tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224330942009-03-01T07:10:48.184+01:00Sixteen TulipsLife in the Netherlands as an allochtoonDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-5264925308491503812008-10-01T11:55:00.004+02:002008-10-01T12:06:10.264+02:002008-10-01T12:06:10.264+02:00It's getting closerHopefully by this time next month I'll be bald. Being bald might frighten a lot of people, but it's something I'm looking forward to. Brain surgery. Motor cortex stimulation. I had written this for my friends on Facebook who were wondering what it was I was going through. Before I post it, however, I want to get this out of the way. Medical mistakes happen everywhere, something of which I'm very Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com2http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-getting-closer.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-79854697653986856552008-09-25T10:58:00.004+02:002008-09-25T11:33:21.813+02:002008-09-25T11:33:21.813+02:00Peter R. De Vries and the EmmyThe year, 2008. Peter de Vries arrives in the Netherlands to a hero's welcome, another Dutch person has done their part in promoting the Netherlands. Yet what has escaped the Dutch, or what they've rather chosen to ignore, is how they got it. Like so many incidents, another that they'd like to sweep under the proverbial rug, Joran van der Sloot, colonialism, deporting more Jews than any other Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/09/peter-r-de-vries-and-emmy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-20765547508909852972008-09-20T10:47:00.004+02:002008-09-20T11:28:20.950+02:002008-09-20T11:28:20.950+02:00The Emancipated Few SpeakYeehaw, we get to hear from a few Dutch women who represent the educated and emancipated. First, the blogger claims that Elsevier is "one of the best political magazines in the Netherlands." One of the more biased and racist is what I think. I've had the distinct displeasure of reading some of the discourse passing as journalism that Elsevier (italicized out of formality and not respect) has Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com2http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/09/emancipated-few-speak.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-32043288646837031792008-09-19T11:42:00.006+02:002008-09-20T11:32:47.336+02:002008-09-20T11:32:47.336+02:00Dutch sex up footy with skirtsAh yes, female emancipation. The Dutch have missed the mark on this one, as well. I'll find and later and post a link to a study a few years back that placed females in top executive positions in the Netherlands on an even par with another incredibly progressive country when it comes to women's emancipation -- Pakistan. Certainly wearing skirts will improve the perception that the world has of Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com1http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/09/dutch-sex-up-footy-with-skirts.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-29900235883402603052008-09-17T12:41:00.002+02:002008-09-17T12:44:06.348+02:002008-09-17T12:44:06.348+02:00I need your helpA strange entry for my blog, but I need your help. I'm playing a game of strategy called Battle Dawn. We're nearing the end, but that means that I need your help now as we endure one attack after an other. The only thing you need to do is click on the link, if you want to sign up and play, good, just drop me a note and I'll help you out, but if you could just click on the link to it, I'd be Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-need-your-help.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-2836814591533100382008-08-16T18:26:00.002+02:002008-08-16T18:32:33.623+02:002008-08-16T18:32:33.623+02:00Wondering what this is? On Facebook, there's a hunting game that started out as the Worldwide Easter Egg Hunt. It caught on. Brad Dwyer, a student from somewhere, forgive me for not knowing something about him, I'm sure he'll forgive me this minor sin, created the application for Facebook, one of the world's largest, if not the largest, networking site. While Facebook has undergone changes, the Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/08/test-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-14054942106425599272008-07-07T11:18:00.002+02:002008-07-07T11:20:45.470+02:002008-07-07T11:20:45.470+02:00Dutch healthcare: a model?The Dutch have been touting for some years now that they have the answer to the world's health care issues, that mandatory health insurance means health care, and quality health care at that.Is this indicative of that level of care? Will America stupidly buy into the crap that the Dutch have managed to pass off as the proverbial golden egg?Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/07/dutch-healthcare-model.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-59766730532294940732008-05-25T13:07:00.009+02:002008-05-25T14:32:26.339+02:002008-05-25T14:32:26.339+02:00RefugeesYesterday my husband went fishing with a friend of his. A friend that he's known for more than a few years, a very pleasant guy who is 35. They came back fairly late in the evening, but Peer (not his real name) stayed for some coffee and chat. The topic of the political climate in the Netherlands arose at some point. I was surprised to hear my own husband say that if Rita Verdonk and Geert Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/05/refugees.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-17175170502855010962008-05-24T20:34:00.003+02:002008-05-24T21:24:25.590+02:002008-05-24T21:24:25.590+02:00AccessibilityThere have been some comments about my post on integration in the Netherlands so I thought that I would address what is what I believe to be the main issue surrounding the problems facing the Netherlands and its immigrant population.The Dutch, as most countries accepting foreigners, would like their immigrants to integrate and feel that they've failed to properly or appropriately to integrate theDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com2http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/05/accessibility.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-9271513947672380952008-01-19T07:15:00.000+01:002008-01-19T07:16:19.595+01:002008-01-19T07:16:19.595+01:00Integration, yes or noIntegration is failing in the Netherlands and I know why.When I came here in 1999, I was excited. Excited to live in Europe, excited to marry my Dutch boyfriend, whom I had met through the Internet almost three years prior to my arrival. Challenge wasn’t something new to me, as an American, I had grown up with the belief that personal growth is not only important for me, but necessary for a Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com11http://deekw.blogspot.com/2008/01/integration-yes-or-no.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-28896677642893678432007-12-30T08:31:00.000+01:002007-12-30T12:11:25.201+01:002007-12-30T12:11:25.201+01:00The price of free speechThe right to say what one wants has always been costly. But at whose expense?It seems that in the Netherlands it's becoming the taxpayers' fiscal responsibility to cover this area. Geert Wilders, the populist politician who sports a hairdo in dire need of an update, is privately making a film about the Koran. Holy peroxide! Even more reprehensible dribble over which we can only roll our eyes. Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/12/price-of-free-speech.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-44523747083252150302007-12-26T08:18:00.000+01:002007-12-26T08:51:32.782+01:002007-12-26T08:51:32.782+01:00The Queen's Christmas speechEver since I came to the Netherlands in the fall of 1999 I can frequently be caught scratching my head, wondering, "What are they thinking?" What are they thinking, these people who can be found living below sea level, sporting gawdy Orange clothing and guzzling beer like children who raid cookie jars?Cracking the Dutch code has become a hobby of mine. Now it seems as though the Queen herself is Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/12/queens-christmas-speech.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-42538076957451168082007-10-30T08:27:00.000+01:002007-10-30T08:35:14.585+01:002007-10-30T08:35:14.585+01:00Colors are callingFall brings to those of us who live in places where the four seasons live what is probably one of the greatest bounties of fall, colors. Colors that we ordinarily don't seek out in summer, warm and glowing, a mix of natural shades. It sometimes brings along blustery weather and gray skies, hampering the ability to shoot some of the more attractive aspects of the season, and where I live has been Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/10/colors-are-calling.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-31334185517450736842007-10-21T12:07:00.000+02:002007-10-21T12:15:17.451+02:002007-10-21T12:15:17.451+02:00Get involved!Come on ladies, raise your daughters to become women of the world! Join the Dove corporate social campaign to help girls and young women develop positively and self esteem based on inner beauty, not outer beauty. If the future could be actively written, more companies would behave like Dove and realize that having a corporate, social conscience also sells well. Take me to the Campaign for Real Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/10/get-involved.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-30621423876622795182007-08-04T11:41:00.000+02:002007-08-04T11:44:35.603+02:002007-08-04T11:44:35.603+02:00Living VerbsThere's nothing like a piping hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Whether it's because we enjoy the taste, the warmth and cosiness or the engagement in a near-lifelong ritual, it provides us with a certain degree of comfort. But have you ever wondered about where the coffee is coming from? Who's picking the beans? Most Americans know Juan Valdez and his friendly, four-legged companion. Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com1http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/08/theres-nothing-like-piping-hot-cup-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-16210356060591599642007-07-30T21:07:00.000+02:002007-08-04T11:42:29.837+02:002007-08-04T11:42:29.837+02:00Cookbooks GaloreNow I've got entire crapload of cookbooks. As it turns out a lot of them are southern or country style cooking. In between there are the prized church cookbooks, and the occasional cookbook that's destined to raise eyebrows when you first get it in your hands. Take the Richard Simmons cookbook, for example. I still can't get the voice out of my head. Fortunately that's not the oneDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/07/cookbooks-galore-now-ive-got-entire.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-60928031577846161562007-07-28T10:41:00.000+02:002007-08-04T11:42:29.846+02:002007-08-04T11:42:29.846+02:00Our parents pass on to us more than genes. My mother's love of cooking, for example. To her, food is love. It is her fulfilling her role as a mother and woman. When she married my father she didn't know a thing about cooking. But my father's grandmother, my Grandma Kuzda, taught her everything she knew about her Hungarian kitchen. My mother's love of cooking has never waned. Neither has mine. Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/07/our-parents-pass-on-to-us-more-than.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-27052497064955216572007-07-14T11:31:00.000+02:002007-07-14T12:27:16.991+02:002007-07-14T12:27:16.991+02:00How to commit a crime using only your fingerBut only if your intent is to "injur[e] the honour and good name" of the person to whom the finger is given.The problem with this, and most Dutch laws, is that they are rarely enforced. This has led to a lack of respect in general, for many things, including law enforcement officers themselves. My view is that the official response to crime has become more like a revenue generating scheme than Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-commit-crime-using-only-your.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-49867637773473912852007-07-11T11:04:00.000+02:002007-07-15T12:39:07.626+02:002007-07-15T12:39:07.626+02:00Michael Moore, Dr. Gupta square off over 'Sicko' I'm grateful that no one erroneously mentioned the Netherlands in this scenario of "universal health care." The health care system here was revamped about two years ago. (What do you mean I'll have to pay for my own breast augmentation?) The same health care system applied to everyone up to that point, however, those earning higher incomes paid Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/07/michael-moore-dr.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-72073524049000465062007-04-30T19:28:00.000+02:002007-05-13T13:45:18.105+02:002007-05-13T13:45:18.105+02:00I am not a queenToday I and the rest of the Netherlands are celebrating. I am celebrating my own birth in 1959. They are celebrating the birth of Queen Wilhelmina, more popularly known as Queen's Day. It is a massive sea of orange, being the representative color of the royal family, and rivers of beer. Lest I forget to mention another important element, rummage sales. That's correct, my birthday is celebrated Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/05/today-i-and-rest-of-netherlands-are.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-17326110692163678042007-04-22T14:26:00.000+02:002007-05-13T13:37:53.963+02:002007-05-13T13:37:53.963+02:00The detourYesterday I promised myself that I was going to continue the blogging expedition with the trials and tribulations of living in another country. Then I was derailed by 101 Cookbooks. Shame on me. But it's not very often that I come across a website that has several elements that capture my interests. In this case, cooking, writing and photography. Yet more fortunate for me, the site also appears Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/04/detour.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-34822314396694941562007-04-21T13:23:00.000+02:002007-05-13T13:30:30.680+02:002007-05-13T13:30:30.680+02:00The change of lifeDidn't I write about this once before? Yes, but this is a different change of life. The change of life I had in 1999, when I moved to the Netherlands. It was one of the most massive changes I've ever electively made and it makes moving to another state or coast, child's play. I should know because I've done that. What would make a person want to move to another country? In my case it was what Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/04/didnt-i-write-about-this-once-before.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-35986064328314577012007-04-15T22:25:00.000+02:002007-05-13T13:22:13.832+02:002007-05-13T13:22:13.832+02:00The power of imageryI've always loved pictures, what they represent, how they make me feel and the potential to make others feel. Objects, people, places or events, they capture what the person behind the lens sees. Sometimes they're just even snapshots, something we want to remember for a reason later no longer recalled. Today I spent more time than I should have at a site that combines two things that always Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/05/power-of-imagery.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-31073238026566320392007-04-13T11:27:00.000+02:002007-04-13T11:29:47.347+02:002007-04-13T11:29:47.347+02:00A kink in the catOne day it ceased to raise. The cat's tail, that is. It hang limply, trailing on the floor. Somewhat listless, he ate and drank, relieved himself, but did little more for about four to five days. For the most part he slept under whatever blanket he could find. After a terrifying trip to the vet we discovered our furry little juvenile has a kink in his back. No one is sure when or how it Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/04/kink-in-cat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22433094.post-74267398831654761172007-03-25T19:10:00.000+02:002007-03-25T19:11:55.399+02:002007-03-25T19:11:55.399+02:00The nature of the blogging beastThe blog. Is it rigid or organic? Are there restraints, guidances, what are your motivations and expectations? Blogs are a little bit of everything, the Heinz 57 of communication, depending on how the blogger sets them up. If they don't allow for comments then they're rigid in nature. They give the opinion or idea of the blogger, not allowing for differences of viewpoints or exchanges of Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08653503462501225235noreply@blogger.com0http://deekw.blogspot.com/2007/03/nature-of-blogging-beast.html