Travel to Amsterdam

[JR8]

What the hell has that clown been up to?

That's classic

Today is the first time the image has become visible for me in that post. Er WTH did it come from? There are some uncanny coincidences, not least Indian/Singapore and can of WD-40! ... but did you see the supposed name of the author 'Ima Khunt' .... errrr.....

[JR8]

para by para...
- Like I probably said, if you live in Asia then winter in Europe is going to be a shock to the system. It's not just the cold it's the cloud, the short days, the lack of light, it really can get to you.
The cloud acts as a kinda duvet, nocturnal insulation. So it's warmer in winter when cloudy than sunny. This week was the first time I've been out and witnessed direct sunshine in a couple of months, it felt sooo good
- Drink in a bar, or at friends. Now maybe you see why drinking is a bigger part of Western culture.
- The limited hours might be due to the EU law - 'Working Time Directive'. It limits the hours you can work, even if you want or need to do more. All pretty nuts IMO.
- IME it comes at two levels in the EU. As they say 'Anyone who is anything [in Europe] will speak English'. That will apply at work. Buuut good luck when you get to the meat counter at the supermarket and the butcher might be Iraqi, and he's already battling to learn Dutch. Quite possibly such a person might not know a word of English. IME it's interactions with such 'lesser-skilled' people where knowing at least some of the local language will come in very useful. If you don't it can make daily life outside the workplace a struggle. On the plus-side, you don't have to make a vast effort to learn the basics.
[x-ref: check out a website called Duolingo. It offers simple online learning for many languages incl Dutch, daily 10 minutes exercises, and it's pretty fun and all free]
- Food. Not that surprised really. It's the reverse of why EUers are so stunned to find that SG is sooo expensive. 'It's in SE Asia, so why is everything 5* the price of Thailand?'
- WIFI. Yep, it's more common that it's free in Europe. It costs very little to provide the service and is appreciated by customers, almost now expected. So you see why EUers visiting SG get p'd off having to sit in a $ hotel room, forced to pay $$$ just to get a decent net connection in their room.

I bet you're glad to be back to the warmth. Wish I was in SG today, it's been snowing here all morning :p Wonder how long it'll be until you start realising there's stuff you miss there. Was that your travels done, or are you heading back there again, apols. I forget the reason you went there now...

[Wd40]

I was there for training. I may have to go there couple of times in a year 2 weeks at a time, lets see.

Regarding Dutch, I would certainly learn it if I stay there for even 6 months. It's much more easier than learning Chinese. So many words that sound like English and that is the best way to integrate. In Singapore somehow because you can get away totally with just English, it's much harder to integrate or even make the people feel you are trying to integrate.

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[Wd40]

Another point. None of my colleagues from Amsterdam, actually live in Amsterdam. All of them lived in villages closer to Germany border. They drive awesome cars, 1 guy also had a Tesla. Traveling 1.5-2hrs one way was very normal to them. They loved driving and living in the country side.

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[x9200]

Dutch is the official language and everyone speaks dutch. Most people know how to speak English and they will speak with you in English when they find out that you dont know dutch. Basically you can survive there without learning dutch if you are there for a short period of time. But if you are there for any longer duration, I cant imagine how you can get away from learning dutch.

You could be surprised. If you plan your life in the Netherlands, then of course a big yes, but for up to a few years it actually take a social effort to learn it depending on your work environment. This is not like the Dutch will help you with this or visibly appreciate your efforts. What happens all the time is what you mentioned in your 2nd sentence. Once they detect you are a foreigner they will either switch to English or German. I lived close to the German border and made countless attempts starting the conversation in Dutch for any usual activities like shopping. It always ended up in speaking German and while I was comfortable doing this I was at the same time aware they don't like Germans too much so you already see the dilemma.

[PNGMK]

What the hell has that clown been up to?

That's classic

Today is the first time the image has become visible for me in that post. Er WTH did it come from? There are some uncanny coincidences, not least Indian/Singapore and can of WD-40! ... but did you see the supposed name of the author 'Ima Khunt' .... errrr.....

The famed Turk-Dutch journalist Ima Khunt; is a cousin of the man referred to in this famous letter...http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/we ... -then.html

[nakatago]

That's classic

Today is the first time the image has become visible for me in that post. Er WTH did it come from? There are some uncanny coincidences, not least Indian/Singapore and can of WD-40! ... but did you see the supposed name of the author 'Ima Khunt' .... errrr.....

The famed Turk-Dutch journalist Ima Khunt; is a cousin of the man referred to in this famous letter...http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/we ... -then.html

Maybe related to Suq Madiq, son of Liqa Madiq and Munchma Quchi

[PNGMK]

What the hell has that clown been up to?

A masterpiece. He even looks like I always thought WD40 may look.

He does doesn't he!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked that a google images search for "Indian man with WD40" pops up that image.

[JR8]

Thanks for that, never seen it before

[PNGMK]

WD40 - sorry to hear about the pickpocketing. Everytime some left whinging libs whine about the gypsies and romas being rounded up I think of the Euro500 stolen with my wallet in Paris (by a Roma) and think that I have no issue with that. Horribly racist but once you have it happen to you....

[Mi Amigo]

Just popped in to have a look at the forum and spotted this thread. What a hoot (apart from the pickpocketing incident WD40, sorry to hear about that) and OSOD, sorry PNGMK's newspaper cutting was brilliant.

I miss you guys!

[JR8]

Ooh hello Sailor, well where've you been ducks!?

p.s. how often do you polish your bell? ;;)

[Mi Amigo]

Hahaha, hello sailor to you too! Still here on the Mediterranean coast (well someone has to be); had a 'significant change of circumstances' last year but life is good now. So where the devil are you now?

p.s. how often do you polish your bell? ;;)

It doesn't get polished quite as often as in my younger days, but it's still fairly shiny thanks.

[JR8]

Ah Med Coast, nice. We're not a million miles from that way now too. I'll PM you...

p.s. Dong-dong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV0lKD3KPsc

[Wd40]

Today's solar eclipse was interesting. The brightness outside and the trees etc looked exactly like how Europe looks in bright sunshine. It actually looked beautiful. I think the beautiful landscape of Europe has something to do with the amount of sunlight and the colour of the sunshine. Asian just doesn't look as beautiful.

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