Posted by: patriciamar | January 18, 2009

Jellyhead

It is always a wonderful day when you rediscover a song that you once loved. Like any reasonable person, I once had a grand obsession with the song Jellyhead, by Crush, and I have now reentered this stage of my life. Thank goodness for YouTube where I am able to find any song that I desire at the drop of a hat. This is also where I find joy in watching old video clips of Sarah Palin as a sports broadcaster or episodes of Fran Drescher in The Nanny. I certainly didn’t mean to turn this post into a epitaph of love for YouTube. But really, how could one not appreciate the wonder?

I will admit, I was at first not a fan, but after my 7 year old cousin showed me the ease and wonder of video clips and homemade music videos… wow. It completes me. If only I could utilize the full potential of such a media sharing site and create and post videos of myself and my friends dancing and- what we only wish would just be lip-syncing- to one-hit wonders from our middle school days.

“…we were only freshman…”

Perhaps someday I will aspire to such a feat. For now, I will continue to watch others’ works of wonder and continue to spend countless hours watching pointless media marvels. In order to assist any of you that struggle in finding such obsessions, here are a few possibilities:
(Please note that all of these come from either my own personal fixations or those of my close friends and family.)

1. The Jetsons
2. A capella
3. public transportation videos
4. The Nanny
5. various other old and equally unpopular sitcoms
6. Dolly Parton music videos (yes, these do actually exist)
7. Language learning tools
8. I like dogs and/or Pugs in the Summer (these are a must-see)
9. Again, because this IS worth mentioning again: Sarah P. as a sports broadcaster
10. Classics put onto YouTube from vinyl (These are available for a variety of artists including Billy Joel, Elvis, Queen, and Kenny Rogers.)

Best of Luck, and I hope you find your own personal YouTobian retreat from reality.

On a side note, currently I can hear wafts from the shower where my husband is ever so lightheartedly singing, “Catch a falling star.” What more can you ask for a rainy January day in the Netherlands?

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Posted by: patriciamar | January 7, 2009

With Dutch comes perspective

I am currently learning Dutch.  Five hours per day, five hours per week, for four weeks at a price so high that I will not even post it on the internet, lest my friends and family see how much I paid for it and become bitter about the quality of their Christmas presents.  I have found that with Dutch comes a new perspective on life.  Having lived in the Netherlands for only six months, I know a few things, and have noticed differences, but it is not until you really start to learn the language and the vocabulary that you begin to understand exactly what is encompassed in “being Dutch.”

The first word that anyone should know is obviously, gezellig.  When translating, try as you wish, but this word does not have any single meaning.  I would argue that roughly speaking, it means cozy, close, or pleasing, yet, I am still far from understanding exactly what it means to be gezellig.  Below I have comprised a list of things that are gezellig, most of which come from real Dutch people (as opposed to imaginary, or Dutch people that live in Southern Minnesota and Northwest Iowa.  This list is obviously far from all-inclusive, but should give a snippet of understanding of the word.

1.  going to Amsterdam with your mother

2.  a meeting at a table that is too small

3.  a blazing fire

4.  a Dutch bar

5.  an outfit (as of now, I am unable to describe what such an outfit would look like, I will continue to investigate this example)

6.  a party (most likely on the fifth floor of a building that is not up to fire code)

7.  small and overpriced student apartments

8.  knick-knacks

9.  an abundance of shiny Christmas balls hanging from the ceiling of a pub

10.  riding a small elevator with four people and two bikes

The following is a list of things about which I often wonder the level of gezelligness.

1.  slippers

2.  a good book

3.  Dutch bathrooms

4.  kissing

5.  hugging

6.  an all-nighter of paper writing

7.  dying in a fire on a fifth floor of a building (with friends of course)

8.  a traditional Dutch song (e.g. Kedeng Kedeng)

9.  a book that makes fun of the dutch and their ways (e.g. Undutchables)

10.  how the dutch always use “e.g.”

This being said, I wish you all a gezellig January.

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Posted in language, Nederland, Travel

Posted by: patriciamar | December 25, 2008

Christmas

On Christmas day, I woke up a bit late, but still, a bit tired, but relieved and happy that I was in my own home on my own bed- wait no, that was an air matress- but still, it was at least my own home. Even though I spent the bulk of the day alone while my two cohorts biked to Katwijk via Wassenaar, it was a wonderful Christmas day indeed.  After sleep, a shower, and a jumpstart of pilates, my day consisted of cleaning, research, paperwriting, laundry, preparing for the next wave of visitors, and Christmas music.  Oh, the Christmas music that served as a shining light in my life from mid October on and brought a Sinterklaasie glow to my pale and sun-deprived cheeks.

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Posted in Etc., music, Nederland | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: patriciamar | December 8, 2008

alpha

The first day of the last week of the first semester of a master’s programme would be the perfect day to start writing…

And thus, here we are, if all were to go swimmingly, you could expect a nice blurb each day from now until the end… but no, it is more likely that I will write when I can and as much as can without being forceful about it at all.  Perhaps in the future I will demonstrate more reliability and dedication, but for now, I will be dedicated to relaxing and enjoying Life in Leiden.

Ahhh… the life.

Currently, I am sipping tea, which- by the way, is 100% caffeine free.  Apparently, my husband thinks that a caffeinated me is just too much for him to handle late at night.  It might be because I get a little out of control and tend to accidentally wake him up with a bump of the elbow or a stretch of the leg, but moving on, I am drinking tea, eating stroopwafels, and contemplating my strategy for making a caramel apple stroopwafel pie.  I do realize that this is a bit redundant because a stroopwafel has caramel in it already, but I figure that a bit extra in the form of Mijn Oma caramel sauce could never hurt anything.  If the pie is a success, expect a recipe in the near future.

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Posted in coffee, education, Etc.

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