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A Touch of Dutch
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American working/living in the Netherlands with the love of my life, a Dutch man. I'm avidly learning Dutch & how to live comfortably in these lowlands. Sharing stories and photos of all I spy, capturing expat life in the Netherlands.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'culture cultuur'
The End of Another Expat Year
While traveling alone recently in the United States to visit family and friends, I kept myself company with several books on the airplanes. There is one book in particular which I want to finally share with you all about.But before I begin, I choose ...
Favorite Expat Blogs: Invading Holland
In this ongoing series of my favorite Expat in NL blogs, this time it's the blog which inspired me to start my own!Before I began to blog officially to the public, I had been reading Invader Stu, a blog featuring the adventures of a young British man...
Amsterdam: Evil?
While I was away on vacation, a friend emailed me this link and I wanted to share it here with you all while I have a few extra moments today. It was also shared recently on Expatica [including O'Reilly's reaction, click here]. It was via Dutch Cowgi...
Would You Like Fries With That?
This blog entry is a mixture of a few blog entries I've been meaning to post, but have kept on the back burner. I was inspired to finally combine them up because I'm in the middle of reading The UnDutchables®.Before I go further, a majority of my bl...
Pieces of Apeldoorn: American Theme
Today a blog post of American theme in the wonderful Dutch city of Apeldoorn. Anything I saw which featured something to do about America, I snapped a photo.An American Restaurant. . .Click here for the website of the Spicebrush American restaurant i...
What's This: Geslaagd!
Have you seen this yet in your part of the Netherlands?I remember the first time I heard the word geslaagd. . . This word contains twice the letter g of the Dutch language, which produces a gutteral sound from the throat, so it therefore didn't sound...
Vlaggetjesdag
Vlaggetjesdag. I wasn't there, and actually. . . I had never truly learned about it until yesterday.Yesterday was officially Vlaggetjesdag here in the Netherlands, so I asked my husband all about it. He told me about it as we were heading out to do o...
Bouncing Baby Dutch Boy
Very many congratulations to a friend of mine who very recently gave birth to a baby boy, her third child. Though her baby boy isn't Dutch, being born in the United States, he does have a lot of Dutch heritage. Her parents are both Dutch immigrants a...
Eight Dutch Greats
I have much more to share and update about this coming week, but first I wanted to share another list of my recent favorites. Lately there have been many outings to visit friends and any other excuse to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Here a...
Going Dutch: Poffertjes and Pinksteren
It's Friday and the beginning of a long weekend here in the Netherlands. This weekend the Dutch celebrate Pinksteren or Pentecost, on both Sunday and Monday. Sunday is 1e Pinksterdag or Eerste Pinksterdag [English: Whit Sunday], and Monday is 2e Pink...
Going Dutch: Greetings!
My husband and I were discussing about Dutch greetings vs American greetings recently. We began to talk about it because of some knowing adjustments I made recently to a lengthy conversation I was having with a few Dutch women and a few other women f...
What's This: Hemelvaart
Today is Hemelvaart, and it was suggested here at home that I share about and the Dutch holiday and tradition of Hemelvaart.In English, this is Ascension Day. When you hear someone say "Hemelvaart" for the first time, you may need to hear it again. H...
Awe-sum and More!
I have received a blog award from a few great expat blogs: Life Abroad and Going Dutch: Thank you!It's something I really appreciate. It's been great to be able to share on a blog with other expats who are from all over, living elsewhere. But for me ...
Dutch Living For Expats: Kamperen
The title of this blog entry says, in Dutch: Camping.It's almost summer, which means it's almost camping time again! I've noticed in the Netherlands, the Dutch typically go camping on their vacations. If you live in the Netherlands, outside of the ci...
Before and After Meme For Expats
While watching the beginning of the royal family participating in the Queen's Day festivities yesterday on TV, I was reminded of when I first arrived in the Netherlands. Back when I first came here, my first impression of Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem...
Food of the Week: Pannenkoeken
I haven't done this category for a while! Food of the Week.If you've never had a pannenkoek, you will possibly wonder what is so different about a Dutch pancake. Especially if you are from America and are used to the buttermilk pancakes. Or flapjacks...
Dutch Living For Expats: Part Three
Here's something we don't use in America. But many would. The flessenlikker. Also known as the flessenschraper. In this installment of Dutch Living For Expats, I will only discuss this one item. I've briefly written about the flessenlikker before ...
Dutch Living For Expats: Part Two
This post is part two of the Dutch Living For Expats blog entry.I'm putting together in these various blog entries about pieces of the Netherlands which an expat may or may somewhat find different from their usual routine, or items which also may or ...
Dutch Living For Expats: Part One
Aside from an array of other good things happening lately, I was busy the entire week everyday helping around the home of my mother-in-law. She sprained her ankle on her stairs and had many things which needed to be done over the week. Cleaning the d...
De Tandarts
The title says 'the dentist.' And 'I've been to the dentist' is what the picture to the left says in Dutch. Recently I visited the dentist in the Netherlands again for my regular checkup and think it would be nice to discuss the differences for any c...
Drukke Dagen
Busy days, the title says. Lately, it's been just like the image here also says, in Dutch: Busy × 3!What an interesting 1½ weeks it's been in the Netherlands. Starting the weekend before last, which was filled with the Carnival celebrations. I have...
Reclame-o-Rama
Bavaria beer's answer to the Heineken commercial, which I also posted at this blog entry.Reclame is Dutch for advertisement. I was used to the Super Bowl offering the best commercials in America. Though Dutch commercials often can be just as bland as...
My Dutch Top 20
There are some things which are common to the Netherlands. Bicycles, windmills. . . But there are some things which you only notice if you've lived here for a while. You may notice these things differently or have a different list, but here is my per...
So Unusual: Coffee
Every once in a while, I will post about something I find unusual here in the Netherlands. Only one topic each time. And I'll title it "So Unusual." I can make a long list in my mind right now, but I'll just save it and write about one. As I cut open...
It's the Queen's Birthday
Today is Queen Beatrix's birthday, but the Netherlands doesn't celebrate her birthday today. This is done so every year on Queen's Day or Koninginnedag, April 30th.I've covered already about Queen's Day [here], but again this was the birthday of her ...
Coffee Talk!
Last night, just seconds after Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, my phone rang. It was my husband. He said, "Gefeliciteerd!"He was calling from one of the Starbucks at Schiphol, on his way home. Oh, what a ...
Happy New Year!
This blog entry is about the New Year celebration, what I once knew and what I now know. In the Netherlands, apart from the fireworks, food and oliebollen, as I mentioned in my last blog entry, there are a few other details. . . In the States, I usua...
Food of the Week: Oliebollen
So I woke this morning to the sound of a loud BANG! Today was one day when I actually wouldn't have minded being woken by my buurman [neighbor guy] singing high-pitched falsetto along with Mariah Carey on his stereo, rather than the fireworks 15 feet...
Going Dutch: Language Schools
This is part two to my last blog entry about language learning tips, since I forgot one portion of the entry. I learned a lot of the Dutch I know myself and with the help of my husband, his family, and a few patient people who've become good friends....
Rudolf het Rood-Neus-Rendier
While shopping today, I was searching for a few special items. One item I was searching for was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! And I've come to find he is, though scarcely so, in the Netherlands. . . What I found wasn't marketed specifically as Rudo...
