I know that I’ve mentioned language difficulties a few times, but I think it deserves a bit more attention. Nearly everyone in the Netherlands speaks English – probably better than a lot of Americans – but they speak British English, not American. This leaves a lot of room for confusion!
The one thing I have still not gotten used to is what floor I work on. I insist that I’m on the third floor. Everyone in Europe thinks I’m on the second floor. They begin counting with the ground floor, or floor zero. In the US, the ground floor is one.
The next troublesome point is the time – and this one is double-trouble. In the Netherlands they say half nine to mean 8:30. But when the British say half nine, they mean 9:30. In the US, we just say what we mean. I always have to confirm what time they really mean.
Numbers in general are difficult to translate between Dutch and English. In Dutch, they say the numbers backwards so 46 is said six and forty (of course, the numbers are said in Dutch). The Dutch suddenly become terribly dyslexic when translating numbers to English and many will translate six and forty to 64. I see it all the time on the TV subtitles, too. With money, you often get twice the confusion. Your total is 65.94 becomes five and sixty, four and ninety. My mind can’t translate the numbers and turn them around quite that fast, so I just look at the register for the amount or I mindlessly use my PIN card.
British people go on holiday, while Americans go on vacation. What we would call a holiday in the US, is known as a public holiday. Dutch people go on vacantie, but translate it as holiday.
I think the British got in too much trouble for their funny pronunciation of the word schedule so now they ask you to check your diary. I personally haven’t had a diary since I was 16 (unless you count this blog, of course). I chuckle every time I’m asked about my diary.
Children’s games are especially fun. I found out that Tic Tac Toe is called naughts and crosses in England. In Dutch, it’s called botter, kaas, and eiren (butter, cheese, and eggs). While I was in the B-section of the Dutch-English dictionary, I noticed that botterham trommel is Dutch for lunch box. Sandwich bags are called botterham zakjes. It seems that everything having to do with sandwiches is called botterham because they eat so many ham sandwiches with butter. And the Dutch favorite hagelslag (literally hail), translates to tens and thousands in British, but in American we just call them chocolate sprinkles.
I was impressed to learn that a backpack in Dutch is called a rugzak. Rug is the word for back and zak is a bag. In England, they call a backpack a rucksack – interesting how similar these words are.
You have to be careful at the market and know that an ounce in the Netherlands is 100g. For the non-cooks out there, an American ounce is about 30g and there are 16 oz in a pound. So if you order 8 ounces of fish here, you’ll be getting close to 2 lbs rather than half a pound! That could be an expensive problem. If you ask for a pound of something here, you will get 500g which is remarkably close to an American pound.
The British people that we went skiing with kept talking about one of the guys who lost 2 stones and looked really good. I had to ask the question, “What’s a stone?” Yes, it sounded pretty dumb when I asked it, too. A stone is 14 pounds. Damn the British for coming up with such stupid measurements!
By the way, I also had to ask, “What’s a quid?” It’s actually the language equivalent of a buck, so a quid is one pound (no, not the weight, the money!). And of course we haven’t even talked about lorries, lifts, trollies, and wellies.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
eet smakelijk
When I buy lunch in the cafeteria, the person at the register always tells me to eet smakelijk. As I sit down, my co-workers say the same thing to me and each other. It is literally translated as eat tastily. In France, they would say bon appetit, or good appetite. So the question always arises, “What do they say in America?”
Here are some thoughts:
1) Nothing – we just eat
2) Enjoy your meal
3) Shut up and eat
4) Dig in!
5) Lord, we thank you for the food we are about to receive…
What else do YOU say before eating?
Here are some thoughts:
1) Nothing – we just eat
2) Enjoy your meal
3) Shut up and eat
4) Dig in!
5) Lord, we thank you for the food we are about to receive…
What else do YOU say before eating?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Birthday Weekend
On Thursday, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Birthdays are a big deal in NL, so when I got to work I found my office had been decorated for the occasion. Everyone who walked by noticed the flags and streamers and wished me a happy birthday and gave me the standard three kiss greeting. I brought home-made American cookies and brownies to share at tea time. These were very popular.
For dinner that evening, Dennis and I went to the restaurant just down the street from the house. They serve typical Dutch food, but it’s usually pretty good stuff. For dessert, we got the Crepes Suzette with a huge sparkler on top instead of candles. I was one of three people in the restaurant that evening getting fireworks on my dessert. The 5th must be a popular birthday!
The fireworks reminded me I spent my last birthday here in the Netherlands also. I was here for business meetings and then Dennis joined me for house hunting. I remember that I was completely jet-lagged and was struggling to stay awake during dinner with the group. I had never seen a sparkler as big as the one they put on my dessert. I can hardly believe that it was a year ago!
My cat gave me a lovely birthday present by pooping on the dining room floor. I think he’s still mad because we left him for a week. We hired the neighbor girl to feed him and I’m sure she spent some time petting him, but he was still angry. At least we didn’t have to send him to the kennel again after he got so sick there the last time! The cat continued his naughtiness last night by breaking into his food container. I really don’t know how much food he got, but he wasn’t hungry for breakfast this morning. And naturally, he just puked because he must have known I was writing about him. What a brat!
For this weekend, the weather forecast was for a sunny Sunday. Dennis and I decided to drive over to another town and walk along the lake shore. We wanted to start exploring a bit more by car and also get out for a hike. The sun was out early this morning, but just as we were leaving, it started to rain. We decided the weather would change four times before we got to our destination anyway, so we left. Driving was a pleasure with very few cars on the road. We went across the lake to the recently created Flevoland. Flevoland was reclaimed from the lake about 50 years ago. We had biked there before, but always avoided the cities. Today, we drove through the cities. The architecture was very modern – as you would expect from a city so young. There was a building that looked like a spaceship, and another that looked like it was tipped sideways. Crazy!
We finally made it to our start point for the hike and the sun was shining again. It was cold, but it IS February after all. We walked for about 20 minutes when it started raining. Another 10 minutes and the rain turned to snow. We turned around, deciding that it was a bit too miserable for hiking. We stopped for tea at a coffee shop along the beach and we laughed as the snow fell harder and harder. Once we were warm and dry again, we headed back to the car. The snow was almost done by then, but it was colder. Yuck! We’ll have to try another hike next week and hope for better weather!
For dinner that evening, Dennis and I went to the restaurant just down the street from the house. They serve typical Dutch food, but it’s usually pretty good stuff. For dessert, we got the Crepes Suzette with a huge sparkler on top instead of candles. I was one of three people in the restaurant that evening getting fireworks on my dessert. The 5th must be a popular birthday!
The fireworks reminded me I spent my last birthday here in the Netherlands also. I was here for business meetings and then Dennis joined me for house hunting. I remember that I was completely jet-lagged and was struggling to stay awake during dinner with the group. I had never seen a sparkler as big as the one they put on my dessert. I can hardly believe that it was a year ago!
My cat gave me a lovely birthday present by pooping on the dining room floor. I think he’s still mad because we left him for a week. We hired the neighbor girl to feed him and I’m sure she spent some time petting him, but he was still angry. At least we didn’t have to send him to the kennel again after he got so sick there the last time! The cat continued his naughtiness last night by breaking into his food container. I really don’t know how much food he got, but he wasn’t hungry for breakfast this morning. And naturally, he just puked because he must have known I was writing about him. What a brat!
For this weekend, the weather forecast was for a sunny Sunday. Dennis and I decided to drive over to another town and walk along the lake shore. We wanted to start exploring a bit more by car and also get out for a hike. The sun was out early this morning, but just as we were leaving, it started to rain. We decided the weather would change four times before we got to our destination anyway, so we left. Driving was a pleasure with very few cars on the road. We went across the lake to the recently created Flevoland. Flevoland was reclaimed from the lake about 50 years ago. We had biked there before, but always avoided the cities. Today, we drove through the cities. The architecture was very modern – as you would expect from a city so young. There was a building that looked like a spaceship, and another that looked like it was tipped sideways. Crazy!
We finally made it to our start point for the hike and the sun was shining again. It was cold, but it IS February after all. We walked for about 20 minutes when it started raining. Another 10 minutes and the rain turned to snow. We turned around, deciding that it was a bit too miserable for hiking. We stopped for tea at a coffee shop along the beach and we laughed as the snow fell harder and harder. Once we were warm and dry again, we headed back to the car. The snow was almost done by then, but it was colder. Yuck! We’ll have to try another hike next week and hope for better weather!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Skiing in the Alps
Ski runs in the Alps.
One of the huge, bus-style gondolas.
Fancy-dress (this is really a guy).
Me with my new ski buddies.
Dennis and I had a lovely ski holiday in France. The ski resort, Le Trois Vallee, is the largest interconnected ski area in the world. We flew into Geneva Switzerland and the ski chalet staff picked us up in a mini-bus. We drove for a few hours to the chalet in the little town of La Tania. Once there, we started meeting the other people in the group and learning how the ski chalet works.
The chalet is like a big house with a dining room and family room with TVs. The bedrooms are very small, but have private bathrooms. Breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner are served in the dining room. Lunch was the only meal we had to buy. The chalet holds 28 guests and there were about 5 staff members to take care of us. The staff took care of everything for us. They got our lift passes, reserved rental skis, and even took us on guided ski tours.
The group that we were with is a ski club from England. We got together with them through my co-worker, whose father organizes the trip. So, we didn’t know any of these people when we got there, but they knew each other. The ages ranged from 8 to 80, but Dennis and I were on the younger side of the average. It was a very friendly group and we felt included from the start.
On the day we arrived, it was snowing and it snowed the whole first night. In the morning, the sun was shining and we went out with the ski-guide to explore the mountain. There were only about 6 of us with the ski guide that day, including Heather, the octogenarian. Let me tell you, Heather is a darn good skier! I skied with her quite a bit through the week and she always had to wait for me at the bottom! Having a ski guide is a fantastic way to ski. He showed us the best ski runs, shortest lift lines, and the cheapest lunch options. Best of all, we didn’t waste any time looking at the ski map.
The fresh snow was brilliant, but with snow comes clouds. On the third day of skiing, the clouds were so thick that we could not even see the runs. They had poles marking the pistes (runs) set about 20 feet apart. At some points, we were only able to ski from one pole to the next. We tried to go up higher on the mountain to get above the clouds – no luck. We tried to go lower to get below the clouds – no luck. But, we still had fun and we only got lost once when we missed the turn-off to our chalet and had to ride up the list again to make it home.
The fourth day was completely clear and sunny. We decided to try to ski to the far side of the resort. The resort, despite the name, actually contains four valleys. When going this far, you have to remember to leave enough time to get back before the lifts close. We got out to the third valley by 2:00. We had a quick snack and headed back to the chalet. We really had to hurry to make it and I was really getting tired. To get where we wanted to go, we had to ski down into the valleys to catch the lift up to the next peak. As we got lower, the pistes became more crowded and more icy. One run was just a big ice slick that we slid down sideways. I was terrified! I was tired! And I was worried that I was going so slow we’d miss the last lift! But the group stayed supportive and encouraged me to hang in there. We finally made it up the last lift with a few minutes to spare. I started to ski towards the chalet and through my haze of exhaustion I noticed that we were headed right for the top of the gondola that we started from every morning. A quick check of my watch indicated that if I hurried, I could ride the gondola back down before it closed at 4:30. I was super-relieved to have an easy way down. My sister actually taught me this trick when we skied in Utah. The bottom of the mountain is usually icy and crowded as everyone is heading back down for the afternoon. When you are tired at the end of the day, it can be dangerous to ski in those conditions. Riding the gondola down is the safest option.
Dennis managed to find some people who wanted to ski hard stuff and I managed to find a group that I really enjoyed skiing with. We had tons of fun skiing. In the evenings, the group hung around the chalet talking and playing cards and stuff. One night, we did a quiz game in teams of 6. Dennis and I were recruited onto different teams. With most of the questions being British oriented, we were not very helpful. But there were a couple questions where Dennis and I were the only ones who knew the answer. See how you do:
What is the state animal of Wisconsin?
What sport is featured in the movie American Flyers?
What city is the headquarters of the Morman Church located in?
My team won the game and Dennis’ team was second place.
On the last night, the group did a “fancy dress” dinner. When we were first told about fancy dress, I was panicking because I didn’t want to pack formal clothes with all of our ski gear. A few days before we left, the guy who organizes the tour called to discuss the last minute details. He gave some examples of fancy dress: he had worn a kilt, one couple dressed as sumo wrestlers, men dressing as women etc. Dennis immediately decided that we should wear Hawaiian shirts and be American tourists. It ended up being a hilarious evening. The staff even dressed up and joined in the fun. The British are completely mad!
Now, we are back at home all safe and sound from our trip. We had so much fun that I’m afraid no other ski trip will ever be as good!
The chalet is like a big house with a dining room and family room with TVs. The bedrooms are very small, but have private bathrooms. Breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner are served in the dining room. Lunch was the only meal we had to buy. The chalet holds 28 guests and there were about 5 staff members to take care of us. The staff took care of everything for us. They got our lift passes, reserved rental skis, and even took us on guided ski tours.
The group that we were with is a ski club from England. We got together with them through my co-worker, whose father organizes the trip. So, we didn’t know any of these people when we got there, but they knew each other. The ages ranged from 8 to 80, but Dennis and I were on the younger side of the average. It was a very friendly group and we felt included from the start.
On the day we arrived, it was snowing and it snowed the whole first night. In the morning, the sun was shining and we went out with the ski-guide to explore the mountain. There were only about 6 of us with the ski guide that day, including Heather, the octogenarian. Let me tell you, Heather is a darn good skier! I skied with her quite a bit through the week and she always had to wait for me at the bottom! Having a ski guide is a fantastic way to ski. He showed us the best ski runs, shortest lift lines, and the cheapest lunch options. Best of all, we didn’t waste any time looking at the ski map.
The fresh snow was brilliant, but with snow comes clouds. On the third day of skiing, the clouds were so thick that we could not even see the runs. They had poles marking the pistes (runs) set about 20 feet apart. At some points, we were only able to ski from one pole to the next. We tried to go up higher on the mountain to get above the clouds – no luck. We tried to go lower to get below the clouds – no luck. But, we still had fun and we only got lost once when we missed the turn-off to our chalet and had to ride up the list again to make it home.
The fourth day was completely clear and sunny. We decided to try to ski to the far side of the resort. The resort, despite the name, actually contains four valleys. When going this far, you have to remember to leave enough time to get back before the lifts close. We got out to the third valley by 2:00. We had a quick snack and headed back to the chalet. We really had to hurry to make it and I was really getting tired. To get where we wanted to go, we had to ski down into the valleys to catch the lift up to the next peak. As we got lower, the pistes became more crowded and more icy. One run was just a big ice slick that we slid down sideways. I was terrified! I was tired! And I was worried that I was going so slow we’d miss the last lift! But the group stayed supportive and encouraged me to hang in there. We finally made it up the last lift with a few minutes to spare. I started to ski towards the chalet and through my haze of exhaustion I noticed that we were headed right for the top of the gondola that we started from every morning. A quick check of my watch indicated that if I hurried, I could ride the gondola back down before it closed at 4:30. I was super-relieved to have an easy way down. My sister actually taught me this trick when we skied in Utah. The bottom of the mountain is usually icy and crowded as everyone is heading back down for the afternoon. When you are tired at the end of the day, it can be dangerous to ski in those conditions. Riding the gondola down is the safest option.
Dennis managed to find some people who wanted to ski hard stuff and I managed to find a group that I really enjoyed skiing with. We had tons of fun skiing. In the evenings, the group hung around the chalet talking and playing cards and stuff. One night, we did a quiz game in teams of 6. Dennis and I were recruited onto different teams. With most of the questions being British oriented, we were not very helpful. But there were a couple questions where Dennis and I were the only ones who knew the answer. See how you do:
What is the state animal of Wisconsin?
What sport is featured in the movie American Flyers?
What city is the headquarters of the Morman Church located in?
My team won the game and Dennis’ team was second place.
On the last night, the group did a “fancy dress” dinner. When we were first told about fancy dress, I was panicking because I didn’t want to pack formal clothes with all of our ski gear. A few days before we left, the guy who organizes the tour called to discuss the last minute details. He gave some examples of fancy dress: he had worn a kilt, one couple dressed as sumo wrestlers, men dressing as women etc. Dennis immediately decided that we should wear Hawaiian shirts and be American tourists. It ended up being a hilarious evening. The staff even dressed up and joined in the fun. The British are completely mad!
Now, we are back at home all safe and sound from our trip. We had so much fun that I’m afraid no other ski trip will ever be as good!
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