My First Christmas in Holland

How did I celebrate my first Christmas in Holland?

The Christmas this year was the first time that I didn't celebrate it  in my own country - Philippines. For the whole 21 years of my life, I always celebrate Christmas with my family in the Philippines. But now, I'm living now here in The Netherlands and trying to establish my life here. I could say that it was sad to be far from your loved ones but there was also in the other side that would experience it for the first time and make you happy. So it was really mix emotions of  sadness and happiness. But still, there are some ways to ease your longingness with your loved ones such as sending mails to them, calling them on phone and the most accessible now is using the Internet- Skype, Yahoo Messenger, MSN, Facebook etc.

Last 10 December 2011, me and Dennis attended a Christmas Party here in Almere with the Samenleven ladies together with their families. I joined in Samenleven ( a group of Filipinas who got married or had relationship with a Dutchman) before I arrived here in Holland. I saw their website while searching informations about the Civic Integration Exam. I found it interesting where I could meet them here in Holland and be friends with them. Ate Ranessa was the first one I meet. She was also living here in Almere and we study in the same school. She was very kind, friendly and helpful. She gave me a lot of advices about the life here in Holland, how to study Dutch, our school and a lot of things. She invited me on the party and encouraged me to attend it. We went there where I met them all personally. We had a great time there where we ate different, delicious dishes which prepared by each of families, gift-giving and received each one of us a present, and the children practiced 'Mano po' which was the Filipino gesture of respect.

Here in The Netherlands, the Dutch people celebrate Christmas for two days: 25 and 26 December. They call it 'Eerste en Tweede Kerst dag' (First and second Christmas). These two days are spent with family, singing carols, playing games, watching movies, reading Chritsmas tales and indulging in holiday feasts.They eat a large breakfast or brunch and a special Christmas meal. Some people plan and cook a large meal with a range of luxurious foods at home. These meals could include game meats, roast pork, fondues or gourmetten (the most typically Dutch Christmas meal, a style of eating that involves a grill on the table so that everyone can cook bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables themselves). Second Christmas Day is often spent visiting family or, weather permitting, going ice skating or on an outing. Leftovers are enjoyed on this day.

25 December 2011 - I had a wonderful Christmas dinner with Dennis, Jeroen (Dennis' brother)  and their father, Ton. I prepared Chritsmas cookies, lumpia shanghai and coffee for snack time and a gourmet schotel for dinner. For the lovely dessert, we had vanilla and chocolate nuts ice cream. After that, we exchanged gifts where we had our raffle names last time we celebrated Sinterklaas. This was the list of gifts what we received that day: Anne- small wallet and pantoffels, Dennis- a gift card worth of 20 euro, Jeroen - 100pcs of DVDs, and Ton- a Yatzee play game.

 26 December 2011- Dennis, Jeroen and I had a delicious dinner with Chicken Rollade, vegetables and baked potatoes. I made a Leche Plan for our dessert.

Christmas 2011

My Greetings For You This Christmas!

Discovering a new dish!

Aside from Dutch and Philippine foods, I learned now a new dish from my Thai friend named Nanthicia. I met her when I'm still in the group of Inburgering. She is also live in our street. So if ever I want to visit her, I just used my feet to go in their house. 

Stir fry Noodles with green curry

 Last few weeks ago, she invited me for a lunch in their house and she cooked a Thai dish which they called it, Stir fry noodles with green curry. I do really like it even it's really spicy. I like the taste of the lemon leaves and green curry that mix with chicken and vegetables. I watched her while she was cooking this dish because I wanted also to try to cook this for Dennis. I knew that he would love it too because he likes also spicy foods. So last week, I cooked this dish for the first time. I was so glad that I got the same taste as Nanthicia cooked that's why I cooked again last night and we're really both like it.

The Ingredients for this delicious dish

It's nice that when you decided to live in other country, you learn and adapt their culture and also their foods. Here in The Netherlands, you will see a lot of foreigners such as Moroccans, Surinamese, Turks, Thais, Chinese, Vietnamese, Africans, Indonesians, Europeans, Americans and also Filipinos which they were already establish their culture here and shared with the inhabitants of Netherlands. It seems like the Netherlands is a multicultural country.

Sinterklaas is also for adults!

Traditionally, the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on the eve of 5th December, with festive family parties when gifts and surprises are exchanged. This celebration is the most awaitng event of most children here in Holland, which children sing Sinterklaas songs and put their shoes next to the window or door, or, by the fireplace or heater, along with a nice drawing, a wish-list and a carrot or hay, and maybe a saucer of water, for the horse. Children are looking forward in the next day or on 5th December to receive presents from Sinterklaas if they are behave well, that is the idea believed by the children where Zwarte Piet keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will get chased by Zwarte Piet with a stick. Most of the parents, significant family members or friends are the only who put presents on their shoes or dressed like a Sinterklaas so as many children as possible get a chance to see Sinterklaas and get a present. The main reason for this is to teach the children what is good  and bad, and the thought of gift-giving or sharing with others.

Sinterklaas Slinger

Sinterklaas is basically for children but here in the Netherlands, adults also join on this celebration. Dutch people love to have fun with their family and friends especially making surprise to them. The element of surprise is a small gift may be wrapped in a huge box, or it may be hidden and require following clues to discover where it is. So yesterday, me and Dennis, including his father and brother, held our first Sinterklaas celebration because we would not have much time to do it on 5 December. Even we don´t have yet kids in our family, we decided to celebrate it just to have a family bonding with fun, enjoyment and surprises. I told Dennis that it would be more fun if we were going to play a game like what we did last year together with Dennis´friends. But I planned to divert this game which suited for us  that would make interesting and enjoyable for the father and brother of Dennis. I was thinking to make a Sinterklaas board game with full of consequences and rewards but I was lucky to find the same board game I was thinking of in one of the stores here and it was nice that it´s not so expensive to buy it. It was also the same game where some members of the Badminton club held their Sinterklaas celebration last Friday night. I bought also a Sinterklaas decoration (Sinterklaas slingers) to feel more the spirit of celebration. It was great that all of us were enjoyed and surprised last night. 

Sinterklaas cadeautjes

Sinterklaas board game

You might also like this: 

Sinterklaas 2010 

Unexpectedly Travelling Alone

 Travelling alone here in the Netherlands makes me feel little bit nervous especially taking the train. For the reason, I got lost last year when I took the train from Amsterdam to Vlissingen that made me little bit phobia  with it. But  yesterday morning, Dennis asked me to go in his work where all the partners of his colleagues would come there and had tour around their working place which was the Data Center. Dennis was already told me about his work but sometimes, it's hard for me to understand and imagine it without seeing it personally. So, it's a big chance for me to see his working place yesterday. But, before I decided to go there, me and Dennis had little argument tru skype on how to go there. Maybe, because I don't really like to take a train alone and asked him if possible to pick me up here. But Dennis assured to me that I don't need to be worry and it's easy to travel there if  I would follow the right instructions and don't forget to bring my phone.  It made me think that it's nice also to go there alone so I could face my phobia, manage it alone  and also, to meet other people and be socialize with them.

 I took a  Intercity train from Almere Buiten Station up to Amsterdam Zuid. I'm a little bit nervous that time and felt little doubt if I'm doing right but still, I managed it smoothly because every time I feel doubt, I called and asked Dennis. So, I think I'm doing good in facing my phobia. When I'm already in Amsterdam Zuid station, I took a Metro from there up to my final destination. Actually, it's not my first time to take a Metro but I just realised now that It's really different from the tram that getting around the city center of Amsterdam. A Metro is quick but is only useful if you need to travel far outside the Amsterdam Arena. It runs on its own track, completely separated from other traffic which lies its route either underground in a tunnel or on an elevated track. It is also a reliable because it gives direct access to the regional and national railroad network, not only provide a fast link between suburban, industrial and business areas. 

Metro

Tram

After our tour in a Data Center, the manager of Dennis invited all to have drinks in one of the nearest Cafe on their working place. They decided to go in Bosbaan, Amstelveen where we ordered our own drinks there and had some finger foods. We had an informal conversation which was very important for Dennis and his colleagues to strengthen their working relationship. After that, we said Good bye to each other and went home safely. But for us, me and Dennis, we passed by first in Mc Donald's to have our dinner before we went home.

Sint Maarten feest

"Hey Schat, don't forget to buy candies before 11 November for Sint Maarten.", said by Dennis.

"Ok, no problem." said by me with a smile. :)

The feast of Sint Maarten (St. Martin) for this year was my first time to experience it and to know the details how's going here in the Netherlands. But not all the provinces of the Netherlands were celebrating this event, only some parts of it like here in Flevoland. It is basically for children where they walk around the streets, holding their own made lanterns, and go in every houses to ask for candies or fruits. But before the children can receive candies, they need to sing first related to Sint Maarten (St. Martin). It seems like the 'Trick or Treat' during Halloween which is more popular to practice in United States and United Kingdom but the Sint Maarten feest is dated to do every 11 November. This year was not so busy compare the last few years as said by Dennis. We just had three visitors who knocked on our door and asked for candies. The first one was a small cutie boy  together with his father, then the second was the two siblings (boy and girl) with their father, and the last one,a young boy with his parents who helped him by his father to sing the Sint-Maartensliedje.

If you would like to know more about Sint Maarten feest, just click this link : Sint Maarten bij Pinkelotje

DIFFERENT COLORS OF AUTUMN

Last Sunday, we went to the Soest and walked in one of their forests there. While walking, I took some pictures of trees, mushrooms and different colors of leaves that fall off from the tress.

 

 

       

 

  

ONE YEAR MEMORY

Today was our first anniversary of being committed to each other. We didn't do much special but I knew that Dennis was making some plans  to do for our anniversary. Unfortunately, he needed to work yesterday. His plans was messed up and we're decided just to do the same way we loved to do- walking in the forest. But for me, it doesn't matter as long as we we're together. But before that day, I couldn't control myself to expect something special from Dennis. Maybe, because it's just normal nature of some women- expecting something romantic and special. As I said, there was no problem with that and the most important was our love to each other that I'm hoping in the following years would never be fade and get more stronger.

So, I made this video for Dennis to express my feelings to him. I was very grateful that he loved this video wherein we could get back what happened in the past year. I do really love making personalized gift to someone who was very special to me. Less expensive, but more appreciative.

The Glance of Royal Palace in Amsterdam

Last 23 of October, I had chance to go back and enjoyed strolling around the Amsterdam with my schat, Dennis. The main reason in going there was to attend the Expatica Fair  entitled "I am not a Tourist" at Beurs van Berlage which was located in the heart of Amsterdam. My friend was the one who had an idea to go there. She was one of the volunteers on that event, invited me and gave me two tickets. I was little bit curious what I could see, know or learn on that fair. We decided to go there so we could have something to do in the weekend, not only stay at home.

The Fair enriched some informations, resources and fun for the recently arrived, more experienced expats or for those long standing residents here in The Netherlands. Besides that, there were foods, entertainment and exhibitions featuring works by both Dutch and international artists. The new comers were really benefited from this event because they acquired a lot of informations in how they would establish their new lives here in The Netherlands.

Me and Dennis didn't stay longer in the fair because we wanted also to explore other things. We decided to have walk and go to the place around Amsterdam that we had not yet visited. Dennis asked where I would like to go and I chose the Royal Palace of Amsterdam because I remembered before that it was closed when I had my first visit in Amsterdam. The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is situated on Dam Square. It is one of the three Palaces which the State has placed at the Queen's disposal by an Act of Parliament. It is used for Royal Events like reception of the foreign heads of state during their visits in The Netherlands, the Queen's New Year reception and other official receptions. 

   

I was amazed with its Empire-style furnitures and decorative arts which includes wooden and upholstered furniture, bronze chandeliers and original wall hangings. About half the collection was left behind by Louis Napoleon and others acquired during the later reigns of Dutch Kings William I and II. The Palace was originally built as a town hall for Amsterdam's administrative and judicial authorities. We visited 17 rooms, hall and galleries that feature the Empire collection, as well as hand-painted ceilings, grand marble floors and epic sculptures and paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a free audio tour that tells about the history of the Royal Palace and it is provided in different languages. I chose English coz I'm still not good in Dutch. I did enjoyed in my tour around the palace. I took some pictures, not so much but at least I had proof that I took glance from the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

 

 

 

 

 

Extra Lesson for my Dutch!

A week after the Autumn Vacation(Herfst Vakantie), my docent, Bruhilde told me that I did great in our exams for the level of A0-A1 and gave me a score of A1+. She asked me if I wanted to transfer into higher level class which was in A1-A2 level or directly went to the class in Staatexamen.Of Course! I want to start as soon as possible in studying for Staatsexamen coz I don't want to waste our money and time in studying the low level of Dutch for the long time. I know that there are possibilities to learn the Dutch quickly like always practice speaking Dutch and studying hard by yourself. But it depends also to your capability to learn another language quickly. For me, I know that I'm not the smartest person  but I can do my best to learn it as much as I can and also through my patience, perseverance and eagerness to learn.

Unfortunately, I need to wait for the beginner class in the Staatexamen because all the classes there were already preparing for the exam. But Bruhilde suggested if I would like to attend an extra lesson that would focus more in Staatexamen. I considered it as a good idea while waiting to transfer me into NT2 class. But I should still to follow lessons in her class and I thought that there was no problem with that because I also learned new things from them. It was nice because it was one-on-one turorial with my teacher(Bruhilde) and would focus what I didn't know and understand. It would take for an hour and start at 2pm every Monday.

Winter tijd!

It's time now to set your clock and advance it one hour from the summer time. If it is now 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you need to move the hand of the clock into 2 o´clock. This is one of the traditions here in Europe to have more lights in the morning when the winter comes. Of course! Each country have different way of adjusting their time. Here in the Netherlands, it follows the Central European Time wherein the time is shifted forward by 1 hour or  2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2) after the Summer months. But when the Summer comes, the time will shifted back one hour from CET or GMT+1. This changes in time always happen in the last Sunday of March and in the last Sunday of October. 

Reconciliation Between Brothers

"Reconciliation means healing estranged relationships and creating new, healthier ones." This phrase was very suited for the recent situation of Dennis and his brother, Jeroen after 2-3 years they didn't talk and see each other. It was really great that they forgot what happened in the past, reconciled each other and ready to move on now. I  felt that Dennis was so glad to have his brother back. I knew that he missed him so much. It was started when their father tried to call his brother coz they heard that Jeroen was ready to have contact with them again. Jeroen told him that he was tired of being alone and wanted to get back his family. For this happening, Dennis felt so much happiness and finally, they would bring back the good relationship with his brother, Jeroen. Afterthat, Dennis´ father told him to call Jeroen so they could talk and arrange their misunderstandings. They managed it well and decided to see each other again. It was yesterday and it was also the first time I meet the brother of my love, Dennis.  I do believe that when you are really love your partner, it is your obligation to accept and treat his/her family as your own family too.So I feel great now coz even I am far from my real family, still I can have my own family too here.

Once in a Blue Moon

"Once in a Blue Moon''  is a common way of saying not very often. This phrase is affixed with the movie, Smurfs. I watched it yesterday and  found it very inspiring and funny. Even many movie critics shared negative reviews on this movie, still it was such an enjoyable film, because it had such good morals in it and a lot of funny lines quoted by the characters that made you think and laugh.

The Smurfs is based on the comic strip by the Belgian cartoonist, Peyo and released by Columbian Pictures as a CG (Computer Graphics) animated and live action feature movie. The Smurfs are a race of small, magical blue creatures living in a fairytale land. Led by the kind and wise Papa Smurf, they live a happy life hidden in the forest. However, they are constantly harassed by the evil (and incompetent) wizard Gargamel and his cat Azrael. He's eager to capture the Smurfs and use them as a key ingredient in his magical potions.

The Blue Moon Festival takes place at every blue moon, which is when Papa Smurf is able to see into the future to tell what it may hold for his little Smurfs, but Papa Smurf sees a vision of the future that is quite disturbing. The vision begins to play out in real life, as Clumsy Smurf inadvertently leads the evil wizard Gargamel to the smurfs' secret village. He warns Clumsy to stay away from the forest because of Gargamel. Gargamel follows Clumsy and destroys the Smurfs village. Most of the Smurfs manage to run toward a safe hiding place.As they scramble to get away from the bumbling wizard, Clumsy goes the wrong way. Papa, Smurfette, Brainy, Gutsy, and Grouchy follow after him, and they all stumble upon a mysterious portal that are transported into New York City, but Gargamel and his evil cat are close behind. 

That is, until they find themselves in the cozy apartment of young married couple Patrick and Grace Winslow. Patrick is a clean cut marketing executive for the New York City based cosmetics company Anjelou, and kind and optimistic Grace is pregnant with their first child.When they find that they have some little blue visitors, Patrick and Grace, well more so Grace, accept the Smurfs and even befriend them. Despite the fact that Patrick's life is turned upside down, the Smurfs inspired him to come up with a "blue moon" motif as part of his company's advertising campaign, which initially was sent by mistake to his employer Odile in place of the intended campaign design, almost causing Patrick to be fired, but was eventually accepted by Odile when she witnessed the moon literally turning blue through a spell cast upon it by Brainy Smurf. He does his best to help them escape Gargamel and get the tools and potions they need to open a portal back home, but in the end, it may be that the smurfs have helped him even more than he helped them. Papa Smurf refers to Patrick as 'Papa to show that he believes Patrick will be just as good a dad as he is.

Relying on the saying, Once in a blue moon: In our lives, we may encounter once in a blue moon some  lucks and opportunities. So when you have it, just grab it and never let it go.

All About Dutch Movies

Unpredictable ending and unique storyline, that is how I can describe Dutch movies. For that reason, it fascinates me to watch more Dutch movies. Other than that,  it helps me also to improve my listening skills in Dutch and learn more some traditions and culture here in the Netherlands. You will notice also that there are just few movies released by this country because they don't have enough or little  funds to market it internationally. All Dutch films rely on state funding that can be achieved through several sources such as the Dutch Film Fund or the Dutch public broadcast networks ('omroepen'). Here are the list of Dutch movies that I've already watched (not in particular order): 

• Alles is Liefde (2007)
• Alle Tijd (2011) 
• Costa! (2001)
• Liever Verliefd (2003) 
• Turk Fruit (1973) 
• Black Butterflies (2011)
• De tweeling (2002) 
• Dirty Mind (2009) 
• Ik omhels je met 1000 armen (2006)
• Ik ook van jou (2001)
• Leef (2005)
• Lover of Loser (2009)
• Swingers (2002) 
• Zwartboek (2006)
   

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!

WATCHING MOVIES, is it a HOBBY???

"Some hobbies and interests being the same is always a plus because you have something that you can both participate in and enjoy together."

When I read this text, it makes me discerned that me and Dennis have a lots of similarity in terms of hobbies and interests, one of these is watching movies.We do really love this hobby though we have different taste in genres of movies. He likes action movies, I like more romantic comedy movies. But still, we enjoy being together while sitting in the front of a big, flat screen, watching movie we like and eating some chips or cookies. It's so relaxing and sometimes, it helps you to understand yourself better and realize what objectives in life you have.

But I have a question in my mind, if watching movie is considered as a hobby. It wonders me and try to look for the answer of this question. When you search for the meaning of 'hobby', it is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time, as said by Wikipedia. I saw also some forums tackling this matter and read  their own opinions about this subject, they say, it is a hobby but others say it's not. Whatever reasons they have, let just respect each other opinions and viewpoints because everybody have freedom to share his/her opinion and what their borders in considering the activity as a hobby. So, for my point of view, I consider watching movie as a hobby because we mostly do it everyday after our dinner and we are very fond to watch different movies together. It's so simple but it may temporarily forget our problems and brings us happiness and fun. Besides that, you can learn from it and may apply in your everyday lives. 

One Chance For EK!

The Netherlands National Football Team played again yesterday against the team of Sweden. It was the most interesting game this week for Euro 2012 (EK) Qualifiers. Because the Sweden team had only one chance to go for EK. Sweden should take one or more points from this match at home vs Netherlands to play in Euro 2012 play-offs. Hungary had chances for second place if they win vs Finland and Sweden loose from Netherlands. Luckily, the Netherlands was already qualified for Euro 2012 coz they were the first who got the highest points in their group. So even they would loose the game against Sweden, they would still play in the finals.   

Initially, there were six teams per group who would match to each other and the team at the top of each group would qualify automatically. The second placed team with the highest points total would also qualify automatically. Thus Sweden was also included in the finals coz they won the game yesterday against to our pride team, Netherlands with the score of 3-2. All the football teams who joined this cup were eager to get more points and to be included for the finals. The finals would feature sixteen national teams including the hosts, Poland and Ukraine. So there were already 12 national teams who would  play  in the finals of EK and the rest of the teams would contest to be one of the four teams left.

Now, I couldn't wait to watch Netherlands playing in the finals for  Euro 2012 while sitting on the couch together with my sweet, Dennis and witness their victorious moment.

Join the Club!

Every Friday night, we have our training in Badminton and we received our official membership card last Friday. So we can play as many as we want in the Badminton Club.  It became more fun that Dennis' father was also come with us in the training. He is really good in terms of sports. Even he is already old, he can  still play good and think wisely. Additionally, it's nice that I'm starting to become cordial with other players. I can now start conversation with them (more in English..of course!^^, ), unlike before, I'm shy to talk to them. I found out they were so amiable and congenial. I feel that I'm belong now in the club wherein we are gathering every Friday just to share our common interest which is the Badminton.

First Day At School

When I heard that I would start on 3 October which was today in my Dutch Language course, I felt anxious what would be happened on that day. Monique introduced me to my  teacher so it would not be hard for me to find my class. She also told me that my teacher, Brunhilde would give us an exam which made me more afraid not to pass it coz I still had hard time to understand dutch. So I started to study the book which Monique gave to me and tried to finish it before that day. But I didn't make it! Because I was so busy this past few days. I just only have time to study during night but last friday night, I couldn't coz we had our training in Badminton Club together with Dennis' father. Then, this last weekend, we went to Vlissingen for the birthday celebration of my niece and nephew. I was planning to bring with me the book but I forgot it. But still, I had no time to study there coz we were all busy for two days. When we were going back here in Almere, I asked Dennis to practice me in Dutch while he was driving to home. I knew that I couldn't study at home when we arrived due to sleepiness and tiredness on that day.

At 6.30am, Dennis woke up and prepared to go to work. But before he left, he kissed and hugged me which made me feel awake. I'm still a little bit sleepy on that moment thus, I asked Dennis to set alarm again at 7.30am. When the alarm rang, I stood up and went downstairs to have my coffee and breakfast. Then, I prepared my things and took a shower.

At 8:28am, I just walked going to the bus stop and I'm lucky that when I arrived there, the bus was also arriving there. It took 17-2O minutes travel with the bus and 5 minutes walk going to the building of TTif Company. I started to feel nervous when I'm walking near to the building.When I went upstairs of that building, the first person I saw was Monique. We greeted to each other and told me to wait for Brunhilde. While waiting for my teacher, I talked to a woman who was sitting beside me. She can't speak English but can speak in Dutch and Portuguese. But still I could understand her when she spoke to me in Dutch and tried to answer as much as I could speak little Dutch to her. She could understand little too in English. Then, Brunhilde came and brought me to their class. She asked my name again and if I already had the book. When we entered the room, the nervous I felt a while ago was gone and I just felt happy and excited on that time. Brunhilde introduced me to the class then she distributed the exam to each one of us. I didn't have hard time in answering all the exercises. I just noticed that the exam was little easy for me and I'm little bit confused why others had difficulty in answering and reading the questions like the Turk woman who was sitting on my right side. She asked few times to me what would she do on the exercises. She didn't understand and speak English. When I told her the right answer, still she did the wrong one. She could speak well good in Dutch but it was difficult for her to read and write in Dutch. And also, I just observed to others that they were slow in reading. So I found out that we had different capability in learning. Others can easily learn while others have hard time to acquire the knowledge.

After that, we checked all our answers and had a break for 15 minutes wherein we could go to the toilet or drink tea/coffee. Next, we went to the Computer room where we could do more exercises tru some Language sites or programs on the computer. I sat beside the seat of an African woman. She could speak in English and Dutch but slow to follow and read the lessons that's why I tried to help her and explained the instructions. Our teacher, Brunhilde was walking around the room to check if we were doing right and when she saw my answers, she said, "Heel goed!". I felt great when I heard that. Afterwards, I am done with my exercise and asked Brunhilde if I could go home. She allowed me to go home early and told me if I could wait for her outside the room before I leave. She would talk to me some matters. So I went first to the toilet and went in their office. I saw Brunhilde was already there. She told me that I did great today and had good knowledge in Dutch grammar. She also told me that I am fast learner compare to her other old students who were slow. Thus, she would give me an exam for A1 level next Monday. If ever I would get a good score on that exam, they would transfer me into another class which was more high level than Brunhilde's class (A0-A1 level). So I'm hopping that I can make it and finish my course as soon as possible. I will do my best to learn Dutch quickly so I can communicate well with them in Dutch and find a good job here in The Netherlands. Wish me Luck! :)

Sunny Thursday!

Welcome to Ttif!

When I arrived here in Holland, Dennis started to look for school which could give best teaching in Dutch Language Course. He was searching on the Internet and find some information regarding about this. We also heard from the Gemeente what school  here in Almere could offered nice course. The woman in the Gemeente told us that she heard some good points about the Ttif Company. So we decided to make appointment with Ttif Company. We scheduled today at 2pm and assigned to talk with Monique. All the information we needed to know were all supplied by Monique. She was so approachable and charming. She made sure that we felt comfortable in our conversation with her. She told us that in order for me to know what level I am in Dutch Language, I should take their Intake Gesprek, an exam would take for three hours, so they would know what group I should belong and it would cost  €250 for this exam (It's quite expensive!). We were thinking that it was not necessary for me to take this coz we were the one who would pay for my own course unlike before and it was not reasonable in paying more just for this. So Monique asked their boss what possible solution for this and what they could offer for me. It seemed like they were taking at risk as well as to me if they would place me directly to the NT2 group.You should have at least A2 level when you were going to take NT2 and they didn't know what level I am now. She advised us that they could put me in beginner's group where most were A1 going to A2 level and later on, they could transfer me into higher level if ever I could quickly adjust to the lessons. We agreed with that instead of  spending money for Intake Gesprek. Thus, we filled up the form and paid later for the course which cost €780 for three months. Monique also recommended to me that I could join on Brunhilde's class (A1 level) starting on Monday at 9-12 o'clock in the morning. She gave me a copy of their book wherein I could start studying by myself and easily adjust on their lessons.

Meet our three hairy daughters!

When I heard from Dennis that he had 'three hairy daughters', I felt little bit confused. I didn´t know if I would like to have a relationship with a man who already had three children. But when I repeated to say "Three Hairy Daughters???",then he was talking about his three cats not real persons. Funny! I misunderstood him. ahaha :D He treated them like his own children. It was nice that he had cats that they would accompany him and never felt being alone. I loved cats too. Thus, I adopted them and treated them as my own daughters. 

Dennis had first Noah and Shiva month later after they born. They born in year of 2003 and they are sisters. Noah is so sweet and always come to you while Shiva likes more to be alone, lie down on the corner and most of the time, she doesn't care but when their food is almost op, she comes to you and ask for it.

 

The last one and oldest was Angel who was already between one or two years old when Dennis got her. She was born in the year of 2001. She is the most sweetest cat among the three. She always come to you and sit on your legs. Every morning, she go upstairs just to say her own version of Good Morning, "Meoww".You can do everything to her without being mad on you except when you hurt her, as well as to Noah and Shiva. I hope they would have long lives with us.

From Boredom to Recreation

Every weekend, we always try to do something else aside from staying at home and do your household chores or sit in the front of the computer. So yesterday, it was Saturday and we didn't make any plans for that day. Dennis was complaining to me that he felt boring and wanted to do something different. I asked what he wanted to do and answered me that he didn't know. Thus, I just wait before dinner, so I could start preparing food for ourselves and watched movie later. Sometimes, I liked more to stay  and relax only at home. When I'm already preparing food for our dinner, Dennis' Dad called him and told that there was a competition for badminton that would held in the Badminton Club here in Almere. The badminton first players of Almere would play against the guest team, Duinwijck. Dennis asked me if I would like to watch the game, I said 'yes', coz I knew that Dennis wanted to watch it same as with me. After dinner and called his dad, Dennis, me, and his dad went to the Badminton Club and watched the competition. It was great to watch the game personally coz you would feel the intense and eagerness of the players to win the game. It was finished with result of 4-4. Both teams had same number of winners in different categories. After the game, me and Dennis decided to go the Kermis while his dad left in the badminton club because he wanted to watch also football which started to televise on the flat screen in the restaurant of the club.

That day also was our first time to go the Kermis together, where we played some amusement games and had fun with it. Kermis is like a traveling carnival which is moved from place to place in the Netherlands starting the month of April to October. It is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, animal acts or sideshow curiosities. Kermis arrived here in Almere and stayed from 21 up to 25 of September.

Intake Gesprek In Gemeente

Living here in the Netherlands is not easy! But because I want to follow my "Love of my Life", therefore, I should learn how to imitate a Dutch woman. Meaning, I need to adapt the way of living here in the Netherlands especially learn the Dutch Language and Society. So yesterday, I had my appointment in the Gemeente here in our place to tackle about the Inburgering. We scheduled to be there around three in the afternoon, of course, we were not late even we parked the car little far from the centrum (free parking) and walked in going to the place of appointment. The woman in the Gemeente (Sorry, I forgot her name.) who nicely approached us and discussed all the concerns about Inburgering (Thanks, I understand what she's saying coz she spoke to me in English.). She told me that I'm obliged to take the Integration course and pass the Inburgering Exam within 3 and half years under the Dutch Law. Unfortunately, the law changed this year and we were necessitate to pay for my own course, unlike before the Gemeente would pay for it, but we had a chance that we could also loan in. DUO coz my study would cost around €2000-4000 so it was high-priced not as cheap that I was thinking. The woman in the Gemeente told me that because I passed the  "Toets Gesproken Nederlands" with the score of 38 (37 and above- exemption) which was one of  the components of Civic Integration Exam that I took in my own country, it was not necessary for me to take it again here in Netherlands. So I was exempted one exam but need to take the other exams such as the Kennis Nederlandse Samenleving, Elektronisch Praktijkexamen and make your own Portfolio about your assessment to your school, work, and social participation. But there is another option not to take these exams, it is the staatsexamen Nederlands als tweede taal (Nt2) which is higher level than inburgering, less work, focus more on the language and makes you eligible for university courses taught in Dutch. So I think that NT2 is the best step for me to learn well the language but until now, I dont know which one I would take up coz NT2 is divided into two programs. Program 1 is designed for people who want to work in lower level jobs on the labour market or follow a training for that. Programme 2 is meant for people who want to work in higher level jobs or want to follow a training for such jobs. Maybe, the school, where I would study, would help me to choose the right course for me. Not only this, but to help me to learn how to fluently speak in dutch and pass the exam which one of the essential to get a Dutch Passport. 

Eerste Dag van de Herfst!

The end of summer signifies the arrival of autumn. In the Netherlands, autumn officially starts at September 21, and ends at December 20. It is the season between summer and winter, often called "the fall.". It is the time when the leaves fall from the trees and the leaves change from green to red or red to yellow especially the changing fall foliage which never fails to surprise and delight us. I had the feeling that the autumn this year would have more nice, warm weather unlike the summer which had more rains than hot weather.

Lekker Shoarma!

Shawarma is a popular food  not only in the Philippines but also here in the Netherlands. The Dutch people called it "Shoarma". It is also known as döner kebab in Turkish or a gyro in Greece. You might forget that it is originally came from the Middle East because of its popularity here in Holland. Dennis really loves it. He was the one who introduced shoarma to me. Even I  already saw people before eating this kind of food in some street sides and indoor shopping malls in the Philippines, I never tried to eat it there. But when Dennis asked me to try it, it made me realize that it was really delicious and wanted to eat it again. It is generally served inside a small circular pitã bread, which is cut open upon which the meat and salad is placed inside.You can eat this together with potato fries which is typically Dutch. The reason why I want to share some info about this is because me and Dennis ate this again yesterday and made me think  that shoarma is also part in my journey  here in Holland so I want to share it on my blog.

It's Badminton Day!