‘Kapper Who?’ goes live
To all who voted for me, a big thanks. Along with bloggers of ‘Amsterdam mamma’ and ‘MissNeriss’, I was invited to read a blogspot at the ‘I am not a tourist fair’ at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. I chose ‘Kapper Who?’ The winner was Neriss of the blog MissNeriss with the loudest cheers…
Kapper Who?
Which was the exact day I became a ‘Nederlander’ ? The day I got my Dutch passport or the day I let kapper Hu give me a haircut? A passport looks like a little book. The kind of thing that changes when one changes passports is that one doesn’t any more have to stand and…
A ‘non Western immigrant’ – or should I say ‘allochtoon’?
On the gracht If February thinks its job is to test my relationship with my beloved city, summer confirms our courtship. Short, but sweet enough. The other day I was in a chat room with some people who I have never met. I typed, ‘its sunny and warm in Amsterdam’. Someone replied immediately, ‘ Oh…
Taal Tale
When it comes to speaking a ‘non- native’ tongue, I’ll choose imperfection over shutting up. I’m opportunistic and love to talk. This sort of attitude makes some people in the Netherlands see me as an outsider. Unfortunately for them, I see myself as an Amsterdammer, despite my ‘sub standard’ Dutch, and I plan to live inside the Netherlands for the time being.