Questions of Kissing and Other Greetings

The Dutch kiss each other three times on the cheek - alternating cheeks - as a greeting. And as a goodbye? In my experience...sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.

But which cheek do I aim for first? It seems like the left is most common, but that went all wrong once before - and a friend and I, aiming for the same cheek, almost met in the middle. (Dan didn't get too jealous.)

And why are some Dutch resigned to a simple handshake? Sometimes, I know it is out of convenience, and maybe sometimes it is out of respect for us foreigners who don't know when or how to Dutch-kiss.

What about a simple hug? Why do kisses come before hugs? Oh, how I miss hugs...when we were back in the States, especially at our home church, I could have stayed there forever just soaking up the friendly hugs from everybody.

But I am also around a fairly large non-Dutch group of friends and acquaintances. How to decipher all the cultural norms? The Latins seem to kiss once on the cheek - unless (so goes my theory) they are feeling particularly Dutch, which is when they add two more kisses. But how does one know the protocol ahead of time? How to avoid the awkwardness? With the Africans, it is a friendly handshake...and there is no escaping the handshake! Other Europeans, one cheek kiss? Two? Three? I haven't discovered a pattern yet. Us Americans...we just hug!

Language Learning Part III: Learning Dutch from the English-speaking Dutch

Got it? What I mean is that it is quite useful to learn a language (i.e. Dutch) from people who speak that language as their mother tongue, but speak to you in your own language (i.e. English). Oh boy, I'm not sure that's any clearer.

"Als" in Dutch means both "when" (but not the question word) and "if". And it is rare that a Dutch person speaking English will use "if" in a sentence. At first this seemed quite presumptuous to me. Other times, this use is just downright confusing. And sometimes, it is both. After finalizing plans with someone recently, he said, "When things change, just let me know." WHEN? But I worked so hard to make sure they don't change! But, actually, most of the time, it is just a good reminder of the use of "als" to me. I don't have to search for the word for "if" - it is just the word for "when". I suppose it would be the basis of a good philosophical discussion on the differentiation of "when" and "if", but my brain isn't going there any time soon!

Another reminder deals with the pronounciation of letters, like "D", which sounds like "T" in Dutch. This is particularly evident when the Dutch worship team is leading us in songs at church. "God" is closer to "Got". "Hid" is pronounced "hit". For some reason, though, "Dan" is "Dan" and not "Tan".

And finally, sometimes English vocabulary is more limiting than Dutch. "Gezellig" is a perfect example of this - meaning cozy, comfortable, atmospheric. There isn't an English word for "gezellig". And other times, Dutch vocuablary is more limiting than English. The best example of this came about after a recent hospital visit. The doctor gave Dan a recipe for some medicine. I liked chemistry, but I'm not sure I was up for making painkillers for Dan. I was relieved when I learned it was simply a prescription!

Quiz results from Part II: congrats to shellbell and Christopher, who got the translation down just right! You each get, ummmm, recognition on this blog for your outstanding achievements.

The Real Reason We're Staying in the Netherlands

But don't tell anyone.

The Economist got wind of our (informal) research, and decided to publish it. In their February 11, 2006 issue they discuss some alternatives to measuring a country's success based on the GDP. "How to measure economies" or, as the print edition titles it, "Grossly Distorted Picture" (get it? Oh, Economist authors, you make me laugh), highlights three measures: GDP per head at purchasing-power parity; Household income adjusted for inequality; and GDP per head adjusted for leisure.

The US is the baseline (at 100) for all three measures. None of the 10 highlighted countries come close to exceeding the US for "GDP per head at purchasing-power parity". In fact, the closest is The Netherlands at around 83. France (111) and Britian (105) beat the US for "Household income adjusted for inequality". Regarding "GDP per head adjusted for leisure" (i.e. GDP per hour worked), one country stomps on the rest, at more than 10 points above the US baseline and more than 15 points better than other industrialized nations. Three guesses as to which country.

The Netherlands!

And so continues our life of leisure.

Internationalism

Here is a powerpoint slide a non-native English speaker created and used at a recent event Dan and I attended. Yep, good yuck everyone!

Stroke of Brilliance!

Before I write more, let me clarify one thing: I do know that there is a way to make a homemade cake without a box. (And I've even done it.)

But having French dressing without a bottle from the store? Now, that's a whole other story!

See, I've been craving a chicken, rice, pineapple, grape, and French dressing salad for quite some time. It's really good! But I haven't made it since I've been overseas because I can't find French dressing in this town o' Rotterdam.

But finally, I had my stroke of brilliance (perhaps the first one in a few months...) - I can MAKE French dressing from scratch! The web had a *few* recipes to choose from, and for one or two of them, I already had all the ingredients. One minor problem is that I really haven't any idea what French dressing tastes like. So, after mixing up the ingredients, I brought a spoonful over to taster-Dan and asked him, "What does this taste like?" His reply, "NOT French dressing." A few tablespoons of sugar later, we had something closer.

And the chicken, rice, pineappple, grape and French dressing salad is terrific.

Language Learning Part II: Learning from Each Other

It's nice to have Dan around when it comes to learning Dutch. We learn from each other, and we teach each other. We can ask each other questions, discuss what something might mean, or share a new revelation. He's actually quite useful! (For other things, too....)

Because teaching is so helpful to the learning process, I've decided to teach you, my extremely intelligent blog audience, a few more Dutch words. These words come from the front page headline of a local paper. The catch is there is a quiz, so proceed with caution.




So here's the lesson:
Niet, pronounced like "neat" = "No"
Meer, pronounced like "mare" = "More"
In, pronounced like "in" = "In"
Het, prounced like "het" = "The"
Park, pronounced like "park" = "Park"

As you can see, some words in Dutch are very similar to the English. So, here's your quiz: If I tell you that the "oe" in Dutch sounds like the "oo" in English, can you tell me what the meaning of this headline is?

Operation: Find Those Soccer Hooligans

Thank goodness for this new database of "soccer hooligans"! Now we will all be safer at Feyenoord games.

Language Learning Part I: Vocabulary Expansion

Well, we’ll see if I can get back on the wagon with some more regular posts. Life is, ummm, interesting these days.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my progress with the Dutch language (“Nederlands”) recently. My motivation to learn and practice trailed off for two main reasons – the first being the fact that I was subjected to three other languages this summer and the second is that the Dutch speak English too well! To give myself some credit, though, I have come a long way from a year ago.

The first significant improvement is certainly in the field of vocabulary. This fall, I tried telling myself that my infatuation with Oprah and Dr. Phil was so I could read the subtitles and “learn” that way. I suppose it helped, since I find myself recognizing a lot of vocabulary on the street and in newspapers. Nonetheless, I figured out sometime in November that Oprah and Dr. Phil were my new friends, not my new language teachers. I had to let them down easy – now I only see them once a week or so. But the vocabulary words are still with me!

Winter Wonderland

Like last year, it waited till March to snow on Rotterdam. For three days, actually, it's been snowing, from wet and heavy to big and flaky. This morning though, was the prettiest of all. We went for a walk in the park and watched the dozens of dogs playing the snow. Perhaps the funniest sight of all, though, was the little boy who wanted to go for a ride in his sled. Remember, we are in Holland - flat land capital of the world. He pulled his sled up the ramp of one of the bridges, and "flew" down - a whole 10 yards. May he find true sledding joy one day...