Word of the Day: WATERKERING, barrier
Next Saturday (19 September), the Maeslantkering, the storm surge barrier in the Nieuwe Waterweg between Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland, will be closed for … Read more
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Word of the Day: VERJAARDAG, birthday
It’s my VERJAARDAG (birthday) today. Thanks everybody who commemorated me today on Facebook and LinkedIn and wished me ‘gefeliciteerd’ (best wishes), ‘proficiat’ (congratulations), ‘van … Read more
VUURWERK, fireworks
Happy New Year. Tonight spectacular fireworks at the Hague Hofvijver. For the first time since 1749 there will be a fantastic display of fireworks … Read more
STIL, still
Hush! It’s so quiet at the office. So still. No sound and very little activity. It is the one but last day of the … Read more
Word of the Day: MEEUW, gull
In the early sixties the whole wide world was shocked by Hitchcock’s horror movie hit ‘The Birds’. Because I was only ten, I wasn’t … Read more
Word of the Day: KOE, cow
Zsuzsa told me this afternoon that one of Noah’s favourite songs is: ‘Een koetje en een kalfje’ (A little cow and a little calf). … Read more
Word of the Day: TRAM, tram
So you live in or near The Hague… You’ve been here for quite some time now… And yet, you admit that you hardly know … Read more
Word of the Day: BIOSCOOP, cinema
In our intermediate Dutch course Natalia asked me why the Netherlanders use the word BIOSCOOP instead of ‘cinema’ or ‘kinema’ or ‘kino’. Most languages … Read more
Word of the Day: DAGBOEK, diary
Everybody knows that London in the sixteen-sixties was portrayed by Samuel Pepys in his famous diary. But did you know that there was a … Read more
Word of the Day: ROUW, mourning
Most mornings on my way to the Direct Dutch Institute I cycle through some kind of no-man’s land on the border between Voorburg and … Read more
Word of the Day: GELUKKIG, happy
‘Wees blij’ (be happy). While I was cycling through the sunny centre of Delft last Sunday, my eye was caught by this stern admonition … Read more
Word of the Day: DWEPEN, idolize
There is no getting away from it… The streets and the houses are orange, people are dressed in orange and everywhere you look, you … Read more
Word of the Day: IJSJE, ice cream
IJS – IJS – IJS – IJS – IJS – IJS – IJS (Ice cream, you scream…) These are wonderful days for IJSJES (ice … Read more
Word of the Day; HOND, dog
Our dear old Buffy passed away. Buffy, the office dog, was born 1 June 2000. On June 3rd 2014 she had reached the ripe … Read more
Word of the Day: RUIMTEVAARDER, spaceman
‘We are all Astronauts of Space Ship Earth’, the first Dutch spaceman wrote in his last farewell letter, just before he died last Sunday, … Read more