Carol Bontekoe

This blog has been keeping track of my adventures since 2004. The stories and the adventures have come from my college dorm room to Uganda, Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan, learning Dutch in the Netherlands to living in the wilds of Homer, Alaska. I went back to school in Amsterdam to study Theaterwetenschap (Theatre Science) at University of Amsterdam. And now my adventures as a Fruit Fly, a Sexy Unicorn, and creating a movement with Team Sparkle in Chicago.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

fout van mij

I have a bad 13 year old girl habit. I blame the world for my promblems. okay, maybe not all my problems and maybe not all people. To be a lil more specific I blame the Dutch for why I can't speak Dutch. I bitch and moan about how they all speak Englsih and are always trying to show how much English they know.
However, I ahve recetly realized it isn't their fault it's mine. The reason I don't know Dutch is because I don't listen. To be honest I don't listen in English either. At least not the first time anyone says anything it takes two or three tries for me to really know what anyone is saying, even in my native tongue. The problem with that is when I say "Wat zei je?" to a Dutch person they assume it is that I don't understand, not the honest to God truth I just don't like listening to anyone's voice but my own. So, when stuff gets repeated to me here it is always in English. Once someone has started speaking English to me it is a very difficult process to get them to go back to Dutch. Takes a lot of answering everything in Dutch and whinning in English about how no one speaks Dutch with me.
So to all Dutch people het spijt me. I only sort of blame you for my problems now.