The extent of my Dutch doesn't go beyond that; I'm trying to learn Dutch in a Frisian-speaking town so it hinders my learning a bit. I'm getting more anxious to learn, so perhaps we'll put the push on more. Anyways.. that's that.
We spent a wonderful day in Groningen yesterday. The weather was perfect, though it seems to be almost every day; cool in the morning, warm and sunny in the afternoon, then cooling back down around dinner time. He took me to a French cafe (he knows me so well) where we each had an open-faced sandwich, fresh-squeezed orange juice and we shared pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). We sat outside and it couldn't have been more "European". I'm definitely going back for more.
We went to Mass which is in English on a Saturday. The church is beautiful, if you've seen my pictures on Facebook. I have to say, though, I felt happier in the Dutch/Sunday Mass than I did Saturday. Saturday is more low-key of course, so no big choir (just a couple people) and it's hard to get into things when they sing songs/hymns differently than you're used to, right down to the Allelujiah. Now, in the Dutch Mass, they sang most Mass parts in Latin. That was surprising, but nice. All I could say at the time was, "Thank goodness COOL taught me how to sing Latin," but even those were sung to a different tune. Anyways, they were all nice experiences. I'm having a hard time finding a Dutch Missal, though. I asked the priest last night but he seemed in a hurry to get somewhere and not too concerned to help me. *shrug*
We passed a restaurant not yet open, on the way to Mass. It's an Italian restaurant. Fine dining. I'm so tempted to apply. I really should take some time to still integrate and get used to life here, but, I'm getting antsy :) I'd really like to start working again, even if it's one day a week, I don't care. I'm not sure they'll hire me, speaking mostly only English, so my chances are poor. Anyways, we'll see, eh?
It's a slower pace here, in the Netherlands. On Sunday's, everything is closed (IMO how it should be) and it's a day to sun-bathe, do yard work, rest inside, whatever you like. We were going to go to Leeuwarden today and hit up the city (or a museum or something), but with everything closed, we decided to stay home and save money (I want to see the city when everything's open). Today, for us, is taking it easy, minor things around the house, create a grocery list for the coming week and maybe kick back with a movie or two. Oh! And go for a walk. I'm making a (whole) chicken for dinner tonight. Okay, chicken, btw, is WAY cheaper than back home. We bought I think, 5 pieces of boneless/skinless chicken breast yesterday for just over 6 euros. Back home, that nearly would have cost almost $20. The whole chicken, free-range btw, was close to 7 euros. Seven. wtf? And wine is cheaper, so I don't know if we're over-pricing or they're under-quality. I've tasted the wine and it's quite nice, so.. I don't know.
To show you how liberal the country is, we took a picture of a poster/advertisement of an exhibition at the Groningen Museum (contains language, sorry if this offends anyone). For the fact I have to apologize that it contains language, shows how different our cultures are. They're not apologetic and see it as every-day language, but don't mis-understand that it gets used often. It doesn't. Right, well, W. took it with his phone (I didn't have mine on me at the time) and hasn't shared it with me, so I'll just have to tell you. Sorry :/ It's called "Fuck Off 2". It's this HUGE poster, like, building-size. It's crazy.
Okay.. best I move on to other things. Will try to write more through the week with the differences I've noticed. I really should write things down. Hope y'all are having a great week! Tot ziens!
No comments:
Post a Comment