It'll be Rotterdam posts for a while, gang, even though I fly back tomorrow night. I've got some fun(ish) photos for you all, once I get back to the Land. Anyway, the Dutch appear to pleasant thus far. They all speak lovely English, the streets are clean, bicycles everywhere, and lots of gorgeous blondes with blue eyes. Which means I fit in perfectly (although in Israel people seem to suggest that I am a Gingy- a redhead (?!)).
This main street in town, across from the Stadhuis (city hall) has several branches of the offical tourist info center/souvenir store. And there is a free, no-time-limit internet connection here. AND- miracle of miracles!- a pygmy gentleman from Surinam crouches in front of the stool while you surf, and massages your feet with a proprietary Tulip Oil/Edam cheese lotion.
Sublime!!
Linguistic note-- Dutch, more than any other language I have heard on this globe, has a strikingly similar cadence to English. I frequently think I am hearing English, but then hone in on the conversation and realize it is Dutch. In structure, Dutch is very much like German, and, of course, much of English comes from German, but German does not sound like English at all.
This main street in town, across from the Stadhuis (city hall) has several branches of the offical tourist info center/souvenir store. And there is a free, no-time-limit internet connection here. AND- miracle of miracles!- a pygmy gentleman from Surinam crouches in front of the stool while you surf, and massages your feet with a proprietary Tulip Oil/Edam cheese lotion.
Sublime!!
Linguistic note-- Dutch, more than any other language I have heard on this globe, has a strikingly similar cadence to English. I frequently think I am hearing English, but then hone in on the conversation and realize it is Dutch. In structure, Dutch is very much like German, and, of course, much of English comes from German, but German does not sound like English at all.
(Or are German and English both from Dutch! Akum's Razor... Anyway, it all comes from Hebrew, which comes from the Nephilim, who come from space, so what's the difference? A fish in the ear sorts it all out.)
I found this nice piece from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, on a Talmud lesson e-mail from Yeshivat HarEzion. More evidence of the possibility and beauty of the Torah life partaking in the broader treasures of human culture. This was in reference to honoring the greatness of our forebears (in this case the Rabbis of the Rabbinic period -- 2000 years ago), without denigrating our own potential for and obligation to ample aspirations:
I found this nice piece from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, on a Talmud lesson e-mail from Yeshivat HarEzion. More evidence of the possibility and beauty of the Torah life partaking in the broader treasures of human culture. This was in reference to honoring the greatness of our forebears (in this case the Rabbis of the Rabbinic period -- 2000 years ago), without denigrating our own potential for and obligation to ample aspirations:
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Comment gently, folks-- we all know about the temptations of these Netherlands, and I assure that I am behaving at at least 83%, but never forget that wanderingstu.com is a family site, the spiritual-emotional nexus of much of the world's populace.
Thanks.
7 comments:
English, Dutch and German began as West Germanic dialects which evolved from Saxon (Sachsen). All other Germanic languages that are still in use, and are not on the West Germanic branch, are evolutions of Old Norse.
You can gleam what Saxon would've sounded like by pronouncing words in Old English, which, slowly evolved from (Old) Saxon over the course of 700 years. Late Old English sounds a lot like Middle English, as you would imagine.
For my part, I have a curious afinity for the sound of Old English, as well as for Swedish and Icelandic. From this I would conclude that Proto-Germanic, the theoretical language from which the Germanic languages (begining with Saxon and Old Norse)are thought to have evolved, must've sounded lovely, or would to my ears.
I've heard people describe Dutch as "the ugliest" language they've ever heard. It's also described in linguistic study as being the most difficult to pronounce correctly, due to some unique gutteral inflections.
I guess we can infer that, since Dutch sounded much like English to you, you didn't find it all that ugly - yes? Though, there doesn't seem to be much interest in learning the Dutch language, as opposed to German or French, despite the rich and important cultural history of the low countries.
Uh-- I was just kidding, man.
Shimshon, Shalom! Thanks for affording me an opportunity to morph into... PedanticMan!! You, along with your entire generation, have conflated two distinct expressions: 1) "To HOME in on" something, taken from the ability of a HOMING pigeon to find its destination with uncanny accuracy, and 2) "to HONE" something to an exceedingly sharp edge, such as an axe, or an ability. In sum, there is no such expression as "to HONE IN on something". While there is a certain insightful "logic" to the conflation, that is usually the case for Yogi Berra - style confusions. That fact does not render the result any less an error. Please correct this in future posts and all usages for the rest of your 120 years...
Shavua Tov,
Yehoshua Kahan
argh.
he's right.
but, uh, of course, i planted that there to test the caliber of my readers...
Uh-- So was I, dude.
Get it?
of all the posts to have this debate over...
Nice 12th Planet reference.
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