Funny things!

One day, I was having sandwiches with Harro. I was getting tea ready, while he was fixing the sandwiches. When I told him I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he said "together??". I laughed, said yes...and watched as he continued to put BUTTER on both slices of bread. Unbeknownst to me, it is overly common to use butter instead of any condiments on your sandwich. So before I knew it, I had a butter, peanut butter, and jelly sandwich. It wasn't too bad...surprisingly! I've had stranger combinations! A lady close to the church made dinner one night, and decided to bring me some. After she left, I opened the foil to see chicken, potatoes, and green beans wrapped in a tortilla. Interesting stuff! And the stores sell Lay's ketchup chips. Sounds gross, but they are my absolute favorite!! Thankfully, the store I shop at stopped selling them, so I'm not tempted to buy them every time I go out.

There's a few other things I have noticed in the past several days as well. First, and most importantly, they don't sell my shoe size here! Yes, I know I have big feet (size 10)...but in average shoe stores, the sizes only go up to 42 (size 9). It's crazy!

I also found out that the Dutch use the same word for "teach" as they do "learn". So when translating into English, they figure we use one word as well. It is very common to hear "The students continued to learn as the teacher learned them." Same thing for barn and shed. The Dutch use one word for both! My reader today asked "Doesn't your neighbor have a barn to put his motorcycle in?". Haha...

On a more serious note...I'm going to have a nephew! The unfortunate side is that my wonderful sister and brother-in-law are going to name him Eric. Not my favorite name, as you all well know. I even tried to bargain with them about the spelling. But no budging...they've had his name picked out for a long time. Oh well...I'm more excited about being an aunt! Melissa understands, don't you??? And happy birthday to you!!

Hope everyone is well!!

Dutch English terms

I was having tea with my neighbor, Harro, last night...as we were catching up on the past month that he's been gone. While we were talking, I realized that when I return to the states, my newfound English is going to be difficult to turn back into "American English". Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...here are a few of the changes in my English vocabulary. The first is what I say now...the latter is what most Americans would understand.

"mobile" - cell phone
"SMS" - text message
"holiday" - vacation
"chips" - fries
"lift" - elevator
"tea" - hot tea
"iced tea" - cold tea
"auto" - car
"ice" - ice cream
"towel" - a cloth, a paper towel, a napkin...anything you use to wipe with
"toilet" - bathroom
"WC" - bathroom
"drop" - licorice (although they claim it's a SPECIFIC type of licorice...but its not!) :)

That's all I can think of for now....but I'll add more later, if I remember!

I had the funniest experience this past week. I called my friend Kristina, who is in Australia doing the HIM program, and her Australian friend was with her. He got on the phone, although I didn't know it, and threw a comment in at some point. Kristina said "Did you hear what Graham said?" I said..."I heard him, but I didn't understand him" (I thought he was talking in the background). Later, he said something else. Again, she asked me if I understood. It was then that I realized he was on the phone, as well....so I began addressing him. However, the intelligent conversation I had intended to have with him never got past "Tell me about yourself"...due to the fact that I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HIM. I was speaking English. He was speaking English. But for the life of me, I could not comprehend his words. Kristina began laughing, as she translated his English to my English. How horrible! I had no idea that it would be that difficult to understand an Australian talk. Now I know how the Dutch feel when they hear me talk (as opposed to a British English person...who they are used to). It's crazy!!!

Updates...on everyone!

Well, well....almost forgot I had this thing. :)

The past few weeks I have been in Brussels for the Pan European Lectureship (find pictures added to my shutterfly!) and at bible camp (I didn't find much to take pictures of there!). The PEL was fantastic...couldn't have been better!! I met the most amazing people from all over the states, and many missionaries from all over Europe. We stayed in a 5-star hotel in the middle of the city, with an unbelievable breakfast each morning, and an all-day tour of Brugge (spelling?) at the end of the week. My roommate was an 18-year old from Texas, named Rachel. Her and I hit it off right away, and me, her, and her cousin Wil spent the entire week together, viewing the city or playing spades. As many old"er" people as there were at the lectureship, we enjoyed our free time together. There were amazing lessons all throughout the week, as well as reports from all the missionaries in attendance. It was a very uplifting week, and I made some life-long friends.

Then last week, I attended Family Bible Camp in some tiny village in Belgium. All I know is that it is next to a cool town called "Spa"! The week had its fun moments, although it was frustrating for me to sit through 3 hours of Bible lessons a day, that were all in Dutch. I wish I had been able to understand more than I was able to. I also had the "privilege" of sleeping in the cabin with the younger girls. There was one particular, vibrant, 8-year old that took advantage of the fact that her mom was in another building. I shouldn't have to elaborate on the amount of sleep I got during the week!! But the food was good, I met a lot of wonderful church members from other congregations in Holland, as well as Belgium. But I was definitely ready to sleep in the privacy of my room when I came back.

And while I was gone...my wonderful sister Charity moved to Germany to be with her husband. Or maybe before I left...but it's all the same to me. And she FINALLY has a doctor's appointment NEXT Thursday to find out the sex of the baby (or babies, I think!). Yay!! So exciting for us all!! And my dad received a job in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which they will be moving to this Friday. God has done so well in taking care of them over the past few months! Although I don't know what is up with my family all of sudden being associated with the army. I sure don't plan on marrying an army man! Anyway, my brother is back at Western Kentucky University. And at some point, he grew hair on his face. But nobody keeps me updated on these kinds of things!!! :)

So my entire family is in transition right now. Fun stuff. One in Kentucky, two in North Carolina, one in Holland, and one (two, including John...and more, including the baby(ies)) in Germany. We never dreamed we'd be in the places we are now!

And me...well...I have a big decision to make in the next two weeks. Neither decision is "right" or "wrong"....and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So please pray that I am able to follow whatever God wants for me....cause I sure don't know what I want for myself at this point.

Thanks for reading all this....you guys are great. I love the comments!

And a big shout-out to my favorite boss, Judy Davis....who is in the middle of the madness referred to as the Hall Director/RA orientation. Pray for her, too...I know she'll need it! :)

And happy birthday Christina!! Didn't think I forgot about you, did you???