Wil je met mij trouwen? (Will you marry me?)

While waiting for my turn at SPAR Supermarket today, a five-year-old kid was delaying everyone. He can't take his eyes off the 17-year-old cashier. He was about 3-feet tall and had his chin resting on the counter. He was sighing and sighing... and sighing, and was just staring intently at her.

Finally, there came a loud and very determined voice. The boy blurted out, "wil je met mij trouwen?" (Will you marry me?) He was still staring at her, and was waiting for her reply.

The cashier somewhat amused, played along and said without thinking, "wanneer?" (when?)

The boy replied quickly, "achtien mei" (May 18).

The young mom, all red and somewhat embarrassed, apologized and said in an irritated voice, "wat zei je nou?" (what are you talking about?)

They left the supermarket hurriedly.... leaving everybody with big smiles and a very good story to tell when they all go home.

certified Dutch.

My townmate Jesusa posted a blog about a pink hat and cacti. When I saw the innocent picture, all I could think about were pretty phalluses... Oh yeah, you got that right. PHALLUSES. lol

This really bothered me. It made me think... and wonder. I wondered if I've seen too many 0900 evening shows. I wondered if I´ve frequented the De Wallen and the Sex Museum too many times! I wondered if I FINALLY am a certified Dutch now! HAHAHAHAHA

Before you judge me... please understand that I´m not generalizing and am not saying that Dutch and sex are synonymous. In my very first blog back in 2007, I said and let me quote myself on that:


`This country allows its citizens to be responsible individuals in every conceivable way. So you can buy soft drugs like marijuana over the counter in coffee shops, without running the risk of being arrested. You can buy and sell sex. The word we’re looking for here, is accountability. You are accountable for your behaviour, at all times.


So there.... :)

Jungle life.

Aunt sent us (Ma included) an email about this 15-foot Eastern Diamondback rattle snake found just south of Jacksonville. Ma sent Aunt this naughty reply:


"In several parts of the Philippines last year, reports were made about large pythons being found on places thickly inhabited by people. This appeared abnormal since these animals are usually found in forests, near creeks, or in areas where their habitat is not disturbed.


In fact there was one big snake about two meters long just outside the halls of congress. So, a joke even went circulating around that probably the snake was looking for his relatives. And then someone remarked, " is it not that the tenants there are not snakes but crocodiles?"

opssss... lol

More funny Dutch TV ads

I just saw this on TV a few minutes ago... It definitely belongs to the top 5! hahahahaha

Funny Dutch commercials.

Going on a date with a Dutch guy? Here's the most recent Mcdonalds ad. Watch the lady almost choke when her date told her "ik krijg nog geld van je... voor de burger" (you still owe me some money for the hamburger). LOL




This one is about "men hamburger" .... after a trip to McDonalds, the husband puts on that tight jeans and asked wife if his behind is dik (fat). Wife said "not really", which offended husband so he got upset and wished her a "happy weekend" on his way out. HAHAHAHAHA




This is what happens when you don't know the English language! HAHAHAHAHA




And my favorite .... a wholesome, family IKEA advertisement. Mommy forgot about the most important "toy". HAHAHAHAHAHA (I think this is Swedish, it's funny anyway... lol)

to listen or not to listen....

So I have a new job. I am teaching at this local school called De Weier. My fifth week now. I don't know yet the names of my colleagues, but I am now a familiar face to them.

Today, I was standing by the coffee machine when I overheard two, young teachers discussing their private lives, in Dutch of course.

Colleague 1: Men are such strange creatures.
Colleague 2: No, they're not. They're just ... what's the word .... oh yes, sexed up.
Colleague 1: But Marieke, I really love him. We have been together for 2 years now. And now, he's in Morocco. I can´t stand it.
Colleague 2: If he truly loves you, it doesn't matter whether he is in Venus or in Timbuktu. He will remain faithful to you.
Colleague 1: But there are so many beautiful women in Morocco. (starts to cry)
Colleague 2: so what?
Colleague 1: He will .... (in between sobs looks at me, somewhat annoyed. My coffee was ready, and I was still standing there. AWKWARD!!! LOL )

Me: Hello.

With that note, I left. I missed the rest of the conversation, and I realized that I was not supposed to be listening, but there I was! Shame on me...! hahahahaha

somewhere over the .....

Sometimes when nobody is watching or looking, nature reveals itself. Like this beautiful rainbow I saw from our kitchen table today. I had to make sure I take a picture of it. It was too beautiful to pass!





and tonight, this full moon.....

Truly, my soul expands in worship of the Creator.... Those are Mahatma Gandhi's words of course, not mine. :)

musings.

Do you ever wonder how biased the English language is to men?

Take for example an unmarried man of 50 years old. We use the word single or bachelor to describe him. Right? Such decent and dignified words. lol

But if it´s a woman, the only word available to label her status is single. Unless, we will count spinster and old maid... which frankly, do not even come close to decent, dignified bachelor.

Here's a thought. Imagine a society where unmarried women could have more than one live-in partner. How will we label her?

Single?

I'm not so sure...

Spinster?

Only if she is tied to a spinning wheel, and far from her Cassanovas. lol

Old maid?

In this age, 50 is the new 30 they say. Calling a 50-year-old unmarried woman, an old maid is rather inappropriate, don't you agree? LOL

Virgin?

Nice try!

So much for labeling. HAHAHAHAHAHA Again, this is one reason why I don't like labels. It's too restricted. Too plain. Too biased! I mean, really.....!

Oppsss....

Hubby needed a new hard drive, so we drove to Media Markt. After waiting for what seemed like 30 minutes, I decided to approach two men in an identical suit who were carrying a box of Dyson vacuum cleaner.

I said, could you please help me?

The guys looked at each other and said in unison, sure.

I pointed at my husband and told the guys we needed their assistance to help us decide which one to buy.

The guys looked at each other, and stared at me. Somewhat annoyed and impatient, I said half-jokingly, well? Are we still going to wait for the rainy season?

The older guy smiled and said, well .....

I said, yessss?

Hubby came, put his arms around me and whispered in my ears, they don´t work here.


Oppppsss. lol

just blabbing...

People are still talking about them.... Edward Kennedy, Corazon Aquino, Michael Jackson. Old photographs, old articles, and past events are being dealt preponderantly with the description and analysis of past political and creative activities. The analyses being highly-opinionated and biased.

I am not criticizing anybody. I am merely stating that there seems to be a need for perspective in assessing the importance of events. Such events which often appears questionable. And what about the utter disregard for, you know, like which ones deserves relating, what should be analyzed, and for what purpose?

Media should be careful about what they air and publish because there are ignorant people out there who are open and susceptible to absorbing everything being said on the tube and on paper (that apparently appears to them) as The Truth. The commercial aspects of this media circus along with new means of communication, is leading to something horrible that I can not put my finger on. One of them being hate perhaps?

Enough already! Enough with the funerals, and the so-called documentation of that historic moment. I say, let the dead bury the dead.

ponderings.

I haven't seen him for years. There were times in my life when I thought he was dead. Maybe he was too, in my head... in my heart.

He resurfaces, like a ghost from the past. And just like that, my life begins to feel like a kite, spinning in mid-air, aimlessly flying, at the mercy of the wind.

Many times, I thought of him..... of what ifs and could have beens. The joyride. The happy days. The hole he bore. The sad melodies he sang. The malaise. The loss. The grief. The anguish.

We all have loved, and lost. I did too.

dilemma.

There's this little prompt on yahoo feature that caught my attention today. It says: "Mystery deposit dilemma If you receive an unknown deposit in your bank account, should you keep the money?"

Not to sound too moralistic or anything, but I don't see what's the dilemma there. It's not your money, you did not earn it, THEREFORE you should NOT keep it. Period. I don't understand why that is a problem for some people.

tv talk.

I never liked television. For one, I grew up in a town frequented by typhoons and storms. In those times, cable tvs were not invented yet. We relied on anthenas that were often blown away by strong winds. And sometimes if we were lucky, we didn´t have electric supply for a month.

There are of course those days when we produced a cacophony of sound, trying to sing while Ma played the piano. And because there were five of us then, my parents saw to it that we had enough board games like chess, monopoly, word factory, stockmarket game, scrabble, games of the generals, domino, snakes & ladder, checkers, and later on, came boggle, pictionary, millionaire´s game, and even bingo! When it was full moon, we played outside with the other kids. It was so much fun.

So there was no reason to stay in front of the television the whole evening.

But nowadays and especially in winter, the only source of entertainment here (at home) is the television. I can't play the piano after 8 PM because the neighbors can call the police and have me arrested. Everytime I get bored of watching tv, I go online and surf the net or check my mail. I can of course grab a book and read. But that's what old people here do.

Besides, it is very hard to get hold of English books here. They cost twice the amount because you have to buy them online and pay extra for shipment. The ones available at the local libraries are romance, detective, and psychological thriller books. I´m afraid I´ve outgrown them since I graduated from highschool.

A friend suggested I enroll online and study a foreign language like Hungarian or Chinese, and I was thinking: am I that bored?

I guess what I´m saying is that, I´m tired of watching TV. lol

crucified kermit.

Reuters/Courtesy Museion Museum/Handout

A crucified frog holding a beer mug in one hand and an egg in the other, while its green tongue hangs out of its disgusting mouth. Yes, I know. It's tasteless ... it's a nasty sight..... and it's outrageous and offensive. Especially for Christians.

The Pontiff is troubled, and has condemned it. I would have burned it.

I understand why a beer mug and an egg, but a green frog? I wonder what the German scupltor was thinking when he made it. And why is its tongue hanging out?

An Art Critic (whose name eludes me at the moment) during a TV interview said, that even Michaelangelo and Caravaggio were condemned during their time for their rebellious art works. He also said that our generation is not ready for this kind of artwork because it is very much ahead of its time.

If I were a meter away from that critic, I would have slapped his face for saying such slanderous claims. How dare he compare the Crucified Kermit to The Creation (Michaelangelo) and The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (Caravaggio)?!!

where´s the logic?

I was checking the internet for plane tickets. The prices are ridiculously high. What are these airline companies thinking? That they can just get away with all those taxes they included? It costs now almost twice the amount to travel to the Philippines! This makes me really angry.

If they want to earn more, they should go after the business class passengers. But economy passengers? Hey, come on! We are just ordinary citizens trying to keep our finances afloat!

I really don't understand. The dollar is depreciating, but the commodities are appreciating. Where´s the logic behind that?

A greenie friend of mine said that she was rather happy that the prices of plane ticket went up. She said that if people could no longer afford to fly, the atmosphere will become cleaner. Mother Earth will heal. Again, where´s the logic?

A politician said that discouraging people to travel, will keep them home. Which means, savings for the family, hence savings for the country. Sounds logical, doesn´t it? Think again! The next day, a picture of him and his family vacationing in Cayman Island was on the frontpage of a local newspaper. So tell me, is that logical? That only moneyed people can travel?

As I´ve said, it´s truly unsettling and annoying. Perhaps, we will witness again in the not-so-far future an upsurge of violence to end the reign of these terroristic inflation. For how do we overcome the limitations of both common sense and reality! Because really, where´s the logic?