The London Ticket

Posted on by May 26, 2018
1

We had not yet left U.S. airspace when I had my first encounter with Brit-speak.  A flight attendant came down the aisle and asked if we needed a London Ticket.  What?  A London Ticket.  

“We’re from the U.S.” said Betsy helpfully.  

Our flight attendant from Leeds with Betsy

“Yes,” said flight attendant, as if that ended the conversation, and began to count out two cards.  

“But we’re going to MANCHESTER!” I added not quite out loud.

She handed us the two cards which were labeled in bold letters “Landing Ticket”.  I would have described them as as “Customs Declarations” in American, but, whatever, I was instantly glad I had not explained my earlier thinking to her.

After some Ambien-fueled sleep, we had a chance to speak with her at length and learned she is from Leeds, about 20 miles from Harrogate, where the wedding will be held.  We admired her delightful accent, and she laughed and explained that people from Leeds, and Yorkshire in general, have quite a distinct way of speaking—unless you are from Harrogate.   Harrogate is pronounced “HAR-uh-gut” if you’re from Leeds or elsewhere, but “har-aah-GATE ” if you’re from Harrogate—and therefore deemed pretentious.

Re. Virgin Atlantics perks:  that extra 3″ we upgraded for didn’t really amount to much–unless I think of the alternative.

Hmm, I’m going to have to keep a low profile until I’m more confident with this Brit-speak thing.  And this is going to be more complicated than I expected…..

Jolly Well Off to Bonny Olde England

Posted on by May 23, 2018
2

Off Betsy and I go to Northern England, my first visit to the land of Hobbes (Thomas, not Calvin-and-) to find the philosopher’s answer to a life that is naturally “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short!

England Itinerary

”

Okay, no glumness here–we’re actually going to celebrate a wedding!   Betsy’s nephew, Nicholas Eggers of San Diego, is marrying Aditi Das of Leeds, England, in a three day affair that we consider an improvement on last weekend’s Royal Wedding.  For one thing, we’re invited. For another, the bride and groom are stars in their respective families and cannot be outshone by Prince Andrew, Meghan Markle or the Queen for that matter.  And if that’s not enough, the clincher for us is that 2 of the 3 days are dedicated to Hindu wedding tradition and ceremony, which we haven’t witnessed before.  This feels like an incredible honor!

Our preparation to date has consisted almost exclusively of watching BBC detective mini-series.  We study the culture, dress and accent, and unfailingly admire the penetrating English intelligence and use of language.  I highly recommend “Unforgotten”–after you’ve warmed up with “Foyle’s War”, “Endeavour,” “Inspector Morse”, “Inspector Lewis”, “Doc Martin”, “Broadchurch”, and–need I go on?

For all the studying, my personal grasp of English-speak is a bit shaky, as you may have already discerned from the title of this post.  Between unfamiliar pronunciations and my personal hearing loss, I’m never quite sure if I got things right.  This visit will be the test as I plan to talk like a native. Will I blend in?  This could go terribly wrong–stay tuned and I will let you know.

Injured foot

We are trying some new things on this trip which add a certain unpredictability and excitement.  First, we are flying Virgin Atlantic, the Richard Branson airline, and thinking it will be a better experience than staid, tight-seated old Delta.  Secondly, we will travel exclusively by train, bus, bike and foot once we’re in country.  This seems less exciting since I injured my foot in a running incident and we may have to add Uber/Lyft as an option.

We’re off!

Virgin Atlantic at the Gate

Scrapbook

Posted on by December 31, 2019
Reply

We always come back with a collection of noteworthy moments and photos that haven’t found their way into a post.  Here’s the Dutch scrapbook.

 

This is how Dutch school kids get to the annual all-district field day:

And this is how the Dutch “Share the Road.”  This is a common road design in rural areas.  Note the e-bikes, which are increasingly common there (especially for tourists).

The Fam' loving life in Amsterdam

The Fam’ loving life in Amsterdam

An almost-memorable afternoon in Vondelpark doing what visitors to Amsterdam do....

An almost-memorable afternoon in Vondelpark doing what visitors to Amsterdam do….

The Myth of Hans Brinker

Posted on by December 31, 2019
Reply

Hans Brinker is not Dutch.  We were informed of this by our Dutch guide shortly after arriving in the Netherlands.  Huh?  “Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates” has been celebrated literature since the mid-1800’s in American schools—most famously as propagator of the story of the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in a dike to save his country.  This little story-within-a-story, called “The Hero of Haarlem”, is told in the book as part of the larger Hans Brinker narrative, although the hero, unnamed, is NOT Hans Brinker.

Can this have never happened???

Mary Mapes Dodge

Mary Mapes Dodge

It turns out that “Hans Brinker” was written by an American, Mary Mapes Dodge, who had never visited the Netherlands.  She leaned on book research and Dutch neighbors to fill in authentic details about Dutch life and history.  In the end, she produced an inspiring tale about an honorable lad who does the right thing despite difficult family circumstances.  It is also, intrinsically, an American fable.

Boy-and-the-dike statue, Madurodan

Boy-and-the-dike statue, Madurodan

Russell Shorto, American author of the excellent book “Amsterdam:  A History of the World’s Most Liberal City” explains in a discussion of Dutch character.  The story of the boy and the dike perplexes the Dutch because, first, a small hole in a dike through which water pours is an impossibility, and, second, the Dutch would never bring up a child to think he/she should stop this crisis on his/her own.  In a Dutch version, the child would run to the local Water Board, which would pull out an emergency plan and marshall local citizens to fix the dike.  The history of the Dutch struggle against the sea is all about group effort.

“Hans Brinker”, then, illustrates the difference between American individualism and Dutch collectivism. This, of course, has not kept a few Dutch towns from trying to capitalize on tourism by erecting a statue to the hero of the story or an Amsterdam hostel from naming itself “Hans Brinker Budget Hotel”.  But according to Wikipedia’s entry on the subject, seconded by our guide, Joppe, “The story of the dike-plugging boy is….not widely known in the Netherlands — it is a piece of American, rather than Dutch, folklore.”