Originally posted to Multiply July 21 2011
B.C. is having a cool, wet summer. We have had them before. This one is at least changeable, with some sun in between the showers and not too cold. We are not being flooded or burnt out of our home, and the woods are loving it. There is no need for shlepping garden hoses around either. While I miss true heat, we should be grateful.
But what do we do with a grandchild on vacation when it is not beach weather? We play Monopoly, that's what. The grandson and I have been enjoying vigorous battles. The score is 7-7 so far. He is at the other grandparents now, we have joint custody for the summer. :).
The game takes me back to rainy vacation days in summer houses in Noordwijk. My oldest kid brother Jaap and I played it endlessly. I hardly ever won, no matter how good my strategy or how promising my possessions. Somehow Jaap always managed to produce a stash of money that he claimed to have surreptitiously saved. Silly honest me believed him.
It simply never occurred to me that someone would systematically cheat, something he cheerfully confessed to about 40 years later. Both my brothers believe that cheating is an expected part of game playing. I do not. Foolish naive me.
K got the game for his 9th birthday, when he was still obsessed with Sponge Bob Squarepants. How does anyone come up with characters like that anyway? Like my SIL said, "substances must have been involved.." We digress. I finally know the order of the place names, vehicles etc in that version. But the Dutch version is engraved in my DNA. The following is just for my own entertainment. You can stop reading now.
"Ons Dorp" (Dorps straat, Brink)
Arnhem: Steenstraat, Ketelstraat, Velperplein.
Haarlem: Barteljoris straat, Zijlweg, Grote Hout straat.
Utrecht: Neude, Biltstraat, Vreeburg
Groningen: A-Kerkhof, Grote Markt, Heerenstraat
Den Haag: Spui, Plein, Lange Poten
Rotterdam: Hofplein, Blaak, Coolsingel
Amsterdam: Leidse straat, Kalverstraat.
PostScript:
The Boy spent some birthday money on a new version. I HATE it.
Canadian version: Instead of picking cities for each colour with real street names each colour group has a random bunch of cities. What is expensive Vancouver doing in the cheap light-blue section?
But what I really hate is the electronic banking machine. Instead of the cheerful shuffling around of pretend bills non-bankers seem to spend half their game time waiting for the machine to deal with cards. It also make it harder to keep track of your money. I wonder if this is a deliberate ploy by The Powers That Be to get us all used to the cash-less society?
But what do we do with a grandchild on vacation when it is not beach weather? We play Monopoly, that's what. The grandson and I have been enjoying vigorous battles. The score is 7-7 so far. He is at the other grandparents now, we have joint custody for the summer. :).
The game takes me back to rainy vacation days in summer houses in Noordwijk. My oldest kid brother Jaap and I played it endlessly. I hardly ever won, no matter how good my strategy or how promising my possessions. Somehow Jaap always managed to produce a stash of money that he claimed to have surreptitiously saved. Silly honest me believed him.
It simply never occurred to me that someone would systematically cheat, something he cheerfully confessed to about 40 years later. Both my brothers believe that cheating is an expected part of game playing. I do not. Foolish naive me.
K got the game for his 9th birthday, when he was still obsessed with Sponge Bob Squarepants. How does anyone come up with characters like that anyway? Like my SIL said, "substances must have been involved.." We digress. I finally know the order of the place names, vehicles etc in that version. But the Dutch version is engraved in my DNA. The following is just for my own entertainment. You can stop reading now.
"Ons Dorp" (Dorps straat, Brink)
Arnhem: Steenstraat, Ketelstraat, Velperplein.
Haarlem: Barteljoris straat, Zijlweg, Grote Hout straat.
Utrecht: Neude, Biltstraat, Vreeburg
Groningen: A-Kerkhof, Grote Markt, Heerenstraat
Den Haag: Spui, Plein, Lange Poten
Rotterdam: Hofplein, Blaak, Coolsingel
Amsterdam: Leidse straat, Kalverstraat.
PostScript:
The Boy spent some birthday money on a new version. I HATE it.
Canadian version: Instead of picking cities for each colour with real street names each colour group has a random bunch of cities. What is expensive Vancouver doing in the cheap light-blue section?
But what I really hate is the electronic banking machine. Instead of the cheerful shuffling around of pretend bills non-bankers seem to spend half their game time waiting for the machine to deal with cards. It also make it harder to keep track of your money. I wonder if this is a deliberate ploy by The Powers That Be to get us all used to the cash-less society?
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