Nothing rhymes with Orange

The Dutch football team has made it to the quarter finals and people here are going wild!

During any of the games, I don't even have to watch the games in order to know how we're doing. I put it on the television and sit at my desk doing other work until I hear the cheers and the horns from outside. I toss on my glasses and take a look at the replay that is playing on the tele and then hup, back to work. It's a great ethic! I work and never miss an important part of the play.

What else is interesting is to see how the colour orange has taken over space in the Netherlands.

You have people showing their support by decorating their houses:

You have people showing their spirit on their cars and bicycles

You have neighbourhood centres showing their allegiances as you walk through their door:

And my favorite window from one of the local business owners who went to lengths to show their spirit and provided a wonderful mix of cultural ideals through their own eyes:

I don't know if you can see what is here in this picture but it's a Moroccan traditional outfit that is made with orange colours. The hat is complete with red, white and blue trimming and pom pom. I think it is also quite interesting to see the contrast between this oranje man and the more scantily dressed Hollandse meisje.

For the very un-nationalistic Dutch, this display of nationalism is very odd!!! When asked about it, I often get the answer, yes, well, this is the world cup! Fair enough. At least we've got something to cheer about! Way to go boys!!!!

A Bump in the Road

This morning was supposed to be our ~ Picknick in Het Kralingse Bos! As a group, the ladies who volunteer and participate in the friday morning bicycling lessons agreed to meet at the buurt centrum to cycle to a nearby nature area to have a picnic and enjoy one anothers company before vacations took us all away from one another's company. This event was also a celebration for those who had completed their cycling lessons and advertised to those who had already learned to cycle through our program and any of their cycling friends who would like to join.

Participants were asked to bring 'wat lekkers mee' and to 'neem liefst een eigen fiets mee' translated as 'bring good tasting things with you' and 'come with their own bicycle', in order to participate. We also had 8 bicycles in reserve for those that wanted to come but had no bicycle of their own.

The other volunteers and I arrived at 10 am, one half hour before our departure time, in order to prepare. We decided to have some coffee and wait for the participants to show up so that we could decide how many bikes we had to get out of the bicycle shed and how many drinks we should bring. We waited...and waited...and waited...and waited.

I guess you could say that besides the nice morning chat over coffee, the picknick was a bust! No one showed up! I wasn't too surprised since last Friday some of the participants mentioned that there may be some setbacks in our original timing. That is, some of the women had new appointments booked since we scheduled back in late May/early June. In other cases, a few participants were hustling to get ready for extended trips away or that Monday mornings didn't seem to suit their schedules at all.

Either way, whether it was a case of scheduling, or our advertising method, or possibly the feel of summer that made everyone play hookie, unfortunately our picknick...picked not.

Goodbye Friday

I've become accustomed to my weekly routine in the neighbourhood centre.

Monday's I attend a conversation circle with other women out of the neighbourhood.

Tuesday - I have my inburgerings course (citizenship lessons) at the centre with my teacher Fleur.

Wednesday mornings are various and might include a women's breakfast meeting or a schouw (a walk around the neighbourhood to ensure safety and cleanliness). Typically however it's not until 1pm that I show up at the centre to help out with the homework lessons there.

On Thursday I don't go to the buurt centrum but I miss it all day ... just kidding.

Friday is a good day because I go to the buurt centrum to help out with the biking lessons, which I've been doing since fall of last year.

But today is Goodbye Friday as all of these buurtcentrum events are coming to an end with the start of the summer vacation. I spoke to many women today who told me that they were going away to various vacation spots (Turkey, Morocco, Kosovo, etc.) to spend their summer. Some were going for 4 weeks, others 5 weeks and even a few said 6 weeks. Amazing! I'm envious!

So it's with sadness that I say goodbye to all of my buurt centrum activities which are on hiatus until after the summer vacation. I am also saying goodbye to all the people whom I was able to meet with regularly because of these activities. While I'll still be here the first week that these activities start back (I believe it's the third week of August that school starts again) and will be present for this week, it will be a fleeting visit as I'm going back to Canada on the 22nd of August (mark your Calendars ;) ).

Ugg, my time here is definitely wrapping up! Goodbye Friday, hello summer time.

A lesson in Methods

I had a meeting today with a Wijkpastor concerning a tool that he and his staff uses when serving the community. 'Exposure', as it is called, is a method by which people working within the local community can become better aquainted with their surroundings. There are two types of exposure one can have. First, one can take an active approach, which is walking around and looking for things in the area that are of particular interest to oneself and one's work. Second, to passively take-in what the neighbourhood has to offer. This means that you'd find yourself a nice place to sit or stand and wait for the life of the neighbourhood to come to you. These approaches are best done together as the active approach has more your own agenda involved and the passive approach allows for others' agendas to come into play.

There are some further steps to think about when doing an exposure. You must absolutely, as part of a process, keep your eyes and ears open. You should take notice of the smells and sounds around you and the feelings that you feel due to any and all activity. Another necessary step in this process is to write down everything that you've seen and felt during your outing. It's upon this reflection that you'll be able to better explain why certain things affected you and why you find them interesting or not.

In our meeting today, the Wijkpastor mentioned that he’d received an account concerning one man's exposure experience. As this man walked through the neighbourhood he saw two instances of graffiti written on a wall. One said "F*ck the Moroccans" and the other said "Seks is lekker" (sex is delicious). The man who was writing the exposure turned in his report and wrote an exert on the first case of graffiti, which had made him extremely upset as he thought there was an unfortunate increase in racism against Moroccans. However, he did not reflect on the second comment that seks is lekker. The pastor asked the man to reflect on this graffiti and also on why it was that he mentioned but did not reflect on it. In doing so, the man was also asked to question his own position as a person in this space and in this society, e.g. what does he think of such words as a man/father/citizen in public space?

The pastor told me that exposure, for himself and those he works with, is a necessary step in order to help and interact better with the community.

For myself, this discussion also made me think about how little passive time I put into viewing the neighbourhood. I am always off to a meeting or activity somewhere. In order to get there, I always take my bike and typically leave at a time when I have to hurry in order to make it. Starting tomorrow however, I'm going to dedicate some time to walking around the neighbourhood, as well as sitting and spending time just ‘in’ the neighbourhood. It’s brilliant! Let others come to me!! It sounds wonderfully relaxing and truthfully, I can't think of a better way to spend my time in this wonderful weather we're having!

A Space for Religion - Part Two

Hmmm, as I sometimes do, I re-read over some of the blogs that I've written to ensure that there are no spelling mistakes or awkward phrasing. I posted a blog yesterday that discussed lions (how exciting! maybe you should read it for yourself!) and another about the religious spaces that I've found in the neighbourhood.

At one point I write: In general, the majority of literature about the role of religion in the Netherlands concludes that religion is no longer important in this seemingly secular society. But is this in fact the case? Does religion have to be within the doors of the church, and vice versa, that is do things that happen within the church have to be religious?

Upon re-reading this, I was struck by how different this opinion - that is how the role of religion has decreased in Dutch society- sounded in opposition to the other blogs, for example the blog I wrote about Ayaan Hirsi Ali, concerning the role of Islam in Dutch society.

How was this possible?!?

1. I was extremely jetlagged and lacked a considerable amount of sleep in order to perform the function of write properly. I wish blogger had a 'you're-too-tired-to-blog-at-this-moment-so-please-return-after-a-good-night's-sleep' button.

2. Although it was previous thought that Dutch society experienced a considerable decline of Christianity in the Netherlands (the Netherlands is historically a Protestant and Catholic country), more recently, the literature on religion discusses how Christianity in its formal sense might be dwindling (such as church attendance) but that the concept of religion itself is no less important than before. This is exactly what I see myself demonstrating in the previous blog - the presence of not-so-religious-religious spaces in the neighbourhood or as I just thought of - a more 'softcore religion' in daily life. Sounds catchy (hopefully in a good way)!

I guess what was so interesting to me about my own writing was that I could compartmentalise Islam and Christianity into such different categories that when I began to discuss the specific church spaces in my own neighbourhood (of which there is a Mosque and an Islamic University), I was able to forget the presence of Islam in this area.

What does that say about how religion is felt in everyday space in my neighbourhood? And of course the harder question, what does that have to say about how I'm conducting my research?

Most of my days here are spent with wonderful women who also happen to be Muslims. There are some Muslim women who help out with some of the same activities that I help with and there are many Muslim women that attend the same activities that I do. Yet, when looking at the participation of the local institutions for religion, I seem to have a blank space in my research! Hmmm. This is something that I will look into further.

The question of religion as seen through the eyes of the neighbourhoods is a tough one because in order for one's presence to be seen (at least in the way that I'm conducting my research) it typically has to follow standardized avenues. From my experiences, these avenues are generally supported by the municipal government and/or using the knowledge and experiences of established members of this neighbourhood who might better know how to negotiate the Dutch system. Thus, maybe I have not had many experiences that include Islamic institutions in everyday life, in my particular neighbourhoods, because I tend to spend a lot of time within a certain network of people. This is not to say that I have no contact with non-mainstream activities since my participation in daily events leads me off the beaten track through the lives of friends and acquaintances. However, this is an area that I should look into during my final months here in Rotterdam!

ORANJE FEVER!!!

I think some of you may have noticed the change in appearance to my blog. I'm trying to show my Orange coloured support for the Dutch team who are kicking some butt (!!) in the FIFA World Soccer Championship in South Africa (like I need to be telling any of you!?!).

The streets are lined with orange streamers and flags are hanging outside of houses just like on Koninginnesdag. It is definitely a festive time as bars have opened their doors early to accommodate the schedule of the cup. People are wearing orange jerseys or shirts, hats, braids, Bavaria dresses (ooo, the scandal!) and any other piece of orange they can get their hands on. Although I've heard that donning blue, white and red is also okay, it's not done as frequently. Horns (that can be bought for quite cheap at the Bas and other grocery stores - all of which have stands with orange paraphernalia during this time) loud cheers and chants can be heard in the middle of the night.

The Netherlands beat Japan today in a solid 1-0 defeat and they will play again on the 24th (if I remember Cananon's schedule correctly) and will definitely make it through as one of the two teams that gets to go on from our first pool (again, if I'm remembering everything correctly).
Here are the two songs that I've learned as a good little Dutch soccer fan:

Hup, Holland, Hup, Laat de leeuw niet in zijn hepjes stand! Hup, Holland, Hup!
Hooray Holland Hooray! Let the lion not stand in his undershirt! Hooray Holland Hooray!
-note, the spelling of 'hepjes' might be wrong-

And this one:
Holland! (Clap, clap, clap) Holland! (Clap, clap, clap).
Ummm, you don't really need a translation for this do you?
-note, the spelling should be correct in this one but the clapping might be off timing-

Finally, not that I have to bring everything that I write on this blog back to my research but I did read an article today (given to me by Cananon - thank you!) concerning how the Dutch soccer strategy, called 'Total Football', is all about the use of space on the football field and how Dutch players are thought to think about football strategy in spatial ways. According to the author of the article, 'this came naturally' to the Dutch players because the Dutch have been playing around, creating, demolishing, and mastering space in their own country for so long.

Enough, I'm off to dye my hair orange and my eyebrows red, white and blue

A Space for Religion

Throughout my time here I've met and spent some time working with the religious leaders here in my neighbourhood and the neighbourhood of Bergpolder. We became acquainted through their work in the community. On various afternoons and evenings, I've attended their church to participate in environmental awareness nights, cultural podiums, theatre productions, lectures concerning the fate or the future of the Hofplein line (the train line that runs through Bergpolder), author debates, bicycling tournament centres, spanish guitar performances, among other things.

Sorry, what did you say? No, you heard me correctly, these are events that took place at the two churches in my area...not a local community centre. But I find that these churches are just that, they are local community centres. These events are diverse but they still do not encompass the community work that is supported by these congregations or their pastors. For example, one of the pastors sits on the local Krachtwijk committee and the other spent many long months, with myself, on the 5th of Mei celebration organisation committee.

It may be my lack of participation in the religious community in Canada but I was frankly taken-aback to see how much a part of the community, these two churches and their adherents are. When I asked Berg (one of the pastors) why he was so active in the neighbourhood he simply said that "he was trying to be a good neighbour". He elaborated by saying that although religion was one of the reasons why he took part in the community, it was only one of the many reasons.

In general, the majority of literature about the role of religion in the Netherlands concludes that religion is no longer important in this seemingly secular society. But is this in fact the case? Does religion have to be within the doors of the church, and vice versa, that is do things that happen within the church have to be religious? The line of secular and religious becomes a bit more fuzzy when you see it in every day use.

Interestingly enough, there is a debate going here in the Netherlands right now concerning the role of the church here in Dutch society. The debate is between a religion sociologist named Gerard Dekker and a historian named James Kennedy. Dekker argues that (my translation) "the core business of the church is dealing with God and His Word. If the Church interferes too much with social life, then there is a chance of major adjustment." Therefore Dekker is arguing that the church must keep a religious instead of social function in greater society.

Kennedy however is arguing exactly the opposite. He argues that the church can remain a contrasting community as Dekker wishes but that it needs to go out into the community in order to survive. "... the church also has a task for the outside world, which is reflected in the care for the homeless or residents of a nursing home (for example)". From what I understand, Kennedy would like the church to work within secular society as something that individuals can to look up to and not remain an aloof bystander as Dekker argues.

Dekker believes that potential extinction of the church as a religious institution (and not a social institution) is better than loosing its quality of religion. He worries that the church will take on too many negative connotations, such as the role of the church in Apeldoorn after the Queen's Drama and the location of the church in the Social Support Act. Would you like more info? Please click here.

As I said above, seeing the work of those connected with the churches here in everyday life has brought these individuals (and the churches themselves as buildings in my perspective) into greater consciousness as I'm sure it does for those who live around and attend the events as I've done. Maybe I should make note of the fact that none of the events that I've attended so far have made me feel like they were fishing for converts. :) So, as far as I'm concerned, the churches here and their workers are doing their part to be a good neighbour to the surrounding community.

What do you think?

Rings of Understanding

I've always been fascinated at my own understanding of the city and as a new immigrant, how this knowledge mimics the use of Rotterdam (and Rotterdam Noord) by other new immigrants.

On my second day in the country, I made it my business to go for a walk. I took a walk around 3 blocks. I used the main roads around me because the names of the streets were too long to remember. Although Pdot (remember him? He'll be making a come-back to the blog and the Netherlands around mid July! Very exciting!) had picked up a map of the city centre for me, it did not cover Rotterdam North where I live. I kept to the main roads and low and behold, I found the Islamic University. I walked in, spoke with a couple of people and then walked home. What a fascinating first walk! I said to myself.

At this point, it was extremely hard to make myself leave the house. Why? Because everything was foreign and I felt unsafe! I was learning very quickly that my preparation in the Dutch language was no where near enough and everything I came across was new and confusing. It was exhausting even to go out for bread, milk and eggs although I had no choice. When the cashier asks you if you want your receipt or a bag and you say in your perfected practice Dutch-Canadian garble 'Can you please say that again?' and then you don't understand it the second time, well, it's troubling to say the least. I won't go into details at this point but not being able to speak someone's native language garners different reactions. Some people try and help by switching to English, some people think you are stupid and speak louder to you like you're deaf. There is a wide range; these are only two of the options.

In December when I had my first visitor Luke here, I was able to show him where I liked to go in the city. Although I probably didn't realise it at the time, a lot of these places were Pdot's places that he liked to go because he'd been the one acquainting me with Rotterdam. I did however have some of my own places. By this time I had included a neighbourhood centre in the neighbouring wijk, had a couple interviews with the workers from the neighbourhood organisation (one block away from my house but whose presence was unknown to me for around a month or two), and learned how to navigate the metro system so as to get to my various jobs teaching English. Local shopping districts had become some of my favourite but I knew where the 'koopgroot' in the centre of Rotterdam was along with some very interesting museums.

By the time I was making my trip home to Canada in the last weeks of March my rings of understanding in the city had definitely changed. Pdot had been gone for almost two and a half months and my destinations of choice and by design were becoming farther apart and more varied. I typically used my bike because it was faster than public modes of transportation. My English lessons were now being given in other cities rather than other neighbourhoods of Rotterdam. I'd walked the streets not only to get to a specific destination but on neighbourhood walk-abouts with groups looking over areas of interest and areas with perceived security issues. Certain places within public spaces in an around the neighbourhoods where I researched had layers of meaning instead of just acknowledgement of their existence. The plein beside my house was the future spot where we were to hold the 5th of Mei celebration. It was a place run over by children from my street and an area of concern at night for those in the neighbourhood who saw the lack of lighting and the tendency of young teenagers to hang around after night to be a security problem. I cut through this plein every time I was going to a meeting at the local neighbourhood organisation and a place where I could see mothers sitting and talking on benches and heated football competitions playing out.

When I came back from my short trip home my knowledge of the space around me grew. I'm no longer afraid to go to the grocery store and I take short cuts to the places I frequent the most. I am recognising people in space and they, me. My last visitors my aunt Peg and uncle Frank were treated to my most knowledgeable tour around Rotterdam yet. Sites of interest included the 'ethic street' close to my house - Zwart Jan Straat, which is seen by others as a dangerous street but is somewhere where I feel most comfortable. In the city centre we walked by historic buildings, visited interesting architectural phenomena and photographed the crazy art in the city...yes, including the famous Santa Buttplug...don't ask.

My rings are moving into fields of understand and the way that I traverse space between places and the means and methods by which I do this are also more diverse and practiced. I'm creating my own sort of topography of the city :).