IVM

Every once in a while, I have a watershed moment when it comes to learning Dutch.

Someone will say something for the third time, or correct me for the seventh, and I will say, "Ohhhhhh...now I get it!"

Another type of watershed comes when I learn something that can be applied easily and correctly in the Dutch emails I write.

Learning "alvast bedankt" — thanks in advance — marked a major improvement in my Dutch correspondence.

But the crown jewel is a simple abbreviated phrase that people use all of the time: ivm, or in verbinding met.

The phrase literally translates to "in connection with," but that fails to demonstrate how amazingly all purpose it is.

There's the literal use: I'm sending this email ivm our upcoming meeting...

It can mean "in reference to" or "with respect to" as in: ivm your recent request for this document...

It can mean "because of": ivm new rules on deposit insurance...

(See what an exciting job I have?)

Basically, any time one needs to express a relationship between two things or slightly passive-aggressive causation, ivm is a three-letter savior.

It's especially handy because it's a descriptive phrase, not a conjunction, which means one doesn't have to change around the word order, add a dependent clause, or do anything else that will cause one's English-speaking brain to explode.

And — here's the best part — it's pre-prepositioned.

Sadly for me, there is not a direct relationship between Dutch prepositions and English prepositions.

For example, you don't ride to work on the train, you ride to work with the train. You don't send a message to someone, you send a message on someone.

It really pains the mind.

It also pains any Dutch listener who is on the receiving end of the wrong linking words.

I don't like to think of the percentage of my Dutch-speaking hours I spend fumbling around ivm (see how handy it is?!) prepositions.

The great thing about ivm? The preposition is already taken care of in a nice little acronym.

All of that is a long way to say that ivm our compulsion to cook elaborate meals using hard-to-find ingredients, we spent yesterday on our semi-annual pilgrimage to the Oriental Superstore in Arnhem.

Its sketchy name aside, we *love* this superstore.

It's the size of a modest American grocery store, which is a marked improvement from most of the tokos* in Nijmegen, which are generally the size of a modest 7-11.

(*I've waxed lovingly about tokos before, but just as a reminder: it's the word the Dutch use to describe tiny grocery stores that carry Chinese, Indonesian, Surinamese, Indian, or other miscellaneously non-Dutch food items.)

This SuperToko is large enough to have the kind of weirdness that makes schlepping all the way to Arnhem on a bus (or via a 3-hour bike ride— not that we were dumb enough to do that last time) worthwhile.

Such as Indonesian-style Kentucky Fried Chicken breading:

I acknowledge that Kentucky Fried Chicken is more than a little bit fraught as an export to Indonesia.

At the same time, I can't help but feel mystified and amused about an American-style chicken recipe adopted wholeheartedly by Indonesians that's been packaged and marketed for sale in the Netherlands.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the sign of a great toko if the Kentucky Chicken section is as large here as it is in grocery stores in Indonesia.