Cathay Pacific Flight CX 272 - AMS - HKG
(1.5 hours into the flight)
Me: May I have another glass of champagne please? (staring at my third empty glass)
Flight atttendant: Certainly Miss Rani**...(pause) You are over 18 right?
Me: Errrr,Yes.
Flight attendant: Great, here's a top up.
What I really wanted to say was "Yes, I'm actually 27, I've just never been in Business Class before, so just keep the champagne flowing."
** After mulitple attempts at trying to say my last name, I told her to forget about it and just call me Rani.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A letter to the Universe on a strange Christmas Eve
Dear Universe
I know I'm running late this morning, and I have a very important flight to catch.
I know I'm always running late to everything, no matter how significant the occasion.
I know I shouldn't be blogging but I thought there are some things you might want to know.
I woke up this morning to look outside my window and see light snowfall. Again, wow. Snowfall on Christmas Eve? Thanks. You really turned it on for me before I left Europe.
As I frantically pack a host of Summer clothes, I wonder if I am going to fit into many of them, seeing as I moved here with them, and I know that the dutch comfort food has slightly eroded my metabolism. (That, I ain't so thankful for.)
I'm off to the tropics, to the big bad city of Jakarta, and it's going to be quite the culture shock.
Before I leave, and spend 24 hours that I'm never going to get back experiencing the human equivalent of physical limbo in a tin can, just wanna say, thanks for everything so far.
I'll leave Amsterdam shortly, and when I get back it will be the very beginning of 2010.
What I've experienced in Amsterdam is always surprising, often overwhelming, and mostly a little random. But I'm always safe, and always have the basic necessities at hand, and moreso, I found one of the best friends I'm ever going to have in my life, to experience it with.
I could reel off a wishlist that I would like for the new year, but I think I will leave that for later and create my wishlist for the near future instead.
I hope all my family and friends have a fantastic and safe Christmas and New Years, and that they happen to find special moments throughout the whole period with their loved ones. I hope they know I'm thinking of them always, and hope to with them again soon one day.
Look after Amsterdam while I'm gone- perhaps you can allow someone else to tear the town to shreds in my absence.
Love,
Rani ( You know, the one that always talks to you when she's drunk in bar on Thursday nights, mostly screaming "Why?Why? WHY?!". Yeah, her. Sorry.)
I know I'm running late this morning, and I have a very important flight to catch.
I know I'm always running late to everything, no matter how significant the occasion.
I know I shouldn't be blogging but I thought there are some things you might want to know.
I woke up this morning to look outside my window and see light snowfall. Again, wow. Snowfall on Christmas Eve? Thanks. You really turned it on for me before I left Europe.
As I frantically pack a host of Summer clothes, I wonder if I am going to fit into many of them, seeing as I moved here with them, and I know that the dutch comfort food has slightly eroded my metabolism. (That, I ain't so thankful for.)
I'm off to the tropics, to the big bad city of Jakarta, and it's going to be quite the culture shock.
Before I leave, and spend 24 hours that I'm never going to get back experiencing the human equivalent of physical limbo in a tin can, just wanna say, thanks for everything so far.
I'll leave Amsterdam shortly, and when I get back it will be the very beginning of 2010.
What I've experienced in Amsterdam is always surprising, often overwhelming, and mostly a little random. But I'm always safe, and always have the basic necessities at hand, and moreso, I found one of the best friends I'm ever going to have in my life, to experience it with.
I could reel off a wishlist that I would like for the new year, but I think I will leave that for later and create my wishlist for the near future instead.
I hope all my family and friends have a fantastic and safe Christmas and New Years, and that they happen to find special moments throughout the whole period with their loved ones. I hope they know I'm thinking of them always, and hope to with them again soon one day.
Look after Amsterdam while I'm gone- perhaps you can allow someone else to tear the town to shreds in my absence.
Love,
Rani ( You know, the one that always talks to you when she's drunk in bar on Thursday nights, mostly screaming "Why?Why? WHY?!". Yeah, her. Sorry.)
Winter through the eyes of a Nokia
Karl, me and our tall white friend in Rembrandtsplein. I wish I could say we made him, but we didn't.
The view of the side of the canal from the houseboat. Snow, snow, snow!
Houseboat neighbours from the kitchen window.
While living on the houseboat, sometimes I get visitors at the Kitchen window. This was the little kitchen posse one Saturday morning.
From the tram stop near the houseboat, looking South at Heinekenplein.
De Waag - the old weighing house/building, in the centre of Nieuwmarkt. Offices on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and an overpriced cafe on the ground floor. Pretty none the less, at night, with snow in the forefront.
Nieuwmarkt is a little bar and cafe area on the border of the Red Light District. Looking particularly festive on a Friday night with a big Christmas tree, street lights and Christmas tree stall.Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Pause. Review. Reflect.
I am working from home today, and even though I have gone REALLY hard, and been super productive since I need to wrap up the year, I can't stop thinking about the following things:
-I am really looking forward to seeing my mum for a cuddle and some home cooked loving.
- Whether I am going to take the great Kaava pills my flatmate gave me ("It's a natural relaxant, you'll love them!") before I get on the aeroplane tomorrow or when I get on the plane; the jury is out.
- What am I really doing here in Amsterdam?
Now, this is a tough question, because if I review the benchmarks of what I set out to achieve by coming here, they were a little bit vague. In fact, a lot vague. This question can have many answers.
Typing on a new laptop owned by my office, on a houseboat in Amsterdam, surrounded by paperwork and listening to the Temptations and Aretha Franklin, blogging when I should be working, pausing my work momentarily to stare outside at the partly frozen canal, I start to think about surreal situations in life. But this doesn't seem surreal to me anymore.
This is what I do - work for a corporation that loan me expensive equipment to keep the money spinning going, live in Amsterdam (albeit not permanantly on a houseboat but it's not weird to be on one in this city), where canals are just part of the scenery, and Europe is covered in snow at the moment, and as for the Motown music...meh... not so surreal.
There is a school of thought that says "Who cares? Just enjoy the ride and see where it takes you." Sometimes this can be fun, but I know myself and drifting aimlessly can annoy the shit out of me. It's like travelling alone - sounds good in theory, you think that anything can happen to you and it's all an adventure, but sometimes waiting for things to happen to you is just downright boring. And then sometimes, nothing ever happens.
I want to make the most out of my time here, but I don't know how to do that. I only have one year. And I technically only have 8 months of that year left. Am I supposed to sit in Amsterdam and let life revolve around me and "just see what happens?"
True, it's a beautiful city, and it's all an adventure... but I often think I need to get centred, and figure out what it is I really want to be doing in my life and try and apply it here. But surely with 8 months left, that goal is like saying, "I'd love to make it to the peak of Mount Everest without a map, and preferrably do it in a week."
- How much do the people I have met in Amsterdam really mean to me? Am I using the filter of "they are a good person and we have a genuine connection" versus the "I am bored and it can be a little lonely over here and those two things are never a good combination, so I might as well be amused with someone's company, anyone's company" well enough?
(PS> If you are reading this, and you are mentioned in my blog, fear not, I don't mean you. You would have never made it in black and white on here if I didn't really like you! Highly unlikely that you are reading this because I rarely mention this blog to anyone over here.)
It also makes me question why certain people enter your life. If only every person came into your life and as soon as you met them, they gave you a fortune cookie before they spoke, you cracked open the cookie and it had a message akin to;
"We met because you don't know how to sew and that's an imperative life lesson, and I can teach you." and then you looked up and started to talk to them about sewing and arranged a time and place to conduct sewing lessons, and while you chit chatted about hemming and linings and zippers, you munched on the cookie and slipped the fortune into your back pocket.
One thing I really want to do next year is blog more about things that matter - whether in reality or in my head, and less chit chatty, postcardy, type things ("Hi everyone, Today I went for a walk in the snow and pranced down the street with joy..."). I don't mean that I want to pretend to offer educated opinions on things like why the Copenhagen agreement fell through (because I don't know why, seeing as I aim to expose myself to as little media as possible here... I have enough things in my mind, it's weird, I was such a good media consumer in Australia, but here, I really couldn't care less what's happening in the world. It's terrible.One thing that has crossed my mind is that in my office, nobody really talks watercooler talk, like what team won what sport, and what happened when the trains broke down etc...)
Ok, back to work. ONE more email that i have been avoiding for the past week, and then it's pretty much holiday time....
-I am really looking forward to seeing my mum for a cuddle and some home cooked loving.
- Whether I am going to take the great Kaava pills my flatmate gave me ("It's a natural relaxant, you'll love them!") before I get on the aeroplane tomorrow or when I get on the plane; the jury is out.
- What am I really doing here in Amsterdam?
Now, this is a tough question, because if I review the benchmarks of what I set out to achieve by coming here, they were a little bit vague. In fact, a lot vague. This question can have many answers.
Typing on a new laptop owned by my office, on a houseboat in Amsterdam, surrounded by paperwork and listening to the Temptations and Aretha Franklin, blogging when I should be working, pausing my work momentarily to stare outside at the partly frozen canal, I start to think about surreal situations in life. But this doesn't seem surreal to me anymore.
This is what I do - work for a corporation that loan me expensive equipment to keep the money spinning going, live in Amsterdam (albeit not permanantly on a houseboat but it's not weird to be on one in this city), where canals are just part of the scenery, and Europe is covered in snow at the moment, and as for the Motown music...meh... not so surreal.
There is a school of thought that says "Who cares? Just enjoy the ride and see where it takes you." Sometimes this can be fun, but I know myself and drifting aimlessly can annoy the shit out of me. It's like travelling alone - sounds good in theory, you think that anything can happen to you and it's all an adventure, but sometimes waiting for things to happen to you is just downright boring. And then sometimes, nothing ever happens.
I want to make the most out of my time here, but I don't know how to do that. I only have one year. And I technically only have 8 months of that year left. Am I supposed to sit in Amsterdam and let life revolve around me and "just see what happens?"
True, it's a beautiful city, and it's all an adventure... but I often think I need to get centred, and figure out what it is I really want to be doing in my life and try and apply it here. But surely with 8 months left, that goal is like saying, "I'd love to make it to the peak of Mount Everest without a map, and preferrably do it in a week."
- How much do the people I have met in Amsterdam really mean to me? Am I using the filter of "they are a good person and we have a genuine connection" versus the "I am bored and it can be a little lonely over here and those two things are never a good combination, so I might as well be amused with someone's company, anyone's company" well enough?
(PS> If you are reading this, and you are mentioned in my blog, fear not, I don't mean you. You would have never made it in black and white on here if I didn't really like you! Highly unlikely that you are reading this because I rarely mention this blog to anyone over here.)
It also makes me question why certain people enter your life. If only every person came into your life and as soon as you met them, they gave you a fortune cookie before they spoke, you cracked open the cookie and it had a message akin to;
"We met because you don't know how to sew and that's an imperative life lesson, and I can teach you." and then you looked up and started to talk to them about sewing and arranged a time and place to conduct sewing lessons, and while you chit chatted about hemming and linings and zippers, you munched on the cookie and slipped the fortune into your back pocket.
One thing I really want to do next year is blog more about things that matter - whether in reality or in my head, and less chit chatty, postcardy, type things ("Hi everyone, Today I went for a walk in the snow and pranced down the street with joy..."). I don't mean that I want to pretend to offer educated opinions on things like why the Copenhagen agreement fell through (because I don't know why, seeing as I aim to expose myself to as little media as possible here... I have enough things in my mind, it's weird, I was such a good media consumer in Australia, but here, I really couldn't care less what's happening in the world. It's terrible.One thing that has crossed my mind is that in my office, nobody really talks watercooler talk, like what team won what sport, and what happened when the trains broke down etc...)
Ok, back to work. ONE more email that i have been avoiding for the past week, and then it's pretty much holiday time....
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Don't work - it's snowing"
Official Dutch Rail website says:
Samenvatting
Door de weersomstandigheden is er maandag 21 december en dinsdag 22 december zeer beperkt tot geen treinverkeer mogelijk.
Advies: Maak, indien mogelijk, op deze dagen geen gebruik van de trein.
Excuses voor het ongemak."Translation?
"By the circumstances Monday 21 December and Tuesday 22 December have been very restricted to no train travel possible. Recommendation: Use, if possible, on these days none of the train. Excuses for the inconvenience."
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!!!! So, where was I.... aaaah yes.... Christmas Shopping, and maybe lunch and some photo taking around the city... kiddding....
;)
There's no difference to staggering home drunk, and walking in slushy snow
Because you always end up slipping, sliding, walking in an unpredictable path.
Keen observation for the night.
Another observation is that it's warmer when it's actually snowing, than when it's not snowing, and the skies are clear and the ice all around you, along with the wind, just makes it bitterly cold.
Like last FRIDAY AND SATURDAY night... man, IT WAS COLD.
Minus 15 degrees or something.. 'Twas not fun.
Ok, so a recap on the last week.
Let's start with Wednesday night:
Well, I had my department Christmas dinner at the Hermitage Amsterdam museum (which is a "satellite" branch of the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg - random concept - bringing Russian stuff to Amsterdam, but apparently there are some significant historical ties between St Petersburg and Amsterdam - like did you know the town planning of St Petersburg was loosely based on Amsterdam's town structure? Hah. Bet not... well either did I really.)
My bosses had organised for a tour of the museum for an hour, and then dinner in the museum restaurant.
The tour was fascinating, with genuine restored Russian army uniforms and portraits and interiors like vases and arm chairs, but it was the gowns that were the most interesting part for me.... Gorgeous, delicate, intricate, over the top, emboridered, feathered, bustiered, non bustiered, flowing, sequined, gowns.... luscious to look at.
Just to put it into perspective, good meals in Amsterdam at a reasonable price are few and far between, and even if the restaurant is expensive, there are no guarantess that the food will be any decent, because of the whole "Tourist city" thing...but this restaurant was spectacular! I was feeling very lucky to be dining there with my workmates.
Me, Matthijs and Evelien a little bit tipsy after dinner
First course; pan seared scallops, with cauliflower foam, and then second course was roast partridge with lentils and a witlof something or rather, and then vanilla rice pudding with caramel sauce, topped off with french white and red and port at the end.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. Bliss.
I topped off the night by "checking in" to Pia and Romain's houseboat, which I am housesitting for a week, before I head to Indonesia for Christmas, and then when I get back, I am living here for a month. It is Amazing.
The first night I was here, I dreamt that I was swaying and I couldn't figure out why, until I realised that "Duh, you're on a boat!"
This beautiful, old boat, sits on a canal, 2 minutes away from Heinekenplein, which is a really really central part of town. It's a 5 minute walk to Rokin which is an arterial street in the centre, and Rembrandstplein, which is a bar area. The canal street itself is cobblestoned, lined with trees, old Amsterdam townhouses, and lightposts.
The canal at the moment is nearly frozen, but not quite, with ducks, swans and storks just hanging out, by the kitchen window, waiting for scraps or just hanging out on the boat itself.
Pia's a stylist, so the boat is just beautifully cosy, and just such an intimate little space that is full of love. I am glad to be chilling out here, in this floating respite amongst the madness that Christmas time and the snow chaos can bring. I saw my first snowfall from the kitchen windows of this boat, and it was more perfect than words can describe.
I keep meaning to bring my camera everywhere, but I just haven't!! The city looks so pretty, but my battery camera is dead and I can't find the Australian adapter that goes with it to charge it.
Anyway, I digress. So, that was Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I woke up, almost in rage with the lack of light, because it felt like 4 am. I thought nothing of walking out the front door of the boat for work, and literally almost slipped into the canal, and then looked around and realised that everything was covered in snow! I was sooooo excited!!
I literally walked down the street, skipping (almost), down the dimly lit cobbled street, when I saw a guy letting his dog out. This little bull terrier came trotting over to me, sniffed my feet, and I sort of smiled, and the guy said something in dutch. Usually I would give a polite smile and keep walking, but I just sort of walked over and said "Sorry?" and he laughed and he switched to english and he said "Oh, I was just saying that it's the first time he's seen snow." and I grinned and I said "Me too!!" and then turned and kept skipping.
At the office, I watched the snow fall all day, and I didn't want to be indoors. I went out for a walk at lunch, and shuffled my feet in it, drew my name in it with my feet, and did lots of slipping and sliding.
On Thursday night, Laura and I got Italian takeaway from a great place near the boat, (Oven baked swordfish with tomatoes, and spinach; Spinach ravioli with eggplant...and 2 bottles of Chianti) and we had our last girls night for the year, before she went to Switzerland.
On Friday night, I cooked dinner for my friends Leon and Sam and we went to a birthday party in about 15 minutes cycle from the boat, on the west side, at a bar area/park called Westerpark. Cool bar where they play swing, zoot suit music mixed up with some other stuff. On arrival, I immediately felt the vast difference in temperature inside and outside. It had to be minus 5 outside and 35 degrees inside. I felt so overdressed in jeans and a thermal, thermal, thermal and a black long sleeved top and boots, all the dutch girls were swanning around in teeshirts, and nice tops, and skirts with stockings, and berets. I immediately went to the toilet and took off 3 layers, and my thermal stockings because I felt like a retard. Even minus the layers I still felt like a frigid nun.
The after party at 4 am was at a really seedy, small dutch brown bar where the leathery dutch bar maid was dressed in a backless top, frosted pink lipstick, and highly teased blonde hair, and she looked like she had been raised in the bar, probably had her first drink suckling from a bottle of Grolsch on the bar stool I was sitting on. The cycle home was ATROCIOUS, despite my many layers, if it had taken any longer I would have purposely just run into a car so an ambulance would have had to take me somewhere as opposed to cycling for any longer.
Leon and I stayed up until about 6 in the morning, drinking wine and talking crap. He crashed out on the boat, and I had the thermostat up quite high apprently (it's quite tempermental), and when I looked at the clock the next day, it was 3.40pm. I bolted upright and called over to Leon who was crashing on the day bed;
"Leon!! It's almost 4 o'clock!! I had to be at brunch at 1!!"
Shit. Who missed brunch from sleeping in ALL afternoon?! My day was just getting started at 4pm, which was quite the concern.
The day was so dark, it was so hot inside, it was like we had created a tropical island in the middle of the artic, and the warmth and cosiness had fooled us into believing it was mid morning still. We then spent the afternoon, eating omelette, drinking tea, and listening to music.
On Sunday, Karl came over to the boat, where we sank some red wine, and then dragged ourselves outside for Christmas shopping. But all the shops were closed ( we got carried away drinking red wine I guess) and so we went to another couple of bars and hung out.
The ground was in this weird "it hasn't snowed for an hour so the snow is kind of melting and people have been treading over it all day so now it's grey slush/puddles" phase, and I literally slipped every 30 seconds. Karl eventually insisted I hang on to his arm the entire evening if we were walking together somewhere because after the 3 time I fell over, he felt like he might need to help the retarded Australian girl that had never seen snow, or clearly, ever learnt how to walk in snow. Even after I clung to his arm, I managed to fall 3 times again, and take him down with me once.
Overall, such a lovely weekend on the boat. Perfect for friends and chit chats and watching the day pass and the snow fall!
I hear a rumour that it's supposed to snow another TWENTY centimetres of snow tomorrow! Hahha - awesome. If it only snowed 5cms today, and the train system was wrecked, perhaps I just couldn't possibly make it to work tomorrow - lucky I brought my laptop home then. Tee hee.
Keen observation for the night.
Another observation is that it's warmer when it's actually snowing, than when it's not snowing, and the skies are clear and the ice all around you, along with the wind, just makes it bitterly cold.
Like last FRIDAY AND SATURDAY night... man, IT WAS COLD.
Minus 15 degrees or something.. 'Twas not fun.
Ok, so a recap on the last week.
Let's start with Wednesday night:
Well, I had my department Christmas dinner at the Hermitage Amsterdam museum (which is a "satellite" branch of the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg - random concept - bringing Russian stuff to Amsterdam, but apparently there are some significant historical ties between St Petersburg and Amsterdam - like did you know the town planning of St Petersburg was loosely based on Amsterdam's town structure? Hah. Bet not... well either did I really.)
My bosses had organised for a tour of the museum for an hour, and then dinner in the museum restaurant.
The tour was fascinating, with genuine restored Russian army uniforms and portraits and interiors like vases and arm chairs, but it was the gowns that were the most interesting part for me.... Gorgeous, delicate, intricate, over the top, emboridered, feathered, bustiered, non bustiered, flowing, sequined, gowns.... luscious to look at.
Just to put it into perspective, good meals in Amsterdam at a reasonable price are few and far between, and even if the restaurant is expensive, there are no guarantess that the food will be any decent, because of the whole "Tourist city" thing...but this restaurant was spectacular! I was feeling very lucky to be dining there with my workmates.
Me, Matthijs and Evelien a little bit tipsy after dinnerFirst course; pan seared scallops, with cauliflower foam, and then second course was roast partridge with lentils and a witlof something or rather, and then vanilla rice pudding with caramel sauce, topped off with french white and red and port at the end.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. Bliss.
I topped off the night by "checking in" to Pia and Romain's houseboat, which I am housesitting for a week, before I head to Indonesia for Christmas, and then when I get back, I am living here for a month. It is Amazing.
The first night I was here, I dreamt that I was swaying and I couldn't figure out why, until I realised that "Duh, you're on a boat!"
This beautiful, old boat, sits on a canal, 2 minutes away from Heinekenplein, which is a really really central part of town. It's a 5 minute walk to Rokin which is an arterial street in the centre, and Rembrandstplein, which is a bar area. The canal street itself is cobblestoned, lined with trees, old Amsterdam townhouses, and lightposts.
The canal at the moment is nearly frozen, but not quite, with ducks, swans and storks just hanging out, by the kitchen window, waiting for scraps or just hanging out on the boat itself.
Pia's a stylist, so the boat is just beautifully cosy, and just such an intimate little space that is full of love. I am glad to be chilling out here, in this floating respite amongst the madness that Christmas time and the snow chaos can bring. I saw my first snowfall from the kitchen windows of this boat, and it was more perfect than words can describe.
I keep meaning to bring my camera everywhere, but I just haven't!! The city looks so pretty, but my battery camera is dead and I can't find the Australian adapter that goes with it to charge it.
Anyway, I digress. So, that was Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I woke up, almost in rage with the lack of light, because it felt like 4 am. I thought nothing of walking out the front door of the boat for work, and literally almost slipped into the canal, and then looked around and realised that everything was covered in snow! I was sooooo excited!!
I literally walked down the street, skipping (almost), down the dimly lit cobbled street, when I saw a guy letting his dog out. This little bull terrier came trotting over to me, sniffed my feet, and I sort of smiled, and the guy said something in dutch. Usually I would give a polite smile and keep walking, but I just sort of walked over and said "Sorry?" and he laughed and he switched to english and he said "Oh, I was just saying that it's the first time he's seen snow." and I grinned and I said "Me too!!" and then turned and kept skipping.
At the office, I watched the snow fall all day, and I didn't want to be indoors. I went out for a walk at lunch, and shuffled my feet in it, drew my name in it with my feet, and did lots of slipping and sliding.
On Thursday night, Laura and I got Italian takeaway from a great place near the boat, (Oven baked swordfish with tomatoes, and spinach; Spinach ravioli with eggplant...and 2 bottles of Chianti) and we had our last girls night for the year, before she went to Switzerland.
On Friday night, I cooked dinner for my friends Leon and Sam and we went to a birthday party in about 15 minutes cycle from the boat, on the west side, at a bar area/park called Westerpark. Cool bar where they play swing, zoot suit music mixed up with some other stuff. On arrival, I immediately felt the vast difference in temperature inside and outside. It had to be minus 5 outside and 35 degrees inside. I felt so overdressed in jeans and a thermal, thermal, thermal and a black long sleeved top and boots, all the dutch girls were swanning around in teeshirts, and nice tops, and skirts with stockings, and berets. I immediately went to the toilet and took off 3 layers, and my thermal stockings because I felt like a retard. Even minus the layers I still felt like a frigid nun.
The after party at 4 am was at a really seedy, small dutch brown bar where the leathery dutch bar maid was dressed in a backless top, frosted pink lipstick, and highly teased blonde hair, and she looked like she had been raised in the bar, probably had her first drink suckling from a bottle of Grolsch on the bar stool I was sitting on. The cycle home was ATROCIOUS, despite my many layers, if it had taken any longer I would have purposely just run into a car so an ambulance would have had to take me somewhere as opposed to cycling for any longer.
Leon and I stayed up until about 6 in the morning, drinking wine and talking crap. He crashed out on the boat, and I had the thermostat up quite high apprently (it's quite tempermental), and when I looked at the clock the next day, it was 3.40pm. I bolted upright and called over to Leon who was crashing on the day bed;
"Leon!! It's almost 4 o'clock!! I had to be at brunch at 1!!"
Shit. Who missed brunch from sleeping in ALL afternoon?! My day was just getting started at 4pm, which was quite the concern.
The day was so dark, it was so hot inside, it was like we had created a tropical island in the middle of the artic, and the warmth and cosiness had fooled us into believing it was mid morning still. We then spent the afternoon, eating omelette, drinking tea, and listening to music.
On Sunday, Karl came over to the boat, where we sank some red wine, and then dragged ourselves outside for Christmas shopping. But all the shops were closed ( we got carried away drinking red wine I guess) and so we went to another couple of bars and hung out.
The ground was in this weird "it hasn't snowed for an hour so the snow is kind of melting and people have been treading over it all day so now it's grey slush/puddles" phase, and I literally slipped every 30 seconds. Karl eventually insisted I hang on to his arm the entire evening if we were walking together somewhere because after the 3 time I fell over, he felt like he might need to help the retarded Australian girl that had never seen snow, or clearly, ever learnt how to walk in snow. Even after I clung to his arm, I managed to fall 3 times again, and take him down with me once.
Overall, such a lovely weekend on the boat. Perfect for friends and chit chats and watching the day pass and the snow fall!
I hear a rumour that it's supposed to snow another TWENTY centimetres of snow tomorrow! Hahha - awesome. If it only snowed 5cms today, and the train system was wrecked, perhaps I just couldn't possibly make it to work tomorrow - lucky I brought my laptop home then. Tee hee.
Monday, December 21, 2009
" Hi, it's Lady Grey, first time snow witness, long time dreamer of snow..."
I have so much to say, so much to say!!!
Many, many exciting things that have been happening but the most important thing...
SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!
This new white powdery substance (insert obvious Class A contraband illicit substance reference here) in my life deserves it's own post really, so here it is!
This stuff has changed my life... yes, a drastic statement I know.. but, I will list in order of importance why it's so important to me.
1. My dreams just keep getting fulfilled here, every single day.. I had NEVER seen snow before in my life, and now I am constantly surrounded in it. I used to have dreams about feeling snow, frolicking in snow, holding snow, crunching my feet through snow, and now fortunately, and unfortunately, I do it every day! It's just another way that this town keeps proving to me that you can seriously live in a dream like reality.
2.I haven't felt my feet through 2 layers of socks and a pair of boots, in about 3 days. This is the flipside of living ankle deep in snow.
3. The weather in this town constantly reminds me that no matter how many layers I put on, or however prepared Iconvince myself I am for the weather, I am actually never really prepared for the weather. The first morning of snow on Thursday, it fell so softly and romantically in delicate flakes, and I felt oh so chic in my winter coat, finally being able to justify why I look like an Icelandic sheep as Laura would say. Then last night, I went out with my friend Karl, and it was absolutely PELTING down, in what I can only imagine are blizzard like proportions, in heavy balls... My woolly winter coat was pretty much soaked in snow when I got home, and I realised that I don't have a single water proof item that would be remotely warm enough to wear outside.
4. This town is SO BEAUTIFUL under snow... I think I said this on my facebook status, but I LIVE IN A POSTCARD. I feel so lucky to have travelled a lot more recently, and to have seen different cities and be able to say this statement with some sort of reference in my head, because may i be so brash and bold to say ..." HELLO WORLD - I LIVE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY ON THIS PLANET!!! "
And just to prove it, please see below:
Keizersgracht, one of the most beautiful and exclusive canals to live on in Amsterdam. It's been compared to the "Upper East Side" of Amsterdam - not that I really know what that truly means, having never been to NY, but I can imagine.
I want to do this one day with my 3 kids!! The thing at the front is called a Bakfiets, and that's how dutch mummies and daddys kart their kids around the city, no joke. It's so cute to see two kids sitting in a Bakfiets nattering away to each other. When it rains, parents put a plastic cover of the top of the kart and it looks like a capsule, and the kids just sit there talking to themselves while their mum or dad just cycles them around!!! Too cute!
Have yet to cycle in the snow - I think its ridiculous idea, when I have a public transport card. I value my bones in tact way too much.
Ok, so here is a ridiculous story about the trains and the trams and the snow. This morning when I went to go to work, I was waiting for a tram for 25 minutes in the snow. I am currently living on the houseboat ( yes, yes, yes! How exciting, I know, but more on that later!) and it's on a very central canal, and 3 minutes up the street, there is a tram stop, that takes me to Centraal station, and about 4 trams could take me there, to date I have never had to wait more than 2 minutes.
Last night, Karl said as we were waiting for my tram home in a blizzard, "You think it's bad now, wait til the trams don't even run because of some snow related delay." I freaked out, because I realised the look on his face wasn't one of jest. If there are no trams and you can't cycle ( because you are too chicken shit or too sensible) then you are walking everywhere.
Anyway, so I was freaking out a little bit, because my toes were numb and I thought about being late (again) for work, and then finally one came. It was soooo full.
Then I get to Centraal station, and I look at the train announcement board and realise that every 1 in 7 trains is actually running. And Centraal station is looking particularly sparse. But my train happens to be running. Damn.
Then I get to the office, and it is dead. You can hear a pin drop, as I step outside the elevator. And it's 9.15 am, when everyone is usually milling around getting coffee, talking about their weekends etc. I ask my dutch colleague Sarah what is happening and she said that the Dutch government told people to stay home today via the news, because they expected half the trains to be in gridlock or cancelled, and probably not running at all in the evening. Niiiiice. Only problem is I don't watch the dutch news, or listen to the radio, so a sucker like me couldn't have known.
"By government decree, I pronouce tomorrow SNOW DAY... stay home citizens of Amsterdam, and just hang out..."
How can a country in Europe be brought to it's knees because of snow? Because they're not used to it is how... this year will be the first White Christmas ( defined as snow on the 25th of December AND 26th of December) since 1981. This sort of snow fall doesn't happen usually until mid-late January.
One of my bosses didn't make it - working from home, she said.... nice for some - and half my floor wasn't in.
My flatmate's facebook status this morning was slightly hilarious. It was nice to know she thought the same things as me, albeit on the other side of town, however her morning sounded more shit than mine.
On another note, apparently 700 people were stranded overnight on makeshift beds at Schipol airport last night. So... I could e spending Christmas Eve/Day at Schipol if my flights are delayed. Fantastic. Sounds great. I think I know why the dutch government pumped so much money into that airport to make it so world class.... pick a bar, any bar... you're here for a long time, not a good time weary travellers....
Many, many exciting things that have been happening but the most important thing...
SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!
This new white powdery substance (insert obvious Class A contraband illicit substance reference here) in my life deserves it's own post really, so here it is!
This stuff has changed my life... yes, a drastic statement I know.. but, I will list in order of importance why it's so important to me.
1. My dreams just keep getting fulfilled here, every single day.. I had NEVER seen snow before in my life, and now I am constantly surrounded in it. I used to have dreams about feeling snow, frolicking in snow, holding snow, crunching my feet through snow, and now fortunately, and unfortunately, I do it every day! It's just another way that this town keeps proving to me that you can seriously live in a dream like reality.
2.I haven't felt my feet through 2 layers of socks and a pair of boots, in about 3 days. This is the flipside of living ankle deep in snow.
3. The weather in this town constantly reminds me that no matter how many layers I put on, or however prepared Iconvince myself I am for the weather, I am actually never really prepared for the weather. The first morning of snow on Thursday, it fell so softly and romantically in delicate flakes, and I felt oh so chic in my winter coat, finally being able to justify why I look like an Icelandic sheep as Laura would say. Then last night, I went out with my friend Karl, and it was absolutely PELTING down, in what I can only imagine are blizzard like proportions, in heavy balls... My woolly winter coat was pretty much soaked in snow when I got home, and I realised that I don't have a single water proof item that would be remotely warm enough to wear outside.
4. This town is SO BEAUTIFUL under snow... I think I said this on my facebook status, but I LIVE IN A POSTCARD. I feel so lucky to have travelled a lot more recently, and to have seen different cities and be able to say this statement with some sort of reference in my head, because may i be so brash and bold to say ..." HELLO WORLD - I LIVE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY ON THIS PLANET!!! "
And just to prove it, please see below:
Keizersgracht, one of the most beautiful and exclusive canals to live on in Amsterdam. It's been compared to the "Upper East Side" of Amsterdam - not that I really know what that truly means, having never been to NY, but I can imagine.
I want to do this one day with my 3 kids!! The thing at the front is called a Bakfiets, and that's how dutch mummies and daddys kart their kids around the city, no joke. It's so cute to see two kids sitting in a Bakfiets nattering away to each other. When it rains, parents put a plastic cover of the top of the kart and it looks like a capsule, and the kids just sit there talking to themselves while their mum or dad just cycles them around!!! Too cute!
Photos courtesy of www.iamsterdam.com
Have yet to cycle in the snow - I think its ridiculous idea, when I have a public transport card. I value my bones in tact way too much.
Ok, so here is a ridiculous story about the trains and the trams and the snow. This morning when I went to go to work, I was waiting for a tram for 25 minutes in the snow. I am currently living on the houseboat ( yes, yes, yes! How exciting, I know, but more on that later!) and it's on a very central canal, and 3 minutes up the street, there is a tram stop, that takes me to Centraal station, and about 4 trams could take me there, to date I have never had to wait more than 2 minutes.
Last night, Karl said as we were waiting for my tram home in a blizzard, "You think it's bad now, wait til the trams don't even run because of some snow related delay." I freaked out, because I realised the look on his face wasn't one of jest. If there are no trams and you can't cycle ( because you are too chicken shit or too sensible) then you are walking everywhere.
Anyway, so I was freaking out a little bit, because my toes were numb and I thought about being late (again) for work, and then finally one came. It was soooo full.
Then I get to Centraal station, and I look at the train announcement board and realise that every 1 in 7 trains is actually running. And Centraal station is looking particularly sparse. But my train happens to be running. Damn.
Then I get to the office, and it is dead. You can hear a pin drop, as I step outside the elevator. And it's 9.15 am, when everyone is usually milling around getting coffee, talking about their weekends etc. I ask my dutch colleague Sarah what is happening and she said that the Dutch government told people to stay home today via the news, because they expected half the trains to be in gridlock or cancelled, and probably not running at all in the evening. Niiiiice. Only problem is I don't watch the dutch news, or listen to the radio, so a sucker like me couldn't have known.
"By government decree, I pronouce tomorrow SNOW DAY... stay home citizens of Amsterdam, and just hang out..."
How can a country in Europe be brought to it's knees because of snow? Because they're not used to it is how... this year will be the first White Christmas ( defined as snow on the 25th of December AND 26th of December) since 1981. This sort of snow fall doesn't happen usually until mid-late January.
One of my bosses didn't make it - working from home, she said.... nice for some - and half my floor wasn't in.
My flatmate's facebook status this morning was slightly hilarious. It was nice to know she thought the same things as me, albeit on the other side of town, however her morning sounded more shit than mine.
"Huh. A 1/2 hr walk to Central Station (no trams running) to discover there were no trains going to Utrecht. And then a 1/2 hour walk home again. I'd never imagined a country could get its public transportation so de-railed by 1.5 inches of snow."
Another one of my coworkers told me this morning that his train was running but it was late because they couldn't find an engineer to run the train. Hah hah hahahhaha. Trains and the Netherlands. Funny. In a country the size of Tasmania, where cities/towns are mere half hour train rides away (really just suburbs), intercity rail travel is definitely an interesting experience.On another note, apparently 700 people were stranded overnight on makeshift beds at Schipol airport last night. So... I could e spending Christmas Eve/Day at Schipol if my flights are delayed. Fantastic. Sounds great. I think I know why the dutch government pumped so much money into that airport to make it so world class.... pick a bar, any bar... you're here for a long time, not a good time weary travellers....
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The joke is on me...
There's a mass exodus from Amsterdam as of ... tomorrow.
People are starting to take time off work to go away for the holidays.
Laura leaves Thursday.
Substantial quantities of dutch people around me seem to be either;
a) going back to their Villages for Christmas and back between boxing day ("second day of Christmas") and New Years Eve ("Oud en Nieuw") and then refusing to talk about January, like it's some traumatic experience they are bracing themselves for...
OR
b)fleeing between now and mid- late january next year for anywhere from a month to six months... basically until June... when summer starts again...
I couldn't feel my feet tonight, after 20 minutes chatting in the cold followed by 10 - 13 minutes of walking to Centraal Station.
So....
Do you think there might be a correlation with any of the above information?
Hah.
I have been told that if you combine the latest weather conditions, with rain,wind and sleet, you get the essence of Amsterdam in January.
Ah ha ha ha ha...er...ha...ha...ha?
People are starting to take time off work to go away for the holidays.
Laura leaves Thursday.
Substantial quantities of dutch people around me seem to be either;
a) going back to their Villages for Christmas and back between boxing day ("second day of Christmas") and New Years Eve ("Oud en Nieuw") and then refusing to talk about January, like it's some traumatic experience they are bracing themselves for...
OR
b)fleeing between now and mid- late january next year for anywhere from a month to six months... basically until June... when summer starts again...
I couldn't feel my feet tonight, after 20 minutes chatting in the cold followed by 10 - 13 minutes of walking to Centraal Station.
So....
Do you think there might be a correlation with any of the above information?
Hah.
I have been told that if you combine the latest weather conditions, with rain,wind and sleet, you get the essence of Amsterdam in January.
Ah ha ha ha ha...er...ha...ha...ha?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Snow on Thursday, Friday and Saturday!!!!
| Dag | di | wo | do | vr | za |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weer |  | |  | | |
| Zonkans | 60 | 30 | 40 | 40 | 30 |
| Neerslagkans | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
| Neerslag | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Minimumtemperatuur | -7 | -5 | -3 | -5 | -4 |
| Maximumtemperatuur | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 1 |
| Wind | O 2 | Z 3 | NO 3 | O 3 | Z 3 |
On the right track? Wrong track? Frozen tracks? Making tracks!!
“Hi, Boss?Yeah, um, I’m going to be a bit late this morning – I’m on an express train to Enkhuizen and it won’t let me off until I get to Hoorn. Yes, I realise that this is the opposite direction to the office, but not sure how long I’ll be…..Oh. Really? An hour North from the office? Riiiight. Ok. See you before lunch.”
View Larger Map
Apparently every December 14th/15th, the train schedules get a complete overhaul. So when a train that looks like yours, leaves the same platform you usually get your train from every morning, at the same time as your usual train, you would think that it's YOUR train. But, it wasn't.
APPARENTLY it's something that every dutch person knows about, inherent information that just gets passed on through the generations, just like when the seasons start, or you know, how to ride a bike.
BUT I wasn't the only one at the office caught out... another girl I had never seen before in my life, hops on the train to Amsterdam, and I look at her and she looks at me, and I said " you thought you were going to Schipol too right?"
and she said "Yeah, what is WITH that? I have a 9 o'clock meeting at Hoofddorp and now I'm late!"
"Hoofddorp? Where do you work?"
"(insert name of my company here)."
"Me too! What area?"
"Finance."
"Building 2, level 2?!"
"Yeah! Funny, I've never seen you there before!"
Glad I wasn't the only one stuck in the same situation. She was nice, from New York, but she had been living in Australia for 6 years.
I arrived at work at 10.30 (when i left my house at 7.45), to see my boss and 2 colleagues, with highly amused faces, as I walked into the room.
All day long I was ridiculed with:
"Oh, that's a nice scarf you're wearing - did you pick it up while you were in Hoorn this morning?"
"I left a visitor's guide for Hoorn on your desk, just in case you are planning a repeat day trip tomorrow."
"What time are you leaving tonight? Need me to print out the train schedule for you, and highlight the most direct train routes for you, or are you planning an overnighter in Hoorn?"
Ha. Ha. Soooo funny. Forever will be known as the crazy Australian girl that went 1 hour in the wrong direction on a train to work. Or just, the crazy Australian girl.
Winter doesn't officially start here til 21st December but it just TURNED on Saturday morning. A beautiful sunny day when you look out the window and then BAM! - cold as ice! Then Saturday night, and Sunday...COLD COLD COLD. Like, my feet are cold in boots. Somebody pass me the gluhwein.
Lucky I got a special, awesome, fantastic survival package in the mail on Saturday consisting of Toobs, Vegemite,Burger rings, Haighs chocolates galore, a Violet Crumble Rasberry bullets, a wool hat, a wool scarf, and Merino wool gloves... SO SPECIAL!! Thanks Pam, Tom, and Andrei! xxxxx
Today??? Minus 2 degrees. All day. No wind, no rain ( Oh! A bonus!) but no snow either.
A great day to be standing at the train station of a F***ing Dutch Village, waiting for a train to take you back to the city... then getting on the UNHEATED train and it stops in the middle of the tracks for 20 minutes, waiting for the confusion to pass because apparently noone that drives a train in this country KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
The other day I got on the my train and the driver took us down the wrong tracks, and had to reverse the train, to get on the right ones. 45 minutes later... I was back on track to get to work. Can you imagine?? The driver became absent minded for a minute and thought he was taking us to Belgium or something, instead of the little village/office park outside of Schipol.
Reee-dee-coo-lous. Freaking ridiculous.
So, the weekend that was;
Saturday night, I went to the markets in the Jordaan area with Laura, and we drank Gluwein, and ate ham and saurkraut rolls, and then went to Laura's house where she made more gluhwein, then to a party on my friend Pia's houseboat (which I move into on Wednesday for a week of housesitting!! Yipppeee!! Then back there for 3 weeks in January!), then out with Karl the Irish chef to see a funk/jazz band in Spui, a funky little street in the centre of the city where Laura and I danced the night away til 5 in the morning. Upon the cycle back to my place, I tried to jump the curb on my bike. It didn't work. Bike fall number# 3. I think i hurt my wrist internally.
All Laura could do when she saw me sprawled on the pavement was cover her mouth in shock. I laughed and picked myself up and dusted myself off and kept cycling again. She stood there for about 3 minutes staring after me, and then finally she just repeatedly said "are you ok? no seriously, are you ok? Rani, you know that was never going to work!" She just couldn't believe it didn't hurt that much because she said it looked terrible. I was surprised it didn't hurt as much.
Sunday, we woke up at 1pm, and made our way to some Christmas markets in Westerpark, where we drank more Gluhwein into the evening. Great weekend!
View Larger Map
Apparently every December 14th/15th, the train schedules get a complete overhaul. So when a train that looks like yours, leaves the same platform you usually get your train from every morning, at the same time as your usual train, you would think that it's YOUR train. But, it wasn't.
APPARENTLY it's something that every dutch person knows about, inherent information that just gets passed on through the generations, just like when the seasons start, or you know, how to ride a bike.
BUT I wasn't the only one at the office caught out... another girl I had never seen before in my life, hops on the train to Amsterdam, and I look at her and she looks at me, and I said " you thought you were going to Schipol too right?"
and she said "Yeah, what is WITH that? I have a 9 o'clock meeting at Hoofddorp and now I'm late!"
"Hoofddorp? Where do you work?"
"(insert name of my company here)."
"Me too! What area?"
"Finance."
"Building 2, level 2?!"
"Yeah! Funny, I've never seen you there before!"
Glad I wasn't the only one stuck in the same situation. She was nice, from New York, but she had been living in Australia for 6 years.
I arrived at work at 10.30 (when i left my house at 7.45), to see my boss and 2 colleagues, with highly amused faces, as I walked into the room.
All day long I was ridiculed with:
"Oh, that's a nice scarf you're wearing - did you pick it up while you were in Hoorn this morning?"
"I left a visitor's guide for Hoorn on your desk, just in case you are planning a repeat day trip tomorrow."
"What time are you leaving tonight? Need me to print out the train schedule for you, and highlight the most direct train routes for you, or are you planning an overnighter in Hoorn?"
Ha. Ha. Soooo funny. Forever will be known as the crazy Australian girl that went 1 hour in the wrong direction on a train to work. Or just, the crazy Australian girl.
Winter doesn't officially start here til 21st December but it just TURNED on Saturday morning. A beautiful sunny day when you look out the window and then BAM! - cold as ice! Then Saturday night, and Sunday...COLD COLD COLD. Like, my feet are cold in boots. Somebody pass me the gluhwein.
Lucky I got a special, awesome, fantastic survival package in the mail on Saturday consisting of Toobs, Vegemite,Burger rings, Haighs chocolates galore, a Violet Crumble Rasberry bullets, a wool hat, a wool scarf, and Merino wool gloves... SO SPECIAL!! Thanks Pam, Tom, and Andrei! xxxxx
Today??? Minus 2 degrees. All day. No wind, no rain ( Oh! A bonus!) but no snow either.
A great day to be standing at the train station of a F***ing Dutch Village, waiting for a train to take you back to the city... then getting on the UNHEATED train and it stops in the middle of the tracks for 20 minutes, waiting for the confusion to pass because apparently noone that drives a train in this country KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
The other day I got on the my train and the driver took us down the wrong tracks, and had to reverse the train, to get on the right ones. 45 minutes later... I was back on track to get to work. Can you imagine?? The driver became absent minded for a minute and thought he was taking us to Belgium or something, instead of the little village/office park outside of Schipol.
Reee-dee-coo-lous. Freaking ridiculous.
So, the weekend that was;
Saturday night, I went to the markets in the Jordaan area with Laura, and we drank Gluwein, and ate ham and saurkraut rolls, and then went to Laura's house where she made more gluhwein, then to a party on my friend Pia's houseboat (which I move into on Wednesday for a week of housesitting!! Yipppeee!! Then back there for 3 weeks in January!), then out with Karl the Irish chef to see a funk/jazz band in Spui, a funky little street in the centre of the city where Laura and I danced the night away til 5 in the morning. Upon the cycle back to my place, I tried to jump the curb on my bike. It didn't work. Bike fall number# 3. I think i hurt my wrist internally.
All Laura could do when she saw me sprawled on the pavement was cover her mouth in shock. I laughed and picked myself up and dusted myself off and kept cycling again. She stood there for about 3 minutes staring after me, and then finally she just repeatedly said "are you ok? no seriously, are you ok? Rani, you know that was never going to work!" She just couldn't believe it didn't hurt that much because she said it looked terrible. I was surprised it didn't hurt as much.
Sunday, we woke up at 1pm, and made our way to some Christmas markets in Westerpark, where we drank more Gluhwein into the evening. Great weekend!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Actually, I changed my mind, I have something important to say
I was supposed to go home today.
Well, I was supposed to board a flight from Helsinki to Tokyo, and arrive home on the 14th of December. But I was supposed to leave Europe today.
Today was the day I had my flights booked from my original itinerary, because it would have been symbolic of 4 months in Amsterdam, and I figured that I was either going to be lying in a gutter, begging for food, talking in tongues to the junkies in the red light district, or I was going to be ... somewhere else. And if, per se, I was in the former situation, then, better to just go home, or at least live in the knowledge that I know that I have a ticket to go home if I wanted to go home.
Well, I am somewhere else, and ain't that grand, because I am sure that junkies here would much rather be spending their precious time flogging off bikes than trying to interpret my inane banter.
6 months ago, I left my hometown to jump over the edge of a cliff I called "anticipation", and into a dark dark abyss that I call "uncertainty".
I am pleased to say that I am still alive, and my god, am I ALIVE.
I can't get my head around the last 6 months, it feels like yesterday I had to make some of the most gutwrenching "goodbyes" I have ever made in my life, and I still tear up about those memories. And now, I type from my (messy) bedroom, contemplating my day at the office tomorrow, having just got home from a bike ride in the misty, foggy atmosphere, from Nieuwmarkt, along the canals, and the houseboats and the Christmas lights, in the city I live in. And inbetween the date of June 8th, 2009, and right this second, I am sure I have felt every emotion that a human being can feel when faced with an unmapped, and unplanned future.
I just can not believe that it is December. And I live in Amsterdam. And if the last 6 months have just flown, that means the next 9 months of my visa will absolutely fly.
Laura showed me a poem that she studied in highschool, and I loved every word of it after I read it. It has become my mantra for my time here, I carry a copy of it with me every where I go.
More to write tomorrow or the next day I am sure, and I promise December will have more posts and 2010, even more so.
Miss you all.
Invictus
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William E. Henley
Well, I was supposed to board a flight from Helsinki to Tokyo, and arrive home on the 14th of December. But I was supposed to leave Europe today.
Today was the day I had my flights booked from my original itinerary, because it would have been symbolic of 4 months in Amsterdam, and I figured that I was either going to be lying in a gutter, begging for food, talking in tongues to the junkies in the red light district, or I was going to be ... somewhere else. And if, per se, I was in the former situation, then, better to just go home, or at least live in the knowledge that I know that I have a ticket to go home if I wanted to go home.
Well, I am somewhere else, and ain't that grand, because I am sure that junkies here would much rather be spending their precious time flogging off bikes than trying to interpret my inane banter.
6 months ago, I left my hometown to jump over the edge of a cliff I called "anticipation", and into a dark dark abyss that I call "uncertainty".
I am pleased to say that I am still alive, and my god, am I ALIVE.
I can't get my head around the last 6 months, it feels like yesterday I had to make some of the most gutwrenching "goodbyes" I have ever made in my life, and I still tear up about those memories. And now, I type from my (messy) bedroom, contemplating my day at the office tomorrow, having just got home from a bike ride in the misty, foggy atmosphere, from Nieuwmarkt, along the canals, and the houseboats and the Christmas lights, in the city I live in. And inbetween the date of June 8th, 2009, and right this second, I am sure I have felt every emotion that a human being can feel when faced with an unmapped, and unplanned future.
I just can not believe that it is December. And I live in Amsterdam. And if the last 6 months have just flown, that means the next 9 months of my visa will absolutely fly.
Laura showed me a poem that she studied in highschool, and I loved every word of it after I read it. It has become my mantra for my time here, I carry a copy of it with me every where I go.
More to write tomorrow or the next day I am sure, and I promise December will have more posts and 2010, even more so.
Miss you all.
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William E. Henley
I'm alive
Just contemplating things at the moment. Trying to figure out how to make my
"blogging comeback" and craft the words I want to put down, to retell my tales of late.....
Need time, but have a Christmas party tomorrow night ( open bar - gulp! Add work colleagues... - hmmmm....) and then a busy weekend with Laura seeing as it is our last weekend together for the year.
Sheesh, I can't believe I even just said that.
So many thoughts, want to recap on the year, and travels and thoughts etc, so majorly big post coming up soon! xxx
"blogging comeback" and craft the words I want to put down, to retell my tales of late.....
Need time, but have a Christmas party tomorrow night ( open bar - gulp! Add work colleagues... - hmmmm....) and then a busy weekend with Laura seeing as it is our last weekend together for the year.
Sheesh, I can't believe I even just said that.
So many thoughts, want to recap on the year, and travels and thoughts etc, so majorly big post coming up soon! xxx
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ich bin ein Berliner... And Londoner... and possibly french... but definitely a houseboater
I know I have hardly written anything of late, however, I have just had 2 crazy busy weeks at work, and two weekends away in London and Berlin... I am looking forward to a cosy weekend in...doing nothing but drinking wine, and eating cheese, and slothing....
I will write more about the weeks that have passed, but first...
I have some exciting news... I will be house sitting for my friends Pia and Romain while they go to Australia for Christmas... they are gone for 7 weeks from December 15th to Early February!! But they live on a houseboat in a really central canal in the inner south of Amsterdam...and it's gorgeous!! Pia's an interior stylist and an author and a photographer so it's just a really intimate and beautiful space, and I will have the honour of guarding it over the holiday season!
DREAM.COME.TRUE!!!
Meanwhile, I'm still wondering what I should be doing for Christmas this year...
I will write more about the weeks that have passed, but first...
I have some exciting news... I will be house sitting for my friends Pia and Romain while they go to Australia for Christmas... they are gone for 7 weeks from December 15th to Early February!! But they live on a houseboat in a really central canal in the inner south of Amsterdam...and it's gorgeous!! Pia's an interior stylist and an author and a photographer so it's just a really intimate and beautiful space, and I will have the honour of guarding it over the holiday season!
DREAM.COME.TRUE!!!
Meanwhile, I'm still wondering what I should be doing for Christmas this year...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday Night is the new Saturday Night...
according to Laura and Rani :)
Laura made an analogy about our lives here:
"The city is like a billiard table - and we are like the white ball - zing, zing, smashing into anything that gets in our way!"
Yes. Concerning I know :)
Laura made an analogy about our lives here:
"The city is like a billiard table - and we are like the white ball - zing, zing, smashing into anything that gets in our way!"
Yes. Concerning I know :)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Another day, another Junkie trying to offload his bike to me...
Sunday Sunday Sunday...
Woohoo, so much achieved ...
Clean room!
Mobile Phone contract!
Caught up with my friend Sverre, we haven't seen each other in something ridiculous like 5 weeks.. was really good to see him. He's been in Norway, and then working on some massive animation projects so it's been hard for both of us. He took me to this Ethiopian place for dinner, it was Ah-maaaaazing... we even had coconut beer (!!!! Sublime!) and I finished up with a cardamon tea... Ohhh so good.
As we were walking into the restaurant, we were crossing the bike lane, and a junkie cycled past, happy as larry ..."Need a bike?" he called out as he flashed past us.
It did look like a good bike, but I think I'l just stick with mine.
Woohoo, so much achieved ...
Clean room!
Mobile Phone contract!
Caught up with my friend Sverre, we haven't seen each other in something ridiculous like 5 weeks.. was really good to see him. He's been in Norway, and then working on some massive animation projects so it's been hard for both of us. He took me to this Ethiopian place for dinner, it was Ah-maaaaazing... we even had coconut beer (!!!! Sublime!) and I finished up with a cardamon tea... Ohhh so good.
As we were walking into the restaurant, we were crossing the bike lane, and a junkie cycled past, happy as larry ..."Need a bike?" he called out as he flashed past us.
It did look like a good bike, but I think I'l just stick with mine.
Revenge of Starbucks
I just noticed one opening in Centraal Station - BOOOOOO!!
I don't want a Starbucks in Centraal station because I don't want a Grande caramel mocha soy fair trade coffee habit (nor do I want to witness hundreds of preppy dutchies with their noses in the air, and that "I'm so important, I need my coffee to go right now!" look on their faces and carrying paper Starbucks cups around on trains and around the station, acting like they are "da shit").... I want a shoe repair guy and a tailor!!!!
And a Supermarket!!!
I don't want a Starbucks in Centraal station because I don't want a Grande caramel mocha soy fair trade coffee habit (nor do I want to witness hundreds of preppy dutchies with their noses in the air, and that "I'm so important, I need my coffee to go right now!" look on their faces and carrying paper Starbucks cups around on trains and around the station, acting like they are "da shit").... I want a shoe repair guy and a tailor!!!!
And a Supermarket!!!
You got the green light... I mean... no lights... I mean... just walk..or run... accelerate... or cycle harder!!!!
Saturday night update:
What was supposed to be a quiet Saturday after the errands turned into a big-ish sort of night.
First I met Laura for some market trawling in Jordaan... Oh man, pay day is so psychologically warped.
I bought:
But!!! The best news is... no more hunting for a winter jacket... I got a HOT HOT HOT white woolen jacket from a vintage clothes shop for a bargain basement price!! So good. So warm. So hot....
YES!!! Awesome. I am going to be one little hot toastie lady in this divine new jacket. Laura didn't agree on it at first... in fact she has started calling me her little Icelandic sheep and making "baaaaaaa-ing" noises at me since I bought it, but I don't care.... Baaaaaa baaaaa....
Then we had a couple of teas and Gluwien at our fav cafe in Jordaan, Cafe Thijssen, and then I went home and my flattie cooked me and her friend dinner, and then I met Laura again for a drink at Soundgarden and then we went to Buurvrouw (night bar) for a few more drinks...
Observation - traffic lights here don't work after 12am, it's kill or be killed... anarchy at it's best... just go through the lights and hope for the best... I kind of like it... I don't know if the municipality council of Amsterdam city know that half their citizens are riding/driving/walking home drunk or stoned in at 3 am in the morning, and making life threatening decisions about their physical welfare is not such a great idea since they have no choice BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO NEGOTIATE INTERSECTIONS AT UNGODLY HOURS WITHOUT ANY ORDER OR RULES .. but somehow it just works....
PS Spoke to my flattie, and she gets taxed 54% of her current wage AND she pays taxes in the US. Wow, sucks to be her right now. At least I am only getting taxed 30%.... (WTF?! Is that the most ridiculous tax rate you've ever heard?? I don't even benefit from health care OR education and I am getting taxed through the nose....)
My friend Leon told me a few weeks ago " You know you're a local when you hate tourists and taxes". I AM SOOOOOO THERE.... I AM A FREAKING NATIVE RIGHT NOW!
PPS Winter Time savings - just rewound my watch back one hour, dude at the bar told me about it... yes!!! An extra hour of sleep... are we now in winter????.... slightly concerned about the coldness.....
What was supposed to be a quiet Saturday after the errands turned into a big-ish sort of night.
First I met Laura for some market trawling in Jordaan... Oh man, pay day is so psychologically warped.
I bought:
- a bell for my bike
- a hat (when I was looking for gloves)
- a ring (when I was looking for earrings)
- a tropical plant (when I was looking for miniature catci)
- two jackets
- a silk scarf
But!!! The best news is... no more hunting for a winter jacket... I got a HOT HOT HOT white woolen jacket from a vintage clothes shop for a bargain basement price!! So good. So warm. So hot....
YES!!! Awesome. I am going to be one little hot toastie lady in this divine new jacket. Laura didn't agree on it at first... in fact she has started calling me her little Icelandic sheep and making "baaaaaaa-ing" noises at me since I bought it, but I don't care.... Baaaaaa baaaaa....
Then we had a couple of teas and Gluwien at our fav cafe in Jordaan, Cafe Thijssen, and then I went home and my flattie cooked me and her friend dinner, and then I met Laura again for a drink at Soundgarden and then we went to Buurvrouw (night bar) for a few more drinks...
Observation - traffic lights here don't work after 12am, it's kill or be killed... anarchy at it's best... just go through the lights and hope for the best... I kind of like it... I don't know if the municipality council of Amsterdam city know that half their citizens are riding/driving/walking home drunk or stoned in at 3 am in the morning, and making life threatening decisions about their physical welfare is not such a great idea since they have no choice BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO NEGOTIATE INTERSECTIONS AT UNGODLY HOURS WITHOUT ANY ORDER OR RULES .. but somehow it just works....
PS Spoke to my flattie, and she gets taxed 54% of her current wage AND she pays taxes in the US. Wow, sucks to be her right now. At least I am only getting taxed 30%.... (WTF?! Is that the most ridiculous tax rate you've ever heard?? I don't even benefit from health care OR education and I am getting taxed through the nose....)
My friend Leon told me a few weeks ago " You know you're a local when you hate tourists and taxes". I AM SOOOOOO THERE.... I AM A FREAKING NATIVE RIGHT NOW!
PPS Winter Time savings - just rewound my watch back one hour, dude at the bar told me about it... yes!!! An extra hour of sleep... are we now in winter????.... slightly concerned about the coldness.....
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Bike Maintenance and Shopping Behaviour
I went to the Post Office this morning to pick up a package from Ma (Thanks Ma! xxx)
When I got there, I realised that I would have to haul it back to my apartment somehow... and what was a beautiful Autumn day yesterday (translate: no wind, no rain, spots of sunshine, autumn colours in full bloom) has turned into a wet and windy day... again.
Luckily, next door to the post office, there was a bike shop, and I pleaded with the dude in the shop to sell me an elastic for the back seat of my bike with all the change I could muster (EU 5.70 instead of EU 6.50) He sold it to me, on the condition that I come back to the shop after I get back from London and Berlin, to fix my handlebars that keep sliding off... I promised I would.
Bike maintenance is just such a hassle for me. I barely took care of my cars in Australia, but this bike is doing my freaking head in.
I just bought a rain cover for the seat, which I always have to carry around because in the likely chance that it rains, and my bike seat gets wet, I won't have to sit on a wet bike seat, and because I can't be bothered getting my front light fixed, I bought these little portable lights that i just tie on to the front and back of my bike every night, which is SO annoying. If i get caught with no lights on my bike its a EU 35 fine. Now I need new handlebars, and probably some air in my tires, and I am just about to go shopping for a bell, and some spray paint or flowers to tie to it, because everytime I pass a bike rack that I THINK my bike is in, I can NOT find it for the life of me because there are about 20,000 ( NO FUCKING KIDDING, it's ridiculous) bikes that look like mine, all racked up in a chaotic mess. Add the wind, rain, darkness and usually drunken state that I am in when seeking my bike, and it's just a big ol' shit fight to get home.
But the irony is, the better kitted out and good looking your bike is, the more chances that it will get stolen. So you go to all this effort to personalise your bike, and then some fucker just takes it.
I can't really talk, I suspect the guy that sold me my bike wasn't exactly a legitimate sales person.
In fact, shopping in general can be pain because of the whole "no car" situation, so it's really opportunistic shopping for convenience of carrying little loads in your arms or on your bike. If I happen to be near a chemist or a Hema ( like Big W, but tonnes more awesome and stylish!) I just have to go in and buy stuff I anticipate to be running out of, even if it's the most expensive shop because I just don't want to spend my weekends looking for stuff, and I don't know when the next time will be that I will be near a store like that. If I move house, and am more in the centre, as opposed to the harbour, I think life would be easier, but at the moment, I am just buying things every day to get me through the days...
The dutch haven't really grasped the whole convenience shopping thing yet....like if I want to wrap a present, I have to go to 3 different stores to buy the paper, the stick tape, and the ribbon. The only plaza type place I frequent every day is Centraal Station, and they don't even have a full supermarket, (just 2 x convenience type mini mart things). I would expect a mobile phone store, and also a shoe repair guy there at least!! But nooooo... they just don't get it.
I then went to the bank today to activate my new card (banks are open Saturdays here, Love it!) and then I went to the el cheapo chain store in town (Blokker) to buy some house stuff....because I just got paid!!! Yes!! Yes i did!! Damn it feels good!
The rate of pay was slightly lower than I thought, because I am getting taxed 30% of my wage. 30%... shit. That's high.
Saturday nights plans?
Wallowing. I am feeling a bit low at the moment, the weather is making me a bit flat, and I suddenly feel like my life has plateaued into boredom.
I might have a drink with Irish chef tonight and catch up with him, but otherwise no real plans.
Sunday:
Mobile Phone contract
New handbag
SD card for my camera so that I can finally start taking photos of my house and put them up, and also of my daily life sights!!
Soup?!?
When I got there, I realised that I would have to haul it back to my apartment somehow... and what was a beautiful Autumn day yesterday (translate: no wind, no rain, spots of sunshine, autumn colours in full bloom) has turned into a wet and windy day... again.
Luckily, next door to the post office, there was a bike shop, and I pleaded with the dude in the shop to sell me an elastic for the back seat of my bike with all the change I could muster (EU 5.70 instead of EU 6.50) He sold it to me, on the condition that I come back to the shop after I get back from London and Berlin, to fix my handlebars that keep sliding off... I promised I would.
Bike maintenance is just such a hassle for me. I barely took care of my cars in Australia, but this bike is doing my freaking head in.
I just bought a rain cover for the seat, which I always have to carry around because in the likely chance that it rains, and my bike seat gets wet, I won't have to sit on a wet bike seat, and because I can't be bothered getting my front light fixed, I bought these little portable lights that i just tie on to the front and back of my bike every night, which is SO annoying. If i get caught with no lights on my bike its a EU 35 fine. Now I need new handlebars, and probably some air in my tires, and I am just about to go shopping for a bell, and some spray paint or flowers to tie to it, because everytime I pass a bike rack that I THINK my bike is in, I can NOT find it for the life of me because there are about 20,000 ( NO FUCKING KIDDING, it's ridiculous) bikes that look like mine, all racked up in a chaotic mess. Add the wind, rain, darkness and usually drunken state that I am in when seeking my bike, and it's just a big ol' shit fight to get home.
But the irony is, the better kitted out and good looking your bike is, the more chances that it will get stolen. So you go to all this effort to personalise your bike, and then some fucker just takes it.
I can't really talk, I suspect the guy that sold me my bike wasn't exactly a legitimate sales person.
In fact, shopping in general can be pain because of the whole "no car" situation, so it's really opportunistic shopping for convenience of carrying little loads in your arms or on your bike. If I happen to be near a chemist or a Hema ( like Big W, but tonnes more awesome and stylish!) I just have to go in and buy stuff I anticipate to be running out of, even if it's the most expensive shop because I just don't want to spend my weekends looking for stuff, and I don't know when the next time will be that I will be near a store like that. If I move house, and am more in the centre, as opposed to the harbour, I think life would be easier, but at the moment, I am just buying things every day to get me through the days...
The dutch haven't really grasped the whole convenience shopping thing yet....like if I want to wrap a present, I have to go to 3 different stores to buy the paper, the stick tape, and the ribbon. The only plaza type place I frequent every day is Centraal Station, and they don't even have a full supermarket, (just 2 x convenience type mini mart things). I would expect a mobile phone store, and also a shoe repair guy there at least!! But nooooo... they just don't get it.
I then went to the bank today to activate my new card (banks are open Saturdays here, Love it!) and then I went to the el cheapo chain store in town (Blokker) to buy some house stuff....because I just got paid!!! Yes!! Yes i did!! Damn it feels good!
The rate of pay was slightly lower than I thought, because I am getting taxed 30% of my wage. 30%... shit. That's high.
Saturday nights plans?
Wallowing. I am feeling a bit low at the moment, the weather is making me a bit flat, and I suddenly feel like my life has plateaued into boredom.
I might have a drink with Irish chef tonight and catch up with him, but otherwise no real plans.
Sunday:
Mobile Phone contract
New handbag
SD card for my camera so that I can finally start taking photos of my house and put them up, and also of my daily life sights!!
Soup?!?
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Spreken Nederlands? Only if we are talking about eating.
Well, it's not fluent, but it's impressing people. The days at the restaurant are paying off. You CAN learn while hungover.
A colleague that I had never met before came back from holidays yesterday. I had lunch with him today to get acquainted and talk shop.
I surprised him, when we ordered, I asked for a "Coffee Verkeerd". (equivalent of a latte, i guess...)
He sort of smirked and I said "what was so funny?"
He said he thought it was nice that I was trying to speak dutch. "Trying" being the operative word.
Then as we were eating (Indian curry soup for me, and a rice and fish stew - getting used to the 2 course lunches to get me through the day, since I don't get home til 7pm these days- and he had 2 rolls with egg and cheese!!!! - "broodje met kaas en ei" - no condiments, no vegetables, no meat - and a pastry with honey.... COLD LUNCHES, they think HOT LUNCHES ARE WEIRD!! Aaagh!), he said, "how's your meal?"
and I said, without batting an eyelid, "Is goed. Heel lekker. Bedankt." ( It's good. Very delicious. Thanks.)
And he laughed and said, " Why is it that the only dutch you know is related to food?"
Even the Dutch are starting to notice my obsession.
A colleague that I had never met before came back from holidays yesterday. I had lunch with him today to get acquainted and talk shop.
I surprised him, when we ordered, I asked for a "Coffee Verkeerd". (equivalent of a latte, i guess...)
He sort of smirked and I said "what was so funny?"
He said he thought it was nice that I was trying to speak dutch. "Trying" being the operative word.
Then as we were eating (Indian curry soup for me, and a rice and fish stew - getting used to the 2 course lunches to get me through the day, since I don't get home til 7pm these days- and he had 2 rolls with egg and cheese!!!! - "broodje met kaas en ei" - no condiments, no vegetables, no meat - and a pastry with honey.... COLD LUNCHES, they think HOT LUNCHES ARE WEIRD!! Aaagh!), he said, "how's your meal?"
and I said, without batting an eyelid, "Is goed. Heel lekker. Bedankt." ( It's good. Very delicious. Thanks.)
And he laughed and said, " Why is it that the only dutch you know is related to food?"
Even the Dutch are starting to notice my obsession.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Epic day in the office
hungry.
cranky.
tired.
pissed off.
welcome to reality once again, huh Rani?
My colleague nipped over to Brussels and Germany over the weekend. She brought back Dunkin Donuts as a gift to the office. I was surprised to see it was a big deal, but was then informed that Amsterdam is sans Dunkin Donuts ( who cares? not me.) AND Starbucks (ok, that's cool. I like how the dutch haven't bought into that crap.) I never really noticed til now.
Actually, franchises aren't big here. Except for FEBO where you buy deep fried stuff from a vending machine. And Mcdonalds. And Burger King.
But it's not like London I guess, where everything is franchised to buggery. Like Pret a Manger coffee and Cafe Nero and all that stuff. But I guess it's not as big as London, so you don't need one of the same shop within every 2 km.
I love that about Amsterdam.
cranky.
tired.
pissed off.
welcome to reality once again, huh Rani?
My colleague nipped over to Brussels and Germany over the weekend. She brought back Dunkin Donuts as a gift to the office. I was surprised to see it was a big deal, but was then informed that Amsterdam is sans Dunkin Donuts ( who cares? not me.) AND Starbucks (ok, that's cool. I like how the dutch haven't bought into that crap.) I never really noticed til now.
Actually, franchises aren't big here. Except for FEBO where you buy deep fried stuff from a vending machine. And Mcdonalds. And Burger King.
But it's not like London I guess, where everything is franchised to buggery. Like Pret a Manger coffee and Cafe Nero and all that stuff. But I guess it's not as big as London, so you don't need one of the same shop within every 2 km.
I love that about Amsterdam.
Another awesome weekend + 2 more to come (I hope)
My weekend started with welcoming my Tante Pien ( Aunt Brigitta) in town, along with my little cousin, Dita, to town.
It was really nice to see them. We went walking around to the nine canal district, had dinner in Dam Sqaure, and then on Saturday we went shopping in Leidsestraat, and then went for a day trip to Valderdam, a tiny fishing/resort village about 20 minutes by bus from Amsterdam.
My auntie was a young and up coming hot lawyer in Indo in her early thirties (she's now a hot, in demand commercial lawyer in Indo) where she was secondered to Amsterdam and New York City for six months at a time. Wow. Seriously cool achievements under her belt.
She lived here in the Old South, and ate Febo (vending machine fried food) and knows the city pretty well. It's amazing the stories that people never tell you until you get some one on one time with them.
My auntie took me to this shop called Pauw, which is a classic dutch brand, everything is handmade, hand sewn, and beautifully classic in design.
I fell in love with a coat and a dress.
The coat was 715 Euros. The dress was 450 Euros. I left the store heartbroken that neither were making it to my wardrobe.
In Volderdam, we had our photo taken in traditional dutch costumes. Hilarious. I loved every tacky minute of it. Undecided if I will post the photos on facebook or if I will just save it for my christmas card this year....
It was so nice to see them, and hang out with some family.
Saturday night, Laura and I went to this amazing restaurant in Amsterdam North (can't remember the name...) I had leg of duck with potatoes, cabbage and a truffle jus, and she had a vegetable bake thingy. Yummmmmm. Then we went for drinks in our favourite bar called Soundgarden in the West, where we ran into friends, Sam and Timur. After a few wines there, we went to a birthday party at a bar near the Anne Frank house in the West, called Werck (Work).
Couldn't find the birthday girl, but the music was pumping and Laura and I were ecstatic to find somewhere to dance to, because we had been hanging out to go dancing for ages! It reminded me of the Lion on a Sunday night, or the Regatta pub in Brisbane on a Sunday night, which is a VERY rare atmosphere here. It's usually cosy little brown bars, or just large superclubs....
After a while, the music went downhill into bad club music, so I left to meet the Chefs from my old restaurant, at a night bar called Buurvrouw in the Centre, where we hung and drank and Laura met us later. We cycled home to my house together at some ungodly hour.
On Sunday, Laura and I slept in and hung out at my place, and at 4pm dragged our asses out of bed to cycle to a cafe called Cafe Thijssen in Jordaan, for Gluhwein, and tea and Pea and Ham Soup! ( yes, I like something with peas in it - mind you they are split peas, not real peas! Mmmmmmm Gezellig AND Lekker!!!!) Not before we checked out the big fair complete with Ferris Wheel, and Double Ranger ride, Fairy Floss and Waffles in the middle of Dam Square. This city never ceases to amaze me - overnight a carnival just appears in the middle of the city.
In a fortnight, I'm meeting my sister in London, and then the next weekend, I am off to Berlin...
Phew. I don't know if I am going to be able to cope not being in Amsterdam for 2 whole weekends.... I might suffer from separation anxiety....
It was really nice to see them. We went walking around to the nine canal district, had dinner in Dam Sqaure, and then on Saturday we went shopping in Leidsestraat, and then went for a day trip to Valderdam, a tiny fishing/resort village about 20 minutes by bus from Amsterdam.
My auntie was a young and up coming hot lawyer in Indo in her early thirties (she's now a hot, in demand commercial lawyer in Indo) where she was secondered to Amsterdam and New York City for six months at a time. Wow. Seriously cool achievements under her belt.
She lived here in the Old South, and ate Febo (vending machine fried food) and knows the city pretty well. It's amazing the stories that people never tell you until you get some one on one time with them.
My auntie took me to this shop called Pauw, which is a classic dutch brand, everything is handmade, hand sewn, and beautifully classic in design.
I fell in love with a coat and a dress.
The coat was 715 Euros. The dress was 450 Euros. I left the store heartbroken that neither were making it to my wardrobe.
In Volderdam, we had our photo taken in traditional dutch costumes. Hilarious. I loved every tacky minute of it. Undecided if I will post the photos on facebook or if I will just save it for my christmas card this year....
It was so nice to see them, and hang out with some family.
Saturday night, Laura and I went to this amazing restaurant in Amsterdam North (can't remember the name...) I had leg of duck with potatoes, cabbage and a truffle jus, and she had a vegetable bake thingy. Yummmmmm. Then we went for drinks in our favourite bar called Soundgarden in the West, where we ran into friends, Sam and Timur. After a few wines there, we went to a birthday party at a bar near the Anne Frank house in the West, called Werck (Work).
Couldn't find the birthday girl, but the music was pumping and Laura and I were ecstatic to find somewhere to dance to, because we had been hanging out to go dancing for ages! It reminded me of the Lion on a Sunday night, or the Regatta pub in Brisbane on a Sunday night, which is a VERY rare atmosphere here. It's usually cosy little brown bars, or just large superclubs....
After a while, the music went downhill into bad club music, so I left to meet the Chefs from my old restaurant, at a night bar called Buurvrouw in the Centre, where we hung and drank and Laura met us later. We cycled home to my house together at some ungodly hour.
On Sunday, Laura and I slept in and hung out at my place, and at 4pm dragged our asses out of bed to cycle to a cafe called Cafe Thijssen in Jordaan, for Gluhwein, and tea and Pea and Ham Soup! ( yes, I like something with peas in it - mind you they are split peas, not real peas! Mmmmmmm Gezellig AND Lekker!!!!) Not before we checked out the big fair complete with Ferris Wheel, and Double Ranger ride, Fairy Floss and Waffles in the middle of Dam Square. This city never ceases to amaze me - overnight a carnival just appears in the middle of the city.
In a fortnight, I'm meeting my sister in London, and then the next weekend, I am off to Berlin...
Phew. I don't know if I am going to be able to cope not being in Amsterdam for 2 whole weekends.... I might suffer from separation anxiety....
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Arctic Monkeys in town soon...
I am wondering if I should go.
Silly question. However, I am going to Berlin with Fran in early November and that will cost money. And Laura doesn't want to go with me to see the Monkeys because she doesn't like them that much.
And there's a circus performance that I want to go to called Traces, which is on later this month. And I should go see a gallery or two before Winter starts officially, and the line ups aren't that long.
Bah. Decisions, decisions.
Silly question. However, I am going to Berlin with Fran in early November and that will cost money. And Laura doesn't want to go with me to see the Monkeys because she doesn't like them that much.
And there's a circus performance that I want to go to called Traces, which is on later this month. And I should go see a gallery or two before Winter starts officially, and the line ups aren't that long.
Bah. Decisions, decisions.
it just dropped like 10 degrees overnight here
just thought you should know.
Looking for the feeling in my fingers.
If it's not raining, it constantly looks like it's going to rain, or slightly drizzling in 80% humidity, or it's windy as hell.
Now this.
Ungrateful little city.
Looking for the feeling in my fingers.
If it's not raining, it constantly looks like it's going to rain, or slightly drizzling in 80% humidity, or it's windy as hell.
Now this.
Ungrateful little city.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
It's true, I am cocky and pretentious...
... I updated my facebook workplace information.
I haven't had that information on there for nearly 2 years, but I thought it was time to become a real marketing wanker and put it up there. (Just in case anyone I hated from highschool or otherwise in life infiltrates all my security measures on facebook, and happens to get nosey. Honestly. It's the only reason. Then again isn't that the only reason facebook exists? Why deny it?)
A little early to be getting cocky about my new role seeing as I haven't even passed the probation period yet- I just finished my 2nd day actually - but hey, who am I to downplay my own awesomeness??Just basking in the wonder that is myself at the moment. You can find me high fiving myself in front of my bathroom mirror.
Ironically, apart from a police clearance form from Australia to prove that I'm not in The Netherlands while I am on parole, my boss also needs to see a copy of my degree. Well, seeing as it is in a frame in the spare bedroom in my sister's house in Australia, I think the latter is going to be hard to get. My next alternative is actually an academic transcript. OUCH.
I don't think that's a document he really needs to see. From memory it went a little like this...
Business Finance - 6 Withdraw Fail
Management Accounting - 33 Fail
Micro Economics ( 1st time around) - 48 Fail
Micro Economics ( 2nd time around ) - 52 Pass
Arts and Cultures of Asia - 85 High Distinction
You get the idea.
I was looking around in my (somewhat sterile, overly corporate) surroundings today, and I had to laugh on the inside. If you had told me six years ago that I would actually use my degree or that it would get me somewhere today, I would have just stuffed another gravy covered chip from the University Refectory into my mouth and asked you what time the Unibar opened.
Who gets an "Only English required" Marketing Job in the Global HQ of a Multi National Corporation based in Europe in the middle of a Global Economic Crisis?
Me, that's who.
I rock.
I haven't had that information on there for nearly 2 years, but I thought it was time to become a real marketing wanker and put it up there. (Just in case anyone I hated from highschool or otherwise in life infiltrates all my security measures on facebook, and happens to get nosey. Honestly. It's the only reason. Then again isn't that the only reason facebook exists? Why deny it?)
A little early to be getting cocky about my new role seeing as I haven't even passed the probation period yet- I just finished my 2nd day actually - but hey, who am I to downplay my own awesomeness??Just basking in the wonder that is myself at the moment. You can find me high fiving myself in front of my bathroom mirror.
Ironically, apart from a police clearance form from Australia to prove that I'm not in The Netherlands while I am on parole, my boss also needs to see a copy of my degree. Well, seeing as it is in a frame in the spare bedroom in my sister's house in Australia, I think the latter is going to be hard to get. My next alternative is actually an academic transcript. OUCH.
I don't think that's a document he really needs to see. From memory it went a little like this...
Business Finance - 6 Withdraw Fail
Management Accounting - 33 Fail
Micro Economics ( 1st time around) - 48 Fail
Micro Economics ( 2nd time around ) - 52 Pass
Arts and Cultures of Asia - 85 High Distinction
You get the idea.
I was looking around in my (somewhat sterile, overly corporate) surroundings today, and I had to laugh on the inside. If you had told me six years ago that I would actually use my degree or that it would get me somewhere today, I would have just stuffed another gravy covered chip from the University Refectory into my mouth and asked you what time the Unibar opened.
Who gets an "Only English required" Marketing Job in the Global HQ of a Multi National Corporation based in Europe in the middle of a Global Economic Crisis?
Me, that's who.
I rock.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Three Amigos surprise visit
Best surprise ever when Luke, Sar and George came to visit me in Amsterdam on the whim... Well, they only announced it 24 hrs before they arrived, despite trying to tease me on facebook for 2 days beforehand...
I don't have any pics of the visit because I keep procrastinating buying a new SD card!!
But here are some George took.
Photos from George's facebook profile.
I don't have any pics of the visit because I keep procrastinating buying a new SD card!!
But here are some George took.
Photos from George's facebook profile.
The.Next.Test -
First day in the office went well.
Apart from waking up feeling like my throat was filled with sand, the morning went well.
The company has 700 people in this particular building, made up of 2 global head offices for a couple of the company's brands. There are a LOT of people that work there.
And so many funny little things that really, really threw me off balance.
Being who I am, it's no wonder that most things I am going to mention today are all food related.
Like;
- working for a company which has a cafe AND a restaurant in their complex; You load up your staff card with money and the restaurant (more like an up scale cafeteria) serves really nice appetisers, mains, pasta, soups, desserts, miniature sandwich provisions ( like proscuitto and swiss cheese and boiled eggs and freshly baked bread rolls etc) Soup is like 65 euro cents. I had a really nice hot meal of grilled turkey, steamed beans and mash potato for 3 Euros today. I don't think I could make my lunch for any cheaper than that!!! No need to haul lunch around then!
Mind you, there isn't much around to eat out at, in this office complex. But it sort of blew my mind - it reminded me of something I read in "The Devil wears Prada", where the main character works for publishing house in New York, and all the girls that work in the fashion magazines hang out by the salad bar painstakingly reading the calorie counter on the menus, and then run to the bathrooms after eating. But I digress. The point moreso was to discuss how new it was to me, and how kinda cool at the same time.
I should mention at this point that the dutch are infamous for not liking two hot meals a day - dinner should be the only hot meal. I have been told this 3 times now... AND not only that ... people told me that cheese sandwiches are their favourite lunch and breakfast options. No condiments. No salad. No meat. Just bread. And sliced cheese. I thought it was a myth. The myth was sustained today as I sat and ate with my colleagues.
Will you never cease to amaze me Dutchies?
- The 'cup of soup machine' in the coffee room. Yes. You heard it here first. Free cup of soup. Don't all rush over here at once people....
- The industrial coffee making machine in the coffee room, where you can choose from approximately 26 different types of beverages, including how strong you want the coffee, and the amount of sugars you want from pushing various buttons.
- The fact that noone has a "personal" mug, and everyone uses and abuses miniature paper cups all day. It's disturbing. I feel like crying for the earth when I look at my colleagues wastepaper basket.
- The standard etiquette that you can't make a coffee for yourself without asking the whole room if they want one. And possibly the room next door too. Seriously.
- Working with an agency that's based in London.
- Getting lost in this monstrosity of a building that has a skywalk, and is oddly circular and rectangular at the same time.
- Being surrounded by expats - I am almost sure I heard an Australian accent today in the restaurant.
- The heating in my building not working, and me wearing 3 layers of tops, and freezing all day.
- The fact that I might have been given a blackberry today to my dismay and shock, but luckily, I'm not getting one. Thank God. It would have been "Goodbye life, hello Crack-berry addiction." So not why I moved here.
On another note, I have made the major decision to seek a thermos, so I can drink tea on the train to work.
Today was the worst day in terms of weather that I have ever seen in Amsterdam. So wet. So grey. So foggy. I'm upset. It's finally here. The bad weather. My flatmate was telling me tonight to get used to it. And to purchase a rain poncho to cycle in.
I'm sorry, I don't DO "rain ponchos" unless I am super drunk and watching live sports. So in other words, I just don't do them. I told her my new job pays for an unlimited public transport card. I am doing the public transport thing all winter. She looked at me and laughed. I was concerned and confused at such a reaction.
Apart from waking up feeling like my throat was filled with sand, the morning went well.
The company has 700 people in this particular building, made up of 2 global head offices for a couple of the company's brands. There are a LOT of people that work there.
And so many funny little things that really, really threw me off balance.
Being who I am, it's no wonder that most things I am going to mention today are all food related.
Like;
- working for a company which has a cafe AND a restaurant in their complex; You load up your staff card with money and the restaurant (more like an up scale cafeteria) serves really nice appetisers, mains, pasta, soups, desserts, miniature sandwich provisions ( like proscuitto and swiss cheese and boiled eggs and freshly baked bread rolls etc) Soup is like 65 euro cents. I had a really nice hot meal of grilled turkey, steamed beans and mash potato for 3 Euros today. I don't think I could make my lunch for any cheaper than that!!! No need to haul lunch around then!
Mind you, there isn't much around to eat out at, in this office complex. But it sort of blew my mind - it reminded me of something I read in "The Devil wears Prada", where the main character works for publishing house in New York, and all the girls that work in the fashion magazines hang out by the salad bar painstakingly reading the calorie counter on the menus, and then run to the bathrooms after eating. But I digress. The point moreso was to discuss how new it was to me, and how kinda cool at the same time.
I should mention at this point that the dutch are infamous for not liking two hot meals a day - dinner should be the only hot meal. I have been told this 3 times now... AND not only that ... people told me that cheese sandwiches are their favourite lunch and breakfast options. No condiments. No salad. No meat. Just bread. And sliced cheese. I thought it was a myth. The myth was sustained today as I sat and ate with my colleagues.
Will you never cease to amaze me Dutchies?
- The 'cup of soup machine' in the coffee room. Yes. You heard it here first. Free cup of soup. Don't all rush over here at once people....
- The industrial coffee making machine in the coffee room, where you can choose from approximately 26 different types of beverages, including how strong you want the coffee, and the amount of sugars you want from pushing various buttons.
- The fact that noone has a "personal" mug, and everyone uses and abuses miniature paper cups all day. It's disturbing. I feel like crying for the earth when I look at my colleagues wastepaper basket.
- The standard etiquette that you can't make a coffee for yourself without asking the whole room if they want one. And possibly the room next door too. Seriously.
- Working with an agency that's based in London.
- Getting lost in this monstrosity of a building that has a skywalk, and is oddly circular and rectangular at the same time.
- Being surrounded by expats - I am almost sure I heard an Australian accent today in the restaurant.
- The heating in my building not working, and me wearing 3 layers of tops, and freezing all day.
- The fact that I might have been given a blackberry today to my dismay and shock, but luckily, I'm not getting one. Thank God. It would have been "Goodbye life, hello Crack-berry addiction." So not why I moved here.
On another note, I have made the major decision to seek a thermos, so I can drink tea on the train to work.
Today was the worst day in terms of weather that I have ever seen in Amsterdam. So wet. So grey. So foggy. I'm upset. It's finally here. The bad weather. My flatmate was telling me tonight to get used to it. And to purchase a rain poncho to cycle in.
I'm sorry, I don't DO "rain ponchos" unless I am super drunk and watching live sports. So in other words, I just don't do them. I told her my new job pays for an unlimited public transport card. I am doing the public transport thing all winter. She looked at me and laughed. I was concerned and confused at such a reaction.
Beginnings and Ends
Tomorrow I start my first day at the new job in Marketing.
On Saturday night, it was my last shift at the restaurant.
Weird to think that I was dreading my first day at the restaurant/bar 2 weeks ago, but I was quite sad to leave.
Working full time in a restaurant (40+ hours a week), I got to know all the different people in the kitchen, bar, and on the floor, and I really really liked them. It's such a social atmosphere, everyone is young, and because of the crazy hours, you never know who you are going to be knocking off from work with, and one knock off drink turns into two, or three, and the next minute you are out at dinner and cycling around the city together, and good friends, and you just met that morning on the breakfast shift. There are so many staff there, I started just calling people by their nationalities because I got so confused at first. Head Chef was "Scottish", Sous Chef was "Irish", Sous Chef 2 was "Polish", Bar dude 1 was "Gay and sweet Thai dude"... you get the idea - it worked out because generally they would just call me "The little Asian Aussie." Or "Food runner". Or Gina. Or Rina.
I literally just started learning everyone's names, and then even tonight, I swung past, and saw faces I hadn't worked with yet.
The hospitality lifestyle is definitely conducive to a party lifestyle. I felt like I had to leave the job just to put some sense of routine and normality back into my life. I mean, I was loving the lifestyle a little bit too much I think, to the point where I had to fit my washing, grocery shopping, cooking and sleeping AROUND the partying. ( And it never usually worked out. The continuous late nights, and bright lights were really becoming an issue for the household chores.)
The thing is, logic had to win to some extent. The restaurant was starting to get a bit quiet now that tourist season is over, and the autumn has come (my lord, is it cold here at the moment - the freaking wind and rain is really starting to get me worried... I can barely pedal my bike, the wind is so fierce) so hours will be cut right down, and there's no sick pay if I fall off my bike again and hurt my arm, or catch a cold....
During my last shift, I told a few people that I was leaving, and probably not coming back next week. They were sort of used to it I guess, it's a physically demanding job and not everyone can hack it, but they were a little bit surprised because I held off on telling anyone for ages. I think the turnover rate of staff is astronomically high. But none the less, from what I hear, I'm the only Aussie that has ever worked there, and it completely worked in my favour.
After everyone had finished work on Saturday night/morning, the chefs decided that we should go out to honour my departure, and we drank tequila at the restaurant, and then went on a work pub crawl around Dam Square. One of the chefs, Karl the Irish, had a few friends visiting from Dublin, and we met up with them later on the night, and everytime I finished a drink, another two were being thrown into my hands. It was a lot of fun, to say the least.
I dropped by the restaurant today to pick up my pay (woohoo!), and saw the little party crew from last night, working hard again. I don't know how they do it.
The restaurant manager told me to keep in touch, and if I wanted to come back, I was always welcome. It's something to consider in the summer next year i guess, when the tourists come back and there are hours again. If I save some money from this job and decide I don't want to work the lat 6 months of my visa, I could probably go back to 25 hours or something at the restaurant and just take it easy and not worry about money for a while. Anyway, it was nice to know that I am leaving on good terms and there are no hard feelings.
It sounds like a good idea.... save, travel a bit, live a nice lifestyle, and then kick back and pursue something I really really love for 6 months.....
Hello corporate world... I'm baaaaaaaaaack.......
On Saturday night, it was my last shift at the restaurant.
Weird to think that I was dreading my first day at the restaurant/bar 2 weeks ago, but I was quite sad to leave.
Working full time in a restaurant (40+ hours a week), I got to know all the different people in the kitchen, bar, and on the floor, and I really really liked them. It's such a social atmosphere, everyone is young, and because of the crazy hours, you never know who you are going to be knocking off from work with, and one knock off drink turns into two, or three, and the next minute you are out at dinner and cycling around the city together, and good friends, and you just met that morning on the breakfast shift. There are so many staff there, I started just calling people by their nationalities because I got so confused at first. Head Chef was "Scottish", Sous Chef was "Irish", Sous Chef 2 was "Polish", Bar dude 1 was "Gay and sweet Thai dude"... you get the idea - it worked out because generally they would just call me "The little Asian Aussie." Or "Food runner". Or Gina. Or Rina.
I literally just started learning everyone's names, and then even tonight, I swung past, and saw faces I hadn't worked with yet.
The hospitality lifestyle is definitely conducive to a party lifestyle. I felt like I had to leave the job just to put some sense of routine and normality back into my life. I mean, I was loving the lifestyle a little bit too much I think, to the point where I had to fit my washing, grocery shopping, cooking and sleeping AROUND the partying. ( And it never usually worked out. The continuous late nights, and bright lights were really becoming an issue for the household chores.)
The thing is, logic had to win to some extent. The restaurant was starting to get a bit quiet now that tourist season is over, and the autumn has come (my lord, is it cold here at the moment - the freaking wind and rain is really starting to get me worried... I can barely pedal my bike, the wind is so fierce) so hours will be cut right down, and there's no sick pay if I fall off my bike again and hurt my arm, or catch a cold....
During my last shift, I told a few people that I was leaving, and probably not coming back next week. They were sort of used to it I guess, it's a physically demanding job and not everyone can hack it, but they were a little bit surprised because I held off on telling anyone for ages. I think the turnover rate of staff is astronomically high. But none the less, from what I hear, I'm the only Aussie that has ever worked there, and it completely worked in my favour.
After everyone had finished work on Saturday night/morning, the chefs decided that we should go out to honour my departure, and we drank tequila at the restaurant, and then went on a work pub crawl around Dam Square. One of the chefs, Karl the Irish, had a few friends visiting from Dublin, and we met up with them later on the night, and everytime I finished a drink, another two were being thrown into my hands. It was a lot of fun, to say the least.
I dropped by the restaurant today to pick up my pay (woohoo!), and saw the little party crew from last night, working hard again. I don't know how they do it.
The restaurant manager told me to keep in touch, and if I wanted to come back, I was always welcome. It's something to consider in the summer next year i guess, when the tourists come back and there are hours again. If I save some money from this job and decide I don't want to work the lat 6 months of my visa, I could probably go back to 25 hours or something at the restaurant and just take it easy and not worry about money for a while. Anyway, it was nice to know that I am leaving on good terms and there are no hard feelings.
It sounds like a good idea.... save, travel a bit, live a nice lifestyle, and then kick back and pursue something I really really love for 6 months.....
Hello corporate world... I'm baaaaaaaaaack.......
Friday, October 2, 2009
New Job
I have formally just accepted a position as a Marketing Executive, on a contract basis.
The company is situated just past the Amsterdam Schipol airport, and I will spend about 25 minutes on a train every morning and night commuting - good thing I live about 2 mins from Centraal Station.
The job sounds interesting, but the pay sounded more interesting. Obscenely interesting. Too interesting to deny really.
Back to the 9-5 grind? Wondering if I am ready to be corporate again, after being a flashpacker for 4 months.
Anyway, looking forward to now having an income for all the good things in life, like restaurants, warm clothing, dance performances, books, and big nights out, where I might be able to afford a taxi home!!
Also, other things, such as paying off my credit card, dutch language lessons, and more travels!! Woop Woop!
The company is situated just past the Amsterdam Schipol airport, and I will spend about 25 minutes on a train every morning and night commuting - good thing I live about 2 mins from Centraal Station.
The job sounds interesting, but the pay sounded more interesting. Obscenely interesting. Too interesting to deny really.
Back to the 9-5 grind? Wondering if I am ready to be corporate again, after being a flashpacker for 4 months.
Anyway, looking forward to now having an income for all the good things in life, like restaurants, warm clothing, dance performances, books, and big nights out, where I might be able to afford a taxi home!!
Also, other things, such as paying off my credit card, dutch language lessons, and more travels!! Woop Woop!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The head food runner headhunted from Australia
Sometimes I walk into my apartment building and can't believe I am a waitress. It's too amazing.
When people ask me what I'm doing in Amsterdam, I tell them that I was flown in to be a food runner at the restaurant I work in.
Imported all the way from Australia, because I am the best at delivering meals and clearing tables.
Ha ha.
When people ask me what I'm doing in Amsterdam, I tell them that I was flown in to be a food runner at the restaurant I work in.
Imported all the way from Australia, because I am the best at delivering meals and clearing tables.
Ha ha.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
So dutch right now...
This song always gets me. It makes me want to sing.
So overplayed. So feel good.
So hard to understand.
The story of the video is that the good looking Anglo Dutch guy is Jan Smit, an old child star - Holland's male, buff, good looking version Nikki Webster - and he's doing a "collaboration" with Damaru, who is a fairly recent Surinamese Dutch singer/songwriter. But Damaru originally released the song, and it went fairly well, and then Jan Smit got thrown into the mix (hijacked ?) and I guess it topped the charts as his "comeback".
Just in case you were interested. It's not a bunch of old dutch people photographing random people walking down the street. It was a big deal over here I think.
So overplayed. So feel good.
So hard to understand.
The story of the video is that the good looking Anglo Dutch guy is Jan Smit, an old child star - Holland's male, buff, good looking version Nikki Webster - and he's doing a "collaboration" with Damaru, who is a fairly recent Surinamese Dutch singer/songwriter. But Damaru originally released the song, and it went fairly well, and then Jan Smit got thrown into the mix (hijacked ?) and I guess it topped the charts as his "comeback".
Just in case you were interested. It's not a bunch of old dutch people photographing random people walking down the street. It was a big deal over here I think.
Hallelujah!!
A day off from the restaurant!
That place is crazy. I don't know how much longer I can stick it out there, but it's entertaining to say the least. Between the crazy staff, the tourists, and the buzz around Dam Square, it makes for some interesting times.
I'm sitting in my tracksuit pants, and sweatshirt in my living room, and I'm feeling very happy to be exactly where I am at the moment.
My washing is on, and I'm about to make a cup of peppermint and green tea. My flatmate is on a work trip in Belgium for 5 days, and I have the place to myself. The tv is on, and MTV/dutch television commercials are in the background, meanwhile I'm watching the rain fall into the river Ij from my living room. My apartment is on the 9th floor, and to the left I can see the River Ij, and to the right, I can see the train tracks and the Inner East side of Amsterdam. I'm loving this day off. It definitely makes me feel like I have settled into life here.
I haven't watched tv since the first night I got here, and I checked myself into an airport hotel because I was coming down with a cold. That was August the 7th.
I should be going to the supermarket, but it's wet outside, and I can't be bothered cycling in the rain. Well, I could walk, for 5 minutes, but....mehhhhh.
I had a totally nutso weekend. Sar, Luke and George left on Saturday, so Friday night was our last night together. Funnily enough, we ended up repeating the same thing we did the second night they were here; hitting the cheap backpacker bar beer garden, and then heading into a little bar district called Nieuwmarkt.
I managed to catch Bastiaan, a friend of my friend Lauren. Bas and Lauren studied in France together, and we have been meaning to catch up for the last 6 weeks, and have a drink.
On Saturday, I went out to a special breakfast. My friend Sam ( the crazy Anthopology student) organises community breakfasts in the outer suburbs of Amsterdam, to promote community dialogue and get people together in communities and meet each other. At about 9 am, I dragged my over partied ass to a suburb in the East about 20 minutes by train. Sam had organised croissants and pastries, coffee and tea, and beauticians, workshops and a jazz band outside a suburban shopping centre. People in the neighborhood passing by were invited to have a hand massage, and listen to an ipod that was filled with podcasts of peoples stories from other neighborhoods of similar socio-economic status. It was pretty cool and a totally eye opening experience. I was sitting outside a shopping centre where in that same week, a young boy had been shot, and people arrived with stories to tell.
Photo courtesy of www.debalie.nl
I met a pastor who was Aruban and Dutch, An elderly Chinese/Dutch/Indonesian lady, a Dutch woman with two gorgeous kids, and a Surinamese sailor. Then I came home, and watched catamarans sailing along the River Ij, from my living room, and then went for a bike ride around my neighborhood. I went to a boutique brewery near my house, which is built inside an old windmill, and there was a band playing the bonnet of a blue cadillac outside in the courtyard, called "Johnny Solo and the Gangsters of Love." When they finished their set, they jumped back into their cadillac and sped off down the street. Rock and Roll baby, Rock and Roll.
There's a really famous multicultural street near my house called Javastraat ( Java Street ) and they were having a food festival that night. I had to get ready to meet Laura so I couldn't stay for the festival, but I was so happy to discover the area, and taste some really good food. All these food stalls, there was a little afro-carribean community of guys with a stall, selling freshly squeezed orange juice out of a van and playing dub and reggae from a turntable in the van as well, lots of dutch food stalls, Fifteen Amsterdam restaurant, Indian, Indonesian, Surinamese, Morroccan, Turkish, Spanish... heaven!
It was my BFF Laura's birthday, and we met for a drink at Soundgarden, the bar Leon and Sam introduced us to. We love it. As I was running late, it was funny to walk in and find Laura sitting with Leon, and Sam again, by coincidence. Leon and Sam had to go home after a few drinks, they had work the next morning, but their friends invited us to a Silent Disco House Party, around the corner.
It actually makes a lot of sense because the houses are so crammed next to each other here, parties usually conclude with some really unhappy neighbours.
We arrived on our bikes, about 3 minutes from Soundgarden, and were given headphones, and told to cut loose on the open bar. Ooooh, so not a good idea.
It was funny, I was sitting outside the apartment ( trying to get my head together, I had a little bit too much to drink, but more on that later....) and all I could here was the stomping of feet against floor boards, but other than that, no noise whatsoever.The neighbours downstairs must have been so confused.
Yes, well as can probably predict, open bar and Rani sometimes get along too well, and the next thing you know, I had my first canalside vomiting experience.
I don't reccomend it. My friend Laura had to cycle me back to her house. On her Birthday. Did I mention it was her 21st?
Worst.Friend.Ever.
I am keen to get some more photos up here, but I just have to get my camera sorted. or my Computer. Both are out of memory.
On the other hand, here are some songs that are really inspiring me at the moment!
Noisettes: Never forget you
That place is crazy. I don't know how much longer I can stick it out there, but it's entertaining to say the least. Between the crazy staff, the tourists, and the buzz around Dam Square, it makes for some interesting times.
I'm sitting in my tracksuit pants, and sweatshirt in my living room, and I'm feeling very happy to be exactly where I am at the moment.
My washing is on, and I'm about to make a cup of peppermint and green tea. My flatmate is on a work trip in Belgium for 5 days, and I have the place to myself. The tv is on, and MTV/dutch television commercials are in the background, meanwhile I'm watching the rain fall into the river Ij from my living room. My apartment is on the 9th floor, and to the left I can see the River Ij, and to the right, I can see the train tracks and the Inner East side of Amsterdam. I'm loving this day off. It definitely makes me feel like I have settled into life here.
I haven't watched tv since the first night I got here, and I checked myself into an airport hotel because I was coming down with a cold. That was August the 7th.
I should be going to the supermarket, but it's wet outside, and I can't be bothered cycling in the rain. Well, I could walk, for 5 minutes, but....mehhhhh.
I had a totally nutso weekend. Sar, Luke and George left on Saturday, so Friday night was our last night together. Funnily enough, we ended up repeating the same thing we did the second night they were here; hitting the cheap backpacker bar beer garden, and then heading into a little bar district called Nieuwmarkt.
I managed to catch Bastiaan, a friend of my friend Lauren. Bas and Lauren studied in France together, and we have been meaning to catch up for the last 6 weeks, and have a drink.
On Saturday, I went out to a special breakfast. My friend Sam ( the crazy Anthopology student) organises community breakfasts in the outer suburbs of Amsterdam, to promote community dialogue and get people together in communities and meet each other. At about 9 am, I dragged my over partied ass to a suburb in the East about 20 minutes by train. Sam had organised croissants and pastries, coffee and tea, and beauticians, workshops and a jazz band outside a suburban shopping centre. People in the neighborhood passing by were invited to have a hand massage, and listen to an ipod that was filled with podcasts of peoples stories from other neighborhoods of similar socio-economic status. It was pretty cool and a totally eye opening experience. I was sitting outside a shopping centre where in that same week, a young boy had been shot, and people arrived with stories to tell.
Photo courtesy of www.debalie.nlI met a pastor who was Aruban and Dutch, An elderly Chinese/Dutch/Indonesian lady, a Dutch woman with two gorgeous kids, and a Surinamese sailor. Then I came home, and watched catamarans sailing along the River Ij, from my living room, and then went for a bike ride around my neighborhood. I went to a boutique brewery near my house, which is built inside an old windmill, and there was a band playing the bonnet of a blue cadillac outside in the courtyard, called "Johnny Solo and the Gangsters of Love." When they finished their set, they jumped back into their cadillac and sped off down the street. Rock and Roll baby, Rock and Roll.
There's a really famous multicultural street near my house called Javastraat ( Java Street ) and they were having a food festival that night. I had to get ready to meet Laura so I couldn't stay for the festival, but I was so happy to discover the area, and taste some really good food. All these food stalls, there was a little afro-carribean community of guys with a stall, selling freshly squeezed orange juice out of a van and playing dub and reggae from a turntable in the van as well, lots of dutch food stalls, Fifteen Amsterdam restaurant, Indian, Indonesian, Surinamese, Morroccan, Turkish, Spanish... heaven!
It was my BFF Laura's birthday, and we met for a drink at Soundgarden, the bar Leon and Sam introduced us to. We love it. As I was running late, it was funny to walk in and find Laura sitting with Leon, and Sam again, by coincidence. Leon and Sam had to go home after a few drinks, they had work the next morning, but their friends invited us to a Silent Disco House Party, around the corner.
It actually makes a lot of sense because the houses are so crammed next to each other here, parties usually conclude with some really unhappy neighbours.
We arrived on our bikes, about 3 minutes from Soundgarden, and were given headphones, and told to cut loose on the open bar. Ooooh, so not a good idea.
It was funny, I was sitting outside the apartment ( trying to get my head together, I had a little bit too much to drink, but more on that later....) and all I could here was the stomping of feet against floor boards, but other than that, no noise whatsoever.The neighbours downstairs must have been so confused.
Yes, well as can probably predict, open bar and Rani sometimes get along too well, and the next thing you know, I had my first canalside vomiting experience.
I don't reccomend it. My friend Laura had to cycle me back to her house. On her Birthday. Did I mention it was her 21st?
Worst.Friend.Ever.
I am keen to get some more photos up here, but I just have to get my camera sorted. or my Computer. Both are out of memory.
On the other hand, here are some songs that are really inspiring me at the moment!
Noisettes: Never forget you
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