Friday, June 19, 2009

Let the construction begin!

Woohooo - today was the transfer of our apartment. The boyfriend is now a proud owner of his own apartment, including a tenant. There's a lot of work to do. A LOT. I can't wait to get started this afternoon.

Dutch class

I've started a Dutch class at the Goethe Institut in Amsterdam. I get up at the buttcrack of dawn and get on a train with loads of Dutch people who have no idea of personal space and early morning conversation no-no's. So far, my English works well and I have avoided speaking my few words of Dutch I've learned so far.

Two weeks, every day from 9am-3:30pm, hardcore brain usage. It's a curse and a blessing all at once that my native language German is so close to Dutch - some words are the same, others are false friends.

The monsters in law are impressed after the first week - I can talk back in Dutch. Oh yeah.

Just need to ensure that the boyfriend and I talk more Dutch than English - just sometimes time is of the essence, and it's still easier to speak English than Dutch.