Ellen In Amerika!"MY EMIGRATION TO AMERICA AND MY ADJUSTMENT TO LIFE IN CALIFORNIA SINCE SEPTEMBER 2008"

“World Cup final: Holland and Spain’s anti-football lets Europe down”

“We expected a classic clash of philosophies, but Holland and Spain’s negativity was not a fitting end to a World Cup”

Well, what can I say: that I am sad the Dutch team lost the World Cup? That I am embarrassed by the rough, inexcusable way they played? That I understand they did not mean it this way?And that I think the best team won? Oh, there is so much more I would like to say, to express how I experienced this final match. But, that is not important. 700 million people, all over the world have seen how they played, they have seen the same…….
It does not take away all the games during this World Cup they have shown real soccer. So, for that I am proud of the Dutch team and thanksful they gave us so much joy.

Yesterday, I had to work during the finals, so we taped it, and beside you readers, all my colleagues knew that. I asked that they not tell me anything about the game, because Dan and I wanted to watch it together at home. 1.55 PM, my colleague from the sister hospital called and said: “Ellen, they are loosing it”. I asked her, you are trying to be funny, right? No, she said,  they are loosing it. I thanked her in a somewhat sarcastic way for ruining my day and evening, and said politely goodbye. I was pretty upset, I can tell you. My colleagues at the office were all quiet. They asked me, did she really tell you the score? After half an hour, I felt okay again. I mean, the world did not change but it did put me in a different mood.

After work, Dan picked me up, and we decided just to pretend we do not know the score and maybe she was only teasing. We had a nice meal with the grilled hamburgers, buns, salad, baked potatoes and wine and beer. It was fun to watch the game together and give our comment on it. The game was very long, and we went soon after it was over to bed. It has been a weird day.

Today will be a day around the house. I already did a lot, and will take a short break to read my book in the backyard. I had a long talk with Coby on the phone, and we talked a lot of our visit to the Netherlands. This evening we plan to go the gym, but that can easily change

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Thursday, I had to work for the school district. They called me at 6.50 AM! I rushed to get ready and Dan drove me and my bike to the school at the other side of town. The kids were around 10-11 years old, and it was an honor again to work with them. I worked with groups of 4 students, and they had to do math. As an instructional assistant, you just monitor that they keep focusing on their work, and help them if they do not know how to go further. One boy had problems with the equations. I saw he was just writing outcomes that did not make sense. With a quiet voice, I asked him if he did not understand the equations, and he nodded yes. We did the equations together and soon he “saw the light”! He gave me a big smile and did the rest of the assignment by himself. After 20 minutes I got 4 new students (rotating) and they had other assignments. After working 5 minutes in a speedy tempo doing math, we stopped, and then we started to do a math game. I held up cards with equations on them, and they had to tell me the outcome. If it was correct, they could keep the card. This was a kind of competition and they loved it. After doing 4 rotations, the children had recess, and I had my little break. When we came back in the class, the speech therapist was there, and it was interesting to see how she got the kids to talk. She spoke mainly about social skills and I believe it was some kind of drilling. I had that impression because she asked questions, and the students knew exactly what to answer. I think these children need these confirmations over and over again. She also challenged them a bit by changing the questions, and some of the children got confused by that. The summer school classes are only until 12.00 PM. It was drizzling weather, so biking home was like being in the Netherlands. The sky was grey, windy and rain, what more can you asks for, lol.

At home, I made a lunch for myself and checked emails. Luckily the sky cleared up a bit, so I decided to do the groceries. I had a good laugh at the vegetable department at the groceries store. The three men who work there are big soccer fans, and because I am a frequent veggie buyer, they know I am from the Netherlands. As soon as they saw me, they cheered and were very enthusiastic about the last match. One of the guys said that for every team he was in favor, they had lost! And now he was planning to cheer for the Netherlands! I said to him: “Don’t you dare cheer for my country, you’re going to cheer for Spain, understood???” He laughed and said “what does it pay?”

We planned to go to the gym, but Dan was feeling not well at all. His throat is swollen and overall, he had no inspiration whatsoever to go exercising. He worked for Ruysdael Design and I watched fast forwarding America’s Got Talent. Later that evening we both watch a new episode of “America, the story about us!” This is one of the best documentaries about the history of the United States of America.-

Around 1.30 PM I left the house and walked over to the bus stop. The drive toward the hospital went fine. A bit of a delay due to a traffic jam, but I arrived in time at work. Work was not as slow as Tuesday, which is a good thing. I got an email back from my supervisor, and they cannot change my shift this Sunday, because the one who is doing the evening shift is training a new on-call employee. That is a big disappointment. My Dutch friends are going with their family to Santa Barbara and watch the game on a big theater screen in a bar. Lots of other Dutch fans will be there as well. By now I am accepting it (what else can I do) and I know for sure we will have a wonderful time at home, watching the recorded game while eating grilled hamburgers etc.! The best place would be of course the Netherlands. I do not believe this country has been more excited about a soccer final as they are now. From my family and friends, I hear such wonderful stories, how people are interacting with each other, talking to total strangers and feeling as one big family. What great things sports can do!

This morning, I had a luncheon with my Dutch friends at Mrs. Olsen, near the beach. As always, we had a lot of fun. After our way-too-much meal, we went for a brisk walk on the beach. We saw a dead baby shark on the beach and also a seal in the water. Around 2.30 PM I was home again. I’ll have to work today from 5.30 PM Till 9.30 PM. I am not feeling in the mood to go there now, but I guess I have no choice

Sunday, as I said before, I have to work. I just got hold of my supervisor, and he said that I have to call in Sunday morning, and if work is really slow, I  can come in later.  We will see what happens

Please check this out: http://joyerickson.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/lets-go-netherlands/#comment-32357 I believe, I made some great friends!!

Yesterday morning I was, as probably 16 million Dutch people , a little nervous. After getting up and doing my things here to get ready for work, I tuned into the big soccer match at 11.00 AM on ESPN. As usual, the match did not start right away, but a half hour later.  The match was so nerve racking. I mean, the Uruguay team played so well, and the Dutch players had to find their way in the game. After 14 minutes I needed to go to the bathroom. And, as always when I am not watching, Holland scored! The goal of Giovanni van Bronkhorst will be a classic one. Later in the match, Netherlands’ Demy de Zeeuw, foreground center, gets kicked in the face by Uruguay’s Martin Caceres, left, I will not bore you with my report of the match, but it was good that we did not have to play overtime. I am so sorry for the other team, their supporters. They were crying and so emotional. But for the dutch fans, it was a dream come true. Since 1978, we have not play the World Cup finals.

After the game finished I had to go to work.  The bus to Camarillo was on time, but we came into a traffic jam on the freeway. I called the dial-a-ride company to tell them that I would be there, so that they please wait for me. “What is your name, m’dam?” I told them and she said, I was not in the system. I panicked a bit and told her I called yesterday and that I really needed a ride, because I was on my way to work. She asked me to hold and after 5 minutes she came back and said a car will be waiting for me at the train station. Phew! What a relief. I arrived in time at work and the shift went by well. It went very slow in the evening, which I so much dislike. I found out I have to work this Sunday morning, when the FIFA world Soccer Finals will take place. I sent an email to a colleague, to change shifts, but so far, I have not heard back from her. If I have to work, I will record the match, and then watch it with Dan and Ryan in the evening. Probably a friend of Ryan will be here too, so that will be fun, I think. Dan will barbecue hamburgers, buns and corn in the cob, so it is just like American football….but different

Today, I had the day off. I slept horrible last night, and I felt very tired when I woke up. I did some things around the house, then went back to bed around 9:45 for a short nap.  I woke up 11.45 AM! This was not my plan, but it felt great. After shower and breakfast/lunch, I fast forwarded the recorded game Germany-Spain. It was a pretty disappointing game. I expected more from the German players.  :-)

Having such a lazy morning, made me want to do something this afternoon. I cleaned the office and the bedrooms and did a big pile of laundry. Yesterday and today it rained here. This summer is weird. It normally does not rain in July here. After the rain it is pretty humid here.

When I checked the mail, I saw a package from Holland! Another book from my sister Marja. It is so nice to receive these books. They are like presents on your birthday. Thanks Mar, you are such a sweet sister.

A bit before  5.00 PM Dan send me a message: Earthquake! And within a minute breaking news on the TV:  Earthquake indeed! A 5.9 one.  I did not feel it, but it was pretty strong where Dan works. It was near Palm Springs, which is about 3 hours drive from us.

After a nice dinner, we booked the tickets!! So, Holland, in 4 months we’ll come! We will be there from November 17 till November 28. I am very happy we now have a date for travel, that is good for both of us. It covers most of my days off with school (Autumn break) and Dan will have the 25th and 26th of November off for Thanksgiving. And on top of that, we will be there when son Niels and sister in law Carla are having their birthday! We finally will see Thomas and Myriam’s new house and maybe Niels and Melanie will have a house warming party for their new house when we are there! So much to look forward to!

Saturday was my first evening shift alone at the big hospital. It is the evening for accidents etc. but  no code green came in. It was pretty busy though, so the time went by quickly. Sunday morning, the 4th of July, we went to Ventura to a street market. It was gorgeous weather and very, very crowded. The street bands played very diverse music. Some were good and some were awful :-) We had a sandwich for lunch. I had the best barbecue beef sandwich ever. I will try to make it at home also. Around 3.00 PM we were home again. I had to work from 4.00 PM till 8.00 PM. After work, we had a late dinner and watched some TV.

Today, Dan is off, as all Americans, and we will go to the gym in about an hour. I had some nice talks with Holland this morning. First with Thomas. We talked about the upcoming soccer game and then Marja and I talked about it also, as if we are real soccer specialists again It is so exciting now! I will be alone when I watch the game tomorrow, which I come to like. I really can say anything without being scared that I offend someone

Enjoy the video below of:

Shakira – Waka Waka (Live In South Africa – Fifa World Cup 2010)

Have a wonderful time with watching the Holland – Uraguay match!