Schminken for Romania

 

Schminken.  Isn't that one of the coolest words ever?  It means face painting in Dutch. 

 

On Saturday there was a big bazaar to raise money for Romania.  Kim and I happily allowed ourselves to be recruited for face painting duty. 

 

We set our alarms for quarter to eight so we could be ready on time.  We sure didn't want to be late for such an important event.  Just as I rolled reluctantly out of my warm bed, the phone rang and Tante Joke called up that it was for me.  So I dashed down the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me and found out that it was Stacy!  It was so good to hear from her, as always, even though I still sounded like a croaking toad because I'd just woken up.  She had stayed up until almost 11:00 for a chance to call me.  I felt very loved, but I also felt terrible because I had to cut it short to a piddly ten minutes.  It was not nearly enough time for a good chat with my sister, but I really had to hurry then to go off to the bazaar.  Thankfully she's also very forgiving and still loves me.

 

So at exactly quarter to nine Kim and I pulled our bikes out of the shed and set off for the high school where the bazaar was.  We were blissfully biking along when suddenly Kim exclaimed 'That's Hannah!'

 

Hannah is a friend from church (and our fellow schminker), and she was biking in the opposite direction from Kim and I.  That meant that we were going the wrong way.  Oops, it seemed we had biked right past the road we needed to turn on.  Well, we sure were thankful that we ran into Hannah!  She was more than happy to lead us in the right direction.

 

Thus we made it just on time, and happily assessed our many lovely face paints that we would get to work with all day.  There sure were a lot of colours!  And glitters!  I experimented by painting a lovely little design on my hand.

 

I think some of the kids were a bit intimidated by my not-quite-up-to-par Dutch, but I did my best.  And Hannah also helped sometimes with translating.  We had lots of pictures to copy the designs from, so I could just get the kids to point at what they wanted.  Almost all the girls wanted flinders (butterflies) so I did about seven of those.

 

When face painting business was slow there was plenty of time to walk around and look at the rest of the bazaar, and also to buy food.  I got a hamburger, but it wasn't quite up to par with our Canadian hamburgers.  It sort of tasted like a frikendel (hot dog).  Other than that everything was very delicious though!  

 

Elisabeth was one of very few girls who wanted something other than a butterfly.  I'm not sure what that design was supposed to be, but it was on one of the pictures and it was the one she wanted.  I showed her her face in the mirror when I thought I was finished and she told me in much surprise that I had forgotten the lips.  The model had blue lips, and I'd been planning to ignore that part, but apparently that wasn't allowed.  So she got her blue lips!

 

 

It was a long day, but very good too.  Especially since the bazaar raised over 5000 Euros!  In Canadian dollars that's over $7000. 

 

But the activity of the day wasn't over yet.  Kim and I were invited to a friend's house in the evening.  So we went there at about 8:00 and played games with Rob and Sander.  First we played Ligretto, which is exactly like Dutch Blitz, except with different cards.  I lost very badly, but had a wonderful time playing.  Kim creamed us all mercilessly.  Then we played Dutch Settlers of Catan, and then Rob and Sander endeavored to explain the highly complicated Dutch school system.  Kim and I think we get it now, but it's a bit intimidating how many different levels they have.

 

We didn't end up leaving until after midnight, and much laughter had been had by all.  It was a good Saturday indeed.

Education for the Palate

 

An international food evening is a fantastic idea when there are exchange students from almost 40 different countries!  We were all ordered to bring a traditional dish from our home country, and then all partake of a delicious global buffet! 

 

The only slight problem for me was the Canada doesn't really have a traditional food.  Except maybe maple syrup.  But that isn't available in grocery stores here.  And maybe pemmican?  But I definitely don't have smoked buffalo and whatever else the natives would put in that stuff. 

 

So I decided to just make raisin buttertart squares.  If I had any luck there wouldn't be any other Canadians at the food evening, and no one would know that it's really not traditional.

 

So Kim and I packed up the squares and set off into the night toward the metro station.  It was pouring rain so we were glad we didn't bike that night (and also Kim's bike was stolen and she didn't have her new one yet).  We emerged in the middle of the city from an underground station and had no idea which direction was which, and it was dark and still pouring rain.  But after asking a few kind Rotterdamers about our location we managed to orient ourselves correctly and soon found the café where the dinner was to be hosted.

 

And wow was it ever an incredible dinner!  I love to try new foods and there were definitely plenty of those that night.  French cheese, Korean omelette soup, Scottish bacon and cheese pancakes, sweet buns from I can't remember where, and about two dozen other things!

 

My buttertart squares were also a big hit!  They were gone pretty quickly, so next time maybe I should make more. 

 

But the absolute most delicious thing that I have ever tasted in my whole life was Turkish baklava.  I cannot begin to describe how good that stuff was.  You'll just have to try it for yourself someday, which I highly recommend.  It's a very sweet pastry with ground pistachio nuts.  I hope the guy who brought that is also at the next international food evening!

 

I also tried a few sips of Kim's beer, because beer-drinking is a very common practice in Holland.  I don't get why though.  That stuff tastes like a liquefied bucket of dirty weeds.  Not that I eat weeds, but I imaging if I did they would taste a lot like beer.

 

I think I'll stick with good old fashioned water!  0 calories, very healthy, and a whole lot better tasting than beer.  And maybe I'll have an occasional hot chocolate on special occasions.

 

But all in all a fantastic and educational evening.  I can't wait for the next one!

Going to Gouda... and back

Ever since Kim and I found out (via google maps) that the city of Gouda is only twenty kilometers from our home in Rotterdam, we've been waiting for the right to day to go there.

 

Our initially planned date was rainy.  Then Kim's bike was stolen.  But at last the right day arrived!

(Or at least I thought so)

 

So we looked at maps for a long time to plan and memorize the easiest route.  It looked fairly straightforward, so we were fairly confident.  Well, about six wrong turns, and just as many times asking directions we arrived without too much trouble.  Gouda was just as good as we'd hoped.  It's so picturesque and beautiful and antique-looking.  There were beautiful rows of houses lining long canals filled with boats and crossed by majestic stone bridges.  And we soon discovered a little market!  But the top thing we were looking for was stroop waffles freshly made. 

 

Eventually we found them!!! 

 

This is me blissfully enjoying my very first fresh-made stroop waffle!  And super-sized too!  I seriously wonder how difficult it would be to make them.  I think I shall have to give it a try when I get back to Canada because they are just so delicious.  Store-bought in a package is also good, but nothing beats fresh off the griddle.

 

Here is one of the boats in the canal.  (I guess you could have figured that out on your own without me saying the obvious)

 

And the fresh stroop waffle store!!!

Of course we couldn't go to Gouda without buy some Goudse kaas (Gouda cheese).

And it comes in the cutest little wheels in all different flavours.  There was even a store that sold red and green mustard cheese!

 

While we were walking in the market we heard some nice music.  Curious, we sought the source of the sound and found this organ wagon. 

 

But we had a long bike ride back, so after only an hour and a half we decided to head back.  On this picture beside the Ijssel River, I am smiling and very optimistic.  But... (cue the scary music) little did I realize that there was an extrememly rough ride ahead.

 

The wind is generally blowing in the Netherlands, but today it was exceptionally strong.  And the most straightforward way home was along the river.  The way TO Gouda was great, because the wind was at our backs, but the way home was deadly.  Especially for non-athletic me.  After two hours of crawling along at a snail's pace, and pedalling as hard as if it was a very steep hill I was beginning to wonder if I could make it all the way back home. 

 

Then, we discovered that we were rather lost.  Grrr!  Not again!  We ended up illegally crossing a half-constructed bridge, and then discovering that was the wrong way, and illegally crossing it back again.  We did not by any means take the most direct route home.

But we did eventually make it back, Kim very much alive and me feeling somewhat more on the dead side of things.  The way back took almost four hours!

 

Well, I definitely got my DPA that day!  (DPA is daily physical activity required by the BC government).  I think I got my DPA for the next month.  And the next two days my bottom and legs protested vehemently every time I got on a bike or walked up the stairs. 

 

But on the plus side, I did get to eat a delicious stroop waffle.  And by the time I get back to Canada I'll be in pretty good shape!

 

 

Visiting Tante Tieneke

 

So I finally got to visit relatives in the Netherlands!  One of the top things on my list of things to do was visit Oom Gijs and Tante Tieneke.  And it was a wonderful afternoon.  I felt so welcomed, and it's amazing to meet relatives I didn't know before.  Tante Tieneke and I got along very well indeed, and I had ample opportunity to practice my Dutch.

This little cutie is Saartje.  She's a granddaughter of the Macleans and she came for the day on Tuesday.  Unfortunately I had school most of the day, but during the little while I was home I sure loved having the chance to hold her!

Adventures in Biking Land

Today was such a fantastic and adventurous day that I hardly know where to start!  It really all began several weeks ago with a plan to bike to Gouda (a historic town famed for its cheese and stroop waffles).  It's only about 20 km or so, and Kim and I also invited some young people from church.  Unfortunately the weather refused to cooperate, so with pouring rain on the horizon, we reluctantly agreed to postpone the bike trip until next week.

Instead, we decided to do something here in Rotterdam.  After much deliberation and dozens of messages in an amusing combination of Dutch and English we decided to meet at the Alexandrium for lunch, and then take public transit to the swimming pool.  The Alexandrium is a massive shopping mall just seven minutes' bike ride from where I live!  It's wonderfully convenient to be able to go shopping whenever I want! 

So it ended up being a group of four of us getting together for the afternoon.  Hannah van der Plas, Rob van Apeldoorn, and Kim and I.  Lunch was very gezellig, and after that we got to ride on the metro AND the bus!  I was of course very excited about it all.  I never took public transit in Canada so it was my second time on a metro, and my first time on a public transit bus.  It sure is a lot more exciting (and comfortable) than a school bus.  The pool was lots of fun.  It's been a while since I went swimming, so it was very refreshing.  The swimming area was huge!  There were three different areas with pools, and a water slide.  We spent a lot of time throwing spongy water ball at each other and play fighting over who got to sit on a foamy mat.  You know, typical fun in a swimming pool.  Then we had some delicious ice cream and then went back in the pool (and a few more times on the water slide).

Now comes the unexpected adventure part of the day: we all went back to the Alexandrium on the bus and the metro.  Then when we got there Hannah discovered that she had lost her keys somewhere, hopefully at the swimming pool.  But the bikes are all locked with a chain, and they have a key to lock the wheels so they don't turn.  So Hannah's bike was very much stuck and utterly unrideable at that moment, and her parents were busy.  So I was very excited then (although I was sad that she lost her keys) because that meant she could come with for a potluck dinner at the church!  She could just ride on the rack on the back of my bike.  People in Holland do that quite often.

But then we discovered another predicament just as our first one was solved.  Kim had locked her bike with the chain, but left the key that locked the wheels.  And someone else had taken it!  (Cue the 'dun, dun, dun' tragic music).  Kim's bike was stolen just three days ago, and now she was riding the spare one and that too is now out of commission.  Hopefully just temporarily though until we can get the wheel unlocked.

So then a new plan was needed.  Rob came up with the best solution.  He would take Kim's unrideable bike on the metro to the station nearest our home.  Kim would ride his bike, and Hannah would ride on the back of my bike.  I was a bit unsteady at first (it's a bit different riding with a passenger) but Hannah is an excellent teacher and I got the hang of it in no time.  I really enjoyed it because I felt so Dutch, and so much fitting in with Holland life.  It's also very gezellig to have a passenger to chat with.  So we biked home to the Maclean's house, and then realized I didn't have my house keys.  Kim had hers, and usually I take mine as well, but this time I figured I wouldn't bother.  Of all the days I had to forget my keys!  The neighbours weren't home to ask for the other spare set either.  So we waited.  Outside.  In the cold wind.  But at least we had pretzels!  Extra big ones with peanut butter inside.  I never would have guessed peanut butter pretzels, but they sure were delicious.

Then Hannah got a call from Rob.  He'd accidentally taken the wrong metro!  Oops!  It was my first time not bringing my keys, and his first time taking the wrong metro.  It seems today was the day everything just went amusingly wrong.

Hannah and I decided that rather than keep waiting, we'd go to Hesseplaats station and get the keys from Kim, who was waiting for Rob.  So we biked there, only to receive a call as soon as we arrived that Kim and Rob were waiting for us at home.  So much for getting out of the cold earlier!  Oops again.

Inside we feasted on some of the chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday.  We were all pretty hungry by then, and chocolate chip cookies always taste delicious after a day full of exercise and adventure.  Actually they taste delicious even without adventure, but not quite as good.  I'm sure you all know what I mean by that.

So us three girls quickly freshened up a bit.  Alas, my curly hair was more or less beyond hope after all that chlorine and wind.  But I did my best to make it semi-presentable in a short amount of time.

So then we biked to church.  We were about an hour and a half late for the potluck, and we sure hoped there was some food left.  I biked Hannah again, and Kim hitched a ride on Rob's bike.  Once again very gezellig, although I could feel my legs by the time we arrived at church.  I definitely earned my dinner today between swimming and all the biking! 

Thankfully there was plenty of dinner left for the four of us.  So we had a gezellig dinner as well.  Oh, and just in case anyone doesn't know, the word gezellig is Dutch for something like cozy, friendly, nice, etc.  It describes a happy environment of visiting with friends.  I figured I better clarify that now that I've used that word four times in this post!

After dinner Kim went home with the Macleans, and they also had to pick up her bike from Hesseplaats station.  If it was left there overnight it would quite likely be stolen, even if it was chained.  Rob was very kind and offered to bike with me home because it's not safe for a girl to bike alone at night. 

So thus ended a day fraught with excitement and true Dutch adventure!  As soon as I got home the phone rang and I was delighted to see it was Mom's number.  So I got to tell her all about it, and have a lovely chat for an hour. 

Now I'm working on this blog post.  I'm rather tired after such a day, but I had to get all this down while it was fresh in my mind.  Hopefully I can still stay awake in church tomorrow!

Oh, and to top everything off: I just realized that I put my shirt on backwards after the pool.

Here's one picture of me with my bike.  I'll add some pictures from tonight another day.

Here's a picture of us four trouble makers eating a delicious potluck dinner after the church.

Zeeland

Yesterday Tante Joke and Oom Gert Jan went to Zeeland in the afternoon to visit a friend.  Tante Joke had the brilliant and wonderful idea of taking Kim and I along and dropping us off in a lovely little town in Zeeland while they visited!  The sights were breathtaking! I got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time (besides when looking out the airplane window on the flight).  The town was so picturesque, and there were several cute shops to look through.  But I think my favourite part was seeing all the boats in the water.  I've never seen so many sailboats in my life!  I think I shall have to add sailing on my bucket list.  Kim and I also talked with an elderly gentleman who was painting his boat.  He knew about Eastern Canada because he sailed from Holland all the way across the Atlantic, and then down the St. Lawrence River!  I would love to go sailing someday.  Maybe to Brazil!  And then I could stay in Brazil and learn to speak Portuguese.

 



We also found a Snoopy shoe store!

 

Unfortunately you can't really see it in the picture, but this boat had a swing set on it!

Kim and I were also highly on the lookout for Zeeuwse Bolussen, the tradition treat in Zeeland.  We were told to look for white bread with cinnamon and sugar on top.  Well, we searched all the bakeries in town and didn't find anything that looked remotely like that description.  So we bought some delicious appel flappen instead.  Well, Tante Joke was determined that we should try the Zeeuwse Bolussen, so she went to the very bakery we'd bought the appel flappen from and bought some.  Turns out they were there, but Kim and I just didn't realize that was in fact what we were looking for.  I though it was more like a slice of bread with cinnamon sugar, instead of rounded like cinnamon buns.  We had to wait until we got home to eat them though, because they are very sticky.  They taste a lot like cinnamon buns, but they're gooier and stickier.  Better have a duikie ready when you eat them!

 

Baking... with a Hammer and Screwdriver

I wasn't about to go half way across the country without the joys and comforts of baking and cooking.  So I brought along a Costco-sized bag of chocolate chips since they don't have those in the Netherlands.  I also brought some of my favourite recipes.  Since then I've made several batches of very popular chocolate chip cookies.  A few days ago Kim and I decided to pass the time by cooking dinner.  We were originally planning chicken enchiladas, but we couldn't find wraps in the store, so we went with our plan B of cream of potato soup and garlic bread.  We'll introduce the Macleans to chicken enchiladas some other time.  The soup sure was delicious though!  For dessert I made butter tart squares, and the Macleans loved them so much that they asked me to bake them for this Sunday when they're having company over.  I can't wait!

 

Cookies: fresh from the oven!

But... it isn't always as easy as it looks.  The baking soda, which can be seen next to the tray of cookies, is from dear Uncle Larry and Tante Hanneke, because it isn't available in the Netherlands.  And another thing: keep the Dutch brown sugar (bastard suiker) in a sealed plastic bag at all times.  Otherwise you may end up have to chisel it apart... with a hammer and screwdriver.  (A fork and knife weren't strong enough).  So thank you Kim for doing such an excellent job of chiseling!

 

And thus I baked happily ever after!  The end.

 

 

 

A Wonderful Sunday!

Yesterday I had a most wonderful opportunity to play violin.  Wow, it felt so immensely good to have a violin in my hands again!  In the morning I was talking to several girls from church, and one of them, Hannah, mentioned that she played violin, and I excitedly said that I do too.  She said I could come play her instrument sometime.  Then in the afternoon, Marjolijn, another girl from church, asked me if I'd like to come to church that evening and play with her and her father (clarinet and organ).  So I asked Hannah if I could borrow her violin for the evening and she said yes! 

So Kim and played at home for a while first, and then biked off to church after supper.  Kim also played the organ for a while.  It was so wonderful to play lots of familiar hymns, and some that were new to me as well.  And next Sunday in the afternoon I'll be playing in church!  Marjolijn and I will take turns playing verses, she on Clarinet, and then me on violin.  I'm so excited!

Some New 'Almost Family'

In Canada I have two parents, five brothers, and one sister.  They are the best family in the whole world!  Stacy is the bestest, onliest sister ever (and I say that with love and a cherry on top).  And little (and not so little) brothers are pretty cool too!

 

But one thing I always wanted, but never had, was a little sister.  So getting to 'borrow' them every now and then is lots of fun!  In Canada I have Abby and Kendra.  We have heaps of adventures every time I babysit there!  (I sure do miss babysitting and piano lessons). 

 

But yesterday Elizabeth came over!  She's 3 years old, and a granddaughter to the Macleans.  We looked at photo albums, and Elizabeth told me all about the pictures.  Listening to kids talk is a great way to learn more Dutch.  Although they sure do find it amusing that my Dutch is so severely lacking.  But I'm getting there! 

 

 

 

Then later on more of the family came and we had a whole group of us building a big tall tower, and then a castle out of duplo.  Load of fun!  Although the tower and castle did go 'caput' an awful lot. 

 

 

 

It was very busy and fun all day (because it was Oom Gert Jan's birthday) but when all the kids left I felt a little homesick.  So I called home and got to talk to my real sister, and my very own three year old brother, and my wonderful mom.  Dutch 'Almost Families' are pretty cool, but my family is irreplaceable.  It would be so nice to blip back into Canada and give them all hugs.  But I'm here now, and the best I can do is keep busy, make new friends, and enjoy every moment.

 

But I sure do enjoy the phone calls which come every two or three days!

I don't know how the pioneers survived leaving home forever.  I think I would probably just wither away if I didn't ever hear from my family.  In any case I would have a great deal of rather miserable moments.  I'd better end this post before I spiral into depressing thoughts.

 

PS: I really am doing enjoying myself in the Netherlands.

My First Week of Classes

Well, I survived my first week of classes.  Although it really wasn't a week.  I only have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Monday's class was exceedingly boring.  150 of us poor students sat captive in a large lecture hall on uncomfortable chairs and listened as the teacher talked.  For an hour and 45 minutes.  Although I guess I shouldn't complain too much.  We did get a 10 minute break in middle.  But somehow three (or four) hour Physics and Chemistry labs seem to go by much faster.  I'm not regretting my decision to study sciences.  I find them far more stimulating than hearing a professor spend almost 100 minutes explaining the Quantitative Research involves numbers, and Qualitative Research has to do with personal interviews.

But on the plus side, this is also a good learning experience, and a great way to learn about other cultures since my fellow students come from all over the world.

Tuesday's lecture (New Media Production) was a bit of a surprise.  I was hoping the class was more about writing things like journal articles etc.  But I found out it's actually more about video editing.  Yikes!  I don't know anything about video editing!  And it doesn't really interest me either.  I'd much rather write the script.  So this class could be... interesting?  Maybe dreadful?

Wednesday I had tutorials for both of my classes.  Those were much more hands-on, and much more interesting.  For Qualitative Methods of Research... (I can't even remember the full name of the class) my partner for a journal article presentation is from Italy.  I love Italian accents, and how they talk with their hands so much.  My other favourite accents are Scottish and British.  After the tutorial was over my journal article presentation partner and I found out our bikes were parked beside each other, and so we chatted a bit more, and then I was invited to join him and his friends for a cup of coffee.  Only I didn't drink coffee.  Half a cup of Canadian coffee is enough to keep me bouncing off walls until 2:00 in the morning.  One sip of Dutch coffee would probably keep me wired for days!  Their mugs aren't much bigger than shot glasses, and I can see why!

Anyways, after that long string of complaints about my classes, here is a smiling picture of me at my new university!