Nederlandse charm
Filed under Maastricht
Which means: Dutch charm, for those of you who don’t know the Dutch language quite as well as I do! Bwahahahaha. I totally tricked you there. For someone who has studied and lived in the Netherlands a whole three years, I speak shockingly poor Dutch. (I read and understand most everything but I can’t speak myself.) Anyway, that’s not what this is about!
It’s a little after 9am and I’m just back from the train station here in Maastricht. See, I needed to get groceries. It turns out both Sunday and today are public holidays in the NL (Whitsun?) (or Pinksteren in Dutch) so all stores are closed. And I noticed Sunday morning that I didn’t have any food at all, except for one more bowl of Cornflakes, some milk, and a single peach. Luckily, the tiny little supermarket at the train station is open NO MATTER WHAT so I took the bus there early this morning and got some bread, more milk, and some library food.
I love the train station here. What gets me every time is the super sleek and pretty yellow and blue trains (which look so much newer than German trains) and the conductors in their elegant, old-school uniforms… And most trains go to Amsterdam because Maastricht is as southern as it could possibly be and Amsterdam is up north so it’s a busy route. Everytime I see “Amsterdam Centraal” up on the board or on the side of a train, I want to gooooo so badly.
Walking back from the bus stop this early on a public holiday, when everything is quiet and empty, the clouds all wild and grey and rain in the air: BLISS. Everything about the NL is so quaint and nice to look at and easy to love and appreciate; here in Maastricht, and even in as large and chaotic a city as Amsterdam. (Maybe I could go in July. Hm. We’ll see.)
I’m equipped with Coke Zero and an XXL Snickers bar from the train station shop which should give me enough energy to get some work done at the library today. Check back for a sweet surprise around 10pm CET!
Jun13
June 13, 2011 at 11:11 am
How do you communicate with the people there? In English or in German?
June 13, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Since Maastricht is an international student city, most everybody speaks English. (Everything at uni is in English, from classes to signs.) And since it’s so close to the German border and there are many German tourists/visitors here, many people also understand German.
I always use English and say greetings and “Thank you” in Dutch. :)
June 13, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Ha, I was going to ask the same thing… do you speak to people in German? English? Broken Dutch?
Another question: how in the world did you NOT notice that your fridge was almost empty? This is one thing I am always on top of… to have enough milk, coffee and food in the fridge :)
June 13, 2011 at 6:43 pm
I have no food at home ever, I buy everything on a day-to-day basis. I’m at the store every other day, basically. I just never really learned how to plan my meals (my parents didn’t do it, either) and also, when I actually plan ahead, I’m never in the mood for what I planned to eat. So: a random day of stores being closed = Kat is in trouble! ;)