baby bunny

baby
Originally uploaded by mireille schoone.

We are strongly considering adding this baby to our family. isn't he adorable!??!!!!

His name is Yang (as in ying-yang)...and he lives in Eindhoven. His human-slave mommy is in a bunny group I'm in on Flickr. The two bunny parents, Stampertje and Moenie, are so cute as well...and recently had 5 little ones. LIttle Yang is looking for a home! He might be joining our family this week.

For TONS of great photos of this bunny family, go to (she is a great photographer!):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mireilleschoone/

Do you think Rosie and Japie would like a new little friend?

all in a day's work

making some coffee
Originally uploaded by dutchlop.

working hard at strowis....about 3 weeks ago, some pictures were taken of me doing my volunteer work, and they'll be used on a volunteer website in utrecht. so, some of my activities include making a cup of coffee or capuccino.

Everybody hurts...

Yesterday I experienced a part of Dutch society that I have been lucky enough to not experience til now- a funeral. The father of M's brother's girlfriend died last Friday. Yesterday was the funeral in Nijmegen. As the death was sudden and unexpected, it was quite sad. I only met him once, about 2 months ago for a BBQ at their house. He seemed like a friendly and nice guy. He enjoyed drinking chestnut liquor and teasing his kids.

I've only been to 3 funerals in the US luckily, and all three had wakes and a church service funeral. Here, it is not related to the church. Its in a specific building/complex for funerals- a crematorium. There were probably 250-300 people there, and not enough seating room, so over 100 people were standing. I was one of them. A person would talk for a bit or read a poem, and then they would play a song, usually contemporary. the three children each said something, and three others talked as well. It was about an hour long. At the end, we were to walk by the (closed) casket, and since M and I were at the end of the row of people standing up, we were led to the front first. I thought that was a bit awkward and strange, since I didn't really know what to do! I am sad that his life ended early, but I am more sad for those he left behind and how much they will miss him. I'm already a very emotional person, but a funeral is even worse! I hardly knew this man, and I couldn't understand everything being said, but I knew it was very sad.

After that, they lead you to the condolence area where there is tea or coffee and slices of pound cake to eat. That is typically Dutch I'm told. Also, many people dressed rather informally, I was quite surprised at how some people wore jeans or tight pants or bright shirts (white or red), or shorter skirts. They also asked for a round of applause for him at the end, which I thought was rather unnecessary and weird at a funeral- by being there we are already paying our respects and honoring his life. I guess things are different here. I hope I don't have to experience such things very often, as it is very emotionally draining and quite sad. Like I said, I've been lucky enough so far, but as I get older, others get older too, and (bad) health happens.

vacation is over! i got a job!

Well, a lot has happened in my life this past week. I was too busy to write about it until now! Last week Tues I got my residence permit/work permit. This is in the form of an ID card. I have been spending the last 6 months looking at the jobs available for english speakers in the netherlands. here are some job agencies that specialize in 'multilinguals', those people who don't speak dutch as a native language. On Tuesday I sent my CV in to a work agency in amsterdam, for a job in at company called TomTom. TomTom makes navigational products for automobiles/bikes. they are a dutch company and their HQ are in amsterdam. they operate in english because they are so international. they are the leader in navigational products in europe. they have a new software program that allows its users (potentially the 10 million customers they already have) to update the maps and make changes, if the maps tomtom has are not current/correct. the job i applied to would be to then check this material that is sent in to tomtom if it is valid or not. I applied on Tues, was called on Wed, had an interview on Thursday morning, and was offered the job at the end of the interview! I was so surprised at how fast this all went. It may be only a production job at this point, but it could develop to more. But at least this is a job where I can earn some money, and work in an international company that is doing very well and is the leader in the market for this product...and i can work at a job that is in my field of geography. unbelievable how fast it all went--i was only on the job market for 2 days really! i was quite discouraged the week before, that it would take some time to get a job, but amazingly this one appeared. good timing and luck. i am sure there are opportunities to move around or move up in the company...we shall see how it goes!

So I was offered a 1 yr contract directly from the company itself, not the job agency. I will start on Sept 3rd. Its about an hour to commute, one way, which i will do by either bike/bus, train, and metro. About the same amt of time as it was to commute for me in DC the last 2 yrs.

So, just as I was really getting used to being a 'house wife' and doing the shopping and errands...now i will have to re-adjust my body clock and frame of mind, as adjusting to a full time job will be a bit tiring at first!

And as I look back on the previous 6 months, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. what have i done with the time? i wish i would have read more books and maybe gone for more bike rides...but that just didn't happen. Maybe now that I will sit in the train for 20 min/day, i will be able to read some. I guess the more time you have available, the less you get done b/c you can always say 'ohh i'll do that later'...now that time has come to an end. at least we will have some money now for our wedding and to pay for travel and to pay off our school loans.

so i gotta spend the next 2 wks enjoying myself and my final days of 'freedom'! summer vacation is over!

In integration news this week...

Yesterday I took my placement test for the dutch language classes. It was five parts. First a general one, to see my initial understanding...the 2nd one was nothing to do with language. It was a sort of patterns test, both with numbers and letters, then shapes and putting things into like categories. It was like I was in elementary school again! It was fun...and I finished in like 5 minutes (first out of the 4 others). Then I had a speaking test, where a cassette tape spoke the situation and then asks 'what would you say?', and I have to say what I would do/ask in that situation..and a 2nd cassette recorder recorded my voice. Since I placed higher from the first test, they gave me the more advanced speaking test. So that was too much for me, and i really didn't know what to say. Sometimes, I didn't say anything and the time I had to answer it was totally silent. Then I asked to take the next lower level test, in reading and listening. I know it doesn't matter how I do, since this just places me somewhere. But I think that is sort of hard to do in a way, when over half the questions are multiple choice. One thing I did learn in the US education system was how to answer multiple choice question by process of elimination and deducting answers. I might not know the word for word question, but I can generally guess well. Maybe this shows I'm intelligent, but doesn't show a lot of my fluency in Dutch...by guessing answers.

Today I went to go pick up the actual ID card, the residence permit. The most expensive ID card money can buy. I went at 930 just to make sure I had a bit of extra time before I had to go to the hostel by 11. Luckily only one person was ahead of me, he walked in when I did. His went smoothly. I just had a feeling that something would go wrong...how could I be this close to getting the card...the IND wouldn't just hand it over to me without a fight would it?

Sure enough, the woman said that in the computer system it said I had two cards, the old one and this new one. The 'old one' being from 2002 when I was a student....the card I never received because I left Holland before I was able to get it even. So there was no way I could have the old one. And who in their right mind holds on to such a card for over 5 years anyways when its not needed for life in the US?

I told her I never got this card. The IND should know that, because I would have to sign for it, and I never signed for it. She said I had to go to the police station and get a letter from someone there stating that I do not have an old card. Then bring it back to her and she can give me the new one. Even thought it is sitting right there in front of her. I'm not used to putting up a fight/argument with city workers here because I feel I will never win, they hardly bend on their rules. But I said that was ridiculous...why should I do that when I never got a card to begin with. Plus i was sent this letter to say I could pick up my card today, so that is what i'm here to do.

I didn't have time to go to the police. I could picture it already- I go there, no one knows what the F i'm talking about, or what desk I should go to or who to talk to. I would get no where. Just waiting more time, when she could just give me the dang card.

Luckily she was nice and decided to just give it to me. So I signed a paper and got the card. Now I am truly certified to work in the Netherlands, and able to be insured under M's plan.

When I left, there were 5 people behind me waiting. Just think- I can go through this all over again in 6 months. My card is only valid for one year...from the date of application! I have to get a new card, pay more money, and wait again (not as long and not as much money)...on my March 2nd application date. I will have to take a picture to show how this expensive card looks and post it on here!

News in the hostel world...

Well, its been an interesting week at the hostel for me. first, adjusting to being back at 'work' after 2 weeks off...i did a lot of cleaning on Tuesday, which was fine with me, just that i get really sweaty! :-( Thursday I did my first shift of doing the reception desk alone. That means dealing with letting people in, checking people in, answering the phone, and managing the 'bar' area. And both days the place was fully booked, so I was really busy on Thursday ...all by myself. The phone always seems to ring when there's 2 separate groups of people I need to check in! But I think it went well overall, considering it could have been much worse!

But some out of the ordinary things this week- Tuesday I had some pictures taken of me doing things like mopping/cleaning the mirrors/making coffee/folding laundry, because a dutch website on the general aspects of being a volunteer needed more pics for their website. they hired a free lance photographer to take these pics, and he happened to be a house-mate of one of the guys working at the hostel (the photographer is also a board member). so that was interesting. I'm sure i just look super with my hair pulled back and my face shiny after sweating so profusely!!

Also, some good finds on Thursday when I cleaned for about an hour. Some people left behind some magazines--so I have 3 English language magazines to read. I also found a bag of weed! I offered to my co-worker, but she said she doesn't smoke, and that I should keep it. Well, considering I don't even know how to roll a cigarette...I'll just hold on to it til we find someone who does smoke it. For now its just sitting here...and it will probably just sit here for awhile. Its a nice centerpiece.

The next waiting game

Now that I have a valid residence/work permit coming my way (I still have to pick it up whenever they tell me to), finding a job is the next major hurdle. Of course I've spent the last 5 months looking for jobs here, some of which i wish I could applied for...and some I did apply for, but got turned down up front b/c I didn't have a work permit. I've also spent the last year looking at the job market here on job placement websites...so I sort of know how it will go. The majority of jobs that foreign English speaking people get placed in are call center jobs. I refuse to do that! Its too stressful and I probably wouldn't last more than a month. There are a lot of big name international companies with HQ or offices in the NL, but I am not a: economist, financial analyst, accountant, IT, marketing analyst, HR specialist, graphic designer...etc etc. I guess that doesn't leave a lot I am qualified to do!

Right away on Monday I began my quest. I went to Undutchables, a job recruitment agency for foreigners, to talk to someone about what I can do to find a job. I went to Manpower and Randstad, but they both don't deal with English-speaking jobs! they didn't even take my CV. I went to another place but they also don't have much for English-speakers. I think the market is flooded with job placement agencies here in Holland. One street alone where I went to Randstad...is just basically a street with job placement offices! There were even two offices of the same company!

So I will spend my days still scrounging for jobs. I still have my volunteer job which I went back to yesterday. But it just reminded me how much I would like to have a job-- a paying job, and one where I can go to and be able to communicate to others about the job. I never fully understand everything they say during the change of shift things, even if they are just joking about something...i really just want to be included on things. I hope I can soon be included in the Dutch job market.

Op Vakantie

Well, one of the things you learn in Dutch vocabulary rather early on is the word for 'vacation'. Vacation is very important in dutch society, and as its now the school summer break, many dutchies are "op vakantie". It is the summer right-of-passage, and a very important part of Dutch culture. 'Ga jij op vakantie?' is the question in early summer. They live for vacation! Whether the warm temps and waters of Spain, or the mountains of Switzerland/France/Austria...any country that is different than the flat, rainy, mild temperatured Holland.

The Dutch enjoy many more paid vacation days at their jobs than in the USA...I'd say at least a 3 week average. Or on the high end you could get 43 holiday days a year (like the person I live with!....however that includes the gov't holidays and the 12 days extra he gets for working 40hrs/wk on a 38 hr/wk contract).

So, we did as any other Dutch couple would do- get outta town and go op vakantie. Due to the fact that we are living in a one-income household currently, we could not do something a bit more elaborate, such as go to Norway, as we have been wishing to do in recent years....but we did something still just as fun. We went by train to southern Germany and went camping!

We left the 18th, and spent 9 nights at the Campingplatz Tennsee, a camping place in the middle of tiny towns by the names of Klais and Krun. This was all within a few miles of the border of Austria. The nearest real 'town' is Mittenwald. I believe this area's only hope in their local economy is tourism- summer camping/hiking/holiday apartments, and in winter its skiing. It was such a beautiful area, the 2nd highest mountain peak in Germany was nearby, the Karwendel. The first thing we saw when exiting our tent in the morning was Karwendel. And the Tennsee (Tenn lake) was really more of a pond. Every night at dusk for about 3 hours, you could hear the hundreds of frogs/toads and crickets chirping and singing a melody to put you to sleep. (Or in M's case, since he hates frogs, he had bad dreams the first night thinking they were in the tent and he was trying to swat them away! haha!!).

The first day we took a cable car to the top of the mountain, over 2400 meters up. And we decided to hike down, even though it is easier to hike up a mountain than going down. It took several hours, as the first half is all loose rock, it was very slippery and dangerous! Quite a challenge. My legs muscles ached for days afterwards, it was difficult for me to even walk up/down steps after that b/c of my calves/quads/hamstrings. And the blisters on my toes and feet---I had problems with that all 2 weeks, my hiking boots were probably a size too small (you should buy one size larger than your normal shoe size apparently). It was quite painful to walk most of the time. I bandaged them and taped them up, which helped some in preventing more, but didn't help those already there. My feet are in pretty bad shape now.

The second day we hiked up another small mountain over 1100 meters, and around in our area. Saturday we went to Innsbruck, Austria by train, as it was only 1 hour away. Its a nice city in the valley between some large mountains. Sunday we hiked some more to Mittenwald and in gorge walking trail outside of Mittenwald. On this train we crossed the border into Austria.

Monday was supposed to be a 'break' for my feet...we were going to take the train/bus to Vils, Austria, then try to catch a bus to Fuessen, Germany, about 6 km away. This is where the castle Neuschwanstein is located, the fairy tale castle of Mad Kind Ludwig that was built in the 1800s and which Disney based their castle on. Well, the bus was over an hour wait, if it actually came that is...and we were told it was only 4km to Austria.

So we walked to Austria.

It took over an hour...and was probably more like 6 km to the city center. And by this time, the painful feet I had, I was stubborn and wanted to actually see Neuschwanstein again (I saw it in 1998) since we had already walked this far. But it was another 3km to walk. Oh the stubbornness that ensued (on my behalf). But through the heat and the blisters and the pain...we saw it. And 1/2 hour later we had to get on the bus back to Fuessen, to make sure we could get a bus that would take us back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (where we could get the train to Klais and then walk another 25 min to our campsite). Just barely, it all worked out. Neuschwanstein is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Germany. Its fricken crazy there, and the busses don't leave when they should, so we almost didn't make our connection in Fuessen.

But we saw the castle!!

Tuesday and Wednesday we did actually rest my feet...because we biked. We rented mountain bikes on Tues from our campsite...they were a bit too small for us, they were made for teenagers. Imagine 6'7" M riding a small framed bike. With a 7kg backpack. It rained all day, pretty heavy at times. But it was beautiful ride. Wednesday was much better weather, we got better 'touring' bikes from a place in nearby Krun. We biked probably 60 km that day, up to the Walchensee (lake) - it was 24 km around it. It was such beautiful blue-green water,due to the mineral content in the water!!...unfortunately it wasn't as warm as Caribbean waters!

Thursday we went on a hike organized by the town tourism office of Krun. It was to the Hoellental. This means valley of hell. It is a narrow gorge you walk through (thru tunnels and walkways they installed along the wall/edge)...and it is one of the ways leading to the Zugspitze. It was really a neat hike, very enjoyable and scenic. Sometimes we were really near to the edge, a bit scary. However my feet were in so much pain the way down. Ouch.

Friday we made our way by train to Esslingen. We transferred several times, because we got a cheap ticket. But for 3 hrs we were in Munich. We had time to walk around a bit, and to eat lunch at the Hofbrau Haus. That was yummy. We met up with my host parents from 1998 and stayed with them for 3 nights in Esslingen. It was nice to see them again, and to sleep in my old room looking out to the city center, and drink wine with dinner on their balcony. Monday through Wednesday we were with my friend Anna-Lena (who was in the high school class there). We visited the city of Konstanz, which is on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in southern Germany. We crossed the border to Switzerland by foot here!

Overall, it was a very nice time and a nice trip. I wouldn't mind going back there again. My Germany language skills slowly came back to me, as the first week I was totally confused in my head between Dutch and German. I wanted to say more dutch words than German, now i'm back to more German than dutch. Camping was enjoyable, but this camping place had mostly small RV's/camper vehicles. There were probably 40% Dutch people staying there. You could tell the difference between the children...the Dutch children were louder and more obnoxious than the German kids.

Things I like about Bavaria/Baden-Wuerttemburg: scenery, lederhosen, Fachwerk, little chapels in tiny corners of alleyways or along regular streets, bells on goats/sheep/cows so that you can hear them all the time, chocolate croissants, bakeries, kuchen (cake/tortes), WINE, sunshine.

The Germans have a stereotype of Dutchies in their heads...that they all drive with their caravans (campers) in the left lane of the Autobahns at 40 km/hr slower than everyone else...in mass exodus to southern Germany. Considering the number of campers that were in our camp site alone...and all the cars we saw on the road...I think its a pretty accurate stereotype!

For some nice photos, please check out my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caclabots/sets/72157601200917965/

Fun Geography Facts:

• Crossed 2 international boundaries by foot 3 times in total (Austria and Switzerland)


• Hiked on the 2nd highest mountain in Germany (Karwendel)


• Zero passport stamps


• Sat on the shore of Lake Constance where the Rhine River begins (in this lake)


• About 87 km biked (54 miles)


• Unknown km hiked!


• Around 1900 km travelled by train


• Top speed of 300km/hr reached while on ICE train

the decision

the news i've been waiting for for the last almost 5 months...the decision from the immigration dept on my application for residence within the netherlands. i returned from my vacation in germany yesterday afternoon (haven't the last 5 months been something of a 'break' anyways?), and as i had thought, it was waiting in the mailbox for me. my application was approved!! and now i have to wait to hear from the city hall as to when i should go pick up the ID card, the actual proof. i can now apply for jobs!! woo hoo!!

Check back tomorrow for a report on our trip to Deutschland and the Bavarian Alps!