) I tried a couple from each store - including kiwi fruit!!, a cherry liquer that would prohibit you from driving a car for some time, and a disappointing pineapple one (nothing on the Haighs pineapple fruit dark chocolate from home I must admit). Now vergin on a diabetic coma, it was time to get back on the train and settle in for 3 hours of history homework homewardbound. Slight hiccup - missed the Maastricht connection by THAT much and had to kill an hour in the Belgian equivalet of Maccas waiting for the next one.
On a side note, I returned home just before midnight on Sunday to a tale of woe. Our guesthouse had been terrorised by little punk kids who cycle around our neighbourhood bored and looking for trouble. They'd broken the main glass door at the entrance, jumped a 'security' fence and trashed lights inside our hallways, stolen my housemate's bike and thrown a wine bottle at our door! Several students reported it to police and the Guesthouse management but if it happens again I'll be using my mop for more than just housework if you catch my drift!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Days 64 to 67 - No pain, no gain ... or is it geen?
Day 64 - (Mon) I got a boo-boo :(
My first cycling injury! It was bound to happen sooner or latet - frankly I'm surprised I survived this long. It was horrific .... ly embarrassing, that is. The actual injury is pathetic to say the least (thing a scab on my shin and a bruise on my knee) but the damage to my ego is deep and lasting! I was preparing to cross the road at this awkwad crossing where I'm never quite sure who has right of way (nt a roundabout or lights so no help there). I looked both ways (vital to not getting squished) and was abou to head out when I saw a car comin so I stopped - could have made it on foot or in a car but my start up speed on a bike is slower than a Commodore 64. But then the car stopped anyway ... and this old man ho had been ridng behind me was overtaking me, crossing the road, so then I HAD to go. Went to push off on the front pedal and i was raining (of course) so my foot slipped! Luckily it landed on the ground before I fell over completely but I still managed to crash my right leg into everything remotely spike on my bike. Grunting, dripping wet and feeling a bruise forming, I got my sh*t together and got the hell off the road, with tail between my back wheel spokes. To make it worse, the old guy tried to console me ... in Dutch! or at least I assume it was consoling.... wonder what "idiot foreigner" sounds like in Dutch?
In contrast, I had some nice Dutch girls round for dinner - my first turn to cook. I felt a bit self-conscious of our petty student digs (one of the girls has a nice place filled with all her stuff from home cos its so close) but they were polite! I practiced a bit of Dutch and was informed my "accent is getting.... better". I'll take that! For dessert, we ate Dutch licorice, but the highlight of the night was serving Vegemite on toast for entree! The girls had asked to try it ... and actually liked it!!! Must be something to do with their love of salty licorice...
Day 65 - (Tues) Join the club
Handed in my first assignment today ... here goes! Also back to the gym for the first time in 2 months (Editor's note: DEAR LORD did I feel it the next day). Also joined the uni magazine committee - VERY different from a real newspaper office (think lots of optimism but far less decisiveness) and its agreed by all that it needs a facelift to gain more readers... but helping to build it up into something cool that students want to read, and having the freedom to write on whatever strikes us, will be satisfying I think.
Day 66 - (Wed) "Please let me live here"
Train to Eindhoven, an hour north, this morning to visit the immigration office. "Norman", my immigration dude, was very helpful and, get this, a AFL fan! He recognised the name Adelaide not from the hordes of students who study here from there but because it was a football team! Needless to say his eyes lit up when I told him the Grand Final was on in a few days - he even knew the teams ("St Kilda? I thought they were bad?" he exclaimed. "They got better," I explained!)
Day 67 - (Thurs) Park life
Returned to the gym today, against my own will! To make matters worse, it was FULL of beefcakes and I managed to wear a new black t-shirt which preceded to spread black fluff all over me as I sweated profusely! I worked the "blue skin" look but note to self for next time... All that exertion led to a deserved rest in the park until my Dutch class (might have taken a quick nap over a history book or two). Third Dutch class at 6.30pm and its finally starting to be a bit of fun. Everyone still looks at the teacher lik a rabbit in the headlights when she turns on you in a questioning tone, but now we catch the odd word or two first! Covered basics like learning to count and "how are yu" etc. That night it was raining and I had a stomach ache, hence I was "slecht"!
Observations: Am learning so many new words after instigating a "google it" policy - any word I don't understand in my textbook (and there are plenty ... damn fancy academics) gets the google treatment. The bugs here are weird - our Dutch teacher says none of the spiders are poisonous, but the Australian in me dosen't believe her. Also there are these things that look like flying daddy-long-legs with bums like mozzies that regularly invade our units if we leave the windows open (bc the Dutch have clearly not heard of fly screens!). And there is a herd of stray cats roaming around our guesthouse. They won't be getting my left overs I can tell you that!
Dutch I've learned:
"Slecht" = "Feeling crap"
"Harstikke goede" = "Really good"
"O, beste" = "So, so"
"Niet so goede" = "Not so good" (but you guessed that right?)
And for those still trying to figure out the title of this post: "geen" is pronounced "hgain" and means "none"!
My first cycling injury! It was bound to happen sooner or latet - frankly I'm surprised I survived this long. It was horrific .... ly embarrassing, that is. The actual injury is pathetic to say the least (thing a scab on my shin and a bruise on my knee) but the damage to my ego is deep and lasting! I was preparing to cross the road at this awkwad crossing where I'm never quite sure who has right of way (nt a roundabout or lights so no help there). I looked both ways (vital to not getting squished) and was abou to head out when I saw a car comin so I stopped - could have made it on foot or in a car but my start up speed on a bike is slower than a Commodore 64. But then the car stopped anyway ... and this old man ho had been ridng behind me was overtaking me, crossing the road, so then I HAD to go. Went to push off on the front pedal and i was raining (of course) so my foot slipped! Luckily it landed on the ground before I fell over completely but I still managed to crash my right leg into everything remotely spike on my bike. Grunting, dripping wet and feeling a bruise forming, I got my sh*t together and got the hell off the road, with tail between my back wheel spokes. To make it worse, the old guy tried to console me ... in Dutch! or at least I assume it was consoling.... wonder what "idiot foreigner" sounds like in Dutch?
In contrast, I had some nice Dutch girls round for dinner - my first turn to cook. I felt a bit self-conscious of our petty student digs (one of the girls has a nice place filled with all her stuff from home cos its so close) but they were polite! I practiced a bit of Dutch and was informed my "accent is getting.... better". I'll take that! For dessert, we ate Dutch licorice, but the highlight of the night was serving Vegemite on toast for entree! The girls had asked to try it ... and actually liked it!!! Must be something to do with their love of salty licorice...
Day 65 - (Tues) Join the club
Handed in my first assignment today ... here goes! Also back to the gym for the first time in 2 months (Editor's note: DEAR LORD did I feel it the next day). Also joined the uni magazine committee - VERY different from a real newspaper office (think lots of optimism but far less decisiveness) and its agreed by all that it needs a facelift to gain more readers... but helping to build it up into something cool that students want to read, and having the freedom to write on whatever strikes us, will be satisfying I think.
Day 66 - (Wed) "Please let me live here"
Train to Eindhoven, an hour north, this morning to visit the immigration office. "Norman", my immigration dude, was very helpful and, get this, a AFL fan! He recognised the name Adelaide not from the hordes of students who study here from there but because it was a football team! Needless to say his eyes lit up when I told him the Grand Final was on in a few days - he even knew the teams ("St Kilda? I thought they were bad?" he exclaimed. "They got better," I explained!)
Day 67 - (Thurs) Park life
Returned to the gym today, against my own will! To make matters worse, it was FULL of beefcakes and I managed to wear a new black t-shirt which preceded to spread black fluff all over me as I sweated profusely! I worked the "blue skin" look but note to self for next time... All that exertion led to a deserved rest in the park until my Dutch class (might have taken a quick nap over a history book or two). Third Dutch class at 6.30pm and its finally starting to be a bit of fun. Everyone still looks at the teacher lik a rabbit in the headlights when she turns on you in a questioning tone, but now we catch the odd word or two first! Covered basics like learning to count and "how are yu" etc. That night it was raining and I had a stomach ache, hence I was "slecht"!
Observations: Am learning so many new words after instigating a "google it" policy - any word I don't understand in my textbook (and there are plenty ... damn fancy academics) gets the google treatment. The bugs here are weird - our Dutch teacher says none of the spiders are poisonous, but the Australian in me dosen't believe her. Also there are these things that look like flying daddy-long-legs with bums like mozzies that regularly invade our units if we leave the windows open (bc the Dutch have clearly not heard of fly screens!). And there is a herd of stray cats roaming around our guesthouse. They won't be getting my left overs I can tell you that!
Dutch I've learned:
"Slecht" = "Feeling crap"
"Harstikke goede" = "Really good"
"O, beste" = "So, so"
"Niet so goede" = "Not so good" (but you guessed that right?)
And for those still trying to figure out the title of this post: "geen" is pronounced "hgain" and means "none"!
Day 62 - To Begium and back
Day 62: (Sat) Border crossing
Was a lovely sunny day so the guesthouse gang (this time consisting of Nakita, Katie, Kathleen and I) decided to take the challenge and cycle to Belgium. Now, before you drop your jaw in shock and admiration for our cycling prowess, I must confess, its only about an 8 minute ride to the "so-called" border! You go round the back of the guesthouse, follow the road past a few housing developments (think small-scale, euro version of Mawson Lakes for those at home), past a corn field (yes, an actual cornfield, just like in the movies, with wind turbines on the horizon) and come out at a bridge. At the stop of the (very steep) bridge is the "border" - a sign that says "maastricht" with a cross through it and then another sign that says "Belgie". Much fuss was made and photos taken, followed by a short cycle tour of the nearest town (where lots of UCM students also live, its cheaper apparently).
That night it was time to branch out and find a new place to drink! Nakita and I headed out with Lauren and Ash (both from Adelaide Uni incidentally) to a place noted in the Lonely Planet called Take One. Note to any prospective visitors: cutest drinking bar ever. The walls of the tiny, long, thin bar room are completely COVERED in bottle tops coaster from the 100+ beers they sell and the floor is covered in peanut shells (they serve whole peanuts on the table and encourage you to drop them on the floor Singapore Raffles Hotel style). Mmmmm peanuts! The beers were great too. The gorgeous little bar lady comes over and asks what you feel like. Although ususally a talented wordsmith, language failed me and I asked for a "beerey beer"! But to her credit she brought me a German pilsener that hit the spot. Between us we had two rounds and played musical beers until we'd all tasted all eight. Among the memorable ones were a blueberry beer, one that looked and poured like Coke and one for me in a GIANT mug. We kept the bottle tops and will be returning to see if we can knock off all 100+ by the time the Adel Uni girls go home after Christmas. It's a tough task but I think we're up to it!
Observations: Belgium has a more "brown" vibe to it, think chocolate brown houses compared to blues and greys in Maastricht. The roads are also smoother there. And there's livestock in ppl's gardens (including cows which looked confusedly at my bike!).
Mistakes / Mini victories: This comes under both categories - I had a left over banana which inspired an attempt to cook banana cake in the microwave. Wouldn't exactly call it a success but it did in fact "cook" and was nice with some butter while it was still warm. Just have to learn how to combat the "goes rock hard after 20 minutes of cooling" factor! More butter? That fixes everything right?!
Dutch I've learned: "Kun je het herhalen?" = "Can you repeat it?" (unsurprisingly, the most used phrase in class!)
"wie" means "who" but sounds like the French "oui" - confusing much
"xxx-jes" = little kisses ... so xxx-jes to you all :)
Was a lovely sunny day so the guesthouse gang (this time consisting of Nakita, Katie, Kathleen and I) decided to take the challenge and cycle to Belgium. Now, before you drop your jaw in shock and admiration for our cycling prowess, I must confess, its only about an 8 minute ride to the "so-called" border! You go round the back of the guesthouse, follow the road past a few housing developments (think small-scale, euro version of Mawson Lakes for those at home), past a corn field (yes, an actual cornfield, just like in the movies, with wind turbines on the horizon) and come out at a bridge. At the stop of the (very steep) bridge is the "border" - a sign that says "maastricht" with a cross through it and then another sign that says "Belgie". Much fuss was made and photos taken, followed by a short cycle tour of the nearest town (where lots of UCM students also live, its cheaper apparently).
That night it was time to branch out and find a new place to drink! Nakita and I headed out with Lauren and Ash (both from Adelaide Uni incidentally) to a place noted in the Lonely Planet called Take One. Note to any prospective visitors: cutest drinking bar ever. The walls of the tiny, long, thin bar room are completely COVERED in bottle tops coaster from the 100+ beers they sell and the floor is covered in peanut shells (they serve whole peanuts on the table and encourage you to drop them on the floor Singapore Raffles Hotel style). Mmmmm peanuts! The beers were great too. The gorgeous little bar lady comes over and asks what you feel like. Although ususally a talented wordsmith, language failed me and I asked for a "beerey beer"! But to her credit she brought me a German pilsener that hit the spot. Between us we had two rounds and played musical beers until we'd all tasted all eight. Among the memorable ones were a blueberry beer, one that looked and poured like Coke and one for me in a GIANT mug. We kept the bottle tops and will be returning to see if we can knock off all 100+ by the time the Adel Uni girls go home after Christmas. It's a tough task but I think we're up to it!
Observations: Belgium has a more "brown" vibe to it, think chocolate brown houses compared to blues and greys in Maastricht. The roads are also smoother there. And there's livestock in ppl's gardens (including cows which looked confusedly at my bike!).
Mistakes / Mini victories: This comes under both categories - I had a left over banana which inspired an attempt to cook banana cake in the microwave. Wouldn't exactly call it a success but it did in fact "cook" and was nice with some butter while it was still warm. Just have to learn how to combat the "goes rock hard after 20 minutes of cooling" factor! More butter? That fixes everything right?!
Dutch I've learned: "Kun je het herhalen?" = "Can you repeat it?" (unsurprisingly, the most used phrase in class!)
"wie" means "who" but sounds like the French "oui" - confusing much
"xxx-jes" = little kisses ... so xxx-jes to you all :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)