The evolution of language

The are always interesting new words making their way in to languages. In recent years, I have seen all sorts of new words arrive, often driven by new technology. But I had never thought about these being a phenomenon in languages other than English.

So from Dutch News today comes the fact that 'breezersletje', meaning a woman who will exchange sexual favours for a drink, is one of 3,650 new Dutch words in the Van Dale dictionary. Others include tomtommen – to use a car satellite navigation system – and asobak (literally: antisocial car) for an SUV.

You don't really need to understand Dutch that much to translate the first of the new words. Certainly not a family word, but nonethless an insight in to a vocabulary that obviously has reached a critical mass of usage.

And if you ever hear someone seemingly hipper than you using a word you are not sure about, no need to feel like a social outcast or have to embarrassingly ask what it means. The Urban Dictionary can be your source of rescue - a user built online dictionary that has sort of words I seem to have missed! (Although today's featured word - 'crackberry' - is one I have come across)

Shane

Two types of cyclists...

Back in Australia we used to wryly observe that there were two types of cyclists – those that have been hit by a car, and those that are going to be.

Whilst said flippantly, there was always an element of truth and dread in that statement, and I know, or know of, too many people for whom the result has been anything but funny.

Anyway, I got hit again this weekend. I say ‘again’ because I had my first run in with a car a few years back, and it is the second time this year. So far I have been pretty lucky, involved in only minor skirmishes rather than anything more serious.

But I used up another of my nine lives on Sunday. It was one of those strange training days anyway. Winds around force 6 or 7, sunshine, then clouds, and then a hail storm. It was still raining as I came in to Vinkeveen, a small village south of Amsterdam. A crowd was pouring out of church, so I slowed down, but not enough to miss the car that pulled out of its parking spot and straight in to my path.

I did see it early enough to swerve and miss the worst of the crunch, but I still got hit. Miraculously, I managed to stay on the bike, although I have no idea how. Shaken, I bolted off the road, finding my main injury to be a golf ball sized lump on my shin. The driver was terribly apologetic, and I managed to be nice in return, despite my seething anger at being hit. Fear and shock are pretty useful in taking the edge off being pissed off. She gave me a ride back to Amsterdam, we had a nice chat, although there is a certain social awkwardness at such a moment!

So Sunday afternoon was spent on the couch with ice on my bumps, instead of piling on the extra kilometres I wanted to do. Also spent time fixing my bike. The damage was not too bad – my rear tyre rolled off the rim, and more spectacularly, the cleat from my right shoe (the side she hit me) was busted in to pieces. Given how strong these cleats are, there were obviously some pretty serious forces in this collision.

Of course, the morning after is always much worse – sore bits everywhere, a throbbing knee, and pain all through my back. Martin, the physio I know, fitted me in on short notice, and was happy to report that all seems to be in order – my knee is stable, my pelvis is not out of alignment, and aside from bruising, he reckoned I would be right in a few days.

And he seems to be right – I managed to run gently last night, and put away a strong 90km session on the bike this morning, so things are back on track.

A lucky escape just three weeks out from Ironman…

Shane

Dutch demographics

The demographic stats of a country are often pretty interesting, and these new Dutch stats reveal some interesting things.

In the first nine months of this year, 100,000 people left the Netherlands to live elsewhere, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS. Almost half of them were born in the Netherlands, many heading for traditional emigration countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

However, the Volkskrant reports, that 14,000 people had simply moved over the border to Belgium or Germany. They still work in the Netherlands but take advantage of lower house prices. Nevertheless, by the end of the year, 130,000 people will have officially emigrated – a record level – the CBS said. Immigration was also up to around 76,000, the figures showed. Most of the immigrants have come from Poland, Germany and the US, but an increasing number of Dutch nationals are also returning home. Around half of those who emigrate will eventually return, the CBS says.

It is the third year in a row that more people have left the Netherlands than moved here. In fact, over three years, the Dutch population will have shrunk by 75,000 due to migration – the equivalent of a small town like Schiedam – the CBS said.

The CBS expects the population of the Netherlands to grow by just 20,000 this year – the lowest figure since records began in 1900. At the beginning of this century, the population was growing at around 270,000 a year. The figures also revealed that the birth rate has hit a 20-year low.

What are they doing?

English language news of what is happening in the Netherlands is a bit hard to come by, so fortunately I have found a good new source - DutchNews.nl

And here is an interesting statistic I picked up today from the daily news brief:

"German tourists are the most thrifty people to visit the Netherlands,
spending an average of €29 a day, according to new tourist board figures. British tourists spend the most – an average of €254 a day – the board said."

Makes you wonder what they are doing differently? Given the number of British visitors that arrive here on the weekends for stag and hens nights, I think the answer is actually probably pretty straightforward...

Shane

Choosing a race

Training for triathlon in Holland has one main theme – flat, flat, and then more flat! There are no real hills for hundreds of kilometres around here, although the wind can be pretty damn testing some days. Don’t get me wrong, it is very scenic in one sense, but heading along the flat mile after mile requires a certain ability to think of something else. You have no idea how much I miss the rolling hills of Canberra when it comes to training.

This training environment forces you to think a little bit about which races to do. Last year, I went to the Helvellyn Triathlon in the Lakes District in England. A beautiful race, but to cut a long story short, I was a bit under prepared for the climbs. And racing Ironman in Roth last year was a bit of similar experience – too many hills for the conditioning I get to do here (mind you, the crowds at Roth are awesome - the photo above is from Solar Hill - it is like being in the Tour de France).

At Roth, we chatted to Jason, one of the Aussies we knew, who had raced at Ironman Western Australia. Explaining my predicament, we asked if IMWA was as flat as they say. Turns out Jason has also done the Ironman in Holland, and he reckons WA is flatter – in the Netherlands, you have to ride over the dikes!

Anyway, I am now signed up, and heading across to Western Australia in a few weeks. Race day is Sunday 3 December.

It would be fair to say that when I signed up, I did not really think about the fact that all the training would have to be done in autumn and early winter. Fortunately it has been pretty mild, with recent reports indicating October was the second warmest October on record since 1901. Am I grateful for that!

Anyway, I will post some training tales over the coming weeks as the event gets closer.

Shane

Night running

Friday night saw us take part in an unusual running event – the Bergrace by Night. The race was 7.6km, starting at 10:00pm. Nicky and I were at the annual Greenpeace planning meeting, so we took a bunch of our colleagues – Joss (Netherlands), John (US), Ahmet (Turkey), Emiliano (Argentina), Kaspar (Switzerland), Paul (Luxembourg) and Wendel (Belgium). Our full mini van certainly had an international feel to it! And when we got to the race, we ran in to Bart, Claudia and Mart from De Dolfijn, our triathlon club in Amsterdam.

The race starts in the town square in Wageningen, then heads out in to the dark, finishing in Rhenen. Every competitor has a glow in the dark band, and it is quite a sight as the field disappears in to the dark. It was a beautiful night – no wind, a full moon, and not too cold. Running through the fields on country lanes in the dark was quite amazing, especially heading through the patches of fog. John described it well – it was like running in a dream.

The final kilometre is perhaps the most spectacular. The course heads in to the forest, where the trail is little on each side by small lanterns – it is eerie and beautiful.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – we all hope to return next year! I had a good run – took off carefully due to a recent twinge in the hamstring, but soon hit a good stride and felt strong – my training is clearly working. Finished in 29:54 for the 7.6km, placing 26th overall and first in my age category. As it happens, this result netted me the handsome prize cheque of 15 euros!

Shane

More on Vondelpark...

This is the photo I actually wanted to publish yesterday, but for some reason could not upload...

Shane