I just had a read of Fiona's diary and I found the comment about food interesting. I agree. I think I am eating more food than I would have in New Zealand, even though there are times when I try to watch how much I spend at the supermarket. When I cook dinner, I usually cook more than what's necessary for one person. Then again, dinner has always been my biggest meal of the day. For breakfast, I usually have a big bowl of cereal. It's easy. I use the biggest bowl in the house - sort of like the guy on the "Cornflakes" advertisement in New Zealand! It has taken me four days to eat my way through a box of "Coco Pops" (yet, it's called something different here, I can't remember). Apparently the box had twelve servings in it. So, I guess the Dutch are presumed not to eat much for breakfast.
Eating food is also a nice way to relieve stress and relax. One time when I had a bad day at work, I bought a huge container of tiramisu for dessert. On a Saturday, I like to buy a big loaf of bread from the closest bakery and make oversized toast. It's Saturday tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to it.
posted by James 1:36 pm
At the train station, a woman asked me if I was taking my office home. So, I said that I was taking the office home piece by piece. Of course, she asked the question in Dutch first. In such situations, I attempt to say the phrase "Ik spreek geen Nederlands" which means "I don't speak any Dutch". I find this to be difficult, especially the "geen" part, and everyone usually interrupts me by speaking in English before I finish the sentence. It is interesting that they try English next, and not, say, French. It is probably something to do with my accent.
Last night, I successfully put the computer together in my room. I put it on the table and moved it to the side, closer to the electricity outlet. This has created lots of space in my room. I can even do starjumps, if I really wanted. I spent an hour on the computer replying to a few e-mails.
This morning, when riding to the train station, I noticed a student riding to school with no hands and his eyes were closed. I suspect he was asleep. That's it - he was sleepcycling! Cycling is such a strong part of Dutch culture that if you live here for long enough, you can probably do such a thing.
posted by James 1:18 pm
Last night, I had to be at the movies by 7pm, as that was the time that the AIESECers had organised to meet. I knew that I would be rushing to make it on time, considering I had a train ride from s'Hertogenbosch, I live 15 minutes bike ride from the City Centre and I wanted to have dinner before the movie. It all worked out. On the way home, I stopped off at the supermarket and bought a can of tuna and prepackaged salad. This made for a simple dinner all for the cost of a couple of euro. Ordinarily, when faced with a little time pressure, I would have given up and bought some takeaways in town. So, this time, I am pleased with my restraint.
At the movies, I managed to talk my way into a student discount with my University of Auckland card. I wasn't expecting many differences between the movies in New Zealand and the Netherlands, but there are some that come to mind. The advertisements before the actual movie were so boring. As in, more boring than usual. It was like a long powerpoint presentation. Also, there is an intermission about one hour into the movie. So, most people go to the lobby to get themselves some snacks. It is possible to buy bottles of beer or a cup of tea (a real cup, not a paper cup) and bring it back to your seat.
If you put your gloves together and turn one of them inside-out over the other, you have an excellent hacky substitute. Unfortunately, when your "hacky" is on the ground, other people can't resist the temptation to kick it away as far as possible. One time, it almost got run over by a taxi.
I am taking a monitor home from work tonight, so I will have a complete computer. I am so excited! I wonder what people will be thinking when they see me waiting for the train, carrying a heavy monitor?
posted by James 5:59 pm
There is someone vacuuming loudly in the office right now, so it seems like a good time to compose a short diary entry.
Last night, I brought another piece of the computer home. On Thursday, I will be bringing the monitor home and then I will have a complete computer! This will be so good because I will be able to compose diary entries and e-mails at home. I will be able to catch up on my backlog of e-mails, especially the update e-mail that I promised Sum (I have been so lazy with that!)
Yesterday, Katrijn almost became the first casualty of my room. As she was leaving, she was centimetres away from banging her head against the shoulder-high wooden beam which runs across my doorway. Walking pace is actually quite fast, especially if you are in a purposeful mood, so I'm sure it would have hurt. Luckily, her reflexes are still sharp and she did an emergency stop just in time. I may have to decorate that wooden beam, somehow, to make it more conspicuous.
posted by James 9:40 am
Usually, when someone asks you if you have a “girl” bike or a “boy” bike, you accuse them of drunkenness, or suspect that they are in the first stages of mental illness. So, I was surprised when both Steven and Lia asked me that same question, last night, within two minutes of each other. I had to go outside and see what sort of bike I had.
It turns out I was riding a “girl” bike all this time. So, I was given a “boy” bike, and my former bike was given to Silvia to use. You can tell a “boy” bike from a “girl” bike by looking at the inverted triangular frame in the middle. A “boy” bike has a horizontal bar at the top of the triangle, whereas a “girl” bike is missing this part.
So, I have a new bike. It’s bigger than my former bike and it feels much easier to ride. I still haven’t got used to the brakes being operated by the pedals but, fortunately, there have been no collisions with objects (traffic, or otherwise) so far.
posted by James 6:03 pm
Last Friday afternoon, I e-mailed various people in order to organise some things to do in the weekend. While my efforts didn’t seem very successful at the time, they lead to some surprises which made the weekend very enjoyable for me.
On Saturday morning, my general plan was to have a huge sleep-in and then drop my work pants off at the dry-cleaners in town. I was also determined to get my hair cut. After all, it had been over two months since my last cut in New Zealand and my hair was getting to the stage where each day I would look in the mirror and think, “Man, I really need to get a haircut”. Those two simple tasks ended up being more difficult to complete than I had anticipated.
First of all, my interpretation of the business hours of the dry-cleaners was incorrect. I got there at 12:20pm, only to find that they had closed 20 minutes earlier. It appears that they are only open for three hours on Saturdays and their business hours during the week perfectly correspond with my presence at work. I have decided that I will look for a suitable dry-cleaning business in s’Hertogenbosch. Perhaps Paul will have some suggestions about where I can go.
As for getting a haircut, I knew that I would have three problems. Firstly, I didn’t know where any hairdressers were, so I would have to resort to cycling around with the hope that I would recognise one from the side of the road. Secondly, it was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to simply ask for “the usual” as I may have done in New Zealand. (Actually, in New Zealand, I have had the same person cut my hair for the past 3 years, so I haven’t even had to say anything). Lastly, I had to hope that they would be able to cut my hair that day. (I didn’t want to make a booking for the following Saturday).
I tried my luck on the long road looping back to my house from the city centre. The first two places I saw were offering haircuts for men for 17 euro. (They actually had price lists in the window, so there was no need to go inside). I decided to cycle to Steven’s place to see if he had any haircut advice. On the way there, I found a hairdressers that was willing to do the job for just over 14 euro. I figured that was as good as I was going to find that day, so I went inside.
Despite my vague instructions of “just cut it short on the back and sides and blend it up to the top”, I ended up with a haircut that I’m proud of. Naturally, I am still at the stage where I like to feel the shortness of the hair on the back of my head. If I were going on runs, I’m sure it would take a minute, or so, off my 10km time. (Not for any scientific reason, though, just confidence).
When I got back home, I noticed that the mail had arrived. Mum had sent me the weekend newspaper from the week before and had folded within the package a few of the weeks cryptic crosswords. I had nothing planned for the rest of the day, so I was satisfied with drinking sugary tea, reading a newspaper in English (cool) and amusing myself with the cryptics.
At 8:30pm, I had my first surprise of the weekend. Steven had turned up, with his parent’s car, and he wanted to know if I were keen on going pooling in town. (I had sent him an e-mail with a similar invitation for Friday night, but he had only received it that day). Of course, I said “Yes” without hesitation! We drove into the city centre and checked out a pooling venue close to the carpark. I have to admit, it was strange being in a car for the first time since leaving New Zealand. This was especially so, seeing that cars are driven on the other side of the road here. I am sure that I won’t be doing any driving in the Netherlands during this traineeship.
At first, Steven played pool like an ordinary person – you know, actually taking time to aim his shots and generally trying to be careful with the table. I soon fixed that. By the end of the night, he was smashing the white ball with reckless abandon and even going for the occassional spear shot. It’s funny – sometimes he would miss the white ball completely (he would be hitting just air) and other times he would step up to the ball and perfectly sink another at the opposite end of the table. We played about twelve games in total – I won one, he won two and I lost the rest. We had such a good time, and that’s why I love pooling.
On Sunday at 2pm, Silvia came around for a cup of tea. Silvia is the new CEEDer from Equador and I invited her around during my Friday afternoon e-mailing. We had a good chat about adjusting to life overseas, AIESEC in our respective countries and what we thought about AIESEC in the Netherlands. I have been living in Tilburg for six weeks and I am starting to consider myself as a Tilburger (hmmmm… burger). So, as the seasoned guide, I suggested that we go out for a walk and sample some “frites met”. (With what? With mayonnaise, of course). We bought the biggest container of frites for sale at the takeaway down the road, and walked to a nearby park to enjoy them.
I was in a walking mood, so when we had finished the frites, I suggested that I walk her to the train station, as that was where she was going to meet an AIESECer that evening. I soon learnt that the AIESECer was Lia, so I offered to take her all the way to her house. We got there at about 5pm, and I was invited to stay for dinner. That was my second surprise for the weekend.
The dinner was actually at Martijn’s house which involved another long walk. (Lia was pushing her bike along so that Silvia and I could keep up!) The dinner was delicious, we watched DVDs and I felt contented. Even though I was faced with a 40-minute walk home, I didn’t mind. Even at 10:30pm, the temperature was still about 10 degrees and I sang songs to myself as I walked home. I managed to sing “Why does love to this to me” by the Exponents without coughing once, and I felt pleased.
I arrived home just after 11pm with the knowledge that I had enjoyed a simple, but fun weekend.
posted by James 9:08 am