Tuesday 2 February 2016

's-Hertogenbosch: Limpeh is going to the Netherlands!

Hi guys. I am heading to the Netherlands this month, to the city of 's-Hertogenbosch. That's right, it is not a typo, the name of the town really down begin with 's- and let me explain to you why I am heading there. You know how I get restless and itch to travel every few weeks. Normally I would go skiing in February, but having just started a new company and with other work commitments, I have narrowed down a very small window period when I can go traveling in February and that window period coincides with the British school holidays period, so prices shoot through the roof during that week. I had a look at Skyscanner for cheap flights and found quite a cheap one to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. So I booked it and then consulted my Dutch friends about where to stay, what to do, what to see/buy etc.
What a name for a city!

A former colleague of mine warned me that whilst Eindhoven is a reasonably big city in the south of the Netherlands, it is not a very pretty place as the Germans bombed it very heavily during WW2, destroying many of the quaint, old buildings. She suggested that I stayed at 's-Hertogenbosch instead which is 19 mins by train from Eindhoven. I thought the 's- was a typo but sure enough, 's- really does exist in Dutch (along with the famous IJ which confounds me as well). I have a love-hate relationship with the Dutch language - I love the way it sounds as it is so Germanic and guttural, but when I tried learning it, Dutch grammar held me in a head lock, pinned me to the ground till I passed out from the terrible pain in my head. I've studied many languages and whilst Dutch may look deceptively similar to English on the surface with so much shared vocabulary, the grammar is a real mindfuck. Anyway, with a name like 's-Hertogenbosch, I've gotta visit this town especially since my former colleague has recommended it!  I will be trying to study some Dutch before I head to 's-Hertogenbosch, the last time I studied any Dutch was for my time in Belgium and that was when I was last in the Netherlands too, when I went to Maastricht.  Many thanks for reading, dank je wel!
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown2 February 2016 at 09:31

    Peculiar really, as Dutch grammar in particular is a lot, lot simpler than German. Fewer genders to think about (and when unsure, just use the diminutive, it's just fine in Dutch), and they have very little effect on the word endings, unlike in German :)

    I love it a lot anyway

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    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent2 February 2016 at 11:13

      Well, I remember asking my Dutch friends why it is "sla links af" and the way slaaf gets split up like that. I have studied German a lot more out of sheer necessity after having worked in Germany and needing German for work - whilst I have only used Dutch with friends (whom all speak fluent English anyway). Even when I worked in Belgium, I was in Liege - and they speak French there, not Dutch and like, there was only one woman on the entire team who spoke any Dutch! It kinda shocked me as Liege is so close to the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, yet they were soooo French speaking and would speak English as a second language but refused to learn Dutch. But then again, that reflects the situation in Singapore too - when virtually all Singaporeans would speak English + their parents' mother tongue but not another language. So Chinese-Singaporeans are unlikely to know any Malay, despite being surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia.

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