FIRST EXPERIENCES

at 10:45am on january 9 my plane landed at schiphol airport in amsterdam. i was greeted by my tante ria and two cousins, mirjam and anniek. the first thing i asked for when i got off the plane??? KROKETTEN!

kroketten: a paste made of meat (usually beef) and spices rolled first in egg and then bread crumbs. deep fry it in oil and spread over bread with mustard. please enjoy responsibly.

it was a two hour drive to goes (the town where tante ria lives) from amsterdam. instead of going straight to their home, we stopped at a lunch place to order "twee kroketten met brood" for 5,25 euro. it was the most wonderful welcome to holland. immediately when we stepped out of the restaurant my cousins commented on how cold it was (-5). they were absolutely freezing! anniek was visibly shaking. i was warm in my sweat pants, sweater and vest since i had just left behind an edmonton temperature of -25. usually it doesn't get below 0 in the netherlands. there were some good things about the weather. people can go skating! they were so excited so on saturday afternoon, i biked with anniek, mirjam, mirjam's boyfriend (Wouter) and his dad and sister to go skating. i found it ironic that 24 hours after i had left canada, i was doing something that i can do 6 months of the year at home. but it was fun to see how much they enjoyed it and to skate through the dutch landscape. i find it interesting that for a country known for their speed skating they can only skate outdoors once every 5 years or so.

on saturday, anniek showed me a glimpse of what dutch nightlife is like and, i'm told, what i'm to expect in tilburg. the agenda for saturday night: dinner with the family and then a night out at the bar and then the club. i was tired, but i thought "ok, a couple drinks and then we'll be home at 12 or 1 at the latest." no. in holland, you go to the bar first where you hang out with friends until it closes at 2am and then you go to the club to dance until 4am. well after a 15 hour trip the day before i was not ready for that so we went to the club earlier. we met up with some of anniek's friends (Joris, Wouter & Cherri). in holland the boys pay for the drinks which is nice, so anniek and i didn't pay at all. there was quite a bit of dutch music, but also a lot of english as well so it was nice to know some of the songs and then experience dutch culture for the others :). at 2:30am we left the bar and the boys biked with us home.

in holland you bike everywhere. it's so flat so it's very easy and everything is so close! the bar is only about a 5 minute bike. although, the town of goes is small. only 45,000 people. if you can't get there by bike, you take the train. holland has such a good train system and for students: transit is free throughout the whole country on weekdays. they also pay for most of their education and also give them money to live if they live on their own. they really take care of each other. however, the money has to come from somewhere and of course it comes from the people themselves in the form of taxes. for those making more than 50K, they pay approximatley 50% in taxes!

the progress of my dutch??? not amazing. i have learned that i know a lot more than i thought. i can follow a single simple conversation fairly well. today was difficult because we had more family over and there were six conversations at once. i tried to follow, but it's actually very tiring to follow the language, especially when everyone talks so fast at once. it's not difficult to get by with english here though. everyone speaks english at least at a moderate level. i think it will be difficult to find someone who let me speak dutch with them once i know a little. most people are so excited for the opportunity to practice their english.