Rotterdam

Saturday was a bit rough. I was looking forward to my tour of Rotterdam, but I had a small headache. In America, I think all college students have some form of aspirin/Advil on hand. In Holland, they apparently rough it. So I roughed it. Erik showed me the local ropes. He also helped me get my OV Chip Card so that I can use all forms of public transportation so we walked around down town to the local Albert Heijn (the grocery store). Their Albert Heijn is A LOT bigger than ours! It was so nice and wide open. They also had a great deli/bakery area where we bought fresh croissants filled with ham and cheese and a bottle of fresh juice and had breakfast watching the birds in the little plaza. After nourishing our bodies, we headed off on our day trek around the city.

***A brief history on Rotterdam: It is Europe’s largest port and it is the worlds 2nd busiest port after Shanghai which surpassed it in 2004. Rotterdam is the Netherlands second largest city behind Amsterdam followed by The Hague. On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was blitzed by the Germans flattening the entire city. The only remaining structure which was reminiscent of the city’s medieval architecture was the Laurenskerk (Lauren’s Church). Up until this point in the war, the UK only bombed military targets. While they recognized that civilian lives would be lost, they tried what they could to keep them to a minimum. The day after the Rotterdam blitz, where a suspected 30,000 people died under the rubble, the Royal Air Force gave permission for their bombers to bomb any target that aided in the Germany’s survival regardless if they were civilian or not. These targets included oil plants and blast furnaces. ***

Erik took me by the local market that was selling everything from fresh fish to furniture to bike locks and razors. Anything you could possibly need, you could find on the market. It was fun to see, but I’m not a fan of big, pushy crowds so we just buzzed our way through there. There was a local church (the Laruenskerk) in Rotterdam that was the only building standing after the city was bombed in WWII. It was an impressive church and had that much more meaning knowing it survived being flattened by the war. After the market we came upon the famous cube houses that helped make Rotterdam’s modern architecture so prominent. I’m not sure how I would like to live in one of these. They were pretty mind-boggling staring up at them. It sort of made me dizzy. Here is a picture.



The next part of the tour included some of the old harbors. I don’t think these boats leave. Erik was saying that they have been converted into houses or restaurants and enjoy their lives in the safety of the harbor. The big white building in the back ground was Europe’s first sky scraper. Pretty small in today’s comparisons.


The below picture is part of Rotterdam’s sky line as well as their novel train stop. The roof looks like a flying saucer. There are also lots of cranes in the sky line. There is a ton of building being done on Rotterdam; new metro/train stations, sky scrapers, and apartments. I guess they are expecting big things out of the city.

The next picture is another old harbor. Around all of these old harbors are restaurants and cafes where one can sit out and enjoy the old pirate looking ships and good weather. I didn’t really want to sit outside; it was still quite chilly out. I can see the beauty of it though; I could have looked and dreamed about those ships too. I think one of them really used to be Captain Hooks!

The next picture is of Rotterdam’s statue De Verwoeste Stad (The Destroyed City). It was donated to the city from a private warehouse in the 1950’s I believe. It is supposed to represent the heart of the city being bombed, just as the heart of the statue is gone. A very interesting piece of art work-so many sculptures in cities nowadays don’t seem to portray the emotion or recognition that the artist says they do. This one, there isn’t too much to debate about.

After walking through the city we made our way towards the water way. There was an old maritime museum we passed as well as an old harbor museum we didn’t go into. The harbor museum looked neat though, and if I happen to go back, I might try to visit it. There was an old steam engine outside though that represented how freight used to be moved along the harbor ways from one ship to the next. I thought it was a cute train so I had to take a picture!

As we continued our walk, we came across the Walk of Fame. It is a knock off of Hollywood’s star studded walk but it was cute none the less. There were all sorts of famous people including the Tour de France star Jan Janssen. I was unaware that the Tour de France started in Rotterdam, but it does. All of the squares were different colors of pastel reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Jan’s square was yellow, just like his jersey color. Shrek’s square is green, like him. Evidence is in the below photo!

I had to take a picture of Johnny Cash’s square! It was the most American square I saw. Now, I didn’t exactly scour the path to find some, but his happened to be pretty prominent and therefore deserved a photo.

All of this walking had taken a toll on Erik and I so we decided it was time for a break. We stopped at the old Holland America cruise line office for a drink. The building is now called Hotel New York because that was where the cruise line ended, in New York. It was a fun café, and a very happening place. There was a nice pier/port area with grass and wide walk ways. Pictures of the rejuvenation efforts made this area look quite enjoyable during the warm summer months.

The below photo has several things I want to point out. First is the Erasmus bridge, nicknamed the Swan because of its bend in the pylon. It was built in 1996 and is a 2,600 ft cable bridge that connects the north and south sides of Rotterdam. The pylon is 453ft tall making it one of the tallest structures in Holland. Another interesting fact about the spot where this picture is taken is how the sidewalk/pier just ends. There are no signs, no fences, or armed guards, just the end of land and beginning of water. I don’t even know if there are ladders to get out if you fall in. Apparently, the Dutch are much smarter than the American’s in the fact they don’t need all sorts of signage to tell someone something so obvious. Their legal system is probably less busy with frivolous law suits also. I didn’t fall in. I used my brain to stop walking and realized the potential danger of swimming in the world’s 2nd largest harbor.

Some other tall buildings in Rotterdam:
• Rotterdam has the tallest residential building in the Netherlands: the Montevideo Tower (160 m (524 ft)).
• Rotterdam is also home to the tallest office building 'Delftse Poort' (160 m (520 ft)) which houses Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, part of ING Group[13][14]
• The city also houses the 186 meters (610 ft) tall Euromast, which has long been a major tourist attraction. It was built in 1960, initially reaching a height of 101 meters (331 ft); in 1970, the Euromast was extended by 85 meters (279 ft) to its current height.


After our break and looking at the pretty harbor and watching taxi boats go back and forth as well as a tug boat pulling a crane, we headed back to Erik’s apartment so I could grab my things then catch the train back to Haarlem. I didn’t think it would be too difficult since there is a direct train. Well, the Netherlands are revamping several of the country’s main train stations and Delft happens to be one of them. So not only do these people have to worry about road construction, track construction is also pretty inconvenient. The lady told me I needed to catch a train to Gouda, and then switch direction of The Hague, then switch direction Haarlem. That seemed like a lot of work and a lot of switching. So we asked about a train to Amsterdam. Sure enough, there was one that left a few minutes later, a sprinter. Now when I think of a sprinter I think fast. I forgot to think short distances. This is exactly what the train does, goes fast between EVERY LITTLE STOP between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It took longer than normal, but I didn’t have to change trains 3 times. So in Amsterdam I just jumped onto the next sprinter headed to Haarlem. Usually the train we take stops 3 times, once in Haarlem, Amsterdam Sloderdijk, and Amsterdam Centraal. This one stopped many more times, including the stop where Kelly and Stu got lost at. If they would have ridden one more stop they would have made it to the Central station. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I eventually made it home around 6:30 that evening, in time for dinner with Kelly and the girls at XO on the square. We all split a wonderful bottle of champagne celebrating their arrival and their week of excursions. On Monday they went to Brussels, Tuesday and Wednesday they are in Paris (returning tonight) and I believe they are headed to Germany tomorrow and Amsterdam on Friday. Their flight home is on Saturday where they will have one day of rest before school starts up again. They are going to need it with the schedule they are keeping!

Sunday was filled with an exciting trip to The Hague. Check in tomorrow for those adventures, big and small!

Party Time!

I survived my first Dutch party! Around midnight Erik and I head out to this party at another fraternity house. Rumor had it that it was “sold out” but someone also said this is usually the rumor with their parties, but it is not normally the case. We jump on the subway and then Erik’s friend gets on at the next stop. I feel like I can survive the night hanging out with 2 local guys. I don’t think they’ll let me get lost and die. We ride to our final destination then enjoy a short walk in the cold, fresh air to the house. There is a line outside with everyone standing around in their t-shirts. Apparently, there isn’t room for the coat check inside the house, so they have a container sitting on the road where you drop your coat off then have to wait in the line freezing while they check our IDs. We do as we are told and I give Erik my coat and find us a place in line while he checks our jackets. On the walk to the party Erik’s friend (we are going to call him Niels. That isn’t his real name, but that is what I heard the first time Erik introduced him to me, so that is what stuck in my mind) was telling me how he lost/someone stole his jacket at the bar a few nights ago. It is one thing to lose your jacket, but quite another to have to walk home in winter in the dark with no jacket. We were discussing how horrible of a situation it was and how I never want to experience it.

Well, we check our coats and I have this disappearing coat story in the back of my mind. So we give the bouncer guys our IDs and he lets Erik and "Niels" in and stops me. I try to plead with him to let me in because I’m 1) cold 2) will be left 3) will get lost 4) might cry but none of the reasons are good enough for him. So I stand in the cold, alone. He reassured me they would wait for me, but boys will be boys and I have been left before. Sure enough though, they waited for me like nice gentlemen. Thankfully! The Dutch fraternity bouncer guys are not as easily persuaded as an American boy. At this party, you give your money to a desk in the front and then they give you little green chips. Each chip is worth 1 Euro. Makes it easier, that way the bar tenders don’t have to deal with change and things go faster (in theory). We make our way into the first room and upon opening the doors I am met with loud remixed music. Now, it was quite as techno bad as I was expecting, but it wasn’t like an American party. It was definitely the dance mix version, being mixed by the DJ. What are the odds? I know, it’s amazing. We find the bar and get our first drink. They are serving none other than….Heineken. Smiling “e” cups and all! I do believe the beer tasted better when it was free though. I guess that’s how it always is though, right?

Well I decided I need to take some pictures with the boys to commemorate the evening, especially at the beginning. It is always safer that way. However, Erik wasn’t very corporative. He didn’t want the picture on the blog, but since I don’t have any others of him, I’m left with this.

This is "Niels." He was a bit more corporative but I won't say either picture would fall into "Best Picture Ever" category. But they are both tall and that makes me happy!

After a few hours, the party starts to clear out. It is now around 3am which, in my mind was still early because I was preparing myself for a 6am “bed time.” We have to wait for “Niels” to finish his cigarette then we were going to head out. The Netherlands instituted a rule that you can’t smoke just anywhere. There has to be a separate smoking area/section which makes it so nice because you can go out and don’t come home smelling like an ash tray! Now, you still stink but it is not as bad. Pick your battles!

So we head out into the coldness and Erik gives the coat check people our jacket numbers and we wait for our jackets. They bring his. They can’t find mine. I have the story of poor “Niels” losing his jacket running through my mind. I don’t know about other people, but I like my jackets. All of them. I don’t wear things I don’t like and being a jacket, they are generally not always the cheapest item of clothing I buy. They keep looking and ask me to describe it. Well, it’s a black pea coat just like the other 75% of jackets in there. Not so helpful. They ask me the brand. Still can’t find it. So then they invite me back there to look. I start rummaging through all of the jackets, freezing. I wanted to find MY jacket. They assured me that if we can’t find it, they would give me money for it. I appreciated the offer, but I wanted MY jacket. It also had my pink scarf tucked into the sleeve. They are just material things, but I have grown fond of them! I start to panic. Then finally…..I find it! I was so relieved!!!!!! I couldn’t wait to get it on, I was so cold!

After I get the jacket incident handled, the three of us jump in a cab and head back to Erik’s apartment. We grab a doner for our “midnight” snack and start eating. It was soooo tasty!!! I love those things, but after Kelly’s food poisoning incident she hasn’t exactly jumped on the band wagon to eat them again. I don’t blame her one bit, but I still miss them. This one was good too. It was nice and spicy! We make our way upstairs and all find our designated crash spots and pass out. Poor “Niels” got stuck on the tiny loveseat couch using Erik’s robe as a blanket. I had the futon and Erik got his bed. At one point I had to use the restroom in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get out of the door. I was locked in!!!!! After a slight freak out moment I woke poor Erik up and had him open the door for me. Apparently, the door knob had moved to the other side of the door. Who does that? I’m sure the alcohol consumption didn’t help either, but still! The door knob was on the wrong side!

Now, no fraternity house I have ever been to has been clean, and this one was no exception. The only difference was that there were girls who lived there. I would have thought they would regulate on the dirty stair ways and trash in common areas. They apparently don’t. And I also now know why there are mice. Good thing I visited “out” of mouse season.

I told Erik he had to give me a tour of Rotterdam on Saturday so we all had to rest up to prepare for our walking journey around the city.

Oh No.....

I’m in the process of getting sick, and fighting it. I hope I curb this with my planned mass amounts of hot tea drinking and Emergen-C consumption. I will be miserable if I don’t. I also know why this all started….

I had planned to go visit Erik on Friday. I hadn’t heard from him for a few days and was a bit worried about our plans. He ended up emailing and he told me he would be in Delft till about 10:30 pm so I should just go hang out with his family until then. I love his family and I didn’t see anything wrong with that suggestion but it was just so late! My parents hardly stay up past 8! I call their house and get the youngest daughter on the phone and she tells me to come around 8 or 8:15 pm. I still think its super late to be showing up but she assured me it’s Dutch and I shouldn’t worry. I say OK! Erik had emailed me instructions on how to get to his parents house from the train station. This thought was overwhelming but I figured I’d give it a shot!

I took the bus for the first time in Haarlem to the bus station. It was raining and I had a big bag with me. Lazy won out. But the bright side, I figured out how to use the bus in Haarlem!! Not so difficult, but still, the ice has been broken! So I jump on the train down to Delft and sit back and enjoy the 40 minutes that I have. I thought I had synced my Ipod so I could watch my show, but it didn’t work so I read my book instead. I have started reading “The Blind Side.” While I’m not generally one for football books, I really like it. I get lost in the football talk but I like the characters and the story behind it.

Anyways, I get off in Delft and follow the signs to the new bus station and jump on the bus that Erik says. I look at the bus driver a little lost, I tell him where I need to go, he confirms that stop is on his route and I pay the €1.30 and sit down. A few stops later, I get off the bus. I was a bit worried about how I was going to find my way from the bus stop to their house, but Gina (Mark and Erik’s mom) was waiting for me. I was so HAPPY to see her!! I was so proud of myself for getting there totally Dutch style too. Full use of the public transportation system! She led me back to their house where I settled in for a few hours to wait for Erik. It was so nice to spend time talking with their family (and their American exchange student). She performed Lady GaGa at the school’s talent show and they had filmed it. I was super impressed!! She is really good! And it took a lot of guts to get up there and perform. I never would have! Americans are quite competitive so my first question was “Did you win?” I was informed it wasn’t a competition; it was just for fun for the students. What is funny, when Mark called later that was his first question as well. Apparently America is rubbing off on him also!

Ton, the father and husband of the family, is really good at finding cheap air fare. Kelly and I have a few trips up our sleeves and I started talking to him about them and he started looking online. I had ran into an issue when I was looking because I couldn’t book them on a budget European site because I don’t have a European billing address for my credit card. This is just another issue that I have with the Dutch monetary system. I ended up not booking anything yet because I have to verify my holidays but I do think I’m going to try and open a bank account today after work. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see how the weather is. It snowed again last night so we are back to white.

Another issue with this credit card/chip card thing is the OV chip card. This OV card is for use on subways, busses, trams, and all other public transportation systems in Holland. Basically, you scan your card when you get on public transit vehicle and then it charges you €4. You scan it again when you get off at your destination and it credits you back the difference of your travels. Pretty handy, right? Now I’ve seen signs for this card but have no idea how to get one. I even asked the train station lady and she didn’t really know either. I asked Erik, he knew! So that was his mission, to help me get an OV Chip card. The downfall, I can refill it unless I have a bank chip card. Another reason I need a local bank account, the stupid chip card!

So anyways, at about 11 pm Erik and I headed off towards Rotterdam. His parents were perfectly fine staying up so late. I guess it really is Dutch style. Ton took us to the train station where we intercepted the train and took the 20 minutes (or somewhere around there) down to Rotterdam. Erik’s fraternity house is only about 10 minutes from the train station but it was kind of drizzling and ruining my cute “party hair.” It was my first Dutch party; I had to have cute hair! We arrive at his fraternity where they are having a bit of social hour and I get to meet a few of the other members. I found the cute, tall Dutch guys!!! They are still in college…and not living in Haarlem! Dang. But at least I know they’re out there.

After I drop my stuff off in his room, and he promises me the mice won’t get it, we head out for the evening. You will have to tune in tomorrow to find out how it went!

Just Another Day

Today has been quite uneventful. I have been pretty busy at work, which is nice and there doesn’t seem to be anything too catastrophic going on anywhere nearby or in the news. Kelly continues to blog about her fun trip to Germany and I continue to be jealous when I read about it.

Jillian’s workout kicked my butt yesterday. It was very tiring, and I am sore today - my calves mostly. I’m sure Kelly had fun watching me work out in our “dining room” area. I’m pretty sure I asked her to put me out of my misery a few times. Oh well, no pain no gain, right?

Tomorrow I plan on heading down to Rotterdam to visit Erik, Mark’s real Dutch brother. I guess we’ll be hitting the town tomorrow evening and hopefully I’ll be able to con him out of a tour on Saturday. Kelly has 2 friends arriving on Saturday as well. I guess they/we will tour Haarlem on Saturday then we were thinking about trying to go to Den Haage (The Hague) on Sunday. Kelly and I haven’t been either so it will hopefully be a good adventure. They have a jam packed schedule for the week they are here. I would too if I was in their shoes! I’m glad we can help facilitate people’s tour of the continent  Kelly’s mom will be here next Monday as well. I can’t wait to meet her. I’ve obviously heard so much about her and she seems like a really neat person. It will also be glad to have a mother figure around. Mine is a bit harder to pin down.

I guess we’re getting a new floor in the office building. I’m not exactly sure how all this works, but apparently, we’re sinking. So they are going to jack up the building and put stuff underneath to stabilize the floor and make it all level again. We also get new carpet. The downside to this, all of the furniture has to be moved off the 1st floor. That is a lot of equipment. They are going through bookshelves and cleaning out cabinets in what I’m guessing is an effort to make them light and get rid of old stuff. In New Mexico the ground is so hard, it generally doesn’t move. Apparently, since Holland used to be underwater, the ground still shifts and sinks. Lucky country.

I am also starting to make friends. I answer the phone when our co-workers are out. It generally rings about 45 seconds after they step out of the office. People are slowly getting more and more used to having an American answer, and even asking me questions about how I am still liking my time here and job. I get excited about any friends that I can find! Baby steps.

Life's Little Challenges

Life is interesting. It’s amazing at what it throws at us and how we are “trained” to deal with the different situations. I guess our “training” is based on our upbringings and while there is a right and wrong way to handle most things, there is plenty of grey area in between the two opposites. I am missing working out/running and am making an effort to get back into it. Back in Colorado, I was well on my way to becoming a beef jerky eating hippie. I was hiking on the weekends and working out nearly every day. It’s hard not to get out and enjoy the outdoors when you are surrounded by such spectacular landscapes. It makes running that much more enjoyable when you have to make noise so that the deer grazing on your path realize that you’re coming and don’t freak out. Houston was a different story. It was hot, humid, and gross. Who wants to go outside then to only get attacked by the onslaught of cars and trucks and noise and mosquitoes? Yeah, my working out fell of the cliff in Houston. It also didn’t help I was travelling a lot and never allowed myself to get into a routine. There are no excuses, but my conditions were not favorable for me to be dedicated to a workout routine. Now, in Holland, faced with bad weather but an urge I have to figure out how to balance the two extremes. There is a nice park very nearby where I can go running. There are deer, granted in an enclosed fence, but deer none the less. Oh, and a pair of Shetland ponies. So we’ll chalk that up into the wildlife column. There are also other people to where I feel safe enough someone might find me if there was an attacker lurking in the trees but not enough people to feel claustrophobic. This might change when it’s not either raining or snowing.

So taking this new approach I signed up for Jillian Michael’s online program. Today marks the first full day, so no amazing stories or discoveries just yet. I do have some opinions (no surprise) though. Since my week hasn’t been exciting and I completely forgot to blog yesterday, you will be getting my rundown of the site today.

Likes: It gives you a shopping list for the meals that it assigns you to eat every meal of the day for every week of every month and so on and so forth. Handy. It also creates a work out for you each day. It changes things up, tells you exactly how to do it, and is generally dummy proof. It also has a food log where you write down what you eat. I know this is helpful as many weightloss programs have this, but I really don’t like it. It just takes so much tedious effort (I know, I could have (and did) write everything down in the same time I do this blog).

Dislikes: The food plan is clearly made for an American. Our European fridge can’t hold all of these foods that are “needed” for a week. I printed out the shopping list and it is 6 PAGES LONG. Now, it has everything on there from your oils to sugars fresh veggies. You don’t have to buy new oils every week, but still. Not a plan for the small kitchen. It also uses lots of things like jalapenos. I really like those spicy peppers and there are surprisingly lots of dishes made in restaurants with them but I have yet to see a pepper in the grocery store. They have canned/bottled ones but I don’t like those. Jillian also has recipes with Mole, like the Mexican chocolaty mole sauce. Something tells me that won’t be happening in this country. The recipe measurements are all also done in American measurements, not metric. While these are all big complaints coming from me, something tells me she isn’t after the European market. They are generally skinnier people as is. But being an American in Europe is frustrating. I can’t even put myself on a diet without running into all of these little issues that are just so difficult an annoying!

Ok, enough about that. We’ll see how I do. I might kill myself with my work out today. Hopefully Kelly will rescue me if necessary. I don’t know about this rigid menu stuff. There are so many other great things here that is not common in America. I feel I should take advantage of those things when I have them. One example, dark bread with whole nuts - the bread has whole sunflower seeds and oats in. I just love their breads and some aren’t totally unhealthy!

Ok, off to finish off my afternoon! Wednesday is on the downhill slide towards Friday! Can’t wait!

An Uneventful Weekend….In the Netherlands

Now, I didn’t say it was uneventful everywhere. In fact, this was one of the most dramatic weekends I’ve had since moving here. All the drama happened in America though. I was far removed from the “action” which I consider a positive thing for all parties involved. Now, many of my dear friends know how I can become passionate about a subject and don’t always choose the most tactful way to show my feelings/beliefs/opinions. I continue to work on it, but no miracle has happened yet. I got news of some behavior back home that I am disappointed it. Such is life. Not everything goes how you idealistically want it to. I am glad I wasn’t there when the “main event” took place. I admit it, I probably would have made a scene and enjoyed my evening a lot less had I been there. My friends have told me they were happy I wasn’t there. Thank you friends.  It is just hard to realize that no matter what, life goes on. It doesn’t stop because I am in Holland. My friends still go on dates, and more often, with people I don’t know. The reverse is true too, though. My life hasn’t stopped because they are not by my side either. We all continue on in this search of grown up behavior and responsibility and pick our way at a path we think is best suited for our individual selves. It is hard when things go on and you’re not part of it, but I guess that is the price we pay for in our quest for life experiences and we have to figure out the balance of when that price may get too high.

Besides drama back home, this weekend was uneventful. It rained the entire time. It was also “warm.” Oh, don’t forget wind. It’s a new factor into the equation of “lovely Dutch weather.” At one point on Saturday the rainy drizzle was coming down in sheets with the wind. It was like being back in New Mexico; the only difference was it was rain instead of dirt. That’s the plus side; there isn’t a lot of dirt and sand in this country. I guess it’s just figuring out the lesser of the evils.

I picked Kelly and Stu up from the airport Saturday evening. They had a fantastic time and thanked me for the recommendation of Munich. I’m glad I did not let them down! They also brought me a mug from the Munich soccer time. I have a Hefeweizen glass and now I have a pilsner glass. I am slowly creating a collection of proper beer glasses. Considering I only have one of each, I can’t start a bar just yet, or really even serve my family a beer. Good thing they don’t mind drinking out of the bottles if that occasion rises.

Speaking of family, my parents are off. Hopefully they will return in 3 weeks but my mother gave the run down if anything should happen to them. I guess it’s best to be prepared, but it was still slightly morbid. I learned my dog was left with my cousins. I have no doubt they will take excellent care of her. They dote over their own dog plenty and I’m sure Mimi will just continue to get more spoiled. I did get a report though; she is still a great “sitter.” Least my parents haven’t ruined her of that skill, yet. I hope Mimi can come to terms with Colie though. Colie is a sweet dog when she is in the arms of one of her family members and her mouth is duct-taped shut. (Sorry Todd!) Maybe the two will come to an understanding and Mimi can show her the ways of an older, calmer (usually) dog. They will have plenty of time to spend together! I figured since I haven’t included pictures in awhile, I would put up a few of my beloved Mimi! Enjoy!

Mimi loves to chew. In my old house she had a doggy door and would take her bones outback, get them dirty then bring them back in. I hated it. We got her a bone so big it would keep her busy forever AND she couldn't get out of the doggy door. She eventually outsmarted us learned how to drag it out by one end. It sure was fun watching her try all those times though!

She once upon a time had puppies. They were so cute!! It killed me to get rid of them, but one dog is enough in my life. They are immortalized in photos though. Cute puppies!

Mimi and her funky ears. Boston Terriers ears should both stand up, like a chihuahua's. Mimi has a 50% success rate with ear properness. One is lazy, one functions (looks wise, she hears just fine...when she wants). As you can see we also like to play with her ears. Poor dog never had a chance of being a "normal" untortured dog. :)

My mom snaped this photo not too long ago. She is laying in her bed. She is starting to look so old! She is about half way through her life designated life span (according to the books) but she is crossing the thresh hold of a "long life" according to our family's dog keeping habits. I hope I don't jinx her. She is such a good dog and I miss her so much! Can't wait to play with her again!

Olympic Disappointment

Due to the ridiculous time difference between here and Vancouver, we don’t get to see anything cool. Due to NBC not being cool, it’s hard to find any clips online of medal runs. I really wanted to watch the men’s aerials but nothing on TV is so important for me to wake up at 3:30 a.m. I just have to cut my losses of not being part of the crowd to witness amazing tricks, but I supposed I’ll survive.

At work today we have had an interesting subject come up. One of my co-workers has the gift of gab and enjoys using it. I generally have an ear to listen but you can only beat a horse so many times. I know we are all guilty of when we get fired up about something that is all that we want to talk about. She wants to personally deliver a part to one of our customers so that she can meet them in person and start to build a bigger relationship with them. Now I don’t see anything wrong with this what-so-ever. In fact, my mother gave me the same advice about a project I’m working on: go out there and meet these people, you never know what comes of it. Well my co-worker was told by another co-worker to ask another co-worker because it’s really his “domain” to solicit outside business. Well, his reasoning: they’re already a customer why do we really need to go? I understand that, he is in charge of business development, which indirectly pertains to keeping business good, but mainly to solicit and find new business. This back and forth “argument” of who’s “domain” it is to go out and visit a customer coupled with the venting that has gone in on my ear has left me a bit peeved. The biggest part? I don’t see a problem what-so-ever with going and meeting a customer. Even better if you hand deliver a part to them. It only helps to build relationships. I don’t get why other people are making a “big deal” out of this and trying to pass the buck and act like someone is going on a renegade mission. Alright, that is a bit of an exaggeration but I fail to see why this would be an issue of any sort which leads to my slight irritation of listening to my coworker vent for the majority of today.

Moving on, the weather this morning was 8C (46F) which I do believe is the warmest it has been here yet. That is exciting. Now, since the Netherlands are against us (well, since Kelly isn’t here, it's just me) enjoying any sort of good weather, it has rained this entire week of “warm weather.” Great! It’s warm, but if you step outside you get rained on. I guess we can open our windows? Although I hardly believe 46F weather is something you want to celebrate with open windows. I guess I’ll just enjoy the high temperature reading on the car’s display and turn the windshield wipers on. Thank you Holland!

Thank goodness it’s beer Friday though. That makes everything alright and do-able. And, I can sleep in tomorrow. After much debate of what I should do this weekend, I think taking it easy will win. There are also, apparently, some amazing egg rolls sold on the Grote Markt on Saturdays that I need to go try. That sounds like a good mission for me. Maybe it won’t rain and I can enjoy the “warm” weather with a walk along the canal!

Patience

Today is ticking by, slowly. I've been asked to create a presentation for one of the guys at work. Powerpoint demands patience. Perfection demands patience. Patience isn't one of my strongest qualities. I like to do things to the highest level of my ability and make them as perfect as possible, but it goes against my lack of patience. It seems to be a continuous battle for myself. I don't like I like to do things the easy way.

I just recieved an email from a friend about something to do, if I get bored over here. The link is attached HERE. I can't believe people actually do this sort of stuff for fun! Women too. Who would subject themselves to the possiblity of such torture for 8lbs of cheese? Apparently, the English would.

I am lonely since Kelly is gone. I hope her and Stu are having a good time! I'm sure they are. I think today is when they visit Neuschwanstein Castle (the one Cinderella's castle was molded after). Yesterday, I believe they went to the Hofbrauhaus. I'm sure they had a great time. No word though so I'm taking that to mean they are too busy to worry about little ol' me slaving away. Hehe. Maybe I'll get a sympthay vote.

I try to find raw almonds to keep on my desk for a healthy snack. So far, I have 2 tubs of cooked/smoked almonds and a deal of pistashios. No luck with the raw nuts. One of the guys' mom works at a place where they sell nuts and he brought me some once. I was trying to be independent and not ask, but I think I might cave. I miss those raw almonds. And to think, not so long ago I detested the nut. How our tastes change!

My parents and aunt and uncle are headed of for a very exciting trip half way around the world to Africa. My mom is a bit nervous about surviving it and she informed me she updated the will and is leaving everything to the dogs. She is so kind. I assured her people travel to and from there all of the time with no major mishaps. I hope they have fun though, I'm very jealous I can't stow away in one of their bags for the ride.

I'm already thinking about dinner and I believe we are out of left overs and there are only 2 pieces of bread left, which need to be for my lunch tomorrow. I think I might have to go to the grocery store alone. I've only done it twice and I leave a nervous wreck each time with my groceries bagged completly wrong and smushed bread. Least I have a cute pink canvas groceries bag to help do my part and not waste plastic bags! Wish me luck!

A Historical Sunday Funday

After a late evening rocking out to Q.E.D. none of us really wanted to get up Sunday morning. We wanted to get on the road about 9:30 but I don’t think we left until about 10:30. Such is life. It’s nice to have a bit of flexibility. We figured since it was still early, we better t go to the Anne Frank house before the line gets long. We figured a cold, rainy Sunday in February there wouldn’t be a line. We were wrong. The line went out the building and around the corner, half way down the block. Well, we were going to see this piece of history no matter so we go to the back of the line. It moves at a slow but steady pace but it does get longer faster than people are let in. We’re glad we decided to bear the line. It did take about an hour or so but we didn’t completely freeze. The “fun” part of standing in lines: people watching. I found a car that if I follow it, will take me to Texas. I don’t know a lot about mechanics and what not but I’m pretty sure this car can’t swim.

You aren’t allowed to take pictures in the Anne Frank house so I have no evidence that I was there (besides the ticket stub I threw away) but it was such a great experience. This was the 2nd time I’ve been to the house but it was still emotional and humbling. I’m really glad Kelly and Stu got the opportunity to see it and experience a small part of history.

When the Germans found the hiding place, they cleaned everything out. When Anne’s Dad, Otto, came back after surviving Auschwitz he said that all the rooms should remain empty as a memorial to his family who all died in the concentration camps. There is a glass building built up and around the house so you can’t see it from the outside which is disappointing, but at least it has been preserved. The tour takes you through all of the rooms and artifacts left behind such as the actual diary and other hand written letters. It’s amazing the insight that she had at such a young age and going through such difficult things in life. Compared to what those people had to go through, our society has become a bunch of “sissies.”

Well, being the sissies that we are, we were hungry after the Anne Frank house. We were walking back to Dam Square to catch the tram over to the Heineken Brewery when we came upon a Dutch pancake house. Well, we are on a mission to make sure Stu gets to experience all things Dutch, so we decided this was a great lunch place. I love the simple Dutch pancakes with cheese and ham but I thought I’d get a bit crazy and order the Mexican Pancake. It wasn’t bad, I don’t think I’d order it again, but it had a nice kick and lots of veggies.



We finally made it to Dam Square where I’m walking with a map in my hand looking at it when we see a giant crowd of people standing around. Well, I decide to walk around the crowd towards the tram stop that we need and I get yelled at by some clown looking man. “YUP! YOU FOUND ME. I’M RIGHT HERE. THE SEARCH IS OVER!” I was, to say the least, a bit embarrassed and confused. I just got yelled at by a clownish man in front of a crowd of people for wondering around slightly lost.

Anyways, we get on the right tram and head off to the Heineken factory. This was our first time using the trams because usually we just walk (and get a workout in). The weather was cold though and the factory was pretty far away from everything so we figured we better suck it up and figure this out. It wasn’t too bad. You can get a day pass for unlimited rides for €7 or for €7.60 you can get a strip that has 15 “slots” on it. Each ride, though, uses 2 “slots” per person. We had 30, that’s good enough for what we needed to do. We even have some left over for the next person. They don’t expire in the calendar year. Each tram you get on, the driver stamps them and away you go. We arrive at the brewery with little issue to start taking some pictures of the outside. You can see my excitement.


They have recently re-done their “museum” so that now it is the Heineken Experience. And boy was it! When you walk in the first thing is a digital bar and bartender giving you the rundown of the history of the company and its founders. It is still to this day run by a Heineken family member, and a woman! We had to take advantage of the photo op that was available:


The next room had all of the huge copper vats where they used to heat up the hops and malt and all sorts of other stuff. They had a great idea and you could look into the vats and on some of them they had little projections on the dark insides showing what would have been going on. I thought it was such a neat idea! There was also a station where you could help out the brew master by grinding the barley and helping stir them. I couldn’t go without putting in a bit of hard labor:

Now, we thought it smelled like horses in there but we figured it must have been the barley oats that give it the horse-ish smell. Nope, there were really horses in the next room. It is where their stable was for the real Heineken horses. Apparently, they will still pull the wagons around town and deliver kegs. Another great marketing/promotional scheme. The horses were so pretty! You could only see them through the glass partition so I couldn’t get a good picture but thankfully Stu was along who happens to be in the 6’3” range and could hold the camera above the glass to get a picture. During my photo op Charly decided to scratch and Freddy thought it looked like a good idea so he wanted to copy. They are such pretty animals!


After the horses we got bottled. Yup, we as humans got bottled. Well, via the 4D experience. It was a lot of fun that people of all ages could enjoy. You walk into a little room where you stand on a little platform that moves and shakes as you go along the bottling process. The moving platform is complimented with spray, heat, and wind. I now know how beer feels while being bottled.

After being bottled we got to go have a little taster. They had neat star shaped bars where we all stood around and answered questions and got some more beer drinking tips and lessons. Since I paid attention another exibit I learned that the foam head on beer serves to keep the beer carbonated and fresh by keeping the carbon dioxide in and the oxygen out of the beer. It is also the lightest part of the beer, primarily made from hops which is why it tastes bitter. American and England aren’t big on serving beer with the head but I learned it is better; you just have to take bigger drinks to get below the foam head. I figured that wouldn’t be too difficult. So because of all of my great new knowledge, and not being afraid to speak in public I answered the questions right and got an extra sampler of beer. I knew paying attention would pay off someday!

The next stop is where we got to bottle our own beer. Well, I’m sure it wasn’t the exact beer, but we got to create a label that has our name on it. I now own a beer that says “Brewed in Amsterdam by Amelia Christensen.”

After that there was more interactive areas where you could create your own music video and send video messages. What a fun idea! There were also crazy chairs that you could sit in and watch commercials from the past 50 years. Such simple things, but so neat. They also had a bit of a museum set up that displayed all of their old beer bottles and labels. At one point Heineken wanted to make recyclable bottles so they created the WOBO, or the wall bottle. They are square bottles that basically interlock with one another so that poor people could use their empties to build a house! Now, if that isn’t helping out the world, I don’t know what is. I am standing in front of a small WOBO wall.

What makes Heineken beer so special is that “A” yeast that is used to create it. It was one of the first beers to come out with standard yeast so that no matter where it is made, it will have the same taste. A student of Louis Pasteur developed it. Those smart people seem to hang out together!

After the tour we got to enjoy 2 free beers. That’s worth half the admission cost right there! They have a great atmosphere created for the bar area and throughout the entire Experience. I wanted to post a picture of Kelly and I drinking, but I forgot and it’s so hard to do after the fact. Kelly’s blog has plenty of great pictures! After the Experience we wanted to take a canal cruise. I also needed to get my train tickets for my trip to Halle, Germany so that I could still get the cheap price. I told Kelly and Stu to go try the food in the wall (to continue Stu’s Dutch food experience) and I’d get the ticket. Well the ticket took forever and I ended up missing the canal cruise, but Kelly and Stu went and I take it they had a good time. I will have to go one of these days! I took the train back home, bought some groceries, and settled in to call my German host parents and tell them I am coming.

After a while into my call to Germany my cell phone rings and it is Kelly. I have no idea why she would call, but I figured it was important so I answer. She needs me to go pick her and Stu up from the other train station/stop in Haarlem. There is 2??? Apparently, there is. It’s by IKEA. Do I know where IKEA is? Nope. So I get in the car and pull out of the garage and try to find it on TomTom. TomTom can’t find it. I start to worry and the thought of driving towards the giant IKEA sign sounds slightly promising but I’m still worried Kelly and Stu might freeze to death. I have the bright idea to Google the address! Sure enough, Google has it and it gives me the proper address I enter it into TomTom and head on my way. I pull into the giant black, empty parking lot and wonder where in the world they are hiding. I call Kelly and she starts shouting that she can see my headlights and gives me turn by turn directions to their side of the parking lot/bus stop. I could hardly see 2 silhouettes’s jumping up and down in the darkness. I found them! They thoroughly enjoyed the warm car and we headed home. They grabbed their bags out of the car and I see a blue Doritos bag. Now, Kelly has been on the search for “Cool Ranch” Doritos since we’ve been here but she hasn’t had any luck. She finally found a bag of “Cool American” which is the Dutch version of “Cool Ranch.” There is some minor debate around the apartment whether they are made with real “American” or not.

It was an adventurous day. Monday and Tuesday we have taken it pretty easy. Monday we had ravioli at the house and watched some Olympics and yesterday, we went out for another 4 course meal. We wanted Stu to experience the Dutch 4 courses. The only downside, the Dutch are so slow! We were there almost 2 hours and none of us were prepared for that. Kelly and Stu still had to pack for their trip to Munich and I was just tired. They got home and managed to pack a bit and get to bed at a decent hour. This morning still came very early though! Their flight left at 7am which meant we left the house at 5:15. I gave them a ride so I had to be up too. It was really early! They are off and I’ve received the BBM that they made it and I haven’t heard anything bad, so I guess that means everything is good! I am happy they are getting the experience. They are going to have a tour of the Hofbrauhaus, Neuschwanstein Castle, the concentration camp Dachau, and a day trip to Salzburg, Austria. They are going to have such a great time and I’m happy they can see those amazing places together. I’m just going to be left alone for 4 days so I have to find something to keep my busy. I guess I can watch Olympics and start a new book. That should be enough. And sleep, I can always use more of that!

KELLY'S ENGAGED!!!!

I now have permission to finish my blog. You will soon read what happened, but the involved parties wanted to blog about it first, together, so I had to wait till today before I could spill the beans.

Thinking nothing of the random event Kelly wanted me to meet her at the bar and celebrate; I kept on reading, watching the clock, thinking how I needed to get ready for dinner. I hear the keys in the door and Kelly and Stu ended up coming home. Kelly comes down our little hallway and asks if she can come in…she hands me a Stroopwaffle McFlurry (My new favorite) and I thought that was so sweet! I have been trying to get one for a few days now and McDonald’s Holland has been against me because every time we go look for one, their ice cream machine is broken. I thought that was so nice of Kelly and then I catch a glimpse of her left hand…I proceed to squeal! I can’t believe it!! I let her out of my sight for one afternoon and she gets engaged!!!! I also got to sneak in an “I told you so!” because Kelly and I had a few debates if he was going to bring the ring or not. She said “No” since he kept giving her excuses of how he didn’t want to travel with it and things like that. I went with “Yes” because he was actively ring shopping with his female family members and any man that I’ve ever known doesn’t ring shop….and if he does, he is not going to hang on to it for a few months until the timing is just perfect. I was right. He brought it and I’m so happy he did!!! I get to be the only member on the sidelines for their perfect Dutch fairytale!

After they tell me the story of how Stu romantically proposed under our windmill and I squeal some more I figured I better hurry up and get ready. They had to call all of the family members so I let them be as I worked on my beautification process. I figured since Kelly got engaged, I better look cute; maybe I can hook myself a cute Dutch boy. I hear Kelly and Stu talking to their family. It was super cute though because most of the Houston family knew what he was coming over to do so they were just waiting for the call. I loved being able to over hear their conversations because everyone was so supportive of the event. The little nieces have been practicing how to say “Aunt Kelly” and all of the brothers and sisters were so welcoming to the both of them. I don’t know how many times I heard “Welcome to the family! We’re so happy for you two! Congratulations!” It was just the way everything should be. I think this is my first experience with an engagement that has gone by the fairytale books. I also informed Stu he owes my man (whenever I find him) an apology because he is now going to be held to very high standards. I know this stuff happens in real life, not just in the movies. I am so happy for them and so happy I get to be a default part of this. I like living my “relationship life” through Kelly, it’s a good one!!!

***This story can be read from firsthand experience at Kelly’s blog site HERE***

So as you can see this was a major event that filled up most of our weekend. Our dinner at Wilma & Albert’s was fantastic, as expected. We each got something different and we shared so we could get a taste of everything. I got the spicy ribs again, Kelly got salmon, and Stu got a great steak with garlic butter. The steak and ribs are now my 2 favorite things there.

One of our co-workers is in a band. The guys always give him a hard time and call him the “Rock Star.” We decided we had to go find out for ourselves how “rock star” he really is. His band was playing in Beverwijk Saturday evening so we decided to drag Stu along (and have him be our man protection, if needed) and head out to the bar. We got a bit lost, but we ended up finding alright and we were about 20 minutes late. Well, sticking true to “Rock Star” standards they didn’t start till an hour late so we didn’t miss anything. Their first song is an original and called “Love Me (a.k.a. The Stalker).” Now, we couldn’t hear the words (it sounded if their acoustics were off) but I really liked the title. It still makes me laugh….I wonder if I could get the lyrics from him? Anyways! We stayed for about an hour and a half, which covered the first and part of the 2nd set. Kelly and I were asking him what type of songs they play so he printed us off the set list and I told him I was going to bring it with me and make sure they didn’t mess up. I did bring it, but we really used it more for reference. The most important fact though, was that there was a “costume change” between the two sets. Now, this was not included in the set list, we were taken by surprise!

They have a cute little drummer, and by cute I mean short, kind of mean looking, a picturesque beer belly, and a blue tooth in his ear. Well this stud changed from a black shirt to white. I know crazy rock stars. Well the lead singer (our co-worker) changed from jeans and a dark t-shirt to SHINEY BLACK LEATHER PANTS and a T-shirt that has scrolling letters that said “Welcome to Q.E.D. Have fun” I couldn’t help but to laugh my head off. Really? Black leather shiny pants! When we first saw them I thought they were covered in sequins. I had to get some pictures!

These pictures don't do the pants justice, but you can see the shine! This is "Sally" (we can never remember his real, full name)

I had to take a picture with him and his scrolly shirt. They were taking a short pause and I grabbed him on my way out. Oh, the clothes!!!

At one point they were singing the old American classic “Sing-a-long” “Brown Eyed Girl” and when he was doing the “Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da” part he came over and let me and Kelly sing. Yup, we have now sang with/in a Dutch band. Cross that off my life’s list of things to do! It was a lot of fun but we had a busy day in Amsterdam planned so we had to get home. After a short drive home we were all in bed, ready for our exciting day touring the Anne Frank house and the Heineken Experience. Be ready for that recount. It was a fun time!

What a Weekend!

I’m not sure really where to start, but as you are aware, I will drag this weekend out into several posts. It keeps my excited throughout the week.

For Friday dinner, Kelly had made chili the previous night with some chili seasoning her mom sent. It was quite tasty for chili made in Holland! I was very impressed and had a great dinner. She also made some guacamole to go with it. We had tortilla chips and decided nachos would be a great dinner. It was a lot of fun to sit and eat our nachos watching the Olympics. I’m sure the store doesn’t know what is going on with their inventory because I’m sure they don’t sell as much Mexican food ingredients normally. We take a small delight in messing up their inventory forecasts and buying them out of salsa (a very mild version of Pace Picante).

Bright and early Saturday morning Kelly and I head to the airport for the 2nd time since our time here. We went to pick up her lovely boyfriend, Stu. We also learned a very important lesson; there are 4 main areas of Schipol. Areas 1 and 2 are not by 3 and 4. After only a minor incident and Stu having to wait 10 minutes for Kelly (I waited in the car so it wouldn’t get towed), they came walking out. It was great to finally meet him. I’ve obviously heard so much about him, and have mentioned him once or twice in my blog. He is a really nice guy and pretty laid back. He also brought with him some sun shine. Saturday was the first sunny day we have had in a while. It was also decently warm! Stu thought it was normal, his judgment would later be changed. We took him home where we had some birthday cake Kelly made for him. His birthday was last week and Kelly was sad she didn’t get to celebrate with him and his family so she made him her own cake, a sopapilla cheesecake. She baked it Friday night and I really wanted to eat it then, but she made me wait so it could chill. It was delicious!!!! The bottom crust is croissants then the cheese cake goes in the middle, with more croissants on top sprinkled with cinnamon and butter. It was amazing! Kelly didn’t think it baked right, but I enjoyed it immensely none the less. Happy belated birthday Stu!

The rest of Saturday was pretty lazy. I watched re-runs of the Olympics and ready my book. I ended up getting completely absorbed in it and couldn’t put it down. I finished it by the end of the night. Kelly and Stu kept to themselves as Kelly came into the kitchen once a bit teary-eyed she was so happy he is here. They got ready and head out into the city for an afternoon walk around town. I was still reading my book and wanted to take a nap so I figured they could enjoy the alone time. Kelly later BBM’d (BlackBerry Messaged) me and told me to come meet them for a drink at the wine bar for a celebratory glass of wine. I figured we already celebrate Stu’s arrival with sopapilla cheesecake (and I was still in my PJs reading my book) so I told her to have a glass for me and I’ll be ready for dinner at 7 (we had reservations for Wilma & Albert’s, the great rib place). If only I had known……

Ugh

Today is finally Friday. That is a big relief. However, it’s raining (which might be better than snowing) and it's a nasty grey color everywhere outside. It does not excite happy feelings, or a sense of productiveness. If we had a fire place, chances are I would have given up on today and watched the Olympics from there. The upside though, we get beer today!

The other upside is the Heineken factory in Amsterdam. Kelly is planning what to do with Stu on Sunday in Amsterdam and we have purchased and printed out our tickets for the Heineken experience. It sounds really neat where one can experience being bottled. We're not sure what that means exactly, but we're excited none the less. I cleared out my camera card today and am getting ready to take lots of pictures.

Our resident rock star (a guy who works here is also in a band) is playing Tomorrow night in Beverwijk. We're not sure if we will go or not, but we figured it would make us look less groupie like if we had a guy with us (Stu). We will see how this plays out. He might be so tired he just wants to sleep! I also just made reservations for us at the amazing rib place for Saturday night. I'm sure he will love it, and I know I will too!

I would also like to give a public thanks to my uncle for the alpaca sweater. It has come in very hand here in the frozen country. Very simple but warm and soft. I have to figure out how to minimize the shedding though. I guess that's another battle for another time. I never thought I would have gotten this much usage out of such an article of clothing.

Where To Go?

I’m sorry my blog post has been a bit late today. I try to have it posted before America gets up and going, but today, I just didn’t know what to post about. After reading many articles for the day in the news, I found a few that are interesting.

First, I like the ease that the Euro has to offer while travelling. I don’t like that it is stronger than the dollar, but I guess we can’t all get what we want in life. I never thought, though, what implications a currency that spreads across many different countries has. I read this article the other day explaining the issues at hand. You can find the article HERE. The biggest point in my mind is that countries don’t have the ability to adjust the valuation of the currency to affect the prices and attract investments. This one currency floats across many different economies that are very different in many ways as well as the power and stability that they offer. I guess we are seeing the implications what unified money can do to many countries. I just hope the dollar gains some strength.

Another article Kelly sent me about things to do in Amsterdam. The article can be read HERE. Rest assured visitors, we will save the article for you to help you have a more successful and enjoyable visit. We want you all to have a unique experience from the “local” perspective and we will do our best to educate ourselves so that we may offer it to you.

And for those of you who have trouble imagining where to take the next vacation to, HERE is the article from NY Times about the 31 places to go in 2010. Granted, I don’t have the money or time to get them all, but there were a few on there that caught my eye. Copenhagen, Leipzig, Istanbul, Breckenridge, Kitzbühel, and Norway really caught my eye (I would like to point out my umlaut usage, I’m proud of myself for figuring that one out). I have a trip in the works to Copenhagen, I’ve been to Leipzig numerous times, Istanbul I might have to wait on for a few years, and the last 3 just really make me want to go skiing. I had a great time in Breckenridge several years ago with a fun group of people. Below are 2 of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

We went hat shopping! I don't have a better picture with Josh's eyes open, but you all get the idea. We also went for sushi right after so it was a pretty awesome night.

This little room is where we all (all 20 of us) kept our skis, boots, poles, snowboards, and random bicycle. To say the least it was a bit full and the littlest movment had the opportunity to cause a dominoe affect. Karla and Kayla wanted to test it out. I miss you two!

Someday I’ll have my dream ski vacation in the Alps at some fabulous resort. Whether it be St. Moritz, Kitzbühel, Zermatt, or anywhere else I can come up, it’s going to be fantastic. It didn’t work out this year so I guess it wasn’t meant for me to have the ski trip of my life, yet. Can you tell I have high expectations for this trip? I can wait for perfection (and hopefully a slightly larger budget to have it on).


Input from my daily life: sushi was great last night. They also gave us a web site that has a TON of different restaurants that deliver. I think delivery is Holland’s drive through. We don’t even have to say our street name (which is Waganmakerslaan) we just type it in. Another point for technology. For those of you worrying about Kelly and I gaining weight since all you hear about is food, I wanted to give you a rundown of our daily meals:

Breakfast: Muesli with yogurt (I try to find a fruit to put in there with it)
Lunch: Sandwich (or leftovers) with 2 small oranges.
Afternoon snack: Pineapple or another fruit
Dinner: a frozen pizza with fresh basil, vegetable fajitas, Sheppard’s pie, chicken breasts, fish, pasta

We go out to eat 2-3 times a week and generally always take our lunch. To put this in perspective I ate out lunch every day in Houston and most dinners as well. We also have to walk to any food destination we choose (this delivery discovery might be bad) as well as the grocery store, post office, and to get any kitchen utensil that we need (we always forget the can opener. I’m glad I brought my Leatherman).

Don't worry, we're not rolling around Holland just yet.

It's Light Outside!

Finally! There was a beautiful sunrise this morning. The sky was pink and blue with clouds in between. I wanted to take a picture of it but I was driving and my camera was in the “trunk”. Granted, it was probably not much better than your normal New Mexico sunrise, but considering we haven’t seen one in a few weeks because the sky has been so grey with clouds, it was beautiful to finally see sunlight.

I realized yesterday that I never posted about my dinner on Saturday night. I don’t have pictures to commemorate it, but it was great. We went to another new restaurant that was recommended to us. I had made reservations the day before by simply emailing them (I really like technology some days) and I am glad I did. The place was full when we arrived and only got fuller! We opted for the 4 course meal. Apparently, it is quite popular here. There are always advertisements for 4 courses for 25 Euros so we thought we would give one a try. We had read the menu while sitting there though and found a few things that we really wanted to try. Lucky for us, they ended up coming as part of our meal. They were so tasty too! It was prawns/shrimp rolled in a tortilla and fried with amazing sweet chili sauce. The food here is just different enough to never really know what you’re getting without being fearful of wondering what will show up on your plate. It’s always an adventure!

Saturday Stu (Kelly’s boyfriend) comes and I’m sure we will have a decently easy day giving him some time to rest. On Sunday we want to head to Amsterdam and at the train station Kelly and I need to buy some train tickets. The high speed train website won’t take credit cards that have a billing address outside Europe. I’m trying to figure out how to go visit Uwe and Andrea (my German host parents) in a few weeks and I think by train will be just as easy (and about 100 Euros cheaper) than flying. I just have to get my tickets plenty in advance for them to be economical. I also have some friends who will be in Frankfurt for a day next Saturday and I’m trying to figure out how to meet them. It is a 4 hr drive, but I have to be home to get Kelly Saturday night from the airport, or at least have the car at the apartment for her so that she can take Stu to the airport on Sunday. I don’t know what to do, but I’m sure after a phone call to my mother, I’ll have a better idea. Be prepared Mom.

Kelly’s Mom sent a care package and we received it yesterday. It had taco and chili seasoning in it as well as some of her grandma’s homemade pecan pralines. They are AMAZING! Just like little balls of sugar, butter, and nuts. It can’t get much better, or unhealthier, but they are sweet little treats. The office also loved them, asking if we could hire her grandma to send more. The package also had ranch dressing in it! Well, the little packs for us to make our own, but still. We are excited, a little taste of home.

Tonight is Sushi for dinner. We found a cute place on the square and want to try it out. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, I got food poisoning and will be contemplating my death. Otherwise, expect a full report! I better get off to harass the guys and get my Dutch lesson in for the day. I’m not as far with my Dutch skills as I’d like to be so I better pick it up!

Is it Worth the Money?

I often ponder many things and today I figured I would present the subject of my current ponder, the Mercedes car. Now, we see them all over the roadways in all shapes and sizes but we often see this one:

Now, I do not find this car cute, or pretty, or cool. It is approximately $25,500. That is a pretty penny. I guess you are still getting the Mercedes name, motor, and luxury but I could think of a better way to spend that money…and get a lot more car for your buck.

Now when most people think of Mercedes they think of luxury, style, class, not the above blob. If I were able to choose a Mercedes to drive around in my retirement days, I would choose this one:

This is a pretty CL Class Mercedes, more of what one expects from the name. Now for $138,000 a person better get the best car Mercedes makes. I don’t even know if it is the best, but it sure does look cool. I guess that is why people get the blob, it’s an affordable Mercedes. I don’t think I could drive one. I prefer our new, black Opel to the blob. I bet it would have more get up and go though. Oh well, speed kills.

So that was my random Tuesday ponder. We are getting ready for Kelly's boyfriend, Stu, to arrive on Saturday. I am very excited for her, I know how much she misses him. I'm also excited to meet him. He seems like a very nice guy. Next week they are headed to Munich for 4 days and I'll be left here all alone. I stock up on groceries before she leaves so I won't have to go out and eat alone....or maybe if I open myself up I can start making local friends. Why worry about it now, I'll worry about it next week when I'm left to fend for myself.

Half Broke Horses

This weekend was uneventful but I did manage to eat some great food. Friday evening Kelly, C, and I all went out for dinner but we wanted something light since we were still full from our amazing lunch. Richard had taken us to a CUTE place on the harbor that served amazing chicken sate. Kelly had a burger that looked great as well. The best part was sitting by the windows looking at the ice filled dock area and icy lake. It is a sight you definitely don’t see in the Southwest.

The building at the end of the road on the left is the restaurant. Super tasty foods!

There is the icy harbor/docking area. Some boats didn't get rescued before the ice it, but that seems to be semi normal. Ice can be beautiful.

This restaurant had some candy to grab on your way out. Richard made his way in search of a particular sucker and urged us all to try one. So Kelly and I both grabbed one, C did not. I opened mine, liked it and it tasted alright. Richard opened his and had Kelly taste the powder that was in the middle of it and she started yelling and practically gagging. She was not happy with Richard. Apparently, it’s no tootsie pop…it’s a black/white. Kelly’s said the sucker tasted like licking the bottom of the ocean floor. Heading that warning, I proceeded with caution. I made me way through the sweet exterior of the sucker and once I started getting the salty, yucky taste I stopped. On the car ride back, Richard told me to ask another one of our American coworkers about this sucker. I took the liberty and asked, apparently, it got the best of him too. He is not a fan, to put it lightly. Lesson learned: the Dutch have an odd taste for sweets.

After all of the lunch adventure, none of us were very hungry for dinner so we decided to go somewhere light. We went back to XO (or first repeat dinner) for their wraps and quiches. It was just as good the second time around. C has a sweet tooth so she talked us into desert and man oh man does this country have some fantastic ice cream! Since I have a special spot for ice cream anyways, it’s just a little slice of heaven in a bowl.

On Saturday, Kelly and I enjoyed sleeping in and we planned on meeting C for lunch. She had a lazy morning and went shopping but we weren’t that motivated. We started walking along the shopping street and there are so many cute deli-like places but they are always closed for dinner so we just picked one for lunch. It was great! It was called Pluk and they had a bunch of organic things and their bread was big thick soft pieces of dark, almost black, goodness. They also served fresh smoothies so that was a nice way to spice things up a bit. Apparently, Americans are not the only ones to have credit card trouble. After C had been shopping all morning and didn’t have any problems with her card she tried to pay for lunch. They don’t accept credit cards. She explained it was a chip card, it still wouldn’t work because it was a credit card, not a debit. We then all had a big discussion because many of these vendors tell us that “Holland doesn’t accept….” when the store right down the street didn’t have a problem with it. I think this country needs to get on the ball and choose a story and stick to it. Either way, Kelly and I are used to it and always carry cash on us now. We then headed back to get C’s luggage and headed off to the airport. She was our first victim of the airport routine, so all future visitors, we are now experienced.

On Saturday I had finished my book “The Friday Night Knitting Club” and it was such a good book! It made me cry! I then started another book “Half Broke Horses” and managed to finish it in one day. It was an easy, enjoyable read. The book was set in New Mexico, West Texas, and Arizona and talked about ranching, the weather, and how hard life was then. It was so fun to read, though, because I knew places like the Hondo River Valley and Lincoln and Capitan. The book was written by the main character’s granddaughter based upon stories she had heard from her grandmother and mother through the days. It also made me realize how little I know about my grandmother’s upbringing. I need to call her more often anyways so I guess now I will have questions for her. I better learn this part of my family history before the opportunity is lost. The book took up most of my Sunday while I read and watched some of the Olympics. Nothing like a lazy day reading, watching the snow outside, and wishing you were off skiing with all of the Olympians at Whistler. Maybe next year……

American Spicy or Dutch Spicy?

Last night Kelly, Richard, myself and another woman from work all met for a drink and then headed to dinner. This was enlightening because we always walk by this sign for the Whiskey Bar on a side door. Glancing through the beveled glass in the door it looked nice, but the outside looks a bit shady so we were always too skeptical to go in. Well, we met Richard and C. in the hotel bar before dinner, and guess what? It’s the same bar as the side entrance and it is very cute and nice! It's decorated in the Scottish plaids, has a long list of whiskey offerings, and some very tasty beers on tap. It was probably a bad thing we discovered this place so close to our apartment. I also now know where I'll be sending my mother if she starts to act up.

So after our drinks we headed to Wilma and Albert's, a cute steak house located near the Grote Markt. We have been told about it and have seen it but we haven't been because it was expensive and we figured we would wait till we could find someone to take us. That lucky day finally came. C told us how tasty the ribs were so I had to listen. They offer sweet or spicy so being the south westerner that I am, had to go with spicy. Kelly got a great steak so that we could split our plates and have the best of both worlds. I'm glad we did. Those ribs were AMAZING and SPICY. Not Dutch spicy which really just equals flavorful but American spicy. My lips were burning, my mouth was very, very warm and I was a happy, happy camper. They were so great. We are definitely putting that restaurant on our repeat list, whenever we start repeating restaurants.

It is also finally Friday, which means we get beer this afternoon. I thoroughly enjoy this tradition. We missed last week because we left a bit early so we could get a start on Paris. I really like the tradition and it is fun to have something to look forward to. I also enjoy how normal it is to drink beer at work. I guess everyone realizes that they can survive with just one or two and behave so they don't ruin it for everyone. The Dutch do have the moments of ingenuity. This would be one of them.

Inventory Time!

Today and tomorrow we are doing an inventory at work. I enjoy inventories because everyone is talking and working together and I think it is a good opportunity to get people out of their normal element and to open up. I also can't count so it opens the door for jokes and laughs. Even if they are at my expense, I'm glad when everyone is having a good time.

We got a new car today, it is another Opel. We really like the Peugeot that we had for a day but it was a standard and I don't believe they trust us. This new one is black, not light blue like the other. Maybe we'll blend in a bit better. Poor Opel. We’re going to have to give this one a new name. Maybe we will get creative.....

Kelly likes to live vicariously through me and my single life, but I get to enjoy her benefits of being in a relationship. Today her boyfriend sent her a dozen roses and white lilies for Valentine's Day. Now I get to enjoy fresh flowers in the apartment. They are so pretty! Kelly has pictures of them on her blog; I didn't think it was appropriate for me to put up pictures of her flowers. :)

C. who flew in from Aberdeen to help with the inventory has been up since 3am today so she wants to leave shortly. She is staying at the hotel next to our apartment so we told her we have no problem giving her a ride. We are also debating about our possible dinner options tonight. There are still so many!

Hope everyone has a good day!!