Random Vrijdag

Absolutely Random Friday. I've been up all night due to being sick with the flu and still can't get any rest, so I'm posting a blog entry. It will be random.

Everyday still I forge ahead, learning Dutch. My husband and I try to talk to each other every evening in Dutch, randomly and for about an hour. It is. . . Educational. My one flaw is waiting until it's English-time again before I discuss anything which needs to be talked about in-depth. You can't blame me. Some important details are hard to discuss in Dutch. And over-thinking might cause myself or my poor husband to blow a circuit. And the other part which is difficult to explain is how tough it can be to find the right words. Have you ever tried to eat anything which was very tough and dry, like beef jerky? Hard to eat, but maybe you still want to even though it's a challenge to eat. This is similar to me for speaking Dutch. It can be good, but it can be very tough and sometimes takes more effort to get through.

A big benefit I've seen from speaking Dutch with my husband is of course the new things I'm learning. When I find myself searching for the words, I'll pause and either say: Nou [well. . .] or dus [so. . .]. When my husband is being a turd, he says things to me while he's waiting for me to continue. Especially after he's heard me saying dus:

• Om je nek een lus.
  English: On your neck a noose.
• Een koe is geen mus.
  English: A cow is no [not a] sparrow.

And in response to "Weet je wat het is?" [English: Do you know what it is?]

• Een krokodil is stoerder dan een vis.
  English: A crocodile is tougher than a fish.

There are a few more, but these are good examples. Note my husband isn't doing this to be a pain. . . He's just lightening up the moment. And these rhyme with dus. I can't think of any similar sayings like this which we'd say in English at this moment. But what he's doing is something I assume anyone who speaks Dutch would do, who also can be/is A.) a turd, B.) impatient, C.) thinks they're a clown, D.) likes to lightenup the moment.

Supposedly there are more than a handful of the Dutch who do this, and this is why I believed it would be good to share also with you all.

Another good one. . .
I don't know if I will ever do this to a stranger, and I don't believe I'll do it to someone I know in sarcasm. On purpose. If you are speaking Dutch with someone and they are having a hard time understanding you, they will say this to you:

"Wat zeg je?"

They are asking, "What did you say?" If they continue to ask you, and you begin to lose your patience, you could say back to them:

"Als je valt dan lig je."

But I don't advise you should say it. You've said to them, "If you fall, then you lay." I admit I don't think it sounds so brilliant, but supposedly it is something which could offend. Or at least make them think. And it rhymes. . . It's certainly not something I'd do in America to someone, unless they were really pissing me off. But I'd come up with a much bolder line than something so. . . Well, I'm sure you know what I mean.

In other talked-about news: The cold. It was a whopping -12°C at one point this week. Which day, I am not even sure about anymore. It's all foggy to me with this flu bug. As a matter of fact, yesterday seems like it was 2 weeks ago. And what this is in °F, I can't tell off the top of my head anymore. Say about 10°F. Two good things about this below 0°C weather: Less mosquitos in the spring/summer [knock on wood!], and seeing the people ice skating on lakes/ponds. I'd never seen this before in my entire life, in person, people ice skating on a frozen lake or pond. Some have seen it in person, but not myself. Only in pictures and movies. So it's been a nice sight to see. Especially from the warmth of the car.

And with the freezing temperatures in the Netherlands at this time comes Elfstedentocht. Elfstedentocht is Dutch for "Eleven cities tour" or "Eleven cities journey." It happens between eleven cities in the Dutch province Friesland. It only happens when natural ice has formed, so it doesn't happen every year. An interesting fact, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander skated in the Elfstedentocht in 1986 with the name W.A. van Buren. Click here for more information about Elfstedentocht.

The Frisian flag is seen here in this Google image below [again, from sometime this week this was on Google, but I've been too ill to keep track of who/what/whatever] of the Elfstedentocht. In America, you might see this flag at someone's house. I know I've seen it, but I'd never asked. Now I know.


In other news, I haven't used my bike in almost 3 months! It's a record. . .

And I am going to America this year! I will be going in the summer to visit a friend who is having surgery. Not much more I wish to reveal about this here, but it's a bit of very good news and it's got my spirits pepped up just thinking about it.

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