28th day in October

May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Truly Muddy

Just when we stop watching Sesame Street, it becomes much more entertaining

The Art of Learning Dutch

After zero attempt of learning Dutch, my conclusion is that one can speak decent Dutch if good effort is made to pronounce the "r" "g" "sch" like a native speaker. Other than learning the vocabulary of course, I think that is the key to achieve breakthrough. Grammar wise - we all forgive and forget mistakes so that the learners will get there. Come on, be forgiving to non-natives! =)

Anyway, another key to master the language is also to be adventurous to explore new ways of expressing my thoughts in Dutch. I sound like a pro, huh? Not really, I'm the one that thought "floobedekking" is a curse word, while it actually means "floor cover" or "carpet". Martijn, I'll remember this word forever, thanks to you!

So, long way to go for me, once I ever register myself for Dutch language course. This is because learning Dutch is more of a winter activity for me when there is nothing more fun to do =) Until Winter, ciao~

Red head festival

Every year in this unknown, but cosy student city Almere, there is a huge redhead-festival :D Clueless? As the name explains, it's a weekend which is filled with a program and discounts only for red-heads. Where ever you look, you'll see people with -natural- red hair, an experience which I think, you don't want to miss.



Red head is not in my genes, and not in my people's genes either. So, tadah~

Here are some related websites:
Wikipedia
www.roodharigen.nl

Viva Hollandia ~

If you want to share the football craze in Netherlands, take this tip from me - Learn the lyrics of this song. I'm memorizing the lines the best I can despite the fact that I understand only 3 words out of 10 what it's saying.

This is one of the many epic football celebration songs that will be played whenever Dutch team scores a goal. Then you will see everybody in the pub dancing and spraying beer all over the place.

I was told that the origin of this song somewhat had to do with Germans. There was a parody German song about Dutch, so later on the Dutch composed another song just for themselves. Wait, that's a totally different song.


Old version


2010 Edit version


De Tijd Is Weer Gekomen, Tijd Voor Een Groot Feest,
Dat Wil Je Echt Niet Missen, Hier Moet Je Zijn Geweest,
Samen Heffen Wij Het Glas, Een Ode Aan Het Bier,
We Proosten Op Een Leven Vol Plezier, Feesten Doen We Hier

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

Geniet Van Alle Mensen, Ze Gaan Van Tent Naar Tent,
Iedereen Is Uitgelaten, De Stemming Is Ongekend,
De Kraan Die Stroomt Op Volle Kracht, We Drinken Er Nog Een,
Oktoberfest Dat Is Voor Iedereen, Niemand Alleeen

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

Gaan Staan En Laat Het Klinken, Ein Prosit Tot Het End,
We Zullen Samen Drinken, Je Bent Hier Wie Je Bent

En We Zingen Nog Een Keer

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

We Zijn Er Weer Bij En Dat Is Prima, Viva Hollandia,
We Houden Van Het Leven, De Liefde En De Lust,
We Feesten Door Tot 's Avonds Laat, Nog Lang Niet Uitgeblust

We Zijn Er Weer Bij

===========================

Now I found the German song about Dutch! It's Wir Sind Die Holländer by De Toppers. The song was commemorating FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Correction: The song has a mix of German lyrics and Dutch lyrics. Mainly it's about teasing German stealing bikes ( wikipedia about this, German was claimed to steal Dutch's bikes to cycle back to Germany during WW2 ), and Dutch strikers with horny legs. Don't ask me. It's just funny!



There goes 2 songs that will rule my head in 2010.