2023 年 5 月 5 日
Yesterday 昨 (back in Langenランゲンで):
It was too much : out of my kitchen window I could see a throng of customers outside the Italian ice cream parIour across the street - about 20 or so people sitting down and a few queing up at the "Theka" (bar). アパートからアイスクリーム屋が見える...............誘惑 🙄
"Enough!" I said. Out of my flat and over the road I walked. I ordered two scoops - vanilla and malaga. "Vanilla und Malaga?" the girl asked questioningly...."Hai.......er.....yes.....ummm....Ja!" I answered. This happens to me so often I have to laugh. It's about me (English) speaking to staff (Italian) on a German street.....言語の混乱..... Add the fact that I had just left my desk writing in Japanese, and you have a recipe for brain meltdown. But not ice cream meltdown. Oh no, I sat on a bench and basked like a cat in the first truly warm (18°c) day of the year🍨. 今年初の暖かい日.
My last post was about visiting the tulips fields of Holland with my tutor, Miki-san. I think we had had our fill of tulips 🌷 at the end of that day, so the next day we headed for Rotterdam. ロッテルダム. Why Rotterdam? 何故......To see containers? - after all, it comes somewhere in the middle of the world league of container ports, with Singapore near the top and Piraeus at the bottom. Maybe to see the (Dutch) Royal Family? 👑 They were there last week for King's Day. Yes, to the extent that the whole city centre was blocked. Not good.
I wanted to see some real windmills, 本物の風車が見たかった......lots of them. So we took the bus out to the village of Kinderdijk, about 15km upriver. Here there are no less than 19 windmills. Let's start with this one.....built, as most of them are, in 1740.........
It is in immaculate condition, and is now lived in. The field behind it is well below the level of the river. So the windmill drove a water wheel which brought water up from the field - the polder - into the river. We got on a boat to see this. During the trip my Japanese live lesson continued....
A windmill is a windmill, right? The Germans say Windmühle - which is exactly the same thing. The Japanese? well now, it is written like this:
風 車 = "wind" "car "
I have since tried to write the kanji for wind, several times. It is difficult....😲
nothing quite like that black ink though......
So, knowing that the Japanese for wind is Kaze (as in Kamikaze), and car is Kuruma, you would think that a windmill is a kazek(g)uruma. Wrong - that's the toy that you stick in a sandcastle which goes whirring round and round. And the pronounciation is from the native Japanese word. The machine which you see in Holland is called a fuusha - same characters as above, but with a Chinese pronounciation. This is one of those things which trips up foreigners learning Japanese. You see the calligraphy as above, and you think you know how to pronounce it, but there are usually two options. Which means that Chinese tourists visiting Japan may know what a calligraphy means, but may not know how to say it. Tricky..
Back on the boat........
This windmill in this video clip is of an older design, and unlike most of the others which are lived in, it is a working museum....博物館
The polders are now a paradise for water birds. Geese ガチョウ honked everywhere. And the local flora could not be ignored.......watercress.......おらんだがらし.....和蘭芥子
reeds........
....and much more.......
Time to have a look closer up.
Inside the entrance to the windmill you see...well, of course.....clogs......I found this word...is it correct....?.....きぐつ....木靴
...which instantly reminded me of this....rows of slippers in a church in Nikko 日光市, Tochigi prefecture...
Photo Nov. 2019
The living quarters are all on different levels, and all seem cosy, with a stove in the kitchen and sort of cupboard-type beds to sleep in....
A view from the bedroom......
The massive machinery would have made quite a noise though.....
And those sails.....when you are below them they swish past at full speed...it's wise to keep out of the way......
There was actually a guy showing someone how to put the sailcloth up onto those lattice works. - a bit like being on a sailing boat really.
It is all very picturesque........かいがてき 絵画的 です。
Lunchbreak......
Photo: Mikiさん
Afterwards we took the water bus back to the city centre, passing this strange sight........Did Noah's Ark end up in Rotterdam? I thought it was Mt. Ararat.....
We docked by the Erasmus bridge. It's an uncompromisingly modern place.....
But the geese don't seem bothered.......このガチョウは幸せです...
The old harbour had at least some vintage boats.....
One of the more curious sights is this "cube" housing complex.....
As is the famous Market Hall (Markthalle) 有名な市場ホール.
Photo: Mikiさん
The end of a long day......長い一日の終わり......
Thank you for reading "Double Dutch (2)"
私の「ダブルダッチ (2)」を読んでくれてありがとう
This was the second of two special Dutch blogs this week......
Feel free to share them with friends.
よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください😊
.... when I returned to Langen my little friend from next door made an appearance.......looking ever so slightly concerned I thought.......!
I send out the blog pretty randomly to whoever I think might be interested. Either by email, LINE or WHATSAPP. If you don't want to be sent this blog, don't hesitate to tell me and I shall take you off the list. No problem.
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ありがとう！
Nigel.
THE END
😉
終わり