This past Wednesday was probably one of the coldest days that Amsterdam has ever seen, especially this early in the season. On December 1, which was that wednesday, it was supposed to be a wind chill of 5 degrees Fahrenheit. There were similar weather warnings on Tuesday night (November 30) as well. Wednesday night it was about, with wind chill, 3 degrees fahrenheit (-16degrees celsius)!! That's how cold it was. It was too cold to even stand outside! You would walk outside and just be hit with a wall of frozen, unbearable wind and utter chilliness. My Colour and Culture professor Marietta (the insane Dutch lady who I mentioned a few times) had to walk to class on Wednesday because her bike lock was frozen due to the excessive cold. Which is another reason why less people seem to bike in the cold / snow. Apparently this type of weather is unusual for December 1 in Amsterdam- usually this type of weather doesn't occur until January or February. Since the first snow on Monday night (well, what I consider to be the first snow) it has snowed more or less every day, except for today. It snowed all night on Friday night, so I woke up to find the courtyard re-coated in fluffy white snow. Unfortunately the snow has started to disappear due to the "warmer" weather today (a steamy 37 degrees fahrenheit) and the rain/sleet last night. We were talking about how great the weather has been today because the temperature was in the double digits again AND the sun was shining- we hadn't seen the sun for quite a few days. But it has gotten me even more into the holiday spirit. Due to this, I am also even less in the work/finals mood.
On Wednesday, the same chilly day, we watched a Dutch film called "Simon" in our Dutch Social Policy class. It documents the life of a free-spirit, coffee-shop owning man called Simon and how he changes the life of a homosexual man, Carmiel. It traces both of their lives over a fifteen year span, from when the two first meet and become friends, to the eventual end when Simon is diagnosed with cancer. The first half of the film is lighthearted and silly- even silly just reading the English subtitles!- while the second half goes into issues of family, gay marriage, and eventually euthanasia. I wasn't expecting anything great from this movie, but I was completely blown away. I don't want to give away too many details of it because you should experience it for yourselves. While the movie is in Dutch, it does contain English subtitles, which, according to Bonny, were translated quite well. If you are looking for a new movie that will make you laugh and cry, PLEASE go rent this movie asap. If you need anyone to see it with, give me a call! (when I am back in the USA, of course).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393775/
In Thursday's Dutch class, my professor Anita was wearing a button that said "I <3 Linkse Hobby's". When a classmate asked her about it, she said that Linkse Hobby's refer to more "left" hobbies, such as the arts, music, theater, etc. According to Anita, Geert Wilders, the current head of the PVV Party, or the Party for Freedom, is not so supportive of the arts and other "left" hobbies in the Netherlands. His party, the PVV, is more right-wing and conservative. He is the person who is openly racist against Muslims within the Netherlands, and wants to place a tax on women who wear headscarves. Currently the PVV is the most represented/popular political party in the Netherlands, winning at least twenty out of the 150 seats in Dutch Parliament in 2009. He is the guy who wants to have Dutch be the only language taught in schools, and also wants to forbid Muslim imams (preachers) from preaching in mosques in the Netherlands. Also the guy who said "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam". Seems like a tolerant dude, right? What's ironic is that he is openly gay, but also openly discriminates against non-Dutch natives in Holland. In essence, he's a terrifying man. If he gains total political power within the Netherlands, who knows how long the Dutch's tolerant and accepting social policies will last. If you are interested more in this crazy Dutchie, search for him on Wikipedia. He's quite a character, to say the very least.
Geert Wilders in the flesh.Tonight a few of us are going to Kriterion, a student run movie theater and bar in the Plantage area. We are going to see the independent film "Winter's Bone". I've heard raving review about it, and cannot wait to watch it after a long day of doing homework.
FUN FACT: at this one pizza delivery place, a pizza with mushrooms and pepperoni is called the "USA Today". Thought that was strange/funny
FUN FACT: The Dutch don't believe in a. snow plows, or b. salt for the roads and sidewalks. They don't plow the snow- they just leave it be. Hence why the cars drive much slower, and the bikers have to bike through the half-melted snow and slush. They are at a great risk of falling off their bikes. Another reason why I have stuck to walking places for the past few days. Another problem with biking in bad weather: the wind literally pushes you back so you could be pedalling your heart out, and still not going anywhere. If there is even a centimeter of snow in Maryland, the snow plows are out in a heartbeat, accompanied by masses of salt. Someone in our dorm courtyard did put down about a handful of salt near the building entrances, which did some help but not much. Oh well, I guess that's how the Dutch handle the harsh weather!
Also, tonight is the last night of Sinterklaas! This is the night when the Black Pieters / Zwarte Pieters give little gifts to the Dutch children. Our dorm is doing a little gift-exchange for us. We are supposed to leave our shoes outside of our doors, with a funny little poem as well. Then the Zwarte Pieters will leave little gifts in the shoes for us! I'm excited to partake in more Dutch traditions. Tomorrow is also when CIEE is celebrating Sinterklaas. We have a gift exchange, where you have to give a gift under 5 euro, and you have to wrap it in clever wrapping that is funny or cute, or even an inside joke with the person. For example, if I had someone as my "secret santa" who didn't understand or speak Dutch, I could give them a gift wrapped in a Dutch newspaper or something silly like that. You can prank people, but it can't be too mean or spiteful- that's just against the nature of Sinterklaas! A few problems with this: A. I haven't gotten a gift for my person; B. don't have any wrapping ideas for the gift; C. I have class tomorrow night, so hopefully I can sneak out early to attend the festivities!
Days left in the Netherlands: 12
Things I still have to do/see/experience: too many to count.
Fun Dutch words:
ijs=ice
bevriezing=freezing
koud=cold
bioscoop=movie theater
peper=pepper
noten=nuts
pepernoten=little gingerbread cookies that Zwarte Piets give out, literally: pepper nuts
voor=for
goed=good
voorgoed=permanently, literally: for good
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