Marieke

Hi, my name is Marieke. I am 45 years old. I live in Tilburg (The Netherlands), together with my husband Dim and our two cats, Oliver and Oscar. I work as a teacher of Dutch and English. In my spare time, I enjoy being outdoors: hiking, cycling, camping. I love swimming. I also like working in the garden - we have a tiny garden full of wildflowers. (As you can probably tell, being surrounded by nature is very important to me.) I love baking and cooking, so it would be great if you'd be willing to share your favourite recipe(s) with me. I also love reading, especially American/English contemporary literature, including children's/young adult literature, as all of my students are studying to become primary school teachers. I hope to spread the joy of reading to them. If you happen to have a favourite book (in English), I'd love it if you would share it with me. And as a teacher of Dutch and English, I also have a general passion for languages/linguistics, especially the Germanic languages (which, along with Dutch and English, also includes German and the Scandinavian languages, especially Swedish). I enjoy listening to music, and have really missed going to concerts during the pandemic. And last but not least, I love travelling - especially to the mountains (Alps, Pyrenees, Himalayas) and to Scandinavia.

I signed up for Reddit Gifts' Secret Santa for the first time in 2020, mainly because it had been such a difficult year for everyone, anywhere in the world. I just wanted to cheer up someone's holiday season in times of covid-19. What I hadn't realised, however, is how much fun it is - not only to buy gifts for a stranger, but also to receive some things from someone you don't know! I opened my gift package on Christmas morning and even though I'm in my 40s, I was as excited as a little child. :)

If you cannot think of any gifts to send, here are some things that I like: tea - chocolate - local foods (for example candy or spices) - your favourite book (in English), with a note why you love it so much - your favourite recipe(s) or a cookbook with local/national dishes - something you have made yourself, if you are creative at all - something that has to do with nature/outdoor/mountains - warm socks - a mug - a link to a Spotify playlist with music that you like.