"Dutch or Polish, NO ENGLISH!"

It's Valentine's Day in the Netherlands!  Wait, do they celebrate that here?  Yes they do.  Although, it's just starting to become a "thing."  You can tell that this "holiday" is  infiltrating the culture by the displays of heart shaped candy at the HEMA and the gigantic red and white balloon arch over the entrance to Bakker Bart.  

Now Vicki and I usually spend Valentine's Day at home, cooking a fun dinner or indulging in some Chick Fil A sandwiches, that was last year's V-Day.  Not to break from tradition, I volunteered to plan something for tonight.  So here's today's adventure.

Translation: Polish Shop in Eve?

A few weeks ago I found a Polish grocery store in our town.  It had all your staples: pierogi, kielbasa, goomkie, Żywiec, and even Polish sparking wine!  What better way to treat my Polish Princess on Valentine's day than with some Polish delicacies.  Nothing says I love you like (some one else's) home made pierogis right?

Well, snow was predicted today from about noon until early evening.  So I figured I'd try to do the food shopping early. I got to the store about 11:00; I was so excited to practice one of the three Polish phrases I knew, "Dzień Dobry." But my heart sank when I saw no lights and drawn shades.  However, all was not lost, turns out the store opens at 1:00pm.  I returned home dejected so I did some laundry to help ease the pain.  Then at 1:15pm my search for pieorgi and kielbasa continued.  

Things were going well, grabbed a bottle of Polish bubbly, had a pack of kapusta & mushroom pierogis under my arm, now all I needed was the kielbasa, this was the fun part. I stood patiently waiting to be noticed by the lady behind the counter, but she was heavily engrossed in a conversation another lady.  There was NO WAY I was breaking up a conversation between two Polish ladies.  Finally their stories concluded and all eyes were on the American in the Phillies hat with a pack of pieorgis.  

It was go time, but my mind went blank and all I could utter was, "Sorry, I don't speak Dutch." Then the woman behind the counter, said something in Polish, to which I responded, "Sorry I don't speak Polish either."  I could see a scowl beginning to form on her face.  "Okay, be cool Dan, you got this, just say 'kielbasa'."  So I tried to ask if any of the kielbasa were smoked, she then rattled off something else in Polish that ended with no English. I was stunned, like a deer in headlights.  I was starting to sweat.  I then said, to her with a smile, "Which one is your favorite?"  She replied, even louder this time, "Dutch or Polish, NO ENGLISH!"  "Uhhhhhhhh, that one," I pointed at two indiscernible links and raised two fingers, "Two of that one."  

She then bagged up the meats and rang up my other purchases. At this point, I figured let me drop some of my limited Polish on her, "Dzien Dobry?" I said, she looks, smiles and says, "Dzien Dobry." Feeling confident now, as she handed me my items, I exclaim "dziękuję!"I get another smile and a nod.  I think I'm allowed back!

Here are the fruits of my labor today. Szczęśliwych Walentynek! (Happy Valentine's Day!)

I tried to make it look like a heart.  

Photo Credit @VickiZ19

Catholic Means Universal? Tell that to my knees.

Okay, it was 5th grade, I'm pretty sure it was 5th grade when I was introduced to the infamous Baltimore Catechism.  Days and days of memorization followed.  The one thing I can still recall today is that the word "Catholic" means "Universal."  But does it really?

I'm sure you'll hear or you've heard the headlines today that "Catholics all over the world come together to begin the Lenten Season by celebrating Ash Wednesday or Aswoensdag (in Dutch)."  Well, I'm a Catholic, and I feel like a world away from home celebrating Ash Wednesday tonight.

My wife, Vicki, and I are living in the town of Oss, the Netherlands (approx 1hr 30min south of Amsterdam).  This whole "universal" thought struck me during Mass tonight.   If the Church is really "universal" why am I shaking hands during the Sign of Peace with an older Dutch gentlemen while still on my knees.  Vicki and I have been blessed to be able to attend Masses across the US and around the globe, and the only universal thing I've seen is that every diocese/country/continent does things different.

For some perspective, last summer in our Irish Church we hardly knelt at all during Mass.  Now tonight in our new Dutch church it seemed like we knelt all night.  Maybe not all night, but the zero padded kneelers made it seem like an eternity.

Despite the little differences it was a memorable experience celebrating Aswoensdag in a new Church, in a new country.

Maybe I should tweet the Pope about this whole universal thing before he leaves.

Netherlands Carnaval 2013

We couldn't have planned our arrival to the Netherlands any better. Here less than a month, and we find  ourselves participating in one of the craziest parties on the planet, CARNAVAL in the NETHERLANDS!  I know what you're thinking. Carnaval in the Netherlands? I thought the same way. We usually picture the beads of Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the extravagant outfits of Carnaval in Rio. But after witnessing 5 straight days of celebrations, my perception sure has changed.  The Dutch can party too.

Having experienced Mardi Gras in New Orleans years ago, I will say there were many similarities: parades, floats, costumes, bands, and of course plenty of beer.  But I got the sense that Carnaval in the Netherlands was a bit more family and community focused.  It was neat watching families all weekend (and through Tuesday) gather in the town center, dressed together like pirates and clowns, celebrating as if they didn't have a care in the world.  And last night in Oss, during the closing ceremonies, Vicki and I joined a parade of townspeople through the square.  For a few brief moment, we didn't feel like outsiders at all, we were members of a community.  We followed the procession to a parking lot where a brass band was playing "My Way" by Frank Sinatra.  Then the Carnaval Prince set the paper mache animal ablaze, symbolizing the end of Carnaval and the beginning of Lent.

Vicki took so many amazing pictures it was difficult to post all of them.  So, I had a thought; let me try to capture the essence of Carnaval in the Netherlands in just 11 pictures.  Given the mystique behind the number 11 in Carnaval Culture I thought that was a good "round" number.  It is said, that 11 is the "fool's number," coming between the spiritual number 12 and the perfect number 13. There is also something about a connection between the word elf and 11.  Could explain all the elf and gnome costumes we saw.  It was also interesting how most of the big events started at 11 past the hour.

May I present, the craziness of Carnaval, in only 11 pictures.  Enjoy.

Carnaval Oss In Eleven Pictures

Carnaval Den Bosch in Eleven Pictures

Berghem Light Parade in Eleven Pictures

Can You Spot Bono, Gene Simmons, Slash and Steven Tyler in these pics? No for real, can you?

Okay, I cheated.  There was no way I could depict days worth of amazing sights and fun in only 11 pictures.  Forgive me?  We've got tons of video footage as well. Here's a look at some of it.

                       My apologies for the vertical video

Lastly, here's a short video of the burning of the Ox. Anyone catch the Sinatra being played?  LOVED IT!

How was your Carnaval experience?  

Carnaval Light Parade in Berghem Netherlands

My wife found out about a Light Parade in the next town from a co-worker on Friday.  He said it was 5 kilometers away.  Since we haven't finished assimilating into Dutch culture, ie we don't both have bikes yet, walking would have been our only option.  A quick Google Map search shows from Oss to Berghem is a 30+minute walk.  At first we had cold feet (literally) about going.  Temperatures were predicted to be in the mid to low 20s (Fahrenheit) in the evening.  But we thought, outside of seeing SpectroMagic in Disney World, when else would we see a light parade.  So we layered up our socks and clothes and ventured out on our trek to the budding metropolis of Berghem.

So glad we did.  The parade and the loempia I ate were all incredible. 

Photo Credits all go to Vicki  (click her name to follow her on twitter.)  Enjoy!

One of the first floats

Go Grease Lightning 

Thought this was a colorful pic

SHREK!  He spoke English.

Peter Pan and Captain Hook

Watch the eye

It closes too!

Is that what I think it is?

Yup it's a sausage or a "rookworst"  Thanks @gjamh!

Late night Loempia

The International Sign for Wine

"A bottle of red, a bottle of white 

Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight 

I'll meet you anytime you want In our Italian Restaurant. "

--Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Billy Joel--

Yes, that's a chianti bottle candle stick holder

Well, it was more like a 1/2 liter of "rood" and a 1/2 liter of "wit" for my wife and I last night. That's what we ordered from our Italian waiter in "our Italian Restaurant" in the Netherlands. But our wine selections from last evening is not the interesting part, it's how we came about ordering them.

How you say....."carafe of wine" 
Photo Credit: Vicki Szostek

I got the sense that our waiter's comprehension of English was a bit shaky. Mix that with our inability to speak Italian or Dutch and you get a blog post.  When it came time to place our drink order we both tried ordering "a carafe" of wine.  We saw the puzzlement on our waiters face at first, then collectively my wife and I use our hands and make some type of gesture that in our minds was symbolic of a carafe.  Our hand motions must have worked, the confused glaze disappeared from his face and he asked us if we wanted a 1/2 liter or 1 liter of wine.  ALL RIGHT WE'RE IN BUSINESS!  Here comes my favorite part.  When we told him what kind of wine we wanted he was still a bit unsure, so just to confirm our selections with us, he pointed to the red table cloth and pointed to me, then he pointed to the white table cloth and pointed to my wife.  It was awesome.  

It got me thinking about communication and how when verbal means are not an option, we quickly adapt to find some type of non-verbal method to convey our message.  In our case, making a hand gesture where by placing our right hand about 8 inches about our left hands is obviously the international sign for a carafe of wine. And in the case of our waiter, pointing to the colors of the table cloth helped him confirm our order.

I've caught myself a few times since moving to the Netherlands making funny hand gestures when I sense the other person isn't grasping what I was saying.  Like the other night, when I asked the waitress for a jug of water, I made a similar hand motion to the one carafe of wine.  It's not often that I let my hands do the talking  because most folks we've encountered have an excellent grasp of English, but when it does happen I wish I could video myself to see how funny I look.  

Have you ever found yourself making (clean) hand gestures to communicate?  

More Like CarnaSAW! AY-O!

Ummmmm, yeah, so I saw this little number at one of the many carnaval/costume shops around Oss today.  Maybe she's like a magician's helper.  

In case you wanted to see this outfit on the rack.  I can get you one if you want.  

Oss Prepares for Carnaval

Walked down the street.  Saw this.  

Now, we heard Carnaval was a big deal in the Netherlands, mainly the southern Catholic part.  This was happening in our little town of Oss this morning.  I can't image what awaits us when we travel to Den Bosch,  a much bigger city famous for its Carnaval parade.  More on our Carnaval experiences to come.   (9 February 2013)

The City of Oss prepares for Carnaval 2013