Chit Chat and All That...

Just a jacket. Still too hot to wear it, but it's very nice.

 

Anyone here watched Hannibal when it was first on? I'm watching it on Netflix and it's trippy as hell.

 

Fijne verjaardag / happy birthday to you @aot.

P.S. The jacket looks pretty sweet.

 

@aot Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great one!

 

The first season, I've always meant to go back and finish it.

 

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

@Shera

 

I made it to season 2 but never watched past that. I heard season 3 is good, but a bit rushed since they got canned.

I hear they wrapped it up well, but I wondered how they would've handled Silence Of The Lambs.

 

@Christiaan is the monarchy a big deal in the Netherlands?

 

NBC had a whole bunch of amazing shows there for a while that sadly got canceled. What a shame.

 

Fox used to had some good shows too but eventually they keep cancelling them after their first season like Firefly for instance

 

Totally, Fox is notorious. I actually hate starting Fox shows for that reason. Like I still can't believe they canceled Lucifer and Brooklyn 99.

 

It's a pretty big deal, just like in your home country

Our monarchy is generally considered as an asset to society: the royal house has a positive image and most people support the idea that we have a royal family, despite the fact that we have a pro-egalitarian culture.

The royal House of Orange-Nassau plays a big political role in our country. When the national elections have ended, the King will assign a ''formateur'', a politician with prestige (normally of the winning party) who will try to convince several parties to form a majority coalition. When the parties reach an agreement, he will then go to the King and present him a list of parties and their mutual agreements for the formation of a new government. The King always accepts the proposals of the formateur, as he is traditionally expected to do so. This agreement will be officialized with a photo of King (in the middle of the picture) and the new government on the terrace of the royal mansion (see picture #1: bordesfoto)

When it comes to culture, we also have King's day (Koningsdag). It's actually a festival in honour of the King's birthday, which is on the 27th of April. On this day, people dress in orange (our national colour) and visit the local town centre for some good old laughter, music, and a pint of Heineken (picture # 2+3).

Does your Queen also has the same status as in my country, @all to gain?

 

The Queen is a big deal for many, but I feel the royal family is losing its status. When she dies and Charles takes over it just won't be the same as I feel he doesn't have the respect of nowhere near as many people.

Some of the younger members of the family seem to want to split it apart, i.e. Prince Harry. His marriage to Meghan Markle was a big mistake, not that my opinion counts, and he will eventually come back to with his tail between his legs when the marriage goes south, but he is doing the family no favours whatsoever.

Our royal family has become too much of a soap opera with too much involvement from the press and has lost a lot of its otherworldliness what with all the divorces and different scandals that take place. I think it should go back to times when the press wasn't allowed to report on it the way it does now.

Some are diehard fans of the family and will be to the end. My mum is one of them. I'm neither here nor there, but I want the family to remain as a symbol of the England and the UK and for tradition's sake, and it would be a shame if it disappears. Others are adamant though that the monarchy should be done away with as it is considered a remnant of past times.

 

And @Christiaan, besides Dutch and English do you know other languages? I'm presuming German and maybe French?

 

People in the Paris area all heard a huge boom around noon. A fighter plane flying over the city broke the sound barrier. I am glad I live hours from there

 

Even for us @all to gain. There are a lot of people who like to watch the Crown here on Netflix.

Wow, just found out she's in power since 1952. That's incredible! Your Queen is really attached to her throne, otherwise I wouldn't not know why she hold it out so much. Well... maybe it is indeed the case that she wouldn't abdicate for her not so popular son, Charles. We know the stories here too about Princess Diana as a sort of saint and Prince Charles as a selfish monster who cheated on her with the not so stylish Camilla Parker Bowles.

I heard the story too about Prince Harry. Has he not distanced himself from the title of prince? From Meghan's perspective, I could understand she does not need the extra spotlights if she wants to continue her career as actress. It's no life with all those paparazzi stalking you wherever you go. But I agree with you that the momentum in which they made their preference of severing the ties with the royal house was not very classy. They should have notified the queen well in advance before they contacted the media.

Our royal family does not have a lot of drama. Well, except the one thing about the death of Prince Friso years ago, when he was buried under a snow avalanche in Austria.

It would be a shame if the royal family loses its status in GB. They still play an important role in keeping the Union together, I think. The Conservative party is not doing a great job in holding the union together at the moment with Brexit (Scotland is hell bent on leaving in this whole kerfuffle), so somebody needs to pick up the pieces, right?

 

Yeah, those four languages: Dutch, English, French and German. I had a Culture and Economics profile in high school, so it was quite normal to learn that many languages. Why do you want to know that?

Edit: I also speak basic Indonesian (actually a form of Malaysian), as my father grew up in that country. And a bit of Italian too, but it's a bit rusty as I have not spoken it in five years.

 

I just presumed you would speak many languages. Do you know French and German as fluently as English?

I might start learning a new language to keep my brain active. I was thinking of Chinese or Japanese, but now French has entered my mind, too. It's because I was listening to French music last night, ie Alizee.

I used to know some Finnish, and passed a few exams, but I have all but forgotten most of it except for a few basic phrases.

Is your father Indonesian or Dutch? If the latter were his parents diplomats? Maybe you don't want to answer, just interested.

 

Yes, as far as I know he has distanced himself from the title. Madness, if you ask me. He cannot escape who he is, and I feel he will live to regret his current situation.

The UK will split sooner or later. Whether it will totally split so there are fourth independent countries is another thing, but Scotland will definitely leave. It will be a massive headache defence and security wise, with the remainder of the UK defending Scotland. And then there is the question of the UK's nuclear submarines which are stationed in Scotland. It's sad it's come to this, but most such unions come to an end eventually. US next?

The royal family has many ties to Scotland, obviously, so maybe they can be a bridge as you suggest.

 

Ah, of course it was Alizee that inspired you to learn French. And so the cycle continues.......

Finnish is one of the hardest languages out there, I'm told. It's not easy to learn an Uralic language, which does not have a lot of ties with other modern languages. It takes a diehard like you to do something like that!

My father is Dutch (ethnically Euro-Creole mixed, but not Asian). His father was a diplomat and he was assigned by the Dutch colonial government to the position of district commissioner (a sort of mayor) of a part of an Island (Bali). That was until the Japanese imperial army came, then all things went down South. When the 2nd World War was over, only my father, his sister and his mother came back alive and well to the Netherlands. So you could guess how things went back then.

 

I'm doing quite well guessing things about your family lol

I'm sure becoming a diplomat must have crossed your mind, too?

 

Well, you certainly have a knack for these things like a true detective. Are you sure you only majored in cultural anthropology?

Uhmm, it's a bit of a yeah and no. It's sounds interesting to work in another country and to ''clean the pipes and keep the sludge moving'' as a foreign representative (a quote from one of the characters of House of Cards, I believe).

But on the other hand, I can feel quite homesick if I spend some time somewhere else. I was once for three weeks in Scotland, and even though I really enjoyed it there, I was so relieved when I finally was back in my country and do the things I always like to do: go to football matches of my favourite football club (Sparta Rotterdam), spending time with friends & family, eating mediocre Dutch food (our cuisine is not really haute cuisine, as we mostly focus on fish and pancake specialties), and especially caring for my parents' dog, whom I cannot ever leave behind.

So I don't think I would easily adjust in another country in the same way as you do.

Was it easy for you to find your way in Russia as an Englishman?

 

Hi friends...

Hope you are well, sorry for being so weird at times... can’t help it.

Lots of love to my tinnitus family here xxxxxx

Daniel

 

@all to gain Oh, I forgot to mention that my French is almost on the same level as my English (c1), though German is ok-ish (b1/2); my reading, comprehension and listening skills are good enough, but speaking is another ball game, especially if you don't use it often in conversations.

 

There are things I can't tell you That said, I just have an inquisitive mind and like putting the pieces together of puzzles.

A lot of jobs like being a diplomat sound good, but in reality may be very boring. Plus, you usually need the right connections, at least in the UK, to get into that type of work.

I don't think I easily adjusted to living in Russia; I simply didn't leave and simply got used to living here. I'm not a great socialiser, so don't need lots of close friends around me, but I do need human contact. I wish I had seen my parents more though in the last 15 years.

I should have gone home after finishing my initial Russian course, but I stuck around a little and then met my future wife.

Being an Englishman in Russia isn't always easy, and it depends on where exactly you live and with whom you associate. It would be much easier to live in the middle of Moscow and surround oneself with educated and English speaking Russians for example. I've never done that and have seen much more of the reality of Russia that most Russians live.

Unfortunately, what with Crimea, Ukraine, sanctions, and the downing of the jet that killed many Dutch nationals as well as many others of other nations including the UK, life has at times been harder, especially as some of those close to me lap up all the propaganda.

Then you get those, especially some men, who don't like it that the Englishman has a local, good looking wife. In addition, I have gotten more and more honest and direct in my replies to people when they ask me questions such as, "Surely it's not better here than in England?". What they are actually asking is, "So you're here, so it must be better than in England". When I answer, no it's not, they don't always like it. It depends on the person of course.

I presume that in the Netherlands Russia is not seen in a good light both in general and especially due to the downing of that jet?

 

@all to gain, international man of mystery

Diplomacy is boring? Well, ask that to the Cuban ambassador, my neighbour haha. He & his colleagues always know how to use fireworks on New Year's Eve, and I'm talking about the big guns. While everyone goes outside to witness their arsenal, I always run back to my home and quickly wear some noise cancelling headphones, because it can be a massive. They are also known to organise loud parties. at the local embassy every now and then.

I don't think we have a negative opinion about Russians in general, but like most Western Europeans, we do have a distaste for Vladimir Putin and his ilk, especially after the destruction of MH-17. The whole thing with Aleksej Navalny sort of confirms our assumptions that Putin will do anything to stay in power. Despite all those things, we. tend to use diplomacy (+sanctions) to push back against Putin's aggressive geopolitical strategy, but I am wondering if that's enough & if the use of force is maybe the only language that he truly understands.

It's nice to also see the raw side of Russia and its local culture. I don't know if it's true @all to gain, so correct me if I'm wrong, but the Russian countryside and the small cities seem very idyllic, but maybe I have seen too much Dr. Zhivago

 

Yep, force and a show of strength is the only thing he understands. There are numerous ways he could be brought down, one of which is to make him look like a fool... and to do it over and over again!

Something is idyllic only in the eye of the beholder. Being a tourist is different than being a foreign resident of Russia. Holidays are great, real life can suck. I have spent much time in one particular Russian village, and although I love it in the summer, you wouldn't want to live there in the winter. No sanitation, no proper road. Then you have to deal with the local mentality and the locals with your mentality. The list goes on.

That said, I want to visit some places before I leave, ie Lake Baikal, Volgagrad (The Motherland Calls statue), Arkhangelsk and others. Another place I want to visit the world's coldest permanently inhabited place, ie Oymyakon, but cold and my ears don't get along nowadays so may give it a miss.

 

Who's a starter but not a finisher?

Before you say it, I'm talking about starting projects, learning new things and so on.

 

More a starter than a finisher, definitely. I think it's a bit of what's in your nature. In my case, I've got ADHD, so I'm used to do a lot of things at the same time and in a fast pace. It's the only way to keep my busy mind occupied. If I'm in a situation that I only have to focus on a few tasks, like only following 1 or 2 university courses without a few challenging things in between, I would get easily bored and often lack the motivation + focus to keep homework up to date, e.g.

Are you talking about learning a new language by any chance?

 

Just about things in general.

I tend to flit between things and and want to do everything, ie I want it all. This makes task completion difficult sometimes, especially in regard to things I dream about doing, but it has never affected my work. The fact that I have to finish paid work to live gives me the motivation to finish projects, but in regard to things I dream about doing I often get lost in the detail as I know there is no deadline as such.