Weekend

Cats are great! They really are. Even when they throw up in their bowl, after just having wolfed (or should that be catted) down a special meal. Even when they wake me up, because they have fallen out of the window. Again! Even when they leave cat hairs all over the house, my uniform and everything else. Even then cats are great!

It's just that they need such large amounts of food! Four cats equals a lot of money and I know that without those four monsters of mine, I would have gotten rid of my debt a whole lot sooner. But then I wouldn't have had the lovely companionship of a bunch of idiots, neurotics and downright lovely creatures. So, I won't complain too much. Although it is time to part with a large chunk of my money yet again, just so the monsters don't die of starvation!

Miaow...

Emigration

I have been wanting to emigrate to Canada for a few years now, but there were a few obstacles in my path. The main obstacle was of course my debt, but I'm nearly done with that. Only three more months and I will be debt free for the first time in 10 years. So the first hurdle has been (almost) taken.

Of course, once I'm debt free, I'm not out of the woods yet. I need quite a bit of cash to be able to pay for the whole thing. The days of going abroad with only a button in your pocket are long gone. But, again, there I have taken a step that will bring me a bit closer to my goal. In November I will be going to an information meeting, where an agency will introduce itself, tell me (and others) what to expect job wise, home wise and cost wise. This agency would be able to help me find a job and a home, albeit for money. This would however save me from trying to do everything myself and finding I did it wrong.

I will keep you posted!

Polite or not polite, that is the question

In most languages I know there is a distinctive difference between 'you' (when speaking to children and peers) and 'You' (when speaking to someone of higher rank, age or a stranger). In French it would be tu and vous, in German du and Sie, in Dutch jij and u. In English there is no such distinction, unless you count the (very) old fashioned thou. Anyway, this is about the Dutch versions.

When I was a little girl, I was taught by my parents to say 'You' (keeping it a bit simpler here) to anyone older or unknown. This meant saying it to my parents, grandparents, teachers and strangers. During my teens I was the last of the three of us (me, brother, sister) to start saying 'you' to my parents. It just didn't feel respectful. And even now I occasionally have problems saying 'you' to people that are older, even when told to do so.

The thing that really bugs me though, is children nowadays. Everyone and their aunt is treated to 'you' in a way that makes me feel really grumpy. What is the problem with teaching children a little respect for other people. Get them to say 'You' first and it can always change to 'you' later.

People who say that everyone is equal and should be treated that way are lying. Not everyone is equal. You don't call the Pope 'Benny', you don't call the President of the US 'George' or the Queen of England 'Betty'. So let's get back to basics: teach your children how to be polite and respectful and I promise you: the world will become a better place!

Chocolate

Another thing I shouldn't do, just to avoid getting a splitting headache: eat more than 3 bars of chocolate a week. As I learned yesterday!

Postcrossing

Receiving a letter or a postcard in this day and age that is not sent via the computer is something of a dying artform I think. When I used to live abroad I loved getting letters. In fact I still have all the letters I ever received since 1983 and no, this doesn't include those awful things you get from the IRS. But ever since the internet came up and up and up and up, the letter has all but disappeared. I can't remember the last time I had a handwritten letter in my mailbox. Mind you, I can't remember the last time I sent one!

Postcards are another matter. When people go on holiday they still tend to send one home and I love getting cards from my parents and friends to tell me they are having a lovely time, with lovely weather and lovely people. Especially since I will invariably be grumpy due to bad weather, awful young people and congested roads.

I send postcards as well. Every time I go somewhere a bit special in my own country or abroad, I will send 6 cards (soon to be 7). Always to the same people as well: my goddaughter A., my goddaughter V. and godson L., my nephew T. and my niece M. and to a German friend of mine, just so she knows I am still kicking about on this planet. Oh and the soon to be: my brother and his wife are expecting another one!

Since over two years now I have also been sending cards to strangers. The idea is simple: sign up, get an address of a stranger, send card. They receive card, register card and then you wait for someone else entirely to send you a card! See? Easy... So far I've received a fair few cards and I especially like the ones with famous people on it. Just to see who is famous in a certain country. And to show that of I've created another little blog. Just to post the cards I've received!! The picture at the top of this post shows the Royal family of Sweden.

FAQ

While at the nursery of my goddaughter V.:

Do you live in a shoeshop?

Nothing special

I don't even know what to blog about today, so why even bother.

Sex on the Beach

Last Friday was a good day. Not too much traffic going into Potsdam due to the Day of German Unification which was good. After arriving we had a few drinks at the bar. I started off with a small beer, which turned out to be half a liter! As I was trying to finish it, I saw the bartender mix a drink that became a nice pink colour. So, after I had finally finished that beer, I asked for one of those pink thingummies. He (fortunately) knew what I was talking about and after a few minutes I was staring into my pink 'Sex on the Beach'.

It was nice. It was tasty. It was quite sweet. After finishing it, I had another one. It was bought for me by one of my colleagues, I would have gone for mineral water. By the time I had finished number two, a small headache started to form, so I definitely switched to mineral water, despite protestations of my colleagues.

Potsdam and Berlin

Potsdam is situated in the former East German part of the country and during East German times it was (apparently) mainly grey and brown. I think they used to cover anything that wasn't moving. Since 1990, towns and cities all over East Germany have started using colour again and most buildings have a bit of colour on them now, be it cream or light yellow. At least it all looks a bit cleaner than before. Not everything has been done though. This was the view from the tram we took into the town of Potsdam. Grey/brown buildings covered with graffiti!

This is one of the streets in the "Holländisches Viertel" or Dutch Quarter in Potsdam. Some long ago king thought the world of Holland and decided to build a Dutch Quarter for all the Dutch workmen living in the area. This scene especially could have been taken everywhere in the Netherlands, even today. The only difference being the streetnames (all German) and the numberplates on the cars (German as well).

One of the houses in the Dutch Quarter. It looks Dutch alright, right up to the roof. In the Netherlands we use different rooftiles, so that's different. But a lovely house nonetheless. Even the shutters are there!

The picture on the top is of one of those dolly-like things keeping the shutters open. The picture on the bottom is of one of the lions on a huge gated tower (which looked new to me).

The first photo was taken in the High Street. I just loved it. The other two photos are of doors (as if you didn't guess). The first one needs some work done and the second one shows what a little bit of work can do!

Well, these were a few of the photos I took while in Germany. I did take some others, but they will have to keep!

Berlin

I am leaving for Berlin today. Three days of fun and sightseeing in the capital of Germany. I wish!

No, we're going to Berlin on my own coach and without people. We pick them up while we're there (there's about 6 more coaches going) and take them about 40 km further! The leaving time today was set at around 4pm, but at 10am I got a phone call: we leave at noon! Blast!

Half an hour ago I was ready to roll when I got another phone call: there are no coaches yet, we leave between 1 and 1.30pm. I wish they would make their minds up...

Anyway, at 1pm this afternoon, I will be picked up by a colleague. Then we hope our coaches have arrived reasonably clean and we leave for Berlin! So, I won't be seeing you until Sunday at the earliest.

Have a great weekend everyone!