Dutch Immersion: Bike Prison

I stupidly parked my bike in an illegal spot last Wednesday. This morning, Corinne and I traveled out to Sloterdijk to AFAC, the "bike prison" to retrieve my little Gazelle. Here's some photos from our trip.

Tribute to my Dutch friends

One of the complaints of expats in Holland is that they don't know any Dutch people. The Dutch, while friendly, have a reputation of being aloof. My father even taught me a little ditty from his childhood in Iowa to warn me off. "The Irish and the Dutch, they don't amount to much, but I'd rather be an Irish than a Goddamned Dutch". All signs pointed to an unsatisfying cultural experience where I only hung out with fellow expats.

That hasn't been my experience, however. In general, I've been extremely lucky during this eight months (!!) and have met some great Dutch people. This post is a shoutout to all my Dutch friends who have made this transition better. While I've had my struggles, in general, I'm not sad that I moved here. I love this city and Dutch people and can't wait to spend another year exploring it.

First up are my Dutch friends from my time back in DC at "Melrose Place" - Saskia, Vinz, and Remco. They have all been extremely warm and welcoming to me - Corinne and Remco even put me up in their house for a few weeks when I moved here! They all repeatedly reminded me during my darkest moments that things were not lost - they were there and they would help me. I learned how to eat bitterballen, was instructed on the proper way to celebrate a baby's birth with muisjes, why Swarte Piet is not a colonialist racist tradition (I'm still not convinced), and fortitude in bicycling. My rear end is still bruised from learning how to ride on the back of a bicycle behind Saskia in Antwerp. Carolyn and Corinne (while not Dutch) both count as honorary dutch friends due to the fact that they can order food in Dutch and help me understand Dutch men. (and they are the support that keeps me going on despite their own trying years, thank you ladies!)

Through my Dutch friend Margo in DC, I met Sandra and Luuk and Clara - all of whom were responsible for helping me through "the Great Housing Crisis of 2007". They've taken me to cool restaurants and bars and taught me Dutch beach culture (fries on the beach! yea!). I even managed to make friends with Fabien, Sandra and Luuk's little son despite the language barriers.

Another wonderful Dutch friend is Esther - who makes me laugh and stimulates my intellect with great discussions on gender. I don't see her and her new husband enough but that's a new year's resolution.

At work, my friend Willy has served as a sounding board for my frustration, a translator for my health insurance and online shopping needs, and a much needed happy hour partner. She's encouraged me to learn rowing, join a gym, and dress nicer. Other dutch colleagues like my friend Akke and Monique have reassured me that my frustrations are not specific to the Dutch culture but shared - therefore allowing me to focus my frustrations where they belong - on the individuals- rather than hiding behind lame cultural complaints. I am hoping Akke comes back soon so we can spend more time watching Bollywood films together and I look forward to more cups of tea in the lovely waterlands with Monique.

I may have left a few out but as 2007 draws to a close, I just wanted to say "Dank u wel" and I'm looking forward to seeing you all in 2008 and getting onto your agendas early so I can see you more!

Taking a Break

I've got the week off in Amsterdam which is nice because the weather has been spectacular. A few people have commented that i seem to be having a lot of ups and downs. That's definately true. In the relief world, we talk about the five lifesaving needs: food, water, shelter, hygiene, and healthcare. Some of those have been threatened in the past month making me extremely anxious. The coping mechanisms don't seem to be working like they used to. But having Alec, my bestest buddy and concrete wall of support, visit me for three days makes me feel renewed and in love with this city again.

While i don't want to bore with the particulars, here's the goods and the bads of three months in Amsterdam.

Goods:

• Exploring the city on my bike - remembering what it felt like in the pre-car days of zipping through the streets at night with the wind in your hair.
• Cool restaurants, bars, cafes, parks, museums, and galleries - definately a wonderful city
• Meeting new people - meeting my new Dutch friends and other expats
• Renewing friendships with old friends and their kids.
• Being challenged at work - meeting really dedicated people who are working under hard conditions to help others. feeling proud whenever I tell someone where I work and they react positively - I'm learning new things almost every day which is good.
• Losing some weight from exercising and feeling healthy
• Long summer evenings
• Riding small boats around on the canals drinking wine with friends
• Very good inexpensive wine in the grocery stores
• Great cheese everywhere
• Fabulous breads
• The option of taking a boat ferry for a commute!

Bads:

• Mosquitos - the Dutch mosquitos are the only ones in the world that have ever bitten me.
• Being awakened at 3am by my neighbors fighting, a mosquito buzzing in my ear, the water heater over my bed cycling on and off constantly, and simon chasing the mosquito - falling asleep at 5am and having to awaken at 5:3oam to ride to the train station in the pouring rain.
• 50 degrees and July.
• Learning that I will probably be evicted from my apartment in October so having to do the apartment hunt all over again but in August when everyone is on vacataion - fear of being tossed out on the street with my cat.
• The office politics of where I work - lots of french male egos and obscure regulations
• Dealing with new systems for the daily life (bank, travel, health care, shopping)
• Being in a whole different timezone from my family and friends
• Feeling like noone here really understands me yet - still constantly in small talk mode.
• Feeling anxious to prove myself at work and do something worthwhile but afraid of running afoul of all the egos and the obscure work regulations and inadvertently causing a negative reputation.

Things to do in Amsterdam when it rains

• Toast a baguette and eat it with butter and cherry jam purchased at the Noordmarket
• Do a load of laundry in the amazingly efficient European washing machines.
• Read the New York Times on line.
• Listen to John Coltrane and Django Reinhardt
• Make an omelet with zucchini and basil and eat it while watching the rain.
• Pet the cat and keep him from climbing on your computer as you try to blog.
• Wash the dishes from last nights Monkfish in cilantro-coconut sauce that you made on a whim.
• Rearrange the lilies that you bought at Noordmarkt yesterday
• Finish reading "Eat Pray Love" and hope you won't get jealous at the descriptions of falling in love in Bali.
• Iron linen skirts
• Read US weekly to make sure you don't lose your American edge.
• Listen to "This American Life" on the Ipod podcast.
• Wonder why you didn't buy rain paints for cycling in the rain on Saturday when the store was open.
• Take a nap.