Poll

* It has been a while since I last wrote an entry on this weblog, because it has taken me some time to get used to my new routine. I spend more hours at 'school,' but have much less 'homework' than previous years. This is great, of course, it only makes me reluctant to sit behind my computer after a long day of 'work.' This week I am going camping with my 4 HAVO (i.e. 10th grade) students, but as of next week, I will try to write more often.



It is more difficult than one might think to 'plan' (I still use the term loosely) your perfect world trip. Especially when you have to decide together with someone who is completely different from you in almost every aspect, and when you want to see absolutely everything that this world has to offer. It took Jochem and me almost a year to realize that we might want to see too much during our world trip. That's when it got real difficult, because now we feel that we should make choices. Unfortunately for us, making choices means eliminating perfectly good travel spots for nothing but pragmatic reasons, so every time we get excited about one thing, we get sad about having to miss out on another thing.



We thought we had finally figured it all out when we decided to choose the East: China, Tibet, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and India. We were thinking: cheap; less flights (so cheaper and better for the environment); and especially adventurous since we wouldn't otherwise just go to any of these countries. However, a few brief looks in a couple of Lonely Planets and Rough Guides quickly revealed that it's quite a hassle to arrange transportation in this area (at least much more of a hassle than we had anticipated during our time frame). Suddenly South America, Easter Island and Cuba started to look good: even less flights; a language we can both speak reasonably well; and less need to rush through a bunch of countries. But then we also think South America will be more expensive and less adventurous somehow.



After a while this kind of thinking drives you crazy. There are so many places that you would like to explore, and there is simply not one region in particular that you can easily opt for. The whole point of our world trip is to see the world in 9 months, and to have an adventure. So now we're thinking of just booking a standard world ticket. Kilroy Travels offers several interesting options, and these are the ones we like especially:



- = traveling by plane
// = traveling over land



"Explorers Dream"

London - Beijing // Hong Kong - Cairns (near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) // Sydney - Christchurch // Auckland - Tahiti - Easter Island - Santiago de Chile // Lima - Quito (in Ecuador) - Madrid - London



"Cheeky Monkey"

Brussels - Madrid - Santiago de Chile // Ushuaia (at the bottom of Argentina) - Buenos Aires // Rio de Janeiro - Sydney // Cairns - Auckland - Beijing // Hong Kong - Mumbai // Delhi - Brussels



"Wonders of the World"

London - Rome - Amman (in Jordan) - Delhi - Hong Kong - Beijing - Hong Kong - New York - Cancun - Miami - Lima - Cuzco (in Peru) - Santiago de Chile - Rio de Janeiro - London


"Go West"

Amsterdam - Lima - Mexico City - Los Angeles - Honolulu - Tokyo - Bangkok - Nairobi // Kilimanjaro - Amsterdam


Jochem still has certain destinations he must see, whereas I tend to think that if you are buying a random world ticket because you can't choose, you might just as well go random all the way. Of course we can also try to assemble our own personalized world ticket.


Here is where I ask you guys for advice by means of a poll. What would YOU choose if you had to choose between the following options for your 9-month world trip:


(1) travel to Asia, Australia, New Zealand and India
(2) travel to South America, Easter Island and Cuba
(3) book "Explorers Dream"
(4) book "Cheeky Monkey"
(5) book "Wonder of the World"
(6) book "Go West"
(7) book your own personalized world ticket


Let me know, 'cause I could really use the perspective!

PC Jeans

My overall plan to save the world one tofu meal at a time has reached a new high. It all began when my mom claimed that I needed a new pair of jeans last Thursday. I said that I already had two pairs of jeans in my possession, but she, in turn, said that it does not count when both of them have holes in them that have been fixed by sewing material from yet another pair of jeans over them. I tend to think that beggars, and savers for world trips, can't be choosers when it comes to the quality of their denim, but my mother disagreed and although I'm very much the idealistic and/or naive twenty-something, who am I to refuse a new pair of jeans free of charge?

And there we go, now everyone can save the world by buying the right pair of jeans. Although it was not so much my contribution, since the jeans were a gift, I still want to tell you about them. The jeans brand is called Kuyichi. In a nutshell, Kuyichi is all about raising awareness about fashion while respecting the environment. It uses organic cotton and recycled paper, amongst other sustainable materials, supports fair trade and also has its Track & Trace and Mady-By features, which enable buyers to find out where their jeans come from. On the Kuyichi website you can insert the number that you can find on the inside of your purchased jeans. This is how I found out that my pair of jeans was designed in Haarlem, the Netherlands, manufactured in Tunisia, and produced in Malatya, Turkey (see here for details). Kuyichi jeans can be bought in the Netherlands in Amsterdam and Utrecht at Nukuhiva, Floortje Dessing's fair trade store. You can also check out the Kuyichi website. I think this is a great initiative and of course urge everyone to purchase a pair of politically correct jeans!

On a somewhat different note: yesterday Jochem and I went discount shopping and somehow managed to buy two jackets and one fleece sweater for almost no money at all. They are meant to be used during our world trip in two years. Of course that's still very far away, but we couldn't resist the urge...

Some Thoughts

About vegetarianism:
Spain is arguably the most difficult country (that I have been to thus far) to be a vegetarian in. Up until my holiday in Spain I generally found it very easy to not eat meat or fish, but as soon as I had been in Spain for a couple of days, all I could think about were hamburgers and tuna sandwiches. Of course I didn't cave. Although I can't begin to tell you about the numerous times that there was not a single vegetarian meal to be found in any of the restaurants that we visited, and I had to depend on tapas and side salads, most of the time we had dinner at my family's place where it was easier to accommodate to my vegetarian wishes. But it was very, VERY hard. Now that I am back in the Netherlands it has become much easier, and I definitely want to keep going through August, so that I can say that I have been a vegetarian for two months (as was expected, Jochem quit after one month and is happily eating meat and fish once more). I am not sure where to go from there. I truly think that it might be too difficult to never eat meat and fish ever again, so I will probably end up some sort of semi-vegetarian. Luckily, I now know of a lot of ways to replace meat and fish with other food. I feel perfectly comfortable eating my soy burgers during bbqs, or replacing meat and fish with veggies and nuts in pasta and risotto dishes, and I even managed to successfully prepare my signature chicken tandoori dish with tofu (although I must admit that my first attempt at this tofu tandoori was not as successful). Luckily Jochem supports me and if I am able to find a vegetarian option for an otherwise non-vegetarian dish, he will join me in my vegetarian cooking. If I really can't find a suitable replacement, I will buy real meat and fish, but only if it is organic. Since this is quite expensive for us, we will probably eat less meat and fish anyway. I will probably never have fastfood like McDonald's and 'kroket' again, but at least I won't have to say goodbye to tuna sandwiches and sushi. Sometimes I feel guilty for not pulling through completely, but then again: Jochem and I support four organizations that aid animals and the environment, we take care of the environment ourselves in our own surroundings by recycling and not wasting, we only buy products from The Body Shop because they are not tested on animals and support fair trade, we hardly eat meat and fish, and when we do, it's organic, and in my spare time I end up taking care of a bunch of kittens for three days before bringing them to the Spanish local police (a whole other story). There's only so much that a person can do without indulging in guilt forever. So I now declare myself a wannabe vegetarian!

About philosophy:
I used to hate philosophy in college and I still can't bear to read philosopher's original works, but now I'm reading Philosophy for Dummies and it's really interesting! I tend to side with Agnosticism and am now reading Bertrand Russel's "Why I Am Not A Christian."

About renovating:
Jochem and I were supposed to help out my parents for a couple of days as a means to say 'thank you for helping us get to Spain this summer.' I thought we'd be redecorating my parents' bedroom and my old bedroom, but dad had a much less pleasant job in mind. He wanted us to paint all of the wood on the outside of the house. Thinking that as long as I can paint, all is good, we set out to work, but what a painful job it was! It has been very hot and humid in the Netherlands recently, and I kept hurting myself or dripping paint all over my newly acquired, 'especially bought for the world trip,' favorite (of course) hat, until the grand finale where I accidentally poured half a bottle of paint thinner on my front body. It stopped hurting after a couple of hours, but after almost two days my skin still has a very red color. I keep putting aloe vera on it but should I be doing more? Danielle asked me whether I'd been to the hospital... Needless to say, Jochem has been doing most of the painting after that, while I stayed in and edited our pictures. But at least my parents are very happy that the painting has finally been done after ten years of procrastination, and that's what's important.

About reading:
I feel especially proud of my reading skills this summer. I don't read a whole lot during the school year because I am usually too busy reading for my studies, so in the summer I go all out and read all of the books I didn't get to read before. This summer, in just two weeks, I finished the latest two novels by my favorite author Santa Montefiore (finally!), one novel by Cecilia Samartin, one book by my American educational guru Ron Clark (which, admittedly, I had read years before), and the 735 pages of The Other Boleyn Girl (for comparison: Ulysses is also 735 pages long). In total I managed to read 1990 pages in two weeks! One quotation that I wanted to share with you from Ron Clark's book is the following: "Always make sure there are seven things in your life at all times: laughter, family, adventure, good food, challenge, change, and the quest for knowledge." I am proud to say that all seven things are in my life; how about you?

About accomplishments:
Besides feeling pretty good about having read so many books over the summer, I feel pretty good about myself overall, I think. Of course I still feel great for having finished my master thesis on time, getting good grades and being accepted into that internship. I also managed to squeeze in four extra weeks of work for some extra money to save. I cleaned out my apartment and did a whole bunch of little things that had been on my to do list for over a year. My parents' house looks great. I can't wait to start the new, and last, year of grad school. I just feel great! Time for me to indulge in this greatness at the hair salon this afternoon...



These are Chips (the red kitten) and Salsa (the black kitten). It's a long story...

Things come in 3's!

3 names I go by:
1. Nuria
2. Nur
3. Nuri

3 of my favorite words and/or phrases:
1. "Stap op!" (= "Get lost!")
2. "Echt niet!" (= "No way!")
3. "Kats" and "kel" (= "very"; interchangeable nonsense words from the Twents landscape in Almelo)

3 places I have lived:
1. Utrecht, The Netherlands
2. Los Angeles, USA
3. New York, USA

3 jobs I have had in my life:
1. student assistant at Utrecht University
2. invigilator at the British Council
3. English tutor at Studiekring

3 favorite drinks:
1. Corona with lime
2. dry, white wine
3. green tea with ginger

3 favorite foods:
1. pasta
2. risotto
3. sushi

3 TV shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. Samantha Who?
3. Lipstick Jungle

3 places I have been:
1. Andalucía, Spain
2. Cinque Terre, Italy
3. Big Sur, California, USA

3 things I am looking forward to:
1. my world trip with Jochem
2. my wedding (although not anticipated anytime soon)
3. buying my first house with Jochem and putting a HUGE kitchen in it (equally not anticipated anytime soon)


(from Facebook)

¡Adios España!

The end of our two-week summer vacation is near! It went by so fast we can hardly believe it, but I think we were able to establish the usual division between spending time on nature (e.g. the Ebro Delta and the volcanic park in the Pyrenees), culture (e.g. Barcelona and Valencía) and relaxation (e.g. Penedès wine country, the beach and family). We made a lot of pictures, as always, and I hope to share them with you soon. Here is a preview of the afternoon right before Robin and Jesse took the bus back home to Almelo and my grandparents made a gazpacho and bbq lunch that contained so much garlic that we smelled like it for days!





Tomorrow Jochem and I are heading home in Jordi´s suburban car (which has only a few scratches ;)) and we will arrive on Sunday. We will spend a few days in Almelo working on my parents´ house before heading back to Utrecht on Friday. And then on Monday school starts again. Time just flies by so fast! But at least we were able to get away for a short while, so I don´t complain. Anyone traveling to Spain should definitely pay a visit to the Freixenet cava winery in Sant Sadurní d´Anoia in Penedès, the Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa in the Pyrenees, and Valencía (but wear sensible shoes! Thanks to my being vain I now not only have an injured left foot, but also a nice pair of blisters on both feet because I decided to wear my mom´s ´pretty´ shoes in Valencía. What was I thinking putting on a pair of that tiny woman´s sandals?!). Those were definitely our favorite destinations.


As for now: ¡Hasta luego!

¡Buenos Días!

Thus far in Spain I have ...

... discovered that sleeping in a station wagon is very much like sleeping in a coffin.

... had the honor of meeting the 5 kilogram/37 cent melon.

... found out that hiking Montjuïc in Barcelona is the best way to get lost, tired and burned.

... come to hate my Reef flipflops because they caused such a serious injury to my left foot that we have had to cancel our walking trip to the Pyrenees until next week. Rainbows all the way!

... had to stop Jochem from buying absolutely everything in the Freixenet store.

... realized that walking towards the Devil´s Bridge in Tarragona in 40 degree heat at noon while the monument is under construction and I cannot use my left foot, might not be the best idea.

But other than that we have the sun, the beach, the Mediterranean Sea, an airconditioned villa, family, pets, THE patatas bravas and cava. ¡Muchos besos de España!

Spain 2009

In one week Jochem and I will be here. This is Cambrils Mediterraneo, part of Cambrils de Mar, which is a small town on the eastern coast of Spain, called the Costa Dorada. It is the place where my Spanish relatives own a small villa near this beach. We will borrow my brother's car and spend two weeks traveling through this region. We plan to see Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencía, a few small beach towns, a volcanic park in the Pyrenees, the Ebro Delta and Penedès wine country. I'm not exactly sure how to be a vegetarian in Spain (especially amongst my very much non-vegetarian Spanish family members) or how to be away from my pets for more than a few days, but I sure as hell am glad to be going abroad real soon.

These pictures were taken in the summer of 2006, when my girls and I spent the most perfect little weekend there.

Summer Break

Ever since I heard that I had passed my master thesis one week ago, I have been on my summer break. Which is so weird after having been so busy for so long. Which is also why I do not have that much to tell y'all. I have a summer job cleaning people's houses, but that's only for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon, tops. Jochem, meanwhile, has a job serving rich people at a golf tournament in Zandvoort, which means that by the time I get back from work, he is gone, and he doesn't come back until the middle of the night. The only time we see each other is during my breakfast, after which Jochem crawls back into bed until he has to get up for work. That kinda sucks, but it also means that I have the house all to myself. Jochem is not around making phone calls or working on his computer, which is arguably the most depressing sight for me right now. I don't have to fight for the remote. Not having any homework or other responsibilities and with family in Almelo and friends in Australia, Cuba and Belgium (really!), I spent about eight hours a day behind the tv and/or computer. I watch a variety of high quality tv shows, such as Oprah, Dr. Phil, Greyʾs Anatomy, CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, De bruiloft van... (Dutch for: The wedding of...), Rich Bride Poor Bride, Paradise Hotel 2, True Beauty, Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean parts 1, 2 and 3, and bad romantic comedies on tv, and an old homemade movie (all at the same time, of course). I go swimming with Bic once a week (which has happened once thus far), and I do Hatha Yoga three times a week (which reminds me: I shouldnʾt forget to do that before I go to bed tonight, even though my book says that I shouldnʾt do yoga before going to bed because then I start associating yoga with sleep, which is apparently very bad, but what do they know, really?). I have dinner with Bic and Mar every week, and I force them to either eat vegetarian food or cook it for me, because yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a vegetarian now. The non-meat/non-fish eating vegetarian. Jochem thinks that this is just a phase, and that we are only ʾtrying it outʾ for one month, but letʾs embellish on that illusion a little longer. My cat and I are bonding (which is slightly more difficult with the fish, them being in a bowl and all), having no one but each other for company. I now always wear my very long hair in a bun (knoet!), since I refuse to deal with it otherwise. I read my books about list-making and creativity, and have actually started drawing stuff, which of course sucks and is only recognizable because I write editorial notes next to the drawings. I have also cleaned out my closet (and forced Jochem to do the same) and rearranged my correspondences (is that word still used in the Kingʾs English?) and magazine collection, and threw away about a forest worth of paper. I do loads and loads of laundry and play Katie Melua and John Mayer very loudly because they represent my blues collection (no lecture on music genre required). And thatʾs about it folks! Isnʾt it GREAT?! :P

3 out of 3

I did it! Today my supervisor sent me an e-mail that said that I received a 7.8 for my master thesis!!! :) I cannot believe it! I have been working on it for over nine months and had anticipated having to work on it even longer during the summer. It was incredibly hard to write about linguistics (as opposed to literature), and my first draft was not good at all. I only had nine days to rewrite 88 pages of bad research, so I spent those days from 8 AM till 12 AM behind my laptop in, what I believed to be, a vain attempt to finish before the summer. There was just so much writing that had to be redone that I barely had time to edit the final 95 pages that I wrote and I handed in the second draft fifteen minutes late. I definitely did NOT have a good feeling about it, which makes it all the more amazing that I did not only pass it, but received such a good grade. Before the summer break and before the second year of my educational master! This means that I will never again have to read, research or write about linguistics or literature, because next year is all about education. I can finally return the books that I have been staring at for the last six months! I passed James Joyce, I got the internship that I wanted, AND I passed my master thesis! SURREAL! I don't know what I'm gonna do now. But wait, Dr. Phil is on in fifteen minutes...

More Good News

Almost a month ago I wrote on this same weblog that I was hoping to be done soon. Unfortunately, I am still writing my master thesis, as I have been for the past seven days straight, while the rest of the country is enjoying the summer weather as I am stuck behind my laptop in a very hot apartment. But I found out another piece of good news today. Two weeks ago I was invited for a very mysterious IVLOS meeting and last week I attended another meeting at the Koningin Wilhelmina College (KWC) in Culemborg. It turned out that they needed two English teachers in training for an amazing one-year internship. And I found out today that I got it! What's more, my good friend Nienke got the other spot, so I'll have a friend close by for a whole year. It's great news to hear one day before the second draft of your master thesis is due. Even if this one is not approved either, I will at least be able to finally start the practical year of my master (thanks to James Joyce), and do it at the school of my first choice. Of course, I am still secretly hoping that my second draft will be approved, but if there is anything that I learned from linguistics, it is to expect the unexpected...