Beware! Dutch Language Alert

It's kind of fun learning a new language. (Nevermind that I never know which language I'm speaking...my mind continues to go to Chinese whenever I want to speak Dutch; and it wanted to go to French when I was learning Chinese. Poor, confused brain.) It's fun to learn the intricracies of the language and try to understand how it has evolved as society has changed. After all, who on earth would have imagined BLOG would be a real word one day?

But this is the pinnacle of all strange-ness. Even though the time may be written 08:30, it is spoken "half nine". OK. I can handle that...kind of like quarter till five or half of nine. However, when a Dutchman is translating, watch out! If they are not thinking in English, they will say "nine thirty" for 08:30. So now, after my first experience with misunderstanding the time, I'll always get clarification!