Hup Holland Hup!

At the grocery store we go to, these little guys are everywhere celebrating the world cup. You get some when you go, so there are quite a few floating around here. I even have two now, because the girls had double of so many.

They're just little plush hamster keychains, very small. Mine is hanging from my doorknob. Hup means Go in dutch, and they have a song, Hup Holland Hup. It's like a song version of We Are- Penn State. Today I watched with the family as Holland beat Mexico, so that was exciting! I even cheered when they won. Of all the ways I will change this year, my disinterest in sports seems least likely to altar. But who knows!? All sorts of craziness could happen.

Afterwards we all sat at the table and I explained my rules and the parents translated for me. It seemed to go well, the girls understand my expectations, and if anything they seemed excited. I asked them if they wanted me to write it down, and so now we have the rules hanging on the wall for them and I can reference it if we have problems. We're also going to make a mailbox for fun ideas they want to do, and a mailbox for things to say when they're mad at me so they have a way to communicate without yelling. I also explained that this will be hard because we don't always understand each other, but I promise to practice my dutch if they promise to help me, and I will help them learn English. All in all, I think it went well, and in 2 weeks we will sit back down and discuss if there are any problems. 

Wish me luck tomorrow! I have an appointment with a driving teacher, which I was hoping to never have to do again. Stick shift, here I come. 

Dutch Culture of the Weekend

Weekends I have off, so hopefully I will be traveling and not blogging. Today we did some shopping to make my room more comfortable, and eventually I think we'll even paint it (turquoise or gray, of course) because they want it to really feel like my room. It's a lot like freshman year of University, where everything is new and you're lonely, but with more responsibility and way more comfortable living arrangements. And this time, I get a family!

Anyway, since there isn't a lot of exciting stuff to report for my day, I'm here to tell you about Joppiesaus.

Joppiesaus is the ranch dressing of the Netherlands. I had it the first day I was there; I don't even remember what Marie-Louise was eating, but when an 8year old offers you a taste of something on her plate, you take it. But they put it on everything. Cheeseburgers, french fries, chicken. It's the flavor of their potato chips. When I make popcorn for them, I'll probably find a way to put joppiesaus on it.

It tastes a lot like a mustard (I've actually never had mustard, but it tastes like how it smells and that's how the Maes family introduced it to me). You can find a recipe here and try it (if you use google chrome it will translate it for you). I can already tell it will be one of those things that I will go home and miss. I don't think I would like it if I was at home, but at this point I'm trying everything. I ate a cherry tomato yesterday! I enjoy riding a bike! I read subtitles! All this in less than a week. 

I believe in embracing change. 

5 Things today

1. I gave instructions to Anne-Rose and she listened and understood! Often, this is not the case (ok, always), but it happened today finally and it felt good. I feel like dead weight most of the time because Oma always has to help me speak to the girls or drive or do basically start anything. I don't feel like I'm able to do my job, which makes me feel like I'm wasting their time, and I'm still so tired in the morning. But today I could tell the difference between when I started 3 days ago and what I understand now.

2. I rode a horse today! It was also nice, because the girl at the horse riding lessons place spoke english so I got some basics I could understand. The Maes family offered to send me to riding lessons, and then they bought me all the gear I need. It was insanely generous, and I am so thankful for the experience. We are also going on vacation to Italy in August, so there's another. Maybe it would be fun to keep a list of all the things that I got to do or experience every month as a project?

Marie-Louise with the picture we drew together of today. She asked me if I knew what a luftballon was so I could draw it. Thanks Nena, every word counts. 

3. We had pannekoeken for dinner today. Essentially dutch pancakes, with (sometimes) meat in them. Holy yum. A culture that has a designated breakfast food that is meant for dinner is alright with me.

Mine didn't have mushrooms in it, but this is what it looks like. 

4. Everyone here that speaks English speaks British English, so even without being in London I keep picking up British phrases. When I come home and say bloody hell, people will think I'm joking, but I'm not. I remember going to Italy and thinking that nowhere else I could say" "ciao!" sincerely, and this will be the same thing.

5. Oma's boyfriend, Hans, who is my kindred spirit. He speaks pretty good English, but he also knows some spanish, so we just use whatever language we know. He tells the best stories, and gives great advice. He also told me he could immediately tell I was a "good one" because I have dark features that reminds him of Italians. So there's that. He wants to take me to an art museum because we both love art, and he can tell me about it. He is only here to visit though, so I'm not sure how much he will be around for things.

Practicing English

I spent several hours with the girls yesterday, and we have quite the language barrier to get over. I bought them these coloring books that also have worksheets in them, which I will start making for myself soon. This is Anne-Rose, the youngest, with her picture of our family. I'm turned around so you can only see the back of my head (and also much shorter than everyone else), so in another picture she drew me in a bikini.

Still trying to adjust to basically everything, so I won't have long blogs right away. There's a lot happening and a lot to figure out, and all my free time is spent learning Dutch. Still pretty homesick, which I expect will probably always be true, but I keep reminding myself that it will only get easier. 

Getting settled

Here is my room! It's downstairs, and the rest of the family is upstairs, but the house is divided strangely to me-- I have a bathroom across from my room, but my actual shower room is through the kitchen and dining room, and in the laundry room which is also a little like their sun room. It will just take me a few days to figure out the best way not to scandalize anyone on my way to the shower- I am thankful I brought my zip up hoodie at the last minute. 

This morning I woke up and the cleaning lady was here, but she speaks no English so we mostly just mimed to each other. It worked fine, and it's the easiest way to learn Dutch so far. I had breakfast and the two of us listened to Michael Jackson. It was a moment. 

I also realized that I have been using my lotion as face wash (I could tell something was weird about it, but then when I opened my lotion this morning I realized they were switched). Silly problems, easily solved. 

Less silly problem, the car they want me to drive is a stick shift and they don't seem nearly panicked enough about wanting me to drive their children in it. Luckily, school isn't far, and the girls like to ride their bikes, so maybe I can buy some time to learn. They also go on summer break July 11th, so as soon as I get into this routine it will just change anyway. I want to take them on outings though, and get myself around, so this is just going to be something I have to relearn how to do. Hopefully it's an easy clutch.

I keep reminding myself that so far, I haven't come across any problems I won't be able to solve with a little practice/effort/bravery. They haven't asked me to hold my breath for 4 minutes or run across lava, so I think I will be fine.

 They have asked me to read to their children, which is more my thing. So, for a 6 and 8 year old, what would you suggest? What were your favorite children's stories growing up that I can help them practicr English with? 

Goodbye, America!

It's almost time!

I fly out of Pittsburgh Monday at 7:30 (in the evening), then go to Detroit for a short layover and from there fly direct to Amsterdam. I'll arrive local time on Tuesday at 11:35am, where my family will pick me up and take me to their house in Boxtel (a little less than an hour drive).

I'll keep my blog updated once I'm settled and find my routine. In the meantime, I'll be fretting.


I believe in getting uncomfortable.

Movies this Summer

1) Neighbors-- I went and saw this twice, and loved it both times. It was silly without being outright dumb (at least not intolerably so), and honest without being overly sentimental. Do frat boys party and get obnoxious? Yes. Do they also have a sincere brotherhood and take care of each? Yes. It was a little ridiculous, but I left having had a good time and an appreciation of little Franco brother.

2) Godzilla- There was nothing wrong with Godzilla, but it was just another generic Godzilla movie. I didn't realize until after I left the theater that the main character is also the actor who plays kick ass, which explained why I felt like he was more adorable than anything else. After my Asian studies class this semester, I feel a little more endeared to Godzilla, but it would be interesting to get a body count on that movie. Sure, kick ass and the Olsen sister and their son survived, but basically everyone else on the west coast died.

3) Maleficent- I was going in hoping this would be awesome without any faith that it had a reason to be. I was right. The movie is more like Disney fanfiction than actual Disney, but Angelina Jolie was great and I loved her daughter's cameo in the movie (because no other little girl would be brave enough to face Maleficent). The rape-metaphor scene was awful to watch but also totally appropriate to the story, and I don't hate that we're going to a place where we rewrite the traditional princess story (can we just call it a "frozen" ending now?), but they also took the most bad-ass Disney villain and redeemed her, which I didn't really want. Maybe that's a reflection on me, but I wanted to leave her scary and evil.

4) X-men- Currently my favorite of all the summer movies. James Macavoy stepped up his game, and it's like he just walked around with eyes brimming with tears the whole movie. There was also considerably less weird poses to indicate mutant power being used, which was my main complaint with First Class. I won't say much more about it, other than if you haven't seen this yet you need to.

Totally agree, Michael Fassbender. 

5) TFiOS- I'm going to see this today, because I've been wary about wanting to see something that will make me weepy. Seriously, just holding the book or thinking about going to the movie makes me want to cry right now. I actually like Shailene Woodley, and the fact that John Green loves it makes me confident that it will be just as good as everyone says. Bonus points for the filming they did in Amsterdam!