Jip, meet Janneke

Well, actually it was Nerissa, meet Jaenneke, but you get the idea.

Today was my intake with the Ttif Company. Interesting location for a language school. Next to a casino, and upstairs to a nail salon (wonder if I can get a discount?). As is the norm, getting to the appointment on time was a challenge. I took the bus, and there was some sort of issue at one of the stops for about 10 minutes. Passengers were panicking and stamping their tickets in case it was control (I was a bit surprised at the number of ticket cheats, actually!), but it turned out that there was a shift change and the new driver hadn't finished his morning tea yet...

So, I was just in time for my appointment. I met my contact person, Jaenneke and she immediately started yabbering away in Dutch, so my first impression was somewhat coloured by frustration, but, she complimented me on my level of understanding so I was happy!

The intake was actually very short. Even though Maarten had called in advance to discuss whether or not it would be worth my going in today as I am yet to complete the competency test they said I should come in anyway. In hindsight I think it would have been more beneficial to have the intake after the test because we could not discuss much about the classes themselves. Mostly because we don't know which level I am at (I told her Jip and Janneke is about right), but we talked about my work and details of the lesson plans. Nothing too indepth, but enough to make me feel a bit better about the process.

Classes are three hours per lesson, twice per week beginning at 18.30, but there is no end date at this time. So, I could be attending Dutch lessons twice a week for the rest of my life for all I know!

So, I left the appointment after less than 20 minutes, and have been invited back for two introductory classes next week on Monday and Tuesday. I'm not sure what is involved, but hopefully it will be useful. One point to note, my contact person did not offer me any information on paper and she mumbled something about the inburgering rules having changed from a five year integration period to a three year period. So, according to new rules, I should pass the exam by 2012, rather than 2014 as I was told in the first instance. She also told me that I should not worry about it because there is too much conflicting information, so I was effectively none the wiser!

See you Monday, I'm off to Carnivale in Eindhoven this weekend.