Disclaimer

You may not hear from me for a while. At least not until mid June. Because I am trying to write at least 70 pages about Linguistics and Education for my Master Thesis while at the same time:

(1) finish reading the last 400 pages (out of 700) from James Joyce's Ulysses;
(2) writing a total of 10,000 words on said novel;
(3) tutoring freelance on Mondays;
(4) tutoring for the Studiekring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays;
(5) giving exam training on Saturdays and Sundays;
(6) grading high school Literature papers;
(7) having some kind of social life.

Bear with me...

Just a Little Thought on Trees

I've been meaning to write a little piece about trees. I hadn't done so thus far because I thought it was kind of weird to write about trees, but Jochem said to go for it. They are just so pretty this year! The spring weather here in the Netherlands has been great so far and very much unlike the previous years. There is a lot of sun, but not a heat wave, and hardly any rain or cloudiness, and even when it is not as sunny, it is not very cold. There's just a lot of wind, but I can safely say that's a sacrifice we're all willing to make. But when I bike to work, after getting through some of the busiest roads in the city without (1) being run over and (2) killing someone for being so stupid, I bike through this lovely little street which has the most beautiful trees with the freshest looking leaves on them. It makes me so happy! :) Just like the big tree in the back yard of our neighbor; I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighborhood hates that thing but I love it. We always have a pretty, Renoir-like shade in our rooms. I just love how it's been winter and the trees have been bare for months and all of a sudden, out of nowhere it seems, the trees are green again. It makes me think that I could never live somewhere where the seasons don't change every year. But then again: what do I know? I just wrote a blog about trees.

Oops...

What I TOTALLY and SHAMEFULLY forgot to mention was my brother and his girlfriend Silvana. These two crazy people told me yesterday that they are going to sponsor our world trip as well! They just bought a house together, they have cars and pets to take care of, and still they are willing to help us out. Why people are so willing to pay for our aimless wanderings is beyond my level of comprehension, but I am eternally grateful. Thank you!!!

ABCs of Me

Once again I am more tempted to reproduce Facebook notes than to actually do some productive work. But I just finished reading the first five chapters from James Joyce's Ulysses and managed not to jump from the window and this is how I chose to celebrate.

A - Age: 25.
B - Bed size: I'm not sure what to call it in English, but it fits me, Jochem and Manchego comfortably (as long as Jochem keeps his elbows to himself).
C - Chore you hate: Uhm... All of them? I probably hate dusting the most.
D - Dog's name: Our future pug already has a name picked out for him: Cracker!
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee.
F - Favorite color: Black and white (and yes, I know that, technically, these are not real colors).
G - Gold or silver: Silver.
H - Height: 173 cm.
I - Instruments you play(ed): As a kid I used to play the recorder, but I quickly grew out of that phase.
J - Job title: Student, tutor, invigilator and exam trainer (yes, besides being in grad school I also have three jobs).
K - Kid(s): None in the making right now.
L - Living arrangements: Jochem and I share an amazing two-story apartment in the most beautiful neighorhood in Utrecht.
M - Mom's name: Dori, after Isidora.
N - Nicknames: Nur and Nuri.
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Nope. I pretend that never even happened.
P - Pet peeve: Those people who should not be allowed on a bike in Utrecht when I am in a rush to get to work.
Q - Quote from a movie: "I am only here because of you. You are the reason I am. You are all my reasons." from A Beautiful Mind.
R - Right- or left-handed: Right.
S - Siblings: 1 brother, Jordi.
T - Time you wake up: Preferably around 8 AM, although those days are long gone now.
U - Underwear: Thongs.
V - Vegetable you dislike: Broccoli.
W - Ways you run late: When I think that I live close and therefore don't need to rush but then end up rushing because I overestimated how close I really live near everything. It's pure arrogance, really.
X - X-rays you've had: Chest and back, due to my bad posture.
Y - Yummy food you make: I think I make great Italian food.
Z - Zoo favorite: Scary spiders, insects, crocodiles and the like.

Impromptu

I am many things, but spontaneous is not one of them.

Yet Jochem and I had a very spontaneous weekend. I had some money left at the end of this month and decided that we had been thrifty enough and that we should go out to dinner. On Saturday, after my exam training and before Jochem's private driver shift, we had dinner at a great Indian restaurant called Taj Mahal in downtown Utrecht. We had Indian beer, Tandoori and Curry. It was great food and really nice to be able to go out to dinner at a place we'd been wanting to visit for a long time.

On Sunday, after my exam training and before Jochem's early Spanish class on Monday morning, we drove to Almelo for a quick visit. Jochem still had his private driver car, a teeny tiny Smart, in his possession and since we don't own our own car we decided to shamefully abuse it and drove 1,5 hours and back to Almelo with our cat. Manchego is to stay with my parents during holidays and the famous world trip, and we wanted him to see the place. We saw my brother's house and had dinner at the Shamrock. Much beer and many shots were consumed.

And now it's Monday and back to work, but it was a great little weekend for us!

Oh Happy Day

On a regular basis I feel quite sorry for myself in a spoiled kind of way. The truth is, despite the general priviliged state of my existence, I often find myself fed up with the situation at hand. These are a few things that make me feel better:

* The sun, especially in combination with any of these factors: the Griftpark; Jochem; my friends; wine; Mag's famous sandwiches; Bic's unfailing cynicism.

* Looking at bridesmaid dresses on The Knot even though I am not getting married.

* Bright nail polish.

* Reading travel literature in 'preparation' of our world trip.

* Cooking Jamie Oliver's Italian recipes.

* Having coffee on Sunday morning while watching Jochem prepare my eggs.

* Watching wedding and food shows on TV.

* Waking up with Manchego curled into my neck.

* Having risotto two days in a row.

* The knowledge that I wil be in Brussels in 1 month and 18 days, and in Spain in 3 months and 3 weeks.

* Family drama.

But I am writing this after a sunny day in the park with my people, so I can't guarantee that this blog is completely true to my general state of self.

Little House, Little Tree, Little Animal

My little brother Jordi and his girlfriend Silvana have bought a house together in Almelo for themselves, their dog Diego, their cat Maiki and undoubtedly a variety of other pets that they will purchase in the upcoming years. The house stands in a neighborhood called Windmolenbroek and is only a couple of blocks away from my parents' house, who live in the same neighborhood. Of course I escaped from Almelo when I was 18 and never intented to come back, and even though I am starting to warm up to the place a little bit more (mainly because of my family), I still don't envision myself going back there for many years to come. First I want to finish school and then travel and then live abroad. But I know that Jordi and Silvana are different and I am very happy for them to have reached this milestone. As a housewarming gift I asked BFF Anna to make a playful, colorful, though not too crazy painting to mark the occasion. I'm not sure she knew exactly what I meant, but she did a great job anyway. The painting is supposed to represent the couple moving into their new home, as well as their pets and their love for animals in general. After an already crazy weekend (I believe we spent a total of 12 hours traveling last weekend), Jochem and I visited the family in Almelo on Sunday and gave Jordi and Silvana their present. And they loved it! Congratulations you two! :) And also, I feel like everyone is moving into new directions (see some of my previous blogs), while I am still stuck here studying English in Utrecht. I can't wait to be done with this year, start internshipping and then finally start working. I can't wait to be done with grad school. I can't wait to travel the world with Jochem and to live abroad. Those big plans will have to wait for a while, but for now I have a summer vacation in Spain to look forward to. Only four more months until August...

Copyright (c) 2004 - 2009
annadenise.nl
All Rights Reserved

My congratulations to...

...Martijn and Jolien for getting married on March 20, 2009!!!

Annefloor, Me, Jantien, Jolien, Marije, Chantal, Evelien and Marjolein

...and to Anna for (1) turning 25, (2) getting a job in Brussels and (3) finding an apartment in Brussels!!!

Jochem and I after being 'forced' to dress up for Anna's Mustaches and Beards Party (well, at least Jochem looks awesome...)

Hihihi!!! :)

And did I mention that we were listening to an old Britney Spears album that I have in my possession while we were doing this?

And this one time...

Overall, I would say that my life is pretty, well, boring. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a creature of habit. Although I have all sorts of grand plans and actually get to experience them once in a while (e.g. living in New York City; being a bridesmaid at my American friend's wedding), my general day-to-day existence follows a well-designed and well-paved path (nice alliteration, huh?! :P). But the last week or so has been pretty exciting, and I wanted to share.

First of all, last week on Friday I finally saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire, with big thanks to my good friend Kiran who told me to watch it and who makes me a little less uncool by association. And I gotta tell you: it is such a good movie! I think it may be my favorite which means that American Beauty has been pushed from first place for the first time since I first saw it in 1999. That's 10 years! Now, I don't pretend to be some kind of movie critic, but I can tell you why it is so amazing. To me, this movie represents the best of two worlds: although I like Hollywood films they also tend to be of the cookie-cutter kind (which is one of the reasons why I like them -- you know what to expect); I also like Bollywood films although they also seem to be a little bit over the top for me. This movie is like a mix, and not in the way Bride and Prejudice was a mix. Also, the way Jamal's life story is told through the television show is absolutely brilliant. The story is true and authentic, funny and sad, but with a (somewhat) happy ending. The music is also great. I can't say anything more about it except that you simply MUST see it!!!

On Friday Jochem and I also went to Eindhoven to have dinner with the in-laws. First we went to Okke (Jochem's older brother) and Loes' (his girlfriend) new apartment, which was small but incredibly well decorated and cute. We had some Prosecco (always a big hit with me) and then went to a nice Asian restaurant where there were chefs preparing meat and fish with loads of garlic. It was delicious.

Then on Saturday Bic, Mag, Mar and I went clubbing. We had estimated that we hadn't been clubbing since Mar's birthday in June 2008, so we decided it was time to do it again. After months of planning and replanning (because of my bad planning, can you believe it?) we finally bought tickets to the 80s and 90s Party at the Winkel van Sinkel. I was a little bit afraid we weren't gonna make it, being older now and easily tired. But, with help from Anna (who borrowed me a great top which I loved so much I wore it two days in a row), Mag (who had brought Mamma Mia! as a warming up exercise), lots of alcohol and even more bad music, we ended up partying until 4 'o clock in the morning. I was pretty surprised myself! Afterwards we had fastfood and I rolled into bed at 5.30 AM, minus hangover I should add. I am supposed to have incredibly incriminating pictures of this night, but unfortunately I keep forgetting to get the camera back from Mar, so that'll have to wait I'm afraid.

On Sunday my parents, uncle, aunt, cousin Robin and her boyfriend Jesse came to visit and see our (not so new anymore) apartment. My uncle slaved in the kitchen for hours making an old family recipe for, what we call it, Spanish spagetti, and there were lots of drinks and snacks. We had a great time, but the best thing was that my family had prepared a little surprise for us; three cards and one collage later we found out that they are going to sponsor us every month until we leave for our world trip. It was absolutely amazing, sweet, incredibly generous, and a truly touching surprise!

The rest of the week centred around work. On Tuesday Nienke and I sat behind my computer at 7.30 AM (no kidding) to spend an hour and a half talking to three very nice students from the Czech Replublic for our Language Education class. I was still in my pajamas because I refuse to get dressed before 8 AM unless I get paid for some kind of job, but the talks were really nice. Unfortunately a lot of other work is concerned with this project and I think that my entire group, including me, is getting really sick of it. I also had a big meeting in Nijmegen on Thursday with an important Dutch Social Linguist whose book I'd read, but she offered me more questions than answers. The thing about my master thesis is that I definitely don't want to do more linguistic research, but she was kind of pushing me towards exactly that. I want to do educational research instead, but it's hard to find my bearings without the help of my supervisor, who is doing his own research until April. But I have almost read every single book and article and website that I've wanted to read, and I'm starting to see more clearly. I just hope it works.

On Saturday I had to work first from 8 AM until 3 PM, but it was for the British Council, which is always a blast. Afterwards I had to rush home and then to Mag's for our little birthday surprise. Last year I gave Anna a kind of improvised spa treatment coupon, but it never happened, so this year I wanted to do it right. Bic, Mag, Mar and I made an arrangement to visit the Veluwse Bron, an absolutely amazing spa, and to take Anna with us as a kind of early birthday celebration. Mag made her signature 'stampot andijvie' and I had made a brownie cake with pink frosting, purple flowers and pink candles shaped 25 (and no, I don't have pictures, but it was delicious if I may say so). Afterwards we spent an hour in the car which made Anna wonder where the heck we were going, because we were driving in the middle of nowhere and Anna and nature don't mix. We finally made it and spent 5 hours in a diverse arrangement of saunas, steam rooms, swimming pools and hamam-style places. It was a little weird to be NAKED, but after a while you do get used to it (Bic and I never thought we'd see the day), and before long I was lying in corpse pose and then sitting in a lotus position in the panoramic sauna. The waterfall was the best part though, because it was almost magical. I am also very proud to say that I went down in an icecold bath, and also stood underneath an icecold bucket with the rest of the girls, although we squealed like girls while that happened, which really wasn't very cool. Anna made a great picture of it (see below), that you can also find on her website et al.

Copyright (c) 2004 - 2009

annadenise.nl

All Rights Reserved

Then, on Sunday, Jochem and I celebrated our 2,5 year anniversary! Pretty special, I'd say. We weren't sure how to celebrate it, but eventually opted for just staying in, having good food, drinking champagne with rasberries and watching Vicky Christina Barcelona (also a very good movie!). It was nice.

And today it's back to work, although I haven't done that much today except running errands. I find that I get a lot more work done once the pressure is on. Today I only had to read a few chapters from the last book I want to finish before starting to write my master thesis, and instead I did loads of other things. Tomorrow it's back to the Language Education project and then work. I also have to work on Wednesday, but on Thursday morning I'm going to Almelo to visit my family. I haven't been back home in months. On Friday one of my oldest friends from high school, Jolien, is getting married, and on Saturday Anna is celebrating her 25th Birthday Party (where I'll have to wear some kind of beard or mustache apparently). So many more good things are in the making! I doubt I'll get anything more done today, because my Sivananda Hatha Yoga class starts in half an hour and afterwards it's more champagne with rasberries because Jochem received an 8.3 for his Spanish test (after almost having been expelled for failing the test in the summer), and then Grey's Anatomy starts at 8.30. Mmm...