August 2010 is the 30th anniversary of Haarlem City Jazz.

And we went last evening through the town square (Grote Markt), we went around the crowds which were gathered at the big stage listening to Jazz (Michiel Borstlap Band). We meandered through and around the throngs to our usual Thursday evening Jazz venue “In den Uiver” to listen to Boris van der Lek & Rudd de Vries (saxophone), Nick Vos (guitar), Pablo Nahar (double bass), and Daniel van Dalen (drums). I can only assume these were the people as we had 2 saxs, drums, guitar and double bass.

The music was great, the atmosphere interesting, and some of the evening began to remind me a little of last years Jazz festival.

That is our front row seats with our wine and my water were great.

And we were surrounded by people we had not seen there before, that is the regulars (which we now count ourselves as), were not there. Did they know something that we didn’t? Were they at another venue for something different? Where were they???

Now I know why they were not here with us.

As the evening progress we were surrounded by people. Yes I know I said that before – but between us and the band; and it was a great jazz band, there was only about 6 or so feet. In that space, over a period of about 1/2 an hour there materialized at least 10 tall and some tall & wider dutchmen. Now the women, when they came in they found places to stand against walls. They did not interfere with the view or with the sound. The men – they considered it absolutely okay to walk in and stand in front of the band, with no consideration to any other people, including us who were already seated in front of the band. I mean, come on guys, we came early to get seats, and they just walked in and stood – in front of us and all the other seated people. (serious indignation)

True – we could also stand, and further block those behind us, and still not see or hear any better because we are both vertically challenged here. Best Beloved less so, but a shorty no less here.

We chose to go home at the first break.

The room at “In den Uiver” is small. The fan on the ceiling is by far the smallest ceiling fan I have ever seen, and it must be 50 years old, and it moved the air ever so slowly. And we were behind many taller than us Dutchmen.

The music was great!

Such a pity!

**It reminded me of being surrounded by tall Dutchmen at the 2009 Haarlem Jazz Festival when standing at the outdoor concerts, the best of which was Bowlegs at the Groenmarkt. This time was more difficult because we were seated with nowhere to go**

It was last Sunday. We were well rested, and the effects of this spring seemed to have lessened a bit for us both.

It was nearly a great day – this Bison hunting day.

We left home reasonably early, and as we always do we took clothes for the rain, and clothes for the wind. We had to stop about 1k from home to add clothes to protect from the wind.

Now Morgan has given us both a special Swiss bag for carrying across the body over one shoulder and it has pockets for everything. It is a great thing for hiking as they do in Switzerland and for cycling as we do here in the Netherlands.

Mine contained my little Samsung camera to take those all important Bison photos, my puffer for my asthma, my strepsils for my sore throat, and my sun tan lotion for the sun, tissues for you know what, and did I say it already; probably, but I also took my little Samsung camera to take the all important Bison photos.

I know you are saying out there – what am I on about.

Well, I added a sleeveless sweater vest thing to stop the wind. I took off the wonderful Swiss bag, the gift from Morgan, put on my Vest thing, and reduced the affect of the wind. I rode off happily without my Swiss bag, my camera, my puffer, my suntan lotion, my strepsils, my tissues, and oh dear, my camera.

We rode for nearly 5k’s before we realised. That is we rode to our destination – the Bison Park, well it isn’t called the Bison Park, but just now I cannot remember what it is called. But we rode there all the same, stopped the bikes, started to lock them up and I realised I didn’t have the bag, the wonderful Swiss bag from Morgan.

and that Best Beloved rode gallantly back to see if he could find the bag – not a hope.

But the best thing that happened on this day is that there were no Bison to be seen anywhere. So the camera wasn’t needed.

But I would like 4gb memory card back

So if you found the bag – you can have it, I just want the photos I have not downloaded from our boat day the day before.

So if you have the bag and camera and all the other bits and pieces in it – we can swap – I will give you the charger for the camera battery and you will give me the 4gb card with the photos on it still.

Message for Morgan don’t buy us another bag. We can replace it ourselves, as well as the camera. I just hope we get the memory card back.

I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday so Best Beloved took a bike ride out towards Parnassia alone – looking for the entry to the Downs where there is a walk to “MAYBE” see the bison in the park. He did find the entry after riding past it and back again, and then he did walk into the park a bit to check it out for us.

BUT

it was raining so much that he gave up and came home. That is okay because when we next go to check out the Bison on a good fine day, we will know exactly where to go.

But

the reason for the title of this wee rave – is that Best Beloved rode across a main road – on the green light for the bikes; as you should, and as you do, and a young woman with flowing flaxen hair rode by him. It started to rain and she continued to ride and nonchalently took our her umbrella, unfurled it and continued to ride on in the rain with the umbrella protecting her.

Now Best Beloved has a widget – and this flaxen haired young woman rode by at over 21k’s per hour.

He came home feeling tired, less fit than he had when he left, and just a bit wet.

We three (Best Beloved, son, and myself) took a ride on our bicycles to the beach at Parnassia on Saturday. Of course we rode into the wind going out and into the wind for most of the ride back home again. The starting point was Haarlem, out throught the Kennemer Dunes (Duinen) to the beach and back on the bike path by the main road a round trip of about 22.5 k’s. And this is up hill and down dale through the dunes and my lungs had a few quiet words – and we stopped and walked quite often. Well that is I stopped, and I walked for some stretches and son just kept on riding – it is amazing the power of youth over a little age. (sorry Karen had to use the age word)

This time in the Dunes we photographed the memorial to those killed in May 1945 – at the very end of the war when the allies were very close. We have seen it before but had not realised the full significance of it.

memorial to those killed in Kennemer Downs May 1945

The dunes are quite different without the summer green, and no wild flowers in flower to speak of. Everything seemed to be a sandy colour and what you could see in the distance looked a little like a sepia photograph.

We did not see any of the beautiful horses but did see quite a few of the orange Scottish Highland cattle grazing quietly by the path – and we watched as a young couple walked by them – and the cattle just kept on eating – unlike the curious one that made me more than a little uncomfortable last time.

The beach did have some hardy souls on it – including some intrepid kite surfers (I think that is what they are called). A few people took their dogs down to the beach as well. I expect that a few carried them back up again.

Parnassia - wild north sea beach

In the Netherlands the people are besotted by their dogs (like we are with the birds here) – and they do go to amazing lengths to take the dogs out with them, absolutely everywhere. There are doggy pushchairs so that the dog can rest when it is tired after a lengthy play or walk. The dogs are carried in baskets on the bikes themselves, and there are also bakfiets (bikes with a huge bucket or basket – permanently attached; and also on wheels – like a wheel barrow in front of the cyclist). The bakfiets can come with no seats – for carrying goods, seats for the children; or, with an especially designed carrier or bucket to carry their dogs. I will add some pictures when I manage to get some of dog carriers.

We have seen people riding a bakfiets with up to 4 children all with seat belts on and the children natter away as though they are in a conversation pit. It’s brilliant.

This dog thing also means that nearly everywhere you go to eat, like at the cafe at Parnassia, where I started this little story there are also many many bowls of water available for the many many dogs.

This is a Bakfiets - with real style

Inside the cafe, overlooking the beach at Parnassia, there were two fires going and it was delicious and warm and the place to be, and that is where most of the people were, including us of course. We had a great lunch before setting off on the journey home.

fragile flower enroute

We found the flower on one of the required stops to get breath back.

We both have bikes with 7 gears, son rented a bike with no gears.

Expat Voices: 25/01/10

ConnieLene Johnston on living in the Netherlands

Danish expat ConnieLene Johnston, who moved to the Netherlands from New Zealand, is ecstatic about Dutch bird life but cannot abide the way the Dutch simply park their bikes at any spot convenient to them. However, she has managed to join a group to continue spinning a good yarn or two…

Name: ConnieLene Johnston
Nationality: Danish
City of residence: Haarlem, Netherlands
Occupation: Designer, Knitter, artist
Reason for moving to the Netherlands: My husband has a position here
Lived in the Netherlands for: 17 months

What was your first impression of the Netherlands?

Grey, drab and I hated the hotel – but after a few days the sun came out and we had a place to live and it all got very much better from that point.

What do you think of the food?

Traditional Dutch food – very over processed and the source can be unrecognisable. There are many deep fried foods which are not to my taste. But there is great access to many foods from many lands and I absolutely love that.

What do you think of the shopping in the Netherlands?

Great – I love the fact that the Netherlands are not succumbing to the great mindless American Mall syndrome that New Zealand – where we come from, has. Why would anyone want to spend a day out at a mall? They do that in New Zealand.

There are not enough yarn choices here. I buy yarns in every country I visit if at all possible. But then it would not matter how many places there were that sold yarns – it would still not be enough for me.

What do you appreciate about living in the Netherlands?

I love the great public transport and my bicycle and the fact that we do not need a car–ever. Who would have thought that at my age I would be riding a bicycle? (I didn’t ride a bicycle between 15 and 61 years.) I love the terrain. I absolutely love the birds, and now that it is winter our garden is a bird restaurant. Currently–just outside our door – we’ve spotted jays, magpies, tits (Great, blue, long-tailed), Blackbirds, thrushes, red robin, wood pigeons, doves. My husband John has seen a Curlew (I am jealous of that), and I have seen two types of tree creepers. There are Dutch people at John’s work who have not even seen this bird. We feed swans, coots, ducks, jackdaws, rooks and sea-gulls. There are many birds in New Zealand but they are not common on your door-step.

I love the architecture – new and old, canals, polders, windmills, art, museums, bike tracks, and train travel, and the flowers everywhere. I appreciate Skype, the internet, and email in a way I didn’t before coming here.

What do you find most frustrating about living in the Netherlands?

The language. There are a lot of discussions about expats needing to learn the language, and yes they should. It is not an easy language to learn and it is very difficult to practice because when you attempt to use it – the Dutch person you are speaking with replies in English. But then you also meet people in shops in particular who carry on speaking Dutch to you even though you have said that you do not know the language well enough. They can be very rude. We have met marvellous people who are exceptions and will have fun with you and the language – us speaking English and them answering in Dutch, and us trying in Dutch or a mix of Dutch and Danish and English and so on.

The other frustrating thing is that I cannot read the food labels –everything appears so altered that you cannot be certain of what you are ingesting – so we make most of our meals from scratch. If we go out and eat John always ends up with a breakfast or a lunch – the meals here are for mountain men not ordinary people who do not work in a physical way. Thank goodness people here do lots of bike riding – otherwise there could be a real health issue.

What puzzles you about the Netherlands and what do you miss since you’ve moved here?

Why are they so rude? The Dutch park their bikes close to where they are – that could be on pedestrian crossing, on the footpath, even where the snow has been cleared to make narrow safe walking area for pedestrians. They have no sense that they should move to one side if they are in hearty discussion with others on the footpath – you can just go out onto the road or onto the bike path were you can be called things like piss pot – can you believe a woman maybe in her 40’s calling us that.

Because I do not go to work – I miss general contact with people speaking in English. I was born in Denmark, but English is the language I have been using for most of my life. I have slogged through snow in icy conditions to go to the doctor in Amsterdam – to pick up a prescription which could have been faxed – just so I can speak with someone in English without having to apologise for my poor Dutch. How sad is that?

How does the quality of life in the Netherlands compare to the quality of life in other countries that you’ve lived in?

The quality of life here is excellent, but the houses are sooo tiny, we would call them a flat in New Zealand. Everything is handy for us, living as we do within Haarlem – walking distance to everything and close to parks, the canals, the windswept beaches and the bikeways. There is great access either to places within the Netherlands or to Europe and all things artistic and creative. It is great for the soul. New Zealand has a great quality of life as well – it is just different, less history, bigger houses and gardens, great country side– just no real seasons in the North – I love the seasonal changes here – although I have had enough of the snow and ice and am glad of the respite.

Here is much more expensive.

If you could change anything about the Netherlands, what would it be?

I would teach all school children good manners so that when they are adults they will actually consider others when they go about their daily business.

I would also encourage people working in the food industry to learn to wash their hands and use tongs and gloves when preparing food for others to eat. Food regulations in other countries do not allow a person to pick up food with their bare hands where it is to be served to another person. I have seen some appalling food handling here. I watched a woman clearing tables – moving food from one plate to another on a stack, putting it down and then go and make a sandwich for another person without washing her hands.

What advice would you give to a newcomer?

Join as many groups as you can either one where they speak in the same language as you do and any Dutch groups where you have a common interest. For instance I now belong to the local Stitch ‘n Bitch Group in Haarlem. I waited far too long and would have benefited from doing so much earlier. All Dutch people are educated in English – if you have a common interest, like knitting, then the language will not be a major problem and your language skills will develop more quickly.

Would you like to add anything?

I am a passionate knitter, designer and artist. I have recently at the tender age of 62 created and installed my first art graffiti piece here in the centre of Haarlem – The Haarlem Ball Warmer.

A day at the beach – a beautiful day at the beach.

A day at the beach – a beautiful day at the beach. We rode our bikes out here, through the sand dunes (and it was very very hot), past all the animals which roam freely in the Kennemer Duinen (Dunes). On the way into the park we stopped at a rather quaint oldfashioned Kiosk and had an icecream each. Then we continued to ride through the park. We met the horses by the path. I love horses so had go and talk to them. One of the little girls there was a little freaked out by them, which unsettled the horses and they just meandered away.

The Scottish Highland Cattle, were not really very big but those horns were huge. We stopped by the bike path and Best Beloved took the photos of those in and around the lake. The one in the photo all by itself, came up to the bike path, and started pawing the ground behind Best Beloved, who just kept on taking photos. He hadn’t seen it of course. Me, I said, Think it is time we left, yeah yeah he said, I’ll just take a few more.

I picked my bike up as a protector, beast kept pawing the ground and started shaking his head from side to side, boy those horns looked menacing – less than 10 feet away. I said I’m going now, Best Beloved said in a minute. He must have suddenly sensed the minor discomfort I was experiencing – and he turned around, snapped the picture, got on his bike and went – in a very fluid motion. With me – following as fast as my short legs could cycle.

When we arrived at the beach we sat behind the glass wall protecting us from wind and sand and we enjoyed the smell of the sea, sand and sun and a cold beer with lunch, with seagulls sqwarking overhead.

Only the very hardy were on the beach and others were back behind the glass wall. The Dutch are very hardy. IF you click on the picture of the beach a couple of times to enlarge it – you will see there are plenty of people, no one is in the water -that my eyes can see.

We rode back on the bike path by the road and not through the park again as it is quite a ride for an oldy – but we (I) will get better with time.

Don’t we all improve with age?

It was a glorious day

The Kennemer Duinen (Dunes) were not always a great day out.

This link is to a report on the assassination of Dutch Nationals – resistance fighters during WWII
Excerpt taken from the Haarlems daily newspaper 4 May 1993.
reporter – Willemien Spook

Where the May blossom now starts to come into flower, and the sea breeze shaves the top of the marram grass, hundreds of Dutch nationals, whom for whatever reason upset the oppressor, – were assassinated, murdered or dumped sometimes ten at once, sometimes just a single person -.
They were found in early May of 1945, 422 individuals. Most of them had found their end in the last few weeks, days and months, before the liberation.

You will not believe what you can see in the sand dunes when you ride your bike through the National Park at Kennemer Downs. It is a great place to ride, and a test of our fitness, well my fitness really. The smoker actually finds it a breeze. But I am improving.

There are many birds and plants that we know and many we don’t. We have feasted on wild strawberries with far more flavour than those we have wild in our New Zealand garden. We have met a couple gathering wild asparagus and people also gather Ruccola. But the real surprises for us are the wild horses and the cattle.

This is just one of many Scottish Highland cattle that we have seen. He just looked the most comfortable standing in the water.

I think this story requires a continuation – that is regarding the wild scottish beasts regarding one from the side of the bicycle path. This is worthy of another entry and I shall try to record it soon.

We are enjoying all things Dutch but sometimes we are reminded of our age like when we do crazy thing like ride into the wind to the beach about 5 k’s each way on a sealed bike track on sand dunes – up hill and down dale.

The sandhills form the hill and dale – not really big hills I know but I had a bad air day. When we sat down on the beach, felt the sand between our toes and had our picnic lunch it was all very much worth the effort.

This was a quiet beach (we were told it was a quiet beach and I will never go to a busy Dutch beach after this one). There were hundreds and hundreds of people, balls, children, dogs and more people and more people. Everyone plays soccer on the beach, no one was swimming as the water was far too cold. It was a glorious day. We came home exhausted and me quite breathless – but it was just so good to smell the sea air, and to feel the sand between our toes.

Not much else is happening, I am knitting a fair bit, and we are having a great time.