MarieHelen is our Dutch language teacher. She is not only our dutch language mentor but also, she is my therapist too. When I first heard her name I was a little bit confused because of her pronunciation and how she said both Marie and Helen words together. I mean Marie and Helen both names are used separately but she uses them together which is very uncommon. I find her name pretty unique and this is not only her name. Her name is pretty complicated and I think to pronounce her family name, I will need at least 6 months.
MarieHelen is a job holder, she works in a company and she is not an actual language teacher. She knows a total of seven languages - French, Spanish, German, English, Hebrew, Chinese and Dutch. Our story started one month ago, in a very unusual situation and it's interesting how I met her. I told you before that I used to go to the dog park with my dog Gigi. It is where I met her for the first time. She used to come to the park with her dog too. At first, we didn't talk to each other but one day Gigi started playing with Nera (her dog) and then we started to talk and that's how we started our conversation. My dog was the one who introduced me to MarieHelen.
Our first conversation was about Ukraine and Dutch culture. She asked me about myself and how I have made the entire journey from Ukraine to the Netherland. She helped me by giving me a lot of local information and then when I said, I want to learn Dutch, she instantly decided to be my teacher. I remember she told me, if you want, I can be your mentor in Dutch Language and I will teach you slowly from the beginning. Then later, we, the 3 people started learning Dutch from her. She has taken this entire situation as a project and she seemed very happy about it.
She manages time for us from her busy schedule. This always makes me wonder how a stranger decided to help me and gradually became a close friend of mine. My therapy session has started last week, she somehow figures out that I need help so she decided to help me out. At first, I was silent, I haven't said much about myself to her but slowly when started talking to her, I began to open up in front of her. It's not easy to ease my pain all at once but I must say she is a good listener. Her way of speaking and soft tone often calm my mind. I know I should have taken professional help but due to some issue, it didn't happen. It's not like I didn't try to connect with the Therapist to erase my PTSD but for some reason, it didn't happen.
MarieHelen doesn't have any kids or family, she lives alone here in Almere with her dog. At one point during my therapy session, she told me that she is introverted too and she is a strong person. She has seen so much in life and her life experiences made her strong. Her friends call her a tough cookie.
A day before yesterday, she came here to meet her students, I mean her dutch class's students (we) and she brought an orchid for me. I told her before that how much I love orchids and how I feel leaving my orchids in Kharkiv and that's why she brought an orchid plant for me. I literally cried when I saw the orchid. She took us for dinner and taught us how to order food in Dutch. I already forgot what she taught us, I am really a bad student :D. She introduced us to Dutch food and ordered some delicious food and drinks for us.
I never thought I will meet such a person in life. She was a stranger but not anymore. I feel amazed at how she treats us always and how much she is trying to help us. I met @brittandjosie before but I knew her at least from Hive, she is a sweetheart and still doing a lot for us. We were not stranger to each other. But MarieHelen was a complete outsider and stranger.
The world is filled with good people indeed...
Thanks for reading my post...Have a great day everyone...
Current news: Her dog died today unfortunely because of a harmful disease... :(
Love
Priyan...
I am @priyanarc.... An architect, a dreamer, and a passionate writer who loves to write about life. I try to present my own perspective and experiences. Please leave your feedback and criticism because it's the only way I can know and reach your mind and thought easily...
Find me on:
All images used are captured by the author...
What a moving story dear friend @priyanarc without a doubt in the world there are many good people willing to help someone else
I appreciate you letting us know about this story.
have a beautiful afternoon
My life is full of surprises and I am lucky that I met good people. Otherwise, I would have lost faith in humanity after the war.
Thanks a lot my friend for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind words.
Have a great day...
Upvoted. I confirm that Dutch people are great and frindly. Do you do cycling BTW?
!PIZZA
Dutch people are really great and at some point, they become friendly and very straightforward. Yes, I do cycling as well, sometimes...
There is a joke that Dutch as well as British people are born on a bike.
This is a Dutch friend of mine who moved a while ago:
!HBIT
For sure, because they can live without car but they can't live without a bike :D :D
Going to watch the video...
BTW I noticed there are a lot of cyclists in Ukraine, too.
When did you come in UA? Did you move for education or for life?
Kharkiv (the east part of Ukraine) was not so friendly with the Bicycle because we didn't have any streets, or lanes for the cycle so only a few people had bicycle,s especially kids.
I moved to UA to pursue my master's degree and later I stayed there for life...
I noticed leaves of Eruca / arucola on your "hamburger". Do you like its taste and smell? Asking cuz I have the arucola growing in my garden and still not too sure about it.
!HBIT
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@valerianis(3/5) tipped @priyanarc (x1)
You can now send $PIZZA tips in Discord via tip.cc!
She is a Dutch as we know our fellow Dutchies and how cool you are kroketten met brood. Great that you are learning now I don’t have to make vlogs anymore.
Great too that you are seak psychic help because your brain and hart nee to heal and I am proud of you
See you soon
No no, you have to make it because I still need to finish your previous task and you have still 2 students who want to learn Dutch from you. So, we need you. I was practicing your given tasks but later I started working so couldn't make time to record it. Next week I have some free days so then I will try to record the given tasks.
I hope we will meet again...
@tipu curate 💙💛 🇺🇦 💛💙
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 350/500) Liquid rewards.
Thank you so much....
Yes, I would say she is kind and managed time for us. About my therapy, I needed someone to talk to and I never thought she might be the open who can help me. Thank you Kittygirl for reading my blog...
Have a great day...
MarieHelen sounds a lovely person and you were destined to meet. I think it's a lot easier to get chatting to people when you have dogs. Sometimes I remember the dog's name but not their human!
In September, I'm looking after my friend's black labrador. She is from the south of England and I'm from the midlands. She speaks the queen's english. I don’t lol. Our accents are very different so he will go back home with a northern twang. 😁
Good look with your lessons. ❤
Exactly, it's very easy to remember a dog's name and for me, I am more attached to a dog :P
How was your experience with the black labrador :D?? Well, here dutch people have a different accent too even though I don't understand many of them when I hear familiar words...
I'm not dog sitting until September but he knows me very well. I've just got to remember not to spoil him too much as he always snitches on me. 🙂
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people(@priyanarc) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Broodje kroket! Very common and known in The Netherlands.
I do believe that the Dutch language is not an easy language for you to learn. But great that you've found yourself a teacher.
One of their famous and known food... Dutch language pronunciation is very hard for me but I am trying my best to learn the language properly...
I know it won't be easy for you to learn the language properly, and I know the food all too well ... I am Dutch myself.
Ah really nice to meet you... Hopefully, soon I will start speaking Dutch, I have to try at least :). Thanks for the encouragement...
So happy for you, that you are surrounded by good people like this. It's a blessing to have people like that in your life.
I am happy for myself too...
Hello sis. How are you ???
I hope you can find more and more people to help and encourage you. Good luck.
!lady