Poldergeists

Right now, The Getty has an exhibit of Dutch drawings. It was my first time there since about 1991, long before the current buildings were put up. It was also the first time I paid close attention to the artists nationalities. I looked longer at the Dutch paintings.

Signs identifying Dutch painters said they were "Netherlandish," early on, then "Dutch" later. I read one sign that mentioned, "The founding of the Dutch Republic," but then I started wondering how a royal family showed up.

It got me to wondering about paintings. Does what you notice say more about you or the painters? I was conscious of looking for the flatlands, but the seascapes really got to me. Part of my family is historically seafaring, but I don't do so well on boats. It's a regret, even though I have no real need to be on the water.

The line drawing with the sailboat on the right is a Rembrandt. I didn't note who painted the others, but all are Dutch.

Be sure to log on December 23rd. At 4:00 a.m. in California and 13:00 hrs. in the Netherlands, my post on how to promote the Dutch language goes up. It also has to do with Christmas. Wow!

The 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show

Nothing brings me down like ostentatious luxury. When I see cars like the giant-toaster Rolls-Royce with its stainless steel hood, I feel demoralized. I used to aspire to such things, and older luxury cars still seem more accessible. Newer offerings turn everyone into Liberace.

And so it was that I felt even worse when I saw the Spyker. It's a really gaudy car, with fly-away doors and a high collar around the back with a Latin motto in chrome letters. Correctly translated, it reads, "Doodle doodle dee, wubba wubba wubba."

Why was this car worse? Because it's from the Netherlands. When you learn a language, you take on part of it as your own. I have found myself rooting intently for Mexico against Brazil in soccer. I watched the Dutch baseball team take apart the Domican Republic. Then today, I saw this horrific, brightly painted disaster on four wheels. It was a terrible disappointment.

Milestones

After promoting the virtual party, I got a couple of emails from Jan in Dutch. I read them without using dictionaries.

Today, I read my first Dutch news article all the way through. The Catholic Diocese of Utrecht is getting two assistant bishops, for the first time in a while.

It's thrilling to know that the language is finally sinking in.

Schiedam

It's unlikely, but it would be great if it happened.

I would like to meet everyone who reads this. I was wondering where we should get together. Then it hit me: The place to meet at the end of the blog is where the book begins. Schiedam, the area once known as Zwart Nazareth, would be the place to meet. The book doesn't give any addresses, but I suspect that in 1899, the Mak's lived somewhere around the old Dutch Reformed cathedral, near the water.

From what I saw of Street View, there isn't much of the old days there. It looks very Euro suburban, the type of place that's been torn down and rebuilt 6 times in recent years. Still, it's the place where the book starts.

It would be great to get everyone into a small cafe and talk about what they thought. I would like to hear about what I read correctly and what I got wrong. After lunch, we could walk down to the shore and look at the ships coming and going.

Sweeping Up the Confetti

What a party. The top three floors of the Learning Dutch with Geert Mak Building are a mess. I don't even want to think about the bottom 28.

Bianca of the Dutch East Indies Heritage Project stopped by. She left some angklung to help everyone wind down.

Happy Birthday Geert Mak!

Welcome to the virtual birthday party for Geert "Big" Mak! The event is 33 hours long. We start at midnight, December 4th in the Netherlands and end at 11:59 p.m. on the same day in California.
Wherever you are, have some cake and ice-cream, a beer or maybe even a broodje kroket. This is also a good day to enjoy some haring. Start your version of this event off with Boogie-Woogie from the Netherlands' own Eeco Rijken Rapp. Here is The Youtube-Blues.

At the 1/3 point.

After nearly a year, I've made it through one third of this book. I hope the rest doesn't take 2 more years. I thought I would be faster by now. Things are going a little faster.

The action has moved back to the Indies. Mak found the letters between his parents and grandparents from the years 1932-46. He is also talking to his relatives about their memories.

An old aunt he visited would watch travel shows on German TV.