Festivals Galore!

In a better attempt to be more active in my new community/country, I have been dragging Gearoid and his new American colleague Haley to local festivals.

Three weeks ago we went to the Gebroeders van Limburgfestival which happened to be a middle ages festival in Nijmegen. Gearoid and I have actually never been to a Renaissance type of festival, mainly because the entrance price was too expensive for us. In the States, when you imagine this type of festival you think of giant roasted turkey legs, apple dumplings, velvet costumes, and beer drunk out of tankards. It’s actually kind of funny because the US is so young that it didn’t have a renaissance or a middle ages. Those festivals are apparently based on Americans’ desires to eat giant bird legs and depictions of medieval England in movies.

So what is a middle ages festival like in a city that is 2000 years old? Apparently the middle ages were pretty boring. We saw some interesting things- silver working, a man chopping wood, some kids shooting bow and arrows but overall the atmosphere of the festival was pretty ho-hum. Maybe because as an American I had romanticized the Middle Ages based on books I read and movies I’ve seen. People who actively participated in the festival wore garb of the time (which mainly looked like long dirty shirts), pitched tents with fires burning outside, and hid their modern drinks in old-fashioned cups. It was also an educational experience. We saw a variety of birds, learned the intricacies of weaving, and listened to “popular” music of the time. The main event, however, was a jousting tournament. Riders in “full” armor rode with swords and lances to- now wait for it- collect hoops and chop apples. Sarcasm aside- I know I wouldn’t be able to chop an apple while on horseback - the fact that this was people’s entertainment way back then shows how much work and daily living occupied their time that apple chopping on horseback was exciting. The “knights” (oh, by the way- all of the jousters were women)did go after each other with lances but after racing towards each other in “chicken (as in the game)” fashion you heard a noise resembling a pencil breaking as the tip of a lance was splintered by the winner’s lance. Unfortunately, rain cut the excitement short and we were forced into a modern café by the downpour.  Although it was an interesting experience, most likely we won’t join in the festivities next year.

By the way- no turkey legs were present. Flat bread, root vegetables, and sausages on crackers seemed to be the food of choice at the festival and possibly during the actual Middle Ages.

While walking to the actual festival, we happened upon this group preparing to play traditional "Middle Ages" music. 

The birds were amazing to see but I felt bad for how scared this white owl was. They all had a leash around a foot securing them to the ground.

It was cold, about to rain, and I had had my fill of the jousting "excitement." Plus that red flag kept whipping me in the face.

Two weeks ago, Nijmegen had a Salsa/Caribbean Festival. Gearoid, being as usual anti-dance, stayed at home while Haley and I headed to the city center. The festival began during the day when “Caribbean” drummers performed in various places throughout the city center entertaining the masses who were doing their Saturday shopping. We visited the center around 8PM and were surprised by an unexpected divide (keep reading and I’ll explain). We met up near Lux, a popular café/art film theater. In front of Lux we got our first taste of the festival. Among the Dutch people were Africans and Caribbean people. Stands selling Island ware and food lined the way to an active stage and even more active dance floor. It was very gezellig(mini-Dutch lesson- gezellig technically doesn’t translate but the closest meaning in English is cozy/atmospheric. The Dutch use it all of the time and ask if such gezellig places can actually exist outside of the Netherlands). I honestly haven’t felt and experienced such a multi-cultural setting in the Netherlands as I did in front of the Lux that night, with the exception of my volunteer event at the refugee center.

Despite, the gezellig and inviting setting outside of the Lux, we ventured to see some of the other Salsa/Caribbean set-ups occurring in the city center. By the grote markt/Big Market, we found the great divide aka the Dutch version of the Salsa/Caribbean festival. There were only Dutch people present (i.e. blonde, blue eyed, tall white people) including the performers. The performers were a band of drummers in bright rufflely costumes playing a variety of drums. Despite the occasional head bob, no dancing was occurring. The audience stood around listening, drinking Dutch beer, and eating Dutch food. It was a completely different festival from the first one we visited. Needless to say, after a chuckle about the great divide, Haley and I headed back to the gezellig festival where we watched incredibly sensual dancing and even partook in mediocre lukewarm boogieing ourselves. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of this festival! Pictures of the next festival will make up for it.

Our final festival, I will call a Fall Harvest Festival. My landlady told me in August about the small town of Tiel where she grew up and how each year they have a parade of floats made with fruits and vegetables. I was immediately interested and convinced a skeptical Gearoid that it would be fun. A newspaper article depicting pictures of a giant ostrich made entirely of fruit convinced him that this parade would be a lot more interesting than it sounded. I have to admit that while describing our trip to others, hearing myself say “floats made of fruits and vegetables” sounded pretty lame. However, it was amazing and I literally oohed and aahed over what I saw. The beginning of the parade started with children who decorated their bikes and wagons. I was amazed by the precision of which they placed lentils and cherries. I found this part of the parade so impressive that when the big floats came around I was floored. My favorite was a collection of gorillas and my exclamation of the baby gorilla on the mama’s back brought chuckles from those around me. I was then reminded that I was looking at a fruit/vegetable sculpture and not actual gorillas. Sorry that the pictures don’t do justice to the amazingness!

These are mosaics made with fruits and vegetables along the canals.

An ice cream cone made of fruits and vegetables!

Spaceship

                                                          A windmill that actually turned!

                   There were strangely enough a lot of Native American and Mexican themed floats.

                                                         My favorite- the gorillas

                              The baby was made of purple cauliflower, grapes, berries, and beans.

                                    The tall ladies were pretty elegant and impressive as well.

                  I have no idea what these mushroom/tree things are. They are pretty cool though.

                                                                Atlas carrying the world

I didn't get a good picture but this White Queen was battling a Black Queen and the float had thematic music that added to the entire experience.

I was just impressed at how well behaved these geese were.

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The detail on the floats and mosaics was so impressive. The floats were made of wire or Styrofoam and then covered completely and precisely with legumes, fruits, and veggies. Some of the floats that had a feathery appearance used wheat to give it that look. I'm excited to go again next year!

A Day Trip to Amsterdam with a Short Stop in Utrecht

I had an informational job meeting in Amsterdam this past Friday. It was very informative and I’m happy to have had some more questions answered about schools in the Netherlands, but for various reasons it wasn’t for me. Plus, I never was actually offered a position. The point of this story is that my meeting was in Amsterdam and I planned to make the two hour train trip worth my while. Fortunately, Gearoid was feeling generous and took the day off of work to join me.

My meeting was at 10 AM in a very nice neighborhood. After my meeting, I met Gearoid at a neighborhood café and we made plans to get the most out of our day. Luckily, the weather was on our side. Although it wasn’t exactly sunny, it wasn’t raining either and we took advantage of the dryness by trekking around the city by foot. Our first stop wasn’t an official stop but more of a leisurely stroll through the picturesque neighborhood we were in. Local cafes were scattered among tall row houses and grocers displayed their colorful wares in outside stands. Our wandering led us to a concert hall on the edge of a park. We sat in the park and decided on a zigzag course through the city.

                                           Concert Hall

The first official “stop” was to the VondelPark. It was a beautiful park that is supposedly similar to parks in England. Tourists ride rented bikes while locals jog on paths lined with beautiful willows, over tiny bridges, and around bird filled ponds.

 We then trekked to the Albert Cuypmarkt, where we had lunch at an outdoor café and then browsed among the stalls. I was happy to see a stall that had yarn on sale -10 skeins for 10 euro! Luckily yarn is light because we still had a lot of walking to do.

We passed boathouses and the Rijksmuseum on our way to the Anne Frank house! The line was out the door to get into the museum and we were too tired to stand and wait so we took some pictures and then enjoyed a Coke by a canal. A tip for anyone who wants to visit the Anne Frank house- get in line before it opens or 15 minutes before it closes. Apparently, it is always busy. One day I hope to actually go inside but for now I will re-read her diary.

                                                       Boathouses

                                             Rijksmuseum

                                                     Anne Frank

                                                    Line to get into the Anne Frank House

                          Anne Frank House- It's closeness to a canal made it impossible to
                                                                     get a better shot

 Although exhausted and tempted to get back on the train, I dragged Gearoid to two more stops. First was to a weekly book market on the Spui (a small square in Amsterdam). Despite the surprising amount of English books, Gearoid and I resisted the temptation to add to our personal library and left the market empty-handed.

Our last stop is kind of embarrassing. I dragged Gearoid in search for the infamous red-light district. The first time we were in Amsterdam we had no desire to see it. In fact, we still didn’t have a desire to see it but morbid tourist curiosity urged me to see what the hype was about. We happened upon a Malaysian restaurant we ate at back in January during our first visit. It turns out that you can get to the red-light district in an alley behind that very same restaurant.  After the long day and the exhausting search this is what I saw: the pavement under my feet. After walking through that alley into the red-light district, I was so embarrassed by everything that I speed walked my way out and refused to make eye contact with anyone. Gearoid, unfortunately was not so lucky in avoiding eye contact, and still hasn’t forgiven me for dragging him there. Needless to say, there are no pictures.

With our eyeballs burning and the urge to wash our hands, we made it to the train and left Amsterdam. Overall, it is a really nice city but certain parts have more charm than others. The quiet neighborhoods we happened to wander through were much more enjoyable than the popular tourist areas which honestly kind of stunk (I mean literally they have a not so pleasant smell). It is a charming place but there are parts of the Netherlands which are much nicer.

Once such place is Utrecht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht). We had enough time on the train to rest our feet so we decided to make a quick stop in Utrecht which happens to be on the way back to Nijmegen.  I was surprised by how much I liked Utrecht. The city center had a charming feel to it and there were beautiful canals lined by restaurants and shops. We also visited the Dom tower which is part of a Catholic church in the center of town and supposedly no building in the city can be built higher than it. Our exhaustion from a long day walking who knows how many miles made us cut our visit short and we returned to the train station for a satisfying trip home.

                                                    Famous Restaurant-lined Canal

                                                     Dom Tower

                                                    Walking through the Dom Tower

                                                     Catholic Church

                                                      Dom Tower

Jammin'

I’ve come to terms that I can’t bake here. Well, for now I’ve come to terms with that sentiment (there are some chocolate chips in my IKEA cupboard that are begging to be made into some cookies). Therefore I have settled for non-baking culinary delights. I had to prove to myself that I am successful in the kitchen and I can make people happy with my delicious treats.

The first attempt was a favorite of my DC co-workers- salted caramels. If you’ve never had a salted caramel you haven’t truly utilized all of your taste buds. I had my first one almost a year ago and after eating it I couldn’t get the flavor out of my mind- almost like when a song gets stuck in your head. I looked up a recipe, found the appropriate ingredients, and made the simple recipe. I brought the caramels to work and they were promptly compared to crack (as in the drug).  I decided to make them here because no oven is involved and despite a few hiccups I was successful. One such hiccup was the lack of light corn syrup in the Netherlands. I found a recipe to make my own with sugar, water, and cream of tartar but couldn’t find the last ingredient. So I bravely substitute agave nectar (syrup made from the same plant that is responsible for tequila) for the light corn syrup and was successful- at least on the second batch. I burned the first batch of sugar mixture. After, curses and a forever sticky kitchen I made the delicious caramels. Happily enough, they were once again compared to an illicit controlled substance.  Against, Gearoid’s protests I made another batch to share (and honestly to receive more compliments about my skills in the kitchen) and the suggestion that I sell them in the market came about. If I don’t find a job, I might just become the only salted caramel provider in Nijmegen.

The next experiment was homemade strawberry jam. I love homemade jam and have fond memories of my grandmother’s freezer jam during childhood trips to Michigan. Despite my enjoyment of experimenting in the kitchen the thought of making jam and the hassle of dealing with the jars stopped me from ever doing it. However, a trip to the market with a Dutch friend changed my mind. She was buying crazy amounts of strawberries and said that they were for homemade jam. I asked about her process and decided it was simple enough for me try. Instead of dealing with mason jars, I saved old olive and jam jars and cleaned them thoroughly- even boiling the lids. I bought an enormous amount of strawberries and a bag of special sugar used to make jam. The fact that I only had to deal with 2 ingredients had been the selling point for me and apparently enough people in the Netherlands make jam that the tiny grocery store always has a space for this particular sugar on the shelves. The biggest task was culling the berries but I became an expert, with my swift slices barely sacrificing any of the sweet strawberry. Admittedly, a couple of dozen berries ended up in my mouth but I bought enough to afford the sacrifice. After boiling the berries and the sugar, we poured the hot liquid in the prepared jars, screwed the lids on tight and flipped them upside down. I now have 6 jars of homemade jam in a drawer waiting to be used. I haven’t tasted the jam yet and I have a suspicion that the consistency may be more like the strawberry syrup used on sundaes rather than jam. However, as long as I don’t encounter mold when I open the first jar, I will be happy. 

I decided to bring no-bake cookies to a friend’s house for dinner. These oatmeal, chocolate-peanutty cookies are a staple in my house at Christmas time. They also don’t require the oven. The ingredients were not a problem.  Still avoiding learning the metric system, I did have some issues with the amount of butter. I need half a cup but the blocks of butter I get are measured in grams. Some online searching and the use of a food scale helped me but I think I was still off. The reason for this is because my cookies didn’t set properly. They became soft blobs of oatmeal chocolate-peanutty goodness.  We put them in the fridge for a couple of hours but they were still too soft. Luckily our dinner host had so much food that the poor quality of cookie I provided was a non-issue. Gearoid and I brought them back home and put them in the freezer. I have to say that the frozen blobs made a delicious treat.

One Month Back

I am admittedly a bad blogger. I have ideas and take pictures that I store in my memory and SD card to share with the handful of readers I have and then life and laziness get in the way. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have posted this as soon as I have if my lovely cousin hadn’t inquired if I got a job because I hadn’t posted in awhile. Thank you Britt for reminding me that people are interested in what I have to say!

We’ve been back in the Netherlands for a month and life continued as if we hadn’t left. Gearoid went back to work the day after we arrived and happily resumed the routine of life he had cultivated since moving to the Netherlands. I have continued the following:

1)      Volunteer work- My Asian ladies and I have started meeting weekly again for tea and English conversation. It’s not as stilted as before and we are finding more topics to discuss. For them it is a great way to practice their English and for me (along with the nice company) it gets me out of bed at a decent hour on Monday mornings.

I have also met with the women I worked with on International Refugee Day and we had a follow up discussion as to how the event went. Our next plan of action is to help out at an event for International Peace Week. I will, of course, be helping with the children activities.

I have been invited to help with bike lessons again. I was tempted to not do it again because I started to find the lessons a little boring and the bike ride to the lessons is a long one. However, in the end I decided to do it again because it is good for my Dutch language skills and I enjoy the company of the people I volunteer with.

I have also been matched with a Dutch person in this program called Link who will help me find more volunteer work and maybe some part time work. On a whim last week, I decided that I must work with animals in need. I enjoy animals and can’t have a pet myself so it seemed like a good idea. This week’s whim is different though so we’ll see what comes out of it.

2)      Mastering the Dutch Language- One thing I really enjoyed about being in the States was the English language. I understood what was going on in my surroundings and minimally embarrassed myself. Although most people speak incredible English here, life is lived in Dutch. I am proud to say that I am fighting the constant worry of sounding stupid in broken Dutch and have started using Dutch at the market and cafes. I understand more than I can speak and answer most questions with “ja” or “nee.” Having no Dutch lessons at all, Gearoid asks me what people have asked of him or what signs say. I can usually give him an answer but the other night emboldened by a glass (or two) of wine I asked the cashier to repeat what she said to Gearoid so I can figure out the answer to his question. However, by asking boldly in English, I totally threw the young girl off and she stopped her productivity and pondered what this red faced loud American was asking her. The line behind us quickly grew as she completely stopped giving us our change and stared blankly at me. Usually my embarrassment is accidental but this time I had caused it myself so I quickly said “nevermind “to her and “let’s get out of here to Gearoid” as the queue of people in the tiny store stared at the foreigners who were stopping the efficiency of the cashier and preventing them from getting on with their Friday night. Unlike the States, I can’t assume I will never see her or the other customers again and have decided that if I am going to embarrass myself, I will limit it to Dutch and not in English.

To continue my pursuit of mastering Dutch and limiting the level embarrassment and awkwardness that persists in my everyday life, I have continued my Dutch lessons. Twice a week, 2 hours at a time, I sit in my level 2 Dutch class and try to converse and understand the rules of this difficult language. So far, I only have 3 other classmates which means I have to speak and pay attention more than I did in my last class of 15. Needless to say, my brain is tired when I finish. It’s a good tired though like after a thorough workout.

I have also continued with my language buddy Paul who constantly works with ridding me of my American accent when speaking Dutch. As a retired English teacher, he also answers questions for me that I have from my class or about the Dutch Culture.

Future Dutch endeavors for me also include taking an additional Dutch class that upon completion ends with a formalized test and a certificate stating I can speak a certain level of Dutch.

3)      Running- October 31, 2011 will be the scariest Halloween ever as Gearoid and I run the Dublin Marathon. We had an extremely difficult time keeping up with our training in the States as we were on vacation and being in the Southern parts of the country had to deal with heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. The few times we did run we came back completely spent, near sun poisoned, and half drowned from the humid air residing in our lungs. Since coming back, we have resumed our training. Gearoid is striving for a 4 hour or less time. I am striving to survive to the finish line. My original goal was a time around 5 hours but as our runs grow longer to 11, 14, 16, and next week 18 miles, I have amended the goal to just finish. Luckily the weather here in the Netherlands is more conducive to long runs in Gearoid’s case and rambling walks in mine. Fourteen miles isn’t so bad when the weather is cool, there are pretty flower fields to walk by, and wild blackberries to pick. I do try to fit in some running during my site seeing walks though.

4)      Miscellaneous life tasks- My arthritic hands have healed and I have been knitting socks again. I have none to show though as I pass them along to people as I finish. I’m nowhere near as prolific as I once was but I’m also not watching as much T.V. as I was before. Just wait until my favorite shows start with the new seasons.

I am continuing with my book club and between club choices, I have been spending my time in the sun reading books (or under the covers on rainy days) that have been on my shelves for years but I never had time to read. My goal is to read a minimum of 50 books this year and I’m already on 35. Oh, the goals you can have when unemployed.

I have also been planning trips and attending things happening in Nijmegen. Gearoid and I bought several day train tickets at a low price that allow us to ride on the train anywhere in the country all day for one low price. We have several plans coming up in the next month or so and I will post on those accordingly. I also want to feel more involved in Nijmegen so I am regularly paying attention to and even attending classes and festivals going on in town.

5)      Finding a job-The biggest difference since coming back is that I can now legally work. Finding a job in a non-English speaking country is quite difficult. Before I moved here, I was incredibly stressed by my demanding job and told Gearoid I would do anything for work in Holland- walk dogs, serve tables, sweep floors, etc. However, after being unemployed for the past 8 months and having had sufficient time to relax, enjoy life, and bum around I have decided I don’t want to settle for just anything. I want to use my degrees (I mean I’m still paying for my student loans) and be challenged again. That’s easier said than done. I called some job placement companies and they can’t help people who don’t speak fluent Dutch. I signed up for some expat job placement websites but I don’t qualify for most of the business oriented jobs. My options at this point are to get lucky with a job at an international school or take a part-time service oriented job until I can improve my Dutch. I’m taking the appropriate albeit slow steps though. I contacted an international school and the director offered me a tour and some suggestions as to what my first steps to getting back in the classroom should be. My Link buddy in the meantime is helping me look for some type of part time job in which I can improve my language skills. There are some days in which I am fine with the waiting and searching but admittedly there are others when I get frustrated and overwhelmed. So cross your fingers for me and I’ll keep you all posted.

Despite the normalcy of everything since coming back there was one thing that really surprised me. Several people in my life here- landlady, friends, and classmates- were all surprised that I actually came back.  It’s not that I’m unhappy here- just adjusting- but I didn’t realize how strongly the small frustrations and times of homesickness were being expressed by me. My landlady told me she was so happy for me that I got to go home but my first week back she fixed up my garden so I could “feel at home here.”

                              Some of my new flowers in my beautifully improved garden.