Miss Bad Penny is living a penny-ante and penny-pinching life in the Netherlands

Bye bye vacation

2006-07-31T14:07:00.000+02:00

The not-so-summery weather is reminding me today is my last day of summer vacation. No more bumming around, no more sleeping in, and no more "Grey's Anatomy" and "Sex and the City" marathons. Look on the bright side - there are office gossips to catch up.

It is finally cooling down in the Netherlands. I was fanning myself and still sweating like a dog this time last week, but I needed a sweater this morning when I went out. Not that I am complaining because I really do need this bit of cool-down after steaming my butt off for the last two weeks. I am now just hoping against hope that it is not going to rain tomorrow so I could wear my pretty new shoes to work, fingers crossed.

Anyway, I actually have nothing much to blog about as I am still in my "vacation mode". I now have to go prepare for tomorrow - polishing my new shoes (my dad's secret recipe of protecting the leather and making our shoes last), packing souvenirs for my coworkers, picking out an outfit to boost my not-so-deep suntan, and finishing up some housework. Oh oh oh, and cooking up a storm in the kitchen (Translation: Making the simple - Clean the chicken drumsticks, pat them dry, marinate them for 3 hours with the special spices we bought from Hong Kong, bake them in the oven for 45 minutes, DONE - but yummy chicken dish that my man loves) because I am afraid I gonna be too lazy to cook after work this week. From experience, I would be dead beat at night and fall asleep on the couch at 8pm the first week of work after my vacation. I'd better make a proper dinner tonight to make up for my guilt over buying greasy Chinese takeout or unhealthy fast food later. I thought I would be slacking off today but seems like I have quite some work to do.

P.S. The picture was taken during our Sabah vacation. Can you believe this melon was crafted within 20 minutes?? I know one of my friends would really love this fruit craft thingy, but unfortunately, I failed to sneak a juicy melon in my suitcase. Jammer!!

My purple spikey plant

2006-07-27T12:36:00.000+02:00

I thought its name was "Plume flower" but the instruction tag told me it's called "Celosia Venezuela Caracas". I don't really know the plant anyway but I was attracted by its lavish purple spikes while my man and I were wandering off a "tuincentrum" last weekend. I was worried I wouldn't have a clue about fertilizing the plant once two weeks as instructed and hence might kill it. But it only cost 1.99Euro, for crying out loud. It's a real bargain for my little "green experiment", isn't it??

I have educated myself about this plant via the Internet as I do want to see this plant live for at least 35 days (the average plant life as confirmed by a Dutch consumer test, and it could live even up to three or four months if it is in good hands). One of my spikey plant's attractions is its spikes would continue to grow while new spikes appear from time to time. I am told that the spike must be at least 8cm long but my spikes are now 7cm long on avaerage. Should I stretch it or something to make it longer?? The plant seems not particularly demanding - needs plenty of water to keep the soil moist, needs plenty of sunlight to keep the new spikes coming, needs cutting when spikes are too long or dead, and needs plant food once every four weeks to keep it growing healthily.

Two questions though - how long is too long?? what is plant food?? Yes, I gotta admit I have no green thumbs and am never into or good at gardening. That's why I have no idea when and how to cut (cutting the spike or stem??) and to fertilize (what to use?? where to buy it or home-made??) the plant.

By the way, do you know there is a heat wave in Europe?? Second heat wave in July, man!! Two weeks of heat and burning sunshine are apparently too much for me. I can't believe I'm saying this - "When is summer over??". And I can't believe I was literally jumping for joy this morning when it was Pouring (big big raindrops!!) outside. I am enjoying this coolness, the coolness that I miss so much. I love reading on the couch without having my skin sticking on the leather!! I love ironing without having my sweat dripping all over my freshly cleaned clothes!!

Let it rain!! Let it rain!! Yay!!

It has been a while

2006-07-26T10:18:00.000+02:00

My vacation seems to have flown by this summer. Our 3-week Asia bound is over. Let's have a brief run-down:

We were stuck at the gorgeous 5-star resort in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for 5 days because of the monsoon from India. But to be fair, we did enjoy a bit of pool hanging for like two hours in one of the mornings and witness the sudden change of weather - from sunny to cloudy to windy to rainy to stormy - at the coast. As we couldn't be bothered going downtown in the storm, we dined at the resort restaurant. It didn't cost us a mint and the food was very yummy (specially the prawn noodles with yellow curry), and on top of that very hygienic. Every cloud has a silver lining, eh?? Our KK stay was "topped off" with a super sunny morning on the day of our departure. Are you kidding me?? (I felt better later as I heard from the news the rain actually continued for another week or so in KK)

We arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after a 3-hour flight, left the airport after a 45-minute queue at the customs, and reached our hotel after a 50-minute drive. It cost us only 13Euro to cab it from the airport to the hotel. We went to most parts of the city via the convenient light railway and were not that impressed by the city. It had a funky smell on the street because of the underground sewage pipes or something and the famous twin towers failed to impress us. Oh well, it was bit unfair as we were comparing the twin towers with the zillion of fancy towers of glass and steel in Hong Kong. We stayed for 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur and caught a flight to Hong Kong at 6am.

Last but not the least, a 2-week stay in Hong Kong when it was rainy, stuffy and HOT. God bless the well air conditioned shopping malls in Hong Kong. We went on several shopping sprees which resulted in an almost 10-kg excess baggage (We had left home with two suitcases but returned with four). We spent most of our time with my parents to catch up with the latest family gossips and to just hang out with them. We also met some of my friends who were still in Hong Kong (many of them had returned home or started a new adventure in another country). I couldn't believe how much things could change in two years - a marriage phobic proposed to his girlfriend whom he has been going out with for over a decade, a lesbian friend found out she actually likes guys instead, a second cousin got married and divorced, a cousin had a baby boy...

Anyway, we are now back in the Netherlands. My man already got back to work a day after our arrival and I am still enjoying my 2-more-week vacation. This is my last week of vacation and I am getting back to work next Tuesday. Let's hope the heat wave stops by then, knock on wood. So what have I been doing all this time?? It has been so freaking HOT so I haven't done much. I am entitled to slack off, bum around and do nothing anyway. It took me like a week to unpack everything because the temperature turns piping hot after 1pm everyday. We try to keep the windows open in the evening to cool down the apartment and therefore I become a Fabulous target for the mosquitoes, ggrrrrrrrr. I am feeling warm and itchy everyday, how much better can my vacation be??

Mind-numbing

2006-06-23T13:11:00.000+02:00

I am bored out of my mind today as I wrapped up all my work yesterday. Some of you may ask how the heck I can wrap up ALL my work, eh?? I am working in a school so when all the records, reports, schedules and preparation for the new school year are done, I have nothing more to do until the little buggers are back. Blame my efficiency!! *grin*

I have all the time to waste now so let's think of what I need to do today:

1. Last-minute shopping: Presents for mom, aunt, grandma, grandpa, two good friends, some party buddies. Chocolate and puzzle books for the 12-hour flight.

2. Last-minute housekeeping: Ironing clothes that were washed yesterday. Vacuumcleaning the entire house. Emptying out the fridge. Transferring my lucky bamboo to a salad bowl.

3. Last-minute organizing: Emailing friends to confirm get-together's. Calling my parents to confirm our arrival time and flight number. Calling boyfriend's parents to give them our flight information. Transferring money to our travel bank accounts.

4. Last-minute packing: We had planned to do the packing yesterday but turnout I colored my nails and my man watched World Cup. So MUST PACK tonight!!

Anyway, I'll now go to my friend's office to chit chat a bit then I am heading out. It is gorgeous outside and the sun is shining so why the heck am I sticking around with nothing to do??

Notes: Excuse me for this boring post but what can you expect from a bored bum?? To make it up, check this chubby thing out. It puts a big smile on my face!! I bet I won't be blogging during my vacation, so HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!!

Green bunny

2006-06-22T11:06:00.000+02:00

My lucky bamboo is growing (see the before pic) and is turning into a bunny - a cheerleader bunny holding two poms!! I am loving my lucky bamboo because it is so easy (only water, indirect sunlight and shower once a week) and strong. It has not died on me yet, knock on wood!!

My lovely hydrangea, on the other hand, has recently gone to the "flower heaven" when it was steaming hot weeks ago. I did remember to water it on time and keep it out of sunshine. But when I got back from work one day, I found the flower heads all burned and dehydrated. I do have to admit that our living room (faces west) did sorta turn into a sauna those afternoons even when the curtains were drawn. This time water no longer worked like a charm...[insert pouty face] Says who the hydrangea is easy to care for and would bloom its head off for weeks at a time??

But well, I no longer have to worry about finding my hydrangea a plant-sitter then. I now have only two survivors left - my lucky bamboo and purple cactus. I am thinking of putting my lucky bamboo in a bigger tank of water so it has enough water for the three weeks we are gone. Do you think that would work?? And I would give the cactus a bigger drink before we head off. Cactus is supposed to be tougher and can stand not having water for a while, right??

One more day and we are flying out. Packing, packing, last-minute shopping, packing...

Wuppie, wuppie, wuppie...

2006-06-21T15:52:00.000+02:00

The Netherlands has been in the grip of soccer fever lately. See that fuzzy little ball in the picture?? It is a "wuppie" produced by a local supermarket, Albert Heijn, to boost the Dutch soccer fever. You get a little wuppie for free after you have spent 15 euros at the supermarket. There are 4 kinds of wuppie - orange wuppie, white wuppie with red antennae and blue feet, blue wuppie with red antennae and light blue feet, and red wuppie with red antennae and blue feet (I don't need to tell you they resemble the Dutch flag and orange team, right??).

My favorite little wuppie is this white one but I do want to buy (3 wuppie coupons plus some cash) the big orange wuppie. Unfortunately there is also a "wuppie fever" in the Netherlands as the big wuppie sold out already. The supermarket is not ordering any more wuppies either because they are afraid World Cup will be over when the order comes in. Grrr. My coworker is showing off her three wuppies by displaying two of them on her desk and hanging one on the wall. Another Dutch coworker is all dressed up in orange and wearing a wuppie on his head. Yes, most Dutch people wear orange during World Cup and on the day when the Dutch team is playing.

The Dutch team is playing against Argentina tonight. When I talked to my friend today, I found out both our men are secretly praying that the Dutch team will lose tonight. It is said that tonight's game is not that important anyway as it only determines when the two teams are playing in the next round - if the Dutch team wins tonight, they are playing again on Saturday when our men are busy. My boyfriend and I are flying out this Saturday, need I say more?? And my friend and her man are having a short trip away this weekend, again need I say more?? As I told my friend, our men are so loyal to the Dutch team they have to betray them tonight.

[Update] It seems that the "wuppie fever" is still going strong. The big wuppie sold out at the supermarket already but they are still selling like hot cakes on the Net though a wuppie could cost more than 100 euros. My man also read in the paper that people broke in cars to steal not only the car audio system but also the fuzzy big wuppie. Some of my friends have taken out the car audio system to avoid their cars being broken into, maybe they should remove any wuppie-like items too...

I'm eaten alive by little monsters

2006-06-20T18:26:00.000+02:00

My summer vacation is just around the corner...only 3 more days to go, yippeeee!! Vacationing in Malaysia and going on a shopping spree in Hong Kong, yay!!

I miss blogging so much but as it was the last weeks of school, I had a hectic schedule and was dead beat when I got home. It is now much mellower at work as the kids are gone. I thought I would be jumping for joy working in an empty school as my toes would not be stepped on and my workplace would finally be nice and quiet. But hell no!! I felt a feeling of complete isolation once I entered the school on Monday - no more chaos in the hallway, no more screaming in the playground, no more kiddo's getting in and out of the office. Oh I miss those little buggers who always brought loads of energy and joy (and noise) into the office...

As I now have some free time, I have been surfing on the net for information of Kota Kinabalu (KK). Someone said it somewhere KK is a "mosquito's paradise". Nooooooo!! Please tell me it's not true!! Please tell me mosquitoes/mozzies/mossies are not allowed in our 5-star spa resort!! I hate mosquitoes but unfortunately these freaking insects love me (or my sweet blood). How much love are we talking about?? Let's see. I had six mosquito bites that almost formed an hexagonal pattern on my butt two weeks ago after I had sunned myself at our balcony during weekend (have I mentioned we painted our balcony rusty orange??). And now three mosquito bites have "integrated" into this nasty big bump on my arm.

I woke this morning scratching the big bump and couldn't go back to sleep hearing the mosquitoes buzzing. We did not open the door or window in the bedroom, where the heck did the mosquitoes come from?! I am desperate to find some anti-mosquito stuff as I can't stand finding new mosquito bite(s) every morning!! And does anyone know of any remedies for mosquito bites?? I have tried ice, toothpaste, soap, and baking soda paste but none of them works!! In other words, it's bloody itching and swollen!! @#$%&?!!

Grrr

2006-06-08T04:25:00.000+02:00

Nightmare SUCKS!!

I have been wide awake since I woke out of a weird bad dream at 3.35am.

I was walking down a street in Hong Kong with my boyfriend when I spotted a guy waving for help from a building. We then heard a gun shot and so started running. When I hopped into the cab, I was accompanied by two of my old friends while the cab was driving around downtown Vancouver. Kirs was complaining as the cab smelled like puke and Earl was persuading the driver to knock 5 bucks off because of the smell. My parents were with me when I got off the cab. Someone was firing into the crowd so we ran for our lives. While we were running down a street in Malaysia, a cop and some guys with gunshot wounds ran pass us. I was scared stiff. Then I saw our home in Rotterdam and was struggling to run faster...

I woke and was covered in sweat. How come I remember every single detail of this weird dream that doesn't even make any sense?? Shooting in Hong Kong, cab ride in Vancouver, shooting again in Malaysia, and running from Malaysia to Rotterdam??

It is now 4.20am. Should I go back to bed, try to get to sleep in order to sleep for another 2 hours, and get up feeling all cranky and tired?? Or should I stay awake, keep sipping on my coffee in the hope that it would keep me awake for the rest of the day, and try to (pretend to) function properly at work?? I doubt if I can get to sleep anyway so I'd better cling on to my Senseo machine. Another Dark Roast!!

This reminds me of the good old days in university when we went out clubbing all night long and had a lecture at 8.30am. The only difference is I kept sipping on alcohol in order to avoid hangover and to stay (sort of) awake. A shot of vodka during lunch break used to get me through the day until I could hit the sack and crash out.

Oh and another difference is - I'm no longer 18!!

Yes water, No sunshine

2006-05-26T07:58:00.000+02:00

Yes, I kept thinking its name is hydra-something - HYDRANGEA that is!!

Is it supposed to be a difficult plant?? This little plant has been living/blooming happily in our apartment for almost a month already and seems to be doing okay. I got it as a gift and the only advice I got is to water the plant - putting the pot in a sink filled with water to let the water soak up to the soil - twice a week. I am trying to water it every Wednesday and Saturday but there were times that I thought the plant was dying on me as its leaves were drooping due to dehydration or something. Sometimes the soil dried out faster, sometimes I simply forgot to water it...

When it happened the first time (I forgot to draw the curtain so the plant was sun-baked for hours and looked all "dead" when I returned home), I almost tossed it to the trash. But since that was only the 4th day I got the plant and I thought I just started to have a better green thumb, in order to save the plant and my reputation, I performed "CPR" by soaking the pot in a big tank of water and putting some coffee grounds in the soil. Why coffee grounds?? My green-thumbed friend told me that my "blue balls" love acidic soil ("pink balls" work differently though) and suggested me to use aluminium sulphate (or sulfate??), egg shells or coffee grounds to boost the blooming. I had no freaking idea where to find aluminium sulphate and was afraid egg shells would stink up our place so I ended up with coffee grounds. And you know what?? It worked!! Lesson learned - "Blue balls" love water and acidic soil, but hate sunshine!!

You know what worries me now?? Weird to say but I am now worried that the plant is living too long. I got this plant in late April and thought it would be long gone before our summer vacation in late June (FYI, my plants tend to live for only a month though I start to earn a reputation of having a not-too-bad green thumb). Since my little hydrangea has been blooming slowly, I am afraid we may need to find a baby(plant)-sitter to take care of my "blue balls" while my man and I are tanning our butts off in Malaysia. I'm thinking of putting the hydrangea pot, together with my lucky bamboo, in a water tank so they have enough water when I am gone for three weeks. Do you think that would work?? If not, any good plant-sitter to recommend??

By the way, why the heck am I awake at 7am today when I'm having a long weekend?! Jeez, it has been rainy and grey for almost two weeks already...Rain rain, go away. Little Penny wants to play...

It's about time

2006-05-20T10:09:00.000+02:00

It has been a loooooooooooong time since I last blogged. Life has been okay - working Monday through Friday and bumming around during weekend. How's my "new" job?? I still feel happy (and not cranky) to wake up at 6.35am to go to work everyday, how's that?? I have been working for bit more than 7 weeks now and there's always something fun to look forward to at work.

First 2 weeks: Tried to remember everyone's name
(fun part: I kept forgetting and mixing up people's names, what's new?? I asked my coworkers to keep introducing themselves whenever they bumped into me until I could shout out their names once I see them. It took me 2 weeks to remember all the 50 people in our department and more than 20 in departments that I work closely with, not too bad eh??)

3rd week: HOLIDAY!!
(The greatest advantage of working in a school - loads of holiday!! But I was actually dying to go to work throughout the week.)

4th week: Had a bunch of appointments with new parents and students
(After I had been trained for weeks, I started interviewing new families. It was great fun because I gotta know more about the students and to communicate more with teachers in order to place the students in different classes.)

5th week: The due date of my first assignment to the teachers
(I needed to collect work from more than 40 teachers and many of them handed in their work last minute or late so this week was hectic.)

6th week: Was given several new assignments
(I needed to touch base with people from other departments, so more name-remembering activities. And more meetings...that made the week fly by.)

7th week: Loads of ad hoc projects
(I was tested on the strong multitasking skills mentioned on my CV. Every day was super hectic and I LOVED IT. Yes, weird me!!)

Coming week: 3 working days only
(Ascension Day/long weekend. Meetings lined up for the 3 days already, so the week gonna fly!!)

In case you still don't get it, I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Okay, enough of my job. One of the highlights of May was my man's birthday two weeks ago. We went to an Indian musical extravaganza - Bharati - that Friday. There were a little live band playing traditional Indian instruments, 6 live singers singing some famous Indian songs while making some gestures accordingly, a narrator guiding the audience through the tale, and last but not the least, LOADS of dancers in colorful costumes. I loved loved loved those traditional Indian costumes and the Indian dances. The combination of Indian dance and swaying long dress made me wanna dig out my exotic long dress and belly dance again...

Oh yay, my man is finally awake now so I'd better go start another lazy weekend with a big breakfast!! Plan for this weekend?? I planned to finish painting the window frame and to start painting the balcony but gotta postpone as it's POURING today!! "Maybe" playing some squash, then definitely doing grocery shopping, then...maybe a stay-in movie weekend??

By the way, I've been having houseplants since I started working. Ain't they blooming beautifully?? Does any one know the name of that blue "flower ball" plant??

New job, New routine

2006-04-08T10:10:00.000+02:00

It has been a long while since I blogged, because I feel too beat (translation: lazy) everyday after work to do anything but hanging around. In a nutshell, I love my job, I love my coworkers, I am actually happy to wake up at 6.30ish to go to work (doesn't that mean something??)!!

My first two days were hectic, as I was bit sick (felt nauseous and ran a temperature) and had to receive an intensive two-day training (to get used to the database system and everything). I was not able to do anything after work, but bought home microwaved dinner and crashed out at 8.30pm. This week was better. I worked Monday through Friday, and have become more used to my new daily routine - get up at 06.30, head out at 07.15, return home at 18.30, and go to bed at 22.30!! I have been sleeping like a log lately, so I have a great 8-hour sleep every night, yippee (knock on wood)!!

Loads happened at work that I thought I would blog about them later. But now that I'm typing, I have lost the vibe already. Maybe it will come back later. What now?? It's Saturday and I'm in the mood for bumming around. Don't we LOVE weekends?? One of the great things about having a job is that, I could sooooooo enjoy weekends, haaa.

Wakey wakey

2006-03-30T05:03:00.000+02:00

My alarm was set to go off at 6.40am so I could grab a shower right after my man, then have enough time to get ready for my first day at work. But I woke at 4.30 this morning with a growling stomach and a sore back. I tossed and turned in bed hoping that I could get back to sleep again. But since I am now typing this post at 5am, need I say more??

I am now having terrible butterflies in my stomach because I have not worked for more than 1.5 years (1 year studying, 4.5 months waiting for my work permit, 2 months waiting for a job offer) already and I am very antsy about getting back to the working world. How to calm myself down?? Let's think about...paycheck, vacation, shopping spree, paycheck, paycheck...

Anyway, the weather is very not promising today. It's gonna be a dark and rainy day. But well, I'm in the Netherlands, so...GET OVER IT!! I just gonna bring a big umbrella to make sure that my makeup would survive intact in the heavy rain. You don't want mascara smeared all over your face on your first day, right?? Wish me luck, everyone!!

BRAT diet??

2006-03-29T10:18:00.000+02:00

My poor hunn has been suffering from diarrhea for 4 days (if he still has it at work today, after his 2-day sick leave, then 5 days in a row), and has been feeling weak all the time. He has lost 5kg because of the diarrhea and the super bland diet - either watery congee or soup and plain bread - I'm glad that he has not fainted on the bathroom floor. I'm desperate for another diarrhea diet, because my heart aches seeing my frustrated man eating his boring meal and aches more hearing his "bathroom" action.

Thanks laura for the heads up about the BRAT Diet to ease my man's diarrhea. I understand that BRAT is an acronym that stands for - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast. But how to make it??

Eat them separately - a yellow banana, a bowl of rice cooked in water, a bowl of applesauce without sugar, and a slice of plain toast??
Mash up the bananas, rice and applesauce to form a spread for putting on toast??
Mix and match the four ingredients to your liking, say blend rice and applesauce into a thick smoothy and have slices of bananas on toast??

I am going to supermarket to buy these foods anyway. I am so desperate that I would try anything that could save my man. If you have ever tried this diet and know how to do with these foods, please, PLEASE enlighten me!!

When I was surfing on the net for more information about the BRAT diet, I found a CRAM diet (Cereal, Rice, Milk) that is supposed to ease diarrhea even faster. It should be a CRM diet, right?? Where does the A come from?? It is said that milk is good for easing diarrhea because of the fat and protein that it provides. By the way, isn't milk the worst food to have when you have diarrhea?? I am confused.

P.S. I'm super duper busy today, because I have to do grocery shopping, hit the dry cleaner's, return DVDs, sort out my monthly train ticket, meet a friend for high tea, help the friend find a suit, and get myself ready for my FIRST DAY tomorrow!! Yes, I start to work tomorrow!! I am soooooo excited!! Please please please let tomorrow be a sunny day without any train delay, please please please!!

Sicky bum

2006-03-27T11:17:00.000+02:00

I'm on the look out for some diarrhea remedies to save my man, anyone??

Can you believe that the nurse refused our request for a doctor appointment after we had told her my man's symptoms - having diarrhea since Saturday (3 days in a row, man!!), bit vomiting on Saturday night, bit high temperature on Sunday, waking up in the dead of night to pass watery stools?? I checked out some sites about diarrhea and they all mention something like "If you have diarrhea for more than 48 hours and have temperature, consult your doctor." But how if your doctor doesn't give a ratass??!! %$&#&@!!

I bet it's time for some home remedies. The most basic remedy is to drink loads and loads of water/tea/soup in order to replace everything that is put out to avoid dehydration. I have found some remedies for diarrhea on the Internet. Buttermilk - to be taken with a pinch of salt four times a day - is one of the most effective and popular home remedies for controlling diarrhea, as the acid in the buttermilk could fight germs and bacteria. But the combination of diarrhea and butter"milk" makes my flesh creep, because butter milk reminds me of diarrhea's worst enemy - dairy products. I know, I know, buttermilk is different because the fat has been removed yada yada.

Okay, so buttermilk is out. What else?? Carrot soup. It feeds water to avoid dehydration and supplies sodium and calcium and some more chemicals. Carrot soup can coat the intestine to stop the tummy ache and to stop vomiting. Cook half a kilo of carrots in 150ml of water until they become soft, strain the pulp, add extra boiled water to make a litre, add a pinch of salt, and give in small amounts of the soup to the patient every half an hour. I think my mom used this remedy once when I was in elementary school, and I remember that it was a complete failure because when I was suffering from profuse diarrhea my siblings were poking fun at my "orange poo poo". But since my man is never that crazy about carrot anyway, this carrot soup would be used when other remedies are proved not effective.

An oriental home remedy - Watery Congee - was proved very effective, as it saved me from spending days on the pot when I was small. Fill a big pot with 4L of water, bring it to a boil, add half a cup of white rice, put the lid on, reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour, remove the lid, continue to boil over high heat until the rice is gone, and feed the patient a small bowl of congee every hour. As this remedy was my life saver when I was little (I had very weak stomach), I am giving this one a go to see if it works the same on my man. The congee has been boiling for almost 2 hours now, and I have been checking on it every 15 minutes (every 5 minutes when boiling over high heat). Believe me, you have to be very attentive and "devoted" to the pot or the congee will spill all over your stove. Let's hope my effort will not go to waste, knock on wood!!

SAHM

2006-03-26T11:05:00.000+02:00

Another incredibly stupid idea from the Dutch political party -

"A highly-educated woman who chooses to stay at home and not to work - that is destruction of capital...If you receive the benefit of an expensive education at the cost of society, you should not be allowed to throw away that knowledge unpunished...If someone chooses not to work, then a substantial repayment is in order." MP Sharon Dijksma, Deputy Chairperson of the PvdA's parliamentary party said. [from Expatica]

In other words, women with high educations (HBO or University) that do not work should pay fines to recover the costs of their public education, as they are not returning anything to the system that funded their knowledge. When they choose not to work, they have to be fined. I agree, fair and square. If a person chooses to be a bum and refuses to go to work, then the person should be punished. But these stay at home moms are not slackers, they give up their job to take up one of the most challenging jobs around - raising a family!! Have the party members reckoned that if kids are properly raised by attentive parents, the government may save up a lot in the cost of counseling problem teenager in the future??

I think stay at home parents should be praised for their selflessness instead. Do you think it's easy to be a SAHM?? I was holding Lianna's (my former supervisor) hand when she went through the struggle to be a SAHM. It's tough. She had to make financial sacrifices so the family has to live on only her hubby's income - bye bye luxurious vacation. The toughest part is the emotional sacrifices. Lianna had to give up the career that she truly loved and worked very hard for. Being a workaholic, Lianna was worried that she would miss work and would not be able to get back to the job market once she left. She was also afraid that she would lose her friends, who are mostly career women, as they might find her unworthy.

Lianna turnout chose to be a stay at home mom because she wanted to be there for her baby girl as she grew from a meatloaf to a little person. She also wanted that secure feeling of knowing that her baby was taken good care of. As traditional wisdom holds that having a parent home for the baby's first three years is the best, Lianna decided to give the first three years a go and see what would come along. It has now been two years already, and so far as I know of, Lianna is still telling everyone that it's the toughest but most valuable job in the world.

Do the party members still wanna give more hassle to these devoted parents?? Have a heart, man!!

Little doses of weirdness

2006-03-24T11:01:00.000+01:00

(Attention: The snapshot of my lovely "Easter tree" has nothing to do with the weirdness, it's just a pretty sight)

1. Peeping Tom

I freaked out last week when I saw that an apartment across the street had a webcam by the window, looking right at my downstair apartment. But as my man said the light of the webcam was off, we assumed that the webcam was just chucked there. But today I saw a bald guy carefully adjusting a surveillance camera (something like this), along with that webcam, by the window. You may say he does it to check who is at the entrance or something, but the camera is not facing the main entrance of his building. I am worried now. That apartment is on the 2nd floor and mine the 3rd, please tell me he couldn't spy on my apartment. Is that guy a creep or just a paranoia??

2. Zoenbutton

My friend told me about the zoenbutton (Eng: kissbutton) today. There are 5 kinds of button that tell people what kind of greeting you prefer - no kissing, kissing once or twice, or shaking hands. I would love to have that "Ik zoen je 1X" (Eng: I kiss you 1X) button, because I find the traditional Dutch three-time kissy too much. Imagine you're leaving a family birthday bash and you need to kiss everyone goodbye. There were 9 close friends and family members at the party and I gave out 54 kissy's in total (3 kissy's per person, and you needa kiss them at the beginning and end). Ain't that tiring or not??

3. Dog poop

Dog poop is a very popular topic on the expat forum. But I now am not gonna bitch about most Dutchies don't know how to stoop-and-scoop. What made me go ummm this time is - how can you let your dog poop at your door and not do a thing about it?? There's a pub round the corner and the pub owner has a big bulldog. Last time I saw the dog owner let his dog make a dump right in front of his pub, then they just went back in and left the "business" right there. Big dogs make big poop, you know. So there was a big piece of dog crap right at the door of the pub. Imagine a drunk walking out of the pub, and BINGO!! Ick...!! I could somehow understand why people don't give a ratass when their dogs poop by the bus stop or in the middle of a crowded street, as they could just walk away. But at your door??

YIPPIE!!

2006-03-23T12:42:00.000+01:00

My current mood: Like my lovely tulips -
JOLLY & CHEERFUL!!

Guess why?? Come on, make a guess.

Yes, I HAVE GOT A JOB!!!
Yes, I AM EMPLOYED!!!

And what's more?? I've got TWO JOB OFFERS!!!

HOORAY, the bitchy and bitter Miss Bad Penny has disappeared in a puff of smoke!! I actually got a job offer (let's call it Job One) and typed a post about it yesterday, but the post vanished into thin air after I hit the "Publish Post" button. But well, I had too good a mood to bang my head against the computer and bitch about my bad luck. I instead went "Awww, that's too bad, anyway", left the computer, and enjoyed being a couch potato with my lovely bottle of red for the rest of the night. Happy drinking is gooooooood.

I woke in the dead of night yesterday (this morning, I should say) and stayed sound awake from 2am to 5.45am. I finally crawled back to bed at 6ish after I had dozed off on the couch. Then a loud bang woke me up at 9ish. My eyes and head were sore. I should be Miss Cranky Pants today, but I am not. Because a super nice email was waiting for me once I turned on the computer. I got another job offer!! My oh my!! I've got this job (let's call it Job Two) that I would work with the two very nice and friendly women who interviewed me. When I knew that I got Job One, I was relieved and glad that the painful process of job hunting was over. But after I talked to this Job-Two lady and confirmed that I nailed the job, I was literally jumping for joy. I got the job!! I got this job that I really really like, that I know I would be really really good at!!

As I said last time, I felt really happy after the interview of Job Two because I loved the friendly work environment and could see myself grow in the position. When I was extremely desperate and didn't have a hope in hell of finding a job, I am suddenly offered two job positions!! Life is just full of surprises, eh?? I called everyone yesterday and told them that I was out of the jobless market and about the new job. And now I needa make the calls again to spread the even better news. I got not only a job, but a job that I could soooooo see myself in. Andy, you're right. Something will happen and something has finally happened!! Lisa, thanks for the support and hey I'm holding on to your coffee offer!!

So what's more for today?? I'm now blogging and doing my nails, so I'd just take it easy for a while until my nails are dry. I may meet up with a friend this afternoon to celebrate a bit. He suggested going window shopping to spot the stuff that I like to buy, so I would be all prepared once I get my pay check. Hahaaa. Then I'm going to this expat get-together tonight. So today is pretty much planned out.

Gosh, I'm still so very excited that I wanna scream my head off with joy!!

Recommended dose of Bitch

2006-03-21T10:06:00.000+01:00

Confessions:

I snap at those who ask me how my interviews went.
I am angry at those who give me an awwww-face when they know that I haven't got a job yet.
I hate those who ask me what I do with all the free time on hand.
I avoid get-together's to get away from all the questions about my job stuff.
I cry after get-together's.

In a nutshell, I am bitchy & angry & bitter & anti-social & very bitchy.

I used to be bubbly and out-going, what's wrong with me??

Is it my hormones talking or just me??

Top 3 hotel-room books

2006-03-20T10:47:00.000+01:00

My man and I have a habit of examing the hotel room once we check in. Looking into drawers, flipping all the switches in the room, checking out the toiletries, flipping through all the telly channels...Something was missing this time when we examined our hotel room last Friday. No Gideon Bible?! We had no interest in reading the Bible, but we did miss seeing it. A hotel room is never complete without the Gideon, right?? So we kept digging. We finally found a spiritual book on top of the telly - a bilingual Dutch/English copy of The Teaching of Buddha.

I always found the Gideon in hotel nightstand drawers, and once found a Mormon book in a hotel desk drawer in Hong Kong. It was our first time finding a Buddhist book in a hotel room, so we thought the Alfa Empire Hotel in Antwerpen must be the pioneer of replacing the Gideon with a Buddhist book. But my friend found only a copy of The Teaching of Buddha at her hotel room in Hilton too. Ummm. Since when has Buddhism become so popular with Belgian people??

I was burning with curiosity - has this little Buddhist book become the next favorite hotel-room spiritual book and replaced the famous Gideon Bible?? I googled The Teaching of Buddha this morning and found out that this book has found its way into hotel room drawers in Antwerpen and around the globe for years already. Apparently loads of copies of the Buddhist book has been donated to hotels by the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, BDK), founded by a Japanese industrialist 20-something years ago. So next time when you stay in a hotel, look in the nightstand drawer to see what you can find - the Gideon / the Book of Mormon / the Teaching of Buddha??

From Thursday to Sunday

2006-03-16T22:48:00.000+01:00

I went to the interview today. Since I had that bad experience with NS, I decided to head out earlier and enjoy a nice cup of tea at the station cafe while waiting for the bus. When I thought everything was peachy, bad luck approached again. I broke out in a cold sweat when the 10.12 bus did not show up. Thank god I'm such a paranoiac that I planned to take the 10.12 bus to arrive 15 minutes earlier. So then I waited for the next bus which, according to the 9292ov site, would leave me exactly 5 minutes to walk to the location and arrive "right on time".

While I was keeping my fingers crossed and hoping against hope that the bus would arrive on time, I went to check out where the train taxi stand was, just in case if the bus's a no-show and I needa cab it. Waiting and waiting and waiting. THE BUS IS HERE!! Got on the bus, stared at the clock, and hoped the driver would take off according to schedule. THE BUS TOOK OFF RIGHT ON TIME!! When I was weeping for joy, the bus slowed down. Guess what?? The bridge was up and the red light was on. WE WERE STUCK!! The 3-minute wait was sheer torture. When the bus finally moved again, guess what next?? Two red lights in a row!! What the heck?? I was so close to have a nervous breakdown right there, I kid you not. One more turn, and there - I ARRIVED!!

Checked the time and I had only 2 minutes to walk the 5-minute distance (I needed to walk around the car park to get to the main entrance). I missed the interview last time because of the retarded NS delay, I couldn't and shouldn't be late this time. So I started running. It was not that easy to take to my heels when my heels were like 2.5-inch high!! So what I meant by "running" is - did a bit of "granny jogging" then walked a bit then jogged again. While I was running like a headless chicken, I looked up and saw the security camera staring right at me. Yes, the little red light was blinking. I could sooooo see the security guys pointing at the monitor and laughing their heads off. But hell, I couldn't bother that much. I need to get there at 11 sharp!! When I was 10 feet away from the main entrance, I started walking properly again and tried to catch my breath. I walked to the receptionist and the clock said...11.00AM!! YAY!! Now, do I still need to explain to you why I tend to get in a sweat about taking public transportation in the Netherlands??

The rest of the interview?? It went alright. I felt happy after the interview, because the two interviewers were very nice and friendly. They seemed pretty satisfied with my answers and responses. They even gave me a grand tour of the building. Now just gotta wait and see. I have another interview tomorrow. Yea, the companies seem to have some sorta agreement - they would both either ask me for an interview in the same week or not invite me at all. I have already read the job description again, made some jottings about what must be emphasized or mentioned during the interview, tried to predict some difficult questions and to answer them, and picked the clothes and heels. I think I'm all set.

You wanna wish me good luck with the travel tomorrow?? That's okay, I bet I don't need much luck this time. Because the only transportation I need tomorrow would be my feet. The place is only a 10 to 15 minute walk away, so I don't have to pace up and down all morning worrying if there would be delays. I am so very looking forward to tomorrow night, because I am meeting one of my very best friends in Antwerp!! She's now on her 5-day business trip and would spend a night in Antwerp before heading off to London and Paris. Since the last train from Antwerp to Rotterdam is 21.40, my man and I would crash at a hotel tomorrow so I could chat away with my friend. My best friend, Mexican dinner, Frozen margarita's, and Breakfast buffet the next morning. How can I not look forward to it?? Then back on Saturday late afternoon or night (would like to visit the Antwerp zoo if the weather is good), and have a Dutch birthday bash to crash on Sunday. What a busy weekend!!

Big sigh

2006-03-14T13:01:00.000+01:00

To quote this British guy I talked to at the station,

"The NS is one of my bloody pet hates!!"

I hate NS.

I freaking hate NS.

They promised the moon to boost the efficiency and quality of their train services when they raised the price of train tickets. Have they kept the promise?? NOOOOOO!!

I am freaking pissed now because I couldn't make it to a job interview today as the Rotterdam Centraal station suddenly shut down for like an hour this morning. According to the train planner, I should get the train at 11.30am so I could arrive 15 minutes earlier to prepare myself for the interview. But as being such a paranoid person, I arrived at the train station at 11am instead. My plan was to arrive even earlier and grab a quick coffee to calm my nerve. I could already smell trouble once I arrived at the R'dam station, as all the trains are having 20- to 40-minute delay.

I grabbed the train ticket, went up to the platform, and heard the announcement that no train was arriving or departing due to some technical problems. %#@#&!#%#!@?!!!!!! I patiently waited and waited, and was hoping against hope that my lucky bamboo could make miracles happen. But when it was 11.30am and I was still stuck on the platform with many other frustrated passengers, I knew that my luck was out. I felt like I had ants in my pants. If I couldn't get a train at 11.30am, I could never make it to the interview on time.

I called my boyfriend and asked desperately for other means of transportation. I could take a bus which would still make me 45-minute late for the interview. I could take a cab that would cost me a mint and may still be late as cab drivers in R'dam are not that familiar with the road in other cities. My man could come drive me there but I would still be late as he needed like an hour to drive from his work to R'dam station. I ran out of options, so I had to call and rearrange the interview.

The interview is rearranged, but I am still feeling so very frustrated. But hell, shxt happens and life moves on!!

A slight moan

2006-03-13T09:56:00.000+01:00

The weekend was mellow and seems to have flown by.

We did absolutely nothing but rented 3 DVD's on Saturday. Though we had planned to check out some balcony furniture at Gamma, the freezing weather was just a big turn-off for shopping outdoor furniture. My man and I have been saying that we gonna re-paint the balcony and finish the last coat of the kitchen's window frames. But again, blame the rainy/snowy/chilly weather!!

Sunday was a smiley day as we had to put on our smiley faces to visit my man's family. He was annoyed by his two siblings, while I was irritated by all the questions and suggestions about my job hunting progress. Four people in that house asked me if I got a job yet, so I had to admit defeat that I still don't have a job. I said that out loud four bloody times!! As I have been in denial lately, the admission of my jobless situation triggered off a wave of shame. I broke down once we got home, and allowed myself to cry my heart out for 10 minutes. I had a nightmare last night that even the dog asked me if I had any luck in job hunting, I kid you not.

But life has to go on anyway. There would be a big-ass family party in May as it is the 60th anniversary of my man's grandparents. All the close and distant relatives would be there. I had been feeling so paranoid and was convinced that those people would see me as a loser, who is jobless and speaks Dutch with a funny accent. But hell, I'm just going through a sticky patch and I shouldn't get myself down. My theory is: If I don't feel good, I have to look good!! So I have made a promise to myself - if I can nail down a full-time job or a 300 euro freelance project by the end of April, I would buy that 60 euro dress that I spotted at Zara.

By the way, my friend got me that bunch of flowers last Friday. Anyone knows the name(s)?? Though I don't know their names, but they look pretty cool and tough. One down side is - they keep losing some tiny pointed leaves.

Bit of luck

2006-03-10T15:08:00.000+01:00

I bumped into this lucky bamboo pot yesterday when I was wandering around downtown. It immediately charmed its way into my heart after I had read the little instruction card -

Much light, no direct sunlight - Water regularly - The soil must not dry up - Loves to be sprayed - Keep at room temperature

Only water and indirect sunlight!!

When I asked the florist which one to choose, he talked up a storm in great enthusiasm. Put it in a nutshell, choose one with a bright green color and healthy leaves (no yellow or brown leaf tips). He also gave me a tip to water the lucky bamboo with dirty aquarium water. I bet the lucky bamboo must love the microscopic stuff that builds up in the water. Try it if you have goldfishes.

He's apparently a Fengshui fan as he started explaining to me why it is called "lucky bamboo" and how to "use" it. The lucky bamboo is a symbol of luck and success because of its rapid growth and amazing strength. When I told him that my mother-in-law actually killed two lucky bamboo arrangements already, he explained that the lucky bamboo had probably sacrificed itself to screen her from some bad luck. I don't know if it's really the case, but it's definitely an interesting perspective.

This reminded me of my backpacking trip in Thailand, when an old monk gave me a red string. It was an interesting experience, as I was wandering round the temple with my friend and was stopped by the monk. He gave me a red string (my friend even asked for one but the monk refused to give him one), tied it round my wrist and told me that it would protect me from bad luck. He also warned me not to re-tie the string if it was broken, as the string would be carrying the bad luck. The string was broken that night, so I followed the instruction (as I had heard so many mysterious stories about Thailand at the hostel, better be safe than sorry) and chucked the string. I still wonder if anything bad would have happened if I had kept the string instead.

Anyway, the florist also told me that different numbers of bamboo stalks symbolize different kinds of luck. 2 stalks for love, 3/6 for happiness, 5/7 for health, 8 for wealth, 9 for general good fortune, 21 for blessings. He said that since my arrangement had 18 stalks, it symbolized a "double good fortune". I may not believe in Fengshui, but I sure love the idea of having a double good fortune sitting at home. Maybe this lucky bamboo would bring me a good job, hahaa.

Vigorous cleansing

2006-03-08T08:05:00.000+01:00

I am sending my dad a bath brush all the way from the Netherlands, because he is super picky about his bath brush. He has been using, and constantly bitching about, this bath brush for like 15 years. Can you believe that a bath brush could have a lifespan of 15 years?? I always bought him a bath brush as a souvenir from my trip - he got bath brushes from Whistler, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, Belgium - in hopes that one of them could satisfy him, but all of them ended up in the trash after a week.

My dad explained that the loofah grew mildew, the boar bristles frayed easily, the handle was too short, the wooden handle was too straight, the plastic handle was too slippery, and the nylon bristles were too soft to give him a "vigorous cleansing" massage in the shower. He tried them, complained about them, chucked them out, and went back to his 15-year-old bath brush. My mom complains that the old bath brush looks ugly, but my dad says it serves him the best. GRRR. This Dutch bath brush is a cheap one, but its bristles are extremely stiff. Let's hope this would be the winner, fingers crossed.

Retarded me

2006-03-06T10:22:00.000+01:00

I'm super duper pissed now!!

One of the employment agencies sent me an email and told me that they couldn't further my application because my work permit would be expired soon in April 2006. I panicked because I'm dying to work. And I really can't afford to be screwed up by mishandling my work permit stuff. You must wanna ask me why I don't ask for a visa extension earlier to play safe, eh??

Here comes the part that triggers all my anger. The day when I collected this precious identity card from the City Hall in Dordrecht, I asked specially for the date that I should ask for an extension. If my memory serves me right, the conversation went like this -

(Me: Me, of course; GO: Government official)

Me: Just to be sure, when should I come back for an extension??
GO: That (pointed at the expiration date on my card and looked at me like I was an idiot).
Me: Ummm...so I should ask for an extension on April XX??
GO: Yea.
Me: Can I ask for one earlier??
GO: No, on April XX. Snap je dat (Eng: Do you understand)??
Me: Ja, kom ik terug bij April XX dan. Bedank en dag!! (Eng: Yea, I'll come back on April XX then. Thanks and bye!!)

But today when I surfed on the IND site and checked for information about visa extension (in order to get back to the employment agency). It is stated that a visa extension should be applied THREE MONTHS BEFORE the expiration date. What the...???!?!?!?!?!!?! I don't know if I should be pissed at the official for giving me the wrong information, or myself for counting on her words when Duth government officials are infamous for not caring/knowing much about their work.

Why am I so freaking stupid?? Why didn't I double check the information?? I didn't play safe, and I now am a sorry sight. Lesson learned!!

Equations in life

2006-03-05T10:25:00.000+01:00

WARNING: This is one of the spam mails in my mailbox!!

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + Smart woman = Romance
Smart man + Dumb Woman = Affair
Dumb man + Smart woman = Marriage
Dumb man + Dumb woman = Pregnancy

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + Smart employee = Profit
Smart boss + Dumb employee = Production
Dumb boss + Smart employee = Promotion
Dumb boss + Dumb employee = Overtime

SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

Bookworm alert

2006-03-03T11:52:00.000+01:00

Since it's freezing cold outside and I am stuck home, I've got my nose in a book.

My latest addiction is a Dutch children book - Jip en Janneke. I got the book second-hand. It is an older edition of the third book of the Jip en Janneke 1 t/m 5. The book is composed of short stories of two Dutch kids, Jip and Janneke, and each story is accompanied by a black-and-white picture. As the stories are pretty short, I'm reading 2 to 3 stories every night before bed. I'm actually reading the stories out, so my man could correct my pronunciation. I'm having a blast imitating the voices of little Jip en Janneke, and my man is having loads of fun watching my emotion-full facial expressions.

I would go on a Nicci French marathon once the books (Beneath the Skin, Secret Smile, and The Safe House) arrive. I received a confirmation email that the books were sent on March 02, so they should be here by the end of today. I just love BOL, because their book prices are lower and they deliver. I am keeping an eagle eye on their site, as they always have some cut-price books. Last time I got Nicci French's The Red Room (hardcover, baby!!) 1/4 the usual price!! I'm having an eye on Zadie Smith's On Beauty, let's see if it would be on sale after my Nicci French marathon.

Snow VS Spring

2006-03-01T11:19:00.000+01:00

I went snowblind this morning once I drew the curtains in our bedroom. It must have snowed overnight that a blanket of snow covered the ground. When I was longing for March and thinking that March would be the time when spring kicked in, I was proved wrong by a super snowy morning on March 1.

Though I ain't a big fan of snow or winter, I gotta admit that I had fun watching people fighting against the heavy snow and fierce wind on the street this morning. I was super amazed by a girl who was holding an umbrella plus two big grocery bags while riding on her bike. Dutch people are good at riding bikes because they could do a lot of stuff while biking. Say, talking on mobile phone, holding an umbrella, carrying many grocery bags, transporting a desktop computer, yada yada. Oh and when they're drunk off their ass, they could still ride a bike (though there have been accidents like bumping into a lamppost or tripping at the curb). I bet I should really learn to ride a bike in order to be well integrated with the Dutch society. But well, I've been saying this for the last 19 months already. Why am I still not riding a bike?? Ummm...I've not found a good teacher yet / I'm traumatized by a bicycle accident I saw on telly / It's raining / It's cold out there / I'm not feeling well...I'm good at producing excuses, hahaaa.

I planned to go shopping with my friend today, but we've just called it off as for us the freezing cold weather and dirty snow on the road are the ultimate turn-offs. My friend decided to go back to sleep, so I just gonna bum around at home - working on the freelance, catching up on my reading, and cooking up a storm later. I think I'd make meatloaf tonight for old times' sake. I wanna use my mom's secret ingredient - Heinz 57 Steak Sauce. But since I couldn't find it anywhere in the Netherlands, I'd use HP Sauce instead. Steak sauce is steak saurce, right?? And since this would be my man's first try of meatloaf, he can't compare anyway. I'm safe.

Oh by the way, I got some special tulips, that don't really look like tulips, yesterday. My Dutch man even asked me what kind of flowers they were. I thought tulips are Dutch, no?? I think I've got some "Pink Emperor Tulips" this time. But I prefer to call them "dwarf tulips" because they have large flowers but short stems.

What's up with me and pink color these days, by the way?? I've never been very fond of pink, but these pink flowers just really caught my eye at the florist.

Smell a rat

2006-02-28T10:48:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow is already March 1, when would-be immigrants (from outside the European Union) have to take an integration exam - to test their ability to speak Dutch and to gauge their understanding of Dutch culture - in their home country prior to coming to the Netherlands. And have I mentioned that the Dutch language test would be taken over the phone??

An automatic speech recognition system would carry out the exam, to be exact. In other words, the computer would decide whether the candidate can use everyday Dutch language and speak fluently enough. If the computer detects mistakes in your Dutch pronunciation, your application could be refused then and there (good luck lodging an appeal against the government's decision). I think the candidates should first find out what kind of accent the computer speaks with. It would be such a pity if you speak fluent Dordt but is failed because the computer speaks fluent Amsterdam, you know. I would prolly fail the test if they ask me to pronounce "lampje", because I couldn't shake off the Dordrecht accent that I accidentally picked up from my in-laws - I would pronounce the word as "lampie" instead of "lamp-je".

But the Dutch government is being so kind to have produced some study materials, in order to help would-be immigrants prepare for the exam. First lesson: Things are expensive in the Netherlands. According to the website Naar Nederland, would-be immigrants have to first spend 63.90 euros on the study package - a "Coming to the Netherlands" DVD, a photo album and an audio CD. For the very determined candidates, you can spend another 47.50 euros on an extra package to practise more for the language test. That's not all, you also have to pay 350 euros to take the examination. If the computer says that you're not prepared enough for the Netherlands, another 350 euros for another exam please or bye bye Dutchie.

Do you know what are in the video to give would-be immigrants better insight into life in the Netherlands?? The highlights of accepted behavior in the Netherlands include - images of women sunbathing topless on the beach and of gay marriage. My very-proud-to-be-gay friend (as he calls himself) George suggested the Dutch government use a gay guy as a national mascot, as homosexual relationships are always mentioned in integration exams. He would definitely volunteer himself for the job.

Another thing that I would like to poke fun at is the criteria of the Dutch culture test.

The Knowledge of Dutch Society examination tests whether you have watched the film and learned the questions.

I bet a 60-minute (or less) video is all the Dutch society is about, huh??

I am also amused by the step-by-step instruction on how to prepare for the Dutch culture test, part of it is like

1. Watch the film in your own language as often as necessary
2. Afterwards, watch the film again, but now in the Dutch language
3. Watch the film per theme in your own language and then in the Dutch language

Dunno why but this reminds me of one of the scenes in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, when people were brainwashed after watching a video over and over again. Maybe you would see a secret message from the "Coming to the Netherlands" video after you have watched it as instructed. What would the message be??

"Vote for Verdonk"??
"Verdonk kicks ass"??

I should definitely ask Carola about this, as she has to take this integration test next year in a hope to be with her Dutch boyfriend, whom she met when she was studying in the Netherlands. Why next year but not sooner?? Because they are both saving their thighs for the loads of legal fees later on. Long distance relationship, together with hindrance from the government, make a stronger couple - if they could finally make it, so to say. Bless them!!

Some murders

2006-02-27T11:15:00.000+01:00

It was a great weekend. My man and I both had our beauty sleep - he didn't wake at 5am and I didn't wake several times from bad dreams during night - and felt refreshed. My hyacinths were happily blooming during the weekend. Two of the hyacinths are having babies, see the tiny lump near the end of the stem??

It was a typical Saturday shopping day - grocery and entertainment shopping. We got some DVDs and a board game - Rummikub - for the weekend. I also made a MonChou tart for the weekend. It's not as cheesy as I want it to be, but it could stop my craving for cheesecake. Try it with fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup, and you'll be hooked on it.

We also did window-shopping at a pet shop on Saturday, as I really want to have a pet. I want a dog badly (as I had four Great Danes in Canada), but we're afraid that we won't have much time for the dog once I work again. My man suggested I have a bunny/bird/hamster/guinea pig. But all the suggestions were rejected - I had bad experience with my pet bunny when I was small (it died a coupla months after I bought him), I am afraid of the sharp beaks, hamsters bite and stink, and I don't like guinea pigs. You wanna suggest a pet cat?? Another No, because my man doesn't like cats and I'm afraid of cats, as I was badly scratched by my neighbor's nasty cat when I was small.

Since almost all the four-legged animals are out, I'm thinking of having a pet goldfish. We saw some lovely goldfishes at the pet shop, but we're having doubts - my pet goldfishes died a coupla weeks after I bought them when I was around 8, and I want only 2/3 goldfishes in a glass bowl but my man wants to "do it right" and have an aquarium. Should I run the risk of killing the innocent goldfishes??

Speaking of killing the innocents, my drop-dead gorgeous flowers just dropped dead this morning. I have been following the instruction closely and giving the flowers only tinky bit of water everyday. Why are the two of them dead?!??!!?!!

If anyone knows how to take care of this kind of flower, please drop me a line. I really like them because they are like professional models who pose elegantly 24/7. And don't you just love its variety of pink??

"Blue Grape"

2006-02-23T12:36:00.000+01:00

I got some Grape Hyacinths (Dutch: Blauwe Druif) last Saturday, and now they're coming into bloom!!

Grape Hyacinth, or Muscari Armeniacum, is a flower that screams spring. But how come it always snows when my spring flowers are in bloom?? It got bit warmer last Saturday, then the temperature drops again today. Grrr, I'm longing for the spring weather.

But anyway, as said before, I don't have much of a green thumb. So I 'consulted' my florist and surfed on the Net for a tip about taking care of grape hyacinths. I love this flower even more now as it's such an easy plant - it only needs to be watered once a week (water more often if you prefer super long foliage).

Sometimes you just gotta do something to get yourself out of the black mood, right?? My flower therapy is working like a charm with me (or just the end of my evil PMS). Hyacinths by the window, grape hyacinths by the couch, and tulips on the dining table. Doesn't my florist love the jobless me??

Guess what Dutch would do

2006-02-22T00:50:00.000+01:00

George came over for a little chit-chatting before his class today, and we did an inburgering test/game (I'm not sure if I could really take it as seriously as a test, that's why I use "test/game" instead) on the Internet.

I, an expat who has lived in the Netherlands for less than 2 years, scored 3.8 while George, a Dutch boy who has lived in the Netherlands for 24 years, scored 3.0. I answered 20 questions correctly out of 36 and George 16. It's such a shame that a newcomer actually beat the Dutch boy!! Though I had a higher score, we were both told "u bent niet 'ingeburgerd'" (English: You're not integrated). Some "bekende Nederlanders" (English: Known Dutch), as shown on the site, scored less than 5.5. In other words, they didn't pass the test/game either. Then may I ask why immigrants are expected to know more than locals??

I find the test/game pretty useless, as many questions don't really have a definite answer. But we did get a kick out of it, as there were quite some 'interesting' answers. Mind you, Dutch are expected to do what is said in the answer when they come across that situation. But do they really do that?? Ummm...

Q: What should you do when you know that your neighbor has just had a baby?? A: Put a greeting card in the neighbor's mailbox

Well, my mom-in-law didn't do much when her neighbor had a baby last year (she literally hates her neighbor's guts, as they always smoke pot and play loud rock music in the back garden). So should my mom-in-law be considered non-Dutch after she has spent 52 years in the Netherlands??

Q: You are having a drink with a coworker at a cafe. What should you do when you see two men kissing at your next table?? A: Do nothing in particular

Ummm...George couldn't recall a time when he and his partner were not stared at when they kissed in public. He was once told to stop kissing his partner, by a Dutch housewife, by reason of the presence of kids. His response?? We're not even using tongue, come on!!

Q: You are pregnant. When should you seek medical attention?? A: Around the 10th week.

Really?? How come George's sister had an appointment with her family doctor when she was 5 days late and once she had a positive pregnancy test?? I can't really imagine any new mom-to-be be so patient and wait for more than 2 months, before she calls the family doctor for an apointment.

I'm glad that I did this test with a local Dutch boy who managed to give me tons of examples of what Dutch people did otherwise, to prove how pointless the test is. I wonder if those are the questions from the real inburgering exam that would determine if people are able to come here and live with their partner next year. We're now laughing at the uselessness and ridicule of the test, but do you know that people have to pay hundreds of Euros to attend hours of inburgering class and to do this test??

A bitter pill

2006-02-17T17:49:00.000+01:00

I'm DEPRESSED...YET AGAIN!!

I have been jobless for almost 6 months since I graduated with a MS. Many people told me that the first 5 months shouldn't count because I hadn't had my work permit yet. Okay, so I got my work permit in January and went to four job interviews since then. How did the interviews go?? I'm now still jobless, need I say more??

I went to like 5 interviews when I didn't have my work permit, and I got rejections which were backed by the main reason of the lack of my work permit. Believe it or not, I was even at a stage that I was negotiating about the salary and benefits. But once the company found out that I was still waiting for my work permit to be approved, boom, the deal was off. That's why I thought I could easily nail down a job once I have a work permit. But my luck is out, apparently.

Then I got another four rejections after I had got my work permit. What are the reasons then?? Let's see. The first one was not really a rejection, but I turned down their offer as they only offered me a part-time job. Not that I wasn't willing to work part-time, but I find it unfair to work for a coupla months and leave those young kids (aged from 2 to 4) behind once I get a full-time job offer. You need to be committed to early childhood education, right?? Young kids are very sensitive and very attached to their teachers/caretakers.

The other three were definite rejections. One of them told me that they were looking for a native Dutch speaker (a requirement that was not mentioned in the job advertisement), so my Basic Dutch language was not good enough for the job. I was pissed because if I had known about that particular requirement, I wouldn't even have applied for it to humiliate myself. Another one told me that I was overqualified for the job and they wanted a less strong person for their workplace. I was super pissed and confused, as you may have read about it here already. And I just received this last rejection today, and part of our conversation went like this -

...
Company: We would like to thank you for (blah blah), but we regret to tell you that we have chosen another candidate.
Me: Oh okay. But may I ask why I am not selected??
Company: Umm...because we are looking for a native English speaker.
Me: Ummm...(all confused) but I do am a native English speaker, as you could see in my resume.
Company: Well, how should I put it...You are North American, but we are looking for a native ENGLISH speaker, as mentioned in our job requirement.
Me: Like BBC English??
Company: I'm sorry.
...

Need I tell you more??

If Andy is right about that a company is now looking for me as hard as I'm looking for it, I bet the company must now be sobbing its heart out.

I'm so freaking tired of hunting high and low for a job and finding absolutely nothing. I couldn't help but start to wonder if I am good enough to find a job here in the Netherlands. I got two job offers in Hong Kong and one in Canada, and I turned them down because I believed that things would be alright soon. But would it ever be alright?? Am I being stupid to think it's gonna be alright soon??

SIGH!!!

I am in no mood to do anything, but I found DVDs of the first four seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (aka CSI: Las Vegas). I would give up surfing the Internet for a job opening for now, after I have spent the last 10 hours constantly "refreshing" those job sites in a hope to find a suitable job opening. CSI Marathon that is!!

I'm sorry for being so bitter today. Gosh, I hate my bitter self!!

Time to do some sport

2006-02-16T23:48:00.000+01:00

The 30-minute squash game made my ass, thighs and arms sore for the last two days. That's the result of not being the sporty type for a long while, I guess.

Believe it or not, I used to play a lot of sport in school. I was in the swimming team of my elementary school, the badminton team of my junior high, and the squash team of my high school. And now?? The only sport I do is to exercise on my stepper home. Though I have all the time to kill, I don't work on the stepper that often either - twice a week top. Oh and an alternative sport that I do once or twice a week - to train my biceps - is to carry the heavy groceries and to climb up the three flights of stairs with them. That always leaves me sore arms for a day or two. Lame, huh??

Since I felt so refreshed after the squash game, I think I should do it more often. My man is a squash beginner, but he picked it up real fast and almost kicked my ass at the squash court last time. Next time we would play real and keep the score to see who kicks whose ass, hahaaaa. Since it has been a while since I last did squash, I don't remember much about the squash rules. Here is to refresh my memory.

Basic Squash Rules

Squash is played over five games, the first player to win three games winning the game.
Each game consists of nine points, a point can only be won by the server. If a score gets to 8-8, the server offers the opponent to play to 9 or 10.
The red lines around the walls and across the bottom of the front walls indicate the court area (see squash court). A ball that goes on or outside of the red line is considered "out of court" and serve passes over to the opponent.
When serving the ball, the player must stand with one foot in the "service box". The ball must strike the front wall first between the out line and service line, then land in the opposing back quarter.
Players take alternate shots. The ball can be played off any wall as long as it hits the front wall and only bounces once before you hit the ball.
A rally is terminated when the ball bounces more than once or goes "out of court".

If the weather is not too bad this weekend (it is a 20-minute walk to the sports center), we would prolly hit the squash court again. Let's hope there won't be too much muscular pain next time, fingers crossed.

Ummm

2006-02-15T13:55:00.000+01:00

I'm in no mood for blogging properly, so please excuse my bullet-point writing.

- Got a lovely bouquet, together with an invitation to a romantic dinner the next day, from my man last Friday night.

- Celebrated Valentine's Day on Feb 11 (I had Dutch class at19.00 on Feb 14) at a Japanese restaurant. If you live anywhere near Rotterdam and love Japanese food, you should give Oyama a try. Great sushi and sashima (They were so fresh that even my man who always finds raw fish disgusting ate some without complaining a bit. Fresh sashima is sweet but not fishy, you know) for those seafood lovers like myself, and awesome grill food for those meat lovers like my man. Your grill food would be cooked on the big Japanese broiler pan in front of you. Watch out for the performance!!

- Enjoyed a long romantic weekend with my man from Feb 11 to 14. Ain't he a sweetheart?? He explained that the long weekend was to make up for the last two valentine's days, when we were apart (I was teaching in HK in 2003, studying in Enschede in 2004). We did absolutely NOTHING but were absolutely lovey-dovey the entire four days. Went out for a romantic dinner on Saturday, bummed around at home on Sunday, played squash and did grocery shopping on Monday, and went out for a walk on Tuesday.

- Got a rejection for the job interview I went to last Tuesday. The reasons this time?? Oh same old, same old. "We can't afford to hire a person who would outgrow the position within 6 months...You're a bit overqualified for this position...We need a less strong person in our office..." Oh yea, I forgot to mention that the other thing I did on Tuesday morning was crying my eyes out. I felt (and feel) so pissed about being rejected for being a strong candidate in the job interview. I was (and am) so confused - they found my character too strong and too forward for their workplace?? I completely broke down because I truely loved the job and thought I was perfect for it. But apparently not then.

- Had my first level-3 Dutch class yesterday. The teacher is nice and is able to explain the Dutch grammar. Oh well, most part of the Dutch grammar is still un-explainable, of course. But she tried to give us as many examples as she could to help us remember better. I have 19 classmates and only one of them speaks English. This definitely forces me to speak ONLY DUTCH inside and outside the classroom. Let's see if I could speak Dutch fluently in no time. Hahaaa, dream on!!

- Got a pleasant little surprise from my man last night. After he had picked me up from the metro station after my Dutch class, I found a "candle heart" in the middle of our living room. My sweet man used over 30 tealight candles and put them into a big heart. Happy Valentine's Day...to me!!

- And now?? I'm still trying to get over the rejection and to get used to not having my man around. I finished all the to-be-done housework and freelance tasks already, so I'm off to read a silly chick lit. I've gotta take a break from reading "A Million Little Pieces" as it's way too heavy for me at the moment.

P.S. Could anyone explain to me why the flower in the picture is called a "Parrot Tulip", as told by the florist??

Delicious beauty treatment

2006-02-10T10:17:00.000+01:00

I pampered myself with a yummy facial mask - Dr. Van Der Hoog's Mango Melon mask - last night, when my man was out playing soccer. Gosh, I needed some pampering actions badly to keep myself sane!!

It's written on the package this is an after-sun mask for that calms your skin after you have sat out in the sun the whole day. Though I had only several alarming encounters with the fierce snow and wind yesterday, I still put on this facial mask and enjoyed the delicious summery 15 minutes. I don't really care about beauty treatments and all that mumbo jumbo. I don't know if the mask really calmed my skin and made it softer, but what I do know is that the smell of the exotic fruit and the icy cold sensation helped me relax in full.

The night went like this - I lighted some candles in the living room, put on my Norah Jone's CD, put on the mask, lied on the couch, closed my eyes, and RELAXED!! It felt so good to just forget about everything for 15 minutes. After I washed off the mask, I crawled under the blanket and read my book in the romantic living room. Such pampering action always helps to calm my nerve, and so it did!! I read for another hour in the living room, then got cozy and watched telly in the bedroom.

I was very antsy yesterday because I had another job interview in the morning, that I felt so very frustrated that I didn't have the faintest idea if I did good enough as I couldn't read anything from the two interviewers. Plus I was hoping for the result of my Tuesday interview the entire day. Waiting is such a drag!! Waiting for the result of job interviews is the most nerve-wracking experience, I'd say. And the waiting process simply goes from bad to worse when I start checking my phone and email every 5 minutes. I always worry too much when I don't hear anything, then I would have a mood of deepening pessimism over the job and my entire life. Yea, I'm such a thinker, a pessimistic thinker as my man calls me. I know that being all negative won't help the situation, but I can't help. I seem to have this automatic switch in my head that controls my thoughts and feelings. Yea, smoejes (English: excuses)!!

But hell, today is another long day of waiting. It's only 10.30am and I've already finished my hair treatment. I need suggestions of some beauty/home projects for distraction, anyone??

My superstitious nonsense

2006-02-08T10:08:00.000+01:00

I'm dog-tired today, after I mentally beat myself up the whole day yesterday. I was stressed out and pacing up and down the whole day.

And now is the big question: How did the interview go??

Ummm...Ummm...Ummm...

There were some tricky questions, and some brilliant answers, and some interesting moments throughout the interview. But since I am such a superstitious bitch who believes that talking about or commenting on what happened during the job interview would jinx the whole deal, I'm afraid I would skip the details. But all in all, I did put my very best foot forward and got some positive comments. I now can just hope against hope that I would hear good news from the company by the end of this week, knock on wood!!

Other than being a superstitious dumbass, I am also a chicken. What if I turnout don't get the job, after I have blabbered on and on about my awesome performance during the interview?? Afterall I have been through five other interviews that I thought I had done great, and I am now still a jobless bum. I can't bear to humiliate and make a complete fool of myself by praising myself and turnout being turned down. And I am trying not to expect too much, because I know I really like this job so I would break down and cry like a baby if I turnout can't even get a second interview. Darn, stop talking/thinking about the job!!

Okay, I need distraction badly!! I may meet up with my friend to do some (window-) shopping, but the weather outside doesn't look at all promising. If it starts to rain in the afternoon, I may as well just stay in (as both of us hate walking in the rain), sip on my wine, and daydream about being one of these lucky bloggers who have got free flights from the Dutch tourism board.

Hyacinth, job interview and endive stamppot

2006-02-06T14:47:00.000+01:00

My hyacinths are in full bloom!!

I didn't kill them, and furthermore, they have grown into this perfect height - the stems are not too long so they could support the many little flowers. Last time I bought some hyacinth buds for my man's granny, and her hyacinths had such long and delicate stems that she needed to use some sate sticks to support them. The trick of growing indoor hyacinths is - watering the plant with only a wee bit of water once every 2 weeks. You probably wonder why I suddenly have a green thumb, eh?? Since I'm so afraid of killing the plants, I always ask the florist for advice and instructions. Better safe than sorry, you know.

Anyway, I have been having ants in my pants the whole day. I have another job interview tomorrow, need I say more?? Though I have been working on some freelance jobs, I'm dying to nail down a full time job. I know it sounds crazy, but I miss the time that I have to wake up early and rush to work. I miss dressing up for work everyday, and wearing my pumps again. I miss the time when I sip on my happy hour drink and bitch about work. I miss WORK!! What more could I do now to help me secure the job?? I've already nailed down an outfit and a spare one for the interview since a week ago. I reviewed and printed out the job ad yesterday, and have been rehearsing quietly in my little head about how I should answer the questions and present myself. I never gave a rat-ass to my interviews before, but I now have such a desperate desire (and need) to succeed in the job interview and hence secure a job.

I am now just two steps away from being sent to a nut house. I'd better go get my hands full to avoid thinking too much. Grocery shopping and freelance job, done. The only items left on my to-do list are - polish nails, iron clothes, make dinner, and vacuum clean. Oh so very domestic, eh?? Anyway, I bet by the time when all the items on my to-do list are checked, my man would be home already to play a board game/watch a movie with me. Oh, and below is an easy recipe of Endive Stamppot that a granny taught me at the supermarket this morning. I was able to carry on the entire conversation in Dutch!! Ain't I proud or what??

Ingredients:
500g Potatoes
250g Finely chopped endive
50g Grated cheese
20g Cashew nuts (optional)
Some Milk and Butter
Some Salt and Pepper

1. Wash, peel and cut potatoes into small pieces.
2. Boil potatoes in water with a dash of salt.
3. Drain and mash potatoes, then mix in milk, butter, cheese, pepper, and the endive.
4. Cook the stamppot on low fire until cheese is melted.
5. Mix in the finely chopped cashew nuts, and serve with meat.

Smell the coffee

2006-02-03T14:31:00.000+01:00

My friend told me today that he's going to "kick the bucket". My reaction was like "WHAT?!?!". Then he explained that he meant he's going to stop drinking coffee. I couldn't help but laugh my head off, and told him that he'd better "kick the habit" instead of kick off.

But anyway, he's telling me over my latte and his expresso that he's going to quit drinking coffee. Yea, right!! For your information, he is a real coffee addict as he drinks more than 15 expresso's everyday. I sometimes wonder how he could manage that, as I would already have stomach problem after my 4th coffee. That's why I drink only 3 small cups of coffee top everyday. Many of my friends drink coffee as to give their brain power a wake up jolt to be more efficient and focused, so they don't care about the quality of the coffee as long as it's not decaf.

I am not drinking coffee for the caffeine to be more alert and wired up. I enjoy the aroma of the freshly made coffee. Since I am the only one who drinks coffee at home (My man does not drink coffee at all, but likes to sniff at my coffee from time to time), we got a Senseo coffee machine that can allow me to make coffee one cup at a time. I love the traditional coffee machine as the aroma of the freshly brewed coffee is stronger, and I could smell coffee the entire morning. But since I don't drink too much, the Senseo one is much easier and I don't have to drink the over brewed old coffee.

But nothing can be compared with the Starbucks coffee. Why is there no Starbucks in the Netherlands??

"A tall almond latte to go please!!"

Just say thank you

2006-02-02T02:46:00.000+01:00

It is now almost 3am already and I am still up. It has been a while since I had my last insomnia attack, so it's about time for one again. I'm kinda losing sleep over what happened tonight - I sort'a had a fight with my man about his lack of appreciation/expression.

This is what happened tonight. I have been helping my man gather some information for work and volunteered to draw up a table for him. When I showed him the Excel file tonight, he did not show any bit of appreciation but simply suggested to change bit of this and that. I got bit fired up as he had not given me any information or direction before, and I simply made the table from scratch. After I had spent 3 hours putting bits and pieces together, he suddenly had some suggestions of changes to share?! I then told him about my frustration that my help seemed to be not appreciated and not wanted, as he didn't express any gratitude whatsoever but only suggestions/criticisms. Before you could say Jack Robinson, we were already having a heated conversation about our different attitudes towards saying Thank you / Dank u.

In Canada, it is like the custom to express gratitude and appreciation to those who help you in any way. Sometimes the absence of a "thank you" would be misunderstood to mean the effort to help was not appreciated. There are so many ways to express appreciation, like the campfire song Just Say Please and Thank You (I used to sing this with my kindergarten kids in the mornings, during tea time, and before they left school) -

Please open the door for me
Thank you, thank you
I can say thank you, I can say thank you
Now I know just what to do
Just say please and thank you

Please pour me a glass of milk
Thank you, thank you
I can say thank you, I can say thank you
Now I know just what to do
Just say please and thank you

Please give me a little hug
Thank you, thank you
I can say thank you, I can say thank you
Now I know just what to do
Just say please and thank you

Saying thank you is so effortless, but can bring along such a strong positive effect. We have also other ways to say thank you - say, sending thank you cards, giving small gifts (my mom used to give homemade sponge cakes, but I prefer bouquets or wine), buying dinners, etc. But sending a thank you card for a nice dinner would be considered over the top in the Netherlands, as I was told by my Dutch friends.

Of course I was not expecting my man to buy me a gift or something to show his appreciation, a simple thank you would already have done the job. But heck no, those words just didn't come out of his mouth. He explained that I should have known that he appreciated my help, so he didn't see the need of the verbal "thank you". Was he right?? Is it alright for couples to skip all the expressions of appreciation and gratitude?? Is "thank you" redundant in a relationship??

Flower power

2006-02-01T14:16:00.000+01:00

Don't you love my blush tulips?? This delicate pink color has brought a touch of spring in our home, while it's snowing and freezing cold outside.

Since I have been feeling depressed from time to time, I have developed a habit of decorating our home daily with flowers. In other words, there are always lovely flowers around, either standing on the dining table or by the window. I'm feeling pretty good today, and I would give the credit to one of my hyacinths - it's starting to bloom!! The plant has turned from green to a bit pinkish, my oh my, it's coming into bloom!! The lovely blush tulips should also take credit for kicking the depressing cold winter out of our home too. Our home is warm (thanks to the radiator) and spring-filled (thanks to the flowers)!!

I believe that colors have a lot to do with our mood. That's why I chose to paint our hall rusty orange, to give people a warm and welcoming feeling when they step into our house, and our living room soft yellow, to make us feel all snug and warm. But sometimes I could use some special colors to stimulate my sense and enhance my moods, and flowers are simply the easiest and most affordable way to add a splash of color and emotion in our home. Everyone knows that flowers can bring happiness, that's why we bring flowers to birthday parties and guys give flowers to their gals. But do you know that this could also be explained by science?? Yes, it's proved that flowers have strong positive effects - trigger happiness, good mood, and intimate connections - on our daily life!!

One of my friends got loads of books about flower and color therapy to help her arrange flowers in a way to calm her nerve as a busy mommy of four. She turnout got more frustrated than ever, by trying too hard to produce the "sample flower arrangement". I don't really care about color therapy and all that mumbo jumbo. The choice of flowers really depends on my mood. If I'm up for a touch of serene and romance, I would go for the combination of creamy and pink. If I want a sensation of intimacy and comfort, I would like something with the color of lilac and pink. When I want to arounse a good deal of passion at home, I would have something like spicy orange. But most of the time I just go for something cheap, hahaaaa!!

When life-size barbies meet socially-backward geeks

2006-01-31T11:20:00.000+01:00

Belle and de sukkel/Beauty and the Nerd has been our latest favorite telly show, that we must sit our butts in front of the telly every Monday night from 22.30 to 23.30 (from 21.30 to 23.30 for me, as I dig the ANTM show too). And Richie and Mindi (the pic on your right) is my favorite couple, as Richie is simply over the top 24/7 and Mindi is such a sweetheart towards her annoying partner.

Once upon a time, there were 7 attractive women who got by on their appearances, and 7 intelligent men with limited social skills, who lived in a house together, learning from each others' weaknesses and strengths.

The show is also known as Beauty and the Geek in the States. I just checked out the original site and was surprised to find out that Ashton Kutcher is one of the producers and there's already a second season showing in the States. It just showed the second last episode of season 1 yesterday in the Netherlands, that's why I got impatient of waiting for another week and started sniffing around for the result. I know that would ruin the fun of watching it next week, but this would at least stop my burning curiosity for now.

Anyhow, if you don't know about the show, I'll give you a brief run-down on it. Seven couples are formed - by pairing a geek with a hottie - and are expected to share their strengths to become a well-rounded couple. The couple that performs the best would receive a grand prize of 250 grand. The very first episode already caught my eye when the contestants were introduced - one of the gals works as a life-size barbie model and one of the guys is the chairman of the Dukes of Hazzard fan club. Can they be any more stereotypical??

This show is a so-called social experiment, that is composed of loads of silly but entertaining challenges. The barbies taught the geeks how to dance, while the geeks tutored the gals for the 5th-grade spelling bee. The gals had to learn about rocket science, when the guys about fashion. You may expect the guys be disgusted at the gals' stupidity, and the gals at the guys' dorky behavior, eh?? But turnout it's endearing to see the geek comforting the gal for spelling the word tattoo wrongly instead of insulting her. And it just makes you go awwww seeing the gals trying everything to encourage and boost the guys' confidence in social life.

How about another reality show of beauty and the nerd, when beauty is represented by hunky dudes and nerd by socially-inept gals?? Would it be of any interest to you?? The hot guys teach the gals about fashion and make-up...Wait, the guys have to be gay then??

As easy as pie

2006-01-31T08:09:00.000+01:00

Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards. I was a bit stressed out yesterday, so I made a dessert - Apple pie!!

Thanks to the easy mix from Koopmans, I didn't ruin my day further by messing up ingredients or whatsoever. Believe me, I baked a salty vanilla sponge cake before, as I mixed up the identical jars. I was such a smart-ass thinking that I could distinguish between sugar and salt without tasting them (My mom once told me sugar looks bit shinier than salt, but I apparently couldn't tell). Lesson learned, and I'm now using different jars which state clearly what is in it.

And now?? Baking a pie is really as easy as ABC!! My mom used to make her special apple pie from scratch. But since I am not a talented cook or baker, I prefer to spend 99 euro cents on the mix to enjoy tinky bits of the fun of baking and to have a promising outcome. Homemade apple pie with whipped cream on the side, who can beat that??

Baa baa black sheep

2006-01-30T11:05:00.000+01:00

"Baa baa," went Miss Bad Penny.

I never set foot in Hong Kong, where my parents are originally from, until I was 18. I did not live with my Chinese parents during my childhood and girlhood, in other words, I did not experience much Chinese language and culture. I moved to Hong Kong for my university study when I was 18, in a hope that I could find out more about my root and everything. I could already smell hell once I stepped foot in Hong Kong.

Don't take me wrong, I adore the wonderful HK lifestyle and the rich Chinese culture. My relatives were those who gave (and give) me hell. I was widely criticized by them for wearing revealing clothes, for not speaking good Cantonese, for drinking, blah. For your information, revealing clothes include tank tops and strapless dresses. I wore a strapless maroon gown to a cousin's wedding, in a hope to get rid of all those criticisms of me always wearing black (as black is considered an unlucky color). And turnout I was forced to cover my bare shoulders with a pashmina the entire day. Mind you, not all Chinese in Hong Kong are that conservative, but just most of my relatives - namely my mom's sisters - can't stand any bit of cleavage and flesh.

And for my bad Cantonese?? I started learning Mandarin and Cantonese only when I was 18, for crying out loud. And for drinking?? They only saw me down two glasses of red in a banquet and they already freaked out. I can't imagine if they bump into me in parties, where I always down several double vodka lime's (my all-time favorite). The younger ones, who are around my age, in the family are mostly goody-goody. That's why I end up being the black sheep of the family, accompanied by a cousin who smokes over 20 ciggys a day. I can see why he's the black sheep as he has been lazing around without a decent job and bumming everything off his parents for years. But why me?? I was always top of the class, I worked freelance and part-time to earn my tuition fee, and I have never bummed a penny off my parents. Why me?!

Excuse my bitterness, as I'm just off the phone with my relatives, who ganged up on me fiercely. I talked to all TWENTY TWO of them, and am feeling all exhausted (and pissed) after the 30-minute phone call. Today is the second day of the Chinese New Year, so I have to call and greet my grandparents. I caught the real bad time as EVERYONE was there having the lunch feast when I called. So the phone was passed around and I greeted everyone. Most of the senior relatives not only returned a greeting, but also lectured me on my attitude towards Chinese New Year and my terrible Cantonese. Thank god it's over!!

I just don't understand why my relatives can't accept me for who I am. I have never given them hell for speaking and writing bad English, why do they bother my imperfect Cantonese??

Happy Woof Woof Year

2006-01-29T09:23:00.000+01:00

Happy Lunar New Year!!
Kung Hei Fat Choy!! (Greetings in Cantonese)
Gong Xi Fa Cai!! (Greetings in Mandarin)
Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar!! (Greetings in Dutch)

That's a way to show off my knowledge of the four languages, ha!! Today is the first day of the Year of the Dog. Can you believe that today is also the beginning of year 4704 on the Chinese calendar?? Today is the day when people go door to door to pass on greetings to their neighbors and relatives. If you belong to the group of kids or singles, today (and the following coupla days) is the day to make money as you would be given loads of red money packets.

Though I ain't that fond of celebrating the Lunar New Year, the Chinese blood in me makes me feel restless today. Though I ain't doing anything special today - no festive decorations, no visits, no red money packets, and no traditional Chinese food - I woke up early at 8.30ish and gave my parents a call to greet them. It is the most important day for them afterall. The phone call was very short, as my parents were busy having afternoon tea with some relatives already. I'd leave them in peace today, as they are having a super packed schedule - visiting some senior relatives in the morning, having tea with some other relatives in the afternoon, and having 19 relatives visiting and having dinner feast with them at night. Believe it or not, my mom is cooking up a storm herself alone for the 19 relatives.

Anyway, wish you all a great Chinese New Year!!

Clean windows and yummy chicken

2006-01-26T20:46:00.000+01:00

I am so beat!!

All the windows are now squeaky clean, after I spent 2 hours wiping them with a wet cloth soaked with window-cleaner then with newspaper. Using newspaper to clean windows was my mom's secret trick, and it works like a charm every time. My anger has already went up in a puff of smoke, so I decided to cook a nice meal tonight - oven baked chicken drumsticks with cheesy cauliflower!!

I simply put a bunch of promising seasonings on the chicken and got this so-called recipe -

2 Chicken Legs
1 Cauliflower
Some Salt and Pepper
Some Oregano
Some Basil
Some Melted butter
Some Grated Cheese

1. Season chicken legs with salt and pepper, let it stand for an hour
2. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil
3. Prehead the oven to 220C
4. Melt butter in a pan
5. Place chicken in the dish, season with basil, oregano and melted butter
6. Bake the chicken for 10 minutes under 220C
7. Turn down the oven to 175C, and bake for another 10 minutes
8. Turn the chicken, and bake for another 15 minutes under 175C
9. Cut cauliflower into small pieces, and cook in boiling water with a dash of salt for 15 minutes
10. Drain the cauliflower and place them into another baking dish covered with aluminum foil
11. Sprinkle grated cheese on the cauliflower
12. Put the chicken on the cauliflower, and pour meat juice over the dish
13. Turn the oven down to 150C and bake the dish for another 10 minutes
14. Pour yourself a nice glass of red and BON APPETIT!!

The 14 steps may scare you off, but it's really an easy dish!! Come on, whatever I cook is for beginners. I didn't add any lemon, as my man didn't like it. But you should try to add a dash of lemon juice and lemon zest, as they go perfectly well with oregano.

A heated conversation over a latte

2006-01-26T14:16:00.000+01:00

I met George and his new boytoy for a drink today. I adore George, but man, he has a real awful taste in men. His ex was a psycho who kept a jealous watch over George 24/7 and went through George's stuff whenever he's out (e.g. He called on my mobile behind George's back and asked if I had something going on with George, while I was only a frequent visitor to the cafe where George worked at). And I met George's two in-between "boyfriends" after he had broken up with that psycho, both boys were blissfully ignorant but yet arrogant. One of them actually said something like he didn't know there were Asians in Canada (?!%#?!!). I'm just one of the zillions Canadian-Asians, you know.

But anyway, this new boytoy I met today is the winner as he totally got on my nerve. For your information, George has been helping my Dutch language by speaking Dutch slowly with me and correcting my mistakes. Mr. Boytoy immediately touched a raw nerve 10 minutes after we met, as he made fun of my accent and my grammatical mistakes. George kept shushing him, but it couldn't stop him from producing more insults about my Dutch. He really added fuel to the fire when he said that immigrants brought disgrace on "his language". What the heck?!

I got all fired up and refused to continue the conversation in Dutch. And by the way, the way I work is that - the more pissed I am, the more sarcastic I become. Need I say more about how sarcastic I became?? We spoke English instead, and I intended to make this little buddy's life a complete hell. I purposefully picked on his pronunciation, his grammar and of course his strong Dutch accent the whole time. And I mocked at him that he spent years learning English at school, yet still make huge errors and miss vocabulary. Then I compared my 1-year Dutch and his many-year English, and asked "Who brought disgrace on whose language now then, I wonder?? By the way, do you know the meaning of the word "disgrace"??"

I swear to god I am never such a mean bitch to people who speak English as a foreign language, because I was an ESL (English as a second language) teacher myself and I believe it's within your rights to make mistakes in your foreign language. But to this kind of jackass, who expects every foreigner to just pick up the Dutch language in months, you just have to teach him a good lesson. He just doesn't understand the hell we went through to learn their language, and doesn't appreciate at all our effort to blend into the Dutch society. This kind of people is one of the reasons why I sometimes feel hopeless about learning Dutch - I would prolly still have a non-local accent even after several years of study and would be a great target for them to poke fun at. As my British friend said, "We are the figures of fun!!"

But anyway, as what I told my man yesterday, I would only speak Dutch to people who show respect and appreciation for my hard work, say his parents. But for those who love to make fun of my Dutch language, say his siblings, they would be in my bad book. I would feel free to talk up a storm in English and not give a ratass if they could catch up or not.

I now need a small scale project to put this unpleasant conversation out of my mind. Why not the infamous spring cleaning?? Let's make the windows squeaky clean!!

I'm full of the joys of spring

2006-01-24T15:10:00.000+01:00

Bless the open market every Tuesday and Saturday!! Today I got a little pink-ish bouquet, three hyacinths, and a "rabbit plant" (sorry, don't know the name) from the market on the way back home from the university. I have always had a bad green thumb, but since I didn't kill the Christmas flower last time, I am giving these little plants a try. Bless them!!

The test at the university went well, and I would know the result in a coupla days. To put it in a nutshell, I had taken an entrance exam to level 2 which I found too easy, so I wanted to take another test to give level 3 a try but it took me three phone calls to finally have this test arranged. When I arrived there today, the receptionish sent me to the school director who asked me to give him a good reason why he should grant me another entrance exam. Since I was feeling bit sarcastic, I answered him, "As I have a MS in educational management and was an English teacher, I truly believe that the philosophy in education is to provide students the best to help them learn the most. Do you have the heart to not allow me to take the test, when I'm so eager to learn better??" We bursted into laughters and I was "granted" the entrance exam to level 3.

I'm so delighted that I did well in the test and I got these very pretty flowers, yay!! And this article and this one keep me amused.

Dutch code

2006-01-24T10:30:00.000+01:00

Ms. Rita Verdonk is the Immigration and Integration Minister who strongly favors integration (the hard way), and hence is out of favor with most expats here in the Netherlands. Her latest action is to introduce a "Dutch code of conduct" to further promote the Dutch identity, but her ideas were "absolutely rejected" by the congress. The linked article mentioned something about the Rotterdam code, that I have never heard of though I am living in Rotterdam.

I googled the Rotterdam code and found out that Rotterdammers should:

1. Be responsible for the city and for other Rotterdammers
2. Use Dutch as the common language
3. Accept no extremism and radicalism
4. Educate their children to be good citizens
5. Achieve equality between men and women
6. Achieve equality between heterosexuals and homosexuals
7. Respect different religions

What exactly is the use of having the Rotterdam code, when nobody knows about it?? How if the "Dutch code of conduct" is through to coming into force in the future?? Would it be just another bunch of beautifully written crap that is nicely stated on the government websites?? Or would people be arrested for speaking English or other languages on the street, and be sent to some sort of boot camp?? Excuse me, imagination has gone wild.

I'd better get ready now and head out to take another test for my Dutch course (long story, I may fill you in later this week when I'm through with the crap). Then I'm meeting a local Rotterdammer, who have been living in this city for more than 20 years, for tea later. Let's see if he knows of his duties as a Rotterdammer.

Doctors play God here

2006-01-23T11:35:00.000+01:00

Tip to survive in the Netherlands:

When you are sick and call your family doctor for an appointment, you should exaggerate your symptoms greatly to the nurse. If you need a referral to a consultant, you should be a big drama queen and agony aunt in front of your family doctor.

I visited my family doctor for the first time, since I had registered at his clinic few months ago. Don't worry, I am not sick, but I need prescription for my rash ointment and referral to an ob-gyn for my annual check-up.

My family doctor gave me a very bad first impression, as he started off insisting on carrying our conversation in Dutch, when I had explained to him that my Dutch language was not good enough for discussing about medical issues. But he didn't give a rat ass and kept blabbering on in Dutch. Mind you, he mumbled a lot and spoke real fast. I was real frustrated, because I need to know many Dutch words to explain to him my situation - I first need a prescription for my rash ointment as it's out, and then I need to consult an ob-gyn for my birth control pills to see if I need to change to another brand after a year and for my annual check-up to make sure the 4.5cm lump found on one of my fallopian tubes 10 years ago is not coming back. I don't know the Dutch translation of those words in italics, so need I say more how impossible it was for me to describe in Dutch??

After I had spent 10 minutes struggling to find the Dutch words and put them together, I gave up and explained in English slowly. The doctor seemed to understand me, but he then replied in Dutch. Since I couldn't understand everything, I kept interrupting him and asked for greater elaboration. After several attempts, I finally got a brief idea of what he said. I got my prescription and was told that an annual gyn check-up is not possible in the Netherlands. He told me something like the government would send each woman a letter to have a Pap smear once in five years, that's it. If I don't have the letter, he wouldn't do it even I offer to pay for one myself.

He also explained to me how ob-gyn works in the Netherlands - you go to one only when you have a problem. In other words, the ob-gyn won't see you unless you have some reproductive diseases or babies. He said even if I had found out about the lump and had had it cured in the Netherlands, I would not have had any annual check-up for that either. For your information, my ob-gyn in Canada strongly advised me to go back for a check-up every year, because the lump was found when I was 14 and it's likely to come back. I'm not going to the ob-gyn for fun, man?! After I insisted on paying a visit to an ob-gyn, the doctor finally gave in and wrote me a referral.

Our conversation turnout lasted for more than 40 minutes, when it was supposed to last for 10 minutes top. I left the office with my prescription and a referral to an ob-gyn, and feeling pissed and frustrated. There were also 6 antsy patients waiting outside the office too. I wonder if it would take up less time and do everybody a favor, if the doctor had spoken English instead. Should I thank the doctor for his effort, and furthermore his precious time, to help me learn Dutch??

A complete waste of time

2006-01-20T15:56:00.000+01:00

I sat at City Hall for 2.5 hours and I forgot to bring my book...ggrrrrrrrrr. I think I should first fill you in on the reason why I was at City Hall for so long. I need to get two things sorted out at City Hall - register my man and I in Rotterdam, and find out the criteria of the exemption of integration exams.

I failed both my missions someway. I didn't fail the first mission completely as I did get myself registered, but my man needs to sign out some forms and post them back later. It took me an hour for the registration process - I filled out two forms for both of us, waited for 20 minutes to have my number called, turned in the forms and copies of documents, was rejected for my man's registration, waited for 20 minutes for the lady to look for my sofi-number (I turnout have not yet had one), was given information about how to get my sofi-number from the tax department, asked for information about integration exams, was told to get another number at the reception, and left the lady's little booth in peace.

The second mission was a pain. I went back to the reception and explained to her I wanted to inquire about the exemption of integration exams. She gave me a number, I waited for 5 minutes (thank god it was not that busy by then) and was told by the gentleman to go get another number as the number I got was for other inquiries. The conversation with the reception was doomed to fail as she did not understand much English and had no patience to hear me speak Dutch slowly (She simply gave me a number when I was halfway spitting out the Dutch words, you think she was listening??). After I was sent back to the reception for 3 freaking times (I got three different numbers - K701, O010, and J669), I realized that I was on a wild-goose chase. J669 was the last number, because the official gave me the address of another department for my problem.

Did I go to that another department?? Hell no!! Firstly, I was so very annoyed and pissed already, and secondly, it was pouring rain. I can't be on another wild-goose chase, or I would be swearing up a storm. So I went back home and stuffed myself with a big plate of spaghetti. The hot plate of spaghetti covered with olive oil, salt, pepper and grated cheese worked like magic with the grumpy me. And now?? I am going to keep sipping on my red wine, be a couch potato, and do my nails (weird to say but this always calms me down and cheers me up).

Thank god it's Friday!! I'm having a haircut tomorrow at a new hairdresser's, bless my little cotton socks!!

Five pills left, what you expect??

2006-01-20T09:16:00.000+01:00

Jeez, I shouldn't have jinxed it by blabbering on and on about my better mood.

My mood swing has been going strong since last night, as I have been having crazy temper tantrums. Can you believe that my mood could shift from being pissed to upset in a tick time?? In other words, when I was just throwing a fit, I started sobbing there and then. My man has fallen prey to my major PMS, of course, I'm as guilty as sin. I don't even have a clue what I was yapping or crying about, I bet it's just hormones talking.

I hate this time of the month when I suffer from having a bad back and my man suffers from having a big bitch. I should stock up on the life-savers - candy bars and ice cream - for the weekend.

Another test to go

2006-01-19T13:50:00.000+01:00

I got a letter from the university about the entrance exam I took last Monday, and I was told that I could enter level 2 as I performed excellently in the exam. Since the exact grade was not mentioned and I had taken only 20 minutes to finish a 1.5-hour test, I called the university to further inquire about the class arrangement.

After I had explained to the guy about my situation, he helped me check the result and found out that I scored 97 out of 100. He explained to me that the paper I did was the entrance exam for level 2, so they simply put me through without considering the possibility of promoting me to level 3. I thought I explained well to the lady that I was not certain if I should be going for the level 2 or 3 class, and would like to take the test to find out what level I am. I bet my Dutch was partly to blame for the misunderstanding, as I tend to form clumpsy sentences and to speak in a weird/funny/bad accent.

It's funny that some people could understand my Dutch well, but some just shush me away. Like in my man's family, I could communicate well with some of the family members, included his mom, dad, aunt and granny. But when I tried to talk to his younger siblings, the communication simply couldn't work out. When I spoke Dutch, they either laughed or made fun of my accent, but never tried to listen carefully and patiently. Last time my man was so pissed that he scolded his sister for repeating and mocking every single Dutch word that came out of my mouth. I was trying to speak Dutch for their ease of communication, and turnout they not only didn't appreciate it but also gave me hell. What's the point of being a goody??

But anyway, back to the test. The guy told me to call the university again tomorrow morning to arrange an appointment for another entrance exam for level 3. Since the first class is starting this coming Monday, I've got to sort this out this week. In other words, I have to do the test tomorrow in a hope that I could find out the result in time on Monday. I wish I had asked for a more difficult test last time.

Another test or not??

2006-01-19T10:05:00.000+01:00

I have been asking around about this "inburgeringsexamen (integration examinations)" ever since I first applied for my visa. It has been 9 months and I still have not the faintest idea how the system works, as those "official" websites are only giving out very superficial information about the arrangment of integration. Let's see what I've got from the inburgering site -

Van de inburgeringsplicht zijn uitgezonderd...over bepaalde Nederlanse diploma's, certificaten of bewijsstukken van een bepaalde opleiding beschikken.
(My rough translation: The integration duty is exempted for those who have attained certain Dutch diplomas or certificates, or have had evidence of certain training in the Netherlands.)

Since I attained my MS in one of the Dutch universities, I wonder if I could be exempted for the whole integration crap. So I started looking for the criteria of the mentioned diplomas or certificates, say if the study program has to be conducted in Dutch. But I couldn't find out any further information from the site, and my email inquiry has not been answered yet. This is one of my questions, and another question is about the content of the inburgeringsexamen.

Het inburgeringsexamen in Nederland zal bestaan uit:
1. Taalexamen
2. Examen Kennis van de Nerlandse Samenleving
(My brief translation: The integration tests in the Netherlands are composed of - a test of your Dutch language, and a test of your knowledge of Dutch culture)

I have no problem with the language test, as I was told by some officials in Dordrecht that the content of the test is of level 2 (the 5 levels are clearly listed out in any institutes here). But I am not quite sure about the test of the knowledge of Dutch culture, as it could include a wide range of subjects. When I looked for the criteria of the test or some kind of sample test questions , I found none. I'm just hoping against hope that they are not those useless questions that even local Dutch people, who have lived here all their lives, fail to answer correctly. You never know about the Dutch government, they are full of surprises.

Money talks and my money always says goodbye

2006-01-18T14:03:00.000+01:00

It feels great to be out of the poverty-stricken hell!!

I just got myself another freelance project today, so I celebrated a bit by going on another small scale spending spree at Zara. Up to 70% off, who can resist?? I got a pair of short boots and a purplish top. I would have bought a lot more if the small sizes were not sold out. It's always a problem with end-of-season sale, isn't it?? But it's good that I couldn't spend a mint anyway, so I could save some for a rainy day.

Though I am still very conscious of being a jobless bum (working freelance doesn't count as a job, in my opinion), I have been feeling bit more light-hearted and less edgy lately, knock on wood. I told you in the last post that I didn't feel any better when I knew that my visa was through. But I just realize that the approval of my visa has actually worked wonders on my black mood. I now feel less unwanted and unwelcomed in the Netherlands, and hence feel less angry towards the bureaucracy and less regretful towards my man (as he's the main reason why I'm here). And since I now have a work permit in hand, I feel more hopeful when I go to job interviews. You know, when I didn't have a work permit, I hadn't a snowball's chance in hell to secure a job. So I felt even more depressed when I got the two job offers but was not able to accept them. I'm now just hoping against hope that there would be more job openings later this month.

My life is all sweetness and light again. Oh and another mood booster of the week - my Dutch test. Since I am signing up for a Dutch course in a university in Rotterdam, I had to take a test to find out my Dutch level. I had been told that the test would last for 1.5 hours, but turnout I finished the test in 20 minutes. When I turned in the 20-page paper, the Indian guy who was taking the same test was still working on his 7th page. I felt great that day, because I was told that my Dutch level should be either a high 2 or a low 3 (I still have to wait for a week to find out if I'm joining the class of level 2 or 3). When I always thought that my Dutch language was not going well (I still can't understand everything in Dutch and people keep telling me I have a bad/funny accent), I have actually improved so much in the last 6 months **a pat on my back** I bet this has a lot to do with my good mood lately.

But it doesn't matter if I'm feeling better because of the extra bucks or the new visa or the good test result. The all-important point is that I am less bitchy and won't make life hell for my beloved ones. I'm so thankful for having them there for me all the time.

A belated "Happy New Year"

2006-01-12T16:35:00.000+01:00

It was last year when I last updated this blog. How lame is that?? A lame belated greeting - Happy 2006!!

The highlight of this first month in 2006 is - I've finally got my visa (aka am able to work). I thought I would be jumping for joy once I had my visa. But turnout, my man heaved a sigh of relief while I only sighed deeply. One down and many more to go, so what?? I am such a depressant, huh??

Another highlight of the month - I got some freelance jobs. The extra bucks actually did the job and boosted my mood, as I went on a small scale shopping spree (Spending money is the best medicine for gals!!). It is a good month to earn my first income after so many months, because it is the January sales so going on a shopping spree won't cost me a mint!! I bought myself a pair of jeans, a black suit jacket, and a purse from Mango (70% off, man!!), and a pair of black pants from Zara. My friend bought me nail polish, a nice pair of earrings, and a big mug of gingerbread latte to celebrate the end of my hell and poverty.

Actually my new year has started off pretty well so far, eh?? Got my visa and made a fast buck, good things come in small packages. Many of my friends asked me about my New Year's resolution. It's a tough one as there are so much that I want/need to do - having a career, getting back into shape, starting my travel again... After I had ordered my thoughts for about two weeks, I've finally nailed down the one. Ladies and gentlemen, my New Year's resolution is to master the Dutch language. This is my very first priority in order to survive in the Netherlands and to understand my Dutch boyfriend's family (and furthermore, to let them understand me better).

I just went to a job interview that was conducted in Dutch. Not a bit of English used throughout the 45-minute interview. Believe it or not, I was actually able to understand quite a lot - around 70% of the conversation - and to interact accordinly. I was really really proud of myself, as the interviewer talked about literally everything - from job responsibilities to her view on Dutch tertiary education. Though I doubt they would employ me as my Dutch is still way far from fluent, I cherish such a valuable experience. I think the interview is one of the main reasons why I am now so dedicated to speaking good Dutch. I realize that I now can only choose from a very limited number of jobs because I don't master the Dutch language well (Dutch is still the dominant language in the Netherlands afterall). As I have decided to start a life here in the Netherlands, I must strive to blend in.

In order to achieve my goal, I have told my current Dutch teacher that I am stopping our lessons (when I spent most of the time chit-chatting with her in English) and am going for some more intensive Dutch course instead. I am heading to the language school tomorrow to take a 1.5-hour test to sign up for a class. I'm not all talk, you see.

Dutch don't quite master their language

2005-12-21T11:12:00.000+01:00

When I read this article today, I couldn't help but produced a big sigh and a sarcastic grin.

The Dutch is a complicated and illogical language, according to 60 percent of the Dutch people taking part in a new opinion poll.

If Dutch people can't understand well and master their own language, what's the hope for an expat like me to learn the language then (I'm giving myself excuses for my bad Dutch after all these months, excuse me)?? I was aware of the messy Dutch spelling system since last time when some local friends visited and argued about the spelling of pancakes in Dutch. Is it "pannenkoeken" or "pannekoeken"?? They told me that the spelling varied from time to time, and they could never catch up with the changes. I thought they were just kidding (or were trying to make me feel better about my messy Dutch language), but they are apparently not the only Dutch people who are confused about the Dutch spelling.

Last time my Dutch teacher told me that even local kids (my teacher is a former high school principal, so she knows pretty well) made mistakes all the time in their language, both grammar- and spelling-wise. I find Dutch spelling alright as I read newspaper everyday and learn the supposed-to-be most updated words (or I simply don't pay enough attention to find out the slight differences between words). But the Dutch word order...GOSH!! Need I say more how difficult I find it?? I'm okay with memorizing those known rules about word order, but why the heck sometimes the rules apply and sometimes not?! I hate those "special cases" that nobody could explain about. You know people, it's hard to memorize something when you can't see sense or logic in it!!

But well, I bet a language sometimes just doesn't seem to make any sense to foreigners. Because of the irregular verbs in English, my students used to complain that English language is bull too.

Student A: "Why is 'stole' the past simple of 'steal'? It's not 'simple' at all!!"
Student B: "You know what's the past SIMPLE of steal? Just add -ed, 'stealed'!!"

Oh my students always cracked me up!!

Waiting is a drag

2005-12-14T16:55:00.000+01:00

I hate waiting but, up till now, my life here in the Netherlands is filled with waits and long waits. I am now waiting for my work visa to be approved, waiting for replies to the tons of application letters that I have sent, and waiting for results of the job interviews I attended.

I hate this sense of uncertainty while I'm waiting. Why has the bureaucracy not replied yet?? Would there be more bumpy rides awaiting for me for my visa application?? Would they turn me down after putting me on hold for months?? Why do companies not reply to my application?? Am I not good enough for the job market in the Netherlands?? Or am I screened out because of the lack of a work visa?? Why haven't I heard from the company yet after the first interview?? Have they already rejected me but don't bother to tell me about the result?? Should I call to ask, or if I would appear too available and eager??

GGRRRRRRRRRR...

Sorry for being such a whiner. I am just feeling oh-so-very pissed off and antsy, because -

1. my recently-turned-in two documents for my visa application were not found by the officer this morning (She said that the bureaucracy might have got them already but needed more time to update the information, knock on wood), and

2. the company, that I went for the first interview last week, has not yet replied me (I called yesterday, as I was told that I would hear from them about the result early this week, and the interviewer told me that she had given all the information to the personnel manager who's supposed to hit me back this week)

I'm feeling so darn helpless now, as I can't do anything to hurry the bureaucracy up and I can't call the personnel manager to quicken her working pace. Thank god some guys are coming to fix the kitchen's walls tomorrow, so I could hopefully get these out of my mind as I'm too busy cleaning up the mess.

A hold-up

2005-12-13T11:17:00.000+01:00

Have I mentioned before that I was supposed to receive my work visa by October 2005?? Since I had not yet received anything (no visa and no explanation of the delay) from the bureaucracy by October, I made a complaint to the bureacracy about the delay. The bureaucracy is late for almost everything, but this time they replied right on time as promised - I received a letter from the bureaucracy concerning my delay a week ago. You must think that's the end of hell, eh?? That's a HELL NO!! They are holding me up for another coupla weeks (hopefully) by claiming in the letter that I had not sent in two of the required documents.

I am bloody sure that the two freaking documents were sent in together with my application, because the official there checked every single item in front of me before he signed for my application, and he even told me that I did a good job not missing out any of them. And furthermore, we made a copy of everything in my application envelop before I had sent them in, and those two documents are definitely in there. My man and I are guessing that either that official was careless and left out some of my documents when he sent the stuff to the bureaucracy, or the bureacracy is simply making up excuses now to cover their butt and to buy themselves some more time. What more could I do but sending in the "claimed missing" documents??

I sent the documents with certified mail this time, so I have a proof of whom in the bureacracy has received my mail, in case they make up stories again (you never know!!). Since the bureaucracy promised in the letter that they would react to my application within 4 weeks after they have received my documents, I need a proof of when they have received my stuff and hence when I should receive an answer from them. Sigh. The whole thing dealing with the bureaucracy is just so tiring and nerve-wracking, man!! Since Christmas and New Year is just around the corner, I couldn't stop wondering if the bureaucracy would give a ratass to my complaint and application during this holiday season...I tremble to think what will happen if I am held up for another months.

The best thing to do now?? I just have to hope for the best.

All Dutch speak English, or not

2005-12-04T22:26:00.000+01:00

Most tourist guides would tell you that as long as you speak English, you can definitely survive in the Netherlands. I'm sorry to say but it's simply too good to be true. Most Dutch people think that they speak English, but when you come into such kind of conversation...

Expat: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Local: Yes.
Expat: Could you tell me where the pharmacy is?
Local: Yes, yes.
Expat: You know, pharmacy? To get medicine?
Local: Yes, yes.

...then you'd have an idea how well their English really is. But to be fair, most people do speak faily good English in big cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam. But when you visit some small cities, like my man's home town Dordrecht, English won't come that handy. When you ask a local who does not speak any English, he would either pretend to be deaf and walk away, or carry on the conversation in Dutch until you give up and walk away yourself (Oh my, I'm oh so very happy that we've moved to Rotterdam. I can't imagine how it's gonna be if we had bought an apartment in Dordrecht, where I feel even more like an outcast there).

I just got a comment from an anonymous visitor (I wonder why people only comment anonymously on my blog), who reminded me not to mention too much details of my problems with the in-laws in case they found out this blog and gave me hell. Thanks for the reminder, but that's really not something that I have to worry about, as my in-law family is one of those that doesn't understand English much. My man's mom doesn't speak English at all, his dad could sometimes spit out an English word or two when I'm totally lost in the Dutch conversation, his sister speaks a bit more English (but whenever I speak English to her, she just turns and runs) but cannot read English well, and his brother speaks the best English among them (thanks for all the Hollywood movies with Dutch subtitles) but has reading difficulties in both Dutch and English. I doubt if any of them would read English in their spare time. So all in all, I'm safe!!

I was enthusiastic about learning Dutch at the beginning, as I thought that would help me communicate better with my man's family and would help them feel easier around me. When I started to pick up the Dutch language, I tried to speak Dutch to the family. It was all good with my man's dad and mom, as they actually appreciated that I put in the effort to speak their language. But with the siblings?? Gosh, my good intention turnout helps them not only feel easier around me, but also find a great source of joke - me. The sister couldn't stop making fun of my funny accent (Dutch is my fourth language, for crying out loud) and the brother kept laughing at my wrong grammar (when his Dutch is still full of grammatical error). It's sad to say but many Dutch people are like my man's siblings - when they find out that your Dutch is not 100% fluent, they would treat you with little respect. Can you believe that speaking Dutch and making an effort actually work against you??

Like my friend Mel (who went back to Canada several months ago, after sticking up for herself in the Netherlands for 5 years), she always tried to speak only Dutch to her neighbors. When her neighbor later knew that she had a PhD, the neighbor told her that he was very surprised, as he thought she was not very bright since her Dutch is full of grammatical error and such. That comment totally pissed Mel off, as she had taken a very intensive Dutch course and worked her ass off, but she turnout came off as uneducated and "not very bright"?! Those Dutch people just think that how we speak our 4/5/6th language is just the same as how we speak our first, huh?? You do need to be thick-skinned to survive as a foreigner whose Dutch is not 100% fluent, because you would probably wound up being treated with little respect and told to take more Dutch courses.

It's a big turn-off that people don't really reckon how much work I've done to achieve my level of Dutch now. I know my Dutch is probably full of grammatical error and my pronunciation probably has a funny/weird accent, but I've only been studying it on and off for like a year. As told by a Dutch friend, I speak better Dutch (as I need time to adjust myself to speak, and furthermore, think Dutch) after a 10 to 15-minute warm-up period. But believe me, I am always told to work harder on my Dutch language, right after I speak my first Dutch word. A bit of patience would be appreciated, people!! I'm seriously thinking of calling it quits now, after being poked fun at for so many times. But well, I've been saying that forever and it's still all talk and no action.

Dutch lesson at 2pm tomorrow. I manage to pick up the very difficult Chinese language, why not the Dutch too?? Let's just wait till one day I wake up with a fluent Dutch tongue...(excuse me, I'm still waking up from my Sunday beauty sleep)

Let's sing out

2005-12-03T03:01:00.000+01:00

I got this CD full of Sinterklaas songs for only 0.99Euro yesterday. I have been looking for a short song that I am able to pick up in a jiffy so I could surprise my man by singing the song in front of the radiator this Sunday night. After I listened to all 25 Sinterklaas songs, I've nailed down to a 4-line song named "Sinterklaas kapoentje".

Sinterklaas kapoentje,
gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
breng wat in mijn laarsje,
dank u Sinterklaasje!

I have no idea what "kapoentje" means, as I cannot find this word from my Dutch-English dictionary. The rough translation of this song is - "Sinterklaas, throw something in my little shoe, put something in my little boot, thank you Sinterklaas!" Since the song has a pretty catchy tune and easy lyrics, I bet it won't be too difficult for me to pick it up by this Sunday. I can't wait to see the face of my man when he hears me sing this Dutch Sinterklaas song. For your information, my man is never that much a singsong kind of guy and is never that fond of Sinterklaas songs.

When we spent my last birthday (only two weeks ago) at EuroDisney, I kept forcing him to teach me a Dutch song when we walked from the theme park to the hotel. He decided to teach me the song that he always sang to me on phone when I was sick and we were on a long distance relationship - Slaap Kindje Slaap.

Slaap kindje slaap
daar buiten loopt een schaap
een schaap met witte voetjes
dat drinkt zijn melk zo zoetjes
slaap kindje slaap
slaap kindje slaap

Though this song is composed of only four main lines, it took my man forever to teach me this song during that birthday weekend. It's my problem really, as I need to read the Dutch words in order to memorize and understand them. In case you don't know it yet, I am so much better reading than speaking/listening to Dutch. Now as I know what each line of this song is about - "Sleep, little kid, sleep! Out there walks a sheep, it drinks its milk so sweetly. Sleep little kid, sleep! Sleep, little kid, sleep!" - let's see if I could learn this song fast enough to sing my man to sleep this Sunday.

Speaking of sleeping, it seems that I am suffering from insomnia again tonight as I'm still wide awake at this ungodly hour. I had insomnia attack last Tuesday and Thursday already. Having insomnia problem on Friday night sucks, as I have to wake up at 8ish every Saturday morning (I can wake up any time I want on weekdays, as I'm now literally a jobless bum) for the renovation of the kitchen. Let me go do some Sudoku puzzles to tire myself out, in a hope that I could fall asleep before 3am this time.

Someone's tight with a buck

2005-12-02T12:13:00.000+01:00

How can some people be generous to a fault to themselves but be so cheap towards others?? Those people's biggest charity is to only themselves when they have the money, so they simply fall prey to their friends and family. Though I have been strapped for cash as being jobless, I keep buying goodies for my man's family for their birthday. As each present cost around 20Euro, we have spent like 80Euro on them. My mom taught me to estimate the price of the presents my friends gave me, in order to buy them a birthday present of a similar price (so you won't end up being called a cheapskate at school by giving your friends a nail when they gave you a tiara, as my mom put it). According to my mom's calculation, I should be expecting a present of the price of around 40Euro from the family, right??

When my man's mom asked him what I wanted for my birthday, my man told her about the Disney DVDs that I like and emphasized about how much I hate copied DVDs - they are illegal and of poor quality!! And guess what I got from the family for my birthday?? The family gave me some copied Disney DVDs for my birthday (When I showed my man the DVDs his family gave me for my birthday, he just went "What?? That's all?? From all four of them?? Oh my."). The DVD covers are blurred and the DVDs are of poor quality. Thanks, that just showed how much they care. I wish they could have simply given me the 3Euro (or less) they spent on those crappy DVDs, so I could have at least got some candy bars that I like. Here is an idea - when you can't afford 15Euro to buy your friend a legal DVD copy, give him/her a gift certificate or simply cash!!

When I told my friends about my birthday present from the in-laws, they had a great laugh and suggested me to give them each an apple for their birthday next time. Oh well, according to my mom's calculation, I should buy each of them something that worths less than 1Euro next time - say, 0.5kg of apples?! Though I love the idea of buying them a penny-ante gift to save more money for a rainy day, I am not doing so because no matter how financially embarrassed I am, I don't want to be embarrassed about being cheap. That's why I have been saving my thighs (I have been having an eye on a pair of boots at Zara and a handbag at Mango...) for the Christmas shopping spree, and spent around 140Euro on Christmas presents for my man's family.

Why the fuss??

2005-11-30T10:53:00.000+01:00

It was such a heavy Monday night, as my man totally flipped out after he had spoken on phone with his mom. Though my man always seems to have a peachy relationship with his mom, there is actually a serious problem behind the harmony.

Since I stayed with my man's family for a little while before we moved into this new apartment, I have realized that my man's entire family (included my man, his dad, and his little brother and sister) has been twisted round his mom's little finger. My man's mom has always emphasized to me how open-minded and easy-going she is as a mom, but whenever anyone in the family has an opinion that differs from hers, she simply wouldn't let go until they talk the same language - in other words, she has won the person over. She is not an absolute Hitler who yells at everyone at home, don't get me wrong. She is indeed a soft-spoken mom who has never raised her voice. Then what's the trick of wrapping her family round her little finger?? Mind game. And the name of her game is acting totally cool and open to any options while putting her ideas into the person's head. Believe me, my man's mom is really good at it. I have seen so many times how my man's siblings gave in without even kicking up a row.

I had been so very happy that I had not yet experienced the mom's magical power until last Monday night. Since my man's mom had asked us about the arrangement of Christmas, my man called his mom Monday night to tell her that we would love to go back for the afternoon on Christmas day but be home to have Christmas dinner ourselves (I'm dying for a proper Christmas dinner instead of his family's traditional one - hot plate in the dining room. I smelled like a smoked turkey instead of having one last Christmas). Once my man told his mom about our preferred arrangement, she immediately turned cold turkey on the conversation that left dead silence on the phone. My man was a bit freaked out as there had never been any dead air in his conversations with his mom. My man then asked if she was alright with the arrangement, and his question was met with silence. And that reduced my man to silence too, as he was feeling guilty that his mom sounded so disappointed at him.

In order to break the awkwardness and not to kick up a big fuss, my man immediately gave in to spend the entire Christmas day with his family and that's when his mom started talking happily again. I was amazed by how powerful the simple silent treatment was, that made my man make that snap decision. He was the one who suggested to have Christmas dinner on our own as he was so excited about spending our first Christmas night in this new apartment, and he was so looking forward to having our Christmas dinner the Canadian way (though I planned to roast a chicken instead of a turkey). And now?? We are having Christmas day/night his mom's way. Though it is not that a big deal to spend Christmas with his family, being forced (in a way) to do things against our will is such a cross to bear.

If you think we could call it a night after the phone call, you are wrong. As I said earlier, my man totally FLIPPED OUT that night. He seemed alright after the phone, and sat his butt to watch the Lord of War for 2 hours. I was doing a wash in the kitchen when he was done with the movie, so he came to check up on me. When I said that it was a pity that he was so tired after work that he could not work bit more on the kitchen to boost the pace of the renovation, he totally lost it. He suddenly threw a fit, but turnout the fuss was not really about my comment. He started mumbling something about his mom's sarcastic comments on the progress of the kitchen renovation (Just so you know, we have been working on the kitchen for months now and his mom has never stopped bitching about the progress and mocking her son), about his mom pretending to be open to different opinions, and about his mom indirectly forcing us to do things her way.

I felt angry that my man threw such a tremendous fit at me, and furthermore, felt odd that my man was such a soft touch towards his mom (My man is pretty strong-minded in general). For your information, I have hardly done anything against my will no matter how much my mom commented on and tried to influence my actions. Whenever my mom bitched about my stuff, I either walked away or fired back. It's weird that firing back somehow helped my mom understand me bit better (Of course, a peaceful conversation without all the drama would be even better, but I was a teenager for crying out loud). Though I know that my man has been having difficulty in expressing his emotions in the family and saying no to his mom, I am clueless of what I could do to help.

But well, it's too heavy a post for today. Since the sun is finally out, I'm heading out to do some Christmas shopping and enjoy a nice cup of coffee at my favorite cafe downtown.

That Monday morning feeling again

2005-11-28T11:49:00.000+01:00

As my Aussy friend taught me this funny word, I just gotta use it here - I've got the Mondayitis again!!

I don't know if Monday morning feeling still fits my current situation, as I don't have work or school to drag my heels to. But well, I do have some other things that I don't like and am definitely not looking forward to after the weekend - say, the grocery shopping for the week (Climbing up the flight of stairs with the heavy bags?? I'm so not up to it!!), the long lonely daytime (Normal people have work during the daytime, so nobody is available to hang out with me. Damn, I need to meet more frustrating expats), the endless and hopeless job hunting (No work visa?? No work offer!!), and the crappy weather (Yeah, still the same old gray sky). Oh, jobless life in the Netherlands is such a drag!!

Though I didn't really do much on the weekend, I didn't wanna let it go. What did I do on the weekend?? Let's see. Saturday is the usual "work day", when my man's father comes over to help us fix up the kitchen. So my man and his dad are always busy at the kitchen, while I am busy serving them coffee and cookies once an hour. Oh, and I was sent to a handyman shop to pick up some stuff for their work last Saturday. A little bit more work than just bumming around in the house. After a long day of work (for my man), we ordered Chinese and enjoyed a very mellow evening. We turnout stayed up till 2am to finish three movies - Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (It was a bit of a disappointment as everything was way over the top), The Skeleton Key (It totally blew me away, and set my pulse racing througout the movie), and Fantastic Four (I don't always dig this kinda sci-fi/action flick, but this one was a pleasant surprise that made me laugh my head off).

Sunday is always our laundry day, because electricity is cheaper after 11pm on weekdays and the entire day on the weekend here. I woke up at around 11ish so I woke my man up with a pleasant back massage and a much needed knee massage (he got painful knees all the time). After the long-ass massage session and the old Disney cartoons on telly (alongside some cuddling), we finally got out of bed at 12ish to make our Sunday brunch - boiled eggs and freshly baked buns. After brunch?? Soccer time!! While my man was watching his favorite team (Ajax, Ajax!!) on telly, I was sorting our clothes to do the laundry, since I ain't that much a soccer fun. I then went on the Internet to find some Dutch recipes, while my man was yelling booo at the telly. I found a special recipe hutspot (Hutspot is a dish that mash potatoes with onions and carrots), that I gonna try it out tomorrow. To cut a long story short, we then headed out to do some shopping after the soccer and laundry, and enjoyed another mellow night-in.

No matter how much I bitch about saying goodbye to the weekend, it is now a Monday anyway and I have to suck it up. But I've got something to look forward to this week - my new cell phone!! It is a special black edition of Samsung Z500, (My cell looks different than the one shown on the site, by the way) and it should be delivered today!! Every dog has its day afterall.

Sinterklaas / Santa Claus

2005-11-26T16:05:00.000+01:00

The holiday season was kick-started the day, November 12, when Sinterklaas came in on a big steam ship with all his black little helpers called "zwarte pieten". Parents in the Netherlands are super busy in December, as they have to celebrate Sinterklaas day on December 5 and Christmas on December 25. In other words, kids in the Netherlands are super lucky as they literally celebrate Christmas twice and hence receive more presents.

Let me tell you more about the Sinterklaas day. Little kiddos believe that if they put their shoes in front of the fireplace and sing songs for Sinterklaas, Sinterklaas would come at night (Of course when the kids are in bed, the same old trick that Santa uses), take little presents out of his potato sack and put them in the kids' shoes. The presents always include a big chocolate letter (the first letter of the kid's first name) and some small cinnamon cookies called Kruidnoten. While the kids are opening their presents, the adults are reading out humorous/sarcastic poems. There is a Dutch tradition that people would write poems that filled with irony and humor to poke fun at each other on the Sinterklaas day. Believe me, such humor may not be appreciated by everyone. My friend got a supposed-to-be funny poem from one of her coworkers on the Sinterklaas day last year, and she turnout stormed out of the room. I won't blame her really, because her coworker joked about her buck teeth in a very unfriendly and rude way. She is a gal, need I say more??

It seems that the Sinterklaas day has been stirring up quite some frustrations for expats. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from other expats is the tradition of zwarte piet, which has long been criticized for racism and stereotyping black people. Legend has it that zwarte piet is a slave who accompanies Sinterklaas on his holiday travels. Though zwarte piet always dresses up in colorful costumes, he is often portrayed as the mean (from a parent/kid's perspective) character in the Sinterklaas gang. Parents always tell their kids that zwarte piet would give them candy and presents if they are good, but he would stuff them in his potato sack if they have been bad. Many black parents find it hard to explain to their kids about zwarte piet, concerning the concept of slavery.

I sometimes wonder if a kiddo needs to understand the slavery part of the Sinterklaas story. It is a Christmas legend, for crying out loud. I don't think my mom has ever tried to explain to me that Santa Claus is not using the elves as slaves. Elves are Santa's little helpers, simple as that. Can't it apply to Sinterklaas and zwarte pieten too?? Zwarte pieten are just giving Sinterklaas a hand in the busy month of December. But hey, maybe kids nowadays like to think things out, I don't know. I once heard how my friend (an African-American kindergarten teacher) explained to her 3-year-old daughter about zwarte piet.

The conversation went like this (M: Mommy, D: Daughter) -

M: Do you know who zwarte piet is??
D: They are Sinterklaas's black helpers.
M: Do you think that zwarte piet is black like us??
D: Yes, I am Sinterklaas's helper too!!
M: That's great, you little helper. But zwarte piet is not really black like us.
D: Huh?? No?? But he is black.
M: Zwarte piet is very very black, because they climb down the chimney to help Sinterklaas put presents in your shoes. Do you know what color is in the chimney??
D: It is dirty there.
M: Yes, that's why zwarte piet has a coal black face. So he could actually be white, or Asian like our neighbor.

I am not quite sure if the little girl understood such a complicated made-up story, but you can't blame a mom for trying, right?? Anyway, if I were a kid, I would ask if Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are the same person. If so, why does he visit me twice in December?? (If you're a kid, don't ask me because I haven't the foggiest idea.)

I love chit-chatting

2005-11-25T14:26:00.000+01:00

You can't believe how much I miss chit-chatting - an idle chat with a complete stranger sitting next to me at a cafe, or the small talk with the bartender while waiting for a table. It's not that Dutch people don't chit-chat, but they only do so in Dutch (of course), and furthermore, at too fast a pace for a beginner like me to catch up. I did bump into some (a few) nice Dutch people who would speak slowly and clearly for me, but others either did not give a rat-ass and kept talking up a storm or, for the most part, turned and walked away. Hey you Dutch people, listen up, I am working my ass off to speak your freaking difficult language already, a little patience won't hurt!!

Anyway, I have already drifted away from what I wanted to say. I mentioned about chit-chatting because I struck up an interesting conversation with a Canadian gal (from Vancouver too, yay!!) at the supermarket today. To put it in a nutshell, I saw a package of oven bagels in her basket and asked her where she found it in Dutch (See?? I'm not a snotty expat. I always try to blend in and speak more Dutch, though with a funny accent.), then she answered me in fluent English, then we just kept yapping away like long-lost friends while doing our grocery shopping. Since we clicked right away, we went to a cafe to carry on our conversation. We talked for hours there, and it was super awesome!!

Like me, Liza has begun to go stir-crazy as she is having loads of problems with the IND. But it seems to me that her case is even more complicated than mine. I am now applying for a new visa, as my old one expired and I need to change the purpose of stay from study to partnership with a Dutch citizen. I only needed to download a form from the IND site, gathered all the required documents, turned in everything, and waited for ever and ever. But Liza is trying to form a registered partnership with her Japanese boyfriend, and the worst part is, she is being spun around by the bureaucracy - she was first told by the IND that she should report to the Cityhall, then the Cityhall pointed her to the local police station, and then the local police station sent her right back to the IND. She has not the faintest idea where to seek help from and what to do - the common uncertainty, shared by many expats, about moving to a strange land with a dubious legal status. Liza is now seirously considering to leave the Netherlands and hit back home, as she is so very fed up with all the legal crap. Sigh.

To lighten up the conversation, we decided to stop moaning about the hopeless struggle with the IND but start having a good bitch about the infamous Dutch culture instead. Our first complaint was, of course, the absence of Starbucks in the Netherlands. Where is the double tall latte?? And where is my blueberry cheesecake?? Though we were sitting at a cafe that is almost a duplicate of Starbucks/Central Perk, the coffee was just different. Can you believe how they made my mocca latte today?? They gave me a nice cup of cafe latte and a small glass of chocolate syrup. What the &#$%?? Liza and I both admitted that we missed Starbucks for not only the coffee but also the small talk with the guy/gal at the counter while waiting for the coffee. The nice Starbucks coffee, combined with the warm chit-chatting, contrived to get its hook into everyone.

As I told you we stayed there for hours, we of course need to pay a visit to the little gals' room from time to time. Believe it or not, we, as the customers of the cafe, had to pay to use the bathroom there. That just reminded me of something I read from an expat forum the night before, about how Dutch people make you pay to use the toilet. I shared with Liza the Dutch TV commercial that Mr. Good Penny told me about last night. In that toilet refreshener commercial, since the cleaning lady used that toilet refreshener, every toilet-user was very satisfied with her service and tipped her very well, so the cleaning lady was so rich that she could even afford to drive a Ferrari. A little exaggerating, but that just proves that you could so get rich cleaning toilets in the Netherlands.

All in all, the conversation with Liza has made my day, when I am suffering from the seasonal affective disorder. I have been confronting with this crappy weather - pouring rain plus fierce wind - since last night, and it is so depressing. What is better to do than doing housework on a rainy day (and don't forget the music, Shery Crow's "C'mon C'mon" would be the one for today)?? Tomorrow is the last day of my "birthday week" (Oh yea, it was my birthday a coupla days ago when my man took me to the EuroDisney, and so I have been having friends over from time to time this week) and my man's parents are visiting, so I am going to bake an apple crumble today. I love baking now, as it always takes up so much time and I have all the time to spare.

Little update: It's now "kinda" snowing in Rotterdam!!

Blogging again...with a different attitude

2005-11-24T16:05:00.000+01:00

I am blogging again, but something is different this time. I used to have a personal blog where I used my real name, talked about everything, and posted my pictures. But this time?? I would not use my real name and not post any of my pictures, BUT I would still talk about everything that is happening around me. Deal??

To kick-start my new blogging life, let me first tell you a bit more about myself. I spent my first 19 sweet years bumming around in the big'O Canada, and another 3 years studying (and LOADS of traveling around) in the busy Asian city - Hong Kong. I took a 3-month backpacking trip round Europe after my study, and met my very sweet boyfriend (I'm calling him "Mr. Good Penny" later on). I then dragged my butt back to HK to earn some cash, as teaching English in HK was the best way to make a fast buck. After a year of painful long distance relationship (Mr. Good Penny visited me once during Christmas though) and very hard work, I decided to spread my wings in the Netherlands. So I spent the last one year studying for my master's in the Netherlands. When I earned my MS (or MSc. as stated on my certificate), I also decided to stay in the Netherlands and bought an apartment with Mr. Good Penny.

And now, here I am - being practically a bum in the Netherlands as I am not allowed to work until my visa is "granted". I ended my previous blog a coupla months ago, because I didn't want to worry my family and friends - who checked my blog out regularly - by being all negative and bitchy in the blog. You have to know that I used to be (and actually still am) a bubbly gal, instead of a bitch who is negative about everything. I hate seeing myself being an annoying whiner, and furthermore, being one in front of my family and friends. And there went my decision to end that blog. I'm now starting this blog anonymously, because I feel a need to vent my anger towards the Dutch bureaucracy and to let others (especially those who are planning to move to the Netherlands) know about the difficulty in being an expat in the Netherlands.

I am of course very pissed off that I am forced to live in poverty because of the inefficiency of the Dutch bureacracy, named IND. I would definitely share with you my frustrations at not being able to find a job without a work visa, at not being able to seek any help from the so-called hotline (that charges 0.10 Euro per minute), yada yada. But hey, don't be scared away by my anger and negativity. Because I promise you, I would spread some positive attitudes here and there in this blog too as I do enjoy my life here most of the time. I would blog about my exploration of the freaky-deaky Dutch culture, my Dutch cooking experiences (if you have enough guts, you could try out my recipes too), and many more interesting (and sometimes embarrassing) experiences.

I thought I would start bitching like crazy in this first post, but I am apparently in a fairly good mood today. I wonder why I ain't that bitter today, when the weather outside is so shitty. I bet I must have got used to the rainy, unpredictable Dutch weather. But anyway, I've been yapping away for quite a while already, I'd better get back to my real life and do something fruitful. How about making dinner??