Is it "itching"?

Itch

Noun
1. A contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite; characterised by persistent itching and skin irritation; "he has a bad case of the itch".
2. A strong restless desire; "why this urge to travel?".
3. An irritating cutaneous sensation that produces a desire to scratch.

Verb
1. Scrape or rub as if to relieve itching; "Don't scratch your insect bites!".
2. Have or perceive an itch; "I'm itching--the air is so dry!".
3. Have a strong desire or urge to do something; "She is itching to start the project".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

Sometimes I wonder "why the trouble?". English isn't my native language. That's Dutch. And German in second place. But not English - Often I find it rather hard to find matching English expressions - Writing English takes me a lot of extra time and I sure make mistakes in spelling and grammar... Mostly I don't mind the extra effort - English is a perfect tool to communicate worldwide, and I like the contacts with foreign seakayakers - since the start of this blog over 60% of the visitors is none-Dutch. But sometimes...
I admire the impressive way kayak-bloggers like Derrick and Wenley (that's word-art!) play around with English language and feel a bit guilty with my messing.
I keep on practising - it can only get better ;-). It comes with little things. Today I discovered you can use "itching" in English in the same context as "kriebelen" in Dutch. Technically the translation will be correct, yet I am not sure if it comes along with same subtle nuances and feelings as in the Dutch language...

This weekend Nelleke and Philip sent a mail with a collage of pictures with short notes of the NKB/SAU-course on Spiekeroog last year. In the accompanying text they asked: "kriebelt het al?" -to announce that they are anxiously looking forward for their next seakayak-course and that they will join at Vlieland this year. I was amused by the way they put this, and smiled because of the pictures - some of them showing me in a bit compromising position.

Wat zoek je daar nu?

Lukt het?

Ja ik heb het!

Lotgenoten.

Text and pictures by N. Boot.

To answer the question: it's always itching! Fortunately the kayak season isn't limited to the summer months but goes the year round. (The breathable drysuit has seriously contributed to my winter pleasure in kayaking. Multiple day trips, wet exercises in winter are much more fun with this piece of kit). So it's itching, I continuously want to go out kayaking, but I don't only have the urge to go out, I actually do (next week to Wangerooge... ;-). Amongst the great seakayak activities the NKB-courses have a special place in my heart. I am looking forward to the next one! Alas the Spiekeroog course is postponed to 2009 (due to calender-issues in 2008), but I can't wait for Vlieland! Thanks for the pictures Nelleke and Philip: they supply "voorpret".

The complete 2008 NKB-seakayak calender: click here.