One of the advantages of California is that it is cooler than Dallas, where at this moment summer has set in and the temperatures are over 100 degrees. One of the disadvantages of California is that it is cooler than Dallas, because it is freezing cold here! I am exaggerating a little bit, but I am writing this Joe Es Ee (phonetically pronounced U-S-A in Dutch) Newsflash with goosebumps (not "goosebums," thanks Lara!) on my arms. During the day the weather is beautiful here in San Jose, but in the evenings it gets really cold. But I am trying to adapt to the California lifestyle. People are jogging everywhere and water is the most popular drink. Can you believe that there is a water store around the corner from my apartment complex? They probably also sell tap water. Anyway, I try to live up to the macho image (keep on dreaming Wim), and so I go to the gym in the mornings. Half of the equipment I have no clue how to use, but that doesn't mean anything, because I would even swim laps in a jacuzzi. Instead of jogging outside and getting lost finding my way back, I prefer to run on the treadmill. The biggest advantage of a treadmill is that you don't have to run back. It took a little while before I realized this, but every step you take outside psychologically counts double, since you already know that you have to make that step again on your return.
So I start every day refreshed from the gym. Although the commute from Dallas to San Jose is not always easy, especially since I have a good reason now to be in Dallas, all these concerns disappeared one day when I heard about a certain job. During an interview on television, a man made a comment about the "worthless check department". To be very honest I thought initially that "worthless" referred to the department instead of the checks. You would have a lot of explaining to do every time, when you tell people that you work in that useless department.
Are there some similarities between The Netherlands and Denmark? Personally I have no idea, except that we are a little bit taller on average and have blond hair. In the States I have often noticed that Americans often mix up these two countries. Part of it probably has to do with all the different names for our country. I come from "The Netherlands," or "Holland," and we speak "Dutch." Very confusing, I know, and the following situations are an example of how confusing it can be. When somebody asks me where I come from, I say "The Netherlands," because of course Holland is just a province of The Netherlands. Most of the time I get a very vague look in the person's eyes, so I give in and say "Holland?" "Ooh...Holland...Johan Cruijff." "Whatever..." I think to myself. A taxi driver noticed my accent and I told him that it was Dutch. "Dutch?" he replied, "do they speak that in Denmark?" Immediately I corrected him and thought to myself that he could forget about his tip. An employee in a store asked me where I was from and I told him the truth and said "The Netherlands." He became completely excited and replied "Oh, I have a lot of customers from Denmark." I have no clue where that remark came from. It makes you realize though that we are from a small country. You can't blame the Americans for not knowing exactly where our country is located. A lot of Dutch people are not good at geography either. I remember a program on television called "De Vakantieman" ("Holiday Man"). I used to hate that program so much, and the host of the show is enough reason for me to stay in The States. So I was watching that program out of masochism and they were interviewing people from The Netherlands who migrated to Spain during the cold winters. They showed them a map of Europe and asked them to point out where they were at that moment. It was hard to believe, but they pointed to Belgium, Germany and even Scandinavia (where the winters are really cold). They had probably been sleeping in the bus on the way to Spain, so exhausted from watching television during the summer that they didn't even notice that they hadn't crossed any water.
The Women's World Cup soccer has just finished, and we have been able to enjoy a lot of great games. Because the games were played here in the States and because the extremely popular American team won the World Cup, I get my hopes up that there will be more attention paid to soccer in general. During the Men's World Cup last year, there was a lot of influence from football in the way of reporting. This year I was watching the Superbowl, but at that time I didn't understand much of the game. The funny thing to me was that the referee had a little microphone. They should also do that with soccer. It would be very interesting to listen to the undoubtedly very intelligent conversations with the players. It would be much more interesting than the comments of any commentator. Another toy for commentators during football games is a little pencil that they can use to draw on the screen. As soon as the picture freezes, all the comments about tactics are supported by lines, circles and arrows on the screen. This concept was also used for the commentary during the Men's World Cup in France. What they forgot though is that this idea only works if you have control over the pictures shown. So what happened was that lines and arrows were drawn on the screen, but in the meantime the producer in France decided to go to another shot. That gave some very funny combinations on the television, like a line over a player's face (a moustache maybe?) or a little halo above the head of another player. Well, let me tell you this. A lot of the players are not really known for their angelic behavior.
I was getting too cold last night, so I am finishing this Joe Es Ee Newsflash in the plane on my way back to Dallas. This week was a good example of how international Lara and I are. Last Monday we both left at the same time from the airport. Lara on her way to Singapore and me on my way to California. By chance we will also arrive at the same time back in Dallas. That is so funny about airports. I hate them for saying goodbye, but I love them for coming home.
America is a country of debt. Everything you buy can be bought on credit, and when your debt climbs too high, you declare yourself bankrupt. You can get the forms for bankruptcy at the supermarket (second row on the left). A radio ad for a car loan shouts through my speakers: "Bankruptcy is OK." It is also often rewarding to be in debt. The only way of saving is with airmiles. You can earn airmiles with the funniest purchases. For example when you get laser surgery to correct your eyesight, you can earn miles. But read the fine print first (but that is probably why you need the surgery), because you only get the miles when you finance the surgery with a loan. So the only way of saving is by getting in more debt.
Best regards
and we will meet again in the next Joe Es Ee Newsflash,
Wim