An American in Enschede ([info]ninthphoenix) wrote,
@ 2006-07-30 15:01:00
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From the ashes...
As of 7/23/06 I have left The States and immigrated to The Netherlands. It's a whole new life, requiring a new effort to make sense of it all. I need a place again to speak to my friends that doesn't involve me waiting 8 hours til someone is likely to be up in a US time zone. I can no longer pop over to frogger and sputter's for a cry on the shoulder. I'm not alone here, but I am very isolated.

This journal may be a bit more serious, maybe more dull to some, as my challenges are no longer 'What the hell do I wear to club tonight?', but rather 'How do I be an insta-stepmom for a child who doesn't share my language'. I definitely need a place to share the bizarre quirks of Europe.

So anyhow, I'm back as much as time will permit...

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[info]psychoengel909
2006-07-30 05:09 pm UTC (link)
congrats!!! what part have you moved to??? I was originally in Goes (in a southern province near the sea called "Zeeland) but now I am living in Antwerp (Belgium)..heh..actually, right now I am sitting in Buffalo but I'll be back late August :)

lots of kids there are rasied bilingual (or at least get lots of English at school and watching movies/playing video games) so I don't think you will have any trouble speaking English...but if you ever want to talk with me about learning Dutch PLEASE let me know!!! I am seriously looking for someone to share the struggle with! I learned lots the first 6 months I was there but now after 2 years I have hit a major roadblock....

also, I wouldn't mind just talking about getting used to life in general. have you gotten a bike yet?? ;) there are lots of interesting little cultural differences and I always have lots of Dutch/Belgian people to talk to about it but not many Americans...

hope everything else is going well with you!
Carolyn

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[info]ninthphoenix
2006-07-31 08:43 am UTC (link)
I'm in Enschede in Overijssel...so quite SE, right by the German border. Yes, I've found a lot of people can speak English when they have to, which is great for me, though I am trying to be good and not rely on that too much. And I'm good about asking questions about the language all day long...but by evening my brain is just zonked and often I can't remember the specifics of things the next day :P I'm curious as to what roadblock you've hit. I've talked with a few co-workers of the Dutch Boi who are not native and they usually say it took them around 3 years to really be able to speak with ease. I do have to say that I'm having a better time of hearing the language. I was was here last here for a few weeks and I couldn't pick words out of sentences for anything. Now I can hear the individual words better....I just don't often know what they mean.

I do have a bike now. My Boi's ex's bike was still here, so I used that for the first few days, but then we went and bought some nicer used ones. Thank god for roller derby or my legs would

I'm definitely down for discussion of the differences and commiseration of what I can't find here...hello, fabric softener sheets? I'm preparing a mental care package for my mom ;)

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