Owner: Worldly Chatter URL:http://www.worldlychatter.com Join Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:56:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: These are the thoughts and expressions in everyday life and travel of an American after trading in her homeland for a new and exciting place in Europe. The differences in culture, politics and global events as construed by the author; bringing the wonder Site statistics:Click here
Planning , planning and more planning! YaY! 2007-07-18 15:05:32 Edam and Volendam; Delft, Den Haag and Scheveningen. These are two days of touristy stuff for the family coming over for our wedding! Since Edam and Volendam are close together, tourist hot spots and Edam was mentioned as a must see we are making these two towns a one day trip. Same as Delft, Den Haag and are going to try and squeeze in Scheveningen. They are only here for a week and while Holland is small, it isn’t THAT small! There really is so much to see and we want them to get in as much as they can but I fear they will need another trip to get more!
They plan on staying three days in Amsterdam so that’s all set. Amsterdam is definitely a few days kind of town. Dad wants to go to Arnhem, more like a need, and that’s a bigger town with a lot of history and stuff to see so that will be a day trip all on its own. Dutchie has been home sick so tomorrow after her blood work is done she is looking up museums in Arnhem and trying to put together a rough sketch of what w
Fit for a Princess! 2007-07-21 11:59:44 I got to wear my wedding dress again! We had to be in Eindhoven to have the end altered to the proper length and it was the only thing that needed alteration; I love it when it fits like a glove! It felt so good to wear it; I couldn’t help but feel like the prettiest girl in the world! The assistant helped me into it and aided me with my shoes so that I might stand on the podium for a half hour or so while she folded and pinned away the fabric.
The last time I wore it was three weeks ago and since then I have been working and riding my bike twenty kilometers five days a week. It actually fit a bit different since last I wore it, better actually. Around my waist and rib area, I had a little more breathing room and it looked slimmer on me. A girl cannot argue with that now can she! I was just glad it wasn’t so much so that they would have to take the top in for alteration too! Since I started losing weight over two years ago, it has not stopped! I have had to buy new clothes Read more:Princess
An accident with my bike… 2007-07-24 15:39:02 There was an accident
with my bike and a car and yes, I was on the bike. Oh my goodness! My first accident with my bicycle, for that matter, it is the only accident with any bicycle! I was riding home from work; it was a long day, 8-5:45, so I was excited to get home. I was on the Koningstraat, our street is right off it. I had one more street to pass before my own and I was home. Now the street slants slightly and before I hit the street before our own, I start to coast so I can glide nicely into our street and on into home. Before I hit the street, I glanced down it and saw no cars coming so I continued my coasting and nearly made it across the street when I saw a car coming fast and about to turn! I prayed he would stop because I was more than three quarters across the street already but he did not. He attempted to turn when he hit me! He stopped and I stretched out my left leg to balance my butt and my bike.
I didn’t fall off so that was a plus. It was more of a hop I did whe
Lovely weather isn’t it? 2007-07-23 14:43:38 England is in a state of crisis and it sounds like the southern part of Holland is looking at the same thing. Western and northern parts of England are under water because of all the rain they have received. 15 centimeters in less than 24 hours is quite a bit of rain. However, there is another problem. Many parts of the country don’t have fresh drinking water or power because water treatment plants and power stations are under water. Now I have a co-worker who is British, her immediate family lives here in Holland but the extended family is still in Britain and the plan is to go to visit for a week starting Wednesday. A lovely way to start your vacation, especially since it is expected to continue raining in England for the remainder of the week!
That same storm is hovering over Holland has we speak because this storm is massive and is actually covering most of Europe! This thing is nasty! It has already started and should be steady through the night. We have at least three major Read more:Lovely
, weather
I want to sleep in! 2007-07-26 15:33:30 Ik ben zo moe! En ik weet het niet waarom! Ik denk dat het komt door het werk en al het lopen. Ik heb twee dagen in Bussum gelopen en het is pas Donderdag!
See, a little more Dutch, though I needed much assistance! It has been a long week and I cannot wait for Friday evening to be here! I walked two days this week and sorted two. I can’t go walking tomorrow because we have an appointment at 6 and if I go to Bussum or elsewhere there is no assurances I will be back at home by six. I hit 6:00 when I walked through the door today!
This is a meaningless post but I wanted to try some Dutch on you!
I want to sleep in Saturday! Thats what I am looking forward to! Sleeping in!
Going back to when… 2007-07-29 15:27:04 There are days where you go back in time to remember something you went through, something that you thought at the time was uniquely yours. Today was such a day heading back to the time of my struggles, the issues I clung to secretly thinking that I was the only one who bore their weight. I was only a teenager when I struggled with my own sexual identity. I hated myself, tossed around the concept of bisexuality to “fix” the thing that was wrong with me. I went through school believing I was the only one with such troubles and I carried them around secretly, never even letting my closest friends know how much of a struggle being gay was to me. I still play down high school and the everyday dramas I experienced. It was not until I sat with a person who is struggling just as I was, talked so openly, and asked such hard questions in hopes of having the answers solve everything for her.
I grew up in NY and dealt with the reality that I was gay; I was different and had the whole Read more:Going
Back home… 2007-07-27 14:39:57 Well, it seems that while I was writing about the weather and flooding that happened here and in England, the place I grew up at had a bit of flooding of its own a few days earlier! This is Long Island, NY. My step father sent me an email and I was floored at what I missed! I had never seen the Island like this. I have seen a lot there but nothing like this! Glad I missed this one! I just wanted to share a little bit of home with you guys! Though I must admit… with this weather, I don’t miss it all that much! Lovely weather we are all having isn’t it!
worldly chatter, 2007 flooding, Long Island floods
Writing a book and doing nothing with it! 2007-07-31 13:10:44 We had a guest over for the afternoon on Sunday and she brought up my little book that I had written last year during NaNo month! Because I completed my word count in that month span I was able to get a copy of my book in print, glances gleefully at bookcase, and quickly noticed there was much to be done on it! I printed out the whole thing from the computer and began the painful process of rereading and writing all over the thing, I even have my notebook to go with the pages, the book and my pen to aid in my quest for an edited, lovely book. Here is the thing though, since I started work I have not had much time to sit with it! But our guest got me thinking about it and glancing at it more and more since then. I really should do something with it! The other thing that has my brain going about is that I received an email from NaNo the other day! It is coming up fast and I want to participate again! I have not done much with the first thing I did but I want to do it again! Stretch my wr Read more:doing
Homeland Security wants to know if YOU are gay! 2007-07-30 14:04:49 You read the title right, there was a deal made between the US and the European Union that allows for Homeland
Security to gain access to information obtained during reservations made when traveling to the US from Europe. This information would be placed in a database and stored for a period, for how long is still in negotiations, this information will aid in keeping track of habits, suspected individuals and will be able to detect pretty much anything they like!
According to the deal, the information that can be used in such exceptional circumstances includes “racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership” and data about an individual’s health, traveling partners and sexual orientation. Full article in Washington Post.
Now, for years now, when you travel to America they keep a record of your name, flight, credit cards, where you are from and any travel partners listed. Dutchie must fill out a waver when Read more:Homeland Security
, wants
Amsterdam Gay Pride is HERE! 2007-08-03 14:41:15 Today is the first day of the three-day affair that will take over parts of Amsterdam
! It is one of the biggest gay pride parades and festival on the globe and it is a blast! Gays and straights alike join in for the parties and canal parade and it can go on until the wee hours of the morning! My first gay pride was last year in Amsterdam and it was Dutchie, myself and another couple we knew who met up and had dinner together, partied and drank until the last train took us home! And trust me on this, you see all walks of life when you are there. You could see families with their children, gay, lesbian, transgendered, and everything imaginable in between. There were some interesting clothing choices and the canals showed off everything everyone had to off! There were stands and booths for services for AIDS prevention as well as counseling and advice. Bars and clubs were hopping and live music with little stands serving Heineken was everywhere! What a blast! It wasn’t just a means f Read more:Pride
Brave or not… 2007-08-02 15:03:17 Someone I know from my school days told me I was brave the other day and I was left sitting here, pondering it and what it meant to me. I talked it over with Dutchie, naturally, but it did little to end the pondering. So after talking with Dutchie and sending emails and messages back and forth with friends I have come to some kind of conclusion, though not one that I am pleased with simply because I do not see it.
When I moved to Holland it was to find happiness with the person I loved. The ride was rough, I will admit, it was dramatic, intense and scary. The uncertainty of finding your footing in a new country is incredibly challenging at times and downright frightening. I researched and asked questions to find some grasp of what was to be my new home. I was desperate to learn! With all the knowledge I thought I had gained, when I walked into the streets of Holland I was severely ill prepared. The culture, its people and surroundings overwhelmed me. It wasn’t even the language I Read more:Brave
If I had $300, I would buy… 2007-08-01 13:37:13 If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.
What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.
I love it when there is neat little contests! Totally off topic but dear readers, comment on any of my posts or any of my fellow writers! Read and type!
Big Bush is Watching YOU! 2007-08-05 08:31:04 And here I thought that electing Democrats was going to be a good thing for the country! Not when they back down and give into pressure from Bush and his administration, in my most humbled opinion, they lack the backbone we saw in the elections. I first saw the story in NOSheadlines a news agency here in Holland, titled, ‘Big Bush is watching you!’ According to the news articles, congress gave Bush and his administration power to view and eavesdrop on overseas communications. Phone, internet phone and emails can be, and is, viewed to see about overseas terrorist activity. They do not need a warrant, they do not need much of a reason that it might contain, or pertain, to Al Qaeda. This bill, which Bush will undoubtedly sign this week, will last six month, in which they have just enough time to come up with something permanent to replace the outdated, 30 year old, FISA laws.
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said he needed the measure “in order to prot Read more:Watching
A ramble stemming from a comment 2007-08-07 15:49:25 I received a long comment on my previous post, Oh America the great huh, and I wanted to respond to it in this manner. It is something that has been pressing on me for a while and is something I must consider. All expats have these options provided they follow the proper rules to get there.
All things being equal why would you want to return there? And why not give up your American citizenship. Homeland security isn’t finding out who is and isn’t gay in Europe to pat you on the back. It’s because they eventually intend on rounding you up pretty much the way Hitler rounded up the Jews, in 41. So, whether or not you go back there, for me, in my perspective isn’t something that should even be a consideration. All things being equal, if you’re a Dutch citizen, and your families’ were sincere in their desire for your safety and well being, they would visit you and not be so concerned about you visiting the USA to see them.
Think things through for a bi
Oh America the great huh?? 2007-08-06 14:32:15 A fellow 451press writer posted an article that caught my attention and tore my heart up reading it. Lez Keep It Real, I thank you! It is the story of Brett Conrad and Patrick Atkins’, their 25 years together and Patrick’s’ sudden illness in Indiana. In March of 2005, Patrick had a ruptured aneurysm and later a stroke while in hospital care. When Brett Conrad went to see him, the Atkins’ family barred him from seeing their son. They were against the relationship from the start and do not want their son’s partner of 25 years to visit. This has made it all the way to court! They lived together for 25 years, sharing bank accounts, renting various apartments before finally buying a home together. It meant nothing. Guardianship went immediately to Patrick’s parents where he now lives. The court granted Brett Conrad visitation rights but left guardianship in the hands of the parent. The article can be found on Lindsey’s Lez Keep it Real page.
As I re Read more:America
Big Bush is Watching YOU! 2007-08-05 08:31:04 And here I thought that electing Democrats was going to be a good thing for the country! Not when they back down and give into pressure from Bush and his administration, in my most humbled opinion, they lack the backbone we saw in the elections. I first saw the story in NOSheadlines a news agency here in Holland, titled, ‘Big Bush is watching you!’ According to the news articles, congress gave Bush and his administration power to view and eavesdrop on overseas communications. Phone, internet phone and emails can be, and is, viewed to see about overseas terrorist activity. They do not need a warrant, they do not need much of a reason that it might contain, or pertain, to Al Qaeda. This bill, which Bush will undoubtedly sign this week, will last six month, in which they have just enough time to come up with something permanent to replace the outdated, 30 year old, FISA laws.
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said he needed the measure “in order to prot Read more:Watching
Amsterdam Gay Pride is HERE! 2007-08-03 14:41:15 Today is the first day of the three-day affair that will take over parts of Amsterdam
! It is one of the biggest gay pride parades and festival on the globe and it is a blast! Gays and straights alike join in for the parties and canal parade and it can go on until the wee hours of the morning! My first gay pride was last year in Amsterdam and it was Dutchie, myself and another couple we knew who met up and had dinner together, partied and drank until the last train took us home! And trust me on this, you see all walks of life when you are there. You could see families with their children, gay, lesbian, transgendered, and everything imaginable in between. There were some interesting clothing choices and the canals showed off everything everyone had to off! There were stands and booths for services for AIDS prevention as well as counseling and advice. Bars and clubs were hopping and live music with little stands serving Heineken was everywhere! What a blast! It wasn’t just a means f Read more:Pride
Brave or not… 2007-08-02 15:03:17 Someone I know from my school days told me I was brave the other day and I was left sitting here, pondering it and what it meant to me. I talked it over with Dutchie, naturally, but it did little to end the pondering. So after talking with Dutchie and sending emails and messages back and forth with friends I have come to some kind of conclusion, though not one that I am pleased with simply because I do not see it.
When I moved to Holland it was to find happiness with the person I loved. The ride was rough, I will admit, it was dramatic, intense and scary. The uncertainty of finding your footing in a new country is incredibly challenging at times and downright frightening. I researched and asked questions to find some grasp of what was to be my new home. I was desperate to learn! With all the knowledge I thought I had gained, when I walked into the streets of Holland I was severely ill prepared. The culture, its people and surroundings overwhelmed me. It wasn’t even the language I Read more:Brave
If I had $300, I would buy… 2007-08-01 13:37:13 If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.
What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.
I love it when there is neat little contests! Totally off topic but dear readers, comment on any of my posts or any of my fellow writers! Read and type! Read more:hellip
Writing a book and doing nothing with it! 2007-07-31 13:10:44 We had a guest over for the afternoon on Sunday and she brought up my little book that I had written last year during NaNo month! Because I completed my word count in that month span I was able to get a copy of my book in print, glances gleefully at bookcase, and quickly noticed there was much to be done on it! I printed out the whole thing from the computer and began the painful process of rereading and writing all over the thing, I even have my notebook to go with the pages, the book and my pen to aid in my quest for an edited, lovely book. Here is the thing though, since I started work I have not had much time to sit with it! But our guest got me thinking about it and glancing at it more and more since then. I really should do something with it! The other thing that has my brain going about is that I received an email from NaNo the other day! It is coming up fast and I want to participate again! I have not done much with the first thing I did but I want to do it again! Stretch my wr Read more:doing
Homeland Security wants to know if YOU are gay! 2007-07-30 14:04:49 You read the title right, there was a deal made between the US and the European Union that allows for Homeland
Security to gain access to information obtained during reservations made when traveling to the US from Europe. This information would be placed in a database and stored for a period, for how long is still in negotiations, this information will aid in keeping track of habits, suspected individuals and will be able to detect pretty much anything they like!
According to the deal, the information that can be used in such exceptional circumstances includes “racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership” and data about an individual’s health, traveling partners and sexual orientation. Full article in Washington Post.
Now, for years now, when you travel to America they keep a record of your name, flight, credit cards, where you are from and any travel partners listed. Dutchie must fill out a waver when Read more:wants
, Homeland Security
Going back to when… 2007-07-29 15:27:04 There are days where you go back in time to remember something you went through, something that you thought at the time was uniquely yours. Today was such a day heading back to the time of my struggles, the issues I clung to secretly thinking that I was the only one who bore their weight. I was only a teenager when I struggled with my own sexual identity. I hated myself, tossed around the concept of bisexuality to “fix” the thing that was wrong with me. I went through school believing I was the only one with such troubles and I carried them around secretly, never even letting my closest friends know how much of a struggle being gay was to me. I still play down high school and the everyday dramas I experienced. It was not until I sat with a person who is struggling just as I was, talked so openly, and asked such hard questions in hopes of having the answers solve everything for her.
I grew up in NY and dealt with the reality that I was gay; I was different and had the whole Read more:hellip
, Going
Back home… 2007-07-27 14:39:57 Well, it seems that while I was writing about the weather and flooding that happened here and in England, the place I grew up at had a bit of flooding of its own a few days earlier! This is Long Island, NY. My step father sent me an email and I was floored at what I missed! I had never seen the Island like this. I have seen a lot there but nothing like this! Glad I missed this one! I just wanted to share a little bit of home with you guys! Though I must admit&hellip
; with this weather, I don’t miss it all that much! Lovely weather we are all having isn’t it!
worldly chatter, 2007 flooding, Long Island floods
The wedding rings are nearly here! 2007-08-10 16:29:16 Oh, I can almost feel it on my finger already! Dutchie called the jeweler about our wedding
rings and they are ready! So, tomorrow we are off to Den Haag to try on our rings and have them engraved! The plan is simple, go to the jeweler and try them on, make sure they fit and have them engraved with our names and date. While we wait for the engraving, it will be lunch on a terrace in Den Haag to enjoy the potentially wonderful sunny day! Like I said, I can almost feel it on my finger already! Doesn’t every bride get so excited that they get butterflies all over just thinking about it? That is me right now, tingly all over at the fact that I will be wed in less than a month!
I recently had a conversation with a co-worker about our big day, as he seems intrigued about it all. He was telling me of his wedding and how he didn’t really see the point in a ring. He was a young man and wasn’t into jewelry or the significance of the ring. Though once he put it on his whole pers
A ramble stemming from a comment 2007-08-07 15:49:25 I received a long comment on my previous post, Oh America the great huh, and I wanted to respond to it in this manner. It is something that has been pressing on me for a while and is something I must consider. All expats have these options provided they follow the proper rules to get there.
All things being equal why would you want to return there? And why not give up your American citizenship. Homeland security isn’t finding out who is and isn’t gay in Europe to pat you on the back. It’s because they eventually intend on rounding you up pretty much the way Hitler rounded up the Jews, in 41. So, whether or not you go back there, for me, in my perspective isn’t something that should even be a consideration. All things being equal, if you’re a Dutch citizen, and your families’ were sincere in their desire for your safety and well being, they would visit you and not be so concerned about you visiting the USA to see them.
Think things through for a bi
Oh America the great huh?? 2007-08-06 14:32:15 A fellow 451press writer posted an article that caught my attention and tore my heart up reading it. Lez Keep It Real, I thank you! It is the story of Brett Conrad and Patrick Atkins’, their 25 years together and Patrick’s’ sudden illness in Indiana. In March of 2005, Patrick had a ruptured aneurysm and later a stroke while in hospital care. When Brett Conrad went to see him, the Atkins’ family barred him from seeing their son. They were against the relationship from the start and do not want their son’s partner of 25 years to visit. This has made it all the way to court! They lived together for 25 years, sharing bank accounts, renting various apartments before finally buying a home together. It meant nothing. Guardianship went immediately to Patrick’s parents where he now lives. The court granted Brett Conrad visitation rights but left guardianship in the hands of the parent. The article can be found on Lindsey’s Lez Keep it Real page.
As I re Read more:America
Wilders and Islam, again. 2007-08-14 09:28:50 Wilders is at it again, the Dutch politician, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, PVV, has had some interesting things to say about the Qur’an. In a letter to the Volkskrant, he stated that we needed to propose a ban on the Islam
ic holy book, stating it was a fascist book, which incited violence. It isn’t the first time Geert Wilders has spoken out against the Islamic religion and the Qur’an and I doubt it will be the last.
Referring to an incident last Saturday when two Moroccans and one Somali youth attacked former Muslim and Islam critic Ehsan Jami, the legislator wrote:
“Enough is enough. Let’s stop politically correct twists and plotting. It is very good Jami now receives personal protection. It is a shame it did not happen sooner. But it does not solve the essence of the problem.”
Wilders continued: “The essence of the problem is the fascist Islam, the sick ideology of Allah and Mohammed as laid down in the Islamic Mein Kampf: the Kor
Apple core and Dutch 2007-08-13 14:05:13 A moment with you to talk about the Dutch
language if you don’t mind. People often ask how I am getting on with it, I tell them of my progress, and I get that it must be so hard. Well of course they ask how is it such a challenge and I tell them little problems I have and that sort of thing. Here I will teach you a word that I learned today by watching one of the Dutch television games where you phone in with the answer to win money. It was a word game and the word needed was huis. Huis is Dutch for House. Here is how it works. ….muis (mouse) ….vrouw (woman) ….houdster (keeper) and the final was klok…. The dots indicate the number of letters and huis would be the answer to all of them. House mouse, housewife, housekeeper and the final… This is where I got really confused and learned a new word.
Klok is clock in Dutch. Huis is House. My brain, understanding these two things, thought that clock house was the answer, though it sounded strange to me. Dutchie informed me tha Read more:Apple
A little Dutch for the weekend 2007-08-17 15:35:31 Ik snap het een beetje beter! Ik was een beetje bang omdat ik spreek heel slecht Nederlands! Maar het is beter nu, een beetje! (beetje – a little
and is one of my favorite Dutch
words!)
Dutchie was on the telephone with Momma Dutchie this evening and talking about all sorts of things, one of which was I. How I made new friends at work and how I can understand Dutch a bit better since starting work. It was in Dutch and understood it. Therefore, I said ik snap het een beetje beter! Een beetje! Therefore, Dutchie put Momma Dutchie on the telephone to show her! Ik KAN spreek Nederlands! Ik will graag een kopje koffee en iets. Iets is something and so that can get used often, hence why I know it so well. Repetition is key and I seem to be getting that at work. A co-worker of mine will talk Dutch to me, very simple but says it in Dutch nonetheless. I was in Eemnes today, delivering my little legs off when someone saw me with a map. Zoek je iets? (you looking for something) Ja, ik zoek Laar
Bagels and friends 2007-08-16 10:04:00 Bagels and Beans is one of the few places where I can get a real bagel. I have a co-worker who is American and told him to check it out with me. Off we went for an afternoon lunch and coffee! We sat outside and enjoyed the slightly chilled air over cappuccino and a bagel. I have been here a while now and a bit on the slow side to making my own friends so it was so nice to suggest an outing after work! I can be so shy at times, especially when you are in a foreign place with a different language. It can leave you a tad nervous and shy. I did it however! I suggested something and we hung out on a terrace! Such a big girl I am!
It’s a bit strange to me, I used to be good at making friends, being the chatter bug and all that. Since I have been here, I have been quiet and iffy about stepping out of my shell. There wasn’t a reason in the world for it other than I was scared to face the new world I put myself in at a different angle. I’ve learned there are different angles t
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