Ready for Trip

[livingdeb]

I'm ready as I'll ever be for our upcoming one-week trip to The Netherlands.

Vacation time was requested and approved. Robin got plane tickets and made hotel reservations. We got new passports (old ones already expired!).

We've researched things to do and gotten tour books. Friends and friends of friends have made recommendations.

We've contacted our credit card companies and told them we have travel plans. The slimy one called us (automatically) at 8:15 the next morning at our home number to confirm--not that great of an idea on a workday or a weekend day.

We've finished off most of our Thanksgiving leftovers and put the rest in the freezer. All the bills are paid and the library books are returned or renewed. The laundry and dishes are caught up.

I was worried about the shrinking battery life of my beloved camera, which disappoints me just about every time I want to take pictures, so I just went and got a whole new camera. The pictures seem okay (hard to tell if they're just as good). The battery charges in just 1.5 hours. The memory card is huge. Basically, getting a lower-quality camera but waiting six or eight years to do so means that some things are actually better.

I did find a pretty good site for learning how to pronounce Dutch (http://www.learndutch.nu/). Most of the letters make sense. Some are hard to remember. The craziest for me is "ui." For example, the word "huis" sounds not at all like "Huey's" but somewhat like "house." And it actually means house. From there it goes on to pronouns and stuff, though, which I never quite got around to. I more wanted to learn how to say, "Please," "Thank-you," "Do you speak English?" and "Could you please spell that?" But most Netherlanders speak English, so it shouldn't be too scary. And I have a phrase book for my flight entertainment. And the complete Sherlock Holmes.

We have a friend who insisted on bring us to the airport and picking us up.

We're packed.

Bedtime now. The next entry should be a bit more interesting, whenever it happens.

Comments

[alethiography.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I loved the Netherlands when I was there. That vowel "ui" is almost impossible to pronounce, though I eventually learned. It's most similar to "oy" as in "oy vey" if you say it in the true Yiddish style (not quite like the "oy" in "oyster"). The other strange one is "ij" which you can say like long "i" but which is really somewhere between long "i" and long "a."

However, seemingly ALL Dutch people under the age of 60 or so speak fluent, lovely English, so it will truly not be an issue.

[(Anonymous)]

Have a fantastic trip, take lots of pictures! --texpenguin

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Have a great trip! I look forward to updates and pictures!