"Oss: Our Town. Our Memories." A Video Tribute.

How can you put down in words the experience of living in Oss?  I couldn't, so I made a video instead.  Enjoy and thanks for watching.

Dear PA Dutch Readers...

Dear Pennsylvania Dutch Readers:

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone for visiting Pennsylvania Dutch over the past few months.  I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings as much as I enjoyed creating and documenting my embarrassing situations in the Netherlands.

On May 19, 2013 my wife, Vicki and I returned home to the USA ending a very fortunate year long expatriate experience. Looking back, we experienced an amazing "Irish Summer" in Malahide, Ireland with a beautiful beach, a castle, and a Jack Russell Terrier. We then moved on to marvel at the beauty and splendor of a "Dutch Winter" in Oss, The Netherlands. Where we had no beach, no castle, and no Jack Russell.  But we did have a bike; that was cool.  Both experiences were incredible but very different and I'm sure it's obvious which one we preferred; God I miss that bike.  

My only regret during our expat days was that I didn't start blogging sooner.  MY GOD! The stories I could have written in Ireland. I did start recounting some of those tales on my tumblr, Polish Clover but really never finished. Well, at least I was able to bring you our daily Dutch living adventures, like our multi-lingual washer and dryer, our Dutch-Polish Deli, and of course my grocery store experiences with Eftling coupons and an Afgan Olive Man.

Blogging allowed me to feel and stay connected with family and friends back home.  It also allowed me to join a worldwide community  by listing "PA Dutch" on various expat blog directories. Oh, and check this out one post even won a writing contest! Thanks for voting.

8,000 pageviews (and counting) later, I remain humbled that folks are still stopping by and reading and watching.  Thanks again to all.  But my repatriation does NOT mean PA Dutch is shutting down. I still have a few more posts and videos in the pipeline so keep checking back.  And who knows, I may start up a new blog documenting my zany misadventures in Norristown, PA.  You'd read that too wouldn't you?

Love,
DannyZ
xoxoxo

Orange You Glad the Dutch Have a New King?

Watching karaoke performed on a stage in a town square.

Singing and swaying to "Brabant"  with a group of Dutch fellas. 

Seeing an ocean of orange in Amsterdam

Sipping Jenever.

Witnessing History.

April 30th.  The Last Queen's Day or Koninginnedag AND the investiture of a new King of The Netherlands. And we were there, in Amsterdam, for both.  Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced her abdication on January 28th. [You can read about my reaction to the abdication here] She transfered her royal duties to her son Willem-Alexander on Queen's Day, April 30, 2013.  Making Willem the first Dutch King since 1890.  I'm not going to pretend I know much more than that, but trust me, it's a big deal.

There are plenty of other news outlets and bloggers that have reported on this historic event so I won't repeat it all here.  Fellow Dutch expat @Momofthreeunder provides some great insights and questions on the royals at her blog: Take a read, good stuff.

I'll let the pictures, videos and my ramblings tell the story of what transpired for us from April 29th-May 1st.  Enjoy.

As seen on TV: The Royal Family.  The King is on the left.

Queen's Day Preparations in Oss

Rolling out the orange carpet in Oss. Can you sense my excitement & fear?

Mobile Heineken bars

Seriously, this town loves to set up tents and stages for parties

If you think I'm kidding about Oss loving to party; watch this video.  

The Main Event: Queen's Day in Amsterdam

Since it was our first (and probably only) Queen's Day, I was a little nervous for a few reasons: 1.) They were expecting massive crowds in Amsterdam for the day. 2.) We had no idea what to expect.  So, I figured our best strategy was structure.

I found a party targeted to "international visitors" at the beautiful Zuiderkerk.  This old church was transformed into what was called "The Royal Cafe." I figured having an organized event to attend (with bathrooms) was clutch.  However, I grew hesitant of my decision when I discovered a party targeted to international guests would not accept our US based credit card for payment.  

AmsterDAN & Vicki

Technical difficulties aside, the party was a blast.  We met a very nice Dutch couple who interpretted all the events around the coronation/inaguration of the new King.  Plus I discovered that I love Jenever.  A traditional Dutch liquor.

Hello Jenever.  This bottle may or may not have ended up coming home with us.

Royal Blanket

I blame the Jenever for giving me the idea that the orange blanket behind me with a picture of the royal family was complimentary.  I would LOVE to see the security camera footage of me "stealthily" trying to wrap up that bright orange blanket under my arm.  The best part; once I triumphantly had my stolen article outside we felt the need to further conceal it.  Where should we perform this maneuver? Why not right in front of the security for the party.  A burly bald Dutch man saw the hijinks that we were conducting and swooped in and with a very polite "Thank You," in perfect English he reclaimed this commemorative trophy that I was attempting to liberate.

DannyZ: International Man of Orange

Thievery aside, "Partying with the Dutch" at the Royal Cafe was a great time.  One of the highlights of the event was trying to set the world record for the biggest portrait of former Queen Beatrix made entirely from bitterballen.  Dutch, you crazy.

Participating in the events to celebrate Queen's Day was fun and a bit confusing all at the same time.  No, the Jenever was not the root cause of this confusion.  We could totally feel (and see) that the Dutch had a great sense of national pride, but as outsiders, it felt very strange.  I guess it's similar to visitors to the United States on the Fourth of July.  Whatever their view of the royal family was, it seemed the entire country (or at least all of Amsterdam) rallyed around their monarchy for this day to celebrate; Dutch Style.

The People of Amsterdam on Queen's Day 2013

Even the Irish Pub was closed to celebrate Queen's Day and the New King.

Need a Lift?

Keeping up with my fascination for the public urinals of the Netherlands (click link & read #10); here are some pictures of a "URILIFT" van parked out front of our apartment the other day.  

#expatproblems: hulu

I had some time on the train last night, so I did what any other person without a data plan on their phone does while they are on a train; I played solitaire and looked through old pictures.

I stumbled upon a strange one.  It was a screen shot of hulu.com.  If you're unfamiliar with hulu, it's a streaming video service for television shows.  Vicki and I aren't huge television people, but there are some shows that we like to catch like: The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, ABC's The Bachelor (wait what?!?, I'll admit it, we watch ABC's The Bachelor, mostly to make fun and to get date ideas)  As we became familiar with our Dutch cable we learned that the main English comedy options were reruns of Seinfeld, Friends, Dharma & Greg, and The Ellen Show (we actual grew to like Ellen DeGeneres, she's kind of funny; who knew.) Now, don't get me wrong, this was all quality programming especially when your other options were a Dutch version of skating with the (washed up) stars; a group of Dutch people sitting around a table and and arguing in Dutch with each other; and of course the light night ladies helping you practice counting in Dutch by offering you their phone numbers.    

A commercial for Olive Garden on hulu

Then a light went off!  hulu.com could help!  It was wonderful, we were catching up on our comedies and judging the newest crop of wackos on ABC's The Bachelor. (Was there really a jumbotron operator this season?)  But then after two nights the party was over.  

You the reader: "Wait; Dan, you said it only worked for two night?  What happened?  Didn't you get to see who got the final rose and a proposal for a failed marriage?"

Me the writer:  "Nope."

While trying to begin an episode of 30 Rock we got the message below.  The gig was up or was it?  With a simple refresh of my screen about 3-4 times, the show would start playing.  This refresh strategy worked a few more times after that but then they caught on to my scheme and shut us down completely.  

I clicked "here", but it didn't help.  

Oh well.  We never saw the final rose but we still had Ellen Shows from October of 2012.   

10 Thoughts That May Cross The Mind of An Expat in the Netherlands

A few weeks ago I entered a writing contest with expatblogs.com  I received so much support from family and friends through comments and social sharing of my entry I was blown away.  Didn't win the contest however; but that wasn't important, it was fun to participate and feel the love from everyone.  Thanks again to all.  Here's my entry in case you missed it.  Enjoy.

The Thoughts That May Cross An Expat’s Mind During Their First Month in the Netherlands

By: Dan Szostek

1. You’ll discover that “Punta Nell” is not a tropical destination. It’s the ending to Dutch websites. punt nl = dot nl = .nl
   
   “Where is this ‘Punta Nell’ place? Somewhere near Punta Cana? And why is it constantly being mentioned on the radio and TV?” 
   
2. You’ll wonder how Expats before you survived during the times of “BG” or “Before Google.”
   
   “Am I really typing these Dutch cooking directions for pasta into Google Translate?”
   
3. You’ll have fries with mayonnaise, and really, really enjoy it.
   
   “Fries with mayonnaise! That’s what John Travolta was talking about in Pulp Fiction!”
   
   
   
   Heaven
   
   
4. You’ll be starving at the train station and see everyone else snacking so you’ll buy a pastry filled with a meat substance from the Kiosk.
   
   “Did I just eat a pastry with some type of meat baked inside? I better get another one just to confirm.” 
   
5. You’ll have one too many Trappist beers and think horsemeat on fries sounds like a good idea.
   
   “ I just ordered horsemeat on my fries because a guy in the snack bar said ‘iz good.’ Am I going to regret this? Eh, I’ll just put some mayonnaise on it.”
   
6. You’ll drink milk for lunch.
   
   “Milk, it’s not just for breakfast anymore I guess.”
   
   
   
   It does a body good
   
   
7. You’ll get bumped, pushed, and practically stiffed armed when you go grocery shopping, and that’s just in the vegetable aisle.
   
   “Looks like I’m going to need to throw some elbows to get a bag of carrots.”
   
8. You’ll panic and stare blankly at the cheese counter at your local supermarket.
   
   “Um, how many types of Gouda are there?”
   
9. You’ll be offered a cup of coffee EVERYWHERE! At work, at the supermarket, at the barber…
   
   You [Waiting to get your hair cut]: “You know a cup of coffee really does sound good right now.” 
   
10. You’ll see people pulling sandwiches out of their pockets EVERYWHERE. On the train, on the street, at their desks at work.
    
    “Hold up, did that guy just pull a sandwich out of his pocket? Wait, that lady did it too. And that guy’s sandwich has sprinkles on it!”
    [Moments later, in a sad voice to yourself]
    “I wish I had a pocket sandwich.”
    
    
    
    For your ice cream sundae or your pocket sandwich
    
    
11. You’ll panic because you’re at a train station with no ticket window and you don’t have the €18 euro in exact change needed for your train journey
    
    “€18.90 in EXACT change to get from Den Hague to Oss????”
    
12. You’ll get a bike but be too nervous to make a left so your journeys consist of all right hand turns.
    
    “Wow, cars are yielding to me I feel so powerful! WAIT, how do I make a left hand turn?”
    
13. You’ll get adjusted to washing your hands with only cold water.
    
    “I’ll just keep my hands here until the water warms up. Um, it’s not warming up.” 
    
14. You’ll think your developing calves of steel from walking up your steps.
    
    “My calves are going to be like tree trunks after climbing these stairs everyday.”
    
    
    
    Our Stairmaster
    
    
15. You’ll manage homesickness somewhat effectively until someone asks you how you are managing homesickness.
    
    “You know, I was coping with homesickness pretty well until you asked me what I missed most from home. Thanks!” 
    
16. You’ll develop an amazing broken English accent even though English is your native language.
    
    “Oh jeez, am I really communicating like this, I must sound ridiculous.”
    
17. You’ll be doing your best to stick out from the crowd and not dress like a local by wearing your baggiest jeans, sneakers and worn out Philadelphia Phillies baseball hat and still get asked for directions from on the street.
    
    Random Car Driver Stopped in Traffic: [Shouts something in Dutch]
    You: [Realizing they are talking to you in Dutch, responds in confusing tone]: Sorry, I’m new here.
    You: [Says to self]: Did I just say that?
    
18. This One’s For Guys: You’ll use an outdoor public urinal that comes out of the ground like the one pictured.
    
    “Where’s the cold water to wash my hands? Guess I’ll just use some snow.”
    
    
    
    An outdoor urinal on a crisp winter’s day
    
    
19. You’ll feel like a rock star when the simplest things work, like you debit card or your ov-chipkaart (train pass).
    
    “Wait, my card actually worked? I’M KING OF THE WORLD!”
    
20. You’ll experience all this crazy, funny, and amazing cultural differences and think that you should be recording all your adventures.
    
    “You know, I should really start a blog about all this stuff.”

Dan is originally from outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and now living in the southern portion of the Netherlands with his wife. He enjoys traveling, European grocery stores, and getting himself into confusing situations while wearing his Phillies hat.

"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

Little Things, Big Victories For This Expat.

Paying for groceries with a debit card for most is a trivial task, but to an expat making their first successful purchase with their new bank card, well, that's an indescribable feeling of euphoria my friends.  

Here's how it goes, you confidently place your debit card (chip down) in the chip machine (no swipe cards here) and the card reader says something in Dutch, but you recognize enter PIN #, then another message in Dutch appears, and it seems like the transcation will be approved. So as you stand there, palms beginning to sweat, you wait to see the cashier's reaction.  Your heart starts pounding because the line behind you continues to grow with Dutch shoppers.  Finally, the cashier utters words to you that by now you've understood to mean "Do you want a receipt?"  You nod your head and say "Yes", take the receipt/ontvangst and say "Dank u wel," puff out your chest, give your fellow shoppers behind you a confident glance and proceed walk... no, more like STRUT out of the super market.  

You've arrived expat, job well done.  

Yes, to the casual observation, I may have looked as though I had an extra spring in my step today on my daily walk home from the Albert Heijn.  You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a shopper man, no time to talk.  (5 February 2013)

BEER: A LOVE STORY

I know it's tough to tell, but I had a blast making this DannyZ Film.  The video depicts our magical 31 hours in Brussels.  

The video is totally safe for work, but it may leave you craving a beer and a waffle at the end.

For those wondering "What's the deal with the Smurf?"   Click here.

RESIDENT PERMITS & ATM CARDS & PRINGLES.

Vicki and I had a lunch date at the City Hotel in Oss today to celebrate successfully reapplying for our resident permits and the arrival of our bank ATM cards (again.)

So we’re in an apartment that doesn’t have a mailbox?!?  But, we’re able to forward our mail to the City Hotel, which owns and operates our apartment.  We opened the account during our first week, Jan 17th to be exact.  It was odd that we still had not received the cards.  So earlier this week I got in touch with the bank to discover that the cards were mailed to the City Hotel, according to plan.  Well?  Turns out, whoever got the mail that day called the bank and said that there were no guests by that name at the hotel and therefore destroyed the cards.  Great! At least that’s the story the bank gives.

When I learned of the destruction of our cards and our hopes of using the debit card lane of the Albert Heijn (grocery store) I marched to the City Hotel to find out what happened.  I was ensured there that it was noted to hold our mail upon receipt.  Now who do we believe? Long story longer, I had to go to the bank and order another round of cards, which were successfully delivered today.

Oh, and the resident permit has its own share of frustrations.  I mentioned that we had to reapply, since our first visit was unsuccessful.  We were told given the length of our stay we did not need to register.  Not entirely true.  There’s a bunch of legal and bureaucratic hoops here so I won’t bore you with these details.  Fingers crossed we’ll be approved this time and we can get on with our lives.

Best part of today?  The Paprika Pringles that accompanied my sandwich from the City Hotel.  Cheers to the weekend! (31 January 2013)

TAKE YOUR HUSBAND TO WORK DAY!

Intercultural Training for Expatriates Day.  On Friday, January 25th Vicki and I participated in a Culture Orientation provided by her company.  It was a one day crash course in everything Dutch.  We had participated in one of these sessions back in June when we moved to Ireland (yes, surprisingly there were some cultural differences among the Irish that we discovered).  Both training sessions, were extremely helpful and fun.

Vicki and I had done a little homework before we left for the Netherlands because we figured the cultural gap would be a bit larger than in Ireland.  We picked up a book called “The UnDutchables,” which has been a fun read with some useful information.  I’ve also been immersing myself in every Expat Blog and other Expat sites for the Netherlands.  One of my favorite blogs is “Stuff Dutch People Like.”  

At the end of the training day, we walked away with A TON of resources and lots of useful information.  Too much for one post.  But there were two big takeaways for me.

“doe maar gewoon”or “be normal”  I can do that, I can learn how. It’s an interesting mantra. My take on it is, just be cool, don’t brag about stuff and contribute to the greater good.  Parts of this may seem a bit foreign to  folks back in the States.  For instance, you will NEVER see a car with a “My Child is an Honor Student at XYZ School,” here in the Netherlands, it’s not common to boast about success.  Even in the workplace, you would never see an “Employee of the Month” plaque other types of recognition.  If you work hard then everyone succeeds, individual performance is not recognized.  For any Dutch readers, how did I do with this explanation?  Let me know.  Thanks.

The second takeaway from the day, the Dutch do not wear 180s. In case you don’t know about 180s, they’re like ear muffs for guys (& I guess girls too) but they fit around the back of your head, not the top.  They keep your ears warm, and I have sensitive ears, so I like them.  Vicki makes fun of me for them.  If you watch my “Klunen 2013 DannyZ Style”  you’ll see me sporting my 180s.  I’m also wearing them in the above picture.  

#SAHH (Stay At Home Husband)

I’ve heard ‘em all by now, “house husband,” “kept man,” “stay at home husband,” so if you got a new one I’d love to hear it.  For the time being let’s just go with “stay at home husband.” (#SAHH)  

My former company went through layoffs over a year ago; since I wasn’t working, my wife, Vicki, accepted a temporary work assignment for six months in Ireland last March; we moved to Ireland in May; Vicki was asked to consider another international temporary assignment in the Netherlands in October; we moved back to the States in November; Vicki was offered Netherlands position in November; we moved to Oss, Netherlands in January.  There’s our story in a nut shell.  

I’m not going to lie living the SAHH life has it’s moments but there are some dark days too.  Coping with the fact that I’ve been out of work for one year & four months (but who’s counting) does weigh on my brain.  But I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a huge thanks to my wife, Vicki for her love and support (and for dragging her “deadbeat husband across Europe.”)  

While we were in Ireland, spouse’s could not be granted a working permit easily so I joked that I worked for the Irish Tourism Dept.  Since my wife and I planned activities and hosted 14 friends and family in Ireland over the course of the summer.  My new home became TripAdvisor, spending hours researching and later reviewing our travel experiences.  Speaking of travel, my wife and I worked very hard at filling up our passports, visiting 9 (10 inc Ireland) countries throughout Europe.  Something would not have been conceivable if I had not been a SAHH. 

The move to the Netherlands presents some new opportunities for this SAHH, work? school? professional blogger?  We’ll see; stay tuned.  

Thanks for reading my rants.  

FIRST CULTURE SHOCK MOMENT

You learn about culture shock, and you read about culture shock but nothing truly prepares you for when you experience culture shock for the first time in a new country. 

On our first day in the Netherlands my wife and I had planned to take the train from Oss to Den Hague to spend the night.  However, there is no ticket window at our station, only self serve ticket machines that DO NOT take VISA or Mastercard, just euro coins, NOT bills.  In order for us to go from Oss to Den Hauge it would have cost us €37.20 and it ALL had to be in coins. So we collected enough change to at least get us to the next big station (Den Bosch) “with a human” at a ticket window.  Then we could purchase the rest of our fare for our journey.

(VISA & Mastercard NOT accepted at these ticket machines)

So, we figured out our plan, got our tickets to Den Bosh and we were ready. The train arrived minutes after we completed our purchase and we jumped aboard. We were feeling good, really good, that was until the train stopped.  Suddenly announcements were being made (in Dutch) but we didn’t panic yet.  It had snowed early that day so we figured it was just a delay because of the storm.  We began moving again but then came to another stop.  This went on a few more times until we came to a complete dead stop for almost an hour.  During the whole time announcements were being made (still al in Dutch) but no one was really panicking so we just went with the flow.  

We finally got the scoop from a travel companion who interpreted the annoucement for us.  Apparently there was a defective train ahead of us and they needed to remove it from the track.  As a result, our train after sitting for an hour had to go back to the station that we just left. We would all need to exit and wait for another train to come. We were headed right back to where we started.  Oh, FUDGE. They said another train would be at that station shortly so we could begin our journey again.

After returning to Oss Station, my wife and I and all of our other fellow distraught passengers boarded the new train and we were off (again.)  This is where the culture shock began to set in.  I was fine with the train stoppage, and not being able to understand the announcements earlier, because I figured based on other reactions we’d eventually get on our way.  But it was the post experience that affected me.  All of the other passengers were sitting and talking, some joking (deducted by their laughing), others (I guess) grumbling about the situation.  I felt myself being on the outside looking in during this period.  It was strange since this scenario would have been something I would have loved to have been participating in if something like that happened on the R6 Septa train  back home.    

These types of situations seem to bring people together for a least a few short minutes. No lie, I was watching two passengers joking and at the one point the girl offered the man a bit of her orange snack. I felt like I was in one of those feel good Coke commercials where everyone was sharing sodas and singing with polar bears.  But alas, no Coke for me, not even a lousy orange.  I wanted so much to listen and to contribute to what was going on around but couldn’t because it felt strange with the language barrier and the fact that I was a bit intimated by a train full of disgruntled Dutch passengers.

This was the first, and most likely not the last culture shock moment.  But in a way I’m grateful for the whole adventure not only just so I could blog about it but I think I needed the experience to help me break out of my comfort zone. 

KLUNEN 2013 DANNYZ STYLE.

Here it is folks, the latest release from DannyZ Films.  Enjoy.  Let me know what you think.  Thanks.  Cheers.

On January 17th, We Went Dutch

We were (and still a little) uneasy about the language barrier here, but honestly, everyone we have encoutered has been very nice and quickly switches to English after hearing our American accent.  We are trying to get some basic phrases down, but it’s a challenge, not only to speak, but to read.

On our first night in Oss, we went out to dinner and our waiter offered us one of the restaurant’s English menus.  The only catch was we had to wait until one was available, the place only had 4 of them.  It was nice of him to offer but I think we could have managed our way through given some context clues and of course a little help from Google.

Well, if it was a challenge we wanted, we got it the next evening when we went out to the Groene Engle (“Green Angel”) restaurant. When the waitress noticed our accent, she apologized to us and said they did not have an English menu.  Here we go!  We did pretty well, with the help of Google and staff who offered to help us if we had any questions.  

What did we order?  Well we started with the “Broodplan geserveerd met kruidenboter, tapenade en aioli.”  Translation: “Bread plate served with herb butter, tapenade and aioli.”  Then I went with the, how you say, “Chicago Spare Ribs.”  I didn’t have to google that one, however I had to translate the description: “gelakt met een ketjapmarinade, geserveerd met een zoet-pittige says en een doekje om uw haden mee schoon the maken”  Translation: “coated with a sweet soy marinade, served with a sweet-spicy sauce and a cloth to wipe your hands with clean.” The cloth was amazing! 

Heineken Count Begins

MY FIRST.  This was my first Heineken since moving to the Netherlands.  (Editor’s Note: not my first ever, I remember some of the first legal beer I ever bought was a case of those Heiniken keg cans)  Just as the Guinness tasted better in Ireland, the Heineken here is amazing.  

While I was in Ireland, I started a “Guinness Count.”  I would note the #, the place and usually who I was with or if something funny happened while drinking it.  It was an awesome way to record some great memories.  When we left, I had a number of questions about what I was going to count while abroad.  Seems like I’ll be counting these little beauties for the next few months.  Cheers.  

First Week Weather

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL. This was the weather outlook for our first weekend here. It’s in Fahrenheit.

Sfeer Selector?

WHAT THE WHAT?  On our train ride from Rijswijk back to Oss via Breda, Vicki and I noticed a colorful sign on the platform announcing “Sfeer Selector” with an arrow.  The arrow was pointing below to an assortment of buttons.  Naturally, the 12 year old in me wanted to push all of the buttons to see what would happen but unfortunately our train arrived before I had the chance.  So I snapped a quick pic to find out the story behind this display.  

Earlier that day Vicki and I had activated data plans for our phones so the internets were ours for the googling.  I stumbled upon this blog that shed some “light” (get it? you will in a sec) on the mysterious buttons. 

Apparently, after you make a selection the station illuminates with a series of lights to help offset your mood by transforming the boring platform into a more pleasant atmosphere.  It’s cool I guess.  I just wish I got a chance to press a button.  

(Photo Credit: http://vivianvankraaij.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/sfeer-selector/ )

Success at the IND

CELEBRATING.  After what seemed to be a great success at the IND Vicki and I decided to celebrate our temporary Visas with a little breakfast.  Desperately in need of eggs, coffee and WiFi we were somehow magically led to the golden arches.  Now, we maybe go to McDonald’s like once a year back in the States, so we thought it was perfectly fine to explore a Mickey D’s while abroad, right?  

Anyway, we arrived a few minutes after 11:00am and saw all the lunch selections on display.  Disappointed that we missed breakfast we were about to order some fries.  But something possessed Vicki to ask the friendly lad behind the counter if they were still serving breakfast.  Then like magic he flipped a sign about his head transforming the menu from cheeseburgers to a beautiful picture of an Egg McMuffin.  We ordered two and were told to sit down and our order would be brought to us.  Within moments we were served a piping hot & delicious Egg McMuffin sandwiches with bacon AND croissants.  Where were we? McDonalds?  It was amazing.  Plus we got a great cup of coffee and an orange juice.  

Obviously, like any tech savvy, social media minded individual with access to free WiFi I took a picture of it and shared it on facebook with a cool photo filter.  (16 January 2013)

“PRO TIP: If you’re going to ride the train in the Netherlands, be sure to have enough Euro change.”

—	DannyZ upon finding out that the ride back from Rijswijk to Oss for two people would have cost over  €34; and it needed to be all in change since the machine did NOT take VISA.