my boyfriend sang for the queen today

i think i'm more of the subtle type, dropping hints and waiting for people to ask questions or catch on. but sometimes, it's nice also to be a bit over-dramatic - and just say something that you expect will raise a few eyebrows. and since the title of this blog entry is technically true, it seemed a lovely eyebrow-raising blog title.

and so you ask, how is it that he (Matthijs - for the non-dutch folks, you say it Ma-tie-us [emphasis on the tie]) sang for the queen? well, he sings in a choir that sings cantates in the Klooster Kerk in Den Haag. and the queen was in attendance [apparently she goes there more often - Matthijs had mentioned that it was a bit of a chique church; i just don't think it fully dawned on me how chique it was until he pointed out to me the queen's presence in the little side room drinking coffee with the choir and others involved with the service]. i have to admit, i'm a bit in awe of royalty and big names and so on [i think growing up in rural canada might explain a bit of that], so it made rather an impression on me.

but since the title was intended less to be a springboard for my musings about royalty and more for letting others know about Matthijs' presence in my life, i'll say a bit more about that. we've been dating awhile now (this is purposely vague - we talked today about how long we've been dating and not surprisingly, we both had different ideas/answers. as a side note, i've noticed a tendency [albeit unscientifically verified] that many couples have different stories about how and when they started dating (which also makes it an interesting question to ask)).
we met at an old testament conference the summer before last. we bumped into each other this past summer during the ordination service of a member of the community here. we were surprised to see each other in such a different context (he was there for choir and i because of the community), and we started talking. i gave him my email because he said he was interested in the community. and we mailed. and so on.

it's been good. yet, at the same it's been a bit odd: the whole dating thing took me by surprise, as i was expecting to be spending a lot of time this year working on my dissertation, an old thesis, and figuring out how i fit in the community - and there were enough questions and uncertainties and effort involved in those things without also adding dating alongside! and it's odd, because we're both a bit older and both have our own lives already - so how do we get to know each other with all of our different history and different plans and ideas - and also when we both now live in somewhat different worlds?
so i don't react to the whole situation like a giggly teenager who blushes when you ask her about the boy she likes. in fact, for the longest time, if you asked me about it, i would have smiled but also would have appeared less enthusiastic and more confused by it all (probably because i was puzzled - and still am a bit).

i've since gotten over a bit of my surprise about Matthijs' presence in my life - and have been generally enjoying dating him, and i'm thankful that i've also been stretched and challenged through this. but even as much as i'm glad about this whole situation, it's still new enough and i'm shy enough, that i'm not sure how much more i'll talk about it here. but i did at least want to give at least a glimpse of this part of my life.