Koninginnenacht

I’ve been wanting to do something outside of my apartment and start some sort of Dutch socialization process and I decided on yoga. Last night was my first class. I found a studio right across the canal from my apartment, not even a 5 minute walk. It was really nice. There are lots of young people who were there and the instructor was nice too. She said everything in Dutch though so I was a bit lost, but I just followed everyone else and it wasn’t too bad. I plan on going back, and hopefully continue 2x a week until I move home. We’ll see how that works. I am a bit sore today. Nothing major, but I can feel a few select muscles. I consider that a good thing.

Tonight is Queen’s night or koninginnenacht as the Dutch say it. It is the start of the celebration for the Queen’s birthday. It is actually the date of her Mom’s birthday since the weather tends to be better on April 30 compared to January 31, her actual birthday. This celebration continues right on through till tomorrow night. I am planning on going out tonight, alone, for the first time EVER. I have never been out to a bar or party or anything of the sorts totally alone. I have met people there but this time I am flying solo. The guys at work have given me all sorts of advice and tips, only half of which I feel safe listening to. The other half I would have been better off never hearing. I did make two of them in charge though. One is responsible if anything should happen to me, and the other is responsible for searching for me if I don’t show up to work on Monday. I should survive, but you never know.

Tomorrow, Queen’s day or Koninginnedag, I am headed to Amsterdam to see what the party there is like. It is going to be wild. They say over a million people come out and celebrate in the city. There aren’t even that many full time residents! I am meeting a few people from work who reluctantly agreed to be my friends. I still don’t own any orange, which is a prerequisite to wear but I figured I can buy a big silly hat on the street or something. I’ll manage one way or another. The weather isn’t supposed to be that great though, rain in the mornings and a high of 59. Oh well, maybe there will be less crowds? I doubt it. I will keep you posted about the crazy antics of Dutch partying. Hope I live through it!!!

TULIPS!!!!

When I took the train this past weekend to Delft I rode by field after field of tulips. I decided I had to get out and see the fields. I kept asking the guys at work but I kept getting answers of “oh they’re not ready yet” referring to the tulip fields. After seeing them from the train, I figured I better not listen whole heartedly to the Dutchmen that aren’t real crazy about their flowers to start with. I Googled and found a town south of Haarlem that is supposed to have nice tulip fields. I put Noordwijk into TomTom and headed that way. It was leading me to the city center and I knew there wouldn’t be tulip fields there so I decided to take a sign that pointed back to Haarlem. I figured I was on a good path because it at least got me off the highway and away from the traffic.

I was winding down the roads and kept seeing glimpses of the fields but I couldn’t figure out how to get to them. I was pretty frustrated and eventually ended up pulling over to the side of an exit to get a shot of some fields across the canal. I was getting happier. As I drove down the road some more, I saw some cars on what appeared to be an access road. I had to find that road! So after taking a few random exits and making laps around the roundabouts, I finally found it. It was like I struck the tulip lotto! It was field after field of color. I will say, though, that were still many flowers that have not yet bloomed. I figured I would venture up North next time and see what I find in that direction. This weekend there is also a flower display in a town. I’ll have to see if I can track that one down. But, until then enjoy the tulip pictures!!

My stopping on the side of the road/exit tulip field picture

My first pink tulip field and proof I was really there!

Can't say that I wasn't in the thick of it!

My favorite new flower. The Pioen Rose tulip...I think. My boss said they can get HUGE. I want these. I need to figure out where to buy them. I guess the first step would to be to have a yard....


Rows after rows of tulips. As you can see, some are just sprouting out of the ground.

In front of my new favorite flower. I was so happy!

Lazy Sunday

Sunday was a lazy day for me. I wanted to go to Amsterdam and visit the Rijksmuseum in the morning then head to Delft in the afternoon for a bbq but I never made it to Amsterdam. I was awake but it just seemed like so much effort and the weather wasn’t awesome and visiting a museum alone is a hard thing to get motivated for so I stayed in. I am slightly disappointed with myself, but we are all human and have our lapses.

On the train to Delft we drove by field after field of blooming tulips. They were so pretty!! I need to get out there and take some pictures. I don’t want to miss them but nobody here is too excited about them and I can’t distinguish it between their general lack of attention to tulips or the fact that they aren’t that good yet and will get better. I’m afraid I will miss something if I wait too long! I also have to get back to Keukenhof and see their blooming St. Basil’s Cathedral. I have seen it so much sans flowers I deserve to see it with flowers! I need to make sure I get my usage of my season pass I invested in. Only a few more weeks before the park closes on May 18. I also read you can rent bikes and tour around the surrounding area which sounds like a great idea except it is a tourist hot spot on the weekends and I’m not a fan of crowds, nor have any free weekends left.

Thursday starts the Queen’s night party which then transfers (I’m guessing seamlessly) into Queen’s day parties. I’m not sure if I will venture out on Thursday (to Amsterdam) alone. Maybe I’ll check out the situation locally around Haarlem. I’m sure they have something good going on as well. It seems most of the country does something. Friday, though, I have volunteered some people from work to meet up with me so I don’t have to hang out alone in the crowds. I was looking at the web page that lists all of the major “Pleins” or squares where things are happening and I can’t wait. One of the major one has live music for 10 straight hours with The Baseballs in the evening. I finally got a copy of their CD but they have primarily remade other songs but into a rockabilly format so it’s fun to have that spin on the #1 hits. It will be a busy day and a half with tons of walking and hopefully good weather.

On Saturday I am trying to get Ben, Mark’s brother, to come visit so we can go to the Beverwijk black market. He loves to go and I’m not a fan of attempting things by myself so I figured if I could enlist an “old pro” I might as well try. I might also kidnap him and drag him along with tulip field visits. I’m sure he would LOVE that. Don’t give him a heads up Gina! It’ll ruin the look of pain and torture on his face if I get the chance to capture him.

Bloemencorso 2010

Today was a busy day! I managed to sleep in (a little too much) and didn’t get my run in. Now, I was “motivated” to go this morning and enjoy the nice weather but I liked sleeping more. I did go to Delft to see Annemiek’s soccer game and spend some time with Mark’s family. Ton was busy making the garden pretty and planting some new flowers. They had beautiful tulips blooming in pink, orange, and purple. They are just such happy flowers! Gina (the Mom) is usually banned from all of her kid’s soccer games because they say she is bad luck and whenever she shows up they lose (even if they were winning when she got there). We decided that my positive, good luck appearance canceled out her bad luck. It was a great afternoon for a bike ride (to and from the game) and to sit out and enjoy the garden. We had dinner in their back yard in their newly painted chairs (Ton oiled the wood) and I was thoroughly amused with fish they have in their pond. Apparently, they are a liability though because the birds eat them so they only buy cheap ones. I never thought about that being a problem.

I ended up getting home around 8:30pm and I knew the flower parade was this weekend and supposed to arrive in Haarlem around 9 pm. I got on the internet quick and looked up the route. It all meant nothing to me so with the help of Google Maps I figured out the route and realized it went RIGHT BY my apartment. I figured I couldn’t miss this opportunity so I walked out my door and around the corner and saw the people starting to line up. I figured some ice cream would keep me busy the 20 minutes I waited but the line was out the door so I gave up on that idea and just found a spot. It was perfect! No big crowds, no crowding, and I was right up front. I admit, I left a bit early because my back was hurting and I had already been out there 1.5 hrs so I figured I had seen enough. From the sounds of the traffic, I only missed a few floats. I still managed plenty of pictures though!!! I hope you enjoy them. EVERYTHING is out of flowers. Building floats out of tissue paper for Homecoming was hard enough, I can’t imagine flowers!!

Leave it to the Dutch to have a band on bikes!

The first flower float, a giant tulip!

The theme at Keukenhof this year is "From Russia with Love." Nothing says it more than their flag/symbol made out of pretty flowers!

A pink windmill out of flowers. My new Dutch favorite.

A lady in the traditional dress with purple cows.

This is supposed to be the Dutch boy and girl kissing but I sort of missed it and got the boy. He looks a bit creepy but I had to include it out of principle.

The viking ship!

The head of the viking....coming at us with his hatchet!

The masquerades!

Ariel and her mermaid friend and the moving seahorses! They really rocked back and forth!

Can't go anywhere without your pink sheep.

Did you know the Tour de France starts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands? Neither did I. Here is the flower version!

It's a Plane!

(I meant to post this a few days ago, but something happened and it didn't work. I just noticed. Sorry!)

Yes, flying is back to “normal” around here. There are flights taking off and landing now, but I still feel that the skies are quieter than normal. Maybe the clouds are obscuring my view, but there are usually 5 planes in the ski at any given time and now, there are like 2. At least they are flying though. I’ve got a plane to catch in 2 weeks so I hope things are back to normal then. Shoot, I hope the airlines are still in business then! I’m very happy my industry is not dependent on the airlines. Granted, oil and natural gas has its own challenges but I cannot imagine how these 5-6 days of no flying has affected everything from hotels and caterers to airport shops and restaurants. Well, for the airport places maybe they made a killing having people trapped inside for days. This is just another reason why one should travel with a carry on at all times. At least then you’d have a spare set of clothes and tooth brush. You can survive with a few things.

At work, the radio is set on my desk so I get control of the music. I keep telling everyone I’m going to burn a CD with country music that they have to listen to ALL DAY. Maybe I’ll save it for my last day. They might kill me otherwise. Either way, I don’t have any blank CDs and have no idea if my computer can even burn CDs. I have begun to censor songs. There are two that I just CANNOT stand so if they come on, I shut the radio off. They are “The Winds of Change” and the stupid Firefly song. I don’t care, but any song that sings about being kissed by 10,000 fireflies does not deserve to be heard. The group generally doesn’t mind too much but they still give me a hard time. I’m sticking to my censorship though. I don’t want to be put in a bad mood because of a stupid song!

May 5th is the Dutch Independence day. As I was writing this, I realized it is the same day as Cinco de Mayo so I had to Google to find the reasoning behind it. It is Liberation Day which marks the end of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands after WWII. Liberation day is generally celebrated every 5 years. Wikipedia said they it became recognized as a national holiday in 1990 to be celebrated every year, but the guys explained it to me as only being celebrated every 5 years. Well, I guess I got lucky then, I get the Wednesday off. There is a large outdoor looking concert in Haarlem on that day so I might go find that and see what it is all about. Hopefully the weather will be nice. It has been sunny the past few days but only about 10C which is 50F. That is cold enough to not make a person want to enjoy the outdoors.

Nina!

Last weekend I visited Nina in Germany. Google maps said it would be about a 3.5 hour drive but ended up taking a bit over 4 hours due to traffic. She actually lives in a little town about an hour away from everything (Autobahn, Bremen). It is a super cute little town though, about 12,000 people live there and they have a great ice cream shop! I arrived on Friday evening and we just spent the evening snacking and catching up.

On Saturday we decided we didn’t want to rush ourselves so we slept in and ate a wonderful breakfast. Nina ran to the local bakery for some fresh rolls and we enjoyed the sunshine and more girl talk. We had so much to catch up on! Then we decided we would head to Bremen for the afternoon/evening. Bremen also had a “Body” exhibit where they display bodies and show how the muscles/veins/nerves/ligaments/organs work. It was really interesting to see. It all looked so fake! They had a normal brain compared to an Alzheimer’s brain and regular lungs compared to smokers lungs. They really did look like they were dropped in tar. We ended up spending about 2 hours in there looking at all of the different things. Another neat exhibit they had was of “The Beginning of Life” and they had all things dealing with pregnancies. They also had example fetuses ranging from about 4 weeks all the way until due. They really do look like a little bean pod. It was so weird to see. We also learned that humans live a long time in relativity to their heart size/function. If it was solely based on our heart size and how often it beats compared to our mass our life expectancy is only 27 years but obviously there are other factors at work here. It was just so neat to see “life” in that way.

After the exhibit we followed the crowd into town. We didn’t get very far before Nina spotted a store that sells the brands of jackets she wants. Well guess who ended up buying a jacket? Not Nina. They ARE really nice jackets and water and wind resistant. I found a nice one that can be used for work or play but it is longer (mid thigh length) which I really wanted. It is also light weight so it will be nice for a variety of seasons. It will be perfect for the trip I’m planning to Stockholm and Copenhagen in May! Here is a picture:

I don't get the joys of showing off my new clothes to friends or family, so this is my substitute :)

Since we went shopping first, I then had a giant bag to carry the rest of the day! We found a beautiful windmill and stopped and had a coffee under it for a little break. We then headed to the city center and to take a look around. We found the bronze statue “The Town Musicians” based on one of the Grimm Brother’s stories. We wondered down the Böttcherstraße and looked at all of the cute shops there. We found Eddie a cute birthday card as well as a shot glass for Mark. There is a candy manufacturer there that makes little Bon Bons (little hard sweet candies) by hand and we got to try some that were fresh off the cooker thing. I’ve never had a warm one before! I ended up getting 2 little jars and bringing them to work since everyone loves candy so much here. In this street is also a little brewery so we stopped for a happy hour drink. You can’t turn down a beer for 1 Euro. It’s just wrong! So he a beer…or two….then asked our super nice waiter where a good place to eat is. He recommended Italian but I wanted German since I was in Germany so we decided to just eat there. We wanted to go walk around a bit more since the weather was FANTASTIC so we figured we would just go back. In Bremen, they have little wharfs where the old harbor used to be. You can walk around along the water on a nice path, close to water level. There are also beer gardens and restaurants that have set up shop along there as well. Since the weather was still so great, we stopped for another beer along the river. After enjoying the sun and watching it set we decided to head back to the brewery where we would have dinner. It was busier by then but sadly not with any young, youthful guys. We ordered and I went for the traditional Bremer Knipp which is what poor people used to eat. Now, apparently it is a specialty. Our waiter didn’t sell it very well with the poor people aspect but I figured I would give it a shot anyways. It was definitely very fatty. I took a picture, but it didn’t look very appetizing so I skipped including it. After hanging out there for awhile, we decided to head home. We were home by about midnight and then went to bed.

Nina and I in front of the windmill and flowers Bremen, Germany style!

The Town Musicians from the Grimm Brother's fairy tale

The town hall and market full of people enjoying the amazing weather

On Sunday we had another wonderful, long breakfast and figured out how nice it was outside. Nina mentioned helping me get some of my tickets booked for my travels so we figured we could sit outside on her balcony and do that. I read a bit of my Kindle while Nina surfed the internet. Although it took 2 of us, I did get my ticket booked to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Now, this darn volcano needs to stop erupting so things can get back to normal around here. I’ve got lots of travel plans in May and they can’t be interrupted by Iceland. After we figured we had been lazy enough for one morning we decided to head out on the bikes for a tour of her town. I didn’t have any major bike accident but we did have a little run in. I would have loved to post pictures from our excursion but we both forgot our phones and cameras so it was good there were no emergencies. After wondering through the little wooded parks and ponds (and watching ducks speed land on the water) we figured we deserved an ice cream.

When I lived in Germany one of my favorite ice creams was spaghetti ice. It is ice cream that is pushed through a mold so it forms spaghetti like noodles on a pile of whip cream covered in a berry sauce. It is still one of my favorites and I haven’t had it in forever so I figured I would get that. The foreign girl slightly insulted my German but since I KNEW she was a foreigner I figured hers had to be just as bad or worse for me to hear it. At least, that’s what I told myself! After ice cream we headed back to Nina’s and enjoyed the last hours on the balcony in the sun. We were discussing all things life and work and degrees and all of the stuff that probably shouldn’t be discussed on a Sunday afternoon sitting in the sun. The exciting part of all of my sun sitting is I now have the beginning of a tan in the form of a light sun burn….but it is only on one half of my body. I ended up leaving her place around 5:30 and got home around 9, true to Google Maps time with limited traffic. It was such an enjoyable weekend and I hope we can do it again before I leave!

"We are a large busines......"

I can see ash clouds! I’ve never seen ash clouds from a volcano before! There is still a chance it could be pollution, but we ruled out rain. I’m going with ash clouds because that makes all of the happenings a bit more exciting. I’m just so thankful I am not flying this weekend….or this past week. It would be miserable trying to deal with all of the delays/cancellations and the numerous other unhappy travelers.

Today is a pink day for me. The guys start singing the pink panther theme song whenever I walk by. I am wearing my fuzzy pink jacket, my new pink scarf (a birthday present from Doris), and my pink watch (a birthday present from Mom). The color just makes me so happy it is hard to give up. I’m also sure it brightens everyone’s day that has to look at me. How could pink not do that? It is just a happy color. I wanted to prove that it is a happy color so I looked up the meaning of pink. Bright pinks can encourage action and confidence and it has been used in prisons to decrease erratic behavior. In Japan, pink has a masculine association because of the pink blooming cherry trees representing the young Japanese warriors who have fallen in battle. Pink also encourages friendliness and discourages ill-will. Overall, I think pink is a fantastic color and I’ll slowly convince everyone here that I am right. If you want to read the entire profile of pink, or any other color, click HERE.

The warehouse guy introduced me to the typical Dutch candies for kids (according to him, anyways). They are little white mice and snails. The mice are made of this stretchy sweet stuff that I really like the texture of. The snails are made of the same, but have a gummy “shell” on their back. The snails are cute because they even have the little snail eyes/lumps on their heads like real snails! I don’t know why they made the mice white; I think they should have chosen a polar bear or something. I’m not a fan of mice ever; even as candy they’re less appetizing just because of their shape.

I received my ISO 9000 book in the mail today. I figured I better get read up on the latest ISO 9001:2008 standards that they want to implement here. It’s a nice 730 pages and very much like a text book but with a pretty pearl on the front. I guess that helps make the book a little less painful . It is a neat initiative that goes along with Total Quality Management. It is similar to 6 Sigma and other TQM systems. Companies who have these certifications are supposed to be able to better serve their customers due to their highly systemized operations and the clarity they are in place. I’m sure you get out of it what you put into it, like most things, so hopefully we can do it right and it will be very beneficial!

This past week I have been cooking for myself and I haven’t keeled over dead yet. I figure that is a good thing. I saw tuna steaks at our local grocer and I LOVE tuna steaks so I thought I would buy one and see how I did. I really like my tuna steaks rare (as tuna should be served) but I don’t know how much I trust grocery stores and myself to handle and serve raw fish. I seared it on both sides, well a little longer than the traditional searing but it was still raw in the middle. It was quite tasty too! I read that tuna pairs well with Asian spices so I dipped it in our sweet chili sauce that we have here and I was very happy with the outcome! I will definitely have to do it again next time I find tuna at the grocery store.

There was just a forward sent around the office of a copy of an actual quote from a vendor to another office. In the fine print it states “We are a large business and not a minority or woman owned business.” This company is based in San Francisco. We are all getting a laugh that a company actually put this on their quote. They, too, are ISO certified. I hope we don’t end up with things like that in our fine print after this process!

Travel, Travel, Travel

I think my life was more exciting when Kelly was here. I feel like I have fewer and less interesting things to blog about. If that’s true, my apologies.

This morning I brought an orange as part of my breakfast. Our grocery store is small, bigger than an Allsups but far smaller than a Wal-Mart. Like ¼ of Wal-Mart and strictly groceries and daily household items such as cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper, and kitchen items such as dish washing gloves (which I need a new pair of an have forgotten the last 2 trips there). But besides its size, it does have a rather large selection. It often times has both the choice of organic or regular for a lot of products such as eggs, milk, and lunch meat. It also has about 3 types of oranges to choose from: the little ones that peel super easy, the medium size ones that are still easy to peel, and the normal size ones that aren’t easy to peel. I didn’t know this until I decided to splurge on the big ones on this last trip. Get crazy, try something new. I do not like high maintenance food. I get easily frustrated if my food offers to big of a challenge to eat it, which is also why I do not like sea creatures with heads and legs still attached. My orange this morning was very high maintenance. It squirted everywhere and got my hands all sticky. It put me in a negative mood. I now have a whole bag to eat of them and every time I’m going to get mad. Maybe I’ll Google to see if there is a trick to making an orange easier to peel……

Other interesting things, airspace around the UK has been shut down and all flights cancelled due to Iceland’s volcano eruption. I would love to see Iceland. Maybe one of these days. Also in my research of travel information for my excursion to Copenhagen and Stockholm in May there are relatively easy flights from Amsterdam to Tromsø, Norway. It is supposedly one of the best places to witness the Northern Lights during the winter because for practically 3 months they have 0 sunlight, as in the sun never comes over the horizon. I don’t know how people live like that but being inside the Arctic Circle comes with its advantages and disadvantages. In the summer, the sun never goes beneath the horizon. They have mountains that change some of the sun viewing, but still…that’s a lot of extreme sunlight conditions. If I ever get the chance, count me in for planning a trip there to see the Northern lights. Maybe I can get a few other curious souls to meet me there for the experience. That is just my early warning.

Tabatha, Karla, and Boyd are going to be here in a little over a month. I can’t wait to see them! I’ve got to get my plans booked and lined up to meet them in London. I plan on going a few days early and making a small tour through England and seeing some different sights. I need to consult my book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, on the top locations I should be visiting. All of these trips take a lot of time and patience to figure out and price compare and research. It is definitely not my favorite part of travelling. Kelly was also much better at figuring these things out so I let her do it. I miss her helping to take care of me (among many other qualities and traits). I guess I don't have much of a choice but to be a big girl now. I guess I better start working on it....again......

Ouch!

This morning I burned myself…..twice. The first was with the hair straightner/flat iron on my forearm. It is not a bad burn, just a little blister. But the other one! Now, it is more serious. I happened with my egg steam my mom got me when she was here. I was taking the lid off and instead of tipping the lid over; I grabbed one handle and brought it over the steamer to the other side. Of course, when my hand was over the steamer, all the steam came rushing up and burned the top sides of my pointer and middle fingers. Now this one hurts! It hurts when I move my fingers, or look at them, but not when I blow on them. Now, that isn’t real constructive to sit at work and blow on my fingers, but I think it will happen from time to time today as well as hold them against my cold water bottle.

This weekend I will head direction of Bremen, Germany to visit Nina for a few days. Nina was the exchange student of my aunt and her family, so she is my exchange cousin and only lives 3.5 hours away. We have to take advantage of the short distance and I have never really been to that part of Germany. So far the weather is cooperating but I’m sure it will rain on the weekend just to spoil our fun. The country seems to me against me in that way.

Work is going well. I got myself involved with a project that I can work the wonders of Excel that Kelly taught me. It is fun feeling like the smart one, even when a few months ago this VLOOKUP function was a complete mystery to me. Hopefully, I will now be able to pass on the knowledge as well to make everyone’s life a bit easier. Technology does have its advantages, if you know how to use it!

Since I am not happy this morning, and slightly crippled, I wanted to put up pictures of Keukenhof from my visit there with Mom. I don’t think I blogged about our afternoon there, but it was very enjoyable with tons of great flowers. I was there again last week with a man and his wife from work. They’re Americans but living and working in Scotland. I knew the wife would love the flowers, but he ended up enjoying them as well. It is just such a neat area! I have more pictures from there but I don’t have my camera to upload them. The tulip fields are slowly starting to bloom so we took a little canal tour so we could get a better look. Upon returning, our boat had a stall out when the driver tried to put it in reverse so we were stuck, in the middle of a small canal, about 20 feet from the load/unload dock. Those boats always seem to give people trouble, it doesn’t matter what country your boat is in, and they all seem to have their own personalities. Luckily, though, we had a handsome young Dutchman as the driver so he got us fixed up with only minor delays and successfully back to the dock.

So, enjoy the pictures, be happy like the flowers and I’ll try not to bore you with more flower pictures for awhile.

Lost in Translation

I’ve learned many things working with different cultures in different countries. Some things are more profound than others, but I wanted to share a few of them.

Did you know the saying “curiosity killed the cat” has a reply? “Satisfaction brought him back!” We (2 Americans, 1 Scotswoman) were talking one day and I brought up the first half then the Scotswoman came back with the answer. The other American and I just looked dumbfounded (he is of a well mature age with lots of life experience). We had no idea what she was talking about. It rhythmically made sense, but we just always thought the cat died! We didn’t know the cat could live again (although it would made sense since they generally have 9 lives). I guess the reply sunk in the ocean on its way across so many years ago. We Googled to confirm what we were hearing, and it is true, satisfaction really did bring the cat back!

Candy floss = cotton candy. The Scotswoman brought me jelly beans as a little present so we were looking over the 36 different flavors and I came across candy floss. I was so confused. I could guess being it was a pink jelly bean but still candy floss? I made a generalized question of “What is Candy Floss?!?” and one reply I got was “Is that a stripper girl’s underwear?” Leave it to a Dutchman to come up with that association! We all had a good laugh over that one.

One from a few years ago during my exchange that I just think is too funny: My host father came down the stairs on day and asked me if I had ever heard of the “Chicken Dicks.” I got a confused look on my face and asked for him to repeat his question because I don’t think I understood it. Same thing, the “Chicken Dicks” so I pondered his question then, trying not to burst out laughing I ask him “Do you mean the Dixie Chicks?” He got really excited and started saying “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!” and that is when I lost it. I died laughing, almost rolling on the floor laughing. He didn’t quite understand what I found SO funny so I asked if he understood the meaning of his first question, he didn’t. I had to explain. After that, we both started laughing! Every time I bring it up to him, we still get a good laugh. That was a priceless moment.

My German Family

On Easter Monday Mom and I were lucky enough to get to celebrate the special holiday with my german sister's family. They are a very special family to us. When I was 12 Mom decided it was time for us to host our first exchange student. She came to us under less than desirable circumstances. Her first family wasn’t ideal. We still wonder why in the world they hosted an exchange student, and who in what organization thought it was a good idea. This family had little financial stability, numerous drug problems, and had little respect for personal boundaries. That is the downside to the exchange program. "Schwester" then moved in with a teacher who already had an exchange student and the original student’s program said 2 German exchange students cannot live together. So since "Schwester" was the newbie, she had to go. My mom knew Bob back in high school and he called her up and asked if she would be willing to host an exchange student. We had her for around 6 months. It may have been more or less, I was young then. My mom told him to bring her over so we could meet her and then decide. Well, we all spent about 5 minutes with her and were asking her where her suitcases were. She moved in very soon afterwards and it has changed our life ever since.

When I was 14 the family made a trip to visit her and meet her family. Then we met her fun brother, "Bruder", as well as her loving parents. On that trip we also toured Bavaria including castles and the Dachau concentration camp. It was very humbling for 2 young kids to see that (my brother was 12). When I was 16 I made my first solo trip ever to jump the ocean and travel with Doris and her friends on their graduation trip to the south of France. We had a fabulous time and still laugh about the stories. I also had one of the best tans of my life then. It’s probably why I now have my freckles and sun spots already forming.

"Schwesters’" parents, Hans and Regina, don’t speak any English and they were the reason why I wanted learn. They were such nice people and I had to learn, which is what inspired my exchange year in Germany. I can now speak to them! They probably wish I had never learned and was quieter at the dinner table.

"Schwester" and her brother made a trip (or two) to visit us several years ago. They stayed for about a month and we always have an amazing time. It seems when they are around we always have at least 1 run in with the police and always a good story to laugh about later. Never a dull moment with my german family. "Bruder" has also let me drive all of his cars in Germany. Some go faster than others, but either way some important lessons have been learned. The lessons include:

1) I am not born to be a race car driver. I cannot pop the clutch and I tend to stall out
2) Traffic on the autobahns at 1am is generally light, handy when “opening her up”
3) Driving at 150 mph is TERRIFYING.
4) Throwing innocent toys out the window driving the above speeds is scary, for both the toy and the thrower

So having my german family part of our family the last 12 years it is only natural we keep in touch. "Bruder" is recently engaged to Natalie. Everyone loves Natalie and we are all so happy for both of them. Their timing could not have been more perfect for everyone and there should be a wedding in September and kids shortly thereafter. I guess what they say, when you know you know, is really true. I’m still not a firm believer but I guess it is growing on me.

Patience is a virtue in all aspects of life and I keep working on that trait. Maybe one day I will learn. I just booked my tickets to go back to visit my german family and attend "Schwester's" cousin's wedding as her date. This will be my 2nd German family wedding and I am VERY excited since the last one was so much fun! She is also marrying a Mexican and that culture knows how to party as well. It will be a very merry time for everyone.

The German family clan, from left to right (around the table) Regina (Mom), Oma (Grandma, I can't remember her name for the life of me!), Me, Hans (Dad), My Mom, Doris, Klaus, and Natalie

The happily in love couple. They are so cute together!

Prague

Mom and I arrived safely in Germany on Thursday afternoon just in time for a dinner with Doris' family and a small celebration for my birthday. Doris' mom makes amazing food and cakes so we got treated very well. My mom also got to meet Klaus' (Doris' brother) new fiance. They will be having a wedding in September, I hope I can make it back!

Doris looked up the Prague special online and called the train station to confirm. You can buy the tickets at the automats and they leave about every 3 hours. We decided the 9:20ish train would work perfectly for us so we headed to the station with a good 30 minutes extra so that we had time to buy the tickets. What the lady didn't tell Doris was where to find the tickets on the automat. Since it was a holiday, hardly anybody was working and the train station was packed. Time was ticking away and we still hadn't found out how to get the tickets. They were tucked away in some odd little area on the machine and we couldn't find them. We were on the verge of missing the train and about to give up hope but I found a nice man helping stranded travellers and he showed us how to get the tickets. We had about 7 minutes till the train left, it was already waiting up on the platform. That started our 5 hour journey on a cramped, hot train to Prague.

Minus being squished between people, we were happy to have a seat. The train was an older one with cabins that contained 6 seats each and a hallway that ran the length of each car. There were 3 of us travelling and there wern't a lot of seats open in 3s. We got lucky and found some but that didn't leave much room. We were happy though, because as the train went on it only got fuller and people were camping out in the hallways by the end of it.

We finally made it to Prague!

Doris, Mom, and I in front of the Charles Brige, the Vtlava river, and the city's Castle.

We checked into our room at the Olympik hotel. It wasn't in the main part of the city so that we could keep it cheaper, but the hotel also lacked a bit of "elegance." The hotel was a bit out of date and after looking at 2 rooms we chose the "suite." We got a room with a king (two singles pushed together) and a couch that pulled out into a bed. The cute little bell boy that helped us didn't speak English or German so we were left to basic words and actions. He split the king bed apart to two single beds and told us "No Sex!" We all laughed. Then he pulled out the couch and showed us how that worked and how "soft" that was. Mom tested it, it wasn't soft. The little man went and got some cushions (similar to couch cusions but the size of a twin bed) to put on top of the couch bed. He put 2 side by side then informed us that that bed was the "Good Sex!" bed. We were happy to have that clarified, it was a very confusing fact we were pondering. Mom gave him all her change as a tip and he seemed happy.

We decided to head off into the city. You could buy tickets at the metro stop or the lady sold them. Well she only sold day tickets and wouldn't give us change for buying gum. I actully wanted gum! So I bought a bottle of water and gum then she had to give us change. We finally got enough for tickets and headed into the city to see the bridge and the old plaza. Everything was packed! Not just busy, but unpleasantly, elbow throwing packed. It was aweful! We made it 1/4 of the way across Charles bridge then decided to turn back and headed to the square where we just fought more crowds. We wanted a restuarant and tried to find one but it was booked up the whole night and asked for a recomendation and he sent us to one around the corner. It was quite tasty!

My mother and I on the Charles Bridge. The weather was amazing the whole time!

Doris and I on the old plaza where the Easter market was taking place

Doris and I with our duck

For dinner at the restaurant we had a started with duck. It's quite popular here and Mom had heard that it was tasty so we got a plate. I have never really had it but it was very declicious! We all had traditional food consisting of goulash, potato paties, sausages, and cabbage.

We wondered around the square more and saw the historical astrological clock. We couldn't handle the crowds any more so we headed back to our hotel. Since it was out of the city we had to take the subways everywhere. Their system is pretty good but they decided to build it 6 miles under the ground! These were the steepest, fastest escalators I have ever seen.

The tunnel going down. It would have made a great ski slope!

On Saturday we headed up to the castle. It's a bit of a hike up and Mom and Doris were a bit tired we we took it slowly. We apparently had the same plan as the rest of the tourists and by the time we made it up there it was packed with lines coming out of every which way. There was a HUGE line for the info office! Last time Doris and I went there were no crowds. We visited the castle at night and were the only ones there. It was almost creepy. Not this time, people after people after people. We didn't go into the church or museums or anything with a line. It wasn't worth it.

Doris and I at the castle.

A view of the city from the castle. It was so beautiful!

Doris and I with a view of the Charles bridge and castle in the back ground.

After fighting the crowds at the castle we walked down and headed the direction of the Charles bridge. We had to walk across it at least once for mom. On our way we found a cute restaurant near the water with a great view of the bridge. The sun was shining and we wanted to take advantage of it and sit and enjoy it. We had some wine, beer, and hot coco and wanted to split a cream brulee. Well minus the fact it took an hour for the desert, it was very enjoyable. We then walked across the bridge and headed to the plaza for a look around. Doris wanted to take us to her favorite restaurant but it turned out to be closed down. There was a place in my book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, called U Fleku. The book said to go, that the beer was brewed and only served there (not bottling or distribution) and they just serve you. You don't order, or have a choice. You sit down, get a schnapps (similar to Goldschlagger) and have a beer. It is a dark beer but light and tasty.

We made it to U Fleku!

We all ordered something for lunch and it turned out to be pretty decent. Mom got more duck, and I went for sausages. Doris munched off our plates. There was more than plenty of food for all of us! An older man came and played old classics from different countries on the acordian. It was a great time.

An ancient Jewish cemetary

After lunch we wanted to see an old Jewish cemetary in the Jewish quarter but since it was Saturday, everything was closed (Sabbath). We did get a glimpse of it though, from a museum window. It was an odd museum that had old clocks and clothes, and advertisements from hundreds of years ago. There was also and exhibition of the lady who created plastic blow up toys such as pool rafts. Yup, somebody had to invent those, and she was from Prague.

On Sunday we just hung out in the square. We wanted to go see the cemetaries, but there was a line so we just went and had some ice cream instead. It was a great time. On the train ride back, we got there early and was able to secure a cabin for ourselves for the entire journey home. The window worked so it never got too warm and we were able to snooze and read and enjoy the company.

Doris' mom had dinner prepared for us on Sunday evening when we returned and we got a sneak peak that the cake she had prepared for Easter lunch. It was a great trip and I'm glad Mom finally got to see Prague, after Doris promising to take her there for 10 years. It has become more expensive since it has become a tourist destination, but definitely still a place to see before you die!

Belgium

On Tuesday (March 30) Mom and I headed to Bruges, Belgium for a short excursion. Kelly and I had wanted to go see this medieval city for awhile now because it was the only town in Belgium that any Dutch person recommended. We left around 8:30 Tuesday morning and started our journey. We got into a bit of traffic and road construction but for the most part it was an uneventful 3 hour drive. TomTom took us right to our hotel and we had picked a wonderful centrally located hotel. It was right on the Burg which is the big historic plaza in the middle of the city. Right outside our window we could see the town hall. It was such a beautiful building! See below…

The city hall

The canals, buildings, and bridges were just so beautiful and old!

The most famous/pretty point in Bruges. Canals and buildings and my Mom! A girl can't ask for much more......

I had downloaded a walking tour of the city so we set off on our destinations and tourist book recommendations. The tour took us along the old canals and buildings and bridges. It was such a quaint city that was very peaceful. The streets had people, but not obnoxiously full like in Prague (future post). We met some teachers from Virginia who were visiting on Spring Break. We had to go to at least one museum so we hit up the Groeningemuseum which was a neat place with many old paintings. Many museums start to look the same so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time there. We were on a schedule! After the museum our tour took us to the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, a local brewery. Now, THAT is an important stop! Mom and I had a beer…or two….and let our feet have a break. After we had built up our energy we headed off for more walking and touring. After the break we headed to the Church of Our Lady in Bruges for a viewing of Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. It is the only statute to leave Italy during Michelangelo’s life time. It was bought by a family of wealthy cloth merchants who were from Bruges, one of the leading commercial cities in Europe during the time.

The detail of the statue was amazing! The way the cloth draped and the faces were formed. He was really a talented artist!

After that, Mom and I were tired so we made our way back to the Market and we wanted to take a carriage ride around the city. It was reasonably priced so we hopped in. Now, our driver was not an animated happy man which led to a slightly less than amazing tour and explanation of the city. He also over emphasized his “Rs” so he sounded slightly Scottish and like he might have been from a cartoon. As it turns out, though, that Mom and I had hit most of the city highlights on our walking tour. The few that we missed happened to be right around the corner of where we turned around and headed to the Market. The horse stopped to take a break by the beguinage ‘De Wijngaard' (the vineyard). The flowers were blooming so it was a beautiful sight.

The Beguine

Shops along the Market square

The sun was setting and we were tired and getting hungry. We headed to the room for a little break then re-gathered our things and headed to the Market for some mussels. The skies had taken a turn for the worse but just as we had reached the Market it started to poor rain and the wind REALLY kicked up. Mom and I hurried to the protection of a restaurant and ducked in just in time. We sat there in the warmth and dryness and watched people scurrying across the square and umbrellas blow inside out. We were happy where we were. We had ordered the local style of mussels which meant they were cooked in some sort of garlic curry broth and they were AMAZING! It was such a nice treat! After that Mom and I headed to another restaurant for dinner. It had stopped raining by then so we figured we should make a go of it while we could. Well, the book told us about this nice place that cooked all their food with beer and served complementary beer to the food choices. We figured anything with beer was a safe bet so we headed that way. Turns out this place is pretty fancy and coveted! It was a Tuesday night and we only got in by luck. They originally said they were full so we turned to leave and then she happened to find a table for us. We know why they were full; they only serve each table once per evening. I think we had a 3 hour dinner with 4 courses, which included 4 glasses of beer. After that we were stuffed and really tired so we waddled our way back to the hotel and rest up for Wednesday.

On Wednesday we had planned to head to Ghent and Antwerp because Ghent came as a recommended city as well and I wanted Mom to see Antwerp and the cathedral (and diamonds). Well, they weather was still nasty and windy and cold. We were both drained from the long day in Bruges and Mom was a bit toured out from all of her previous excursions in Africa. We stopped in Ghent and walked downtown to see the St. Bravo Cathedral that houses the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, which is considered to be their most famous works. The church also housed paintings from Peter Paul Rubens. We didn’t last long wondering the city fighting the wind and rain.

We skipped Antwerp all together and headed back for a relaxing afternoon in Haarlem where the weather was considerably better. Mom and I did a bit of shopping after a nap then had a small bite to eat. I also got a pretty watch for my birthday. It’s big, shiny, and has a pink watch band, my new favorite. It is also automatic so it charges itself by movement and you can see all of the gears in it. Pretty cool!

On Thursday mom and I had tickets to fly to Germany to see Doris and her family and take an Easter weekend trip to Prague. Those stories and pictures to come later! Stay tuned!

I'm Alive!

I’m sorry I have been a bad blogger. I have had quite the whirlwind last week and a half. My Mom arrived for a visit on Friday, March 26, 2010. She wanted to come for my birthday and I greatly welcomed the visit, especially since Kelly was leaving on Monday. The last post covers this. Included are some pictures of the flowers from Keukenhof. I want to go back again this week and see if I can catch the fields in bloom since it has been warmer. We’ll see what happens since they have some CUTE clothes out for spring and I need a new pair of shoes.

These were the awesome little chairs they had. It's like a little seat back screwed onto a pitchfork and shoved into a log. Not the most comfortable, but still cute and enjoyable!

I just had to include some pink and red flowers! They are all just so pretty!!!! To bad flower time is limited, I could spend many days taking pictures and enjoying the serenity at this place.

Yup, more pink ones! I wouldn't stand by them in my pink jacket because I would clash!

There is still so much to tell including our trip to Belgium, German, and Prague with many pictures but I have to get back into blogging slowly. I am trying to rest up after a week of running wild across the continent and it is my bed time. I also got a kindle for my birthday (along with a cute watch) so I’ve been playing it and should be in bed. I am anxious to start reading it though! I think I will really like it, and I might be emailing books instead of mailing them. It will definitely save on the postage!!

I promise a better update tomorrow with pictures and stories. I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter and that this week isn’t too rough on anyone. Good night!