New hobby

I’ve found myself a new hobby. I recently found out that painting with calc pant is a very easy and quick way to paint anything in your home. I did the tv cupboard, and from there I tried it on the stairs. Just two steps to see how it holds. And the last challenge are the tiles of the bathroom floor.
This last one is a bit difficult because to get the best result I have to keep it dry for a few days. Of course, I had to shower in the morning, so there are a few spots without paint nowJ So I have to figure out a better way to do this. I know there are a lot of people who are already  using this paint for ages. I don’t understand why I had never heard of it sooner. Knowing this earlier could have helped me to do more painting in less time.My next step will be the dining table, and after that the trash bin:-)

Grammar

What if I will never learn the difference between if and when, what and that, bring and take and all other for us Dutch people difficult to learn words? If; if things are not sure, and when for things that will happen is what I need to remember.

The same with bring and take: I’ll take my books with me to class, and I will bring him to school if it rains tomorrow--> Right?

What and that, also such a terrible thing. Although, it seems to give me less trouble than before. Maybe there is still some hope for meJ

Always what to do

After almost a year of doing nothing at all on our painting and renovation work at home, we decided last week it’s time to have some action again. I think it’s already more than four months ago that we removed the attic windows to let them dry inside before we paint them again. You can say that they're really dry now, and we need to order the scaffolding to place them back. If we wait a bit longer it’s winter and then it will be too late. We’ve put a thin cover with plastic to avoid the wind and rain coming inside the house. As long as the weather is like we’ve had these last months that’s fine. However, with the pouring rain and heavy wind a few weeks ago it was all leaking, and we had to replace it. So you see, we have to take some action. We decided this morning that the coming weekend is the best choice because it seems the weather will stay dry. So that will be the coming weekend. Last weekend I painted the television cupboard. That was already more than two years on the to-do list, and it’s now finally done. Okay, not complete because Jan Cees still need to change a few things, but that’s easy. As soon as he’s ready I can paint it. I’ve used special calc paint, and that’s very easy to process.
After the cupboard, I need to do the stairs and the hallway, and I want to finish it before ChristmasJ

Maybe a bit ambitious but let’s see where we end up.

More to tell?

Not really, but I will try to write about my opinion about the refugees who are flooding the European countries in large numbers this last month. I was never really fond of all those refugees who came to the Netherlands before. However, I have to admit there is a slightly different reason these people are leaving their countries. They’re in war, and that’s a really good reason to leave I think. Parents are looking for a safe place for their children or the young guys are trying to avoid having to be in military service and getting killed in the war they didn’t want. One way or the other, staying is no longer an option. Although I’m convinced of the necessity of their leaving I’m not sure if letting them live in the European countries is the best way to help them. We are so different from the way they have lived their lives over there. It would be much better to help these people in their own environment. We need to create safety zones so that they don’t have to make the dangerous travel with their little children. That way it’s also much easier for families to stay together. Now you see that fathers or older brothers first try to cross the sea and then make the difficult and dangerous train journey or bus ride. And if that’s not possible they even walk the whole distance. This all in the hope they are allowed to let their wife and children follow them in a safer way. But still they have to leave family behind, grandparents and people who don’t want to leave their country for an uncertain future in a country in which they cannot even speak the language. I’m convinced people will consider leaving their home to stay in a safety zone nearby their country. Then there will be no language and culture problems like we have to face in the European countries. I know, this is easier said than done, and I'm glad I only have to comment on what politics decides and not have to make policy for this. " Bachelors' wives and maidens' children know better."

Homework and English,

After a few weeks holiday, my first meeting with Valerie was one in which I made quite a few mistakes, the so-called usual suspects. These together with still too many grammar and Dutch word order mistakes means that I have to do a lot more homework if I ever want to finish the last exam with more than a borderline grade. For this week, I have almost done all my homework. But, there are still two days left, so I think I will make it this time. Unfortunately, a day has only 24 hours from which I need to work eight and I need at least another seven to sleep. If you count it like this, it means I have nine hours left to do all the other things. Nine hours sounds a lot, and it would be if I could use them all in one go, instead of splitting them up during the day. I have two hours in the morning before work, one during the day for lunch or for walking Basil. The six hours I have left after work, I need to prepare dinner and do the laundry, clean the house or go to the gym. Then, I have to take Basil for a walk and, of course, we need some time to relax and do nothing at all. (

Enough about that. Last week I went with my mother’s dog Drummer to the veterinarian. She called me to say that her vet, who examined Drummer's eye on an infection had told her that he also needed a dental cleaning, and he had an ear infection too. My mother is so pliable, she immediately made an appointment for a dental cleaning under sedation for a few days later. When she arrived at the vet, she told her that she had the impression he was drinking more than usual. That alarmed the vet, so she did a few tests and didn’t want to put him under sedation because she was not sure what was wrong with him. Four days later when the results came back and my mother called me in sort of panic because the results showed that there was a possibility he had a tumor. And, for further investigation he had to go to a specialist in Ommen. I was flabbergasted. The only complaint she had, was that Drummer had a red eye, and now he was almost dying. So I asked her if it was fine with her that I called my vet to make an appointment for a second opinion. Of course, she was, and so we went a week ago on Monday to the vet to found out what was wrong with Drummer. After two urine test, an ultrasound and an x-ray he couldn't find anything suspicious.  Furthermore, there was nothing wrong with his teeth, so no need for a dental cleaning, and also his eye and ear were fine. Unfortunately, the vet found something else. His lymph gland was too big for a dog of his size. Therefore, we decided to do a biopsy for further research. Luckily, the result was negative. However, Drummer was a bit too thin ( my mother just had him on a diet because he was getting too heavy)so  he advised her to feed him a bit more. If he gains weight in four weeks, there’s nothing wrong with him, we thinkJ

Back from holiday

Oops, already Thursday again. The first English lesson with Valerie after a long holiday. This time, I really wanted to be prepared and at least have written one blog post. How different things can be. Right now, Valerie is already busy teaching Myra, and in 15 minutes it’s my turn. So I have to come up with something. What shall I write?  Four weeks of holiday, in which we had two wonderful sunny and lazy weeks in Turkey. Was that a relaxing time. Very sad that we had a cold turkey come back to the hectic world due to a wedding. Planned just one day after we came back. So you can imagine what a busy day we had that Thursday. Hairdresser, picking up suit and dress from the dry cleaner, etc. Then the wedding Friday, starting early to get ready because we had to be in Haarlem around 12.00 hours. We made it on time. The lunch was outside in a nice garden, and luckily the weather was good. However, an hour later when were in the city hall for the ceremony, and it was getting warmer and warmer. To be honest it was much too hot. Even the groom had to use a paper tissue to wipe his glasses, they were so misty that he couldn't see his bride J. We ended the day with a wonderful dinner in a 2 Michelin star restaurant, very exclusive and nice to enjoy for one time. It’s not my cup of tea, but for this occasion it was nice. Around midnight the young ones ended up in a brown café at the corner for a last drink. Al together it was a wonderful day.

What to tell

It’s already more than a few weeks since my last post and more or less it feels a bit sad that my life seems to be very boring that there’s nothing to write about.
We choose a new car, which we only have seen in a magazine. In the meanwhile, we also booked our summer holiday, to Turkey. We had already been there in 2010 and now we go to another part of the country. The photos look very promising and we have to make an adventures transfer of almost 2 hours to get there. Last week we realised that the possibility that we have to cancel our vacation is raised on the scale from 1-10 in a 6. The reason is that my “stief: father in law is iller than he was in the last few months. The doctor is also worried now because he’s really getting worse. This week he is having his last antibiotic for his (vocht achter de longen).If this doesn’t bring him more relief by the end of the week, she going to give him more medicine to stay more asleep.

It’s only eight weeks to our holiday and we are aware that this can go wrong. On the other hand, we have thought this more and until now he’s still there. We’ve asked him if he still likes it to be around, and he said; I’m happy to lie here and watch out of the window, and I enjoy the short visits of the children. So as long as he’s enjoying his passive life who are we to think it has to be over.

Kings Day, and cars

I was really looking forward to the extra-long weekend of Kings Day. Because of the weather forecast I also had a day of extra leave on the Friday before the weekend so I was ready for doing nothing for a few days.

Friday was not as warm as they promised, but okay, it was possible to sit in my favourite spot in my garden. And so I did. When Jan Cees came home we had a difficult job waiting for us. It was time to choose the new lease car and we have to decide in 4 weeks. Of course when you know what car you want and when it’s in the budget it’s not that difficult. However, the car of his dreams was not allowed, because plug in hybrid cars are not on the list yet. The second best one, was too expensive in the end. A bit disappointing but still a luxury problem. So we started all over again and searched the list from the beginning. First wish, only 20% addition (is that the right word for Dutch 20% bijtelling?)
Than we  would prefer a station wagon and if possible with automatic gears. That means there was not so much to choose from anymore. So we went on tour on Saturday to see the preferred cars for real.
First the Peugeot 308SW, than just to see it for real the Citroen Cactus C4, a really strange but funny car. After this we went to Toyota to see the Auris Sports Tourer, a hybrid car with only 14% addition.
Not the most beautiful one but it has a few pros above the others. The car trip continued to the Volkswagen to see the Golf, which we found too small, and we ended the tour with the SEAT leon, which we found really nice but too expensive compared to the Peugeot and the Toyota Auris.

I’m guessing you can imagine how the cars played a prominent role in our weekendJ

After thinking through the pros and cons we decided to go for a test drive with both cars, the Peugeot and the Toyota. Unfortunately, Toyota will introduce its new model in June so we cannot see and test the new model yet. I’ll keep you posted about what we will choose at the end.

Than Kings Day Monday; we didn’t do a thing, we only watched the new style Kings Day on TV to see what it looks like. I found it a bit boring and so we ended up on the couch to watch 3 movies, I ordered food from Thuisbezorgd.nl and that was our Kings Day. So funny, when I came into the office the next day a lot of colleagues asked me how my Kings Day was. I think foreigners think all Dutch people run around in orange clothes and sell their stuff during Kings Day. Now Not Me!

Speaking English

I know we have talked about this problem before but it is so frustrating to have those terrible English speaking days. Especially after having an amazing speaking day. I had to welcome two applicants for a lecture job yesterday. My job was to install the laptop for their presentation. In the meantime I had a small talk with them, about their trip, where they came from and where they’re living. With both of them it went smoothly. I was really proud of myself. I even told Myra this morning about my feeling.

I know it’s normal to have more or less a fluctuation in performance, but it’s so annoying. It makes me feel insecure because I had a very good experience and still know I cannot trust myself. So, it still seems to be aleatory how my performance will turn out. I really hope it will reach a level in which I’m convinced of my ability to speakJ

*Aleatory= l looked it up, dependent on chance/van het toeval afhangend

Spring in the Netherlands

Finally we made it to the end of March and with this the spring has started. Officially, yes, however looking out of the window for the last couple of days are you setting back to fall. What a terrible weather! Okay, I’m probably the biggest Dutch weather hater there is in this country, but this was really unbearable. I had to walk Basil yesterday and I had to keep him on the leash to avoid him for blowing away. And not even he had trouble staying up, for me it was difficult as well. We struggled through together more or less.

Now we have the first of April, April fool and the IT guys came up with an ultimate joke, they thought.  They’ve send out an e-mail in which they let us know that from now on, the print balances will be deducted from the employee salary. And as always we had a few people who really believed it. Always fun of course.

Lisbon

I've promised to tell you all about our city trip to Lisbon. It was wonderful, and we were very lucky that it was much warmer than usual. On Sunday, we had almost 24 degrees! I am sure you can imagine how we enjoyed this. We arrived early in the morning on Saturday and the plan was to see Melissa first. The moment we landed, I received her sms to tell us she could not make it because her 1-year-old son was ill and she had to go to the doctor. So, we went straight to our hotel to check in and leave our stuff there. 

We bought tickets for the hop on/off bus and off we went. You really get a good impression of the city travelling in an open bus. We stopped at Belem to see the important tower and, of course to eat Belm's most famous pastry.

 I don’t know exactly how to describe them, They're’s filled with a kind of yellow pudding and with a crispy crust what you should sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar. It was indeed very tasty!  Almost all tourists are going there to taste them and when we went there, we had to wait in a queue for almost ten minutes, so busy it was. (I will try to find the recipe to try to make them myself.) We went further with our tour and around 19.30 hours we found a nice terrace and stopped for a small meal. We were both tired of the long day and went back to the hotel by metro. After a shower, we fell asleep. 

The next morning we woke up early and started with a nice breakfast. Our city tour went further along very beautiful buildings and nice white houses with the red roofs. We saw the castle and tram 28, the one you may not miss when you are in Lisbon. To be honest, we saw so much in such a short time that I almost can’t remember everything. The last day, we went to Sintra. This is a very beautiful small place near Lisbon. It’s on the Unesco world heritage list. There are very old castles, palaces and particularly beautiful parks. Too many to see them all closely. 

Time for an update

What has happened in the last few weeks? First, I have started with an extra speaking course to get my level one grade higher. I really enjoyed this class and I was very sorry to miss two lessons due to illness. Or a better description because of suffering from afterpains after removing my last wisdom tooth. Although I have missed lessons, it was very helpful and in the end, my speaking has improved. However, I am not convinced it is a C1 level yet. For that, I need to improve my vocabulary much more. We're done now, and we all agreed, 8 weeks, is too short and we all would like to extend the course. As for the wisdom tooth I can only tell you that the removing part itself was difficult but luckily not painful due to the sedation. After 45 minutes, the tooth was gone and I had a numb jaw. That numbness can stay for a long time; I read on the internet there are people who still have problems after more than a year. I refuse to feel this numbness longer than necessary and I have made an appointment with an acupuncturist to see if he can speed up the healing process. This morning I had my second session and it is feeling much better already. Unfortunately, it has not gone yet! 

The first week after the holiday

After having three weeks of holiday I was back in the office last Monday.The first day is always difficult. After having weeks of doing nothing, no alarm clock and just go with the flow, you have to adjust to the workpace and waking up in the middle of the night.
A mailbox full of emails has to be read before you can throw them away because most off the questions and problems in those emails are already done by someone else.
Emptying the email box and a bit of chitchat with colleagues is all you can do on day one.The second day is just a little bit the same as the first day and from day three everything is business as usual. It's now Thursday evening and just one day to go and the first week is done. I have to be honest I'm looking forward to the weekend.And for as far as I have something to say about I will do nothing.