Kim and I were rather concerned about Sundays. So far only adults had been talking to us at church, which was very kind of them, but we were really hoping to meet some young people. There was a bit more at stake here than first meets the eye. The problem is that the people we are in class with at the university are more into... well... the type of parties that Kim and I would prefer to stay away from. Kim and I were quite shocked at first when we started getting invites to all these parties and events that would START at 10:00 at night (and schedule to run until 4:00 AM), and involve an awful lot of drinking (don't worry, we didn't go to any of them). And although there are also some tamer events that occur during more earthly hours, we'd much rather make better friends with people that stay away from clubbing and crazy parties with 500 people that start at 10:00.
So Sunday morning at church I took a deep breath, and marched up to a group of young people. I put on the most confident smile I could, and said 'Hallo, ik ben Valerie'. After a slight pause of surprise from the group everything went very well and everyone was very friendly. Everyone there spoke English, but I also practised my Dutch a bit. Kim joined us after a while, and we got invited to the Young People's Potluck that evening! We were very relieved, and excited. At the potluck we got to meet lots of new people. There was a Dutch word game which I happily watched, but wasn't much help to my team. It's so fascinating to just sit and listen to Dutch though. If I don't listen and practise I won't be able to learn it! Then we broke up into smaller groups. Some of the Dutch people and Kim did an English Bible study, but I decided to be ambitious and join a Dutch group because I REALLY want to learn the language. I couldn't understand everything, and it was a bit annoying not having enough vocabulary to say the things I wanted to say, but altogether it went alright.
So now Kim and I are officially part of the Ichtuskerk Young People's Group, and there's even a study weekend coming up in April which we're going to go to! It's too bad I'll have to miss Maylong, but at least I still get a study weekend!
I'm so thankful to God that He gave me new friends in the church now. I'm also hoping that each week I'll be able to understand the sermons just a bit better. One problem is that many of the words I don't understand from the sermon aren't in the Dutch-English dictionary either, but one by one I'm picking them up, and staying optimistic!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Great deals at the Laurenskerk Market
Saturday Kim and I had nothing better to do, so we headed off on our bikes for the Laurenskerk Market. We love to browse around and look at all the fascinating things for sale. There was one man selling boots. Real leather boots of 15 euros! Kim bought herself a pair, and I think I might buy myself some as well next time we go even though I don't need new boots. For that price it wouldn't be smart not to buy a pair. Maybe I should just buy them out of stock and start a business in Canada!
I also bought two mangos for one euro. Delicious! And Kim and I decided to surprise the Macleans by buying two long French breads and making them into garlic. So we proudly biked home with our purchases and told the Macleans, and poor Tante Joke was all worried because we were supposed to have spaghetti for supper, and apparently in Holland one does not eat spaghetti with garlic bread. In the midst of a large amount of flustering about changing the dinner plans to pea soup Kim and I hastily explained that in Canada eating garlic bread and spaghetti is normal thing to do. So thankfully we managed to get the message across (and we all four of us had a good laugh afterwards) and thus we had spaghetti with garlic bread. It was delicious! And then vla for dessert of course. We have vla for dessert every night here. It's quite yummy and I think I'll miss it a bit when I go back to Canada. I can't complain about dessert every night!
I also bought two mangos for one euro. Delicious! And Kim and I decided to surprise the Macleans by buying two long French breads and making them into garlic. So we proudly biked home with our purchases and told the Macleans, and poor Tante Joke was all worried because we were supposed to have spaghetti for supper, and apparently in Holland one does not eat spaghetti with garlic bread. In the midst of a large amount of flustering about changing the dinner plans to pea soup Kim and I hastily explained that in Canada eating garlic bread and spaghetti is normal thing to do. So thankfully we managed to get the message across (and we all four of us had a good laugh afterwards) and thus we had spaghetti with garlic bread. It was delicious! And then vla for dessert of course. We have vla for dessert every night here. It's quite yummy and I think I'll miss it a bit when I go back to Canada. I can't complain about dessert every night!
A Multicultural Friday
Last Friday was the official introduction session for incoming exchange students at Erasmus. I was very excited to meet new people and find out a bit of what the semester will be like. I was not disappointed when it came to meeting people from different countries! We all got a chance to introduce ourselves briefly (there were about fifty of us) and there were people from all around the globe! Singapore, South Korea, China, Finland, Netherlands, USA, Australia, Turkey, Scotland (coolest accent I've ever heard!), UK, Germany, Italy, and more countries, but I can't remember exactly which ones. After hearing the university rules, formalities, etc. we all got to go ice skating! It was really neat getting to know people from all over the place. I even met a German who had lived in Tofino for a year.
Delft
Wednesday Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke took Kim and I to the historic town of Delft. Wow! I've never had the chance to observe and absorb so much history in my life. First we went to the Nieuwe Kerk (and of course I was mesmerised by even the picturesque streets lined by cute rows of houses). The Niewe Kerk (which translates as New Church) happens to be well over 600 years old! We went inside and wandered around admiring it for quite some time. There are pews for hundreds of people in there, a very ornate pulpit, fantastic organs (several of them in varying sizes). I think there were four pipe organs in that church!
Another fascinating thing in the church was the floor panels, which happen to be graves. Some of them dated back to the 1400's! Some of them were so faded and trod upon that the designs and writing on them was illegible. There were also several statues, including of William of Orange. William the Silent was buried in that church, along with his descendants. There were also family trees hung up in several places, and footage from several of the more recent royal funerals. I was glad on that day that I was not royalty. It would be so creepy knowing that all your ancestors from the past several hundred years are down in the crypt, and that it's only a matter of time before you join them.
Another fascinating thing in the church was the floor panels, which happen to be graves. Some of them dated back to the 1400's! Some of them were so faded and trod upon that the designs and writing on them was illegible. There were also several statues, including of William of Orange. William the Silent was buried in that church, along with his descendants. There were also family trees hung up in several places, and footage from several of the more recent royal funerals. I was glad on that day that I was not royalty. It would be so creepy knowing that all your ancestors from the past several hundred years are down in the crypt, and that it's only a matter of time before you join them.
Needless to say that after those heavy thoughts came upon me I was very glad to have the opportunity to be distracted by something considerably less morbid: climbing the tower! It was very exciting! The stairs go in an almost endless spiral. First stone, then wood, then concrete (or something similar), then wood again. About half way up there was finally an unlocked door! It led outside to a balcony that encircled the tower. The view was breathtaking!
We waved at Uncle Larry far below on the ground and he took a picture of us!
After that we went back into the tower and kept climbing. There were almost 400 steps in total, and two more balconies to explore before we reached the top. It was quite the adventure. I absolutely love exploring churches. Especially climbing towers with winding staircases. The way down was almost dizzying though because it just goes on and on. By the time we got to the bottom I had a huge smile, and rather sore legs. It was an adventure I'll never forget.
We came across a wooden shoe, so we just had to sit in it!
After the Niewe Kerk we went to subway for lunch and I had a crab subway sandwich. I figured I might as well try the one that wouldn't be on a Canadian menu!
After that delicious lunch it was off to the Oude Kerk, which was built over 800 years ago! It didn't have a tower to climb, but it was still very fascinating. The fact that it's so incredibly old is almost unfathomable. It sort of puts history into a whole new perspective. People only have one life each, and when they die they either go to heaven or hell, and very few of them are remembered after they die. It shows how important it is to glorify God while we're alive. It's the only thing that lasts.
After the Oude Kerk we admired some genuine Delft Blauw objects, and some old fashioned tie-on-the-shoe skates, and then went to the place where William of Orange was shot. It was a convent, and now it is a large museum full of paintings and artifacts. I have never seen so much history, so many paintings, or such old things. I must say that modern abstract 'art' cannot begin to compare with the paintings inside that museum.
At the end of the day I was very tired. I think I saw and read a bit too much history and my brain was stuffed to the max. But wow! What a day. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to learn so much and see so much about what the world is, and was, like. I only wish that in school we could've learned about European History a bit more, and the fur trade a bit less. Instead of studying the fur trade and the natives over and over, couldn't we throw a bit of European History in there somewhere?
Thursday, January 23, 2014
So many new things!
As we discovered on Saturday, there is a large Turkish market outside the Laurenskerk. Further investigation revealed that it's there every Tuesday and Saturday. So Tuesday Kim and I decided to bike there. We ended up leaving a little later than expected because the morning was filled with phone calls all over the place in an attempt to figure out what exactly we have to do to obtain visas. Our contacts at UFV and Erasmus had told us that we should simply go to city hall and get a working holiday permit. So we called city hall, and they told us we had to get it at Erasmus. So we called Erasmus, who said we needed city hall! Grrr! By this time Oom Gert Jan was doing all the phoning because although most people here speak English, they are much better at communicating in Dutch. So after making over half a dozen phone calls and looking up all sorts of things online, we still do not have visas, but we at least have some sort of idea of how to go about things. We might have to go to the university personally and ask a bunch more questions before we can fully sort things out.
But we finally managed to pedal off to go to the market we'd been looking forward to. We took a different way there than we did on Saturday because it was a much 'shorter' route, but Kim and I should know by now that usually the actual shortest route is the one we know already because then we aren't as likely to get lost. We asked directions several times, and one person told us the exact opposite directions we needed! We biked dutifully in the direction they pointed for about two kilometers, and when we still hadn't reached the Laurenskerk we asked someone else, who pointed us right back the way we came. Three kilometers down that way we finally reached our destination. After browsing around for a while we decided to buy some lunch at a French fry stand. But instead of getting French fries we decided to be more daring and get a Dutch specialty. The only problem was we didn't know what the things were. One thing ended with kroket (I can't remember what the beginning of the word was) and we knew what kroketen were, so we ordered that. Kim also got a Frikendel, which turned out to be an onion flavoured sausage.
Then we started for home, and at a rather fast pace because we'd promised to be back by 3:00 to go to a birthday party for Tante Joke's great nephew. We decided to be wise and take the 'long' way past Erasmus University. It's about two kilometers longer, but at least we were confident of where we were going. And it's good practice taking that route so we for sure won't get lost on our way to university for classes. It's one thing to get lost when we have all the time in the world, and another entirely to be late for something important like a first class. That would be dreadful.
We arrived at the Maclean's house at one minute to three. Tante Joke gave us some warm soup, which was wonderful, and then we went to the birthday party. Oh, and when Oom Gert Jan heard the Kim had eaten a Frikendel he said she must be getting smarter. Reason: because it contains cow brains, among other animal remains. I do not plan to consume Frikendels on a regular bases. Anyways, the house the birthday party was in was a restored farm house/barn, and it's huge. That's a major rarity in Holland where nearly all the houses are very small compared to North American standards.
But we finally managed to pedal off to go to the market we'd been looking forward to. We took a different way there than we did on Saturday because it was a much 'shorter' route, but Kim and I should know by now that usually the actual shortest route is the one we know already because then we aren't as likely to get lost. We asked directions several times, and one person told us the exact opposite directions we needed! We biked dutifully in the direction they pointed for about two kilometers, and when we still hadn't reached the Laurenskerk we asked someone else, who pointed us right back the way we came. Three kilometers down that way we finally reached our destination. After browsing around for a while we decided to buy some lunch at a French fry stand. But instead of getting French fries we decided to be more daring and get a Dutch specialty. The only problem was we didn't know what the things were. One thing ended with kroket (I can't remember what the beginning of the word was) and we knew what kroketen were, so we ordered that. Kim also got a Frikendel, which turned out to be an onion flavoured sausage.
Then we started for home, and at a rather fast pace because we'd promised to be back by 3:00 to go to a birthday party for Tante Joke's great nephew. We decided to be wise and take the 'long' way past Erasmus University. It's about two kilometers longer, but at least we were confident of where we were going. And it's good practice taking that route so we for sure won't get lost on our way to university for classes. It's one thing to get lost when we have all the time in the world, and another entirely to be late for something important like a first class. That would be dreadful.
We arrived at the Maclean's house at one minute to three. Tante Joke gave us some warm soup, which was wonderful, and then we went to the birthday party. Oh, and when Oom Gert Jan heard the Kim had eaten a Frikendel he said she must be getting smarter. Reason: because it contains cow brains, among other animal remains. I do not plan to consume Frikendels on a regular bases. Anyways, the house the birthday party was in was a restored farm house/barn, and it's huge. That's a major rarity in Holland where nearly all the houses are very small compared to North American standards.
There also happened to be a shelf full of various sized klompen! I was so excited and Kim and I had to try some on...
...which also seems to have inspired my darling little brother who started walking around in his little klompen at home. I sure miss my little Lukey. He'll be so big by the time I get back.
Oh, and before I forget Kim and I rode for the first time on the Metro! We went to go shopping for an adventure, and also to get some groceries for Tante Joke. It was quite the exciting experience. We had to beep preloaded cards on these machine things in the station, which would take off a deposit of four Euros. Then we had to get off at the next station, which was easier said than done. We were waiting for the door to open so we could get out, but the door didn't open! There was a man standing outside the metro and looking very impatient. Finally he pushed a button and the door opened, I think the words he was muttering as he glared at us were probably Dutch swear words. But we had no idea we had to push a button to exit the Metro! Then we had to wait for the right Metro to where we wanted to go. We successfully got on that, went for two more stations, and then got off at the shopping mall. We browsed through the stores, bought the groceries, and then went back on the Metro. It was only the next day that we found out we'd missed most of the mall. Turns out the part we'd shopped was only one of three in a mall larger than we'd ever seen. Oops! But in our defense it didn't look like there was another part of the mall. Stores here are so much less in-your-face than in Canada. There are far fewer signs, and they're way less flashy. It's quite a refreshing change.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Church in Dutch
I was sure looking forward to going to church on Sunday! A chance to see new things, meet new people, sing to God in a different language, and listen to a solid hour of Dutch. Well, I didn't understand terribly much of the sermon, but I got the basic gist of both the morning and the afternoon sermons. When I say overall I mean really basic. I understood what they were about, but none of the smaller details. I'm determined to understand the sermon much better by the time I return to Canada. I've got five months to learn as much Dutch as I can!
I was worried that church would be horrifically different from Canada, but it wasn't bad at all. The dress is a bit more casual, and the songs and Bible passages are on a projector screen. The morning sermon had points on the projector screen as well. I felt a little bad, but I found it really helpful because I could look up a few words in my Dutch-English dictionary and understand the sermon much better because of it. About half the songs were the familiar Genevan tunes, which was nice too. I love singing in a foreign language, although I did feel a bit deprived because for many of the songs I knew verse one in English by heart. I missed being able to know half or all of the lines by heart. Still, church went very well. In the morning Kim and I sat with Tante Joke (Oom Gert Jan sat up front because he's a deacon). In the afternoon Tante Joke went to visit her mother in a sort of hospital and watch a live video feed, so then I sat by Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke. Oh yes, and the other difference is that there are two collections per service. One for the deacons, and the other for mission work. In the morning I dutifully took out two coins, but then when the first bag came I accidentally put both in out of habit, and then the second one came a few seconds later so I didn't have time to get a different coin. Oops!
Renee and Jan Kees and family came over briefly which gave me a chance to give them all presents from Canada. The kids were quite happy with their hockey jerseys (and a dress for Elisabeth, although not the one she's wearing in the picture) as well as toys, Costco LED headlamps, and life savers.
Oom Gert Jan left with Kim and I fairly quickly after the second service because we wanted a good parking spot by the Laurenskerk for a Sunday evening concert/worship service. We listened to a very talented organist and the most incredible choir I have ever heard. It was beautiful, and the acoustics in the building are incomparable with anything I've heard in Canada. It just rings. The ladies in that choir could sing so high I could hardly believe it, and it was all so beautiful and professional. There was also a small orchestra. It was very weird watching an orchestra tune. Normally I'm the one up on stage tuning. I miss orchestra, but at least the Macleans have a piano. So yes, I had to opportunity to watch a lovely organ concert in the famous Laurenskerk (and there was also some audience singing and a small sermon as well). Well, the sermon I wasn't too sure about. With my limited Dutch understanding I was pretty sure the first part was a plea for donations and explanation about what wonderful music it was, and about the organist. But then later on the dominee, or priest, (or whatever the preacher guy was) talked about the five loaves and two small fish. So I'm not sure what exactly that long period of talking was. But it gave me an opportunity to marvel for a long time at the fantastic pipe organ!
I was worried that church would be horrifically different from Canada, but it wasn't bad at all. The dress is a bit more casual, and the songs and Bible passages are on a projector screen. The morning sermon had points on the projector screen as well. I felt a little bad, but I found it really helpful because I could look up a few words in my Dutch-English dictionary and understand the sermon much better because of it. About half the songs were the familiar Genevan tunes, which was nice too. I love singing in a foreign language, although I did feel a bit deprived because for many of the songs I knew verse one in English by heart. I missed being able to know half or all of the lines by heart. Still, church went very well. In the morning Kim and I sat with Tante Joke (Oom Gert Jan sat up front because he's a deacon). In the afternoon Tante Joke went to visit her mother in a sort of hospital and watch a live video feed, so then I sat by Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke. Oh yes, and the other difference is that there are two collections per service. One for the deacons, and the other for mission work. In the morning I dutifully took out two coins, but then when the first bag came I accidentally put both in out of habit, and then the second one came a few seconds later so I didn't have time to get a different coin. Oops!
Renee and Jan Kees and family came over briefly which gave me a chance to give them all presents from Canada. The kids were quite happy with their hockey jerseys (and a dress for Elisabeth, although not the one she's wearing in the picture) as well as toys, Costco LED headlamps, and life savers.
And this is a random other picture of a typical breakfast.
Oom Gert Jan left with Kim and I fairly quickly after the second service because we wanted a good parking spot by the Laurenskerk for a Sunday evening concert/worship service. We listened to a very talented organist and the most incredible choir I have ever heard. It was beautiful, and the acoustics in the building are incomparable with anything I've heard in Canada. It just rings. The ladies in that choir could sing so high I could hardly believe it, and it was all so beautiful and professional. There was also a small orchestra. It was very weird watching an orchestra tune. Normally I'm the one up on stage tuning. I miss orchestra, but at least the Macleans have a piano. So yes, I had to opportunity to watch a lovely organ concert in the famous Laurenskerk (and there was also some audience singing and a small sermon as well). Well, the sermon I wasn't too sure about. With my limited Dutch understanding I was pretty sure the first part was a plea for donations and explanation about what wonderful music it was, and about the organist. But then later on the dominee, or priest, (or whatever the preacher guy was) talked about the five loaves and two small fish. So I'm not sure what exactly that long period of talking was. But it gave me an opportunity to marvel for a long time at the fantastic pipe organ!
An Adventurous Saturday
Saturday morning Kim and I went grocery shopping with Tante Joke. We went to an outdoor strip of stores and everything there was zo leuk! There were men selling rookworst in the middle of the street (and giving delicious free samples). Kim and I also couldn't believe our eyes when we saw how cheap everything is there. She got a hair straightener for less then eight euros! And she's been very happy with it yesterday morning and today. I bought shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray. Boy, was it ever good to have conditioner and hairspray for my shower the next day! I didn't bring conditioner to the Netherlands, and my hairspray bottle's sprayer decided it didn't like the plane ride, and so it doesn't work. For three days I had to pour it onto my hand and then try to rub it onto my hair. It didn't work very well.
I had plans to bake some cookies. It was Lodewijk Maclean's 5th birthday the next day (Sunday) and Tante Joke thought it would be nice to bring cookies along. The only problem was that baking soda doesn't exist in the Netherlands. They don't sell it anywhere. Thankfully Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke had some though. Uncle Larry agreed to trade us baking soda for a cookie, and I thought that was a pretty skookum deal, so I gave him six. There aren't any chocolate chips in the Netherlands either, but I knew about that ahead of time, so I brought a huge bag of them from Costco.
Saturday afternoon the Macleans went out for lunch with friends, and Kim and I were on our own. We decided to be adventurous, so we hopped onto our wonderful Dutch bikes. We wanted to go to the university so we'd know how to for next week. We brought two maps, and googled the directions. Unfortunately, it still didn't take long for us to get confused and a little lost. A kind jogger came and asked us if we needed some help, so that got us a ways further. Altogether I think we asked directions about five times. The fifth person happened to be going there himself, so we just went along with him.
Erasmus University is enormous. There are two separate campuses, and the one we'll be going to has several buildings, one of which is at least twenty stories tall. There were some bells playing from a tall tower, and we watched, mesmerized, for several minutes. Then it was back to our fietsen (bikes) to continue the adventure. We were headed for the Kijk-Kubus, or cube houses. On the way we saw a tall, old, gorgeous building, so we stopped to admire that for a while too. It took a bit to get there because we were on the wrong side of a canal. We eventually found the cube houses and they were amazing to see! Probably more because I've about them and seen so many pictures, and then there they were! I still have a hard time believing I'm really here.
After admiring the famous cube houses, we wanted to see the Laurenskerk, a church which is about 600 years old. Only finding it proved to be a bit difficult. Thankfully we're pretty good at asking directions (we were good at that in Canada too), and I know enough Dutch to understand it if people don't speak English, but most of them do.
It turns out that on Tuesdays and Saturdays there is a huge street market by the Laurenskerk. Kim and I walked our bikes through there. Everything in Holland is so fascinating! The Laurenskerk is so tall and so beautiful and ornate. We would have gone inside, but if we did we wanted to go together and I didn't know where the key was for my bike chain, so we just marveled at the outside.
Then we had to bike all the way back home to Rotsheide 16. On the map it was clearly faster to first go North, but we decided to follow the Maas River back to Erasmus because we knew how to get home from there. Boy were we ever tired though! We'd been on the go for just over three hours, and it was almost an hour bike ride back. I timed it once we passed Erasmus and it took 36 minutes (although since we were so tired we biked quite slowly). But at least now we have a ballpark idea of how long it will take us to get to University.
So that was quite the day! After returning we were extremely glad to get hot chocolate and stroop waffles for snack from Tante Joke. The stoop waffles here are zo lekker!
A random fancy-looking building that we had to get a closer look at. Only it took a while to get to it because there happened to be a canal situated inconveniently in the way.
I had plans to bake some cookies. It was Lodewijk Maclean's 5th birthday the next day (Sunday) and Tante Joke thought it would be nice to bring cookies along. The only problem was that baking soda doesn't exist in the Netherlands. They don't sell it anywhere. Thankfully Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke had some though. Uncle Larry agreed to trade us baking soda for a cookie, and I thought that was a pretty skookum deal, so I gave him six. There aren't any chocolate chips in the Netherlands either, but I knew about that ahead of time, so I brought a huge bag of them from Costco.
Saturday afternoon the Macleans went out for lunch with friends, and Kim and I were on our own. We decided to be adventurous, so we hopped onto our wonderful Dutch bikes. We wanted to go to the university so we'd know how to for next week. We brought two maps, and googled the directions. Unfortunately, it still didn't take long for us to get confused and a little lost. A kind jogger came and asked us if we needed some help, so that got us a ways further. Altogether I think we asked directions about five times. The fifth person happened to be going there himself, so we just went along with him.
Erasmus University is enormous. There are two separate campuses, and the one we'll be going to has several buildings, one of which is at least twenty stories tall. There were some bells playing from a tall tower, and we watched, mesmerized, for several minutes. Then it was back to our fietsen (bikes) to continue the adventure. We were headed for the Kijk-Kubus, or cube houses. On the way we saw a tall, old, gorgeous building, so we stopped to admire that for a while too. It took a bit to get there because we were on the wrong side of a canal. We eventually found the cube houses and they were amazing to see! Probably more because I've about them and seen so many pictures, and then there they were! I still have a hard time believing I'm really here.
After admiring the famous cube houses, we wanted to see the Laurenskerk, a church which is about 600 years old. Only finding it proved to be a bit difficult. Thankfully we're pretty good at asking directions (we were good at that in Canada too), and I know enough Dutch to understand it if people don't speak English, but most of them do.
It turns out that on Tuesdays and Saturdays there is a huge street market by the Laurenskerk. Kim and I walked our bikes through there. Everything in Holland is so fascinating! The Laurenskerk is so tall and so beautiful and ornate. We would have gone inside, but if we did we wanted to go together and I didn't know where the key was for my bike chain, so we just marveled at the outside.
Then we had to bike all the way back home to Rotsheide 16. On the map it was clearly faster to first go North, but we decided to follow the Maas River back to Erasmus because we knew how to get home from there. Boy were we ever tired though! We'd been on the go for just over three hours, and it was almost an hour bike ride back. I timed it once we passed Erasmus and it took 36 minutes (although since we were so tired we biked quite slowly). But at least now we have a ballpark idea of how long it will take us to get to University.
So that was quite the day! After returning we were extremely glad to get hot chocolate and stroop waffles for snack from Tante Joke. The stoop waffles here are zo lekker!
We finally made it to the famous Erasmus Universiteit!
A random fancy-looking building that we had to get a closer look at. Only it took a while to get to it because there happened to be a canal situated inconveniently in the way.
The cube houses!
And for mom's benefit: maybe the architect happened to have a genius dream?
And for mom's benefit: maybe the architect happened to have a genius dream?
The Laurenskerk. We also went there for a church service/concert on Sunday evening with Oom Gert Jan. The organ and choir were fantastic!
And yes! We found our way home without even having to ask directions!
Friday, January 17, 2014
The Kinderdijk!
Last night I had a much better sleep. Kim and I both slept until 10:00! One more good sleep and I think I should be mostly caught up. Today I'm still feeling a bit tired. But it has still been very exciting! This morning Oom Gert Jan and Tante Joke drove Kim and I to see Erasmus University. It
is enormous! I think Kim and I will have to perfect our charming smiles and our 'Can you us poor lost girls?' Then we went to Southern Rotterdam (we live in East Rotterdam) Oom Gert Jan had an errand to do. It's so fascinating to see all the quaint buildings, the boats on the harbour, the brick streets and houses. And our very first windmill! Kim and I were so excited we had to get out of the vehicle to see it. Another most surprising sight was the smallest house. It was only one meter wide, but four stories tall. I don't think I could live in a house that narrow. I would get so claustrophobic. All the houses here are small (though not that small), but the people make such efficient use of space that it's hardly noticeable. They also have less stuff in general and spend more time outside, which I think is a very good thing. This afternoon the Macleans were going to take the Metro with us to Erasmus so we could see how the system worked, but on a whim decided to go the Kinderdijk instead! It was raining, and the tourist windmill was closed, but it was so lovely! Most of the windmills have families living in them. That was a fascinating fact to learn. We had a very nice walk along the canal, and took some pictures as well. There were also two men fishing, and they caught a pike that was about as long as my arm.
Getting there
I can't quite believe it myself, but here I am in the Netherlands! This is my second day here and jet lag is fading fast. But before I get too far ahead, I will paste an email which I sent to my family during a two hour stopover:
Hello wonderful family!
I'm in London Heathrow Airport right now. I've been awake for the past 24 hours, but I'm still functioning alright. And smiling! :)
The flight from Vancouver to London went very well. There was no problem getting on the plane with my one inch too big carry on. And British airways is nice to fly on. It sure beat any other flights I've been on! The stewardesses are all British and have real British accents. We got a lovely dinner at about 12:00 BC time. We got beef, stampot carrots, beans, a bun with a little butter thing, a water bottle, coffee or tea, and even a bottle of wine! There was also Ceasar Salad, and for dessert there was a Nanaimo bar! I watched three movies on the plane (there were oodles to choose from and they were all free). I watched Austenland (a Jane austen inspired movie), and then Despicable Me 2, and then Planes. (But I fastforwarded the minion singing parts in Despicable Me 2).
London Airport is INCREDIBLE! You wouldn't believe the escalators. Many of them go up 4 stories! The elevators are also glass, and way faster than in Canada (or maybe it just feels that way because you can see all around). And the best part was that we had to ride an underground train to get from one end of Terminal 5 to the other. There are more stores in Terminal 5A than in Chilliwack Mall.
Kim and I are counting down the hours until we can finally go to bed, but we're both doing just fine. It's pretty exciting to do and see all new things!
I miss you all still, and I pull out the family pictures I printed off every so often. Love you all very much!
Valerie
So that covers most of the way to Holland, but there is a bit of a story about the flight to Amsterdam. I had a carry-on suitcase which was filled mostly with gifts for people in Holland, and it weighed 40 pounds. The problem was that it had two inch wheels on it which made it about one inch larger than was permissible. This was no problem on the big plane the went to London, but the carry-on space was smaller in the Amsterdam plane. It didn't fit! I had to lift it up into the carry-on space to see if it would fit in different spots, and then eventually it ended up being put in the cargo hold. Oops. So that wasn't such a good start. But thankfully the flight was only about 45 minutes long.
Getting our luggage in Amsterdam was easy, and then Kim and I had no trouble at customs either. When we walked out of customs, there was our wonderful welcome party! It was so good to see familiar faces and get lots of hugs and happiness, and even flowers from Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke! I had never met Tante Joke and Oom Gert Jan, the people we are staying with, and I was very excited to meet them too. Renee was also there, but she was the one that took the picture.
It's getting harder to speak Dutch as the day goes on though. I'm still very tired because I woke up this morning at 5:00 Holland time and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally got up at 7:50. I'm awake, but still slightly foggy, and I still have this cold. Not as bad as the day before I left for Europe, but I blow my nose an awful lot. Kim and I went for a bike ride after lunch (in the pouring rain), and went over at least 4 different bridges. There's definitely lots of variety to be seen in Rotterdam, although for this first bike ride we kept it simple by staying mostly along the Rotte River. We also walked up a hill (a grassy slope right next to the ski 'hill' (more like a ski pile by the size of it) and unfortunately I slipped on the way up and got my white coat all muddy. Kim wanted to go trekking everywhere, but I was kind of miserable for the rest of our time outside because I was so worried about my coat being mud stained. But other than that it was a lovely bike ride. Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow because it's a lot more fun outside if there's no rain.
Hello wonderful family!
I'm in London Heathrow Airport right now. I've been awake for the past 24 hours, but I'm still functioning alright. And smiling! :)
The flight from Vancouver to London went very well. There was no problem getting on the plane with my one inch too big carry on. And British airways is nice to fly on. It sure beat any other flights I've been on! The stewardesses are all British and have real British accents. We got a lovely dinner at about 12:00 BC time. We got beef, stampot carrots, beans, a bun with a little butter thing, a water bottle, coffee or tea, and even a bottle of wine! There was also Ceasar Salad, and for dessert there was a Nanaimo bar! I watched three movies on the plane (there were oodles to choose from and they were all free). I watched Austenland (a Jane austen inspired movie), and then Despicable Me 2, and then Planes. (But I fastforwarded the minion singing parts in Despicable Me 2).
London Airport is INCREDIBLE! You wouldn't believe the escalators. Many of them go up 4 stories! The elevators are also glass, and way faster than in Canada (or maybe it just feels that way because you can see all around). And the best part was that we had to ride an underground train to get from one end of Terminal 5 to the other. There are more stores in Terminal 5A than in Chilliwack Mall.
Kim and I are counting down the hours until we can finally go to bed, but we're both doing just fine. It's pretty exciting to do and see all new things!
I miss you all still, and I pull out the family pictures I printed off every so often. Love you all very much!
Valerie
So that covers most of the way to Holland, but there is a bit of a story about the flight to Amsterdam. I had a carry-on suitcase which was filled mostly with gifts for people in Holland, and it weighed 40 pounds. The problem was that it had two inch wheels on it which made it about one inch larger than was permissible. This was no problem on the big plane the went to London, but the carry-on space was smaller in the Amsterdam plane. It didn't fit! I had to lift it up into the carry-on space to see if it would fit in different spots, and then eventually it ended up being put in the cargo hold. Oops. So that wasn't such a good start. But thankfully the flight was only about 45 minutes long.
Getting our luggage in Amsterdam was easy, and then Kim and I had no trouble at customs either. When we walked out of customs, there was our wonderful welcome party! It was so good to see familiar faces and get lots of hugs and happiness, and even flowers from Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke! I had never met Tante Joke and Oom Gert Jan, the people we are staying with, and I was very excited to meet them too. Renee was also there, but she was the one that took the picture.
Now I will write about yesterday as though it was today:
This morning Renee and Elisabeth, Emma and Sartje, and Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke were here for a visit, and lunch. That was gezellig, and it gave me a chance to hear lots of Dutch.
It's getting harder to speak Dutch as the day goes on though. I'm still very tired because I woke up this morning at 5:00 Holland time and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally got up at 7:50. I'm awake, but still slightly foggy, and I still have this cold. Not as bad as the day before I left for Europe, but I blow my nose an awful lot. Kim and I went for a bike ride after lunch (in the pouring rain), and went over at least 4 different bridges. There's definitely lots of variety to be seen in Rotterdam, although for this first bike ride we kept it simple by staying mostly along the Rotte River. We also walked up a hill (a grassy slope right next to the ski 'hill' (more like a ski pile by the size of it) and unfortunately I slipped on the way up and got my white coat all muddy. Kim wanted to go trekking everywhere, but I was kind of miserable for the rest of our time outside because I was so worried about my coat being mud stained. But other than that it was a lovely bike ride. Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow because it's a lot more fun outside if there's no rain.
In the afternoon Tante Joke took Kim and I along for a visit with her mother, who is 96 years old. She is very happy and wonderful (just like all the Macleans). After that Tante Joke wondered if we were too tired, and mentioned that she might drop by Renee's house. Well, of course that was a very exciting thing to do! So we got a tour of Renee's house, as well as a freshly baked cookie. The Dutch people eat a lot of cookies, but there are also so many people biking all the time. It was also so good to meet Thijs, Mees, and Reuben, and see Elisabeth again.
On the way home from there I tried to stay awake to watch the scenery, but I was unsuccessful. I must've been exceptionally tired because usually I can't sleep in cars. We had a very good supper, and yoghurt with vla (Dutch pudding) for dessert. Delicious! That evening two people came to visit; a neighbour lady, and Yankees. Yankees had a potential job offer for Kim and I. We need a bit of time to think about it because it would be a big commitment for the next six weeks or more, but there is no end to the excitement and opportunities here!
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