(although this is in English, it’s probably only relevant for Dutchies)
I live in Utrecht these and whenever I’m in Holland, I usually work from home (that’s only about 25% of my time, so that’s not much). Before I moved to Utrecht, I’ve lived in Amsterdam and Ermelo. My studies (before Ermelo) were in Utrecht also, so essentially, after 8 or 9 years, I’ve moved back to Utrecht.
During those times, I’ve had a few jobs (well, mostly in the context of my own ventures), so you can’t exactly call them jobs I guess. Anyway, some of those were out the door, meaning I had to commute. A large part of commuting is done by car in Holland. If you would know the situation on the roads in Holland (the road are 100% jammed from 7 in the morning until 10.30 and from 3.30pm until 7pm), I guess you’d be surprised. I commuted as well, first between Utrecht and Amsterdam, then between Ermelo and Amsterdam, then between Amsterdam and Utrecht and after a while between Utrecht and Amsterdam again.
As commuting happens by car, most people listen to the radio. This is why morning radio shows are very popular in Holland. These days I do not listen to the radio a lot anymore, but every time, I’m in my car between noon and 2pm, I’m reminded of the days I spent in traffic jams on the Dutch highways (never, never again!!!). That’s the slot Rob Stenders in filling in.
Rob Stenders is one of the three or four big DJs in the Netherlands and he just published the autobiographical Stenders Leesvermaak. I read it yesterday in one go and it’s simply hilarious.
Ranging from him marrying his sidekick Fred Siebelink (yes, he’s male as well, it was a stunt to promote the putting out of a law that allows gay marriage in Holland) to his sidekick imitating Chriet Titulaer. Some of the lesser periods are also covered such as the times he was fired or quit his job after day because he didn’t agree with the musical direction of a radio station.
To me, it also finally cleared up the move Stenders made to Yorin FM. He transfered from government funded 3FM to commercial radio station Yorin FM, so it seemed entirely for the money. Reasons were a bit different a turns out however…
A good read for people that’d like to know more about Stenders and the radio scene as a whole. Oh, and they’re going to make a movie about it too…
p.s. I figured I could read this book when I’m in Israel next week, but I finished it already. Well, then I have to drop by at the Schiphol bookshop again I guess, to get some of the Airport Top 10 books…
Oh dear god, please not the Airport AKO bookstore again. You’ll end up getting Kluun, or Sonja Bakker.
Here are some tips, in no particular order. You probably have to go to Broese to get them though:
* Ian McEwin: On Chesil Beach. A very good writer, writes beautiful sentences. He also wrote Atonement, now a major movie: another must-read.
* Geert Mak: In Europe. Quite popular nowadays, with the TV show and all. Still a must-read if you’re into history
* G.W. Dahlquist: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. Victorian-age adventure tale.
* M. Zusak: The Book Thief. Brilliant story about a 9-year-old girl in Nazi Germanu, who likes to steal books.
And of course, the remaining works of Murakami!
Cheers
Arjen
Thanks Arjen,
that should offer me enough material for the coming trip or two :-).
And err, I already read Kluun, but wasn’t in the blogging mood back then I guess (it was more then two years I think).
I got a bit of a Murakami overload I think a while back, so I’ll skip him for now (probably in 6 months or, I’ll get his latest, which I heard is quite good).
I found one I didn’t read yet though: John Harding’s One Big Damn Puzzler… Got it a few weeks ago from the local bookstore.
Hello Alef!
Even if you have already a lot of material I’d like to suggest the last book from Daniel Pennac, if you haven’t already read it. I’don’t know its title in English, but the original one (in French) is ‘Chagrin d’école’.
It’s very funny and contains some interesting thoughts about school and education (Pennac has been a teacher for 25 years).
PS: thank you for your description of Dutch life “on the road” :-)!
Hey Andrea,
I’ll see if I can find a copy of Daniel Pennac’s book. I haven’t looked up the English title yet, but that shouldn’t be a big problem.
cheers,
Alef