Cloggie Central
Live From The Land of Windmills, Wooden Shoes and Tulips!Getting Irritated With The Cloggies
I popped over to the home shopping centre (woonmall = livingmall) to grab a sandwich from delifrance. Usually this can be a pretty quick venture and with the discount I get for working in the area makes it worth the visit. However upon arrival I was faced with a gaggle of Cloggies all standing in the way of the counter where you order. Now had they been ordering their food this would have made sense but were they doing this – no! They were standing there eating their sandwiches and taking no notice of the people who were trying to order their food. It appears that they were waiting for two members of the group whose sandwiches were being made but come on….must the whole gaggle stand there and wait….are Cloggies really that insecure? Unfortunately the phrases ‘bugger off’ or ‘oi, get out of the way’ are not part of my Dutch vocabulary so I was left to attempt to shout my order over the gaggle and then throw my money at the lady behind the register, grrrrrr.
The second event was on the way home. There I was, driving along and looking forward to getting home when -bang- a Cloggie traffic jam. Cloggie traffic jams are not unusual….it is a small country…and usually I don”t mind them too much but what is irritating is the fact that there is no cause of the Cloggie jam, they are just phantom traffic jams. Meaning that one Cloggie puts on his brakes, usually due to another Cloggie cutting him off without warning, and then the whole country put on their brakes rather than just slowing down a bit. I have made it my goal to put on my brakes the least amount of times possible to try and help educate the Cloggies on this simple, yet effective way of reducing traffic but am thinking I may need to get a sign made to explain what I am doing as they tend to just zoom round me, cut in and then slam on their brakes, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Off to rant…
Cloggie In Training
Sorry Sir, Was I In Your Lane?
What do I hate most about driving in Holland?
It’s not the traffic jams, it’s not the ‘if you come from the right you have the right of way’rule – although I did almost kill a motorcyclist because of it – and it is not even the point blank Cloggie refusal to slow down when they see that traffic ahead is stopped but instead just plow towards it at break neck speed and come to a screeching halt. I can even cope with the fact that they must drive in every lane available – hey they paid their taxes so are entitled to it, right?
But what I really truly hate is the lack of reflectors on the roads. Who would have ever thought that those small little pieces of coloured plastic would be so handy. But boy oh boy they are especially useful when it is rainy, sunny, dark or any combination of the three, which is a pretty regular occurrence.
Never had I realised how insufficient plain white lines are on the road when it is bucketing it down with rain as it was today. At times like these you can not even see the lines so you end up making up your own lane with every so often a quick glance of the white line and realise you are so not in your own lane at all.
This doesn’t seem to phase the Cloggies however who happily drive round you, most likely on the hard shoulder. It was only when RC came to England and saw what a great invention the reflector was did he realise how dangerous it was on Cloggie roads. I am very tempted to write to the Cloggie Government and explain what they are missing out on but I am sure it will be of no success.
Cloggie In Training
Hello world!
Hello to all my readers, new and old!
As you can see I am trying out wordpress.com with the aim of making the blog a little more user friendly. I am very new to wordpress so please be patient as I learn all the new mechanisms and do keep me informed of the things you are and aren’t liking.
I am trying to pull over as much content from blogger as possible but as you will soon see some things (like Javascript, i.e. My Library and the 101 list countdown) are not supported by wordpress. Hopefully solutions will soon be found.
Happy Reading!
Cloggie In Training
What Was That Word?
Learning Dutch is of course not the easiest of tasks to set out on and there have been a number of words that when I hear or read them they seem like something completely different to what they actually mean in Dutch.
For example, one of the ways that RC and I work on my Dutch is to borrow some children’s books from the library and read them at home. One word that makes a frequent appearance is ‘draagt’, for example in the form of ‘Papa draagt Jip naar boven.’
At first glance it looks like Jip has a pretty mean father who drags him upstairs but once you learn that draagt actually means carries then the story makes a lot more sense.
In the car today I heard a song that always makes me laugh. Trenen Gelachen by Guus Meeuwis is a song all about old friends meeting up again and having a laugh and drink. So keeping this in mind it is a bit odd when in the refrain you hear something that sounds a bit like ‘then they slaughter each other and licht uitgeddan (licht uitgeddan = turn out the light)’.
When I first explained this strange interpretation of the song RC burst out laughing and kindly explained that it actually was ‘en tenslotte tevreden.. het licht uitgedaan’ meaning ‘and then finally satisfied…turned off the light’.
I actually think the song is more exciting with the slaughtering version so have included the lyrics and a link to the song here for you. (the pictures in the clip give you an idea of what the words in the song mean)
Happy singing!
Cloggie In Training
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Trenen Gelachen by Guus Meeuwis
Regen verpest een midden maart, tenminste dat had ze gedacht.Maar ik heb in m’n hoofd nog wat zonlicht bewaard, dus ik ben de laatste die lacht.
En met zonder jas, stap ik naar buiten,begin ik m’n tocht vol goeie moedIk moet me inhouden niet te gaan fluiten,zo loop ik de zon tegemoet.
Vandaag zie ik m’n vrienden van vroeger, gewoon om te zien of er ergens iets zitvan die jongens in ons die nergens om vroegen die niet wilden weten wat smaakt nou zou licht.
Refrein:Ik heb tranen gelachen, onnozel gedaan en tenslotte tevreden.. het licht uitgedaan.
Ik word begroet met een klap op m’n schouderhoe is het met jou, eerste grap eerste glas.Hier in dit licht zijn we nauwelijks ouder, even een stilte dan lachen we pas.
Een voor een druppelt het binnen, de mannen van toen veranderen nooit.Maar toch is er nog zoveel nieuws te verzinnen de mannen van toen veranderen nooit
Refrein:Ik heb tranen gelachen, onnozel gedaan en tenslotte tevreden.. het licht uitgedaan.
De sterren voorspellen een ochtend in maart die fluistert; de lente beginten ik kan hier op dit uur geen taxi meer krijgen maar het maakt me niet uit de lente begint
Refrein:Ik heb tranen gelachen, onnozel gedaan en tenslotte tevreden.. het licht uitgedaan.
Ik heb tranen gelachen, onnozel gedaan en tenslotte tevreden.. het licht uitgedaan.
Het licht uitgedaan.
Tasks Completed
The good news is that I have started to complete some of the tasks on my 101 list. I will be marking them off on the list as I complete things but will also try and keep this area updated with more specifics as I complete them. So here we go…
No. 1: Complete 101 list
Some of you may be thinking that this was too easy of a task to have on my 101 list, however for you doubting souls…I challenge you to make a 101 list. It is not as easy as it originally sounds and there does come a time (I found it happened around the 80 mark) when you start to run out of things to put on the list. So now that my list is complete and posted to the Day Zero master list I can happily consider this task done.
No. 54: Purchase and take care of a plant for downstairs.
RC spotted a good value and attractive looking plant at Albert Heijn which was on sale with our bonus card. The plant itself came in a nice little white pot and is lovingly placed on top of the mailboxes downstairs so that he has access to the window and thus sunlight.
When I was working with kids it was always their responsibilty to name the plant so without a readily available naming service I have decided to give the plant a Dutch name. So ”Beneden” it is. Beneden is the Dutch word for downstairs and the only ‘B’ direction word I can never remember (Buiten = Outside, Binnen = Inside and Boven = Upstairs). At the moment Beneden seems quite happy although I am worried that he will become a bit cold so will have to watch carefully for any sign of plant sniffles. The next time I have my camera with me downstairs I will take a photo of him.
No. 63: Organize I-tunes music
Finally this task is complete and I can once again enjoy new music on my ipod. Back when my old laptop crashed I was able to have most of my music recovered. However many songs didn”t make it over and what was put back into itunes seemed to work on some occassions and not on others. As I didn’t want to lose the music on my ipod and without a way to get the music off my ipod and back onto the computer I was no longer uploading new music and beginning to get bored with what was already stored.
Some research online helped me to find a wonderful piece of software called Anapod which SF happily purchased for my birthday. This fantastic piece of software has allowed me to get all my music back into itunes.
The next step was to get my music organized. Again a little internet research was in order and I quickly learned that I needed to rank my music and make sure that as many tags as possible were full and complete which I spent today doing. I also uploaded all the album art….less to make it organized and more to make it pretty! 
) And the last step was to upload some new songs which I have also done.
So all in all I am once again a happy ipod owner with some new and enjoyable music.
Off to listen to my Ipod…
Cloggie In Training
Happy Birthday to Me!!
Yippeeee…yesterday, January 12th, was my 28th birthday and a pretty successful birthday it was indeed.
Amongst other gifts…
Expat friend made my day with the most delicious smelling soap and hair products along with some mini-gifts throughout the rest of the week.
Work chipped in to support my 101 list tasks with the purchase of a new kite. I have read up on all the user rules and hints and plan to hit the local park to make loop the loops very soon. In addition I also got some other super treats.
RC and his parents bought me a new laptop which is super fab as I no longer have to halt all online/computer tasks when the battery is up due to the near death situation of my old one. I also have some money left over for shopping and a book voucher.
Super Friend rescued my itunes situation by buying me the anapod software which allows you to get all your great music off the ipod and back onto your computer (amongst other things) which apple doesn’t like you doing so blocks in itunes.
RC’s grandparent’s kindly gave some money which has also helped with my 101 list by enabling me to purchase a Rubik’s cube and 1000 piece puzzle.
So all in all it has been a great birthday with presents that I am sure will provide for a number of entertaining updates.
Cloggie In Training
Helpful Dutch
This afternoon I headed off in search of a plant for my desk at work. It was near the train station when a rather small woman approached me saying ‘Kan ik u iets vragen mevrouw?’. I actually new this phrase so was very aware that she wanted to ask me a question so put on my ‘yes I am listening face’ on. It was then that my Dutch let me down…I am pretty sure that the lady was asking me where the bus was located however
a. I had no idea where it was located
b. I wasn’t certain this is what she was asking
c. I didn’t want to fall back on one of my standard phrases of ‘Ik spreek engels’
so I looked very thoughtful and said ‘Ik weet het niet’ (I don’t know) and then for extra emphasis ‘het spijt me’ (I’m sorry). The lady seemed quite happy with this answer if not slightly disappointed that I couldn’t help her and happily I headed off in search of my new desk plant.
When I got home in the evening I explained to RC all about my adventure and how well I had used my Dutch.
RC: Good, but in fact you could have said it like this … (three different versions of what I had said)
Me: Yes but my way was much more emotional (at which point I proceeded to act out the whole scene with extra empasis on my phrases, showing how my version was far more empathetic)
Now I just need to learn a bit more Dutch so I actually know what people are saying to me when they ask questions.
Cloggie In Training
The One Finger Salute
Spending loads of time in the car has raised my awareness of the Cloggie one finger salute…no not that one finger salute!
It is a strange day that Cloggie’s in their cars thank each other for allowing them to go in front of them or when they move over so the other car can go through first. On the motorways for example, where most other countries will thank you with a flash of your headlights or your hazard lights, the Cloggies just ignore you or at the most drive right up your ass.
However the Cloggies do seem a little more polite when in a local neighbourhood. Although instead of thanking their fellow Cloggies with a hand-up they instead just put up one finger – most typically the index finger. Now why does this event gain space on my blog? Well think about it, the next time you are wanting to thank someone just do it with your index finger and see how silly you look with your finger up in the air as if you are trying to test the air temperature.
I rest my case…
Cloggie In Training
Visiting ’s-Hertogenbosch aka Den Bosch
Today after much pleading with RC it was decided that we would visit s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) in North Brabant. We gathered up the camera, spare batteries, tomtom and the Holland guidebook and were soon on our way.
Den Bosch is located about 55 minutes away from our house and is reached mainly via the motorways. As we headed off it was pretty cloudy and once the rain started both RC and I were not so convinced that the umbrella was truely in the car. I may just drive through the city, you can stick your head out and take the photos, I heard RC state as the rain got harder. I’m sure it’s bright and sunny in Den Bosch I stated not all that confident.
In fact as we made it closer to the city the rain died off into a light drizzle. Heading into Den Bosch there were a lot of beautiful churches. I had read in the guidebook how this area was Catholic and this perhaps explained the number of churches. Finally we arrived in the city and relatively quickly found a nice parking place and the umbrella (phew!). Off we headed to the city centre, spotting one of the items on our list of things to see…Sint Jan.
Sint Jan
Sint Jan is a rather large church in Den Bosch and according to the guidebook existed as early as the 13th century. Originally Romanesque in style the church was rebuilt, this time in the Gothic style, during the 14th to 16th century due to riots and a fire. We entered via the Northern Portal which had several carved decorations on the outside.
The church inside is very beautiful with many stained glass windows and mini-alters surrounded by candles. A small service was going on while we were there so the photos had to be taken without flash and with the minimal disruption.
Both RC and I walked around quietly admiring various bits when I spoted the Statue of St Mary outlined in the guidebook. Off I wandered to have a closer look. According to the guidebook the statue was from the 13th century and until recently was being kept in Brussels. The area was filled with flowers and candles and I really wanted to take a photo but for some reason it just didn’t feel right to do so. As I stood pondering if it would be okay I noticed RC standing outside the area making a movement with his head indicating for me to come out. Hmpfh I’m not done looking I thought to myself and continued to ponder the picture issue…surely it must be okay, I mean there was a photo of it in my guidebook so someone was allowed to do it. Just as my hand was reaching into my pocket for the camera I saw the vigiorous head twitching of RC and decided to find out what he was going on about.
Me: It was really pretty in there, why didn’t you come in?
RC: Look at the sign, it says it is for people praying only not for viewing.
Me: Well how do you know I wasn’t praying? Maybe I was praying!
RC: You weren’t praying I saw you reading your guidebook!
And so we left Sint Jan in search for other items on our list, but not without a quick photo of the gargoyles outside.
De Moriaan
The next stop on our list was to the Moriaan, a medieval building with a stepped gable. It is officially the town’s oldest building and now houses the city’s tourist office. After a quick peek inside we were off again, this time through the market.
Medieval Well and the Statute of Jeroen Bosch
In the middle of the market was the medieval well which according to the guidebook had been restored to its former glory and of which I was very keen to see. However I should not have been so excited as the well was covered in a large number of boxes from the local market.
Very near the well is the statue of the painter Jeroen Bosch (c. 1450/1460 – 1516) who is the city’s most renowned figure.
Stadhuis
Next stop was the çity’s town hall, stadhuis in Dutch, built in the Neo-Classical style and bells that ring twice an hour.
Binnen-Dieze
A short walk from the town square itself is one of the best places for viewing the binnen-dieze, the city’s inner canal which runs partly underground.
After that we headed back towards the car but not without stopping for a quick oliebol. On the way back we also stopped at a sculpture dedicated to the Jewish teachers and students that were killed during WW2.
Overall Den Bosch was a really nice city with some fantastic buildings and excellent shopping opportunities. I would definetly return. Our scores (out of 5) for the city are as follows:
Den Bosch Overall – **** (4)
Atmosphere – **** (4)
Scenery – **** (4)
Walking Paths – ** (2) It was pretty crowded and for anyone who has difficulty walking on coblestones not the best choice.
Relevance to Guidebook – **** (4) Overall the guidebook was pretty spot on however the stone plaque with swan which according to the guide are a common site in the city centre were not anywhere we could find.
Things to See – **** (4) Enough to keep you happy but not so much that you need several days.
To finish out the day we stopped at a local pet shop to get the cats a new scratching post as the one we currently have has started to fall apart. The cats love the new scratching post but when Amelia saw that the old one was by the door to be thrown out she made a last minute appeal for it to remain.
Photos from Den Bosch -click here – Enjoy!
Cloggie In Training
Visitors Looking for My 101 List
Hello Visitors Arriving for the 101 List,
You can find my 101 list on the right-hand side of my blog. You will need to scroll down a bit to see it but it is there. )
Good luck with your 101 list!
Cloggie In Training
