What's Natasha up to in the Netherlands?

So unable to legally work and with Gearoid at his dream job (sarcasm aside- it is a very ideal work situation for him) I have been busy finding activities to keep me busy. The first month wasn’t so bad. I think I used that time to decompress from my former job and get used to my new country by sleeping in, reading many novels, and hunting for American shows on T.V. (btw- I am now addicted to the Dog Whisper which is on all the time).  Many of you may be astounded to think I was lazy and stayed inside after moving to exotic Europe! However, the weather was complete crap and I was tired. I had just made a huge life decision and had to catch up on rest so I could enjoy it fully when ready.

However, laziness only lasts so long and it did hit me that I was living in Europe! Plus, Gearoid can only deal with so many days of coming home with me in my PJs. By the end of the first month I had visited the volunteer center, researched Dutch classes, and got my paperwork situation straight (although I’m still waiting for results). We also moved into a new place and unpacking had to be done. With our house straight and no more excuses, I got busy.

This is what I’m doing:

Dutch Lessons- I found inexpensive Dutch lessons (only 90 Euros!) just a 20 minute bike ride away from my house.  On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I bike over for my 2 hour lessons. The class began in October and I was 8 chapters behind but it was nice to be out of the house with people in similar situations as me. The first class was very overwhelming as my teacher Carla is of the mindset that if you are trying to learn Dutch, you must only be spoken to in Dutch. However, by studying my book and using the corresponding CDs and website I am becoming increasingly able to understand what she’s saying and understand what’s printed in the book. However, despite understanding I can’t respond to save my life! All those years of studying Spanish keep wanting to come out and I have to be reminded that I’m in Dutch not Spanish or English class. The class outwardly groans when it is my turn to read aloud because my pronunciations are horrible! Having moved around so much growing up, I really thought I had avoided some kind of accent. However, my American accent is very much present when I’m speaking Dutch and being a good teacher, Carla almost physically pushes the language out of my mouth.  After a grueling class today in which she had me ask the other students questions in Dutch, she told me in Dutch that I’m getting better (at least I think that’s what she said).

Speaking English with Asian Ladies- The place where I take my Dutch lessons is a community center in which other types of classes are offered. One day I was approached by a Taiwanese lady who overheard me speaking English and asked if I was American.  That conversation has sparked weekly meetings with her and a Japanese lady who want to improve their English conversation skills. We drink tea, eat tart, and struggle to converse. I say struggle not because their English is so bad but because I have little in common with two older Asian ladies who moved to the Netherlands before I was born with their Dutch husbands. We make it work somehow though and they are both very friendly and appreciate the help. I also appreciate having something to do!

Volunteering- Earlier in the blog I mentioned how a trip to the volunteer center yielded three possibilities:  working at a petting zoo, the botanical gardens, or teaching (other) foreign women how to ride bikes. Despite bruises on my legs and reminders from Gearoid that I sometimes struggle myself on the bike, I contacted the International Women’s Center (IVC- women is vrouwen in Dutch) about the bike lessons.  I contacted the IVC because I hope working there will lead to other opportunities. My work/volunteer experiences in the past have led me to enjoy working with people (women and children mostly) from other cultures. The bike riding was just an obstacle to overcome- I mean I’ve been riding since I was six. We meet once a week and provide (other) foreign women theory and technical lessons. The theory lessons include parts of the bike- which I actually taught in semi-Dutch! - road signs, rules of the road and that sort of thing. The technical lessons are on the bike. The women use shorter bikes so their feet can touch the ground. They learn to ride in a series of phases starting with their feet on the ground, one foot on the ground, both feet of the ground, stopping without falling, hand signals, etc. The most interesting thing for me about the experience is that some of these women have been in the country for over 20 years and have never learned to ride a bike. They must be very experienced bus riders because it seems to me that it would be difficult to function here without a bike.

Running Club- Gearoid and I bit the bullet and signed up for our first marathon (Dublin October 31, 2011). I really enjoyed having a running club while in DC so was happy to find one here to help jump start my training. We meet on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. There are some differences though. In the States, my running club would have a distance goal on Saturday mornings (i.e. 2 miles, 5 miles, 20 miles, etc). In DC we would do a few stretches, split into our groups (fast, medium, slow, and my group - the very slow), and run on a trail. When you finished you went home. Sometimes you would run faster than your group and other times you would be a lot slower.  My new group (also the very slow group) does everything together. Instead of distance we run for time so I have no idea how far I’m running. Before the other members took pity on me, I wouldn’t even know how long we were running for because not speaking Dutch I would just follow the trainer. We also do extensive stretching and warming up exercises. We do all of this in the neighborhoods around where we meet. So imagine you look out your window Tuesday night and see about 15 women in highlighter yellow vests pretending they’re apple picking or see them walking backwards down your street. What would you think? I don’t mind though and I like the group approach. I’m getting to know more people, can practice some Dutch, and know when we finish that we finish together and I am not the last person. Plus we usually get coffee afterwards.

Book Club- Gearoid found an English-speaking book club for me. There are themes for each month and books I would never usually consider are chosen. I’ve only met with the group once but once again it is nice to meet people in a similar situation as me. Last month we read “The Doors of Perception” and this month it is Master and Margarita. They’re a far cry from some of the chick lit I usually devour and almost homework-like. It doesn’t hurt to stimulate yourself intellectually though. I mean other than trying to learn a third language I am watching a lot of The Dog Whisperer so some 20^th century Russian literature won’t hurt me.

The gym- Before in the States I always had the excuse of work keeping me too busy/making me too tired to go to the gym. I have no excuse now and we found a gym within the first month. It is right around the corner from my house so I can literally walk there. Normally, talking about going to the gym is not very interesting but this is an interesting gym. I never miss a gym class because they are taught via video every hour and half hour. I can take power pump, zumba, spinning, stretching and/or abs class every day. They do offer live spinning classes and I did try one, thinking I could just pay really close attention since I wouldn’t understand the Dutch instructions. However, I was wrong. The instructor literally got off her bike in the middle of the lesson to ask what was wrong with me. I explained I didn’t speak Dutch and she gave me one of the sad understanding looks I’ve become used to and told me in English to stick out my butt more. The other very interesting thing about the gym is that it has a room completely designed and devoted to Dance Dance Revolution.  There are about 20 dance pads installed on the floor. Gearoid and I tried it once after some teenagers had had it set to an impossible level. After we figured out how to set it to “old people” level and found some music we knew Gearoid promptly out danced me.  Overall, the gym’s not bad if we can avoid teenagers not mocking us in Dutch.

The Blog- For those of you who are interested I really want to share our experiences with you. Life is life here. It’s a little different and those differences can be interesting but a lot of it is our regular boring day to day lives. Gearoid joked the other day that the most interesting thing we had to say for our Saturday was that we got the last loaf of our favorite type of bread. Gearoid’s job still consists of reading, writing, and the occasional lecture and my life is now filled with non-stop hobbies. However, in order to not overlook the small interesting differences I think it’s good to document them. So here they are in the blog which surprisingly takes up more time than you think.