D is for ... Den Haag

Apologies for the late post, but I was busy with my sister's wedding last week.

On to this letter, D. Den Haag / The Hague, my new hometown as of December 26, 2006.

I grew up in Voorburg (might come back under the V), one of Den Haag's neighbouring towns. As Voorburg is quite small compared to Den Haag, my parents would always take my sister and me to Den Haag whenever we needed new clothes and such, as Den Haag has some excellent large department stores. Also, any movie I saw, I saw in the cinema theaters in Den Haag. In fact, whenever my mom would say "let's go into town", she'd mean Den Haag.

Now growing up in a small town near Den Haag, I never felt I wanted to live in Den Haag. Among Voorburgers (aka, people from Voorburg) there is some pride in the fact that Voorburg received its 'city rights' from the Romans (Voorburg was known in Roman times as Forum Hadriani), whereas Den Haag received its 'rights' from Napoleon, which I believe were rescinded when the French left the Netherlands. Den Haag never received city rights again, but nowadays, seeing as it is the seat of our government and our queen, it is certainly a city in its own right!

I would never call myself Hagenaar/Hagenees (more on the difference can be found in the City section on Wikipedia's The Hague page), but I do feel at home in this city. Perhaps this also has something to do with the fact I live in a posh section!

C is for ... Comics

And cartoons. In books, or on television. I love reading comics and cartoons, and while at university I graduated to reading and enjoying graphic novels.

It all started with my parents' collection of Suske and Wiske comic books [Spike and Suzy] and I still occasionally read them when I'm at my parents' house. However, the recent comic books in this series (recent as in those published in this century) are not of the same level as the old ones and I do not buy nor read them anymore. Whenever my family and I would visit places in Europe, I (and my sister too) would usually have already read about it in Suske en Wiske, and I have recognized this in stories told by friends who grew up on the same books.

Of course, I also read the books of Tin Tin (Kuifje, in dutch) and Asterix and Obelix, but in my youth, Suske en Wiske were my favorite.

On TV, I used to watch all the popular cartoons (He-Man, yes, I'm sorry, was included as well), and in my late teens I even enjoyed Dexter's Lab.

While at university a friend of mine introduced me to the Sandman graphic novels. And this was very new to me!

Right now, whenever I watch TV, I will try to catch As Told By Ginger on Nickleodeon. Her kid brother is just hilarious!

Which comics did you grew up reading?

p.s.: I have always had a weakness for Calvin&Hobbes. Thanks to birthday presents from friends, I now have three books. These same friends also gave me the Gary Larson Galleries. In one word: awesome!

B is for ... Bamse

My teddy bear. I received him for my first birthday from my godparents, and he has been a faithful friend ever since that first day we met.

I do not have a current photo of Bamse, but compared to his first days, he has certainly changed! He used to sleep in my bed, underneath my head as an extra pillow. Over the years, Bamse was flattened severely, and now he is but a shadow of his former self.

Bamse has travelled with me to various countries, and of course during my one-year stay in both Georgia, USA and Edinburgh, Scotland he was at my side (and on some lonely nights in my bed). Even now, on those rare nights when sleep will just not happen, I will grab him, place him on my pillow and as soon as I hit the 'pillow', I fall asleep.

I have no idea where I found the name Bamse (in his younger years, I think he was simply known as Beer (Bear)), but I think I once received a comic book which featured a super strong bear, called Bamse [Bamse {wikipedia}].

Bamse now resides in a nice comfy basket at the food of my bed, together with some other stuffed animals i rescued from my youth (my parents did not allow me to keep ALL of them - how rude!), and last I heard, he was quite happy not be squished between my head and my pillow anymore.

I have discovered over the years that people who grew up with a teddybear as their favorite companion cannot seem to explain to people who did not have this particular stuffed animal what it is exactly, that makes a teddybear so special. Very odd!

As you might know, I am an avid reader of basically anything. There are enough posts on this blog in the category Reading Material. When I was younger, my parents would not allow me to read while eating breakfast/lunch/dinner, so I frequently resorted to reading the packages of milk, cereal or whatever was handy. Just to be able to keep reading.

I think one of the greatest things I ever learned from my parents is reading and a love for reading. I can remember numerous hours where all four of us (mom, dad, sister and I) would sit around the living room, each with our own book.

This love of reading has of course never left me. Perhaps during my university years I read a little less, mainly because for my English Lit courses, I had to read a mandatory list of books that I otherwise would not have read. But all this time, whenever I found a new book, I would read. And read. And read.

I cannot imagine nor fathom how many books I have read over the years. At some point during these years, I stopped reading Dutch books, because I found that the English books were more suited to my taste (as always, whenever there are more books written, you tend to find more books you actually enjoy).

Some time in 1998, when I was in Edinburgh, a friend of mine suggested I start reading the Harry Potter books. Book Two had just been published, I believe. Bookstores didn't spend too much attention to them, but I had seen them lying around. As I knew these were children's books, I told her I wasn't interested. It is not as if I never read children's books anymore, but I only read the ones I had grown up reading, I never read any new ones, and certainly not new English ones. She insisted I read them, but I never got around to borrowing her copies, or buying any for myself.

Fast forward to April 5, 2000 (good policy, always add dates/places/events/etc to the french title page of your book, including your name) when I bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I must not have found any other books to my liking, and I remebered my friends positive review of the book.


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Life is good. Even though at work it feels like I need a vacation again (it's a bit busy, but we don't use the word b.u.s.y. anymore).

And life in my own little house is great!

For all those who have not yet had a chance to visit me, below an impression:

(and my character)

As this entry will contain spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7), I have decided that - even after 2 weeks - I should put my thoughts on the book behind the read more section.

Without further ado:

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