One of the canals in Breda Centrum, the fortress looking building behind the bridge are part of some military training facility

The Grote Markt, kind of a central plaze in the heart of Breada. you can see part of the big church that sits downtown in the back.

Happy Valentines Day Wendi

Hi everyone, this is going to be a short post, just wanted to post some pictures of the city that I have been promising since day one. You can chalk the delay up to two main reasons (1) The weather (2) My fear of being discovered as an outsider by taking pictures.

I would like to add some details on the Grote Markt. This is great spot to get a nice afternoon coffee, sit outside, and watch the people move throughout the city. Its full of cafes, pubs, restaurants, a bike shop, several other little shops, and of course a bakery or two. The church in its center seems to be the central hub of the city, with roads twisting in every direction from it. One other thing to add about the Grote Markt is its a very different place Saturday night. This spot would be filled with groups of people, going to the different pubs located around this area. The pubs are nice, but the drinking age is 16 here, so its very strange seeing high school kids drinking a pint in the bar. Even stranger is the fact that you cannot drive until your 18, which I kindda agree with (I was a terrible driver at 16) Ok, I hope everyone has a good weekend.

So I have been in Europe for over a month now. As I expected, homesickness is setting in. It’s really the little things that begin to really get to me, below is a list of things that I am missing here in the Netherlands; the order is up for debate. Certainly, Wendi is who/what I miss the most, but do I miss dirt roads more than the lake house, snow over taco bell? This is hard to determine.

1. Wendi (of course)
2. Talking to strangers without an awkward introduction to establish that I will not be speaking to them in Dutch
3. Adult Swim on Cartoon Network
4. Bookstores with an English section that contains more than 20 books (half being part of the Twilight series, simply terrible)
5. Drinking a Diet Coke in the morning without getting strange looks
6. Meijer (more precisely, a 24 hour superstore)
7. Running errands on Sunday instead of doing nothing
8. Detroit Basketball
9. My FJ Cruiser
10. Snow (I know, who would have thought)
11. Dirt roads
12. Friends/Family
13. Hulu.com (doesn’t work in Europe)
14. Best Buy
15. The lake house
16. Cheap American Beer, the beer here is amazing, but sometimes you just need a Bud
17. NPR
18. Taco Bell
19. Dollar bills instead of dollar coins
20. Green Onion
21. A normal salad, no corn, no strange dressing, no herring, no egg, just lettuce, tomato, carrots and dressing
22. Listerine
23. Getting mail, real mail from the postman
24. Monster Truck Rallies; I have never gone to one, but I miss knowing that I could
25. HBO
26. Kitty (stupid kitty)
27. Conan O’Brian
28. Cheddar
29. Ortega Taco Sauce
30. Xbox 360
31. American Humor (many of my jokes flop when delivered to my Dutch colleagues, and its not the jokes fault)
32. The newspaper
33. Non-sandwich based breakfast options (A colleague of mine recently pointed out that to tell the different between a Dutch breakfast and a Dutch lunch, you must look at your watch.)
34. Rude, inconsiderate people (The Dutch are way too nice)
35. Bumper stickers

Of course, there are several things that I do not miss, and I made a small list of some of things I am most happy to have out of my life.

1. Angry drivers
2. Billboards
3. Charter Communications (worst company in the universe, someone could establish a company that’s sole business was puppy genocide and I would still consider Charter to be more evil)
4. FOX News

Oh Fox News, how I miss your journalistic integrity (Please note: Fox requires the word Terror to appear on the screen at any single moment)

5. Starbucks
6. Wal-Mart (never shopped there, but glad I don’t have to see one)
7. People who talk on their phones while driving
8. Frozen dinners
9. The current state of the US economy
10. Freedom Fries

Dusk out my back porch

Sunday Night Post

Well it’s the end to a pretty uneventful weekend. I have started my Dutch lessons via Rosetta Stone software. It’s going ok, there are some things I am picking up pretty well, but then it will throw some words like “herfststorm” and I look at the six consonants in a row including a double st and I wish there was an easier way to say autumn storm. I have learned my numbers, up to twenty-five, but still need to practice. One good thing about the language is that it stay’s very much within its rules when spoken by the Dutch, slang is non-existent. It seems that preservation of the language is important, for it doesn’t extend too far from Holland, though it does have variations throughout the world resulting from Dutch colonization.

So I fiets (to ride a bike) my fiets (bike)around town when the weather was ok, but again, didn’t bring the camera. Got to drive to Essen Germany this Tuesday, I will be staying the night there. I don’t recommend driving on the autobahn to anyone. It is not fun. Every time you pass a semi on the highway, I mean the second you get in that passing lane, a Beamer or Audi are right there on your rear bumber, honking to get out of the way, angry you are not going 200 kph. Next week, Dubai. Where my boss has rented us two cars for transportation, so I soon will get the joys to knowing what driving in the UAE is like. Have a good week everyone.

One final note, I found Hienz Ketchup, which is a wonderful thing. Its comes in toothpaste form.

Going to Dubai Soon

Thursday Prime Time Post

Hello Everyone, long time no post. I don't have any new pictures to post of anything. This is mainly due to the rainy weather that has been going on all week/month. But for all you picture lovers, I have some good news for you, a week from Monday (Feb 16) I will be flying to Dubai for a two week integration. Because everyday there is sunny and 80 degree's, I will be able to take pictures and post them on this site.


OK, its been a while since I posted a Dutch food Review, and I picked these up the other day and knew instantly that these were going on the blog.

Kellogs Tresor

Don't worry kids, there's enough for everyone, this is a Maxi Pack

First off, let me state that I am still not convinced that these are meant to be eaten with milk like normal cereal. They have the right shape, size, and texture to be cereal, but they are literially filled with gooey gooey chocolate sauce. I had a bowl of these last night, it was like I was eating Koala Yummies with milk. If you don't know what Koala Yummies are, I am sorry, but I cannot find a better comparison.
I have to give it to Kellogs, they are literally the only one's in the market with cereal offerings. I think this stuff is made in Belgium, but I could be wrong, just trying to read the box.

Wow, look at the fun and exciting game posted on the back of this box, who will be the first to discover the rules?

I just had to post that webcomic above, it really made me laugh today. So it snowed today for the first time since I arrived, only about an inch but still, now I completely understand everything everyone in Michigan has been going through. Not much to post today, planning on being in Dubai in two weeks now, we will see if this occurs or not. I didn't get to watch any of the super bowl last night, since it started at 12:55 last night, which didn't bother me much, being a Lions fan and all. You don't have to go to a superbowl ever to be cool. Sorry about not putting pictures up, I keep forgeting to take my camera with me when I go out. Allright, I will post something worth reading soon.