We got into a discussion in Dutch class the other day about what places here make us feel "at home." Honestly, the closest I feel to being at home is being at one of the Asian groceries. I feel more comfortable at Shilla in Amsterdam or the new Amazing Oriental in Groningen than I do at the C1000 or Golff. Maybe it's because I feel like such an outsider at the Korean groceries in the U.S. that it feels perfectly normal/acceptable to feel the same way in the Asian groceries here. Whereas when I'm in a regular Dutch supermarket, because looks-wise I could pass as Dutch, it surprises people when they speak Dutch to me and I give them a deer-in-headlights look.
Anyway, Charles returned from Athens today. I drove Aldus out to Schiphol to pick him up, and we stopped at Shilla on the way home. I noticed an excellent bit of Engrish on the back of the naeng myun package we bought: "Preparing the broth which can be the thin ice, that would be better than usual."
I know this is what my Dutch sounds like.
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