Yeahh, it was totally surprising for me.. To meet a soldier from Holland..
It happened few weeks ago. I heard that there was a new soldier from Holland. Ugh.. Somehow I feel Holland as my second home. That was why I really felt excited to hear about somebody from 'my second country'.
Then, I met him. Well, of course he is of turkish origin. He told me that he was born in Holland and he is from Hoorn. It was such a nice feeling to talk about Albert Heijn, drops (he loves them !, he is not a typical turkish guy anymore :) ), trains, Alkmaar, football teams (he is a professional football player), Blokker ...
Then, I went to uncle Wiki since it was the first time i heard "Hoorn". I have learned that it is somewhere close to Alkmaar, on the coast of Markermeer, and it is really a nice historical city! Weird that I did not hear about it when I was in Holland..
Blokker
"Do you know Blokker", he asked me, "the store chain". "Of course" I said. I was there almost every week. I usually went to the one in Javastraat, next to the turkish supermarket I went for shopping. There was also one on the other side of Rietlandpark station of tram 26. (And I remember how I was surprised when Vahid and Sara told me that they do not know about Blokker :D)
But, the weird point is, I never questioned the meaning of the name! Of many such things I discussed with Maikel, Daniel or Suzanne, this never became an issue. I guess the main reason was that I thought it came from the word "blocks". :), which makes some sense when you think of what is sold in these stores..
Who would guess that I would learn the origin of this name in Turkey, in the military complex, from someone in turkish military clothes ... This is life :) It is so unpredictable :D
Yeah, this "soldier from Hoorn" told me that Blokker was indeed the name of a village in Hoorn area. " "They even have a football team, and I played there some time ago" he said.
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Daniel gave more details on the name "Blokker" through his comments via Facebook.
"Blokker is a pedigree or family name also, that is, besides being a 'dorp' (village) and a utility store. All from my native area, it's a small world after all." he says.
Then, he made it more detailed:
"According to the i'm-always-right-wiki page, the blokker store was founded on april 25th 1896 by Jacob and Saapke Blokker in ... surprise - Hoorn. Its name in the 1930'ies was gebroeders blokker, or The blokker brothers. But then again, this family name most likely originated in ... Blokker (village)."The english wiki does not say anything, but the dutch version gives the info above ..
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