15 February, 2010

Kleine Introductie (heel, heel klein)

Today I was to present myself to the Ttif Company for my first introduction lesson for the inburgering curses at 13.30. I freaked out all morning. Honestly, I wonder sometimes how I managed to get to 30 years old and have the outward appearance of a friendly and reasonably outgoing person, when really I want to hide under my doona, but I digress.

So, I was quietly freaking out about what to expect, and how I was not going to understand anything and I was going to look stupid when a package arrived for me at work. Now the only package I have been expecting is the 'other' shoe that I had ordered from America for my wedding. There had been all sorts of mix ups with the shoes so far. First of all we couldn't get the credit card to work, then they sent two different sized shoes! So, upon sending me the correct size there was also a mixup, and they sent the wrong package which I had to reject (that was a difficult morning, let me tell you!) and then finally, the real package was held by TNT for two weeks, until it finally arrived today. And what an event! I was sent the shoe, along with an extra pair just for being so understanding about the whole incident!! The lesson learned today, it really pays not go turn into a Bridezilla at times! Again, I digress. Sorry.

It was with great trepidation that I headed to the lesson this afternoon. I met with the wonderful Maarten at the front door so he could give me a supportive kiss and hold my hand a bit, and then off I went. There was a group of twenty others or so, from all different locations. I heard names from all over. There was a Turk, a Korean, Indonesian, a Scot and plenty of others. Those were just the names and accents I could pick out. There was also a great mix of levels of understanding. One woman sounded like a native speaker - I couldn't understand her because she spoke so fast!

We met our main contacts, who's names escape me at the moment. But there were three people, and they were all lovely and welcoming. We went through what the process of the inburgering is, including how long it will take (up to 18 months), whether or not each person falls into the category of niewkomer (arriving after 01 JAN 2007) or oudkomer (arriving before 01 JAN 2007) and what level exam we would be expected to pass (A2 level for niewkomer and A1 for oudkomer, but to obtain a passport, even the oudkomer would need to pass the A2 level).

We were shown our course books as well. One was a Dutch language book, and the other was a Dutch culture book, to be used hand in hand. Both books were actually large folders and about 2kg per folder!! I will need a nice shiny new back pack to carry them to and from school (can't wait for the shopping part!).

All in all the first class was very positive. I surprised myself by being able to understand almost everything that was being said, so it turns out that my Dutch isn't so bad afterall. Our two contacts were most helpful by repeating almost everything in Dutch and English, but in all honesty I would have coped without the English. My biggest surprise was the length. The lesson was over in just under half an hour! I came out looking forward to tomorrow and hoping that the experience was going to be just as positive from now on. Until tomorrow....

And just for fun, here is a picture of my awesome wedding shoes!



















Image courtesy of the wonderful Hey Lady Shoes.

1 comment:

lil_suze said...

Hahahaha wow, I hope things will be like this from now on... If that's true it's a fact that getting someone IN that class is way worse than the actual thing!

Good luck Neris, and if you need any more tutoring (with a glass of wine in one hand and ur textbook in the other), just ask and Ill try and help you out :-D

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