The Q&A Section

After a wonderful e-mail filled with invigorating questions I have decided to open my site up for a little reader writer interaction. I therefore will now begin a little Q&A section of the blog which I like to call “The Q&A Section of the Blog which is actually just another part of the blog within the grand scheme of things” therefore if any of my avid readers out there wish to have their questions asked please send all questions to my secretary at dustin_vhaar@hotmail.com. As I am obviously not able to get to the large quantities of fan mail coming into my mailbox daily I will respond to as many as possible. On behalf of the Dustin Vander Haar blog-site we would like to thank you all for your support and interest in the past and future travels of Dustin Vander Haar.

The Q&A Section of the Blog which is actually just another part of the blog within the grand scheme of things.

Are all Dutch people economically conservative?
From what it seems like to me a majority of them are but things are also a ton more expensive over here. The euro is worth more than the dollar and they say it has driven up prices on a lot of things. Still, the American saying of “going dutch” does seem to have some validity.

Beer in church would increase attendance!
I sure think so!

Hottie's in church would increase attendance!
Once again Glen, nobody can argue with your impeccable logic.

Another word for stubborn is persistence!
And another word for lazy is energy efficient!

Anyone would acquire persistence if you wished to convert the ocean to farm land!
Or just too much time on their hands:-)

Where are the windmills? After all, the windmills pumped the water over the dikes to drain the ocean!
Honestly, they are everywhere. I think every city has at least a few old biggies. It is also really cool to see the brand new ones you see all over in the Midwest here together churning the air with their ancient brethren. I should probably actually take a few pictures of them eh?

Talk about the dikes, was there a statue of Peter? The kid who placed his finger in a hole in the dike, which saved the entire nation from flooding!
I am told his actual name is Hans Brinker and the statue resides in Spaardam Holland. Looks like I just attained one more must see place on my list!

Why no cell phones? I could not travel to Europe if my cell phone did not function.
Well the people here do have cell phones, but my fellow travelers and I do not being as our American service provided would like to charge us an arm and a leg to use it over here so we just do without. It is really funny to see people riding on their bikes and talking on the phone though, I wonder if they can get a ticket for that??

Did you need to convert your currency to the Euro?
Yes, but with all the countries around here using the euro it is actually very nice to not have to continually change my money to the country I am in. Yet, the Euro is more expensive.

What is the exchange rate? To your advantage or disadvantage?
I believe one US dollar is approximately .75 Euro or something like that. Disadvantages, things are more expensive. Advantages, I can surprisingly find 6 euro worth of change in my pocket with only 3 coins, it is a pleasant surprise I tell ya.

Is the famous red light district glitzy like Las Vegas or run down like south side of Chicago?
It is more run down like southern Chicago. Nothing to spectacular, and at night the people there can be really weird. But then you see the business suit professionals there as well. It is a strange place that is for sure, although Amsterdam itself is a beautiful city.

Are Americans well received in the Netherlands?
From what I have experienced we are. Plus everyone here speaks English, and most of the time at least with the kids my age, they want to speak English to show off and just practice so that is nice. I hear my excursion to Paris next weekend may be a bit different though!!

Are the locals happy with their socialistic society?
The locals seem to be very proud of the Netherlandic heritage and I assume that they are happy with their socialized society as well although I have not yet had a good discussion about the topic yet. I will though they do hate the high taxes, just for you and I will get back to you on this soon.

How well does the socialized medicine work? I need to know in case Hillary becomes our next president.
They say that if you go in for a checkup the Dr. just tells you go to back home and get some rest. They don’t seem to think all too highly of it, but I will make sure to get back to you with more information in the future.

Have you checked out the small city of Huizen? I frequently told afabricated story to my kids and anyone who asked about my heritage, that the Van Hulzen family originated from the small town of Huizen. Since van means from, John Van (from) the city of Huizen was changed accidentally as the "i" in Huizen, became and "l" due to an illegible letter, which resulted in the current name John Van Hulzen. Everyone just sucked up that story!
Glen, I believe I just may have to do that and when I get there perhaps I will have to share that with the locals and maybe be treated as royalty. Perhaps we could tweak the story to explain how the city was named after Grandpa? Let’s get together and discuss…

Grandpa Koelewyn's fishing boat probably sailed out of the dried up port you visited!
I wonder if he was mad when he returned from sea and his freaking parking place was dried up. I would have been pissed!!!!

What is the one coarse you are taking while there?
I am currently taking the course “Traveling around Europe 101” it is a great time and usually only takes place on the weekends. During the week I take “Planning Travels around Europe 201” and this takes place throughout the remainder of the week, it is quite enjoyable.

Are there any World War II memorials in the area?
Yes I do believe so although they have not shown us any. They have told us the story behind the Bridge we must bike over every day to get to school though. Apparently it was one of the few bridges connecting unoccupied Netherlands to newly occupied German territory and therefore it was of pivotal importance during WWII as people fled to the north of the Netherlands and also brought food from the North back home. Most of this was all done through the use of this bridge.

Are the Olympics covered well?
They sure love their Winter sports, and they sure were upset with their speed skating team this year.

Do you need to watch CNN to keep up with current events?
Yea I really should, although I never really watch TV while I am here. To tell you the truth I have no clue what is going on in the world besides that some Olympic skaters in orange crashed into each other.

What do the locals do in their spare time?
Well my family loves to be active and they absolutely adore nature. They are either working out at the local gym, jogging, walking, or biking through the beautiful forest near the small town of Hattem. Other times they are gathered around coffee and tea in discussion.

Is the populace in better physical shape than the oversized Americans?
Heck yea! I rarely see an oversized Netherlander. But then again, I only ride my bike in the Netherlands and how many oversized people do you see riding a bike?

Which stereo type has proven to be true and which is totally unjustified?
It does seem like the cheap Dutchmen does have its validity. The most unjustified is the idea that they eat meat and potatoes. More like cheese and bread (But potatoes is huge too)

Connie wants to know what the shopping is like?
I have done very little shopping, but according to the girls on the trip the fashion here is much better. Also, if you intend to go shopping here you have to get it done early as all the shops close around 6 except on certain governmentally sanctioned evenings where they are allowed to stay open later. It has seemed similar in the other cities I have visited as well.

End of the Current Q&A Section of the Blog which is actually just another part of the blog within the grand scheme of things.

I'm Back

After one week and 254 pictures later I have finally arrived back in the Netherlands where the language is more familiar and there is a heck of a lot less sausage. It was a heck of a trip, and I know all of my readers out there have been anxiously awaiting a new post, and I have in inclination that this one will be a doozy. We began our travels Monday at around 8 in the morning with the head count coming up two short. We waited. It was soon 8:30 and I looked to my friends and we were appalled that we were leaving our dearest Tymona and Jen (Pumba) behind. Apparently they didn’t make it to the bus station and we thought for sure they missed the trip and were going to spend the week at home, morning their lack of punctuality. Yet, we were quickly relieved to see that the bus was not headed for the interstate but instead in the direction of their house. Apparently their alarm failed to go off (They didn’t know the difference between AM and PM I guess) and they had 5 minutes to get ready before the bus arrived at their home. They didn’t look happy. I found it hilarious though, mainly because they were the two who adventured through Amsterdam with Bryan and I because they missed the train in Zwolle then too. Oh Tymona Pumba. Anyway, our travels began, all people were accounted for, and the conversations began to fly. Yet, we all know that a trip is not a trip until you get to have your first stop and pick up junk food upon junk food for not other reason except for the fact that you are on a road trip and therefore must eat junk food. We entered the gas station and to my pleasant surprise my eyes crossed this beautiful wonder.

I had not seen such a specimen since I left the States, and to see one in the wild here in Europe was a truly chilling experience. I quickly grasped the object only to realize to my dismay that it was not chilled at all. Who cares I thought, the natural goodness of such a thing will overcome its lukewarm attribute. I quickly payed the unreasonable 2 dollars for the bottle and held it up for the world to see upon exiting the store. Others saw my purchase and quickly ran in to attain one of their own, and joy filled the bus in anticipation. Yet, sadly that anticipation weaned and it was soon realized that Mountain Dew in Europe does not taste like Mountain Dew in the States. We should have realized this, I mean in a place where so many things are different why would this be expected to be the same? The sadness overcame me.

Prague
Prague was an amazing city with wonderful architecture and a ton of history to keep one in awe. In fact, on our way to Prague we drove on the road built by Hitler for his tanks (the autobahn) and stayed in an old communist building now turned hotel (not nearly as impressive in reality as it sounds:-). It was just really weird that such everyday things were built by such people in history. One of the coolest things I saw in Prague was a Jewish graveyard. Apparently the Jewish heritage in this region highly treasures this graveyard and therefore people continually wish to buried at the site despite the fact that there is no room to expand horizontally. Thus, the graveyard extends vertically and buries people on top of others because according to Jewish custom the bones of the dead are not to be disturbed. Thus, others are buried above them without the lower graves being dug up to make room. To date there are 12 layers of the dead buried in this small area, and the gravestones are all viewable at the surface. It was an amazing sight and really made you examine the intense priority tradition has in the Jewish heritage.

Also, on this trip I turned the big 21. Not many people can say they spent their 21st in Prague so that immediately made it a good day. Plus, that evening we got to go to a black light theater which is honestly one of the most visually stimulating experiences I have had in years. It was absolutely crazy. The black lights made the dancers glow, and therefore the wires and other things were completely hidden from view as the dancers slowly glided through the air and things magically appeared and disappeared into the darkness. It was wicked awesome, if you have a chance I highly suggest attending a show.
Berlin
Berlin was also an amazing city. To tell you the truth though, if they didn’t just dump freaken 60 billion euro into building projects the city would not look that spectacular. Now it is in intense debt, but hey it looks really cool! Anyway, we walked through the Holocaust memorial which had all of these different steal pillars representing death, some short and some as tall as 13 feet.

We also went to their city center and explored the beautiful modern architecture. This is what they call Berlin’s Mount Fuji which towers over an open shopping plaza.

and this building is actually hung from the metal bridge built above it because the historical building below it could not support the new structure or be demolished, it was impressive.

As you travel through the city you frequently come across a line in the road, sidewalk, or wherever which is made of two bricks side by side. It represents the former line of the Berlin wall, and a section of it remains standing to remind the city and the world of the former separation.

In fact, the new city center is built in no-man’s land to demonstrate the new unification of Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate was also included in our tour of Berlin as it was a former entry point for all those entering Berlin so that goods could be taxed. This was built long before the Berlin wall or either World Wars. It was a giant structure, and more beautiful than in any picture. I just can’t believe that all the things I see in pictures and tour books I am actually seeing in real life. Another interesting thing about this structure is that a Starbucks is located right behind it! It was very funny to see all the American tourists racing to the Starbucks instead of taking pictures for once, but hey, its Starbucks!!!!

Oh yea, recognize this hotel? It is right by the Brandenburg Gate too and it is the hotel from which Michael Jackson dangled his kid. Useless fact I know but I’m a tourist and it got me to take a picture.

We also went to the top of the Reichstag which was architecturally amazing, it was awesome to see and overlook the city of Berlin from.

This is what I call old church new church, and is a Jewish synagogue damaged by the war and a monument built beside it to remind us all of costs.

Wow, that was the whirlwind tour I took of Berlin in one day. It was busy but a lot of cool stuff was seen. This trip is absolutely amazing so far and I can’t wait for it to continue.

The Good ol' Family Table

The family meal, in my real life it is a time when we all gather together to chat and catch up with what is going on in each others life, laugh, and just enjoy each others presence. Now, in the Dutch life which I now lead I do believe that my host family enjoys these same things, but they sure enjoy them for a much longer period of time. I was definitely a bit shocked when I first came here and meals lasted for at least an hour at a time, and I was completely amazed when after such a long gathering they decided to come together once again for coffee and tea.
Now this time together is all well and good, but the thing for me is that I understand very little Dutch. No let me rephrase, I know nothing (absolutely nothing worth knowing at least). I have my little phrases here and there that make the Dutch smile with joy as I recite lines in order to get the encouraging applause a young child receives when he first begins to string together sentences. But I am 20, and not a young child and you would think I would be beyond the need for this encouragement. Yet, I won’t lie, I find it outrageously comical to encourage such exaggerated reactions which are meant for little children from my host family and other individuals by speaking what little Dutch I learn. It is very enjoyable.
Yet, there are other times, mainly around the dinner table, when the Dutch is spoken in large amounts and with great speed, and I am not able to tell when one word ends and the other begin. I initially nod and transfer my attention between whoever is speaking, but eventually my attention wavers and I find my thoughts leaving the discussion at hand and entering the discussion in my head. This discussion is the result of whatever Dutch word is most recently said that has a phonetic similarity to a word in English. It is here where the story in my head begins, and as my family speaks, and expressions become larger, or hand gestures become rapid, my story begins to flow even faster. Soon another word with similarity is heard and the story continues on this tangent. Needless to say these stories are rather outrageous and have little to do with reality, but they are quite enjoyable. Yet, there is a danger in these stories, for while they are talking I have often found myself on the brink of laughter only to look up and see the seriousness in their faces. Lucky for me I controlled my chuckle and adverted sheer embarrassment.
Another little thing I should tell you about my family here in the Netherlands is their practice of singing hymns after every meal. To tell you the truth, I am not much of a singer, and the Dutch language in no way increases my talent. Therefore I am usually mumbling through words not knowing what is said only to realize that “Hey, that sounded a lot like…” here let me give you an example from tonight:
Number 501 line 6 reads “Heilige Geest, U mijn Trooster,” Now I have come to know that mijn means mine, that is the easy part, but to me trooster looks a lot like toaster, and therefore God now became my toaster. And a few later lines throw in the words “Redder” and “tot” and therefore God is now my toaster which makes my tater tots redder and I later find out that it is all “in mijn hart”. I guess when you don’t understand what is being said for an hour long conversation you have to do something right? The real sad thing is that the song ended in a few lines of English and I did not notice that until it was finished because I was too busy mumbling and trying to figure out how the words (this time English) could make a story.

Just stuff

So I have decided that a blog is needed to cover some stories and pictures which I failed to mention in the past. First thing first, last week we were formally welcomed to Zwolle by the wonderful city counsel or something. All the foreign exchange students were called together, and us Hatemites once again trekked across the bridge to a night gathering of extreme boredom, but in the end we got a card to receive a free drink at the local bar, thus putting soda within our purchasing range! The excitement was immense and the camera was present so I thought it would be advantageous to present to you all the 1,50 euro Heineken and the 1,30 euro cola (and I already took a drink of that beer by the way, it was full).
Another story which I had failed to mention in the past is that of our first travels to Amsterdam with Audrey, Bekah, Annie, and Bryan. We were still very uncomfortable on the trains as we had not yet mastered the art of mass transit (apparently we still haven’t) and when the train suddenly stopped we were relatively concerned. We quickly began scanning the train to explore the expressions of fellow travelers but they just continued their current book reading or random conversations without any tone of concern. We on the other hand began speaking our native tongue asking each other what the heck was going on, when the train would finally move again, and eventually how long we were going to have to sit here. Then, a group of young adults looked up from their magazines and books and asked us where we were from. Ahhhhh yes, we had forgotten that while these people were able to talk in their native tounge in complete undecipherable code to our ears they can competently understand the conversation of the stupid Americans. We proceeded to describe our state and all that jazz and then asked what was going on and they explained how someone was on the train tracks trying to commit suicide and they had to wait for the cops to remove the man. They also said it happens relatively frequently thus explaining the relative lack of concern on the other passengers. Many of you may believe that this young man was pulling our chain, but frankly I believe him. Not because he looked especially trustworthy, but merely because life gets better when you have crazy stories to go along with it!
And finally we have this little specimen which I discovered at the Rijksmuseum. It is in the traditional blue white combo making me immediately feel at home at my Grandma’s house, but the structure was a bit different. I have no clue what it was used for, but to me it appears that the Liberal laws of the Netherlands extend back many many years even so far as to allow them to create this group pipe, probably capable of using the local plant of choice, in traditional Dutch form. Once again, the true story probably eludes me, but until the truth approaches me with a better story I will choose to believe this one.

Amsterdam again???? Maybe, if we get there

Ah yes, how the wonderful world of mass transit works. In theory it is a wonderful system, and in reality as well I am told it is wonderful. Yet, as we all know I am not exactly always living in reality, and in fact this past month often feels like a dream and I have a feeling the remainder of this trip will be just as good. Still, even dreams have twists, and wow did we go for a ride yesterday!
So we had a class outing to Amsterdam to check out a Christian organization working on the Red Light district, go to Rembrandt’s house and then proceed to the Rijks museum, it was a day I was definitely looking forward too. Thus, when I found myself on the train to Utrecht instead of Amsterdam I was a little perturbed. Dang these trains can be confusing despite their apparent simplicity. So what actually happened was that Bryan and I got on the train with the class and had to move to a forward car because of the congestion of people. We were properly situated and I slowly drifted off to sleep only to wake up with the train stopped in Amersfort. The thing that amazes me when I look back on it though is the fact that it didn’t really even dawn on me that I would have to switch trains when In fact every time we go to Amersfort we usually have to switch trains or at least be on the right half of it when it splits in two. No matter what you want to be on the right side of the fork in the railway in order to head to Amsterdam, we were on the left, and the train on the right slowly pulled away leaving us heading to Utrecht with no way to contact the others being as we no longer have a trusty cell phone.
Upon finally arriving in Amsterdam we were soon faced with the situation as to how to find our group. We tried making phone calls (even the pay phones here are complicated) and getting information from the tourists office with no help in sight. Then, was we turned a corner two wonderful people came into view as I jumped for joy as I found two more NSpicers hopelessly lost in Amsterdam. And together we left for the Red Light district and with the help of some friendly locals and a few other Christian organizations we finally found our group. We were joyous.
Anyway, after this Christian organization which worked with prostitutes in the area, we went to Rembrandt’s house which was a pretty cool place. We got to see where he painted a few of his masterpieces and how he made some of his etchings and other works of art. Heck, I even began a masterpiece of my own (I am guessing that when I die people will finally realize my genius).

Next we visited a park dedicated to Rembrandt’s painting “The Night Watch” and we were able to step inside the action as only stupid American tourists would do.

The Rijks museum was another stop and we actually were able to view most of Rembrandt’s masterpieces in one room which was simple amazing. Also there were a few Vermeer’s in the adjacent room and I can’t explain how much more amazing these paintings are when you can experience the depth and color of the actual paint instead of the inkjet posters picked up at a souvenir shop. Another amazing thing about this museum is that it answered a question that has been bothering me for years now. Do angels have human tendances and annoyances such as itches and boogers? Well apparently they do have boogers, the answer as to whether or not they have itches continues to evade me.

Oh yea, that night we stayed in Amsterdam with our host sister Elize, and while we waited for a tram we were approached by an Irishman who noticed we spoke English, and he asked if we wanted his left over weed as he was now going back home and didn’t want to mess with customs. He reassured us that he would not make us pay for it but he just didn’t want it to go to waste. Don’t worry mom, I didn’t smoke it. But the fact that in Amsterdam weed is given away made me laugh. Anyway, the travels are going well and life is good. I was hoping to make it to the Olympics and watch some good ol’ curling this weekend but I was too late on getting train tickets so that sadly wont happen, but on Monday we leave for Prague for a whole week! Life is good!

Belgium

So we made a weekend trip out of Belgium and hit up both Antwerp and Brussels. Antwerp was an absolutely beautiful city and we went to the Cathedral of Antwerp and it was absolutely stunning. The Cathedral towered over the other buildings around it, and the age of the structure and magnificence of its height and intricate design astounded me. I just can not believe they put so much money and time into their Churches back then, I guess it was also a symbol of power for the community that they were able to build such a facility, but dang it is beautiful. The inside also had many wonderful paintings by Paul Rubens, much stained glass, and more beautiful architecture. Once again, my words don’t do enough, and these pictures will not do justice either, but have a look.

One of the coolest parts of the church I thought was the floor, for on it were engravings that were very worn out in some places. At first I overlooked them because I figured they were Biblical sayings of some sort in Dutch or some other language, but when I looked closer I saw something I immediately recognized R.I.P. Every square was a tombstone! And beneath the church was an old crypt in which many people were buried, and we were able to descend some stairs and view some areas which had been excavated. It was amazing.
Oh yea, and the waffles were spectacular, I believe that it is worth the trip to Belgium merely for the waffles and to tell you the truth, I never really had to pay for meals because I was kept pretty full by the many sidewalk vendors.
Brussels also has a tremendous Grand-Place which is said to be one of the most well preserved plaza’s in Europe. As the day progressed the snow began to fall and it honestly felt like the plaza was a movie set.

And of coarse we had to go see the Mannequin Pis, and wow is that thing overrated. Honestly, the little statues they have in shops are bigger than that thing is. It is shrimpy! Yet, I will not lie, I enjoyed seeing it, and took the typical touristy pictures of it. I just wonder how the heck this thing became such a tourist attraction.

Next we went to the hall of justice in Brussels which is a ginormous building with wonderful architecture once again. I think it used to be a palace or something once but I am not 100% sure. It was beautiful none the less. Honestly, it is great just walking around these cities. I also went to the national art museum of Belgium on Sunday and the art was fantastic. Most of their modern art was closed off though due to renovation but the ancient art was still there and beautiful. It is crazy how much art was originally an interpretation of a Biblical narrative. Anyway, that is what I saw. It was amazing, and I get more next weekend. I can’t lie, my life is rocking my face off right now.

A Thousand Thanx

Well, I think it is appropriate to give a shout out to the wonderous Jason Taylor for keeping an eye out for all things MacGyver while I was gone. I am not sure if my readers know this but a while back there was an espn commercial in which a loser mentioned MacGyver in one of his lines. I loved that commercial, i don't care how he is mentioned, but the fact that the world still remembers such a spectacular protagonist with his witty lines and ingenious mind brings a smile to my face and a slight flutter to my step. Needless to say this last commercial rocked my face off with traditional Jason Taylor style. Apparently during the Super Bowl a special commercial aired (a commecial not aired here because they have dutch ones of coarse) featuring the one and only MacGyver in all of his goodness and had it not been for Jason I would have missed an event which I will now hold especially close to my heart. I highly recomend all my readers go check it out, it can be viewed at ifFilm.com. It is a commercial sure to bring joy to the worst days of any person with a soul. Thanks again JMoney.

OH how fun

For any of you who know my Grandpa Van Hulzen you know he was a stubborn old fellow and to tell ya the truth I never understood why the heck he was so stuborn. People would always casually just express the fact the he was dutch, maybe add a laugh, and proceed with their lives. I was always very confused as to why the heck they associated his stubborness with his dutchness; I could understand his wanting to save every penny being associated with his dutchness, and trust me it still applies over here in the motherland. But it was not until today, at 8:12 A.M. that I began to truly understand my Grandpa Van Hulzen.
So here is the story:
Thursdays suck.
That isnt the whole story (but it is most of it), just let me continue for crying out loud and stop interrupting me with usless random thoughts!!
Ok, so my wonderous scedule over here allows me to sleep in most of the days and only attend approximately one class for an hour an a half per day. It is spectacular I assure you, but most of you have to work all day long and at that i laugh and continue to enjoy my day during which i have so much free time I can write these little stories about random happenings which i draw out into hour long excursions at the computer in order to entertain myself before the evening starts and we can finally get together with the rest of the Americanos at a local pub.
Anyway, I always need a shower in the morning or I don't wake up. Thankfully if I ever have to go anywere early in the morning in America I can just quickly hot out of bed, hop in a warm vehicle, arrive at my destination (which is warm as well) and slowly dirft off into daydreams (which are second best to real ones). Well if you have been reading my blogs at all you know that I have to ride my bike to school about 25 minutes every day depending on the strength of the wind. In the mornings that does not make me happy. But this morning was especially discouraging.
The minute we got out of Hattem city limits I knew it was going to be an expecially brutal trip as our coats caught the wind like a freakin sail. This was a day when you had to pedal your bike down a hill because the wind would stop ya. In a way it was like going up hill both ways, and I therfore understand where the heck my Grandpa got that, honestly, i thought it was just something older people said! Yet, this is not the worst leg of the trip, for that most strenuous portion of the trip is our treck over the Zwolle/Hattem bridge in which the wind especially blows as one travels up the hill over the bridge.
Well this morning I was cursing under my breath at whoever decided it would be a good idea to bike in such climatic weather. I could understand why you would bike in florida, california, or any other warm location where the sun shines, but honestly this is not such a place. Apparently one dutchmen one long summer ago thought biking was a little tooooooooo much fun for my tastes and decided to bike everywhere. Other people soon followed suit, and before long people were biking all over the place, and then when winter hit they decided, "Heck we are Dutch, nature can't overpower us!" and so they continued on biking. For crying out loud people! Who decides to dry up an ocean for some land? I mean if an ocean is there I am guessing I would have just said, "I think i will just build a beach bungalo or something" but they decide "No, I want to build a farm, even though all logic says no" (on a side note, maybe that is how God dried up the red sea for the Israelites? He just imported a bunch of dutchmen? That should probably be looked into)
Anway this story is being seriously side tracked, back to the bridge. So we just start climbing the hill to the bridge and it starts to freakin snow on us. The wind is blowing amazingly strong, and the usually calm river has ocean waves upon which only the most talented surfers could actually ride. I could only see a few meters in front of me, and this was just the ride to school! On the way back it had stoped snowing thankfully, but the wind was no less strong, in fact I almost had to get off my bike to get over the bridge for the wind was pushing me over. I had previously been used to the wind and much mroe snow but for crying out loud I think we have better ways to deal with it than biking through it!
I know that after this story is published many will claim that I am just a weak lazy american. But if you say that my response is 'No, I am just more resourceful" I know when nature wants me to do something and I will do it, I am not so dang stubborn. I guess my native Dutchness is leaving me. Still, I understand more fully that my Grandpa Van Hulzen was hard core native Dutch and if he had it his way he would have been the first person to fight that wind without a complaint. As for me, I prefer a car, and will continue to listen to natures call for me to take shelter and just give in for crying out loud. But apparently the dutch fought back the sea and they sure as heck are not going to give into nature now. All I can say is that my Grandpa is probably watching me laughing, telling whoever is standing near him at the moment, how he could have biked that hill, in that wind, with that snow, in a suit and tie without breaking a sweat!:-)

Sleep....

So since I have been here in the wonderful world of the Netherlands I have noticed that they like things a bit different than from the states. They allow beer in church, have crazy toiletts, eat extremely healthy, enjoy biking, and don't seem to mind the cold. In fact, many american students I have talked to have expressed the same feelings of perpetual chill here in the Netherlands, and therefore I am under the understanding that most Dutch families seek to save their money and like all good Dutchmen do not spend it on trivial things like heat.


Anyway, this is a picture of my bed. I made it larger this time so that you can get a detailed view of the sheets and covers making up my bed. The first day here my family was all excited about my bed and telling me all about how sheets and blankets are so outdated and therefore they use this modern contraption when they decide to enter the horizontal time accelerator (Danny Fergen's name for a bed). Well, as you can see, the top cover has a zipper and I therefore was under the belief that in America we have had these "modern" looking beds for a long time and they were so modern in fact that we reserved them for those few weekend excusions to nature which we call camping. I was under the impression that this was as sleeping bag, and a rather odd one at that being as the top and bottom didn't fit together all that nicely. Yet, as I have already noted, they do things differently in the Netherlands and I just thought I would get used to it.
Well it turned out to be extremely cold! I was amazed as to how my host family was able to sleep in such a place. I slept with socks on (which is a horrible experience!) sweat pants, a tshirt, a running jacket, and occasionally on really cold nights i put my winter jacket on top of me just to keep me warm. I would also frequently curl up in the fetal position and pull my covers all the way over my head in order to trap my warm breath in with my body heat and hopefully prevent frost bite.
Finally, last night I sat in bed cold as all get out and decided I had enough. No longer was I going to tell myself that a draft was comming through the window, or "I will get used to it" I was going to finally take action. I sat back for a while and then realized that below the bottom half of my sleeping bag was my blue cot. But then I also realized that my blue cot was not actually a blue cot but a sheet covering my cot. It then dawned on me that the bottom of the sleeping bag which I thought was extremely thick for padding purposes was in fact in extreme "modern" blanket which keeps you exceptionally warm! Wow, was that a good nights sleep. Previously I would wake up and slowly stretch out only to feel the pain of my overbiked legs screaming out as they unfolded from their self heating fetal position. Now no longer must I wear socks, and I can stretch out as I desire. Sleep is once again a wonderful event in my life. Oh how crazy these beds are over here in the Netherlands, almost as crazy as their toiletts, but the beds don't smell as bad.

God Made The World

According to my good friend Bryan there is a popular saying here in the Netherlands that God made the world, but the Dutch made the Netherlands, and today we went out with our host parents and explored just what they made. Our first stop was this wicked awesome little town called belt-schutsloot through which canals connected all the homes with fields of grain surrounding the neighborhood. The moss accenting these homes made it seem as if age had overtaken each house and they had almost become one with the nature around it. It was a truly beautiful sight, and apparently it is called little venice because of the massive amount of canals connecting the houses, some of which can only be reached by boat.

Our next stop placed us in schokland were apparently rocks from finland and such arrived via a glaciar during the last ice age. They claim to know this because of some scratches on the rocks or something. Needless to say I was not to impressed, in fact I just kept on thinking how awesome it would have been if before they found the rocks I had found them and just sat around putting scratches all over them because i was bored and then finding out later that they developed a whole freakin park around these rocks. Im not going to lie, to me a rock is a rock, some are bigger than others, and some hurt a heck more than others when they are thrown at ya. Still, at the head of the park resided a quaint building promising warmth from the chili wind so we entered only to find a kind older gentelman welcome us. He had sunken eyes and small glasses resting on the end of his nose, and before long he went into a deep explanation of the remarkable features of this park. As he spoke he got more and more excited, and in fact I too got excited merely because this swell old man was so dang thrilled to talk about rocks. I dont know, I left the museam very happy about rocks for some reason and from now on whenever i see a rock with a scratch on it I will proably think of this man who became like a child at christmas because he got to talk about rocks. Anyway, we didnt really go to this place to look at the rocks, that was just a side step to get warm, we actually came there to look at what used to be a harbor. When Freddy told me about this harbor I was like, ok i think i am missing something in the translation because we were in the middle of a forest, no lie. There were trees everywhere and it was deffinatly not the most optimal point to dock a massive ship. Yet, as soon as we stepped out of the forest in the distance we could see a small square building on a hill. We later found out that that building is one of the few remaining buildings left on what used to be an island with a large harbor, but now that the new dikes have been build the harbor has been dried up and fields are now farmed. It was truly amazing so I will just let you guys look at the pictures.

Oh yea, there was a pirate left who was pretty ticked that his dang harbor was gone.

I found this sign on the way back, maybe I am just imature but i found it rather funny.

Next we went to this small fishing town called Urk which used to also be an island before the dikes were built. The buildings were exceptionally old and beautiful and the lake which is seen from the dry land is amazingly beautiful. Another great thing about this town was the fish known as Kibbling. I had never had it before, but it was glorious, if you get a chance I highly recomend you try it.

Also, as you can see we made some more Gnome spottings, apparently our new friend Sprankten let them know we were ok so they are comming out to greet us more openly than remaining in hiding as before, it was truly a pleasant gathering of friends.

On our last stop of the day we finally found the pirates boat at Batavia, he sailed off into the mist, i sure hope that guy keeps in touch, after getting past his rough burly exterior he really opened up. The swell of emotions inside a pirate is similar to the most turbulent storm on the sea. I mean it is pretty difficult knowing that you must steal and plunder others in order to keep your title of a pirate, and we all know that being a pirate is a pretty wicked awesome job.

Good ol' Church

So tonight we went to what we were told would be a completely spectacular praise and worship event. An event with contemporary music, music so contemporary in fact that the church (which sells beer) will only allow it in front of the sanctuary once a month. With such a buildup I was expecting great things, Troy Kooima great things, but I dont think the Dutch have heard of such a man:-)
First off I think it is best that I remind all that I do not speak dutch, i know most of my readers believe that Dustin Vander Haar can do most things, including speaking most languages being as he obviously knows the ancient language of the Gnomes, but I will be the second to tell ya (my mom the first) that I indeed do not know all things, including dutch. Therefore when I am sitting through a 2 hour praise and worship service in which i understand no words at all it is easy to get sidetracked and perhaps misjudge the service. In fact after returning from my many daydreams i thought there was something horribly wrong with the speakers as I was not able to understand anythign the people in front were saying, but then i was quickly reminded that in fact they were speaking dutch and I was just a stupid American. Nonetheless, this is what I saw.
First off, apparently the contempory service is coreographed to the max with people kneeling, matching cloths, full dramatic actions, and seemingly planned spiritual swaying while they were in front singing. It kinda reminded me of the christian tv channel but with a lower production cost. Im not bashing it I promise, my host mom really got into it, perhaps you just need to speak dutch i dont know but that isnt the thing that got me. Here is a picture from the service:

Yea, if you notice there are like 2 dozen people singing in the front and each one of them has a microphone, yea that was a bit shocking. But the really shocking, and actually quite enjoyable part of the service is in the upper right part of the picture:

Yea, that is an exceptionally hot girl as the background for the praise slide. And no it is not the only one. They had a very odd set of backgrounds, they went from traditional pictures of Jesus alternating with exceptionally hot girls. I was trying to find a connection, and even asked my host sister Myranda but apparently the praise song was not glorifying God for supplying this earth with beautiful girls. None the less I am starting to like this Netherlandic church experience, apparently they are offering the walmart of churches. You can get a healthy dose of religion and afterward enjoy life with a cold beer and a hottie. I guess you learn something new everyday!

The Heineken Experience

So tuesday I didn't have class and I was just leasurly roaming around the house, reading a bit, slowling waking up, just enjoying a lazy morning with nobody around trying to talk to me (I hate talking in the mornings, people just shouldnt do it, especially to me). Anyway, I see bryan pull through the wonderful back gate with a pleasant smile on his face as he pulls his bike to a stop and puts the kick stand down. Once again, as Bryan's bike is so prone to do, it falls down and the light promptly falls off which bryan quickly picks up only to briskly throw down again in disgust. Anyway, the real story begins when Bryan walks through the door and tells me, "Dustin, in 45 minutes we leave for Amsterdam" to which I respond, "Amsterdam on a tuesday??". No real reason for my amazement of going to amsterdam on a tuesday besides the fact that before I could never just pick up and go to amsterdam on a tuesday, and to tell you the truth, i bet most of my readers can't. Thus, in order to allow you some of my wonderful experiences I will proceed with this oration.
So the train ride there was rather uneventful and we will therefore skip that part of the story.
So I have heard of this pleasant endeaver known as the Heineken Experience at the Heineken Brewery and thought that we should go there being as we were in Amsterdam on a tuesday for cryin out loud and we all know that on a tuesday in amsterdam if you are a tourist who just randomly decided to go to amsterdam you need to go to the Heineken Experience.
The initial tour was a bit uneventful as it showed old commercials and just random facts about how the creators saw thier purpose in a life of beer making as more monumental than landing on the moon or some other monumental step of humanity of your choice. Anyway, i was a bit dissapointed, but then I had a wonderful experience, I got to be a beer bottle! They had a little ride (Actually the floor just bumped up and down) in the museam that made you feel like a beer bottle going through the assembly line or whatever you call it. Plus they had a cute austrailian girl at the door giving hugs which I will be the first to say were not a dissapointment, sadly i dont have a picture of either event. There was also a ride in which you got to be in the Heineken horse drawn carraige delivering beer, it was dumb, i think it was the same platform as the beer bottles but they just changed what was on the screen, and to tell you the truth being a beer bottle is much more exciting.
Finally, we entered the brewery. And apparently they casually throw three ingredients into these large vats and they magically form into a substance created to make mans heart overflow with joy. I did learn how exactly it was processed, but i prefer to let the immagination explain how these giant copper contraptions can actually do much greater things besides make beer because as i learned, beer making is not that interesting.

To tell you the truth, the process of brewing is a lot more boring than the actual consumption, and in this crazy land we are able to have a couple drinks before we proceed on the tour.

Apparently Heineken is very techsavy and somehow the experience of heinekin is related to video and photo e-mails which you can send to your friend. Obviously a low marketing ploy with little relavance to the actual brewing process but to tell you the truth it was a very enjoyable part of the experience.

After a few more levels of the tour we ended in another bar and we soon realized that we could get soda for our tokens instead of beer, and being as soda is more expensive here than beer i quickly jumped at the opportunity to rip this establishment off and get my cheap soda now as any true dutchman would do. Anyway, as you can see we had fun, we learned nothing about the beer, and to tell you the truth I think most people must go there for the free beer, cool suvenier cup, and the chance to be a beer bottle for once in your life. Needless to say I had a wicked good time.